House of friendship
Alfie walked into Fabian's room with a frown on his face.
"Oh my God! What happened to you?" Nina blurted
"You look like a birthday cake!" Patricia laughed. It was true Alfie was covered from head to toe in chocolate with strawberry sauce squirted over his head, where there was also a candle sticking up proudly but unlighted.
"I started a prank war with Jerome yesterday" Alfie pouted "I put a rubber snake in his bed, then he put a real frog in my bed so I retaliated by putting some honey in his hair"
"So he turned you into a baked good?" Eddie asked "Remind me not to get on his bad side"
"Well, I still think it's my win since he's had four showers and the honey hasn't come out yet" Alfie grinned
"He'll probably prank you again even harder" Fabian reminded Alfie as the boy sat down with the others "You know Jerome, he has absolutely no idea where to draw the line half the time"
"It's okay, I trust him not to do anything too terrible" Alfie licked his fingers "He's just really eccentric with his pranks"
"I don't think you can even call them pranks" Patricia snorted "More like evil schemes"
"He reminds me of Moriarty from Sherlock" Amber said airily and everyone turned to stare at her "What? Just because I'm fabulous doesn't mean I don't like smart shows. Besides, Benedict Cumberbatch is hot"
"Well that explains that" Nina laughed "So why does Jerome remind you of Moriarty?"
"Because they both do terrible things just because they're bored. I mean can you believe he actually laughed when I asked him to prom? I didn't even ask him I thought I was letting him down easy" Amber scowled "And he stole my prom dress and replaced it with a dolls dress for no good reason! If it weren't for Alfie bringing it to me I would have missed prom!"
"Wow" Eddie said "You guys are one dramatic bunch of Brits" Suddenly Nina noticed Alfie biting his lip nervously
"Wait, Alfie's hiding something. You didn't take the dress so you could give it back to her and be her hero did you?" Nina asked suspiciously and Amber looked ready to dump Alfie
"No no no, it's not like that it's just" Alfie sighed "You how all of last year I was trying to get Amber?"
They all nodded
"Well most of it was Jerome's basic idea. When I wrote you that song-"
"Wait, Jerome told you to write me a song?" Amber asked
"Well actually he said a poem or a sonnet I think he called it. Something about music and food" Alfie explained
"If music be the food of love play on?" Fabian guessed and Alfie nodded eagerly "That's Shakespeare, how many times has Jerome quoted him?"
"Oh cruelty thy name is Amber!" Everyone sans Eddie, Joy and Amber intoned n their best Jerome voice
"Back to the dress?" Joy asked, extremely curious
"Oh well the thing is that all through the year that women love a good hero" All the women in the room rolled their eyes "So I tried and failed to save you on numerous occasions" Those who were there winced "So when Jerome showed me the dress I ran upstairs with it as soon as he'd turned his back"
"You think he planned it?" Nina deduced
"I know he planned it" Alfie corrected "I asked him about it earlier this year and all he said was "Every hero story needs a good villain" That's basically a confession"
"Wow, who would have thought that Jerry could be such a good friend" Eddie smirked
"It's not actually that rare for Jerome to do nice things, he just doesn't make a big deal about it " Alfie shrugged "I mean he takes the fall for Poppy whenever he can and helps me with my homework"
"And he was REALLY upset when you went to hospital last year Alfie" Mara spoke up for the first time. She hadn't wanted to be a part in the conversation; she wanted to see if Alfie would defend Jerome
"Yea, he was like the living dead" Nina added
"I'd be the same if I thought any of you were dying and I couldn't do anything about it" Fabian said solemnly sharing a significant look with Nina
"Yea it really sucks" Jerome said from the doorway "Aren't you some naughty children, it's not nice to talk behind peoples backs"
"Jerome! How long have you been here?" Mara exclaimed
"Not long" He shrugged and sat down next to Alfie "I finally got the honey out of my hair"
He ran two spindly fingers down Alfie's chocolate covered face and stuck them in his mouth "Ew tastes like Alfie" he grimaced
"I wonder why?" Patricia asked sarcastically
"You gotta love bromances" Eddie chuckled "You Brits are all insane"
"O c'mon as if you Yanks are any better!" Jerome shot back "Everyone's either too skinny or too fat over there" He looked over at the offended Nina then back at Eddie "Or too blonde"