In Which One Lie Comes Half Circle

"Hey!" Alfred smiled as Tino opened the door. The other seemed a bit ruffled up and breathless. Alfred's smile turned to a grin. He must have interrupted something going on in the back room~

"You made it," Tino said hesitantly, either thinking he was not obvious or not aware of how he looked. Alfred decided to keep a lid on it. Especially since teasing Tino was only worth it if Berwald was not around to get annoyed at him.

"I know I'm a bit late," Alfred shrugged, heading back to the truck with Tino following, "but..."

"You didn't get in a fight with Sadiq, did you?" Tino asked, concern evident in really everything about him. Alfred shook his head.

"Naw, he just asked where Yao and Muhammad were, nothing big." Yes, he had gotten in a fight with the man. But they made up and went out for drinks, making fun of Heracles the entire time. Alfred knew how to get on someone's good side if he wanted to.

"Y' s're?"

Alfred did his best not to jump five feet in the air, turning around smoothly to see Berwald.

Y' usually means you... and the second word sounded a lot like sure...

"Absolutely," he nodded enthusiastically, taking a box out of the back and occupying Berwald's arms with it. "You guys going to the party?"

"Ah, no," Tino shook his head. "We have all of this to put away..." he watched Berwald reenter the building. "We were going to, but I don't think Berwald wants to go anymore."

"What? Why?" Alfred blinked. After all, not going to a party was just really hard to comprehend.

"Oh, he's just been in a bad mood ever since this stranger came into the shop and started annoying him," Tino shrugged it off. "I'm fine with it, really."

"But you have to come!" Alfred could not believe that the other was just going to give in. After all, it was not every day that Eduard of all people threw a party. And that guy had money to spare! It just had to be awesome!

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?" Alfred was ready for this. He was born to help other people get out of messes and into the real world. Like this party. He was not certain how he would convince Berwald for Tino, but he had some pretty good ideas that would end with the both of them at the–

"What happened between you and Arthur?"

Alfred blinked. That was not what he was expecting. "What happened between me and who? Arthur? Why do you ask?"

The real question would be what did not happen between him and his adopted 'mum'. The man was a complete nightmare to deal with. Not that he loved him any less. Ruffling up the Englishman's feathers was a sport almost better than football!

Almost. And the normal football. Not soccer, like everyone else in this town seemed to mess up with the names. Football.

"Well," Tino shifted, seeming uncomfortable with the conversation. "I know you both don't get along all the time... but I can't think of anything you'd do that would make him want to throw you out."

"Throw me out?" Alfred questioned, wondering what exactly Tino was insinuating.

"From your house. I heard it from Feliks."

"What?" Arthur! Oh, I know he was behind this! Messing around with the town and using other people against him was what the man did best. Except... this time Alfred was not certain what could have brought this on. He was just out of town, for God's sake! But he doubted that he was kicked out. Arthur could tell people that all he wanted, but if he thought he could get rid of Alfred like that...

Well, there was the party Alfred made him promise to go to. Arthur was very irritated when Alfred was bugging him about it. Really, the only reason he gave in was because Alfred had hid all of his Beatles CDs.

"I'm sorry Alfred," Tino tried to smile. Alfred waved it off and grinned.

"Don't worry! I'm pretty sure that Arthur's just messin' around again. It's just a threat or something. Not a big deal, I'll talk to him."

"Y' s're?"

Alfred succeed in not jumping again.

"Of course!" he shoved another box into Berwald's arms. "I grew up dealing with Arthur, guys. I know how to deal with him. Just..."

A particular parcel in his shirt pocket reminded him of its presence.

"If you see Antonio, tell him I need to see him at Eduard's house, understand?" he asked Tino. Tino nodded, if not a bit confused. Alfred did not want this misunderstanding between himself and Arthur to continue. It was just a party, no need to overreact!

Antonio would understand a little bit of a delay. Alfred was a man of his word. He would get that ring to him before the day was through, no problem.

Notes:

Alfred did interrupt something, thank you very much.

Berwald thinks everyone in this town is a bit slow. After all, everyone except for Tino and his brothers takes forever to respond to anything he says.

And *gasp*! There is a clue as to what Francis did to get himself arrested. You could guess, I suppose, or you could wait around for me to tell you. Either way you will have to wait for the real answer for that and for his previous transgressions. But if you wish to amuse yourselves with guessing, go straight ahead! Maybe the answer is more obvious than I think it is. It is Francis after all.