Author's Note: I'm going on vacation for a week, so I wanted to post the next chapter before I left so you guys at least have something to tide you over. I think we're getting down to the wire here. There isn't much else I want/need to cover. And rest assured, the questions most of you have will be answered before everything's said and done!

Alfred had a special dislike of family dinners. They had the most uncomfortable air about them, and he generally despised being forced to spend quality time with his parents and brother.

Not to say that he wished they'd leave him alone indefinitely. If he was honest with himself, Alfred would admit that he missed the way things had been when he was a kid. As he and Matt got older, everything their family did together became strained, especially considering that Alfred was intent on exposing every fake aspect of their lives.

They hadn't sat down and had dinner as a family since Alfred and Arthur met. The boys would excuse themselves to their rooms to eat alone or Matt would bring home McDonald's or something after work. His mom generally disliked cooking, didn't like looking at the mess afterward, so they ate out a lot anyway. Sometimes, though – mostly in the summer – Alfred's dad would drag the grill out of the shed in the backyard and look for whatever meat was in the fridge.

Tonight was one of those nights. Alfred didn't feel quite as awkward as he would have on a normal day. After putting up with Arthur's uncharacteristic fussing and hugs, Alfred had gone home to face the music. He'd gotten more hugs from Matt and his dad, and both his parents had apologized for what happened at the restaurant, though he was still grounded in no unspoken terms. His mom had cried a lot, and while Alfred had felt that he was the only one who deserved to cry after what happened, he tried to be sympathetic.

That had been but a few days ago, and everyone was still walking on eggshells around him.

His mom and dad's parenting methods had always been a little odd. They were the kind of people – his mom especially – who wanted to keep up appearances. It made sense since his dad was Chief of Police and was under a lot of scrutiny on any regular day. Alfred and Matthew always had to behave themselves when they were kids, and while Alfred had started to rebel really early, he'd always made sure to never let his bad habits reflect on his dad.

Their favorite phrase had once been, "Just get over it." That had never really bothered Alfred. Up until Matt spilled their family's darkest secret, Alfred had been able to do just that, forget about what was bothering him in favor of whatever good things were going on in his life. Back then, it hadn't been hard.

Alfred pulled a face, tugging on his cowlick absently. Remembering how optimistic he used to be made him want to simultaneously cry and throw up.

"What's with that ugly face?" Matt asked, leaning forward on his elbows in his spot across the table from Alfred. "Did Robert use expired meat in the burgers again?"

"One mistake and you never hear the end of it." Alfred's dad sighed, and his mom giggled from behind her napkin.

"Maybe this is just my face, shit-dick." Alfred said snidely, and while his mom threw him a look, no one said anything. He was usually able to get away with a lot of shit after he and his parents apologized after a fight, especially when they were the ones in the wrong. Alfred definitely capitalized on that. "I'm thinking."

"About what?"

"Stuff."

"Oo, fascinating." Matt whistled, and Alfred stuck his tongue out.

"Should we go out for ice cream?" Alfred's dad suggested, and Alfred had to suppress a shudder. He really hoped the mention of the frozen desert wouldn't remind him of Christian for the rest of his life. He'd stuck to his story about staying at Kiku's for the night. As far as his family knew, he was still a virgin, and it was going to stay that way if Alfred had anything to say about it. "We can clean up this mess when we get back."

Alfred let his hand drop back down to the table. "I'd rather not. If I'm grounded, I'd appreciate no half measures. Gives me false hope."

Matthew snorted. "Stop stealing my car and maybe this wouldn't happen so often."

"Stop leaving your keys in the ignition! God, you guys should punish Matt, too. How am I supposed to resist when he's so careless about his stuff?"

"Spoken like an up and coming criminal." His dad said with a little humor. Alfred was still thrown by the faith his dad seemed to have in him. He might act out a bit, but Alfred would never do anything immoral, at least in his old man's mind. "You really should stop leaving your car unlocked with the keys inside, Matthew. Next time it could be someone who doesn't intend on bringing the thing back."

"It is a bad habit." Their mom commented. "You'd think you would've learned by now, Mattie."

Matthew scowled, and Alfred had to stifle a laugh, going back to toying with his cowlick. His brother had always hated that nickname. As vocal as he was with Alfred, he'd always had trouble speaking up to the adults.

"Gotta get it under wraps before you head off to college." Alfred chided. "Your hazing might involve your car getting stolen."

"When are you leaving again, Matthew?" Alfred's dad asked. He hadn't been home much lately, so he wasn't really in tune with what was going on. Alfred hadn't really been watching the news, but he remembered that there were a string of break-ins in a neighborhood a few blocks away from the police station. Whoever was doing it was a cocky son of a bitch. Robert Jones would only take so much before he started cracking down.

"The weekend after next." Matt replied, and Alfred glanced out the window and into their backyard, determined to not let on how bothered he was by his brother's imminent departure. "I want to be settled in by the time the semester starts."

"Your dad know you're coming?"

Up until Matthew was fifteen, his biological dad had lived in Canada. Specifically Toronto, though Alfred cared so little about his brother's father that he was probably wrong. Jordan Williams had made the move to make it easier for Matt to visit him or something along those lines, and Matt had capitalized on that for a while when all he wanted was to get away from Alfred.

He'd settled in St. Louis, a couple hours drive away from their home in Hannibal. Jordan was still single as far as Alfred knew, watch-less and shamed in the eyes of their society. Alfred had only seen him once, at Matthew's high school graduation. He'd been sixteen then and knew that he and Matthew were only half-brothers, and when he'd noticed the lurker who his mom kept shooting nervous glances at, Alfred had managed to piece it all together.

Matt looked like their mom enough that Alfred hadn't thought to question their relation when he was younger, but when he saw Jordan for the first time, it only made everything all the more real. Matt had his dad's eyes. Alfred hadn't been able to look at his brother directly for a few days afterward.

Matthew had once told Alfred that he wasn't all that close with his dad. Alfred wondered if it had anything, perhaps everything, to do with their mom's infidelity, but if Jordan hadn't been in the wrong at least a little, why was Matt so hesitant to speak about him? He'd never thought to ask, didn't want to bring old wounds to the surface, but he'd always been curious.

He'd been surprised when Matt announced he was going to school in the city where his dad lived and was even going to stay with him until Matt was able to support himself on his own. Maybe it was stupid, but Alfred didn't want his older brother to go off and have another life somewhere, especially not with the person who'd played a key role in the destruction of their family's stability.

Alfred probably wouldn't say so until Matthew was already gone, but he was going to miss him.

"Yeah, he knows I'm coming." Matthew replied, and Alfred didn't miss the lingering look that passed between him and their mom. "He's pretty excited."

"I bet." Alfred muttered, picking up his can of Pepsi and chugging.

"Gonna miss me, Al?" Matt asked, teasing but only slightly.

Alfred threw him an unimpressed look, wondering if his brother had been able to read his emotions. He'd been creepily good at that once he actually started paying attention to Alfred. "Please. I can't get rid of you fast enough."

"You'll miss my car, at least."

"Oh, shit, you're right. Hey, Dad, how soon can I get my own ride?"

"As soon as you take your test and get your license." His mom answered for her husband, smirking at Alfred's obvious wince. "Which you are going to be doing within the next week, young man. According to your brother, you've been taking his car for years, so you should be a good enough driver by now. Just study the pamphlet your dad brought home and I'll take you to the DMV."

"Joy."

"You're overdue for it anyway." His dad said. "All your friends have their licenses."

"Wow, all two of them!" Alfred exclaimed. "Compared to the dozens of other kids at school who I know for a fact don't have their licenses either."

"Oh, yeah?" Matt said. "Name three."

"Well, the Vargas twins for starters. Those two can't work a go-cart, let alone an actual vehicle. They'd probably start crying before the key was even in the ignition. And then there's me. So, that's three."

"You said people other than yourself!"

"Well, I don't know a lot of people." Alfred said with a slight shrug, just as his phone began to ring in his pocket.

"What's our rule about phones at the table, Alfred?" His mom said with a slight sigh, though Alfred knew she wasn't going to do anything about it tonight.

"We're not even eating." Alfred pointed out as he fished his phone out of the front pocket of his jeans. "We're just sitting here making small talk, which, might I add, kills at least five of my brain cells every time I'm forced to participate. Hello?"

"Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, you're fine, Kiku." Alfred said, already pushing away from the table. "I'll be in my room."

"Leave us to clean up the mess why don't you." Matt laughed, and Alfred flipped him off once he made sure neither of his parents was paying attention.

He hurried up to his room, being careful not to breathe too heavily into the phone – man, was he out of shape – and he shut the door as quietly as he could.

"Okay, I'm in a neutralized area."

Amused laughter filled the speaker, and Alfred indulgently allowed himself to grin stupidly for a few moments. "You're hell-bent on keeping this a secret, aren't you?"

"Well, can you blame me? I just got my parents off my back about you. If they find out we're talking, they'll be insufferable. My mom especially."

"It's not as if we're anything more than friends at this point. If your mum wants juicy details, she'll be disappointed. And to be fair, we were already talking before."

"Not like this, you moron."

"Hey, your words, not mine."

Alfred jumped up onto his bed, kicking the driving pamphlets his dad had gotten him on the floor before he rolled onto his back, grateful to have a moment to himself after spending most of his Saturday with his day with his family. He and Arthur had just seen each other a few hours ago at the center, but it might as well have been days. Alfred had found himself quite smitten with his trainer in such a short amount of time. How Arthur hadn't managed to realize that yet was beyond him.

"Did I tell you Matt's leaving for college soon?"

"No, that hasn't come up." Arthur said, though Alfred had already known that. He didn't talk about his family with Arthur much. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and end up spilling his family's secret prematurely. Baby steps, even though all Alfred wanted to do was take a flying leap. "What's he studying?"

"He's not exactly sure yet, but I've heard him talking about majoring in chemical engineering. He was always good at the sciencey stuff in school." Arthur made a noncommittal noise, and Alfred frowned at his ceiling. "Something wrong?"

"Not particularly." Arthur replied, shuffling around on his end of the line. "My cat is being a nuisance."

"You have a cat? Huh."

"Does that surprise you?"

"Kinda. I can't see you with dogs either. You don't seem like a pet person."

Arthur chuckled. "Well, it wasn't necessarily my choice. My brother and his wife have a Scottish Fold that they received as a wedding present a few years back. The thing disappeared for a week and then came back unharmed, but it had a litter of kittens a few months later. They managed to find most of them good homes, but one of the females was… unable to be adopted, so to say."

"I'm assuming you were saddled with her?"

"More or less. She doesn't like a lot of people. I guess I was the only one she could tolerate for long periods of time."

"What's her name?"

"I call her Tori, but her full name's Victoria."

Alfred snorted, stuffing the hand that wasn't holding his phone to his ear underneath his pillow, feeling the coolness of its underside. It was his right arm, the one he'd injured, and the slight burn in his joints reassured him that he still wasn't completely healed and had time to figure things out. "How horribly British of you."

"Perhaps." Arthur replied, and Alfred could almost visualize his smirk.

It was weird. Alfred hadn't been communicating honestly with Arthur for all that long, but he felt as if he'd known him for years. Arthur had been taken aback at first by Alfred's sudden enthusiasm, because while they'd been friendly before, Alfred was still reluctant. Now, there was almost nothing holding the teen back. Arthur knew better than to say anything, probably fearing that there would be another regression on Alfred's part, but he'd started opening up a lot more.

Now Alfred knew things. He knew that Arthur had been born and raised in Lancaster until he was twelve, when his parents decided to move considerably sized family to the States for a change of pace and scenery. Arthur hadn't thought it was a good reason to uproot their entire lives, but he'd never thought to complain for whatever reason. His older brother Scott had actually met his soul mate at the airport, and Arthur said they almost missed their flight because Scott had refused to leave her until he was certain he would either find or see her again.

Alfred knew that Arthur became a physical trainer because he'd broken his leg when his brother Owen pushed him out of a tree when he was a kid. During the recovery process, Arthur had been convinced he'd never walk properly again. Everything had been so difficult and painful for longer than the doctors had estimated. His therapists, however, had been nothing but encouraging, and they'd been patient even when Arthur felt like quitting.

"I guess you could say they gave me hope that things would be okay, even if my rotten brothers did push me out of trees." Arthur had said, pushing his callused fingers into the skin on Alfred's shoulder as he tried to see how much Alfred could take without feeling a twinge of pain. "Hope is a funny thing. It motivates people. What do you say? Am I doing a good job?"

Arthur had been joking, but Alfred nodded anyway. Maybe it wasn't the kind Arthur had experienced as a kid, what had driven him onto the career path he'd chosen, but he did give Alfred hope; or at least a glimpse into a future he'd previously refused to imagine.

"I have a question for you." Arthur said, his voice loud in Alfred's ear.

The teenager shifted slightly in his bed, suddenly apprehensive. "Shoot."

"Okay, don't… freak out." Arthur began, and Alfred figured that he wasn't going to like this change in subject matter. "But did you ever tell your parents about what happened that night?"

Alfred didn't see why that was relevant, but he'd indulge Arthur for now. "Hell no. I'm not gonna tell them that what they did drove me into having unprotected sex with someone, are you kidding me?"

"I guess I'm wondering why you decided to tell me and not them." Arthur continued, sounding exasperated. That day in the break room, Arthur had demanded reassurance that Alfred hadn't done anything harmful or stupid. As lucid as he'd felt that morning, Alfred had told him what he'd done with Christian. Arthur hadn't looked pleased exactly, but he hadn't gotten mad. In hindsight, Alfred was embarrassed he'd told his soul mate that he hadn't exactly been faithful, even if they weren't together. "I don't think I'm the obvious choice when it comes to who you divulge your escapades to."

"Don't ask me why I do what I do, because even I don't know." Alfred groaned. "I just… Kiku and Elizabeta already knew without me having to tell them because they know what I'm like. You're a blank slate."

"In other words, you want me to know what you're like."

"Well, duh." Alfred said tonelessly. "Better now than later."

Arthur was pretty stupid if he hadn't figured out Alfred's intentions by now. He left a fuck load of hints, intentional or otherwise, but if Arthur noticed, he always chose to ignore them. Maybe he didn't want to get his hopes up after all the crap Alfred had pulled. The teenager didn't really blame him.

"Just don't say it so bluntly next time." Arthur said with a slight chuckle, though his tone was serious. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Duly noted." He hadn't been able to decide if Arthur had been jealous or not. The man was good at keeping his expressions neutral if he really tried. "But, um, I don't know how long I'll be able to stay on the phone, so I'll just say this now. I have a question, too."

"Okay… " Arthur said uncertainly, and Alfred heard the dinging sound that occurred whenever someone opened the driver side door of a car.

Deciding to ignore it, Alfred went on. "How do you want to do this?"

"This?"

"The whole… soul mate thing. Us."

Arthur was silent. Alfred imagined that he was staring straight ahead, unseeing and unable to believe what he was hearing. Even Alfred was kind of in disbelief despite the fact that he'd put hours of thought into this. "Alfred, I wasn't even aware that 'us' was a possibility."

Alfred's mouth popped open. "Seriously?"

"Well, why would I?" Arthur asked. His voice wasn't giving much away in regards to how he was feeling. "You haven't exactly been the most receptive to the idea."

"Still working on it." Alfred admitted. "But I'm not as opposed as I was before. You… well, you're very persuasive."

"I haven't said much in light of our situation!" Arthur protested, though he spoke with a smug undertone.

"It's actually what you didn't say." Alfred said, though he refused to elaborate. "So, anyway. Yeah. Ball's in your court, dude. This is as far as my emotionally stunted mind is willing to take this conversation."

"If that's what you want." Arthur said, and for whatever reason, Alfred was overcome by an intense wave of sadness. "Since I never allowed myself to entertain the idea, I'm not really sure what to say."

"It's not about what I want, Arthur. Well, it is partly, but we have to be in this together."

Dear God, this was more painful than he thought it would be. Alfred didn't need a mirror to know that he was beet red. He meant every word, of course he did, but forcing them out into the open shouldn't have been this difficult. Kiku and Elizabeta would be choking on their own laughter if they could hear him.

"We don't have to rush into anything or even talk about this now." Arthur replied after a time. Alfred wasn't sure what to make of it. "To be honest, I'm more than pleased with the fact that you're actually talking about it. We have time."

Alfred didn't agree. He couldn't explain the sickly sense of foreboding in his stomach that refused to leave him to his peace. He felt like they had a time limit, a deadline to make that their watches hadn't told them about. He wanted to resolve everything quickly before something went wrong, before his epiphany went away; but he had to have faith, hope. That's what Arthur wanted, wasn't it?

"I'll tell you why I hate the watches." Alfred said quietly, still staring firmly at his ceiling. "Not now, but eventually."

"Promise?"

Alfred smiled, shaking his head slightly. "I promise. Just be patient with me."

"That, I can do." Arthur laughed. It was true. He'd waited this long, after all. "Hey, I'm at the veterinarian's now, so I have to get going."

"Everything okay?"

"Mhm. Tori's old enough to be neutered, so I figured I'd take care of that before she ends up like her mother."

"Poor little fucker. Tell her I'm sorry."

"Will do. Goodbye, Alfred."

"See ya." No sooner had Alfred hung up that he received a text message from Kiku, sent to both him and Elizabeta: CODE RED.

Alfred sat up immediately, swinging his legs over the side of the bed as he weighed his options. If he weren't grounded, he would've taken Matt's car and hauled ass to Kiku's house as a Code Red warranted; but he was in enough trouble as it was. Alfred didn't want to upset the delicate balance, not when he was finally starting to take some initiative.

Maybe it was nothing, Alfred reasoned as he dialed Kiku's cell number. It could've been a number of things, a person from school coming around to continue on with fights that couldn't be won, fights that Alfred and Elizabeta had instigated or otherwise. Maybe Alfred wasn't even required to go over there, could take care of it directly from his bedroom.

Kiku answered almost immediately. "Hey, I'm still grounded, and I'd rather not piss my parents off more than necessary. What's the matter?"

"Remember when I told you that my parents were acting weird?"

"Yeah, but – "

"They want to move back to Japan indefinitely. And they're insisting that I go with them."

A.N. Alfred's kinda fucked and he doesn't even know it.