Chapter 10

'This is so bad, so very bad I am going to be in so much trouble, man my dad's will kill me' were the thoughts that ran through Alfred's head as he washed in the dark brown hair dye, making sure there was none of that innocent naïve blonde hair left. Alfred smiled to himself in the mirror and chuckled slightly, making sure the black dye was thoroughly coating his light hair. He didn't know what to do with this pent up anger rolling inside him, he just needed to do something, and this was the first thing that came to mind. Dying his hair, after he was done and he washed out the remnants he looked at his hair in the mirror.

'It's not enough' was the lone thought that ran through his mind, he needed to do more, and he needed to be more reckless. Alfred was filled with a mountain of pent up frustrations and couldn't seem to let them loose fast enough. He dried his hair and gelled it so it looked unruly and different. Alfred smiled and ran to his room to grab the leather jacket his cousins had given to him a while ago but he never really wore. He preferred his brown one with the number fifty on the back, but it was a nice change to have this tight fitting black leather coat on him. He smirked and ran from the house, not even bothering to check if the door was locked.

His father's returned to an empty, wide open house and were incredibly annoyed with Alfred, why did he leave the house in such a way? John had found the hair dye in the bathroom and had run to Derrick fuming at the sight of it. "He dyed his hair?!" He exclaimed to his husband.

"Looks like it" Derrick said simply.

"I am going to kill that boy, he is going to be in so much trouble!" John said beginning his rant.

"Calm down, boys always go through this kind of stuff. He'll be alright once he gets it out of his system" Derrick said trying to soothe him.

"He is nearly sixteen, I thought he was passed all of this stuff, he shouldn't be doing such stupid things" John continued angrily. They were then interrupted by a knock at the door, they both looked at each other curiously. John got to the door and was faced with two police officers and a guilty looking Alfred.

"This your boy?" They asked gruffly.

"Ye-yes, Alfred is my son" John said carefully, he had already began to glare at Alfred who cowered between them.

"He was vandalising the park, graffiti and that. We gave him a warning, we don't want him to do something like this again, and otherwise the punishment is going to be worse" He said roughly and pushed Alfred towards the house, Alfred pulled his shoes off quickly whilst John spoke to the police officers and he slipped past him, trying his hardest to creep up the stairs to his room. He heard the door slam and ran towards the stairs only to be stopped by Derrick glaring at him, he crossed his arms and glared off to the side.

"Alfred!" John shouted from the doorway. Alfred rolled his eyes and scoffed at his father's tone of voice which meant he got a short sharp slap to the head from Derrick who was still stood silently above him.

"Ow what was that for!" He said indignantly, rubbing the back of his head.

"You know damn well what it was for. Living room now" Derrick demanded. Alfred stomped away angrily yelling curses at both his father's as he went. "You want another one Alfred?" Alfred shut up.

John had finally stomped in from the hallway and burst into the front room glaring down at Alfred sitting meekly on the sofa with his dyed black hair. "I can NOT believe what you have done Alfred! You are in so much trouble!" He began, Alfred shrunk further into the sofa as John ranted at him while Derrick stood in the doorway glaring. "You are grounded for a month and you are not having that stupid console for the next month either" Alfred's head shot up.

"No fair!" He whined at him.

"Fair? You want to know what is fair? I don't want to have my evening interrupted by policemen banging at my door, or the mess you left in the bathroom from your stupid hair dye. I will have you know I am cutting you hair short so I don't have to look at the obscenity you have defiled this house with! Get to bed now and out of my sight! I don't want to see you for the rest of the night!" John screamed at him, and Alfred quickly fled the room brushing past Derrick and then shouting from the stairs.

"I hate you!" They heard his sobs break out as he ran into his room. They heard him throw some of things around in frustration and scream but eventually he simmered down and he must have flopped onto his bed. John sat down and let his head fall into his hands; he heaved a frustrated sigh and looked up at Derrick softly. He took it as a look if invitation and say next to John wrapping an arm around his shoulders then pulling him into a tight hug.

"He'll be alright. I was getting worried that Alfie was too good" Derrick said with a small laugh.

"Maybe you're right, maybe it is just a phase" John said wearily, leaning heavily against Derrick for support. "Can you go up and take his console away, I don't want to end up yelling again" He said quietly. Derrick smiled and kissed his head softly.

"Sure babe, I can do that for you" He let go of John who sagged into the sofa; he turned on the television and handed him the remote then wrapped him in a blanket. Derrick smiled and left him to flick through the channels and try and calm himself down, he wandered out of the front room and up to Alfred's room. He knocked quietly waiting for a response.

"GO AWAY!" He had screamed at the door and Derrick distinctly heard something being thrown at the wooden frame. Derrick rolled his eyes and stepped into the room anyway.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that" Derrick said calmly. If there was something that was different in the way his father's disciplined it was definitely that Alfred feared Derrick far greater than John. Yes John would yell and scream and threaten but nothing usually came of it, and Alfred could hold his own in a screaming match. But Derrick's silent and calm nature always freaked him out, he wouldn't get angry in the way John did, and Alfred was always unaware of what to do.

His father had always been the one that stopped him from yelling, made him stop his tantrums when he was a young boy, always the one who he feared if the school threatened to call. There was no doubt that he loved his father but sometimes he could be downright scary. Alfred swallowed and sat up in his bed, moving over to the corner of his bed so he was pressed up against the corner of the wall, afraid he would get another smack if he misbehaved again. Derrick moved silently into his room and began to unplug the console and Alfred felt himself tearing up slightly.

"You've already grounded me how is that fair" Alfred said weakly. He knew if he wasn't careful he would end up crying, he knew it was a stupid thing to cry over but it was frustrating. His whole life seemed to be one big pile of mess.

"Because Alfred, this is the consequences for you misbehaving. I do not expect this from you at this age, you're not a child anymore. I am incredibly disappointed in you" He said sadly, and it made Alfred feel even worse. He sunk even lower into his bed and trying to make himself as small as he felt. "It is just you and Daddy tomorrow for breakfast, I expect you to apologise for you behaviour" He said and with that he walked from the room. Alfred felt his breathing quicken and he got up from the bed so he could try and burn off the adrenaline running through his body, he screamed in frustration and smacked his hand into the nearby wall.

He was so angry at the world right now and he just felt like he needed to run, run and run until all of this energy was burnt off. A nasty thought slipped into his head, 'that will certainly make them worry'. He picked up his jacket again and pulled it on zipping it up to his navel and glancing around for his bag. He found it quickly and stuffed it full of some clothes and his mobile phone, then shoved a few of the biscuits and snacks he had in his room, the ran to the bathroom to fill up his bottle of water. He stopped by his computer and looked at the open facebook page, quickly entering a small message onto his wall.

Alfred F. Jones says I'm outta here.

He paced over to his CD player and turned the music on, not so loud as to annoy his father's further but enough to make them believe he was in, he put the CD on repeat and then grabbed loads of spare pillows and clothes, shoving them under his covers, moulding them so they looked realistic. Then he walked to his window and looked out at his back garden, calculating how he would get out. He knew that the dining room window was below his but it was late already so they would most likely be in the front room by now. He prised the window open carefully knowing there was a squeaking in the old thing, and then he threw his bag into a nearby bush where it made a soft thud. The adrenaline began to kick in and Alfred found himself laughing silently to himself, this was exhilarating, he had never done anything like this before. He now had two options; he could either climb down the drain pipe that led all the way to the floor, or he could clamber delicately onto the awning and then swing onto the floor below.

Alfred went with the awning, at least it looked like it could hold his weight, and he gently lowered himself down his hands shaking with adrenaline and nerves. He fell onto his behind and slid down the incline until he reached the end, it was solid enough and holding his weight effectively, he peeked over the edge and saw a deserted front room so quickly clambered over and hit the floor with a little bit too loud thud. He paused slightly but no one seemed to have heard it so he swiftly ran to his bag and hopped over the fence to the field behind his house. He was out of breath not due to exertion but merely the adrenaline rush that coursed through him, the fear of being caught, the possibility that he could have fallen from his window. It was all so much for him and he found himself laughing breathlessly.

He looked back at his house and then looked forward across the small playing field towards the other end of the block; he knew that they could see into this field. He also knew the Lovi and Toni could from their house too, there was nothing for it, and he was going to make a run for it. Alfred let his hand touch the fence and in his head began the count down for a race, just imagining he was running against opponents standing next to him. "On your marks, get ready, go!" He spoke loudly to himself and then he tore off across the field with a big grin on his face, laughing slightly as he jumped over a large puddle, the run didn't take that long and when he reached the gate he just hurdled over it and continued to run, it was much easier running across the solid sidewalk, he moved and swerved out if the way of two bikers and continued running through the town.

Finally the lights of the town faded out and the darkness of the oncoming night set in, Alfred gulped nervously but shook his head and continued his steadfast stride away from his home. He had now slowed to a walk and was feeling tired, he had made it to the highway where he planned to try and hitch hike further away from his town, there weren't a lot of car's drifting past but eventually one slowed down to a halt for him. He smiled at the lad in the car and thanked her for stopping. "So where ya headed?" She asked grinning at him.

"I dunno, towards New York I was hoping" He told her quietly and it made her smile as she drifted back onto the highway her speed increasing steadily.

"Well ya'll are just in luck, cause that's where ahm headed" She said, her accent coming through stronger to Alfred, he smiled in gratitude and relaxed further into the seat. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled 911 just in case he needed to call them in a hurry, keeping the phone pressed close to him.

Derrick drifted upstairs to join John in bed, he could still hear the music Alfred had put on a while ago and walked into his room quietly, the light was out and the window was wide open. Derrick rolled his eyes and closed the window tightly then shut of the music, glancing at Alfred's still form as he left the room. Moody teenagers sucked but he was glad that they liked their sleep.

With Derrick being gone very early this morning John was not looking forward to having to wake Alfred with the mood he has been in lately. He didn't have to worry at first though because he didn't seem to get up when his first alarm went off, John was glad in a way the boy would be snarky with him all morning. When it was nearing the end of breakfast though and there was still no sign of Alfred John grew impatient, he would be late for school at this rate. "Alfred, get up!" He yelled up the stairs.

No response.

John sighed and walked begrudgingly up the stairs to his room, striding in confidently. "You have to get ready for school now Alfred, I won't tell you again" He pulled open the curtains swiftly letting in the light but still not response. He pressed the fingers to his nose and walked to the bed and throwing the covers off. "Get up Al-" His words were cut short by the fact that all that was under the bed was a bunch of pillows and scrunched up clothes. "Alfred?" John asked numbly. He looked in his cupboard and under his bed, finding his mobile phone gone and some of the clothes from his draws; he couldn't find his bag anywhere either. "Ha ha Alfred this isn't funny" John called out hollowly into the large empty house. John ran through the entire house throwing clothes and belongings out of the way in the hopes that Alfred was hiding stubbornly and finding him nowhere. He ran into the garden and that's when he noticed the dent on the awning underneath Alfred's window.

'Did he run away?' John thought frantically. His eyes burned a little as he ran into the house grabbing his keys, he fled to the school and asked around if he and gotten in but he was nowhere to be found. John stood at the receptionist's desk and let out a broken sob, letting his hand clasp tightly over his mouth. "It's alright Mr. Jones I am calling the police now, maybe you should call your husband?" The receptionist said worriedly, her hands were shaking slightly as she rang the police. John was led into a sitting area and he shakily took the phone from his pocket quickly finding Derricks number.

"Hey Sweetheart, good morning with grumpy pants?" He asked laughing a little, and John found himself breaking down. He burst into floods of tears as he tried to relay what happened. One of the teachers took the phone from him and spoke calmly to Derrick on the other line, advising him to stay at work while they scour around town. Derrick refused immediately though and left the building before they could tell him otherwise. It was just under an hour when Derrick stormed into the waiting room and ran to John, who was weakly shaking in his seat, holding a tissue close to his chest, he threw his arms around Derrick the moment he saw him.

"It's alright babe will find the little punk. I am going to kill him when he gets back" Derrick soothed trying to ease his husband's troubles, softly rubbing his back comfortingly.

"We have informed the authorities already and they said because he is a runaway they can't start looking for him for another twelve hours. I am afraid that they have to hope he will come home by himself first" This information made John break down into further tears and Derrick clung to him fearfully. 'Where could Alfred have gone?' Was the same thought that stretched through all their minds, Derrick stood weakly dragging a weeping John with him and thanked the school for their help and asked if they could ask any of the children to keep an eye out. They nodded wanting to do anything they could to help, they left the building and headed straight to Toni's and Lovi's house, John couldn't seem to stop crying no matter how much Derrick soothed him. He was working himself into hysterics and by the time they reached Lovi and Toni's house he had to rush out of the car to be sick.

"C'mon it is no use you crying like this" Derrick soothed, he saw Lovi come out of the door and look at him questioningly, Derrick shook his head to try and tell him to wait.

"It-its all-all my-my-my fa-fault!" John screeched, coughing and hacking again into the grass, he had never seen John cry so badly before. Antonio walked over to him and rubbed his back softly, gesturing for him to talk to Lovi while Toni tried to calm John down. They talked in hurried whispers and making Lovino go quickly distressed and he ran into the house to grab his car keys.

"Antonio come here" Derrick returned to Johns side, his breathing having calmed down a bit, although still shaky, but his tears seemed to have ceased.

"You're alright honey; Lovi and Toni are going to take you home alright? Toni will stay with you there okay?"

"No, no I have to look f-for Alfie. I have to find my baby" He whined as the tears started up again, Derrick sighed sadly, the tears pricking at his eyes too. He had to be strong for both of them.

"You can't go anywhere in that state, look someone needs to be there in case he comes home, alright?" Derrick said kissing his forehead softly.

"F-fine" He responded weakly. Toni had returned his face pale now he knew why John was so upset, he put his arms around him delicately and led him to the car. Lovi sitting at the wheel with an angry scowl on his face he quickly pulled out of the drive and headed back to John and Derricks home. Derrick watched them leave then clambered into his own car preparing to look around the small town first.

"For fuck sakes Alfred where are you?"

"Antonio am I really that terrible a father?" John asked croakily, he seemed to be losing his voice, having spent most of the day crying on Toni's shoulder. Now though he could only cry dry tears, merely resting his heavy head on Toni's shoulder, feeling completely unable to do anything. Toni sat there patiently the news on continuously to see if there was any signs of Alfred, however, he also hoped there wouldn't be anything. He didn't want his best friend's only son, whom they were completely besotted with, to be lost to them.

"I don't know how you could think such a thing. I know this is terrible but Alfred is going through a rough time, he is probably completely heartbroken with Francis going out with a new guy and this is his way of acting out" He told him easily.

"F-Francis is with someone new?" He asked weakly.

"Yes Alfred told me" He said quietly. It only made matters worse and he began to dry sob again.

"He didn't even tell me that, I hate that bastard Francis, all he ever does is hurt my poor boy. And now look!" He exclaimed, Toni sighed sadly and let him continue to cry out his frustrations. It was late into the evening when the police finally came around; they questioned both John and Derrick, who had returned empty handed with no leads at all, and Toni and Lovi too. They had told them about the fight and the police informed them that they would be asking around everywhere and begin searching, they were going to bring the dogs around to see if they could find him as well.

It all got frantic very quickly, even though John was forced to stay in the house with Lovino, because Antonio wanted a turn at trying to look for Alfred himself. The dogs caught the scent and were led across the field through town and onto the highway where it was lost on them; Derrick gulped with fear at the prospect of Alfred hitchhiking. John sat at home calling Alfred's cell phone over and over only to get his voicemail after many long rings, it felt good just to hear Alfred's voice on the line. Derrick's sister had called after it had been posted on facebook that Alfred was missing and had told them she was on her way down with Mattie immediately; she wanted to do anything to help. She wouldn't be here until tomorrow afternoon however, due to the flight from Canada, she was just as worried as everyone else.

By the time night fell there was no sign of anyone finding Alfred, Derrick was still out searching as was Antonio but John sat by the window watching the driveway for any sign of his little boy. It was around three in the morning when his phone buzzed quietly, he leapt for the phone and saw Alfred's name on the caller I.D. he answered it quickly. "Alfred! Where are you!" He shouted, he didn't mean to sound angry, he was far from angry anymore. He just wanted his boy back; he wanted him to come home so they could be a family again.

The buzz of the phone going dead was all that greeted him.

John let out an animalistic scream of fury and threw the phone away from him, smashing into the window his heart jolted and he ran to his broken phone. Lovi had walked in at the noise and looked to see John weeping as he tried to piece together his phone. "John its broken, c'mon leave it alone"

"No I have to fix it, what if Alfie calls again?" He said weakly, the phone wouldn't be able to be fixed Lovi could tell that much, but they could move the sim card around.

"Come here Johnny" Lovi said affectionately, pulling him from his knees and pushing him onto the sofa. John had become numb. "I will find an old phone to put the sim in, then we will still be able to have a phone in case he calls" Lovi said softly, John merely nodded his eyes were unfocussed and glazed over. Lovi found a new cell and left it next to John's hand, and then he picked up the house phone to call Derrick.

~o-O-0-O-o~

Arthur woke with an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, he hadn't slept particularly well but it was better than most nights. He eased into his new jeans and a clean t-shirt and stiffly made his way down stairs to cook his breakfast; it was going to be another boring Sunday. That is what he continued to think until he heard a quiet knocking at his door; he walked carefully to the door and looked through the peep hole. There stood nervously was Kiku Honda, Yao, Hercules and Gilbert, although the latter certainly wasn't nervous, he was bouncing on the balls of his feet. Arthur opened the door warily and all four faces smiled at him, Arthur scowled at them and then stiffly asked them. "What do you want?"

"We came to see if you would like to watch some films at Kiku's house, we have to hurry 'cause his dad is waiting though" Yao said with a smile, Arthur looked at them suspiciously.

"C'mon dude it'll be totally awesome with me there!" Gilbert exclaimed wildly making Arthur roll his eyes at him. He looked back into his house warily and decided being with them was better than being alone with his own thoughts.

"Fine" He said with a huff, as though the very task was like a chore. Yao and Hercules gave lazy smiles whilst Kiku positively beamed at him. "Let me just grab my coat" Arthur shut the door on them then grabbed his keys and coat, making sure everything was shut off before he left the house. He locked the door discreetly behind him and fallowed the others to the car; Kiku's father looked at him warily clearly observing the bruises on his face but chose to simply smile instead. The drive was mostly quiet bar Gilbert's amusing rants about himself and the 'awesome'# things he does, it wasn't long before they pulled into the drive.

They clambered out easily and walked straight into the house and Kiku led them up to his bedroom, the curtains had been drawn and the lights dimmed, Arthur found himself smiling at the familiarity of this room. They all found themselves somewhere to sit, Arthur sitting o the edge of the bed trying to distance himself from them that was until Gilbert slung an arm around his waist and pulled him closer to the group. He grinned at Arthur's flushed face, "C'mon you can sit by the awesome me"

Arthur nodded hesitantly and leaned against the wall next to Gilbert, who pulled popcorn out from somewhere and placed it shared on his and Arthur's lap. Arthur picked nervously at the food whilst Kiku put the film on, soon everyone seemed to let out a unified breath of relaxation and were talking to each other quietly whilst waiting for the film to start. "Man didn't you hate that test we were given Friday, it sucked so much, i totally failed it! Gilbert said to the group.

"I know what you mean, it was definitively a surprise, not even a chance to revise or anything" Hercules agreed quietly.

"It wasn't too bad I guess, just hated doing it. Exams are way too much pressure" Yao added. "What did you think of it Arthur?" Yao asked him with a smile.

"It went well, I have studied most of the material before" He told them quietly.

"Man you study way to much dude!" Gilbert exclaimed, dislodging some of the popcorn on top of them, he picked most of it and shoved it into his waiting mouth.

"That is what is expected of me, I guess I have too" Arthur said quietly.

"Expected? Do your parents want you to get good grades?" Kiku asked softly. Arthur nodded in reply.

"I wish my parents were strict, at least then I might actually study when I am supposed to" Gilbert said whilst stretching. "Ohh its starting shut up everyone" He exclaimed louder than everyone had been talking. They watch the movie in relative silence, except when Gilbert asked obnoxiously loud questions, making everyone shush him, and then he would complain about them being too noisy, and the cycle would repeat itself over and over again. They missed a fair portion of the film due to this but they found they didn't mind because they all had fun together, even Arthur, even though he wouldn't care to admit it. Eventually the credits rolled on and everyone found themselves stretching their stiff necks and aching backs, Arthur stood and flicked the light on, trying to gain feeling back in his legs. Hercules then tried to stand too only to fall over because of the pins and needles making feet numb and near impossible to walk on.

They smiled at each other in the newly lit room and then slowly talked of other things, schools parties and such, all of them clearly avoiding hard hitting questions that would upset Arthur. For once they just wanted to focus on being a friend to him, doing things friends do together, rather than trying to help him out of a bad situation. They knew the routine would most likely remain the same when they returned to school on Monday but at least for now there was an air of calm in the room.

Eventually they got bored and drifted down stairs where they were waiting to be picked up by there parents, it was at this point that Arthur excused himself and readied himself to walk home. The cold evening air hit him stiffly and he pulled up his coat further around his face, he could feel the bitterly cold of winter setting in, December was going to be rough this year. Arthur walked home at a brisk pace and found no matter what he didn't feel lonely, not even in the darkest of alleys or when he as greeted by an empty house and a barely furnished bedroom, the feeling of loneliness never caught him. He was glad; he settled down onto the computer and checked to see if he had any emails.

Alfred F. Jones says I'm outta here.

That's odd. Arthur thought quietly, many people had liked the status and a few had laughed and said they were too, but to Arthur, it wasn't a funny status. In fact it was bitterly cold; he clicked comment and typed quickly.

Alfred? Are you okay love? I hope this message gets to you before you do anything rash.

Arthur just hoped he would receive the message soon; he wanted his American friend to be okay. He slept restlessly once more and woke cold and groggy, wanting nothing more for this school day to hurry up and end.

Arthur blinked at the screen once more. 'How can this be true?', according to Alfred's facebook message he had run away from home and was now missing. No one could find him, there had been posts all over Alfred's wall asking about him and possible sightings, Arthur just couldn't believe his happy go-lucky American would run away like that. He knew he was having a rough time with the Francis scandal but surely he wouldn't run from the dad's he loved so dearly. Arthur was stunned to say the least.

He had returned from school that day to find out his friend had run away and was not even answering his cell phone anyone. There was nothing Arthur could even do, it wasn't like he could just fly over to America to search for the boy, and he would have no idea where he even went. Arthur just sat there numb, unable to decide what he should do so he reposted the status, thinking it rather silly really because he didn't really have any American friends bar Alfred, but he wanted the sentiment to be the same none the less.

A message popped into his inbox, it must be from someone who wasn't hisfirend though or the name would have chimed in. He clicked on it swiftly and was surprised by the message he had received.

Hello Arthur, this is Matthew Williams, i am Alfred's cousin from Canada, i was just wondering if maybe you could try and call Alfred. Maybe he will answer if it is you calling, because he has only been hanging up the phone for the rest of us. We are all rather worried and he still hasn't come home, please can you help?

The boy sounded so despondent, and if his pleading was anything to go by he desperately wanted Alfred to come home to them. Alfred had told him of his cousin in Canada and also been told that they were fairly close, so Arhtur decided to try and talk to him, maybe decipher what has happened.

Hello Matthew, I am sorry but i do not have Alfred's number. I know he seems to have run away but may i ask why?

Arthur waited quietly, he eventually stood up and got a cup of tea but when he returned a new message had arrived, it contained a phone number and another very worried sounding boy wanting to see his cousin again.

Just ring it for me I am begging you; I desperately want him to come home. I think he had an argument with his dads, but it is also to do with the Francis situation he has been going through and it has been rough for him. If you can do this small service for me I will be truly grateful.

Arthur looked at the reply contemplatively; if Alfred wasn't answering his friends an family what made him think he would answer him? Arthur figured he was just desperate, and in need of any kind of hope, it looked like they were all truly worried. A [pang of jealousy and loneliness shot through Arthur's body, the jealous slowly ebbed away but the loneliness stayed, as it did most days, Arthur was used to it. The dull aching emptiness of having no-one who cared.

I guess I could try.

Arthur told him, he had to see if Alfred would talk to him. His stomach cart wheeled when he realised this may be the first time he would ever talk to his American friend, his hands quickly grew sweaty and he because nervous about dialling that number. Was it really his place to do anything? Arthur put the phone next to his laptop and shut out the light, he knew that they would find Alfred soon so he was sure he wouldn't need to worry.

Arthur only wished he listened to his conscience sometimes.