Author's note:

So here's the next chapter! I know there's been a delay with this one, but that's because I originally wrote this chapter and it went way over 7,000 words and I figured that was too long for one chapter. So I split it off like I did with the past two chapters and so you should expect to see chapter 12 pretty soon as all I have to do is proof read it. So anyway, enjoy! :D


The bright sun shining through the gaps in the trees made the leaves look vibrant and healthy. The familiar surroundings of the secret spot made Arthur feel content and safe. He perked up as he saw a silhouetted blur of a person approaching from the distance, he fixed his tie and straightened out his school blazer before standing up from his position on the soft grass.

The sun was so bright it was hard to see anything ahead, Arthur shielded his eyes from the harsh rays using his hand as he tried to make out the person in the distance. The shape didn't seem to grow larger, were his eyes just playing tricks on him? He wasn't so lonely that he had started creating an imaginary person in the distance, surely? He watched as the blur began to take a detour to the wheat field on his left. The Brit was curious, and so cautiously followed behind.

He first walked at a normal pace, not wanting to frighten what he presumed was a student, but then picked up the pace as he didn't seem to be getting any closer. A few moments later, blonde hair came into view – but this wasn't very helpful information, just how many students at this school had blonde hair? He then saw the figure turn around, the sun reflected off of his glasses which caused Arthur to wince and once again shield his eyes. The figure stared for a moment, before turning back around and quickening his pace. 'Alfred, that must be Alfred.'

With this thought in mind, Arthur quickened his pace. The student noticed, and quickened his pace to assure that Arthur wouldn't be catching up to him anytime soon. It was like an old game of tag back at Elementary school, Arthur just wasn't fast enough to catch this man. A wave of memories came over him as he remembered the times that he had played tag with Alfred and Francis when he was little. He was never fast enough to catch them, so he'd usually end up throwing a strop and refuse to continue the game until he wasn't 'it'. He wasn't going to lose this time, Arthur was determined to catch Alfred.

Arthur was now jogging towards the student who started to run as Arthur was approaching more rapidly. 'You're not going to get away that easily!' Arthur ran but the figure was much too fast.

The shaggy blonde looked left and right. He had lost him. More than that, now he was lost. He scratched his head, not recognising his surroundings at all. He was sure that he knew all of these areas around the school inside and out, but he didn't recognise this yellow rapeseed field. It reminded him of the fields in his home country of England, he enjoyed visiting his grandmother when he was younger and she lived near a field much like this one. He reminisced of the blue skies and fluffy white clouds with the sun than shone perfectly on the golden yellows of the field. Oh god, how he missed England. His fond memories were interrupted as he heard a rustling coming from the juniper berry bushes to his left.

Arthur cautiously crept over, feeling the most stealthiest he had felt in ages, before pulling apart the bushes. There was no one there. But he noticed a small pathway, large trees arched over it and so there was no sign of light or warmth seeping in from above. He stepped through the bushes, ridding himself of the spiky leaves and blue berries that had attached themselves to him on his way through. He saw Alfred, standing but a few feet away.

"Alfred! Finally I've caught you." Arthur felt slightly out of breath, he began walking forwards but then stopped as a wisp of cool wind shot right through him. He shivered as he watched the trees rustle and whisper among themselves. All of a sudden the sky went black as all of the leaves and trees withered and died. All sounds went dead. Arthur reached his hand out to touch Alfred in a panic, he latched onto his shoulder and turned him around.

He stared at his classmate. Surely he hadn't mistaken the American for his other classmate this whole time?

"Matthew?" Arthur whispered, gasping for breath as if all oxygen had just been pulled out of his body. He held his hand to his mouth as he watched twinkling tears flow down Matthew's face. Arthur took a deep breath in and hesitantly took his other hand off of his classmate's shoulder.

"W-Who made you cry?" He whispered, scared of what the answer might be.

"You."

Arthur's cheeks burned red, his body filled with anger. Had it really taken him until now to realise how upset Matthew would be if he found out about his little game with Alfred?

"I was going to stop.." He trailed off, averting his gaze from Matthew. He couldn't stand to see such a sweet guy cry. "I promise, I will make it up to you. Mark my words." He bent down on one knee and placed his hand over his heart to show his sincerity.

"Save it." Matthew stated coldly. Suddenly the ground started rumbling, it cracked beneath his feet. Gravity pulled chunks of ground downwards into a black pit, Arthur had no where to run as the force got stronger. Matthew waved goodbye as he watched Arthur fall.

Down down down into eternal nothingness.

Arthur jumped, causing him to hit his head on his bed post. His ears were ringing and his heart was beating fast and hard in his chest. He tried to catch his breath as he rubbed his forehead. 'That dream again, hmm?'.


Kiku tapped his fingers on the table as he watched the clock tick to quarter past nine. Suddenly the classroom door swung open. He eyed up his British classmate, huffing and puffing in the doorway. His hair was more shaggy than usual, dark circles were smeared under his eyes and to top it off, he had his shirt on inside out. Kiku sighed as he watched Arthur stumble into the classroom and clumsily sit next to him mumbling 'Sorry I'm late'.

Kiku noticed that Arthur hadn't been working all lesson, and so raised his hand for the teacher.

"Excuse me, Arthur-san is feeling ill so may I escort him to the nurse's office?" he asked politely. The teacher nodded and Kiku ushered for Arthur to follow him out of the door.

Kiku closed the door behind him and stared at Arthur for a moment. "I'm afraid I have to ask. Have you been drinking?" Arthur gave a 'tch' sound before letting out a long sigh.

"Of course I haven't, I'm not that French bastard. I've just been a bit sleep deprived lately." Kiku raised his eyebrow to Arthur "Not like that! God, I wish that were the case. The truth is, I've been having some strange reoccurring dreams." Arthur cracked his neck and stretched his arms out as they continued walking down the corridor.

"What did they involve? I could help you decipher them if you like."

"I think the meaning is pretty obvious." Kiku watched as a look of discomfort spread onto Arthur's face, he noted that Arthur had avoided eye contact with him since the conversation began.

"It involves Alfred and Matthew, doesn't it." Kiku stated calmly with a sigh. Arthur nodded in response. A flush of embarrassment came over him as he thought about how Kiku must've noticed and seen everything that happened at Gilbert's party. He almost froze in place and watched his legs become cardboard as he remembered that Kiku had been standing right next to Alfred, in the kitchen, when he had decided to kiss Matthew. What on earth had he been thinking? He was surprised that Kiku actually wanted to continue talking to him, especially after watching him make a complete ass of himself.

Kiku watched Arthur's awkward limbs and his expression that was now a cross between embarrassed and worried. "We better hurry to the nurse's office." he muttered.

The two classmates turned left past the water fountain until they reached the collection of teacher's offices. They walked further down the corridor to the Nurse's office and Kiku peered in though the window but the nurse seemed to be seeing someone so they took the seats just outside the door.

"I'll be fine you know. I appreciate you trying to be a good friend but we may as well go back to class." Arthur forced a smile to Kiku.

"Well, to be honest with you, I only said that so we could get out of the classroom and have a chat. You also look like you could use some aspirin."

Kiku couldn't have been more spot on, Arthur's head was killing him. He figured that it was because of a combination of tiredness and over-thinking. He nodded to Kiku appreciatively.

"So, would you like to talk about your dream and how it made you feel?" Kiku placed his forefinger and thumb onto his chin and was half tempted to grab his notepad from his bag and take notes like a real psychiatrist.

Arthur grew rigid as he rubbed his hand over the black leather of the armchair. "No thanks. I'm fine." He glanced at Kiku who already had an eyebrow raised "Really, I am. We can just wait to get some aspirin and then go back to class." he added as Kiku nodded.

Arthur had always had problems with conveying his feelings. He didn't like to talk to people about them, he preferred to bottle them up. Sure, every now and again he exploded into little bursts of anger which wasn't great, but at least he wasn't a drama queen like Francis. Arthur supposed this was the one thing that he and Alfred had in common. He had noticed that Alfred wasn't very good at conveying his real feelings, but instead of covering them up with anger he would cover them up with a grin or a joke. This was why, at times, Alfred could be very hard to read.

Arthur was so deep into his thoughts that he hardly noticed the nurse's office door swing open.

"A-Arthur?" Arthur's eyes followed the direction of the small voice until he fixed his eyes on Matthew, standing in the doorway. Arthur was suddenly reminded of his strange dream and so furrowed his brow. He opened his mouth slightly as if to speak, but no words came out. Kiku nodded to Matthew before they traded places, Matthew took his place in the seat next to Arthur whilst Kiku went to get some aspirin from the nurse.

"Hello." Arthur's voice cracked. There was an awkward silence between them for a moment. Matthew took this opportunity to remove his glasses and clean them using the bottom of his shirt. Arthur watched as he did this. Matthew was completely adorable, so why didn't he feel for him? He was so flattered that someone like Matthew felt so strongly about him, which was why it made him sad that he didn't like Matthew at all in that way. Why did he have to have feelings for that American oaf?

"Umm..Arthur?" The Brit snapped out of his thoughts upon hearing his name. He saw Matthew blush and look down at his shoes, which is when he realised he must have been staring at the Canadian the whole time without realising.

"Excuse me." Arthur took a deep breath and then collected himself before standing up out of the chair. He smiled at Matthew before heading to the bathroom.

He went to the toilet even though he didn't need it – he just wanted to get away from Matthew and the uncomfortable atmosphere. He then washed his hands in the sink, assuring to use soap (he wasn't a full out clean freak but he did like hygiene). He glared at his reflection in the mirror and furrowed his brow. He didn't understand how Kiku could be so polite, he really did look awful. Now he knew why Kiku had asked if he had been drinking, it looked as though he had just woken up after a night of heavy partying. Arthur straightened out his tie, but then noticed something sticking out of his shirt, he glanced down at himself and then realised that he had his shirt on inside out. He sighed and began taking off his tie. He really hadn't been thinking this morning, he woke up very late, threw on his clothes and pretty much ran straight out the door. He was pretty sure that no one else was in the bathroom right now, and since classes were still going on he was almost certain no one would be entering, so he unbuttoned his shirt.

It was safe to say that Arthur felt mildly uncomfortable about his body; he always tried his best to get changed as quickly as possible during PE (This also gave him time to have a sneaky look at Alfred once he got ready). His chest wasn't the most muscled or defined but he was certainly not fat in any way. He believed there was a time and a place to be shirtless, that was all. Arthur slipped off his shirt and began pulling the sleeve back through until the door suddenly opened.

Arthur froze as he saw Matthew take a few steps into the bathroom, his eyes darted to Arthur and then he too froze. The Brit watched as his mouth grew agape slightly and his cheeks flushed bright red.

"Uhmm.." Was all Arthur could seem to form as Matthew continued to stare. 'Quick, put your shirt back on you twat!' Arthur quickly tried to pull the arms of the shirt through in order to made the shirt the right way around, but he was panicking and so he couldn't do it properly. In the end he just opted for putting his arms through the sleeves, even though the shirt was still inside out, and holding the font of the shirt together. "Hi, sorry I'll get out of your-"

"I'm so sorry!" Matthew covered his eyes, even though the damage had already been done – he had seen it all.

"That's quite alright. I'm a guy after all, and this is the sort of things guys normally do,isn't it? You know..walking around shirtless and all that." Arthur nervously laughed but stopped as Matthew still looked extremely embarrassed. Arthur noticed that his classmate's breathing was getting heavier, he cocked his head and then saw Matthew drop down onto the floor. Feeling his protective instinct kick in, Arthur dove onto the floor beside Matthew.

"Matthew? Matthew, are you alright?" a moment later he felt Matthew wrap his arms around his bare chest and pull him close. He froze – he was practically on top of Matthew by this point. This was not good.

"Mhmm..I-I'm sorry.." he whispered. Arthur could practically feel heat radiating from him and so he leaned back before placing the back of his hand on Matthew's forehead.

"Oh god. You really ought to head home Matthew, you have a really high temperature." It suddenly made sense why Matthew had gone to the nurse's office – and for a moment Arthur actually thought that Matthew had began stalking him like some obsessed fan girl, he really had to lower his ego.

Matthew nodded and Arthur pulled him up from the floor. He began to head towards the door when Matthew tapped his shoulder, gesturing to his unbuttoned and inside out school shirt. Arthur chuckled nervously before talking the shirt off again and putting it the right way round. He felt a slight blush on his cheeks as he knew Matthew was stood just a few feet away watching him. Matthew wanted to be polite but he just couldn't, he found Arthur so attractive he could hardly look away. Once Arthur finally had his shirt on again he hastily did up the buttons, he was sure that a few of them were probably looped through the wrong holes but at this point he just wanted to get out of the room that smelled like piss.

They both walked back to the nurse's office, Kiku was sat waiting outside. Arthur grew embarrassed – it must've looked so dodgy to see him and Matthew come out of the toilet together, looking in such a state. He was pretty sure that Kiku was already judging him for what went on at Gilbert's party too.

Arthur and Kiku waited for Matthew to get a sick note from the nurse and escorted him to reception so he could hand it in and go home.

Matthew smiled gratefully at Arthur. Not only had Arthur been really kind to him back in the bathroom because he was sick, but now he had an image of Arthur's naked torso glued to the inside of his brain – score!

"You shouldn't have come into school at all today if you were that ill, Matt." Arthur patted Matthew's soft hair, feeling him nod beneath him.

"I know..I just don't like taking days off of school." Arthur smiled, he appreciated a guy who wanted to learn. But what he didn't know was that Matthew would probably have considered staying home if it weren't for Arthur being in some of his classes.

"Good lad. Make sure you get plenty of rest, I could come by after school to check on you if you want?"

"Yes please." The hastiness of Matthew's words caused Arthur to feel anxious. He was just trying to be kind, but was this the sort of thing that friends would do or was he in danger of taking things too far again?

"Great.." Kiku elbowed him as if to signal that he sounded too upset about the whole situation "See you then." He added, trying to sound more perky as he waved Matthew goodbye. Kiku and Arthur watched as Matthew exited the school building and, as soon as he could no longer be seen, he let out a long sigh. Arthur bit his lip, now regretting his words. He needed to talk to Matthew and explain his true feelings, that was the only way to clear his conscience and stop him from having those weird reoccurring dreams. He didn't want to make things worse, and every time he had told himself to confront Matthew so far, things had become more complicated. He refused to dwell on the situation, however, and so he straightened out his now inside-in shirt before turning to Kiku.

He grinned "This will be the perfect opportunity to tell Matthew everything." he placed one hand on his hip and the other on his chin "Now I just have to make sure I don't mess this up. And then I'll be off scot-free, no more strange dreams for me. No sir." Kiku was puzzled by Arthur's sudden upbeatedness, but gave him an encouraging smile nonetheless.