The next morning Arthur woke up aching all over. He rolled himself out of bed and crawled over to turn off his alarm. It took every ounce of effort he had to pull on some clothes and make his way down stairs.

He reached the kitchen and slumped down on a chair, cradling a warm mug of tea - black with honey and lemon.

"You, err, don't look so good." Alfred chipped in noisily whilst eating a pop tart for breakfast.

Arthur knew he looked about as 'good' as a microwaveable omelette. His eyes were red and puffy and his skin taken on a sallow, waxy tone. Choosing to ignore Alfred he sipped his tea. The warmth of the liquid brought a bit of life back into his throat.

The topic of last night clung to the tips of their tongues but remained unmentioned.

By the time Arthur had arrived home Alfred had fallen asleep on the settee. It had relieved him to not have to explain himself, he wasn't even sure how he could.

Sorry, I just had a minor mental break down and needed to bugger-off for some self deprecation and snogging, just didn't have the right ring to it.

From across the kitchen table Alfred could see Arthur muttering to himself inaudibly. As angry as he was with him, he couldn't bring himself to say anything to Arthur. Not in the state he was in.

How couldn't admit to himself that he knew his brother was at the edge of some kind of breaking point. Their Dad hadn't noticed, otherwise Alfred was sure he wouldn't have been put in this position. It didn't feel fair. To either of them. Weren't adults supposed to step in and fix these things?

"So, err, were you with Gilbert then?" Arthur looked at him bewildered. "I mean you said you were hanging out with a friend."

"Right, yes. No someone else."

"Who?"

"Err," it was an innocent enough question, yet Arthur's face was more flushed that a freshman swirly, "I don't think you'll know them."

"Oh, so like, what did you do?"

"N-nothing really."

"Oh, cool…" At this point he felt he was almost literally backing Arthur into a corner.

They were only skirting around the issue, both of them could feel it hanging over them like a noose.

Awkwardly slipping out of his chair Alfred grabbed his bag. Maybe it was a little early to go to school, but he couldn't face the tension at the breakfast table any longer.

"Um, I'll see you later? I'm going in early to meet Tony."

"Oh, right. Well, Bye"

Arthur called after him, even though the kid was already practically out of the door. He let out sigh of relief. Without even saying much he had started to feel nauseous thinking about the previous night.

By the time he finished his tea and made himself slightly more presentable for school he realised he was going to be late.

"You're looking pretty unawesome this morning."

"Oh really? I feel absolutely fan-fucking-tastic" Arthur rolled his eyes that last thing he needed right now was an obnoxious arse badgering him. Thankfully Professor Wang seemed to be too busy talking about Chinese involvement in WW2 to notice the lack of attention being paid to his class.

"Ja, fantastically crap. What happened to y-" he was cut of by a wheezing cough from Arthur.

"Fucking frog germs…" he mumbled under his breath, although apparently not quiet enough for Gilbert not not hear.

"Frog? Have you seen Francis?" Gilbert looked puzzled.

Arthur mind flashed back to the front seat of Francis's car. The smell of rain and leather seats, the Frenchman's cologne adding a hint of lilac. The taste of salty tears and saliva as their lips touched.

"Ah, yeah. I saw him last night…"

"Ach, He was going to meet me and Toni and never showed up!" Arthur raised a large eyebrow to this, "We did invite you, you just never check your phone."

"Sure," Actually, it was pretty true he hated these devices.

"Ja, so what happened with you and Francis?"

In an attempt to ignore Gilbert, Arthur stuck his hand up in the air attracting the attention of Professor Wang.

"Yes, Arthur? Can you tell us the common name of geopolitical tensions between allied forces after the Second World War that contributed to a lack of acknowledgement for Chinese contributions in the war effort? Aru."

Shit, should have been paying more attention. "I, err, sorry Professor, I don't know."

Several students seated ahead of him snickered, apparently that was an easy question. Judging by his teachers exasperated expression, like a man having to deal with an idiotic younger sibling, he had been far more aware of their lack of attention that he let on.

"The answer would The Cold War. Perhaps you and your friend Gilbert would like to come back during lunch to catch up on this?"

"Yes sir," they chimed, with the aid of a sharp kick to Gilbert's shins.

Scuffing his shoes lightly against the linoleum tiled floor Arthur stood outside Professor Wang's classroom. No sign of Gilbert yet, but he half expected him to not show at all.

He paused the door ajar, to hear Wang beckon him inside. As he let the door slide shut a pale head of hair could be seen darting down the corridor at high speed. Panting, he joined Arthur in the classroom.

"Today has not been the first time I have see you talking over my classes, that and I can see you both have made a record of skipping lessons and tardiness. Do you want me to have to call your parents in?"

Shrugging, Gilbert pulled a face that seemed to read something akin to 'it's not like they'd care'. Arthur bit his lip, hoping this wouldn't make it back to his Father. There was no need to bother the man with his well being anymore than necessary.

"My Father is out of town at the moment."

Red eyes lit up at the statement, Professor Wang pretended to ignore him and continued, "That may be the case, aru, but I can still contact him and set up a meeting. Is that what you really want?"

"No," he grumbled bitterly.

"Good. Then I'll leave this as just a warning. Next time you will have a detention. I hope to see your papers on the Second World War achieve no less than a B grade."

With a renewed sense of enthusiasm Gilbert used his hand to forcefully nod his and Arthur's head in unison. Quickly shuffling them both out of the classroom.

Once they were clear of the hallways, stood in the grey shade of the buildings exterior he turned, grinning to face him. "Eyebrows, why did you not say your parents are out of town?"

"Obviously because I don't want you and your idiocy to wreck my house." Arthur almost wanted to roll his eyes at his friends eager expression.

"Nein! My awesomeness needs to check your place out. Besides you still owe me. I've never been to your place."

"No."

"Ja. I'll only invite Toni and Frani since they're in town."

"Then, it's definitely no. Besides I want to go get some lunch."

The albinos arm stretched past him, eyes pleading. "Bitte."

"Still, no."

"I'll let you go if you agree?"

"Fine. But no Francis or Antonio."

He pushed his way past, heading to the depressing canteen, Gilbert followed still arguing.

"Gott Eyebrows. You can't just invite me."

As much as he tried to ignore it, the incessant whining was wearing him down. Sighing as he entered the que to fetch yet another depressingly bad canteen meal, tater tots and some kind of unidentifiable meat claiming to be beef.

"Come on Arthur, you know you'd have an awesome time!"

"Fine," after all what was the worst that could happen? "Absolutely no alcohol though. None."

AN: I can't believe I'm at chapter 14 already! Please let me know what you think so far, I feel like within the next few chapters I'll be wrapping the story up though I won't reveal how. Thank you for your support, feel free to share any suggestions, criticism (especially after I've made so many changes).