...Been a while... about four months actually. I thought for a while I was dropping this but I've managed to build up my motivation again since exams have ended and results are out. Which means uni in a month or so :)

I'm not sure if people are still reading this... but if you are then I hope you had a good Christmas and Happy New Year! I hope to finish this story in maybe... five chapters? I can't believe it's been a year since I started it...

Thanks for the support!

Matilda, Francis, Mathew and Jean hid under a table in their French classroom after the siren had alerted them of the drill taking place. Mathew was sitting with his legs directly in front of him but had managed to seat himself without assistance, which he was rather proud of.

"Well… this is great." Matilda sighed, she had hoped to get a chance to speak with Alfred today since he hadn't returned last night… again. Enough was enough.

"C'est pas mal (It's not bad)." Francis said, he was indifferent to drills finding he had nothing better to do and was actually rather amused by their methods of hiding. Obviously if someone dangerous broke into the school, hiding under the desks would save them. "Besides, I get to spend time wiz my favourite people."

Tilly leant her weight against Mathew who hesitated before putting an arm around her and patted her shoulder awkwardly. The French teen watched them curiously then a small smirk tugged on his lips, one of those ones that promised nothing good to come out of the situation. "Ze two of you look so cute togezer." He cooed bringing a hand over his mouth to snicker at them.

The class room was humming with murmurs from their classmates, just at that awkward level where no one would speak loudly enough to be heard by anyone outside of their friendship circle. "That's because Alfred and I look so similar." Mathew said with a small smile while Matilda shot Francis a glare that just dared him to say anything else about them.

"But Alfred will not sit still long enough for me to look at 'im and Matilda. I sink zat ze two of you look very sweet right now." He met Matilda's glare with a smug look while Jean sat back against the leg of her desk, feigning a look of understanding while in actual fact she couldn't follow if she tried.

"Francis… tais-toi." She said with an irritated sigh and placed her head in her hands hoping that the drill would end quickly. Because no matter how much time she spent with the Frenchman it just wasn't enough to forgive him for leading her on, even if he never meant to break her heart. He looked at her confused and then to Matilda who was still leaning on her crush in a manner almost betraying her feelings. He opened his mouth to further provoke the two into some sort of confession when the door slammed open and the intruder shouted.

"HERE'S MATTY!*"

The room filled with screams at the loud noise… but more by the fact that the man that had burst through the door was none other than the infamous Danish P.E teacher Mr Kohler and in his hand was a giant battle axe. "YOU!" He shouted with his trademark maniacal grin, pointing at a girl who had crawled out from the cramped underside of the desk after realising that there was a small mountain of gum beneath it. She jumped when the teacher yelled at her, hyperventilating at the sight of the weapon and Mdme. La bouche stood from beneath her desk.

"Mathias! What do you think you're doing? This is not appropriate!" She scolded him in flawless English, wagging her finger for added affect. The entire class was silent, Jean had almost jumped into Francis's lap and was quivering against him after being startled and the French teen was unable to peel his gaze away from the Danish man, hairs still standing on end.

"I'm teaching these kids valuable life lessons!" He laughed obnoxiously without even noticing the dark, looming figure behind him until the string from the whistle that hung around his neck was grabbed and yanked back, choking the man. He clawed at it but it was a futile effort as the string was almost embedded in his skin.

Lukas Bondevik stood behind him with a small scowl on his usually blank face. "So annoying…" He said softly but may as well have screamed it in the silent room as the entire class heard the comment. "They shouldn't put you on drills, you're too loud."

As a whole, it was universally accepted that their school was full of psychopaths; however, Mathias Kohler and Lukas Bondevik took the cake in their abusive behaviours. The French teacher gave the Norwegian an alarmed look and shouted at him to stop! "That is not appropriate!" She yelled although this wasn't the first time she had witnessed this sort of violence from him… it was probably the reason why Mathias didn't wear ties anymore…

Mathew, who had remained quiet and rather unaffected by the outburst looked down at his hand which at some point Matilda had grabbed onto, and then back up at her. She was staring at the teachers with a more amused look than she had adorned in days. When he managed to tare his gaze from her he once again witnessed the French teacher's shouting at Lukas who had finally released the crumpled heap on the floor that was his Physical Education teacher.

He had dropped his axe during the ordeal but apparently found the situation hilarious as he was actually laughing. Although, it was a well-established fact by now that Mathias Kohler was an idiot.

And the drill continued.

If it wasn't for the fact that Alfred and Arthur both had a free period during their last class they may have both been driven insane- or honestly, they would have skipped it anyway. The car ride home was silent initially, until the American began whistling a tune that vaguely resembled 'Viva la Vida'. "Alfred."

"Hm?"

"Shut up."

"Make me." He shot right back, whistling becoming equally louder and more obnoxious. Arthur jabbed him in the side with his elbow half-heartedly, holding back only because he didn't really feel like being the cause of a major accident. Not that Alfred wouldn't deserve it.

"Put the radio on or something."

"Aww, but I'm havin' so much fun talkin' to you."

"Christ… you're annoying. I would pay you to shut that big mouth of yours for an hour."

"Maybe you'll like my 'big mouth' better when I'm putting it to alternative uses."

The Brit was about to snap at him that there were absolutely no good uses for that mouth of his when it dawned on him what it meant. And he was genuinely surprised that his mind was that far out of the gutter that he didn't pick up on it instantly. "Sod off."

The rest of the car ride home consisted of jabs at Arthur's heritage and vocabulary, earning a smack to the back of his head when he finally pulled up in the Brit's garage.

"Hey! You know Kohler's getting sacked?" The younger boy asked with a grin despite the hit to his head which admittedly hurt.

"Who's that?"

"Oh… the guy Francis was talkin' about at lunch, the one that came in with the axe."

"I'd be surprised if he stayed after that. What a moron."

"Yeah, the guy's a dick head, but I really liked him. He said next year he'd take me and Gil drinking 'cause we're both so awesome."

"Well... I hope you don't come home axed to death."

"Nice…"

Antonio sat in the car next to Lovino with a childish grin plastered to his face, irritating the teacher more and more as they sped to his house. "Hey! Stupid! What's with the smirk?"

"How can I not be happy? I'm finally getting to see my Lovi's house~!" He swooned with a happy sigh then laughed, head filling with different pictures of what his room could look like.

"It's just an apartment."

"It's the best apartment in the world because it's yours."

"Your brain's scrambled." He muttered, flushing all the same at the simple compliment and turning the radio on as if that could hide the slight embarrassment.

And really the Italian's apartment couldn't have been less remarkable, not that Antonio seemed to notice. The minute he was allowed in he began taking in every painting on the walls and noting where rooms were. "Lovi! Lovi! Give me a tour!" He demanded, tone chipper as always and the other groaned, but who could say no to that face?

"Fine." He muttered, although he was secretly amused by his lover's reactions to the most simple of things. "Bathroom." He swung the door to his left open but didn't enter or say anything else on the matter. "Living room." He pointed down the short hallway. "Kitchen." He gestured further back to where a semi-wall divided the living room from his small cooking area. "Office." He walked back a few steps and unlocked a room which could only be described as organised chaos and was about the size of a small laundry room. "My room." Of course Lovino had saved the best for last, the room was considerably larger than his office with a walk in wardrobe and Queen sized bed which he'd made this morning.

Antonio loitered behind in each room, looking at the furniture and walls with stars in his eyes but the bedroom took his breath away. "Your house is amazing! You've decorated it so well! I love it!" He gushed, grabbing onto his boyfriend's hand in his excitement.

Normally the Italian man would try to pull his hand back or complain but being in a relaxed environment where they wouldn't be caught made him feel much more at ease, so he slipped his thumb around the back of his hand and squeezed his palm. "I'm just making lasagne for dinner, don't get too excited."

"You're making me dinner?" He half yelled in both shock and awe, never expecting the man to ever cook for him. Ever.

"Don't yell or I won't." The other ripped his hand back and stalked towards the kitchen flushing. "Just… sit and watch tv while I make it."

Antonio grinned and latched onto his arm, almost tripping the poor teacher. "I want to help you make it!"

Lovino opened his mouth to argue but found that looking at the Spaniard's glowing face, he just didn't have the heart to. "Fine. But don't cut yourself."

And as it turned out, Antonio was the superior cook, explaining that after his mother walked out that he took up most of the chores in their house and make jokes about how he could be the perfect house wife… Subtle hints. They ate dinner without argument, the student constantly showering his lover in compliments who passed off what ordinary thing Toni thought was extraordinary… was in fact ordinary.

"Do you want me to drive you home soon?" Lovino asked after a small squabble over who would clear whose plates. They stood back to back, washing up with both a full stomach and nervous flushes.

"…I guess." He gave a small laugh which was far from genuine.

Looking back, Lovino scowled at him, noting the way Antonio was hunched over, incredibly bad at hiding his feelings. "Oi, don't sulk, it pisses me off." He said without much bite, nudging the back of his knee with his foot. "What's wrong?"

"Uhh… well." He turned to him with a more optimistic expression. "Can I… just stay here?"

"For an hour?"

"…The night?"

The Italian man grit his teeth then shook his head. "Don't be stupid, you've got to go home."

"Why?"

"Because…"

"Because, why?" He pestered.

"Look. You're not staying here tonight. Okay?" He snapped and Toni looked down, head turning away so that he could focus on the spud filled water which was so hot it left his skin charred when he washed the dished.

"Okay… sorry."

Lovino was far from lacking a conscience and even the tone of his lover's voice made him want to smack his forehead were it not covered in tomato and cheese from clearing. "Hey." He said motioning to the gloved sitting on the counter mere feet away when Tonio was looking at him. "Use those, you're gonna hurt yourself."

The car ride was fairly awkward, save for Antonio giving directions and making small comments about shops he liked when they passed by. When it came time for him to hop out he hesitated, looking in the drive way as if his dad's car wouldn't be parked there and he could give the Italian man a chance to see his home. No such luck.

"Thanks for having me Lovi, I had fun." And it had been, up until the end.

He shrugged and brought a hand to the top of Tonio's head, ruffling his hair. "It's what lover's do, right? We can do it again if you want."

"Really?" He asked quickly, as if he wasn't expecting another invitation.

"Sure… and maybe… maybe." He repeated the word for emphasis. "Later on, you can stay the night."

Antonio stared at him for a moment, watching the flush grow on Lovino's cheeks then leant across and pecked his lips lightly. "Whatever you want to do Lovi~." They said parting words and with another kiss the Italian left, arriving home at midnight and cursing the Spaniard for keeping him up so late as if it were entirely his fault. As he got out of the car he noticed a clear bottle with red pills inside which looked as though they were prescription. Curiously, he pulled the bottle from the seat and flipped it in his hand, knowing that it belonged to Antonio without a doubt since he'd just been seated in the exact spot.

When he read the prescription he scowled… Why on earth was Antonio taking antidepressants?

Mathias pouted in the chair across from Lukas who was waiting for some sort of apology for his earlier actions.

"It was a joke." He insisted. "Kids take things too seriously."

"…"

"Hey, don't give me that look."

"It wasn't funny. You're so annoying and you're lucky you didn't lose your job. What were you thinking? Idiot."

"Oh come on, no one would lose their job over that."

Lukas' expression remained neutral as he whacked the back of his head. "Anyone would lose their job. The only reason you get to stay is because, and God knows why, you're the only Justice of the Peace in the school. That, and they don't have the funding to hire real camp instructors for the kids and you're the only one stupid enough to have spent months at a time wrestling bears in the middle of nowhere. You. Were. Lucky. Anyone else would be gone." Mathias was considerably far back, having leant away with each word Lukas spat at him with accumulating volume. Although honestly, that was probably the most ever that the Dane had heard the history teacher say in one go.

"Alright, alright." He rested his head in his hand, staring at the Norwegian with a small smile then laughed. "I didn't fight bears."

"…"

"Just camped a lot with the family and Lars. Last summer me and Lars biked up in Arizona and camped for a week on-."

"I don't care." Lukas stood up quickly and walked to the back of the teacher's staff room to poor himself another cup of coffee. Mathias shut his mouth and looked down, always a little hurt when he was cut off like that by his 'friend' who often seemed like he didn't care at all about him.

"Right… Well I'm goin' camping with him again this break. So… yeah, I may not have my phone."

The Norwegian didn't turn from his position, staring out the window over the bland suburban area. "Why don't you just go marry him instead of talking about him every minute of the day." He snapped, turning to him with a snarl on his face. "I don't give a fuck what you and Lars do."

And it was Mathias' turn now to fall silent in shock, only raising his voice after a moment of collecting his thoughts. "What's your problem?"

"You."

"What'd I do?"

"You… you're an idiot." He decided, choosing his words carefully then dumped his coffee into the sink and left, ignoring his friend when he called after him.

It seemed to Scott as though Alfred had simply moved in and was now a part of the family. He even made breakfast some mornings and clearly had little to no intention of going home. At lunch time, he dragged Arthur off to the roof of the library or into the building itself so that the two of them could be alone together and made it perfectly clear to the entire school that he was avoiding Matilda by the way he would swerve in a different direction when he saw her coming. In the classes they shared he would try to not sit next to her and if he did then he would steer clear of any requests she made to talk to him after class and blew he off when she asked when he would come home.

He'd dumped her without so much as a text message.

Nasty rumours about him spread, much to Ivan's amusement who watched him carefully, following the Brit around like a puppy. He knew that if Alfred continued on this path he would lose admirers and potentially divide his group who would feel the need to pick sides. What Ivan hadn't expected was the buddings of friendship that sprouted Wednesday the next week.

It was like something out of a movie, Alfred was weaving through the hallways to history with headphones on his ears so that anyone standing close by could hear the music blasting. Yao was coming in the opposite direction, three folders in hand as he had been asked to give one to Mr Vargas by his brother while the other two were his own.

Just as "Small things" by Blink 182 reached it's climax and he began to mouth it out loud to Arthur. "Nahnahnahnahnahnahnah NAHNAH!" He threw his arms up with a laugh, making the Brit jump and scowl, but Alfred was probably more shocked as he hand managed to knock the folders from Yao's hands perfectly so that the thick spines snapped and the papers scattered. The three just stood there staring, not believing what just happened and Alfred turned his music off and pulled his soundproof headphones so that they rested around his neck. "Dude… I'm so sorry!"

"Watch where you're going- aru!"He snapped, dropping to his knees to move the undamaged folders to the side and tended to the broken one.

Arthur jabbed the American and offered him a haughty look that showed both disappointment but that he expected nothing less, then motioned to the papers with his head. Alfred took only a second to catch on and dropped down to help him pick the papers up. "I know man… Sorry." He said, shuffling the piles neatly together to thread them back through the clasps on the folders.

"I'll tell Mr. Vargas what happened." Arthur walked by them without offering to help, although his actual offer was probably of much more use.

"Whoa… so many papers in here." He laughed, flipping through them, it looked like an art portfolio of ancient cities. Lovino had asked to borrow it from his brother's class whose ninth graders sketched them in their final semester, so that he could show his class the ruins from Pompeii.

"Stop wasting time. It's your fault."

"Geez. I said I was sorry. What else do you want?"

"Nothing. Just go, I don't need your help." Alfred pouted but shut his mouth, continuing silently to thread papers through. "What are you doing-aru. I said st-."

"It's faster with two people. Besides, I dunno if I've ever spoken to you before. Alfred Jones." He held out his hand and Yao looked at it as if his skin had just turned bright green.

"I know who you are." He said incredulously and of course Alfred knew exactly who he was. "And I'd like it if you didn't talk to me."

"Why? Ivan didn't care when Kiku started hanging around you guys."

"That's different."

"But it's still about that Russian son of a bitch."

"Don't." He snapped, slamming the half repaired folder closed. "Don't ever talk about him like that-aru."

"Chill man. Kiku said you were a pretty great dude, thought I'd give you a chance… but whatever." He shrugged, not having expected too much from the confrontation to begin with.

Yao gave him a dirty look which faded a little as his childhood friend was brought up, and really he thought that was foul play. They weren't meant to get along. "Hey." He called Alfred's attention. "Did you and Ivan used to date- aru?"

The American tensed then looked back, startled that Yao even needed to ask him that. Of course, the school never saw them as more than friends, but surely Ivan's current boyfriend would have known. "What? He didn't tell you?"

"No…"

"Oi! Get in here now!" Romano Vargas shouted from the door. "Don't sit around talking! Detention! Both of you!"

…Of course.

*Reference to Stephen King's 'The Shinning' where the insane character breaks through the door with an axe shouting "Here's Johnny!" – Yeah I've never watched this movie or read the book but pretty much everyone has done some sort of parody, right?