Author's notes: Warning: There is some mentions of self harm later on in the chapter.

I tried my best to catch spelling and grammar mistakes but I probably didn't catch everything. I Apologize in advance if you catch a mistake.

Alfred hummed to himself as he sat at his computer and typed away, the usual dull and boring mood of his work not affecting him today. This was due to the fact that all he could think about was meeting up with Arthur later.

He smiled to himself as he went over his plan again for at least the hundredth time this morning. First he would stop by and get some flowers. Are roses a bit too much? It was only their second meeting but Alfred wanted to make up for their first awkward and confusing encounter. Should I also get chocolates? Okay now that might be going too far…

Alfred couldn't help but smile wider at his silly thoughts. He glanced at the clock and noticed that he only had a little more time before he could leave for the day and prepare for his date. This could count as our first date right?

Before he could continue to let his daydreaming get out of hand about the possible scenarios with his upcoming meeting with Arthur, his computer let out a ding noise as he got a notification. Alfred turned to look at the notification at the bottom right of his screen and his smile fell from his face. It was a meeting invite from his father, with the time set to happen in the next five minutes.

A sigh escaped his lips as he stared at the meeting invite. His father most likely wanted to talk about the events that happened the other day. He was tipped off from Ivan no doubt. Alfred tapped his fingers against the keys on his keyboard anxiously, debating on accepting the meeting or not. Figuring that not accepting the meeting would cause more trouble for him later on, Alfred finally accepted the invitation and got up from his desk to head over to his father's office.

He only had to take a short trip to the other side of the engineering area before he was outside his father's office. He let his eyes glance over at the shiny metal name plate that was mounted on the wall next to the door which displayed his father's name 'Allen Jones' in bold black font. Just looking at his father's name was starting to make his mood turn sour.

Alfred's father was considered one of the brightest engineer's that SoulTech had ever hired, hence why he was given the title of chief lead engineer. His research on genetic coding, and improvements with the watches had given him a lot of fame and praise from both inside the company and out. There was a lot to live up to with being his son and Alfred constantly felt like he was never good enough. It didn't help that his father would always criticize him for just about everything.

That was one of the first things that Alfred had learned to dislike about his father as he grew up. He was always correcting everything Alfred would say, do, eat, or even enjoy as hobbies. It was like Alfred was never fitting into the perfect son that he was supposed to be. And it wasn't like Alfred didn't try, he was always trying to do things the correct way, or say the right things but he always ended up getting disappointing looks, or sighs from his father instead of the smile and praise that he desperately wanted. It was because of this that Alfred started to grow a little rebellious and would sometimes purposely make his father angry or upset. He was already a disappointment right? So what harm would it do to just act like his father already thought of him?

Alfred could feel his mood getting worse as he mulled over these thoughts. He didn't want to be this way for the rest of the day so he decided that he wanted to get this meeting over with as soon as possible. He took a big breath before he plastered a big smile on his face and opened the office door.

"Hey pops, you wanted to see me?" His voice came out in a loud, cheerful tone.

"It's Mr. Jones while at work. And yes, take a seat."

Allen Jones looked much like his son. He and Alfred shared a lot of the same facial features, and their eyes were the same shade of blue. However his father's eyes were not covered behind glasses. Alfred's near-sightedness was a defect he had inherited from his mother as his father commonly told him. His father's neat, short hair was one of the only striking differences between their appearance. It was a darker shade closer to brown with wisps of silver shining through and displaying his age.

The other main difference was between their personalities. Where Alfred tended to be cheerful, energetic and talkative, his father was mostly stoic, stern and quiet. This drastic difference could cause quite the stir especially amongst his father's co-workers and despite his best efforts to behave more professionally, Alfred was usually not allowed to attend meetings side by side with his father anymore, at least not until he could be less embarrassing.

A quick glance around the office showed that it was lacking any kind of personal touch. The white walls only displayed hologram images of awards or honors that his father had received. There were no family pictures, or interesting nick-knacks or ornaments that Alfred had seen in other office spaces. His father's office always made him feel sad and a little unwelcomed.

Trying to keep the smile on his face, Alfred quietly closed the office door behind him and took a seat at one of the chairs in front of his father's desk. He hated having to sit like this, it felt more like he was coming into an integration rather than a professional meeting. Well actually, that was probably exactly what this would be unfortunately.

"I wanted to talk to you about how the interview went the other day." Allen Jones looked at Alfred calmly with his hands folded together neatly in front of him resting on the dark wooden desk. "Mr. Braginksi has informed me that it didn't go well."

Of course Ivan couldn't keep his mouth shut. I bet he is in his office right now laughing his ass off about this. Alfred clenched his fists in frustration. He took in a breath to help keep calm before he addressed his father.

"And what, are you just going to believe everything he says?"

"Mr. Braginski is one of our best engineers. He has shown remarkable skill and dedication to his work and gives me no reason to distrust him." His father responded before leaning in closer. "And being honest Alfred, it is not unlike you to mess something up."

There it was, the same disappointing look and criticism that he would always receive. Alfred hated that it still affected him. He let his smile fall from his face and couldn't help but look at the floor.

"I don't know what Ivan told you, but I didn't mess anything up. There was just a misunderstanding and-"

"A misunderstanding that ended up with this reporter being found in the lab?" Allen cut him off with his voice going from calm disappointment to anger. "You know guests are supposed to be escorted at all times. How could you let him roam free? You're lucky that our security was tracking his every move, and didn't cause a scene."

"Hey I didn't really have a chance to stop him! I didn't even know he was heading towards the lab. I was distracted because-" Alfred stopped himself. He was actually unsure if he wanted to share the information about Arthur being his soulmate, at least not yet. He knew it would only raise more questions and more criticism that he didn't think he could take at the moment.

"That's the problem. You're always distracted!" Allen's calm demeanor was starting to fade as he threw a hand up in frustration. "You can never seem to focus on any one task. Distractions cause mistakes and failures Alfred. And now look at what's happened. It wouldn't surprise me if this entire thing caused bad publicity." He let out a sigh and rubbed at his forehead. "I'm going to have to get our marketing and legal department to contact his work and ensure that nothing comes out of this…"

"No!" Alfred panicked and shouted. He didn't want his father causing Arthur any unnecessary stress. He could only imagine what this would do for the other's career and he also didn't want any other excuse for Arthur to dislike him especially before they had a proper introduction. "I mean, uh, there is no need for that. I have already made arrangements to sort things out."

"You did?" His father gave him a very skeptical look. "What is your plan exactly?"

"I'm actually going to go meet Arthur, uh the reporter today. I figured I could clear things up about the interview and either finish it-"

"No." His father held up a hand to stop him. "I don't want you to do any interviews, alone at least. Not after the disaster yesterday."

"Okay…" Alfred bit his lip nervously. "Well, I can still go and apologize for everything and ensure that he doesn't write anything bad about the company." He tried his best to sound confident and not unsure like how he currently felt.

"Hmmm…" Allen stared at Alfred for a long moment, as if he was watching and waiting for Alfred's composer to crack. After what felt like minutes, his father finally looked away and sighed. "Fine. It would be good of you to save face for the company anyway. I'm actually a little impressed that you thought to do so."

Wait, is that a complement? Or an Insult?

"Regardless, I have ways to ensure that nothing bad will come of this." His father then turned towards his computer and started to type away at his keyboard. "I can take care of any bad publicity this would cause, you should focus on maintaining the company's reputation."

"Right, reputation. Gotcha." Alfred nodded and started to bounce his leg in nervous agitation. "Well if that is it, I better be on my way…" He trailed off hoping he could leave this tense meeting.

"Before you leave, I would like to know more about this distraction of yours." Allen typed for a few more minutes before he glanced back at Alfred expectantly.

"Oh uh…" Alfred suddenly felt put on the spot. How should he answer this? He didn't want to give too much information about Arthur being his soulmate to his father just yet, but he also knew he couldn't hide that information for too long considering his own information was in the database and-

"I know it was your soulmate. You don't have to be embarrassed about that Alfred. What you should be embarrassed by is how you handled the situation with that reporter." His father's voice broke through his mess of thoughts causing Alfred to gape in response, with the sound of his heart beating in his ears.

"Wait, you know?"

"Of course I know. I saw in the system when your watch was going to go off. I'm a little impressed that you matched with someone who works at the company. So who was it? I know they have blonde hair at least based on your preferences. You inherited that from me."

If Alfred had been talking to anyone that was not his father, he would have assumed the other was making a joke and laugh but his father recited all of this with a very serious expression.

"Oh well… uhm, yeah they are blonde." He looked away with his cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. He should have known his dad would have looked at his preferences from the database.

"I'll just pull everything up from the system. I would like to have a meeting with your soulmate to ensure a few things."

"No wait!" Alfred quickly stood up and put his arms out in front of his father's hands to prevent him from typing. "There is no need for that, I can just let them know later? Come on dad-Mr. Jones. It's only been a day since we met and I really just want to have some time for us to both process everything… if that's okay?"

His father gave him a questioning look before frowning at him. "I assume that meeting didn't go well either then?"

"Hey I didn't say that!"

"Very well." His father turned away from the computer and faced Alfred once more. "I will refrain from looking anything up for now. But please inform your soulmate that I would like to have a meeting with them at their earliest convenience."

"Yup. Sure thing."

The two sat in silence for a few more moments, which caused Alfred to get more antsy. He wished his father would stop staring at him for a few seconds so he could at least fidget or something.

"Alfred," His father suddenly addressing him again caused him to jump. "Don't worry about things not working out. Do you remember what I've always told you?"

"Yeah… don't worry about things not working out, because we make them work."

"Exactly. You may leave now Alfred." His father dismissed him before turning back towards his keyboard and typing away.

Alfred gave a quick nod before he got up and exited the office. He made his way back to his own office area where he immediately collapsed onto his chair and let out a big sigh. Meetings with his father were always stressful but that one seemed to be one of the worst ones yet. And he was unsure about his father's parting words, was he trying to give him advice or motivation? He was honestly unsure. His thoughts and feelings surrounding his father were always confusing.

He let his thoughts run for a little before he glanced at the time displayed on his computer and was happy to note that it was now close to noon, which meant that he could leave for the day to prepare for his meeting with Arthur. The thought of meeting Arthur again brought a small smile to his face.

"Yeah, that's a better mood improvement. Thanks Artie." Alfred chucked at his own antics. He then used his computer to bring up Arthur's information from the secret folder on his desktop and glanced at the other's current location. He was impressed to see that Arthur was still at his apartment. He had assumed that he would have to meet him after work or something.

He then glanced closer at the profile and noticed that there was some messaging about nerve pain sensors going off in the head area. That caused Alfred to worry slightly, he hoped that Arthur wasn't sick. That wouldn't be a great start to a second meeting…

Okay so flowers and some pain medicine... Alfred made a shopping list in his head as he wrote down Arthur's address on his phone. It was only a short train ride away which only added more spark to his excitement.

"Okay one last thing to do…" He mumbled to himself as he finished looking up the needed information from Arthur's profile. He pulled up the watch database and quickly typed in his own name bringing up his own information.

He was met with a profile picture of his own face looking back at him. It was a little unnerving to be looking at his own watch profile. He had never had a reason or thought to do so and couldn't help but glance at his soulmate status. He skimmed and saw the words 'infatuation stage' and he couldn't help the blush rise to his cheeks.

Alfred held his face in his hands and let out a groan. "Ugh why am I even embarrassed by this? I knew it would say something like that but still… Okay come on focus!" He then forced himself to get back to his task at hand, which was extracting his profile from the database and hiding it on his desktop alongside Arthur's. Having his profile out of the database would ensure to keep his father from digging up any information too soon.

Once he was sure that his profile had been completely extracted from the database system Alfred closed out all his programs and turned off his computer. He got up from his seat and gave his body a good stretch before he headed out of the engineering offices with a spring in his step and humming a happy tune.

It didn't take Alfred long to leave his work and purchase the pain medication from one of the general stores down the street. However, it did take him quite a while to choose the right type of flowers. The flower shop employee kept recommending the red roses, but his mind kept throwing doubts.

I don't want to come on too strong… and also aren't roses a little cliché? But isn't the fact that something is cliché means that it's popular and people like them?

Alfred's thoughts continued like this for about an hour. When he realized how much time had passed he finally decided to go with a bouquet of pink carnations, which caused the flower shop employee to sigh in relief.

Once his flowers were all tied together and wrapped up in some matching fancy paper, Alfred made his way to the nearest hover train station and took the next train that would lead him to Arthur's apartment.

For the short train ride, Alfred felt the familiar nervousness and excitement that he had felt the day prior to meeting his soulmate. It really was like they were going to start over and meet for the first time. He took out his phone and began checking and re-checking his appearance with the front facing camera.

"First impressions count, but last impressions are forever…" He mumbled the words of advice he had read from the 'Ask Alice' blog with Bella the other day. He needed to make sure that this next impression with Arthur went great, or else… well he didn't want to think about the 'or else' part right now.

Thankfully he didn't have too long to stew on those negative thoughts, as the hover train quickly pulled to a stop at the next station and he was on his feet walking around and looking for Arthur's apartment from the address he had written down earlier.

Once he found the specific building, Alfred was intrigued to see that it looked rather retro or low-tech compared to other apartments he had seen in the area. Perhaps that was the selling point of this specific complex? Or maybe Arthur just preferred that style? Oh this could be a good conversation starter! He smiled to himself before he entered the building and took the elevator up to the 4th floor.

As soon as he was on the 4th floor Alfred made his way down the hallway and started to scan the apartment numbers. "400, 401, 402, 403…. 404!" He found Arthur's door and stopped right in front of it. He could feel his heart beating in his chest quickly, and his palms were starting to get sweaty from his nerves.

"Whew okay…. Uh... shit." Alfred could feel his confidence starting to fade. He had finally made his way to Arthur's apartment, but what was he going to say? He honestly hadn't planned that far and now he was nervous of messing things up for a second time. Okay what about practicing introductions? Why didn't he do that earlier?!

Alfred started to pace around outside the door and practiced some greetings rather quickly. "'Good afternoon Mr. Kirkland'. Hmmm no. No, that's too formal… Okay what about 'Hey Arthur, it's me you're soulmate!' Is that too forward?"

After pacing and practicing for a few minutes to calm his nerves Alfred felt more prepared and had finally willed up the nerve to actually knock on the door to greet Arthur.

"Last impressions… Last impressions and make things work." He gave himself a final pep talk before he put a big smile on his face and knocked on the door.

When Arthur woke up it was to an intense headache, one where he thought his eyes were going to be forced out of his skull from the pounding pressure. He let out a groan and closed his eyes again hoping to just go back to sleep. After a few minutes of him laying there and sleep not taking him, he let out a frustrated huff and decided to get up.

When Arthur pulled back the covers he noticed that he was wearing his big, plaid green pajama bottoms paired with his dress shirt he had worn the day before. He scrunched up his nose at his own drunken antics. "Great work lad. Look at all the wrinkles you caused, and on one of your nicer shirts too."

After pushing himself up on the bed Arthur reached over to his nightstand and picked up his phone, which he glanced at and was not at all surprised to see the many notifications. He had several missed calls from his boss. He frowned and quickly dialed his voicemail and put the phone to his ear to hear the latest message.

"Kirkland!" Mr. Myers' voice was loud and angry as if he was yelling directly into the phone. Arthur grimaced, his pounding headache not liking the sudden noise. He quickly turned the volume on his phone down as the message continued to play.

"If you don't get your ass over here in the next hour and start working on that damn interview piece then you can kiss your cushy position goodbye. I mean it Kirkland! One hour!"

Arthur's ears felt like they were still ringing long after the message had ended. He had a sinking feeling that he had already missed that deadline. He glanced at the time the message was sent, which was around eleven in the morning, and compared it to the current displayed time which was already past noon. Arthur put his phone down, not bothering to listen to the other messages as they were most likely all the same, and groaned.

"Why did that bastard let me drink so much?" He held his head in his hands and pressed against his face, which was only slightly soothing to his headache. He then tried to recall everything that had happened the night prior at the pub.

Arthur had made his way to his usual pub that he frequented. It was called "The King's Knight" with an old medieval knight helmet being their also extended into their overall theme and decorations as well, with fake suits of armor staged around the place and holographic technology giving the inside appearance to that of an old castle.

Arthur personally thought the overall branding and name a little uninspiring. But he couldn't help being drawn in from the rather good food, and the even better drinks. The establishment also utilized some other higher technology such as holographic screens for watching driftball games, or late night shows. And each table had a remote ordering device which made life so much easier for Arthur when he was in a particularly anti-social mood which just happened to be way more often than not.

As he made his way through the entrance way Arthur was quickly greeted by a young looking female host.

"Good evening Mr. Kirkland. It's rare to see you here during a work day. Would you like your usual spot? The booth in the right corner next to the window?"

Arthur could feel his face heat up in slight embarrassment as he was addressed. He clearly had started to frequent this place too often for him to be recognized, and by name no less!

"Oh no. I'm actually meeting someone tonight." He then quickly looked away from the woman and started to scan the area. The pub was not at all busy with only a few patrons sitting at the bar top. This only made it all the more easy for him to spot his friend currently sitting at one of the round tables in the middle of the restaurant.

Of course he would pick somewhere in the middle. He just lives for the attention. Arthur rolled his eyes at this thought. He gave a polite farewell to the host and made his way over to the table where his friend Gilbert Beilschmidt was seated and already drinking some beer.

Gilbert was pale with white hair and striking red eyes that would glow at times. This was due to them being mechanically enhanced, as it was commonly referred to. Mechanical enhancements were when one would undergo a surgery to replace specific parts of themselves with machines.

This process was usually done for people with disabilities or for those who have gotten into accidents to help them function better throughout their daily life. But in recent years with newer technology and models it was becoming common for people to get these enhancements for aesthetic and even quirky functionality purposes.

With current models one could get enhancements that looked so similar to normal body parts that one could blend in with society without anyone knowing they had undergone a procedure at all. There were also models that looked as robotic as possible. It was basically up to the individual how showy or discreet they wanted their enhancements to be.

Gilbert's right arm from his elbow down was also a mechanical enhancement. It was in an older model style, with the black metal skeleton framework and blue and red wires on full display. Arthur was unsure where Gilbert's enhancements fell under, and he considered it very rude to ask, especially since he heard from Francis before that he could be quite sensitive about it.

Gilbert was a friend that Arthur had met through Francis. He was a German exchange student that had been friends with the French man back during their school days. Arthur had been introduced to him not long after he and Francis had been together and had grown rather close. Even though Arthur thought him to be a right rude bastard and utterly annoying at times, he could also see that he could be a really confident, funny and a caring person when he wanted to be and he admired that about him.

He and Gilbert also, surprisingly in his opinion, shared similar tastes in music, and both appreciated a good drink now and then. So whenever Arthur had heard that Gilbert had been in the area he never turned down a chance to meet up with him. Eventually Gilbert had gotten a job working for some tech company in the area and they started spending more time together, especially after the break up with Francis.

They would meet up for drinks often and Gilbert would give him any updates on Francis if he asked, or they would talk about soulmate watches. That was another thing that they had in common, and it was their negative view about watches and soulmates in general. Arthur valued having someone to talk to about his trouble with his watch but always thought it was interesting that Gilbert shared his view, considering he didn't seem to have a watch of his own anymore.

"Good evening red eyes." Arthur greeted his friend and took a seat at the table. "You know, when I sent you the invitation for six I expected you to show up closer to seven. Heaven knows that you can't be on time to save your life. So I'm actually shocked to see you here." Arthur teased. "There's no way this is the real Gilbert Beilschmidt in front of me. This must be some hologram trick."

"Oh shut up eyebrows." Gilbert looked over at Arthur with his red eyes glowing and smirked. "I can be on time. But only when I want to be." He then gestured for him to use the remote ordering station. "And I was under the impression that we were getting 'pissed' tonight so hurry up and order something."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Arthur typed away at the tablet-like device and input an order for a scotch on the rocks. After his order was submitted it didn't take long for it to come over to their table courtesy of one of the staff members.

"Ohhh starting off with the strong stuff." Gilbert gave a whistle as he looked over Arthur's drink choice. He then frowned and looked concerned. "This isn't Francis related right? I mean you have been asking less and less about him so I figured you were good…"

At the mention of Francis Arthur couldn't help but tense up. "No! Of course not. I just had a hell of a day is all." He then took a rather large sip of his recently ordered whisky, downing half of it instantly.

"Right." Gilbert rolled his eyes. "So then it's good to assume that you don't want to talk about Francis tonight?"

"Well since you keep mentioning him, it seems like you want to talk about him. I wouldn't mind if you decided to share." Arthur spoke back but was keeping his attention on the tiny black straw that came with his drink, moving it around in slow circles in the glass.

"Nope." Gilbert shrugged. "I've got nothing."

"Oh come on. You know I can't exactly reach out to him anymore, and contrary to what you might think I do actually care to know how he is faring even after… everything." He did a vague gesture with his hand.

This was in fact true. Even though when they had first broken up and Francis mentioned that they could stay friends, it must have been a lie because when Arthur tried to contact him a few months later, Francis' number had been changed. He had tried to send emails and letters as well but they all failed to be delivered. His only way to get any updates on his ex-soulmate had been through their mutual friend Gilbert who would give Arthur little updates at times, like how Francis was fairing at work or if he seemed overall happy with his life.

"No, I mean I really got nothing." Gilbert Shrugged and took a drink of his half finished beer. "He actually cut contact with me a little while ago. He mentioned something about how we couldn't be friends anymore. Something about me being a bad influence?"

Arthur's eyes widened at this news. This didn't sound like the Francis that he knew… From knowing Francis and Gilbert before he knew that the two of them were incredibly close. So to hear that Francis would just end their friendship like that seemed extremely off.

"Oh wow… Gil I had no idea. I'm sorry. I mean I always knew the frog was a bastard but to hell with him, throwing away your friendship like that."

"It didn't seem like Francis at all… I think something is up with him. Not sure what exactly. I think Toni still can keep tabs on him but he's been busy with his own bullshit."

Toni, or Antonio was another mutual friend that Arthur had met through Francis, though he was less close to Antonio. The two of them always seemed to go a little too far with their teasing and could easily rile each other up. But Arthur knew that the three of them, Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert had always been incredibly close friends. He was sure they would even go on to describe one another as close as brothers, at least until now.

"Antonio… he is working as some sort of local artist now right? What do you mean by 'his own bullshit'?"

"Yeah he does mural paintings or sculpting or something for the city now. And soulmate shit. What else?" Gilbert grumbled the last part.

"Oh…"

"Yeah whoever he matched with has Toni wrapped around their finger. I can barely see the guy anymore. It's always 'Sorry I have to go meet Lovi after work.' or 'I can't make it because my soulmate wants to stay in tonight.' God it makes me sick." Gilbert quickly finished his beer and ordered another.

Arthur couldn't help but understand both sides. He remembered when he had been like a love sick teenager when his watch had first reached zero. He wanted to do everything with Francis and be by his side constantly. But he also remembered the bitter ending and felt foolish for ever even having those feelings in the first place.

"Speaking of soulmates…" Arthur decided that perhaps it was time for a change of subject, and he knew Gilbert would find his day at the SoulTech headquarters interesting. "I had an interview at SoulTech today."

"You're bluffing." Gilbert snorted. "I bet you wouldn't be caught dead in there."

"Oh you might actually be wrong about that one." Arthur sighed as he recalled how roughly he had been handled by security earlier that morning. "That was my first and hopefully last time experiencing shock cuffs."

Gilbert stared at him, his eyes glowed for a second before they returned to their normal red hue. "Holy fuck." He smirked. "You're being serious" He then quickly grabbed the ordering device and ordered them another round of drinks. "Alright Kirkland, let's hear about the trouble you got into this time."

So Arthur spent the next few hours and drinks re-telling his entire experience at SoulTech to Gilbert. He talked about everything from his experience with security, to his encounter with Alfred Jones one of the engineers of the watches and his now supposed current soulmate.

"Wait. This actually sounds serious." Gilbert crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. His face was now slightly flushed from all the alcohol they had been drinking. "They… they have to be hiding something in there if they didn't want you to be in there so badly."

"I thought the same. Perhaps it's some new invention they don't want to be revealed yet?" Arthur drummed his fingers on the table idly as he thought. "Still to have security to that extent…"

"Nah… I think it's something bigger than that. I bet has to deal with the stupid watches. Everything always has to deal with those dumb things. Glad I got rid of mine."

At this Arthur looked over at Gilbert confused. "Got rid of? You can't just get rid of them. Trust me I've tried." He carelessly admitted this in his inebriated state and showed off his scarred up wrist that held his watch device, the pale, pink scars showing once where Arthur had tried to rip the watch out of himself. This act would have definitely caused a lot of damage and could have even put his life at risk.

Gilbert looked down at Arthur's wrist and frowned. "Looks like you didn't try hard enough."

"Excuse me? What is that supposed to mean?!" Arthur could feel his anger starting to rise. "Are you actually suggesting that I should have-"

"Shhh calm down eyebrows!" Gilbert hissed at Arthur. "That's not what I meant at all ugh. Fuck." He held his head in his hands. "I… I drank too much. Let's just talk about that Jonesy guy? What are you gonna do about him?"

At the mention of Alfred Arthur simmered down and tried to think seriously about the question. His mind ended up being a jumbled mess of thoughts, with no help from the alcohol in his system. He let out a sigh and then rested his head down on the table starting to feel like the room was spinning.

"Nothing… I just want to forget this entire thing happened. I hope he forgets about me too… He would be better off anyway."

"Oh for god's sake don't start crying."

"Oh fuck off! I'm not crying." Arthur's voice cracked towards the end of his words and he could feel the fresh tears forming in his eyes. "I'm just not good enough for anything is all…"

"Alright, when the tears come that means we've had enough." Arthur saw Gilbert mess with the ordering device, more than likely closing out their tab. "I'll have Ludwig drive us back. You're not gonna get sick in the car right? I don't need Lud bitching about it tomorrow morning."

"It's fine. I'm fine." Arthur responded back quietly, now feeling the tears run down his face. He couldn't help the sudden onset feeling of how broken he and his watch were. He would always ruin every relationship he ever even probably thinks he is being really pathetic right now and-

"Hey... you okay?" Gilbert gently touched his shoulder with his left hand. "You know you can talk to me outside of getting drunk right? I know it's probably easier for you this way but… you know I'm not good with the sappy nonsense Kirkland."

Arthur gave a nod and felt relieved that he had been pulled from his spiraling thoughts. "T-thanks Gil… That actually means a lot."

"Yeah yeah." Gilbert then got up from the table, and motioned for Arthur to do the same. "Come on. Ludwig's outside. We'll get you home and then have an actual talk later, yeah?"

Arthur gave a wordless nod and allowed Gilbert to help guide him to Ludwig's vehicle. If Arthur had been sober he would have been impressed that Ludwig had one of the newer models of the latest hover cars. That was probably why Gilbert didn't want him getting sick…

The car ride back to his apartment happened in a hazy blur. He had vague memories of greeting Ludwig, Gilbert's younger and more stoic brother. He then recalled the two of them walking him up to his apartment. Gilbert offered to help Arthur into his pajamas which Arthur vehemently refused. He bid the other two a good night and once they were gone and he was alone, he proceeded to get ready for bed, where he only succeeded in getting his bottoms on before he promptly passed out in his bed.

Arthur was brought out of his recollection by his head throbbing painfully again. Why was his head hurting so much? He knew he drank too much last night but his head seemed to be hurting more than the usual hangover pain he would receive…

Arthur ran a hand through his hair and felt a slight bump on the back of his head and couldn't help but wince. Oh right… yeah from getting slammed into the wall the other day. Drinking probably wasn't the best idea after that was it?

"Okay, the first thing to do is get rid of this headache. Then we call into work sick. The old bastard can't sack you for being sick." Arthur mumbled to himself as he started to plan out his day off. There was no way he was going to work considering the current time and his current condition. "Some tea and maybe some needlework is in order to calm your nerves. Yes, I think that will do just fine."

He made his way into the bathroom and glanced at himself in the mirror. His hair was a giant mess with it sticking out in almost every direction. Even his eyebrow hair seemed messier than usual. His completion was pale and he had dark circles under his eyes, most likely due to poor quality sleep from his inebriated state. "Oh don't you just look charming…"

Arthur looked away from the mirror and opened up the medicine cabinet that was mounted on the wall to the right of it. He rummaged around looking for his generic pain reliever medication but couldn't seem to find it. "Oh bollocks don't tell me I ran out… bloody perfect."

Before he could curse his current predicament anymore Arthur heard a knock on his door. He stopped what he was doing and froze. He wasn't expecting anyone… Was he? He quickly thought of all the possible people that could be trying to visit him at this time of day. Perhaps it was the mail drone dropping off a package? No they don't usually knock… it's more of a bang as they throw the packages at the door.

Maybe it was one of his neighbors? No that couldn't be it. He didn't make a point of socializing with them much and vice versa. Oh god. It couldn't be his boss could it? His boss wouldn't come to his personal home to harass him about his latest work assignment would he? Arthur unfortunately couldn't put it past the man.

Well even if it was his boss, so what? He would greet him and show him his current awful state and then demand the day off. Yes, that is what I will do. He had already skipped most of the work day at this point anyway. He would have to come up with a good excuse to not do the interview piece too but he could think about that later. Still the gall of this man to come over to Arthur's private residence and demand for his services.

With a new scowl on his face Arthur quickly made his way to the front of his apartment. If Mr. Myers didn't take no for an answer then he would give him a piece of his mind damn it! He was more than just some worker that could be forced to slave away at a moment's notice. With his anger rising Arthur quickly grabbed the door knob and swung his door open.

"Now see here I-" He heatedly started but then promptly stopped as he took in the sight of the person who was outside his front entranceway. Wide green eyes meet excited blue once more. Standing there was none other than Alfred F. Jones, the engineer from SoulTech that he had met earlier the other day, and his current soulmate.

Author's notes: And that concludes chapter 4! I know I left everyone on a cliff hanger... I promise Alfred and Arthur will actually interact next chapter! I thought this would be good time to introduce Alfred's father as well as some other information about Francis and the watches. So what does everyone think? I would love to hear your thoughts or even current theories about everything. Also seeing all the recent reviews, and follows has seriously impressed me and made me extremely happy. I'm glad that this story is being enjoyed so far. Thanks as always for reading, commenting and enjoying. Until next time!

~Rose