Present Day

"Wait, you mean to tell me that Aunt Mimi caught you two kissing?" Arthur laughed. "That's hilarious!" He thought he was going to fall off of Gilbert's couch. "I can only imagine what her face looked like when she saw it!" As he settled down, Arthur's mouth stretched into a fond smile. "Then again, Aunt Mimi was probably just happy that Alfred had finally found someone he liked after what happened with Natalia."

Gilbert smiled as he thought back to it. "Yeah, you're right about that," he confirmed. "She didn't have any hostility toward me being a boy or anything. I think she was just more surprised than anything, you know?" For a moment, he was silent before saying, "I still talk to her. Even though I'm no longer in contact with her son, I still check in with her. Amelia was always good to me, and all of the stuff that happened with Alfred after we broke up just…" His voice trailed off as he delved into his thoughts. "I can't leave her alone."

The blond was quiet for awhile before leaning toward Gilbert. "What are you talking about? Did something happen?"

Unsure of how to answer, Gilbert sighed. "It's all really complicated, and it's not my place to talk about it. I'm sure you'll hear it from someone else who was around during it, but I'm not supposed to say anything." He bit his lip with worry. "D-Do you think you could give her a call every now and then? She misses you. That much I know for sure."

Arthur was stunned. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Thanks, man. Anyway, on with the story."

.

Three Years Previous

"So, are you two dating?" Amelia asked, setting her purse down on the counter. She leaned on the countertop, propping her head up on her hand. Her blue eyes focused on Gilbert as they lit up. "My Alfie never tells me anything, you know," she whined. "So what's your name?"

Gilbert could feel the sweat on his brow as he stared at her, horrified. "U-Um, my name is G-Gilbert Beilschmidt," he stammered out, trying not to let his nerves get the best of him. "I-It's nice t-to meet you, M-Mrs. Jones."

She turned to her son and smiled. "He's adorable! I like him!" she claimed, beaming with pride. "You've chosen a good guy, Alfie! It seems you take after me in that aspect, don't you?"

"Mom, stop," Alfred groaned, throwing his head back. "Leave him alone. Can't you tell you're making him uncomfortable?"

"But that's what moms are supposed to do, Alfie," she huffed in response. "You should be thanking me for holding back. Remember that time with Arthur when I-"

To Gilbert's surprise, Alfred looked upset at the mention of the name "Arthur, cutting off his mother with a sharp, "Yes! I remember, Mom, okay? Please go somewhere else. You're bugging us."

Amelia then turned to Gilbert. "Isn't my son just the worst at times?" she whined to the older boy. "What's this boy's problem? I just want to be his friend."

"You're not my friend, you're my mom!" her son replied. "Now please go. If you don't, then we will." As Amelia fixed him with a levelled stare, Alfred rolled his eyes and pulled on Gilbert's sleeve. "Come on, Gilbert. Let's go to my room. At least there's a lock on my door so somebody," he glared over at his mother, "can leave us alone."

"You're not fun, Alfie."

Gilbert nervously stood up. "It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Jones," he quickly said, smiling to her before heading off with Alfred.

"He's a good kid, Alfie! I like him!" Amelia called after them, ignoring her son's loud groan of aggravation in response.

.

"Your mom's pretty cool, you know," Gilbert commented as Alfred walked him out to his car that evening. "Way better than mine." He laughed and grabbed Alfred's hand and caressed the other boy's cheek with the other. "Thanks for inviting me in today. I had a lot of fun with you."

Alfred blushed. "Mom tries too hard to be my friend sometimes," he admitted, embarrassed. "But she seems to like you, so I can guarantee you that you'll be invited over more often and all that. She already does that to Charlie. Hope you don't mind."

The older boy smirked. "Of course not," he assured. "Any time I get to spend with you is good for me. You should know that by now." He leaned down and pressed a kiss to Alfred's cheek. "I should probably get going now. I bet my grandpa is wondering where I am. I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"

The blond grabbed Gilbert's arm as he turned to get into his car. "Wait," he quickly said. Before he could overthink his actions, Alfred pulled Gilbert's lips down to his for a brief moment. His cheeks were burning from his boldness, but it was something he felt he needed to do. He smiled at the albino as they pulled apart. "Now you can go."

For a moment, Gilbert just stood there, blinking in shock, before we swept Alfred into his arms, holding him close. His lips crashed into the other boy's, smiles forming on each of their faces. He slowly deepened the kiss, both boys getting lost in their feelings for each other.

And just for that moment, Alfred felt as if everything was perfect.

.

That night as Alfred sat in his room, he looked over his texting conversation with Arthur, smiling to himself. Now that Arthur had a phone, he felt a lot closer to his best friend. They could text or call each other whenever they wanted now. Maybe it would make the distance seem a lot smaller. Either way, he was happy that his best friend was easier to contact now.

His thumbs itched to text Arthur and tell him about Gilbert, but something was holding him back. What would Arthur think if he told him that he liked men? Would it change anything? What if Arthur thought it was gross? Would it harm their friendship.

After a moment, he put his phone down and watched as the screen shut off from inactivity. Was there any way he could get rid of this anxiety? Why was he so worried about Arthur hating him for something like this? They were best friends. There should be nothing wrong with him telling his best friend that he had a boyfriend, yet something still seemed really off. If Alfred were to tell Arthur, what if he took it the wrong way and assumed Alfred was in love with him. That would be too much.

His mind then went to his mother and he jumped up from his bed and ran out to the living room, where his mother was reading a book on the couch. Unable to slow down his anxious momentum, he nearly tackled her on the couch as his breathing came out in ragged gasps.

Amelia pushed her son off of her and stared at him, concerned, for a few moments. Her slender hand pushed back his bangs as she checked him for a fever. Seeing that he didn't, she frowned in concern. "Alfie, are you okay? You seem upset. What's wrong?"

"Don't tell Auntie Alice about Gilbert," he gasped out. "Please just don't. I don't want it getting to Arthur before I can tell him myself, okay?" His face fell as he thought about how hard it was going to be to tell his best friend that he had a boyfriend. "I just….I need some time first, Mom. Who knows if Gil and I will last, you know?" he lied. "I don't want it to be like another Natalia situation." Her name left a bitter taste in his mouth, but he tried to ignore it. "I just…."

"Are you worried that Arthur will think of you differently if you have a boyfriend instead of a girlfriend?" she asked, leaving her son dumbfounded. She sighed, seeing from his facial expression that she was right. "Honey, I don't think Arthur would change his opinion of you over something so silly. You two are womb-to-tomb friends. He will understand whenever you decide to tell him. Try not to think too hard about it, okay?" Amelia reached over and ruffled her son's hair. "Something like that won't ever come in between you two."

"Thanks Mom," he replied before getting up. "I think I'm going to head to bed. I'm pretty tired today. Goodnight."

He headed back to his room after kissing her cheek and laid in his bed. Was his mother right? Would Arthur really not care if he liked men? How could she be so sure? Was there any way to find out how Arthur felt about that before actually telling him?

With all of those questions swimming in his head, he forced himself to sleep.

.

Present Day

"I remember Al being nervous about telling you about our relationship," Gilbert said, looking up at Arthur on the couch. "He was so scared that you wouldn't want to be friends with him anymore if you knew." He studied the blond's expression for a moment. "But the thing is, you know that I'm openly gay and even stayed overnight in my apartment on the day you met me. You don't have a single thing against gay people." His expression changed as he frowned with shame. "And to think, all this time….All this time, I thought you and Al had the falling out because you found out he was gay. That wasn't the case, was it?"

Arthur was at a loss for words. "Of course not," he softly said. "Our falling out was my fault. It wasn't because of him or his sexuality or the friends he had. It was all me…" His voice trailed off as he stared down at his hands, which were clasped in his lap.

"Do you think you could tell me your side of things once I'm finished with what I'm supposed to tell you?" the other man asked. "There will always be two sides to every story, and I've heard Al's side. But something tells me that the intentions on your side don't match up to what he felt they were. Call it a hunch, but I think that if certain things were never said and taken to heart, it would be you helping him out right now. Not Toris."

"You really think so?" The blond's voice was choked as he looked up at Gilbert with tears in his eyes. His heart felt so heavy from what Gilbert told him he had originally thought of him. "I just wish there was something I could have done, a way to take back what I said. If I could just go back in time and relive that day again, maybe things could be different. Maybe we wouldn't have hurt each other."

"Hey, don't do that," Gilbert said, kneeling in front of Arthur and grabbing his hand to comfort him. "Getting caught in thoughts like those can't be any good." He frowned, seeing that the other boy still seemed lost in a downward spiral of his own thoughts. "Arthur, snap out of it!" he commanded, causing the blond to jump and look up at him with tear-filled eyes. "It wasn't completely your fault. Al should've trusted his best friend more than he did. Seeing you right here, right now, I can see that you really do care about him. If you didn't, you wouldn't have come here. Arthur, you're not a horrible person, like we were made to believe. You're just a person, like the rest of us."

Arthur wiped his eyes. "How could I have been so ignorant at the time? He was hurting so badly, and I did nothing to help him. After our falling out, I didn't reach out to him because I thought he'd talk to me whenever he was ready. How could I be so stupid to assume something like that, Gilbert?"

The other man stroked the back of Arthur's hand with his thumb. "Don't beat yourself up over the past. It never helps anyone. Trust me, I'd know." He sighed as a tear rolled down the blond's cheek, reaching up to wipe it off. Realizing far too late what he had done, he looked up at Arthur, both of them staring at each other, wide-eyed. "I'm sorry," he said, quickly letting go of Arthur's hand and scurrying back to his chair. "I overstepped your boundaries. It won't happen again."

Feeling his heart pull, the green-eyed boy looked back down into his lap, where he folded his hands. Yet for some reason, he couldn't dismiss the feeling of Gilbert's hand holding his. "It's nothing, Gilbert. Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything wrong. Anyway, let's get back to the story. I'm sure you have better things to do."