Three Years Previous

Alfred had been dating Gilbert for two months before it finally came out to the rest of their high school. He was certain his heart would stop as people glanced up at him whenever he walked by. Boys in the locker room would turn away from him whenever it came time to change, up until he took initiative by going and changing in one of the toilet stalls instead, shocked that the stalls actually had doors.

It wasn't as if he were being bullied, but he couldn't help but notice that people looked at and treated him differently. And it wasn't that they were treating him badly, it was more like they had all gone back to being strangers again. He was at least thankful that Charlotte treated him the same as she always had, yet sometimes he would even catch Toris looking his way, but he could never understand the other boy's expression.

Gilbert was always so patient with his boyfriend, making sure to do everything he could to ease his anxieties, even if it meant letting go of his hand when they went certain places. He knew far too well the feeling of coming out of the closet and the unwanted spotlight that came with it. But Alfred had said that he wanted to bring it out to the open, so he wanted to accommodate him in any way he could. It was the least he could do for the man who made him smile the most. Everyone who didn't approve of them could go straight to Hell, as far as he was concerned. Alfred deserved the best, and he was going to try his best to give it to him.

"When will the gossip die down?" Charlotte groaned, taking her usual seat at the lunch table next to Alfred. "What's so strange about two guys dating? Honestly, as long as my sweet Alfie Jones is happy, then I am too." She shrugged indifferently and reached over to ruffle her best friend's hair. "Are you happy, Alfie Jones?" she asked him, a wide smile on her face.

Alfred looked across the table at Gilbert and blushed. "Yeah," he quietly answered, tapping his boyfriend's shoe with his own under the table. He looked down at his foot the moment Gilbert's face turned a deep shade of crimson. There was no way he would ever be able to get over the way he blushed. His face would turn a shade of red that would rival his pupils, and Alfred couldn't help but marvel over how cute it was.

"That's what we like to hear, right, Gil?" Charlotte chirped to the senior across from her.

"Y-You bet, Charlie," he said, averting his eyes from the freshmen. Something about Alfred's innocence always made him look away whenever his boyfriend did. It drove him nuts, but he couldn't tell if it was in a good or bad way.

While it was true that Gilbert Beilschmidt was, by no means, a virgin, it was almost painfully obvious that Alfred was. Not only that, but Alfred had just recently taken an interest in men. His innocence was almost torture for someone like Gilbert, who had people constantly wanting to hook up with him at parties. He'd always turn them down, of course, but sometimes he wished he could just relieve some steam with someone, knowing that he couldn't dare ask Alfred about something like that until it was brought up by the boy himself. Yet even though being with him brought up so much pent up sexual frustration, Gilbert couldn't imagine being with anyone other than Alfred.

"Shit, I forgot to grab a milk," she groaned, standing up from the table. "I'll be back. Do either of you need anything?"

"I'm good," both boys replied in unison before looking up at each other and smiling as she walked away.

"Do you have any weekend plans?" Alfred asked Gilbert, smiling across the table at him as he adjusted his glasses. "I know you usually go to parties and such."

Gilbert didn't exactly know how to take that. He knew that Alfred said he didn't mind his partying habits, but was his boyfriend not concerned at all about the types of things that happened at parties? "Yeah, I'm going to one tonight," he told him. "What about you? Do you have any plans, Al?"

"Charlie's staying over tonight, but nothing else that I can really think of," the blond replied. "My life seems kinda boring compared to yours, huh?" He let out a short self-deprecating laugh.

"Who called you boring?" his boyfriend asked, clenching his hands into fists. "There's nothing boring about you."

"I didn't say anyone called me boring, Gil," Alfred replied, looking troubled. "Are you okay? You seem a bit on edge lately. Is something wrong?" He frowned at his boyfriend out of concern. "Are you getting enough sleep?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gilbert replied, shoving some gum into his mouth. He had decided to give up smoking for Alfred, but it was a lot harder than he thought it would be. Some days he was more irritable than others, but with how distracted he was from his lack of sexual contact, he felt as if he were a ticking timebomb. "Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night," he lied, hoping that his boyfriend would just drop the topic.

"I hope you get better sleep over the weekend," the other simply replied, offering Gilbert a kind smile.

Something about that reply annoyed Gilbert, but he couldn't think of what it was. He decided not to say anything in reply to it and instead announced that he was finished with his lunch before leaving. What was wrong with him? Why was he behaving this way toward Alfred, who hadn't done him any wrong? It wasn't that he was bored with their relationship, yet at the same time that was also the exact problem.

.

Alfred sat next to Charlotte on his couch, staring blankly at the movie playing on his TV. He just couldn't seem to focus, a feeling in his gut telling him that someone bad was coming. It wasn't like he wanted to focus on his impending feeling of doom, but it was hard to turn his attention to much else, even with his best friend present.

Charlotte leaned against Alfred, scrolling through social media apps on her cell phone, not really paying attention to the movie either. She sensed that there was something off about her best friend, but she didn't really know how to bring up such a topic. It wasn't like she could casually be like, "Hey, Alfie Jones, something seems to be bothering you. Do you want to talk about it?" Then again, she could do that, but it would seem off somehow.

Her scrolling stopped as she came to a certain picture on her feed that made her heart sink. It wasn't exactly the topic of the picture that made her feel sick, but more so something that she saw in the background. She clicked on it and zoomed in just to make sure, her stomach dropping upon confirmation. The picture was taken at the party Gilbert had talked about, and in the background, he was pictured making out with a random guy there. It made Charlotte angrier than she could ever express. She wondered if Alfred had seen it yet, but she was also scared to show him in case he hadn't. But wouldn't it be better to hear from a friend?

"What are you looking at, Charlie?" Alfred asked, peeking over her shoulder. His entire body went stiff upon seeing the zoomed-in image pulled up on her phone. He felt as if he were going to vomit. Everything hurt, starting from his heart to his head. "G-Give me a minute."

He stood up and stumbled to his bedroom, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Checking the time, he realized that it was probably the middle of the night where Arthur was, but he didn't care at that moment. His finger automatically pressed the call button next to Arthur's cell phone number before bringing it to his ear.

"Mmmh…" Arthur's sleepy voice yawned. "Alfred, is that you?" He had definitely just been woken up by the call, and Alfred began to feel bad about it. "Hello? Alfred? Is everything okay?"

"I-It's not," the other boy slowly said, cradling his phone to his ear almost as if it were a way to hug the person on the other end. "I'm devastated, Arthur. I'm hurt. I don't know what to do. Relationships are scary, and I don't like them anymore."

Arthur suddenly sounded wide awake as he spoke again. "Alfred, what happened? Do you want to talk about it? What can I do to help you?"

"There's so much I haven't told you," Alfred sobbed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I'm such a bad friend for keeping it from you, but I can't keep hiding it. You don't deserve that. The truth is, I have a boyfriend. Or maybe had...I'm not sure anymore. Anyway, I have been dating a guy for the past couple months, and I never told you because I was scared of what you would say."

"What I would say?" the other boy asked, sounding confused. "Why should it matter who you date, Alfred? Your preference and partners are none of my business unless they treat you badly. That's when it becomes my business." There was almost a hint of a smile in his voice as he said, "And to me, it sounds like it's about to become my business. Alfred, what did he do? Are you okay?"

Relieved at his best friend's words, Alfred began to catch Arthur up on the past couple months of his life. He told Arthur about how Gilbert had comforted him when Natalia moved away, and how he had kissed him for the first time at a school football game. Though there wasn't too much to say about their relationship, Alfred found himself baring it all to his best friend, who listened patiently and added feedback here and there.

"But tonight, Charlie was scrolling on someone's profile, and there was a picture from the party he's at tonight," the bespectacled boy relayed, throat growing tight upon remembering the picture. "And she zoomed in a bit to make sure that what she saw was legit." He took a deep breath. "Gilbert was making out with some guy in the background. I feel sick, Arthur. What do I do?"

"Unfortunately, you don't seem to have many options in this case." Arthur sighed before continuing. "From what you've said about the photo from the party, it makes me wonder if he's been doing this all along. Alfred, if he's going to do these kinds of things behind your back, then is he really worth being with anyway?"

.

Present Day

"The next day, Al broke up with me," Gilbert sighed. He looked up at Arthur, patience in his eyes. "And I know I deserved it. Though if I could take back that night, then I wouldn't have gotten mixed up with Roderich, and maybe Al and I could've worked things out better. But as you know, it is what it is." His shoulders lifted in an indifferent shrug. "You were a good friend to him, Arthur, and you were right about me. I don't blame you for what happened between me and Al. I never did."

"You say that now," the blond sighed, "but if that were true then you wouldn't still be hung up over him, you know."

"My hang-ups are for personal reasons," the older man sighed. "I mean, if you hurt someone as precious as Al, would you be okay with it?" His eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Shit, I did not think that through before saying it out loud. I'm really sorry, Arthur."

"I wouldn't," Arthur answered honestly, looking up at Gilbert. "And I'm not. Alfred was a dear friend to me, and he was always there for me and in my corner no matter what happened. I hurt him, Gilbert, and I need to atone for that. That's why I'm looking for him. I'm determined to make things right because as the most loyal friend I ever had, that's what he truly deserves."

Gilbert nodded sagely. "It is, isn't it?" he asked, biting his lip as he thought. "Well, I suppose this is where we part ways, Arthur. Thanks for hearing me out. I hope that I was able to help you at least a little, and I'm sorry that you had to know the truth about that. I've become a better person these days, but it's not like you have to believe that."

"I believe it," the other responded, looking Gilbert in the eye. "Would you be opposed to keeping in contact? Something tells me that you need a friend, especially with what you've got going on." His emerald eyes glanced over toward the things that belonged to Roderich. "I have a lot of driving ahead of me, which means a lot of time to talk if you need it."

"Thanks, Arthur. I'd like that." He passed his phone to the blond, unlocked and on the contacts screen. "You know, you're completely different from what I had imagined you to be. Before I forget," he said, standing up. Gilbert walked into the kitchen and began to write something down on a sticky note before coming back with it and handing it to Arthur. "I've thought about it, and I think you're awesome enough to know my recipe."

Emerald eyes gazing down at the neatly-written recipe for French toast, Arthur felt his lips pull into a grateful smile. "Thank you, Gilbert. It means a lot."