Two Years Previous

Alfred sat on Kiku's bed in his dorm room as his boyfriend finished up the paper he was writing. He twiddled his thumbs in his lap. Never in his life, did he think he would be invited to the dorm of a college student during his freshman year of high school, especially one he was dating. Trying to push all weird thought from his mind, he watched Kiku's slender fingers tap away on the keyboard.

The sound was calming, welcoming a comfortable silence between them. Alfred had noticed that Kiku didn't talk all that much, but he knew that when the other man spoke it was important. It wasn't that he minded the silence, but sometimes he wished Kiku would make more conversation. Then again, making conversation while writing a paper for a class would be counterproductive.

Kiku finished and stretched in his desk chair after submitting it. "I'm finally done," he groaned. He took a deep breath to center himself before getting up. "Sorry for taking so long, especially when I invited you here." He walked over to the bed and straddled Alfred's lap, facing him. "I hope you're not too angry."

"How could I ever be angry with you for being responsible?" Alfred asked as Kiku removed his glasses and set them aside. "Besides, I knew you'd make time for me if you invited me here." He rested his hands on Kiku's hips, feeling his desire building up inside of him. "So now that your paper is done, what would you like to do?"

"I can think of a few things," the Japanese man replied, circling his arms around his boyfriend's shoulders. He leaned in, connecting his lips to the blond's. Kiku moved closer, as if drawn in by Alfred's charm. He could kiss this man all day and not have a single complaint, though he knew it was risky, considering that he was an adult. But at that moment, he didn't care. It wasn't like they were in public or anything. In this room, they could do whatever they wanted.

Alfred seemingly devoured his boyfriend's lips, relishing the moans coming from him. But just before he got too lost in his desire, Kiku broke off the kiss. He tried not to seem annoyed about it. After all, he understood Kiku's concerns with their age difference and all, but it wasn't like he was going to go and tell anyone what they did together. After all, Eduard had no problems with fucking Charlotte, and he got to hear about it in detail. It made him sad that Kiku felt the need to be cautious. Though he understood, it was still difficult not to be upset. Yet he always went with what Kiku wanted, and that day wouldn't be any different.

.

Alfred sat in his bedroom, debating whether or not to call Arthur about what he was going through. Then again, Arthur didn't know anything about his relationships with men. Arthur only knew about Natalia. Was there a way to even bring up his new preference in men?

He sat on his bed and closed his eyes, holding his cell phone with both hands. The more he wanted to tell his best friend about everything, the more his worry of rejection grew. He couldn't expect Arthur to understand his dilemma when he had been withholding information from him the whole time. Yet Arthur had told him about his new girlfriend Elizaveta. It made Alfred feel as if there was a sudden wall built between them, but he couldn't complain when he wasn't telling Arthur about his own love life.

Deciding against calling Arthur, Alfred set his phone on his bedside table and settled on playing games on his computer. Anything to distract him from his issues.

.

Present Day

Arthur thought about Kiku's story as he drove to the hotel he was staying in. He didn't realize how late it had gotten until Heracles came in to tell his husband he was going to bed. It made him feel as if he had overstayed his welcome and excused himself for the night. He would be going there for lunch tomorrow and then would hear the rest of the story.

Once inside the hotel room, his head was too full of thoughts to allow him to sleep. He checked the time on his phone and sighed. It was too late to call Elizaveta. She was in a different time zone and had gone to bed at least an hour ago.

A text from Gilbert lit up his phone screen. 'How's the story going?' Arthur smiled to himself and texted back, asking if he was up for a phone call. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself upon instantly receiving a phone call.

"What are you still doing awake?" he asked, answering his phone. "Can't sleep?"

"Speak for yourself," Gilbert laughed. "Then again, with a story like Alfred's, how could you sleep without knowing what's next? Damn, that guy is really something."

"He always has been," Arthur replied, a smile playing on his lips. "You should've known him in kindergarten. It was impossible for me to maintain my introverted lifestyle with him around. Then again, at the time I didn't seem to mind. It wasn't until he moved away in middle school that I realized just how lonely being alone could really be."

"That's beautiful."

"Shut up," he groaned. "You know what I mean. If you were truly close with Alfred there's no way you couldn't know." Arthur fell into a moment of contemplative silence. "You must really miss him, Gil. Is there any way for you to contact him?"

Gilbert sighed. "I wish, but with Toris around it's hard. No one can stand that asshole, not even Charlie. She and I are still friends, so I get updates through her, but whatever Toris is to Alfred is definitely not good. It's either he won't allow Alfred to talk to anyone or he refuses to pass along messages. I wonder if he's the reason Alfred doesn't think anyone gives a shit about him anymore…" He gasped in realization. "You didn't hear that from me, got it, Arthur? I feel like Toris will kill me if he finds out I said that!"

"Your words are safe with me," Arthur assured. He felt calmed when speaking to Gilbert. It wasn't like speaking to Alfred's other friends, who seemed to only speak with the purpose of telling the story. And it definitely wasn't like speaking to Elizaveta, where he constantly had to explain himself and apologize. Speaking with Gilbert felt….nice. It was like he didn't have to be anything but himself.

"You're gonna make me blush if you keep that up," the other man laughed.

"You think I fancy you?" the blond teased. He didn't know why he was flirting with a man, but something about it felt reckless and exciting. Was this how Alfred had felt when speaking to Gil back in high school? "Hmm, men like you aren't my type."

"Are you sure about that?" Gil laughed. "Last I checked, you were the one who wanted a phone call with me, right? By the way, what did you want?"

Arthur sighed, closing his eyes. "Does Alfred really want me to hear this story? It's all about him getting his heart broken over and over again. Why would he want me to hear such a painful story? What is the point in it?"

"There's honestly no telling when it comes to Al, but I'm sure there's a deeper meaning in it. You'll only find out once you reach the end, I suppose."

"But what if I don't want to know the ending?"

They chatted for a little while longer before hanging up to sleep. But Arthur's mind was still plagued with his thoughts. What was Alfred trying to say through this wild goose chase? What was the meaning?