'I – I don't think I'm a monster.' The new student defended, almost brought to tears on his first day of school.
'Well, I say you are.' The other boy retorted. 'And because I think you're a monster, you're not allowed to play with any of us this recess. If you want to play, you have to let us bounce the kickball off of your head!'
Ivan sighed deeply. 'Well, if it would help me make friends, I guess I'll do it!' He agreed with a smile.
Gilbert rolled his eyes, already sickened by the little boy's optimism. 'Yeah, you see, saying things like that is what is going to make this place a living hell for you.'
As Ivan was about to take a bite out of his pudding he had retrieved from his lunch pale, one of Gilbert's friends pushed his face into the table, causing the chocolate substance to cover most of his face and some of his clothing.
"So, in other words… you were a big douche." Arthur commented, chuckling at his friend's rather horrible story.
"Hey! I'm not claiming to be an angel or anything! Actually, I wasn't very nice to anyone as a kid, but I was especially horrible to Ivan. But don't worry, I did end up getting what I deserved." Gilbert promised.
"Oh, yeah! Francis told me that story! He said you told him that Ivan gathered a bunch of his buddies in the high school locker room and gave you a massive hanging wedgie that kept ya stuck for a good two hours! Man, that story was a classic." Arthur said, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "I would have killed to see you in that little predicament."
Gilbert rolled his eyes and sent Arthur a death glare that could easily kill puppies. "Remind me to kill Francy boy when we get home from telling you my tales of awesome without my permission."
The German offered to drive his British friend home after their rather intense workout. Arthur felt like his stomach might explode from all of the crunches that Gilbert had made him do, but the albino seemed perfectly fine.
"Eh, you're still weak, but I'll make sure you'll be in shape in two months!" He promised.
Arthur's face paled. "Two months! That stamina and body of yours would take people years to accomplish!" He argued during heaving breaths.
The other man blushed at Arthur's compliment and cleared his throat. "W-well, t-thank you. But that is no excuse! You're in terrible shape, Tea and Biscuits! We'll meet again same time, next week."
"Yes, sir." The Englishman replied rather sarcastically and rolled his eyes. "And don't worry about the ride home. I have something to take care of first but tell Francis that I will be home very soon."
Gilbert looked disheartened for a moment as he realized what Arthur meant by having some business to take care of, but he still nodded his head in agreement. "Okay, I'll let him know. He does worry his pretty little head over you, so don't do anything stupid. Okay?"
Arthur nodded his head. "Don't worry, I won't. I'll be back within the hour." With that, the blond made his way towards the old alley where he used to meet up with Ivan to make exchanges for drugs, sex and money.
Just as Ivan had promised, Ivan had been waiting for Arthur hunched up against a brick wall, but he wasn't sure how long the other man had been there for.
"H-hello, Ivan? It's me, Arthur. I brought more money with me. I have two – hundred dollars today, so that brings it up to three hundred and fifty so far, and I promise I will get more from my boss very soon. Ivan, you alright?"
The Russian drug lord nodded his head. He turned around slowly, still unwilling to look Arthur in the eye from their last encounter and quickly snatched the money from his former whore's hand. "Thank you. You can go."
The Brit felt a sudden wave of guilt wash over him. Strange, because there was a time in his life when he absolutely detested Ivan, and another time when he thought he just might love the man, and would do anything to protect him, but those were the drugs talking. Now, Arthur gazed upon him with pity, because he realized now that Natalia was in charge of the whole business, and he was unaware if Ivan had the mental capacity to free himself from the woman. "Ivan," He gulped, in complete disbelief as to what he was about to say next. "Please come with me. We'll get you away from Natalia, and help you start a life for yourself. Isn't it better than to live subordinate to someone that treats you like the dirt on the bottom of their shoe? I can promise you, people like her will never see you or love you the way you want to be."
B this point, the violet – eyed man was desperately covering his ears and shaking his head violently back and forth. Suddenly, he stopped and stared lifelessly into some other dimension. "Arthur, didn't your mother ever tell you that it is unwise to mess with other people's lives? Parents tell their children this for a good reason. Natalia isn't good, and neither am I, so it is best that you just give me my money and then leave me alone. Once you give me my money, you will never have to see me again."
"I don't hate you, Ivan. I never could." The green – eyed blond said as he tried to place a gentle hand on Ivan's shoulder.
As though he could feel that someone was about to touch him, Ivan sprinted away as quickly as he possibly could and was gone within a blink of an eye.
Feeling defeated, Arthur sighed and banged his head against the brick wall. He didn't understand why he felt the need to help everyone else in the world. Perhaps that reason was because everyone else helped him, even when they didn't have to lift a finger at all in the first place.
Right now, Arthur had to get back to Francis. Thinking of the man made the Englishman smile beyond belief, and right now that happiness was killing him inside. He had to tell Francis the truth. Whether or not Francis would leave Arthur, he had no idea, but he could no longer lie to the people that he truly loved, because true love deserves nothing but honesty, and lies have no place in a life of true love.
