MAY 18, 2012

9:30 AM

Arthur almost didn't come today. But he had to. It would be betrayal not to, and Alfred might never trust him again if he didn't. Arthur Kirkland was many things, but he was most certainly not a quitter.

He anxiously shuffled papers while he waited for Alfred. Outside the door, he could hear someone kicking and struggling with all their might. He sucked in his breath. Could that possibly be...?

The door slammed open, and the guards threw in Alfred, not bothering to remove his handcuffs. Alfred had a black eye and his cheek had a scrape on it.

"We'll be right outside!" One of them shouted, voice shaking in fear. Alfred wheeled around to glare at them, and they quickly slammed the door shut.

The two were alone.

Arthur looked away, refusing to be the first to speak. He was too ashamed of what he'd said before, and his headache was preventing him from putting together a logical thought.

Alfred was still as well. Neither one of them spoke a single word.

Then, "If you want to arrest him, I won't stop you." Alfred murmured.

Arthur looked up in surprise. "What?"

"I did a lot of thinking... he really did screw me over, didn't he?" Alfred smirked a little.

Arthur could only nod.

"And..." He took a deep breath and his cheeks turned a little bit pink. "I'm sorry if it seemed like I was coming on to you... Look, I get it. You aren't gay. I'm really sorry... I guess I was kind of hoping..." He took a deep breath. "But it doesn't matter now. I don't feel that way about you, just letting you know."

Ouch... Arthur thought. Why does it hurt so much when he says it?

"I see." Arthur managed to choke out.

Alfred took a step closer to Arthur, but then stopped and stayed put. He rubbed his arm shyly.

Arthur sighed. "No, no. It's okay. I overreacted. I should be the one apologizing," Then he paused and looked up at Alfred. "What exactly were you 'hoping', if I may ask?"

Alfred chuckled. "I was kinda getting a lil' crush on you! Silly, huh?"

Arthur's heart jumped and his face heated up a little. After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "Yeah, haha... silly."

Alfred cocked his head and looked as if he was about to ask something, but seemed to decide against it. He shook his head and chirped, "So! You got yourself a girlfriend yet?"

Arthur felt his cheeks heat up. "No..."

Alfred smiled wickedly, and Arthur knew instantly he was in for some major teasing.

"I've gotta help you out, man! I mean, you need a girl! You look like the kinda guy who has, like, NO life at all!"

Arthur glared at him. "I'm going to disregard that last part. But how are you going to help me out? It isn't like you can go anywhere."

"I don't gotta! What kind of girl to you like?"

"Alfred, this is ridiculous! I'm not about to just tell you-"

"C'mon! Please?!" Alfred begged.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. Uhh... I suppose I like blue eyes?"

Alfred giggled a little. "Okay! Anything else?"

Arthur ran a hand through his hair. "Uh... Maybe blonde hair? I really have no idea, Alfred..."

"Okay, now what about personality?" Alfred's smile was growing wider.

Arthur's face turned a deeper shade of pink. "I... I guess a generally cheerful, bubbly person?"

Alfred clapped his hands. "There ya go! I think I know just the girl for ya!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "How could you possibly-"

"MY SISTER, AMELIA!" Alfred cried out.

Arthur slammed his forehead into his palms and discovered they were sweaty. "I don't need a girlfriend, Alfred..."

"Oh, but I insist! Please, just give her a try! She has blonde hair and blue eyes like me! She's, like, exactly like me but she's a girl!" Alfred made a puppy dog face.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Fine. If I ever meet her then I will go out on a date with her. Nothing more. Got it?"

Alfred's face brightened. "Yay! That's good because I already told her when she visited that I found a really cute guy for her and that you guys will be going to see a movie today at eight o'clock..."

"WHAT?!" Arthur choked. He tried not to think of the fact that Alfred had just called him cute.

"Yeah! She's been lonely as hell lately and you're totally her type!"

Arthur shook his head. "You just might be the only older brother alive who encourages people to date his sister."

"Dude," Alfred smiled. "It's 'cause I trust you."

Arthur looked down and felt his heart flutter a little. Why was it doing that?

"Thank you..." Was all he could say.

"Well, I'm guessing we're just about out of time. But you are meeting her at the theater on the East side at eight, okay?"

Arthur nodded. "Alright." He checked his watch.

"Wow." Alfred said.

"Huh?" Arthur looked up.

"You're the only guy I know who still wears a watch. Most people just pull out a phone or whatever."

Arthur only mumbled a small "Yeah..."

And then the guards came and took him away.

MAY 18, 2012

8:00 PM

Arthur looked around, and checked his watch again. Where was this girl he was supposed to be meeting?

Honestly, he could care less about this date. It would just be the same old story. They'd go out once, maybe kiss at the end, then go their separate ways. It always ended with the same line. "You're a nice guy, Arthur." Then they left and he never saw them again.

He sighed. Alfred was probably playing a prank on him.

He was ready to go home, but then this girl ran up to him and said, "Are YOU Arthur?"

Arthur nodded. Could this be her?

"I'm Amelia! Alfred's sister...?" She put a hand on her hip and she chewed gum casually.

"Oh, yeah." Arthur said awkwardly.

"Man, he was RIGHT! You ARE cute!" She said shamelessly.

Arthur was downright puzzled. Had Alfred somehow transformed into a girl? This girl had the exact same huge blue eyes and blonde hair. It was cropped just above her shoulders and she had bangs. She wore a white tee-shirt without sleeves and a pink sports bra underneath. She was wearing shorts as well, paired with flip-flops. Her fingers and toes were painted hot pink.

"Thank you...?" Arthur said, a little confused.

She laughed. "Dude, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" She reached out and poked his cheek flirtatiously.

Arthur touched his cheek and blushed. "Hehe, I suppose so..."

"Have you ever dated before? You seem kinda nervous." She said, winking at him cutely.

"Of course I have!" He blurted out, no wanting to seem inexperienced.

She smiled at him. "Cool! What was your last girlfriend like?"

Arthur looked at the ground. How could Alfred do this to him? "Well, I have never had a very serious girlfriend exactly... the closest I've ever gotten to 'serious' was this one Spanish girl, Isabel."

"Oh? What was she like?" She was incredibly bubbly. Arthur wasn't quite sure if he liked it or not.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, she was really cheerful and she worked really hard to get what she wanted. It was okay while it lasted, but she left me for some Italian guy." He shrugged.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She said, her lower lip going out a little.

"No, no. It's quite alright. I was not very attached to her at all." He assured her.

"Well, that's good. In case you were wondering I've only had, like, three major boyfriends before..." She giggled as if this were a small number for a nineteen-year-old.

"Oh?" He said.

"Yeah! The first was this guy Ivan when I was fifteen was my first. He was a senior and I was a sophomore. We got in this huge fight thingy and broke up. Then this guy Nikolai, who was Ivan's little brother. He was a junior like I was when this happened, so he was closer to my age. He got way too clingy so I dumped him. Then the most recent was this guy Gilbert..." She sighed. "That was only three months ago that we broke up. We'd been dating since I was a senior in high school. Two years, and then it was over."

Arthur's eyes were wide. Jeez, it was the first date and she'd told him practically her life story!

"I'm very sorry." He said politely.

"Nah, it's cool, man!" She grinned.

He smiled. "Well, shall we go into the theater?"

"Okay!" She said. Oh my god, does she ever run out of energy?

When they got in line, they picked out a movie to see. He really just let her pick, and she ended up picking some romantic comedy.

Once they got in the theater, Amelia positioned herself so she was comfortably leaning on Arthur's shoulder.

"Mmm... You smell nice." She said.

Arthur blushed deeply again.

He sat as stiffly as possible, trying not to look at the girl whose face kept inching closer and closer to his throughout the whole movie. He couldn't even really pay much attention to it at all.

Then came the big make out scene. His palms were getting sweaty again, and he knew it was coming. He'd have to kiss her, or it would be rude. He slowly turned to face her, and she was right there waiting for him. She took this as a green light to go for it.

Then, her lips were pressed firmly to his, and Arthur was frozen. He had to admit, she was a good kisser.

Then, she pulled away and snuggled into his chest. Arthur's brain started to race.

I'm not that attracted to her but... there's something about her that is wonderful. She has such a sweet personality. She is downright cheeky. I like that. Finally, this is normal, right? I should be feeling this way about a woman right now. I should be doing something really perverted right now. No, that is rude. I am a gentleman.

Arthur decided to kiss her again, hoping he'd feel a spark, or something. She responded eagerly, nearly crushing his lips with her own. But, even though he didn't particularly want to, he kissed back with the same enthusiasm as her.

He could hardly even pay attention to the movie, he was blushing so badly.

He could hardly pay attention to the road as he drove her to her apartment.

He could hardly pay attention to her lips as she kissed him deeply in goodbye.

He could hardly even pay attention to the tears running down his face as he drove home.