Regarding Anachronism:

Okay, I kind of screwed up here. I tried to be all awesome and accurate with the years here. If they're 28, then they would have to be the graduating class of '00 I think. Of course, I'm tragically awful at this kind of math, so if I'm wrong then I'm wrong and that can't be helped.

The point is, while I've tried to skirt around things like cell phones and whatnot, by mentioning a certain (addictively appropriate, but still) Lady GaGa song, I think I may have screwed up my timeline. Oops.

So, just take the shameless anachronism for what it is. I'm aware of the mistake, but I have no plans to change it. Here, let me distract you with some delicious awkwardness!

"Welcome to the Gage Jason High School Class of '00 Reunion!"

Famous last words.

Was there anything more depressing than seeing your old school principal after ten years had passed? Clearly, time had not been kind to poor Principal Donovan. Arthur recalled how terrifying it had been to meet the principal on his first day of school, how intimidating he had seemed. Now all he saw was a sad, sad man.

"I don't think there are words to express just how happy I am to see all of you!" How true was that? Did Principal Donovan know each and every student personally, or even by name? Doubtful.

"I'm sure your lives have all been impacted for the better, and we can't wait to give out the awards. You see, these awards are not about who you are today, but rather, who you were. You may or may not recall voting on these your senior year. Most Popular, Best Dressed, Cutest Couple. The idea here is to see who all has changed since those long-ago high school days!" Lovely, just lovely. At the very least, Arthur knew he wouldn't have to get up. Anyway, he could hope.

"So, I guess I've been rambling long enough!" He paused for laughter that didn't come. "Get ready to hear your awards!" The assistant principal, a woman by the name of Tracy Taylor, walked onstage and held a sheet of paper in her hands, while Principal Donovan walked over to a table that had cheap looking trophies on it. Receiving one of those would be downright embarrassing.

"Hello, my name is Tracy Taylor; you all might remember me as Ms. Taylor. Tonight, we'll be reading the awards for Most School Spirit, Class Clown, Most Serious, Best Dressed Male & Female, Most Popular Male & Female, Most Dramatic, Most Likely to Succeed, Most Cheerful, and Cutest Couple." Her voice was a disinterested monotone, like she didn't want to be there any more than the audience.

"First, we have the award for Most School Spirit, which goes to…" She squinted at the sheet. "Feliks…um…" Arthur felt a bit sorry for her. Gage Jason High School, for whatever reason, was very popular for people from other countries. Arthur knew a lot of the names were probably hard to pronounce. Luckily for her, there had only been one Feliks, and he was already running on stage.

"Like, hi guys! Oh, my God. I am so honored!" Well, that made sense. While Feliks had not been a member of any school-affiliated team, he had always been the one screaming the loudest at the football games and had worn the school's colors (aqua and green) on a regular basis. Ms. Taylor handed Feliks a little trophy with a cheerleader's megaphone on it. He looked so happy as he went back to his seat.

"Next we have the Class Clown award. You all voted for Gilbert B-" She frowned at the sheet, and muttered something under her breath. "Um, I think it's German?" she said. "Come on, if you're a Gilbert, come up? Please?" Arthur chuckled a little under his breath. He had never been particularly fond of Ms. Taylor (she had always seemed too toned, blonde, and plastic to be a school administrator, in Arthur's opinion), and seeing her struggle was amusing. Still, Gilbert was onstage soon, once again saving her from having to pronounce a difficult name.

"Holy crap," he said. "I just, I don't know what to say. I'm speechless, really." 'We wish,' thought Arthur. "But, I really want to thank all of you, for all of your support. Rod, I want to thank you. You were the straight man to my awesomeness, and without you I would have seemed slightly less funny." Then he paused, for almost a second. "But I also want to thank Lizzy. Just…thanks," he said, clutching the trophy with a laughing face on it in his hands and leaving the stage.

Ms. Taylor, despite all of her hardships, kept a sunshiny smile on her face. "Now, for this next award, it's Most Serious, and it goes to—no. Really? Again? Are they brothers or something?" In all likelihood, her muttering wasn't audible to everyone, but because they were sitting near the front row, Arthur heard her lamenting quite clearly. "Um, Ludwig Beilschmidt? Is that right?" She let out a laugh that sounded tragically forced. "I apologize if I get some of your names wrong." While she had mispronounced his last name slightly, she hadn't done too bad, all things considered. Arthur found that focusing on Ms. Taylor's faults was the only way he could cope with the utter boredom of the assembly.

Ludwig walked on the stage, his face as stoic as ever, and proving to everyone that nothing had changed, if appearances were to be believed. He took his trophy, which had a blank-faced man on it, and left the stage. Arthur felt sorry for him. Getting up in front of your former peers to accept a meaningless award had to be utterly mortifying. 'I am so glad I'm not you right now,' he thought.

Okay, so he was tempting fate a little. It was just another way he coped with the tedium the award ceremony had offered. In fact, it was yet another thing that hadn't changed at all. Gage Jason High School was not known for its particularly innovative or interesting assemblies.

The rest of the assembly was a bit of a blur, because in all honesty Arthur didn't care at all about the awards, and by the fourth one even the painful mispronunciations couldn't keep his attention. Sure, he clapped politely when Roderich won 'Best Dressed Male' (not that it had been surprising in the slightest; Roderich had always dressed to the nines regardless of the occasion) but after that his interest had taken a decline. 'Most Popular' had gone to a pair of students that Arthur hadn't even heard of, let alone associated with; 'Most Dramatic' had gone to Francis, which admittedly had made Arthur snicker a little bit, and he and Alfred had shared a look. After that was the inevitable 'Most Likely to Succeed' award, which had gone to Honda, and based off of the suit he wore, Arthur suspected that this was true. Perhaps the least shocking of all was when Feliciano was voted 'Most Cheerful', and when he flounced on the stage, grinning like mad, Arthur had to admit that he was a little jealous. It seemed that ignorant bliss would always elude him. Feliciano always had seemed a little dim, but he was happy, which was more than Arthur could say.

"Next, we have a very…ahem, special award," said Ms. Taylor, in a tone of voice that indicated she wanted to substitute "weird" for "special". "The 'cutest couple' award is one that has been a staple of high schools everywhere. Everyone 's heard of high-school sweethearts, after all." Wow. Arthur seriously pitied the unfortunate couple who would be called on stage and, no doubt, mocked mercilessly. At the very least, he would mock them mercilessly.

"In 2000, all of you showed an amazing tolerance that was ahead of your times. Now, homosexual couples are common, but back then it wasn't always something you talked about." Oh, so it was a homosexual couple? There had been many at his school, of course, but he couldn't recall any who had made it official. Could she be referring to Ludwig and Feliciano? They had been pretty adorable, now that he thought of it, and almost sickeningly so. Plus, if what had been written on the bathroom walls was any indication, everyone had fancied them as a couple regardless of what was official.

"And so, I am happy to announce the Cutest Couple for Gage Jason High School. Alfred Jones and Arthur Kirkland, please come on stage!"

What? No. Oh, please, God, let this be a fever dream. No way was this happening. This was all just a horrible nightmare, brought on by a flu or dementia or something. It could be anything, because anything was better than this. Arthur felt his face heat up. It was funny; before tonight, it had been years since he had blushed. It was a habit he sincerely hoped he had dropped, and now this was, what, the eighth time he had caught himself doing it? Damn.

Alfred pulled Arthur out of his seat. "You heard her, Artie! That's us," he said, grabbing Arthur's hand and dragging him to the stage. No, there was no way this was happening! Arthur refused to accept it.

Unfortunately, though, it was happening, and soon they were on stage. "Now, boys," said Ms. Taylor, her voice inquisitive. It reminded Arthur of the reaction people had to circus freaks. "I want to ask you a few questions, since this is, after all, a very special award." 'Was the emphasis on special really necessary? So we're two boys, and we're together, big deal. Wait. No! We aren't together! We aren't! Ah!' It took every ounce of self-control he had to stop himself from screaming profanities out of frustration.

"Hey, no problem!" said Alfred. Of course. He was naturally charismatic; he probably wasn't even embarrassed right now. 'I hate you,' thought Arthur, longing for a time when there might have been an ounce of truth to that statement.

"So, first of all, what was it like, being a gay couple in high school? How did you deal with the judgment?" Arthur rolled his eyes. 'Depends on how you define 'gay couple', really. If you define it as one night of mind-blowing sex and then utter isolation, then you have us in a bloody nutshell!' Wait. Had he thought the adjective 'mind-blowing'? No, of course not. It was high school, for God's sake. It probably hadn't even been that good.

Probably.

Alfred gave the audience his award winning smile. "People are very judgmental no matter what you do. You know? You could be an all-A student, captain of the football team, the works, but if you don't keep up the status quo…" He shook his head. "But anyway, Artie and I weren't really an 'official couple', more of that unspoken kind."

"Still are, actually," said Arthur. And Alfred laughed. Damn him for laughing.

"You could say that," he agreed.

"Well, I guess being voted "Cutest Couple" is kind of a way of saying that you're a couple, wouldn't you say?" Right now, Arthur hated Ms. Taylor more than he had ever thought possible.

"I don't know, Arthur here is pretty stubborn. But no matter what you call us, I would still say that we have a, ah…" For once, Alfred seemed speechless. While Arthur contemplated letting him stumble through the somewhat annoying question, Arthur decided to save him.

"Special relationship," he said. Ms. Taylor frowned.

"What?"

"Alfred and I have a very special relationship," he said. 'You're welcome, Alfred.' He cleared his throat. "No matter what you call it," he finished. Ms. Taylor was beaming now.

"That's very sweet," she said. "Well, boys, thanks so much for taking the time to talk for your graduating class!"

"Hey, no sweat!" said Alfred, at the same time Arthur said, "It's been a pleasure." Ms. Taylor smiled widely. She seemed to smile as much as Alfred did, only her smile grated on Arthur's nerves a bit.

"And, this wraps our Gage Jason High School Class of '00 Reunion! Don't leave all at once, now, there's sure to be traffic. Say your goodbyes, and exit to the left out of these doors. Goodbye, everyone!" Arthur took the opportunity to storm offstage.

"What's wrong?" asked Alfred, who was following him. What was wrong? Was he that dense, really? Granted, he had never been one to be able to read the atmosphere, but was he so stupid that he couldn't figure this one out?

"That was humiliating," Arthur hissed into Alfred's ear. "I want to die," he added, and Alfred hugged him, squeezing his shoulders.

"Come on, baby, don't be like that," he said, and Arthur had to seriously contemplate whether or not he was being sarcastic. "Personally, I feel a huge relief. Like, all of that sexual tension is just gone," he said, and he smirked at Arthur. "Well, not all gone," he said, giving him a cheesy wink. Arthur really, really hoped that he wasn't blushing, but knew that he probably was.

"Yes, well-" Just as Arthur tried vainly to come up with something to say, Feliciano approached them both.

"Yay! I didn't know you two were official! I'm so happy," he said, giggling slightly. Arthur noticed that his elbow was looped through Ludwig's, like a schoolgirl might have done. He was probably girlier than some females he knew, and mental images of Elizabeta and Natalia came to mind.

"Why are you happy?" asked Arthur, genuinely confused. Why did Feliciano even care?

"Because, you two have loved each other since you met," he said plainly. "You were best friends, and everyone saw it but you too." He giggled slightly. "You two really do have a special relationship."

Ludwig nodded in agreement. "I think you really summed it up well, Arthur." Huh. Arthur had seriously considered the possibility that Ludwig was incapable of speech; that was how little he talked. Of course, he knew it was possible that he talked and just didn't talk to him.

Alfred smiled. "Yeah, you really saved me there, man. I just blanked out, but you came to my rescue. Don't make a habit out of it though. I'm the hero in this relationship," and his smile broadened. R-relationship? What? Did that mean-?

Arthur coughed. "Well, if you keep acting like a damsel, I'll have no choice but to 'make a habit out of it'," he said, smiling a little bit. Everyone laughed, even though Arthur had only said it because he wanted to distract himself from what Alfred had said. Relationship. The word and its possibilities, its connotations, sent a tingle down his spine.

"Anyway," sang Feliciano, "we really should be going, but it's been amazing talking to you guys! I hope you can come to our wedding!" He shot a quick glance at Ludwig. "They're invited, aren't they?" Nod, nod. "Great, so I hope you can make it! Bye!"

Alfred grinned. "Man, that guy. So happy. They do make a good pair, though. Like foil. They have that whole opposites attract t thing going. Kind of like we do." There was that hinting again. What were they, exactly? Arthur found himself wanting so much more than 'it's complicated', than 'best friends', or even 'best friends with benefits,' and it even shocked himself. Arthur opened his mouth to speak, but then the former 33 approached them.

"You two! Why didn't you say anything?" asked Elizabeta, almost squealing. Arthur heard himself let out a squeaking noise as she hugged him tightly. "I knew that there was something, I knew it!" she cried. Arthur looked at his feet.

Gilbert had a smirk on his face. "I fucking knew it!" he exclaimed. "Nothing gets past the awesome me!" He stuck his tongue out at Roderich, who only rolled his eyes. "Who's seeing things that aren't there, now? I knew they were doing it, all this time, I just knew it!" The exuberance with which he drove his point home frightened Arthur.

"Hey, Gilbert?" asked Alfred. The question had seemingly come out of the blue.

"Yeah?" It looked like he was just as surprised as Arthur was by the sudden question."

"Why did you name your band thirty-three, anyway?"

Simultaneously, Elizabeta, Roderich, and Gilbert groaned. "That's a long story," began Gilbert. "And now you all have to hear it."

Elizabeta huffed and rolled her eyes. "It is not a long story," she said matter-of-factly.

"It is if you tell it right."

"Don't listen to him. Basically, we were supposed to be three-cubed, not three-three. You know, like an exponent? Three cubed is nine, anyway, but it was Gilbert's idea and he thought it would be cool. Well, anyway, when we went to get the T-Shirts made, there was a misprint, and instead of looking like three to the power of three, it just looked like thirty three. None of us had the money to fix it, so we ran with it. The end." She glared at Gilbert. "There. I told it right, and it wasn't long."

Gilbert sulked. "You did not tell it right," he said, his hands on his hips. "You forgot about the part where I'm awesome. Oh wait, never mind, you did tell it right, because any story with me in it has underlying subtext about how awesome I am!"

"Um, 'underlying subtext?' Why can't you sound that intelligent about anything else, Gilbert?" Roderich was now speaking. "Anyway, we have to be going now, but it was lovely seeing you both again. Oh, and congratulations."

"Wait," said Arthur. "You all have to go? Do you live with each other?"

"Um, yeah? Duh? We lived off-campus through college and we've pretty much stayed in the same house since," said Gilbert, as if this was obvious to everyone. What Arthur really wanted to ask was whether or not Elizabeta had decided who she wanted to be with, since the relationship of 33 (oh, it was 3 cubed, he remembered again) was one like a soap opera. Thankfully, Alfred lacked the class to realize that this was a rude thing to do, and he must have been wondering too, because he asked them.

"Hey, Elizabeta, did you ever end up with anybody?"

She gave them a sad smile. "To make a long story short, no, because I couldn't decide and ended up with neither of them. So they got with each other."

"What?" Arthur heard his voice merge with Alfred's as they both expressed the same sentiment; it wasn't until a few seconds later that he realized Gilbert and Roderich had asked the same thing.

"Well, it's not official. Yet," she said, and she smirked. "I mean, do you think they never? Come on!"

"Ugh, Lizzy, we don't talk about that, it was one fucking night, can't you just let it go?" Wait, so it was true? Wow. Some things really did change. Who knew?

"Honestly, Elizabeta, you're embarrassing everyone," said Roderich, his face slightly red. Well. Apparently there had been more to 33 than met the eye.

"I keep trying to initiate a threesome, but they won't do it. One of these days," she said, and laughed. "Seriously though, what we have is pretty complicated, involving a lot of 'love triangle' stuff, but to simplify, everyone loves everyone, whether they like it or not." Huh. That actually summed up Arthur's impression of 33 pretty well. Who knew.

Elizabeta checked her watch. "Ooh, Roddy's right though, we really do need to be going. Goodbye, boys! I wish only the best for you." She walked away with Roderich, but Gilbert stayed behind.

"Hey, yeah, it was pretty cool seeing you. Arthur, you're an honorary member of 33 anyway, and Alfred, you're almost as awesome as I am. Hope to see you around. Visit G-Squared, I can get you a killer discount!" he said, and then he ran off to catch up with Elizabeta and Roderich.

Arthur looked at the floor. He had a million questions he wanted to ask, but lacked the courage to ask them out loud. Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, a line from a song from so long ago popped into his head.

'Boys like you love me forever,'

Why did that have to be so damn true? He had a vague recollection of dancing to that song at prom. He laughed to himself nervously when he remembered Alfred singing along.

"Alfred," he began, looking him directly in the eyes. "At prom, when we danced, who were you singing to?"

As far as questions went, it was a pretty odd one, and somewhat stupid. He had so many more important ones, and yet this one seemed like it would answer all of his others. It didn't even make sense, really. In all likelihood, Alfred had forgotten about it altogether, and would look at him like he was crazy. But for whatever reason, he needed to know, and that was why he felt his face light up when Alfred responded.

"You. Of course it was you, Arthur. It was always you," and he almost sounded melancholy. "I can't believe you had to ask that, was I ever subtle or something?" So it wasn't the most cheerful answer in the world. Arthur didn't care, because after hearing 'you', nothing else mattered. It was very odd, he thought, how so much meaning could be attached to a mindless pop song. Suddenly, Alfred's voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, Arthur?"

"What?"

"Where do you live?" Well, it was an innocent enough question, he decided. Though at the beginning of the night he would have never thought it possible, he now found himself opening up the notepad function in Alfred's phone and punching in his address in the keypad. The worst case scenario was that Alfred would break in and kill him, but even then, at least it was Alfred doing the killing.

'Wow,' he thought, 'I really do have it bad.' He wondered when he had accepted his feelings. He could swear he had been in denial just a second ago, but he had ceased to see the point in doing so. For some reason, it was just easier to love someone than it was to hate them. Still, even if those were strong words, it was hard for Arthur to admit to any positive feelings towards anyone. He wondered when he had been so open. He thought it was when the words 'special relationship' had popped out of his mouth. Why did those words fit them so well?

"Sweet! Now I can stalk you," said Alfred, doing a fist pump.

"Go right ahead," said Arthur, laughing despite himself. When was the last time he had laughed? It was like his life had become dreary and he hadn't noticed.

"Can I get your cell, too? Maybe your home phone? 'Cause, that'd be great," he said, speaking a bit faster than he normally did. Arthur was flattered, and happy to give his information, but somehow his inner cynic wasn't pleased. What did Alfred need all of this information for? He had the sudden urge to stop himself from being too happy, as if being disappointed was an inevitability.

"You probably think I'm going to rapekill you or something, but that really isn't it. I know I sound like a total stalker right now, and that sucks, but I just don't want it to be like last time, you know? You didn't talk to me, you ignored me. And, I guess it was my fault too, you know. Like, I could have made more of an effort. So here it is. This is my effort. Mark my words, Arthur Kirkland, I am not letting you get away this time." It was remarkable how he sounded both serious and joking, both somber and sarcastic. How did he do it?

"Fine," said Arthur, smiling again. Why was he smiling so much? It was odd, but he thought nothing more of it. "Maybe I don't want to get away." Wait, was this flirting? It was, wasn't it? This was so new to Arthur. Being playful and teasing wasn't something he was used to at all. He hoped he was doing it right.

"Hey," said Alfred suddenly, "are you doing anything next Saturday?" 'In all likelihood I am,' he thought with a pang of sadness that only shocked him a little bit, and he pulled out his phone to check its built in planner. To his other shock, he was completely free that day. Two free Saturdays in a row? It was almost like the universe liked him or something.

"You won't believe this, but no, I'm not. Why?"

"Because I want to break into your house, and I want it to be a day you aren't home. Why do you think? I want to have you over, or, or get coffee, or hell, even go to freakin' G-Squared. I just want to see you. You're going to be my best friend if it kills you," he said, smiling widely.

Oh. Was friends all he wanted, after all of this? Arthur sighed. He didn't really have any friends, and now that he had seen Alfred again, the thought of not seeing him seemed unbearable. "Sure," he said meekly, "best friends, just like before." Would this be the topper of the list of everything that had been the same?

Alfred tilted his head to the side slightly. "Well," he began, stretching out the word 'well', "I wouldn't say just like before," he said thoughtfully.

"Really, and why is that?" Before he could completely finish the word 'that', Alfred's lips were pressed against his, though only for a second. It wasn't a chaste kiss, not exactly, but it wasn't full-on making out.

"Because we can do things like that, and it won't be weird or awkward. Or at least, that's the dream, anyway."

Arthur was astonished. Unless all this time he was having a fever dream, it seemed to him like this was Alfred's incredibly convoluted way of asking him to be his boyfriend. Of course, Arthur did have the tendency to jump to conclusions, but it didn't seem like there was much else he could be suggesting. He felt an involuntary smile spread across his face.

"So, next Saturday? Coffee, gaming, what?" asked Alfred, who was looking at him with an amused expression on his face.

Arthur was horrible at making plans, but he decided to try his best. "Well, maybe we could go somewhere to eat, perhaps see a movie afterwards, and then I could show you my place?" Wow. That had sounded cheesy, humiliating, and perverted all at the same time.

Laughter. "Well, you get minus ten points for originality, but you get plus points because of the sexual implications of what you just said. Partly because I bet you didn't even mean to do that," he said, grinning.

"Right! Of course I didn't! Mean to do that, I mean. Anyway! I guess I'll see you then?" Why was he stammering? Why hadn't the speech therapy class he had taken in his childhood warned him that reverting to old habits was particularly likely in front of cute boys? Damn it to hell.

"Okay, we'll work out the details tomorrow. Bye," he said, but didn't leave. They stood there looking at each other for a few seconds, and then Alfred hugged him. What Arthur couldn't figure out was how to categorize it. It was more than a best-friends hug, but it wasn't as lusty as a best-friends with benefits hug, either. It was warm, and Alfred's hands were at the small of his back, and his hands were around Alfred's neck, but he couldn't think of a name. Maybe it was better that way; he wasn't sure.

After a while, they separated, and Arthur spoke. "What do you call that, Alfred?"

He looked at him thoughtfully, as if he had been wondering the same thing. Finally, his face lit up. "You know what, Artie? I know what you're thinking, and I've come up with a solution. Of course, you helped some, but never mind that!" Arthur rolled his eyes, but found himself amused rather than annoyed.

"Do tell," he said, smirking at him.

"You have just been special-relationship hugged. Cherish it as much as I did! See you soon," he said, blowing him a kiss as he walked away.

All in all, Arthur had completely dreaded this stupid reunion, but in the end things had worked out, hadn't they? He left the room a while after Alfred did, and walked into the parking lot. His mind was on Alfred, of course, but not just him. It was more of them, in fact; their mannerisms, their inside jokes, the way he sometimes felt like they were half of the same person, that everything he was missing Alfred had, as if to make up for it. Arthur had gone to the reunion expecting nothing but the worst, and he was leaving it expecting nothing but the best.

It really was remarkable what all had changed.