CHAPTER THREE: Get Out Of My Head

"Don't worry about it Arthur, Gilbert just wanted the chance to yell at someone instead of getting yelled at." Liz, their bass guitarist, said from the side of the stage. The small pub they performed at, Antonio's, was closed every Thursday for inventory and restocking. It was located a few blocks from the library and so college students that spent all day studying could come by for a drink or relaxation after they finished.

"Of course." Arthur snickered at Gilbert's glaring face. "Where's Roddy? Is he late too?" Looking around Arthur only saw 4/5th of their band.

Sinners In Summer was formed at the beginning of Arthur's sixth form. It consisted of Arthur, who played guitar. And then Gilbert who was the lead singer, but Arthur was currently trying to teach him guitar also; to be honest, he wasn't half bad at it. Gilbert was the heartthrob of the band believe it or not. His unusual albino appearance and cocky manner attracted most who laid eyes on him.

Next there was Berwald, who played the drums. At first glance (and second) Berwald could look very... very intimidating. But underneath the deadpan face there was a man who owned a small, adorable, fluffy white dog and who ran a daycare center for kids. The swede stands at six foot six and could easily bench press a car. His glasses hide his vibrant turquoise eyes from any onlooker.

Then finally, Liz (Elizabeta) and Roderich. They were the couple. With both of them growing up in the same house as kids it didn't take much for them to stay together (A/N: More on that later). Everyone could tell that Liz wore the pants in the relationship but Roderich could persuade her to do anything (although others thought he didn't use it to his advantage enough.) Liz sang and strummed along on bass while Roderich did sound and keyboard.

Liz had her long brown hair in braids most days and she often wore sun dresses... most forget that she can totally kick your ass if you mess with her or someone she loves. But her foul language and constant threats are enough to keep some reminded.

All together they were known asSinners In Summer (or SIS). When deciding on a band name, Gilbert thought he would try to be clever and combine all of their first initials into one word. He eventually ended up with BADGER, and for a solid ten days he was set on finding someone who's name started with a D. They all quickly rolled their eyes and said no.

"Oh you mean Piano Pants? Yeah, he mentioned that he'd be a little late." Gilbert said while sorting out some cables.

"... did he mention why?" Arthur set his guitar case down and unzipped the sides. In total Arthur owned three guitars. Two electric and one acoustic. The first guitar he ever owned was the acoustic one. Receiving it at the age 11, Arthur wasn't very excited. At the time he was only learning piano and had no interest in learning another instrument.

After a few encouragements from his parents he decided to just go for it. But all too soon the guitar had become his life. He loved it. Every time he would brush his fingers against the smooth metal of the strings he would feel complete, like nothing else in the world mattered.

"He's picking some stuff up for me, guys." Liz answered them. "He'll be here in like five minutes, calm your man tits." Gilbert and Arthur exchanged looks.

"Whatever." Arthur replied, continuing unpacking his guitar. He had swung by his parents house before rehearsal only to pick up his electric guitar, he had no knowledge of the Jones returning today. If he had known maybe he would've been prepared to exchange some syllables with Alfred.

He only used his nicer Union Jack designed guitar for performances, other than that he used a slightly more worn one. His father had been repairing the strings for him so he didn't have to use his pride and joy for their practice.

Seeing that Liz spoke the truth, Roderich show up roughly five minutes later and they began rehearsal. The music they typically played was a cross between Rock and Punk. But they have been known to play other genres like Pop, Electronic, and Instrumental. Mostly on popular nights at Antonio's they would play covers of songs, but sometimes they played their own music.

A couple run throughs of songs just to warm up they began working on their list of new hits to cover. Arthur was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on strumming the right notes as the thought of Alfred kept occurring. With a few questionable glares from Gilbert he zoned in on the beat that Berwald was giving them.

Declaring it was time for a break about 40 minutes later, Arthur sighed in relief. "You feelin okay, Arthur? I mean. You kinda sucked." Gilbert said before taking a gulp of his water.

"Yeah. Just a bit distracted I guess." Arthur picked at his nails. Gilbert didn't question it further. "Oh, Berwald." The swede looked up from his drum kit. "My mother told me to tell you that Tino says 'Hello.'" Studying the way Berwald's face changed from emotionless to slightly emotionless, Arthur felt as if a little crush was blooming right before his eyes.

"MERDA!" Everyone jumped a little as the Italian curse word echoed through the pub. Arthur got up from his seat at a table and followed the source of the swear. Behind the bar Lovino Vargas-Fernández was crouched down and surrounded by bottles of liquor.

"Uhh, are you okay Lovino?" Arthur asked. The Italian man looked to be extremely frustrated.

"Just fucking screwed up the fucking numbers... again." Lovino was the co-owner of Antonio's and husband to the Antonio. If Arthur remembers the story right then Antonio's grandfather named the pub after him and then passed it down when he could no longer run the place himself. "I'm going to kick that Spaniard's ass for this." Lovino glared at the bottles. On the outside it may look like Lovino was always angry at Antonio, but only those who've known them long enough could see how much they love each other.

"You do that, then." Arthur nodded and walked back to the stage. After the break they worked for about another two hours then Gilbert called it quits. Since tomorrow was Friday the pub would be open later than usual. Everyone packed up, said goodbye then headed out. While Gilbert was harassing Roderich and Liz for a ride, Arthur was buckling his helmet.

Arthur's flat wasn't far, most of the time he would walk from Antonio's back home but he couldn't just leave his bike. He lived above a small cafe and was roommates with the owner. Finding a place close to just about everywhere Arthur needed to be was very hard. He made the sacrifice of his sanity just to be within five minutes of his destinations (His roommate was a little on the 'oh my god shut the fuck up' side.)

Wrapping a scarf around his neck he started his bike. Even though it was the beginning August the wind was a bit nippy. Waving to his band members he drove to the main road and made the short trip back to his flat.

Parking next to Café de Plaisir he dug out his key from his jean pocket and entered the dark cafe. The jingle of bells as he opened the door filled the somewhat-silent atmosphere. The shop was closed for the night, but he could hear the slight rumble of the ovens in the back room. 'Looks like someone left the oven on.' He thought to himself sarcastically. Making his way up the side stairs he walked through the apartment door and closed it behind himself.

"Bonjour, mon ami."

"Shut up, Frog."

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After saying goodbye to everyone and thanks for the tea Alfred and Matthew found themselves at their own apartment unpacking their share of the boxes. Matthew was talking but Alfred couldn't hear him over his own thoughts. 'I'm such an idiot. Seeing Arthur again wasn't supposed to go like this. He wasn't supposed to get all attractive and… and stuff.'

"Alfie? Did you hear me?"

Alfred looked up to see Matthew staring at him. "Oh, sorry dude. What was that?" Matthew just looked at him with a blank expression and blinked a few times. "What?" Alfred asked.

"... Mon dieu..." He muttered under his breath in french. Matthew was born in Canada but his mother was french, and often spoke french. Knowing both french and english did come to it's advantage every now and then. "I never knew…" Matthew trailed off again.

"Never knew what?" Alfred was stacking their DVD's onto a shelf by the TV while Matthew was sorting out their silverware in the kitchen. The apartment was small, but it wasn't rundown or anything. It had two bedrooms and one bathroom. The kitchen was bigger than Alfred had expected (Mattie liked to cook, but he was still learning.) His brother picked out the apartment and all Alfred had to say about it was that he wanted his own room; other than that he couldn't care less.

"I mean I know you two were best friends before but… this just sounds too perfect." Matthew's face was blocked by a cupboard door but Alfred could tell from his tone that he was smirking.

"What are you talking about?" Pandora was on in the background at it was all too appropriately playing 'Somebody That I Used To Know' by Gotye.

"Oh come on Alfred." Matthew stacked some plastic cups and put them away. "Two best friends separated. They're reunited ten years later. Both of them quite flustered about how the other has grown up." Matthew sighed and stared into the distance. "I so ship this."

"Why are you boating things again? You're so weird." Alfred filed away the last DVD and stacked the now empty cardboard box with the countless others. "Listen Mattie, I know Arthur has… changed." Matthew shot him a knowing look. "And that he reacted the same way I did, or so you say. But that doesn't mean that he- well… that he is-"

"Gay?" Matthew smiled and watched as his brother trip over a box at his bluntness. Alfred's face went red with embarrassment and his brother giggled. "But you didn't have to cUT ME OFF." The radio hummed in the background.

"Shut up." Matthew shook as he bit his lip to keep another laugh from slipping out. He covered his mouth with his hand and turned his back to Alfred. "StoOOoop." Alfred whined. Looking back over his shoulder at Alfred's still beet-red face, a snort escaped his through his nose. "That's it." He grabbed his Canadian brother by the collar and drug him over to their living room.

Matthew grabbed his hand from his shirt and spun away from him. "You wanna go?" He taunted Alfred.

"Lets do it." They each slowly circled each other. Nothing was in the room at the moment, just a coffee table shoved in the corner and a beaten up sofa (Not to mention some empty boxes as well.) The bluetooth speaker began to play some unknown rock song that added faux tension to the moment.

Alfred dived for Matthew but he was took quick, Matthew dodged to his left and let Alfred fall to the ground. Getting on top of Alfred he straddled his back and slipped his arms underneath Alfred's. Pulling his arms back he easily got him in a headlock. "SAY YOU'RE GAY FOR ARTHUR!"

Alfred groaned and tried to find Matthew's hair with his hands. Feeling his brother's head he grabbed a handful of hair and pulled. Matthew's arms slipped ever so slightly and Alfred took the moment to get loose and flip them over. Pinning the Canadian to the ground he chuckled. "Neeever." Matthew glared. "I'll admit he's hot though." Flashes of Arthur began once again in his mind. "Like how his skinny jeans… and his hair is... but his eyes just..."

Matthew looked off into the distance like he was staring into the camera on The Office. His American brother's distraction gave him enough time to bring his knee up and jam it into his stomach. Doubling over Alfred rolled off of Matthew.

"If you don't ask him out by the end of next week I will…" He trailed off into his thoughts.

"HEhheehh." Alfred wheezed. "You can't even think of anything to do to me."

He watched as his brother got off the floor and slump into the couch cushions. "Oh I'll think of something, and you won't even see it coming." Alfred didn't like the way Matthew's voice went dark all of a sudden. Looking over he saw his brother's stuffed bear in the corner of the couch. He picked up the animal and threw it at him. "Whatever man. Good luck with that."

"I told you not to throw Kumajirou!" Matthew stroked the bear's head.

Alfred laughed at his brother. He would talk to Arthur later this week, but he no clue how he was going to get in contact with him. Maybe he would just happen to run into him somewhere. But that was unlikely.

Right?