Arthur's POV

I was upstairs in my room where I hoped I was safe. Tomorrow I would have to go back to school. Tomorrow I would have to face Alfred Jones again.

There was something about him that made me trust him. More accurately, I wanted to trust him. I knew I couldn't, but I wanted to so badly. He couldn't know about my parents. He couldn't know about my brothers. He couldn't know that I wasn't just another average high school student, what I had caused. He couldn't know about the anything. He would never look at me the same way again.

Even though I wanted to tell him. It would feel so good to let it all out.

But what did it matter? He was just a highschool friend.

I looked at the bass guitar resting in the corner of my room. I couldn't practice, Allistor was downstairs. He would probably freak out again. I wasn't sure what his problem was. Sighing, I studied the Union Flag design that covered the body and the four thick strings that stretched over the long neck. It was my only release. It was an old guitar, worn and scratched, but I was proud of it.

I don't know what time it was, but eventually Allistor went to sleep. My parents and other brothers were gone, leaving me at Allistor's mercy. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he wouldn't get back up, I snuck downstairs to get food. Then I disappeared back into my room to let myself dissolve into a peaceful nothingness of sleep.

The next morning I woke up at 4:00 AM. At some point I must've rolled off the bed, because I was on the floor in the clothes I wore yesterday with a blanket wrapped around me and a pillow under my torso. I groaned as I sat up. I would be sore for a long time because of this. As if I needed any more pain. I was already bruised from skateboarding.

I had some time before school, so I shuffled downstairs. If I got lucky I would be able to eat and get back upstairs before Allistor woke up.

I didn't get lucky.

I braced myself. Allistor was always in a terrible mood in the mornings. Being ready for it put me one tiny little step ahead of him.

Alfred's POV

It rained last night. Spending the night outside left me walking into school dripping water across the floor. By third period I had dried off. As I was about to greet Arthur I noticed he couldn't care less about the world around him. He stared past all of the people separating his centralized seat from the windows on the right hand wall of the classroom.

He continued on this way all through third period. I studied him out of the corner of my eye.

His usually messy blonde hair had found even more new directions to stick up in. He wore blue jeans and a white tee shirt, which was slightly closer to what I expected out of his wardrobe. His green eyes were dulled and his fists clenched.

Sighing I turned back to the teacher before he called me out. At the end of the period Arthur rocketed out of the room to fourth. The same occurrence happened between fourth and fifth period.

Before Arthur could shoot his way to whatever mysterious place he always disappeared to I grabbed him around his middle. He panicked and struggled, but I moved him so we had switched spots and I now blocked his path. He stepped back from me, glaring. Being taller and stronger than him had finally become useful.

"Arthur I think it's finally time for you to be honest with me."

"About what?"

I watched him, he stood with his arms crossed. He looked very casual, but he wouldn't look at me and his head was turned to the side. I suspected he was worried that his expression would give him away.

"About where you always disappear to and why. I spend every lunch laughing with Kiku, Ludwig, and Feli but that doesn't stop me from noticing that you aren't present. Ever."

"I told you already. I eat alone and I haven't suddenly decided to change that. Now if you'll excuse me-"

"No, I won't excuse you. I'm coming with you. That's final. Let's go Kirkland."

He stared at me for a minute, then opened and closed his mouth as if he wanted to say something. After thinking he spun on his heel, marching down the hallway. He made no move to stop me from following him.

We walked down the hallways in silence. Arthur was stiff as he marched up to the library and swung open the door.

"Here," he snapped at me.

"Why hello Arthur. I haven't seen you in so long. It's nice to see you again Alfred, you were here at lunch yesterday weren't you?" asked Ms. Matsuoka, a nice old lady who was the school librarian. She had red hair and her eyes reminded me of the color burgundy, but she was a great person, always interested in your day and if you needed help.

Arthur was fuming.

"Oh I just came to return this," I said. It was the book I meant to return yesterday. I was glad to have it with me now.

"I'm assuming you enjoyed it?"

I nodded. It was hard to keep a happy face, because the fact Arthur rarely showed his face at the library was concerning. Something was definitely wrong.

"Well, have a nice day you two. It was great to see you again Arthur."

Once we returned to the hallway, I was about to address Arthur when I heard voices. Not just any voices, ones that I recognized.

I slapped a hand over Arthur's mouth and dragged him with me to a point in the hallway where they couldn't see us. Peeking around the corner, I saw a very angry Lovino cornering Ludwig against a locker, with a frantic Antonio trying to keep Lovino from killing him.

Arthur removed my hand but kept silent. I heard Antonio whispering to Lovino, who grunted in response.

"You be careful you potato loving idiot, I-"

Antonio was pulling Lovino down the hallway, while Ludwig stood frozen to the spot. A second later Feliciano came running from the opposite direction, not noticing us, to help Ludwig. It looked like he was crying. I could guess what this was all about. I looked up at the clock in hallway to see that lunch was almost over.

"Arthur I know you aren't going to the library everyday. You can trust me. Please. Just be honest. Tomorrow, let me come with. I mean the best, and Arthur this is really bugging me. I just need to understand. Please."

The look in his eyes was harsh, and I knew he didn't want to. But I had to believe that he trusted me enough to show me this.

"Fine," he said. "But you don't repeat what you see."

Part one accomplished. There might still be hope for Arthur.

I didn't see Arthur the rest of the day. However, I had all of my classes with Kiku. This was only my fifth day in school and Kiku and I were practically best friends. I had taken an art class, and I was so glad Kiku could help me with it. I actually wasn't a bad artist, and in the short time in Arthur's past I had improved vastly. My artwork was surprisingly good sometimes.

Today we were drawing people in their surroundings. It was the start of a large project. We were to choose a topic, and draw it on this very large daunting piece of paper.

I suddenly remembered the fight between Lovino and Ludwig in the hallway, with a frantic Antonio and a crying Feliciano. There was something going on between Feli and Ludwig, and they were both oblivious to it. Lovino was not. He was definitely protective of his younger twin, but it seemed he went a little too far.

Lovino was oblivious in his own way. Antonio, only a year older, was always there for him. It had been five days, but I already knew. Antonio thought a little higher of Lovino then the Italian boy realized.

I shook my head. The four of them were star crossed high schoolers, Arthur was my main concern here.

I knew what I was going to draw. Lovino cornering Ludwig, Antonio trying to pull Lovino away, a sobbing Feliciano sprinting down the hall with his papers flying out of his grasp. Of course, they wouldn't be Lovino, Ludwig, Antonio, and Feli. They would be nameless people, only there to tell a story in a snapshot.

All of a sudden I stood up. The entire class turned from their easels, which stood in a circle facing the center of the room. The white cinder block walls held me in. The high ceiling and wall of windows gave me a fake freedom.

I had changed so much. I remember my real high school days. Always being loud and obnoxious, proclaiming that "I'm the hero" and watching horror movies I knew would scare the daylight out of me. Of course, I still did those things, but it felt different now.

I felt it crashing over me. We all had changed. What was I doing here? Arthur was fine in the future. I just expected him to be different. He didn't talk about high school because it didn't seem like much went on for him.

"Alfred!" Mr. Vargas shouted. I looked over at him, finally realizing he had been calling me for the entire time I was standing. It was the same Mr. Vargas that would teach World History at Hetalia Academy, and it felt strange to see him here.

"Yes?" I asked, mildly embarrassed.

"Are you OK, you look a little pale and panicked."

" Uh, yeah, I'm fine I guess. Sorry about that."

"It's OK, but if something is bothering you say something." He smiled and let it go, moving on.

I thought about it all through his instructions. Maybe I should go.

No, I realized. There was something else going on. I was right on the edge of learning what Arthur did at lunch. It could unlock a whole new issue. I would stay, for now.

I was taking a risk. I could always mess up. Sure, I had definitely matured since the time I was actually a teenager, but something here felt off.

I pushed the doubt out of my mind. It would be fine. Right now, I had an art project to start.