"Alfred, Alfred, play with me~~" Alice pleaded, as she crawled over to her roommate's bed.

Alice had just woken up from her slumber and was now, somehow, very energetic. But she was acting a bit strange. Her fever had gotten worse and Alfred was surprised by the fact that Alice still could move around. Normally, people would've been in bed and resting.

"No," he objected as he shoved away the girl, who had managed to crawl on top of him. "And you need some rest. The fever hasn't even gone down a bit. Look," he paused and put his hand onto Alice's forehead. "You're still sick."

The emerald-eyed girl pouted as she sat on Alfred's bed. "But I don't want to sleep! I'm not tired," she complained and stood up.

Alfred went back to the comic he was reading. He would from time to time check what Alice was doing, making sure she didn't hurt herself in that state. He chuckled as he watched the girl run around in the room and say things like "Unicorns sure are great" and "I want a flying mint bunny!"

He stopped laughing, however, when she suddenly started to undress herself.

"..Uhm, Alice," Alfred said with flustered face. "Why are you taking your uniform off?" he asked as he placed the comic on the nightstand. The heat on his face spread as he watched the girl unzip her pants.

Alice turned around when she was just about to start unbuttoning her shirt. The cardigan and tie was lying on the floor and her pants were half-on.

"Well, duh, it's too hot," she responded and kept unbuttoning the white shirt. "And hey, you look like you're burning up yourself. Why don't you take your clothes off, too?" she suggested and started to walk towards him when she finished unbuttoning the shirt.

Alfred started to slowly shake his head and held up his arms, making the 'stay back'-motion. Alice stopped and stood there, with only half-zipped pants and an unbuttoned shirt. The boy felt the blush spread over his face.

"Hey, hey, hey, no strippin'," he stated and walked over to the girl. "Arms up in the air -now," he damanded with a firm voice and went to go grab one of his sweaters.

"Why?" Alice asked, slightly confused, but did as he told her.

She raised her arms and watched the boy cover her arms, then head, then body, with one of his over-size sweaters.

"Noooo, it's too hot!" Alice whined when Alfred had managed to get on the sweater.

"Well, you can't just go around completely naked. You're sick, remember? Go read a book or something already," he sighed and sat down on his bed again and reached for his comic. "Liz must have passed the cold onto you," he mumbled.

Alice sat down in the way too big superman sweater and grumped. She then suddenly jumped up and went to a book-shelf, near the desks. Alfred noticed and observed the girl carefully.

"Ahaa! Here it is!" a suddenly cheerful Alice grinned and walked up to Alfred with a picture book in her hands.

Alfred raised an eyebrow and closed his comic. "What?" he asked and crossed his arms, mildly suspicious about Alice's sudden cheerful mood.

"Can't you see? It's a picture-book! I really like it. It's Cinderella, the German version," she said and passed the big book on to Alfred. He looked surprised, and opened the book.

"What do you mean, 'German version'? There's other versions?" he asked and closed the book.

"Yeah. I bet you only know of the Disney version? The one with her fairy godmother?" she grinned. "This one's called Aschenputtel," she said with a smile and sat down on the bed. "Move over," she demanded.

Alfred did so, and moved over to the other side of his bed, leaning slightly against the wall.

"Well, I kinda watched the thing on Disney when I was younger. I barely remember anything, though," he replied as he watched Alice lay down beside him. "What's the difference?" he asked when Alice had made herself comfortable under the blanket.

"Just read the book already," Alice said and snuggled into Alfred's shirt.

"Okie dokie," Alfred replied and opened the book again. "But just so you know, I suck at reading. I might get some words wrong," he warned before he turned to the first page.

"The wife of a rich man fell sick, and..."

It happened that the father was once going to the fair, and he asked his two step-daughters what he should bring back for them.

"Beautiful dresses," said one, "Pearls and jewels," said the second.

"And you, Cinderella," said he, "what will you have?"

"Father break off for me the first branch which knocks against your hat on your way home."

So he bought beautiful dresses, pearls and jewels for his two step-daughters, and on his way home, as he was riding through a green thicket, a hazel twig brushed against him and knocked off his hat. Then he broke off the branch and took it with him. When he reached home he gave his step-daughters the things which they had wished for, and to Cinderella he gave the branch from the hazel-bush.

Cinderella thanked him, went to her mother's grave and planted the branch on it, and wept so much that the tears fell down on it and watered it. And it grew and became a handsome tree.

Thrice a day Cinderella went and sat beneath it, and wept and prayed, and a little white bird always came on the tree, and if Cinderella expressed a wish, the bird threw down to her what she had wished for.

"Whoa, she didn't have a godmother?" Alfred asked, surprised, and pointed at a picture of Cinderella crying in front of a gravestone. There was a tree near the gravestone, and two birds were carrying a red dress decorated with golden beads.

"Yup, and that's not the only difference," Alice said and turned a few pages. "Read this," she pointed at a text, right next to a picture of an old woman handing over a knife to a girl with a shoe in her hands.

The eldest sister went with the shoe into her room and wanted to try it on, and her mother stood by. But she could not get her big toe into it, and the shoe was too small for her. Then her mother gave her a knife and said, "Cut the toe off, when you are queen you will have no more need to go on foot." The maiden cut the toe off, forced the foot into the shoe, swallowed the pain, and went out to the king's son. Then he took her on his his horse as his bride and rode away with her.

"What? She actually cut her toes off to fit in the shoe?" Alfred bursted when he had finished reading the page.

"Yeah. That's the German version," Alice said and turned the page. "There's a French version of it too, but I don't have it- what are you doing?" she asked when Alfred suddenly put his hand on her forehead.

"Nothing, just checking if your fever had gone down. You seem a bit more, uh, awake now," Alfred said and moved his hand from Alice's (still very warm) forehead, and went back to the book.

Alice chuckled and closed her eyes, leaning against the boy's buffy arm.

"Alfred?"

"Yeah?"

"You're really warm and cosy, you know that?"

Alfred stopped reading and looked down at the girl.

"Uh, thanks, I guess," he laughed nervously.

"Alfred?" Alice asked and looked up at him.

"...yes?" he replied with slight hesitation. Alice was acting weird again, and Alfred wasn't really sure of what was going to happen.

Alice stared at him for a while before breaking the long lasting eye contact. They both looked away, kind of awkwardly.

Alfred's eyes sure were blue. Deep as the never-ending ocean and blue as the bright sky. Simply putting it, they were just stunning.

"Y-Y'know, You never told me one thing," Alfred said to break the awkward silence.

"What?"

The boy bit his tounge, wondering wether to say it or not. And, if he was going to say it, he still didn't know how.

"Uh, you said you got a lot of love-confessions," he awkwardly started and covered his burning face with his hand. "S-so... d-did you like anyone back?" he felt like his face was radiating with heat.

Alice was quiet for a while, still staring at Alfred, until she replied, "Nope. I already had someone I loved."

Alfred's heart suddenly felt like it had been pierced with thousands and thousands of dark, hurtful arrows. Why did he feel so disappointed? What was he even hoping for? Of course she has someone she loves. Most people are in a relationship in this age, right?

So then why did he feel like might as well die right here, both from embarrassment and jealousy. It hurt incredibly in his chest.

Trying to remain his voice from shaking, he took a deep breath and removed his hand from his no longer warm face.

"Haha, 'kay. Must be annoying to get confessions all the time when you have a boyfriend, huh?" he gave a humorless laugh and moved past Alice off the bed.

Alice watched as Alfred stomped rather depressingly away and into the bathroom.

Alice felt the fever hit her again, and slowly drafted away to sleep.

She woke up to the sound of snoring. The room pitch-black, and Alice was freezing. The superman sweater wasn't really helping. The blankets were damp and cold with sweat.

Alice sat up and quickly fell down again. Her head hurt like hell and she didn't want to let go of the blanket, which was the only thing that kept her somewhat warm. She curled up into a ball and tried to save the body-heat that was slowly slipping away.

Her heart jumped a bit when her phone suddenly vibrated on the nightstand. Trying to move as little a possible, she grabbed the only lightsource in the dark room and squinted her eyes as she read the display, 'I'm on the plane right now! Sorry if I woke you up, but just wanted to tell you! ... Man, I bet Ludwig is celebrating for finally having me out of his house. Oh well, I'll be coming to your school the day after tomorrow! You better be there to meet me or else my awesome-ness will hunt you down!'

Alice chuckled and put down her phone, making the room pitch-black again. A sudden voice made not only her heart jump, but her whole body too.

"Your boyfriend?" Alfred asked with a bitter tone and turned on the lights. Alice shut her eyes and went under her cover.

"No. Just a friend of mine. And I thought you were sleeping?" she replied with an slightly irritated tone. She wasn't up for a fight. Her head was a mess, and she was still freezing. In fact, she could barely speak without shivering.

Alice could hear Alfred sighing and turning off the lights.

"Al?" Alice whispered and turned around to the direction where Alfred was lying on his bed.

"What." he retorted with a tone that clearly said he was annoyed.

"Are you mad at me?"

Alfred took a deep breath. "No, it's just that," he sighed. "I don't know. 'kay?"

Well, was he actually mad at her? Or was it just the thought of her being in someone else's arms that made him angry? Alfred didn't know. Feelings, all these kinds of feelings.

He shut his eyes and started to think about the Cinderella story he read today. He imagined a girl, who surprisingly looked like Alice, mourning for her mother. Her two sisters and her step-mother laughing at her.

And then the prince.

Little prince charming, who had firstly mistaken his love by a girl who had disguised herself, only to later find out that she was fake. A simple shoe could change everything.

Alfred wondered who Alice's prince was. How he looked like, how he treated her, and most of all, how much they loved each other. A knot of feelings began to tighten in his chest. When did he start to think of these kind of things? It's not his business.

But Alfred wasn't stupid- or well, at least not that stupid -to know that he was slowly, but surely, starting to fall in love with his roommate, Alice Kirkland.

Waking up knowing you have a crush on someone who won't love you back hurts like being hit by a train going at 1000 km/h. Not really the best upwaking, huh?

Well, this was just what Alfred felt.

Trying to move on with his life, he sat up and glanced over at Alice's empty bed. The blonde eyebrows of his shot straight up when he felt a pair of arms wrap him around his waist. He looked down and found Alice sleeping beside him on the bed.

The girl slept beautifully. Alfred observed Alice's features and pulled his lips into a smile.

Such a stubborn girl. It was cute in a way, though. Sometimes she could be more mature than an adult, sometimes she could be more childish than a five-year-old.

Alfred was lost in thoughts when he noticed that Alice was shaking and a frown had appeared on her face.

Really, this girl sure has a lot of nightmares. Alfred wondered if Alice ever talked with anyone about it. Or did she just go through it on her own? Probably. Her pride seemed to be more important than anything else. She probably wouldn't open herself up like that.

Alfred calmly patted the girl's head and pulled the blanket over the two of them. He watched her carefully as the last tears fell down her cheek and dropped onto the sheets beneath them.

"Were you having a bad dream again?" he whispered and leaned closer to Alice's face. Her wet eyelashes were glittering in the sunlight that was coming from the windows, and she was once again sleeping peacefully.

Too bad her boyfriend isn't here, then. Alfred felt a pang of jealousy when he thought about it. Alice's so-called 'boyfriend' hasn't even contacted her once. Or, yes, she has called someone... Gilbert, was it?

Yes, it was a few weeks ago, when Alfred had walked out of the shower and Alice was talking loudly on her phone. Gilbert, huh?

Before Alfred could think about it, he softly pressed his lips against Alice's. The kiss tasted like salt, but it had a warm feeling to it. Alfred enjoyed every second of it.

Gilbert isn't here. Alice is sleeping. Alfred knew he was playing dirty tricks, but anything is allowed when it comes to love.

Right?

A/T:

Hi there!

I apologise for not updating! School started, and my homework is... ugh. So, now the chapters will be shorter. Please bear with it!

Don't forget to review! It really inspires me and gives me encouragement to keep this fic going :)