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Me and Mattie ran around outside on Saturday off from school. I was so excited for the night. A red backpack sat on my back as I ran through the knee high grass I was so excited about tonight. The repeated thump of the pack against my back would not let me forget the goodies I had stashed away inside. Treasure hunting through my parents garage I had found a small bucket of fire crackers. I was going to set them off cause today is my birthday! Scratches on my hands, knees and dirt on my clothes and the stinging of my cheeks alerted me to the beginning of a sun burn. I couldn't have been happier. I excitedly watched as the sun began to sink down closer to the ground, like a big fish swallowing a water bug. I zipped up my bag and ran from the garage and into the kitchen going for the black out drawer. Digging through flashlights and candles I found out what I was looking for. I grabbed the small match box and packed it as well. I went to the front door where Mathew was putting was waiting, two refilled water bottles in hands. "Lets go Mattie!" with that we both left heading out into the sprawling field that our house sat a the edge of. Sliding through the small logs that made up a fence we entered the tall grass again. I couldn't help laughing as the large group of cattle stared at us as we walked through. After we were past the cows I began to run again ignoring the protests of my brother, planning to play Indians and cowboys until night time..

"Mon Ami Alfred! Mon Ami Mathew!" a light voice called to us. I turned to see two other blonde boys walking towards us. Both of them were almost a year older than us, one tall and thin and the other shorter and really thin. The tall one had greeted us, his longer hair blowing around in the breeze that had started while the short messy haired boy just started stoically at us.

"Dudes!" I shouted waving wildly. These were kids who lived in the neighborhood across this giant field. Sometimes we would play them but they were really busy al ot of the time.

"G-Good evening Arthur and Francis" my brother echoed much more politely.

"Yes Good evening" Arthur finally spoke up.

"You are looking really excited right now. What happened? Something fun?" Francis asked looking rather nosy.

"Dude it's my birthday!" I laughed and yanked my backpack from my shoulders dropping it to the dirt. "And I found some really cool stuff" with impatience I unzipped my pack sticking my hand inside and grabbed a fistful of fire crackers "Look dude these are so awesome" I felt completely heroic as all three of them stared wide eyed.

"Alfred are all of those from the garage?" Mathew asked nervously pushing up the glasses that were making their way down his nose.

"Ya bro, I got them from the cabinet" I stuck my hand in the front pocket and pulled out a small box of matches opening it "And I found these in the kitchen drawers"

"Um Alfred.."

"You stupid head!" Arthur snapped interrupting France "You cant have those we are too young!" His green eyes were dark with anger and a scowl looked permanently glued to his face, ever messy looking blond hair not helping the situation. He leaned forward and I yanked back clutching my hands against my chest.

"Dude, It's my birthday! Plus I'm old enough!" I responded getting upset. How could he yell at me on my birthday and try to take my fire crackers. "Just cause your older than me doesn't mean that you can boss me around! You aren't my big brother! I can take care of myself without your help!"

"You are not old enough stupid!" he shouted back and I could notice that I had hurt his feelings but I was too angry to care.

"Just listen to me like your supposed to!" Arthur yelled and tried to grab the firecrackers away again.

"Mon ami! Stop yelling!" Francis grabbed Arthur from behind hooking underneath his arms.'

"Let go of me you, you, YOU FROG" Arthur shrieked and I saw my opportunity.

"Hey watch me I am old enough!" I quickly fumbled with the the box of matches. I was going to show him! Mr. Bossy Pants!

"Alfred...maybe we shouldn't be doing this.." Mathew whispered tugging at the hem of my t-shirt. Mattie always wanted to play safe. Anything that was exciting he didn't want to be apart of. My fascination grew as I managed to to strike match against the red bumpy side with a moments hesitation I pushed it to the wick of the fire cracker.

"Stupid you'll burn yourself!" Arthur yelled and I stopped laughing as I realized, these things blow up..and I was holding it in my hand.

"Alfred throw it!" Francis ordered and I immediately wound my arm back and chucked it as far away from our little group as far as I could.

"Phew-" Mathew sighed "-eh look!" he gasped and the four of us stared up as multi-colored sparks exploded in the grass and fizzed in the air.

"So, cool dude!" I laughed jumping up and down excitedly. "Ha! Take that dude!" I laughed pointing at Arthur. Yet my joy was cut short as he didn't look, angry, embarrassed or excited, or anything of the sort. Instead he looked terrified. "Dude what is the-"

"Alfred fire!" Mathew yelled and I turned around and froze. Sure enough where I had thrown that one single firecracker there was smoke pummeling up into the air, flames growing taller and taller by the second.

"This wasn't supposed to happen" I shouted. "No...no...NO!" I couldn't turn away as the flamers seem to go through a growth spurt and even from that far away they were towering over us. The fire was loud and screaming, it swallowed up the wheat greedily like a child at a candy began to race forward like the cars on the highway, yet I couldn't seem to move.

"Alfred!" a small warm hand hooked in mine and I was yanked backwards. "Hurry come this way!"

"Uh" I ripped my gaze away from the towering fires. "Arthur" I looked into emerald eyes, shiny with controlled tears. I could feel my own tears well out over my cheeks as the smoke began to sting my eyes.

"Run Alfred!" He began to run and I followed, my hand hooked hard in his. I couldn't take my eyes off of the elder boy as he pulled me along. Arthur ran fast pulling along, he occasionally looked over his shoulder worriedly. "Alfred...I wont let anything happen to you I promise! I will take care of you."

I nodded happy that he was here, I looked on a I heard shouts. Frantically I looked around for Mattie and found him along with Ms. Natalie. I felt like sinking into into the dirt as I saw the pain on her face and the roar of the firetruck sirens...

"Alfred...Alfred"

"Hnh" I blinked awake with groggy surprise. I hadn't even realized that I had fallen asleep. I looked up into the smiling face of the nurse.

"Ah there we go, now your awake" she straightened and reached over picking up the thermometer that Arthur had used earlier. I opened up my mouth obediently as she placed the cool stick back underneath my tongue before continuing. "Well you don't have a concussion and surprisingly no bruising. From Mr. Kirkland told me you took quite the spill across the gym floor, good thing he was there, he didn't leave your side the entire time." She took the thermometer back and checked the little bar of red fluid her eyes darting back to me."Well you have a slight elevated temp and your face is flushed."

"Ahh its just kinda warm underneath the blankets" I said quickly scratching at the back of my head but winced, that wasn't the best idea.I would die from embarrassment if she knew the real reason. With a quirk of her slender feminine brow she turned to record the information on her chart.

"well the thermometer can be a little wonky" she straightened chocolate brown eyes training on the clock. "Well lunch is in about 10 minutes, so just head down to the lunch room" she smiled and handed me my uniform and drew the bed curtains shut. Blinking in surprise I looked down at my body, I hadn't realized that I was still in my gym clothes. I proceeded to change quickly behind the curtains, pushing them aside as I was finished. I sat back down on the bed as i tied off my school assigned shoes. Looking back up I smiled as she approached me a small smile tugging at her mouth. "Ah Alfred you still don't tie your tie right" she laughed.

"heheh" A sheepish smile lit my own face as she proceeded to fix that stupid piece of clothing. I gave up and she stepped forward to fix it. She was a women of average height and dark skin. Her long black hair was pulled back into two braids and more often than not had flowers tied off at the ends. Her name was Nurse Natalie. The dream flooded back to my mind, it was her field that I had accidentally caught on fire. She had known me and many of the other students since we could walk. As long as we promised not to get hurt or bother her animals. She would always take care of Mattie and I, feed us snacks and let her see the cool things that she had around her house.

"Ah what am I going to do with you" her voice broke through my thoughts and I felt a huge smile break over my face as she reached up ruffling my hair. "Now on with you. It's about time for lunch and with how much you eat you cant be late. Need all the time you can get" she smiled

"Well ya, I'm just that cool" I hugged her quickly and pushed my way into the hallway as the bell rang and doors slammed open, bodies spilling from rooms, turning the hall into a loud writhing mass of adolescents. I waved at classmates as I heard my name shouted in greeting. Apparently the news of my little incident in the gym had not gotten around yet.

"Alfred ve-!" I turned to see Feliciano bouncing up and down as he headed my direction. "Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard ve-!"

"Ya" I watched with no surprise as Felicaiano began swept along with the crowd. As always Ludwig was there and he grabbed the small brunette and pulled him, well more like dragged him along.

"Well you seem fine" Ludwig stated as he got there, Feliciano in hand.

"Ah ya dude I am totally fine! As if a small fall like that could take me out" I laughed loudly and the adjacent blonde just nodded in acceptance.

"Well if you are fine then we will be heading out. We've got club meetings during lunch and no doubt Kiku is already in the room waiting for us." with that the built blond continued on his way with the Italian brunette in tow. I watched him maneuver the crowd until my stomach growled, reminding me why I was in the busy hall.

"Cool! Lunch!" I once again joined the flow of bodies moving to the lunch room. What happened next occurred in complete remote control mode. I joined the line that lead along the counter of food. Age old red trays sliding along cold metal bars as hands grabbed at plates of food that sat on a raised counter just below eye level. Before I knew it I was sitting in my usual seat among many members of my basketball team. Voices of many rang out chattering, laughing, arguing, complaining you name it. The sound was deafening as everybody fought to be heard over everybody else. I paid much less attention to my teammates than normal and turned my attention solely to my food. Due to being unconscious I didn't get to eat right after gym like I normally would have but my teammates didn't bother me about my accident cause they knew that during lunch time my primary focus was to focus on lunch so I had energy for practice. I always continued to eat or drink during the lunch period. My focus was usually pretty freaking straightforward, yet today I kept looking around. Yep, there he was surrounded by Antonio, Francis and Chelles. The student council had a self appointed table, just like me and my team. I watched him sit down and no self control I could not help but look at his plate. He had an apple, a salad accompanied with a bottle of water. Arthur was so skinny, not an ounce of fat on him dude! That was when the real worry hit me like a McDonald's semi truck. He stayed then obviously because of the foods he ate...I turned to look at my tray to still see it packed with food on top of the fact that I had already spent a good thirty minutes eating already. With a wave of insecurity I pinched at the pudge of my stomach. Now that I think about it maybe it was maybe it was a little more than just a slight amount. I swallowed the lump that had been working its way up my throat. Maybe I should cut back on the amount of food that I had been eating, I seem to have put on a bit of weight as of late. I put my fork down on my tray and crossed my arms. It took me a couple seconds but I realized that the entire table had gone completely silent. I looked up to see every dude had stopped eating and was staring at me, "eh whats up dudes?" I asked and watched as the guys looked at each other, until one of them, Gilbert spoke up.

"You hit your head earlier Alfred totally not awesome" he said "The awesome me and the others were guessing that's why you weren't eating right now, totally unlike you"

"Ah dude...Im totally alright" I laughed "The nurse wanted to make sure that...I..could keep down food, so I also ate while I was there. So I have eaten a lot already" I laughed and watched as all of them relaxed back into the old ridged backs of the chairs.

"jeez dont scare us like that Alfred"

"Jeez Al"

"knew he'd be okay"

"Course food wouldn't be a problem"

"Whew that's a relief"

"heheh" I listened to the laughs of my teammates as they turned back to their own conversations. 'Well that was a close one' I leaned back into the chair raking my fingers through my hair in exasperation. I turned my attention to side and quickly regretted it. Arthur was staring straight at me, blue clashed with green and I couldn't tear my gaze from his. The deafening sound of the cafeteria faded away into a low hum. I watched suddenly as the blond blinked rapidly, you might as well have taken red paint and painted Arthur's face. I'm not sure how long we stayed like that but he blushed hard yet a scowl crossed his face. Abruptly he looked away to the side yet his eyes darted back to mine quickly before he turned his attention completely to Francis and began to look like scolding the flirtatious man. The sharp shriek of the bell rang as it signaled the end of the lunch period. The protesting of chairs against tiles, moans and groans from students about returning to class, the many conversations coming to abrupt ends, friends and couples saying goodbye to each-other all clashed together in an even louder roar.I slung my backpack over my shoulder and joined the stumbling bodies that surged into the hall. It reminded me of a subway as I kept my eyes open for my stop. Sidling side ways I pushed open the bathroom door, surprised when I saw that it was empty I dropped my bag to the floor at a sink and twisted the silver knobs of the sink, water gushing down into the white basin. Pumping the foamy soup into my hands I scrubbed them together whistling softly. I looked into the mirror and flashed myself a smile, not conceited dude just don't want any food in my teeth! Flicking off the faucet the smile dropped from my face as I looked at my chin, I hadn't noticed that pimple. I looked at my reflection in horror and touched my face. When the hell did that get there! I screamed inside my head I couldn't yank my eyes away from the red mark that sat on my face. 'has that been there all day? How come Mattie didn't tell me? OMG is this why Arthur was staring at me!? no no no' I looked up startled and snatched up my pack as the bathroom door opened. I walked past my fellow student nodding a hello as I pulled up my collar. I once again joined the masses knowing exactly where I was going. I looked up as I heard the giggling voices of a large group of girls. I focused on the girl that I was looking for.

"Good afternoon girls" I spoke up and the whole group turned to me.

"Hey Al."

"How are you doing Alfred?"

"Heard you and Arthur got in another fight"

"Is your head okay?"

"Hello, good, ya, and yep" I responded as quickly and politely as possible to all this inquires. I locked my attention on Elizabeth. "Hey Elizabeth I was wondering if I could bother you for a moment"

"Well of course Alfred" the long haired brunette smiled at me. With a small wave at her group she followed me away from the group of giggling girls. I looked over my shoulder to see the group pointing at the two of us laughing and jumping up and down. The masses were beginning to thin out as students entered classes early or sectioned into groups pressed against the locker lined walls. I walked around the corner to make sure we were out of the line of sight of her friends. Leaning against a locker I sighed glad this side hallway was nearly empty.

"I need you to help me get rid of this" I said flatly pointing at the mark on my face with disgust.

"Oh Alfred" Elizabeth sighed "I didn't even notice it, it was so small"

"Well I noticed it" I shifted uncomfortably "Can you do something about it" Stepping from foot to foot the knobs of the lockers pressed into my back as I looked up and down the brightly lit hallway"

"Oh stop your whining!" she sighed and dug through her shoulder bag and pulled out a small sound plastic contained that I recognized.

"whoa whats with the makeup!"

"You don't want people to see it do you? Well there is no girl magic that can make a pimple go away. But you can cover it up" she said waving the small object under my nose "Now do you want my help or not?" she smiled triumphantly and propped her hands on her hips in mock superiority.

"Yes okay" I nodded and she smiled opening the thing and patted a small sponge in the concoction.

"Just a sec" she looked around and found what she was looking for. Grabbing my wrist she pulled me over to a broom closet and pulled me inside. "I'm guessing you don't want rumors to circulate that you wear makeup"

"ya thanks" I remained as still as possible as she reached up and began to put the makeup on my face. A comfortable silence stretched between us. I had known Elizabeth for a long time and we were good friends, didn't really hang out much but I knew she would help me in a bind and vice-versa. She was also dating Gilbert, my second in command on the basketball team. Her brother Roderick was good friends with Mattie.

"Alright, there all done!" Elizabeth smiled snapping the compact with a efficient click and dropped it into her bag.

"Thanks" I smiled and she nodded

"Of course, anytime Alfred" she smiled and pushed the door open. The two of us froze as we nearly ran straight into a girl. "Ah hello" Elizabeth smiled. The girl stared at us nodding and scurried off.

"Uh..." I couldn't help stare after her but Elizabeth just shrugged. She is in my world literature class, really quiet girl. Wouldn't worry about it. Well I will see you later I gotta get to class" she smiled at me and disappeared around the corner.

"ya, bye" I shrugged my backpack over my right shoulder and sidled into the hallway. Students were milling about and I waved, flashing smiles and fist bumps as I walked down the hall. I was headed down the winding halls towards the culinary classrooms. I hopped down a few stairs leading to a sub level of the classroom building. The floor changed to plain concrete that was smooth and well maintained, any cracks had been taken care of with speed. If you were to look into what my school lacked it definitely wouldn't be in funds. Though you could say that they lacked in taste, cause those locker rooms were ugly! I continued to walk past several doors, hearing the whine of sewing machines, metal and wood cutters, hammering and various other loud noises. The culinary classrooms were all at the end of this up my sleeve I took a peek at my watch, I was still about 10 minutes early for the class. But hey, I still had a slight headache so maybe I could catch a short hero nap, never want to be tired so that when somebody needs me I will be there right away! With a yawn I got to the door and went to push it open but found my feet stuck to the floor and eyes glued to the individuals in front of me. Inside the room filled with stoves, cold steel tables and many other kitchen appliances was Mattie and Francis. They had a couple bowls and mixing spoons already out on the stove that were covered in dough and flour. Mattie sat holding a timer in his hands staring at Francis who was waving his hands around wildly obviously telling some outrageous story like normal. France spun around in excitement hugging his arms and gesturing towards the ceiling and then at my brother. My brother laughed resulting in a huge smile spreading across the French boys face, strands of hair falling out his pony tail. Mattie smiled and shock vibrated through my core as my quiet little brother reached up tucking the loose strands behind the loud boys ears. Francis smiled warmly a look of warmth spreading across his features. He placed his hands on hips with a chuckle and leaned over pressing a kiss to Mattie's mouth. Mattie smiled and kissed him back without hesitation, pulling back as the timer buzzed loudly. The pair turned to the oven and pulled their creation out of the oven. I stepped backwards in shock and leaned against the wall. Mattie was with Francis! Why didn't he tell me? 'Mattie whats going on? Why haven't you told me that you were with Francis. I thought we totally told each other everything. Dude..' Pushing my fingers through my hair I let out a breath that I didn't realize that I had been holding. Pushing from the wall I pulled open the door and went into the room. My eyes found Francis at the sink washing dishes while Mattie was lifting croissants onto a clean silver cool rack.

"Ah Alfred" Mattie smiled at me and lifted one of the pasties on a spatula reaching towards me. "Here have one of these. The teacher asked Francis and I to try out this new recipe before class"

"Ah Alfred, mon ami you're early!" Francis looked over his shoulder as he loaded clean dishes into the plastic drain rack.

"Ya" I shrugged and took the food that Mattie was offering me. It was very warm in my hand and I proceeded to take a huge bit, grunting in approval as the taste of butter and croissant flooded my taste-buds.

"Oh Im so glad they came out well" Mattie smiled brightly "Francis has been teaching me more about cooking"

"And you have made amazing progress, a prized pupil" Francis flattered with a wink. Turning he dried his hands, folded his blue apron and approached the two of us a glass of water in hand. He offered it to me and I couldn't help the glare that crept into my gaze as I took the glass.

"Mon ami? Something the matter?" he questioned and I snorted in response, secretly glad that my mouth was full with the rest of the croissant.

"Ah your still upset over this morning" Francis sighed shaking his head. "Alfred I'm sure you knew it wouldn't be long before someone took your bike."

"Ya right. It wasn't a problem until the council made it an issue" I wasn't even thinking about the bike, but this was a much less awkward thing to be upset about rather than having to admit I had nearly walked in on him and my little brother kissing in the culinary room.

"Francis, is there any way that you could aid Alfred in getting his back bike" Mattie asked quietly, the two of us barely hearing him.

"I'm afraid not mon ch-ami" he swallowed quickly, coughing to cover up the mistake that I as a hero definitely picked up. "You know how Arthur is, once he goes on a mission like that there is no stopping him or deterring him off of the path. You both know that as well as I do."

"Hn" I swallowed the croissant and looked at Mathew "Hey can I speak to you alone"

"o-of course" he nodded and I turned heading towards the back room, pushing the door open I walked in whipping around as I heard Mattie squeak as he grabbed the door .

"Why didn't you say anything!?" I snapped and Mathew stared at me.

"Uh.."

"How long has then been going on?!"

"Uh-"

"Are you two actually dating?!"

"Uh-"

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Al-"

"When were you going to tell m-"

"ALFRED!" he shouted and I fell silent right away. I watched as his complexion went from pink, to white and to bright red. He glared through his frames at me "If you would just shut up for a single second! First of all we were not making out!" he stopped his lips pursing as if he was insure of how to go on "Second, it is none of your business Alfred! I was going to tell you eventually! But this is none of your business! And you have no right to be mad at me!" he snapped. "Now back the hell off!" he snapped and stormed out.