What's in a Name
Chapter Three
The day had proceeded smoothly after Alfred's encounter with the (strangely friendly) bikers. He'd been taken to class by Toris and Feliks after apologising thoroughly for dropping his heavy bag on Toris's foot.
Toris was a friendly guy, Alfred had concluded. Sure, he'd been shaken by the upbeat blonde suddenly appearing out of nowhere earlier in the day, but he couldn't help but be overly nervous when first meeting someone, it was in his nature. And, after all, Alfred had soon proved himself to be "awesome!" (As he had put it...)
Feliks, on the other hand, was very possessive over Toris. He'd practically exploded when his friend had had the bag drop onto his foot ("Watch where you're, like, going!"). Alfred noticed that the blonde had painting his nails fluorescent pink, which just about summed up his personality. Short-sighted and very impulsive. He just did whatever he felt like doing, Toris had explained over Feliks's giggles.
The two of them had shown Alfred around the campus, unsure what would happen if the clumsy transfer student were to run into someone else and accidently kill them (If that was actually even, like, possible...). Alfred got on with the two, though he preferred Toris, he seemed more normal, walking in between the two blondes and sighing at the remarks the one to his left was making, (That's, like, the canteen. Don't eat in there though, 'cause, like, the food tastes like plastic.) Alfred almost thought that they were like a comic duo, and Feliks was the funny guy, and Toris the straight guy. Although Alfred's didn't find Feliks's running commentary of the campus nearly as funny as he did, giggling shamelessly at his own jokes.
These comments had continued even after the three of them had entered the lecture hall. Feliks just had to describe every single person in the room, much to their annoyance. It was at this point that the lecturer had entered and Toris hurried to shut the gossiping blonde up, only to start blushing furiously at something that Alfred hadn't seen, leaving Feliks to erupt into a further, this time silent, giggling fit.
The day had ended in a similar fashion. Alfred waved extravagantly to his new friends and as he headed for the gate he noticed Feliks slip his hand into Toris's out of the corner of his eye, as they headed in the opposite direction towards the dorms.
Alfred made his way out of the gate and back down the road. The sun was setting later as spring progressed, the days getting longer and warmer. He was getting used to his new environment, being in a relatively quiet town compared to where he used to live with his parents and brother. Personally, he'd always preferred the summer, but Matt, his brother, loved the cool spring air before the weather got too sweltering.
He reached the school just as the kids were pouring out of the gates and heading off down the road or towards waiting cars. Alfred saw the two blondes from that morning, the younger girl meeting her brother at the gate and then turning to walk passed Alfred in the opposite direction. He chuckled at their matching bobbed hair cuts as the girl's older brother smiled weakly down at her, asking if she'd had a good day.
As Alfred turned to carry on walking he caught site of an unpleasant looking man leaning on the fencing outside the school. England carried the same scowl as he had the night before, his brows furrowed menacingly, scaring away any small children that happened to accidentally walk too close to him. His bike was parked by the side of the road with his helmet resting on the handlebars and another on the seat.
Alfred looked just as stunned as the parents who were staring at the young man, who was apparently picking someone up from the school, although he looked more like an angry kidnapper, waiting impatiently for someone to fall into his grasp.
Just as Alfred went to cross the road, so that he wouldn't have to walk passed the man that had insulted him the previous evening, a smaller, identical sandy blonde head appeared from around the gate. The boy stood, pouting in front of his brother, his hands on his hips, which reminded Alfred awfully of when Matt used to try and stand up to him when they were younger.
"Do you always have to look like such a grump?" The boy demanded, glaring up at his brother.
"It's my face, I can by angry if I want." England replied, turning a much more intimidating expression on the smaller boy.
Arthur looked up when another bike pulled up next to his, a familiar rider stepping off of it, his brown hair matted after being under his helmet. "Thought you'd still be here, England." Antonio smiled at the two brothers before crouching down in front of the younger to ruffle his hair, "You alright, Peter?"
"Get off Antonio!" Peter slapped the tanned hand away from him, but laughed at his brother's friend.
"Now, now." He ruffled his hair back into place, grinning back at Peter, "We can't have you taking that sort of attitude. You'll end up like grumpy-pants here." He motioned to England, who kicked him over. "See?" He laughed and stood up next to his friend. "We need to talk."
"What's wrong?" The blonde had abandoned his angry glare and had adopted a more serious looking frown instead. Didn't he ever smile? Alfred had found the interaction between Antonio and Peter more like brothers than when England had spoken to his sibling.
"Cover story for the boss." Antonio muttered, glancing around. He was looking more nervous than Alfred had expected as he watched the scene, unintentionally listening to what they were saying.
"Thought so." England nodded, walking over to his bike and tossing the helmet on the seat to Peter. "But before we sort that out, get rid of the brat." He jolted a hand at Alfred, who started at the motion, suddenly realising that he'd stopped walking.
"Ah! Alfred!" Antonio waved at him, grinning madly. England stared at the motion in shock as Antonio rushed over to greet the startled Alfred who was clutching at his bag, trying to figure a way out of the mess he'd gotten himself into. "Why didn't you say anything, Alfred? I completely missed you standing there!"
"Uh..." Alfred stuttered, glancing between the fuming England, the confused looking Peter and the grinning Antonio. "I was just walking home..."
"Don't lie, idiot." England spat at him, "You've been standing there the whole time we've been talking. I'm not as blind as some people." He glared daggers at Antonio who had started to laugh nervously at his friend. "Since when did you know his name, anyway?"
"Ah!" Antonio turned to England, smiling confidently again. Alfred made a point not to underestimate the man's confidence. "He goes to the college, see?"
"No. No I don't see." England shot back, "That does not explain why you know the brat's name."
"We got to talking this morning." Antonio sighed, shaking his head mockingly at the shorter man, "Besides, he's hardly a brat, England. He's only a year younger than us."
"Whatever." England scoffed, leaning on his bike. "We've got bigger problems, anyway." He glanced over his shoulder at a third bike on the opposite side of the road. There was a girl sitting astride it, her blue eyes obvious from the gap in the visor even from a distance.
Noticing that they'd spotted her, she made her way over to the group, not removing her helmet. Her eyes darted between the four in front of her before she addressed England. "The boss wants to see you." Her voice was deep and confident, making the hairs on the back of Alfred's neck stand up.
"I need to drop my brother back at home first." England replied, beckoning Peter forwards.
"No. He wants to see you now." She emphasised that last part of the utterance, staring England down.
"I'll see Peter home, England." Spain smiled, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"No." She turned to Antonio, "You're coming too."
"But-" England sounded worried, Alfred noticed. His tone of voice had completely changed, it was high pitch and barely above a whisper.
"No buts England." She folded her arms across her chest; her blue eyes were ice cold. "The kid is perfectly capable of walking by himself."
"Yeah, I'm perfectly-" Peter began, smiling triumphantly at his brother before being shot a look so dark that he stopped and clutched at the helmet in defence.
"I don't trust the streets." England glared at the helmeted woman, "Not with the members of the group hiding out everywhere."
The girl breathed out indignantly, moving back towards her bike, expecting the other two to do the same. However England and Spain stood rooted to the spot, both still worrying about the situation they were in.
"I'll walk him home."
They stared at him.
Alfred clapped a hand over his mouth, realising what he'd just said. Helping bikers! What was he thinking?! He stared around him at the dumbstruck faces of England and Spain. Alfred knew he'd overstepped a line that he'd had no intention of crossing. He didn't trust the gang. He'd only mentioned the word trust to them earlier to get that egomaniac Prussia to shut up. And he wasn't any less sceptical of them even now he'd watched two of the members of the group get chewed up by the girl who was watching them from the opposite side of the street.
England's expression was a mix between utter shock and disgust. The brat that they had threatened the night before was now offering to help?! Had the world gone mad, or was this guy even stupider than he looked?
He looked over for Spain's support, only to see that his friend was smiling over at the other man. Scratch that. He was positively beaming at him! That answered his previous question – the world, had indeed, gone mad.
"I knew you were a good guy, Al!" Spain clapped him on the back, laughing in relief, "See England, he's alright, isn't he?"
England grunted, still amazed at how his friend wasn't questioning the brat's so called trust. He could tell that he was wavering about the statement he'd just made. He was positively shaking from the surprise he had caused himself. He didn't trust the brat, and the brat didn't trust him. That was that.
"I..." Alfred stuttered, trying to correct the mistake he'd just made, "I'm not offering because I trust you guys!" He rushed out, causing Antonio to laugh at his most pitiful of efforts, "It's just that I wouldn't want the kid to run into trouble, not with you lot on the streets attacking innocent people!"
England saw his advantage. He could use the brat. It would be easy. He was so nervous that he wouldn't know what he was getting himself into.
"The people we target aren't what you would call innocent." He smirked, lip curling in one corner as he mocked the younger man.
"Wha-" Alfred stumbled over his words, "What the hell does that mean?!"
"Anyone could tell that you're trouble, especially when you're snooping around alleyways late at night." England formed his words perfectly, cornering Alfred. "Now, I suppose I could extend some trust to you and have you take my brother home, but then, who on earth would want to trust a shifty looking brat like you?"
"England, what're you...?" Spain looked baffled at his friend's supposed change of heart, despite the man's pirate-like smile, which was as cold and jagged as an ice berg.
"And," England overlooked Spain's comment, "there's always the possibility that my brother would not arrive home safely, in which case, you would be much worse off." He paused, his smile becoming a glare, his green eyes staring down Alfred, "Because if that were the case, then I'd hunt you down and kill you with my own hands. So you'd better do a good job."
And with that, he swung his leg over the bike, pulled his helmet over his head and sped off down the street, leaving Antonio to hurry after him and the woman who had driven off after England, and Alfred standing gormlessly in front of where the bikes had once stood with England's little brother perched on the pavement next to him looking just as confused as he felt.
"Well then... uh..." Alfred turned to Peter, who had taken to peering down the street, evidently relieved to see the back of his brother. "Shall we go?"