A/N: Sorry for the short chapter, but I only had an hour to write this Dx AND I GOT SEASON THREE IN THE MAIL TODAY. It wasn't supposed to be here until Wednesday :DDD So I'm off to go watch that and fangirl. Enjoy!

Alfred pulled the books he would need for his later classes out of his locker, then slammed the door shut. He didn't want to make another trip down that hall later on in the day- too many people he wanted to avoid at all possible costs. Looking around warily, Alfred noted that the hall was clear- for the time being. Quickly, he made his way down another hallway, getting faster and faster-

"Alfred!" Said boy stopped dead in his tracks, feeling all color drain from his face. He had hoped to not be stopped by anybody, but as it seemed, his wish was not granted.

Slowly he turned around, bracing himself for any harsh words.

"Hi, Arthur," he said, faking a smile.

"Where are you going?" his friend demanded. "You haven't been at lunch all week, and I've been looking for you all day."

"I'm going to study, of course!" Alfred lied, shifting the weight of his backpack to his other shoulder.

"Bullshit," Arthur immediately replied. "You've been avoiding us. Matthew and I, at least." Alfred shuffled his feet a bit, uncomfortable with the glares he was receiving. He had been receiving them all too often lately, and he was tired of it.

"Arthur, I just want to study, okay?" Alfred sighed, trying to walk away, but was stopped when Arthur grabbed his arm.

"Alfred…" he started, searching the taller boy's blue eyes, clearly clouded with pain. "What's wrong?"

Alfred froze for a moment. He knew he could spill everything at last, get it all of his shoulders, tell his best friend all the secrets that he had been trying to keep- "Nothing," was what came out. "I'm fine." He pulled away from Arthur's grasp and continued down the hall, leaving the Brit with a stunned expression in the middle of the hallway, completely confused and worried.

Something's wrong, he thought. Something is horribly, horribly wrong.

Matthew sighed in his seat, prodding at his pizza with a fork, not hungry. Arthur had stormed off earlier, declaring that he was going to go find Alfred, who hadn't shown up at lunch all week.

He had thought his brother had been acting weird lately, but had decided that he was probably stressed out from studying so much- everybody was.

Matthew didn't really mind being alone. In fact, he rather liked it. But he couldn't help but feel like his only real friends had ditched him. Picking up his lunch, he threw it in the trash and decided to go to the library instead- get away from all the chatter around him and settle in the quiet.

Relief swept over him as he found the library almost completely silent, save for a few kids helping each other with homework. There were some open seats in the back of the library, close to the fireplace, right were Matthew liked to curl up and read whenever he didn't want to hang out with Arthur or Alfred in the cafeteria.

Taking out the book that he was reading for English, Matthew began to flip through the pages, when suddenly his phone started to vibrate and ring, causing him to jump and receive angry looks from the other people in the library, especially the librarian. He quickly out his phone on silent, but noticed that he had one new message from Arthur. Making sure the librarian was no longer looking at him, he flipped open his phone to read the message.

Wednesday, 12:15 PM

To: Matthew

From: Arthur

Where are you?

Sighing, he decided it would be best to answer, even if he didn't want to be found.

Wednesday, 12:16 PM

To: Arthur

From: Matthew

In the library. Did you find Alfred?

The quiet boy tried to read through more of his book while he waited for a reply, but his screen flashed again before he could even finish another paragraph.

Wednesday, 12:17 PM

To: Matthew

From: Arthur

I'll be there in a minute

Matthew frowned as the Brit hadn't answered his question, and now he wouldn't be able to finish reading.

Sure enough, Arthur had burst into the library moments later, locating Matthew right away and quickly striding over to sit next to the (slightly annoyed by now) boy.

"Did you find Alfred?" Matthew asked, keeping his voice down as not to bother the other people in the room.

"Yes," Arthur said, sighing and running a hand through his hair. "But I hardly got more than five sentences out of him before he ran off somewhere else, not telling me anything. Apparently he's been 'studying,' but I don't believe it."

"Well, he has been spending a lot of time in his room lately," Matthew admitted. "Maybe he really has been studying."

"Maybe, but I really doubt it," Arthur fretted. "He's been avoiding me and whenever I try to talk to him he runs away."

"Excuse me, boys, but I'm going to have to ask you to quiet down or leave the library." Arthur and Matthew turned around to see a librarian standing behind them, arms crossed and a big from on her face.

"Sorry," they both said, and waited for her to leave before continuing their conversation.

"I don't know why he would have any reason to avoid you," Matthew whispered. "If it makes you feel any better, he hasn't said much to me, either."

"I just want to know what's wrong," Arthur said quietly.

"Don't stress yourself out over it. I'm sure he'll be back to himself once all these exams are over," Matthew assured the Brit.

"I sure hope so, Matthew," Arthur said, not so sure.

"Arthur's worried about you, you know," Matthew confronted his brother after dinner. "He says you've been avoiding him."

"That's not true, Mattie! Why would he be worrying about me?" Alfred laughed, patting his brother on the back. "Don't be ridiculous.

Matthew frowned. "Maybe you should try talking to him," the younger brother advised.

"Whatever, Mattie. Arthur's just being a worrywart. There's nothing for him to be so upset about. Now stop being uptight, or else you'll turn out to be just like him!"

Matthew rolled his eyes, smacking his brother on the side of the head lightly.

"Just talk to him, okay?"

"Sure thing!" Alfred agreed before the Matthew retreated to his room.

But both brothers knew one thing.

Alfred wouldn't come true to his promise.