Pop

The Briton snapped his eyes open and gasped for air, jolting off of the ground. He flipped onto his stomach, pulled himself up on his hands and knees, and slightly arched his back. He began to hyperventilate, panting softly as his emerald eyes readjusted to the sudden light. His breathing eventually slowed and once in a while, he let out a cough. After what seemed like an hour of getting used to coming back from blacking out, Arthur arose and stood firmly on the ground and gazed around at his surroundings. To his distaste, Arthur was still back in the wretched place they call school. Arthur staggered a little towards his assigned seat he'd been sitting in before and plopped down in it. He casted his eyes to his peers and then to the teacher. Class seemed to have resume after he fainted and no one was bothered enough to stay with him to make sure he awoke.

"They just left me on the floor for nothing?! They just peeked over at me to see what happened and then continued off on their merry way?! These bloody idiots! …Even the teacher…" Arthur thought to himself. He breathed out a sigh and turned his attention to his professor, but his mind was running amok. Could it all have been a dream? But how did he end up on the floor? Maybe he really did faint. Arthur pressed the back of his hand to his forehead and sighed. He didn't have a fever…

After the session was over, Arthur warbled on to his locker- another part of his daily routine. He collected new materials for class and placed a book or two in, pausing afterwards to take gander at his colorful collection of notes. In the middle of the reminders, a sharp pink one caught his eye. It read:

Ask Susie out to Homecoming.

"Tck." He muttered, taking out his pen and scribbling all over it. "Who would want to go with me?"

With another sigh, he slammed the door shut and turned to the side- Only to find the bully from the restroom leaning against the set of lockers. Arthur's face paled upon the sight of the other and hurried to back away from him.

"Where do you think you are going? I've finally found where your locker is and I just wanted to chat with you." The larger kid apprised, accenting on the last word. Arthur continued to move backwards, but he soon knocked into another person and stopped. The Briton peek over his shoulder to see the persistent classmate's friend.

"Oh shit," Was all Arthur could think about as he inched in between the two.

A sturdy hand landed on his shoulder and ripped him out of his recurring thoughts. He sucked his teeth and prepared for insults, maybe a punch or two. But, what happened next gave him quite a scare. Their fists flew, and Arthur winced, but there wasn't any pain. Quickly taking a look down, their knuckles barely touched his shirt.

The students glanced at each other and then started to cackle, one releasing his grip on Arthur's shoulder. "Got yah! Haha! We could never hurt you, man!" Another stated.

That was frightening as it is. They wouldn't hurt Arthur? "But what about all those insults in the restroom!" The Briton blurted out.

"Insults? Since when did that happen?" One piped up.

"Yeah, you're our friend. Do we need to kick someone's ass for you?"

Friend? Arthur felt queasy inside...in a good way. "Friend.." He started slowly, unsure of this new feeling. "You mean, you will do anything for me?"

They both nodded. "Hell yeah, bud. We'd do it."

"Dance." He blatantly said. He wanted to make sure they were not bantering with him.

His "friends" looked to each other with quizzical looks, but soon shrugged and did as they were told. "Whatever you want, bro. We got you."

And boy did they dance. "Like idiots."

The first kid placed a hand behind his head and grabbed his foot behind him, soon jerking and hopping around. The other spun around, stopped, pointed to the ceiling, and made a high pitched noise. All Arthur could do was stand there and suppress the laughter spewing up with an amused smirk tugging at his lips.

Once finished with their prance, the school bell rung clearly throughout the hallways. Arthur swore to himself and carried his books off to the next class, completely forgetting about the two large kids shrinking in the distance.

"Catch yah later, Art! See you later!" They shouted to him as he scurried off.

"See me again? I certainly don't want to see them. Ah, nevermind." He's late. That's all Arthur could think at the very moment. That matter will have to be addressed later. He was just about to reach for the classroom door when someone intervened his way.

Frustrated with more distractions, he began to complain, but it soon fell flat as he realized it was her. "Hey! Bugger off you, g- Susie.." He cleared his throat from his grouchy tone. "Greetings, Susie."

Susie stood patiently in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest; her chestnut eyes fixated on Arthur's form. A surprised look settled on her face. "Hello, Arthur. The teacher said we could study together since you were already late and I had no one to work with again. Is that okay?"

It seemed rather peculiar to him. Whenever it came down to studying in class, his crush was always taken by one of her girlfriends or some other boy that would please her. This time, he is not letting this opportunity slip from him. But wait a minute, she said again. What did she mean by again? They haven't worked together before, have they? Blushing, the male straightened up, clenched his books at the side, and nodded speechlessly. From the reaction, a smile graced Susie's lips and she reached out to grab his hand. Together, she led him in the room and to a random table.

"You're late." Someone muttered and Arthur fixated his jade eyes on the teacher who stood near his own desk, sorting papers into piles.

He casted his gaze to the floor in shame and nodded, face flushed. "Ah, sorry, professor. I was having trouble opening my locker."

The teacher rolled his eyes and offered his hand to the desk. "Whatever. Excuses are excuses. I guess I can give you some slack, but only for today."

Arthur exhaled a sigh of relief and shuffled through his own papers. Susie placed a hand on his binder, smiling. "I made sure to convince him that you had locker trouble." The male looked to her with a questioning look.

"You did that..for me?" He wondered out loud.

She nodded. "Yes, of course. Now, let's begin."

The two started working together, but through all of this, Arthur couldn't help zone off while Susie spoke. Her voice was soothing and relaxing and soft enough for him to hear. She was gentle when she would nudge him back to work. Oh how he wish he could spend the whole day with him.

"Oh! It's almost time to go! We managed to get through this smoothly!" Susie laughed gleefully. "Any questions?"

At first, Arthur shook his head as his answer, but soon responded. "Yes, I actually do. Susie, would you be my date to homecoming? If not, I respect your answer."

Susie's eyes lit up with joy and instantly, she answered- "Yes! Of-Of course! I would!" Before the bell ticked off, she popped out of her seat and leaned over the table to kiss his cheek. "See you tomorrow~" She sung, exiting the room afterwards with her friends.

Arthur's jaw dropped at the sudden movement. His crush, his date….just kissed him and said yes. Maybe he was overreacting, but he had never been kissed by a girl (Other than his mother) before and it felt heartwarming. This has to be the dream world the demon was referring to. Why didn't he see all of this before? He mentally slapped himself for being so oblivious. After a few moments of complete shock, he collected his books and hurried off to his locker. "I've got to tell Kiku about this, but I'll make sure Francis won't hear. Knowing him being from France, he'd tease me." The Briton shook his head gleefully. He must tell his friend about his date to homecoming. Arthur had to express it to someone. So, he went on a search for them- bumping into the waltzing chaps from earlier and discoursing with them, making sure to lose them again.

Life couldn't get any better in this dream..

A/N: Oh my lord. I am so fucking sorry for having these chapters out late. School and work is just a mess lately. Please excuse the OCness. I haven't written the rest of this in a long time. ;A;