"Thanks for the lift Francis." Arthur smiled as they drove to the school.
"Don't mention it." Francis smiled. Despite the long night, Arthur seemed very refreshed and ready to go. He smiled as they came up the driveway to the school.
"Hey Matthew look, Mr Bonnefoy is coming into school." Alfred said looking at the car. Matthew sighed at his brother's tone. Surely he couldn't still be annoyed about the lunchtime stunt weeks ago. Mr Bonnefoy hadn't done anything since that but it didn't seem to make his brother relax. Matthew quickly wanted to change the subject from the car moving round to find a parking space.
"How is tutoring going?" He asked. Alfred looked to him, his cheeks flushing red.
"It's going fine." He said. "Being only with Mr Kirkland is really helping me study."
"Are you sure about that?" Matthew teased.
"Yes it does! Ivan's not lurking behind me freaking me out. It is very helpful." Alfred tried to cover but he knew his brother could see right through him.
"Has he done or said anything?" Matthew asked. Alfred rubbed the back of his neck.
"He hugged me once. But apart from that... nothing." Alfred admitted. "It's cool hanging out but I don't want things to get weird between us."
"Fair enough Alfred." Matthew nodded. "When you gonna say?" Alfred shrugged.
"I dunno. I hope I'll be able to last until the end of the year. Then I won't be a student. Then it can kinda be alright, right?" He looked to his brother for some sort of confirmation.
"I guess so... but that is at least 6 months away. Are you sure he'll..." Matthew's sentence never finished. He quickly pulled Alfred round so his back was to the car park.
"Dude? What's the matter?" Alfred asked confused. Trying to look round, Matthew held him still. Matthew had just spotted Mr Kirkland getting out of Mr Bonnefoy's car. They were talking happily, walking together.
"It's nothing erm... I'm not feeling well." Matthew said quickly. Alfred looked confused at him, resting a hand against Matthew's forehead.
"You feel okay to me." Alfred said. Matthew panicked, he had to think of something else to say. He watched the teachers walk down together. Mr Kirkland carrying a pile of papers and Mr Bonnefoy next to him, hands in his pockets.
"I really don't feel well. Could you get me some water out of my bag?" Matthew said quickly forcing his bag into Alfred's hands.
"Erm okay dude." Alfred said looking through the bag for his water bottle. Matthew looked back to the teachers, hoping they would just walk past. Mr Bonnefoy spotted the two students. Recognising Matthew and Alfred, he smiled to himself.
"Bonjour Matthew." He called out. Matthew smiled weakly.
"Bonjour." He said quickly, but too late. Alfred at hearing Mr Bonnefoy address his brother, he had turned to glare at him. His eyes widening to find Mr Kirkland walking next to him. Alfred froze at the sight, a pang of jealousy and hurt hit his chest. How could he still be after him?
"Hi Alfred." Mr Kirkland greeted him, a small look of concern on his face seeing Alfred's expression. "Alfred?"
"We better let them get ready for their first lesson." Mr Bonnefoy said wrapping an arm around Mr Kirkland's waist. Matthew could see the fuse go in his brother's head. He softly got hold of Alfred's shoulder. He didn't want him doing something he would regret later. Luckily Mr Kirkland brushed away the arm.
"Yes. I will see you later." Mr Kirkland said brushing the hand away and turning to walk away from the group. Mr Bonnefoy chuckled and disappeared into his block. Alfred's eyes followed Mr Kirkland. He could believe what he had just seen. He looked back to Matthew.
"You were trying to hide that from me?" He half shouted. Matthew looked down nodding. "Your perverted fave teacher has probably taken advantage of Mr Kirkland! And you were trying to hide that from me?!" Matthew nodded, hating how Alfred talked about Mr Bonnefoy. He wasn't a bad person. He wasn't... tears started to form in Matthews eyes. He knew how it looked. Alfred was going to hate him for trying to defend Mr Bonnefoy. It was probably better just to stay quiet. He blinked as a tear rolled down his face. As Alfred watched it roll down Matthew's cheek, his anger disappeared. He quickly pulled his brother close, wrapping his arms around him. "I'm sorry Matthew." He whispered. "I didn't mean to shout. I know you were only trying to protect me." He apologised. Matthew felt a few more tears roll. He was a little happy that Alfred had stopped shouting at him, but still upset. "It's Bonnefoy... he's just..."
"Please stop it Alfred." Matthew mumbled. Alfred pulled back a little.
"What's wrong bro?" Alfred asked confused. Matthew took a breath.
"Stop talking like Mr Bonnefoy's a rapist." Matthew cried. Alfred looked at Matthew, pulling back a little in shock. Was his brother defending that pervert? Had he not seen what had happened? Had he not realised that if Mr Bonnefoy got together with Mr Kirkland, he couldn't be with him. "We don't know what happened! If he did do something Arthur didn't like. Don't you think he'd be in a lot worse a mood? Can't you think that for once Mr Bonnefoy is just being nice!" Matthew shouted. Picking up his back he stormed away from Alfred. He couldn't deal with this right now. Mr Bonnefoy said he wasn't gonna do anything. But he knew he couldn't be sure. Alfred just watched his brother go. Completely dumbfounded by his actions.
"Matthew?" He called out but his brother didn't turn back. "Matthew!" Still nothing. He watched Matthew storm off into the block Francis had entered moments before. Alfred felt anger rise in him. Mr Bonnefoy wasn't just content with trying to take Mr Kirkland from him, but he was dropping so low as to take his brother as well. Wasn't he satisfied? Alfred grabbed his bag and growled, storming off to his lesson. Alfred felt the anger boil inside him, growling as he went. He was not going to back down this time.
Drama was really awkward today. Matthew was still not talking to him until he apologised. Alfred sat to one side in a huff. He watched Mr Kirkland lead the discussion, handing out the papers. The group split off into their own individual work. Arthur looked around the class, noticing all but one student was doing the task he had set. Alfred Jones sat in a huff at his spot, his blue eyes fixed to the floor. He had noticed during the class that something had been bothering the poor boy. He didn't know what. When they were walking into school, Alfred seemed perfectly fine. Happy and hyper as always, but now his eyes showed a hurt and destructive nature. He took a deep breath and went to sit next to him.
"Alfred? Are you okay?" He asked. Alfred's eyes didn't move.
"I'm fine sir." He growled in a tone that didn't fit him at all.
"You are clearly not. What is the matter?" He asked again. Alfred looked him strait in the eye.
"Why did you go home with Mr Bonnefoy yesterday?" He asked in a monotone voice. Arthur blinked a few times. What did Alfred think could of... his eyes widened.
"Alfred it's not what you think." He said quickly.
"Sure it's not." Alfred stood up from his seat, shoving his hands in his pockets. He started to walk towards the door.
"Alfred, it isn't I promise." Arthur tried to reason with him, but Alfred only looked back when he opened the door.
" 'I try not to get involved with people I work with.' " Alfred repeated his words, giving Arthur a spiteful look. "Seems you didn't try hard enough." And on that comment he left. Arthur could only watch as the student he cared about left the room. Arthur knew now more than ever. Those words had cut him deeper than they should of done. He couldn't ignore it anymore, he was attracted to Alfred Jones. Matthew heard his brother's raised voice and watched the scene. He quickly went over to Mr Kirkland. He looked broken, his emerald eyes betraying hurt. Matthew patted him on the back.
"D-Don't worry sir. He'll come back just give him time." Matthew tried to reassure him. Mr Kirkland smiled to Matthew.
"Look after him Matthew. I need to go and see someone." Mr Kirkland said, getting up and walking to the door. He looked back to the class. "Once you have finished all the tasks on the board, feel free to leave." The class nodded to him. Matthew watched Mr Kirkland leave the room, feeling terribly alone. He felt a friendly hand on his shoulder. Looking round he found Lovino looking at him.
"Brother's stress us out. Look out for him. Help him, even if he doesn't think it's help. And don't worry." Lovino smiled weakly. "I won't let anyone pick on you when he's not here."
Arthur had to get this sorted now. Alfred must have assumed what had happened. Not that he himself really had much choice. He walked round to the staircase leading to the language department. He had to get this sorted once and for all. He started up the steps, looking for Francis. He pushed open the doors to the corridor, soon bumping into two other staff members. Antonio and Gilbert looked at him at first confused, but a smirk soon found it's way onto Gilbert's face.
"Hey Arthur. What you doing all the way up here... alone?" Gilbert asked advancing on him. Arthur quickly took a step back. Antonio followed Gilbert, his expression not holding the same intent.
"I'm looking for Francis." He managed to stutter. Gilbert smiled softly.
"I'm afraid Francis is a little busy at the moment." Gilbert almost purred. "How about you come to my office to wait?"