Hey everyone!

I made my very first Arthur story!

It's from the episode "The Perfect Brother". It's based off the Recess episode "More Like Gretchen".

Tbh I didn't like how Arthur was pushed aside by everyone and being compared to the Brain. I get they made up in the end but I feel like Arthur let his anger bottle up for too long and I felt like he was gonna snap.

Also this is my first story of Arthur so please go easy on me.

Anyway enjoy!

I don't own Arthur or the characters.

After the weekend was over, Arthur walked his friend, Brain, back to his own house; honestly, he was more than happy to see his friend go cause he acted so perfect towards his family, it made Arthur feel inferior to everyone n his own home. As soon as Arthur and Brain reached the house, they opened the door and went inside.

"I'm home!" Brain announced.

"Welcome home, dear!" His mother and father came in and hugged their son.

Then Arthur dropped the other bag and turned to head out before Brain touched his shoulder.

"Hey Arthur!" Brian asked, "You sure you don't wanna stay for popcorn?"

"I said no! I already told you, I'm going home!" Arthur said quickly.

"What's wrong? You seem upset." He said with concern, "Are you upset with me?"

"Oh I'm upset?" He said in an annoyed and angry tone, "Why would I be upset that my genius friend showed off to make me look lousy in front of my family and have them compare their not so great son to you? It's no wonder why they like you more."

"Like me more? That's ridiculous. I already have two wonderful parents and your parents don't like me more than you." Brian tried to reason with his friend.

"Oh baloney!" Arthur snapped, "Why should I believe you?! All I wanted to do was have fun this weekend but you ruined everything and made me look like an idiot in front of my family!"

"But I-"

"I don't wanna hear it! Only friends are invited at my house on weekends and as of now, I'm not your friend anymore! Good-Bye!"

Arthur stormed off leaving Brain and his family standing in shock, letting Arthur's words sink in.

"What just happened?" asked Brains mother.

"I think...I think I just ruined my friendship with Arthur." Brian said as he look down sadly.

Arthur stomped his way home and didn't stop even after he arrived home and shuts the door; he made his way towards the stairs when his dad came by.

"Hey Arthur!" His dad greeted, "Did Alan make it home safely?"

"Yes." Arthur answered his father bitterly.

"Well I'm glad. Maybe you can invite him over again sometime."

"He's not coming back here, dad. Ever!"

"What?" The man looked at him blankly, "Why not?"

"Cause he's not invited over here anymore." Arthur snapped as he started walking up the stairs, "In fact, I never wanna see him or hear about him ever again! He's nothing but trouble!"

He raced to his room and slammed the door, ignoring his fathers calls to him.

"Arthur? Arthur!"

"What happened?" Jane asked as she walked in.

Her husband look at her and aheigged, "I asked Arthur if Alan made it home and he just said he doesn't want him over anymore."

"What? Why?"

"I have no idea but he looked pretty upset."

"Maybe we can try to talk to him later." Jane suggested.

"Good idea." Her husband agreed.

Arthur stayed in room most of the time until it was time for dinner; he didn't say anything most of the time as his parents made conversation.

"I'm so glad I was able to get that catering order done thanks to Alan." David smiled, "He was such a big help."

"He is and he helped me with my computer this weekend too." Jane added.

"Can we please not talk about him?" Arthur said while trying not to yell.

His parents looked at him in confusion but Arthur just ate and not caring whether or not they'll ask him about his attitude.

"So...what else can we talk about?" Dave tried to break the silence.

"Oh! Oh!" DW chimed in, "Brian shown me some cool shows on the smart channel earlier and he even taught me how to read a little! He's so great at board games, he's smart, and cool! No wonder everybody loves him."

That's when Arthur has had enough and stood from his seat and glared at his sister.

"DW!" Arthur yelled, "If you like "Alan" so much, why don't you go live with him?!"

DW made a horrifying gasp before her mother spoke up.

"Arthur! That's no way to talk to your little sister!" Jane scolded.

"Oh! That's rich!" Arthur sarcastically remarked, "Coming from the family who said "Alan" eats better than me, does homework better than me, can play games better than I do, and is a better kid than I ever could be! You kept saying why can't I be more like him the whole weekend! I don't wanna be like anybody! "

Everyone at the table stared in stunned silence; even baby Kate and Pal were quiet.

"Maybe Brain and I should switch families. You all like him better than me anyway." Arthur sadly mumbles as he walked away.

David opened his mouth to say something but Arthur was already out of the kitchen.

"Now what has gotten into him?" Jane asked her husband.

"I have no idea." Dave shook his head, "You think it may have something to do with the sleepover?"

"Or maybe Arthur's brain is just plain rotten." DW gave a smug smirk.

"DW!" both parents scolded.

"What?"

Arthur didn't speak to his parents for the rest of the night; he didn't even say goodnight to his parents or sisters.

The next morning, Arthur skipped breakfast and walked to school with his best friend, Buster Baxter.

"So how'd it go with your weekend?" Buster asked as they walked to school.

"Terrible." Arthur said as he looked down, "My parents still say how great he is and don't care at all about how I feel. I wish I never invited him over to my house!"

As they approached the school, Brain saw them and waved to get their attention.

"Hey Buster and Arthur!" He called out but no answer, "Arthur?"

Buster waved back but Arthur just ignored him and continued to go into the school; Brain looked sad as he watched him go inside while Sue Ellen approached him.

"What's wrong with Arthur?" She asked.

"I think he's still mad at me." He answered, "Yesterday after he walked me home from his house, he yelled at me saying he wasn't my friend anymore and I wanted to talk to him about it but he won't even look at me."

"Why'd he do that?"

"We'll he did say I acted perfect in front of his parents and he said it made him look bad." Brain explained, "But all I was doing is trying be nice as a guest."

"Well, how would you feel if you're parents kept saying you should be more like someone else? Or you felt like your friend was trying to out-do you in your own house?"

Brain had to think got a moment before he realized his friend had a point. He didn't even register Arthur's jealousy until it was too late and now he hates him got what happened.

"I guess you're right. I need to patch things up with Arthur as soon as possible."

But things didn't go as planned all throughout the school day. When Brain tried to sit next to Arthur at lunch, he only glared and moved to a different spot; at recess, Arthur brushed off Brains offer to play any games; and when school finally let out, Arthur went home alone. Brain saw him walk out the door and tried to run to him.

"Arthur wait!" Brain tried to catch up.

"Will you leave me alone already?! I already told you, I'm not your friend anymore so quit bothering me!" Arthur yelled before he ran off.

Brain paused a moment and gave himself a sad sigh.

"What am I going to do? Arthur won't listen to me." He considered giving up but shook those thoughts out, "No! I can't give up now! I have to make things right."

Arthur was already home by the time Brian came over and knocked on the door; Mrs. Read answered the door.

"Oh hello Alan!" She greeted.

"Hello Mrs. Read." He greeted back, "Is Arthur home?"

"Yes he is and I'm so glad you're here. He's been acting strange lately ever since yesterday."

"I know and I was hoping to talk to him." Brain nodded, "May I come in?"

"Of course."

He goes inside and went upstairs to Arthur's room. After thinking carefully on what to say, Brain knocked on the door.

"Arthur, it's me Brain." He said.

"Go away!" Arthur yelled, "I told you to leave me alone!"

"Listen Arthur," he began calmly, "I know you're mad at me about the sleepover and I'm sorry for what I did. But you can't let this go on forever. We need to talk about this but I can't help you if you don't give me a chance. Please Arthur..."

There was a pause of silence before Arthur finally spoke up again.

"Fine...come in..."

He opened the door and saw Arthur laying on his bed but his back was turned towards the door entry.

"Are you okay?" There was no answer for a couple minutes, "I guess you're still upset."

Brain pulls up a chair and sits besides Arthur's bed.

"Arthur, I think I'm starting to see why you've been acting so angry at me lately." Brain explained, "I didn't mean to show off in front of your family and I wasn't trying to take your life away from you. I was only a guest who was trying to be polite to everyone. I guess I might've overdid it a bit and I'm very sorry. The last thing I want to do is unintentionally end a friendship with one of my closest friends."

That made the aardvark think about what happened and how he acted; Arthur realized his friend didn't mean to act so perfect all weekend and felt a little ashamed about how he acted lately.

"Well..." Arthur slowly sat up, "I guess you didn't mean to steal them away. But you made me look bad in front of them cause you're perfect."

"But that's the thing, Arthur, I'm not perfect." Brain pointed out, "I know I seem that way but I'm really not."

"You made it seem that way to everyone." Arthur crosses his arms, "And everyone praised you and compared me to you. It made me feel hurt and unappreciated."

"We didn't mean to, honey."

Arthur looked up and sees both of his parents in the room looking sad and guilty.

"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Their son asked.

"We came to apologize, Arthur." David said, "We didn't mean to make you feel that way."

"He's right, honey." Jane agreed, "We both love you just the way you are."

"You do? But then why did you keep telling me to be "more like Alan?"."

"That wasn't our intention, Arthur. We wanted to make him feel more welcome at our house but I guess we hurt your feelings in the process." Jane sat beside her son, "No one is perfect but whether you are or not, we both love you very much."

"Your mother is right, son." David did the same, "We promise we won't ever make you feel inferior to anyone else ever again."

Arthur smiled at his parents and hugged them both.

"Thanks mom and dad. I'm also sorry about yelling at everyone last night." Then he looked at his friend, "And I'm sorry I got mad at you Brain. I appreciate you not giving up on me."

"That's okay." He smiled at Arthur, "I'm sorry I made the sleepover into a disaster."

"Well maybe we can try again another time. I mean if you want."

"Sounds good to me. Friends?" Brain bled out his hand.

"Friends." Arthur took it and shook his hand.

"We'll I'm glad everything turned out alright." Jane smiled and stood up, "Anyone want some ice cream?"

"We do!" The boys said.

Everyone went downstairs and had a tasty treat; at school the next day, everyone heard how Arthur and Brain made up and how things were back to normal. And both boys learned that nobody is perfect and one shouldn't try to show off in front of others.

(The End)