Eventually Arthur stirred. He felt nicely warm and could tell it was already quite late in the morning from the sunlight shining against his eyelids. He grunted softly, he really didn't want to wake up yet, it was way too comfortable and it was peaceful, so he decided to just snuggle back into his pillow. That was when he finally opened his eyes, confused. What he was holding onto didn't feel much like a pillow… that and he was pretty sure it'd just moved. The first thing he was greeted with when his vision focused was a pair of half lidded crystal blue eyes. Arthur stared back quietly for a moment, trying to get his brain working and comprehend the current situation. In the pause, Alfred gave him a lazy smile as he shifted a bit, seemingly stretching his shoulders. It was then that Arthur realised, with horror, that he had actually been sleeping against his chest, not a pillow and he was now still holding tightly onto his neck, which was probably preventing him from getting up. His stupor was interrupted by Al's groggy voice, sounding like he'd only just woken up too.

"Hey, mornin' Artie, you sleep all right?" he yawned, deciding not to mention anything about the nightmare or him coming into his room, in case it upset him… he had been half-asleep, so he probably couldn't remember much about it anyway.

Arthur nodded, not trusting himself to speak. He still hadn't got himself to let go and Al's face was distressingly close to his right now, he could almost feel his breath. He felt his cheeks heating up drastically and quickly turned his head away, hoping to hide it. Al shifted some more and carefully put an arm around Arthur's shoulders, slowly lifting him up along with himself as he sat up. Arthur's blush deepened, but for some reason he felt himself grip onto Al even tighter, not wanting to let him go and feeling unexpectedly panicked at the idea of Al leaving him somehow, making him stiffen momentarily. Alfred frowned noticing this and tilted his head to the side, trying to see Arthur's face better. In return, Arthur just turned his head away even more, stubbornly looking away. A bit worried at his behaviour Al gently put a hand under Arthur's chin and turned his face up to meet his gaze.

"Hey Arthur… is something wrong? What's the matter?" Al asked carefully. Arthur's face was all red and his expression was stubborn and mildly upset, but he didn't know why… maybe it was that nightmare still bothering him after all? He paused, thinking of what he could say to try and comfort him when Arthur closed his eyes and sighed shakily, his expression changing back to a more normal one as he managed to pull himself together again. He watched quietly as Arthur he gave him a half-grin and spoke almost shyly to him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine… sorry…" he trailed off, reluctantly releasing his grip on Al's neck. Alfred gave him a slightly concerned look but still smiled.

"Okay Artie… but ya know if you wanna talk or anything, just talk to me, okay? I'll be here and I don't mind listenin you know… all right?" Alfred said casually and grinned as Arthur gave him a genuine smile for his effort, seemingly pleased… and just maybe a little glassy eyed but Al shook it off as the light reflecting. He was cute when he smiled. After a few seconds of daydreaming he realised vaguely, that he still had his hand gripping Arthur's chin, holding him in place. Without even thinking he let his hand slide up to his cheek and started gently stroking the soft skin with him thumb. Arthur stared back at him, his expression unreadable and Al felt his heart skip a beat when he realised what he was doing. This time it was him who's face heated up and he quickly let go, scratching his neck and laughing awkwardly.

"hahaha… uhh, hey, so you wanna get dressed? I'll get you some clothes and the showers just in there if you want." Al pointed to the joined bathroom door, quickly getting up and quickly busying himself with searching through his draws for some clothes. Arthur stretched before he got up too, giving Al an amused second glance before following the direction where he'd pointed. That was the first time he'd ever seen Al blush… it was strangely adorable.

He took a quick shower and changed into the clothes that were left inside the bathroom door, the clothes were a little baggy on him but they were comfortable and he felt a lot better now that he'd been able to shower and felt clean. Looking around the room was empty, so he padded into the main room where he met Al by the kitchen who was drying his hair with a towel. He must have also had a shower in the other bathroom. Al flashed him a grin when he saw him, waving him over.

"Artie! The clothes a little big, huh?" he laughed. Giving him a glance over, the jeans were a bit too long and dragged on the floor… but he noticed that also meant they hid his legs and feet which would be useful when they went out in public. He had on a t-shirt now but if he gave him a jacket with long sleeves they'd be able to hide his arm too, so that meant the only thing left that needed hiding was the tail and ears… well, he'd just think of something for them later, it shouldn't be too hard really.

While thinking this, he pulled absentmindedly at one of the cupboard doors trying to open it, but it seemed to be stuck in place. Arthur sat down on one of the kitchen stool's watching him and Al looked quizzically at the door, wondering what why it was stuck and gave it another tug, only slightly harder. With a sudden loud splitting noise, the entire thing was ripped off its hinges and the door was left hanging uselessly from Al's hand. Arthur raised an eyebrow. It hadn't looked like he'd actually tried hard at all to open it and yet he somehow managed to do that without meaning to, Al was seriously a lot stronger than he looked. Alfred stood quietly still, looking at the small door in his hand and his expression was uncharacteristically placid, almost serious, causing Arthur to shift in his seat, slightly nervous.

"Wow, Al. You're quite strong… it's rather impressive…" Arthur spoke up, sounding mildly impressed. Alfred moved his attention back to him, flashing another one of his well used grins before answering.

"Yeah, I'm pretty cool huh? An awesome hero like me s'gotta be strong after all…" he laughed, waving his hand dismissively and putting the door on the kitchen counter. He was about to ask Arthur what he wanted for breakfast, when he stopped. Arthur was staring evenly at him, an odd, calculated expression on his face. Al stared back, confused.

"….What?" Al questioned, sounding slightly timid. Arthur stared at him a second longer before tilting his head sideways and answering.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked, his voice curious and almost worried. Al frowned at him, looking even more confused.

"…What d'you mean?"

"I mean, what's the matter? You seemed kind of..… uh, sad?" Arthur answered gently, unsure how to describe it. When Al had said about being 'cool' and 'a hero' just after he'd ripped the door off, Arthur had noticed he'd sounded a little different than usual. Less boisterous and a tad more empty, almost like he was straining himself to sound cheerful and for a brief moment when he grinned, his eye's had looked hurt, betraying his facade. Arthur was concerned, he was rather observant and could easily tell something was off, he didn't like it when Al was like this… it didn't suit him. He wanted to help, to make sure he was okay. But that being said, he didn't want to pressure or push him if he didn't want to talk or make him sad. It probably wasn't his place to nose into his personal life anyway… maybe Alfred wouldn't want to open up to him? That would be understandable, considering he was just…

Alfred fidgeted while Arthur looked like he was thinking. There was a reason why he'd been like that, but it had seriously caught him off guard that had Arthur noticed. He'd always been able to hide it well from everyone else, or so he thought. Glancing back at Arthur he saw he was looking a little guilty. Al sighed, he wanted to just laugh it all off and carry on like usual, but there was something deep inside him, nagging at him to tell Arthur… he'd never been able to open up to anyone before and this was his chance, Arthur was the only one who he believed would actually listen and wouldn't judge him… well, he knew Arthur wouldn't judge him actually, he seemed understanding and Al couldn't help but trust him. He felt a small smile tug a his lips at that thought.

Meanwhile Arthur winced slightly, feeling guilt hit him. He didn't want to upset Al or make him uncomfortable and he was about to speak up and apologise when Al spoke up first.

"… yeah… actually, its just, that happens sometimes. I get these kind of uh, 'flash back' things when I do stupid stuff like that…" Al spoke nervously, scratching his neck again, but smiled. Happy he was able to share this with someone.

"Flash backs?… what happened?" Arthur looked at him with interest and hidden worry, sensing Al wanted to tell him about this. Alfred sat down on a stool opposite Arthur, showing an uneasy grin.

"Well, you see, for some reason I've always been really really, like weirdly, strong. I don't know why. So stuff like you saw has happened a lot…. When I was younger Mattie and I lived with mom and dad, but dad was always away on work or business, whatever, so mom got pretty lonely. She… she was kind of well, unstable. She would be happy and really kind one minute… but then, for no reason, she would suddenly turn and be… different. violent. Like she'd turn into someone else completely…" Arthur listened intently as he spoke and gently nodded for him to carry on, patiently letting him talk at his own pace. Alfred smiled back gratefully, getting more confident as he spoke.

"…and well, usually we could handle it, me and Matt cause we always had each other… Matt would get scared and cry sometimes, but he always looked out for me, no matter how stupid or annoying I was, he would always stay by my side. He's the best brother you could ask for. But one day. Mom took him upstairs to play a game, she said, and I wasn't allowed to go up there… but I did anyway, and I found them in her bedroom by the window. She had her hands around Matt's neck, choking him. His feet weren't even on the ground and he was crying and choking, and I thought she was going to kill him….. so I ran and pushed her, just to try and make her let go. She did... But she flew back… smashing through the window, screaming. We were on the second floor, but the police said, apparently she didn't die from the fall but she actually landed on a shard of glass that had stabbed her, puncturing her lung… so.. she slowly, and painfully, bled to death from the inside… I killed her like that…"

Al trailed off, taking a breath and swallowing a lump that had formed in his throat. He thought he'd gotten over it by now, but retelling it was more upsetting than he had thought it would be and he knew he probably had tears in his eyes but refused acknowledge them, instead trying to push himself to continue. Before he could though he felt a pair of arms wrap around him, embracing him tightly. Arthur couldn't stop himself from hugging him, a deep pang of pity washing through him. It was almost painful. Al hugged back and carefully he rested his head against Arthur's chest, listening to his heartbeat, which was easiest since he was sitting and Arthur was standing now.

"You know, I remember looking down at her from the window… there was loads of blood pouring from her mouth. It was kinda like a river. And I remember she had looked up at me, straight in the eye as she died. She looked so disgusted and hated me so much, she wished I was the one she'd killed. I mean, don't blame her, cause I did kill her and all… but it still kinda hurt a lot. Even after she died though, things weren't a lot better, dad didn't blame me but he still put his work first, so we were alone most of the time. Rumours through school spread, everyone said I was a murderer… a freak, being this strong… even Mattie got abuse from them and he didn't even do anything wrong…. I killed his mom, its my fault she's dead and that he was bullied, but he still doesn't hate me…. "

He trailed off, finished talking and looking shaken and pretty depressed. Arthur still held him, murmuring quietly to him.

"I'm so sorry, Al. It's not you're fault, it wasn't your fault. At all… You know, you saved Matt from her… if you hadn't done that he would be dead. And you're mum… I'm sorry, but she deserved it, you didn't do anything wrong. It was brave, no matter what people said, their all just a bunch of tossers. You really are a hero, okay Al?" Arthur said comfortingly, but a little unsure. He wasn't used to comforting people, this was actually the first time and he wasn't sure if he was just making things worse for him. Thankfully Al smiled at him. Arthur sighed slightly and smiled back, glad he looked a bit better than before. He was about to pull away when Al pulled him back into a tighter hug and mumbled a thank you into his ear, before releasing him and giving a grin. Arthur nodded, taking another quiet breath now that the atmosphere was returning to normal and Al stood up, still grinning, feeling strangely relived and lighter after finally being able to talk to someone openly about what had happened and from the kind, reassuring words from Arthur. He was happy he didn't judge him or say he was being whiney, and he was happy that he could finally feel a bit better about himself.

Al looked gratefully at Arthur, who had his head tilted cutely to one side, giving him a small smile. Taking a chance, Al placed both his hands on Arthur's shoulders and bent down slightly, gently pressing his lips against Arthur's.

.

- ending chap there, Thankyou for reading! :3 (sorry for mistakes/spelling/OCCness etc…) (

edit: sorry! accidentally put up chap 9 again, tried to replace it now ^^'''