Chapter 5

Francis could safely say he was at a low point in his life. He wasn't an idiot. He knew Matthew was a great person and that he was lucky to have him. For all his insecurities, Matthew was funny, sweet, affectionate and his very best friend. Of course, he was angry and hurt that some strange guy had answered his boyfriend's phone making sexual innuendo and implying that Matthew had done a bit of his own flirting over the summer, but now that the initial shock had worn off...Francis knew he sort of deserved it. He certainly hadn't made much time for Matthew over the summer, and letting Shell kiss him after the plane ride had definitely overstepped a line.

Francis's head was throbbing. 'Stupid ass Alfred,' he thought bitterly. Francis knew Alfred had been just as distant with Matthew over the summer, so what right did he have to accuse him of being a bad boyfriend? Of course, according to Arthur, the idiot was drunk and not thinking clearly, but that wasn't much of an excuse in Francis's book for facial disfigurement. Alfred had been annoying since the very beginning. First he stole Matthew away, and then Arthur. Now he'd broken Francis's nose.

Francis prodded tenderly at his spectacularly smashed nose. What the hell was so great about Alfred Jones anyway?

"It's just the natural conclusion to a perfectly shitty summer. My parents divorce, my boyfriend ends our year long relationship via text message, and his moronic best friend breaks my fucking nose. Fantastic," Francis complained to the empty hotel room. He was almost to the point of drinking the contents of the hotel room's mini-fridge when there was a knock on his door.

Hoping it was Matthew, Francis hurried over only to slump in disappointment to see Arthur.

"Shove over, frog-face," Arthur said darkly, pushing his way into the room. He kicked off his shoes as he did so.

"Where the hell have you been?" Francis asked, relieved that at least one of his friends hadn't completely abandoned him.

"Searching in vain for Alfred. He went out with Ivan and all he would tell me was that Ivan needs a friend right now...whatever the hell that means. I've gone to all the local pubs and I can't find them anywhere. I'm exhausted and I don't want to go back to the White House because all of Alfred's pushy, obnoxiously loud family is in town. I can't stay with Matthew, either—he's got company."

Arthur wasn't prepared for his dose of brutal truth to cause Francis to start crying. The older teen tried to contain the tears and clearly didn't want Arthur to see, but he was most definitely crying as he turned his back to Arthur.

"Oh, bollocks. Stop that. I didn't walk in on them bagging off or anything. They were just watching a hockey game and hanging out. He didn't seem bent to me," Arthur consoled.

"He dumped me. Matthew's afraid to be alone so they have to be dating. Who is he? What does he look like? Is he sexier than me?"

"Francis...don't go there. Really, there's nothing you can do at this point except apologize for whatever it is you've done."

"I didn't do anything!" Francis protested.

"Fine, then whatever it was you didn't do," Arthur amended.

"Why is automatically my fault? He's flirted with someone else, too. He was all over Gilbert last year. We had a fucking threesome! But I can't talk to a pretty girl? It's stupid."

"He was at the airport. What might he have seen at the airport that upset him?" Arthur suggested. He was carelessly stripping down to his boxers and his undershirt, neatly folding his clothing and setting the garments on the chair.

For a moment, Francis's mind was blank and then it clicked. Shell had kissed him. Matthew must have seen. He must have heard Francis say he was insecure.

"Merde," Francis cursed. Arthur shook his head resignedly.

"Told you it was something you did," he said, rather unhelpfully. "But...I agree that your relationship is less than conventional, and it sounds like you have different definitions of what's right and wrong and what's allowed and what isn't. You could probably still work things out...if you really want to. Do you?" Arthur asked sharply. Francis shifted the ice bag on his nose and waited for the realization to hit him. He waited to feel relief that it was over, or sadness that Matthew was gone.

Instead, he just felt numb.

"I don't know. It all just seems stupid to me now."

"What seems stupid?" Arthur prompted, as he slipped under the covers neatly on one half of the bed.

"Trying to love someone. Trusting someone else not to hurt you...all of it...it just seems pointless," Francis said. With his back facing his old enemy and boyhood friend, Arthur rolled his eyes.

"You're being dramatic, Francis. Go to bed. Things will be clearer in the morning."

"You're shit at comforting someone, you know?" Francis replied with a scowl.

"Mm-hmm," Arthur replied, even as his eyes began to drift closed. "Better than being alone tonight," he added as an after-thought.

Francis shook his head pathetically when he realized he had to agree. Abandoning his ideas of getting smash-faced, Francis tossed his soggy ice bag onto the night stand and slipped under the covers.

"Rebound sex?" he suggested.

"Touch me and I'll punch your face in...more than it already is, at any rate."

"Goodnight, Arthur."

"...G'night, Francis."

Alfred shook his head in disbelief as he listened to Ivan recount his summer. He and Ivan weren't doing anything dangerous, like Arthur feared. They had walked around Ivan's new neighborhood a bit and eventually discovered a big creek along the back of the neighborhood, with forest beyond, and fireworks shooting off dully in the distance. They split a two-liter of coke from the gas station, contemplated the fireworks they'd bought, and sat in relative silence once Ivan finished telling his tale.

"Why can't your dad just leave?" Alfred asked. Ivan took a swig of soda and wiped at his mouth with his broad forearm.

"No money left. He's used up all his favors to get us here. Too much pride to run."

"That just sucks. I'm sorry, man," Alfred said, accepting the coke.

"Da," Ivan agreed. He picked up a rock and threw it with startling force into the creek. It hit the muddy water below them with a satisfying plonk.

"And you have a kid now. Or your sister does? Whatever. It's still crazy."

"Da," Ivan agreed again.

"Hey...I've got a fun idea," Alfred said. Ivan just glanced at his American friend, without a clue about what to expect from him. Alfred stood up and stripped off his shirt, revealing perfectly sculpted abs.

Alfred flashed him a boyish grin. "What are you waiting for? Let's fight! Don't hold back!"

Ivan snorted. "You'recrazy."

"So what? That's why you like me. Come on. Not too scared, are you?"

"I'll destroy you," he threatened, standing up to stress his height advantage. Alfred sized him up even as he stretched his arms.

"Nah. You haven't done a damn thing over summer. You're fat. I can totally take you."

Ivan grinned in a creepy way that scared the shit out of just about everyone with the exception of Alfred.

"You're going to regret saying that," Ivan said with a genuine smile. He stripped off his own T-shirt, revealing years of scars across his chest. Not giving Alfred anymore time to prepare, he lunged forward and sent his massive fist sliding off Alfred's jaw. The American rolled into the punch and came back with one of his own. Sure, he'd hadn't fought as much as Ivan had, but Alfred was athletic and resilient. He actually had pretty good chances. Besides, Ivan had done little working out since he'd been shot the previous Christmas, while Alfred had been working hard all that time.

"Is that all you got?" Ivan asked mockingly, even though the punch actually hurt quite badly. Alfred grinned with a busted lip and watched him with bright, electric blue eyes.

"Just gave back what I got, you great big fucking fairy!" Alfred taunted. Ivan grinned wildly in delight and tackled the smaller teen, wrestling with him for dominance. It was harder than it might have once been to maintain his position, and they rolled like little boys around in the dirt, exchanging blows without intending to really do damage, shoving and scraping and taunting at each other until they were bruised and bloody and aching.

"I win!" Alfred huffed in triumph, though it was obvious there was no clear winner. Both of them had simply tired of the game.

"You didn't win, you dumb fuck," Ivan retorted, panting for air and wiping at a scrape on his shoulder. It had felt good to hit someone. His scratches stung and his muscles thrummed with adrenalin.

"Hey, let's go see if there are frogs or tadpoles down there. We can kill 'em with the fireworks," Alfred suggested. Already recovered from their play fighting, Alfred began making his way down the side of the rocky, slightly grassy embankment with the air of a boy on a mission, lighter and fireworks in hand. Shaking his head at his friend's childishness, but not-so-secretly enjoying it, Ivan hefted himself up and joined Alfred on his quest. Just for fun, he kicked at a portion of the rocky, mud wall and made Alfred's current pathway collapse in a large cloud of dust. The boy slid hard on his ass down the embankment, nearly landing in the water. Ivan had a good laugh at the look on Alfred's face and only barely dodged the handful of algae and stinky moss that Alfred pelted at him in retaliation.

"Fucker!" Alfred exclaimed. Some more fireworks went off in the distance.

"Give me one," Ivan requested, as he reached the bottom of the creek. To their left, a giant Oak tree towered over the creek and cast long shadows over the sluggishly moving water. Ivan picked the biggest firecracker from the bag and lit it without reading the instructions. He planted it in the dirt and took a few steps back, drinking deeply from the bottle of coke. It was almost empty.

The firework hissed and sparked before launching violently into the air. It shot across the water and impacted in the mud on the other side, popping in a shower of pyrotechnics.

"Badass!" Alfred said, grinning widely. The sweat glistened on his roughed up skin and a little blood was smeared on his chin. He looked like a man, and yet, something about him still suggested innocence. Ivan wondered what it was, but did not care enough to ponder it too long.

"Here," he said, tossing a package of sparklers to his friend. Alfred took them, complaining that they were lame, even while he lit them all at once with arsenic glee.

"Woohoo!" Alfred shouted, over the little pops and the massive cloud of colored smoke. He hastily spelled out 'Ivan Sucks!' in sparkler smoke and then tossed the burned out sticks into the water.

"It's deeper than I thought," Ivan remarked.

"Let's cool off!" Alfred suggested. Before Ivan could protest, Alfred had stripped off all his clothes and dived in. He surfaced and the water pooled around his belly button. Alfred tossed his head back and shook the water out of his hair. With a sigh, Ivan stripped too and waded in much more carefully. Naturally before they'd been in the water even a moment, Alfred was attempting to dunk Ivan, who gave as good as he got. They splashed around in the water, terrifying the fish, and then decided they needed fishing poles when they returned the next time.

"You're practically married now," Alfred said, grinning ear to ear. He sent a wave of water at Ivan, who scowled in annoyance. "And you have a kid. Is it weird?"

"Of course it's fucking weird. What about you?" Ivan asked.

"What about me?" Alfred replied. He looked up at the stars, seeming to search for something, but then flopped back into the water with a big splash.

"You and Arthur still together?"

"Yep," Alfred replied. "Always and forever!"

"You're a sappy moron."

"Yeah...but he's so perfect. I was pretty dumb for not seeing it before, you know?"

"I'm going to puke if you keep going."

"I love his toes, and his smile, and the way he scrunches up his nose when he reads—"

"Now you're just making shit up. Shut the fuck up," Ivan grunted with a grin. Alfred laughed and changed the subject.

"I got a car for my birthday. It's a fucking beast, man! It's my dad's old Camaro—a restored 69. He's been keeping it at my uncle's place, and he drove it up for my party."

"Oh yeah. Happy Birthday. I'm not getting you shit 'cause you're an annoying pest."

"Fine...fine...I'll let you drive it sometime. Stop begging. It's weak, man."

"Shut up, Alfred," Ivan said fondly. Alfred stuck out his tongue. When the light mood faded, Alfred rubbed a bit awkwardly at the back of his wet head.

"Hey...you gonna be okay, man?" Alfred asked, his blue eyes turning unusually serious. Ivan reached out and punched Alfred's shoulder, just enough to knock the other teen off balance.

"Da," Ivan confirmed. Alfred grinned and ruefully rubbed his aching pectoral.

"Let's finish off the fireworks and then get home. Yao and Arthur are probably gonna freak out on us."

Nodding in agreement, Ivan trudged back to the bank and re-dressed, waiting for Alfred to do the same before he lit the last of the fireworks, throwing them into the air as hard as he possibly could. They nearly hit the water before they began to explode, showering the muddy water in beautiful colors and patterns before fading away, leaving nothing but smoke behind.

Alfred decided to just crash on Ivan's couch. That proved to be a terrible decision when, the next morning, he was attacked by a screaming thirteen year old with nails that had to be coated in steel.

"OW! Stop scratching me! I'm a friend of Ivan's!" Alfred yelped.

"Oh?" Natalia asked curiously. She shrugged, not bothering to apologize, and continued on her way to the kitchen. She was dressed in an old-fashioned style, in an actual dress and stockings. Alfred shook his head at the strangeness that was Ivan's sister and then winced. His whole body hurt. His birthday had been crazy.

"I've called Arthur to let him know you are here. He will be arriving soon," Yao informed crisply as he passed by on his way to the kitchen. He looked highly displeased, and his mouth was a firm line of disapproval. Ivan came sulking down the stairs after his boyfriend, looking a little sheepish. He'd obviously showered and Yao had patched him up. He was shirtless, with a towel around his shoulders, and covered in a weird mish-mash of Chinese wound medicine and knock-off Hello Kitty band-aids.

"What are you? A four year old girl?" Alfred mocked under his breath. Ivan promptly shoved him back over the couch.

"No rough housing in my house! It's bad enough you're stomping around in muddy shoes and putting them on my couch, Alfred," Yao fussed. After such a long sleep, Yao looked clean, refreshed, and sharp as ever. His hair was silky, smooth, and braided neatly down his back. His expression was not one of amusement as he made his morning tea and rice with the groceries Ivan had retrieved the day before.

Alfred grinned sheepishly and took his dirty sneakers off. Just as he carried them to the door, there was a pleasant chiming noise and Alfred could see Arthur's form on the other side.

"Fuck," Alfred cursed.

"Young ears are present," Yao reminded sharply, his dark eyes drifting to Natalia, who stared at them all with unconcealed interest. While Alfred was still trying to figure out what his excuse was going to be, Yao crossed the house quickly and opened the door. He bowed in a friendly gesture to his old friend and welcomed Arthur inside graciously. Arthur automatically removed his shoes without being asked, and Yao shot Alfred a look as if to say, 'If he can do it, you can to.'

"Hi baby," Alfred greeted with a hopeful smile. Arthur just gave him a sharp glance and continued chatting with Yao, praising the house and inquiring politely about his flight.

"I apologize for him barging in on you last night," Arthur said, as if Alfred were a stray dog that had wandered away from home. Throughout all of this, Ivan snickered at Alfred's clear discomfort and unhappiness at being ignored for the moment. He poured himself a large mug of Yao's green tea and then offered tea to Arthur (who accepted) and Alfred (who declined with a babyish face of disgust).

"Alfred, a 'no thank-you' will suffice," Arthur rebuked lightly. Yao seemed pacified now that Arthur was present to manage his boyfriend, and the four of them began to talk in the kitchen. Mostly Yao and Arthur talked, all while Arthur surreptitiously checked Alfred for any serious injuries.

"Our boyfriends thought it would be fun to go out in the woods last night and fight, and drink, and shoot off fireworks without any regard for safety precautions," Yao informed. Ivan and Alfred shared grins. Alfred promptly stopped grinning when Arthur gripped his chin hard and inspected the busted lip, making a tsk-ing noise of disapproval.

"I'm okay," Alfred said placating. Arthur sneered over the rim of his tea cup.

"What makes you think I care? I spent the night tending to Francis. His nose looks terrible, by the way," Arthur informed. Alfred pouted at the mention of where his boyfriend had spent the previous night.

"I'm glad it looks bad. He had it coming!" Alfred defended. He tried to sidle up to Arthur, but the prince firmly pushed him off and sneered in distaste at the state of his clothes. Yao and Ivan exchanged curious looks.

"What happened?" Yao asked.

"Alfred stirred up all sorts of trouble on his birthday. He was a little drunk when Matthew called and told him," Arthur glanced at Natalia uneasily, "told him that Francis had made a new friend. Alfred drunkenly defended Matthew's honor, though I think it had much less to do with caring for his friend and much more to do with being an idiot," Arthur explained. Ivan grinned broadly.

"Nice, Alfred," he praised. Yao shot Ivan an annoyed look.

"Oh, for the love of...what did you two do? You look like you rolled through a briar patch," Arthur fussed, finally giving into his overpowering urge to fuss over Alfred. Happy now that he was being given attention again, Alfred smiled lovingly as Arthur tugged at his shirt to inspect his back and wet his thumb to rub at the dried blood on his chin. Arthur was not gentle in the least, but Alfred nuzzled against the shorter boy's hand and smiled sweetly.

"Don't give me that look, Alfred Jones. You're far from being forgiven for the absolute nightmare that was your birthday."

Further conversation halted when Sofia came downstairs with a fussy Raivis on her hip. She seemed startled that they had guests, but quickly smiled and introduced herself. Some sleep had returned her friendly nature. Alfred oogled at her chest a little too long, and he earned himself two smacks on teh back of his head—one from Arthur that nearly made him see stars, and a second one from Ivan immediately after that nearly put him through the kitchen counter.

"OUCH!" Alfred protested. "You can't blame me!"

"Can't blame you for what? Ivan, it isn't polite to rough house with guests," Sofia chided lightly, offering Alfred a big smile. Yao took Raivis so that Sofia could make herself some tea and eat a little breakfast. The toddler instantly pacified himself by stuffing the end of Yao's pristine braid into his mouth and gumming on it. Yao only sighed, but his smile was fond. He kissed the babe's forehead indulgently.

"And who is this little one?" Arthur asked with a smile. Yao smiled back proudly, the toddler in his arms nearly as big as his slender torso.

"This is...well...he's our son. Me and Ivan's."

Arthur nearly choked on his tea, and Alfred snickered.

"Pardon?" Arthur choked out, while Alfred helpfully patted his back.

"It is a long story, but we sort of...adopted him, while in Russia this summer. Sofia is going to care for him while we're at school," Yao explained.

"C-congratulations, then," Arthur stammered, still looking highly surprised. Ivan casually handed Yao a bottle of milk. The toddler no longer drank formula, but he ate only softer foods and still preferred his bottle to a toddler cup. Yao offered the bottle easily, as if he'd already mastered the skill through practice. He held it for the blond tot for a few moments before the child nestled up against him and held the bottle on his own, blue eyes blinking sleepily at their visitors.

"Great...now Arthur's gonna want one," Alfred said teasingly, earning himself another light smack.

"Don't be ridiculous! Not that it's, err, ridiculous that you have a child now," Arthur said, clearly struggling. Yao took pity on him.

"It is a little ridiculous. We were not exactly prepared for this either. It's a tragic story, and I'll have to tell you sometime soon, when it's just the two of us," Yao offered. Arthur nodded, realizing much was going unsaid.

Bored with the conversation once more, Natalia turned her face to her cereal and began to play with it listlessly. Sofia ate some of the rice Yao had prepared and sipped her tea.

"You're clearly in the middle of breakfast, and we've intruded. I'm glad you've all arrived safely and we'll have to get dinner sometime soon. Thank you for the tea," Arthur said, putting his empty cup in the spotless sink.

"Thank you for coming to pick him up," Yao said.

"I'm right here, Yao. Geez!" Alfred complained. Yao just smiled ever so slightly and saw them to the door. They collected their shoes, and Alfred realized with some surprise that Arthur had come in his new Camaro.

"You drove my baby?" Alfred asked, sounding panicky. Arthur arched a thick brow.

"I thought I was your baby?"

"You stayed on the right side of the road, right?" Alfred demanded. He had already flown across the yard in his haste to check for non-existent scratches and dings.

"I've already got my driver's license—got it last summer. Do you even have yours?" Arthur asked. Alfred frowned.

"I'm going to get it!"

"Sure you are. I believe you're on the wrong side, poppet." Glaring, Alfred moved to the passenger side and gingerly slid into the seat.

"I'm not getting blood anywhere, am I?"

"Oh, so now your concerned about your pointless wounds?" Arthur retorted as he slid behind the wheel.

"Be gentle with her," Alfred begged. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Alfred, we've got to talk."

"Sixteen."

"What?" Arthur asked confused.

"That's how many times we've had to 'talk' since you got here...a week ago," Alfred concluded.

"Well, stop being a tosser and we'll stop having to 'talk'," Arthur snapped. Alfred's eyes went wide.

"Don't take your hands off the steering wheel to make air quotes!" he begged. Arthur rolled his eyes again. Alfred was going to be the death of him, or at the very least, the death of his patience.

"First, this situation with Matthew and Francis."

"Asshole," Alfred grumbled.

"For the most part, I agree with you, but you can't entirely blame him. Alfred, his parents have gone through a terrible divorce this summer. You can't even imagine the fighting and the pain. It's been awful. He's been a little disconnected from everyone—not just Matthew. But Matthew's replaced him, and even you, by the looks of it, with this Alex fellow, who seems nice enough."

"What do you mean he's replaced me?" Alfred asked, already pouting. Arthur glanced at him and shook his head pityingly.

"Alfred, what did you think would happen? You spent all summer going to parties and hanging out with people who don't give a damn about you, and you barely gave Matthew the time of day. Matthew is nice and funny and kind. He can make new friends. You should remember that before you treat him like he's not important," Arthur chastised.

"Well who the hell is this Mexcian dude?" Alfred asked, clearly in a sulk.

"He's Cuban."

"Same thing," Alfred retorted childishly.

"It's most certainly not the same thing. Don't embarrass me by making statements like that when you meet him. He's a nice enough bloke, and he certainly seems to care for Matthew," Arthur warned.

"I care about Mattie, too," Alfred insisted.

"Then you won't object to cleaning up and going over to apologize properly to him. Telling him 'I told you so' is not how you comfort your best friend when his boyfriend of a year has cheated on him."

Alfred sighed. It was a long, drawn-out, dramatic sound.

"Okaaaaaay. Geez. What are you, my mother?" Alfred jibed.

"I should think not! Your mother was crawling though the bushes this morning looking for her knickers. When she realized I was standing there, horrified, her response was to ask me to get her a cocktail."

"Ugh...I didn't need to hear that," Alfred replied waspishly, glaring weakly at Arthur. The British boy just turned neatly out of the neighborhood and carefully checked his mirrors. His hands were in the ten and two position respectively, the very picture of good, safe driving.

"Now what's all this business about Ivan and Yao having a toddler now?" Arthur asked.

"It's so fucked up. There was all this drama about Ivan coming out of the closet back in Russia, and his dad was getting shit for it, and so he lashed out at this rival mafia family that killed his wife a long time ago, and kidnapped the kid and killed his real parents. Then he told Ivan it was his punishment to raise the kid, since he and Yao will never have kids of their own. But despite punishing him and treating him like crap all summer, he tried to keep them all safe. They're in America permanently now. He pulled a bunch of strings and used up what was left of his wealth to get them here. Now Ivan's dad is stuck in Russia and he's gonna get hunted down any day now. He's too proud to leave. Ivan's gotta take care of all of them now," Alfred explained. Arthur let out a low whistle of disbelief.

"Blimey," he replied.

"Yeah."

"So you talked to Ivan about it? About his feelings?" Arthur asked.

"Err...kinda. We don't really talk about girly stuff like that. He's gonna be okay, though. We wrestled some. I think he just needed to work off some anger."

"Is that how you got that busted lip?"

"Yeah," Alfred said, touching it tenderly and wincing. Carefully shifting his hands, Arthur extended his palm towards Alfred. His boyfriend glanced at him curiously, but took the other boy's hand. Arthur settled their hands between them and gave Alfred's a little squeeze.

"I think Matthew will forgive you if you ask nicely, and show respect towards Alex. He's happy he's made a new friend. Don't take that from him, okay?"

"Okay," Alfred said subdued.

"I'll patch you up when we get back to the house. Honestly, I can't let you out of my sight."

"I'm sorry if I worried you last night. Did you really stay with Francis?" Alfred asked, sounding rather vulnerable.

"I did, but only because I didn't want him to be alone after what happened. He isn't perfect, but Matthew did know he was less than loyal when they started dating, and from what Francis tells me, the rules of their relationship have gotten a little complicated. He's not entirely to blame."

"Nothing happened?" Alfred double-checked. Arthur gently squeezed his hand again.

"No. Nothing happened with Ivan?" he retorted, mostly just to put it in perspective how silly Alfred was being. The other boy grinned a bit saucily.

"We did go skinny dipping."

"Well, that's it then. I'm dumping you." Arthur playfully retracted his hand. Alfred pouted.

"But honey, I just didn't want wet undies. It wasn't that kind of skinny dipping."

"Still dumped," Arthur replied flippantly, as he turned towards the White House.

"I love you?" Alfred offered.

"You've been a jerk and it's over between us. Just accept it," Arthur replied. Alfred grabbed Arthur's hand and held it tightly, refusing to release it.

"Say you love me or I'm not giving your hand back," he threatened. Arthur's lips quirked up in a half-smile.

"I'm fond of you. Sometimes."

"Arrrrtttiee!" Alfred whined.

"Oh, alright. I love you, even though you're a git."

"And a wanker?"

"And a wanker," Arthur confirmed.

"And I'm cheeky?"

"Now you're just mocking me," Arthur replied drolly. "It's not appreciated."

"You still haven't said you love me," Alfred protested as they rolled past the first of many security checks. As they rolled to a gentle stop in front of the next one, Arthur leaned over and carefully kissed Alfred's cheek.

"I love you, but please, let's have a nice calm week from here on out, yeah? No more fighting, drinking, or partying."

"Alright," Alfred agreed. "Now that you're here, I won't have time to do that stuff. We're just gonna have awesome sex for a week and eat leftover birthday cake till school starts."

"Can't wait," Arthur replied, his sarcasm very obvious. As usual, Alfred pretended he was oblivious to it.

A/N: Thank you all so, so much for your reviews. As you know, I'm going through a tough time and I really didn't feel any inspiration to write anything until I started reading through what you guys had written me. So for those that take the time to offer a little feedback, this story wouldn't exist without you. :)

Next chapter, school starts! New roommate assignments! New characters! New relationships! Fun, yes? Yes. :)