Arthur- Sophomore

Alfred- Freshman

Arthur Kirkland and Kiku Honda sat across from each other at a local cafe that catered mainly to the numerous college students in the area, sipping their tea in pleasant silence.

Arthur knew Kiku was waiting for him to speak; he was the one who asked him here, after all. He was the one drumming his fingertips on the tabletop, bouncing his leg up and down, and slurping his tea uncharacteristically loudly.

"Maybe he will not be so bad, Arthur."

But thankfully, Kiku knew his friend and teammate well enough to know he wasn't going to say a bloody thing.

"Francis and Coach Rome chose him specifically for me, Kiku," he sighed miserably. "The odds are very much not in my favor."

"He seemed normal enough when he was here for his visit," the Japanese man rationalized with a shrug.

Arthur groaned. "Of course he seemed normal! They always seem normal until you wake up with a pick-ax in your face!"

"That only happened to Yao once. Ivan was fairly well-mannered the rest of the semester."

Arthur slammed his face unceremoniously into the table and with a sigh, and Kiku pat his shoulder uncomfortably. It seemed like only yesterday that Arthur was delivered the horrible news of his new roommate... Actually it was yesterday, but whatever. He had just finished moving all of his things into his new dorm room, as the international students were allowed to move in a few days earlier than the other students, when he got a (horribly misspelled and smiley face-filled text from Rome.

'arthur- com 2 my ofic plz! i hav newz 4 u! :D'

Arthur rolled his eyes and grabbed his keys. He had a sneaking suspicion this would be about his new roommate and he was more than a little perturbed about the whole mess. Francis, his roommate from last year, chose to live off campus at the last minute, leaving him without a roommate or even time to find one. As soon as the Residence Director found out, he contacted Rome and the soccer coach to see if there were any of Arthur's teammates that were roommate-less, and sure enough, Rome jumped right into action.

It didn't take long to walk across campus to the athletic building from his dormitory, and Rome was exactly where he knew he would be, sitting in his office, playing solitaire on his computer as Coach Germania sat by his side doing all the actual work for the impending cross country season.

"Ah! Arthur, you got my text, sì? Come in, come in!" he exclaimed in his thick Italian accent, leaping from his chair and ushering Arthur into the office. He briefly wondered how a man his age was still so energetic as he took a seat on the hard, uncomfortable couch. "How was your summer? Are you tired from your flight? I know Feli and Lovi sure were! But they came back about a week ago and have been staying with me, so they are no longer jet lagged! Oh, aren't Ludwig and Gilbert arriving today, amico?" he chirped, turning towards Coach Germania.

"Ja," he replied, not taking his eyes off the paperwork he was working on.

"Ludwig is his youngest son," Rome explained with a grin. "He'll be joining us for track this year too! He's a sprinter. He's quite good, isn't he?"

"Ja."

Rome hopped around the office, pulling papers and documents from everywhere. "He and mio nipote are great friends! Feliciano of course, not Lovino. He doesn't like Luddy much."

"Lovino doesn't like anyone much," Germania mumbled. Rome laughed long and hard.

"Ah, this is true! He is adorabile though!" He paused, apparently finding what he was looking for with an a-ha and wheeling his desk chair around to face Arthur. "I bet you are wondering why I called you here," he said with a grin.

Arthur shrugged. "Is it because I don't have a roommate, by any chance?"

Rome's face split into an even bigger grin than Arthur thought was humanly possible. "Sì! How did you know?"

"Oh, I don't know. The fact that my frog of a roommate called me three days ago to tell me he was moving off campus and to wish me good luck finding someone willing to put up with me for nine months was a good clue."

The coach's grin finally fell, his face taking on a much more serious expression. "The attitude, Arthur," he scolded. "We have talked about this."

Arthur bit his lip and turned away. "Right, sorry."

Rome shook his head, but clapped his hands together. "Which brings us to what I wanted to talk about! Francis and I talked it over this summer, and he has suggested to me an ideal roommate for you."

"What?" Arthur shrieked. "You're taking Francis' word on who I will be living with?"

Rome held up his hand, silencing the younger man with a stern look that left no room for argument. "After watching you throw away your education and what could have been a very successful track season last year, yes."

Arthur blushed lightly, looking away so he didn't have to meet his coach's eyes.

"The Arthur last year was not the same Arthur I recruited," Rome sighed. "And you, of all people, know this best of all." Arthur remained silent, though the guilt on his face was obvious.

It was true, he wasn't happy with his performance, both in athletics and in the classroom, his freshman year, and as much as he wished he could blame Francis, Antonio, and Gilbert, he knew it was no ones fault but his own. Sure, they provided a very persistent catalyst to his little rebellion, but no one made Arthur go out and drink every night, no one made him cut classes and go to parties and skip practices.

And as a result, he was the one on the verge of loosing his scholarship and put on academic probation.

Thankfully, after a very serious and humbling conversation with Germania and Rome after conference, Arthur was able to pull himself together that summer, and while he fully intended to stick with his new, reformed self, he didn't blame Rome for not exactly trusting him one-hundred percent. The coach had put a lot of time, effort, and money into him, only to have it thrown back in his face.

"His name is Alfred," Rome said suddenly, breaking Arthur from his thoughts. "He's from New York City. He and his brother are both coming here this year and are going to be on the team. They came for a visit last year, I think, though it might have been that weekend you were on that English trip... Sì, sì, because they stayed with Francis."

Arthur crinkled his nose. "So I never even got the chance to meet this chap?"

"Ah, no. But he is a great kid! He is coming on scholarship for academics, even. I think he's majoring in astrophysics or something. Something sciencey and smart sounding like that. Anyway, everyone loved him when he was here! Don't remember much about his brother though..."

Arthur fiddled with the hem of his shirt, anxious for something to do with his hands. "And why, may I ask, was Francis so eager to sent this lad my way?"

Rome shrugged, handing the paper he had been searching for earlier to Arthur. Despite his best efforts, he couldn't help it when his eyes widened at the list of the boy's accomplishments. "He's likeable, talented, joining the football team-" Arthur perked up, "American football team, I mean," and instantly deflated. "Good grades, big dreams..."

"Sounds like your regular old all-American boy next door, coach," Arthur sighed sarcastically. Rome grinned.

"Exactly." He slipped the paper from Arthur's hands. "Maybe he'll be a good influence on you."

O

Kiku dropped Arthur off in front of the dorms before pulling back around to go try and park his car in the parking lot. The freshman had started arriving while he and Kiku had been out, and the parking lot and street were already full of cars, excited new students, and proud but teary-eyed parents.

Arthur blinked into the sunlight, his eyes resting on the first window to the left on the third floor. The blinds were open. They were closed when he left.

His roommate was here.

With a sigh, Arthur took out his phone and sent a short text to Francis, who he assumed would be moving into his fancy new off-campus apartment by now.

'He's here'

Francis's reply was almost immediate.

'u can thank me later mon ami'

Arthur rolled his eyes. If by thanking him he meant kick his arse, then sure, but from what Arthur knew, this Alfred character sounded like a twit. Mr. All-American astro-whatever major... they wouldn't get along at all. Sure Arthur had reformed himself over the summer, but he was still Arthur.

After almost running into some shy, nervous looking freshman in the door, Arthur chipped into the elevator (oh, overprotective private schools) and took a deep breath, preparing himself for the undoubtably awkward first meeting that was about to occur.

He wasn't surprised to see the door to his room open as he turned the corner, the building wasn't air conditioned and the air flowed much better though the windows with the door open, after all. The huge, loud crash, however, that was rather unexpected.

Arthur cursed to himself and jogged to the room. "Is everything alright?" he asked, peaking around the door frame.

And that was when he saw him.

He was tall and tan, with dirty blonde hair and wire frame glasses. He was wearing a pair of baggy shorts and a dark gray t-shirt that was made even darker by the rings of sweat around the collar and underarms. Sweat that obviously formed from the heavy lifting he must have been doing for the past half hour if the completely rearranged furniture and influx of cardboard boxes were any indication.

Plus he was kind of currently in the process of dragging a bloody futon across the room when Arthur distracted him.

Oh hell, he had nice arm muscles.

He came to his senses to see that the boy and a middle aged woman he hadn't noticed looking at him curiously, the boy still holding onto the end of the futon like a trooper, sweat beading on his forehead and dripping down his temple.

"Uh," he muttered intelligently. He cleared his throat and stepped into full view in the doorway, smiling weakly and giving a little wave. "Hello, um, I'm Arthur Kirkland." He cringed internally. Even he thought he sounded like an idiot.

The woman's eyes lit up. "Oh!" she exclaimed. "You must be Alfie's roommate!" She rushed to the door and shook his hand enthusiastically before turning around and gesturing to the boy excitedly. "Alfred, put that thing down and introduce yourself to Arthur! It is Arthur, right hun?"

"Yes, that's right," he replied politely. Behind the woman, Alfred dropped the futon, letting out a big breath of air and wiping at his forehead, shooting his mom a clear 'you're trying to kill me' look in the process. "I'm sorry, I never got your name..."

"Oh, just call me Mrs. Jones!" she chirped. "And can I just say, you have the most lovely accent! England, right?"

Arthur nodded. "I'm from just outside of London."

"How fun!" She clapped her hands together excitedly and Alfred walked up beside her. She wasted no time in throwing an arm around his middle and pushing him forward. "Say hi, sweetie!"

Alfred playfully rolled his (very, very blue) eyes and grinned, thrusting his hand forward for Arthur to shake. "Hi there, Arthur, I'm Alfred Jones! Looks like we'll be bunking together for a few months, huh?"

Arthur gulped and shook his hand with as tight a grip as he could muster in the presence of what was essentially his perfect, ideal man. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well," he answered shakily.

Alfred grinned (bloody hell, his teeth were perfect) and shrugged kind of shyly towards the messy room behind him. "Sorry about the mess, bro. My mom's had me moving boxes and furniture nonstop, so I haven't gotten a chance to put anything away yet."

"It's alright," he said with a nod. "Move-in day is often like that."

Alfred smiled, it faltering only when his eyes flicked over Arthur's right shoulder. "Oh, hey guys! How's the moving goin'?" he called.

Arthur spun around, coming face to face with a middle aged man and the shy looking guy he had almost ran into in the door downstairs. Shy-guy waved back to Alfred, peaking at Arthur curiously out of the corner of his eye, as the middle aged man scoffed and crossed his arms.

"Better than in here obviously," he sighed. "What have you two been doing this whole time?'

"Decorating." Mrs. Jones smiled. She had made herself comfortable in the rolling office chair at Alfred's desk. "How's it going, Mattie dear?"

Shy-guy (Mattie?) shrugged. "It's going well. Got pretty much all of my stuff unpacked and put away." Finally he turned to Arthur. "Sorry, but, um, are you Al's roommate?"

Mrs. Jones gasped, standing straight up and rushing to the door, practically shoving Alfred out of the way. "Oh, how rude of me! Mattie, sweetheart," she addressed Mattie and the man respectively, "this is Arthur Kirkland. Arthur, this is my husband and Alfie's twin, Matthew."

"Twin?" he asked. He looked between the boys and was surprised he hadn't realized how alike they looked until then, he knew Alfred had a brother coming as well, but he guessed he never even thought about the possibility of it being a twin. Alfred threw an arm around Matthew's shoulders, much to the other boy's horror.

"Ugh, Al! Get off of me, eh! You're all sweaty!"

"Alfred," Mr. Jones scolded, his nose crinkling in disgust. "Get off of him, that's gross."

Alfred laughed and Arthur ran a hand through his hair, introducing himself to Matthew and Mr. Jones properly, and inviting the rest of the family into the room to relax for a bit.

"That's alright, Arthur," Mr. Jones declined politely. "We actually just came by to grab these two for an early dinner. Would you like to join us?"

Arthur, unreasonably nervous for no particular reason, shook his head, fiddling with the hem of his shirt. "That's quite alright, thank you Mr. Jones," he replied. "I actually just returned from a late lunch and I've still unpacking to do."

"No problem, maybe next time." Mr. Jones nodded, gathering up his things and gesturing down the hall with his head. "Well, shall we?"

"It was nice to meet you, Arthur," Alfred's brother (whose name seemed to escape Arthur at the moment) said with a smile. "I'll see you around, eh?"

"Yes, yes, it was wonderful meeting you, sweetie!" Mrs. Jones told him cheerily, wrapping him up in a quick hug. "You keep Alfie out of trouble, you hear? Don't let him get away with anything!"

Alfred's face bloomed an attractive pink. "Moooom," he whined, sluggishly dragging his feet to the door.

Mrs. Jones held up her hand, stopping Alfred from joining the rest of the family with a firm glare. "Ah-ah, not so fast, young man. You will not be going out to dinner dripping with sweat. Change your shirt."

"Ugh, I'm fine Mom. I can jus-"

"Alfred Foster Jones. You change your shirt this instant."

Alfred grumbled, squatting down and digging through his boxes to find his clothes. Mr. Jones called from down the hallway that they would meet Alfred out by the car and that if he didn't hurry, they would leave without him. Alfred yelled back he would be down in a second before offering Arthur an apologetic smile.

"Sorry my family is so... my family," he said, followed by a whoop of joy when he found one of the boxes containing his clothes. Arthur shrugged.

"No need to apologize," he sighed, sitting down on his bed and trying not to notice how absolutely perfect his new roommate's calves were. "My family is much worse."

Alfred laughed. "No shit? Awesome! That gives us at least one thing to talk about!"

And then he pulled off his shirt, and Arthur thought of about 4 billion other things he wouldn't mind "talking" with Alfred about, but only about three that would would even be close to appropriate having just met him.

His mouth went dry as Alfred went to the sink in the corner of the room behind the door and splashed a little water on his bare, sculpted chest. He dried himself off with his old, sweaty t-shirt and discarded it to an empty, unused area on the floor, and slipped the clean, baby blue one over his head instead.

It matched his eyes perfectly.

"Hey Arthur," he said, snapping Arthur from his thoughts. "Sorry this was so rushed and stuff, but I'd totally like to get to know you when I get back! I have tons of questions about classes and sports and stuff." Something seemed to click in his brian just then, as his eyes widened and got very bright and excited. "How cool is it that I'm rooming with a sophomore? I bet you know like, everything!"

Before Arthur got the chance to tell Alfred otherwise, the boy was tossing his lanyard over his head and leaning against the door frame.

"Listen, I'll talk to ya later, okay dude? Be back later! Nice meeting you!"

Arthur heard him walk briskly through the hallway and get on the elevator, the not-so-oiled doors squeaking a little as they closed. Once sure that Alfred had left the building and was not coming back, he threw himself onto his pillow and stared up at the ceiling. Absentmindedly, he took out his phone and texted a message to Francis.

'I hate you so much'

One again, the reply was almost immediate.

'u r welcome. enjoy. ;)"

10 bucks if you can guess who Alfred and Matthew's parents are supposed to beeee! XD

And thus our story begins! Okay, I'm glad I finally got this meeting out of the way. I still feel like I left out a lot of details, and for the life of me I don't know what, but I plan on doing a chapter at some point of their first night as roommates and that awkward getting-to-know-you pillow talk you tend to have with a new roommate, so I can add stuff in there in I need to! XD

In case you missed it, Germania is Gilbert and Ludwig's father, and Rome is Feliciano and Lovino's fairly young grandfather. Feli and Lovi's mom got married and had them pretty young, so he and Germania are around the same age, Rome being just a few years older. Kinda confusing, but there you go! XD

Just gonna add that I love that Arthur had a rebellious freshman year. XD I feel a lot of people do when they're in their first year of university! *I* did! XD Of course, I didn't even have a track coach for half of my freshman year, so my athletics weren't affected at all, but that's a story for a different day. XD

Anyway, thanks for reading and happy weekend to all of you! - Car