Alfred- Sophomore

Arthur- Junior

Arthur woke up with a terrible headache and even worse cotton mouth. He groaned, thanking the powers that be that there was a glass of lukewarm water on his side table, and gulped it down greedily.

As he lay in bed, he began to run through what he remembered of the previous night. Obviously, he had drank a little too much, that wasn't too hard to figure out, but what he couldn't quite get a grasp on was why Alfred kept coming up so frequently.

He had stayed home, hadn't he? Of course he did, so why did he feel like he had been at the bar that night?

Oh well, too much thinking, all that mattered was that he ended up in his own bed, fully clothed... with a full bladder. Groaning, he swung his feet out of bed and dragged them down the hall to the bathroom. Once that was taken care of, he splashed a little water on his face, took a few painkillers, and followed his nose out to the kitchen, where the sweet smell of fried grease was wafting pleasantly down the hall.

Arthur smiled softly when Alfred was reveled to be standing in front of the stove, the counter tops around him covered in broken eggs shells, dry pancake mix, and some small puddles of bacon juice. His cheeks pinked slightly.

"Alfred?" he asked, clearing his throat when he realized how raspy his voice had sounded.

Alfred turned around and grinned. "Mornin', sunshine!" he exclaimed. Arthur groaned.

"Shut the hell up."

Alfred laughed and flipped over a sizzling piece of bacon on the skillet. "How'd you sleep?"

"Well, I think," Arthur said with a sigh, pulling up a chair and sitting across the counter. He massaged his temples. "How drunk was I last night?"

Alfred seemed to tense. He coughed as he flipped over another strip of bacon. "W-well, you were pretty damn drunk, dude."

Arthur moaned. "Oh bloody hell. I didn't do anything that will haunt me on Facebook for the next week, did I?"

"Nah, nothing like that," Alfred chuckled, loading some eggs, a few strips of bacon, and a couple of pancakes on a plate and setting it in front of Arthur. "You, uh, you did kinda...bring a guy back though."

Arthur immediately froze.

He wasn't sure if it was shame, embarrassment, or a terrible mixture of the two that suddenly made his blood run cold, but Arthur was at a total loss for words. Had he honestly been that careless? Did Alfred really see him do something so stupid? So idiotic?

So Arthur-from-freshman-year like?

Obviously sensing Arthur's unease, Alfred turned back to the stove. "Don't worry, I, uh, I kicked him out. Nothing...nothing happened."

Arthur's throat was painfully dry. He almost felt like crying. "You kicked him out."

"Yeah." Alfred blinked and looked over the counter, where Arthur had his face buried in his hands. "Dude, you okay?"

"Fine," he seethed, biting his lip when he felt his eyes threatening to overflow. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so embarrassed...

"Dude, Artie, if-"

"I said I was fine, Alfred!" he snapped.

Alfred jumped back in surprise. "A-Art?"

Arthur grit his teeth, forcibly pushing back his chair and standing up straight, his hands balled at his sides. "Please, Alfred. You've already done more than enough."

He regretted it almost immediately, as Alfred's stance immediately took a defensive. "What the hell, Arthur?" he exclaimed. "What's with you all of a sudden?"

What was wrong with him? he thought to himself desperately. He certainly wasn't upset with Alfred for kicking the random stranger out of his bed the night before; he appreciated it more than Alfred could ever imagine. So why was he being so curt? Why was he being so mean?

"I didn't ask you to come sweeping in and save me," he growled, despite himself.

"You didn't have to ask!" Alfred exclaimed. "I wasn't going to let some scumbag take advantage of you like that!"

"I don't need a child looking after me, Alfred!" Shut up, he willed himself. Shut up, shut up, shut up...

All of the anger immediately left Alfred's face as Arthur's words came together in his head. His eyes widened at his roommate, and subconsciously, he took a small step away from him. "What?" he asked, and the sadness to it broke Arthur's heart.

"Alfred, I-"

And then, like a sudden clap of thunder, the anger was back. "Fine!" he snapped. "Fine! If you wanna go out, a-and get drunk and sleep with, with random guys at the bar, by all means, don't let me stop you!"

When the apartment door was slammed shut behind Alfred, Arthur wasn't at all surprised to find he barely registered the sound.

O

"Please come back."

"No."

Matthew sighed dramatically. "Please, Alfred?"

"No!" Alfred exclaimed, crossing his arms in a huff. "Look, Arthur obviously doesn't want a stupid kid like me hanging around all the time, so why go where I'm not welcome?"

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Al, we are literally the exact same age, and I'm still welcome. Age has nothing to do with this, and you know it."

"Age has everything to do with it, Matt!" Alfred sighed. "Artie...he...he was for serious really pissed at me for kicking that guy out, and according to him, I'm too young and stupid to get why."

Inwardly, Matthew was hitting his head against a hypothetical wall. Why were his brother and Arthur the most thick-headed, stubborn idiots in the entire world? "Have you ever thought that, just maybe, it wasn't you he was angry at?"

Alfred blinked owlishly. "Who else would he have been mad at?"

"Himself, maybe?"

Another blink. "I...don't...follow..."

Oh, he had to be freaking kidding.

Matthew sighed, rubbing his temples. "Okay. Arthur gets drunk and brings home some random guy. You, his best friend and love of his life- and shut your mouth, I don't want to hear your denials right now- catch him and essentially save him from making a huge mistake. Now, assuming I know a lot more than you think I do, which I do, and he is totally in love with you-"

"Except he's not."

"Shush! Assuming he is totally in love with you, he would be really embarrassed, eh?"

Alfred bit his lip and shrugged.

"Would you be embarrassed if Arthur caught you drunkenly bringing home a one-night-stand?"

"Well, yeah, I guess..."

"There you go!" Matthew said excitedly. "He was embarrassed, and mad at himself, and that's why he snapped at you!" He beamed, "So you'll come back to the apartment, right?"

Alfred honestly looked like he was considering it for a second, before, much to Matthew's disappointment, he shook his head. "No. Even if he wasn't mad at me, which I don't entirely believe yet, by the way, he was still a little ass about it. I'm not going back until he apologizes."

Matthew deflated, sharing an exasperated sigh with Feliks and Toris, who were kind enough to share their dorm with Alfred while he and Arthur were fighting, and had been watching the exchange like some sort of twisted sporting event. Feliks flopped face first on his bed with a moan while Toris chuckled and pat his shoulder sympathetically.

"I'll go talk to Arthur," Matthew said with a sigh. He waved goodbye to the trio and hiked his backpack onto his shoulder for the trek across campus.

A bit shorter than usual, but I figured I would just include the whole make-up part together later and get this part out now! XD

Life has been mighty hectic with the school year ending and me quitting my current job to find a new job somewhere that doesn't suck, so I have to move and go to interviews and all that good stuff, but I'm still working on this I promise! I apologize if the drama is stupid or doesn't make sense, but I do not do this kinda stuff much, so cut me some slack, okay? XD

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and happy June to all! :DD
-Car