"We cannot let this go on, it is pathetic."

"If you think you can snap him out of it, be my guest, but he's been at it for two days now with no sign of stopping."

"Maybe if Alfred came by...?"

"Not a chance, I just talked to him and he's not going anywhere until Arthur apologizes."

"Arthur is not going to apologize. He will not even leave the couch."

"I CAN BLOODY HEAR YOU, YOU PRATS."

Matthew and Kiku blushed, shrinking away from the lump of blankets curled up on the loveseat with a cringe. Matthew ran a hand through his hair and sat down on the corner of the coffee table facing Arthur, who glared at him bitterly.

"Arthur," Matthew said with a sigh. "Come on, you can't just lay here all day. Why don't you get cleaned up, and we'll go over to Toris and Feliks' dorm so we can talk to Alfred and get everything figured out?"

"No!" Arthur cried, burying himself deeper into his cocoon of blankets. "I don't want Alfred to see me like this!"

"But," Matthew offered, not nearly as confidently as he hoped, "maybe once he sees how sorry you are, he'll forgive you."

Arthur scoffed, burring himself deeper into the cushions. "No he wont. And I don't want him to. I was a right prat, he shouldn't forgive me, I would be upset at him if he did."

"This is true," Kiku agreed with a nod before being elbowed in the side by Matthew as Arthur moaned in agony once again.

Matthew sighed, cursing, for the umpteenth time in his life, that he had the unfortunate privilege to be related to Alfred.

O

Alfred and Arthur arrived at practice on Monday separately, but looking equally worse of wear. Thankfully, the news of the fight had made it's way around campus long before that afternoon, so no one dared to inquire as to why they both looked so terrible.

Well, almost no one.

"You look like shit."

Alfred grumbled, lifting the dumbbell to his chest with even more vigor. "Thanks, Liz."

She shrugged. "Just saying." She plopped down on an exercise ball, pursing her lips and cocking her head to the side up at Alfred. "I heard about the fight."

"You and every other person on campus," he spat. Elizabeta rolled her eyes.

"Oh please."

Alfred raised an eyebrow knowingly. "Rome asked me if I wanted to watch The Notebook with him after practice to make me feel better."

"Oh," Elizabeta said, blinking in surprise. "That's...pretty bad."

"No shit."

They sat in awkward silence. Alfred continued to lift his dumbbells as Elizabeta worked through the situation in her head, until Toris slunk into the weight room, nervously. Finally spying Alfred and Elizabeta, he took off across the room, wringing his hands nervously.

"Alfred! I'm so glad I found you!" he said in relief. "It's Arthur!"

Alfred looked frightened for a moment, before he remembered that he was angry at Arthur, and immediately switched to indifference. "Why should I care?" he scoffed.

Toris frowned. "He's hurt."

O

Arthur sat, bleeding and agitated, as Ludwig fussed over the worst of his injuries. He knew that his right knee, elbow, and palm got the brunt of the fall, but he could feel some serious road rash on his chin and a slight twinge in his left ankle.

"This may sting a bit, Arthur," Ludwig warned, a gaggle of other Athletic Training students in the same lab peaking just over his broad shoulders to get a look at what was going on. Arthur nodded and braced himself for the worst.

"Ooooooow, bloody fuck," he cursed as Ludwig sprayed disinfectant, or whatever the fuck was in that bottle, onto the gash on his knee.

Ludwig smiled sadly in apology. "Sorry. It's bad enough that you've done this to yourself, but Coach would kill me if I let your leg get infected as well."

"Lovely," Arthur grumbled with a pout.

Gilbert, who was tinkering around with a model skeleton in the corner, laughed boisterously. "Spray him again, bruder! He deserves it for making such a rookie mistake!"

Arthur blushed, cringing as Ludwig sprayed at his elbow. "There is nothing rookie about tripping, Gilbert. Especially with the sidewalks in this town. Honestly, you would think enough people have fallen that they would have fixed them by now." He knew better than to mention that the reason he fell was because he was thinking about Alfred.

"Nein, it was lame, and you should feel lame."

Arthur rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to Ludwig, who had (thankfully) finished with the disinfectant and was examining his ankle. "How bad is it?"

The sophomore poked at the inflamed joint and shook his head. "It's definitely sprained, but if you keep it elevated for a few days and do some exercises, you should still be able to run as long as it's taped."

"Bloody hell," Arthur groaned, falling backward on the table. "At least it can't get much worse."

"Arthur!"

Arthur popped back up, his eyes widening as Alfred and Elizabeta pushed their way though the door, Toris following a few seconds behind them. "Alfred?"

"Arthur," Alfred breathed, keeping a hand steady on the doorframe, though the widening of his eyes betrayed he was obviously taking in the blood splattered and smeared over Arthur's right side. "I heard you were hurt so I-" he froze. The look on Arthur's face showing he was shocked, and perhaps not entirely happy about seeing his roommate. He quickly hardened his expression. "I mean, Toris made me come down here to check on you."

Elizabeta, Toris, Ludwig, and Gilbert simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"W-well if that's the case, you should just—OW!"

Arthur pulled his hand away from Ludwig, betrayal, shock, and pain painted all over his face. He clutched his hand to his chest protectively, afraid that whatever Ludwig had just done to it would happen again. "What the fuck was that?" he cried.

Ludwig held up his hands in forgiveness "Es tut mir leid," he apologized, "but I think you have a rock imbedded in your hand."

"What?" he gasped, looking down at the large, skinned portion of his palm.

"What?" Alfred parroted, finally leaving his spot by the door and rushing over to Arthur's side.

Ludwig nodded, grabbing a pair of tweezers, and taking Arthur's hand in his to keep it steady. "Right here," he said, poking at a small, barely visible white spot among the bloody tissue. The tweezers made a small click on the pebble when they made contact, and Arthur winced. "Would someone go grab Lili for me? I need a nursing student in here to help me."

"I got it," Elizabeta said with a nod, taking off out the door. Ludwig nodded and turned his attention back to Arthur, who was looking more than a little worried.

"You have a few options," he explained. "We can wait for your body to reject the pebble itself, but there is no telling how long it will take, and chances are the rest of your injury will have healed, which could make it very difficult to get it out without some serious scarring, as well as the chance of infection. Or, we could try to dig it out now, which will be very painful, as the injury is still fresh, but it will help the healing process in the long run."

Arthur bit his lip, staring at his hand so intently, he didn't even realize Elizabeta had returned with Lili. "I suppose... we might as well get it over with," he gulped.

As Ludwig turned to Lili to explain the situation and to get his supplies together, Arthur allowed himself a deep, calming breath. Automatically his eyes found Alfred's, right by his side and just as worried as his own. He smiled pathetically. "I thought you were upset at me."

"I am," Alfred whispered. "But I think this is a little bit more important right now."

"Are you ready, Arthur?" Lili asked, smiling sweetly and holding an intimidating pair of tweezers. "This is going to be painful, so you might want to find a pillow or something to hold on to," she explained.

"Let me find one for you," Toris volunteered, but was immediately stopped by Gilbert.

"Nah, Golden Boy will handle it," he sneered.

Elizabeta beamed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Ooooh, igen! Alfred can hold his hand!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes, but Lili giggled as Arthur and Alfred flushed in embarrassment. "That would be perfect! Why don't you come stand under the light so we can see what we are doing?"

Once in position, Alfred grabbed Arthur's left hand and gave it a small squeeze of encouragement while Ludwig held the injured hand steady and Lili readied her tweezers. Arthur took a deep breath. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad? It was just a small little pebble after all. He was Arthur Kirkland, he could handle this. "I'm ready."

"Okay," Lili mumbled, sticking out her tongue in concentration. "Here I go."

"OWW! BLOODY FUCKING BUGGERING CHRIST!"

Lili pulled her had away immediately. Beside her, Alfred winced and flexed his fingers where Arthur had squeezed them with the force of a freaking spring clamp.

"Arthur, we told you this was going to hurt," Ludwig said with a sigh.

"I didn't think it would be that bad!"

"Arthur, hey," Alfred said soothingly, taking his hand in his again. Arthur snapped his head up to look him in the eye. "You got this, dude. You are seriously one of the toughest guys I know. Anyone who can run like you can knows how to fight through pain, you can handle it."

Arthur blushed, nodding to himself and clearing his throat in determination. "Y-yes, yes, quite. Stiff upper lip, I've got this."

Alfred grinned. "Right on, bro!" He nodded to Lili over Arthur's shoulder. "Ready? She's going in."

Arthur squeaked, but quickly shook his head to clear his negative thoughts. "Right, yes, here we gooOOOH my GOD!" He winced, biting his lip to quell the pain.

"Don't bit your lip," Ludwig scolded, struggling to keep Arthur's hand steady. "Hold on to Alfred's hand, you're just going to hurt yourself more."

"Don't hold back, Artie, I can take the pain." Alfred smiled warmly.

Arthur nodded though his clenched teeth and gripped Alfred's hand with all of his might. He had never felt such pain in his entire life, and knew that if the rock had been stuck anywhere else but his hands, it wouldn't be nearly as bad, but hands were meant to be sensitive; meant to be the centers of touch and feeling, and right now, Arthur was feeling everything.

The tweezers kept slipping off the pebble, but Lili kept her cool and stayed persistent. Over Ludwig's frantic suggestions and Alfred's sweet encouragements, Arthur could still hear and feel the metal scraping against rock, but he tried his hardest to ignore it.

"You're doing awesome, Artie," Alfred said, rubbing his thumb over Arthur's hand. "Keep it up, they've almost got it."

"I am going to try getting under it and popping it out," Lili explained. "I can't get a good grip on it this way."

Arthur groaned, "Yes, yes, fine, do what you must, just do it quickly."

It took about two more excruciating minutes before Arthur was finally overwhelmed with a feeling of total relief. Gilbert and Elizabeta cheered, while the others let of sighs of relief, and Lili took the rock and put it in a small baggy for Arthur to see. It was tiny; just a small piece of gravel from the sidewalk, but to Arthur, it might as well have been a boulder for all the pain it had caused him.

"You have to keep it," Alfred said excitedly, examining the pebble.

Arthur scrunched up his nose. "Why the hell would I keep that blasted thing?" he asked, incredulously. Alfred shrugged.

"I dunno, like a souvenir or something. If you don't keep it, I will."

Arthur gave it to him more than willingly.

O

"How are your pillows? Is your ankle okay?"

"Just fine, Alfred, thank you."

"You sure? How about some more pizza?"

"I'm fine, Alfred, sit down, would you? You're making me nervous."

Alfred and Matthew had helped Arthur back up to the apartment as soon as he was bandaged up, and Alfred had been fussing over him ever since. He had propped his sore ankle up on a small tower of pillows, ordered them pizza, and popped in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Arthur's favorite) to keep them entertained.

He knew Alfred was just trying to avoid the elephant in the room, and at first Arthur was thankful for that, but he was starting to get anxious. It was about time they cleared the air.

"You should be mad at me," he said finally.

Alfred froze, his slice of pizza halfway to his mouth. "Aw, Artie, c'mon you're hurt and—"

"It doesn't matter, Alfred," Arthur sighed. "I was a right prat to you. You should hate me."

Alfred raised an eyebrow. "You want me to hate you?"

Arthur blushed. "N-no, of course I don't want you to hate me! You just...should," he finished lamely.

Alfred finally put down his pizza and leaned back in his chair with a sigh, hands behind his head. "Okay, I can't say I'm like, totally, one hundred percent happy with you right now, but...I dunno. People make mistakes."

"I still shouldn't have said those things to you. I shouldn't have even been mad at you," Arthur admitted. "To be honest...I was embarrassed." He glanced shyly at the younger man out of the corner of his eye. "To be honest, I didn't have a very... positive freshman year. I did a lot of things I'm not very proud of, made a lot of mistakes, Rome almost kicked me off the team because of them. And you... Let's be honest, you are practically the poster boy for doing the right thing at WU, and I was just...embarrassed, I suppose, to have relapsed in front of you."

Thankfully, Alfred didn't look overly shocked by this nerve-wracking revelation. In fact, much to Arthur's confusion, he didn't seem phased by this new information at all. Obviously, this confusion showed on his face, as Alfred chuckled and smiled at his roommate warmly.

"Dude, I knew all about your old reputation like, a week into knowing you."

Arthur's mouth fell open. "What?"

Alfred smirked. "Just because you delete all your Facebook pics, doesn't mean everyone else does. By the way, you look pretty good in leather pants." Alfred winked. "Might wanna think about bringing that back."

"Oh hell," Arthur moaned, burying his face in his hands. "Why didn't you mention this to me before?" Alfred laughed.

"I figured it wasn't a big deal, I guess!" he shrugged. "We've all gone through our little rebellious stage. For instance, I was totally a little douchebag in elementary school."

Arthur snorted. "Oh?"

"Oh, hell yeah! Dude, I was always in detention when I was a kid. I would cut my own hair, pick out and ruin my own clothes, I threw a shit-fit and forced Mattie to change his birthday, because I wanted ours for my own—"

"I always wondered about that."

"I would even throw all the food I didn't want to eat into the pool."

Arthur gaped. "That's horrid!"

"I know!" Alfred agreed. "I would march out to the deck after dinner with my plate, and throw in my peas, or Brussel sprouts, or meatloaf, or tea—"

"TEA?"

The American made a sour face. "I would rather keep my sore throat than drink that crap, thank-you-very-much. But yeah, we all have our rebel stage, mine just happened to be ten years before yours. Before I could cause too much trouble." He smiled. "You wouldn't stop being friends with me just because I was a little shithead once upon a time, right?"

Arthur scoffed. "I don't know, I did just find out you ruined perfectly good tea." Alfred laughed boisterously.

"Well, shit! Knew I should have left that part out!"

When their laughter died down, they sat in comfortable silence, nibbling at their pizza and absentmindedly watching the movie. After a few minutes Arthur cleared his throat.

"I do still wish to apologize to you properly," he said quietly, training his eyes everywhere but Alfred's face. "So... I apologize… for being such a prat."

"Apology accepted," Alfred said with a smile. "But if you get mad at me for helping you again, don't expect me to try and help you anymore. You're on your own."

Arthur grinned, finally meeting his eyes and smiling just as genuinely. "It's a deal."

Hours later, when Matthew returned from Katyusha's apartment, he was pleased, and not altogether unsurprised, to see Alfred and Arthur, curled up together on the loveseat, the menu for their movie playing on a loop on the TV across from them.

With a smile, he turned off the lights around them, and retired to his bedroom for the rest of the night.

SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT! My summer has been so hectic, I quit my job, moved in with my boyfriend's parents, got a NEW job, moved into our own apartment, have had to unpack while working my full-time summer job, and preparing my classroom, which by the way, is totally empty except for a globe, so YES It has been very crazy for me. XD BUT I managed to crank this baby out, and now that Arthur's birthday is done, I can focus on FUN, HAPPY chapters again! XD

Poor Arthur. I'm sure digging a rock out of your hand doesn't SOUND very painful, but I have BEEN THERE, man. and it HURTS. I have pictures, and I will probably put them up on my tumblr when I get home from work this afternoon, so check for those.

By the way, you should probably follow me on tumblr. I post one-shots and drabbles and stuff there sometimes that I never plan to post here, and if for some reason you like me, I don't want you to miss out! The link is on my profile, but my name is seecarrun, so get on that.

Anyway, long author's note is long. Have a good day, everyone! And keep an eye out for the last chapter of Love Match as well! :D

-Car