As Arthur walked out of the staff room and made his way towards the stairs leading to the shop floor, Francis' voice made him stop and turn. The man was holding a bright red t-shirt and the Brit could see the familiar white writing printed onto it.

"If you could change into this, it would be appreciated." Francis said with a smile; it wasn't a suggestion. Arthur groaned inwardly as his shoulders dropped, begrudgingly turning around and taking the shirt from his manager's hand, making his way to the staff toilet to change into what would be his uniform for the next few weeks. After he changed shirts, he went to put his other top in his locker and went to the stairs again; feeling thoroughly uncomfortable in the blaringly red shirt.

Arthur hated sales. Plain and simple; he hated them.

First off, there were the garish, tasteless, uncomfortable t-shirts; made from cheap cotton blends and so brightly red that it hurt one's eyes, these shirts were bought in bulk and were gender neutral. This meant they looked awful on everyone; the shirts were too thin to keep in any heat at all which meant these Autumn to Winter sales were going to be utter hell. On the front of the shirt was the name of the shop, under which were printed the words 'Sale Crew'; on the back, the simple word in bold: 'Sale'. All of these words, front and back, were printed in cheap, white, plastic-y letters, all in unbelievably boring Helvetica font. Disgusting.

Secondly, was the state of complete panic that went around the shop during these sales. People in a frenzy over stuff they wouldn't normally buy, trying to get as many deals they possibly could; this made Arthur's job a living hell as he had to deal with queues of countless people who were, more often than not, irritable and very frustrating to deal with. This led to the third reason he hated sales; the amount of customers. Arthur was only a part time worker, he usually worked four hour shifts, Monday to Friday (which frequently turned into eight hours if it was asked of him – Arthur would never turn down a chance to earn more money). But with the amount of customers coming into the shop because of the sale, it left them understaffed, and he was called into work much more often; he didn't mind really, after all, he got more money from it.

But that didn't mean that it wasn't dammed annoying.

So Arthur supposed he'd just have to bear with it for the next couple of weeks until the damn thing was over. He'd just have to deal with the heavy workload; the sore feet and aching backs, the frustration and the fact that he wasn't allowed to show it… the fact that his managers would be at his throat… watching his every move… Ready to pounce on failure like the shop was a God damn war zone…

Arthur hated sales….

Alfred walked into chaos.

Well, that's certainly what it seemed like anyway. The queue was bigger than usual, every cash register had a person behind it; Alfred looked around and saw big red 'Sale' signs all around. 'That would explain it...' he thought to himself as he went about his normal route round the shop. It seemed that people in England got just as crazy over sales as people in America; well, almost. Nothing could really compare to black Friday. As he was searching around the sale items for things that were worth buying – these kinds of sales only ever tried to get rid of merchandise that no one wanted to buy originally – he slowly made his way towards the changing rooms; after all, he hadn't seen Arthur behind any of the cash registers.

His original plan was to talk to Arthur as he manned the changing rooms like his would usually; he sometimes felt bad that he was bugging the man while he was at work, but as Alfred got to know Arthur better, it seemed that he'd gotten used to having the American around. To Alfred, this was an incredibly good sign! His plan was abruptly changed however, when he spotted that the object of his affections was not alone; he quickly leapt into stealth mode to scope out who this mystery person was. The man was young and lanky, the sort of thin arms and legs that made it seem like Alfred could snap the man in two if he wanted to; he was definitely younger than both Arthur and Alfred as well, a rather young face that suggested he wasn't even out of his teens. It was apparent that the redheaded boy worked at the shop, wearing the same red T-shirt as every other member of staff – they had even got Arthur into one, which was amusing in and of itself. He was grinning and laughing, holding a bundle of clothes on hangers; the shocking thing was that Arthur was actually smiling and talking with this guy, it seemed like the two were actually pretty good friends.

Alfred felt a strange pang in his chest that he would later identify – to his guilty horror - as jealousy; he decided to move a little closer to investigate, and he was definitely not eavesdropping. He stealthily worked his way down the racks of sale items, hoping that Arthur wouldn't notice; eventually getting close enough that he could hear the men's conversation.

"You really hate sales that much?" the younger of the two chuckled, amused by Arthur's attitude; he sounded like a nice enough guy, his voice was young and cheery; sounding more like a London accent compared to Arthur's smooth eloquence. It didn't really suit a friend of Arthur's at all - though it might have been for this reason, and the fact that the Englishman seemed to tolerate the younger man, that Alfred instantly kinda disliked him.

"Henry, what you don't realise is that you're only here twice a week." Arthur said with a slightly tired smile; 'So this guy's name is Henry huh?' Alfred thought to himself as he chanced a glance over to them. "With this sale going on, and the lack of staff, I'm being called in for nine to five shifts every day of the week! I know others have it worse, but I'm just not used to it." Arthur said with a drained sigh; Henry smiled sympathetically and took a few more coat hangers from him.

"You're on tills too though; I'm just walking around putting everyone's mess back where it's meant to go."

"Oh don't get me started on that." Arthur ran a hand through his hair. "Believe me, you're better off not being on tills lad. The customers are insane and the sale items just make everything complicated."

"It can't be that bad." Henry said as Alfred shifted closer, concealed by the clothes rack.

"It's just tedious." Arthur said with a sigh. "You have to make sure people aren't using vouchers on the wrong products because they don't work on sale items, everyone is more irritable and hard to deal with; even the sale stickers cause problems!" He picked up a random piece of clothing and showed Henry the price tag; the sale price sticker was plastered over the bar code. Arthur let out a frustrated sigh. "Practically every tag is covered; it wastes so much time peeling the damn things off." Alfred saw Henry laugh and in retaliation Arthur just smirked at him; Alfred felt that same pang in his chest. If he had done something like that, Arthur would have just brushed him off and talked using that annoyed clipped tone of his.

"Well, just think of the money. Always think of the money." Henry chuckled as he fumbled with the large amount of clothes he had to put back; Arthur huffed a laugh and patted him on the back.

"Always the money." He repeated. "I'll keep that in mind Henry, thanks. See you in a bit; I'm glad to hear your course is going well, now off you go." Henry nodded let Arthur shoo him away, leaving him to sort out his rail; with the sale going on, it seemed that Arthur had his work cut out for him, everyone was trying on multitudes of clothes and of course leaving over half of them with him.

Alfred decided to leave Arthur alone for a while out of the kindness of his heart; heading back to the sale rails to sift through more items, he saw this as an opportunity to buy some presents for various people and occasions (it wasn't only clothes that were in the sale after all). On every item he picked up, he checked the price tag; on every tag that didn't have a sale sticker over the bar code, Alfred carefully peeled it off and placed it back over the bar code, making sure that it was different for each one, so no one would suspect anything. Oh yeah; he was like a ninja!

By the time he had gone around the shop a few times, picking up various things and putting them back, deciding what he actually wanted to buy; he headed over to the cash registers where Arthur was now standing. Alfred lingered for a while until the queue was small enough for him to waltz over to Arthur casually, greeting him with a smile; it was returned a little sourly.
"You ok there Arthur?" Alfred said, his smile wavering a slightly; Arthur just nodded and waved a dismissive hand.

"Sales." He said simply; the words seeming enough to get across the situation. "As you can see, the shop is in shambles." He gave a tired version of his polite smile.

"You must love your job right now huh?" Alfred said, offering his own sympathetic smile; Arthur just laughed once sarcastically, but Alfred swore he saw the Brit's lips tug up at the corners.

Arthur took the first item and tried to scan it, the sale sticker getting in the way; his brow furrowed a little in annoyance but he quickly peeled it back enough to get to the barcode. When this happened for the third time, he huffed a sigh and looked to Alfred a little sheepishly (which was a very cute change in expression in Alfred's opinion).

"Sorry to keep you waiting." He said, uncovering another barcode, though it ripped halfway through and Arthur had to scratch away at the label to actually uncover it, growling slightly under his breath.

"Don't worry about it man!" Alfred grinned; this meant he could spend more time talking with Arthur. Sure, his reasons were a little selfish, but it was worth it. "So how long do these sales last anyway?" he asked, making conversation as Arthur scanned his items.

"About two weeks usually." Arthur said, battling with another sale sticker. "We have to get rid of the Halloween merchandise and make room for the Christmas stuff, as well as get rid of all the summer clothes." He was having real trouble with this one damn sticker; more willing to talk to pass the time and distract his customer from how long he was taking. "So as you've seen, things get a little hectic."

"So do they have you working weekends again?" Alfred asked, even though he had heard him talking earlier; if Alfred remembered correctly, Arthur was only supposed to work during the week, and it seemed he didn't usually have very long shifts. Arthur sighed in response.

"Unfortunately…"

"Well look on the bright side; at least you'll be getting more money!" Alfred said happily and Arthur gave a small lopsided smile, making Alfred's stomach do a little flip.

"You're not the first one to tell me that today." He chuckled slightly. Usually this would have had Alfred over the moon; instead, the feeling was dampened with that same little twinge of jealousy.

Like the smile wasn't for him.

The next day, Alfred was heading to the fitting rooms with a few pieces of clothing when he saw Arthur talking to a rather stout looking woman. She was turning this way and that and Arthur regarded her thoughtfully. Like the day before, Alfred approached stealthily and as he got closer, he realised that Arthur was giving the woman advice about her clothing choice. Arthur respectfully turned down the outfit she had chosen, directing her to something that may suit her and her occasion better. After the woman thanked him and went back into the fitting rooms, a man with pale hair walked past the Englishman to clear his rail.

"Jeeze Kirkland, what are you, a gay? Or are you actually a woman and you never told us?" the man said, grinning; Arthur's eyes narrowed and he scoffed.

"Piss off, Pink Eye. First off, you know I'm Bi; and don't you dare generalise." Arthur said lowly, thinking no one could hear him; Alfred did a small happy dance in his head, there was a chance for him and Arthur after all! "Secondly, I'm just doing my job; I gave her my opinion. It's just what I think would look good. It's called 'customer service'. Thirdly, I have been working here for two years. I have picked up many phrases that sound convincing and I've done this enough to seem good at it." He smirked slightly as the other bristled.

"Hey! It's not pink eye, it's a lack of pigment! For the last time, I'm albino!" He huffed as he gathered the clothes from the rail. "And I'm glad no one comes to me for their fashion advice; it's annoying as hell and the clothes here suck anyway."

"God forbid that they should ask, you have horrid taste." He grinned darkly when the other glared at him. "Besides, it's just my personal opinion. Other people will like different things to me. I'm pretty much just stating my preference."

That gave Alfred an idea.

Arthur was re-hanging the clothes on the rail of the fitting rooms (for goodness sake, people never did it right), when he saw a familiar head of blonde hair and a too happy grin. Arthur's stomach flipped slightly at seeing the man again so soon; he was slightly surprised by it himself, but shook it off as an 'Oh great I have to deal with him again so soon' kind of feeling. Arthur's raised an eyebrow.

"Weren't you in yesterday?" he asked, skipping greetings altogether. Alfred seemed slightly taken aback and grinned sheepishly.

"Uh, well yeah but, I was in yesterday for presents and stuff. I came back for some stuff for me."

Arthur shrugged and went back to sorting out his rail; He looked back and saw that the American was carrying a small bundle of clothes.

"May I help you with something?" Arthur asked hesitantly. Alfred shifted his feet; not quite looking him in the eye, like he was embarrassed.

"Right, that's what I wanted to ask." He said hesitantly. Arthur raised his eyebrows; he really had wanted help with something. Alfred raised his arms slightly, gesturing with the small bundle of clothes. "I was wondering if you could, uh… Help me out with these?" he was blushing a little. Arthur frowned slightly, his eyes widening a little.

"What do you mean?" he said slowly; wondering what exactly he needed help with. Alfred seemed to catch this and blushed more.
"Oh! No, no I just- I want someone's opinion on them, not for you to help me wear them or anything. Just an opinion so... Yeah." Alfred said quickly and trailed off; when Arthur didn't say anything, Alfred continued, looking more awkward than ever. "I don't really… know much about clothes. I was hoping I could get some opinions? I don't really want to make a fool of myself y'know?" He said and Arthur shifted awkwardly; now it was the Englishman's turn to be sheepish.
"Um, right. Well, you know, I could just get one of my female co-workers, they'd probably be more help to you than I can."

"No!" Alfred said a little too quickly and Arthur jumped slightly; Alfred quickly recovered and shuffled his feet. "I really don't wanna choose the wrong thing and embarrass myself. Especially if it's in front of a girl y'know? I'd really prefer if someone I knew helped me out, I'd be more comfortable that way. Sorry to bother you with it but…" He trailed off pathetically. Arthur blinked; Alfred felt like he knew him well enough to help him with something he was embarrassed about? They hadn't known each other for that long and they certainly didn't speak often but…

Arthur felt a small amount of heat come to his cheeks.

And that lead to Arthur being roped into helping the apparently bashful American to pick clothes; he had a bundle of both formal and informal, and the first thing Arthur noticed was that they were a little tight. Alfred was rather broad across the shoulders and the t-shirts he had chosen seemed to… cling to him. Now, some would consider this a good thing; however Alfred didn't seem to understand why they were tight to begin with, and he wanted something a little baggier. Arthur, to his dismay, found the clothes downright distracting!

Each T-Shirt was just a hair too small, clinging to the man's torso in all the right places, showing off his muscles that lay underneath the layer of fabric and- 'Holy hell what am I even thinking!?' Arthur shook his head slightly but it did nothing to stop him from looking. Wearing such a T-shirt would usually make a man of Alfred's build look intimidating or like one of those full-of-themselves, completely-a-prick types; but with the American's innocent face and kind smile, that image just didn't fit. It just made him look - much to Arthur's dismay and shocked horror – unfairly and incredibly attractive.

Alfred pivoted in front of him again, looking in the mirror and at his body at all angles.

"I don't get it..." he murmured under his breath, twisting this way and that. Arthur was in a daze; a hand resting on his chin so it looked like he was regarding and thinking over the choice, where in fact he was simply staring at Alfred's lower back. Against his will by the way. He had never noticed how narrow the man's hips were, His shoulder to hip ratio was astounding- 'Oh for goodness sake Arthur get a hold of yourself!' Arthur yelled in his head; of course, none of this showed on his face, he looked up to Alfred, trying to make an intelligent answer, raising his eyebrows.

"Hm? Hmm. Well really, it all depends on whether or not you're comfortable." Arthur covered his tracks skilfully. Alfred frowned slightly and pulled at the shirt a little; Arthur's eyes followed the movement without their owner's permission.

"Well, it's not uncomfortable." Alfred said hesitantly. "It's just that, they shouldn't be this tight. I haven't gained that much weight, have I?" He mumbled, looking at himself in the mirror.
"Your build is rather broad, if you don't mind me saying." Arthur gestured with his hand absently. "Size sometimes tends to vary from shop to shop, maybe that has something to do with it?" He suggested. Alfred bit his lips together in thought for a moment.

"But I've always been a medium…" He murmured. Arthur raised an eyebrow and thought to himself.

"Would that be in American sizes?" He asked. Alfred looked a little confused.

"There's a difference between American and English sizes?"

"Yes. There is." Arthur sighed with a slight laugh and stepped forward, resisting the urge to put his hands on the American's chest 'Why do I even want to do that?! No. I don't.' He tugged at the material on Alfred's waist; he felt the body stiffen slightly under his touch, which wasn't surprising, so he pulled back smoothly. "American's have bigger sizes that we do. So in this shop, it's probably best that you go for a large." He smirked slightly but it was sympathetic. "No wonder you were making so many returns before. "

Alfred seemed sheepish about the whole thing, shuffling his feet.

"Right. I'll bare that in mind. Thanks for all the help." He smiled and ducked back into the fitting room to change his top, then came back out scratching the back of his head. "You got anything for smart casual? We have dress down Fridays and stuff at my work so.." He asked smiling; Arthur would never admit, even to himself, how he was a little disappointed to see the American in a baggy shirt again. The Brit paid it no mind though and hummed in thought.

"Well, I'm rather fond of these." He said, gesturing for Alfred to follow him over to part of the clothes rail which happened to not be part of the sale. He gestured to the small selection of sweater vests they had. "These are rather good for smart casual; I wear them myself at times." He smiled at Alfred a little. "I'm glad they came back into fashion, now if I wear them, people don't snicker and say I'm from the seventies. Though I'll admit, most of the people who buy them do seem to be getting on in years." He chuckled slightly but quickly remembered himself; clearing his throat and facing Alfred with another small, sympathetic smirk. "However, again with your broad shoulders; I'm not sure if they would suit you. You might want to just go with a shirt and roll the sleeves up there chap." He smiled a little as Alfred prickled slightly and whined, smiling all the while.

Arthur helped Alfred pick the clothes that suited and fitted him best, working him around his other customers. At one point, Alfred jokingly grabbed a small piece of women's clothing, holding it to his chest and asking flamboyantly if it would suit him; Arthur wouldn't admit how amusing he found the action, so settled for sarcastically saying that it would look fabulous. Needless to say, the American laughed his usual loud and boisterous laugh, grinning happily. After they were done, Alfred thanked him with a grin and said his goodbyes; taking his items and heading down to the checkout. Arthur tried not to watch the man's hips as he left, mentally slapping himself.

He barely knew the American, though it seemed that said American was determined to change that fact; he already seemed to trust him enough. And then there was that coffee invitation… But that was just as acquaintances and Arthur had turned him down anyway; though he did lead the man to believe that he would accept if he wasn't working. A small part of him, to his surprise, wanted to come across the man outside of work.

Despite how little he knew Alfred; there was one thing he had discovered. And it almost pained him to think it.

Alfred Jones was surprisingly, unfairly, and extremely physically attractive.

Dammit.

Wow. Sorry it's taken me so long to post this chapter guys :'D Things were all over the place and I also got writer's block for a while X'D

Oh oh oh! There's some physical attraction going on here!~ :D And damn, Alfred can be a sneaky little bastard when he wants to be XDD

Also, this is the first appearance of my OC Henry in this story~ w He's such a precious babu and you WILL be seeing him again. You can also see him in my other story on here called 'Jeanne D'Arc' so read that if you want to get to know his character a little more XDD

So yeah. Sorry for the wait and I'll try to do better :3 Have a slightly longer chapter as an apology.

As always, reviews and comments are highly appreciated! I hope you join me for later chapters! :3