When Arthur saw Alfred next, it was back in the shop; the American had his usual grin, though it seemed that he was slower than he usually was, as though he was tired or something was wrong. Of course, Arthur couldn't pay much attention to the man because his French manager was prattling on about the new Christmas displays stationed by the fitting rooms. He tried to concentrate on Francis directing him to carry things this way and that, transferring items from the trolley to the shelves; however his eyes kept flickering to find the familiar head of blonde hair, slowly moving around.

It was only a few minutes later that Arthur turned around, only to be faced by the American up close; causing him to jump slightly.
"Hey Arthur." Alfred said happily. "Uh, can you come help me with something? If that's okay." The American scratched his cheek as he spoke. Arthur looked at his manager, who glanced over curiously; Arthur looked back at Alfred and gestured to the trolley of items beside him.

"Of course sir. I'm a little preoccupied at the moment, but if you're willing to wait then I'll be right with you." Arthur said politely; Alfred agreed and said he'd be over by the shoes.

After the man was gone, Francis came over to Arthur, who was stocking the shelves again.
"You know Arthur, it's bad service to keep a customer waiting."
"It's fine, he can wait for me." Arthur said, unfazed. "He always does; and if not, he can go ask another member of staff." At this, Francis' eyes lit up slightly; a light hearted smirk spread across his face and he sidled up close to Arthur's side.

"Oh ho? So you know this young man do you Arthur?" He asked in a low voice. Arthur pushed his face away and got on with his work.

"I wouldn't call it such, but yes, I suppose you could say that. Unfortunately." Arthur said in a sour tone; he could tell that Francis wasn't going to let this drop. Oh how he loved to tease Arthur about things like this.

"I see! So you became acquainted with the young American after all!" Francis continued brightly. "Well then I must keep an eye on this boy and watch any developments!"
"Don't you even dare, Frog." Arthur hissed as he put down another box to be unpacked. "There won't be any developments so stay the hell away from me and him or you'll have a restraining order on your hands; and for God's sake don't try to start anything." Arthur scolded himself for blushing slightly under the teasing; really, he knew better than to let Francis get to him. His manager however, just laughed happily and nudged Arthur in the direction of the shoes, where Alfred was standing and hobbling about.

"I won't make any promises Lapin. Now, off you go; I'll handle things over here and you can go handle that fine young boy in the shoe section." He paused. "But make sure to be subtle about it, oui?" He winked and chuckled as Arthur recoiled away from him; seeming repulsed at both the manager's attitude and the affectionate, degrading pet name. Arthur shook the man off and glared.

"My God you're a creepy blighter aren't you?" he said and turned, leaving to help the American with whatever was so important.

As Arthur approached, Alfred's face lit up with a bright smile.

"Hey Arthur! Wow, that was quick!"

"Yes, well, it's bad service to leave a customer waiting." Arthur said politely. "You know, you could have asked another member of staff, Mr Jones." Alfred's expression turned sheepish.

"Yeah, I could have. B-but I'd feel more comfortable if you help me with this, y'know?" He said, rubbing his arm slightly. It was then that Arthur noticed the American was wearing a small brace on the wrist of his right hand; he raised his eyebrow slightly and looked to Alfred again.

"Are you having trouble with something Sir?" He asked, sounding a little more concerned than he usually would in this situation. Alfred shuffled his feet slightly.

"I was wondering if you would… Help me with the shoes? Trying them on, I mean. I-I hurt my back recently, and I can't bend very well." He said quietly. Arthur studied the man; usually, he wouldn't agree to something like this. He would be suspicious that the person was lying and was just trying to make his work even more degrading than it already was. But Alfred was just too genuine a man, Arthur could tell he was being honest and really was hurt. Arthur wondered what could have happened in order for the American to get hurt like this, after all, he had just seen him the other day. Arthur found that he couldn't refuse the man's request.

And so, Arthur helped Alfred pick out a few pairs of shoes and sat him down; kneeling down himself so he could help the man tie them up. In an attempt to make the whole situation at least a little less awkward, Arthur tried to strike up a conversation; he asked Alfred if he could inquire as to how he hurt his back. Alfred just laughed sheepishly, leaning back slightly on his good hand.

"Oh yeah well, funny story actually… I was uh… playing hockey." He grinned like a guilty child. Arthur raised an eyebrow.

"Were you playing with your back?" He then gestured to the wrist brace. "Or your wrist?"

"Hahaha… well usually I'm great with sports, I was on all the teams in high school. But my brother came to visit me recently." He chuckled. A worried frown worked its way onto Arthur's expression; he looked at the wrist brace again.

"Your brother did this?" he asked in a quiet voice; Alfred sensed the concern and shook his head quickly.

"Oh man, don't get the wrong idea! Mattie's awesome! Best brother ever!" He laughed. "He's usually the kindest guy you could ever meet, it's just when it comes to hockey, he can get kinda… competitive." Alfred laughed again, grinning happily; Arthur could tell he cared about his brother a lot, so he couldn't be that bad. He smiled a little as he finished tying Alfred's shoes.

"There try that - So you thought it was a good idea to play against him?" he asked as he leant back. Alfred chuckled and checked the shoes, bending them about on his feet.

"It's fun! – I think I may have to go a size up - I don't even notice the damage until a couple hours later." Arthur sputtered despite himself and scoffed at the idiotic notion as he fetched more shoes. "We always tell each other not to hold back y'know?" He said as he took the shoes off and left them neatly for Arthur. "And it's because of Matt that our team went to finals loads of times, so it's really awesome!"

"Your brother a bit of a hockey nut then?" Arthur chuckled, forgetting himself and realising a little too late that he was actually happy about hearing this story and didn't find it a chore. Alfred noticed this and just grinned more, encouraged.

"Ha! Let's just say that I'm glad we were on the same team in high school! Man I felt sorry for those guys!"

Arthur saw a familiar head of blonde hair out the corner of his eye, walking towards him as he sorted out the rail of the fitting rooms. However it seemed he could smell him long before he actually looked up to see him; a slight smirk crossed his features as an overpowering aroma abused his senses – it seemed that the Christmas season was starting to affect him, even if it was just the cheesy holiday music wafting around the shop, which was loudest at the fitting rooms.

That week, the shop had decided to try and push their sales, working on the assumption that people were stuck for Christmas gifts. They sold perfume; high street and professional brands that were much cheaper than they were in most other shops. The managers would place an employee by the entrance with a small display of perfumes, and they would try to convince customers to sample and buy the perfumes they had. That day, Angelique, Francis' niece (proof that nepotism was alive and well) was posted at the door, trying to push the perfumes.

As Alfred approached and grinned at Arthur like he usually did, the Englishman wrinkled his nose.

"Ohh… Angelique got you did she?" Arthur said with an amused expression. Alfred paused and his smile faltered a little.

"You mean the chick at the front with the pigtails? So that's her name?" Alfred said absently and sniffed his wrist. "Is it that strong? I kinda like it…"

"You smell like a girl." Arthur folded his arms, still wearing an amused expression, leaning against the wall. Alfred seemed disheartened and looked at his wrist as though it confused him.

"She told me it was unisex…" Alfred murmured quietly; Arthur chuckled.

"Doesn't mean you don't smell like a girl." Arthur smirked slightly at how Alfred bristled.

"Yeah well… it just hasn't settled yet!" He gestured to clothes in his hand. "Lemme try these on and when I come back, I'll smell awesome! You'll see!...smell… whatever." And with that, Arthur gave Alfred a disk and he left to try on his clothes.

When Alfred emerged, having tried on his clothes, he handed some back to Arthur to put on the rail as he rubbed his neck. The American claimed that he was trying to 'spread it around' (Which Arthur thought was useless considering that the perfume was already dry and therefore couldn't really be 'spread' anywhere).

"There. Now everything's settled in and there's no way I smell like a girl." Alfred said confidently.
"Is that so?"

"Yep! Go ahead and take a sniff if you don't believe me!" Alfred grinned. Arthur raised an eyebrow and stepped forward.

To this day, Arthur doesn't know why he did it. He doesn't know what possibly could have possessed him to actually go through with what he did. Was it the cheesy music abusing his ears? Was it the fact that for some reason, he was in a good mood? Seeing the American acting as silly as he always did? Maybe it was a combination of these things, or something else entirely. However, to this day, Arthur doesn't regret what he did in the slightest. Because Alfred's expression was priceless.

Arthur stepped forward and leant in, the American stiffened in front of him like a deer in the headlights; Alfred was two or three inches taller than him, so all Arthur had to do was tilt his head. Their skin never touched, but Arthur was close enough to Alfred's neck that when he inhaled silently, all he could smell was Alfred; he was right, it was impossible to spread the perfume around. However, that meant that the only scent Arthur had flowing into his senses, was Alfred; and good God he smelt divine. Not that he was surprisingly happy about that or anything.

"No…" Arthur said quietly. "You still smell like a girl." He pulled back with a smug smirk; but the moment he saw Alfred's expression, he couldn't hold back his laughter. He covered his mouth with his hand as the American stood frozen, red faced and wide eyed; he wasn't able to bring himself to say anything.

Needless to say, Alfred hadn't thought that the usually prickly Englishman would actually smell him! Not to mention that it meant that Alfred had got a pretty good whiff of Arthur as well – and God did that make him feel like a creeper… All he could do was stand there until Arthur got a better hold of himself after his break of character; and thankfully Alfred was able to gain some of his dignity back by the time he decided to leave Arthur to his work.

Arthur stood in silence; he wasn't able to form his words for quite a while. Of course, usually he'd be the one who was always eloquent and quick to respond to most anything; however, that day, there was a most puzzling sight in front of him. A sight that he had never expected to see and certainly, it was a sight that he didn't exactly know how to react to, at least not straight away.

Standing in front of him, were two Alfreds.

"Hey Arthur!" One of the Alfreds said happily. "Have I got something on my face?" He sounded amused; Arthur snapped out of his confusion but apparently still couldn't process properly.

"Uhh.." Was all he could muster at that moment; the same Alfred as before laughed and gestured to the other one, who also looked rather amused.

"This is my brother, Matthew! The one I told you about?" Alfred smiled brightly. "The one that came to visit."

"Oh, yes, of course." Arthur finally gathered his bearings and extended a hand to the other man. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He said politely; though he didn't know why Alfred was introducing him to his brother. 'This guy really is American. Everyone's got to be his friend, even shop staff.' He thought to himself.
"Pleased to meet you Arthur." Matthew said. "Thanks for looking after my idiot brother when he shops. I'm surprised he can even do it by himself." Arthur was surprised how quietly the man spoke. He would think that anyone related to Alfred would be just as loud as he was; not to mention that the man's demeanour made him seem humbler and even smaller than he actually was.

"He's helping me get clothes for when I go back home so I don't look like a dumbass!" Alfred said happily.

"Is that so?" Arthur's lips tugged up at the corners slightly. "Well then, get to it." He said and handed Alfred a disk so he could go and try his clothes on.

In order to make waiting for Alfred less awkward – because Matthew had to wait for Alfred to come out and show him the clothes – Arthur tried to strike up a conversation.

"So, what part of North America are you from?" he asked; Matthew smiled.

"Usually, people ask me where in America I'm from."

"I just noticed your accent's a little northern for America."

"You'd be right. I'm from Toronto."

"Ah, Canada, I see." Arthur paused awkwardly. "A lot of people mistake accents nowadays. My mother went to America once and some people asked her if she was Australian!" They both chuckled. "So how long have you lived in Canada? Seeing as your accent is rather strong I assume you've been there for a while. Do you work there?" Matthew leant back slightly and smiled.

"Ahh, now lots of people get this wrong; don't worry you're not the first. I am fully Canadian, Alfred's only my half-brother." He said casually; Arthur stood in shock for a moment before panicking a little.

"Oh. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed-"

"Nah, its fine." Matthew waved a hand dismissively. "My parents got divorced when I was a kid and my Mom got remarried to Alfred's Dad; then Al was born. You'd think we're twins wouldn't you?" Arthur just stood there in silence for a moment, looking utterly bewildered.

"Well yes, that's what I thought; you two look so similar! But your brother doesn't seem to act his age like you do, if you don't mind me saying." He chuckled.

"Yeah we get that a lot. But looking at us, you'd never think I was a few years older than him. Used to play pranks on the teachers in school by switching places, going into each other's classes, seeing if they would notice."

"Did they?"

"Eventually. They'd figure out that I was too quiet to be Al, and Al was too loud to be me!"

Arthur was actually able to get on rather well with Matthew; he certainly didn't find him as annoying and confusing as his half-brother. And between helping Alfred pick out his clothing, Arthur and Matthew exchanged pleasant conversation. He actually ended up talking to Alfred's brother much more that day than he talked to Alfred himself; but Matthew was a perfectly nice chap so he didn't particularly mind.

"So!? What do you think!?" Alfred demanded excitedly as he and Matthew headed back to the car; he had brought his brother over to the shop so he could show off the Englishman to him to see if he liked him as much as Alfred did. Matthew just laughed, carrying all the bags.

"What do you want me to say? You're the one that likes him; what will my approval accomplish?"

"Yeah but how do I know if he's right? C'mon! You've been really protective with other guys I've dated!"

"You're not dating." Matthew pointed out.

"I wanna know~" Alfred whined.

"He's nice."

"Nice? NICE!?" Alfred exclaimed with a shocked expression. "He's fantastic! He's hot and cute and funny and-" Matthew held up a hand, looking at Alfred blankly.

"I get it." He said and then smiled as they reached the car. "Seems to me you've already answered your own question. With what you've told me on skype for countless hours, I've got a pretty clear picture of what you think of him. You like him. That's all that matters." He got into the car and looked at Alfred's expression when he got in the driver's seat. "And I feel no need to be protective like I have with some of your other relationships." He chuckled. "He seems like someone that'll be good for you. Maybe he'd make you finally grow up."

"Woah now, let's not go nuts." Alfred teased as he started the car to head back to his house.

"He's just fine. I approve. But what about him?" Matthew asked, glancing back at the shop and frowning slightly. "You ever think of that? The way he acts… you sure?" Alfred looked back to the shop as they left the parking lot and a soft smile spread across his face.

"There's something there."

And another chapter out of nowhere! :D Seeing as Alfred's coming into the shop more often, there are gonna be a few little short bits here and there XD and oh myyy~ Arthur's actually starting to enjoy Alfred's company!

Also that perfume thing wuuuuut? XDDDD Artie you pervert XD

Al wanted Mattie's approval awwww~ And yes he's the older brother in this AU Because I like that so yolo. *slapped* XDD

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always, reviews are highly appreciated!

Also can I just say that just over 100 people are following this story omg guys what are you doing!? XDD Thank you so much! I love you all! w

Thank you for reading and I hope to see you in the next chapter!