It was hot.

Arthur groaned and pressed his face into the sheets in an attempt to cool himself.

It was far too hot.

He let out a small whine of discomfort and tried to shift his position, but something stopped him. A soft gasp filled the room as he felt a hand on his, pressing him down.

Why was it so damn hot?

Arthur turned his head in the flurry of sheets and stared up at the figure above him.

Striking blue eyes.

Sunny blonde hair, almost luminous in the dimly lit room.

Oh.

Oh, Arthur remembered; oh yes, he remembered well. He turned onto his back and gazed up as the angelic face drew closer to his. As wonderful lips parted, Arthur closed his eyes, anticipating what would come next; however before he could even hear their voice…

Arthur blinked the world back into focus and he was alone. He looked around for a moment, still dazed from sleep before wiping a hand down his face; it was a moment later that he realised he was sweating. Checking the time, Arthur groaned and decided it would be best if he just got up, had a shower, and got ready for work in good time.

God it was hot.

June was now in full swing, and by God, the summer hit hard. As hot as Arthur was sure other countries were –and he was sure that he'd melt into a literal puddle if he were to visit- he really couldn't give a toss. It was hot, and he was sweating like a pig if he so much as casually climbed the stairs. If there were two things the English were good at, it was complaining about the weather, and queuing; and hell, the only reason they did that was so they could complain about the queue as well and then complain about the weather while they waited.

The melting point of the average English man was approximately 24 degrees Celsius, Arthur was certain.

So, regardless of that being the case, Arthur had to sit on the sweltering bus, which was almost suffocating him even with all the small windows on the vehicle open. The only things more suffocating to him were the thoughts and dare he say it, feelings, that were battling in his head. He had never felt so conflicted in his life; that fact alone surprised Arthur a little but he had never had to deal with something like this before. Not only that, but there was also the fact that Arthur had been getting very little sleep in his flat recently; he was quite high in the building and the heat rose and made it almost unbearable to do anything. And now this lack of rest had led to a new restlessness; one that he could no longer ignore. And Arthur realised that he had been ignoring it all this time, every day up to this point.

Just what were his feelings for Alfred?

Just a short while ago the answer would be very simple:

'The man is nothing more than an acquaintance who seems to have the uncanny ability to impose on me without ending up with a broken jaw. He is barely tolerable at best but I see no reason to beat him; nor, however, do I feel compelled to associate with him further.' That would have been his line of thinking and would thus be swiftly pushed to the back of his mind.

Sadly, questioning just what Alfred meant to him was now all that seemed to occupy it; his mind tripped and stumbled over those thoughts repeatedly.

'Alfred is…'

Arthur was convinced in his own sense of logic that the only reason he was thinking of these things was that he was sleep deprived or because it was too hot or because Alfred was always too damn kind or acted too friendly or… Arthur frowned as he made his breakfast.

Was he simply getting the wrong idea? Was he reading the wrong signals? He may have just been overthinking, Arthur seemed to have a talent for that after all; was he just thinking about it too much? Maybe he was thinking about the subject for the pure reason that Alfred told him his sexuality and now the fact dawned on Arthur that he may actually have a chance with Alfred.

But then again did he even want a chance with Alfred and would Alfred want a chance with him? Now that was a whole different situation altogether. However… Alfred had made it very clear that he wasn't looking for a relationship and frankly neither was Arthur –really now, relationships just complicated things and made idiots out of perfectly logical and well-adjusted people- although Arthur would be lying through his teeth if he tried to say that Alfred wasn't attractive. Because he was. Unfairly so! Arthur had seen that first hand! And it had to be said that his mundane job had become noticeably more so since Alfred arrived. The American now seemed to bring a few shining rays of excitement into his otherwise fairly boring week, but- was that what he really wanted?

And he didn't even know why he was overthinking about such a thing because it was fairly obvious that nothing would happen and of course it wouldn't work in the first place and through it all the heat was bloody stifling even with the air con in his flat that barely worked. All Arthur wanted to do was go home and think everything through properly; he wanted to forget about his job for just a few days and mull over everything that was on his mind. If he was in the safe, comfortable environment of his flat, then surely he would be able to properly and logically figure everything out. Unfortunately however, that wasn't an option; Arthur couldn't really afford to take any 'sick days' due to the rent on his flat and other bills racking up recently, and with Arthur reluctant to get any sort of credit card, he needed all the hours he could get. Frankly, his sanity took second priority to his work and the prospect of earning money.

So, he would have to try and push the swirling thoughts out of his head, one very potent thought especially. The dream Arthur had had that morning.

Oh what a dream!

Arthur could barely even think about it without wanting to bury himself and never see the light of day again! Of course he'd had a fairly healthy libido when he was younger, but when the hell was the last time he'd had a dream about something like that? Not for a good year surely; he supposed he'd been far too busy and preoccupied with work, coming home so tired that he simply flopped into bed, even his subconscious was too tired to do anything. But he'd certainly never had that sort of dream about anyone he knew; he couldn't believe that he'd dreamt of something like that with him! Arthur closed his eyes and scowled in an attempt to expel the thoughts swiftly floating to the front of his mind. Oh God that dream. As if the weather wasn't already hot enough… All of his senses had been perfectly on point and for goodness sake how could his subconscious remember exactly what the American had smelt like during that little perfume incident at Christmas?!

Arthur's forehead whacked the window of the bus as it jolted over a pothole; he hadn't even noticed that he had started leaning against it… Come to think of it, why was Arthur even taking the bus? His car had long been fixed and yes, it still acted up every now and then but it still worked. It couldn't be… No. Arthur most certainly didn't not subconsciously hope or expect Alfred to drive him home! That was idiotic!

Arthur was not a happy bunny. He needed to think and calm down and more than anything…

More than anything, he needed to be left alone that day.

So obviously, Fate wasn't going to let Arthur has his own way, was it?

Arthur was to be on tills for most of that day, unable to hide in his own thoughts until an hour before the end of his shift –where he would then be stationed at the fitting rooms. As frankly infuriating as this development was, Arthur was perfectly accepting to the idea of burying his head and giving a perhaps unhealthy amount of effort into his work that day. He opted for talking to none of his colleagues, not so much as a 'good morning' or a fake smile; today he was getting back to what he knew, to what was safe, back to what was stable. He would focus on his work with no other distractions; no thoughts other than what he had to do to earn money, and plan his evening so he could relax when he finally got home.

His manager instantly noticed the sour change in his usually easy-to-tease underling; Francis had seen the change in Arthur's attitude soon after the American had begun to regularly visit the shop. Francis believed the change that the young man had brought on was an entirely good one; Arthur had seemed happier, healthier, and he only ever tried to beat him when Francis went out of his way to be and arse, which in turn had a very positive affect of Francis' health as well, so who was he to complain? However it seemed to him, as he pretended to check over the shop's numbers from the week before, that Arthur had taken a very large step backwards; he wondered if it had anything to do with the handsome young American and decided to try and take the man's mind off of things. His original plan was to swoop in and tease him as always, but when he saw the cranky Englishman scowling as he went to put some unwanted items on the rail by the till, he decided against it. No reason in risking his own health for the sake of others.

Arthur was kneeling on the ground fetching another roll of receipt paper when he felt a hand touch his shoulder; jumping out of his skin immediately, he spun around and smacked the hand away sharply. He was met with the surprised gaze of his manager, Francis, who he looked up at with a slightly horrified expression, clearly surprised by his own actions. Arthur looked down and ran a hand down his face.

"I-I'm sorry." He mumbled softly and Francis raised his eyebrows; usually, Arthur would have done or said much worse to Francis for sneaking up on him. Arthur would certainly not apologise if he were his usual self.

"You are so lucky I wasn't Natalia." Francis informed him and Arthur shot him an icy glare in response.

"Natalia wouldn't have touched me." He growled out through clenched teeth.

"Well I certainly didn't know that I would get my fingers bitten off."

"You should have thought of that before you touched me." Arthur growled again and turned away "Now go and flirt with the customers or whatever it is you do to keep this job." He continued, fetching the till roll and switching the paper. Francis watched him and took a deep breath through his nose, letting it out in a sigh of dismay.

"No offense to you, Arthur Stick-up-his-arse Kirkland. But I don't think that you should really be serving the customers today." Francis shook his head, placing a hand on his hip when Arthur turned to him with a scowl. "I don't want the wine of our customer service compromised by one sour grape. You're on coat hangers. Sign off your till." He nodded to Arthur and turned to leave, ignoring the subtlety of the Englishman flipping him the bird before he slinked off muttering about wine and why Francis chose that particular metaphor. Arthur would never know that Francis didn't take him off tills purely for his attitude –although his magnificent metaphor was a very large part of that reason- but also because this way, Arthur could work out his frustration hauling boxes and be left to his own mind; hopefully 'getting it all out of his system' so to say.

So it came to pass that for the next hour or so, Arthur closed up the full boxes of coat hangers and moved them to the corner of the room so they would be out of the way for everyone who was working on tills. After that, he would need to take those boxes that he had just moved over to a trolley so one of the other staff could take them to the warehouse to be recycled; and thus the cycle would begin again. The only thing that kept Arthur from killing anyone was the constant thought of 'Just one hour. Just one more hour. Just one more hour and you can go home and think.' And he'd admit –not out loud of course- that the light physical labour did help somewhat. Thank the Lord almighty that he had a short shift that day; he'd be able to go home and think properly and maybe by tomorrow he would-

"That you down there Arthur?" An amused chuckle sounded above him in the one voice he didn't want to hear; especially while kneeling on the floor bent over a cardboard box full of coat hangers. Arthur's head jerked up to stare at the American's cheerful face grinning down at him brightly; with wide eyes he felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment and he instantly averted his eyes to look into the cardboard box.

"Bloody hell Alfred! Don't sneak up on people like that!" He scolded and cleared his throat as Alfred laughed to himself.

"Sorry!" Alfred chimed, still grinning. "Didn't look like you were having a good time so I thought I'd come bug ya." He laughed and Arthur frowned weakly.

'Blunt as always. Has the man no tact whatsoever?' He thought to himself and realised a little too late, to his horror, that his lips were curled upwards in an amused smirk, which he quickly and almost desperately wiped off his face and got back to work as he was sure people would be looking over at them after such an outburst. What was worse, it seemed to be a fairly slow day; Alfred probably wouldn't leave him alone… Oh wonderful.

It just so happened that his manager was looking over and smirking at the pair knowingly as he glanced up from the customer he was serving. Francis was right after all; he had never seen the man's mood change so quickly. The American had quite the effect on him indeed, and he seemed to be getting to Arthur fairly well; that took talent. Francis smiled and silently wished them both the best, whatever they were aiming for, and hoped to God that Arthur wouldn't end up pushing this one away. Arthur had never been so productive at work.

"So you even have to do that?" Alfred asked, curiously pointing at the large box of coat hangers in front of Arthur. "Man, you must love your job." He chuckled and gave Arthur a playful yet strangely tender look, seeming empathetic to his work duties. Though Arthur was probably overthinking it.

"Y-yes…" Arthur stammered and hummed before clearing his throat as he closed up the box. "Well. It's certainly not the most extravagant part of the job I'll admit. It is rather tedious. Certainly not Aston Martin, that's for sure." He smiled slightly as he glanced up at Alfred and the American laughed, leaning on the other side of the counter and resting his chin on his palm.

"Yeah, I guess there are way more fun things to do on your knees." He chuckled absently but came to an abrupt stop when he looked at Arthur, whose whole face was flushed red, right to the tips of his ears, eyes wider than ever and mouth agape in shock and horror. Alfred instantly regretted his attempt at a joke, he hadn't even thought about what came out of his mouth before it was too late. Arthur sputtered almost frantically as Alfred's own blush started to rival his.

"I BEG YOUR PARDON?" Arthur practically screeched in a hypersonic pitch –thank God there were no dogs in the shop- and Alfred instantly became an awkward mess, desperately trying to backpedal his way out of the situation.

"N- WOAH! NO! Uh- No that's not what I-! I just! Uh-! I'll Just- I'll just y-y'know uh-… Leave!" And with that, Alfred made a swift escape to a different part of the shop, never once looking back. He really had to work on keeping his dumb mouth shut.

Arthur was left kneeling on the floor as he composed himself, pointedly ignoring all the screaming thoughts in his head. It was probably a good five minutes before he finally went to stand up.

"Well, that certainly was entertaining." Arthur could hear the smile in that French accent and it make him sick. "I've never seen you react in such an adorable way. You must be quite taken by this young man after all!" Francis chuckled and went over to him, patting his shoulder affectionately. "You act terribly stubborn, but you're actually completely smitten aren't y-OW OW OW OW!" Francis whimpered as Arthur crushed his hand in his own, grinding the heel of his foot onto the Frenchman's toes as he glared at him through narrowed eyes.

"What did I say…" He hissed lowly, pressing down harder. "About touching me, frog?"

"It's not allowed it's not allowed!" Francis tried to struggle out of Arthur's grasp but the devil held him firm.

"I do not need your commentary on my social life, Francis. Nor do I want to hear you say anything about, or to, Alfred. You leave that man alone. Do I make myself perfectly clear?" Francis cringed in pain and nodded quickly.

"Crystal."

"Now tell me the only words I want to hear coming out of that blasted mouth of yours." Arthur demanded.

"Y-You're on fitting rooms." Francis managed and was finally released; he took the weight off his foot and nursed his poor delicate hand as Arthur stormed off. As much as Francis' fingers and toes hurt at that moment, he still deemed the pain worth it. Even with Arthur's eyes threatening death itself, the Englishman's face had been bright red.

Why the hell was he getting so worked up about this? If anyone, literally anyone else had made that comment, Arthur would have written it off as an inappropriate comment and thought nothing of it other than 'Well that was immature.' Why did it affect him so much more when he made such a comment? Why did it matter? What the hell was Arthur thinking!? The tortured soul subtly banged his head against the wall to get rid of the memory of what just happened, willing his face to return to its original colour. He didn't get a grip on himself for a long while, and even after he did, it was such a slow day that Arthur was left to his own thoughts. Previously he would have welcome this with open arms, but not after what happened earlier oh no.

It was just made worse when Alfred came over with something he wanted to try on; Arthur could barely look at him, just waving the American through and Alfred didn't seem to complain. Arthur dealt with his embarrassment in silence for a short time before he heard Alfred's voice calling him for his help; Arthur thought nothing of it, too dazed to care. However he became suspicious when Alfred wasn't waiting for him; had he got stuck in a t-shirt or something? Arthur wouldn't put it past him, frankly.

"Alfred?" He enquired, walking deeper into the fitting area. He yelped as a hand suddenly grasped his wrist with a firm grip, pulling him behind one of the curtains. Arthur was about to cry out but his voice stopped working when he noticed that he had been pulled into Alfred's chest. His very bare chest. Arthur's head snapped up to come face to face with Alfred's usual playful grin as he let go of Arthur and placed a finger over his own lips, winking at him.

"Shh! Don't wanna give us away!" He chuckled, turning them so Arthur's back was facing the wall.

"What on earth are you doing!?" Arthur whispered, trying not screech at the man in front of him because he was getting incredibly distracted by the sight in front of him and good Lord he was far too close and why was it so hot in there?

"I'm sorry Arthur. For what I said. I want to make it up to you." Alfred said softly, almost sheepishly, his face was just as red as Arthur's must have been; he took a step forward and Arthur felt his back pressed up against the wall. Now he really was too close. So why was Arthur feeling a strange sense of anticipation and even excitement? Alfred kept advancing forward slowly as he spoke, closing the already tiny gap between them. "I know this isn't right. We could really get in trouble. But I can't hold back anymore." Arthur's breath came faster as his eyes widened. "I'm sorry for pulling you in here. And if you don't… y'know, like me." Why would he ever think that? "Are you mad?" Arthur's voice failed him and he paused before slowly shaking his head; his heart hammered in his chest as Alfred's sheepish smile brightened sweetly. "I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. Or scared, or forced. It's okay. Do you want to push me away?" Of course Alfred would do that; of course he would do the right thing and ask permission for the slightest thing even after pulling someone into a changing room. Of course Alfred would be sweet and kind and caring and unbelievably sexy and oh God his hands were stroking down Arthur's arms and sending shivers up his spine. Why was it so God damn hot in there? Arthur's brain started working just enough for him to shake his head almost frantically. The smile Alfred gave him was everything sunshine was made of. Those hands made their way down Arthur's sides and he never knew that his heart could beat so fast. Then Alfred moved down. To the floor. Before Arthur could what he was doing, the American looked up at him and smirked; Arthur's breath caught in his throat. "There are plenty of fun things I can do on my knees Arthur." He murmured softly.

Arthur blinked.

And he was outside the fitting rooms again, staring out at the shop floor. A second later, a hand shook his shoulder.

"Arthur?" He heard a voice say and Arthur gasped in shocked, spinning around with his hand outstretched and felt the back of his hand and his knuckles smack against skin. He stood frozen, his hand still raised in the air as if suspended in time. Arthur stared with wide eyes and saw Alfred, facing away from him and hissing in pain; his hand over the lower part of his right cheek.

Oh shit.

Arthur had imagined that whole thing hadn't he? Alfred had never come to see him, Alfred had never called him into the changing rooms Alfred hadn't pulled him in Alfred never pressed him against the wall he'd daydreamed the whole thing! Arthur couldn't even bring himself to think about why and more importantly how his own mind could betray him so and create… whatever amateur porn scene that was. No, Arthur's mind was too preoccupied with the very real fact that he had just struck Alfred across the face! This revelation all took place in under a second and Arthur instantly flew to Alfred's side in a frenzy, hesitantly placing a hand on his back and apologising to him over and over.

"Oh my God! A-Alfred I am so sorry! I just- Oh God are you alright? I'm so sorry I was a million miles away! How bad is it? Let me see!" He said frantically and fussed over Alfred even as he turned to face him with a smile and chuckled.

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" He tried to assure the Englishman but it seemed he wasn't having any of it. "Really! I'm fine! I'm okay! It was the shock more than anything." Arthur was still looking at him in dismay, his eyes wide as he looked over Alfred's face; Alfred had to admit that it was very sweet and endearing of him.

"You… You sure that you're alright? I didn't mean to, I-"

"I'm okay, I promise! It doesn't hurt. Wow Arthur, I never knew that you could be such a mother hen!" He grinned happily and laughed his usual boisterous laugh. Arthur's worry melted from his face and was replaced with a soft smile of relief. However, that too was soon replaced with a very embarrassed and irritated expression that Alfred could tell wasn't genuine.

"For goodness sake Alfred didn't I just tell you to not sneak up on people!? You deserved that smack I'll tell you that much right now! That should teach you a lesson about not sneaking up on people who aren't paying attention!" Arthur ranted and raved but Alfred simply laughed louder, grinning at him from ear to ear.

"Shouldn't you always be paying attention when you're working?" He teased and Arthur's blush came back full force as he sputtered and scowled at him.

"W- Oh shut it! It's still your fault so-… So shut it! And stop bloody laughing!" Arthur hissed and turned away, pretending to work and Alfred could have sworn he saw Arthur pout.

"Okay okay, I'm done!"

"Now was there something you wanted to try on?"

Alfred grinned and leant against the wall. "Nope! I just had to come over." The grin faded and he became more sheepish. "I wanted to apologise for earlier. For what I said." As the words left Alfred's mouth Arthur tensed, his already red face becoming a little more so.

"I-is that so…?" Arthur replied hesitantly, feeling very sheepish and embarrassed all of a sudden.

"Yeah… Y'see, me and my group of friends back in America had really dirty senses of humour." Alfred explained and Arthur blinked in confusion; thought he knew that he shouldn't have been confused. After all, what was Arthur expecting him to say? Just that thought made Arthur feel more awkward, so he simply nodded along. "We'd tell dirty jokes all the time, it became like, a thing y'know? I'm still like that sometimes and I know that stupid crap just comes out of my mouth cause I never think before I speak." Alfred continued, scratching the back of his head. "And y'know, I'm just dumb. So, if I made you uncomfortable by what I said I'm really sorry. I didn't mean anything by it, really! I just said it without thinking." He finished and Arthur stared at him silence for a moment. Of course Alfred would do that.

"It's alright." Arthur heard himself say; Alfred looked just as confused as he felt.

"You sure? You don't have to forgive me if you're mad! It was really out of line and-"

"I'm not mad." Arthur told him truthfully. "It… It t-took me by surprise, yes. But… I'm not angry at you. There's no reason for me to be. A-and besides, you apologised so what can I do about it now. There's no sense in holding a grudge for a harmless joke that you've apologised for." He said awkwardly, clearing his throat afterwards; Arthur was taken aback slightly when he saw how Alfred was grinning.

"Oh man that's a load off my mind!" Alfred laughed happily. "I'll watch what I say from now on yeah?" He smiled widely and Arthur could only nod dumbly in response. "Great! I gotta get going now but I'll see ya around 'kay?" Another nod from Arthur and Alfred returned it, grinning happily. "Have a good rest of the day Arthur! See ya!" Alfred waved slightly before turning on his heel and making his way out of the shop, leaving Arthur behind, watching after him. Arthur stood still for a moment, gathering his senses; the day really hadn't gone according to his plan. Just the opposite really. Arthur slowly moved to lean his back against the wall, staring into space.

The smile Alfred had given him…

It was everything sunshine was made of.

It's still technically the 4th July somewhere in the world I still made it shut up! XDD So yeah this all takes place about mid June and happy 4th July everyone who celebrates, let freedom ring and all that :3 I don't have much to say about this chapter other than Arthur had finally noticed and the revelation may not go how you folks want it to owo and also that this is as suggestive as the whole story will get XDDNot only that, but I want to tell you now, I'll be updating this story AGAIN on the 7th ;3 You have my word!

Thank you everyone who leaves comments or reviews. You have no idea how much they mean to me and how much they all inspire me and give me drive to carry on writing. It really means a lot to me that you enjoy this story and the way I write the characters. So thank you from the depths of my heart and I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all very soon in the next one! Love you my chappy-choos! w

-Lolo