Kiku: Where are you Alice-chan? We're about to go on.

You: I'm sorry, I sprained my wrist so I can't play properly for the next two weeks.

Kiku: How did this happen?

You: I tried to catch a football.

Kiku: Why is that?

You: It was about to hit Alfred.

Kiku: I really wish you wouldn't put yourself in harms way for him.

You: I know, tell Ludwig I'm sorry.

Alice sighed and laid back in her seat. She felt bad for not telling him the whole truth but Kiku didn't like Alfred enough as it is, she knew he'd freak if he found out she's going out to a party with him tonight. She'll just tell him later so he won't try to stop her from going now.

Alice sat in Alfred's car, taking shelter from the rain and warming up with the car's heater. Alfred was still getting changed and had yet to come back from the lockers. Alice stared out the blurry window at the rainy world around her, her cellphone in her hands. It was just a test out of curiosity but she didn't think he would actually blow off England to hang out with her. She guess it wasn't that important, Alfred had been to all of her concerts thus far. It probably wasn't a big deal that he missed one to be with his friends. But even so, it made her feel a little jealous and lonely. After all, she got to be with him almost everyday as Alice but she was restricted to being just friends in those times. She only got to enjoy being his girlfriend over the phone, on the weekends, and the occasional date on a weekday. So all in all she got to be with him more as Alice than she did as England. Was it a little selfish of her to want to be with him more as his girlfriend than his friend? She didn't think so, they have been dating for three months now, it was only natural.

The sound of a hand knocking on the window interrupted her from her internal thoughts and made her look up at the driver's side, where Alfred was standing locked out of his own car. Alice leaned over and unlocked the door, pushing it open for him. Alfred quickly got in and took off his wet jacket, throwing it in the back.

"Thank God you found the heater." He said gratefully as he ran a hand through his wet hair. "It's raining buckets out there."

Alice giggled at his soggy mess of hair and reached into her large bag, carrying her wig and contacts as well as other necessities like her phone and such, and pulled out the towel Alfred had given to her earlier.

"You should be more careful, you could catch a cold." She told him and rubbed the towel through his hair to dry it. Alfred looked to have gained a little red in his cheeks, making her only worry that he may have a fever, but he only laughed it off.

"A hero never becomes sick! Besides, you've fallen ill enough times in the timespan that I've known you to fill a lifetime." He mocked and poked her in the head repeatedly, a smug grin on his face.

"Come now I haven't been sick that much, and most of them were fowl play." Alice argued and threw the towel in his face.

"Sure, sure." He said unconvinced, shifting the gear and driving out of the parking lot, heading for Francis' mansion. Alice continued to bicker about her being sick all the time, saying that it wasn't her fault for the most of it. Which is true because her concussion wasn't her fault and neither was her flu. Well she was sort of responsible for making it worse, but it was also his. Alice didn't say that out loud though, because she knew it would make both of them remember the day he rejected her. It was something they never talked about together, they both rather forget about it. But, that probably wasn't possible.

After a car ride of friendly quarreling they pulled into the roundabout that led them to the front of the frenchie's home. Alice was quite familiar with the Bonnefoy household mansion. His family had a much larger one in France and this one was used for business, vacation, and as housing for members of his family. But now it was used as a home for Francis while he attends the academy. In comparison to his home in France, this one was a lot smaller, but still held eight bedrooms, five bathrooms, two lounges, two offices, and one kitchen.

Alfred parked and Alice opened her door, opening her red umbrella before she stepped out. Alfred put his jacket back on and brought the hood up, but was still becoming soaked as water seeped through the cloth.

"Alfred, come here." She beckoned to him, holding the umbrella over him as well when he came over.

"Thanks, but your short height kind of defeats the point of not getting wet." He chuckled crouching down. Alice smacked him upside the head and pouted.

"I'm trying to be nice." She said and walked towards the door with him in tow.

"I'll hold it." He said taking it away from her grasp and holding it above them in his left hand to shelter both of them. Alice only then realized how close together they were, their arms less than three centimeters apart and occasionally brushed together.

They walked together up the wet stairs and onto the large porch. Nobody was outside due to the heavy and cold rain. As soon as Alfred pushed open the doors and the inside party was reveled, Alice began to regret coming here.

The house walls were turned several different vibrant colors due to the colored lights. Music was blasting through the hallways with Trap music and the such. Teenagers filled the hall and rooms like a sea, talking, dancing, and consuming drinks she hoped was legal. A few couples seemed not to mind getting it on in the open, disturbing her, Alice always had a thing against PDA. Even so with the large mass of people around her, her world began to feel smaller and smaller, worried that someone might question her being there.

Alice suddenly became overly self conscious of how she looked to the people around her and her image. This was her first high school party as Alice, this type of situation was not appropriate for the student council president to be in. Before she could turn away and chicken out of attending the party, she had already walked through the door and into the house.

"How do I look?" She asked turning to Alfred.

"H-Huh?" The American stuttered in confusion. Alice realized that she may have come off the wrong way, so she took a step back.

"My outfit, my hair. I can't look shabby in front of my peers, I'm their president, I have to look respectable." She reasoned and looked around for a hallway mirror. Alfred gave her a once over before gaining a shit-eating grin.

"To be honest ya look like a victorian-style cosplayer." He jeered.

"I'm being serious here, you twat!" Alice fumed.

Alfred chuckled and walked behind her grabbing the hair ties in her hair and pulling them out, letting her hair fall down fall around her. Alice blushed when she felt his hands on her head, but gasped when her hair fell around her, not wanting it to fall in her face.

"Alfred, what are you-"

"I know. I won't let it fall into your face." He told her and pulled a piece of hair from both sides of her head and brought it to the back, pulling it into a half up half down style. "I've always wondered what you'd look like if you wore your hair down." He stated and pulled out his phone, walking back around to take a picture of her then showed it to her. "I think this style looks much better with that cosplay of yours."

Alice took his smartphone from him to look at the picture of her. There was a dent in her hair from where her hair ties had been, but it provided a nice natural looking wave to it. The front of her hair was pulled away into the back, exposing her face. Alice smiled at the picture, liking what he did to her hair.

"Thank you, Alfred. And it's not cosplay." She hummed with humor. Alfred shrugged with a smile.

"Ah, mon cousin you finally came. I didn't expect to see the iron-hearted queen here." He said turning to look at Alice.

"Save it, I can go where I want." She snapped at him, becoming pissed just looking at his face.

"But where is Kiku? So rare you two are apart, oui?" He voiced somewhat dramatically.

"He couldn't come." She lied, Francis knew it but didn't say anything more on the subject. He looked over to Alfred, who was within earshot, then nodded back to her.

"Êtes-vous sûr que c'était une bonne idée?" (Are you sure this was a good idea?)

"Quoi?" (What?)

"Aller à une date avec lui comme vous êtes maintenan." (Going on a date with him as you are now.)

"Ce n'est pas une date!" (This isn't a date!")

"Pourtant, vous devriez faire attention." (Still you should be careful.)

"I'll be fine." She told him coldly, but her words had no bite to it, because she knew the compromise of her situation as well.

"Okay! Back to english again please!" Alfred interjected in annoyance that he was left out of the entire conversation between them.

"Of course, I just had to chat with Alice for a bit. Au revoir, have fun at the party!" He said with a flip of his hair, waving his way away, walking off. Alice rolled her eyes and turned back to Alfred.

"Why don't we leave the entryway." She suggested, Alfred nodded in agreement and they both made their way further into the mansion. Most students made way when they saw her, not wanting to tick of the president, while others shouted profanities, and others ignored her. If they had been at school she would have given the screw offs detention, but that's only at school, what they do in their free time, unless it's on school property or messes with the Academy's image, she has no say in what they do. In the center of the the open hall there was a DJ controlling the music, and off to the side there was a buffet of food and drinks, but from where she stood she could already tell it was alcohol.

When they were halfway to the table Mathias and another football player, Lucas Bondevik, came over to talk. Well more like Mathias dragged him over to them.

"Yo buddy! Nice to see you came!" He greeted them with a joyful and energetic wave.

"Sup, glad I came!" Alfred answered him with just as much enthusiasm. Mathias turned over at her and gave her a grin, not what she expected from the last time they spoke.

"Hey thanks prez for the uniforms. We were able to win in style this year." He thanked her. "This is my buddy, Lucas."

"Hello." She greeted.

"Hello." He greeted back with a blank voice, his eyes dull, but he seemed to perk up when he saw what she was wearing. "That outfit, is it from Cardverse?" He inquired. Alice was a bit surprised, as not to many liked that tv series and saw it as really lame and geeky. She didn't speak much of it at home, and did her best to hide the Cardverse merchandise she bought because her mother didn't approve of wasting time watch tv shows. So she had become a closet fan, not breathing a word about it at home. It was a nice change to have the opportunity to talk about it with someone.

"Actually yes, I'm dressed as the Queen of Spades." She answered pleasantly.

"Ha!" Alfred laughed loudly. "I told you it was cosplay." He said proudly.

"Details, now shh." She shushed him and turned back to Lucas. Alfred snickered and left her to her nerd talking, turning back to Mathias to talk with him.

"Which magic power type do you prefer, physical, weapon-based, or item?" Lucas asked, seeming happy that she liked the same show.

"Item, my favorite is the Spade pocket watch." She replied.

"Item is also my favorite. I take it your favorite Kingdom is Spades?"

"Yep, I love their time magic the most. What's yours?"

"I prefer Clubs Kingdom because of their probability and odds magic."

"You mean the luck magic."

"Luck is such a simply way of putting it, there's more to it than that."

"Time still trumps luck."

"Only on certain occasions, it depends on the speed of the caster."

Suddenly their debate was interrupted by Mathias' heavy groan as he dramatically leaned back in exhaustion from hearing them speak about things he didn't understand.

"Nerds, Nerds please, you're in public." He stated with a clap of his hands. "If you continue like this you might hurt my social life."

"You don't have a social life, Mathias." Lucas said back in a monotone before turning back to her.

"You should come meet my friend Vladimir, He also loves Cardverse, but he's a Hearts fan."

"Sure I'd love to. No one in my family is a Cardverse fan and Kiku is just a casual viewer."

Lucas led me away from Alfred and over to the snack bar, where a boy with strawberry brown hair in an Ace of Heart cosplay stood eating crackers and chips. Lucas introduce me to him and he immediately recognized what I was wearing and started chatting up about our favorite show. We talked for who knows how long about why we like each Kingdom and which magic was the best and why. Alice and Lucas immediately ganged up on Vladimir when he claimed Hearts' persuasion magic was the best, as in Cardverse, Hearts was the second weakest. Spades and Clubs was often debated over being the strongest as they went at it a lot and victory varied between them, especially in the Card Deck Magic Tournament from season two. But all three of them agreed that Diamonds' abundance was the weakest in magic power, but the richest when it came to wealth. Then they spoke more about the characters and the plot and what they thought would happen next. Cardverse was on hold for the next season at the moment as one of the main actors was in the hospital, so a lot of the cards, members of the fandom, were crippling with anticipation of what's going to happen.

The three of them talked for so long that she didn't even notice the passage of time or the people around her, being perfectly content in her little group. However, after about an hour of talking, Vladimir left to get a drink and came back with three beers in plastic cups. Lucas took his but she was unsure about taking hers, as she had never drunk alcohol before, and there were no adults around so it wasn't legal for her to drink. Lucas and Vladimir seemed to notice her hesitance about drinking.

"What is it, have you never had beer before?" Lucas asked.

"No, my mother won't let me." She responded.

"Well your ma isn't here, you should enjoy yourself." Vladimir persuaded and gave the cup of brown liquid to her. Alice looked down at it for another moment before taking a swig and feeling the burning liquid slide down her throat. Alice coughed a bit, but other than that she felt fine, it was actually pretty good, so she continued to drink. That's where it all went wrong.

…

Alfred stood with Mathias off near the back of the room away from the dance floor as to not get in anyone's way. Mathias and him weren't really friends to say, but they got along fairly well and often talked during and after practice. However, even as they talked, Alfred kept looking back to the buffet tables where Alice had gone to talk to her two new friends. At first he wanted to follow after her, but Mathias had stopped him, saying he'd just be an outsider to whatever the heck they were talking about.

"Don't worry about her, Lucas will watch over her. Not sure about Vlad though." The Dane said to him, trying to get him to relax. "Follow me." He nudged him and walked off into the crowd. Alfred gave one last look back to where Alice was before following after him.

The place where Mathias led him was a lounge that had an air hockey and a pool table, along with a super large couch and several comfortable looking armchairs. This area was just a little less crowded than the rest of the house, but still packed with kids playing the games and lines formed of students who wanted a chance to play next, so it didn't look like they'd be getting a turn anytime soon.

"Sup brohas!" A cocky german voice called from the other side of the room. Alfred looked over in the direction of the voice and saw Gilbert sitting on the large dark blue couch with Francis and Antonio. Alfred decided to make his was over to the trio while Mathias got in line for air hockey.

"Hey, I thought your band was playing tonight." Alfred stated when he arrived over to the couch they were sitting on.

"Nah, England bailed on us at the last minute, said she had something else to do." The albino told him then took a gulp of his drink. "Several bands didn't play tonight because of the Championships."

"Makes sense, how many bands are from our school anyway?"

"I believe three." Francis answered for him, then gave a look to his empty side. "So where is Alice?" He inquired, crossing his legs.

"Oh, she went to talk to some guys about a show or something." Alfred replied and sat himself down on the edge of the couch.

"Oh ho, so she abandoned you." Antonio joined in on the conversation.

"No, she just wanted to talk about her cards or whatever."

"Sounds like abandonment to me." Gilbert commented in a whisper to the other two members of the Bad Touch Trio.

"I agree, Alice must have kicked him to the curb as soon as she found someone better." Francis input his opinion as well. Soon the three of them had ended up in a huddle of mockery, sneering at Alfred in the friendliest way possible while still being dicks. The American felt himself getting pissed at their jesting and was about call them out on it, but was interrupted when there was tapping on his shoulder. Alfred was about to whip around and snap at whoever it was, but stoped when he saw a panting Lucas.

"Alice needs your help." He said in his usual blank tone, just a little more rushed.

"What's wrong?" He asked standing up from his spot, the trio stood up along with him.

"Follow me." He said and led the way out of the lounge in a fast pace, heading for the second lounge on the opposite side of the house. Alfred kept up, worried as to what may have happened to her while he was gone from her side. 'I knew I shouldn't have left her side.' He thought bitterly in his head. However, what he saw was not at all what he expected.

"Come at me you pompous Heart Ace!" Alice screamed a challenge from the top of the pool table.

"You're no match for me you damn Spade!" Vladimir shouted back at her, also on top of the pool table.

Alfred felt himself pale at the sight of the two clearly drunk teenagers shouting spells at each other in the midst of a pool game. Alice's jacket was thrown off and for some reason she was wearing only one boot. While Vladimir had lost both his shoes, his hat, and his coat. All members of the trio behind him bust out laughing as soon as they saw the supposed wizard battle going on on top of the table.

"Um, what happened?" He asked Lucas.

"Vlad decided to challenge her to a drinking competition. Then they started to roleplay and interrupted someone's pool game because they wanted an arena." He responded in annoyance of his two friends. "A few minutes ago they started to strip, that's when I went to get you."

Alfred nodded in understanding, but he didn't understand anything. He knew he should probably go and talk some sense into Alice, get her off the table, but seeing this side of her was kind of fun. He never knew she could party like this, even if it was nerdy.

"Reverse time spell! Ha! You have to take off your vest!" Alice suddenly shouted, holding her hands out as if she was casting something. Vladimir compiled and stripped further, taking off the indicated clothing.

"Death Kiss! Weakened your power by fifty percent! Take off your shirt!" The romanian cosplayer shouted back. Men around them roared in cheers and Francis seemed to have shit his pants.

"Time stop! I dodged your attack!" The men sighed in disappointment.

"You can't do that!" Vlad complained in a yell.

"Yes I can!" She yelled back.

"No! Only the King can use that spell!" He challenged.

"Alfred!" Alice suddenly called out to him in a drunken shout. "Come here and stop time!"

Alfred suddenly felt dozens of eyes land on him when she yelled out at him and a round of "oohs" and snickers went around the room. Alfred felt himself blush and he tried to make himself less visible.

"Are you kidding? Alfred's no King!"

"Well why not?"

"Because he doesn't know a thing about Cardverse! I call a foul, take off your shirt!" And the crowd got excited in several placed once again. Alice sighed in defeat and began to unbutton her top, accepting her loss. Red flags immediately went off in his head when he saw her undressing in front of at least forty people, and that weird protective feeling reappeared. Sprinting over to the pool table, Alfred plucked her off from the top and stopped her from showing anymore than she already was, as she had reached the third button by the time he got to her.

"Damn it Jones, what're you doing? I was about to fucking win! Put me down now!" She howled at him and weakly pounded her small fists on his back while kicking her feet.

"Hey Franny, is there a place where I can let her rest?" He asked turning to his cousin, pulling Alice onto his back for a piggyback ride so she wouldn't accidentally kick him in the nuts.

"Hon hon hon, taking advantage while she's drunk eh? You naughty boy." Francis purred with a cat grin, the ears and tail almost visible if you looked hard enough.

"That's not what this is! Please Franny."

"Uh huh, second floor to the left are the guest rooms, take your pick if they're not already occupied." Francis gave him the information with a literal slap on the back, but pulled him back to whisper in his ear before sending him away. "Don't do anything stupid."

Alfred gave him a nod and carried Alice off out of the room, letting the others take care of the raging Vladimir. As soon as they left Alice's mood seemed to flip a switch as she was no longer angry and screaming, but bubbly and clingy. The students around him all noticed the president as she laughed happily and sang to herself, it was plain as day that Alice was drunk off her ass.

"Hey, Heeeyyy! Let's drink, let's grab some beer or better yet some ale!" She said joyfully, swinging back and forth on his back, nearly making him fall over.

"No Ally, you need to lie down and rest." He said to her and kept pushing through crowd. Alice proceeded to revolt against him and hang upside down from his back, forcing him to grip more tightly on her legs so she wouldn't fall off. Alice then reached out her hands and tried to grab drinks from the hands of bystanders, accidentally making some drop their drinks whilst complaining that she needed more alcohol. After apologizing them, Alfred switched to carrying her in a bridal style so she couldn't attempt to steal another drink. It was easier to deal with her once they made it up the red velvet stairs, as there was a significantly less amount of people on the second floor than downstairs in the main hall. Taking a left as he was instructed, Alfred went up to the first room and knocked, then walked in when no one answered. Walking her over to her master bed, Alfred set her down on top of the sheets, but found that she wouldn't let go.

"Alfie, hey Alfie, sleep with me!" She begged as she wrapped herself around his right arm and snuggled her head in the crook of his neck. Alfred flushed scarlet with her use of such a silly nickname, as it was very strange for her to give anyone a nickname that wasn't an insult, and having her rub herself on him certainly didn't help matters. This drunk Alice was beginning to drain the energy out of him.

"You need to sleep, Ally." He told her, lifting the sheets and moving her underneath the blankets.

"No! I wanna sleep with you!" She refused and tried to pull him in with her good hand. Alfred went pale at the words she spoke, not sure how to take them.

"You mean… sleep side by side?" He asked with hesitance.

"No, sex."

"Why would we do that?!" Alfred questioned loudly in shocked embarrassment.

"Because I love you." She pouted and clung to his shirt like a koala to a tree. An electric shock coursed through his body at her words. It was the second time Alice had told him that she loved him that day. The strange protective feeling from before returned, but once again it wasn't the same as when she was in front of all those people, that had felt more like...jealousy. But now however, they were alone and no one else was in sight, it was just the two of them, yet he still felt this way. Alice relaxed her grip on his shirt and laid her head down in his lap, sighing contently to herself. Looking down at her small face in the pale moonlight that shined through the large window Alfred began to subconsciously run his fingers through her the long golden locks, which turned nearly silver in the light. Alice hugged her small body closer to him and let out a soft breath.

"Hey Alfred?" She called out softly.

"Hm?" He hummed in reply.

"It may seem silly, and I know you don't feel the same…but I think I've fallen in love with you." She murmured quietly in a content tone.

Alfred's heartbeat rushed even faster in his chest and turned red from the base of his neck to the tip of his ears. All in one moment, everything seemed to click in his head. All the questions he had been asking were cleared with this one simple explanation.

'I'm in love with Alice.'

Right after he thought that his world seemed to burst with colors of explanation. Explanation to why he blushed when he was around her, why he felt protective, and why he felt jealous. It was all because he liked- no, loved her. He didn't know exactly when it happened or why he fell for her, but it happened, and it felt great.

'But what about Iggy?' He reminded himself. Alfred crashed back down from his momentary high at the remembrance that he already had a girlfriend. Even if he now knew that he had these feelings for Alice, it was Iggy who he was with first and he can't just leave her. It was only right that he stayed with her, Alice already understands this. He decided not to tell Alice about his new found affection for her, because it would only break her further since he's still gonna stay with England.

Giving a look back down to the sleeping girl on his lap, Alfred laid her down straight on her back and pulled the blankets up to her shoulders to keep her warm. Pulling up an armchair up to the bedside and watched over her while she slept, protecting her from creeps who might wander in. After around ten minutes or so, Lucas came in with the clothes and boot she had discarded in her drunken antics. Alfred thanked him before he left and set them down on the bedside table.

He could hear the party roaring still in full swing downstairs, but watched as Alice slept through it without a care in the world. But as he watched her lay vulnerable in front of him, he felt himself slowly move in closer to her face. His head screamed at him to stop, telling him it was wrong for a multitude of reasons, but he couldn't help the allure of the girl in front of him. His lips hovered barely an inch above her mouth before he sealed them with a gentle kiss. Though she was asleep, her lips felt tender and warm, he wondered if it'd be the same if she was awake and was able to respond. Alfred leaned further into the kiss and brought up an arm and put it at the side of her head to hold himself up. Once he ran breathless and lifted his face away to regain the precious air he had lost, Alfred found him stunned and what he had just done to Alice while she was asleep. Perhaps she'd need protecting from himself after all.

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Longer and better! (Not like that) I don't have much to say but school starts next week so expect less frequent updates. Do you think the pacing is too fast? If so I'll slow it down.

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