Sorry this took so long...oh well, it's here now. If you have any suggestions please tell me. thank you for the kind reviews...that's it, I think it's kind of obvious that I don't own anything (along with everyone else on FF heehee)

"I can't believe you've never done this before" Alfred said with a hint of a laugh in his voice. Alfred's family and Arthur were ice skating on the frozen lake near the cottage and Arthur was currently clinging onto Alfred arm for support. Alfred was having a hard time skating, he tried to skate further but needless to say it was difficult with Arthur clinging to his arm, not permitting him to move. "Geez…if you insist on using me for support do it in a way that allows me to skate around the lake" Alfred said before grabbing both of Arthurs hands in his own, causing him to blush. Alfred skated backwards, dragging the smaller man with him. "Now that you got the feel of it try it by yourself" Alfred said after a while of skating backwards.

"Fine" Arthur said. He reluctantly pulled his hands away from Alfred's and began to slowly and shakily move across the ice. Alfred laughed at the sight; it was quite comical watching him skate, he had his arms out and was trying balance. Alfred skated to Arthur and started to skate around him in circles. "Stop that, you git" Arthur said, his feet moving gradually forward, he wouldn't take one foot off the ice, in fear that he might fall if he did. Alfred skated to a halt in front of him, chuckling to himself.

"Aww come on, you look cute trying to skate around, it hilarious" Alfred said with a wide grin on his face. Arthur's face turned a brilliant shade of red and his eyes focused on something, anything other than Alfred. Then Arthur looked up at Alfred again.

"CUTE!" Arthur suddenly exploded "WHAT DO YOU MEAN CUTE?" Alfred was shocked at Arthurs rage. Arthur was glaring at him now.

"Calm down, I didn't mean to say that anyways. And now everyone's looking at us" Alfred said. Arthur looked around to see everyone looking at him. He blushed furiously and mumbled something that sounded like "sorry" Alfred was about say something but then he felt an arm around his shoulder; he looked to his side to see Francis there with a huge smirk on his face.

"Well, well what are you two lovebirds in a fight about? It would appear that Alfred said something…bad?" Francis said in his thick French accent, almost making the words indistinguishable. Alfred should have known that Francis would have been there, if Matthew was ice-skating he would, of course, invite Francis to come along. Arthur just stared at the new guest, he had no Idea who he was and yet he just shows up out of nowhere and acts all friendly with Alfred. Suddenly Arthur was pissed off at how friendly he was acting, with his arm around Alfred's shoulder, it made him sick.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about? Lovebirds? You got things all wrong, we're not together. I don't know who you are but you have some serious mental issues" Arthur said haughtily. He put all of his energy into glaring at the newcomer.

"Well you could've fooled me, you seem very…close. Oh, I'm Francis, Alfred's friend" good, now he knew who he was glaring at. Francis ignored the glare and moved forward to shake Arthur's hand. Arthur just backed away and Alfred breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Francis's arm wasn't around his shoulder anymore. Arthur shook his hand and mumbled his name.

"Francis did you just come over here to bug us or is there anything else?" Alfred said. Irritation was obvious in his voice. Alfred skated over beside Arthur so he could talk face-to-face with Francis.

"Matthew heard the commotion and I offered to see if you were okay" Francis replied.

"Well we're fine, you can leave now" Arthur said. Francis just shrugged and skated back to Matthew. "Ummm…how do you know him?" Arthur asked Alfred after Francis was out of hearing range.

"He's Matthews…friend, I think they're just friends…I'm not sure, really. He goes to our school, you've never seen him?" Alfred grabbed Arthur's hand, Arthur tried to pull out of the grasp but that only made Alfred's hand tighten around his. "We're going to that bench over there, you seem to not like skating so…" Alfred's words trailed off and he blushed. Arthur looked ahead and saw a bench by the frozen lake.

"Oh" Arthur said. They got to the bench and sat down. Arthur wanted to say something but he didn't know what to say. He just kept his eyes down, something Alfred noticed.

"What is it?" Alfred asked, causing the other blonde to look up at him and then back down again.

"Nothing, it's just…never mind, it's stupid" was the reply Alfred got after a few seconds.

"Come on, stop being all antisocial and tell me"

"It's just, you didn't say anything when that idiot Francis called us 'lovebirds'" Arthurs face was beet red now. He was still looking down but his head shot up when he heard Alfred start to laugh.

"Is that it? It must have slipped my mind, the jerks arm was around my shoulder so I wasn't concentrating on what he was saying, I was too busy being disgusted." Alfred said between laughs. The laughing must have been contagious because before he knew it Arthur felt a chuckle escape his lips and then he burst out laughing. The two of them just sat there laughing for a few minutes. "So, why were you worrying about something like that?"

"I have no idea, I mean, since you weren't denying anything it just made me wonder…" Arthur instantly thought he said too much. He stayed up all night reading but he eventually fell asleep and had a strange dream that made him question his own feelings towards Alfred. But it was impossible to fall for someone after just a day of really getting to know them, although they had noticed each other at school, right? Well that's what Arthur thought anyways.

"It's because of what happened yesterday…with the mistletoe, right?" Alfred said, he looked down with a slight blush on his face. He felt guilty again for taking Arthurs first kiss, but how could he have known it was his first? "It's not like it was a real kiss anyways, it was just a peak." he muttered.

"Whatever, it's your fault in the first place for kissing me and making me feel-" Arthur stopped himself before he could finish that sentence. Dammit, how could he let that slip? He got flustered and tried to mumble something but he just stuttered.

"Feel? Feel what? And I gave you plenty of time to stop me, I paused in front of your face for what seemed like ages before actually kissing you" Alfred was starting to get annoyed now. Was Arthur trying to tell him that he liked him? But after just one day that's impossible.

"I have no bloody idea what I feel, it's just been one day, how the heck am I supposed to know?" Arthurs face was red with anger and his words were louder than the whisper he was talking in before.

"So…you're saying that you feel something?" Alfred said. His tone was hushed; he didn't want to fight with Arthur. This made Arthur sink down into the bench.

"I-I don't know" Arthur said honestly. He looked down at his feet. He wanted to know how he felt but he wasn't experienced when it came to stuff like that. Alfred looked down as well and sighed. After a moment of an awkward silence Alfred felt eyes looking at him. He looked up to see Arthur staring at him. "Well?" Arthur said.

"Well what?"

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know…maybe we should try kissing again" Alfred said jokingly with a chuckle.

"Do you want to?" Arthur asked, turning his upper body to face Alfred. Alfred looked at Arthur with a look of thought on his face.

"Well, I don't like lying so I'll just say 'sure', it would settle this awkwardness" Alfred said with a small smile on his face. Arthur was shocked that he would admit it; he actually said that he wanted to kiss him…again. Anxiously Arthur looked around the lake; he could see Alfred's parents skating by themselves and Matthew with Francis. They weren't paying attention, so they wouldn't know if they did kiss… "Do you want to?" Alfred asked after a while.

"w-well I guess it wouldn't do any harm if we did…and it would settle the weirdness" Arthur shifted in his spot. Alfred leaned closer. Arthur was suddenly aware of how close they were to each other and that they were both seated so that they were facing each other.

"I didn't ask if it would do any harm, I asked if you wanted to" Alfred said in a soft voice. With each word he leaned closer to Arthur until they were nose to nose.

"s-sure" Arthur said. Alfred seemed to have changed into a different person, he smiled when Arthur said 'sure' and slowly leaned in, giving Arthur enough time to change his mind. Arthur decided that Alfred was taking too long so he closed the gap himself, leaning up ever so slightly to press his lips to Alfred's. Alfred was shocked at the sudden warmth and gentleness but he closed his eyes and kissed back. Their lips moving in sync against each other before Alfred pulled away. He had a grin on his face. Arthur just sat there, not moving, shocked. He was surprised at himself, not because of the kiss but because he found himself wanting more.

"Well, I don't know about your feeling but I think I'm falling for you…" Alfred said after a few seconds. He chuckled at the cheesiness of his words. He sat staring Arthur for a few seconds before Arthur responded.

"…me to" was all that Arthur said, it was all he could think of. "Does that mean that we're…together?" Arthur was blushing, he wanted to at least try going out with Alfred since they both like each other.

"Do we have to make it official? Fine. Arthur, will you go out with me?" Alfred laughed. Arthur joined in the laughing.

"Yes I will" they were still laughing. Alfred took the opportunity to pull Arthur into a quick hug. After being released Arthur reached for the backpack that had their boots in it. He set it down beside the bench when they first went to sit down. He pulled out Alfred's boots and tossed them to him "it's freaking cold out here, let's go back to the cottage" he said as he pulled out his own shoes. Arthur pulled his ice-skates off his feet and quickly put his boots on then he put his ice-skates in the backpack. When he was done he stood up in the snow, causing the snow to make a crunching sound. Alfred quickly finished and put his own ice-skates in the backpack and got up. They started walking towards the cottage.

"You know this makes Francis right about the 'lovebird' thing" Alfred said after a while of walking.

"Ugh, don't remind me of that weirdo" Arthur said. He suddenly felt something warm in his hand. He looked down to see that Alfred was holding his hand. He blushed but let it be. He felt a small smile creep its way onto his face. He looked over at Alfred, who was grinning brightly.

When they got to the cottage everyone was already there, Alfred's mom and dad were working on making dinner and Matthew was curled up and the couch, he must have asked their parents if Francis could come and stay for dinner because Francis was sitting on the couch. Matthew was leaning against Francis, his head resting on his shoulder, and Francis had his arm around Matthew's waist. They both looked very content. Of course their parents couldn't see the two of them because of the angle that they were at. Alfred rolled his eyes at them and Arthur cleared his throat to tell them that they were back. Matthew blushed and Francis just shrugged. A few seconds later Alfred's and Matthew's mom called the boys to dinner.

After dinner Matthew and Francis went to Matthew's room to…hang out. Alfred and Arthur got stuck with washing the dishes and there was no dishwasher at Arthur's cottage. "Hey, what do you want for Christmas?" Alfred asked. Arthur finished drying a coffee mug and looked over to Alfred.

"Tomorrow's Christmas eve, isn't it a bit late to be asking me that?" Arthur said. he started drying a plate now.

"I can get something at a shop downtown." Alfred said. He was washing the last dish of the lot, a pot that was used to cook macaroni.

"Well…I don't know, anything's good, really" They were finished with the dishes now and they were drying their hands. Alfred glanced at the clock that was in the kitchen, 7:30.

"Fine, I'll have to think of something myself" Alfred said with a grin on his face. Arthur smiled, he had no idea what he wanted but he was sure that Alfred would get something nice…he hoped.

They decided, on Arthur's suggestion, to play chess to pass the time. Arthur had to teach Alfred how to play (needless to say he got frustrated a few times) at around eight pm Matthew and Francis came downstairs to ask Alfred's parents if Francis could spend the night, they said it was ok with them as long as it was fine with Francis's parents. Francis's parents agreed, as long as he made it back home in time for dinner the next day. "Hey, Arthur, are there any sleeping bags here?" Matthew asked. Arthur just shook his head, he was concentrating on the current chess match and Alfred was surprisingly good that the game.

"Come now, I don't need a sleeping bag, we can sleep together." Francis said, he took Matthews right hand and lead him upstairs to the room Matthew was staying in.

"Should I worry about the state of the guestroom?" Arthur asked in a hushed voice so that Alfred's parents, in the next room, wouldn't hear them.

"No, No, he won't do anything like that, he's actually not as bad as everyone thinks he is. Matthew's changed him for the better, he used to be way worse" Alfred said. He was winning the chess match, but not by much.

"Just don't expect me to go in there to wake them up in the morning" Arthur said with a smile on his face. Alfred laughed at that. After their very long chess game ended it was ten pm. Arthur won, but it was the closest match he's ever been in. They went upstairs and Arthur went to go to his room but just as he turned he felt a hand grab his arm. He whirled around to look at Alfred "what?" Arthur asked.

"Well I thought that, since we're going out now, that you would want to sleep in my room" Alfred said with a cheerful grin on his face. Arthur didn't say anything; he just blushed and went in the direction to the room that Alfred was staying in.

"You coming?" Arthur asked, Alfred was standing there, in the hallway, with a weird look on his face.

"Yeah, I just thought you wouldn't agree so easily" Alfred said. He walked over to the shorter blonde and they walked to Alfred's room. Alfred took his shirt of and went to the closet to get a pair of pyjamas. When he turned around, pyjamas in hand, he noticed Arthur staring at him "you pervert, quit staring at me" Alfred said with a grin on his face. He was always bragging to his friends that he had the best body ever, and this just proved it.

"I-I wasn't staring at you, you git" Arthur quickly diverted his eyes to Alfred's. Alfred put the pyjama top on and walked over the Arthur.

"It was a joke, don't be so serious all the time" Alfred whispered into Arthurs ear, making him shudder. Alfred grinned "do you want me to go the washroom to change into my pyjama pants or do you think you can handle it?" Alfred asked teasingly. Arthur just sputtered in response, causing Alfred to burst out laughing. After they both had their pyjamas on Alfred went to the bed and got under the covers. Arthur climbed in after him. They fell asleep in a matter of minutes, it was the first good sleep that they each had in a long while.