Grumbling some choice words under his breath, Alfred exited the building. Climbing down the stairs proved to be difficult as he slipped and nearly fell face-first to the bottom, but he managed to catch the railing in time to stop himself. But not before twisting his leg in an awkward way, of course.

"I fucking hate winter," he muttered, ignoring the odd looks from the few people who were out on the street. It was actually a nice day; it wasn't too cold and the sky was blue and dotted with a few fluffy white clouds. The sun, at its highest point in the sky, was shining brightly.

He made his way down the street in a better mood than before. These things never seem to last though, so it wasn't long before he found himself freezing mid-step, the old man who'd been walking behind him the entire time, angry at his slow pace, crashing into his back.

After several rushed apologies, the man continued on his way. Sadly, the same couldn't be said for Alfred. It was lunchtime, he realized. Noon. That meant that Arthur was on his way to the supermarket and would undoubtedly run into him.

Alfred didn't know why he was so intent on not seeing him. They were - err, he was - in love, after all. His nerves were acting up like crazy and suddenly he felt like he was drowning in a sea of despair.

He would avoid Arthur Kirkland if it was the last thing he did.

"Come on, Al, think fast," he mumbled to himself. He glanced at the plastic bag in his hand. It was full of books that Matthew had wanted him to return to the library for him. "You're already going to the grocery store," Matthew had said. "It won't hurt you to stop by the library as well."

Alfred grinned. This couldn't have been any more perfect. He'd just stop by the library first, maybe search for some comics if they had any, and by the time he made it to the supermarket, Arthur would be gone.

It was a flawless plan.

He changed his route to the town's library. It wasn't far from where he lived, though it was in the opposite direction of the supermarket. He was going to have to retrace his steps, but that didn't matter. He was wasting more time, which was a good thing. Well, other than the fact that it meant he'd have to be outside longer.

The library was a large building with an intricate design. It didn't fit in at all with the rest of his little town. The place looked like it belonged in some historical film, with its columns and complexity. He climbed the few stairs leading to the glass door before pulling it open and stepping inside. The interior was just as fancy, with mahogany floors and expensive chandeliers, carpeting, the whole deal. He made his way to the front desk, trying his best not to track snow all over the place.

The woman at the desk wasn't some strict-looking old bag like he'd been expecting. She had long brown hair and bright green eyes, and was smiling at whoever she was signing out books for. He was about to go wait behind the guy, since he didn't really know how this whole library thing worked, when he noticed something: blond hair sticking up in every direction, a familiar grey coat, and those huge eyebrows that he could see even without the guy fully facing him. Arthur.

Crap! He's everywhere I go! The sirens in his head immediately started blaring, screaming about danger. He did what any logical person would. He pulled his hood on in a way that hid his face, pulled out the hat he had stuffed in his pocket and put it on overtop that, and brought his scarf up so it covered his mouth and nose. He tried his best to lurk past Arthur.

But since when do his plans ever work? He had barely been able to take a few steps before the girl at the desk was calling him back, and with a quick glance over his shoulder, he was able to confirm that both she and Arthur were staring at him.

"So you need help with something, sir?" the librarian asked, sounding uncertain. Rude. It wasn't as though he looked like a criminal- oh wait.

"Uh!" he squeaked, something that the great and manly Alfred F. Jones simply does not do. He quickly let out a series of very believable-sounding, in his opinion, fake coughs, turning away from the two completely and speaking in the deepest voice he could make. He also tacked on his best southern accent for good measure. "I'm, uh, just lookin' to return these here books for my brother?"

"Alright... You can just leave them on my desk here and I'll see to them when I'm finished," she said.

And so, he ended up shuffling backwards toward the desk, and Arthur, who he was sure thought he was some kind of loon by now. He stepped away from him as he neared, which Alfred supposed was a good thing. He then stuck his hand out behind him, the bag of books dangling from it, and threw it in the general direction of the desk. He heard the bag skid across the desk, and something about the sound of books then falling all over the floor told him that he probably missed.

"Thank you?" the woman said questioningly. He nodded, though it was probably difficult for her to tell, and then made his way out of the library in shame.

Arthur and Elizaveta watched the strange man as he left the library. Once he was gone, he turned to her with a raised eyebrow.

"What on earth was that?"

"I have no idea," she said, shaking her head. She quickly gathered all the fallen books off the floor, then returned to him and finished signing out his books. "Let's just hope he doesn't come back."

After he left the library, Arthur wandered slowly toward the supermarket. He wondered if Alfred would be finished with his shopping already. After all, Arthur had spent a pretty good amount of time at the library. That should have given Alfred enough time, right?

He entered through the supermarket's double doors and grabbed a shopping cart, placing his bag of books into it so he wouldn't have to carry it. Then he pulled a shopping list out from his pocket. First: fruits and vegetables.

Wandering through the store, he slowly filled his cart until he had crossed out everything on his list. He looked it over once more anyway, then glanced over everything he had gotten already. He didn't want to forget something and have to make another trip to the store later.

He was about to head over to the register when he realized the most important thing was missing: tea.

How could I forget that?

Shaking his head, he made his way to the aisle with the tea. Just as he turned into it however, there was a huge crash. He glanced into the aisle just in time to see numerous brands of coffee fly off the shelf and onto the floor, and a shape dash out of the aisle.

What the fuck.

He rolled his eyes. Bloody people making a mess and then running away, leaving it for someone else to clean up.

He slowly entered the aisle just as an employee appeared at the other end. He had brown hair and an odd, flyaway curl, and as far as Arthur could tell, hazel eyes. The guy stared at him suspiciously as he approached the coffee.

"What the fu-" the brunette started, then seemed to remember he was at work. "-hell, happened here?" he demanded.

Arthur shrugged. "I showed up just as someone knocked all the coffee off the shelf and took off."

The employee, who seemed to be Italian, muttered a string of curses under his breath as he began to pick up the coffee, as well as something about how this job doesn't fucking pay me enough for this shit.

Arthur, liking to be polite, would have offered to help, but just then something caught his eye.

A hat on the floor.

The same one the strange person at the library had been wearing.

I am sorry.

It's been like 3 weeks I know. But most days I had homework (including a huge fucking project that took me every waking hour last weekend) and those I didn't, I was so exhausted I went straight to bed after school. But this weekend I have nothing so yay :D I'll try to get some more writing done.

Also if you like this fic, would you mind checking out Countdown? It's way more serious, better written, and planned out than this, which I am just making up as I go along, and I'm kind of sad this is so much more popular considering how much more effort goes into Countdown XD I'd really appreciate it!

Anyway, please review!