Alfred was in a bit of a frenzy. If this was any normal case, and a girlfriend of his was coming over for the first time, Alfred would have cared less about the state of his house. However, if this was, indeed, any normal case, said girl wouldn't be coming over and invading his free time and he'd be playing Bio Shock or some other video game until someone came home and demanded the TV. So, given that bit of information, the fact Arthur Kirkland would be at his house in about ten minutes meant this was the farthest from normalcy one could get. The only thing Alfred was partially grateful about was that Matthew wasn't there to see him run about like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to clean his not even messy house. He hears the door bell's chime carry throughout the house and freezes. He's here. With one last sweep around the room he hurries to the front door. He takes a deep breath and slowly releases it, opening the door and smiling brightly at Arthur. The Brit stood before him in Khakis, a short sleeve dress shirt, and a green sweater vest. His hair was a disheveled as always, but his green eyes seemed less lively than they normally do.

"Hey Artie, you ok?" Arthur attempts an irritated scowl but fails when he yawns softly, causing his face to scrunch up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit tiered is all. Now, let's get started." Alfred shrugs and moves aside to allow him to enter into the house. Alfred leads Arthur into his leaving room. It was a decent size room with a cream colored couch and a matching arm chair off the side. Over in a corner was a fire place with pictures of Alfred and his family on the mantel. Directly in front of the couch, against the opposite wall, was a medium sized flat screen in a large oak wood entertainment center. In between the couch and the TV was a wood coffee table where Alfred had all of his English notes spread out.

"If you don't mind sitting on the floor, this has the most room to work." Alfred says gestering towards the coffee table. Arthur nods and attempts to sit on the floor in the most dignified maner one can manage when sitting on the floor. Alfred chuckles softly and sits on the opposite side of the table. Arthur surveys the mess of notes in front of him and claps his hands.

"All right, let's begin with the basics and go up. This way we won't waste our time with going over stuff you all ready know." Alfred smiles excitedly and crosses his legs.

"Ok! Shoot!"

"What are the three rhetorical voices?" Alfred opens his mouth to answer, pauses, and then smiles sheepishly at his companion.

"Uh," he says hesitantly. "I know figurative language has something to do with it." Arthur looks highly unimpressed.

"Do you know anything about this? Anything at all we can work with?" Alfred rubs the back of his neck and smiles apologetically at him.

"I said I was one step away from failing, didn't I?" Arthur sighs in exasperation and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"We really have our work cut out for us. Oh well, let's get started. There are three major rhetorical voices." Arthur begins, he sits with a straight back and a professionally demeanor as he collects the random loose pieces of paper. "Ethos, Pathos, and Logos." Alfred finds that he loves listening to Arthur's voice. The words flowed nicely off his tongue as he spoke in a direct, yet passionate, voice one uses when explaining a subject they love.

"Now Ethos is the technique that uses ethics. The speaker uses ethos to give credibility to them and or their organization. A way that you can remember it is to think of Ethics. If you remember that and it's definition you should remember what Ethos means. Next we have Pathos. This voice uses an audiences emotion to persuade them to the speakers cause." On and on Arthur talked, quizzing Alfred every so often, while Alfred sat and listening, mesmerized by Arthur's lyrical voice. "Look at this flyer," Arthur says, pulling out an ad that his teacher gave the class to practice on. "What's the predominate voice?" Alfred looks at the picture of a battered puppy before turning to Arthur with his answer.

"Pathos."

"Why?"

"Because they have a huge ass picture of a sad looking puppy that makes me feel all depressed and wanting to hug something." Arthur laughs softly, making Alfred smile brightly in return.

"You're righttt" his word's drawn out as a loud yawn racks his body. "Sorry about that. Anyways, I agree, I think the voice is pathos as well."

"You agree? Does that mean I'm right then?"

"Well, every good ad or speech uses all three voices. Choosing the predominant voice is more a matter of opinion than a right or wrong answer. As long as you can defend your choice, you've choosen the right-" he yawns again and Alfred laughs.

"How 'bout we call it quits?" Arthur shakes his head, still yawning.

"Nonsense, you need to…need to…" Alfred stands and offers his hand to the Brit, who begrudgingly takes it.

"Just a break then? I can make some coffee, or maybe get you some tea? I know my mom keeps it somewhere around here, I don't know how to make it though so that's all on you." Arthur glances at the notes on the table then at Alfred and sighs.

"I suppose it won't do any harm…"

"Awesome!" Alfred cheers. "Come on!" He drapes his arm around Arthur's shoulder and steers him to his small open kitchen that faces the living room. Letting go of him he walks over towards a cupboard grabs his coffee and, after a moments search, finds a small box of some fruit flavored tea. "This is all I've got, is it fine?" He asks, holding up the box to show his companion. Arthur walks over and takes the box from him. He examines it then shrugs.

"I've never had it before, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Do you have a kettle?" Alfred nods and shifts through a cabinet above the sink before producing an electric kettle. He fills it with water, plugs it in, then flips the switch so the water will start boiling.

"There ya go" he smiles happily at the shorter blonde then goes to start the coffee machine.

"So what do you want to do on our break?" Arthur's eyes narrow in disapproval.

"All we are doing is getting a drink then we're getting back to work."

"Come on, just fifteen minutes. We could watch a little TV, talk, anything!"

"No, I've come over to help you study so that is what we are doing." Alfred sighs and, after pushes himself off the counter, walks over to huffy Brit.

"Come on Artie-"

"Don't call me that" he snaps, crossing his arms in a challenging manner.

"Arthur," he amends. "Let's take a break. You look so tired and stressed, it'll be good for you."

"I'm fine" he says in a defensively. "And I'll take a break when I get home."

"Will you? Or are you going to end up doing home work and or a bunch of Student Council work until late." Arthur sputters slightly.

"I…how…you…." Alfred smiles softly.

"You're not that hard to figure out. And, honestly, you just scream workaholic." He's finally reached the other and gently grasps his shoulders, looking straight into apprehensive emerald irises. "Let's take a break, you deserve to rest." They both continue to look at one another, gazes never wavering, Alfred holding his ground while Arthur searched for a way around this. The kettle emits a small clicking sound and the coffee machine beeps to inform them that they were done. The boys stare for a moment longer before Arthur sighs in defeat and breaks eye contact.

"Fine! But just for fifteen minutes, no more, do you understand me." Alfred laughs and ruffles his hair, much to the shorter blonde's irritation.

"Of course! Now let's get our stuff!" They both go and make their respective drinks and then Alfred leads them up to his room. He places his mug on the bed side table and walks over to a small TV in front of his bed to set up his X-Box.

"I thought we were just watching TV." Arthur snaps, standing by Alfred's bed and clutching his mug of tea tightly.

"Come on, who doesn't like a little video games to relax?" He looks over his shoulder and smiles at him and gets a thoroughly un-amused look back. Alfred just laughs and puts a game in, turning on the TV before he stands up and holds a controller for Arthur to take. "Play with me, it'll be fun, I promise." Arthur continues his unimpressed look so, with a mischievous smile, Alfred adds "It's a fighting game, so you get to beat me up~" Arthur continues the look a bit longer before finally letting out a heavy sigh and placing his mug next to Alfred's. Arthur grabs a controller from Alfred's hands and the American keeps the other one for himself, both then sitting on the bed side by side as the game loads and the title screen pops up. Alfred sets up multi player and tells Arthur to pick which ever character he wanted while Alfred shifted through the selection to choose his own.

"How do I know who's good?" Arthur asks as he randomly passes over fighters, Alfred smirks.

"You don't, however, I do." He hits the A button and selects his character. Arthur huffs before randomly choosing a character as well. The screen switched to the arena options, and after quickly picking on the game begins. Alfred makes his character run over to Arthur's as soon as the timer tells them to start and gives him and upper cut, sending him flying off screen.

"Bloody hell! What did you do!?" Arthur shrikes, randomly mashing buttons in attempt to save himself. He locates the jump button and repeatedly hits it until he's safe on the ground. Arthur's ready the next time around, able to get away with minimum damage when Alfred's character charges at him once again. As Arthur skids across the platform they were on he notes something flashing on the upper right platforms and jumps up to investigate it. "Alfred, how do I pick this up?" He asks as he circles around it hitting random buttons in hope of receiving the object.

"Ah, that well, you just do this," Alfred's guy jumps in front of Arthur's and he grabs it.

"Hey! I saw that firs- WHAT THE HELL!? IS THAT A GUN!?" Arthur shouts as Alfred starts repeating shooting Arthur with his recently acquired laser gun, laughing all the while. "Fucking hell, stop!" He jumps around in attempt to avoid Alfred's range of fire. Finally Arthur manages to get behind him and hit him hard enough to send him flying and to knock the weapon out of his hands and into oblivion. However, much to Arthur's disappointment, Alfred easily saves himself and drops heavily on top of Arthur. Arthur feverishly mashes buttons while Alfred effortlessly avoids him, getting in punches periodically.

"Ah! Finally!" Alfred grins as he checks and sees his special MP bar glowing and sparkling.

"What!? Finally what!?" Arthur snaps, somewhat panicked, and moves his character cautiously away from Alfred's. Alfred just smirks in form of answer and holds down the left trigger. The game's image changes to a cut scene of Alfred's character looking like he's summoning a demon or something equally outrageous. As the screen pans back out to game mode there's a large monster rampaging about the platform, targeting Arthur in particular. "What the hell is that thing!?" Arthur shouts while hitting more buttons. The monster stops on Arthur, sending him up in the air, then whacks him far off screen, effectively killing his character. The screen resets and a round two flashes across the screen. This time Arthu last considerably longer, bearly managing to escape Alfred's weird monster when summoned only to be shout out of the air mid double jump and sent plummeting to his death. This time the screen flashes "Player One Wins" and shows Alfred's character dancing in victory while Arthur's shakes his head in shame. Alfred laughs loudly while his companion huffs in annoyance and folds his arms.

"Rematch" he demands.

"I don't know," he taunts through his giggles. "We really should get back to studying."

"We will, once I kick your arse!" Alfred laughs and restarts the game. They continue to play and play, thirty minutes easily flying by without either of them even realizing it. "God damn it!" Arthur yells after he loses for the fifteenth time. He throws the controller to the ground and tackles the laughing American into the bed, knocking his controller out of his hands and causing him to laugh harder. "You're cheating!" he accuses and grabs a pillow, hitting Alfred who was feebly blocking his face between fits of raucous laughter.

"No," he laughs out. "You just suck." This only succeeded in Arthur delivering more blows via his pillow. Alfred laughs some more before grabbing Arthur's wrist and flipping their positions so Arthur was pinned under him, squirming. "Now, now. Don't be such a sore loser."

"I'm not," he grumbles. "You just cheated." Arthur gives a particularly hard jerk and his wrists slip free from Alfred's grasp. Arthur starts to escape from underneath him and, in an attempt to recapture him, Alfred's hands lunges for Arthur sides. He misses and his finger tips skim his sides instead, causing Arthur to gasp and stifle a small giggle. They both freeze, Arthur looking up at his blonde counterpart in horror while blond's smile begins to resemble to Cheshire cat.

"My my, are you ticklish Artie?"

"I-I am no such things," He stammers. "You are simply imagining things."

"Why don't we just test that out then?"

"What! No! Wait-" Alfred's fingers rack up and down Arthur's sides. Arthur starts laughing and squirming at the ministrations. He watches the Brit's face flush and tears form at the corners of his eyes and can't help but laugh, moving his hands all over his torso and under his arms to get even stronger reactions. "HAHAHAHA-Alfred, s-stop-HAHAHA!" Arthur had begun to kick out and his attempts of wiggling out of Alfred's grasp intensified. "HAHAHA-I swear to-HAHAHA-God-HAHAHAHA-if you do not-HAHAHAHA-if you don't stop this instant I'll-HAHAHAHA-I'll-HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"You'll what," Alfred teases. "You'll laugh at me some more?" He continues for a few more seconds before placing a hand on either side of Arthur's head and smiles down at him as he watches him catch his breath. They both stare at each other, Alfred smiling softly while Arthur keeps emitting small giggles. A strong surge of emotion over takes Alfred, and, before he realized what he was doing, he leans down to kiss Arthur. However, instead of connecting with Arthur's soft lips his lips touch come in contact with Arthur's palm. Alfred stares down cross eyed at the hands blocking his kiss before focusing down on Arthur. Arthur's face had lost it's earlier redness but still retained a slight pink flush to it. he had a small frown and he was looking off ot the side as he addressed Alfred.

"I'm sorry but…but I can't. I-I don't know if…I just can't…" Alfred gently removes the hands from his mouth and places them by his sides. This reaction caused him to look up at him, green hesitantly meeting blue. As Arthur looks up at him with such a vulnerable expression Alfred's heart skips a beat, and some unidentifiable emotion causes him to utter out a soft response to those worried eyes.

"It's fine, you don't want to be like that, we don't have to."

"Really?" Alfred smiles softly at him, that feeling swelling.

"Yeah, absolutely." They continue to stare at each other before Arthur gently pushes Alfred off of him.

"I should probably go home, I don't think there's much more I can teach you. So it's all up to you to go over the information once more before the test."

"Will do, do you want me to drive you home?"

"No, no. That won't be necessary." Alfred frowns.

"Do you have a ride at least? The suns already setting and I'd feel bad if I knew you were walking home alone in the dark."

"really," he says firmly, fixing his clothes that had been ruffled earlier when he stands up. "I'm fine. Besides, I have to make a few stops before heading home." Alfred gets up and follows him as he makes his way down stairs and over to the front door to gather his stuff and put on his coat and shoes.

"I don't know…" Arthur sighs and stops putting on his shoes and looks at him.

"I'll be fine, promise. It's not the first time I've had to walk home in the dark."

"But-"

"Alfred." They stare each other down, both pleading the other to back down. Finally Alfred does with an exasperated sigh.

"Why are you so stubborn?"

"Why are you so hard headed?" Arthur replies easily with a small smirk. HE puts on his other shoe, opens the door, and steps out onto Alfred's front porch.

"Wish me luck for tomorrow?" he says, leaning against the door frame.

"Luck." Arthur replies, then, with a small half wave, walks off the prch and down the street. Alfred remains leant against the frame watching Arthur until he could no longer see him, only then heading back inside. He closes the door and slumps against it, his head leaning back as he stares at the celing and replays the sceen from his bedroom in his head. It had all happened so quickly. The kiss, Arthur's confused and hesitant rejection, his reassurance that it didn't matter. It had all happened in such quick succession and left Alfred's emotions in a frenzy. He closes his eyes and lets out a shaky breath in attempt to appease his racing heart. He had been so close to Arthur, he could feel the others body heat and breaths that mingled with his own. This thought let loose a whole new set of emotions. It made him flush, his heart rate quicken again, and his legs week. He's never felt this feeling before. Was it lust? Adrenalin? No, it couldn't be, he's felt those before. He could only think of one thing this could possibly be. He slowly slides down the door and brings his legs up to hide his face in them. Quietly to the empty house he whispers.

"Fuck."

The next day started off in a tired blur for Alfred. He had gotten little sleep that night, his mind had been too busy pondering this new development about Arthur to rest. He had woken up and slowly got dressed, went downstairs, and picked at his pancake until Matthew was ready to leave. His brother had pestered him in that concerned way that bother's do for about half the car ride until, upon receiving one too many shrugs, he decided to cut his losses and let Alfred be. He showed the same dazed behavior around his friends, which met a mantra of "unawesome" by Gil, and throughout all his classes, ending with him being snapped at several times by teachers telling him to pay attention. By the time his last class started he hadn't even realized it until the teacher asked for everyone to clear their desks and started handing out papers. That instantly grounded Alfred. He chews the inside of his cheek and fiddles with his pencil anxiously as the test slowly makes its way back towards him. Finally it lands on his desk and, after he takes a slow calming breath, he pulls it towards him and reads the first question.

"What rhetorical voice persuades using statistics and a more factual approach?" Alfred smiles widely as the answer pops into his head and he happily scribbles it down on his paper. "Give an example of this voice." Ordered the second question.

I know this stuff! Alfred thinks excitedly as he answeres that question and moves on to the next one. I actually know this stuff! I might actually pass! Alfred finishes his test with no difficulty and walks over to the teacher, who takes it from him and sets it in a small pile of other completed test to be graded. He walks back to his seat, where he waits the rest of class watching the teacher grade the tests and wondering if he's graded his yet. Finally the bell rings and Alfred bolts over to him, startling the man a bit.

"What did I get?" Alfred asks, practically jumping up and down. The older man quickly regains his compouser after his slight fright and idly shifts through the tests.

"You know you don't get the test back until all my classes have taken it." Alfred groans internally.

"Please sir," he pleads. "All I want is the scored. I had someone help me study so I wouldn't fail and I just want to be able to tell him how I did." The teacher examins him for a bit before sighing.

"Fine, if that's the case I'll just tell you your score. You don't get to look at it though, and don't tell anyone I told you. God knows I don't have time for everyone begging me for their scores." Alfred smiles broadly and nods his head vigorously. "Let's see here," he shifts through several pages before pulling out what Alfred assumes is his test. "Oh, well, it seems the help paid off Mr. Jones." He smiles at him causing Alfred's excitement to nearly reach breaking point. "You got a perfect score, you even got the bonus questions right." Blue eyes grow wide before he lets out an elated cheer and rushes out the classroom with a distracted thanks to his chuckling teacher.

I've got to tell Arite!

The bell had just rung and Arthur was currently heading to the council room, the only other place he frequents when not in class. He calmly makes his way down the cramp hall but, by the tenth time he'd been pushed by one of his rowdy peers, he decides it would be best to take the long way there. He turns left down a far less crowded hall to his secret passage to the council room. He supposed it wasn't technically a secret, it was just a simple hallway after all, but it seemed that no one was aware of its existence, which was just fine by him because that meant he could avoid those overcrowded halls. Turning down a completely deserted corridor he once again makes the trek to his destination. However, now that the noise from the main walk way was distant, Arthur could hear several steps of footsteps behind him. He contemplates ignoring them, hoping they'd get bored with the whole stalker thing the've got going on, but chooses not to because he knows they'll just follow him 'til he reaches his destination and that would just be a burden on those who were already in the room trying to work. He stops and turns around to fix his pursuers with a blank stare. "Can I help you with something?" There were two broad men, both looking like they could squash Arthur's head with their thighs, and a girl with a rather sour expression standing in-between them. He arms were crossed firmly over his chest as she meets Arthur's eyes.

"Yes, I want to know why the hell you moved our practice spot!"

"Well, considering it wasn't yours to begin with." Arthur sighs and rolls his eyes up to look at the ceiling before looking back at her with the same indifferent look as before.

"It was too! We got it fair and square!" Arthur lets out another sigh, this one clearly exasperated, as he pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Bully those color guard girls is not fair and square Cassandra. We've been over this so many times now." She huffs and flicks her hair over her shoulder.

"You're right, we have. That's why I brought Lance and Ty to help the message get through your annoyingly thick skull." He glances wearily from her to the two bulky men on either side of her.

"You really got the two biggest blokes off the football team to come beat me up? A bit clivhe, don't you think?" Dispite his calm and indifferent demonr, Arthur was panicking on the inside. Honestly, he wasn't much of a fighter, if you excluded beating the hell out of Francis, who really should never be considered an oponet, that and he was far smaller than the two men that stood on either side of the cheerleader. So you will understand why his heart was racing a mile a minute. Regardless, he forces his heart to calm as he tries to quickly come up with a way to get out of this situation that doesn't lead to him waking up in a hospital.

"Wither it's cliché or not, they can still beat you to a pulp. So, you can either tell those freaks with the flags to give us back our spot, or you can get better acquainted with my friends."

While those brutes coming nowhere near me does sound very appealing, he thinks as he continues to stare Cassie down. There is no one in hell I'm submitting to this Bitch .So he smiles politely and shakes his head.

"While both choices seem oh so enticing, I think I'll pass." He says then turns around with the intention of walking away, however, this plan crumbles before him as he's pulled back roughly by his color and slammed into a locker. Arthur winces upon impact and looks into murky brown eyes in irritation. "That was certainly uncalled for." Cassie walks over and stands next to the guy who was pinning Arthur against the locker.

"You have two more chances. Mover them." He scowls over at her.

"No, I am not going to take something that is theirs away from them." The locker next to his head rings loudly as his restrainer his it hard. He glances over at it via the corner of his eye before looking back at her with an arched eyebrow. "Wow, some threat your brutes are. They can't even hit what's right infront of them." She glares daggers at him.

"He missed on purpose idiot. One more free bee, then he your face. Now move them."

"I am not moving them." He growls then gasps as the guy not restraining him grabs and yanks his hair painfully.

"I'm not going to hold them back anymore Kirkland. Move. Them." Arthur jerks his head so he was staring her straight in the eye.

"No." Her face flames red and she puffs up her chest indignantly.

"Fine," she snaps, stepping back from the three teens. "Boys." Both football players growl deeply in their throats and the one pinning him pulls back his fist ready to strike. Arthur lets out a small sigh of resignation and closes his eyes as he waits for the punch. His body tenses, preparing itself for the inevitable pain….but it never comes. Instead he feels the hands release him and the presence around him is replaced with something else. Arthur slowly opens his eyes to be greeted with a familiar brown jacket. He blinks in shock and gapes at the teen in front of him.

"Alfred?"

Alfred lets out a long sigh as he finds himself in an other deserted hall way. He turns around, intending to search a different area of the school, probably the student council room, Arthur was always there, but he then hears a loud clang of a locker being banged. He frowns and stops in his tracks. The few kids that were down the hall with him pause and look in the direction of the noise before hurrying the opposite way of the sound. He glances around before slowly making his way to the corner to see what's going on.

IT's probably someone slamming their locker. I should just ignore it and find Arthur.

"He missed on purpose idiot. One more free bee, then he hits your face. Tell them to move." Alfred hears a familiar female voice threaten. This makes Alfred pause and scowl. "Damn it Cassie." He says under his breath. That girl really pissed him off, she was always bullying and using people. It made him sick.

"I am not moving them." Responds an unmistakable British voice. Alfred's eyes widen and he clenches his fist, peeking around the corner just in time to see Lance, their line backer, tug harshly on Arthur's hair and make him grimace. Alfred sees red. He had never been more infuriated in his life and proto call and images no longer mattered. All he cared about was those assholes were hurting Arthur and that was not okay. He makes his way swiftly over to them, not focusing on what was being said, only that Ty was about to hit Arthur, and Alfred was having none of that. He gets there just in time to grab Ty's wrist and shove him hard into the other player, sending them both toppling to the floor. With them out of the way he stands protectively in front of Arthur and glares heatedly at Cassie who was staring at him with wide surprised eyes.

"Alfred?" He hears a confused voice behind him. He glances over his shoulder and smiles warmly at Arthur.

"He there Artie, just relax, the hero's got this." he says with a wink that causes Arthur's cheeks to tinge pink and his brows to furrow in what was supposed to be a scowl but ends up resembling more of a pout.

"I don't need a bloody hero." Alfred chuckles softly.

"Yeah, I now. But let me pretend this once, I need to feed that massive ego of mine every once in a while, right?" Arthur rolls his eyes but Alfred swears that the trace of a smile quirks onto the grouchy teens lips.

"If you must." Alfred smiles brightly at him before continuing to glare at Cassie and his team mates. The two players had by this point gotten back on their feet and flanked on either side of the girl across from the two blondes.

"W-What are you doing Alfie?" Cassie asks, fluttering her eyelashes in a flirtatious manner.

"The question is what are you doing?" Alfred growls darkly, making her take a step back in surprise.

"I…I wasn't doing-"

"Bull shit1 You had these two dumb assess pin Arthur against a wall and almost beat him up." Her mouth opens and closes rapidly and she shakes her head.

"No, that was them! I had nothing-"

"I heard you!" She develops a panicked and flustered look and the guys beside her share an equally befuddled look.

"Alfie, please," she says, twirling her hair and approaching him with puppy dog eyes. "I know you like to be everyone's hero but Kirkland started it. He was bullying my team and refused to stop, so I got some protection and came to confront him." She reaches him and wraps her arms around his neck. "Don't be mad at me, he's the one who deserves to be punished." Alfred un-wraps her arms from his neck and grips her wrist, glaring at her.

"You're lying. Arthur isn't like that, he doesn't mess with people. That's your job." Her eyes go wide and she flushes in both anger and embarrassment.

"What are you acting like this? He's…he's…"

"My friend. And it would do you good to remember that." She huffs and pulls her wrist out of his grasp.

"Whatever, I have better things to do anyways. Boys, come." She storms down the hall with her two Hench men close behind. Alfred continues his protective position and glare until he sees them round the corner, he visibly relaxes.

"Damn, I'm going to get a lot of back lash for that." He mutters to himself, running a hand through his wheat colored hair.

"What do you mean? Surely you've told her off before?" Alfred turns around so he's facing Arthur, stuffs his hands in his pockets, and shrugs.

"I have, but never to this extreme. Normally I play off my irritation as something else and flirt with her a little to appease her."

"But today you didn't."

"Yeah," he smiles down at Arthur and laughs a little. "Today I didn't." There was a moments silence as Arthur examines his face.

"Why?"

"Well I…" he takes a hand out of his pocket and uses it to push his hair back as he tries to organize his thoughts in a way that wouldn't come across overbearing.

"I just, I…" he lets out a long sigh and smiles wearily at Arthur. "It's complicated I guess." Arthur rolls his eyes and shakes his head before just dropping the subject.

"So how'd you end up "rescuing", and mind I use that term loosely because I was just fine by myself thank you, me? This is a pretty abandoned hall way around this time in the afternoon, it's hard to think you'd just wander upon it."

"I was looking or you actually." He feels his face warm up slightly but he plows on. "I was down some hall when I heard the loud clanging and went to investigate." Arthur frowns.

"Why would you be looking for me?"

"Oh!" Alfred's face lights up and breaks into a toothy grin. In his excitement he latches on to Arthur in a bear hug. "I passed the test Artie! I knew what I was doing all thanks to you!" He cheers, now spinning in a circle with the protesting Brit in his arms.

"All right! All right! Congratulations, can you let go of me now?" Alfred laughs and gives enough space where they could look at each other, but he doesn't let go, instead moving his hands to subconsciously hold Arthur's hips.

"You're amazing!" Arthur blushes, crosses his arms, and looks off to the side.

"I hardly see why you're praising me so much. All I did was help you study." Alfred laughs again and gently squeezes his hips.

"Yeah, but because of your help I passed, and I'm grateful for that." They stay there just like that. Alfred holding his waist and smiling happily at Arthur, and Arthur allowing himself to be held and crossing his arms trying to pretend that the praise didn't affect him the way it did, but his flush face and ever so small smile twitching his lips gave him away. Alfred likes this. Just standing there together, not needing to speak and break the silence, their body language and brief eye contact being enough for them. Honestly, he could get used to this.

"Hey Artie" he was talking softly, wanting desperately to keep the moment but knowing it would come to an end soon enough.

"Hm?"

"Are you coming to the game tomorrow?" Arthur snorts and rolls his eyes.

"Of course not, I have better things to do on a Friday then watch some silly boys in jerseys tackle each other for a ball." Alfred pouts a little and rubs small circles on his hip.

"You should come to this one."

"Oh, and why should I do that?"

"Because it's the final game of the season." Arthur arches an unimpressed eyembrow. Alfred chews his lower lip in consideration of what would be ok to say, and, with a slightly hot face, tries again. "Because I want you to be there…because I want to dedicate the came to you." Arthur turns several shades of red and gapes his mouth a few times before his coughs in attempt to somewhat gain his composure.

"I, uh, fine…I'll come." Alfred couldn't help ut chuckle at the flustered Brit.

"Yeah?" Alfred asks with a small smirk.

"Yeah." Arthur scowls. Alfred chuckles again and looks into Arthur lovely gem green eyes.

"Good." The shorter male rolls his eyes, but allows another small smile to grace his features.

"Good."

A/N: God, my summer's been way too busy. Here's two chapters since it took like months for me to update. These are un-betaed, so sorry for any mistakes. Anyways, we have some relationship development between the two! Wonder how this will all play out X3~