Some Things Are Better Said
Title: Some Things Are Better Said
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Pairing(s): USUK, hints of Poland/Lithuania, Spain/Romano
Word Count: 3,054
Rating/Warnings: 12/15
Summary: School AU. Alfred tries to be subtle (or as subtle as he can be) and Arthur doesn't get it. Done for the ' close to you' prompt for sweethearts week on the usxuk community.
Notes: Based this off an English school, but hopefully everything should be reasonably clear. They're 15/16 here so in the middle of their GCSEs (exams which you have two years of study for and take at the end of Year 11 - 15/16 years old). For lunch, they wait in a queue outside the lunch room and then only small groups go in at a time. This helps stagger the years so not everyone floods the lunch room at the same time.
Tuesday
4:04pm
End of the School Day
"I'm telling you Liz, Alfred and I are not dating, courting, wining and dining, friends with benefits or anything else that your mind can come up with," Arthur said crossly as he stacked his books neatly in his locker, elbowing anyone who was too exuberant in their dash to get their stuff and get the coaches that waited outside the school. Elizabeta, a girl in Arthur's English class but in the year above, gave a heartfelt sigh. In anyone else it would have inspired concern but Arthur was too hard-hearted and knew Elizabeta too well to be fooled. He had been in the higher class for English for a while now and had known Elizabeta longer than that.
"But I've heard all these rumours in your classes and everyone's saying that you two are a couple," Elizabeta pointed out and, if possible, Arthur looked even more surly.
"Well, we're not," he answered shortly. "And I would appreciate it if you stopped asking these questions." The very person they were talking about appeared out of the crowds of people and spun Arthur around before kissing him firmly against the lockers. Arthur seemed just as stunned as Elizabeta and the rest of the students who had frozen in the act of preparing for the end of the school day. There was a moment's silence because whispers, groans and delighted squeals broke out. Elizabeta could definitely hear Gilbert claiming his money off Roderich, no matter how much the latter boy said he did not bet, but she was too focused on Alfred and Arthur, who had finally detached from each other.
"Oh yeah, I've been trying to tell you all day; I'm ready to tell people," Alfred said quietly to Arthur, who looked stunned for a moment more before his face broke out into the happiest grin Elizabeta had ever seen him give.
"You haven't told people yet, you've just broken your own rule for public display of affection," Arthur retorted and Elizabeta felt like hitting her forehead, or more likely, hitting Arthur for being so contrary and difficult at a time like this. Luckily, Alfred seemed to understand what Arthur was trying to say or at least he was reading the big smile that Arthur could not seem to shake and smirked at the pinned boy.
"OI!" Alfred yelled suddenly, making Arthur jump and then wince, but he managed to capture the attention of everyone in the hallway. Alfred drew himself further back from Arthur to yell, "I'm dating Arthur, have been for a while, go spread the word." That said and done, Alfred went back to pressing Arthur's body against the lockers. "Now, where were we?" He purred and, as much as Elizabeta hated to interrupt the moment, she simply had to get answers. She cleared her throat loudly and Arthur and Alfred looked at her, Alfred looking annoyed and Arthur looking guilty.
"So, I'm curious Arthur," Elizabeta said casually but she could see Arthur visibly tense. "If you're not dating, courting, wining and dining or friends with benefits with Alfred, what are you?" Arthur winced and Alfred now looked confused.
"We're not dating, I thought we are," Alfred asked Arthur, looking between Arthur and Elizabeta in total confusion. Elizabeta felt guilty for confusing him like that but Arthur had lied to her and the sooner he explained why, the sooner he and Alfred could get back to snogging.
"In case you don't remember, you said you didn't want the school to know about us dating. I was merely holding that up by denying the rumours of us dating that Elizabeta heard," Arthur informed Alfred, his happy grin now sliding off his face to be replaced by a frown. Alfred seemed to blame Elizabeta for this, judging by the glare he threw her way. She didn't even know that the school's golden boy could glare like that. "I'm sorry Elizabeta, I would have told you but Alfred and I weren't telling anyone. Can you forgive me?" Arthur looked pleading and even if Elizabeta was not already going to forgive him (especially when he had such gossip that he was now free to share) then Alfred's stern look might have convinced her.
"Only after I get the details," she said haughtily and Alfred's eyes narrowed. Arthur knew that she had already forgiven him and gave her a small smile. Elizabeta returned it before returning to her firm stare. "You owe me an explanation though." Arthur conceded this with a nod and Elizabeta finally left the happy couple alone. She needed to find Roderich and Gilbert and collect money on her bet anyway.
Earlier That Day
8:35am
Before School Started
"So, Arthur, I was, like, thinking about doing a model of the river and then put an actual meander in it with like, real sand and stuff," Feliks said enthusiastically as he scribbled in his Geography book. Arthur nodded slightly doubtfully and Feliks rolled his eyes. Arthur did not have faith in his artistic vision.
"But how are we going to fill the presentation time? We need to think about that as well," Arthur warned as he looked down at Feliks' plans for the model and obviously finding them incomprehensible judging by how his eyebrows scrunched up. Feliks patted his hand in a condescending manner which he knew that Arthur hated.
"Oh Arthur. We can, like, totally talk about the model and explain it to the class. It's better than a slideshow presentation. Then we'll give out handouts at the end." Arthur nodded and Feliks could see him finally come around to his point of view. They were interrupted before they could get much further though.
"Hey Arthur, hey Feliks. What are you guys doing?" Alfred slid into a seat next to Arthur and Feliks resisted sighing as he saw Arthur blush. It was no secret that Arthur seemed to really like Alfred even if he was in denial about the whole thing. Feliks would think it was cute, if it wasn't so annoying. Anytime Alfred interrupted meant that they wouldn't get anything done until much, much later.
"We're working on our Geography presentation, like, together," Feliks pointed out and Alfred nodded, still with the same smile on his face. He brought his hands on the table so he could lean over and see what Feliks had been working on.
"Looks like it would fall apart to me," Alfred pointed out and Feliks squashed the urge to kick him. This urge vanished as Alfred moved his hand on the desk so it was covering Arthur's hand. Arthur froze and Feliks gaped at the pair of hands for a minute before regaining his senses.
"Like, it won't fall apart, because I'm going to make it really strong with papier-mâché and everything." Feliks tried to answer normally while ignoring the fact that Arthur's dreams seemed to have all come true and instead of looking happy, he was looking upset and murderous. If Toris had acted like Alfred, it would have been a definite sign that he was thinking of something. Feliks wished that Toris acted like that. Or showed any signs that he liked Feliks as more than a friend at all. And now Alfred and Arthur had made him depressed.
"Papier-mâché?" Alfred asked. "Sounds cool." He said it completely casually as if he was not holding hands with Arthur Kirkland on the desk. Arthur looked ten seconds away from exploding in a fit of temper so Feliks decided to make a fit of temper.
"Er... Yes. I have to, like, go and call Toris now. I'll see you guys later." Before either Alfred or Arthur could react to his words, Feliks had already vanished from the table and was out the classroom door just as the bell rang.
Feliks cast the bell a look of annoyance and knew that he would have to go back in the classroom in a minute but first there was something he had to do.
Like, you're never guess what happened.
What? Did Toris compliment you on your shoes again?
Not as good as that but still totally awesome. Alfred and Arthur are holding hands at this very moment! Like dating or Alfred trying to show Arthur he likes them. Not sure yet.
Elizabeta? You there?
This. This right here, what you just said. Made my day.
I'm glad I could help :)
Tuesday
10:13am
First Lesson: Maths
It would really help to concentrate if your deskmate's phone did not vibrate every four seconds. Lovino had no idea who was texting Arthur so incessantly but they were driving him crazy and it did not seem that Arthur appreciated it either considering the glares he kept shooting the phone.
"Turn it off if you're not even going to answer it," Lovino hissed to Arthur. The teacher was outside doing individual meetings with everyone but would come back in if the noise level reached too high. Arthur shot him a glare.
"I can't. Last time I did that, he burst into my English lesson worried that I had fallen and broken my hip," Arthur whispered back. Lovino raised an eyebrow. Only a few people were that stupid and it had better not be two of them.
"Who's he? And why did he think that you'd broken your hip?" Lovino had abandoned his book questions in favour of questioning Arthur which was much more fun. Arthur did not seem to think so.
"Alfred. And he keeps making old man jokes and saying that I act like an old man." Arthur glanced at his phone and as it lay silent, he scowled at it. Lovino was too busy staring at Arthur to care about his stupid behaviour.
"Alfred? As in Alfred Jones? As in golden boy?" Lovino asked, gobsmacked. This was not what he was expecting at the start of the Maths lesson. Arthur looked irritated at Lovino's unflattering surprise.
"Don't call him that," Arthur snapped. "He has a name. Use it." Lovino nodded dumbly and Arthur turned back to his work, still scowling.
"But why are you and Alfred texting each other?" Lovino asked, wanting to get some answers.
"We're not texting each other. He's texting me. And he's just saying stupid stuff anyway." Arthur scowled and his eyebrows pressed against each other. Lovino could not help comparing them to angry caterpillars but had the good sense not to say this out loud. He still remembered the pain of the broken nose that Arthur had given him last time he had made a comment like that. Strangely enough, Alfred had also had it out for him that week, always aiming the football at Lovino's head instead of his feet.
Still, Lovino wondered if Arthur knew how unattractive he looked when he scowled like that.
"What sort of stuff?" Lovino asked, trying again to get some answers out of the clam-like Arthur.
"None of your business," Arthur replied, shoving his phone into his bag as the teacher called him for their meeting. Lovino turned his attention back to the book but as he heard the door slam, he dived for the bag. Luckily the phone still had the last text displayed so Lovino did not have to try and work out Arthur's incredibly dated phone and simply read it off the screen. What he saw there made his eyebrows go right up.
From: Alfred Jones
Hey babe, I'm ready for our date this evening. Do you want to announce it in assembly or shall I?
Lovino put the phone back in the bag in the exact same place before pulling himself upright and pulling out his phone.
Alfred sent Arthur a text about their date this evening. That's definitely worth one picture.
His phone vibrated soon after, signalling the reply.
Well done, Lovi, you have done well. Yes, okay, you may have the picture of you and Antonio laughing together at the fair back.
Don't do that, you sound like a criminal mastermind and I sound like your lackey. All copies as well?
Yes, all copies as well. If I'm going to blackmail you, I'm at least going to do it right.
You're a devil woman.
Thank you.
Tuesday
12:56pm
Lunch
Arthur, Yong Soo and Mei were standing in the lunch line, waiting for their cards to be scanned and to get into the lunch room. The queue was not too long but it was still slightly dull waiting there. Yong Soo was chattering away about his new art project and Mei was trying to offer helpful suggestions but knew as much about art as Arthur did and so they didn't help Yong Soo so much as entertain him. Arthur was leaning against the radiator, trying to warm himself up even as he shivered in his school jumper.
"So, anyway, for my 3D project, I decided to do this outfit, but it has to be original and everything, but I'm going to get Yao to make this special fabric that has this really weird light to it.." Yong Soo was explaining to Mei, who was still listening carefully long after Arthur had become lost in the talk about clothes. Suddenly he jerked out of his stupor as he recognised the person who had appeared in front of him.
"Alfred," Arthur said in surprise before glancing at Yong Soo and Mei. Alfred wanted to keep their relationship a secret and even though he had explained why, Arthur still did not really understand why. But Alfred had seemed desperate and so Arthur would honour that. "How are you?" He asked politely and Alfred grinned at him. One moment he was standing in front of Arthur and the next, he had Arthur's head buried in his jumper even as he pinned Arthur's arms to his side. Arthur's eyes widened and he heard Yong Soo and Mei's chattering falter. The next moment Alfred had pulled away and he gave one last smile to Arthur before he sped off.
"What just happened?" Yong Soo asked, sounding as off-centre as Arthur felt. With his words, Arthur was brought back to himself and he considered what Alfred had just done. Alfred was impulsive and he often did things only to regret them later. It was Arthur's duty and need to fix it. He rounded on Yong Soo and Mei, unusually serious.
"You don't say a word of this to anyone, alright?" Arthur said in a quiet voice. The other teenagers around them were too absorbed in their own little worlds to have noticed Alfred's actions but Yong Soo could be a gossip. Mei would not tell anyone apart from Elizabeta (if she asked) and that was the last person Arthur wanted to know. "No one can know." Yong Soo and Mei nodded, looking stunned silent. Arthur turned back to the front of the line. He did not understand Alfred's reasons for keeping their relationship a secret (even if he could guess) but he cared a great deal about Alfred and so would uphold them.
Tuesday
3:50pm
English
Matthew wondered how long it would take before Elizabeta would explode for being this quiet for this long. This lesson they had been told to do a timed essay and even as Arthur's look of relief was obvious, so was Elizabeta's frustration. She had gossip and wanted to discuss it with Arthur, but Arthur was very reluctant to discuss it with her. Normally they could chat in English due to the group work they usually did, but the English teacher had wanted to prepare them for doing essays like in their summer exam and one of their practice ones had been today. That meant no talking.
Matthew liked Arthur, even if he was in the year below and seemed to be generally an angry person. He was always polite to Matthew and seemed to have other friends in his year who were slightly more sane than Elizabeta. Matthew's stepbrother, Alfred, also liked him and even though Alfred could be oblivious and stupid, he was a good judge of character. After the death of their mother, he had known which people their dad should date and which should be driven away at all costs.
However just because he liked Arthur, it didn't stop him from getting enjoyment out of watching Elizabeta trying to catch Arthur's eye and Arthur resolutely ignoring her. He had finished his essay already anyway and read it through, so he needed to find a way to entertain himself for the last five minutes.
After a couple of minutes, Elizabeta fell back on coughing loudly to try and get Arthur to look at her. All she earned was a glare from the teacher and Matthew's amusement. Arthur's eyes remained fixed on his essay and Matthew admired his skills. He wondered if Arthur could teach him how to do that, it would be useful when trying to ignore Alfred's pouting look after he asked Matthew to do something and Matthew refused.
Then again, Alfred and Arthur were dating and had been for a while so Arthur probably found it cute.
Tuesday
4:10pm
The halls had mostly cleared due to the coaches having left and even Arthur's strange friend, Elizabeta, had vanished to somewhere even though Alfred knew for a fact that she and Arthur walked home together all the time. Then he shoved Elizabeta out of his head because he was kissing his boyfriend, the whole school knew about it and he was okay with these facts.
It didn't matter that Arthur had not seemed to get his hints at all and was completely confused about it when Alfred showed up after the bell went but he was responding enthusiastically now and that was all that mattered to Alfred anyway. Also, Arthur would be happy now that it was out in the open, he had always wanted everyone to know, it was just Alfred's stupid issues that got in the way. Sometimes Alfred wondered if he had hurt Arthur with his refusal to go public but every time he thought about the issue, his brain was shy away from it. Hurting Arthur was an unpleasant thought and Alfred acted oblivious so he did not have to deal with unpleasant things.
Alfred smiled as kissed Arthur's neck, earning a soft sigh from the other boy. Things were definitely okay now.
Genre: Romance/Fluff
Pairing(s): USUK, hints of Poland/Lithuania, Spain/Romano
Word Count: 3,054
Rating/Warnings: 12/15
Summary: School AU. Alfred tries to be subtle (or as subtle as he can be) and Arthur doesn't get it. Done for the ' close to you' prompt for sweethearts week on the usxuk community.
Notes: Based this off an English school, but hopefully everything should be reasonably clear. They're 15/16 here so in the middle of their GCSEs (exams which you have two years of study for and take at the end of Year 11 - 15/16 years old). For lunch, they wait in a queue outside the lunch room and then only small groups go in at a time. This helps stagger the years so not everyone floods the lunch room at the same time.
Tuesday
4:04pm
End of the School Day
"I'm telling you Liz, Alfred and I are not dating, courting, wining and dining, friends with benefits or anything else that your mind can come up with," Arthur said crossly as he stacked his books neatly in his locker, elbowing anyone who was too exuberant in their dash to get their stuff and get the coaches that waited outside the school. Elizabeta, a girl in Arthur's English class but in the year above, gave a heartfelt sigh. In anyone else it would have inspired concern but Arthur was too hard-hearted and knew Elizabeta too well to be fooled. He had been in the higher class for English for a while now and had known Elizabeta longer than that.
"But I've heard all these rumours in your classes and everyone's saying that you two are a couple," Elizabeta pointed out and, if possible, Arthur looked even more surly.
"Well, we're not," he answered shortly. "And I would appreciate it if you stopped asking these questions." The very person they were talking about appeared out of the crowds of people and spun Arthur around before kissing him firmly against the lockers. Arthur seemed just as stunned as Elizabeta and the rest of the students who had frozen in the act of preparing for the end of the school day. There was a moment's silence because whispers, groans and delighted squeals broke out. Elizabeta could definitely hear Gilbert claiming his money off Roderich, no matter how much the latter boy said he did not bet, but she was too focused on Alfred and Arthur, who had finally detached from each other.
"Oh yeah, I've been trying to tell you all day; I'm ready to tell people," Alfred said quietly to Arthur, who looked stunned for a moment more before his face broke out into the happiest grin Elizabeta had ever seen him give.
"You haven't told people yet, you've just broken your own rule for public display of affection," Arthur retorted and Elizabeta felt like hitting her forehead, or more likely, hitting Arthur for being so contrary and difficult at a time like this. Luckily, Alfred seemed to understand what Arthur was trying to say or at least he was reading the big smile that Arthur could not seem to shake and smirked at the pinned boy.
"OI!" Alfred yelled suddenly, making Arthur jump and then wince, but he managed to capture the attention of everyone in the hallway. Alfred drew himself further back from Arthur to yell, "I'm dating Arthur, have been for a while, go spread the word." That said and done, Alfred went back to pressing Arthur's body against the lockers. "Now, where were we?" He purred and, as much as Elizabeta hated to interrupt the moment, she simply had to get answers. She cleared her throat loudly and Arthur and Alfred looked at her, Alfred looking annoyed and Arthur looking guilty.
"So, I'm curious Arthur," Elizabeta said casually but she could see Arthur visibly tense. "If you're not dating, courting, wining and dining or friends with benefits with Alfred, what are you?" Arthur winced and Alfred now looked confused.
"We're not dating, I thought we are," Alfred asked Arthur, looking between Arthur and Elizabeta in total confusion. Elizabeta felt guilty for confusing him like that but Arthur had lied to her and the sooner he explained why, the sooner he and Alfred could get back to snogging.
"In case you don't remember, you said you didn't want the school to know about us dating. I was merely holding that up by denying the rumours of us dating that Elizabeta heard," Arthur informed Alfred, his happy grin now sliding off his face to be replaced by a frown. Alfred seemed to blame Elizabeta for this, judging by the glare he threw her way. She didn't even know that the school's golden boy could glare like that. "I'm sorry Elizabeta, I would have told you but Alfred and I weren't telling anyone. Can you forgive me?" Arthur looked pleading and even if Elizabeta was not already going to forgive him (especially when he had such gossip that he was now free to share) then Alfred's stern look might have convinced her.
"Only after I get the details," she said haughtily and Alfred's eyes narrowed. Arthur knew that she had already forgiven him and gave her a small smile. Elizabeta returned it before returning to her firm stare. "You owe me an explanation though." Arthur conceded this with a nod and Elizabeta finally left the happy couple alone. She needed to find Roderich and Gilbert and collect money on her bet anyway.
Earlier That Day
8:35am
Before School Started
"So, Arthur, I was, like, thinking about doing a model of the river and then put an actual meander in it with like, real sand and stuff," Feliks said enthusiastically as he scribbled in his Geography book. Arthur nodded slightly doubtfully and Feliks rolled his eyes. Arthur did not have faith in his artistic vision.
"But how are we going to fill the presentation time? We need to think about that as well," Arthur warned as he looked down at Feliks' plans for the model and obviously finding them incomprehensible judging by how his eyebrows scrunched up. Feliks patted his hand in a condescending manner which he knew that Arthur hated.
"Oh Arthur. We can, like, totally talk about the model and explain it to the class. It's better than a slideshow presentation. Then we'll give out handouts at the end." Arthur nodded and Feliks could see him finally come around to his point of view. They were interrupted before they could get much further though.
"Hey Arthur, hey Feliks. What are you guys doing?" Alfred slid into a seat next to Arthur and Feliks resisted sighing as he saw Arthur blush. It was no secret that Arthur seemed to really like Alfred even if he was in denial about the whole thing. Feliks would think it was cute, if it wasn't so annoying. Anytime Alfred interrupted meant that they wouldn't get anything done until much, much later.
"We're working on our Geography presentation, like, together," Feliks pointed out and Alfred nodded, still with the same smile on his face. He brought his hands on the table so he could lean over and see what Feliks had been working on.
"Looks like it would fall apart to me," Alfred pointed out and Feliks squashed the urge to kick him. This urge vanished as Alfred moved his hand on the desk so it was covering Arthur's hand. Arthur froze and Feliks gaped at the pair of hands for a minute before regaining his senses.
"Like, it won't fall apart, because I'm going to make it really strong with papier-mâché and everything." Feliks tried to answer normally while ignoring the fact that Arthur's dreams seemed to have all come true and instead of looking happy, he was looking upset and murderous. If Toris had acted like Alfred, it would have been a definite sign that he was thinking of something. Feliks wished that Toris acted like that. Or showed any signs that he liked Feliks as more than a friend at all. And now Alfred and Arthur had made him depressed.
"Papier-mâché?" Alfred asked. "Sounds cool." He said it completely casually as if he was not holding hands with Arthur Kirkland on the desk. Arthur looked ten seconds away from exploding in a fit of temper so Feliks decided to make a fit of temper.
"Er... Yes. I have to, like, go and call Toris now. I'll see you guys later." Before either Alfred or Arthur could react to his words, Feliks had already vanished from the table and was out the classroom door just as the bell rang.
Feliks cast the bell a look of annoyance and knew that he would have to go back in the classroom in a minute but first there was something he had to do.
Like, you're never guess what happened.
What? Did Toris compliment you on your shoes again?
Not as good as that but still totally awesome. Alfred and Arthur are holding hands at this very moment! Like dating or Alfred trying to show Arthur he likes them. Not sure yet.
Elizabeta? You there?
This. This right here, what you just said. Made my day.
I'm glad I could help :)
Tuesday
10:13am
First Lesson: Maths
It would really help to concentrate if your deskmate's phone did not vibrate every four seconds. Lovino had no idea who was texting Arthur so incessantly but they were driving him crazy and it did not seem that Arthur appreciated it either considering the glares he kept shooting the phone.
"Turn it off if you're not even going to answer it," Lovino hissed to Arthur. The teacher was outside doing individual meetings with everyone but would come back in if the noise level reached too high. Arthur shot him a glare.
"I can't. Last time I did that, he burst into my English lesson worried that I had fallen and broken my hip," Arthur whispered back. Lovino raised an eyebrow. Only a few people were that stupid and it had better not be two of them.
"Who's he? And why did he think that you'd broken your hip?" Lovino had abandoned his book questions in favour of questioning Arthur which was much more fun. Arthur did not seem to think so.
"Alfred. And he keeps making old man jokes and saying that I act like an old man." Arthur glanced at his phone and as it lay silent, he scowled at it. Lovino was too busy staring at Arthur to care about his stupid behaviour.
"Alfred? As in Alfred Jones? As in golden boy?" Lovino asked, gobsmacked. This was not what he was expecting at the start of the Maths lesson. Arthur looked irritated at Lovino's unflattering surprise.
"Don't call him that," Arthur snapped. "He has a name. Use it." Lovino nodded dumbly and Arthur turned back to his work, still scowling.
"But why are you and Alfred texting each other?" Lovino asked, wanting to get some answers.
"We're not texting each other. He's texting me. And he's just saying stupid stuff anyway." Arthur scowled and his eyebrows pressed against each other. Lovino could not help comparing them to angry caterpillars but had the good sense not to say this out loud. He still remembered the pain of the broken nose that Arthur had given him last time he had made a comment like that. Strangely enough, Alfred had also had it out for him that week, always aiming the football at Lovino's head instead of his feet.
Still, Lovino wondered if Arthur knew how unattractive he looked when he scowled like that.
"What sort of stuff?" Lovino asked, trying again to get some answers out of the clam-like Arthur.
"None of your business," Arthur replied, shoving his phone into his bag as the teacher called him for their meeting. Lovino turned his attention back to the book but as he heard the door slam, he dived for the bag. Luckily the phone still had the last text displayed so Lovino did not have to try and work out Arthur's incredibly dated phone and simply read it off the screen. What he saw there made his eyebrows go right up.
From: Alfred Jones
Hey babe, I'm ready for our date this evening. Do you want to announce it in assembly or shall I?
Lovino put the phone back in the bag in the exact same place before pulling himself upright and pulling out his phone.
Alfred sent Arthur a text about their date this evening. That's definitely worth one picture.
His phone vibrated soon after, signalling the reply.
Well done, Lovi, you have done well. Yes, okay, you may have the picture of you and Antonio laughing together at the fair back.
Don't do that, you sound like a criminal mastermind and I sound like your lackey. All copies as well?
Yes, all copies as well. If I'm going to blackmail you, I'm at least going to do it right.
You're a devil woman.
Thank you.
Tuesday
12:56pm
Lunch
Arthur, Yong Soo and Mei were standing in the lunch line, waiting for their cards to be scanned and to get into the lunch room. The queue was not too long but it was still slightly dull waiting there. Yong Soo was chattering away about his new art project and Mei was trying to offer helpful suggestions but knew as much about art as Arthur did and so they didn't help Yong Soo so much as entertain him. Arthur was leaning against the radiator, trying to warm himself up even as he shivered in his school jumper.
"So, anyway, for my 3D project, I decided to do this outfit, but it has to be original and everything, but I'm going to get Yao to make this special fabric that has this really weird light to it.." Yong Soo was explaining to Mei, who was still listening carefully long after Arthur had become lost in the talk about clothes. Suddenly he jerked out of his stupor as he recognised the person who had appeared in front of him.
"Alfred," Arthur said in surprise before glancing at Yong Soo and Mei. Alfred wanted to keep their relationship a secret and even though he had explained why, Arthur still did not really understand why. But Alfred had seemed desperate and so Arthur would honour that. "How are you?" He asked politely and Alfred grinned at him. One moment he was standing in front of Arthur and the next, he had Arthur's head buried in his jumper even as he pinned Arthur's arms to his side. Arthur's eyes widened and he heard Yong Soo and Mei's chattering falter. The next moment Alfred had pulled away and he gave one last smile to Arthur before he sped off.
"What just happened?" Yong Soo asked, sounding as off-centre as Arthur felt. With his words, Arthur was brought back to himself and he considered what Alfred had just done. Alfred was impulsive and he often did things only to regret them later. It was Arthur's duty and need to fix it. He rounded on Yong Soo and Mei, unusually serious.
"You don't say a word of this to anyone, alright?" Arthur said in a quiet voice. The other teenagers around them were too absorbed in their own little worlds to have noticed Alfred's actions but Yong Soo could be a gossip. Mei would not tell anyone apart from Elizabeta (if she asked) and that was the last person Arthur wanted to know. "No one can know." Yong Soo and Mei nodded, looking stunned silent. Arthur turned back to the front of the line. He did not understand Alfred's reasons for keeping their relationship a secret (even if he could guess) but he cared a great deal about Alfred and so would uphold them.
Tuesday
3:50pm
English
Matthew wondered how long it would take before Elizabeta would explode for being this quiet for this long. This lesson they had been told to do a timed essay and even as Arthur's look of relief was obvious, so was Elizabeta's frustration. She had gossip and wanted to discuss it with Arthur, but Arthur was very reluctant to discuss it with her. Normally they could chat in English due to the group work they usually did, but the English teacher had wanted to prepare them for doing essays like in their summer exam and one of their practice ones had been today. That meant no talking.
Matthew liked Arthur, even if he was in the year below and seemed to be generally an angry person. He was always polite to Matthew and seemed to have other friends in his year who were slightly more sane than Elizabeta. Matthew's stepbrother, Alfred, also liked him and even though Alfred could be oblivious and stupid, he was a good judge of character. After the death of their mother, he had known which people their dad should date and which should be driven away at all costs.
However just because he liked Arthur, it didn't stop him from getting enjoyment out of watching Elizabeta trying to catch Arthur's eye and Arthur resolutely ignoring her. He had finished his essay already anyway and read it through, so he needed to find a way to entertain himself for the last five minutes.
After a couple of minutes, Elizabeta fell back on coughing loudly to try and get Arthur to look at her. All she earned was a glare from the teacher and Matthew's amusement. Arthur's eyes remained fixed on his essay and Matthew admired his skills. He wondered if Arthur could teach him how to do that, it would be useful when trying to ignore Alfred's pouting look after he asked Matthew to do something and Matthew refused.
Then again, Alfred and Arthur were dating and had been for a while so Arthur probably found it cute.
Tuesday
4:10pm
The halls had mostly cleared due to the coaches having left and even Arthur's strange friend, Elizabeta, had vanished to somewhere even though Alfred knew for a fact that she and Arthur walked home together all the time. Then he shoved Elizabeta out of his head because he was kissing his boyfriend, the whole school knew about it and he was okay with these facts.
It didn't matter that Arthur had not seemed to get his hints at all and was completely confused about it when Alfred showed up after the bell went but he was responding enthusiastically now and that was all that mattered to Alfred anyway. Also, Arthur would be happy now that it was out in the open, he had always wanted everyone to know, it was just Alfred's stupid issues that got in the way. Sometimes Alfred wondered if he had hurt Arthur with his refusal to go public but every time he thought about the issue, his brain was shy away from it. Hurting Arthur was an unpleasant thought and Alfred acted oblivious so he did not have to deal with unpleasant things.
Alfred smiled as kissed Arthur's neck, earning a soft sigh from the other boy. Things were definitely okay now.