Exchange Ch.3 (USUK)

Gilbert had left, but Alfred turned back to his game anyway. There were always other people online he could kill. He was so absorbed in the game that he didn't hear his brother enter until Matthew spoke.

"You seem to have had a change of heart." he said.

Alfred jumped violently. "Goddamnit, don't do that!" His heartbeat slowly started returning to normal.

"I did knock." Matthew looked amused.

"Oh...well anyway, what do ya mean?"

"About Arthur. A few days ago, you wanted nothing to do with the exchange program. Now you're like best buddies." Matthew pointed out.

Alfred shrugged. "Arthur's pretty cool. He could be kinda stuffy and uppity sometimes, but once he loosens up he's pretty fun to be around. He agreed to the LotR marathon! And besides, he's already here. It wouldn't be very heroic of me to make him suffer just cuz I didn't wanna do it. And...he didn't really wanna come here either, he told me, so I'm gonna show him that America's awesome!" He cut off there so he wouldn't ramble on too much more.

Matthew listened to him amusedly. "Just don't overwhelm the kid. And do stuff he wants to do too."

"Yeah, yeah, course I'll do that. Wanna play?" Alfred held out a controller to him.

"Only if you play hockey with me later."

The controller was quickly withdrawn. "No thanks."

Matthew laughed. "Don't want to get your ass handed to you again?"

Alfred cringed at the memories that came to mind. Matthew was downright scary when it came to hockey.

"Come on, Al. We can play me and Gil against you and Arthur, to make it a bit more fair."

Alfred sighed. "If Artie agrees, we'll do it, I promise. If he doesn't want to do it though, we won't."

Matthew grinned. "Good night." He left as silently as he'd entered.

The next few days passed quickly. Arthur slowly got more comfortable around Alfred and they spent time together even if they weren't doing the same activities. These scenarios usually ended up with Arthur reading on Alfred's bed and Alfred either playing video games, pouring through comics, or having a go at his homework.

School passed in the same fashion as the first day, with the major difference being that Arthur went to the library at lunch. The Brit grew closer to Kiku as well, who accompanied him sometimes. Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio still teased him, but he did his best to ignore them.

Until they stole his book, drew massive eyebrows on it, and tossed it into the girl's bathroom.

Arthur got the book out eventually with the help of a passing girl, but there was nothing he could do about the permanent marks. To get back at them, he doused the trio with a large bucket of cat pee each.

"Dude, did it really have to be cat pee?" Alfred complained, holding his nose. "Now it's gonna smell like somethin' died in here."

"Yes, it did." Arthur was watching Francis run around the classroom moaning about his ruined hair and clothes with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"Damn, Artie, you can be pretty evil." Alfred said, a slightly awed look on his face.

"Well, my family is descended from pirates, and I've learned a few things from my brothers over the years."

Alfred stared at him. "Really?! That's so cool!"

Needless to say, the trio was more cautious about taking Arthur's things, but they still traded banter and insults. Arthur focused most of his verbal ammunition on Francis, and only retaliated at the other two if they said something first.

He finished 'Return of the King' on Thursday, so there was no problem in doing the marathon. Matthew said that he would stop by and watch occasionally, but probably wouldn't stay the whole time. On Friday, Evelyn drove to the supermarket to get them snacks, even bringing back some British foods she'd found in the international foods isle. Arthur went to bed that night with a tremor of excitement going down his spine.

"Wake up, Alfred!" Arthur shook the American awake. Well, he tried to. Alfred refused to move no matter how hard Arthur prodded at him.

Sighing, Arthur padded down the kitchen and retrieved a few ice cubes. Slipping back into Alfred's room, he carefully lifted the boy's shirt and shoved the ice down it.

"Holy shit-!" Alfred bolted upright, limbs flailing. Somehow, he ended up on the floor on top of Arthur.

Arthur grunted as the weight hit him, and he stared up into Alfred's impossibly blue eyes. This was the first time he was able to see them clearly without the slight obstruction of the American's glasses. He found himself blushing as he cleared his throat.

"...Hi." Alfred smiled sheepishly at him.

"G-Get the bloody hell off me. You're heavy." Arthur muttered, averting his eyes.

"Oh, right. Sorry." Alfred quickly got up and dusted himself off. "C'mon, I'll pull ya up." He held out his hand.

Arthur grasped it, and nearly had his own arm yanked off as he was pulled up. "Easy there, don't dismember me."

"Hey, I got you up." Alfred shook the remainder of the ice from under his shirt. "You really are evil." He pouted. "Waking me up like that."

"I did shake you, but you ignored me." Arthur pointed out.

"I'm a heavy sleeper." He happened to glance at the clock. "If we're gonna do this marathon, we'd better start it soon."

"That's why I was waking you now."

"Well, why didn't ya just say so?" Alfred took his shirt off, leaving himself clad just in his Marvel boxers. He turned to his closet and rummaged around for a fresh top.'

"A-Alfred, have some decency!" Arthur cried and spun around, but not before he'd caught glimpse of quite a spectacular view.

Alfred smirked over his shoulder before pulling on a blue Superman t-shirt and grey sweatpants. "You can look now."

Arthur hesitantly turned around, and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Alfred was clothed again. He himself was also dressed casually, in a green sweater vest and black sweatpants. "Let's start then, shall we?"

"Yeah." Alfred stepped out of his room, pausing when he saw what Arthur was wearing. "Whoa, you actually own casual clothes?" He tool a closer look at the sweater. "Well, somewhat casual."

Arthur indignantly smoothed out the sweater. "Of course I do. I know how to relax."

The American snickered. "Yeah, probably just how you know casual fashion." He raised an eyebrow at the sweater/sweatpants combination.

Arthur glared at him. "I'm comfortable in it. That's the only thing that matters. Besides, we're not going anywhere." He sidestepped Alfred and headed down the stairs, the other boy following behind.

Matthew greeted them in the kitchen with pancakes. "I made them this morning. Eat up, you're going to need your energy to watch for 9 hours straight."

"Awesome! Mattie, you're the best!" Alfred charged into the kitchen and loaded his plate with no less than ten pancakes.

"Is that...normal?" Arthur asked in awe as the food disappeared before his eyes. "Or healthy?"

"Yeah." Matthew chuckled. "Try one; you'll see soon enough."

He was right. After one bite, Arthur honestly thought he'd died and gone to heaven. He managed to get two more for himself before Alfred ate the rest. The two of them helped Matthew clean up before migrating to the basement. There was only one couch down there in front of the TV, and Matthew ended up between Arthur and Alfred.

"Ready Artie?" Alfred asked, sliding the first DVD in.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Arthur replied.

The Brit was entranced from the first few moments. He didn't normally enjoy American films, but this one was so spectacularly made that he focused on it and it alone. So he didn't notice Alfred clinging to Matthew whenever the Ringwraiths showed up, nor did he hear his mutterings about how scary they were.

When Alfred went to change the disc, Matthew slipped out of the basement, claiming he had other important matters to attend to.

The next few hours and three discs passed normally, with each of them on their own side of the couch. But once Gollum started plotting and muttering to himself more than usual, Alfred scooted closer. Arthur didn't even notice that until the American suddenly flung his arms around the smaller boy, pulling him close.

"A-Alfred, what the blazes are you doing?!" he hissed, struggling to get away.

"Those black dudes are totally creepy! But don't be scared, the hero'll protect y- Holyshit!" At this point, Alfred buried his face in the crook between Arthur's neck and shoulder.

Arthur did not appreciate being used as a teddy bear, but there was simply nothing he could do. Alfred's mouth was by his ear, and the American's breath tickled his neck as the larger boy whispered nonsense to him. "You can't seriously be afraid of that." he told him.

"M'not, and you shouldn't be either. I'll make sure nothing happens to you!" Alfred said, gripping him tighter.

"The only danger I'm in right now is of you breaking my ribs. Let me go!"

Alfred slowly loosened his hold as the scene ended...and then gripped him tighter than ever when the giant spider appeared.

"Holyfuckingshit, don't look Artie!" He forced Arthur to look away from the screen.

Arthur balked when he suddenly found his face pressed against Alfred's chest. "What are you doing?! I can't see the bloody screen!" Never mind the fact that he was blushing because of the close proximity.

"But Artie, the spider!" Alfred pressed even closer, something Arthur hadn't thought was possible. "You'll be scared." he whispered.

A shiver went through Arthur, and he continued to struggle. "I won't be scared, I'm perfectly fine!"

But Alfred refused to let go, so they stayed in that position for the remainder of the movie. Arthur was exhausted when the final ending credits rolled. His arms and legs had numbed long ago, and he bit back a cry of pain as the blood rushed back into them when Alfred finally released him.

"So? What did you think? Did you like it?" The American in question asked cheerfully, as it he hadn't spent the past two hours or so clinging to Arthur.

"Apart from all the distractions," Arthur paused his sentence here and glared at him while rubbing the life back into his body. "It was very good. A bit long though, no?"

"They had ta get all the details in and make it look awesome and heroic and stuff." Alfred explained seriously.

"I still prefer the books."

"What? Why?!" Alfred looked scandalized at the thought of someone preferring books to movies.

"I like to imagine for myself what the characters look like." Arthur stood and stretched. "What time is it?"

Alfred glanced at the clock. "7:30."

Arthur paused mid-stretch. "Huh? How is it so late? The movies should have taken only about 9 hours."

"Well, bathroom and food breaks do add up." Alfred pointed out. "Are ya tired?"

Arthur nodded. "Surprisingly, yes. I don't think I've ever stared at a single screen for so long. And I don't want to repeat that anytime soon." He finished stretching and headed towards the stairs. "Good night. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night~!" Alfred smiled brightly at him until he left, and then his face fell into a thoughtful expression.

Clinging to Arthur had been different than clinging to Matthew. With his brother there was the obvious fear of whatever was on the screen (though he'd never admit it out loud), but with Arthur there was something else. Something warm and fuzzy, and though he was a bit scared of the feeling, he liked it. If he was quite honest with himself, he hadn't really wanted to let the Brit go, but when the movie was over, he had no reason to hold on.

His mind in a whirl, he charged upstairs and did the thing he'd always done when he was troubled.

"MATTIEEEE!" he yelled, flopping onto his half-brother's bed, right on top of a pile of laundry the other boy was currently folding.

"What is it?" Matthew asked, glancing up. There was no surprise in his face and he calmly continued folding his clothes, occasionally reaching under Alfred to pull something out.

"Mmmmppphhhh..." Alfred muttered into the sheets.

"What was that? I couldn't understand you." Matthew prodded him lightly.

"Mmph- think- mmmphh Arthur." Alfred said, a bit louder this time.

"Something with Arthur, you say?" Matthew had a faint idea of where this was headed.

Alfred lifted his head out of the sheets. "I think I might like Arthur!" he whisper-yelled. "There, I said it."

Matthew smiled a bit. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"Huh?" Alfred tilted his head.

"You like Arthur. You've established that now, yes? So what are you going to do now? Tell him?"

"N-No! And don't you tell him either!" Alfred cried, his arms flailing around.

"Why not?" Matthew was probably going to regret this next statement... "You're a hero, so man up and tell him!"

Alfred sat bolt upright. "Ya really think I'm a hero?" he asked, and Matthew swore he could see the blue eyes shining behind the glasses.

"Yes, yes, and if you are a hero, you should have no problem telling him. Unless...Arthur is a homosexual, right?"

"Yeah, I heard his bro ask him if he found a guy already or something."

"Alfred! Eavesdropping isn't very nice." Matthew whacked him lightly.

"Oi! I couldn't help it, he was being loud..." Alfred muttered, rubbing at his head.

"I find that hard to believe." Matthew stood and put the folded laundry away. "You like him, he likes boys, so what's holding you back?"

Alfred visibly deflated. "But...what if he doesn't like me back? And then it's all awkward for the next week when we have to do stuff together and- ohshit he's only gonna be here for another week, Mattie!"

Matthew strode over to him and placed his hands on his shoulders. "Al, calm down. This isn't like you. If he doesn't like you, then move on. There are other boys out there."

Alfred blinked up at him. "But...But it's Arthur."

Matthew sighed. The poor boy had fallen pretty hard. And fast. "It'll hurt, but you'll get over it eventually. Hey, if he rejects you, I'll make pancakes."

"But it's not only that..." Alfred muttered, looking serious again. "I'm worried how...y'know...Mom'll take it. I mean, I know she was fine when you came out, but both her kids? That doesn't seem fair... I know she wanted grandkids and all, and that kinda fell to me, but now..."

"Alfred, you can't help who you fall in love with. Mom will support you. You'll be fine. Me and you can always adopt, right? There's plenty of orphans in the world, and we'd be saving them that way."

Alfred brightened again at the mention of saving someone. "Really? But are you sure?"

"Yes. And since he is only staying for another week, you had better hurry up with that confession." Matthew told him.

"I'll do it later, kay?" Alfred got up and tackle hugged him. "Thanks though, Mattie!"

Matthew grunted under the force of impact, but being used to such hugs, he was able to stay on his feet. "You're welcome. P-Please get off now, you're crushing my ribs."

"Sorry bro." Alfred let go and moved to the door.

"Oh, and Alfred?" Matthew called after him. "Gil's going to come over tomorrow and we'll play that hockey match, alright?"

Alfred grimaced a bit, but he nodded. A promise was a promise, after all. He left the room and padded to his own, stopping for a moment by Arthur's door and smiling softly at it.