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Arthur loved the park during springtime – really, he did. Especially on afternoons like these, where it was warm and just a bit breezy, with clear skies and no humidity in the air. What he didn’t love were the countless couples on the trails, on the benches, in the middle of the pond for fuck’s sake, nuzzling and hugging and PDA-ing all over the place. But that didn’t mean that he was bitter about being single, and he was DEFINITELY not bitter about being broken up with 5 days before his birthday. He and Melanie had been planning a nice dinner date for him, and they had been together for almost a year, but he wasn’t bitter. That would be completely ridiculous! No, he just wanted a peaceful day in the park without all of these… distractions.
One man among those “distractions” was Alfred. He loudly joked and chatted with his girlfriend as they walked along, oblivious to everyone and everything else but themselves. This noise, together with all the other people at the park, only served to make Arthur more frustrated and annoyed. He had finally found an empty bench so that he could relax and read his book and this son of a bitch (whoever he or she was) comes and ruins his peace? Couldn’t he just be left alone for once? On his last nerve, he looked up to find the culprit. Seeing a man and a woman a ways down the trail that ran by the bench, Arthur flushed red with embarrassment. He couldn’t possibly confront such a happy looking couple, no matter how pissed off he was – that would be rude. He quickly looked back down at his book and pretended he hadn’t seen anything.
While Arthur was having his mini-crisis, Alfred finally looked up and his little bubble burst. Up a ways and off to the side of the trail was a beautiful stranger. Golden hair, big, green eyes (from what he could tell), and one of his favorite books in his hands – Fahrenheit 451. He felt his heart pang with joy (and maybe love?) at the sight. He kept staring as he and his girlfriend walked past the bench, not listening to her as she blabbered on about her day or whatever. Suddenly he felt guilty – he already had someone, so why was he looking at other people? He should respect his girlfriend, not treat her badly by ignoring her.
After what seemed like an eternity, Alfred tore his eyes away from the stranger and tried to listen to whatever it was his girlfriend was talking about now. But as much as he tried to look like a loving, attentive, and faithful boyfriend, he was making plans in the back of his mind. What’s the next day we can come here on a date? Not tomorrow, that’s too soon… two weeks? Three? I don’t know if I can wait that long… I just want to see whoever that was again… NO! BAD Alfred! BAD! Pay attention and stop being a dick! …Oh no, did she ask me something? She looks like she’s expecting an answer… Um…
“Yes?” Alfred answered tentatively. Immediately, his girlfriend frowned, looking like a petulant child.
“You weren’t listening to me at all, were you? Alfie, I thought you said you were gonna stop doing that!” She shoved him lightly, still pouting. “What were you thinking about this time?”
Alfred inwardly cringed at the nickname (he didn’t really like it all that much, but how could he tell her that when she looked so adorable while saying it?) and his mind went into panic mode. Don’t tell her the truth, don’t tell her the truth, don’t tell her the truth, she’ll be pissed, don’t tell her the truth, or I’ll be in trouble! Say something, not a stupid something, a smart something, just not the tru-
“I was um… thinking about how lucky I am to be here… with you… today… like this?” His girlfriend gave him a look that clearly said “both you and I know that was terrible and cheesy so out with it”. He sighed.
“Baby, Julia, I’m really sorry okay? It’s just… uni is really starting to get overwhelming, with finals coming up and everything. I guess I’m a little out of it.” Alfred was used to making up excuses for his fuck-ups by now, having been dating Julia for about a year. Her lips were still pursed like she didn’t buy his answer, but he kissed her forehead sweetly and her expression softened.
“Well, if that’s really it… I suppose I can forgive you,” she said, rolling her eyes but smiling just a tiny bit. Alfred smiled back, happy that another crisis had been averted due to his awesomely awesome diversion skills (of awesome (patent pending)).
“Come on, babe, you know you love me!”
“Shut up, you big loser!”
Both of them started laughing again and kept strolling along the trail, back to enjoying themselves and being painfully oblivious. Some time later, Arthur noticed that the noise was gone. He looked up to see an empty trail (but plenty of couples still almost swallowing each other everywhere) and he smiled to himself. Relaxing into the bench, he began reading again, as he hadn’t been able to concentrate when that… Alfred… had been near.
He was two-thirds of the way down the page when Arthur suddenly realized he hadn’t absorbed anything at all. Instead, he had been thinking about Alfred. Ugh. What an utterly loud and obnoxious man. No wonder his girlfriend gets upset with him – he probably goes off in his little dream world and ignores her all the time! Even the name “Alfred” sounds offensive. Al-fred. Alf-red. Oh god, what am I doing? He shook himself out of his thoughts and decided that it was a good time to head home where there were absolutely NO disgusting couples practically fucking in broad daylight. He could make himself some tea and curl up to read in the old armchair he found at a yard sale. Tea and a good book… yes, that sounds wonderful…
As Arthur made his way home, his thoughts kept drifting to Alfred and his overwhelming obnoxiousness. Every time this happened, he would tell his brain to shut up, stop thinking, and just focus on getting home without getting mugged or something. It was becoming a bit dark and the last thing he wanted was to be innocently walking home and end up in a strange alley the next morning with no memory of anything the night before. That kind of thing was common in his regrettable punk years, but he had since grown out of it.
At last, he reached his apartment building. When Arthur finally reached his room, number 934, exhaustion overwhelmed him out of nowhere. He went straight to his bedroom to change into some more comfortable clothes, then to the kitchen to make tea, and then he dropped into his armchair, Fahrenheit 451 in one hand and his mug of tea in the other. He cracked the book open to his bookmark and picked up where he had left off in the park, snuggling into the cushy chair.
It took several hours for sleep to wash over Arthur, but when it did, he fell asleep with a gentle smile on his face, dreaming of Alfred going up in flames just like the books…