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Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Finally, after months of waiting and saving up money for who knows how long, a new chapter in Alfred's life awaited him. One that would make his dream come true and one that would change his life to the better. He could already feel and smell the sweet sweet aroma of victory. Although the people who surrounded him, and the campus he walked on smelled more like grass and roasted beef. No one ever said that victory smelled like candy. For him it would rather smell like dirt, leather and clothes drenched in sweat once he'd make his dream come true of becoming a professional football player at the international worldstar sports university in London. 

It seemed too perfect to be true. 

It was nearly a perfect day. The sun was shining and slowly setting during the warm day in September but the 14 hour flight dragged him down. Before his flight, Alfred was sure he could take a nap at the airport during his layover and sleep during his flight but that wasn't the case, sadly. The plane was full and the seats were too small, making him feel like a sardine in a tin box. Sitting between two people gave him no room to lean on something or stretch his legs out. At least the ride in the Uber was more comfortable and he could get a quick rest. As much as he could with the pain in his neck and his back. 

That would be worth it though. The pain was just a small obstacle on the way to his greatness. 

It took him some time to find the right building of his dorm. The campus was quite large with multiple buildings spaced out in the area. Some were simple college buildings in which the normal lectures were taking place, some of them looked like gyms and others were the accommodations which he was looking for. 

The accommodations were outside the main campus and he had to walk there for about 40 minutes from the main entrance where he was left by the uber driver. If he had known where to go, he would've let the uber driver take him to the other side and he could've spared himself the long walk. 

Once he got his key at the administration office which he also had to find first, he excitedly and tiredly walked to his room which was on the seventh floor of a 10 story building. When he went inside, pulling his two large suitcases behind him with a big bag on his back, he whistled surprised at the look of his new room. "It's bigger than I thought it'd be," he said.

It was different than he imagined, more spacious at last. Two beds stood against the wall, in front of them two small desks with chairs, each for every student. Beside the beds a night stand and a wooden closet. There was plenty of room unlike what the picture on their website showed. He guessed he got one of the good rooms. It was definitely a sign that he was on the right track. 

The bed on the left side wasn't made yet and he figured he had to fetch some bed sheets from the shared stack downstairs. The other bed was already done and a guy his age was actively unpacking his belongings and seemed to be almost done with it. He stopped when Alfred walked in. 

"Hi! I'm Alfred. I guess we'll be sharing a room together." He pulled his suitcases aside and reached for the blond guy's hand to shake it. 

"I'm Arthur, a pleasure."

"It's so cool here, isn't it?" Alfred didn't await a response from the Brit. He threw his bag on the bed, relieving his tense back, and looked around once more. "I gotta tell my parents how cool it is. They thought it's gonna be nasty and old but it's surprisingly neat."

"They try their best to keep it clean. They've got a reputation to uphold — It's an elite university after all." He eyed him as Alfred flopped down on the bed and unzipped his bag. "You're American, aren't you?"

Alfred looked very proud and puffed his chest. "Yup! Born and raised in the best country in the world."

"How exciting," Arthur said with a sarcastic tone but Alfred didn't catch it.  

"But no need to be jealous, England is second best of course." He grinned and threw all of his stuff on the bed. 

"How come you're here in the second best country?" 

"I wanna become a professional football player and I thought going overseas would be an amazing opportunity." Alfred was too happy sharing his dream with others while Arthur packed his last thing away and sat down on the bed facing Alfred. "You see, I've never left my country before and even if I could study at a college in New York or something, being at an international school would look so much cooler on my resume." 

"That sounds nice. I'm also here to become a professional football player. I'm actually the captain of the team," Arthur said.

Alfred looked at his body and almost laughed in shock. The Brit was lean and didn't look as if he was built well enough to be playing football. "You are?" 

"I am. It's my second year and I became captain last year," he explained.

"How can you be captain?"

"I know it's surprising that a first year student becomes captain. I'm just good at-"

Alfred shook his head and cut him off. "No, I mean…you're far too skinny to even play football."

"I beg your pardon?" 

"I mean look at you." Alfred pointed with his hand at the Brit's body and Arthur looked down on himself with a confused glance. "You're gonna get hurt."

Alfred was genuinely worried about his safety. He looked like he would be thrown around on the field instead of the ball. Alfred doubted that Arthur would be even capable of pushing someone away. He'd get overlooked on the field and get stamped to the ground. 

"Me on the other hand, I am big and strong and have fairly good muscles," Alfred proudly said and showed off his muscles by flexing them. "Compared to my arms, yours look like noodles."

"Excuse me?" Arthur said, baffled. "My arms have nothing to do with football and they look just fine."

Alfred stood up from his bed and started to throw his clothes into the closet. He was too tired to fold them together and would do that another time. All he needed for now was his shampoo and some other products to make himself clean after the long flight.   

"I've played a lot of football in my free time and guys like you don't last long. You don't seem very strong to me."

"Oh I am strong, don't you worry," Arthur said and crossed his arms. 

"If they let guys like you play football here in England then it'll be far too easy for me. I'll become a football star in a few months." He laughed at his own joke, not noticing the contempt gaze Arthur was giving him. 

His phone rang through the room, scaring Alfred. He quickly pulled it out and loudly started talking with his mom. With the shampoo in his other hand, he walked out of the room, leaving his new roommate behind. He told his mom in full excitement about his new room while looking for the shared restrooms. 

It was all so new and amazing and he just couldn't await the next day when his training would finally begin. The next day would be the first step to greatness.

-

Something was wrong when Alfred stood on the field where his training should be. 

They handed him a green tricot but it didn't look like the ones they wore in football. It looked more like a green wifebeater with a number on it. The guys wore all shorts and there was a pile of soccer balls laying in a pallet cage. 

Arthur stood on the field looking like he was about to play soccer, but not football. With a confused mind, he went up to the coach who stood at the side looking down at his notes. 

"Coach, I think I'm on the wrong field. I'm supposed to play football," Alfred said. 

"This is football," the coach said without looking up at him.

"No, I mean American football."

"We don't have that here." He started to count the players on the field, pointing with his pen at them. 

"Of course you do. You have it on your webpage where I signed in," Alfred explained. 

"If there's a problem with your schedule, then discuss your issues with the headmaster," he said and yelled at the students for their attention. 

Alfred however left the training before it could even begin. 

When he came to the headmaster's office, he finally understood what went wrong. 

"Wait, does that mean I signed up for soccer and not football?" Alfred asked, horrified. 

All this time he was excited to come to England. All this time he has saved money for his trip and it was all for nothing! His whole purpose was to become a football player, not a soccer player.

"That's right," Mr. Vargas said. "You probably mixed it up because of the language barrier. Things like that can happen."

Alfred was more than just agitated. He was upset that he didn't know that it was called different in England, and he was upset that it was called different in England. "You really don't have football, uh, I mean American football?"

"We don't, but that's nothing to fret about." The Italian man looked over his computer and adjusted his glasses. "As I see, you signed up for 4 terms. That's a lot of time. I can offer you three options." He pulled his glasses off and folded them neatly together. Alfred hoped that it would be good options; hopefully one contained that they're going to open an American football course just for him. "You can either leave the academy and look for a school which has American football, change your sport if you don't like football or stick with it for the two years you are here."

It wasn't hard for him to make a decision. He wanted to leave. 

It wouldn’t make any sense staying and doing anything but what he came here for. It was upsetting of course. He spent a lot of money and waited months only to be at the wrong place. Why couldn't football be called football everywhere the same, it was just stupid. 

While he was packing Arthur came into their room and sat down on his chair beside the desk. He watched Alfred pack his clothes back into his large bag. 

"That's so awkward, isn't it? You tore your big mouth open, saying how great and amazing you are at football, only for it to be the wrong football." He chuckled with a taunting grin on his lips. "Not knowing that football is soccer is just so...stupid."

"Not everyone is familiar with your english slangs," Alfred threw in, fed up with that situation and feeling like shit. And Arthur being mean to him was irritating to the core.

"It's not slang, it's common sense. It's called football because you play it with your feet, hence football."

Alfred roughly squeezed in his belongings but the zipper wouldn't close, making Alfred even more frustrated and he tore on that thing until it closed. "I don't care. I don't need your stupid football. I will play real football." He looked at his complete work only to notice that he forgot his hair brush on his nightstand and grunted in frustration.  

"You couldn't play it even if you wanted to. Football requires more brain than physical strength. As an American you probably don't have a lot of brain muscle to begin with."

That was it. Arthur has really done it. Alfred was angry now. And that means a lot because Alfred can laugh about himself and take things easy but that went too far.

"I could play your stupid sport better than you if I wanted to. Football requires just as much brain as soccer, probably even more," Alfred said.

"I doubt it. You call a game football when you play it with your hands. It says everything about your country." Arthur sat with his leg above the other and leaned against the desk casually. 

It irritated Alfred how mockingly he talked about his country and he wouldn't let that slide. Not on his watch. "I'll show you that I'm not only better than you at soccer but also smarter than you." He came closer to Arthur and hovered above him, making him smaller, wanting to feel superior to him, to show him that he can't make fun of him and his country. "I'll beat you at your own game and you will take those words back. Every single one of them."

"Huh." Arthur stood up and stretched his hand out. "Fine. Let's see how good you'll be at training tomorrow." 

They stared at each other when Alfred shook his hand. Neither of them wanted to give in and look away or even blink. He squeezed the Brit's hand tighter to which Arthur did the same. Arthur's hand wasn't as strong as Alfred's and he saw in his eyes that it was painful. After a long second, Arthur pulled his hand away when Alfred's grip on him began to hurt. 

"Wanker," he muttered under his breath while Alfred felt a small victory. 

He'd feel the same when he wins against him at the training tomorrow. He doubted it's difficult to follow a ball over a field. It couldn't be harder than football. 

-

They didn't play any soccer, it was mostly warm ups. But Arthur made sure that Alfred would be miserable when doing them. 

While doing squats on the field, Alfred was faster than the other guys and grinned victoriously. Arthur however came up to him with a strict face.

"Do 20 more," he said.

"What? No, I won't." Squats weren't difficult but he wouldn't do more if he didn't need to. 

"Yes, you will," Arthur demanded and came face to face with him.

Alfred leaned down with a serious face. "I won't listen to you."

"Mr. Jones!" Alfred quickly straightened up again when his couch called him. 

"Yes, sir!"

"Do not call me sir and do as your captain tells you to," he said and went on looking over the other students who were not finished yet. 

Arthur grinned sly at him and kept on watching Alfred making his squats correct. 

The Brit continued to push him and demanded more. More situps than anyone else, running with high knees or doing a longer plank. It didn't matter how long or how fast Alf had to do it, he did it. He would never let Arthur see him as weak and look down upon him. Alfred would have the last laugh and he would laugh loud. Very loud. So loud that the Brit’s ancestors would hear him and that Arthur would hear it in his nightmares. 

Especially when Arthur demanded from him to run two more rounds when they already did 12. 

"I did enough,” Alfred said. He was tired and second, he was already behind everyone and had to keep up with the warm up. 

"What is wrong, Alfred, are you tired? Aren't you the one who said that you're better than guys like me?"

"That's not how I said it," Alfred mumbled.

"Running is the most important thing in football and American football. If you're already tired then I doubt you're good at any of those sports," he taunted him and Alfred groaned annoyed. 

"Ass..."

He kept on running and to his surprise he picked up to another student who was coughing and wheezing heavily in front of him. The poor fella was even skinnier than Arthur and had a lot of trouble running. He met him briefly in the changing room. He was so lively and smiley and Alfred found out that he was the grandson of the dean. Now, Feliciano was dying while running his laps. Alfred ran past him to finish his workout. He doubted he could help him.  

Next was the practice of dribbling the ball around flat cones and that was not as easy as Alfred thought it'd be. The ball slipped away from him when he kicked too hard and he stepped on the flat cones, moving them away accidentally. On top of that, Arthur stole his ball while he was doing that, telling him that he wasn't protecting his ball correctly. It was his first time doing that practice and Arthur had the audacity to mock him, and only him. 

"Captain really hates you," Feliciano said, who was almost dying while running earlier.

"He's an asshole." 

"He's scary. I was too scared to say 'hello' to him today," he mumbled and tugged on his tricot. "I'll give you some important advice. It's ok to give up if it's too much."

"I can't do that. It's about my honor and I can't give him the satisfaction of winning." He watched Arthur and squinted his eyes at him. 

The last practice of the day was to shoot the soccer ball into the goal one by one. His aiming was great and Alfred was finally able to show off a little more after the tiring training. Even the coach was satisfied with his performance.

"Well done, Mr. Jones. It looks like you get used to the real football."

Alfred laughed but in his head he thought that it wasn't the real football. "Yeah, it's not that bad."

"Arthur really pushed you to your limits and I'm surprised you didn't break down."

"I'm very tough, I can handle anything," he said proudly. Alfred was very proud of himself for making it through the training and looked over at Arthur with a smirk. 

"Can we count on you to stay?" the coach asked.

"Oh, um..." Alfred was unsure about that. He only wanted to show Arthur that he was better than him. He took on everything he told him and did it perfectly. The only thing that made him trouble was the dribbling but that was completely new for him. 

"The last ones are done," Arthur said when he jogged up to them when the students started to pack up.

The coach nodded. "Good, we're done for today. Also, it seems that your strong hold on Alfred did good to him." He looked over at Alfred to address him. "If you continue like that, you could be as good as Arthur in no time."

"Oh really? Thanks," he said in a sweet tone and smiled at Arthur mischievously. Making the Brit realize that he was indeed amazing and even the coach saw potential in him for being better than Arthur. 

Arthur wanted Alfred to break down but it had the opposite effect on him. 

The coach went away, leaving the two alone. 

"I guess I am good, huh? You know what to do," he said and awaited an apology.

"Don't get too excited," Arthur said instead. "We haven't played the real game yet."

Alfred wasn't sure if it was a good idea to stay only to be better than an evil Brit in a sport he never played before. But he decided to do so. He was still studying abroad and could brag about it. He didn't need to stay long and one year would be enough until he catched on with a school who actually would bring him closer to his dream career. Until then, he had to win against Arthur and show him that he was better than him.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Who would have thought that being great at the training just once would spare Alfred from the hardships of it and kick start his new healthy life? 

Alfred did. 

And he was wrong. 

His first training might have gone well but he woke up with the worst sore muscles he ever had. His neck pain from the flight and the jet lag have felt like kitten bites compared to what he felt for the entirety of the following week. 

At the end of his first week, he felt exhausted. He just wanted to curl up in his bed and sleep for a whole month. He fell asleep so fast, he couldn't even remember how he got under his bed or what Arthur was doing either. Not that he was curious about it either way. He tried to ignore him when they were in the room together. Arthur annoyed him on the field all the time and Alfred didn't need that in his room as well. It was more than strange to sleep in one room with a boy that hates you.  

The sleep he got was however way too short. He fell asleep and in the next moment he got woken up by the loudest and gruesomest noise he had ever heard. It scared him out of his bed and down to the floor. 

His body ached in pain and he rubbed his head which hit the floor a little bit too hard. Someone in the room laughed and it confused him when he heard more than just one laughter. 

"Are you good?" Someone asked and nudged him with their foot. 

There were three guys dressed in black in his room and he knew none of them. 

"What the fuck?" Alfred said half asleep, not able to think properly. 

"Come outside to the old tower," the guy said.

"Huh?"

Another one came around them and helped Alfred to stand up. "Just follow us. Trust me, it's gonna be fun."

He looked around his room to find Arthur, because he knew it must have had to do something with him. He was sure it was some sort of a prank but he was nowhere to be seen. 

Alfred followed the guys outside and out of the campus in his gray shorts and the funniest shirt he ever bought himself. Even the guys smirked at him when they read ‘Two Seater’ on the black front with two arrows — one pointing towards his face and the other at his crotch. 

There was a river flowing close by and they stood by an old tower. He stood with some other guys next to it and the boys all in black faced them. 

"Welcome newbies," one of the boys in black said. "I bet you're all wondering why you're here and what we want from you. It is tradition at our uni to let the first years go through a bravery test. It's a simple test and if you pass it, then you're accepted into our wonderful community."

"And if not?" Someone from Alfred's side asked.

"You gotta wear a maid dress for a whole week."

The guy next to him laughed and the boy in black smirked. "The test is behind you. Jump from the tower into the water."

It didn't look too difficult. However, no one knew how deep the water was. On top of that, it was dark and cold and he'd be soaking wet.

It sounded fun though. 

They climbed the tower one by one and three boys in black led the way up, making sure everyone would jump once they arrived. 

When it was his turn to climb the tower and jump down, he realized how scary it actually was. The tower was higher than it looked and there was no telling where the water began. The only thing that made him hesitate to jump was when he noticed Feliciano beside him trembling and holding on to his dear life at the wall of the tower. 

There wasn't a lot of room inside and others had to wait on the outside or downstairs. 

"You can do it. Just close your eyes and let yourself fall," a brown haired guy said to Feli. 

But Feliciano only shook his head and seemed close to tears. "I can't"

Alfred scooted over to them, wanting to help his classmate. "It's really not that bad. It's, ya know, dark and cold, and you can't see anything."

Feliciano whimpered and put his hand over his face.

"You're not making it any better," the guy said.

"Sorry."

"I wouldn't mind wearing a dress," Feli said. "But I can't do that in front of grandpa, he'll know I'm a loser."

Alfred looked at the three guys in black who stood in the back. One of them was Arthur. Maybe he could make Arthur change his mind about Feli. He was his captain after all but somehow Alfred doubted that Arthur would be so kind. He could still try for Feli's sake. 

"This guy can't swim, can he do something else instead?" Alfred asked them. 

"Not really, no," a guy beside Arthur answered. 

"Guess he's gonna wear a dress," another one beside him snickered. 

"Come one, guys. You can't expect him to do something he can't. It's like telling a fish to climb a tree," Alfred said. 

"If you're so keen to help him out, then we could spare him," Arthur said and came closer to Alfred.

Alfred had mixed feelings about this. He was glad it worked, it's what he wanted but it was too easy, especially when Arthur was the one to spare him. It only meant the worst for Alfred.

Arthur’s eyes gazed slightly over the American’s shirt but he didn’t laugh about it. Not even a light smirk. Alfred guessed the Brit had no sense of humor. 

"You'll have to take the test for both of you."

"I have to jump for both of us?"

"You have to do another task that doubles the risk and bravery," Arthur explained. 

Alfred looked back at the trembling Feli and his whiny eyes. He could have said no and just think of himself, not taking anything that Arthur tells him to. However, Feli reminded him of himself when he was younger and if he would say no to Arthur, it would give him another reason to mock him. Mock him that he wasn't brave enough to take on a bravery test. 

"So, are you brave enough to do anything I tell you?" 

"Of course I am," Alfred said determinedly. He'd do the task and rub it into Arthur's face. 

"Me, too," the brown haired guy said and placed himself beside Alfred.

"Huh?"

"If it takes double the bravery, then it needs double the people, doesn't it?" 

Arthur didn't look pleased about it but didn't say anything about that matter. "Fine. You have to sneak into Mr. Vargas' house and take a picture of him sleeping. But beware, his dog isn't friendly."

-

"You don't have to do that, you know," Alfred said to the guy who he found out was called Jake and who was from Australia.

"I know but I don't want you to do that all alone. Also the bravery test is way too easy for me," Jake said when they walked along the street. 

"That's what I thought too." Alfred laughed. "I mean, yes, it is scary to jump into dark water but it's not like I can't swim."

"Right? And I'm in the swimming team, it's like any other training for me."

"They're not really imaginative," Alfred said and slowly approached the headmaster's house. "But that's gonna be tough. We could get bitten by the dog."

"Or get expelled from uni," Jake said and they looked at each other unsure. 

They went through the gate and listened and looked carefully but there was no dog yet to be seen. At first Feliciano wanted to help them but Alfred thought it's gonna be cheating and he didn't need Arthur to think that he was cheating. It would only mean that he needed help in this test and he can't have Arthur think that he needs help for something like this. Quietly they sneaked to the front door and looked for keys but there were none. They went around the house and looked under the doormat at the backdoor and found it. 

"That's too easy," Alfred whispered and picked up the keys. 

A growl sounded next to them and they turned around to see a large black dog coming around the corner. 

"Oh dang," Jake muttered and the dog began to bark at them. 

Alfred didn't hesitate in his movements, he didn't want to end up as dog food and sprinted with Jake around the house again and out of the dog's sight. 

The dog chased them and the boys quickly climbed up a tree. The dog tried to jump and bite their feet to which he almost got Jake's when he was the last one to climb up the tree. 

The feline was going around the tree, looking up at them and barking towards them way too loud, making Alfred fear that Mr. Vargas could wake up from all that noise. 

The tree wasn't big and they clung to it like their life depended on it. Which it did. 

It was close to the house and Alfred noticed an open window close by. 

"Distract the dog, I'll go through the window," Alfred whispered to him. 

"How am I supposed to do that?" 

"I don't know, somehow, and make him stop barking, he's too loud."

"Make him stop barking," Jake repeated, a bit annoyed. "Oh man." 

Alfred climbed carefully along the thin branch and the dog followed him. 

Jake jumped down the tree which grabbed the dog's attention and he fled across the garden. The American quickly jumped down, ran over to the window and climbed up and into the house. 

It was dark and he pulled out his phone to shine through the house. There was a lot of stuff in there and it smelled of old people. He found some very interesting sculptures and lots of paintings on the walls. 

When he finally found Mr. Vargas' bedroom, he almost laughed when he saw him sleeping in a funny position. His hands were above his head and clutching over his face while his legs were looking like he was jumping like a ballerina. 

He took the picture and turned around to leave but stumbled against something that fell down with a loud crash.

That noise made the headmaster grunt and wake up and Alfred quickly fell to the floor and hid under the bed when Mr. Vargas suddenly stood up from the bed, hearing his dog bark in the garden and opened the window. 

"Brutus!" he yelled but the dog didn't come. Mr. Vargas groaned and walked out of his room.

Alfred crawled out and got up. He looked through the window to catch a glimpse of Jake and saw a shadow climbing along the wall. Alfred waved him over and helped him get into the house without the dog biting him. 

"We have to leave, the dean is awake," Alfred said and they ran out of the room and into the living room. 

But they stopped when they heard the headmaster coming their way. Alfred hid behind the couch while Jake got behind a curtain. Alfred thought he would walk through but he stopped there and his heart sunk into his pants when he spoke. 

"Who's there?" 

If Mr. Vargas catched them, they could get expelled for something that stupid. And if he did, Alfred would take Arthur with him into the grave because it was his idea. 

Slow footsteps were coming around the couch and Alfred saw Jake's hand making a motion for him to move. He crawled silently and quickly around the couch and it was harder than he thought. It always looked so easy in movies but he was holding his breath and tried to be fast and quiet at the same time while unable to see Mr. Vargas. What if he already saw his legs or heard him breathing in the silent room?

While Alfred was busy crawling away, Jake also moved but behind a tall sculpture that stood right by the curtain. Mr. Vargas went up to the curtain when he saw it move in the dark and opened it but there was no one there. 

"Hmm." 

Alfred never thought he would hear his heartbeat so loud against his ears. He feared that Mr. Vargas would hear that as well but he luckily didn't and Alfred saw a shadow walk out of the living room. 

The boys quickly got out of their hiding place and sneaked out of the back door and ran through the garden. The dog barked somewhere else and they made it safely out of the dean's property. 

"Did you get the picture?" Jake asked as they ran down the street.

Alfred started to laugh out of breath and shook his phone in his hand.

If his parents knew what kind of criminal acts he did only because of a guy, they'd slap him. 

-

Alfred proudly presented the picture to the boys in black, pissing Arthur off. It was truly magical to see Arthur angry and irritated.

"I did my task. Are we a part of your community now?" 

The boys nodded and Feli gave Alfred and Jake a tight squeeze. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, you really saved me!" the Italian boy said happily. 

"It was fun actually, don't you think so?" Alfred asked Jake.

"Of course. If almost getting eaten by a dog sounds fun to you."

Alfred laughed and looked over at Arthur. He wanted to rub it under his nose a little bit more. "You didn't think I'd be able to do that, huh?" He came closer to him and put his hands victoriously on his hips. "I can do anything, no matter how difficult it might be. I am just amazing."

"You had help with that task. I did it last year all alone. With no help and much faster. You can ask anyone," Arthur said and Alfred's good mood slowly fell. "You really thought you're better than me, eh? You'll never be." The Brit smirked and turned around to leave. 

There was no way he did that all alone and didn't get bitten by the dog or got catched by Mr. Vargas. He wanted to be the one to piss Arthur off but now he was the one who was irritated by him. Him and his stupid smirk, him and his stupid face with those stupid fat eyebrows. But that wasn't the end of it. He'll be the one who's gonna laugh last.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3

Normally, workout and sport gave Alfred some sort of push and joy. It took a while to get used to it when he started with it a couple of years ago but it was very much embarked into his daily routine. As long as he didn't have any cheat days, then it would just go downhill and he could start anew, and that was much more difficult to overcome. The daily workout during his training was great to stay in shape, which he needed a lot. The more he worked out, the more he could eat the things he liked. The only thing that bothered him however was soccer on its own. 

He never looked up the rules of the game, thinking he could figure it out while playing. To which he accidentally took American football logic and ran someone over while trying to get the ball. His teammates were annoyed with him even though he might have been good at kicking. Holding the ball and dribbling was however hard for him. 

"Ciao, Alfredo," Feliciano chirped beside him when training was over.

"Just Al is enough, what's up?" He wiped his forehead with a hand towel which laid above his shoulder. 

"I noticed that you have some troubles with the game."

Alfred shook his head and chuckled. "Nah, I'm fine. I'll get the hang of this."

"Are you sure? I can help you if you want," Feli said. "Help you to find your coordination and not trip over the ball."

"Oh, well." He shrugged, hating to admit that he had trouble with it. But hating it even more when Arthur saw him having trouble.

"You helped me with the bravery test and I'll help you with football." Feli smiled and awaited Alfred's answer. 

The Italian didn't have the best stamina but he was fairly good at the game. He also didn't judge him, and getting some coaching would do good for him. As long as Arthur wouldn't notice. He can't have the Brit know that he needed help. 

"Why not? We could train a bit together. Could be fun."

"Great! After classes then?"

"Maybe, 10 p.m.? I don't need Arthur to know about this, ok? Let's keep it a secret," Alfred said and winked.

Feliciano nodded eagerly and grinned. 

- 

They spent a couple of nights together, practising their skills and playing football while Arthur was asleep in his room. Feliciano tried his best to explain to Alfred the rules and some tricks but he was sadly not the best teacher. Most of the time, Alfred would stand there and try to figure out what exactly he meant until Feli would show him. However, it was the only thing he could get at the moment. 

After one of their training sessions, they strolled down the hallway in their school, a shortcut through the building instead of walking around it. 

"You're getting better. You just need a little more practice to control the ball," Feliciano said beside him while Alfred played with the soccer ball in his hands.  "And practice your team play. And don't forget the rules-"

"I know, I know, no pushing people. But my coordination is getting better, look." 

Alfred kicked the ball up to his knee, trying to hold it up there until he switched his leg and kicked it on the other knee. He switched his leg again and kicked the ball with his heel into the air. He did that a few times until the ball got out of his control. He kicked the ball too hard in order to get it into the air again but it flew against a glass shelf instead. 

Tiny cracks formed on the entire glass front. Alfred stared in shock and looked over at Feli who covered his mouth with his hand. The trophies and medals that stood in the shelf were not seen anymore behind the cracking glass.

"It doesn't look too bad-" 

Before Alfred could end his sentence, the glass broke down in tiny pieces to the floor. 

"Run!" Feli screamed and was already at the end of the hallway. 

Alfred panicked and ran from the crime scene.

-

The next morning, everybody knew about it but no one knew who the culprit was. Mr. Vargas, however, was pretty sure that it was one of the football players.

"One of you broke the glass shelf with all our prices inside," The dean said while holding the ball which Alfred forgot to pick up in panic. "Who was it?"

Nobody spoke and Alfred squeezed Feli's arm tighter and tighter the more Feliciano was about to cry and expose them. 

"Nobody?" Mr. Vargas looked through the team and kept on eyeing each and every one while their coach shook his head in disappointment beside him. "The prices are unharmed and I'm only mad about the glass. Better speak up now."

Feliciano scooted behind Alfred when the eyes of his grandpa were about to meet him. Alfred had no idea why Feli was so scared of it, it wasn't his fault. Alfred was the one who would get into trouble. 

"Good, I'll believe you for now. But if I find out who it was, that person will have to run 100 laps around the field," he said. 

Alfred was fucked. 

He really hoped that Mr. Varagas would forget about it and just brush it off as an accident or a mystery that can't be unraveled. Alfred didn't need the humility of running 100 laps, god knows how long that would take and how sore his legs and feet would be after that marathon. 

Alfred would just act as if he knew nothing. Absolutely nothing, he was innocent and had nothing to do with that crime.

"It was you wasn't it?"

Fucking hell. "What are you talking about?" Alfred asked his roommate when he got inside his room. While having his lectures, he was able to calm himself down and stop thinking about it but Arthur had to start a conversation with him. Why couldn't he just ignore him like he always did. 

"You broke the glass shelf, didn't you?" Arthur asked again and eyed Alfred from his desk as the American threw his bag back on his chair next to Arthur. 

"Nope." 

"You went to practise with Feliciano last night, and you came back awfully late." 

Arthur played with a yoyo in his hands and spun it out on the floor. 

"I was here the whole time, sleeping like a baby," Alfred said and turned to his closet to grab his shampoo. 

"So, I saw a ghost leaving the room last night with a football in their hands?" 

Shit. "Yeah, you probably have schizophrenia."

"And my schizophrenia took your ball and broke the glass shelf?" He laid the yoyo down on the desk after spinning it out one last time. 

"That’s not my ball and if your schizophrenia is stealing things, you might have to think about going to a psych ward," Alfred said and wanted to walk out of the door, leaving this conversation. Arthur knew too much but he had no alibi or proof that it was him. 

"You can't fool me, Alfred," Arthur said and put his leg on top of the other. "I'll tell the dean that it was you."

"No, you won't, 'cause it wasn't me."

"It was your ball which you carried around when you started to sneak out of the room at night. Do you really think Feliciano has the guts to lie to his own grandfather?" 

They glared at another and Alfred knew that Arthur would not give up. He believed that Arthur would snitch on him and make him suffer. Arthur would probably watch him run the 100 laps and be delighted in his misery. It was disgusting how much the Brit liked to torture him. 

"Is there any possibility that deep down in your black soul, you have some kind of compassion and won't be an asshole for once?" Alfred asked and came closer to their desks, placing his shampoo on his desk and leaning against it. 

"I do have compassion but not for you," Arthur said and stood up but Alfred blocked his way before he could even take a step towards the door. 

"I know you're an asshole but you could at least try to act nice."

"I could do that, yes, but I don't want to," Arthur shook his head as if he had thought about the possibility of being nice which Alfred doubted. "Uh, well maybe... some compensation would be nice."

That was just great. He wanted him to suffer even more. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hm...you could wash my clothes, buy me snacks, live by my rules in our room..." Arthur said while thinking about more possibilities.

"You want me to be your personal servant?" 

"If you put it like that."  

Alfred sighed, kinda angry at himself for being so careless around Arthur. Now he was stuck in that stupid situation for god knows how long. "As long as you won't tell the dean."

"Good. Now, prove me your loyalty." The Brit smirked overconfident. 

"Do what now?" Alfred asked, perplexed.

"Kneel." 

Alfred stared at Arthur who crossed his arms and patiently waited for Alfred to obey. It was very clear to Alfred that Arthur just wanted to humiliate him, to break him, to make him smaller than he was. Suddenly, the 100 laps sounded way more pleasant than being Arthur’s dog.

"I'm not gonna do that."

"I guess Mr. Vargas would also love to know who broke into his house two weeks ago."

That little asshole. Running 100 laps was one thing but getting exposed for getting into his house was another. That was a crime on its own.

Alfred had no other choice but to kneel. His pride didn't want to let him but he slowly got on one knee and then the other while Arthur was watching him with that same smirk. He's never felt that ashamed before and a lot of things had happened to him during his school years. 

"From this day on, you should call me your master," Arthur said. 

"I thought I'm your servant, not your slave?"

"Where's the difference?" Arthur breathed out a short laugh. "So, will you call me master?" 

"Ok..." Alfred mumbled while looking down.

Arthur grabbed his cheeks and made him look up. "Ok, what?"

"Ok....master," Alfred said slowly. The word master came difficult over his tongue and he wanted to puke once he said that. Seriously, what was wrong with that Brit? 

"Good boy." Arthur let go of his cheeks and Alfred rubbed them with a disgusted look towards the older one.

"Do you want a collar and a leash for me, too?" Alfred asked in a sarcastic tone. 

"Not a bad idea."

"You're a freak," Alfred commented to which Arthur only chuckled.

"How did you know? I was so subtle about it."

-

The canteen was full with students who rushed to eat. Alfred would normally sit with Jake or Feliciano but this time he had to sit beside Arthur and make sure that he got the exact things he wanted for breakfast. However, the hardboiled eggs he wanted were out and he came back without any. 

"Where are my eggs?"

Alfred would've loved to say something funny but not today, sadly. "There were no left."

"Then wait and get them," Arthur ordered.

"I won't wait until they make new ones. I wanna eat, too," Alfred complained.

Arthur laid his hand on top of Alfred's thigh and squeezed it while coming awfully close. "Alfred, dear. Did you forget that you're supposed to do what I tell you?"

This closeness made him more than just uncomfortable and he wanted him to go away, others could think something else, something he didn't need them to think about him and Arthur. 

"You're too close."

"And you're close to running 100 laps," he whispered into his ear, which made him shudder and he quickly got up. 

He took his tray with him and ate while standing by the counter and waiting for the eggs. The lady behind the counter looked funny at him and he tried to smile but there was no reason to.

He had to wash Arthur's clothes and dry them. Then got a complaint because he washed it the wrong way. He never thought there could be a wrong way to wash them but when he saw one of his sweaters five times smaller, he broke out into a fit of laughter. 

During their nights, Alfred who wanted to study got told by Arthur to go to sleep. To which Alfred had to take his laptop under his bedsheet to do his homework. He wasn't allowed to eat at his desk anymore too because the crumbs got on Arthur's desk as well. When he got a call from his mom, he had to go out because he was too loud and Arthur demanded from Alfred to clean the room daily because Alfred liked to throw his clothes everywhere around. Just because there were some clothes on the floor, didn't mean that it was dirty. 

When they trained, Alfred had to pull all the things out on his own and clean the field after their training as well. Feli wanted to help but Arthur wanted Alfred to do it alone to strengthen his team play. It didn't make any sense but the coach didn't say anything either. 

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Feliciano asked.

"I'll be fine," Alfred said when he picked up the flat cones and put them into the box where they were stacked neatly together. 

Arthur came up to him and handed him another box. "They need to be untangled until tomorrow. You should start now." 

Alfred looked down into the box that was filled with skipping ropes. He couldn't even count how many there were inside, probably as many as there were players in the soccer team, maybe even more. 

The Brit looked over at Feli who ducked under his serious gaze and quickly wandered off. 

"Also, it would be nice if you could get some snacks. Tonight is a football game and I'd like to watch it," Arthur said and came closer, too close for Alfred's liking once again. "Don't worry, I'll give you money to buy it. I'm not a monster."

Alfred let out a short breathy laugh, thinking that Arthur was more than just a monster. "Fine."

"Fine, what?"

The American rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine, master," he whispered. Too embarrassed to say it out loud when anyone could hear them. 

Arthur smirked. He was enjoying himself, feeling the power he had over Alfred. 

-

One and a half week later, Alfred was carrying a basket full of tricot laundry towards the laundry room. Arthur walked in front of him and played with his yoyo.

"After you've washed the clothes, dry them. You forgot it last time," Arthur said. 

"I know."

Arthur looked back at him with his scrunched up eyebrows and Alfred quickly added a: "Master." 

"Change the bedsheets and sweep the floor. Especially your side, you ate too much crisps," Arthur continued when they strolled along the corridor of their accommodation.  

It was a lot of chores but Alfred was glad that he didn't have to give him a foot massage yet. 

Arthur continued to do various tricks with his yoyo and spun it to the side then repeated the trick hastily. The toy was spinning widely and Alfred kept a safe distance in case the Brit decided to hit him with it and mark him with the bruise. On the second time, the yoyo spun too far and the rope slipped through Arthur’s fingers. It dashed through the window, breaking the glass and landed after a few seconds with a thud on something metallic. Possibly a trash can. 

Both boys gasped when they saw the little hole in the window. They looked at each other in disbelief. No one saw that except Alfred. 

"You have no power anymore," Alfred whispered.

"Wait, no-"

"We're quit," Alfred kept on saying with wide eyes.

"Alfred-"

"I'm gonna expose you, if you expose me." A grin spread on Alfred's face and he threw the basket on the floor. "You're on your own now, motherfucker!" he proclaimed with relief and flicked both of his middlefingers towards Arthur and walked backwards. 

He never knew, he would feel such a relief after all that torture. However, his victory didn't last long when he was called into the dean's office.

"It wasn't my fault, I didn't smash the window," Alfred said. Mr. Vargas suspected them both but as long as Alfred didn't expose Arthur, Arthur couldn't expose him. 

"Mr. Vargas-" Arthur tried to say but the Italian cut him off. 

"That might be true. Arthur broke the window, I already know that, but you broke the shelf."

"It wasn't me," Alfred said blankly. He couldn't know that. How should he know that? Arthur had no time to tell him that. 

"We have camera footage, Alfred. It's very clear that it was you."

"Oh." Shit. 

"You know what that means, right?"

Arthur snickered beside him for getting the punishment of running 100 laps.

"The same applies for you, too, Mr. Kirkland."

The Brit's smile quickly fell. "Huh?"

"Ha!" Alfred exclaimed, making Arthur jump at his loud outburst. 

He wasn't the only one who had to suffer through this. It made him feel so much better. Arthur couldn't mock him about this, he couldn't make any comments about his situation. Both of them were in that together. 

-

It was as painful as Alfred had imagined it. His legs were tired, and his feet were numb but there was something good in all of this while they were running during the sunset. 

"You know what makes running the 100 laps easier and more fun?" he asked when he ran beside Arthur who was completely red in his face. "That's my 40th lap and it's only your 38th. I'm faster than you!" He laughed in victory and ran past him. "Eat my dust!"

"You wanker," Arthur mumbled between his teeth and tried to keep up with Alfred who started to sprint and laugh loudly to get out of Arthur's reach. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

The more time Alfred spent with Arthur in one room, the more he understood the struggle his cousin had with his five siblings with two of whom he had to share a room with. Alfred never had to share a room before unless his cousins would sleep over but it was never more than one night. He wasn't sure if it was just Arthur or just the general experience of sharing a room with someone but he had absolutely no privacy and freedom and it annoyed him to the core. 

"Can you turn the lights off already?" Alfred asked while struggling to fall asleep.

"I'm reading," Arthur answered beside him, not caring about his struggle.

"I want to sleep."

"Sleep then."

Alfred sat up on his elbow and turned towards Arthur with a scowl. "I can't sleep with the lights on. And if I'm not gonna sleep now, I won't be able to sleep until 3 a.m. And at 6 your fucking alarm goes off, and if that goes off, Im not able to fall asleep anymore. And I don't wanna go to the training with only 3 hours of sleep." 

"Cry me a river," Arthur said nonchalantly, which angered Alfred even more. 

To which Alfred turned off the big light, with the switch that also laid at his side of the wall. He turned over and cuddled into his blanket but groaned when the light got turned on again. He turned around once more and turned the light off but Arthur turned the light on, on his side of the bed. 

"I can do this all night until I finish the chapter," Arthur said and glared at the American.  

"You're a jerk."

"Well, I'm not the one who talks loudly over five hours into the night with their parents on the phone."

"There's a time difference and I'm only doing it on the weekends."

"And I'd like to sleep on the weekends and not be bothered with blank conversations." He raised his thick eyebrows at him. "You wanna talk more or try to sleep?"

Alfred switched off the light and turned around. "Use your fucking phone."

The light shone through his closed eyes once again when Arthur turned the switch. With a groan, Alfred put the blanket over his head. 

-

A loud crash awoke Alfred from his slumber. He didn't hesitate a second and pulled out his metal pipe from underneath his pillow and stood up on the bed ready to beat anyone who got close to him. 

There was a groan on the floor and he switched the light on.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Arthur complained on the floor as he looked at the wooden stick that had slapped against his kneecaps in the dark of the night. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Kill you? No, you obviously tried to kill me by going to my side," Alfred explained, holding tight on to his pipe which he had found loose in the shower rooms. 

"Your side? This is my side." Arthur gestured with his hands around him and spotted Alfred's clothes laying on his side. "And you have thrown your things on my side again.”

Arthur kicked his clothes out of his way, over the imaginary line onto Alfred's side. 

"Hey, leave them be," Alfred said and pointed his pipe at him. 

"You always do that crap. Stop throwing your stuff on my side just because you can't keep your side clean!"

"Don't change the subject, why were you awake?" Alfred asked suspiciously. 

"I wanted water, you wanker!" Arthur glared at him and walked over to his desk to pick up his water bottle. 

"Yeah, sure, you probably wanted to suffocate me." Alfred jumped down on his bed and put his pipe away. He needed a new plan on how to keep himself safe from Arthur. He knew that trap now. 

"Is that why you set up a trap? You wanted to kill me before I killed you?" 

Alfred was silent, not answering something so obvious. The Brit scoffed with a headshake, muttering under his breath some profanities and drank out of the bottle. 

"That's my bottle," Alfred said. 

Arthur scrunched up his eyebrows and turned the bottle around only to find Alfred's name written on it. "Why the hell does it stand on my desk?" 

"It's not your desk, it's mine."

"Where do you see that? The split is right here!" Arthur argued and showed with his hand the small gap between the two tables.

"But the line goes here." Alfred stood up and showed him where the imaginary line was. It split their room in half, unfortunately, it split Arthur's desk in two and one half laid on Alfred's side. 

"That doesn't count, these are tables," Arthur said.

"That's stupid. The line goes here, and so your table is also my table," Alfred argued. 

"That doesn't make any sense, you buffoon!" 

It wasn't the first night they called each other names or argued about seemingly pointless things that could be easily resolved but it was the first night for Alfred to take the next step. 

"I am so done living with you! You complain that my stuff is on your side, then complain when my stuff is on my side, what the fuck!" 

"Because you're a bloody moron."

"That's it, you did it. Again!" Alfred picked up his bag and some clothes from his closet.

He was fed up with Arthur’s constant complaints and his constant rudeness towards him. Instead of ignoring Alfred, the Brit would purposely nag on him and Alfred wouldn't take that any longer. If he would act like an asshole for the whole year, then he'd refuse to live with him any longer. 

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm leaving you!"

"So mature of you," Arthur said in a sarcastic tone. "Following some simple rules is too much for you!" 

Alfred stormed out of the room and decided to crash on the couch in the common area. He wouldn't go back there, not ever again.

-

"I really need to change rooms, please," Alfred begged Mr. Vargas in his office.

"There's not a lot that I can do for you. Every room was already assigned and I can't just rearrange everything for one person," the Italian said. "Why don't you try to get along with each other, it's only for a year."

"It's not possible. Please, I even take the couch in the common room if I have to." He leaned on the desk, wanting the dean to help him somehow and give him the possibility to get away from Arthur. 

Mr. Vargas sighed when Alfred pouted and put his hands together like a prayer. "Try to find someone who's willing to switch with you."

Alfred's eyes perked up and he nodded eagerly. "Will do."

-

"You wouldn't know anyone who's roommate is an asshole and would want to switch rooms with me?" Alfred asked Feliciano during their training of running 10 laps. 

"Uh, not really, why?"

"I had a fight with Arthur."

"But you always fight," Feli said, panting and sweating with a red face while he got 9 more laps to go. 

"This time, it's serious. I walked out and won't go back in except to take my things and move to another room."

"It does sound serious...I could ask my roommate if he'll switch with you."

"You would do that?" Alfred asked, surprised. 

"Yeah, we could be roommates. It would be so much fun!" 

Out of happiness, Alfred hugged Feliciano and they accidentally stumbled to the side and lost their balance. Before they could fall Alfred let go of the boy and Feli fell alone to the ground. 

"Ow..."

"Sorry, dude."

-

He was finally free from Arthur's tyranny, at least in their own room. That was however more than enough. The Brit watched him as he packed his belongings with a high nose. But Alfred knew better than to believe that it didn't affect him in the slightest. Alfred wanted him to feel pain and guilt, crying that he lost the best roommate he could ever have but failed at keeping him because he was an asshole. 

Feliciano was helping him move and held his suitcases while Alfred carried his large bag over his shoulder and looked one more time across the room to make sure he didn't leave anything behind. Or else it's gonna have to stay here because he won't come back for it. 

It looked pathetic when Arthur sat at his desk in a half empty room but it will soon be filled again with Feli's roommate. 

"May you have mercy on your next roommate. I'll pray for him," Alfred said. 

"And I'll pray for your next roommate to be worse than yourself." Arthur crossed his legs.

Alfred fake laughed. "Not possible. I am perfect. But do you know what's possible? Me praying for your downfall."

"I'll pray for you to become dumber than you already are, oh wait, that's not possible, you're already as dumb as it gets."

"I'll pray for your tea to get awfully bitter," Alfred said and came closer. 

Arthur stood up from his seat to be on Alfred's height even if he was visibly smaller. "I'll pray for your teeth to fall out."

"And I'll pray for your pants to be on fire."

They kept on coming closer to each other and stopped merrily inches away. 

"I'll pray for you to choke on your hamburger."

"I'll pray for you to drown in your own tea." 

"You can't pray on things like that," Feliciano said behind Alfred. 

"Are you sure?" Alfred asked.

Arthur crossed his arms again and glared at Feliciano as well. "How would you know?"

"I'm catholic and go to church every Sunday," Feli explained. 

"Maybe you should do that, too," Arthur said towards Alfred. "Cleanse your soul."

"I'd say the same thing to you but can't, the demon that you are." Alfred walked backwards and flipped him a bird before walking out with Feli. Alfred didn't give a damn if that was childish of him.  

After weeks of suffering, he could finally enjoy his stay in full blossom. They could do whatever they wanted whenever they wanted without anyone nagging in his ear to clean up after himself like a mother. There was no one who would give him a death glare if he accidentally touched his stuff and more importantly, there was no Arthur. 

Changing his room and living with Feli wasn't as amazing as he thought it would be. 

It was worse. 

Feliciano was a loud and friendly guy, not much different than Alfred but there was one very crucial thing that brought them apart: Feli took everything way too casual. 

"Why didn't you set an alarm?" Alfred asked him as he hectically looked for his stuff. 

They were late to their early training and the coach would kill them for that. 

He smelled on his red shirt and grimaced when it smelled of sweat, and he realized while looking for a clean one that he didn't wash his clothes. There was no one who would tell him to do it if it got messy in the room. He had no other choice than to put it on and quickly put on his black jeans.

"I never do," Feli said and lazily got out of the bed buttnaked. 

Alfred turned around when he saw him that carefree and looked for his socks but found only one. He looked through his clothes on the floor if he could find the other pair and noticed that most of those things didn't belong to him. He picked up a pair of jeans that were too small for him and saw colorful button up shirts lying on his side of the room. He's been living for one weekend with Feli and he wasn't able to see the floor anymore and which things belonged to whom. As for the alarm, from now on, Alfred had to set it. 

That wasn't too bad and Alfred was sure they would get along well when setting up some rules for their room. At first Alfred was content that Feliciano didn't believe in imaginary lines and wanted to share his things but that also involved sharing his stuff with Feli who casually used Alfred's expensive shaver to shave the hairballs from his cotton pants. Alfred almost fell into a coma when he saw that. 

Still, he was sure mishaps like that could happen and it couldn't get any worse. 

But it did.

Feliciano loved to phone call people and would constantly talk to someone in a very loud manner. Alfred wasn't even sure if he was talking or fighting most of the time. And even if he would tell him to be a little quieter to be able to concentrate on his assignments from the lectures, Feli would apologize and try to keep it quiet but he never succeeded to stay quiet. 

The worst thing for Alfred was however the light. Feliciano wasn't able to sleep in complete darkness and Alfred laid awake at night wondering when that little lamp of his would finally die out. He'd wait and wait until Feliciano would fall asleep to switch it off. It would take him hours to do so because Feliciano loved to stay awake very late. 

Feliciano kept on taking his stuff without asking and with Alfred in the room it got messy to the point where he stepped on something squishy in between the clothes on the floor. They didn't eat anything wet in their room. He had no idea what it was and if it’s alive at this point. 

He had dreaded to be away from Arthur but now he dreaded to be away from Feliciano as well. He was a kind and happy guy and he liked being friends with him. But he didn't want to live with him anymore. 

It was getting too much once again. He wanted to live with someone who he could feel at ease with and it wasn't the Italian boy. 

"I think I need to change rooms again," Alfred said to Feliciano.

"Why?" he asked, surprised and oblivious to the situation in their shared room.

None of them could see the floor and he was 100 percent sure that there was a sentient dirty clothes monster that ate his laptop. 

"I'm allergic to your perfume," Alfred lied. 

"Oh, no." Feli gasped. "What do we do?"

"I guess, I have to find someone else to live with." Alfred shrugged. 

"You could ask Ludwig, he lives alone," Feliciano said.

"He does?" 

Alfred felt betrayed by Mr. Vargas. There was a guy who lived alone but he didn't tell him about it. Did he want Alfred to suffer? Alfred didn't talk a lot with Ludwig although he was in his soccer team. Ludwig always kept to himself and looked serious, calm and collected. Alfred liked the idea of sharing a room with him. 

During training Alfred asked him and Feliciano begged beside him telling the serious boy how red and swollen Alfred's face was because of his perfume. Even with all the begging and crying from Feli, Ludwig looked like he could not give a damn but agreed to Alfred's surprise. 

It was much cleaner in his room. A little too clean, there was not a single piece of clothing on his bed or the chair. It was all neatly put together in the closet. His desk only had his laptop, a pen and a journal. No messy notes for classes, not even the chair was misplaced. It was almost scary but at least Alfred was able to see the floor. 

"Do you set the alarm?" Alfred asked when he put his bag on the bed.

"I always do," Ludwig answered. 

Alfred squealed on the inside as Ludwig took some clothes out of Alfred's new closet to make some room for him. "Make yourself at home," he said.

"Thank you, thank you." Alfred nodded his head eagerly. “It’s so clean here. Do you clean every day or something?” Alfred said with a chuckle trying some small talk.

“No,” the German said short and sat down at his desk to work on something.

Alfred waited for a second, thinking that Ludwig might say something else but he didn’t. “Once a week?”

“Twice.”

“Thats’s quite a lot, huh?” Alfred laughed while Ludwig only nodded, concentrating on his laptop and his work. Alfred realized that living with the German would be quiet. Maybe even too quiet. Which could be good after the mess with Feliciano.

When they went to bed that evening, Alfred was finally able to sleep in the darkest room he has ever been in. To his surprise, Ludwig went to bed at 10 p.m. but thought it's better than going to bed at 4 or 5 a.m.. The small relief he felt was destroyed the next morning when Ludwig's alarm sounded at 5 a.m. in the morning.  

Alfred understood that Ludwig liked his room to be clean just like Arthur but his tidiness was worse than Arthur's. Whenever Alfred tried to have a snack at his desk or his bed, Ludwig forbade it. Whenever he threw his clothes on the floor, they would land in the laundry basket even though Alfred wanted to wear them again. 

The 10 p.m. rule was also only for the weekend. Ludwig went to bed at 8 p.m. and wanted absolute silence when he did so. Alfred tried his best to be silent and go out of the room when he wanted to call his family. 

In the end it was Ludwig who wanted him to find a new place to stay at. 

"I need you to find another room to stay at," Ludwig said. 

He looked him directly into the eyes and with such a serious expression that Alfred had the feeling that this guy hated him more than Arthur. 

"Uh.." Alfred mumbled. Not trying to argue with him or asking him why. He had the feeling that arguing with him wouldn't work unlike with Arthur. 

"You're messing up my routine and I need my space. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you sooner, I wanted to but Feliciano, he, well.."

"He begged and cried and screamed?" Alfred asked and Ludwig sighed.

"Yeah. I also didn't want you to die because of your allergies."

It was getting annoying to find a good place to sleep in. It was much harder than he thought.  He wished there could be at least one person who was like him. He was busy the whole day asking around. Asking people in his soccer team, in his class and random students he walked by but no one wanted to change rooms with him. Absolutely no one wanted to live with Arthur. 

"I don't know what to do anymore," Alfred mumbled and picked on his lettuce inside the sandwich, making the sandwich fall into two pieces. 

"You found no one to switch with?" Jake asked beside him as they sat in the cafeteria at a long table. "What about Feli, I thought you lived with him now?"

Alfred groaned and rubbed his eyes. "He was too messy and then I lived with Ludwig but he's too strict and clean and he kicked me out."

"That sucks, mate."

"I need someone who's an inbetween, just like me," Alfred whined and munched on his sandwich with the lettuce laying on his plate. 

"I'd say I'm an inbetween," Jake said. "I could ask my roommate if he'd switch with you."

Alfred sat up to which the sandwich fell onto his plate, and grabbed Jake's shoulder. "Really? You do that?"

"Sure. He's a chill guy, I doubt he's gonna have trouble with Arthur."

Alfred squealed and shook Jake’s shoulders rapidly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The same evening Alfred was getting comfortable on his new bed in his shared room with Jake. 

"It's gonna be awesome, we can stay up late but not too late, we can eat in our room and we can talk as loud as we want. Ahh, what a dream!" 

It took him way too long to find someone fitting for him to live with and he was pretty sure it would be a lot of fun with Jake. The room was clean but not too clean. Some of his clothes hung around his chair and his desk was messy which gave him a huge relief. Snacks and drinks laid on his bedside table. But more importantly, there was no need for an imaginary line or the fear of Jake killing him at night.

"You were not allowed to eat in your room?"

"If I did, I had to clean up the trash or I would find it later in between my clean clothes," Alfred said and shuddered from the memory of living with Arthur. 

"Damn, he sounds weird," Jake commented and opened up a stack of pringles. "Want one?"

Alfred rolled out of his bed to grab a stack and quickly munched them all down except one piece. "Yeah, he totally is, like, nothing seems to be fun for him. The only thing I see him doing is reading. How boring is that?"

Jake listened to his friend talking and moving the single pringle in the air like a conductor whilst he was about half way through eating the whole package. 

“He’s insufferable at training and picking on me most of the time. Sure, there are other guys who get the short end of the stick on some days, but most of the time it’s only me.”

“Uh-huh.” Jake nodded.

“It doesn’t end in our room, ya know, and honestly I doubt he has any friends. I’ve never seen him sitting together with anyone in the cafeteria or hanging out with someone.” Alfred sat down on his bed, the pringle in his hand forgotten. 

“Mhm.”

“It’s his own fault for being an asshole. He could’ve tried to be nice to me at last, 'cause I tried to be nice and be a good roommate, but no, he has to be a bitch and nag on me the whole time. It’s like a hobby to him. I bet he wakes up in the morning and thinks to himself how he can taunt me in the next couple of hours.”

“I see…” Jake just watched Alfred talk and pour his heart out.

“I really have no idea what his problem is with me. I’m a great and funny person, I get along with everyone in my opinion. But he? He’s like…like… I don’t know. He makes me mad with everything he does! How he looks, how he talks, just him standing there makes me mad ‘cause I know my entire existence is annoying to him.” 

Alfred’s emotions overflowed him and he stood up and walked the room up and down. “He doesn’t even try to be nice! I tried! But he…he…this mother-” 

“You sure talk a lot about him,” Jake cut in before Alfred exploded. “You might want to relax. You’re not living with him anymore.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Alfred breathed out, only realizing now how agitated he was about Arthur. He noticed the single pringle in his hand which he held the whole time and a quick smile hushed over his face, pleased to have a snack. “We’re gonna have a lot of fun together, Jake!”

Before he could take a bite, someone knocked on their door. Jake who laid on his bed motioned to Alfred with his head to open the door because he was the one standing. Alfred sighed playfully and Jake chuckled but his smile fell when his former roommate barged in with his bags. 

"I'm not gonna go back. I'm not gonna live with him," he said and roughly threw his bag on the floor. 

"Why not?" Alfred panicked on the inside. He couldn't go back, he didn't want to. "He's so...generous."

"If that's what you think, then you should live with him."

"Come on, dude. Nobody else wants to live with him," Alfred whined.

"Neither do I." 

Alfred looked over at Jake for some help but knew that the Australian couldn't do much about it. "I'm sorry, mate."

"Fuck...." 

-

It was pathetic to come back to his first room like that. After almost two weeks of searching for a new room, he had to come back to his old one. He glared at Arthur when he came back with all his belongings dragging behind him. 

The Brit sat on his chair with crossed arms, looking down on him with his snobby gaze. "Had fun sleeping with other guys? I hope they satisfied you."

"They were amazing. I can't say the same thing about you." He threw his stuff on the floor. "Look," Alfred began and sighed, already annoyed with Arthur. "We're both tired and annoyed with each other. How about a compromise?" 

"What do you have in mind?" 

"Each of us can write down 10 rules and they have to be followed." During the hour where he packed his clothes and walked across the dorms, he was thinking about something to make his life in the shared room with Arthur easier. Each of them had their own priorities and they had to make compromises around these things. 

"What if they contradict each other?" Arthur asked. 

"We gotta find a solution then. Somewhere in the middle. Dude, we have to live together for a whole year, it has to work somehow."

Arthur nodded slightly, thinking about Alfred's plan. "Okay. But don't write anything stupid."

"Don't worry, I'm not you." Alfred grinned mockingly.

Arthur glared at him but didn't say anything further for which Alfred was kinda glad. It could've escalated once again. Although, during their plan making of the 10 rules, it did escalate into a fight again. But they managed to make a compromise and both were pleased with the outcome. That was one step into a peaceful year living with Arthur. One step out of 100.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5

"What exactly are we doing here again?" Alfred asked Jake as they hid behind some bushes, watching the entrance to the swimming pool. 

"There's a girl in the girls swimming team who I think is cute and I'd like to ask her out," Jake explained and expectantly awaited the girls team to leave the building. 

"I didn't know there was a girls swimming team at our campus," Feliciano said beside them, very delighted. He strolled along with them when Jake had pulled on Alfred hastily telling him he needed help with a girl.

"We share the pool with them and that's where I saw her for the first time. I’ve also talked to her before, well, she asked me to move and I stared at her until she walked around me and I realized that I didn’t move and stood there like a freaking statue! But our second encounter was fine though,” Jake ranted. “I didn’t talk to her though, she stood beside her friend in the cafeteria and didn’t say a word to me but she smiled so cute!” He grabbed onto Alfred's arm in excitement when he saw the girls leaving the building. “There!”

"Which one is it?" Alfred asked when he watched the girls leave in small groups. 

"The girl in the blue dress," Jake pointed out.

She had her arms wrapped around her friend's arm and they shared a laugh. Two pigtails hung down her shoulders and almost matched her dark skin. 

"She's cute," Alfred commented.

"Her friend, too," Feli said. 

“She’s the friend I talked to before.” Jake turned to Alfred, seemingly nervous and rubbed his hands. "What should I say? I can't just ask her out in front of her friend."

"Well, you could ask her to speak under four eyes?" Alfred proposed.

"What if she gets suspicious of me?" 

"Oh, well-shit!" Alfred turned Jake around to show him that Feliciano strutted over to the two girls stopping their hype conversation. 

"What is he doing?" Jake panicked slightly and Alfred quickly pulled him over to Feli.

He grinned as they approached the two girls. "What's up?" he said cheerfully in between Feli’s sentence. 

The girls acknowledged his presence but didn’t say anything when Feliciano continued to talk.

"...You two are really cute. Are you maybe interested in hanging out with us, bellas?" Feliciano asked straight forward.

"Um," the brown haired girl said and looked at her friend, seemingly taken aback by the sudden question.

"Please, it would be fun! We can go eat ice cream or watch a movie." Feli used his hands to articulate in the air.

"Yeah, Jake said you’re cool and we’d like to hang out with you, ya know," Alfred said to make it sound less like they wanted to date them. "I'm Alfred by the way. I’m on the soccer team." He nudged the Australian but Jake only gave a nervous smile. 

"Right, I'm Elizabeta," the brown haired girl said.

"Michelle." The girl with the pigtails smiled sweetly at them. 

"And that's all you want? Just to hang out?" Elizabeta asked.

"I don't mind flirting as well." Feliciano winked at them.

The girls looked at each other, and Alfred already feared they would say no to them. "Or just be friends, really. Not all of us are looking for a relationship right now. Not me at least."

"Why not?" Feli asked, perplexed.

"I have a career in front of me. If I'll get into a relationship it could distract me or I could make stupid decisions like staying in England or something," Alfred explained.

"I think the same," Elizabeta said. "There's no time for love if you want to build a future career that takes up all of your time."

Alfred nodded in agreement. "Right?" 

"But the girls!" Feli insisted and gestured to them, shocked that Alfred wasn't interested in flirting with them like he was. 

"I don't care about girls, Feli," Alfred said and the expression on Feliciano's face changed from shock into confusion and then realization. 

"Ohh, I see.” Feliciano patted Alfred's arm and nodded. “But I do." He turned his attention back to the girls and smiled again. "So, do we get your numbers?" 

Alfred just realized that he casually came out to them. That's not how he imagined it to be. He always thought it's gonna be during a hang out, mostly at night, and he's gonna reveal that he had a boyfriend all along. Everyone would gasp and be in shock and tell him they want to meet his boyfriend and that he should've told them sooner. Or it would be all emotional with his trusted friend and he or she would tell him to open up and don't be scared. But, well, this way wasn't bad either. 

"You can have our numbers only under one condition. You have to win against us in a sports competition," Elizabeta said with a grin. 

"Which one?" Alfred asked, intrigued.

"Neon Minigolf."

Michelle pulled on her friend's arm to get her attention. "I thought we're going with the girls?" 

"They can come with us. We've booked for 8 people but only 4 of us are coming." She shrugged. 

"We'd be 7 then," Alfred said. 

"You can invite one more guy and it'll be equal." She grinned and nodded.

"I like that idea," Alfred said. A neon golf competition sounded like a great activity for the weekend — and Alfred liked a good competition. He never played minigolf before but it sounded like fun. 

"Me, too," Feli chirped beside him. 

"Great! Meet us at the neon minigolf course at 6 p.m. this Saturday."

"We'll be there, bellas!" Feliciano blew them a kiss as they walked away giggling. 

"Dude, are you ok? You didn't say a word," Alfred said to Jake.

"I got nervous." He shook his head and sighed, disappointed with himself. 

Alfred put his arm around his shoulder in a comforting manner. "We have to work on that."

"Who are we taking with us?" Feliciano asked happily and they looked at each other dumbfounded.

They asked around the campus if anyone was interested in hanging out with the girls. And yes, everyone was interested. It got to a point where the guys themselves would come up to them and ask if they could come with them and if they could invite more than just one guy. Anywhere they went, they were swarmed by horny guys wanting to meet cute girls. 

"How about Tom from our soccer team?" Alfred asked when they sat in the cafeteria. 

They had to choose today. The game was in two hours and they had no one yet. 

"He's got a girlfriend," Feliciano said. 

"Why did he want to come with us then?" Jake complained. 

"I've asked Ludwig but he wasn't interested in coming." Feliciano pouted. 

"We need someone who looks adequate, someone who won't embarrass us. Unlike my roommate. He would only flirt with them and I can't have that. I need Michelle to know that I'm surrounded by good guys," Jake said, thoughtfully. 

"That's sweet of you," Alfred said.

"Yeah, I learned that lesson in high school. My best friend stole the girl I liked." Jake looked over at Feli who blinked confused. The Australian raised his eyebrows at the flirty Italian and he sat up straight.

"Don't worry, she's all yours." Feliciano smiled.

Jake looked over at Alfred and wanted to do the same but decided to give him a thumbs up instead.

"What was that?" Alfred chuckled. 

"Remembered that you're not into girls and won't steal her from me."

"Nah, I'm gonna steal you from her." Alfred winked and nudged against his shoulder. 

It made Jake laugh and he pushed him which made Alfred chuckle. "Right. But seriously now, who are we gonna take with us?" 

They thought for a second about a good option but got no idea who could be adequate enough and not flirty with the girls.

"How about the first guy who walks into the cafeteria?" Alfred proposed. "As long as he checks all the boxes, then it'd be fine. Or we could ask him to be discreet. It can't be that hard to stay adequate for one evening."

"I like that idea, it takes a lot of pressure away," Feliciano said. 

Alfred nudged against Jake again who then nodded and agreed with the American's idea. 

They watched the entrance of the cafeteria. Some guys were leaving and others only walked by but didn't enter. Everyone was watching hard and Alfred's eyes widened when he saw a shadow coming and turning towards the entrance. His anticipation and good mood however fell when he noticed that the guy who walked into the cafeteria was none other than Arthur. 

"You gotta be kidding me."

-

Alfred couldn't believe that Arthur agreed to come. He couldn't believe that he had to ask him in the first place and that he had to endure his presence during a fun activity. 

On the inside he begged the universe to make Arthur disappear, to have someone call him in an urgent manner, while on the outside he tried his best to keep his distance from him. He didn't care if it was rude that he invited him and ignored him the whole time. Arthur should've realized that Alfred had no choice but to ask him. It bothered and confused him.

When they came to the place of the meeting, the girls were already there. The two other girls were not from their swimming team. The blonde one with wavy hair was called Emma and she was in the volleyball team. The other girl with short dyed reddish hair was called Milena and she played tennis.  

The rooms in which the game was held were dark and the minigolf station was lit up in neon lights. All of them got to color themselves and had to paint their faces. In the dark rooms, their faces and hands lit up in neon lights with colors of green, yellow, pink, orange and blue. 

Alfred painted his cheeks in blue, each cheek got two stripes. And he finished it off with a red star on his forehead. He giggled to himself while painting his face. His smile fell when he saw the serious stare from Arthur. The Brit judged him and Alfred didn't appreciate that. Then Alfred gave him a side eye as well, judging the simple two green swirls on his hands. Arthur didn't even try to have fun and paint his face. 

"The rules are very simple," Elizabeta began with her girls team behind her. "The team with the most points wins. If you win, you get our numbers and if we win, well, you'll see."

"We're gonna try our best," Alfred said and grinned, ready to play and win this. It was all for Jake and the possibility for him to talk to Michelle. Jake however didn't even try to be close to her when they began to play. 

Alfred scooted closer to him and whispered while Elizabeta and Feliciano started the first round at the first minigolf station. "Don't stare, ask her something."

"What am I supposed to ask?"

"If she ever played minigolf before or what year she's in. You both do the same sport, ask her something about that."

Jake nodded and adjusted his shirt and hair. "Do I look good?"

"Yes, now go." Alfred pushed him slightly into her direction.  

Alfred walked over to Feli and the other girls to watch Emma play her round. She hit the ball once and it rolled against a corner and straight to the hole, but it rolled past the hole. 

"Not bad," Alfred said. 

"She comes to this place quite often," Elizabeta said. 

"You got an advantage, that's kinda cheating," Alfred crossed his arms playfully. 

"Well, you better try your best." She grinned. 

"Your turn," Emma said to Alfred when she came back to them.

He gripped his golf club tightly in his hand and concentrated on the ball. He hit the small neon yellow ball and it rolled over the green platform, past the hole, against the corner and back to Alfred. 

"What!" Alfred exclaimed. He hit it too hard and had to try again.

It took him about 5 tries until he was finally able to push it into the hole. The last 3 tries were the worst. The ball was right at the hole but rolled past it the whole time. 

"What's with your friend?" Emma asked when she noticed Arthur staying far away from everyone else. She scooted over to Alfred when Michelle started to play.

"He's uh, not really our friend," Alfred said. 

"Why did he come then?"

"Uh, we needed a fourth player and he's my roommate and the only one who had the time to come," Alfred explained. 

"Why did you need a fourth player? 7 people are enough." 

They stressed themselves out in search of a fourth player only to find out that it would've been enough if they were only seven. He felt cheated on. "We wanted it to be equal."

"Oh, well." Emma nodded and took a quick look at Arthur again. “He looks kinda mean.”

“Oh he is, trust me.” He leaned a little closer to her and whispered. “Best is not to look into his eyes.

“Is he that bad?” She chuckled. 

“He hates people.”

“Why is he here then?”

Alfred shrugged and played with his golf club by swinging it. “I have no idea, really. I think he came to watch me lose and make fun of it. It’s his hobby.”

“To watch you lose?” She asked, amused.

“And make fun of me, and only me.”

“Sounds like you’re truly something special to him.”

“Uh-huh. He probably wants my soul.”

She laughed at his moody comment. “What about the Italian guy?”

“A good guy, a bit flirty maybe. I saw him once hanging out with five girls at the cafeteria and they were all over him. I think he dated all of them.”

“At the same time?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Probably…I’m not sure.” Alfred had seen Feli with lots of girls but he was never sure if he was just hanging out with them or dating them. They never seemed to stick around.  

Emma watched him flirt with Milena who had a serious look on her face. “He does look cute. He’s got charm and he’s a bit feminine. I think that’s what draws the girls in.”

“Girls like feminine guys?”

“Sometimes. They’re Milena’s type,” Emma said.

“Really?”

“Her boyfriend is so.. I don’t wanna say that but he's kinda submissive.” She shrugged with a grimace on her face. “I hear her call him every evening in our room and she definitely wears the pants in the relationship.”

Alfred laughed out loud, earning some glances from the others and a small head turn from Arthur. He should know that Alfred had fun while the Brit was standing there alone like a loser.

“I can see their future together as her bringing the food to the table and working and him sitting at home and cooking for her.”

“Sounds about right.” Alfred chuckled. 

“But well, everyone has their own type.”

“True.” Alfred thought about his type and the only thing that popped into his head was his favorite anime character who was a little too feminine. 

“What about the other guy?” Emma asked and motioned with her head towards the Australian boy.

“Jake? He’s amazing, really. If he were gay, I’d date him.” Kinda the opposite of what he thought his type was but in all honesty, Alfred would date any gay guy who looked great and had interest in him. Sometimes, he was that desperate. 

“Ooh, you like him?” She grinned.

“Not like that. I was just saying in general. I’m not out to date anyone for now. I got a career in front me. Although it’s a bit complicated ‘cause I want to play American football but now I’m stuck playing soccer instead.”

“Why don’t you just leave and study what you want?”

Alfred glanced at Arthur who got company from Elizabeta. “Something’s got in between my plan.”

“I had that too,” Emma said. “I got sick a couple years ago. I couldn’t play anymore and had to leave the university — but I signed up again and it’s my first semester after my recovery.” 

“That’s awful. What sickness did you have if I may ask?”

“Breast cancer.”

“Shit…” Alfred knew people get cancer but it was always a shock when someone so young had to suffer through something like that as well. “That’s horrible.”

“It is and I often feel weak but it’s over and I hope it won’t come back.”

“It’s really strong of you to continue,” Alfred said and stopped playing with his golf club. He sat it down and slightly leaned on it.

She smiled again. “It’s my dream to play volleyball. I like an active job more than just a normal corporate job.”

“I totally agree with you.” Alfred couldn’t see himself working in retail or some customer service like his older cousin. It sounded boring. “Does everyone know about that?” Alfred asked.

“Sure, Elizabeta is one of my best friends. She knows everything. We actually started uni together back then but she left for her own country when I became sick. She came back to study with me again,” she explained.

“Aww, and Michelle.” 

“She knows, too. I don't talk to her as much as Elizabeta but she’s a very sweet girl and loves eating fish. Sometimes it’s the only thing she gets on her plate.” She chuckled.

“Maybe she’s a mermaid,” Alfred said and looked over at her and Jake who tried his best to keep up a conversation but most of the time he looked like a lost puppy.

“Maybe she is, she has a great singing voice.”

“I like mermaids.” Alfred’s face lit up.

Emma turned to him with the same excited smile. “Me too. I like them more than fairies.”

“Yes! Finally someone who understands! Ugh. Did you also watch Barbie movies!”

“I still do!”

In excitement, Alfred linked their arms together. “We’re gonna be best friends, I tell ya,” he said and they giggled like two schoolgirls.

After Michelle, it was Jake and Milena’s turn and Alfred noticed that the girls were much better than them. The less they had to hit the ball the more points they got and when he took a glimpse of the small notepad that Eliza was carrying he was shocked how few points they had. 

The last one to play on the station was Arthur and Alfred already wanted to go and start at the next platform but other people were occupying it and they had to wait. Alfred had no other choice than to watch Arthur play. 

Arthur positioned himself in his white shirt and shorts beside the ball and with one powerful hit, let the ball roll right into the hole. Alfred's mouth went wide when he realized that Arthur was good at minigolf and that they had a chance of winning.

"Emma's got competition," Eliza muttered when she wrote down his points.  

Alfred was so in awe that he didn't realize the others were moving to another platform. 

"Why are you staring?" Arthur asked and scrunched up his eyebrows.

Alfred shook his head to get him out of his surprised state. "I never thought that you're, uh, good at minigolf."

"That's why I'm here. I don't care about you trying to impress and flirt with these girls. I just want to play." 

Alfred nodded, impressed and surprised. At first he thought that Arthur was excited to hang out with girls just like every other guy and that he was just shy to talk to them. But he wasn't. He just wanted to play minigolf. 

The American watched Arthur whenever it was his turn. He hit one hole after the other with only one hit. No matter how many corners there were, or how difficult the obstacles. He even landed a hole when there was a loop. Emma was impressed as well and she was the best of the girls. 

At some point Alfred got closer to Arthur and stood right behind him when the Brit was about to make his move. "You can do it."

Arthur grunted annoyed and tried to concentrate. This station was a little tricky with moving and glowing flowers on the path. 

"Just concentrate," Alfred whispered. 

"Get off me," Arthur said and pushed Alfred away from him.

"Sorry, but we need some points." Alfred gave him a thumbs up but Arthur rolled his eyes, which kind of hurt Alfred who just tried to cheer him up. Arthur hit the ball and it landed with one hit in the hole just like any other of his attempts. 

"Just because he's good doesn't mean that you're going to win," Emma said. 

"Hah! You'll see, we're gonna win!" 

"I doubt it. Your team lacks...some teamwork," Elizabeta said.

Minigolf didn't need any team work, Alfred had no idea what she was talking about. “I think you're trying to confuse me?”

“I’m a fair player,” she said and a small grin spread across her lips.

“Ah.” Alfred pointed at her. “I see that grin. I see it.” Her grin became more obvious. “You are trying to confuse me.”

“Your team is very, how should I say that? Disassembled. You're here, the other two are flirting with our friends and the other one is all alone in the corner over there.” She pointed with her head over to Arthur who stood some feet away, watching Jake and Michelle play their round. 

“He can stay there as long as he wants to and the flirting friends, well-”

"Jake likes Michelle, doesn’t he?" Emma noted.

"Yeah, he likes her. But he's way too nervous." He chuckled. 

"I see that." She laughed with him as they watched Jake trying to impress Michelle with his skills but failed when he had to hit the ball several times. “It’s cute that he tries so hard.”

“I hope she likes him too. He was so nervous and excited to meet her today,” Alfred said.

They watched them laugh at Jake’s miserable attempt to get the ball into the hole. “They’ll be fine,” Emma said

“She might like him too,” Eliza said.

Emma turned around with a raised eyebrow. “She might?”

“Well, there’s a possibility that she said she liked the handsome buff guy.” Elizabeta shrugged.

“Alfred’s also buff,” Emma noted.

“Yeah, I’m also buff and handsome,” Alfred said proudly and flexed his muscles on his right arm. 

“She knows you’re gay though,” Eliza said.

“Oh, well.” Alfred put his arm down and shrugged. “I’m still buff and handsome.”

“Of course you are,” Elizabeta said and the girls giggled.

The next round went by and it was Arthur's turn again. The platform had a small jumping point over a pile of sand. Another pile of sand laid around the hole as well.

"Be careful, it's a tricky one. I needed 10 tries for it." Alfred stood once again beside Arthur to make sure he'll hit the hole with one hit once more. "Be calm." Arthur exhaled annoyed beside him but Alfred didn't pay that no mind. "You need to win for us."

Arthur hit the ball and it jumped over the jumping point and rolled over the green platform into the sand until it stopped right in front of the hole. 

"Ooh, damn." Alfred sucked in air through his teeth. 

"That is your bloody fault!" Arthur yelled at him and gripped the golf club tight in his hand and pointed to the ball in the sand. 

"I didn't do anything," Alfred said, taken aback by Arthur's outburst. 

"You stood behind me like a ghost, distracting me. I almost made it and had a perfect streak but you had to breathe into my ear."

"I just wanted to help."

"You call that help, you bloody moron?" Arthur poked into Alfred's chest, pushing him away. 

"Please, stop fighting," Elizabeta said and got in between them. "We're here for fun, there's no need to take it seriously."

"He's the one taking it seriously," Alfred said and glared at Arthur.

"I'm not the one who shouts into my ear to win and make them look good," Arthur taunted him.

"I was just trying to help!" Alfred said again, getting louder himself.

"How? By letting me work? You're not even trying to be good."

"You should open our damn eyes-"

Alfred was cut off by Eliza and she squeezed between them once again, pushing them away from each other when she noticed that they were getting closer and closer. "Calm down, both of you."

Arthur turned around on his heel and Alfred did the same, going into the other direction. 

"Why do you hate each other?" Emma asked when he mumbled something and fumbled with his golf club too harshly. 

"He's an asshole! He's my roommate and my captain and I can't stand him."

"That doesn't explain why you hate him."

"He torments me! Everything I do is wrong and everything I say is wrong. I hate him 'cause he hates me and I don't know why he hates me 'cause he’s that kind of an asshole!" Alfred said extra loud for Arthur to hear. 

Emma cringed beside him when he did so and Arthur of course turned his way, ready to fight Alfred again. 

"Do you have a problem?" Arthur raised his eyebrows and came dangerously close again. 

"You're the one who's got a problem!" Alfred moved towards him as well.

Alfred had no idea what the others did. If they played and ignored him or watched them argue. His attention was fully on Arthur and his ever evil glare. 

"Oh, I do. I do very much," Arthur said and Alfred scoffed knowingly. "You're loud and obnoxious, stupid and a selfish wanker. I can't believe people even like you."

"And I can understand why you have no friends. You're rude and mean and just...ugly."

Arthur nodded his head a little surprised. "Oh, you're continuing to make fun of my appearance, huh? Please, go on. Where did we left? Skinny and weak — now it's ugly. What's next?" 

"I never made fun of you being skinny and weak," Alfred said, feeling that Arthur was just throwing accusations at him. 

"You did. Right when we met, you looked down upon me." Arthur was once more way too close for Alfred's liking. The Brit's finger was poking Alfred's chest and he could feel his angry breath against his face. "Do you really think I'll stay nice to someone who calls me names?" 

"I never meant them like that. I was genuinely concerned 'cause I thought we played real football. Do you know how easy it is to get hurt? I thought you could die."

"Right and then you proceeded to tell me how great you are and how much better you are than me." Arthur crossed his arms, not believing Alfred one second. 

"I wanted to look good in front of my captain. That's it. I never intended to hurt you," Alfred said and there was a slight change in Arthur's eyes. 

"Are you serious?"

"Yes, I promise I don't go around telling people how bad they look and that I'm better than them. That's not how I was raised. My mom would whoop my ass if I'd do stuff like that."

Arthur was looking hard at the American but something in his face began to get softer. 

Both slowly started to realize the miscommunication during their first meeting. 

"Your way of words was confusing. You should work on that," Arthur said.

"I guess...You didn't have to be an asshole about it though," Alfred mumbled and crossed his arms as well, still staring at Arthur, awaiting another comment.

"You should apologize."

Only now Alfred realized that everyone was watching them. None of them played and they were deep invested in their argument instead. 

"Huh? Who?" Alfred asked Emma. 

"Both of you," Emma answered. 

"You started on the wrong foot and if you want to be able to live with each other, then you should apologize," Elizabeta said and leaned on her golf club. 

They stared at each other once more, not blinking when both awaited the other to apologize first. 

Someone nudged Alfred into his side and he cursed in his head when he was the first to blink. Beside him stood Emma and she gestured with her head towards Arthur.

"Why me?" Alfred whined. He didn't want to be first to apologize. In his opinion, he did nothing wrong. 

"You called him names first even if it was unintentional. You apologize first."

Alfred groaned quietly. "Fine." He looked anywhere but into Arthur's eyes as he spoke. "I'm sorry that I called you skinny and weak."

"And I guess I'm sorry that I acted so immature towards you."

"You guess?"

"You can’t even look into my eyes when apologizing," Arthur began and before it could escalate again, Emma spoke again. 

"Shake your hands," she said with a smile while the boys glared at each other. 

Both stretched their hands out hesitantly and gripped way too hard while shaking. Alfred saw the pain in Arthur's eyes when he squeezed his hand a bit too hard. Emma broke their handshake and patted them on their shoulders. 

"Great, can we continue to play without you two fighting again?" 

"Sure," Alfred said and smiled back at her. 

They played for another hour and this time it went smoother. Alfred and Arthur didn't speak with each other for the time being but Alfred had fun talking to Emma and Elizabeta. They were sweet girls and quite competitive, which Alfred liked. He never truly had girl friends before, only some acquaintances at school who only hung out with him during school hours. Getting friends from the opposite sex was new for him and he looked forward to it. 

Even if Arthur was carrying their whole boys team, it wasn't enough to win. 

"It seems like you lost," Elizabeta said with a smirk. 

"What are you gonna do as the winners?" Feliciano asked. 

She looked over to her three friends and they all nodded.

"You can have our numbers," Michelle said and Alfred noticed a hush glance which she gave Jake with a sweet smile. 

"Formedable! Let's make a group chat," Feliciano proposed excitedly and swiftly pulled out his phone. 

"Have you ever gone indoor rock climbing?" Emma asked when he was saving her number.

"No, but it sounds fun."

Alfred nudged against Jake's arm when he saw another glance from Michelle towards the Australian boy. "I think you made a good impression."

"I hope so." He laughed a bit nervously but also with relief. 

Elizabeta tried to get Arthur's number, too but he declined and Alfred watched as she insisted on getting it. Alfred also hoped that their pointless fights over one miscommunication would finally cease to exist. It would be another step to a more peaceful year with him. Maybe even a step into a friendship. But Alfred doubted that Arthur would be interested in being friends with him. The Brit wasn't friends with anyone, so why should Alfred be the exception.