Love Through the Ages

Good Man? Part 2

April 15, a day that would forever change Arthur's life.

It was 3 pm. Matthew was just leaving Hetalia High, a new school he had been enrolled in.

Arthur hoped Matthew was doing alright. Matthew was such a quite child, it was so hard to get him out of his shell. Hopefully with this new change of scenery, Matthew would do better.

Arthur took a sip of his Earl Grey, a little weak, but it was the best Francine could do. It was so hard to get her to make any of his food. She always said that it was "disgusting" and "shouldn't be considered food".

Arthur let out a sigh. His marriage wasn't doing that well. Arthur wasn't sure what had happened. There was no big fight, no one was cheating, no one was stealing, everything was normal, but they were just slowly growing apart. Maybe tonight Arthur could take Francine out on a nice night on the town.

The door frame opened, alerting Arthur to the fact that his son, Matthew, had gotten home. Hopefully he had a good day.

Arthur opened his mouth to say a greeting to his son, but before he could a loud, boisterous voice exclaimed, "Totally! It could be fun, I'm sure you'd enjoy it, Mattie!"

Arthur spun to the door. That wasn't his son! Did his son finally make a friend? That would be great!

Arthur looked expectantly to the door. Arthur saw Matthew enter and...another Matthew? Enter. What was going on?

The person that had just entered the door was an almost exact copy of Matthew. Did Francine cheat on him?

Wait...now that Arthur looked closer he could see some slight differences. Matthew and the strangers eyes were different colors, the hair was different, the stranger's was shorter and less curly, the stranger didn't have the long curl of Matthew's either.

The stranger's head whipped towards Arthur, almost like a puppy. Arthur let a wry smile play on his lip.

"Hello, Mr. Kirkland, I'm one of your son's friends! My name's Alfred."

It was said so excitedly that Arthur could feel the energy radiating off the young man.

"Hello, lad. I hope you and Matthew are getting along alright."

Alfred gave an exuberant nod. "Yeah! He's a blast to be around."

"Haha, that's good. Now go run along, spend youth's energy. Oh, and Matthew remember to take out the trash."

Matthew gave a small nod, and pulled his new friend into his room.

Arthur felt a smile appear on his lips. If Francine were here she would say he looked like a schoolgirl with a crush, but Arthur couldn't help it. Matthew, quiet, shy, Matthew had made a friend. It was great. Hopefully, Matthew would like this new school.