Ex's to Lovers

Chapter 72

In Which Ivan Finally Agrees to Break Up with Alfred

Alfred had been expecting Ivan to come find him, seething about yesterday's prank, and was actually quite looking forwards to it, grinning ear to ear. What he wasn't expecting was for Ivan to ask to speak to Alfred privately, and Pull him away. Alfred wasn't the best at picking up on cues, but he got the distinct feeling that Ivan was irritated, even though Ivan was not wearing his usual irritated beam. While this might have scared anyone else who knew Ivan, Alfred only felt slightly bemused and a bit curious. So of course, he followed Ivan easily, with no idea what was in store for him.

"Alfred," Ivan said heavily, after checking no one was in earshot, "I agree. Let's break up."

Alfred lit up. While he didn't know why Ivan suddenly changed his mind, he assumed it was because he'd successfully annoyed Ivan to the breaking point, which Alfred considered a "win" in his book. That was, right up until Ivan continued on with a serious voice.

"I have found someone I like, so I don't want to fake date you anymore."

Alfred froze, his two braincells trying to generate a reasonable conclusion. It might have made sense for Alfred to assume that Ivan was the same as him.Unfortunately Alfred was allergic to making sense. Therefore, Alfred came to the crushing conclusion that Ivan was in love with someone else. Since Alfred had never once considered that Ivan was NOT in love with him, this concept left him reeling.

"Who?" Alfred demanded, suddenly angry. "Who's the asshole you're in love with?"

Ivan's face split into a mysterious smirk Alfred hadn't seen before, but was similar to the one Ivan got when he successfully pranked Alfred.

"Why do you want to know?" 

Ivan was clearly enjoying aggravating Alfred, but Alfred didn't have time to care about that. 

"I'm your fiance!" Alfred argued, suddenly forgetting that 

A) He was a fake fiance, and 

B) That he'd been the one asking Ivan to break up, giving the exact same excuse. 

Ivan beamed even brighter, eyes glittering maliciously. 

"He is a very stupid, arrogant, and annoying person." Ivan replied cryptically.

Alfred bristled, trying to figure out who Ivan was talking about. A person matching Ivan's description occurred to him, and Alfred gritted his teeth.

"Is it Gilbert? He doesn't like you, you know. At. All." 

It was a rather vicious and mean thing to say, but to Alfred's irritation, Ivan continued to beam, unpreturbed. 

"It is not. He's blonde, and has blue eyes." 

Naturally, Alfred best matched everything Ivan was saying, but since Alfred was an idiot, his mind went to the next person he knew who matched the looks and personality described. Alfred felt his anger fade in place of shock. The only people that readily occurred to him that fit the description was Feliks, who helped him pick out the ring, and Mattias, also in their class.

Ivan's beam seemed to be extra pleased as he watched Alfred's face go slack, and Alfred burned with an unexpected jealously towards his two classmates. Ivan's expression began to waver between amused and uneasy as Alfred dazedly replied.

"I see." 

Ivan's expression only got worse when Alfred faintly turned and wandered off, still dazed and in a shock. And so, another misunderstanding began.