Afternoon Meetings *APH Fanfic*

3

Warm, afternoon sunlight filters through the tree's leaves, under which Arthur lay, flat on the grass, watching and listening for signs of the laughing boy with twinkling blue eyes. As the minutes wore by, Arthur became more convinced that Alfred would not be returning, after all, it had happened before.

Whenever he made an attempt at friendship  school, he was always refused in the end, usually after the person tired of his serious or even surly personality and "boring" interests. His parents never paid much attention to that, or well, anything to do with him, and they liked to leave Arthur alone at home, as they traveled Europe or spent long hours at work.

"I didn't want Alfred to come back anyway..", he mumbled to himself, though disappointment hung over him. "I'm fine as I am, I don't need friends anyway..", He continued, trying to convince himself.

"Hey, Artie, sorry I'm late, I brought ice cream!!", came a yell from the park's gate, bringing with it a smiling Alfred, three ice creams in hand. Suppressing a sigh of relief, Arthur replied,"Hurry up, I almost thought you wouldn't come at all!".

"Aw, no way, Artie, a true hero never is late on purpose! Anyway, eat up before they melt", grinning widely, he pushed an ice cream cone at Arthur.

"Thanks.", mumbled Arthur, though he was truly surprised, since he didn't expect any kind of treat. "No problem, I got ice cream for you since I know it's a surefire way to make someone happy!", Alfred jubilantly, already halfway through his one.

"Alfred, why did you get three?".
"Well, two for me and one for you, duh!", explained Alfred, as he began eating his second one.

For a while, the two ate in silence, no topic of conversation coming to mind. Then, Alfred exclaimed,"Artie, let's play a game, to find out about each other!". Since Arthur had no real way to refuse, they began to play.

"First, I ask a question, then you ask me a question and then I answer! OK, so how old are you?".
"I'm 9 years, 8 months, and 23 days old.".
"Same, I'm nine too! Now you ask me!"
"Do you have any siblings?".
"Aw, Artie, that's boring.. I have one big brother, his name is Matthew, and he's really cool! Now it's my turn!".

Alfred rolled around in the grass for a few moments before asking,"What do you do for fun? I like baseball, and playing with my whale collection , and eating hamburgers, and... Oh sorry, you should answer, not me, so go-ahead!".

"Well, as I was going to say, I like reading, embroidery, and doing science experiments, since it's like magic!", Arthur replied, smiling as he talked.

"I have another question, so I'll take another turn, OK? What is your family like?", said Alfred, not caring that he skipped Arthur's turn. A sudden air of gloom fell of Arthur, punctuated by an obvious pause, before he answered,"They're nice enough.".

Arthur wasn't the best liar, and that was painfully obvious. Alfred was about to point out the lie, but, instead, with an uncharacteristic show of tact, changed the subject. He stopped rolling around in the grass, and stood up, saying,"Artie, does this old park have anything to play on? You know, besides the swing.".

"Not really, there's a lot of unusable equipment though.".

"I guess we'll make do with just swings then!", he said cheerfully, pulling Arthur towards the swings. "I know what we could do, here, stand on the swing seat and shut your eyes.". Confused, Arthur clambered on top of the swing seat, grasping the chains tightly, feeling very off balance but keeping his eyes shut nonetheless.

Hiding his giggles, Alfred snuck up behind him and gave his back a shove, causing him to swing violently into the air. Fortunately, the shock didn't cause Arthur to let go of the swing's chains, so he managed to stay on the swing. Out of control, Arthur swung back and forth, screaming and cursing with spectacular language for a 9 year old, going faster as Alfred continued to push him.

The only reason Alfred stopped was that he was laughing so hard that he couldn't stand up, so he relented, and fell to the ground, gasping from laughing so hard. Finally, Arthur managed to stop the swing and jump off, blushing slightly from the ordeal.

"You... I'll never be able to stand or sit on swing near you again!", Arthur said, seemingly angry, but evidently seeing the funny side of the situation. Laughing, he helped Alfred up, and they looked at each other for second.

"So, are you happy yet?", blurted Alfred, smiling brightly at him.
"I guess so..."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow! Don't be late!", Alfred yelled, running off.
"Aren't you going to apologize for what you did?".
"NOPE!! BYE!".
"YOU LITTLE..!"

I wrote half of this at school lol
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See You Next Chapter!
-Michelle