Chapter 2: More Than Just an Act

Arthur sat at the table with his friends in their university's cafeteria like area, spacing out as he stared at Alfred and Kiku, the two of them talking and laughing with their friends at another table. If he was being perfectly honest with himself they made sense together. Sure on the surface they were almost like night and day—Alfred being a loud, boastful, tall, blond-haired, blue-eyed, Starbucks-and-McDonald's-lovin' (I didn't choose that, autocorrect insisted the loving next to McDonald's has to be lovin') American and Kiku being the soft, shy, polite wallflower of a Japanese student with raven black hair and almond brown eyes—but their contrast only served compliment each other. Alfred never talked over Kiku and always involved him in conversations while Kiku in return let Alfred be his social butterfly self, never holding the American back from anything that wouldn't hurt him. They shared a love for anime, manga, videogames, cosplay, math, science, and technology. They were always open to trying new things from the other's culture and even spoke each other's languages fluently as well as a few others. They were practically made for each other.

Arthur, against his better judgement, often found himself comparing himself and Kiku. Whereas Kiku was a perfect match for Alfred, Arthur was a pathetic British coward of a grumpy tsundere, a word only added to his vocabulary through Alfred and sometimes Francis' use of it to describe him, bookworm with a bad attitude and Hanahaki disease because he's harboring unrequited love for a friend that's already taken by someone far more desirable to and compatible with him than Arthur. Arthur couldn't even bring himself to get the surgery that would cure his disease because of the fact it would mean also getting rid of his feelings for Alfred that he cherished oh so much, desperately clinging onto the hope that Alfred would maybe, someday, love him back with as much love as Arthur loved him with.
Arthur felt absolutely wretched as he compared himself to Kiku, knowing he would've been coughing up a storm of petals if it wasn't for the new pills from the experimental drug trial he was a part of. He'd been instructed to take the pills only twice every 24 hours and to think about the person he has the disease because of without restraint for the first four hours after taking them—after the half hour the pills took to take effect, of course—when the pill's effects were strongest, then slowly try to dial it back and record the times and how much he coughed up as well as take a picture so the doctors and scientists could analyze the amount of blood on the petals.

"Hello? Bonjour? Earth to astronaut Arthur Eyebrows Kirkland! Can you hear me?" Francis asked, waving his hand in front of Arthur's face as the Brit tuned back into his surroundings.

"Yes?" Arthur asked, annoyed. "What do you want, beardy?"

"Mon Dieu, so harsh. It's no wonder you have no one to call your own with that attitude." Francis commented that last part under his breath though Arthur had no problem hearing it.

"Francis! You know that's a sensitive subject for him!" Matthew, Alfred's twin brother, and Francis' boyfriend scolded.

Arthur hopped up from his chair and hiked one leg up on it for leverage as he grabbed Francis' hair and pulled, the Frenchman crying out "Not the hair!" while Arthur ignored him. "I swear on all that is holy if you ever say that again I will shave half your hair off." Arthur threatened.

Francis cried out in distress about why only half before whimpering a stubborn, "Understood." It seemed Arthur was not in the mood to put up with any teasing today. Francis would have to check up on the Brit later about that.

Arthur let go of Francis' hair and half-heartedly began pushing his salad around his plate with his fork, knowing what Francis said was most likely true as well as that fact that he was only teasing and usually just doing his best to look out for his best friend.

Arthur gave up on his salad, not having ever really touched it, and decided to go to the library. It was far too nice outside for how he was feeling at the moment and he couldn't help but feel like he didn't belong; the only place he truly belonged was surrounded by shelves full and piles of books. Arthur looked outside at the beautiful autumn trees with their colorful array of warm reds, yellows, and oranges, not yet fallen as it was only early October. He noticed a dead or dying tree without a leaf on it, waiting to be cut down, and couldn't help but relate. He was nothing but a dying tree, soon to be cut down and uprooted, never to be remembered or noticed ever again.

As the month of October pasted on Arthur was both getting very excited and very bummed out. On one hand, he loved Halloween. Witches, ghouls, goblins, spells, curses, jinxes, he loved all that stuff. On the other hand, though, he knew he would have to go to Alfred's party and he was not looking forward to seeing Alfred and Kiku all lovey-dovey in their couple's costume.

Arthur was glad Alfred's party was on the Saturday before Halloween as not having any classes allowed him to save one of his pills for the day to take just before he left to go pick up Francis-- he'd been made the designated driver by default since he couldn't drink alcohol with the pills in his system or really at all while participating in the drug trial. Arthur had decided to dress as a ghost, wearing a long white robe that went down to his ankles, white face paint, and white temporary color-changing hairspray. It was rather cliché for a costume, let alone an Arthur Kirkland costume, but he'd decided to go for what he'd most likely feel like at the party: a silent, invisible ghost stuck observing from the sidelines.

Alfred opened the door to greet them when Arthur rang the doorbell. Arthur felt his heart skip a beat when Alfred bowed forward slightly and offered him a rose with that breathtaking smile of his, "Welcome~." Arthur's heart sunk as Kiku walked up behind Alfred and he realized their couple's costume was cosplaying as Tamaki Suoh and Haruhi Fujioka from the anime Ouran Highschool Host Club.

Francis, Alfred, and Kiku then began to talk pleasantly, Francis complimenting them on their costumes but having to point out that besides his hair and beard, he would've made a much better Tamaki. He was French after all. Arthur though, was in his own little-shattered world, feeling about ready to cry and throw up his dinner. He was stupid to think that Alfred loving and fawning over him could ever be anything more than just an act.

≈ 1050 words, comments and votes are always appreciated and thanks for reading. X3

Poor Arthur, you depressed little bean.