Turning Tricks: 2

“Take a right at the light and it will be the third house on the left,” the teen instructed as Arthur brought his forest green Mini-Cooper to a stop at the aforementioned traffic light. After having left the hospital the pair had made their way from the hustle and bustle of the city to its suburbs. Tall imposing buildings had given way to quaint little neighborhoods.

They had spent the entire trip drifting along in awkward silence and it was driving the Englishman insane. He really shouldn’t care. As soon as he dropped this young man off at his home that would be the last he ever saw of him. Yet that fact bothered the blonde a lot more than he had any right too.

When the light changed he maneuvered his little car into a comfortable looking neighborhood and they soon were pulling into the drive of a modest split level home. In the dimming light of evening Arthur could see the home had a fresh coat of pale blue paint with white shutters also freshly painted. The lawn was well maintained and decorated with silly little animal lawn ornaments.

The entire appearance of the house brought forth the image of a house full of love. A good family lived here but Arthur couldn’t help noticing his companion tense as they came to a stop in the drive. Why did the young man next to him seem so tense? Was the outward appearance of this home just a facade for inner horrors? Was this where he was assaulted?

The veridian eyed man just added those questions to the ever growing list he had regarding the mysterious man next to him and apprehension twisted his stomach.

“Well...Thanks for the lift dude,” the ash blonde said as he cautiously unfastened his seat belt and opened the car door.

“It was nothing really,” the Brit replied as he too released his belt and opened the car door.

“What are you doing?” the tan teen asked with wide, worried eyes as the pair exited the vehicle.

“I was going to walk you to the door. It’s the gentlemanly thing to do,” Arthur said casually as if it was the most natural response.

“I’m not a chick. I can get to the door on my own,” the azure eyed man said indignantly and a pout graced his face.

“I’m sure you can, but I would feel better if I made sure you were okay once you have left my care,” the sandy blonde said as he shut the car door and started to make his way toward the house.

“No, dude, wait,” the blonde teen said with panic in his voice causing the Englishman to pause in his trek. He turned questioning eyes on the younger man.

“Yes?”

“Look, man, I really appreciate all your help, but we’re good okay. Please stay with the car and let me go up to the house,” the younger man warily rubbed at the back of his neck and his blue eyes were cast downward guiltily.

“This isn’t your home, is it?” Arthur asked turning to face the teen and crossing his arms over his chest. He didn’t appreciate being lied too.

“It sort of is. I’ve been staying with my friend Ivan. Just stay here and let me go talk to him,”

Before Arthur could protest the younger man was dashing up to the house. With a tired sigh the Brit leaned against the hood of his car and watched the younger man make his way to the homes front door.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alfred knocked on the beige door of his friend’s house and bounced on the balls of his feet anxiously. Man he really wanted a shower and to crawl into a bed so he could escape reality if only for a little while.

Moments later the door opened and a young man who was slightly taller than the American teen with pale blonde hair filled the frame.

“Fredka! Where have you been? What has happened to you?” the larger teen asked as his large hands clasped his friend’s shoulders and he anxiously examined his injured face. His violet eyes were a swirling tornado of emotion.

“Dude, Ivan relax. It’s nothing. Just let me come inside and I’ll explain,” the blue eyed teen said shrugging off his friend’s hands and moving to enter the house. He came up short when Ivan stepped into his path.

“That would...not be a good idea,” the silvery blonde trailed off casting his eyes to the ground and shifting uncomfortably.

“Why? What’s up, man?” Alfred asked looking questioningly at his friend with a small edge of worry to his voice.

“Katyusha doesn’t want you living here anymore,” Ivan said apologetically his purple eyes meeting his friend’s blue ones briefly before lowering again.

“What?” the wheat haired blonde queried with a nervous laugh. “Kat loves me she wouldn’t kick me out,”

“She is, Fredka,” the larger man said sullenly and leaned his large build on the door frame. “Men came here the other night while Sadiq and I were out. They were looking for you,”

Alfred became stone still and stared blankly at his friend before a groan escaped his lips.

“Damn it. Damn that son of a bitch,” the azure eyed teen cursed. He clutched at his hair in frustration and gave a defeated sigh. “Let me pack my stuff and I’ll be...”

Ivan cut his friend off by stepping back into the house and grabbing something from behind the door. When he reappeared he was holding a large brown suitcase. The American watched as his long time friend stepped forward and handed him the suitcase.

“I’m sorry, Fredka,” Ivan said sadly. The blonde teen's stomach twisted into a knot and a remorseful sigh escaped his lips.

“Yeah. Me too,” Alfred said as he took the suitcase. “See you around,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arthur had watched the entire exchange with ever growing concern and his apprehension only intensified as the teen now approached him with a suitcase in hand.

“What happened?” the Englishman asked worriedly as he straightened his leaning form and the younger man came to a stop in front of him.

“I apparently overstayed my welcome. Thanks again for all your help. See you later,” the younger blonde said with a bitter smile tugging at his pink lips as he moved to walk past Arthur. The older man’s hand instantly shot out and caught hold of the other man’s wrist.

“Where are you going?” the Englishman asked with wide green eyes. The wheat blonde kept his gaze locked forward and a weary sigh escaped his mouth.

“There’s a motel a mile from here. I was going to get a room for the night,” the blue eyed man said tiredly.

“You just got released from hospital. You shouldn’t be alone. What happens if your injuries worsen?” the sandy blonde asked as his grip on the other’s wrist tightened slightly.

The younger man looked back at Arthur questioningly.

“What would you suggest I do? Stay with you?”

The smaller man was never more thankful that he was facing away from his companion. It helped to conceal the pinkish coloring of his cheeks.

“T-that would be o-one option,” the Brit stammered out taken a bit by surprise by the bluntness of the youngers question. Silence fell between the two men for a long moment before the younger gave an odd chuckle.

“I just don’t get you, dude. Why does this matter to you?” the tan blonde said tugging his wrist free of the other man’s grasp.

Steely viridian eyes turned to lock with azure ones.

“I told you already, git, that I’m worried about you,” Arthur stated crossing his arms over his chest.

A glint of disbelief flashed in the younger man’s sapphire eyes, but was quickly replaced with a more guarded light. He was quiet for a few moments and seemed to be having an internal debate. The Englishman waited patiently and became contemplative himself.

Why was he pushing so hard to stay with this man? He didn’t owe him anything, but there was something about the lad that wouldn’t leave the Brit alone. There was just this overwhelming need to protect him from whatever horrors he had gone through. Damn his aggravating ‘mother hen’ nature.

“All right,” the younger man said drawing Arthur’s attention back to him. “I’ll stay with you, but just for tonight. I’ll figure everything else out tomorrow,”

The tiniest of smiles graced the straw blonde’s lips and he made a small gesture toward his vehicle.

“Well then let’s be off then, shall we?” Arthur said stepping around his companion to climb into the driver’s seat.

“I’m Alfred, by the way. I just realized that we’ve not actually introduced ourselves,” the teen said suddenly pulling the emerald eyed man up short. The Englishman’s cheeks tinted a pale pink in embarrassment of his lack of manners.

“Um...Yes, terribly sorry about that. I’m Arthur. Arthur Kirkland. Pleasure to make your acquaintance,” the sage green eyed man said clearing his throat and extending his hand. Alfred quickly accepted the pre-offered appendage and gave it  a firm shake.

“Nice to meet you too, Arthur,”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Alfred gave an appreciative whistle as the little Mini-Cooper came to a stop in front of a modest white townhouse in the middle class part of the city.

"This is a nice place you got here,  Artie," the teen said not noticing how his companion cringed at the nickname as they both exited the vehicle.

"It's Arthur and thank you. Now come along. It's getting late and I have work I need to finish for tomorrow, " Arthur said moving quickly toward his green front door with the younger man hot on his heels.

“What is it that you do?” the cerulean eyed blonde asked curiously as he waited slightly behind the smaller male on the stoop of the townhouse.

“I am a teacher,” the Englishman responded as he located the key to his door and inserted it in the lock. He quickly unlocked the door and pushed it in before entering. Alfred quickly followed behind his host and took in his surroundings.

The front door opened into the living room. The walls had been painted a gentle graham cracker color and the floors were a dark hardwood. The room was sparsely furnished with a single brown wingback armchair and matching loveseat. A dark red area rug lay beneath a cherry wood coffee table and a single end table near the armchair was its companion piece. Large black bookshelves filled to capacity flanked a small entertainment center that housed a moderately sized flat screen television.

At the back of the room was a doorway that most likely led to the kitchen and dining area. To the younger man’s immediate left was a flight of stairs that led to the second floor.

“You can afford a place this nice on a teacher’s salary?” Alfred said off-handedly as he admired his surroundings.

“Hardly,” Arthur scoffed as he removed his brown loafers and set them by the front door. "Up until last week my brother was living here and helped with the expenses,"

"But he doesn't live here now I take it?" the younger man asked as he too removed his shoes.

"Yes, he recently took up with this horrid French woman and has moved into her flat," the veridian eyed man said as he mounted the stairs. A wave of his hand indicated that the teen should follow him. Like an obedient puppy the blonde followed behind the older man.

“Wow, Artie, tell me how you really feel about her,” the American said with a jovial, honest chuckle.

‘I bet he has a beautiful laugh,’ the sandy blonde thought and then mentally slapped himself. Where had that thought come from? That was highly inappropriate.

“So, Alfred, what do you do?” the Englishman asked changing the subject to distract himself from his inner monologue as they reached the upper landing.

“Mostly, go to school, but I do the odd job here and there,” the wheat blonde responded with a shrug of his shoulders. It did not escape the Brit’s attention that the younger man had said ‘job’ with an unnatural amount of disdain. He let it go though as now was not the time to pry too much into his guest’s personal life. They strode a few steps to the second door on their left.

“Here we are,” Arthur said as he grasped the rooms doorknob and pushed open the door. He then strode into the room flipping on the light switch as he moved. “This was my brother’s room, but now I’ve made it a guest room,”

Alfred entered the room and took in the space. Again the walls were graham cracker colored to offset the dark floor. The furniture was sparse consisting of a bed, nightstand, and dresser. All the pieces were a matching dark cherry wood.

Moving quickly the teen walked over to the bed and set his suitcase atop it.

“Thanks again for all that you’ve done dude,” the blue eyed man said turning to face his host with a small smile. “I really appreciate it,”

“It’s nothing really. Any decent person would have done the same,” Arthur said as he felt his cheeks darken slightly and his gaze shifted to look at the floor. He missed the dark look that crossed the younger man’s face when he said ‘decent person’.

Feeling a bit awkward the older man turned and made his way out of the room.

“The bath is next door and my room is across the hall. If you need anything I’ll be downstairs. Good night, Alfred,” the Englishman said as he paused at the door to glance back at his companion.

“Night Artie,” Alfred said with a gentle smile that did not reach his eyes before turning his attention to his suitcase.

The sad light in the younger man’s too blue eyes was tugging at the blonde man’s mind. What had the blonde been through to make him so guarded and sad? Arthur frowned as he made his way toward the staircase. Hopefully work would help him get his mind off the enigma that was Alfred.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I am most assuredly not a morning person,” Arthur mused aloud groggily as he took a sip of his tea and again looked over his lesson plan. It was the first day of school so that days lesson would mostly consist of going over the syllabus and introductions. Yet he couldn’t concentrate on what he had written down to say. His mind was preoccupied with the image of a certain American.

When he had risen that morning he had realized that Alfred would need someway to get in and out of the house if need be. So the Brit had quietly slipped into his companion’s room and left the spare key with a note on his nightstand.

The Englishman’s breath had hitched against his will when he had glimpsed the sleeping man. His blonde bangs fell freely over his closed eyes and his lips were slightly parted allowing soft snores to escape into the air. When he slept Alfred looked significantly younger than what Arthur thought him to be. He looked so innocent and cute it made the sandy blonde’s heart ache.

The sudden piercing tone of the school bell pulled the teacher from his thoughts as students began streaming into his class. The viridian eyed man was never more thankful for the sudden distraction. His thoughts had been heading down a rather treacherous path.

Rising to his feet the English teacher turned to his whiteboard and grabbed a green marker.

“Arthur?” an all too familiar voice queried and the straw blonde dropped the writing tool he had in his hand. Whipping around surprised emerald eyes instantly locked with confused sapphire.

“Alfred? What are you doing here?” Arthur asked a bit shell shocked.

“Dude, I go to school here,”