"Dammit, Matt!"

Matthew looked from his locker to his brother who was now pouting beside him, his arms crossed tightly over his chest. "What's wrong now?"

"Every time I've tried to get close to (Name), one of her friends is there to chase me away! You should have seen the look Berwald gave me when I tried to talk to her during English." Alfred exclaimed, looking to meet his twin's gaze.

"Can you blame them? You and your friends terrorized her to the point where her friends feel like she needs to be protected from you guys." Matthew responded, putting away his textbooks and binders from the first half of the day.

"Dude, come on! I told you I was sorry!"

"My forgiveness isn't what you should be trying to get here." Sighed the Canadian teen. "Al, you keep telling me you're sorry, but you should be telling (Name) you're sorry." He closed his locker after pulling his lunchbox from the metal storage unit. "I can't be sure you're serious about making up for what you've done unless you really apologize to her."

Letting out a groan, Alfred's arms fell to his side before standing from the wall of lockers. "I'm trying though!" He exclaimed. "Can't you give me some advice, please?"

Shaking his head, Matthew moved away from his brother. "Nope. Your mess, you clean it up."

As his twin walked away, Alfred couldn't help but huff in frustration. It wasn't that he isn't trying to apologize, it's just that people kept getting in the way.

Berwald gave him one of the worst glares he'd ever seen in English.

She was escorted to the library by Ludwig, who would glare over his shoulder at Alfred anytime he got closer than three feet from them.

After her Latin class, Matthias walked her to Geometry. When he tried to walk in the room to "say hi" to Arthur, she was sitting snugly between Elizabeta and Roderich. Upon seeing him, the former sent a glare that made a chill run down his spine.

And of course, he tried to seek out the help of his brother before lunch. That didn't help any.

Needless to say, he was on his own.

"What's got you looking so chipper?"

Looking up, Alfred was met with the gaze of his cousin who was looking down at him with a quirked bushy brow.

"Oh... Uh, just trying to get Matt to talk to be again... You know, the usual." Replied Alfred responded. He wasn't sure if he should tell Arthur what he was trying to do, as he knew that the guy had his own issues with (Name).

The last thing he wanted was his entire family hating him.

"Well, you can't expect that to change any time soon, given that he's still buddy-buddy with that (Name)." Arthur responded with a roll of his green eyes. "Come on, we should get to lunch."

"Right, right..." Alfred mumbled as he fell into step with Arthur as they made their way to the cafeteria. "So... How are things at home?"

Rolling his eyes once more, this time accompanied with a indignant snort, Arthur grumbled quietly. "Bloody annoying. Owen won't leave me alone, Liam is always begging for help, and Allistor... Hell, I don't know what Allistor's doing. Ever since we drove (Name)'s brother home from his bar that one night, he's been weirdly... Doting, I guess. It's like he knows-"

Alfred stopped. "Wait, you think he knows?!" He exclaimed suddenly.

"I can't be sure." Arthur shrugged. "I just... I don't know what's up with him, but he's not as much as a tyrant with me as he used to be. For all I know, it's some convoluted guilt trip that he's waiting for me to break."

"Sounds pretty twisted, if you ask me." Alfred quipped.

"Sounds just like Allistor, really." Retorted the Brit as he and Alfred made their way into the cafeteria building to get in line. "But, I'm lucky to be free this weekend. What about you?"

"I'd thought you'd want to work on the project for Beilschmidt's class."

"No point in working on it with just the two of us. Besides, we're more than halfway done with it. We can probably finish it in class with the others." Arthur glanced over at his cousin as he grabbed a burger. "You never said what you're doing this weekend."

"'Cause I don't know what I'm doing this weekend." Answered Alfred, walking to grab a side of fries. "Why? You so desperate for friends you wanna hang out with your cousin?"

"Oh shut it, you git." Huffed Arthur as he walked past to the salad bar. "I just figured you'd like some calmer company since all of your friends have basically abandoned you too."

Okay, that hurt like a bitch. Thought Alfred as he walked to grab a soda. "Whatever, dude. If you wanna go to the mall this weekend to annoy Francy-Pants at work, I'll come along with you."

"...That will suffice." Answered Arthur as he followed Alfred to the check-out line.

~~~

"And I don't know why he keeps following me!" Exclaimed (Name) as she buried her head in her hands out of frustration as Matthew sat next to her in their usual lunch spot. "Matt, did I do something to piss off your brother that I don't know about?"

"(Name), if that was the case, I would be by your side all day and would be playing bodyguard for everyone else. I'm just sorry that I've been so busy today to not notice..." Matthew sighed, looking down at his lunch pathetically. "I wish we had more than one class together..."

"You and me both, man." She grumbled, fidgeting with her utensils. "At least we have the one, though... Not that we work together on anything in there."

"Very true." Chuckled Matthew softly, smiling over at his friend. "Aside from Al stalking you all day, how has it been?"

"Good, actually." (Name) responded, meeting the Canadian's gaze. "It's just... I dunno, weird to think that I actually have friends who are protecting me from bullies like Alfred... No offence."

Matthew shrugged. "Hey, the guy gave me a black eye and hit you more times I'd like to admit. I don't think it's possible for me to take any offence."

"True, I guess." Mumbled (Name) as she leaned back against the tree that the two sat under. "...Matthew? Would you ever forgive your brother?"

"For hurting you?"

"For everything he's done... I mean, hurting me, yeah, but I'm sure he's done other stuff too."

Matthew hummed in thought as he bit into his home-brought poutine. "Depends. He'd have to really mean it, and show that he really means it."

"And since you seem to know him better than anyone else, how would he do that?"

Another shrug came from the teenage boy. "Who knows? He'd probably make it some big spectacle." He leaned against the tree as well, looking down at (Name) who sat next to him. "Thing is, Alfred F. Jones is an unpredictable teen who doesn't know how to be his own person sometimes. That gets him in trouble a lot of the time. But, if he really is passionate about something, he makes sure that everyone knows about it."

Letting Matthew's words sink in, (Name) let out a quiet sigh in response. "Understandable, I guess..."

"To be honest, I don't completely understand my brother all the time either. Guess we aren't as close as some twins are, though." Chuckled Matthew, smiling down at (Name). "But, if he really does bother you to where you don't feel safe, I'll grab my hockey stick from the locker rooms and give him what for."

(Name) laughed softly, elbowing her friend's shoulder and making him laugh in return. "No beating your brother with sporting goods."

"Please?" Asked Matthew. "Only a little?"

"No!" She laughed, sitting up. "I told you that I don't want you beating up your family. Alfred included."

Chuckling again, Matthew sat up was well. "Fine, fine. I won't beat Alfred with my hockey stick... I'll only hit him lightly in the head with it."

"Matthew!" Before the girl could gently smack her friend's shoulder, he quickly got up to dispose of his trash, laughing as he went. She leaned against the tree once more as she watched her friend leave to find a trash can.

Letting out a contented sigh, she closed her eyes and for once, just enjoyed being at school.

Something she hadn't done in a long, long time.

~~~

Just as Chemistry was wrapped up, Allistor was finishing with the lecture over covalent bonds as (Name) noticed a note was passed onto the corner of her desk. She glanced over to see that Feliks was giving her a cautious look.

Upon quirking her brow in confusion, she mouthed silently to him "What?"

"Alfred's looking at you again." He replied.

Feeling the same chill she had been feeling for most of the day, (Name) willed herself to look. Carefully, she turned her head and glanced ahead to noticed that the aforementioned blond was indeed looking back at her. As soon as he noticed her gaze, however, he quickly turned back around.

Looking back at Feliks, she tapped the slightly crumpled note with her pencil. "Is this from him?"

Feliks nodded. "Made Toris pass it."

As the two teens were talking across the Lithuanian teen, their gazes turned to him as he nervously fidgeted under their gazes. He turned to (Name) and mouthed a soft "Sorry" before turning back to Allistor's lecture.

Letting out a quiet sigh, (Name) picked up the wrinkled note and tried to quietly unfold it to read the quickly scribbled blue pen message.

Meet me on the football field during Flex. We need to talk.
Alfred F. Jones.

As simple as the message was, it was still enough to chill the poor girl to the bone.

Just when she thought she'd be free of the bruising beatings that she received almost on the daily, it seemed like there was still more in store for her.

Her hands must have been shaking, because she felt a gentle hand atop hers to stop them. Looking up, and to her side, she noticed that it was Toris who had been the one to still her trembling hands. Past him, she noticed the concerned gaze of Feliks.

"Are you okay, (Name)?" Toris whispered softly. "W...What did the note say?"

Swallowing the lump in her throat, (Name) curled her fingers in on the note, crushing the paper into a ball to shove into her backpack. "Nothing worth repeating, Toris." She answered softly, smiling across from him at Feliks. "I'll be okay."

"Promise?" Asked Feliks just as the bell rang to end the period.

"I promise." (Name) assured, flashing a smile at her friend. "I'll see you guys either at the end of the day, or tomorrow. Whichever comes first."

"Alright... We're still on for Saturday, yeah?"

"Of course, Feliks. I'm looking forward to it." (Name) responded, slinging her backpack onto her shoulder and quickly making her way out of the room to head to her final class for the day.

What could he want? He's trying to get me alone, I know that, but what is he going to do once he's done that? She thought to herself as she walked on. I mean, I get that he's still pissed... But the last thing I want is to be left alone with him... His note didn't exactly say I could go alone, though... Nope. Not worth the risk.

As the girl was lost in her thoughts, she didn't realize just how quickly she was walking until she bumped into someone and was pushed to stumble backwards. She would have fallen if she wasn't caught by the arm.

"Oh! Goodness me, (Name)! You ought to be more careful than that!" Chirped an all-too familiar cheerful but creepy voice.

Upon opening her eyes, (Name) was met with the chilling gaze of Ivan as the tall teen smiled down at her, helping her to her feet. "Steady, now?"

"Y-Yeah..." She answered as her arm was released. "...Thanks."

"Think nothing of it, (Name)." He hummed. "I'm just glad you didn't fall."

She honestly didn't know how to feel. The last thing she ever wanted was to feel the full on wrath of Ivan Braginsky, especially when he had warned her time and time again just how he was fully capable of causing her pain. But, she still didn't know how to feel about him suddenly being so nice.

It was if a switch had been flipped: On one end, you had a cruel sociopath. On the other, you had a gentle giant.

And what was worse, she didn't know which was worse.

"Shall we make our way to history, then?" Suddenly asked Ivan as he continued to smile down at the girl. "Seeing as we're both heading that way."

She couldn't rightfully say "no," they were both heading that way. "Sure... Let's go." Mumbled the girl as she rubbed the spot where Ivan had grabbed her arm.

"Wonderful." Hummed the tall Russian as the two began to make their way down the hall together. "So, I take it you've noticed Alfred following you all day. Quite odd, isn't it?"

"I... I guess." (Name) responded. "I don't suppose you know why, would you?"

"Not at all!" Laughed Ivan. "Honestly, that boy is a bit much for me."

"Oh... I thought you two were friends."

"Acquaintances, more like it." Hummed the taller boy. "We don't always see eye to eye, but we'll get along in a work setting if we have to."

"Gotcha." (Name) uttered in response, not knowing what else to say. It was awkward enough to have one of her tormentors following her most of the day, it was even more awkward to be playing the "nice act" with another one as they walked to class together.

"But, I do hope for the best... Wouldn't want him beating you up again, would we?" Ivan hummed as they climbed the steps. "We both know how easy that is, don't we?"

(Name) stopped a step short of the top as Ivan continued to walk on. As much as it hurt for him to say that, it was somewhat true... She was basically a punching bag with legs.

"Who's to say what may happen, though? It may be a simple apology." Chuckled Ivan, as if he were teasing the girl as he turned around to face her. As their gazes met, she could just detect a hint of cruelty in his violet irises. "Wouldn't know unless you go there, huh?"

"No... I guess not." She replied as she climbed the last stair and walked ahead to her classroom.

As she took her seat between Kiku and Feliciano, the chills on her back didn't go away as she knew that she now had two sets of eyes looking at her. One of them belonged to Alfred, who was just prolonging the inevitable by staring at the back of her. The other was doing it for the fun of scaring her, Ivan just always knew how to get under (Name)'s skin.

The last thing she wanted was for either to really affect her.

~~~

And just like that, class ended without a hitch. In (Name)'s opinion, it ended way too soon. The entire time she was bouncing her leg nervously, and at one point Lovino snapped at her to cease the incessant bouncing- he was then chastised for shouting. Though, he wasn't wrong, she wished that she could will herself to stop her nervous bouncing.

Of course, there was no luck for that.

As she walked down the hall to leave the building, the ever-present fear that was brewing in her stomach was beginning to spread throughout her body. As scared as she was, she didn't want to invoke Alfred's wrath by asking for help. The last thing she would want would be for him to beat her up even worse than he's already planning.

She tried to grab Matthew before he left the room, but he explained that he had to meet with one of his teachers about a grade that he got in a class. Ludwig, Feliciano, Kiku, and Yao were more of the same, they all left before she could voice her concerns.

I can do this... I can do this... I can do this... She kept repeating the phrase to herself as she walked onto the green of the field.

Standing alone in the field was no one but the man of the hour himself, Alfred F. Jones. He stood tossing a football into the air before catching it. Leave it to a jock to keep himself busy with a ball.

When she stood about five feet from the guy, Alfred glanced over his shoulder at her before throwing the ball at the field goal, the ball going between the large prongs. She couldn't help but notice a the ghost of a smile worked its way onto his face from making the goal. The smile didn't last long as Alfred turned to her.

"So... I guess you're wondering why I've been trying to talk to you all day, huh?" He asked her, shoving his hands into his pockets.

She nodded stiffly. "Yeah... You've been pretty omnipresent..."

"Well... What I wanna do is apologize."

What? "Why?" She asked.

"Because... Matthew's right. I follow a crowd because I can't really decide things for myself... I hang out with guys I think are my friends and I go along with whatever they want to do because they think it's cool even though it doesn't do anyone any good." Alfred explained, his gaze shifting to his feet. "I heard about what he did to Elizabeta, and it wasn't cool."

"I can think of hundreds of words to describe what he did to Elizabeta that aren't 'cool.'" (Name) spoke, not bothering to hide the bitterness and contempt in her voice.

"Before I met and really hung out with Gilbert, I had a lot more friends than I do now. I hung out with people like Toris and Tino. But when I started hanging out with Gil, who had his own issues with these people, we all grew apart..." The American teen went on. "When they were little, Gilbert used to terrorize Toris. When we were little, Toris was my friend. Now that we're in high school, Toris barely looks at me because he knows I'm friends with Gilbert."

(Name) wrung her hands nervously as Alfred went on, not knowing what to say. "I... I'm sorry that happened."

"Matthias was close with Gilbert and by extension, me. But, obviously that didn't last long enough to where Matthias considers me as a separate person from Gilbert. He won't even talk to me even though when we were all together, I considered him one of my best friends."

Stop...

"Tino was one of the first person to really welcome me into the school. Since hanging out with Gilbert, I hardly talk to him anymore."

Please...

"Let alone any friends I might have had, my own brother won't even talk to me at home because of the kind of person I've become. All thanks to that motherfucker Gilbert Beilschmidt!"

"What does this have to do with me?!" She suddenly shouted, interrupting the thought of the teen in front of her.

"...Only everything." Chuckled Alfred pathetically. "If it weren't for you... I dunno. Maybe Gilbert wouldn't have taken control of my life to the point where I'm nothing but one of his lackies. Maybe I'd still have all the friends I had before I really met Gilbert... I know for sure my brother would still be talking to me."

(Name) watched Alfred as he kicked at the ground, his eyes turned downward pitifully as he did so. Upon looking up at her, he took a step towards her. One step became several and soon enough, he was standing right in front of her.

"Listen... I know nothing I could say or do could make up for what I did... But I want you to know that I really, truly am sorry for what I was a part of, what I did, and how it affected you. You didn't deserve any of it." Alfred spoke, his jaw tight and his hands clenched at his sides. "I know it won't make up for anything, but can we let bygones be bygones?" He asked, taking one of his hands and raising it for the girl to shake.

Only she didn't get the chance.

In a gust of wind, Alfred was knocked back by a punch to the face as an angry Dane stood between her and the American teen who was sent sprawling to the green.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing with her, asshole?!" Exclaimed Matthias as he stood over Alfred while (Name) was ushered away by Tino.

Looking behind her, she noticed that not only were Matthias and Tino there, but Toris, Felix and Matthew. From what she could guess, Feliks and Toris must have told Tino or Matthias, and in turn, must have told Matthew. She caught the Canadian's gaze and tried to speak before her attention was drawn back to the blonds.

"I was apologizing, Matthias!" Alfred groaned, sitting up and rubbing his cheek. "Damn dude, you really don't pull punches!"

"Damn right I don't, especially when someone like you is threatening (Name)!" Retorted the Dane as he put his hands on his hips defiantly. "Now, what exactly were you doing?"

"Matthias, he really was apologizing!" (Name) exclaimed from Tino's side. Her outburst caused Matthias to turn around with a questioning look with a quirked brow.

"...Huh?"

"He was... You just kind of rushed him before he really could..." She explained to her friends as she walked past Matthias to Alfred, holding her hand out for him to take. "There was no need to punch him like that..."

"I didn't know that!" Exclaimed Matthias, defensively. "After all he's done to you with his friends, how was I supposed to know he finally realized his mistakes?"

"You did, didn't you?" Asked (Name), looking over her shoulder at the Dane. That effectively shut him up.

Turning back to Alfred, she stood waiting for him to take her hand. The teenaged boy didn't seem to know what to do. If he took her hand, he thought if he didn't take her hand, it would show just how stubborn he was. If he did take her hand, he was worried Matthias would deck him again.

Luckily, he wasn't that stubborn.

Taking (Name)'s hand, Alfred was pulled to his feet by the girl with surprising strength. "You know, Matthias kinda has a point..."

"About what?" Questioned (Name).

"Yeah, about what?" Quipped the Dane.

"After everything I've done, I can't expect you to let me go without any punishment." Alfred explained, rubbing his stinging cheek.

"A-Alfred, that's not necessary-"

"Punch me."

Huh?

"Alfred, I don't think that's what she needs." Said Tino from behind (Name)

"I'm serious though! After all the bullshit I've put you through, I induced a panic attack for Christ's sake! You of all people deserve a punching bag after everything that Gilbert put you through."

"A-an actual punching bag, maybe, but not a real human!" Toris stuttered.

"C'ome on, (Name). One good hit. I'm giving you a freebie here."

She felt a tap on her shoulder, turning to see Matthias. "I mean... I'd take it." He admitted.

"Same!" Called Feliks.

Turning back to Alfred, who actually had a smile on his face. His eyes no longer held their cruel light, but a kinder, warmer light. Almost childlike in nature.

"...Promise not to get mad?" She uttered softly.

Alfred shook his head, flashing the girl a bright grin. "Promise... From this day on, I won't get mad at you like I have been... I also promise to cut Gilbert out of my life... I don't like what he stands for, or what the thinks is 'awesome.' So, you don't have anything to worry about when it comes to me anymore. I promise you that."

All those times when he shoved me into the lockers, talked down to me, hurt me... Better make this count. She told herself as one of her hands curled into a fist.

Noticing the girl steeling herself, Alfred closed his eyes and waited for the punch to land.

And boy did it land.