I Guess we Know

Arthur sighed exasperatedly and glanced down at his watch. 6:26. Arthur exhaled and shook his head at Alfred's laziness. "Damn… bloody… git…" he muttered under his breath, shoving his fists into the pockets of his white nylon jacket. Arthur leaned back against the door of his dark-green Subaru, scanning over the huge, car-filled parking lot. "The concert starts in four minutes and Alfred expects me to wait here for him?" he growled under his breath as he searched for Alfred's flashy red Mustang. "He agrees to go on this date with me and then he gets here late… Maybe he's not even coming! Maybe he's just leaving me in the scorching heat of summer to die alone!"

Arthur shook his head and pulled his key ring out from one of the many pockets of his baggy red shorts. He started to go through the keys, finally finding the car key and turning to unlock the car as he continued to mumble curses and swears under his breath. Arthur drove the key into the car lock and opened up the door, sliding into the front seat.

"Where are you going…?" Arthur blinked a couple of times before craning his neck down, glancing up and out of the car. Alfred was standing in front of the door of the car, a confused look on his face. "Where are you going?" he repeated himself. "I thought we had a concert to go to. Are you flaking on me?"

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and stumbled out from the car again. Alfred smiled and took his hand, helping him to his feet. Arthur shoved his keys back into his pocket and looked at Alfred. He just grinned and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not 'flaking' on you…" Arthur muttered, shutting the door of his car. He locked the car and glanced down at his watch. "We have less than two minutes to buy our tickets, find the stadium, and get a spot. Now, put it into high gear and let's go."

Arthur grabbed onto Alfred's wrist and started to weave through the cars of the parking lot at high-speed. Alfred snickered and kept at Arthur's heels as they sped to the "Yellow Entrance Gate", passing through the crowd to get to the ticket booth. Arthur skidded to a stop in front of the colorful booth and handed the old woman the money without a word. She looked at him, slightly confused, before sliding him two blue tickets. Arthur snatched the tickets and started down the big passage way to the "Red Entrance Gate". Alfred decided to run next to him now, instead of behind. They ran as fast as they could without getting too tired all the way to the "Customer Help" booth. Arthur asked the boy where the outdoor concert was so fast the teen could barely understand what he was saying. Arthur repeated himself, and the boy gave weak directions. But Arthur couldn't wait any longer. He had asked Alfred out on that date and they would get there - on time.

Arthur sprinted off in the direction the boy told him to go. They nearly knocked over every person they passed by as they barreled down the alleys and walk-ways. Once Arthur could finally see the metal gates leading to the stadium, he grabbed onto the panting Alfred's wrist and sprinted at full speed. He dragged Alfred up the steps and into the stadium. Without stopping, Arthur ran through the rows of metal benches, shoving past other people to get to a small space in the front row. Arthur and Alfred crammed between the two groups of people, barely making it in the small space. Arthur glanced up to see that the band hadn't entered the stage yet.

"Oh, thank God," Arthur sighed happily. "I thought we weren't going to make it!" Alfred leaned over with his hands on his knees, starting to pant and wheeze. Alfred hit his chest and coughed, having to hold onto the cold metal rail in front of them so he didn't fall over. "Don't be such a baby, Alfred…" Arthur muttered, crossing his arms. "I ran the whole way, and I didn't even break a sweat."

Alfred slowly brought himself to stand up straight, clutching the sleeveless t-shirt over his heart as he panted slightly still. "Y-you're trying to kill me…!" he whined. "You know I don't like running… Or jogging… or exercise…"

Arthur rolled his eyes and roughly patted Alfred's back. He glanced up at the stage again, starting to get excited. "Ah, I can't wait…" he whispered animatedly. He started to bounce up and down, his heart racing. Alfred glanced over at him and laughed slightly, putting a hand on his shoulder. Still, Arthur's bouncing didn't cease. He was too excited to stand still any longer.

A rather large and unkempt man pushed through Arthur's row, making people grunt and whine and have to move out of the way. When the young girl of twelve or thirteen standing next to Arthur got  too excited to move out of the way for the raucous man, he harshly gripped her wrist and spat in her face, "Move out of the way, bitch!" The girl gaped in shock with her eyes wide and mouth dropped. The man forced the young girl to the side, making her trip and tumble over the metal bench.

While Alfred ran over to help up the girl, Arthur stepped in front of the man and put a hand up to stop him. Arthur laughed, almost in shock.

"Uh, yes, sir…" Arthur started, looking up at the man as if he couldn't comprehend what just happened. "This is a public place, and there are other people here that you need to respect, especially the young women also attending this concert."

The man scoffed and put a hand on Arthur's shoulder to push past him when Alfred grabbed the man's wrist, protectively holding the young girl against his side. The girl sniffled and held onto Alfred's shirt, pressing her temple into his sturdy shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing, man?" Alfred shouted, squeezing the girl gently. "Do you know how young she is? If she had fallen a certain way, she could have gotten hurt! Quit the pushing and get the hell out of here!"

The man growled and lunged forward to grip the front of Alfred's t-shirt, making him let go of the girl and clasp the man's wrist. Alfred grunted as the man pulled them closer, their noses almost touching. Arthur's eyes widened and he stopped both of them in their tracks as he waved a finger, laughing as if he couldn't believe what he was looking at.

"I know you don't have your grimy, bloody paws all over my date," he spat. "And you'd better let him go or you'll be begging for a one way ticket to your bloody, torturous death."

The man laughed after a moment, slowly unclasping his fingers from Alfred's t-shirt. Alfred quickly held the girl again, who started to sob into his chest. The man put his hands on his hips, laughing down at Arthur. Arthur flinched and glared up at him with half-opened eyes, refusing to back down or even become intimated.

"You?" the man growled. "A short, skinny guy from Ireland expects to beat me up? Hah. Yeah. Have fun-"

In a heartbeat, Arthur raised his fist and slammed his knuckles into the big man's jaw. Alfred's eyes widened as he gasped and put a hand on the back of the young girl's head, keeping her face in his chest in case the fight continued. The man slapped his hands over his jaw and stared in shock, unable to speak. Arthur stepped forward and prodded a finger in the man's face, making him flinch and step back nervously.

"Don't - EVER - touch that man-" Arthur pointed at Alfred. "-or that little girl-" He pointed at the young girl. "-again, or so God help me, your mother will find your dead, bloodless body in the dumpster behind the McDonald's on Maple Street. The police will try to find some sort of trace of who your killer was, but they'll never find it. Maybe I wasn't even the one to kill you! Maybe it was the sniper I hired! Who knows?! Now get your arse out of here so I can enjoy my freakin' concert!" Arthur grabbed onto the man's shirt and pushed him toward the entrance of the stadium. "And I'm from Britain, you bloody twat!"

The man quickly nodded before running up the concrete stairs and disappearing out from the stadium. Arthur crossed his arms as he watched him flee, letting out a soft sigh of relief. He glanced over at Alfred who was now kneeling in front of the girl, telling her things Arthur couldn't catch over the cheers of the crowd. The three turned their heads to look in confusion, wondering why everyone had gotten to rattled up. The band had walked out onto the stage and the lead singer grabbed the microphone stand, starting to pump up the crowd. Alfred leaned down to whisper something into the girl's ear, making her look up at him and nod, smiling sweetly. Alfred grinned back at her and patted her shoulder before glancing at Arthur.

"You did a good thing, Alfred," Arthur spoke into his ear, barely being able to hear his own self over the roar of the music as the band started to play. "She was really upset. You made her feel better."

"Yeah, but Arthur…" Alfred laughed a bit, having to talk into his ear as well. "You're the one who talked back to that douche and got him to leave! It was totally awesome! Not to mention really, really hot. I think I'm considering a second date. You were really impressive, Arthur. Even I was a little intimated!"

Arthur snickered and took Alfred's hands, looking into his eyes. Arthur grinned childishly, making Arthur's eyes narrow a bit and glaze over with lust. Alfred's smile quickly faded and he blinked a couple of times, getting a bit confused as he looked at Arthur's new expression. Arthur beckoned Alfred to lean over so he could whisper into his ear with a silky, tempting voice,

"I guess we know who's dominant now, don't we?"