Arthur slumped in his chair and sighed in relief, glad that his boss hadn't given him a lot of work to do on his first day, though he worried greatly about Alfred and wondered if he was doing okay playing with the other children at the center. Alfred was always an outgoing child, but today was different, he had the characteristics of Matthew who cowered at any loud noise and barely talked to other children.

Arthur wondered if something was wrong with Alfred, his face did look a bit flushed in the morning, and his appetite wasn't as big as it always was, the thought of Alfred being sick worried Arthur greatly. But pushing it aside he typed away at the computer replying to unwanted e-mails kindly declining any offers given, the more quickly he finished the quicker he would be close to done and retrieve Alfred from the center. His eyes stung for a bit he groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose trying to get used to the strain, he was going to have to get used to it if he wanted the job to last.

Back with Alfred, he sat beside his new friend as they looked outside the windows of the center looking at the many flowers. "Hey, Davie where are your parents?" Alfred asked curiously. "My dad is working, and my mom works somewhere else. I usually go with her, but today I decided to come with my dad." He explained and turned to face Alfred with a wide smile. "Now I see that it was a great decision can you believe that if I never changed my mind we would have never met?" he laughed. "Fate is a really scary thing."

Alfred returned the smile. "You think fate brought us together?" he asked. "Yeah! I literally saw no one here that shared the same interest when I arrived, but you were so different than the others." Davie sighed happily. "You like flowers just like me." Alfred shifted a bit closer to him. "You don't think it's girly do you?" a light blush dusted his pale cheeks. "Of course not." Davie laughed in response. "I like flowers, do I look girly to you?" he asked jokingly. "Well, you're pretty." Alfred blurted out.

His face turned a bright red. "I-I mean pretty cool! Y-yeah that's what I meant!" he exclaimed in embarrassment. "Thanks." Davie laughed and patted Alfred's shoulder. "I think you're pretty cool too." He winked which confused Alfred. "W-wha?" he stammered. "It's nothing." Davie shook his head. "Noooo tell me," Alfred whined and tugged at Davie's arm. "I'll tell you when you're older," Davie stated with a mischievous smile.

Alfred pouted and glared at Davie. "Aww come on." Davie chuckled and pinched Alfred's cheek. Alfred didn't know why, but he felt like he knew Davie all his life he felt at ease with him by his side it just felt....right. Davie returned his attention to the flowers outside and a sudden idea popped into his mind. "Oh, I know!" he faced Alfred with a wide smile. "Will you be here tomorrow?" he asked with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

Alfred paused and thought for a while, he did enjoy spending his time with Davie, and he was close to his father too. It was like killing two birds with one stone he looked at Davie and nodded with a big smile. "Of course!" he stated eagerly. "Just as long as you'll be here too." He stated. "Of course I'll be here, I made a friend and there is no way I'm leaving him behind." He poked Alfred's cheek. "Stop poking me," Alfred whined.

Davie grinned. "Can't help myself you have chubby cheeks!" he exclaimed and squished Alfred's cheeks making him look like a squirrel with fat cheeks. "You buwy," Alfred said, muffled. "Me? A bully?" Davie gasped and released Alfred from his grasp. "I would never." He protested and crossed his arms dramatically. Alfred giggled. "Hey, Davie why do you like flowers so much?" he asked curiously. Davie paused for a long moment trying to think for a true answer, something that felt absolutely certain as to why he stared out the window and smiled to himself. He parted his lips and spoke.

"Well, flowers are like a life. There's so many of them and they're all beautiful in their own special way, they're all different too. And just like people, flowers eventually wilt, but pass on another life." Alfred clung onto Davie's words like they were the only thing worth living for his eyes sparkled with astonishment. "That's...really beautiful Davie." He mumbled and grasped onto his arm.

Davie flinched, he nearly forgot that Alfred was with him and placed a hand over his racing heart, he took a breath and shakily chuckled. "You think so?" he asked wearily and scratched the back of his neck. "Now I'm no poet." He stated and patted the top of Alfred's head earning a giggle from him. "But at least I know you're fascinated." A weak smile played on his lips, Alfred took notice of Davie's behavior and checked the time from the clock hanging above the exit of the center, it was almost four in the afternoon. By now he and Matthew would be taking their nap.

Alfred looked around seeing the smaller children yawning and rubbing their sleepy eyes, and then he turned back to Davie who seemed to be fighting off sleep. Alfred himself was also beginning to feel sleepy, and there was a nice chair near the puzzle table it was a huge plush one like the one you would find in a living room. He tapped Davie's arm. "Hey Davie..let's go rest at that chair." He exclaimed and pointed at the chair.

Davie nodded and they both trudged to the chair, sleeping mats were rolled on the ground by the care helpers and immediately almost every child was fast asleep, since it was Davie's and Alfred's first day they didn't have their own mat to sleep on which left them with the only option of sleeping on the chair. Since Davie was older and bigger than Alfred he suggested that Alfred sleep on his lap. "But I'll crush you!" Alfred exclaimed with a worried frown. "Are you kidding? You're tiny." Davie protested.

"Yeah, but I eat a lot so that means I weigh a lot too." Alfred pouted and crossed his arms refusing to sleep on Davie's lap in fear that he would end up hurting him, but Davie was not going to have the stubbornness. He sighed and shrugged his shoulders before lifting Alfred without any sign of actual force and sat on the comfortable chair placing Alfred on his lap and then wrapping his arms around his slim waist to keep him from escaping.

Alfred squeaked not having any time to even protest since everything happened so fast, and before he knew it he was on top of Davie. "D-Davie!?" he squirmed and tried to wriggle out of Davie's grasp, but failed and eventually gave in, leaning into Davie's body with a bright blush of embarrassment. "Bully.." He mumbled and turned so he could rest his ear against Davie's chest. "Just go to sleep grumpy pants." Davie yawned and closed his eyes.

His grip on Alfred loosened, and eventually, the pair drifted off to sleep. Alfred curled against Davie's chest and Davie had his loose arms around the small boy on top of him, both slept soundly with their bodies pressed against each other, and to believe that they had just barely met would seem like it were impossible for them to be so close up to the point where touching each other and sleeping in each other's arms didn't bother them, not one bit.

Arthur was barely getting done with his fifth e-mail when he himself began to get tired, he hadn't gotten enough sleep due to how anxious and stressed he was to finally start working, and he was so reluctant to leave his children who feared to be left alone, and Francis who grew so weak up to the point where Arthur could easily see the drastic change. At first, Francis was a tall broad-shouldered man who stood with a straight back, but now he was a thin pale broken man who cowers away from a raised hand or angry shout. And Matthew...

Arthur felt his heart throb in pain when he remembered the awful time when he actually forgot about Matthew, it was their first time going out as a family, and Arthur feared everything around his children, especially Alfred who was so outgoing it was difficult to keep an eye on him. Arthur instantly had to clear his mind, not wanting to feel the pain in his chest again. He took a breath to calm himself and brought his attention back to the irritating computer in front of him sighing when he realized he only needed to finish up five more e-mails.

It was around thirty minutes when Alfred awoke he was met with the bright sun hitting his face and was lulled by the steady sound of a strong heartbeat, he suddenly remembered where he was and quickly sat up which jolted Davie awake. "S-sorry!" Alfred apologized quickly and scrambled off of Davie's lap twisting the hem of his shirt anxiously. "Hey, you woke me up," Davie whined and rubbed his eyes and gave out a long yawn.

Alfred dropped his gaze to his feet. "Sorry..." He apologized once again. "You know what happens when people wake me up early?" Davie asked with a smile, Alfred looked up and gave him a confused look. "What happens?" he asked hesitantly, half of him wanting to know, and the other half not wanting to. Davie grinned and raised his arms. "They get tickled!" and without any warning, he tackled Alfred which took him by surprise and started to tickle his sides.

Alfred gasped, and then started to laugh aloud his face was bright red. "S-stop!" he pleaded between breathless gasps. "You gotta promise to never do it again," Davie stated still continuing to tickle the boy who was now on the ground, suddenly there was a shout startling both boys. Arthur rushed to Alfred's aid and pulled the boy that was on top of him. "Leave him alone!" he shouted with an angry frown. "Where are your parents? I must have a talk with them." Davie cowered away. "Dad it's okay!" Alfred stood from the ground and tugged at his father's shirt.

"He was just tickling me, we were having fun." He explained with a worried frown. "I'm sorry. I really didn't intend on hurting him." Davie said. "Yeah, he's my friend." Alfred nodded. Arthur froze in place, his son had made a friend. He felt happy yet scared, his son made a friend...

Alfred went over to stand by Davie and looked up to face his father. "Dad this is Davie." He introduced his friend. "Nice to meet you, sir." Davie held out his hand to Arthur. "Ah...nice to meet you too." Arthur took the boy's hand and shook it. "Alfred is really nice, and I really want to be his friend. I promise I won't hurt him, better yet I'll protect him while you work. I'll be like his knight!" he smiled widely while Alfred shifted from foot to foot fearing his father's judgment.

What surprised Arthur was how serious Davie was his eyes shone with determination, and the promise he made was just so touching. Davie promised to protect Alfred, someone he barely even knew! Their bond was just so strong, it was like they were destined to be with each other. "Thank you, Davie, thank you so much." Arthur smiled at the boy with bright eyes and let go of his hand. He turned to face his son. "Alfred it's time to go, I'm sure Matthew misses you already you don't want to keep him waiting now do you?" He asked. "No I don't," Alfred mumbled and frowned when he imagined his brother sitting alone in the corner of their room with large tears running down his cheeks.

But, he then imagined Davie being alone, and as if he were a mind reader Davie patted Alfred's back and smiled at him. "You have a brother? You're so lucky if I were you I would want to spend all my time with him." He grinned. "Don't worry about me I'll get to see you tomorrow right? I'll be fine." He reassured which eased Alfred of his worries. "Yeah, okay." He bit his lip, and then he tackled Davie with a huge hug. "Thank you, Davie, I'll see you tomorrow okay?" he looked up at him. "Of course! I'll see you tomorrow Alfred, don't forget okay?" Davie said jokingly. "I won't forget," Alfred reassured, and after saying their goodbyes Alfred left skipping happily at his father's side.

And Arthur was left shocked, he had not seen Alfred so happy before it made him was to skip himself. But, there was a little problem, Arthur didn't know if his job would last long. He already had his doubts as soon as he was seated in front of a computer, but Alfred was so happy, he really loved his friend, Davie who he had barely met. How would they turn out if Arthur kept his job? Would they both stay as friends? Arthur sighed as soon as Alfred was in the backseat of the car safe strapped in and he sat in the driver's seat waiting for a while to start the car.

Though Arthur knew what was more important, he started the car and smiled. "So Alfred...tell me about your friend." With that question, Alfred blew up with how he first met Davie, and the whole ride home their conversation was nothing but about Davie, and how amazing he was. The more Alfred talked about Davie brought pain to Arthur, he knew his son's happiness was always his top priority, but what if his son's happiness was temporary?

That thought feared Arthur the most and brought him even more pain. This was definitely going to be a problem.