No One's POV:

Alister was not having it. Sure, this alpha seemed nice enough, but Alister was not going to warm up to him as easily as the rest. Bloody traitors, the lot of em. He was going to make sure this alpha has what it takes to court his wee bràthair or else that'd be the end of it.

"Alfred was it?"

"Yes."

"Walk with me."

Alister stood up and made his way toward the door. Arthur's room and the hallway had different scents so finding the door was easy. He heard the shuffling of footsteps behind him and Alister sighed, taking his collapsable cane from his hoodie pocket.

He had taken to wearing hoodies more often because of the weather and the large pocket held his cane. It was very practical. Amazing idea to whoever decided to design hoodies like that. Best thing to graze the fashion world. (No doubt Francis would be having a cow if he heard him at the moment.)

They made their way toward the end of the hallway, where the scent of alpha wouldn't disturb as many omegas, before stopping. Alister held a hand out and Alfred took it in a firm handshake.

"Alister Scott Kirkland. 'M the eldest Kirkland kid and I take care of all my siblings. If ya wanna court wee Arie, ya need to prove something to me."

"I'll do whatever it takes." Alfred's voice held a promise.

Okay, Alister was somewhat impressed. But he still had more to do to gain his approval.

"Tell me, Alfred, ya got any omegas in yer family?" Alister asked.

"My younger twin Matthew and my cousin Francis. I know they can take care of themselves but I'm used to being just behind them in case I have to step in. Franny's older than me too, and he had an older alpha sibling to watch his back, an older alpha sister actually, but I always had this sense to protect my family, no matter who they were and who's much older. I'm protective of my baby brother too and he's an alpha like us."

Alister raised an eyebrow at the mention of his omega cousin. "Are ya talking about Francis Bonnefoy?" 

"Yeah. He's your paired, right? I remember you two came once that day it rained to see how Arthur was doing."

"Aye," Alister mumbled. "he is.  He's pretty great." (Alister will deny that he blushed, he doesn't blush!)

Alister was stunned. This was the 'petite Alfred' whom Francis gushed about constantly? This guy was the one who had a dark past?

Alister glowered. "So, tell me, Alfred, how long was he in the hospital for?"

"What?"

"Yer old roommate, the one ya fought. How long was he in the hospital for?"

There was a deafening silence in the hallway. Alfred's scent was jumping around until finally landing on a polish remover scent. Confusion rang in Alfred's voice as he spoke.

"Three months. How did you-"

"I don't think that matters now." Alister cut him off. "I just want ya to know I have something over yer head. One misstep and I will tell Arthur. And trust me, Arthur does not take kindly to alphas who fight, no matter if they used to or still do. The only exception has been Gilbert, but Gilbert was once. From what I heard, it was a pass time for yu."

--------------------

Alfred was shocked at what he was hearing.

No one outside of Alfred's family knew about his fighting streak. It wasn't something Alfred was proud of, but he did it anyway and you can't change the past.

The situation with his roommate though, that was different. A whole other story. Yes, Alfred did fight him, but it wasn't like his street fights. The street fights didn't allow weapons, Alfred's roomie had one.

"Look, Alister, I don't know what you think you know, but it's more complicated than that. My old roomie was-"

"Alfred, consider for a second that I don care about yer past. We all have something in our lives we'd rather forget." The older man sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Just know I have something above yah, so if yu ever hurt my wee bràthair, I won't be afraid to let something slip to him and the press."

"Yeah," Alfred whispered. He'd never been blackmailed to this extent before. Sure there were times Matt blackmailed him into doing chores and Francis threatened to reveal his weird phases (the 'fedora phase' was one of the worst) but that was about it.

Alister sighed again. "Do ya know old courting rituals, Alfred?"

"Um, sorta? My family is somewhat traditional but it's more modernized."

"I have Welsh heritage in my blood. We all do, even Artie. In yee ol' Wales, they used to do 'spooning'. Now I know yer thinking of that cuddling shit but that's not what I'm talking about. How good are yer carpenter skills Alfred?"

"Pretty good." Alfred shrugged. He aced woodshop, that has to count for something.

"I know what yer gonna do. See this 'spooning' is different. Back then, alphas would carve 'lovespoons' out of wood, glamour them up but not too much that they can't be used, then present them as a courting gift. I'm sure yu've already given Arthur other gifts, so make this spoon for me. If it's good, I'll let ya court him. If not, I won't. The threat of the press only hangs over yeh if and when yu and Arthur are still dating."

Alfred swallowed. "Okay. I'll do my best, er..."

"Alister is fine."

"Alright. I'll do my best Alister."

--------------------

They returned to the room and Arthur looked at Alfred worriedly. He wasn't sure what his brother said or did, but Alfred seemed a bit paler than before he and Alister walked out.

Arthur stood and walked over to him, checking his forehead. There was no fever so the only thing he could think of was Alister threatening him and scaring him half to death. It was no secret that his brothers are protective. Arthur pulled his hand back and signed to him. He pointed at the alpha then signed 'o' then 'k' to him.

"Yeah, I am." Alfred nodded. (The deaf brothers were impressed he understood.)

Arthur smiled and hugged him. Alfred hugged him back, a little tighter. Alister's threat loomed over him, but he didn't want it to affect Arthur.

"So what does the oldest bitch want you to do?" Lovino asked.

"Oh, he-"

"It's a secret." Alister interrupted. Alfred looked at Alister and sighed.

"Can I at least tell Arthur?"

Alister thought about it then nodded. Alfred gently took the omega's hand and walked with him outside. They went to the end of the hallway where Alfred was standing earlier with Alister and looked back down at the curious omega.

"Arthur, what is Welsh 'lovespoon'-ing?" He asked, looking away embarrassed.

Arthur began to giggle. 'A lovespoon? Alister is making Alfred build a lovespoon? He's being quite traditional.'

"Ah hey! Don't you laugh! Alister is making me make it for him, not you." Alfred pouted. Arthur laughed some more.

'And it's for Alister?! This got better!'

"Artie," Alfred whined, resting his head on top of the omega's shoulder as he pulled him closer by the waist. Arthur stopped laughing (with some trouble) and ran his fingers through Alfred's hair.

"You'll help me right?" Alfred pouted, nuzzling his face in Arthur's neck. Arthur hummed in agreement.

---3 days later---

Alfred looked at the final spoon from the ones he had been carving for the past 7 hours.

After some research and help from Arthur, Alfred made a design for a 'lovespoon' for Alister.

Turned out Alister was also a fan of Harry Potter and was a Slytherin. Alfred found that really cool and designed the spoon like that.

The inside of the bowl of the spoon was left alone, but the outside had a carving of the Slytherin house's coat of arms. The handle was carved in the shape of a snake and had the design of one as well.

It was the best one from the seven he made so he took it, going to show it to his old teacher who let him use the workshop. His old woodshop teacher knew him really well and trusted him with the tools so he had been working there for the full day even when there was a class.

Occasionally, the woodshop teacher, Mrs. Mosely, would walk by and see how he was doing, giving small tips to help him out. The beta teacher was really nice about this. He knew she had worked hard to get her omega husband's hand and was a big supporter of love, so her giving him a place to work was nothing if not part of her personality.

She did the same thing with a few alpha boys when Alfred was in her class a few years back so Alfred assumed this was normal for her. The two spent their lunch talking about it.

After knocking on her office door and receiving the come in, Alfred proudly showed her his spoon.

"That's really great Alfred! I'm sure your omega's brother will love it." She smiled.

They had also talked about Alfred's predicament during lunch. His old woodshop teacher found it hilarious and almost choked on her sandwich laugh.

"Thank you, Mrs. Mosely. I'm off t the art room now to paint it. Thank you for everything!"

"No problem Alfred. Hey, can I use your other spoons for examples in class? I think I'll make them this year's final project."

Every year, the woodshop teacher changed final project topics to keep things spiced up in class. During Alfred's year, the final project was a swingset. They could design it however they wanted. A lot of people did the regular benches or an actual swingset but Alfred decided that was too mediocre and built a wooden boat swing set. The one he built was more of a baby cradle but he got a lot of points for creativity and had the highest grade in the class. Everyone loved it.

"Sure! I'd love to see what they come up with."

"Great. I'll see you around then Alfred."

"Yes ma'am. Bye!"

Alfred made his way to the art room which was on the other side of the school. As soon as he walked in, he saw Ludwig and his boyfriend Feliciano. At the other side of the room were Antonio and Lovino. And at his desk was the art teacher Mr. Simoni. The teacher looked up when he entered and gave him a small nod before returning to his book about Michaelangelo, the famous Renaissance guy.

Lovino was sculpting something with the clay and Feliciano was painting Ludwig.

Feliciano saw him come in and gave a small wave before continuing to paint the broodish alpha. Ludwig was able to look at Alfred and give him a quick nod with his 'The Thinker' pose then went back to being still for his omega.

"Hey Toni, hello Lovino." Alfred grabbed their attention as he walked toward them. They were where the small paints and paintbrushes were located.

"Arthur's bastard." Lovino nodded.

"Hola Alfredo! Que pasa?" Antonio and he did a small handshake that ended with a bro hug.

"Nada, nada. Nomas vine a pintar halgo." Alfred shrugged, holding up the spoon.

"What's that?" Antonio asked, reverting to English.

"The thing I have to make for Arthur's brother so he'll let me court Arthur."

"Cool." Antonio nodded.

"What are you making Lovino?" Alfred asked.

"Something," Lovino responded hotly.

"Okay, have fun." 

Alfred grabbed the gold, green, black, and silver paints and paint brushes with fine points and walked over to a work table. He pulled out his earbuds and phone and started playing some music to give him some background noise.

The painting was excruciating. Alfred was never good at painting but he promised himself he would be the one doing everything, no one else was going to do it. He'd accept tips here and there but he was not going to let anyone else touch his work.

About an hour had past when a familiar scent filled his nose and Alfred looked up seeing Francis. His cousin was a frequent visitor to the art room so it was no surprise to see him. Arthur had texted him saying he and a few others were busy the full day since they had to study for midterms so Alfred couldn't go over. (Luckily he wasn't bored and had something to take up his time!) Alfred guessed the situation was the same for Franny.

That also must've been why Lovino and Feliciano were here. The art rooms must be packed in their school. Alfred's midterms already passed so he didn't have to worry about class.

"Franny." Alfred waved his cousin over and took out his earbuds to talk to him. Francis was one of those enforcers of "both earbuds off" and after he broke them once when Alfred wasn't listening, Alfred never crossed his cousin again.

"Bonjour, Alfred!" The omega smiled and kissed his cousin's cheeks. It was a French thing. Alfred didn't question it.

"Hey Franny, am I painting this okay?" Alfred asked, looking down at his spoon. He already had the first coat but he wanted to know if it looked good.

Francis studied his work and nodded.

"Oui, merveilleux."

Alfred smiled relieved. "Thanks."

Time to finish the last few coats then get ready to present it to Alister.

Moons, was he scared. Very scared.

But he was going to do it.

Do it for Arthur.

--------------------

Hey everyone. I'm ending the chapter here! I hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me if you do. I love reading your comments, they're so fun. :)

There's a lot of things I need to cover so I'm going to jump right into it.

First off, I don't think I've mentioned her before but Francis has an older sister. The country playing her in Monaco. I now that France is older than her but I wanted to include her and making her the older sister seemed better in my mind.

Lovespoons. Good ol' Welsh lovespoons. They were in other parts of Europe too! Around the 17th century. A suitor would carve a lovespoon for the woman he fancied and would present it to the woman's father so he saw she going to be in good hands capable of woodwork and supporting her. If it sucked, the dad would deny him for the daughter. Different symbols meant different things like a heart meant 'love' and a lock meant 'security'. These days they're mainly just decoration. In Norway, they connected lovespoons and made them from a single piece of wood to symbolize a linkage of their marriage.

Decorative one:

Courting one:

Norwegian one:

Alfred's roommate/fight streak is a complicated topic. I will go into much more detail later but for now, I need you all to know that Alfred did something ILLEGAL and was UNDERAGE when he did it. His roommate did something ILLEGAL and was NOT UNDERAGE when he did it but it was still really fucked up. Like I said before, it may be a trigger to some people once I put it up but I will make sure to tell you all what the trigger is before I do.

Mrs. Mosely. If any of you watched Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide you may recognize the name. This is Moze's last name!  :D Bringing some childhood spirit in here.

Alfred's project is something I saw online while looking at woodshop projects. It's really cool and I found a pic of the project to show you guys! I hope you guys find it as cool as me. :3

Mr. Simoni. I don't know how many of you know this but Michaelangelo's full name is Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni! I would imagine the teacher is some sort of descendant of Michaelangelo but I'll leave that up to you guys.

Translations:
Scottish Gaelic-bràthair-Brother
French-petite-small
French-Bonjour-Hello
French-Oui, merveilleux.-Yes, marvelous.
Spanish- Hola Alfredo! Que pasa?-Hey Alfred! What's up?
Spanish-Nada, nada. Nomas vine a pintar halgo.-Nothing, nothing. I just came to paint something.

That's all for today! Thank you for reading everyone! :D