Frolicking all over the world, pooping rainbows and marshmallows wherever we go. [Arthur + Alfred]

Canada must have been very important to Alfred, Arthur noted. Then he realized he had stopped reading and had been looking at the other person. Annoyed at himself, Arthur put the book down and tried to look for another that might grab his attention more. Finding nothing in the history, Arthur decided to head over to literature, which just so happened to be right by fiction. Arthur debated whether or not to go over there.

In the end, Arthur chickened out and ended up looking at magazines. He glanced through a recent fashion magazine, looking for any important news or details that might affect him.

Alfred scanned the books, picking out two that he knew Matthew wanted before glancing around the store. Weren’t stores supposed to have magazine sections? He wanted to see if anything was being said about him in the tabloids again. Stupid paparazzi and their damn cameras…

Going to the front of the store, he asked the woman behind the counter where the magazines were and she pointed him in the right direction. “Thank you!”

Arthur noticed Alfred heading directly towards the magazine section. Was Alfred heading towards him? Perhaps the other didn't see Arthur. He quickly hid his face behind the fashion magazine he was looking at. He hoped that Alfred wouldn't recognize the bags he was carrying or his clothes or the fact that the magazine he was reading happened to have one of his advertisements on the back cover. Well... fuck.

Knowing that running away would only make him more noticeable, Arthur remained where he was. He hoped that Alfred was too oblivious to notice the other model, but judging from what happened earlier, the young man was sure to notice Arthur. So, he groaned inwardly and hid behind the magazine.

Arthur was thankful that Alfred didn't seem to notice him. The other seemed to be nervous and trying to sneak around. Once Alfred threw the magazine down and left, Arthur put his magazine down to see what had bothered the other so much. He looked around, before noticing the picture of Alfred eating the burger. Now that Arthur thought about it, the tabloids had really been obsessing over Alfred's eating habits recently. Arthur felt rather sorry for the other model, since the tabloids could be quite nasty. After all, there was a reason Arthur was terrified of people finding out about his affection for unicorns.

Arthur looked around the magazines a bit more before deeming it safe to go over to the literature section to find something to read.

Arthur watched the other stomp out of the store. He felt quite a bit of sympathy for the American. There were few things, if any, that Arthur hated more than the tabloids. It annoyed Arthur how badly the tabloids seemed to have hurt the younger model, to spite the tabloids, Arthur decided to try to cheer the other up.

He quickly exited the store, stopping by the food court on the way out before tracking down the younger model. With a deep breath, and courage inspired by wanting to get revenge on the tabloids by being nice to Alfred, he walked up to the other model. "The tabloids can be real bastards," Arthur suddenly spoke, holding out a cookie to Alfred. He had two cookies, one for Alfred and one for himself. Arthur was willing to put up with the sugar just to get at the tabloids. He quietly noted that he did put a lot of energy into spiting and pissing off people.

"Do stalkers buy you cookies? I certainly hope not. I saw you at the bookstore... And I'll be damned if those tabloids humiliate another person. Honestly, making a living off of humiliating people, it's absolutely shameful," Arthur grumbled, taking a bite of his own cookie. "Don't pay attention to what they say, they're just doing it for money and attention," Arthur added.

He wondered if the tabloids had gotten to Alfred enough to make him change his eating habits. However, that was much too personal of a question to ask, so Arthur said nothing about it. Just thinking about that possibility made Arthur hate the tabloids even more than he already did, which was something, considering how passionately he despised them.

“W-Well, no… I guess not…” But then again, he’d never had a stalker before so he wouldn’t really know. Alfred took another small bite from the cookie, frowning. Dammit. Arthur had seen that? “They… They don’t get to me…” If that wasn’t a flat out lie, he didn’t know what was.

After those two bites of his cookie, Alfred stopped eating it and just stared at it. Could he really finish this? He knew that he would hate himself so much after eating this but wouldn’t it be rude to Arthur if he didn’t eat it? What was he supposed to do…?

"If you're going to lie, don't do it so blatantly. Honestly, I'm not going to kill you for being bothered by the tabloids. To be honest, they get to me sometimes too," Arthur said. He was trying to cheer up Alfred, but he seemed to be failing miserably with that. The boy looked so sad and hurt, and that bugged Arthur.

"Christ, lad, it's just a bloody biscuit. It's not going to turn you into a whale. Food isn't something you should feel guilty about. I mean, we all have to eat to live," Arthur sighed when he saw Alfred stare at the cookie with revulsion. Arthur took another bite of his cookie. "We're not porcelain dolls. We have to eat, drink, and breathe," Arthur added. Alfred freaking out over a simple cookie bothered Arthur greatly.

Arthur noted Alfred's new speech pattern, realizing it was Canadian. For the longest time, Arthur had assumed that the other was just another American, and now it explained Alfred's lonesome expression when looking at the book about Canada. Arthur could tell just how upset the other was, but he couldn't figure out what to say to help the other person cheer up. Being so helpless bothered Arthur greatly.

Arthur could tell that his words had done nothing to affect the other. Just watching the other made Arthur feel awful. Arthur tried to reach for the other to stop him, to tell him he was being an idiot, and that he wasn't healthy! But Arthur hesitated, feeling that his words would just push the other father away, until there was no going back. "I may be a jerk, but if you need someone to talk to, then I'm around. After all, I hate the tabloids, and the enemy of my enemy is my friend, yes?" Arthur said loudly, hoping that the retreating model heard him.

At that moment, Arthur felt utterly helpless. He couldn't help Alfred, and he had nobody who he could turn to to get Alfred help. Knowing that hurt, after all, it meant that Arthur was alone, so painfully alone and useless. He quickly stuffed the rest of the cookie in his mouth and cursed himself for being such an idiot.

Arthur watched Alfred pause before running off again. Seeing the other model so hurt and panicked made Arthur sick with fury. Fury at himself for being so helpless, and fury at the tabloids for being able to destroy a person so much. Arthur despised feeling so useless and defeated. But, he wouldn't give up, it wasn't in his nature. Arthur was of the people who had made it through the blitz, and he was not going to give in.

Realizing that Alfred was probably running off to destroy himself, Arthur felt sick with guilt, for not being able to stop him. Soon enough, Arthur found himself running the way Alfred had left. He had to find the other for some reason. Even if he couldn't do anything, Arthur wanted to try to help. Arthur just hoped he would be able to find the other model.

Arthur made it outside. He looked around, feeling very panicked. Though he wasn't known for having much of a heroic or even a nice streak, even Arthur couldn't abide just abandoning someone who seemed so hurt. Perhaps it was also a matter of pride, Arthur had felt terrible for freaking Alfred out so much, but to let something like an eating disorder fester wasn't much of an option. He glanced around, desperately looking for a clue as to where Alfred had gone.

That's when he noticed the bench hiding behind a tree. Taking a deep breath, Arthur made his way over there, finding Alfred leaning over a bag. It disturbed him, realizing that Alfred was going to make himself throw up after only a few bites of a cookie. Tabloids be damned, Arthur reached into his bag and held out the adorable unicorn plushie. "Take it. You look like you need it more than I do. L-listen... I may be a jerk, and a selfish prat, but, even I can tell you're not okay. And I'd be just as bad as those damn tabloids if I didn't try to help you," Arthur declared.

"Hate you? What for? You may be a bit annoying and obnoxious, but surprisingly enough it takes more than that to make me hate someone. Even if I did hate you, I'd still be a heartless tosser to not at least try to help. Go ahead, cry. Sitting there dumbly isn't going to do you much good. If you want to talk about it, then I'm here," Arthur said gruffly, though he was trying to comfort the other model. However, comforting others was never one of Arthur's talents. After he finished speaking, he sat down next to Alfred, making it apparent that he wasn't going to give up.

"Do you know anyone here? I mean, I'm just a random model you've acquainted yourself with, I doubt I'll be of much help," Arthur asked, attempting to seem more gentle. He really was worried about the other, but frankly he was quite used to being a jerk.

"Don't worry about crying on Gal- the unicorn, it's just a plush and it can be washed," Arthur told Alfred. Arthur didn't hate Alfred, he was just very easily annoyed by the other. There was actually a difference, mainly due to the fact that Arthur 'liked' very few people or things. So he had a huge range of varying degrees of indifference, hate, or dislike. He was glad, though, that the unicorn seemed to be quite useful in comforting Alfred. That was due to the unicorn's magic, Arthur decided.

"Does your brother know about this?" Arthur asked, even though he was fairly sure that Alfred's brother didn't know. After all, few siblings would just let their relative suffer like that.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Arthur gently asked Alfred. He figured that the model would say no, but he felt it was proper just to ask. It felt odd to just sit there as Alfred cried and clung to the unicorn. So, Arthur would continue to try to help, once he figured out how he could possibly help, which was another problem. At least the unicorn was able to help a bit, Arthur told himself.

"I think you should tell him. If you trust him, that is. I don't know about your relationship, but I assume you must be close since you're still together." Arthur tried not to remember his brothers and his awful relationship with them. Arthur and his family never quite got along, to say the least.