"Okay then."
The next morning, Arthur sat at the dining table, systematically shoving small pieces of sausage and eggs into his mouth while trying, and failing, to keep his eyes to himself. His gaze kept involuntarily drifting toward Natalia.
Ever since he had sat down, she had been pacing back and forth, entirely consumed by a phone call that stretched on until he was clearing his empty plate.
Who could she possibly be talking to for this long? Arthur wondered, mulling it over as he washed his hands and did a final, anxious inventory of his briefcase.
"Ready to roll, brat?"
Arthur turned to find Uncle Kevin leaning against the front doorframe, twirling his car keys around his index finger in a practiced, effortless pose.
"Yeah, let's go," Arthur replied, swinging his bag over his shoulder and stepping into line behind him.
"Hey! Wait up!"
Just as they reached the threshold, Kelly came rushing down the hallway, a radiant smile illuminating her face. "Arthur, sweetie."
"Mmm?" Arthur hummed, tilting his head.
"You don't have any plans for tonight, right?"
Arthur let out a soft, self-deprecating scoff. "What plans, Auntie? Are you teasing me? You know I don't have any friends to make plans with." He offered a dramatic, exaggerated pout, but quickly melted into a reassuring smile when Kelly wrapped him in a tight, guilt-ridden hug.
In the past, feeling detached and isolated from his peers had been a source of deep, quiet depression for Arthur. But over the years, he had adapted.
He had grown comfortable in his own bubble, eventually learning to prefer his own company. He didn't need a sprawling social circle when he had all the love and entertainment he could ask for right here with Kelly and Kevin.
Despite his naturally chatty demeanor and effortlessly likable charm, Arthur kept the rest of the world at arm's length. He flatly refused to let anyone get close enough to be called a true friend, fiercely hesitant to form bonds that could eventually break.
Kevin had even sent him to therapy to address his profound fear of attachment, but the scars ran deep; he had never fully recovered.
"Well..." Kelly said, releasing him from the hug but keeping her hands on his shoulders. "You remember Lily, right?"
"Lily? Aunt Carol's daughter?"
"Exactly! She and our Natalia are best friends. She found out Natalia was back in town and immediately invited all of us over to their place for dinner tonight. We're going, right?"
Arthur watched his aunt glow with sheer excitement. She was looking at him with wide, hopeful eyes, as if she genuinely expected him to refuse. But Arthur would never dream of raining on her parade.
To be fair, he wasn't particularly fond of larger gatherings. He had endured a few deeply unpleasant experiences at family reunions on Kevin's side of the family years ago.
He vividly remembered the cruel, condescending words the extended family had hurled at them, words that had deeply wounded and betrayed Kevin, ultimately driving him to cut ties with them completely.
Since Aunt Kelly didn't have any living family, having grown up in an abusive orphanage that she swore never to look back on after turning eighteen, their little household was entirely self-contained. They were their own small, fiercely protective kingdom.
"No problem at all, Auntie," Arthur said gently.
"Really?" Kelly searched his face, her voice dropping to a protective murmur. "If you really don't want to go, sweetie, I can easily stay home with you. Just say the word."
"No, no! I'm totally in, I promise. Don't worry about me." Arthur injected as much genuine enthusiasm into his voice as possible. After a long, calculating look, Kelly finally accepted it.
"Alright then!" She flashed him a bright thumbs-up, turning to head back into the kitchen, before pausing and pivoting right back to him. She leaned in, pressing a warm kiss against his cheek. "Have a wonderful day at school, sweetie."
Arthur smiled, waving goodbye as the front door clicked shut. Beside him, Kevin grabbed his shoulder, guiding him toward the driveway. "Alright, milestone man, let's move."
The moment the car engine turned over and they pulled out of the driveway, Arthur took the offensive.
"Save your breath, old man. I already know the daily script by heart," Arthur said, shifting in his seat to face Kevin with a smirk. "I promise I won't talk to strangers, I won't get involved in drama I can't handle, I won't do anything stupid, and I will stay precisely at the school gate, not a single millimeter past the property line, while I wait for you to pick me up. Sound good?"
"Yeah. Sounds perfect," Kevin replied, a low rumble of a laugh escaping him as he caught Arthur's signature, defiant pout in his peripheral vision. "We just want you to be safe, mm?"
Kevin reached across the console, affectionately messing up the younger boy's hair. Arthur immediately squawked, batting his hands away in a flurry of limbs.
"Hey! Stop it!"
Kevin chuckled, entirely forgetting that Arthur spent a meticulous ten minutes styling his hair every single morning. It was an established routine at this point, which was precisely why Kevin kept an emergency comb and a fresh bottle of hairspray permanently stashed in the glove compartment.
"Old man, your memory is seriously declining," Arthur complained dramatically, adjusting the passenger-side vanity mirror to repair the damage. "How many times are you going to sabotage my hair right before I have to walk into a building full of teenagers?"
"Like you said, my mind is going," Kevin teased, adjusting his mirrors as they neared the school zone. "At this rate, I might just forget your ice cream order entirely."
Arthur's head snapped toward him, leveling a piercing, catastrophic glare at the older Alpha. "Don't you dare, Uncle. I know your brain works perfectly fine. You're bringing me that ice cream, right?"
Kevin let out a loud bark of laughter, reaching over to playfully cuff the back of Arthur's neck. "Get out of my car, you absolute brat. I'm not forgetting the damn ice cream."
With matching grins, they traded waves as Arthur stepped out onto the curb. The heavy iron gates of the high school loomed ahead, and the moment Arthur walked onto the pavement, a chorus of bright, cheerful morning greetings erupted from the gathering students.
"Good morning, Teacher Arthur!"
"Morning, Mr. Arthur!"
Arthur smiled warmly, nodding and greeting them in return as he navigated the courtyard. Truthfully, the student body adored him. He was patient, kind, and universally well-liked. Of course, as he well knew, a few select Alphas liked him a little too much, but he had a rather effective, hair-pulling remedy for that now.
Most of the kids here came from solid, middle-class backgrounds, but a recent influx of wealthy, elite families, mostly Alphas, had shifted the school's reputation.
It had quickly become known around town as the place "where every rich kid goes," even if that was an exaggeration. Arthur certainly wasn't complaining, though.
With the influx of affluent tuition came a massive, substantial raise for the faculty. Dealing with a few entitled, spoiled brats was a remarkably easy pill to swallow when accompanied by a handsome, premium salary.
"Good morning, Teacher Arthur."
"Good morning!" Arthur chimed, offering a bright smile to the colleague passing his desk as he finally sank into his chair in the faculty lounge.
God, I can't wait to go home, he thought immediately, letting out a massive yawn. He dropped his briefcase onto his desk, only to be startled by a sharp, sudden vibration from his blazer pocket.
He pulled out his phone, his chest tightening as he glanced at the lock screen. The air left his lungs in a sharp gasp.
N-Natalia! Natalia sent me a text! Oh my god!
A giddy, ridiculously wide smile broke across his face. He felt entirely silly for getting this breathless over a simple text message, but his heart refused to listen to logic. He tapped the notification.
[Unknown Number]: Arthur, this is Natalia. Save this number.
That was it. It was completely bland, functional, and devoid of any punctuation or emotion. Auntie definitely forced her to text me, Arthur realized, though the thought didn't dampen his mood in the slightest. It didn't matter how he got it; the point was that her number was now officially in his possession.
Giggling to himself, Arthur quickly fired back a simple thumbs-up emoji. He opened the contact interface, his fingers hovering over the keyboard as he contemplated what to name her. After a second of intense blushing, he typed it out with a definitive nod:
The Beautiful Alpha
Number saved.
Arthur locked his phone and pressed it against his chest, his heart fluttering into overdrive before the morning bell had even rung.
Sigh...