Prince of Pride (Hetalia USUK)

Chapter Two - Help Me Out

Everyone stared at the Prince. Alfred tried his best to ignore them.
"C'mon Artie." He said, and pulled Arthur out of the crowd as they ducked into a side guest room. Arthur pinned him against a wall.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" He burst in his thick British accent.
"Listen, Artie-"
"It's Arthur."
"Sorry. I needed a way to get out of that and-"
"And you used me to weasel your way out?!"
"Artie-"
"It's Arthur."
"Listen. I really need your help. Everyone will expect us to be dating-"
"That's your own bloody fault, now isn't it?!" Arthur was nearly screaming now, his face red.
"I know, I know. I'm really sorry to pull you into this. I'll pay you."
"What?!"
"600 dollars a week."

Arthur hesitated.

"700 dollars, including kissing and all that mushy stuff."
"Why would-" Arthur stopped and stared at Alfred.
"Listen. All you need to do is pretend to like me until I find a nice partner that I can marry, you can get off scot free and resume your normal life." Alfred said. "Please Artie. Help me out."
Arthur sighed. "Only if you stop calling me Artie. And it's not because I like you, it's that I know I'll get fired if I don't."

Alfred let out a sigh of relief and hugged Arthur, causing the British boy to blush profusely and flail about trying to pry the Prince off him.

~~~~~Timeskip~~~~~

Alfred was confronted by his brother before anyone else.
Matthew was the only person Alfred had come out to after he realized he was Bisexual. He was two years younger than Alfred, with the same dirty blonde hair and gorgeous violet eyes, something the doctors deemed to be a 'terrifying genetic mutation', but anyone who met Matthew agreed that those doctors don't know shit.

"Bro. What just happened?" Matthew asked.
"You watched as I came out to basically everyone in the kingdom, as I walked out of my own wedding with my butler." Alfred said. "I am just as confused as you are, Mattie."
"I get you walking out, but with Arthur? I didn't think-" Matthew struggled to find the words. "British gentlemen were your type."
Alfred shrugged.
"You know the whole kingdom will be gossiping like crazy about this, right?" Mattie asked.
"They gossip about everything. Who cares?" Alfred brushed it off.
"Dad's not gonna be happy about this."
"Dad's never happy."

Alfred had been meaning to come out to his mother and father sooner than this, but this worked.

The real problem would be keeping the relationship as real as possible to the public, including the people living in the same building with them. Arthur probably wouldn't be willing to make out alone, much less in public.

Sure enough, the whole kingdom was gossiping about Prince Alfred Jones, who had walked out of his own wedding flamboyantly with his new boyfriend, Arthur Kirkland.

"Bloody hell. Word gets out faster than the plague nowadays." Arthur said, tossing aside a tabloid that he'd found in the market.
"If you want everyone to know something, tell it to a woman with confidence." Alfred laughed, then was hit upside the head by the maid, Natalia.
"Take it easy Talia, I was only joking!" Alfred laughed.
"I know, I just need an excuse to hit you every now and again." Natalia chuckled, and resumed her work.

After Natalia had left the room, Arthur faced Alfred.
"Are you actually gay, or is it just for the act?"
"I'm Bisexual. I've know for a long time." Alfred replied. This was true, Alfred realized when he was 14, when he found himself dating a girl close to the family, but at the same time, crushing on a boy from a few blocks away from the market that Alfred enjoyed visiting.
"Huh. I figured, to be honest." Arthur shrugged. "I don't know why, but you just seemed that way."
Alfred nodded. "What about you?"
"Huh?"
"Are you?"

Arthur made a noise which sounded somewhat like a mix between a dying pig and the mating call of a goat.

"Ah, no... Why would you think that?"
"Well, you asked me, and it seemed weird to just leave the question hanging there." Alfred said, before remembering something. "Shit."
"What?"
"I just remembered my Aunt Claire's supposed to be coming over tomorrow."
"Oh."
"She's probably not gotten the memoir of my recent facade."
"Oh dear."
"You ready to fake loving me?" Alfred looked directly into Arthur's forest green eyes. Arthur gulped nervously.
"Ready as I'll ever be I guess."