A/N: My intention, at the beginning of writing this, was not to turn it into a full-fledged story. It was originally going to be a collection of oneshots that all shared a similar theme - bears. Big, hairy, gay men. It was also supposed to be a collection of oneshots involving different pairings, and the main characters' obsessions with these bears. That idea, obviously, was thrown out the window.

On that note, I have turned this idea into a chaptered story. I realize this particular chapter is a little on the short side, but I'm hoping to be able to post something to this story at least once a week, so the remaining chapters may continue to be this short. However, I will try my best to write a little something every day so the chapters can have more length to them.

This story used to go by the name "Bear," but I have changed it to "Lessons Learned." I feel like this title fit better than the previous one.

Oh, God, he's not wearing a shirt, Arthur thought to himself in a panic as he tried to turn away from the beautiful blonde man walking his way. The white towel was wrapped around his waist tightly, the man's dark blonde happy trail disappearing underneath. Arthur couldn't turn away as his eyes traveled up the man's body, his sun-kissed skin stretched taut over the toned muscles of his stomach, his arms. A thick bed of hair decorated the man's chest, laying flat against the damp skin.

Arthur's breath caught in his throat as he gazed at the man's pointed chin, strong jaw, and upturned lips. Sweat gathered on Arthur's palms as his eyes traveled up, landing on the sky blue eyes of the other. His glasses were missing, having been put away in the locker before he had taken his shower. Withouth the glasses, the man's eyes seemed wider, as if he were a deer caught in headlights.

Alfred Jones.

Arthur managed to force his body to turn away as Alfred came to a stop directly beside him. He could feel his heart beating erratically, could feel Alfred's body heat.

Alfred bumped his hip against Arthur's side. Arthur jumped away, yelping in surprise at the contact. His hand flew immediately to the area Alfred had bumped into, his eyes widening as he realized several things at once:

1) Alfred Jones, his first crush since moving to America (maybe in all his life, he wasn't quite sure at the moment), had just touched him,

2) He had just made probably the girliest noise in the world,

and 3) the entire locker room was staring at him as if he had two heads, and a few were beginning to laugh.

Arthur could feel the color rising to his cheeks as his gaze switched between Alfred, who was turning around to face him, and the small group of jocks who had gathered by the showers to ridicule him.

"Oh, I'm sorry dude. Didn't see you there," Alfred apologized as the jocks' laughter rose, infecting the other students within the locker room.

With tears in his eyes, Arthur shot an accusatory glance at Alfred, then turned and ran out into the hallway, his books held painfully against his chest. He could hear the jocks' taunting laughter trail after him as he ran to his locker, rummaging through the neat stacks of books to find his car keys. It was only sixth period, but he didn't have the courage to face the next two classes.

Especially since those next two classes were shared with Alfred.

Arthur immersed himself in homework. He had sent emails to the teachers of the classes he had skipped, explaining about an imaginary stomach bug that had caught him in the middle of gym class. His homework had been emailed to him, and for that, Arthur will forever thank the heavens that he established himself as a "teacher's pet," since the last two classes of the day had the hardest and meanest teachers in the school.

Arthur's pencil was gripped lightly between his teeth as he studied the page of text before his eyes. As he concentrated, the words blurred before him and his memory of the incident in the locker room clouded his mind. Arthur remembered the jeering faces of the other men in the room, how they laughed and mocked the noise that he had let slip out.

As Arthur felt himself slipping further into the memory, his phone pinged. Shaking his head roughly, he reached forward and grabbed the device. He had a text message, and the sender of the message shocked him so bad he gasped aloud. His grip loosened on the phone, the device beginning to slip from his fingers as he read the name over and over, trying to convince himself that he wasn't dreaming.

Alfred.

Arthur opened the text and, without even bothering to read the message his crush had sent, he typed out a quick question: How did you get my number?

Dude, we exchanged numbers one time in English so you could help me with the homework, remember? was the response a few seconds later. Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Of course that was how he had his number. How could he even forget? That was when Arthur had started fawning over the young blonde, back when the Brit had still been new to the school and the community.

Feigning nonchalance, England sent an indifferent message back to the young blonde: Must have slipped my mind. What did you need? He set the phone back down on the floor, gripping his pencil extra tight in his hand so he didn't immediately reach for the phone when it buzzed again.

I wanted to take you for dinner. Apologize for earlier.

Arthur did a double-take. Alfred Jones wanted to apologize to him? But whatever for? He sent the message back and this time waited with bated breath for the man's reply, hoping that he wasn't hallucinating when the response popped up on his screen.

The dudes weren't cool earlier with how they mocked you like that. It continued for the rest of that day, and because it was kind of my fault, I wanted to make it up to you.

Arthur's heart felt like it would explode. Alfred and him on a date? It was too good to be true. This is not a date, you twit, Arthur reminded himself brutally. He's just trying to make up for a mistake because he feels sorry for you. Arthur's delighted mood dropped a little after that, but he still was curteous enough to send back a confirmation text message.

Coolio. Be ready by 6. I'll pick you up.

Arthur's heart was thrumming in his chest as he sat on the edge of the sofa. As soon as he had sent Alfred the message containing his address, Arthur had tried to focus on his homework, but all he could think about was his date with Alfred.

Not a date, you twit, he reminded himself violently.

There was a honk outside his house. Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin, but when his phone pinged with a message from Alfred, Arthur forced himself to try and calm down.

"I'm going out, Ma!" he called to his mother in the kitchen. "Don't wait up for me, okay?"

"It better be with someone hot!" his mother called back, a girlish giggle following him outside as he closed the front door with a loud bang.

Gods, she's so embarrassing. Besides, Arthur thought as he slid into the passenger seat of Alfred's pick-up truck, he's definitely a hot one.

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please let me know what you think in a review. I will try to reply to all of them. If you review as a Guest, I will respond to your review in the beginning of the author's note in the next chapter.