A Bond Between Brothers

by Full.Of.Joy

Alfred has been acting childish as of late, and Mathew doesn't approve of anything he has been doing. But when Alfred turns up on his doorstep on July 3rd 1776, the pain in his eyes tells a different story. Mathew tries to ease his burden, as well as confront him about his choices while keeping their bond in tact. But Alfred has never been one to sit and listen. Human names used

Okay everybody, this is my first try at getting back into my groove, let's see what happens shall we?

Disclaimer: I can't believe I don't own Hetalia...but I don't...probably a good thing too because I would be too occupied with America right now to be writing...teehee.

–

"Bang." Alfred said halfheartedly as he tilted his fingers upward in the formation of a gun.

Mathew blinked and looked at him with a sinking heart. He had no idea what was going through his twin brother's mind lately, and it worried him. He didn't really approve of Alfred's action's either, the impulsive way he went about things as of late was a little too crazy, even for him. They were both still roughly 17 in appearance, though he had lost track of how many years they had actually been alive. Even though appearance didn't mean much in regards to their lifespan, Mathew felt that Alfred had defiantly been acting like a stereotypical 17 year old, complete with rebellion and unexplainable angst.

"I hope you mean that in a joking way Alfred." Mathew said to him softly from across the table, even though it was clear he knew his twin brother was not by any means joking.

Alfred chuckled dryly, bringing his hand down onto the table, but not taking his eyes off where his finger gun had been pointing. "You two are the only people who ever call me that. It's always New England, if people who know I'm a nation even know my human name they never call me by it."

Mathew sighed as he finished drying the mug he was holding and put it back in it's place. "Well that's his name too. I think it would be confusing to call you both England anyways, whether you have a 'New' in front of your name or not."

Alfred didn't answer, he just kept looking at the place he had pretended to shoot. Mathew fallowed his gaze, knowing where it would lead him, to the portrait of Arthur Kirkland, England, that was hanging on Mathew's wall.

Since he was an English colony, it was only natural for it to be there, no doubt Alfred had one on his wall as well.

Mathew sighed. "I am also getting the feeling that you don't like being called New England these days." He said, with a audible trace of worry in his voice.

Alfred still said nothing to respond.

Mathew gulped, wetting his mouth with saliva. It was out of his comfort zone to speak very much, especially when he was starting the topic. Also, with Alfred being such an outgoing person, Mathew barely got chances to speak when he was around his twin brother. He wasn't quite sure what to do about the unnatural silences that seemed to be happening quite frequently tonight.

As the silence dragged on and Matt began to feel awkward, he drew in his breath to speak but was interrupted by Alfred. Thank God.

"My citizens have been calling me America for a long time now. They refer to themselves as American's. Even the Loyalists don't refer to themselves as Englishmen anymore, and they have no desire to rebel." Alfred spoke with an unreadable voice.

Mathew's shoulders tensed and another long silence filled the air. It was so thick Mathew could barely breathe through it. What was he supposed to say back to that? He thought for a long time about it then summoned his courage and breathed in the thick air. "I'm worried about your people Alfred, and what they might be trying to get you to do." Alfred blinked in response but didn't look away from the picture on the wall. "I think it's clear at this point they want nothing to do with England anymore. I heard about what happened in Boston. Maybe you haven't heard but they dumped tea into your harbor-"

"Of course I've heard Mathew." Alfred's eyes finally left the painting and he looked directly at his twin brother. "I was there right along with them."

Mathew blinked and he felt his face flush suddenly. "What? Alfred are you crazy? This is why I'm concerned about you, don't let your people pressure you into doing things you know wont end well-"

"They didn't pressure me into anything Matt, it was my idea to start with, The Sons of Liberty just happened to listen." Alfred cut him off again. "There are a lot of people who are sick of England's hand crushing them down and trying to control them." His face was stern but his nose was noticeably red and his bottom lip twitched every now and then.

Mathew stood in shock. He stuttered for a minute trying to find a response. He knew his brother had developed an attitude as of late (well actually, he had always had one of those, it just seemed to be running rampant over the past decade) but planning something like that was open rebellion against their mentor. And even though he knew things had been bad in his brother's country, with public tar and feathering, lynchings, and mock hangings of British officials, he had always tried to separate his brother's actions from that of his people's. Now he had openly admitted to being involved, no not involved, but behind one of the biggest and most recent uprisings.

"So are you one of those people?" Mathew felt like he already knew the answer, but it was all he could think to say at the time.

Alfred just looked at him for a long time and then hung his head and Matt detected a small bounce in his arched shoulders.

Was he crying? Mathew's eyes widened, this was not normal, this was not normal at all. He reached across the table and gently touched Alfred's shoulder, unsure how to handle this. "Alfred?" was all he could manage to say.

Alfred looked up at his twin brother very suddenly, a tear rolling down his cheek. Mathew was startled by the confusion and pain in his eyes. Why did he look so hurt? Were these fights between he and Arthur really that bad? Was Mathew even getting the full story?

"I don't know!" Alfred practically yelled, crashing into Mathew's train of thought. He was startled and blinked a few times before even registering what Alfred was responding to.

"You don't know? What do you mean by that?" Mathew stepped around the small table and pulled the chair out next to Al and sat in it, leaning close to his brother, hoping to be at least a little supportive, even if he didn't approve of what Alfred had been doing.

Alfred shook his head vigorously and his left hand grabbed a fistful of hair and pulled it in frustration. "Exactly what I said! I don't know!" He squeezed his eyes shut tight and inhaled sharply. "I don't know if I really want to leave him, I don't know what I want to do! One part of me says one thing and he other screams something completely different!"

Alfred's other hand occupied itself by grabbing another fistful of his own hair and pulling. This time he accidentally yanked on his stray cowlick, which was a sensitive spot for both brothers. "OW!" He let go and rubbed his hairline as if it would help ease the pain. After a moment he gave up and dropped his hand. It hit the corner of the table and he yelped in pain, pulling it back. This caused his elbow to hit the back of the wooden chair he was sitting on, right on the funny bone. He gasped then got his composure and slowly brought it around and held it in his palm, whispering some dirty words under his breath.

Mathew only sat, completely still, unsure of what to say, he stammered the only thing he could think of. "Are...Are you okay?" it was a stupid question. Of course he wasn't okay, he just hurt himself three times. Alfred has always been strong, and every movement he made was powerful. But he was also very uncoordinated, and it hurt a lot if he moved the wrong way. His gift could be a curse some of the time.

"Yes, I'm fine. I am just fine." Alfred said through gritted teeth.

Mathew looked at him with sad eyes. "I'll go get something cold to put on that." he said, standing up.

"I'm fine, you don't have to, it's not like I'm dying, it's just pain." Alfred mumbled.

Matt sighed and took a small bag of animal skin he used for carrying water off of the wall. "I'll only be a minute, since it's night the water in the creek will be cold enough I think."

"I'm fine." Alfred said again. "I'm not a kid, you don't have to take care of me."

"A kid, maybe not, but you are a guest."

"I'm your brother, don't act like you've got somebody to impress."

"I'll just be a-"

"Just stay here damn it!"

Mathew froze as he reached for the door. He turned to look at his brother and that dreadful silence once again thickened the air. He almost felt like a wall was being built between them, just with the dense heat of the air. He had to fix it, and fast. He quickly pushed past the tense atmosphere and walked to Alfred. "Al...Why did you come here?"

"I thought I told you. It's our birthday tomorrow, I thought we could spend it together." This was followed by a sigh and a twitch of his upper lip.

Mathew wasn't satisfied with that answer because first of all, his own birthday was on the first. Really he wasn't sure how Alfred had come to be his twin brother, seeing as (as far as h knew) nations didn't have parents. Rather they seemed to just appear, somehow their identical faces just brought them together and they had shared a bond nobody else could quite understand.

Mathew shook the off topic pondering away from his head. Alfred's answer was not what he was looking for, and it was time to stop beating around the bush. "Let me rephrase my question then." he reached out and touched his twin's back between his shoulder blades, trying to make him feel at least a little comforted despite himself. "Is there something you wanted to tell me Alfred?"

the silence closed over his body tightly, restricting him, strangling him. It got stiffer as Alfred slowly stood up with a long sigh. He looked straight into Mathews eyes with a stern face, but his eyes said something different from his expression.

Pain.

So much pain, all bottled up and exploding inside two pools of the broken summer sky.

"I'm declaring independence Mathew."

the constricting bonds of silence melted away and a million thoughts and words to say streamed through Mathews head at once. He blinked, and said the first thing he could think of quickly, keeping that awful silence at bay for as long as possible. "Alfred don't be impulsive, this isn't a good idea."

"Why isn't it a good idea?" Alfred came back quickly, almost like a gunshot, sudden and angry even. "I think I have every right to be frustrated with him."

"I...But..." Mathew trailed off.

The silence-

NO!

He had to stay strong, he had to keep their bond from being replaced by that fearful rift. That terrible lack of communication. That terrible, dreadful, awful silence.

"F...Frustrated is one thing, but this could lead to a war Alfred! It will! Arthur cares about you, and he will fight to keep you. Please, think this through first."

Alfred didn't respond quickly. Mathew panicked and racked his mind for something to say, anything. But before he could, the silence retreated.

Alfred began to chuckle. Then his volume rose until he threw his head back and laughed. Laughed louder than he had ever laughed before.

Mathew blinked and his heart raced. This wasn't silence, but it seemed to mean the same thing. "Alfred-"

Alfred straightened up and stepped forward, his face so close to his brother's that Matt could feel him breathing. "You really think that bloody idiot cares about me? What on Earth would posses you into thinking that?"

Mathew winced. His ears were sensitive and Alfred was raising his voice. He spoke quickly, but calmly too. "Of course he cares about you Al, he cares about both of us. We're like his son's, he raised us. That's got to count for something."

"HA! He raised us? I don't know about you and your time with France, but I sure as hell raised myself!" Alfred was now yelling.

Mathew cringed again and took a few steps back. But as he stepped back, Alfred stepped forward.

"He abandoned me for a good century Mathew! And even before then he was rarely ever here!" Alfred threw his arms into the air with the last sentence and they came crashing down onto the table, the very corner colliding with his wrists. He cried out in pain and yanked his hand back. The force lifted his leg and his knee hit the underside of the edge. He finally stepped away from the table with a very frustrated moan. Luckily, during that moment he seemed to come to his senses, because he suddenly looked at Mathew with wide eyes. "I'm sorry." He said quickly, but his volume was low this time.

Mathew let out a large breath that he hadn't realized he was holding. "It's fine Al, you clearly needed to vent. Let's just calm down a little and talk okay?"

Alfred nodded quickly, holding his injured wrist in his palm. "I really don't know what came over me, I just..." He trailed off.

"I understand." Mathew said calmly. He walked to Alfred and put a hand on his shoulder. "How about we go outside for some fresh air so you can calm down, eh?" He said with the best smile he could muster.

He had to admit, he had been a little bit scared. His brother was not an easy person to bring to a rage, but when he did, there was no telling what he would do. Most commonly he broke things, but Mathew wasn't exactly sure what he registered as, having been the one who set Alfred off. And he sure did not want to be the victim of his brother's strength, which would never happen if he was in his right mind. But he didn't seem to be in his right mind at all lately. Especially tonight.

Mathew made a mental note to be careful about the topic of Arthur. It was touchy. He could come back to it another day, when Alfred wasn't so unstable with his feelings.

They walked outside and, in unison, they breathed in the cold night air in a long cool moment, then looked at each other and laughed.

Mathew took the deer skin he had previously taken off the wall out of his pocket. "I'll get something cold for you to put on your knee." He said lightly, walking to the stream.

Alfred didn't answer, but Matt took his silence as a yes.

Silence.

It didn't feel so gripping and constricting in the open air as it did inside his home when the silence set in. But he still didn't like it. It still formed a rift, a barrier, something blocking them off from each other, and he didn't like it at all.

He filled the sack and made his way back to Al, who was sitting on a large rock next to a tall evergreen. He gave his brother the deer skin and watched him place it on his knee where it hurt, then took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I interrupted you Al. It's a long way from Boston, the least I could do is let you finish after you came all this way." He wiped his hands on his dress shirt and rested his thumbs in the comfortable space between his suspenders and the waistline of his pants where his shirt was tucked in. "Go ahead and talk okay? I'm just going to listen."

Alfred nodded as his twin sat next to him and chuckled softly. "That's good. You're the only one who will."

"I don't know about that, if you were behind that thing in Boston Harbor I'd say lot's of people listen to you." Matt scolded himself for speaking so soon after saying he would just listen.

"Well, it was my idea but I was acting through somebody who knew I was a nation. Nobody would listen to some 17 year old kid." Alfred rubbed his thumb on the animal skin as he spoke. "But I think tomorrow the secret will have to be out to at least the people who sign it."

"Sign what?"

Alfred sighed and looked at Mathew with a smile that almost seemed real.

Almost.

"The Declaration of Independence."

Mathew blinked and a million thoughts raced through his head, most of which were something similar to: "Tomorrow is his Birthday. he's really going to break that to England on a day like that?" or "He's so impulsive, has he really thought this through?". He wisely refrained from saying any of that. But the one thought he could not ignore was "Tomorrow? He's doing it tomorrow? I have to stop him! Does he even realize what he's getting into?" He restrained himself from saying anything and gulped, choosing to sit down on the rock next to Alfred instead.

"Thomas already knows, and I think some of the others have figured it out by now. They all look at me differently."

Alfred went silent and looked at his brother expectantly.

Mathew stammered for a moment then said the first unoffensive thing that came to mind. "So, you're really going to do it then?"

Alfred sighed, breaking eye contact and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "Yes. It's time to do something. I just want to be free, it's time to stop talking about it and move forward." His hands clasped together and he turned his head to look from the ground to Mathew.

Their eyes met again and two clear blue pools of anguish looked at Mathew, just as they had earlier.

"I think..."

Mathew blinked a few times and took a deep breath, considering weather or not to take the opportunity that had been extended to him. His twin was obviously having a hard time with something, maybe if he probed and listened; he could figure out how to help. He just hoped that in his efforts would be a way to talk Al out of the insane decision he was about to make.

"You think?" Mathew reached over hesitantly and wrapped his arm around his twin brother's wide shoulders. "Have you not made up your mind yet?"

"Yes...No..." Al let out a loud groan and ran his fingers through his golden locks. "I'm not sure...I don't want to fight him, but I think it might be the only way."

Mathew squeezed Al's shoulder and sighed. "Let me ask you this Al. If this is so important, then why did you waste time coming all the way from Boston to tell me about it?"

There was no answer, if anything, Alfred tensed in an uncomfortable way.

"Maybe I should rephrase my question." He sighed again, somewhat tired of trying to figure his juvenile brother. "Why exactly did you come here?"

Alfred's shoulders collapsed and he bit the inside wall of his cheek. Mathew knew this to be a sign of surrender. "I think I came here so you could talk me out of it...you always make everything make sense."

Those pain filled eyes pleaded with him once more.

"Make it make sense...So I don't have to fight him anymore..."

A tear rolled down his cheek and dropped onto his clasped hands.

Mathew sucked in as much air as he could. It was time for him to act like the big brother he was. "Let's think about it logically then, sort it out calmly. Would that help you Alfred?"

Alfred grunted in response. Mathew knew it was a little bit much to ask his little brother to sit still and think things through, being the passionate character that he was. Frankly it was a little much to ask him to sit still at all, especially when it was a topic that bored him. But at this point, it was the only thing that made sense. It was also all the Englishman could think to do.

"Let''s start at the beginning..." Mathew chose his words carefully as he leaned down and picked up the deerskin that had fallen off of his brother's knee at some point. "When did you stop wanting Ar...England to come around?"

"I nev-" Alfred began quickly then trailed off and sighed before continuing. "I don't know...it just sort of happened."

Mathew cleared his throat to avoid the quiet while he thought of a response. "Then just start at the beginning. Talk to me and I'll listen okay?"

Alfred chuckled dryly. "How's that supposed to help me?"

Mathew cleared his throat again. "I think you already have the answer somewhere, you just need to recognize and trust it." He finished and smiled kindly at his brother. His smile was returned by that same hurt, pondering expression, with just a dash of clueless. Now that dash was the Alfred he knew.

"Well... he found me a few months after you disappeared with France, when I was still just Alfred." He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them with his arms while looking away toward the many trees. It made him look extremely childish and made Mathew smile a little. "I was wandering around for a long time actually...come to think of it." He trailed off for a moment before making himself continue. "When I met England I also recognized France from when he took you away."

Mathew watched the light drain from his brother's eyes and felt just a tad guilty. He knew at the time Alfred was all alone after they were separated and France took him in, it wasn't until much later that they were reunited and he would become an English colony himself. He had never thought about it before that moment, but it must have been very hard to see him taken away and move on to survive on his own. Mathew had always seen himself as the dependent one, Alfred was the one who dragged him places and tried to convince him to do insane and adventurous things. He had never once thought that his younger brother depended on his company for courage. Maybe that was a little far fetched, but the more he looked into his twin's hurt eyes, the more it made sense.

Realizing a silence was settling in, he cleared his throat once more and said; "Go on."

Alfred blinked and nodded as if he had been in a trance. "Right...at first I really wanted to go with France since I knew you had gone with him, but...England just looked so sad and alone that...I felt an attachment to him. I hated being alone and I knew that if I could do anything about it, nobody else would go through that." Mathew ignored the pang of guilt that rose in his chest as Alfred sighed. "So I became his colony, but I was still alone. Though now I had a home in Jamestown, he hardly ever came around." He buried his chin and lips in his knees as if he wanted to hide his words from the open air.

Mathew swished some saliva around his mouth awkwardly as he listened. After a silence that lasted longer than he would have liked, he realized Alfred had no intention of continuing. He quickly swallowed his spit and said the first thing he could think to say: "Th-that doesn't make him a bad person or mean he didn't care about you. He had a lot of things he needed to do, he had a nation to take care of across the sea." He mentally slapped himself for letting the first thing out of his mouth be -not words of comfort- but a defense for Arthur.

He caught a glare from his younger brother who had uncurled himself from the rock and sat up straight. Mathew fumbled and tried to recover his words, but before he could say anything Alfred spoke. "I am well aware that he was busy. In fact I'm surprised he came by at all when he could. But I had waited for years for him Mathew, and one day he just stopped trying to come by at all. He stopped writing too." His glare left Mathew and turned towards the star spangled sky and it was with bitterness he spoke his next words. "I got used to it."

Mathew just sat on the rock, frozen and with his mouth open. He had no idea what to say now, but he fumbled for words nevertheless. "H-He came back though Al! If he didn't I wouldn't be his colony."

"Yeah, the French and Indian War? He just came back to push Francis and his lackey's out of North America. He wouldn't have come back if his pride and his grudge hadn't made him."

"Even if that was true, he's been paying closer attention to you since then. Isn't that what you wanted?" Mathew countered quickly, not only confused, but frustrated by his brother's indecisiveness.

Alfred suddenly stood up, still looking at the sky, his fists now clenched. "He has no right!" He almost yelled. "After leaving me alone like that he has no right to march back in like he owns me and make my people do things." His eyes moved to the patch of trees in front of him and his voice lowered. "First that stupid proclamation line, of course I ignored it, he just want's to control me."

Mathew swallowed nervously and stood up, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. It was time to give up on keeping him calm, that wasn't even an option anymore. Now was the time to talk some reason into the poor boy's stubborn head. "Maybe that's the problem. You aren't listening to him. I think you to can settle this by just talking it out."

Alfred suddenly turned and hit Mathew's hand away. "He doesn't care what I say! I send letters, I have tried Mathew! Do you think I would go straight to the position I'm in now without trying to sort it out rationally first?"

Mathew stumbled backward and fell down on his bottom. He stuttered a little bit as he looked into his brother's eyes, now cold and filled with anger. Mathew was scared now, more scared then he had thought possible. He felt a knot form in his stomach and he choked on the words he wanted to calm his brother with.

Alfred was still yelling but Mathew's head was spinning so much that the meaning of he American's words were beyond him. All he heard was loud words, curses, names of Acts passed by the British empire, something more about the declaration, and maybe even a few sobs scattered throughout. Mathew's emotion's span around his head in a dizzy haze. He didn't know what to do, but he had to do something. He tried to pull together a sentence that was rational for the situation, but he couldn't even make out his brother's words anymore. His emotions pressed on his head and heart then squeezed.

Mathew finally exploded, he didn't care about doing this right anymore, he just wanted his impulsive brother to stop. He pushed himself up off of the ground and his arm's flailed around as he began to rant. "Stop it Alfred! You're out of control, this is how you ended up in your situation, you won't listen to anybody! Why can't you think of things logically instead of letting your emotions run wild? Why can't you ever think of others thoughts and feelings too? You're not the only person who has hard times y'know! Why do you insist on turning this into a war?"

"You think I want a war Mathew?" Alfred yelled.

It wasn't until then Mathew realized he had pushed his younger brother up against a nearby tree and was holding the collar of his shirt in his fists, pressing him against the trunk. For some reason, after realizing what he was doing, Mathew didn't feel the need to let go, or apologize. He just pressed his fists harder against his brother and brought his face close to Alfred's. We looked straight into his eyes, not backing down. He felt strong, and now if he couldn't talk reason, he had to force it.

"With the way you've been acting lately it seems like you're itching for a fight!"

"That's rich, coming from the guy who practically just attacked me!" Alfred had blood seeping from the corner of his lips and Mathew only pondered for a moment whether it was his fault or not.

"Don't you try to make me the bad guy here Alfred! You need some sense beat into you, have you even thought any of this through?"

Alfred went silent and Mathew felt triumph long before he came close to feeling guilty. But before he could proclaim victory and tell his younger brother off for being careless, he was met with a hard punch to the jaw and loosened his grip. Alfred kicked his left shin and pushed him away.

"I thought you said you would listen to me!" He practically screamed at his older brother.

Mathew was in shock for a moment. Alfred had been yelling before, but Mathew had never once heard his brother scream. And this wasn't anger he heard, it was complete and utter anguish. He turned his attention away from cupping his cheek where Alfred had punched it and looked up at his twin.

Alfred was pressed flat with his back against the tree, hugging it for support as his knee's had obviously given out. His whole body was trembling and he looked almost weak. But worst of all were the heavy tears pouring down his face. They wouldn't stop, they rushed like a river, as if Alfred had been holding his tears back for centuries and all of them pooled together to be let loose in that one moment.

Mathew looked at his brother's broken face and felt guilty for a moment. But only a moment.

"I did listen Al, and that's why I'm convinced you're being an idiot!" The American flinched a little at his brother's words but Mathew continued. "You talk like I'm the one that needs to listen, but you won't listen to Arthur or me! You think the only way to settle this is fighting!"

"I tried everything else, but what can I do now after those filthy blood-backs got violent?" Mathew noted the crack in his brother's voice. "Or have you forgotten about the Boston Massacre?"

Mathew took a step towards his brother. "You're people were provoking those soldiers Alfred!"

"Those soldiers were unwelcome, the shooting was unnecessary, and they killed five people!"

"And that's your excuse for a bloody war?" Mathew spit into the grass. It was that moment when he realized he felt strange, like he wasn't in his own skin. It was an insecure feeling. He stuttered for a moment before finally bluntly yelling a this brother.

"You want you're stupid declaration? You want your idiotic war? Fine! You can do it! But I'll have no part of it. And if Arthur asks for my help, I'll do so gladly to knock some reality into that thick head of yours!"

as soon as the last word escaped his mouth, his energy drained and he felt his shoulders slump before his breath caught in his throat and he felt hot tears well inside his eyes. He sucked in air to calm down. "Go ahead...you idiot." he mumbled before going quiet.

The silence descended again, thicker than it had ever been inside Mathew's home. It thickened as Mathew looked at his brother's devastated face. They had always shared a special bond ever since discovering each other. It was in that exact moment Mathew felt the silence tense between them, and that special bond suddenly, and undoubtedly, snapped.

He watched his brother, thinking of what he had just said, trying to find if he had said anything wrong, but it all made sense. Before he could speak, the younger of the two did.

"Well I came here in hopes you could make all of this make sense." Alfred shakily pushed himself up off of the tree and drew in a shaky breath. "Thank you, for putting things into perspective." He swiftly put his hands into his pockets and walked away towards the nearest road.

"You're going home?" Mathew blurted. His response was a simple nod. "But...you're shoes...and it's dangerous to travel alone." He had to choke out his words, desperately trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

Alfred stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at Mathew. Tears still stained his cheeks and his nose was tinted red. But his eyes were completely drained of any light they once had, just as they had for a moment when he spoke of France taking Mathew away from him.

"I'm fine. I am used to being alone."

He turned and continued walking away, his bear feet dragging across the dew covered grass.

In that moment, Mathew realized just what he condemned his little brother to. He had plainly taken sides. But it wasn't his brother's side he chose to stand by. He had sentenced him to be alone in his endeavors, and blindly abandoned him while he was seeking comfort. He had left him alone in his world of silence. He had left him again.

He reached out weakly for his little brother, still shaking from the realization of what he had done. "Wait..." He squeaked.

The American didn't wait.

"Alfred." Mathew said after a moment.

Alfred stopped but this time he didn't turn to look at Mathew. Mathew breathed out and mustered his strength to find the necessary words to mend things back together, but Alfred spoke, still not looking behind him.

"Don't call me that."

Mathew blinked. "Don't call you Alfred? But...I thought you didn't..." he trailed off and took in a sharp breath. "New Engl-"

"No." The American put up a hand to silence the Englishman. "You can call me the United States of America."

America put his hand back in his pocket and walked away, with no intent of stopping again, no matter how many times Mathew sputtered and tried to stop him.

Mathew watched until his baby brother was out of view. He had crushed his soul and accomplished the opposite of what he had hoped to.

And Alfred had left him in the bleak, suffocating, thick, dark, unceasing, relentless,

Silence.

–

Woah. I can't believe I wrote that . When I started I had no plot, no outline, and it was one in the morning, so tomorrow I will edit for spelling errors, but try not to change anything else. I think it ended up pretty good, but I'll see what you guys think before being proud of it.

I love writing about America's weak/dark side because it's so interesting to explore his motives and the soft little boy with a rough past hidden behind the hero's mask yknow? I'll probably write a lot about that kind of stuff. It felt weird having Canada yell so much, but at the same time I enjoyed turning the tables in their relationship.

Since I'm just getting back on my feet I am VERY open to requests and suggestions :)

THE CONTINUATION OF A BOND BETWEEN BROTHERS IS UP! It's on my profile and it's called 'When it Rains'. It is a multi chapter fic. If you want more, read that.