A/N: Got the idea a few days ago just before I fell asleep. I started typing away and before I knew it, I had seven pages worth of… this. I included everyone except Denmark, who I like to pair with Matthew.
Um… a thing to consider is that I never had Alfred officially meet Natalya's whole family so they didn't know Katyusha was her and Ivan's older sister.
I've never written like this – with so many random snippets – so I hope it's not bad. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did while writing it! Thank you for reading and please feel free to point out spelling/grammar mistakes.
I hope everyone had a great Fourth of July~ My baby brother had fun~ He's so cute! /feels like Spain
When Matthew was a child and his Papa read him stories at bedtime, he always asked Francis if he would ever have a fairy-tale ending like the people in the stories.
"I don't know Cher, but I do hope so. Bonne nuit." Francis would kiss Matthew on the forehead and leave the door open a crack so the hall light peaked in.
Matthew dreamt each night of being saved from a tower, from mean siblings, or a dragon and taken away to live with his knight in shining armor. When Matthew woke up each morning he couldn't help but feel jealous that it was only a dream.
As a teenager Matthew endured each day the cruelty of children in high school as they made fun of his dreams of being taken away from that place. Where boys were discovering their talents for football and noticing girls, Matthew was realizing that he had to start working instead of just waiting for his fairy-tale end. Besides, girls didn't appeal to him like with his twin Alfred.
Matthew found notes shoved into his locker through the slits almost every day. They were hurtful and hateful things. Hurriedly scrawled things like, "SUCK COCK" or "GO DIE IN A DITCH" were a constant reminder to Matthew about how much he wanted his fairy-tale ending.
As on older brother, Alfred did a pretty good job, in Matthew's opinion. He would step in if any of the bullying got too bad and never let it get physical. To Alfred, he thought he could do better.
The twins' graduation day with their class of 2012 was a day for the books.
Alfred finally got that kiss he'd been trying for from Natalya and Matthew met a very charming person. Almost like Prince Charming himself, Matthew had told Alfred after the day had ended. Matthew was going to meet with Prince Charming the next day at a local café with Alfred and his new girlfriend, Natalya.
"I can't wait," Matthew sighed before he drifted off to have another dream of dragons and princes.
Lars van Doer was not what Alfred had in mind when it came to his brother's Prince Charming. He came off as rude and just reeked of weed.
"He doesn't seem like good news, Mattie." Alfred warned after their double date. "Be careful."
"It's fine, Al." Matthew smiled. "He seemed nice enough to me."
Three months passed and Alfred's prediction came true. Lars was caught with possession of ten pounds of marijuana and cocaine and sent to prison.
"I told you he wasn't the right one, Mattie." He pat his brother's shoulder who slumped into his lap and cried.
Matthew still had the same dreams that night.
"You need to go do something, Cher. Go to town and have fun." Francis was starting to worry for his youngest son. Matthew had been depressed since Lars was sent to prison. Time only made it worse.
"You need to find someone knew." Arthur, Francis's partner added.
"Yes. I heard Miss Natalya has a nice, older brother." Francis ushered Matthew out the door and ordering him to visit the Braginski family.
"I-Is I-Ivan home?" Matthew stuttered out when a large man answered the door. He looked a few years older than Matthew and had soft, silvery hair and a childish smile.
"Da, that would be me. Alfred should know that."
"A-Actually, I-I'm Matthew. Alfred's brother." Matthew was wringing his hands nervously.
"Ah. Matvey. Alfred talks much about you with Natalya." Ivan let Matthew into his home. "What is it that Matvey wanted with me?" That childish smile was starting to seem creepy to Matthew.
"I-I-I- My father…" Matthew took a breath to calm himself. "D-Do you wanna go out today?"
"As a date, da?" Ivan's smile grew. "Da. I would love that."
"I-I-Ivan… I d-don't like this." Matthew panted.
"You don't? I had the impression that little Matvey very much enjoyed playing with Ivan." Ivan pushed harder and Matthew cringed.
Matthew curled his toes into the sheets of Ivan's bed as the man above him continued. "I-I-I don't." He was hot, even though the window was propped open an inch to let in the cold winter air. "P-Please."
"Nyet." Ivan didn't stop until they both climaxed. Matthew cried afterwards.
"I'll kill him."
"D-Don't! Please!"
"I kill him!" Alfred cracked his knuckles. His stomach was churning and he had the sudden urge to hit something. "I swear I will, Mattie!"
"Please! I'm begging you, Al! Don't!" Matthew held onto his brother, trying to keep him at their house.
"But you said no! That sick bastard deserves it!" Alfred stood up from the chair Matthew had him sitting in.
"N-No. I mean, I know I said no, but… He doesn't deserve to die, Al." Matthew's eyes were puffy and red. Just like Alfred's.
"Then I'm telling Dad and Francis."
Matthew paled. "P-Please don't, Al."
Alfred broke up with Natalya the next day. Matthew felt like it was his entire fault. That night and the next few weeks were nightmares instead of the fairy-tale dreams.
He woke in the middle of the night most nights and emptied his stomach in the toilet, trying to be as quiet as possible as to not disturb his family.
In February, Matthew met Ismael. He was from Cuba and worked at the Ice Cream Shoppe. And as much as Alfred didn't like the guy, he was happy to know that Matthew had stopped getting sick in the middle of the night after meeting him.
"Ismael is very sweet." Matthew gushed to Alfred and their parents. "He brings me ice cream all the time."
Arthur and Francis smiled for their youngest son. He deserved happiness in his life. He deserved his Prince.
Alfred smiled the biggest to know that his brother was truly happy. But, he also did it to hide his own pain.
Alfred accompanied Matthew and Ismael on their dates most days. He was determined to make sure this guy treated his little brother correctly. To make sure there was no chance of another Ivan incident.
It was on their thirteenth date that Alfred met Yong-Soo. It surprised not only Arthur and Francis, but Matthew and Alfred himself. As far as Alfred knew, he had thought he was the straight one of the family.
The rambunctious Korean was a great addition to the family. Crazy (and sometimes sexual) antics and all.
Matthew and Alfred were on a double date with Ismael and Yong-Soo when the Cuban broke the news that he and his family were moving to Mexico.
Matthew hated himself for believing that his happiness would last and Alfred made sure Ismael understood that he let his brother down as gentle as possible or he would be missing a limb. Yong-Soo took all the awkward there could have been and channeled it into grabbing at Alfred's chest and shouting, "Breasts belong to Korea, da ze!"
The goodbyes were made easier with that.
Yong-Soo, in one of his rare moments of seriousness – told Matthew that he had a cousin, Kiku, who would be glad to meet him.
Matthew thanked him and covered his chest warily until the Korean left the room, expecting it to be a ruse, to get his guard down.
The next day, Yong-Soo introduced Matthew to Kiku who turned out to be almost as shy as the blonde.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Matthew-san." Kiku's accent switched random 'l's and 'r's in his speech, but Matthew didn't mind it.
"It's nice to meet you, Kiku."
The two never progressed as anything more than good friends. Though the two did share a love for online gaming and reading comics.
"I was sure Kiku would bag him," Yong-Soo told Alfred a few weeks later. "Maybe Hong…?"
"Nah, I don't think Mattie's into Asians." Alfred apologized when he saw Yong-Soo's hurt look. "Um, maybe… I don't know!"
"I do know this one girl… He's likes girls, right?"
"Eh, it's worth a shot."
"M-My friend Ravis calls m-me Miss Ukraine." The woman said shyly. Her ashen hair was held back by a blue hair band. She had golden eyes and to get to the point, the largest breasts Matthew had ever seen.
"W-Well then, it's nice to meet you, Miss Ukraine." Matthew said with a smile. He would humor Alfred and Yong-Soo for a while.
The woman smiled back. "Y-You don't have to call me that though. My real name is Katyusha Braginski." Matthew paled.
"B-Braginski?" He repeated.
Katyusha's eyes began to water. "I-Is that a problem?"
"N-No!" Matthew waved off his sick feeling. "I-I just thought I've heard the name before."
"Why didn't you tell me she was Ivan's older sister, you idiot?" Alfred wanted to smack Yong-Soo.
"I'm sorry, da ze… What's the deal with Ivan anyway?" Then Alfred remembered that he had met the Korean after the incident.
Alfred looked solemnly at Yong-Soo. "I-Ivan… raped Matthew."
"Why don't you meet my family, Matvey?" Katyusha asked. She had finally gotten over her shy tick and stopped stuttering when she talked to Matthew.
"I-I…"
"Y-You don't want to be serious yet, do you?" Katyusha's eyes began watering. "I'm sorry!"
"N-No! I-It's nothing like that. I just…"
"You told him?" Matthew paled.
"He needed to know. If I'm going to be with him, he needs to know our secret." Alfred defended.
"B-But…" The lump in Matthew's throat became unbearably and he couldn't talk anymore so instead he cried.
Matthew had all but forgotten his childish dreams about having a fairy-tale ending.
Alfred was the one to tell Katyusha that Matthew couldn't date her anymore. The well-endowed Ukrainian woman cried and asked why.
"Your brother did something to him that we can't forgive or forget." Alfred said.
"I-I wanna tell Papa and Dad, Alfred," Matthew told Alfred and Yong-Soo one day in late July.
"Huh? Tell 'em what?"
"…About Ivan…" Matthew never made eye contact with his brother.
"Can we press charges?"
"I-I don't know… I don't want to…"
Arthur was in shock and hadn't said anything which was scaring even Yong-Soo. Francis on the other hand was cradling his 'Mon petit Mathieu' and was asking why he had waited so long to tell them.
Matthew just said that he needed to heal.
"Heal," Arthur finally spat. "That's bullshit. Matthew, we're pressing charges against that bastard."
Matthew lost his voice and didn't stop Arthur from doing so.
In court, there wasn't enough evidence to justly condemn Ivan. Matthew's wounds had healed too much since his rape and just the words of one young adult were not enough to appeal to the jury or judge.
Ivan was given a fine and a slap in the hand.
"I saw Kat at the session," Alfred told Matthew the day after. "She said to tell you hi."
"Thanks, Al." Matthew went back to staring at the ceiling.
Alfred couldn't stand it anymore. He took Matthew's hand and pulled him out of bed. "I'm tired of seeing you like this. I have Yong-Soo and you have nothing but the ceiling to talk too. I'm going to go help you find someone to go out with. Even if it kills me."
"Y-You don't have to, Al."
"Even if it kills me, Mattie."
"The awesome me has arrived!"
Matthew snuck a glance at Alfred but he was busy sucking face with Yong-Soo. Great… "H-Hi."
The loud German – oh, sorry, Prussian – smiled. "It's nice to meet you Birdie."
"Birdie?" Matthew looked at him skeptically.
"Yeah. You remind me of a pretty little birdie who should be perched in his cage. Something for everyone to look at." Sappy, but Matthew fell for it.
"T-Thanks."
"He's obsessed with my pancakes and maple syrup," Matthew snickered. Alfred was half listening, half sucking face with his Korean.
"Hmm? Yeah, that's great, broski."
"His grandfather took care of him until he moved out. His little brother, Ludwig, is a senior right now."
"The Ludwig?" Alfred asked? The word from their old high school was that Ludwig Beilschmidt was the greatest quarterback player the school had ever seen. It was hard to believe that that stick, Gilbert, was the older brother.
"Yeah. But Ludwig still lives with their grandfather so Gilbert has his own apartment right now."
Alfred's smile faded. "He hasn't taken you there, has he?" Matthew shook his head. "Good."
"I-I think I made the right choice this time, Al," Matthew said with confidence. Yong-Soo nodded behind them, having just walked into the twin's shared room.