AN: When I try to get over feels, I suddenly start writing fanfiction in my head. This is mostly about Alfred and Matthew's relationship, so not a lot of Arthur and Francis.
Matthew cowered to the ground in defeat, his cries muffled by the dirt. His body shook as the older boys kicked at him, telling him to stand up. The kicks rose in power as the boys ordered Matthew to quit crying.
"If you keep on crying, the teachers will hear you. Your parents will get angry again, right?" This boy delivered the most blows to Matthew. He was small, but powerful enough to hurt Matthew the most. His spiky, brown hair made him look troublesome and fearless.
"Are those his real parents?" another boy asked. This one was just as small as the other, but less powerful. His red hair was spiked in attempt to mimic the other boy's hairstyle. "Both are guys! What's up with that?"
"Come on, Mattie!" the powerful boy shouted. "Just shut up and stand already!"
Matthew's tears wet the ground. When he tried to curl into a small ball, the dirt smudged his face. He was scared. He couldn't stand up, whether he wanted to or not. The boys were still kicking him. He was so scared. He wanted to disappear. He wished he was invisible.
"Hey! What are you doing to Matthew?" A blond boy ran over to the bullies. "Stop hurting him!"
"What's the matter?" the redhead asked Matthew. "You got your brother to save you?"
"Do you need a hero?" the brown-haired boy asked mockingly. He kicked Matthew's head. Matthew yelled out in response. "Is your brother going to be your hero?"
"STOP!" Alfred pushed away the two bullies. "Stop kicking him!"
"What are you going to do, Alfred? You're just as weak as your brother!" the brown-haired boy yelled at him.
"The teachers are going to get angry at you, Justin!" Alfred yelled. "Stop already! Your parents are here anyway, so just leave!"
Justin made a face. "Whatever. Come on, Kyle." The two boys ran to the elementary school building to meet with their parents.
Alfred turned to Matthew. "C'mon, Mattie. They're gone now." He grabbed Matthew's arm and pulled him up. Matthew's face was covered in dirt and tear stains. Alfred could make out a bruise on his brother's cheekbone. Matthew started to cry again. "It's okay, Mattie. Stop crying." Alfred dug through the pockets of his shorts and found a tissue. He rubbed away the stains on Matthew's face while assuring Matthew of his safety. "It's fine, Mattie. It doesn't hurt anymore."
Matthew looked at his brother while the tears flowed out. He couldn't say anything. His sides and his head hurt. His arms and legs were sore. His sobs came out, and he used the backs of his hands to wipe away the tears.
"It's okay, Mattie. It doesn't hurt anymore." Alfred soothed with a worried face. "It's okay."
Matthew's tears stopped, and his arms dropped to his sides. He sniffed and Alfred gave him a tissue. Matthew blew his nose and stuffed the tissue in his pocket. He was completely silent. Alfred slipped his hand in Matthew's.
"C'mon, Mattie. It's okay. Do you want me to tell the teacher?" Matthew didn't answer. He didn't shake his head nor nod. Alfred understood. "I won't tell anyone." Alfred looked over his brother. Matthew was still shaking and his face still writhed in pain. Alfred wanted his brother to smile. Just one small smile. "I'll be your hero!" Alfred said. "I'll be your hero forever and ever!"
The edges of Matthew's mouth twitched upward, and Alfred grinned. "I'll be your hero," Alfred echoed. Alfred, still holding Matthew's hand, turned to the preschool building, leading Matthew with him.
Matthew watched in horror as the two boys ripped up the project and broke it up apart.
"You don't need it, anyway," Kyle said.
"How many days did you spend on it? You probably did it yesterday since it's so bad." Justin stomped on the project. "Just redo it."
It took five days to make that project, and it took less than a minute to see it smashed and in pieces. Matthew teared up. "Stop."
"What?" Kyle asked, ripping papers apart. "I can't hear you over how dumb this project is."
"Did you get your parents to help you with this?" Justin asked. Matthew stared at the boy's menacing face. "Did you get your hero to help you?" Justin got an idea and grinned.
"Stop," Matthew whispered. Stop.
"You want to go home and cry to mommy?" Justin asked, his grin widening. "Unless you don't have one."
"TACKLE!"
The three boys turned to see a blur of a figure in the hallway run in their direction. Alfred had on a bicycle helmet and goggles on, and was heading straight towards to the bullies. He tackled the two boys and the three landed six feet away from Matthew.
"Alfred!" A teacher ran out his classroom. "What did I say about tackling other students?"
Alfred opened his mouth to explain, but looked over at Matthew. Matthew didn't nod, nor did he shake his head. Alfred understood. "I didn't see them."
"Then next time don't run in the hallway!" the teacher scolded. The teacher entered his classroom again and shut the door.
Alfred turned. "Hey-!" He was about to tell the bullies off, but they were already gone. He groaned. "I can't believe they ran away!" He stood up and walked to his brother. "Are you okay?"
Matthew nodded, his eyes lingering on the broken project. What would he do now? The teacher would scold him and so would his parents.
"You can use my project!" Alfred said. He knew what was going to happen, but he wasn't afraid. He would get in trouble with the teacher for not doing his assignment for the sixth time, then his parents would scold him for not turning in his assignment for the sixth time. It's okay, he thought. It will be fine. It was all for Matthew. It was all for his brother who could never get in trouble with his teachers or his parents. "Besides, they probably think it's normal for me to not do homework by now." Alfred didn't need that project, anyway.
Matthew gave out a small laugh and Alfred grinned. Alfred slipped his hand in Matthew's. "I have to give it to you now or we'll be late and the teachers will get angry at us."
Alfred, still holding Matthew's hand, turned to their classroom, leading Matthew with him.
"Please . . ." Matthew mumbled, tears running down his blood-stained face, "please stop." His jaw shook as he stared straight into Justin's eyes. "What . . . do you want?"
"You're so pathetic," Justin whispered, pushing Matthew against the wall. "It makes me so angry."
"I didn't . . . do anything," Matthew cried.
"Your brother's so annoying. Trying to save you all the time. Always thinking he's the best." Justin's grip on Matthew's collar tightened. He grabbed Matthew's hair and pulled it, making Matthew look up meet his gaze. "What happens if I hurt you?"
"Don't mess with Alfred," Matthew said, suddenly defensive. No one can hurt him. He couldn't let anyone hurt Alfred.
"Then tell your brother to stop saving you," Justin said, "if you live." Justin threw a punch at Matthew's face.
Matthew couldn't help but stay silent as the punches grew in strength. He couldn't yell. He couldn't call for help. But he didn't want to wait . . . because it hurt. The edges of his vision started to go black. Matthew, growing tired and weak, took his chances. "Why are you doing this?"
"Just tell your twin brother to stop saving you. You don't need to know why I'm doing this." Justin punched Matthew's stomach and wrenched in his fist.
Matthew coughed out. His breath was uneven and quick. His brain was scattered, and he didn't know what to do.
"Just get your pathetic face out of the picture! Get out of the way! Your brother doesn't need to be your savior anymore!" Justin yelled out as his punches became faster. His arm was thrown out, then back in. His punches were as quick as he could throw them.
He's trying to do something, Matthew thought. He's trying to get rid of me because he wants something. Matthew closed his eyes. He wanted to disappear. He wished he was invisible. He wanted to sleep.
The punches stopped, and Matthew opened his eyes. He saw a figure holding Justin's wrist. "Stop," the figure said. "Don't you dare hurt him ever again."
Justin pulled away from the figure's grasp. He said something. Matthew couldn't hear. Justin was whispering in the figure's ear. Justin took off without saying a word to Matthew. It was over. Matthew felt the tears start falling. He was scared.
The figure draped Matthew's left arm around the figure's shoulder. The figure pulled Matthew away from the wall. No words escaped from the figure's mouth, unless Matthew couldn't hear them. The figure dragged Matthew somewhere. I hope it's home. Matthew felt a hand brush against his own. The hand slipped into Matthew's. Oh. It's you.
Alfred, still holding Matthew's hand, walked home, leading Matthew with him.
"I'm home," Alfred announced.
"How was it?" Arthur asked from his office. His office was to the right, away from Alfred's destination.
Good. It's him. Papa would have checked on me.
"Fine. Where's Matthew?" Alfred asked.
"He's asleep," Arthur answered. "So is Papa. Be quiet."
Alfred pulled the scarf to cover his face. He headed towards the stairs. He quickly passed by his dad's office and walked up the stairs. When he passed the bathroom, he saw his reflection in the mirror out of the corner of his eye. He realized that he didn't clean off the remaining stains on his face, and that the bruises he had wouldn't disappear the next morning.
He walked into his room silently. He found Matthew in his bed, sleeping. Matthew's bed was on the left, and Alfred's bed was on the right. Two desks lined against the wall in the back where a window was placed. The window let in the winter moonlight that cast onto the white carpet of the room.
Alfred walked towards the desk to the left and sat in the chair in front of it. He took the note out from his pocket. Alfred couldn't help but grimace when he read the note. He ripped the paper into small pieces, ridding the message from ever being read again. He let the pieces fall to the floor.
He looked at his sleeping brother. Matthew's even breaths could be heard in the silence of the night. Matthew's arm hung from the side of the bed. Alfred could feel a wave of fear taking over.
His hand slipped into his brother's, and he hung his head. The tears came, dropping to the pieces or ripped paper. His other hand covered his face and the hot tears dribbled on his arms. He was scared. He wanted to sleep. He wanted to disappear. He wished he was invisible. But he can't.
I have to be his hero.
Matthew, still holding Alfred's hand, held on tighter, still awake.
AN: I got feels over two friends holding hands to strengthen each other, and somehow I immediately thought of these two brothers.
First section- preschool; Second- elementary; Third- middle school; Fourth- high school
I hoped you like this story! I'm hoping to write more FACE family fics, so it would be nice if you had some requests! Spinoffs will be a separate fanfiction altogether. It won't be a new chapter of this fanfic.