Thanks for reading! If you spot any mistakes, let me know.
WARNING: Matthew - Self-hurt.
"Mattie, come on! Open the door!" Alfred yelled while pressing the doorbell multiple times with his nose. His arms were full of groceries (the majority of it maple syrup and pancake mix) and it was getting heavy. "I know I haven't visited in awhile, but it's getting late and I don't want to drive home in the dark! Your place has bears!" He waited a few moments before assaulting the doorbell again.
After about 10 minutes, he remembered the spare key under the door mat and scoffed at his stupidity. He set down the bribe- I mean maple syrup on the porch, and turned to the small mat in front of the door. Alfred pouted slightly at the realisation that his brother still hadn't used the one he gave him for Christmas over 15 years ago. The reversible mat had had "Welcome to frozen hell" on one side, and on the other side the big lettering of "Beware the polar bears" spelt out on a yield sign, which was being eaten by a cartoon of one of said polar bears. He had thought it to be clever, but his boring sibling seemed to have taken a liking to the plain dark red one in the shape of a maple leaf.
He lifted up the mat slowly for dramatic purposes, and fist pumped at the sight of a small silver key. He took it out and stuck it quickly into the slot, turning it and grinning in satisfaction at the small click. He opened the door slightly before taking out the key and throwing it in a potted plant near the door. Alfred took the paper grocery bags into his arms once again before making his way into Matthew's house, closing the door with his hip.
"Honey, I'm ho~ome!" He yelled out jokingly, although, he secretly wished his brother would come down the stairs in a dress you would see in the 'I Love Lucy' sitcoms, and was silently disappointed when it didn't happen.
"Matt, aren't you a bit old for hide and seek?" He had searched the whole house, shouting his brother's name once in awhile. He was getting worried. "Matthew. I have, like, three hundred dollars worth of maple syrup here. I swear to god, I'll eat all of it!" He shouted out as a last warning. If his brother truly wasn't home, he was sure as hell going to raid his food cellar.
Alfred trekked down into the basement, shivering at the cold. Didn't his brother have heating, or something? He searched in the darkness for a light switch, shouting out slightly as he almost tripped over something on the ground. He backed away from whatever it was, frustrated, but glad no one had seen him. He eventually found the light switch near the bottom of the stairs, and flicked it on.
Finally finding a switch in his hold, he pushed it upward with the palm of his hand, quickly turning back around to survey the room.
It was a fairly large basement to be honest, and not at all what he expected. A giant map of Canada was painted on one of the walls, and a giant compass painted on the cement floor. War figurines and small, beaver and moose stuffed animals lined shelves along the walls alongside many empty bottles of ice beer and other expensive Canadian alcohol. A large shelf along another wall was filled with history books and old scientific textbooks, and a large amount of weights and bench presses were crammed into the far corner.
What Alfred saw now, though, made him want to scream. Lying on the ground in front of him was his little brother. He was curled into a fetal position, and a small pool of blood was drying as a stain on the floor. In his fist, a small pocket knife was being clutched and was covered in dried blood.
Alfred dropped to his knees in front of the smaller man, clutching his shoulder and shaking it slightly. "Matt... Matthew..." He nearly cried out when his brother's eyes slowly flickered open, looking up at him cautiously.
"Al... Alfred? What are you doing here? You.. You never come..." His voice was barely a whisper.
"Why would you do this to yourself, Mattie?" He himself was nearly in tears, especially as he noticed the dried paths of tears left on his brother's cheeks.
"I'm tired of being ignored... I'm going insane..." He looked up slowly from the floor to look his brother in the eyes. "Do you know what it's like to have no one say anything to you for weeks? To have people sit on you as if you're not even there? To be ignored, and deprived of my chances to voice your opinions, even though it's required that everyone do so? It gets tiring..." His whispers trailed off to get even quieter.
Although, Alfred was still in shock. He watched silently as a small tear made it's short journey down his brother's face. He had no idea what to do.
A cautious arm wrapped around his brother's shoulders, pulling him up into a gentle hug. Matthew looked up slightly at his brother as a few more tears had the nerve to rain down his cheeks as he leaned into the embrace, resting his forehead against his chest as he cried. Alfred pressed a light kiss to his forehead before resting his chin on the crown of his head, holding him close when his breathing started getting uneven with sobs.
He never thought that his own brother could be going through these hardships, for he had never acted as though it bothered him. He guessed he himself hadn't been watching him recently. His neglect toward him to this. It was his fault that his brother was alone. His fault that he had had no one to talk to about his problems. His own fault that he was bawling into his chest.
"I'm here now, Matt." He snuggled his brother closer to him, tempted to break down as well. "I'm always here."
I have that doormat... It's pretty cool, eh?