A/N: Merry Christmas! I wanted to write a nice, cute oneshot for Christmas. But then I had this idea. Oh well. Anyway, enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!
They could have known each other.
Matthew Williams was just beginning his life - working through his final years of college and settling himself down into his paid internship at the small animal hospital across town. It wasn't much at all, it didn't even pay the bills on his small, rundown apartment. He still relied heavily on the money he received from his parents that lived over a thousand miles away, spreading it thin to pay rent and buy his diet of mainly ramen noddles. He had considered getting a room mate many times, halving the rent and the pressure it put on him. But he was so shy and unnoticeable. Living with a complete stranger was unthinkable. And though he had already been at his college for over a year, he still knew no one in the area. So the young college student was content with his life alone, despite hardships it placed on him.
Matthew walked out of the grocery store early on Christmas Eve, holding his small bag close to his side as a rush of December air chilled him. Winter came early this year, the grey cast skies looking down upon the city and forcing upon it cold winds. Despite the looming clouds above, he couldn't see a white Christmas peeking around the corner. It had been a particularly dry year and didn't seem to be changing anytime soon. He hadn't ever seen a green Christmas at home. There was always a fresh blanket waiting outside as he and his brother opened their gifts. Matthew remained smiling at the memory until a man rammed into his side.
"Move it, asshole!" Matthew ignored the comment and moved along, used to hearing them in the dry, gloomy city. Of course they wouldn't stop in the most joyful time of the year. Some people didn't have anything to be joyous of. As he walked away from the store, Matthew went over a small list in his mind. He made one every year. A list of things he was happy for. It sounded like something he should have done around Thanksgiving, but he found it more fulfilling around this time of year. Amidst the colorful lights and decorations that adorned the otherwise dreary city, he found many things he could be thankful for. He was attending college, on his way to fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian. He was in an internship at an office of a well respected doctor, and getting paid for the work he did there. He was on good terms with his family, despite living far away and not having the money to return for the holidays. He was living a life he was happy with.
"Hey," His attentions turned to an albino that sat against the building beside him, bundled up in a worn coat. "Spare change?" He asked, holding out his hand for anything. Matthew watched him for a moment, mentally adding two more things to his list. His apartment, which wasn't much but was a home. And the small amount of cash he hid under the sofa, in case things took a turn for the worse. So he wouldn't end up like the man before him.
They could have met right then.
Gilbert Beilschmidt had two beliefs. They were beliefs he would stand by until the day died. Beliefs he would die for, even. One was that he was awesome. Okay, maybe that one could be proven wrong. But you had to give a very, very good argument. The second was that there were no good people in the world, only bad people who sometimes did good things. That was something Gilbert knew no one could prove wrong.
Gilbert Beilschmidt was a bad person, raised by a father who did many good things. He was righteous, teaching his sons to do everything they did to the best of their ability. How else could Gilbert have ended up here if he was raised by someone so good? His father was a bad man who chose to do good deeds, teaching them to the next generation. Gilbert was a bad man who chose to do bad deeds, despite what he had been taught. It was simple. That was why he believed what he did and that was why he would always stand by it wholeheartedly.
And with that belief, he sat on the side of the street, freezing in an old coat. Christmas was a generous time. The homeless was better taken care of now, always well fed and gifted with anything they needed. Soup kitchens were filled to the brim with activity and shelters housed every street rat from cold. The giving spirit was strong, reaching even the most heartless of man and placing quarters and dimes into Gilbert's hand. It would never stop the looks though.
What reasoning did a young man have for already being cast onto the street? He could have a life much better than this. Be in college, working towards the career of his dreams. Even beginning a life in the fast food industry was better than this. Of course, the answer was simple. Anyone who handed him money knew what it would be going towards. They saw him as a young, naive man satisfying an addiction that had ruined his life since the second peer pressure first brought him into it. Of course, it was true. Gilbert couldn't deny drugs had brought him here. He couldn't deny his father's shame from the moment he learned of it to the moment he disowned him. He couldn't deny the fact that his younger brother, who once held him so high, could no longer look him in the face. Any money he was given would go to satisfying himself. It was, after all, an addiction.
Everything could have changed.
The thought crossed Matthew's mind. He wasn't an idiot. He knew exactly where any change he handed the man would go to. But perhaps there was another way he could help him. Perhaps, he could bring the stranger home, give him the support he needed to get his life back together. It was Christmas. No one should be alone on Christmas. On the street or in a rundown apartment.
Gilbert would have said yes. He hated the streets. He hated begging, knowing he was at the will of the people who gave. Knowing he was worthless in the world. Knowing this was the life he had chosen for himself. He needed a reason to change. He needed stability, encouragement. Someone to tell him to use his money for help, not to keep the problem going. He knew times would get tough, but he was certain that he could never backstab the kind face before him. The man was a bad person, doing an extraordinarily good thing for him.
They could have done so much.
They would grow close in that small apartment, each working their own separate strings, weaving them into one fabric. Matthew would inform his family of the story, of Gilbert's slow progress in breaking his addiction as they entered into the new year together. He would stop getting money from his family, losing all contact with them until he kicked out his new friend. But he wouldn't, knowing how much Gilbert needed him and how much he was beginning to like the man's company. He would refuse to go back to the empty, silent apartment he once knew. Gilbert would be astounded by this, shocking that someone would chose him over their own family. He would work harder to clean himself up, and begin getting as many odd jobs as he could to get the apartment's rent each month. They would find a way.
Half a year would pass like this. The two would grow closer and closer, depending on each other more and more. As summer came, Matthew would repair his relationship with Alfred, on the grounds of the twin's strained relationship with their parents. Gilbert would once again be inspired by Matthew, this time to find his brother once again. He would begin he search for him and at the end of the year he would find him, in a town not far from the city. And Ludwig would want to meet with him again.
The brothers would meet in early December, happily reconnecting after years of silence. Gilbert would learn of his father's sudden and unexpected death and that his brother so dearly wished for him to come live with him and his boyfriend, Feliciano. Matthew would hate the thought, but know that his brother is more financially stable and simply better for Gilbert and his recovery in the long run. Yet he wouldn't be able to let Gilbert go. He would learn to call this feeling jealousy, and his feelings for Gilbert, love.
Gilbert would plan for his move to be after Christmas, wanting to spend a year in that apartment with a friend that meant everything to him. On Christmas Eve, the anniversary of when they met, Matthew would confess his feelings, begging Gilbert to stay with him. Gilbert would admit he never wanted to leave, and only was because Matthew hadn't tried to stop him.
A white Christmas would come the next day. The two would remain in the apartment, beginning a new period of their life as a couple. And they would be happy, together.
But they didn't.
"I don't carry money on me." Matthew dismissed the strange thought of being him home and offered the homeless man a small but warm smile. His words weren't a complete lie. He didn't have the money to carry on him, let alone give. Gilbert pulled back his hand, breathing into his palm to warm it.
"Alright then." He kept eye contact, red against violet. He inspected the man's face, taking in details. He didn't know him. Of course, he saw many people he didn't know today. This was his spot on the street, he knew almost everyone who passed in the bustling city. Except on Christmas Eve, when the store just a block away remained open and shoppers who normally didn't come, came.
"Merry Christmas." Matthew waved at him, beginning his walk down the street once more. Gilbert wondered if he would ever see the man again. Unlikely, in such a large city. Especially since he wasn't one who normally passed him by. This was a chance encounter, a rarity that would never come again.
No matter what could have been.