"Al, did you ever notice that you sometimes cover your mouth when you eat?" Mathieu asked it innocently, not intending any harm when he did as he sat across from his brother, his chin resting in the palm of his hand and his elbow resting against the edge of a little brown table in a secluded booth at a McDonald's.

Alfred, having not realised that he'd been doing this until now, was quick to swallow his food before slowly lowering his free hand that had been covering his mouth as he ate. "... Only sometimes," he answered, looking off to the side.

"Do you mean that you 'only sometimes' do it or that you 'only sometimes' notice?"

"I... Well..."

"Because you do it a lot..."

"I... I wasn't aware..." Both hands were in his lap as he nervously fidgeted under the table. "It's not a big deal, bro. Why point it out now?"

"Because literally everyone else is afraid to."

"... Mattie..."

"I want a real answer, Al," Mathieu stated more seriously, frowning deeply at this. "Can you give me that?"

"... That..." He looked up at Mathieu before quickly looking back down. "...that sorta depends on the question..."

"Alfred..." He let out a tired sigh. "Are you insecure about public eating?"

Alfred quickly shook his head in response. "N-no, of course not! You're reading too much into it. Just stop, alright?"

"I'm not going to."

"Mattie, cut it out..."

"Alfred, you're not honest-"

"Shut up."

"I'm not gonna-"

"Matt just cut your shit already!" His eyes were wide in anger and he was tightly clenching his fists under the table as he sat with his shoulders tensed up. His breathing had sped up a little without him realising it and when he felt tears threatening to spill out, Alfred was quick to put up a hand in front of his eyes as he rested his forehead against it, trying to look tired as he placed his elbow against the table.

"... Al... Al, are you crying?" Mathieu's voice was even quieter than usual when be asked.

"N-no..."

"... Alfred... Why do you hide?"

"I... I-i'm just t-tired, bro... I'm not hiding anything.."

"You know I don't believe that."

"That's too bad."

"... I love you, Alfred... You know that, right? I.." He looked down at his lap. "... I don't think eating or crying are things to be ashamed of..."

"Mattie, I don't need this right now. Why'd you come with me if all you were gonna do is lecture me?"

"Al-"

"No." Alfred quickly stood up. "I don't need to hear this right now. I'm not some insecure little girl who needs to be told she's beautiful just the way she is, okay?"

"I... I didn't mean to..."

"Whatever... You can have the rest of my food. I'm not hungry anymore." He was quick to turn away before walking out of the building, not once looking back at his brother as he did.

"..." Mathieu let out a soft sigh as he looked over at the now abandoned tray that had a partially eaten burger and an untouched carton of fries. "...now I get why no one asks..."

A/N: Okay, so after a long as absence, I'm finally starting to write again. It's going to be a while before I continue my unfinished stories because not only do I need to touch them up and plan them out a bit better, I again have to deal with the pain in the ass process of using a smart phone to upload chapters. Hooray. That aside, what do you guys think? It's been a long time but I really wanted to make this into a fic before I lost the motivation to do it. Feedback would be appreciated if possible. Thanks for reading! :)