Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Hetalia. ALSO, Cuba's human name is going to be Enrique. Why? ...j-just because.

A/N: h-happy almost halloween! i'm only writing this to distract myself from the truth that nanowrimo is almost here ;_; also where the fuck are my cuba/canada shippers? fandom disappoints me sometimes u_u!

Warnings: We'll see in later chapters... wat.

A Spooky Acknowledgment

"Hey, hey, Mattie, guess what?"

No. He was going to ignore him.

"Mattie, Mattie, guess what?"

Nope, he wasn't going to reply to this idiot.

"Heeeey, you listening?"

This idiot was his brother. How were they related, again? Well, technically, they were only half-related, but still...

"If you don't listen to me, I'm going to start talking about what Arthur and I do at ni—"

"Al!" Matthew had turned around, reluctantly giving his full attention to Alfred. He was already trapped at night by hearing what they did – he didn't need a full bloody account that included every single details plus an afterword. Matt rubbed his temple with both hands and let out a defeated sigh. "Geez, okay, what is it?"

His brother beamed at him. Matt could practically feel the sunshine and rainbows. "Arthur's holding a Halloween party tonight, Mattie, and he invited both of us~!"

Matthew leaned back on his bed and quirked a brow, a hand going to his chest in mock surprise. "What? Why are you telling me at the last minute? And your boyfriend actually remembered who I was, eh?"

"Uh, actually, no…" Alfred started, and Matthew could feel a huge arrow of disappointment shoot through his heart. "B-But that's ok, you're invited anyways! Sorry it's last mi—"

"No."

"…What?"

"I said no."

Alfred blinked, and then began again. "But it's going to be fun! Just name something – I bet it's there!"

Matt gave him a sharp look. "Polar bears."

"…this is a Halloween party, not a Christmas one! Come on, Mattie."

"Nope, then, never mind," Matthew shook his head, and stood up. God, he was starting to feel dizzy. "And if you really want to know why, I think it's obvious—actually, no, I'm talking to you. Why would it be obvious to you?" The last part was rhetoric and bitter, and the frustration was gradually rising inside the forgotten of the two brothers. He hated how he sounded like a teenage girl, but it was painfully true; he was never noticed, and always fell in his brother's consuming shadow.

Matt started towards the door, but his brother's voice stopped him. "Hey, Mattie, I'm sorry… but I'm picking you up later at 7, okay?"The second part was said with a darker, controlling lilt in Alfred's voice.

Frozen at the doorway, Matthew bit his bottom lip.

Always controlled. Never in control.

Why couldn't he just fight back for once?

Why was he so compliant?

"Okay," That was all he said, before he drifted out the door.

As soon as Matthew was out of earshot, Alfred quickly brandished his cell and dialed his boyfriend's number. "Come onnn, pic—Arthur! Arthur, we're going to need polar bear- yes, yes I said polar bears. For Matt. He said—Matt's my brother, remember? Geez, and you say I'm dumb. Anyways, can you—what? No, I don't know. I don't think they have to be alive… maybe just some cute little décor or something… yeah, I know, I told him that too. I think he's stuck in the wrong season…"

It was 7:30 and, unsurprisingly, his brother was late. Admittedly, it was kind of cold and all, standing outside in the late October breeze in a thin Canadian Mountie costume.

7:30 soon became 7:45, and 7:45 soon became eight o'clock. He shivered a bit.

Matt decided to call his brother, who picked up almost immediately.

"Hiya Mattie!" There was loud music blaring in the background. A terrible but familiar feeling chilled Matthew inside. "Need something?"

Words didn't want to form, and it was quite hard forcing them out. "Ah, a-actually, never mind, eh," Matt felt like an idiot. He should have known. "I'm gonna let you go—"

"Shit!" Matt flinched on the other end of the line. "Shit, shit, I forgot, shit! I'm sorry, Mattie!"

"No, no, it's okay," His brother replied weakly.

"No, it's not. You are going to come to this party—I can't really leave now, but I'll get a friend to pick you up, 'kay? Just give him ten minutes, I promise."

Matt's gaze dropped down to the ground, following a squirrel making a last-minute dash across the darkening lawn. "Yeah, okay."

Send a friend of his, Matthew's ass!

This 'friend' turned out to be none other than Enrique, better yet known as the school's infamous 'that one kid who looks really mean so that's why no one even talks about him' guy. And as far as Matt and the school knew, it was a well-known fact that Enrique and Alfred hated each other.

So just how and why exactly had Al gotten the Cuban boy to agree to anything he said?

Either way, he was now stuck in the back of Enrique's car. He wasn't much of an auto expert, and had no idea what type or model or whatever it was, but he was smart enough to tell that it was pretty awesome. And surprisingly, besides from being a god damn sweet ride, Enrique had seemed to keep the car particularly neat. The only qualm Matt had was that it stunk like cigars and cologne, and it kinda-sorta was making him feel a bit nauseous.

The fact that the guy was driving quite recklessly didn't help either. Matt could have sworn they just went through at least three red lights.

"Is something wrong back there?" Enrique's gravelly voice made Matt jump a bit.

"Aha, no, no," The blond waved his hand a bit and forced a smile, before both hands fell back into his lap. It was silent for a bit as Matthew was having an internal battle to see if he should try and start conversation. "So, eh… Enrique. What are you supposed to be...?"

The Cuban glanced back at Matt with an inquiring gaze via the rear-view mirror. "A vampire," He said slowly. "Why, it isn't obvious?"

Actually, it was. Matthew felt the embarrassment rise to his cheeks. His mouth opened by itself, and he prayed he didn't say something too stupid. "Oh, no, i-it was. I just thought vampires sparkled, that's all."

A grin cracked across Enrique's face and he let out a chuckle. "Haha, very funny. Say, what's your name again?"

Ouch. "M-matthew."

"Well then, 'M-matthew', you actually don't seem as bad as your asshole brother," Enrique said, nodding his head approvingly.

Matt leaned forward unconsciously, amethyst eyes widening a bit. "R-really, eh?" That was the first compliment he had received in such a long time that favored his existence over his brother's.

"Yep. Say, do you have some sort of uh, accent on ya?"

The blonde fell back in the seat, and smiled a bit. "Yeah. It's Canadian. See, when I was young—"

"Wouldja look at that, we're here!" The car stopped abruptly, ending both their journey and Matt's story.

Oh well.

A/N: . this is going to be terrible. ,_,