Gilbert stared at the television set, glass of beer in one hand and remote in the other. Ever since he'd lost his job, he'd been living in his little bro's basement (pathetic, he knew) and 'looked for a job' all day while his brother either went to his job or ogled the little Italian man (if you could even call him a man) that somehow managed to weed his way into Ludwig's life.
He didn't mind Feliciano, really. He was very, very sweet, a wonderful cook, too. He was a bit of an airhead, and was always a little too chipper in the morning's for Gilbert's taste, but all in all, Feli wasn't bad.
His brother, on the other hand, was different. He was an annoyance, a nuisance even. He always slightly out shadowed Gilbert, and always chastised him for being eccentric and different, all because he didn't fit the cookie cutter mold his brother and grandfather had set themselves into.
Which was part of the reason why Gilbert felt awfully depressed. He was originally in a dead-end job, then lost said job for being late one too many times and back sassing a customer for interrupting him. And even though he'd prided himself on being single, and not dating or going out, he'd be lying if he didn't say he was lonely.
The only person he'd ever dated was Elizaveta back in highschool, which was a slight mistake since they always got along better as friends and not boyfriend and girlfriend. After they broke up from things being 'too awkward', she started dating Rodreich, his frenemy, if you will.
And Gilbert was jealous, of course-but he was happy for them. He couldn't be angry at their happiness, could he?
No, he couldn't. Elizaveta was still an awesome friend, and even stuck-up Rodreich was nice to him sometimes. They were good company once in a while.
And of course, with his two lovebird friends, they always tried to set him up with people. One of them was Ivan Braginski, who he loathed with a passion. The 'stupid commie' as he'd grown accustomed to calling Ivan, was weird, in a bad way. He was so childlike, yet so cruel at the same time. He played mind games with people, and it bugged the crap out of Gilbert.
And then there was Natalia, Ivan's sister who was equally as creepy and weird as Ivan was. She kept on mentioning her brother through out the date, but other than that she seemed... all right. But there never was a second date with Natalia.
Speaking of dates, he was supposed to go out on another set-up blind date with some kid Elizaveta's friend Alfred knows. From what Elizaveta told him, this kid and Alfred were twin brothers, meaning that if Alfred and his twin were anything alike, he didn't want any.
But, he was also lonely and willing to take a chance. After what he'd dealt with from Ivan, nothing could phase him, really.
The date in question was actually supposed to be a few hours from now. He wasn't too worried about looks, since it didn't really matter if he shaved or not from how light his hair was, and he'd taken a shower earlier, so all he needed to do was get dressed and chill.
Ludwig was very surprised Gilbert was going on a date, especially one Elizaveta had set him up on. After the previous two disasters, one that Ludwig had the unfortunate chance to view first hand, he would've thought that Gilbert would have taken a break from dating.
Feliciano, on the other hand, was more than eager to help prep Gilbert for his date. He thought it was wonderful that his boyfriend's brother was going out when he was usually cooped up alone all day. He kept on badgering Gilbert, to the point where the albino had to hide in the bathroom and pretend he was taking a dump to get some peace and quiet. However, as soon as he exited a whole two hours later, Feliciano once again pounced on him and started jabbering on about how he should wear a blue suit instead of a black one because black would clash too much with his very fair skin. No doubt Feli had been listening in on Francis's fashion rants again.
Gilbert glanced at the clock on the side of the room, noticing that he only had thirty minutes left. He sighed harshly, leaving his beer on the table next to his bed and getting up. He honestly didn't want to go to this date, because if it was anything like the other two, it would be a disaster.

Matt's POV
Matt was so nervous over this stupid date.
He was still in highschool, his last year before he'd graduate, and he was easily the shyest kid in the entire school. He had maybe two or three people he could consider acquaintances, the closest person he had to a 'friend' was his own brother, and even then it wasn't a very good friendship.
Speaking of his brother, he was the one who set him up on this stupid blind date in the first place. He thought it'd be good for Matt if he went out and talked to people, and maybe date someone and not be a "complete loser."
And of course, in his fit of rage at being called a "complete loser", Matt had agreed on the date. All he knew was that it was some guy that a friend of Alfred's knew, and that they were in a 'similar boat' in terms of relationships. Which in all honesty, didn't really make him feel any better. If anything, it'd be worse if they were both super socially awkward, because then they'd both just sit there and stare at each other.
Matt had been meticulous in the way he looked. He had taken extra care to be clean and smell nice, to make sure he had nice breath, and that his outfit was classy but not too extravagant. Hell, he'd even tried to smooth down that annoying ahoge that poked out from his head in one weird curl. He spent maybe thirty minutes trying to get it to lay flat on his head, only for it to poke back out, larger and curlier than ever.
He now sat on the couch, waiting for his brother to drive him to the diner he was meeting this stranger at. Alfred agreed that since the date would be fairly short, he'd be waiting out in the car for Mattie, since he apparently didn't have any plans that night, which was a pretty big shock for Matthew.
Alfred and Matthew, despite being twin brothers, were very different in many aspects. Sure, they certainly did look very similar, but they had very opposite personalities. Matt was very shy and introverted, he didn't have many friends, and spent much of his time just doing his own thing. Alfred, on the other hand, was very outgoing and extroverted, always going out with his many friends and partying to his heart's content.
It actually kinda pissed Matt off. Not his brother's friends, but how Alfred wasted his time with people that never helped him grow as a person, and only made him a worse one. Alfred was also very smart, but his grades were terrible and he was barely passing most of his classes because he spent more time with friends than doing his homework.
Alfred grinned at Matt, grabbing his arm and practically dragging him to the car. Matt couldn't help but sigh heavily as his brother put the key in the ignition and smiled brightly at him.
"Aren't you excited?!" Alfred asked with a very peppy tone in his voice. Matt smiled weakly and nodded in return.
The drive to their destination was slightly tense. Alfred was chattering away, while Matthew merely let out either one word responses or grunts of agreement or disapproval as he looked out the window. He wasn't nervous about the date, more as he was annoyed by it. While it would be nice to have a boyfriend, he also enjoyed his solitude as well. Alfred, though, could not take that for an answer. He thought every person should at least go out with friends once in a while, and that his brother spending time on his own was bad for his well being.
He certainly appreciated his brother's concern, but at the same time Alfred treated it as though Matt didn't have any social interaction at all. Matt did have a job, and saw and talked to people on an every day basis. He also went to school and talked to people there too, so it wasn't as though he was by himself all the time.
As they pulled into the parking lot of the diner, Matt let a large breath out that he didn't realise he was holding. He unbuckled his seat belt and exited the car, trying to muster every ounce of courage and strength he could.
Alfred could tell that he was a little nervous, so he put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Matt smiled gently, fixing his glasses before stepping to the door and entering the diner.
The diner smelled of fried food and grease. It was very hot and humid, making it slightly hard to breath. Matt looked around, trying to spot anyone that could possibly be his date. Unfortunately, most of the people here were elderly, making Matt a bit wary of who the hell Alfred had set him up with.
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Alfred dragging him to the back of the diner, shouting at someone with a head of silvery white hair. The guy turned his head quickly, revealing weirdly enticing ruby red eyes.
"Hey Gil, this is my bro, Mattie!" Alfred exclaimed cheerily, smacking his brother hard on the back, making Matthew let out a cough.
"It's Matthew, not Mattie..." Matthew nearly whispered. He felt slightly over-shadowed by his brother's presence, because as usual, he was being loud and drawing unnecessary attention to them.
"And I'm Gilbert," the albino man said with a sly smirk, raising his eyebrows in a weird suggestive way, making Matthew blush slightly.
"Have fun you too!" Alfred cheered, nearly skipping to the door. God was he weird.
They sat down at a very grimy looking booth on opposite sides of each other. Gilbert, despite seeming very cheery and happy, seemed upset. His eyes had a dull look to them, and his smile seemed very forced. He slouched slightly, hinting to Matt that he had low self confidence.
Their chatter was mostly small talk, until they stumbled upon a common dislike; Their brothers.
"And he goes out every night, coming back at three in the morning with a new girl every night! He always makes fun of me for never going out, and yet all of his friends are either drug addicts or drug dealers, or both! And he wants to bitch at me about a social life?!" Matthew wailed, knocking back the rest of his milkshake.
Gilbert nodded in agreement. "I know how you feel. My brother doesn't even really have friends, but he talks to people and has a boyfriend, which is more than I can say for pathetic old me," Gilbert murmured, stirring the straw of his coke around in the glass. He looked out of the window, slight tears forming in his eyes. He began to shake slightly, looking like he was about to cry.
Matthew's face softened. "Gilbert, you're not pathetic..." mumbled, placing his hand on Gilbert's.
Gilbert gave a weak smile. "You really think so?"
"I know so."
And with that, they walked out of the restaurant (after paying, of course) and walked to Alfred's car.
"I'll see you soon?" Gilbert asked, smiling gently.
"Yes," Matthew said as he jotted down his phone number and handed it to Gilbert.
Maybe a relationship didn't seem so bad after all.