A/N: Hey! So, this is a sequel to my one shot "A Bullet for You". It's showing more of what happened when Alfred had to leave, and Matthew's side of the story—with a few plot twists. You don't have to read ABFY, but it might help. Also, this story is going to be multi chapter. And I don't own Hetalia. If I did, this wouldn't be on fanfiction now, would it?

Bright Red Scars

Matthew remembered the day clearly. Yelling had erupted from the living room, which was uncommon in the Jones-Williams household. Usually, their parents would warn them with threatening whispers and hisses. Once, Alfred remarked that they sounded like snakes. Today, though, was full of raised voices. Matthew sighed; even if he closed his bedroom door, the sound would still spill through. Instead, he stood up, walked through the door and down the short hallway, then leaned over the banister. Below he could see a sparkling clean tile floor in the foyer, and the open entrance to the lit up kitchen. Beyond that, he couldn't see, but the voices flowed throughout the too large for four people house. And from what Matthew could tell, Alfred was in trouble. Much more than usual.

"—believe you would do this, Alfred! You are a disgrace to our family! We told you—!"

"You told me I had to become either a doctor or a lawyer, you said nothing about Alice!"

"Either way, Alfred, you're not a part of this family anymore. You did say you wanted to babysit little brats, yes?"

"It's called teaching, father, something you—"

His sentence was cut off, his mother's voice thick with venom. "Out. Get your belongings, leave, and don't come back. Now."

Matthew quickly made his way to his room again, hearing Alfred rampage through the house, collecting all of his things. About ten minutes later, with no warning but pounding footsteps, Alfred burst into Matthew's room.

"Yo, Mattie. I bet you could hear that. I have to leave. Watch Hero and Alpha for me until I can find a place, 'kay?"

"Al—"

"Bye!" The door closed. Matthew could easily head the loud footsteps, with or without the large house's echo, the creaking front door, and then a slam.

"Wonderful," Matthew muttered, sitting on his bed. He hated it, but he had known the final blow was coming. Gazing around his room, he realized all of these varying shades of blue were rather depressing. He opted for imagining them red, but that brought him back to when he was fourteen. A single finger ran across the now tingling scars.

Alfred's gone.

Gone.

Left.

Out.

Forever, most likely. With only a little bit of money to his name.

Matthew cursed quietly in French. Yeah, his brother was an annoying slob, but without him Matthew would be dead.

He shook his head. No, he thought to himself, don't think about it.

The Jones-Williams household was nearly silent, save for slight conversation over dinner. Or whenever Alpha and Hero felt the need to make noise, though without Alfred around, they were also quiet. Matthew had always wanted to escape the sound, but now he craved it more than ever.

About a week later, he was getting ready to leave school when he heard his name being called.

"Matthew!"

He turned around, having been getting into his truck. "Yeah…?"

There stood Julchen Beilschmidt, the usual smirk adorned her face, eyes shining bright, the red-on-white looking beautiful rather than scary. "There's a party this weekend at Francis's, and you look like you need it."

Matthew blinked. Francis? His cousin Francis? He never really saw him, except in the hallways at school of course, his parents wouldn't allow him. The story was blurry, but he remembered that his mother's sister had dropped out of college after discovering she was pregnant. "Uh—"

"You better be there!"

"Ah, but—"

"Screw studying! C'mon Birdie, it's a party!"

Birdie? Matthew scratched uncertainly at the back of his head, "I guess so, if you really want me to…"

"Ja! I do! Awesome! Kesesesese!" And with that, the Prussian albino girl ran off.

Translations:

Ja- Yes (German)

I'm sure you all knew that, but just in case.

So, like I said before, this is a sequel to "A Bullet for You." It was going to be about Alfred and his life after he loses Alice, but I decided to include Matthew's side, mostly because it plays a huge part in what would have originally been the sequel.

Reviews? Please? :D

Peace. Love. Anime.

~hetalia-deathnote-kuroshitsuji~