"Mattie…..MATTIE! Are you alright?" the American yelled as he ran into the hospital room.
"Al…? …well I was alright….until you broke my eardrums just now..." Matthew replied. He had burn marks and bruises all over him, but he still managed a weak smile.
Alfred was almost in tears as he said "I'm sorry Matt… I know it's all my fault…I wish I could've noticed it sooner!"
"Alfred…." Matthew said as he watched the American sit down in the chair next to him and tried wiping away leaking tears discretely but failing. He had never seen the hero of his life so broken by a few simple burns and cuts.
"I'm sorry Mattie…." he muttered again.
Well, you probably want to know how we got to this point…. Let me rewind this a little….
Matthew glanced at the clock nervously. Alfred and Arthur had left hours ago for a battlefield or something... Those two have been dating each other but recently, their fights have gotten worse and Alfred is complaining about "freedom" or something… If Matthew didn't mind the fact that Arthur was kind of like a dad to Alfred it was how upset it made Alfred. Matthew always loved his brother, and hated how sad it would make Al sometimes. It had begun to rain not too long ago and he was beginning to worry for their health.
Then, without warning, the front door flung open and a sad American came into the home. He was wearing a revolutionary uniform, and was soaking wet. They traded sad looks then Al finally said, "Arthur won't be coming back here anymore…" and stared at the floor.
"Oh…" Matthew began, "I…I'm sorry to hear that… Did y-"and was cut off by Alfred's sudden, wet bear hug. Al was trembling, and when Matthew shifted his head to look at Al's face, he saw that he had a single tear roll his face. Matthew wanted so much to kiss him right there and take away the pain. But all he could do was help his poor broken-hearted brother regain his heroic stature that he loved so much. Things were silent for a minute or two until Matthew broke away and brought Al warm clothes (it was his turn to do laundry and he just finished Alfred's clothing).
"Thanks…you're an awesome brother Matt…" Al said, after changing into some warmer clothes and sitting next to Matthew on the couch. Matthew blushed a little and smiled at Alfred, attempting to lighten the mood. "No problem! You know if you need to….you can talk about it. It might make you feel better to let it all out."
Alfred gave him the hurt puppy look and Matthew instantly tensed up. "Maybe later Mattie…right now I don't wanna think about that jerk. Though it is good to finally get some freedom from him… to gain my independence…"he said.
"Recovery from this break-up might take a while… I really hope after this, he will be his normal 'Hero' self." Matthew thought to himself as he got up to get some ice cream.
"Want some ice cream?" Matthew said, flinching when Al said "two scoops please!" Usually the American would already have pounced Matthew, shouting, "ice cream, ice cream, ice cream time! YAY!~"
"This is going to be a while…" he thought to himself as he put the ice cream away, and grabbed the two bowls.
The start of recovery was that single hug. Whether or not either of them knew this at the moment, big changes were upon them. Now all that is left is time...
