AN: Okay, please read this! In part of it, I put, SH-UT instead of just SHUT. Basically, SH-UT means that Matthew's voice cracked while Matthew said that so thanks.

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"Come on! Please?" Alfred pleaded. I glanced at him, wary of his need to have me to do this.

"Alfred... is there something you're not telling me?" I asked looking skeptically at the outfit he held in his hand. "This looks like something a, girl, would wear."

"But-"

"Don't say it!"

"But-"

"ALFRED SH-UT UP AND STOP IT!"

"Ha! Your voice cracked," Alfred teased as he wrapped his arms around me. "Matt, just do it for me this once. It's christmas!"

"But-"

Alfred placed his fingers to my lips, I blushed, and he said, "Just because you pretend to be a guy for everybody else doesn't mean you can't be my sister for me every once and a while."

I paused, then sighed. "Fine, I'll do it, I'll actually dress like a girl... for you and only you."

"Ummm... well one other person is coming over..."

"But Alfred! Nobody knows! Nobody can know! My g'd! Not even my own Papa knows I'm a girl! Who's coming?" I cried.

"A friend of ours."

"That tells me absolutely nothing!" I cried throwing the clothes to the ground. "I will not, I repeat, will not, dress as a girl for company."

"Oh, don't worry, he won't know it's you Matt. I'll tell him you were out and that this is a friend of ours. I call you, Alice, or something like that that can't even be traced to your name. And when you do your hair and makeup like a girl you look nothing like the person you pretend to be for the public... plus... you really need to get laid, and that's not happening while you're cross dressing as a guy."

"Alfred!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. He sighed before grabbing my hair brush and started to brush my hair into a more girly style. I pulled away, but he pinned me against a chair until I muttered, "I won't wear that but, fine, I'll let you brush my hair and I'll stay in my tanktop and shorts, and I'll add a pair of heals to the mix... happy?"

"Better."

He brushed it for a little bit longer, as he did so my naturally curly hair started to flop around my face with a slight curl that I always tamed while dressed as a guy. When he was done he grabbed a pair of black kitten heals he had bought me once and tossed them to me. "Wear these, they look nice, and they match the black tank," he said before he started to leave.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Who is it?"

Alfred paused, he guinuenly paused, which was not a good thing. It meant trouble. He finally muttered, "Gilbert..."

I tried to think that through, before I sighed, and said, "You know he'll recognize me, even looking like this."

"Yah, well you should tell him. I mean, you've had a crush on him for only g'd knows how long. And it may do him well to find out that he's close enough to you to know."

"Fine! I'll freaking tell him okay?" I snapped. He smiled bright, and then it happened.

Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Ding Dong. Ding Dong. "G'D DAMMIT ALFRED! JUST OPEN UP ALREADY!"

"COMING!" Alfred yelled. He looked up at me - I was tall for a girl, plus with my heals, even though they were small, made me taller than my twin – and he said, "I'll call for you in a little while." And he left.

"I can do this," I muttered walking to the door. "I can do this, I can do this," I muttered waiting for his call. "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this," I whispered as I heard them talk.

"Hey, come down!" Alfred.

"Holy shit, I can't do this," I cried my voice rising in pitch and all of my breath suddenly being taken away. After a moment, I used my barely lower guy voice and yelled, "Alfred, get up here now!"

I heard there voices, muffled by the mostly closed door, and then there was footsteps up the stairs, I glanced threw the crack in the door and cursed under my breath before sliding into the closet to hide, just before Gilbert walked in. "Matthew?" he asked, followed by a pause. I was having issues silencing my hyperventilation and he looked at the slightly opened closet door. "I'm not deaf, that would be unawesome, and I can hear you."

I pulled a large spare blanket around myself and sunk into a ball into the corner of the closet and found myself muttering, "I can't do this," to myself and unable to stop no matter how hard I tried. The closet squeaked as Gilbert opened it and there was a moment of awkward silence.

He knelt next to me and asked, "What can't you do, Matthew? What's so wrong that you're hiding in a closet curled inside a blanket?" I didn't respond and merely pulled tighter into myself. He placed his hand on my arm and asked, "Does it have something to do with the way you look?"

"Kind of…" I muttered, though I wasn't sure if he heard me.

"Matthew, you should defiantly know that I'm not going to judge you on your appearance, I'm too awesome for that, and I thought you were awesome enough to know that."

I paused, catching my breath and let my eyes show through the blanket slightly. Gilbert looked honestly concerned. "I'll be down in a minute… meet you there," I muttered. It was a dismissal, but also an approval almost, as he waited for Prussia to go downstairs.

I got out of the closet and took a deep breath. I walked over to the door and opened it and stepped out to stand at the top of the stairs where they could hear me if I spoke but could not see me. "Okay, Gilbert," I said to them, "get ready for a shock." I started walking down the stairs when we could both see each other I looked at him and said, "It does have to do with my appearance, about the fact that I'm a girl."

Gilbert stared at me for a moment in shock, "Who else knows this?"

"Alfred, one lady that worked for me when I was a bit younger… now you," I said walking to the bottom of the steps. He stood up and looked me over.

"So I'm pretty much your first friend to know… awesome," he said looking me over once again. "But might I ask, why?"

I paused before looking at the ground. "I have my reasons… why do you ask?"

"You are beautiful."

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AN: Wasn't that cute? Please review and stuff, but all in all, just hoped you enjoyed reading it!

RnR

~Melinda Penn