Matthew gaped as he watched Alfred load the last of his stuff into the moving van. What was he doing!? He hadn't even repainted the walls! Did he have a buyer lined up yet- wait, wait, wait. That didn't matter. What was Matthew going to do? With his brother gone, how was he going to feed himself? And who would pay the bills so Matthew could watch hockey?
The last time Alfred moved, Matthew just went with him, but this time he was moving in with someone. Moving in with Arthur, who wouldn't just ignore all the strange occurrences that Alfred had disregarded (for his sanity) for years.
Matthew dropped his head into his hands. "What am I supposed to do?" he mumbled into his fingers. What could he do?
A few days later, when Matthew had almost exhausted his food supply stashed up in his room, he heard a car pull into the driveway. His heart was pounding as he jumped up and raced down the stairs as the front door opened. He watched as a figure stepped into the room. It was-
It was the real-estate agent, mumbling to herself as she looked around the hallway.
Matthew let out his breath, not aware that he had been holding it. Who had he expected anyways?
Downhearted, he listened to the agent mutter as she poked around the room. "Ugh, this place is such a dump. I don't think we can sell it for much Joe." What? Who is… Oh, she had a blue-tooth in her ear. Matthew laughed, Alfred could never keep those. He always lost them within days of getting them. In fact, once he sat on one after a particularly bad- Wait, she's still talking.
"I have a few buyers interested, mostly just-married types, looking for a small first house. And one single guy with this crazy last name. Bell-, Biel-, Beil- something, I don't know. I can't even begin to spell it. Anyways, maybe we can…" Her voice trailed off as she walked into the kitchen, leaving Matthew standing on the stairs thinking about how he could work with this.
He couldn't stay in the house with honeymoon couples, he would feel too guilty taking their room and food, not to mention creepy and invasive. But maybe that other man?
He wandered off the stairs and followed the agent into the kitchen, peering over her shoulder at some papers she had set out on the counter. There were names and some basic information about the couples. What was his name? Beil- something or other? Matthew looked down the list of names. Mindy and Lenny Johnson, no. Berwald Oxenstier-whatia and Tino Väinä- nope. Not even gonna try. Where is that- Ah! There! Gilbert Beilschmidt.
Matthew leaned close to the woman, who had stopped talking to her blue-tooth and seemed to be searching through the papers for something. "The single guy looks like the best choice. The one with the last name Beilschmidt. Maybe you should follow up on him?"
The agent nodded slowly as she reached for her blue-tooth as she softly repeated, "Yeah, Gilbert. He has a decent background, and I can't stand being around those dopey eyed couples." She perked up as her call connected. "Hey Joe, I'm thinkin' we should contact that Beil- what is it? Beilschmidt guy. Yeah, he's looking like the best option right now. Yeah. Yeah, I'm heading back to the office now."
With that she shuffled her papers, grabbed her briefcase, and headed out the door.
Matthew slumped in relief on the counter. Now he just had to survive until this Gilbert moved in. Hopefully he was an idiot like his brother.
Author's note: There will be lots of "Matthew watched" in the first few chapters because he hasn't had a real conversation in years, and is so used to observing that he doesn't even talk to himself anymore. Eventually he will start conversing again, but not until Gilbert is settled into the house.
On a side note, I'm naming the house Henry :)