Chapter Three

"Francis, if you don't stop singing 'Be Our Guest', I swear on my grandmother's beloved memory, I will castrate you." Alice hissed, glaring at her French co-worker as they prepared the dining room at the restaurant they worked at before it opened for the day.

Francis merely chuckled and looked at her with his, though she hated admitting it, charming smile. "What's wrong with giving us a little something to work to?"

"It's bloody annoying, that's what." She huffed, straightening a chair.

He gasped and clutched his heart, looking at her in shock. "Your words, they wound me."

"Good. Hopefully you won't survive."

Francis laughed and shook his head. "You're so cruel. How will you ever find a lover with a frown such as the one you always wear and an attitude such as the one you constantly bear?"
She rolled her eyes and threw a spoon at him. "Shut up, frog. As I've said before, my love life is none of your business and really? Did you have to make that rhyme?"
He ended up catching the utensil and chuckled again. "But of course I did, mon cheri."

"I know what that means, you know. Kindly refrain from using those ridiculous endearments toward me. It's irritating and inappropriate."

"Does everything I do annoy you?" Francis asked, amused.

"There's no way I'm answering that." She huffed.

"Because you secretly adore me and your fragile heart cannot bear to admit it?" He asked, his lips pulled into teasing smile. "You've nothing to fear. I will not reject you, my dear."

Alice rolled her eyes again. "Quite the opposite. I don't want to give you the satisfaction of knowing precisely how much I hate you."

"If you hate me as much as you always say, why do you continue to speak with me, hm?"

She glared at him and resisted the urge to smack him. "Shut it, you twat."

Francis grinned and continued to work, humming to himself as he did so. Alice shot him a glare before turning her attention back to her work as well.

The day passed quickly, and before long, she was opening the door to her and Alfred's apartment. Almost immediately after she walked inside and closed it, a certain exuberant American leapt toward her.

"Alice! Guess what?!"

She groaned and rolled her eyes, almost wishing she was back at work. "Alfred, I just walked in the door. Can it wait? I want to shower and relax for a bit."

She pushed past him and tossed her purse onto the couch, jumping in shock when she heard a quiet yelp. She looked over and saw a man sitting there, straightening his glasses, which her purse had knocked askew. He looked quite like Alfred, despite his hair being longer, his eyes being violet, and a wayward curl where Alfred's strange cowlick would've been.

"Good heavens! I'm so sorry...I didn't see you there." Alice apologized quickly, quite embarrassed. "Are you all right, lad?"

"Yeah, don't worry." He said, standing and handing her purse to her with a reassuring smile. "That sort of thing happens more often than you'd believe."

Alfred laughed and slung an arm over his shoulders. "Mattie here's kind of invisible."

"I'm not invisible." He sighed.

"I don't mean to be rude, but who exactly is he?" Alice inquired, slightly annoyed that she had to ask that because Alfred hadn't thought to introduce him.

"Oh! This is Matthew! He's my baby brother." He grinned and ruffled his hair.

"You have a brother?" She blinked in surprise.

"Wait, you haven't mentioned me to her?" Matthew asked Alfred, looking slightly hurt.

"I kinda forgot to…." Alfred laughed nervously before gasping. "Oh! We have a surprise for you!"

Alice noticed that he changed the subject rather quickly from that without apologizing and wondered how often that happened. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"Well, every year, our family takes a summer vacation, and we're each allowed to bring a friend along." Matthew explained. "And-"

"It'll be during my birthday!" Alfred said excitedly. "You have to come with us!"

Alice blinked, not having expected that. "Wait just a moment, you want me to come with you?"

"'s what I said, wasn't it?"

"Where exactly are you going?"

"California!"

She rolled her eyes. "I should've known. But I'll have to decline; I can't afford a plane ticket and there's no way I'm driving or being driven all the way out there."

"Oh! And you won't have to pay a dime!" Alfred grinned. "It's taken care of."

Alice's eyes widened a bit in shock. "What? Alfred, I couldn't possibly! Are you mad? Plane tickets are not an inexpensive purchase and you're a bloody college student!"

"I wouldn't be paying, duh!" He laughed. "My parents would."

"How is that any better? I couldn't possibly allow them to pay, either!"

"Why not? They won't care at all!"

"How on earth could they not care?"

"Pff, they're millionaires, dude. One plane ticket is nothing to them!" Alfred laughed again.

Alice blinked. "Wait, what?"

"Yep! So now you got no excuse!"

"It's 'have', not 'got." She sighed. "But good God, that was unexpected...millionaires?"

"Or billionaires, I always forget which." He shrugged.

"If you're so rich, why do you live in this pathetic excuse of an apartment? I certainly wouldn't be here if I were you."

"Ah…." Alfred rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little sheepish. "Well, I didn't want to stay in a dorm because...ew. And I wanted to stay somewhere I could pay for with my own money, and here was the closest I could afford that was decent enough and near the college, so yep!"
"Your own money? Why have you not told me that you have a job?"

"He means our parents' monthly allowance to us." Matthew said, sighing.

"I see." Alice said, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. Hearing about the luxuries of rich people never ceased to get her annoyed due to growing up in a small house with her parents and four brothers.

"So!" Alfred exclaimed, startling the other two a bit. "Will you come? Please say yes!"

"...I'll think about it." She said with reluctance. "I don't know if I'm all right with letting someone pay for a bloody plane ticket for me."

"Alfred was telling the truth," Matthew smiled, "they really wouldn't mind at all; they let us bring friends every year on our summer vacation trips."

"Or someone who's more than a friend." Alfred grinned rather wickedly and nudged Matthew's side, whose pale face ignited in a dark pink blush.

"W-what are you talking ab-about?"
"Don't pretend you don't know that I know; it's so obvious!" He laughed. "I've even seen you and Julchen kissing!"

Matthew's eyes widened in horror. "When?"

"Christmas! Under that mistletoe on the front porch."

"We were alone!" He exclaimed, sounding rather soft and meek.

"Actually, you weren't. I was making snowballs in the yard, remember?" Alfred ruffled his hair again. "For that huge snowball fight afterward."

"You mean the one where you called everyone outside to see 'something amazing', only to pelt us with snowballs without warning?"

"Yep!"

"I can't believe you were there for our first kiss…." Matthew bit his lip in humiliation.
"To be fair, I did say hello to you guys!"

"I didn't hear a thing."

"Well, I said it. Even considered throwing a snowball at you, but then you kissed, so I decided not to."

"How considerate of you." He said sarcastically.

Alice's lips quirked upward into a small, amused smile as the two spoke, finding the way they interacted quite sweet compared to how she was used to brothers interacting.

"I know, right? And you guys always say how rude I am! I can be real nice sometimes."

"Not hurling a snowball at your brother while he's kissing his girlfriend isn't 'real nice', Alfred."

"So, it's official now? You guys are couple? I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Alfred said with a smile, though Alice could see a slight sadness in his eyes as he said that.

"...yes, it's been official since New Year's. And I didn't tell you because whenever I tried, you'd interrupt me or get distracted…." Matthew said quietly.

"Oh…." He blinked and for a brief moment, looked upset. "Well, I would have been happy to know. I am happy to know! Congrats, little bro." His smile returned and he ruffled his hair for a third time.

He smiled a bit as he fixed his hair. "Thanks, Al."

"So!" Alfred exclaimed suddenly, making Alice jump. "Have you decided if you wanna come yet, best friend?"

She didn't bother telling him off for calling her that, having learned from experience that it did nothing to make him stop. "...it's hardly been two minutes since I said I'd think about it."

"And? How long do you need? It's a trip to the beautiful state of Cali! And the hotel is by the ocean, on the hotel's private beach!"

Alice couldn't deny that it sounded quite tempting, but the whole matter of having someone other than herself pay for her plane ticket, complete strangers, no less, still bothered her.

"It really isn't a bother." Matthew assured her, "you're more than welcome to come."

"Are you certain…?"

"One hundred percent." He smiled.

Alice took a deep breath and sighed. "Then I suppose I'll go."

"Really?" Alfred gasped and then hugged her tightly. "Hell yeah!"
"Let me go." She said, wincing and trying to push him away.

"Sorry, I'm just excited!" He let go and bounced on the balls of his feet like a little kid. "We're gonna have so much fun!"

"Yes, yes." She nodded, rolling her eyes and suppressing a smile. "But if you two will excuse me, I'm tired and in dire need of a shower."

"Oh, I'm sorry; we didn't mean to keep you from relaxing and stuff." Matthew said with an apologetic smile. "I should be going, anyways."

"Aw, but you just got here, Matt!" Alfred whined.
"No, she just got here. I've been here for two hours."

"But we don't see each other enough!"

"We will on the trip." He chuckled softly and pat his shoulder before extending a hand to Alice. "It was very nice to meet you, and I look forward to getting to know you better."
She took his hand and shook it. "The same to you, Matthew."

He let go and waved. "See you guys later."

As Alfred walked with Matthew to his car, Alice rubbed her sore neck and went to her room. She set her purse on her dresser before kicking off her shoes and letting herself fall backward onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling and pondered what had just happened. She was going to go on a summer vacation with Alfred and his family, and for some reason she couldn't decipher, she was actually looking forward to it.

A/N: I apologize for taking such a long time to update! Trying to update three fics regularly while also having a life is nearly impossible. I hope you liked chapter three! Leave a review? Thanks so much for reading!