Lol, it just suddenly got quiet here…oh well, I really detest how the last chapter went, so I'm going to try my best in making up for it with this one, though nothing really happens. It's mostly just Mattie and Alfred talking like old men :) Enjoy.

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Alfred coughed when he poked his head through the trap door that led into the attic to his house. It was dusty and full of…stuff…and it all looked old too; probably some of his grandparents' stuff they had decided to dump into their hands. It was also hot and stuffy up there, making his sweat shirt very uncomfortable despite it being November and in Minnesota—the snow was expected to start falling by mid-November, about a week from now. Alfred was excited.

Ducking back down and lowering himself down the latter, Alfred sneezed once he ruffled all of the dust his hair had trapped, dreading having to go back up there to start cleaning. The task seemed borderline impossible with how thick the dust was.

"Hey Mattie, could you come help me with the attic, I think I'll start up top and work my way down," Alfred called for his cousin's assistance. He had decided to finally clean his house as a favor to his parents with his dad being on constant, yet spontaneous, police duty and his mother travelling the country on business trips. He heard Matthew's reply and waited for his Canadian relative to arrive.

Sliding down the wall in the hallway, Alfred let loose a huge exhale of air. The thought of Arthur being with Francis hadn't left his mind alone at all ever since Halloween and it was quite taxing, having been distracted the whole week by the two friends…or probably more. Unfortunately, he didn't exactly know why it bothered him. Maybe it was the fact that they were both guys, but he wasn't disgusted by it, so that probably wasn't his problem. Just thinking about it was just…

Matthew announced his arrival by slumping down next to Alfred, a broom and dust pan had been set against the wall they had their backs rested against. They remained in silence. Alfred soon thought that asking Matthew why he was having such trouble lately would be a good idea, so he decided he should voice his thoughts sooner or later.

"Hey, you want to invite anyone for Thanksgiving? I'm making the invitations and phone calls," the Canadian announced, Alfred chuckling quietly to himself about the fact that Matthew was already planning for a holiday that was about two and a half weeks from now, maybe more. "You could invite Arthur you know?"

"Nah, I'll only invite him if our relationship is on good terms by then," Alfred waved his hand in the air. The way he had worded that made Matthew roll his eyes before he began to tinker with his watch a bit out of boredom. "Is my mom gonna be home for Thanksgiving? She hasn't been able to attend for the last…oh…four years," Alfred asked, hoping that Matthew knew his busy mother's schedule. Matthew sent him a sympathetic smile before shaking his head.

"Your mom said she'd be in Nebraska," silence followed.

"…Hey Mattie…why does the thought of Francis and Arthur being together bother me? I mean, I know they're both guys, but for some reason it doesn't bother me…it's just the idea…you know what I mean right?" Alfred turned his head to look at his cousin who had a thoughtful look pasted to his facial features. He waited silently and a little impatiently for his cousin to come up with an answer. He didn't want to interrupt the others thoughts—Matthew's thinking process was very fragile mind you.

"Well…I kind of know what you're talking about…is it because Francis is…uh…how do I put it?"

"Perverted?"

"Shut up," Matthew grunted quickly, whacking Alfred halfheartedly on the shoulder before clasping his hands together and ducking his head down. Alfred could be fooled into thinking that his Canadian cousin was praying, but he wasn't, it was a posture he held whenever lapsing into deep thought. Adjusting his glasses so they weren't so close to the tip of his nose, Alfred leaned forward and peered at Matthew as if trying to get a look at the expression on his face. "All I can come up with is the likelihood of you being jealous."

"What? Why would I be jealous?" tilting his head to the side in confusion, Alfred frowned and furrowed his eyebrows, leaning back into the wall as Matthew straightened his back out and leaned back against the wall as well. Matthew remained silent, thinking Alfred's question over and over until his mind didn't want to focus on it any more. He wasn't exactly fond of his answer, but it was the only way he could word it at that point.

"I…I truly don't know…I think you just want Arthur's attention since you say he's kind of cold towards you but not Francis," Matthew shrugged his shoulders as if it was no big deal. Alfred sighed lightly enough for it to be inaudible to Matthew, hunching over, yeah Arthur was kind of a cool guy, with having the ability to fly a plane and all, but other than that, he was a damn stick in the mud and unbearably boring. He didn't even play a sport! Then he thought about the fact that he was trying to get a ride in the Brit's aircraft. Maybe that was it, he was just trying to get a free ride out of him, but when he thought about that, it just sounded selfish and jack assish.

"Yeah, I'm trying to get a ride in his plane though, haven't been in a double wing plane or whatever they're called," Alfred smiled sheepishly at how dumb the idea sounded. "He always says no, but hey, you know me…never back down from a challenge if you can call this one…" he trailed off.

"Just leave him alone on that one, hopefully sometime in the future he'll let you ride in his plane…and…and just if…if Francis and Arthur are in a relationship, then leave that alone too," Matthew replied solemnly, resting his cheek on his knee as he himself adjusted his glasses.

"You sound kinda angry about it too…" Alfred pointed out, though in more of a concerned way than defensive. Matthew didn't move at Alfred's statement and the two settled with just sitting in silence. Alfred had completely forgotten about the chore he was going to start just a few minutes ago. "Mattie? Could you do me a favor and please stay away from that Francis guy? I can just see his wrong intentions…Who knows…he might jump on you someday…"

"Alfred…" Matthew ground out in his warning voice, irritation flashing in his almost violet eyes. Alfred just stared back at his cousin, not backing down, sky blue clashing with dark blue. "What do you have against him?" Matthew suddenly asked, his voice sounding hurt and defeated in the slightest. Alfred was a little surprised at how drastically his tone had changed and suddenly felt guilty for accusing Francis of something he might not even do.

"He just…has this strange vibe is all…" he answered, his voice as well, sounding a little crushed. "But please, if you do end up in something with him, be careful," Alfred warned, more sternly now so he could get his point across. Matthew smiled and thanked Alfred for understanding and joking about him sounding like his mother before another silence settled in between them. They really didn't have much to talk about now that they've gotten those two topics figured out.

"Hey Al…I'm just curious but…what are you looking for in someone? You know…the one?" Matthew asked, again, out of the blue, his cheeks tinting a light shade of red from embarrassment at the strange and sudden question. Yes, the question sounded sappy, but his curiosity had started to nag at him after he had thought over their conversation about Francis and Arthur. "I want someone who'll take me places ya know? And still care about me…I want to go somewhere, 'cause I'm just boring ol' Mattie…heh…" he smiled to himself, feeling horribly defeated on the inside.

"You're not boring," Alfred grinned, pulling his cousin into a one armed hug, ruffling his slightly wavy hair in the process. Matthew chuckled and thanked his American cousin once more before awaiting Alfred's answer to his question if he remembered that he had been asked one at all. "…I want someone who won't judge me for what I do and say because you know how much of a ditz I am," he chuckled at his own vocabulary before continuing. "But I also want them to have a sense of fun right? Go out and live ya know? Man, I feel old," Alfred burst into a fit of giggles and Matthew snorted, punching Alfred playfully on the shoulder.

"Yeah, we are old men."

"But I'm only seventeen!" Alfred wailed in mock horror. After a good laugh, the two calmed down and sat there in the hallway, awaiting the next topic to be brought up. "Hey Mattie? Sorry if this is kind of a personal thing, but…what's it like to be uh…gay?" Alfred's cheeks tinged a slight red at the word, not having used it much at all in his life. Matthew's expression fell slightly and he turned to stare at the floor in front of him, thinking over how to answer Alfred's question.

"It's…kind of rough with all of the misunderstandings that relate to homosexuals. I've been bullied ever since middle school and someone almost raped me," Alfred's expression turned to one of pure rage, but Matthew ignored it and continued. "It's also hard to find someone that'll like you back you know? They could be straight for all you know and if you spill the beans well…they're spilled…it's hard. But in my opinion, I think there's absolutely nothing wrong with being gay Alfred," Matthew turned to give a stern look at his American relative.

"That's easy for you to say, giving that you're the one with the problem…not that it's a problem!" Alfred wailed at the look Matthew sent him, waving his hands frantically. "I'm just not so sure about it, I mean yeah, I've seen a few cases of it, but never really thought much about them and it doesn't really bother me, but then again…it just kinda gets in my head and rots," Alfred scrunched his nose at his choice of words. "Sorry Mattie, that came out wrong."

"No, it's fine, I understand what you're trying to tell me," Matthew nodded his head once. "So…where are you on terms of homosexuality?"

"I'm not sure…I guess I'm neutral right now," Alfred sighed, resting his chin in the palms of his hands. He hoped he hadn't offended Mattie in any way, he wouldn't be able to survive this cruel world if Matthew left him. They were the best of friends and Matthew helped him with his daily needs like a housewife, though he was kind of being a bad host for making Matthew do it all. Maybe he'd start helping out a bit more from now on. He could microwave things, so that was at least something he could help out with. He'll even work extra hard on cleaning the house—"Oh, shit Mattie, we have to start cleaning, we just sat and talked for however long, c'mon, let's go," Alfred urged, climbing up the latter that led one through the trap door into the attic as Matthew scolded him for his language.

Alfred coughed when his face was met by a huge cloud of dust that refused to settle, sticking to his glasses and getting into his lungs. Matthew did the same when he got up, waving his hand in front of his face only to make his problem worse.

"Jeez dude, we really need to clean this place up…might even need four people to do this safely…" Matthew half joked, still cringing in pain as his lungs tried to force out the dust that had settled in them. Alfred pulled the collar of his shirt over his face in an attempt to filter the air, having taken his sweat shirt off in the hallway.

He started with a large box that was on top of, what a surprise, more boxes that were larger than itself. Though he was kind of curious to what was in them. Opening one up, Alfred peeked into it to get a glimpse of its contents—papers, and lots of 'em and not to mention old. He felt a little disappointed, but examined the papers anyways, they looked like documents, though, there were a few faded photos here and there.

Picking one up, he examined the smiling faces that were displayed. It was strange, because none of them were recognizable, probably photos of his grandparents as children. He daintily picked up one of the papers, doing his best to keep it from being damaged any further.

Finding that box rather boring, Alfred picked it up and set it near the trap door, returning to another box to look through. Matthew was still standing in the middle of the attic, probably wondering what to do about all of the dust permeating the air. Peeking inside the new box, Alfred was satisfied when he spotted an old rifle—and it dated back to World War Two.

"Sweet! Mattie, this thing could bring in some serious cash!" Alfred piped, picking up the weapon and unknowingly squeezed the trigger. Who knew it was still loaded and ready to fire? The sound of the gunshot, with it being in the attic, was extremely loud, Matthew yelping, stumbling back and falling through the trap door comically, though the sound of his crash wasn't comical. Alfred's heart was pumping and his hands had begun to sweat, not noticing that his cousin had just fallen through the floor.

Shit, shit, shit, was all that ran through his mind as he stared at the hole the bullet had created in the roof. His mother would murder him and a whole squad of police would probably be at their front door within ten minutes. With slow, frightened movements, Alfred struggled to figure out how to check if the firearm was still loaded with more rounds, his hands shaking.

"Dude, don't do that!" Matthew almost sobbed as his head poked into the attic from below. A large bump was already starting to form on the side of his cranium and he kept rubbing at his shoulder. "Remember what your dad said? Always treat a firearm as if it were loaded and always check to see if it's loaded!" Matthew wailed, on the border of hysterics. Alfred ended up having to apologize over and over until it got through the bump forming on Mattie's head.

"Oh…and Mattie? Um…" Alfred couldn't bring himself to say anything else, having to just point his index finger at the hole the bullet had created before the look of pure terror was etched onto Matthew's face. "Eh, heh…my mom's gonna kill us…or probably my dad, whichever one gets home first…"

The two simply dropped their task and covered the hole from the inside before Alfred helped Matthew onto the roof to cover the outside as well. This would never be mentioned to his parents, no sir, the two had agreed on that as they taped up the house literally. Once they got that task done, Alfred and Matthew decided to clean Alfred's room instead, finding it a lot easier since it was mostly trash and magazines, not loaded guns. Alfred began worrying about there being a grenade in attic and started having a minor panic attack, Matthew having to heat up a cheeseburger for him to calm down and smack him upside the head. Alfred not knowing that a cheeseburger was being made was like, the end of the world.

Alfred's snack was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Matthew answered and reentered the kitchen with a pale face and muttering about the police being there. They had to explain to about ten policemen that Alfred had just found a gun and had been unsafe with not checking for ammunition. The police reluctantly left, warning Alfred to not repeat his actions before driving off silently.

The rest of their day was a little less hectic and Alfred now had one hell of a story to tell Kiku and maybe even Arthur.

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Yeah, I know it's about 1,000 words short, but hey, this is what I had in the outline. Hey! And I proof read it :D Lol, it's taken three chapters for me to start proof reading the chapters before posting…Hopefully this made up for that shittastic chapter before this one. Ugh, just the thought of it makes me cringe mentally…So yup, yup, please review, haven't heard from many of you last chapter and peace out my friends :)