"Ugh…How am I supposed to tell him?" Ludwig sighed as he stepped into the garage, the day after Matthew had set up their date.

"Ludwig! 'Bout time ya' showed up! Come on, help your brother with the truck in the back. I tell that kid to change a freakin' tire and he can't even do that!" A dark haired man about the same height and build as Ludwig was under the hood of a small car. He was shirtless, grease smeared on his chest, pants and face. "I'm busy and so is John. Seriously, that boy…"

"Um…Danny?"

"Son, can it wait until you go get Gilbert into shape? That delivery truck had a blow out. The owner's coming to get it soon. Your brother said he replaced it yesterday so when the owner called I said they could come and get it!"

Ludwig sighed. "Yeah, I'll go get that done…" He marched to the back of the room and shouted, "Gilbert!"

"Agh!" Gilbert jumped up. He was laying on the floor with his head resting against the new tire he was supposed to replace. "Guh…What?" He stumbled to his feet, rubbing his eyes. "Whadaya want, man?"

Angrily, he pushed his brother, almost knocking him over. "What do you think I want? Danny told you to do something, now do it! Unless you've forgotten everything he's done for us? He took us in when no one else would! Took us off the street! I'm letting you stay in my house now, but if you don't start pulling your own weight around, I'll kick you right back into the street!!" While Gilbert scrambled to change the tire, Ludwig walked back to Danny.

"You scared him good this time, huh?"

"Yeah, it was easy," he said coldly.

"Now what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Uhh…can we talk in the office?"

"You keepin' a secret from everyone?" Ludwig just looked at him. "Yeah, come on." Danny led Ludwig to the office and closed the door. "What is it?"

"I'm not going to be here on Friday."

"What?" He was seriously confused. "Why? You haven't taken a day off in your life!"

"Well…um…I have…I have a d-…a date on Friday…"

Danny just stared for a while. "What?...Really?"

"Y-…Yeah…"

"Not with that Italian that's always hanging on you?"

"N-No!"

"So you found a nice girl?"

Ludwig looked at his feet. "You're half right…"

"A nice boy?" Ludwig nodded slowly. "Well, at least he's nice!" He placed his hand on Ludwig's shoulder and smiled. "So, what's he like?"

"Uh…His name is Matthew…He's really nice…quiet, shy…smart. He actually seems like a girl sometimes…"

Danny smirked, "What's he look like?"

"Um…he looks like Alfred Jones…They're brothers…"

"Al's got a brother? Nothing like each other, huh? Just like you and Gil, that free-loading loser…"

Ludwig laughed and added, "Anyway, they look the same, but his hair is like Francis'. They've been friends for a long time and Francis does his hair…"

"That whore that Gil hangs out with?"

"Yeah…" He never thought that Gilbert might know Matthew. He'd never been around when Matthew came over. "Well, I'm gonna be out…we're going to Francis' restaurant. Matthew said he has off on Friday, so we won't have to worry about him being there…"

"BOSS!" Ludwig and Danny both jumped. Gilbert slammed open the door to the office. "I'm done! What do I have to do now?"

"Go help John with that engine."

"Got it!" He left the room and closed the door behind him.

"He's a good mechanic…Just freakin' lazy!"

~*~*~

Later that same day, Matthew knocked on the door in front of him. "Come on!" He'd been standing there for ten minutes already, he knew Francis was home, and he needed to ask him something. "Ugh! I'll just take 'em…" He pulled out his small ring of keys and unlocked the door. He stepped in and closed the door behind him, quickly slipping in and out of the rooms, looking For Francis, making sure he wasn't hurt again. He didn't find anything to tell him that Francis was hurt so he made his way to the bedroom to get what he needed. He got a whole lot of something he didn't need. "Oh, God!" He turned and ran out of the room; his entire face was bright red up to his ears. "Oh man, oh man…" Matthew covered his face with both his hands, and tried to leave the house at the same time. Kind of a stupid idea. He walked into a few walls, then into a person. He froze.

"What's wrong, mon chéri?"

"What do you think is wrong?"

"Well, you just walked in on my fun, could that be it?"

"It was a rhetorical question!" Matthew squeaked angrily.

Francis just laughed. "So, what is it you wanted?"

Matthew didn't remove his hands from his face. He knew the man in front of him was naked, and the moment Matthew looked, the other man would flaunt it. "I wanted to borrow some clothes, you obviously don't need them!"

"A special occasion?"

"Yeah…"

"What is it?"

"I don't have to tell you."

"Oh, but I think you do!" Francis took Matthew's wrists and pulled his hands away from his face. "Come on mon chéri! Tell me!" he pulled Matthew close against his body.

"L-Let go!"

"I'll let go only if you tell me!" Francis was slowly pushing Matthew towards the living room.

"I have a date on Friday, okay!"

"Oh! Anyone I know?"

"I answered, now let g-AGH!" Francis pushed him down on the couch and he struggled to get up.

"Come on, tell me!" Francis said playfully as he pushed Matthew down again. "Do I know this person?"

"I don't have to tell you! Get off! If you don't I'll hurt you!"

"Oh, you know you wouldn't do that!" He chuckled as he lightly tugged on the singular curl in front of Matthew's face. He twirled and twisted it between his thumb and index finger as Matthew squirmed underneath him.

"Nh-s-stop, I'll really hurt you!" Francis pulled harder. "It-Ludwig!" Matthew was released and he pushed Francis off of him, scrambling off the couch, punched the naked man in the stomach and shouted. "You bastard!" He stormed off to Francis' bedroom after seeing the pervert double over, gagging. He threw open the door and stomped toward the closet.

"Hi Matthew!" One of the men on the bed greeted him.

"Hi, Antonio…" He pushed clothes around and threw them on the floor, out of his way, looking for a certain outfit.

"Hey! Where's Francis?" the loud albino man shouted.

"He's probably still doubled over in the living room, possibly puking…"

"What he do this time?"

Matthew looked toward the bed and saw the two naked men. He couldn't tell if his face was hot from seeing them, or from the anger that twisted in his stomach. He noticed that Gilbert's white hair had a bit of black shining in it. Grease? He did say he was a mechanic once. But he didn't seem the type to actually do his work. "What do you think he did?" Matthew turned back to the closet and pulled down a black button-down shirt with thin, vertical, red stripes.

"Knowing him, he touched it."

"Yeah, that's it…"

Antonio bounced a little on the bed. "I wish I had a curl like yours! That'd be so cool!" He laughed childishly. "'Cause of you, I finally found out why Lovino always hits me when I pull on his."

"But you still do it!" Gilbert pushed him playfully.

"Of course I do! How can I not?" he laughed as he pushed Gilbert back. They started pushing each other until Antonio fell off the bed and they just continued laughing.

"Well, I've got what I needed," Matthew said as he pulled a pair of black pants off its hanger. "Later guys."

"See ya!" Antonio called after him as he left the room. Matthew raised his arm and waved over his shoulder. As he passed through the living room, he saw that Francis was still on the floor. He hadn't thrown up though.

"Ah-Mon petit ange! You called me a bastard!"

"So?"

"You've never cursed at me before!"

"Aw, maple! Ya see? That's how angry you make me!" Matthew was overcome by the urge to hit the man while he was down. He took a few, quick steps toward him and kicked him in the stomach. Francis cried out and rolled over on his other side.

"Ah-Mon ami, you're so mean to me!"

"Your own fault." Just then, Antonio jumped on Matthew's back, nearly knocking him over. He wrapped his legs around the taller man's waist and his arms around his shoulders. He reached up and lightly tugged at that special curl and Matthew collapsed with Antonio beneath him. "Tch-Wha…?" He could hear Gilbert laughing hysterically. Of course it was him. Antonio wouldn't have even thought of this himself. The idiot always did what he was told. "Le-Let go! Or you'll end up li-ah! Like Francis!" The smaller man quickly let go of the curl and removed his legs. Matthew quickly got up, off the naked man.

"Man! That was awesome! I can't believe you actually did that!!" Gilbert nearly fell over laughing.

"Now I'm mad…"

"Gil-you should run," Francis advised from his place on the floor.

"Wha-?" Too late. Matthew slapped him so hard that there was a dark red handprint left on his cheek.

"Next time you decide to make me the butt of your joke, I won't let you off so easily, got it?!" Gilbert nodded as he rubbed his cheek. "Good!" With that final word, Matt stomped out of the house, slamming the door behind him.