Memory: 21st (6 years previous to story)

On Alfred's twenty-first birthday he got Matthew drunk. Not that Yao and Ivan should have allowed that, but it happened nevertheless. That night, a tipsy Alfred learnt a lot from his much drunker counterpart.

Firstly he learnt that Matthew was a giggly drunk. He giggled at everything, from a slurred word to his hand being held before his face. He seemed amused with everything and anything. Alfred also learnt that Matthew was a very candid drunk. He shared and then over-shared just for good measure. Not that Alfred was truly complaining.

Because of his over-sharing, as they laid side by side in Alfred's overly plush king, he learnt many things. Like that Matthew has an oral fixation most likely because of the nervous energy built up from not being hugged enough as a child and told 'I love you.' And that he liked Alfred, a lot, and not in the way he liked Ivan or Yao and because of that Matt was scared but assured that he and Alfred had something that couldn't be broken.

Alfred also learnt that Matthew had a clear vision on what "us" was between them. No matter how drunk Matthew got that night, he wouldn't let Alfred do certain things with the excuse that 'it's not us.'

He learnt that Matthew was raised to be a tactical genius and didn't know anything else. He learnt that Matthew spoke the languages of their teammates as well as French. He just never bothered telling the two he understood their complaining. He learnt that Matthew had a soft smile and genuinely cared what people thought, even if later he deemed it a stupid notion.

Most of all, Alfred learnt that night as Matthew started to doze, tucked safely in Alfred's arms and facing away from the older blond, he loved the computer wiz. He hummed softly, leaning forward to brush his mouth against the exposed neck and hearing a soft scolding of "that's not us..."

"It could be."

"It really couldn't."

"It will be."

"It really won't."

"Love you."

"Love you too." And before the words really registered to either boy, they dozed off, pacified by booze.

Memory End