On the rare occasion that Matthew was able to slip away from his brother, he liked to wander around the house and see how his housemates were doing.
Today, he'd already had a conversation with Ivan about polar bears (why Ivan had chosen that particular topic, he'd never know), received a random hug from Lili, been clouted by Vash and tickled by Francis (for a reason that would remain a mystery).
He was about to retreat to his room when he noticed the Vargas twins sitting in the lounge.
Lovino and Feliciano had lived at Apple Tree House for quite a while now, and Matthew liked to think of himself as a friendly person, but he couldn't remember ever having a conversation with either of them. Deciding to rectify this, he turned into the lounge and sat beside them. "Hi." he greeted.
Feliciano smiled, wiggling his fingers in a small wave.
Lovino just ignored Matthew completely.
Biting the lid off his marker, Feliciano wrote on his board. 'You're Martin, right?' he asked.
"Matthew." the blonde corrected. He stared at Feliciano's board inquisitively. "Hey, I hope you won't be offended by this," he started, shifting his gaze to Feliciano's eyes. "But can you speak?"
Feliciano shrugged. 'Never tried. Not since I was five, anyway.'
Matthew smiled, pushing up his glasses. "Try it." he prompted.
With a nod, Feliciano opened his mouth to attempt speaking, but gasped when he felt Lovino pulling him away by his arm. "He can't talk!" he yelled. "He hasn't talked for ten years, if he started now he'd need years of speech therapy, which he wouldn't want, so stop harassing him!" He glared at Matthew, pulling his twin out of the room.
"I'm sorry." Matthew mumbled, despite the fact that the twins were now halfway to their bedroom.
Lovino slammed the door as hard as he could, cracking some of the plaster around the doorframe.
With a frown, Feliciano crawled onto his bed (Yekaterina had changed the sheets after Lovino's 'accident'), a little irritated that his brother had once again pulled him away from an opportunity to make a new friend.
He lay still for a moment, sulking a little, but sat up when he felt Lovino's weight on the bed.
"That idiot didn't upset you, did he?" asked the eldest twin.
Feliciano really felt like telling his brother exactly what had upset him, but he settled for a simple shake of the head.
"You don't need to talk." Lovino stated. "I understand you just fine, without your board."
'The others can't.' Feliciano wrote, drawing a sad face in the corner of the board.
Lovino scowled, grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "You don't need the others. I'm the only one you need. How many times do I have to tell you?" He released his grip, sending Feli backwards, and got to his feet, storming out of the room.
And Feliciano really wished he could call after him. The youngest Italian leaned back on his pillows, thinking for a while before standing and leaving his room.
He travelled down the hall to the games room, where he was certain he'd find Ludwig and Kiku.
"Hello, Feliciano." Kiku greeted, without even looking to see who'd walking through the door. Kiku was creepy that way, sometimes.
Ludwig turned to greet his friend, frowning when he saw the expression on Feliciano's face. A look of determination mixed with anger and a little sadness if the unshed tears were anything to go by.
"What's the matter?" asked Ludwig, which caused Kiku to turn his head at look at the Italian.
Feliciano quickly scribbled onto his board, turning it for the two to read.
'Teach me to speak."
Lovino didn't know where he was going. He just needed to be away from his brother.
Why couldn't Feliciano see that the only person he needed was Lovino?
The elder Italian ran into the first room that wasn't a bedroom, slamming the door and leaning against it, letting himself fall to the floor. Damnit, he would not cry!
"Lovino?"
Lifting his head, Lovino finally noticed which room he was in. The music room. With Roderich and Elizabeta. Lovely.
In a rather un-Lovino-like way, the oldest of the Vargas twins didn't shout. He just put his head down and let a few tears slip down his face.
Elizabeta got up from her chair, moving over to kneel next to Lovino. "What's the matter, dear?" she asked, putting an arm around his shoulders.
Lovino shrugged her off, moving over, away from her.
With a sigh, Elizabeta got to her feet. "Why don't you sit in my chair for a while?" she smiled, pulling the door open. Lovino didn't move. "I'll be right back." With that, she left the room.
Roderich sighed quietly, running his fingers up and down the keys of the baby grand, not playing anything, just lightly brushing his fingertips along the keys, feeling the ivory beneath them.
Nothing was said between the two, leaving a heavy, awkward silence. Roderich had never really interacted with Lovino one-on-one and didn't really know what to say. Lovino just didn't feel like talking.
Elizabeta returned shortly, breaking the silence with the clinking of mugs. She set her tray down on the small table in the room, picking up one of the mugs and handing it to Roderich, who smiled and thanked her.
She turned to Lovino, giving another warm smile. She lifted another mug from the tray, kneeling beside Lovino and handing it to him. "Come and sit with me." she offered.
Lovino stared into the mug. Hot chocolate with whipped cream. He let his eyes peek out from under his fringe as he licked at the cream.
"Come on, sweetie." Elizabeta pressed. She helped him to his feet and guided him over to her chair, sitting down comfortably before pulling Lovino onto her lap and holding him in a similar way that she held Feliciano a few weeks previous.
Roderich couldn't help but smile.
The loud ring of the office telephone startled Jenny out of her busy typing.
"Hello, Apple Tree House. Jennifer Dale speaking." answered the care worker with a practised tone.
Her face fell when she heard the voice on the end of the line. Oh, this was not going to be fun.
"Katy," she whispered, holding her hand over the receiver. "Could you please call Alfred?"
Yekaterina nodded, getting up from her desk. "Alfred, you're wanted in the office, dear." she called into the living room.
Alfred nodded and followed her back. He scowled when Jenny held the phone out to him, but still, he took the phone from her, pressing it to his ear. "Hello?"
"Alfred! How're you doing, kid?"
With another scowl, Alfred clenched his free hand into a tight fist. "What do you want?" he barked into to phone.
"To talk." said the man on the line. "I know I'm not you're favourite guy right now, but-"
"Damn strait, you're not. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't slam the phone down right now."
"Because I'm your father and I deserve a chance to explain myself."
Alfred almost laughed. Did this detestable bastard really think he deserved anything other than what he had? A cold cell in prison. In Alfred's opinion, he didn't even deserve that. "You know, if I was Matthew, that might have worked." he spat. "Then again, if I was Matthew, you wouldn't be talking to me."
The line was silent for a few moments, before the man on the phone spoke again, quietly. "It's hard for me to talk to Matthew... He's too much like-"
"Like the woman you murdered." Alfred finished. "By the way, we've both had our names legally changed to Williams." And with the final blow delivered, Alfred slammed the phone down and marched out of the office, ignoring Jenny calling him back.
End Note: So... Chapter 10... Oh, guys seriously. The shit I've got planned for this! I'm going to have to drag it out and have a few pointless fillers, so a huge sorry for any time wasting I do. Also, I'm sorry to tell all you Gilbert fangirls, my self included, that aside from the odd letter here and there, we aren't going to be seeing much of our favourite Prussian for a while. I love you guys. Really I do. I love every single one of you who review, follow, have favourited or even bother reading this. I want to hug and kiss you all!
The song for this chapter is Hear Me by Kelly Clarkson.
~Lolly xXx