Chapter 10. When You Start Falling.

Arthur yawned from where he sat, rubbing at his tired eyes in a vain attempt to keep them open. He hadn't been sleeping well and he'd been working hard trying to study these damn spell books. The chaos everyone that barged into his life were causing definitely didn't help anything. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he struggled to focus on some of the Latin in front of him.

"You work yourself too hard, mon cher," Francis chuckled and Arthur shook his head, glaring at the Frenchman. He'd been there since the end of the day, more than happy that Alfred was Matthew and Gilbert's ride to the ice rink because there was no practice that day. Thankfully, they'd only sat in silence until that moment.

"I don't need your advice," Arthur said pointedly and Francis shook his head with a smile, standing up.

"It would do you good to relax every once in a while," Francis said with amusement and Arthur rolled his eyes, glaring at the books. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt Francis' hands on his shoulders. He immediately stiffened and was about to retort when Francis started moving his hands, rubbing into Arthur's shoulders. Admittedly, it felt amazing, perfect for his stressed out life. But he couldn't actually allow himself to say something like that, right? Especially around the frog.

Any and all words were caught in Arthur's throat as Francis delicately set to work on a knot in his back and Arthur felt like he just about melted.

"The couch," Arthur stood up swiftly, pointing at the furniture against the wall. Francis blinked in surprise and Arthur scoffed, offering one last glance at his forgotten books before marching over to the couch and sitting down, his back to a space Francis could easily fit. "What are you waiting for?" Arthur muttered, choosing to ignore the blush that was most certainly not rising in his cheeks. Francis just offered a small smile with a shake of his head before he sat behind the teen and started rubbing his back once again.

This time, his hands roved all around Arthur's back, unhindered by the back of a chair, and Arthur allowed himself to relax. It actually felt quite nice. It wasn't doing anything to make him feel more awake, but at this point he found himself hardly caring. He noticed his eyelids drooping, but he refused to surrender to sleep. This massage would end soon and then he'd get back to work. For now…he could just enjoy it.

He hadn't even noticed when he fell sleep, slumping to the point that Francis had to catch him.

"You work too hard," Francis muttered with a smile. He carefully positioned the both of them so that Arthur could not only rest comfortably, but Francis could also be comfortable. That, and he could see Arthur's cute sleeping face.

Gilbert was happy to be back on the ice. He was not happy to have a hockey stick shoved in his hands. He looked at Matthew, who dangerously twirled the stick in his hand. Ice skating was fine. But Matthew seemed strangely serious about hockey. Gilbert honestly feared for his life.

"Hold it like this, alright?" Matthew showed him the proper grip and Gilbert mirrored him. Okay, this was…easy. He could do this. "We won't do anything with a puck today, that can be tomorrow. For now, let's focus on mobility. You're catching on pretty quick, after all."

"Yeah," Gilbert sighed and Matthew skated behind him. Gilbert jumped when he felt Matthew's hands on his back. He viciously ignored the blush on his face as Matthew straightened his back to a good position.

"Better," Matthew nodded, skating backwards so that he was in front of Gilbert again. Damn, he wanted to learn how to do that. "Let's start with learning how to stop."

"Do I have to hold this the entire time?" Gilbert asked and Matthew just smiled, holding his own hockey stick happily. Gilbert glanced over to the stands, where Alfred was currently absorbed in his phone. There was no practice that day so he was more than happy to drive them to the rink together. Mostly, he wanted to avoid Ivan. That much was made painfully obvious when he all but ran them to the car at the end of the day, only for Gilbert to faintly see Ivan not trying very hard to follow them.

"Let's get moving," Matthew nodded, turning around with practiced grace. "You learn a lot faster with no training wheels, remember? I won't help you up when you fall today."

"Gee, thanks," Gilbert smirked, skating forwards easily. That was good, he could at least do that without trying too hard. Matthew skidded to a stop, showing Gilbert what to do, and Gilbert mirrored him easily enough, though he lost his balance at the very end and nearly fell over. He stumbled backwards a few times, which was a bad idea, but he managed to get back to his rightful standing position after probably seriously hurting something.

"Don't try so hard," Matthew giggled, another weird sound Gilbert never would have expected to come out of his own mouth. "If you're going to fall, sometimes it's just easier to fall. Don't hurt yourself even more by trying to stay standing. This isn't figure skating, after all. Hockey players don't care about grace."

"Says the one that skates around like a fucking princess," Gilbert muttered.

"Hm?" Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing," Gilbert muttered.

"Let's try again," Matthew smirked, skating pretty quickly down one end of the rink. Gilbert followed him closely behind, the damn stick becoming really obnoxious really fast. He skidded to a stop successfully this time and smirked triumphantly. He looked to Matthew, who just smiled with a nod. "At least act like there's a puck in front of you so you know what to do with the stick while you move."

"You're so helpful," Gilbert sighed. He had actually been proud of that, too. But it was just a regular day for Matthew, who knew how to do all of this in his sleep. "Say, how long have you even been playing hockey?"

"Um, let me see," Matthew mused. It was still a wonder to Gilbert how he could stay so perfectly still while standing on ice. "My parents had me join a Junior league when I was, like, 4 or 5, I think…"

"You've been playing for that long?" Gilbert asked in disbelief. "And you're not going into the NHL?"

"I'm not that into sports," Matthew huffed. "Besides, I'm not that good. It's just practice that has me this good, not talent. Not even Al wants to just do sports for a living. It's a nice hobby, I guess."

"Yeah," Gilbert snorted. "A hobby that gets you bruised and sore for weeks."

"You get used to the pain after a while," Matthew shrugged. "It's like when you learn guitar. You get callouses over your fingertips eventually, right?"

"I don't think it's really the same thing," Gilbert laughed and Matthew laughed as well.

"Let's try something else, okay?" Matthew offered, skating backwards to the middle of the rink. Most of the people there now were little kids with their parents, skirting around the edges, so the middle was perfectly free for the two of them to use. Gilbert smirked. He was going to get good at this skating thing, he was sure of it.

Gilbert was learning quite fast, Matthew had to admit. They'd been at this for two days and he was pretty mobile and nimble on the ice. Not quite as good as Matthew, but it was really impressive, especially considering the fact that he'd only just started yesterday. Gilbert smirked triumphantly as he finally mastered skating backwards, pumping his fist in the air happily.

"Great job," Matthew giggled slightly. That was when he heard the loud ruckus. The familiar sound of his team waltzing in. Matthew checked the time. Free skate was almost over…because his team was coming to practice. "Shit," Matthew cursed under his breath, skating to Gilbert quickly, happy he had worn a sweatshirt with a hood. He swiftly covered Gilbert's…his head with the hood. Hopefully his team wouldn't see him.

"What is it?" Gilbert asked curiously, looking at Matthew.

"My team's here," Matthew muttered. "I really can't have them seeing me…you like this."

"Aw, do I embarrass you, Mattie?" Gilbert smirked. "What if I just shouted from the rooftops that I was here?"

"I will pull you out of here with that curl, I swear it," Matthew vowed and Gilbert groaned, but followed Matthew to the end of the rink anyway. Matthew bit his lip as he glanced at his team, who were getting their gear on a little to the distance.

"Hey, that's your team, right?" Alfred asked as they approached him, taking off their skates.

"Yeah," Matthew sighed. "We're leaving before they find out I was here."

"Afraid they'll think you're not cool enough?" Alfred laughed and Matthew hit him upside the head.

"Just hurry up so we can get out of here," Matthew sighed. Gilbert finally managed to rip his feet out of the skates and forced on his shoes as he barely managed to catch up with Matthew, who was barely out of the rink on time. "I swear, if they saw me skate like you, I'd never hear the end of it."

"Hey, I thought I was improving," Gilbert pouted.

"You are, I promise," Matthew sighed. "Like I said, I got to where I was with a lot of practice. Over 10 years of practice. You have two days."

"I feel like I should take this as an insult," Gilbert smirked. He was teasing him. Matthew rolled his eyes and ripped Gilbert's skates from his hand to return them quickly and departed out of the building, headed straight for the car. They had enough practice for one day, anyway. Matthew checked his phone. Multiple people from the team had texted him, asking if he was okay to practice. Matthew just told them he had too much homework, but he'd be ready for the game.

Matthew waited impatiently by the car as Gilbert and Alfred walked up to him, laughing about nothing together. Gilbert had taken off the hood and Matthew warily looked around the parking lot to make sure none of his team were out there to catch him in his lie. No one was there. Everything was fine.

Before long, all three of them were in the car and driving away.

"You're way too stressed out about appearances, Mattie," Gilbert smirked from the backseat and Matthew shot him a glare. "You're not like that around anyone else."

"Well, I have a lot of pride when it comes to hockey," Matthew muttered. "Besides, if I'm not good enough, I'm off the team. Can't have them thinking I'm not very good anymore after only a week."

"I'm glad you have so much faith in me," Gilbert laughed, patting his shoulder. He obviously wasn't mad so why did Matthew feel a need to defend himself so much?

"From what I saw, he's pretty good," Alfred shrugged as they reached a red light. "Better than me, if you ask for my opinion."

"Everyone's better than you," Matthew said bluntly and Gilbert began to howl with laughter. "And he's good, he's just not good enough to play hockey against anyone."

"You wound me," Gilbert snickered and Matthew rolled his eyes.

The rest of the car ride to Gilbert's house was filled with mindless chatter about nothing in particular. They didn't stay on one topic for too long, mostly laughing with each other. Finally, they stopped at Gilbert's house and Matthew sighed. Yet another night of lying to Ludwig, listening to irritated parents, and Gilbert's weird bird.

"So we're meeting at the rink tomorrow, too, right Gil?" Matthew asked as he started to step out, taking Gilbert's backpack with him.

"What time does it open?" Gilbert asked. "I'd be more than ready after a good run in the morning."

"At least let me enjoy my Saturday," Matthew sighed heavily. "I'll text you tonight."

"Sure thing," Gilbert salted him as Matthew closed the door to the car loudly. Alfred waved to him and drove off. Matthew sighed, trudging towards the house. If he was lucky, he could slink up to Gilbert's room and stay there the whole night. That would be preferable.

He nearly made it, too. But as soon as his hand was on the doorknob to Gilbert's room, Ludwig stopped him with a heavy hand on his shoulder.

"Can I talk with you for a minute?" Ludwig asked, his voice laced with concern. Matthew tried not to wince.

"Yeah, sure, Lud, whaddya need?" Matthew asked, easily opening the door to Gilbert's room. Gilbird greeted them happily and Ludwig closed the door as they stepped through. He sat on the bed, as usual, and Matthew slumped into the desk chair, Gilbird nuzzling into his hair.

"I know you will react to this similarly to yesterday," Ludwig sighed heavily, like he'd been weighing over this conversation for quite some time, "but you are acting strange."

"This again?" Matthew snorted. "I swear, Luddie, I'm fine. There's nothing to be worried about."

"You aren't taking the bus home anymore," Ludwig noted. "In just this week, you have made friends with people I never would have expected you to. Like the student in charge of the Dark Magic Club."

"Hey, Arthur can be an awesome guy when he's not such a prick," Matthew shrugged. He had to really try to act like Gilbert here. Ludwig was really starting to suspect…but he didn't quite know what to think. "Am I doing anything bad, anyway?"

"No," Ludwig sighed. "That is what concerns me. Out of nowhere, you are doing well in class, taking an interest in all of your subjects. Why now?"

"Well, I've met some people," Matthew shrugged. "Let's say they're good influences on me." That wasn't entirely a lie. Gilbert was putting more of an interest in school, which was evident with his intent of studying. He'd tried as hard as he could on Matthew's math test that day, too.

"Never mind," Ludwig muttered, standing up. Matthew stood up as well, stopping Ludwig with a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, c'mon, I'm still your favorite big brother," Matthew tried with a smirk.

Ludwig shook his head, continuing on his way. "If you don't want to tell me about it, it's your business."

Matthew stood, shell-shocked, as he watched Ludwig leave Gilbert's room, closing the door behind him. Matthew groaned as he flopped onto Gilbert's bed. This was going horribly and he knew it. He was tricking Gilbert's brother! He was a terrible person. Ludwig knew something was up, too…He had to find some way to talk to Gilbert about it, get his opinion. Maybe he could help Matthew out. Maybe they'd decide to drop this façade just for Ludwig. Matthew felt terrible for tricking him…

"I figured it out~," Gilbert said in a sing-song voice as they drove away from his house and to Alfred and Matthew's.

"Figured what out?" Alfred asked and Gilbert smirked from the back seat.

"You remember how you referenced that crush a little while ago," Gilbert said simply and Alfred stiffened.

"What?" Alfred scoffed. "There's no way you figured it out."

"You know, you really suck and hiding your emotions," Gilbert snorted. "It was so painfully obvious when Ivan was in the clubroom and said he'd talk to you."

"Now, wait a sec-"

"And then there's the way you blatantly avoided talking to him after school," Gilbert continued. "You all but ran to the cover of the car!"

"It's not like that," Alfred muttered. "I just…uh…I owe him money, yeah. And I don't have it yet to give it back to him."

"What is he, the mafia?" Gilbert dead-panned and Alfred sighed. "Please, it's not like I'll tell anyone. It's just great information to know. Let me just tell you, it's fucked up that you're into someone as creepy as him."

"He's not…creepy," Alfred muttered.

"Yeah, and I'm not awesome," Gilbert rolled his eyes. "I mean, how long have you even known him? Because I've known him for a few years. He's a messed up guy." Gilbert shuddered a little bit at remembering those times…

"I don't need to be criticized for my feelings," Alfred said as they stopped at the house and Gilbert happily climbed out at the same quick speed as Alfred. He was determined not to let him get away. "Besides, I never said it was him."

"That blush on your face says otherwise," Gilbert snickered as they walked up to the front door. It bugged Gilbert how they just let their car sit out on the driveway, not even in the garage. Their parents and those spots taken up, apparently.

"It does not," Alfred protested and the blush on his face actually grew. Gilbert laughed even harder. "Fine, if we're talking about feelings, we can talk about the way you act around Mattie."

"Like what?" Gilbert snorted.

"Oh, don't pretend that you don't get all blushy when he holds onto your hand," Alfred smirked. "Or when he's on the ice, acting all confident, you can't take your eyes off of him! And you always have to act like you're impressive, even more than usual. Like it's so important you've got your perfect image for him."

"Please, I don't feel anything for him," Gilbert said bluntly. He really didn't. So what if all of that…might have been true. Matthew was a close friend, that was it. They'd gotten to know each other just a few days ago, after all. They only knew so much about each other already because they had to because of that stupid spell. "Nothing like you with Ivan."

"Oh, yeah? Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't want to kiss him," Alfred smirked, standing in front of the front door, waiting for Gilbert's response.

"Well," Gilbert smirked. "At this point, that would be kind a like kissing myself, wouldn't it? That'd be kinda weird." He happily bypassed Alfred and walked inside of the house. But he couldn't ignore the way his gut had twisted when Alfred mentioned kissing Matthew. Why had it done that? It wasn't like he was weak at the knees, but it was a little hard to keep walking…

Fuck, no, this wasn't happening.

All of the couply moments. First FrUK, then a small confession out of Alfred and Gilbert? So much fluff, we at least got a little angst from Ludwig, who's desperately trying to figure this out on his own, but it's not going well. Oh, hopefully everything will work itself out soon enough! Bear in mind we still have, like, four people in the main plot that don't know their secret; Ludwig, Feli, Lovi, and Kiku. So that's fun.

Anyway, mostly fillery I guess, but some stuff happened here and there. I hope you enjoyed. I'll see y'all next time!