A few hours later, Matthew was getting his keys to unlock his door. Felix had finally goaded him into buying a new pair of dark jeans (luckily not too skinny) and a couple of sweaters and shirts. Even though it cost him a lot, he knew he probably wouldn't wear them much. Sure the shorter blond said he looked 'like, totally sexy' in them, but it just made his resolve strengthen not to actually wear them.

Finally finding his keys and unlocking the door, the Canadian made sure not to make too much noise as he walked through the house. Sure it wasn't even that late -he had only just missed dinner judging by the smell- but he didn't want anyone to ask just what he bought. If it was anyone but Dad, they would demand to see it; Papa would probably even make him try them on for him.

"Bonjour, Mathieu. How was the mall? What did you get? You have to show me!" Francis said from the living room, turning away from fixing Arthur's hair. Of course, his 'husband' had fallen asleep on the couch, so it was practically an invitation.

"Ah!" He exclaimed, slightly shocked. "Bonjour Papa... I didn't get anything exciting..." Matthew trailed off as the bag was taken from his hands and looked through. So much for hiding his new purchase.

"Oh, this is wonderful! Such nice clothes! Put them on and do a fashion show for your Papa, why don't you? You will look so nice in these!" He said, ushering Matt to a bathroom where he could change. "Change quickly. Perhaps I should call Alfred down."

"Please no! I probably will return them anyways... Mon nouveau ami made me buy them..." Now he had to think. Would it be better to show his Papa his new clothes that would make people actually look at him, and not in a good way or have him fret over his son's new friend. The clothes seemed better. "Un minute." With that, he shut the door and quickly changed back into the clothes for the second time today.

Opening the door slowly, he poked his head out to see his Papa standing there, looking expectant. "Ce n'est pas beaucoup..." He mumbled quietly, unconsciously pulling on the edge of the fitted sweater.

"Oh, c'est magnifique! Your friend has good taste! You should not return them, they look wonderful on you." He smiled, looking at his son. He truly did look good in those clothes. "Well, I must get back to your father. You should go upstairs and show Alfred."

"Ok..." Watching him walk away, he was sorely tempted to just shut the door and change back, but for some reason he felt like showing Al. Maybe it was because he just wanted to get it over with before returning them -no matter how many people said they looked good on him- or maybe because there was a small part of him that wanted to prove that he could be as good looking as his brother.

Al sat on his bed, playing Xbox. He heard a quiet tap on his door and knew it was his brother. "Yeah?" The door opened slowly and he saw Matt wearing dark jeans that just hugged his body and a formfitting sweater. "Wow, Matt, you look hot. What happened?"

"I went shopping today with... Someone... And bought this. Papa said I should show you so..." Matthew mumbled, a bit taken back but at the same time strangely happy by the comment. Somehow even though both Felix and their Papa said the same thing, it felt the best coming from him.

"Cool. So this someone would be either Ivan, Felix or Ismael, and considering how good you look I would guess it was Felix. Seriously, why do all your friends suck?" And why did he have a feeling they all swung 'that way', as well? It was obvious the Polish guy did, and he was sure he had heard Ismael sometimes did, and the way Ivan looked at his brother didn't leave him with a good feeling in his stomach.

I'm sorry that you don't agree with my choices of friends, but yours are no gems either. "Sorry..." He apologized, contrary to his thoughts. "But they don't necessarily suck... They're just different." As different as a gay 'valley girl', an imposing Russian immigrant and a easy going Cuban were.

"No, they suck. And, as for the gay one, I mean that literally. You should get new friends." He decided himself, patting the space next to him. Matthew took the hint and hesitantly went over to the bed. Alfred pulled him down. "So you gonna wear that to school on Monday?"

"No." He immediately answered. The idea had already been bouncing around in his head, and he knew that he couldn't do it. It would be too embarrassing. "Unless you think I should..."

"Yeah, you definitely should." He said, a lazy smile on his face. And nobody noticed him anyway, so it wasn't like people were gonna want to rape his innocent brother, no matter what he wore. Well, except those three, but they wanted to do it anyway, so it didn't matter what he was wearing. Maybe he should beat them up, just for good measure. Well, he might need a few more people if he was going to take on Ivan... that guy was a beast!

Letting himself smile, Matt responded. "'Kay, then I will I guess." There was a small pause before Al turned his attention back to his game while he watched. "Al, do you think I shouldn't be so uncomfortable with people paying attention to me?" He asked randomly, still watching his brother kill zombies on the TV.

"What are you talking about? Who would ever feel uncomfortable when people pay attention to them? That would be weird." He said, hardly even listening to himself. He was too intent on his game.

"I guess." He luckily stopped himself from hitting his brother over the head. As much as he cared about him, sometime he could be more dense then a rock when it came to other people's feelings.

"But, you know, I guess everyone is different, so whatever if you have a weird phobia of people's attention? Just be yourself and everything will be fine, I guess." Once again, he was rambling, but oh well. "Be yourself. And don't get raped. That is an important part of it. Don't get raped."

"Of course. Thanks Al." I think. None the less, Matt just gave his brother a warm hug before sliding off his bed. "Do you know if there are any left overs from dinner?"

"Maybe. But you could get away with having chips or something, instead of eating the fancy shit Papa always makes." He smiled, looking up at his brother, knowing he loved the 'fancy shit'.

Matt just smiled. "But I like it." He answered, agreeing with Alfred's subconscious. Anyways, he would much rather prefer to eat something that their Papa made then just a bag of chips like Al suggested.

.oOo.

Ismael walked through the halls, hands in his pockets. It really sucked that he couldn't smoke inside. Then he saw something that pissed him off. He took out his hands and started walking faster. A little fight might not be good for his record, but it wasn't like he never had them. "Alfred, turn around and face me like a man!" He grabbed his shirt as the blond turned around.

"I'm Matt- Oh, hi Ismael..." Matthew's tone immediately softened as he saw that it was his friend who had mistaken him. "How was your weekend?" He had worn his new outfit today like he planned and already more people were noticing him, but also more people thought he was Al.

"Oh... sorry there, Matthew." Ismael gave a little laugh as he let go of Matt's shirt. "Just uh, thought you were..." His friend looked hot today, he couldn't help noticing. But the Cuban couldn't tell what was different. "My weekend wasn't bad. Yours?"

Shrugging, he just mumbled. "Felix made me go shopping with him for ditching him." Matt opened his arms, showing what came to be because of it. "But other than that, it wasn't too exciting."

"Oh, so that's what's different! Looks, uh nice." Ismael said awkwardly. Complimenting guys on things like this just wasn't his thing. If it was complimenting him on winning an arm wrestling match or something, that would be easier. "Anyway, give me your cell phone number. You know, so I can take you out to practice skate boarding again."

Matthew grabbed his cell and just handed it over to Ismael for him to put his number in it. "Give me yours and I'll put mine in it." He didn't really notice just how his friend's glances had become a little bit more intense. When he was done, he just handed it back and waited for his, already somewhat used to it after Felix. "So... You still want to teach me?"

"Yeah, it was fun. But I think next time it might be a good idea to bring a helmet. You know, just in case." He handed the phone back and put his phone away. "Oh, by the way, how do you feel about pot?"

"What?" He asked incredulously, totally confused. Where did that come from? "I guess I don't really mind if people do it, but it's not really my thing...."

"So you've never gotten high? Man, there is so much you haven't done." He shook his head, amazed with how innocent he was. Then he got an idea. "Hey, my parents aren't home this weekend. Maybe you want to come over?"

"W-w-what?!" He reiterated, his face immediately turning bright red. "I j-just met you a week ago... I d-don't t-think..." Matthew covered his face with his hands as it turned bright red. Sure they didn't meet the best way, but it didn't mean he could try and get him again. He didn't even think that he actually was gay too.

"What's wrong? You just said you don't mind if people do it. It's just getting high." Ismael said, lifting an eyebrow. Matt's reaction was strange... "Oh wait, shit you didn't think I meant..." The look on the blond's face said it all. The Cuban burst out laughing, covering his mouth. "Sorry, it's not that I wouldn't, but like you said we only just met, and besides when you were drunk you seem straight."

"Oh..." Matt mumbled, almost even more embarrassed that he misunderstood. "Uh, s-sure then... I just have to ask my Dad if it's ok. That and make sure Al doesn't find out..." Ismael's offhand comment though still stuck in his mind despite trying to forget it. If they knew each other longer he wouldn't mind having sex with him? That must mean he really was bi at least...

"Cool. So Friday after school? We can just go to my house from here. Maybe you could skate board instead of walk." He laughed, right before the bell rang. "Anyway, see you whenever."

Matthew shook his head a bit to get out of his reverie. "Sure. See you later then." But the Cuban was already walking down the hallway to his locker. Since he already had his things, Matt started making his way to his class and looked through his phone absentmindedly. Sure it wasn't a very impressive list, but at least it was growing.