Something was bothering Matthew. It didn't take rocket science to figure that out.

Alfred himself had realized it sometime during the 5 minutes he waited at his door before Kumajirou let him in. He affirmed it when it then took Matthew another 5 minutes to break out of whatever daze he was in and realize he was talking to him. He had just been sitting there, kinda looking at the roses Alfred had sent him but not really, with this dumbfounded look on his face. Or maybe (hopefully) it was more like swooning? Was there a word for that kind of look?

He didn't even seem all that into the game today. He was so distracted that Alfred decided to pull him into a headlock. After all, he HAD to pay attention to the game today. If this didn't work, Alfred was fairly certain nothing would. As expected, this led to a wrestling match between the two, and it was so hard not to just let his hand casually slip under Matthew's jersey.

Afterwards, Matthew had excused himself to the kitchen. Had he done something wrong? He was going to ask, but then Matthew mentioned he was making hamburgers today. There was always time to ask after the burgers were done.

"Hey Mattie, you almost done in there? The game's almost over! You're going to miss the best part!" And it was the best part, because it had taken a lot of phone calls, a lot of favors, a lot of coordination, and A LOT of begging, pleading, and loss of his dignity, but it was all worth it.

He hoped so anyway.

Matthew set a plate down in front of him and he knew without looking that it had to be his burger. It was kinda strange that he didn't put the bun on top of it, but Alfred was too busy staring at the timer to pay it any mind. There was only a minute left. He ate it quickly and chased it down with the beer Matthew had brought out. He had to be ready for this. He turned to Matthew as the game ended and blinked. He looked so upset as he stared at Alfred.

"Mattie...are you ok?" Matthew seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and nodded a bit dejected.

"Yeah, I'm fine...oh right. Ha! Rangers kicked the Devil's ass...what was the score?" Well that didn't seem very enthusiastic. Before Alfred could point it out, the players were returning back to the ice, and Matthew was staring at the screen. Good.

The fans started cheering loudly as they held up the signs that had been placed on their seats. If a seat was empty next to them, they even picked up the extra sign and held it up as well. Alfred didn't think it could get anymore obvious when they spelled out "I love you, Mattie," but he had taken extra precautions. The cheering died down and was soon replaced with the entire arena (fans, players, and even the announcers) singing "Oh Canada." He was surprised so many of them managed to learn all the words on such short notice, really.

Alfred bit his bottom lightly as he looked over at Matthew, who was still staring at the screen, looking like he was on the verge of crying.

"Mattie...?" He didn't get much further than that as arms were thrown around him and lips were meeting his. Alfred was so thankful this finally worked that he didn't know who he was supposed to be thanking, but he thanked them anyway.

Before he could return the kiss, Matthew pulled away from him and smiled.

"You big idiot. You could have just said it! ...I love you, too."

No problems there. He'd never get tired of saying it.