I am so sorry! I had a whole week of tests, and then I was super uninspired and I had these ideas for oneshots that I just had to write, and then I got sick again, and I'm still trying to put together my punk!Prussia cosplay and... ugh. I'm so sorry, feel free to yell at me. Anyway, hope you like it.
"Now come on, we're leaving." Alfred said, grabbing his brother's wrist.
"But- no, Alfred-"
"It's alright Mattie, I'll protect you from that bastard!"
"Alfred-"
"I won't let him hurt you anymore!"
"Al-"
"That bastard doesn't deserve to live-" Alfred started to raise his gun.
"ALFRED!"
Alfred stopped. "What is it, Mattie?"
"Well, um... you see, Gilbert's not really that bad..." Matthew said, trying to figure out how to explain to his brother.
"What are you talking about Mattie? That bastard has been holding you captive and torturing you and doing God-knows-what-else to you, of course he's evil!" Alfred burst out.
"But no, Al... let me explain." He said, leading his brother out of the room. On his way out, he cast a backwards glance at Gilbert, who was still on the bed, watching Matthew leave the room with a forlorn look over his features.
"Francis, slow down!"
"Non, mon cher, we must save Matthieu!" Francis yelled as he kicked open the door. He stopped for a moment to allow Arthur to catch up, and then ran into the house.
They entered into the foyer, and upon finding no one, crossed into another room, the kitchen. No one. The left the kitchen and went out into the hall, guns still drawn. No one, still.
Francis sighed quietly, but then stopped. "Arthur." He whispered so quietly it was barely audible. "Did you hear something?"
"No," The Englishman whispered back. "I-"
Suddenly, a figure burst out of nowhere, gun aimed at the pair. Upon further inspection, he had a very imposing stature, very muscley, with slicked back blond hair and stern blue eyes. Said eyes were currently narrowed in anger.
Francis remembered him, this was Gilbert's little brother, Ludwig. He, Gilbert, and Antonio used to play pranks on him when they were younger. However, it seemed as though Ludwig did not remember him.
"What are you doing in my house?!" He bellowed in an angry German accent.
Francis unconciously took a small step back, but Arthur was used to these situations.
"You are holding a young man captive in this house." Arthur replied in a hard voice. "We are merely here to get him back."
The German's eyes widened a tiny bit, an action that went unnoticed by Arthur, but Francis caught it. He also knew what it meant. Ludwig knew where Matthieu was.
Ludwig, on the other hand, was very conflicted as to what he was supposed to do. They were there for Matthew... That meant they were on the side Matthew came from, they were the enemy. But his bruder loved Matthew (here he inwardly cursed his bruder again for falling in love with the enemy), and since Matthew had said his family would eventually come looking for him, he presumed this was them, so he didn't think Gilbert would want him to kill them. So then what was he to do?
Matthew was leading Alfred through the house towards the living room when he heard a familiar voice and British accent.
"...to bring him back."
It was Arthur! Arthur had come for him, too! He turned and sprinted towards the voice. He rounded the corner to see Ludwig with his gun pointed at Arthur, whose gun was pointed right back at Ludwig. What surprised Matthew even more, though, was the person next to his big brother- Francis.
He hadn't expected Francis to have come as well, being the only one in their family not in the military. He ran into the hall and launched himself at his brother-in-law with a cry of "Francis!" He enveloped the Frenchman in a giant bear hug from behind as the latter jumped in surprise.
"What-!" He started.
"It's me, Francis. It's Matthieu."
"Non!" Francis gasped. "Mon Matthieu? Mon petit Matthieu?" He said disbelievingly, turning around in the circle of his arms.
"Yeah, it's me."
Francis grabbed the Canadian and hugged him back. "But how are you okay? I would have Gi- ah, Beilschmidt, would have killed you, or taken you prisoner and tortured you!" He cried, nearly sobbing at that point.
"No, no, Francis, that's, um... not what happened... exactly."
"Then what did happen?" Arthur interjected.
"Uh... Come on, let's all sit down and I'll explain everything that's happened... But Arthur, Ludwig, can you two put down your guns first, please?"
Said men glared at each other before lowering their weapons and putting them away. Ludwig nodded at Matthew and walked away into the kitchen.
"Alright, lad, come on." Arthur said. "You're sure we're safe here? Not going to be shot where we stand?"
Matthew chuckled. "Yes, Arthur. We'e safe here. Probably."
"Probably?!" Arthur yelped.
"Come on, Arthur." Matthew laughed.
He took Francis's hand and led Francis, Arthur, and Alfred back towards the living room, where Miguel and Lars stood.
"Mon Dieu, you guys are here too? Matthew cried.
"Of course, Matthew, we had to come help rescue you. We're your family too."
"Aw, thank you so much guys! You don't know how much that means to me."
"No problem, Matthew. Now are we leaving or what?" Miguel asked.
"No," The Canadian replied, "We have some things to sort out first."
"...And that's how I ended up here, like this." Matthew finished. He had conveniently left out the part about Gilbert breaking his fingers, as he had forgiven him, they were mostly healed anyway, and, most importantly, he didn't want five armed men bursting in on Gilbert and trying to kill the Prussian for daring to hurt him. He didn't intend for them to ever find out; He wanted Gilbert to stay in one piece.
He had also left out the parts about their relationship, as he wanted to be able to tell the whole story without much interruption. But now that he had finished the story, he would tell them.
He just hoped they would be okay with it.
"Well. " Arthur said. "That certainly is something. But... how did Beilschmidt know you were coming? Surely he didn't hear or see you?"
Matthew frowned. "I really don't know. I never asked."
"And..."
Francis, who had been sitting on the edge of the couch, as far away from the other as he could be without raising suspicion, slowly got up and slipped. He needed to talk to Gilbert.
He wandered around the house for a few minutes before finding a hallway that projected a very Gilbert-like aura. That had to be it.
He tiptoed down the hall and stopped in front of the first door. He peeked inside, and saw his old friend sitting on his bed, muttering to himself in German.
The Frenchman wasn't completely fluent in German, but he knew enough to make out what Gilbert was saying. "Gonna leave me... Gonna go back to his family... loves them more than me... probably loves that ass Lars more than me too... they're his family... they're not on the side of his enemies like I am... Probably didn't even love me in the first place..."
"Gilbert?"
Said Prussian jumped slightly and immediately raised his gun towards the intruder, but then noticed who it was and lowered it.
"No way... Francis?" He asked.
"It is me, mon ami. It has been much too long! How have you been? It is wonderful to see you again!" Francis gushed.
"It's great to see you too, Francis!" Gilbert stood and made his way over to the Frenchman. They hugged for a second and then Gilbert pulled away. "What are you doing here? You came for Mattie too?"
"Oui, I came with Alfred and Arthur, and we brought two of Matthieu's friends as well."
"Brought a whole fucking town, did you? To guarantee you'd have to manpower to get back my Birdie, to take him away from me? Well, fuck... But don't worry... I'm not going to fight you... he can go if he wants to." Gilbert sat back down on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands.
"Your Birdie?" Francis asked curiously.
"Oh, yeah, that's what I call Matthew."
"Hmmm... You really like mon petit Matthieu, don't you?"
"Nein, Francis... I love him."
"I thought so." Francis said with a satisfied smile.
"But it doesn't matter anyway." Gilbert said depressedly. "He's just going to go back with you guys."
"And why would he do that?" Francis questioned.
"Because he's wanted to go home from the very beginning, and now he has the chance to. There's nothing keeping him here anymore, no locks or chains or guns to his head." Said Gilbert sullenly.
"Gilbert, you are an idiot. Do you not see that there is something keeping him here? When he told us about you, he did not say it out loud, not yet, but I could see it in his eyes. Whenever he aid your name, his eyes would light up, he would get this amazing, indescribable air about him. Do you know what this means, Gilbert?"
"Nein, what?"
"Gilbert, Matthieu is just as much in love with you as you are with him. I am French, I know what it looks like when one is in love."
"But-"
"There are no buts, Gilbert. He loves you and you love him. I can see it clear as day. He will stay."
Ding dong!
"Feli, can you go get that?" Ludwig asked.
He and Feliciano were sitting in the kitchen having breakfast, trying to ignore the enemy in their living room.
Felician stood up. "Ve, okay, Luddy!"
He walked out and down the hallway, stopping at the front door.
Ding dong! Ding dong!
"I'm coming!" He swung open the door.
"Fratello!" He cried, enveloping his brother in a giant hug.
"Fratello, GET OFF ME!" Lovino cried, struggling to escape Feliciano's hold.
"Sorry, Lovino! I just missed you so much!"
"Alright, Feli, I missed you, too. Now get off of me!"
"Hola, Feli. Como estas?"
"Buen giorno, Toni! I'm great! It's so much fun here with Luddy and Gil and Matteo- oh, yeah, I have a new friend called Matteo! Gilbert brought him here a while ago. At first Ludwig said he had to stay in the basement, but now he lives in Gilbert's room! At least he will until they go back to Gilbert's house. But they're both really happy now and-"
"Ah, Feli, speaking of Gilbert, where is he?"
"Oh, sorry! He's in his room, I think!"
"Gracias, Feli!" Antonio thanked him and started inside.
"Oh, and there are lots of strange men in the sitting room, Toni. I think you should try to avoid them."
"Que...? Alright, thanks again, Feli." He said, walking into the house and leaving the Italian brothers alone. He could hear voices in the other room, but ignored them as Feli had said. He went down the hallway containing Gilbert's room and opened the door.
The first thing he saw was the gun pointed at his face. The next thing he knew it was being lowered, and he was being hugged by a blond blur.
"Toni! Mon ami! It has been too long!"
"Oh, Francis! What are you doing here? Oh, hola Gilbert."
"Arthur and Alfred and some of Matthieu's friends and I came to save him and bring him home..."
"Oh, well then, everything's bueno, si?"
"Non! Because now Matthieu cannot leave!"
"What, why?" Antonio asked confusedly.
"Because he and Gilbert are in l'amour!"
"...Oh. Oh! Oh, si, that is a problem. I do not think your family will like that."
Gilbert snorted. "Yeah, obviously."
Arthur was getting suspicious. Although he hadn't said anything, he had seen Francis sneak away, and now he had been gone for a while...
"...So you sure I don't need to kill anyone?" Alfred asked again.
"Quite sure." Matthew reassured him, halfway between appalled and amused.
"...But can I kill them anyway?"
Arthur tuned them out again. Where was Francis? He hope he wasn't off trying to... engage people in... activities. He shuld probably go look for him.
"Excuse me, I'm going to the restroom. I'll be back soon."
"Alright, Arthur." Matthew said, looking lost in thought.
Arthur took his leave and began wandering the house until he heard voices down a hallway.
"But wait, uno momento, does Matteo know?"
"Know what?"
"How it was Francis that told you he was coming?"
"I, um, no... I haven't told him that yet..."
"But Gilbert! You have to-"
At that moment, Arthur, blood boiling with anger, burst into the room.
"This is YOUR doing?!"
The three men looked up at him, surprised.
Gilbert didn't even bother to raise his gun this time. "Another one! What is this, a fucking railway station?!" He shouted.
"Ah, non, non, mon cher-"
"Don't 'mon cher' me, Frog! This is all your fault! You compromised our mission, told this kraut that Matthew was coming for him, put my little brother's life in danger!"
"Non, I can explain-!"
"No, I don't even care right now! You put Matthew's life in danger, and only by the grace of God and the kindness of this man is he alive!"
"W-what?"
They all turned back towards the door at the voice.
There Matthew stood, staring wide-eyed at them all.
Behind him, Lars and Miguel stood outside the doorway, confused and frustrated expressions on their faces. Lars stepped back and leaned against the wall opposite the door. "I'm done." He muttered, covering his face with his hand. "I'm done."
"Francis... you..."
"Non, mon petit, I only did it because Gilbert is my friend! I could not allow him to be killed! You see-"
"I told him about that." Gilbert interjected.
"Then you see why I did what I did! And I swear, I didn't know you were the assassin sent to kill him. I swear to you, Matthieu. Francis looked at him with a pleading gaze.
Everyone was silent as Matthew considered.
"...It's alright, Francis. I forgive you." He smiled, stepping forward to hug his big brother figure.
"Well I don't! I-" Arthur was cut off by Gilbert.
'Birdie, have you been crying?"
For a second, Matthew thought about lying, but he knew there was no use.
"Um... maybe..."
"Mattie..."
He sighed. "Well, you see..."
15 Minutes Earlier
"...So you're okay, the kraut isn't as evil as we thought so we have to let him live, everything's okay, can we go home now?"
"Actually, Al... there's ne more thing I need to tell you... Promise you won't get mad?
"Yeah, what is it Mattie?"
"I... You see, Gilbert and I... While I was here with him, we kind of..."
"Come on Mattie, what is it?"
"I love him, Alfred." Matthew said. "I love Gilbert."
"You... what?" Alfred asked, his face unreadable.
"I love Gilbert... Please, I need you to understand, Al... I'm in love with him."
"..."
"Please understand Al, please..."
"I understand..." Alfred said slowly.
"You do? Oh, that's wonderful, Al, I-"
"Traitor."
So... yeah. Sorry about that. Hope you liked it and didn't hate the end too much.
~Potter-chan