(A/N: This is where it all starts happening, guys. This one honestly hurt me a bit to write! I need to stop making Arthur Kirkland such an asshole, but hey. Next fanfic. Hope you guys like it!)
The front door had opened nearly 20 minutes after Matt and Tim fell asleep. They were deep in post-high, post-sex sleep, of course, and didn't hear it. Matt, however, stirred awake when he heard the sound of someone bounding up the stairs, and started to panic. "Tim, get up, get the fuck up." He said, and jabbed his hands a bit harshly into Tim's ribs. "Mmm?" Tim groaned, raising his head looking to the door, where footsteps were slowly approaching. "Put on your clothes. Hurry!" Matt commanded, and nearly pushed Tim out of bed.
"Mattie? You home? I really need to talk to you!" Alfred called, his voice laced with concern for some reason, and Matt could tell that he was halfway up the stairs. He'd be to Matt's room soon. "Shit," Matt cursed under his breath, and started throwing on various clothes. "Gimme a second? I'm kind of smoking right now-" Alfred just kept approaching Matt's room, ignoring what he said. Matt groaned, dropping the s-bomb usually shocked Alfred into stopping whatever he was doing. "It can't wait! I fucked up bad, Matt. I… I got Mei pregnant, and you're always the best one with advice about stuff like this!" So that explained the level of concern in Al's voice. Matt still thought his current situation was a bit direr. Alfred was at his door, jiggling the knob. Matt sure was glad he had the sense to lock it.
"Oh my god, Al. Give me just a second, I've got my hookah out and I don't want to break it." Matt pushed boxes around, hoping it sounded like he was putting away his long-since packed hookah pipe. He had gotten all of his clothes on, and decided to grab Tim's blue-striped scarf off of a box to cover the hickey that Tim had left when they were fucking. "Go in my bathroom. Don't come out unless I say, alright?" he said softly to Tim, who nodded and finished pulling on his jeans.
Once Tim was hidden, Matt unlocked the door and let Alfred in. And Alfred looked like a mess. He looked to be on the verge of tears, and he was shaking. He was hyperventilating too, and Matt knew all too well what would happen if he kept that up. "Okay, Alfred, first we've got to calm you down. You've gotta stop hyperventilating. You're gonna make yourself have a panic attack, or pass out. Okay, Al?" Matt said gently, and Alfred nodded. Matt could hear his breathing slow, and he stopped shaking so much. "Good. Now tell me what happened." Matt said, trying to soothe his brother. He had momentarily forgotten that his boyfriend was hiding in his bathroom, and went into full Mama Matt mode.
"Well, I go to see Mei tonight, right? And we're at her house, in her room. And, she looks up to me and she says, 'Alfred, I think I'm pregnant.' And we think her crazy ass brothers are all gone, but- god. Your Chinese teacher apparently heard her say that all the way across the house from his room, and bursts into her room, screaming 'How could you bring dishonor to us like this aru?!' and a bunch of ching-chong shit in Chinese. And he gets Leon and Cheng and Yong Soo into it and Mei starts crying, we convinced them she wasn't really pregnant but- I don't even like her all that much, Mattie. Please, help me." Alfred had started to hyperventilate again, and Matt put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. "Alfred. You have to stay calm, okay? Believe me, you don't want to make yourself have a panic attack. It's going to be alright, you don't even know for sure she's pregnant."
"No, we're… she's sure. Mattie- I don't like her. I really, really don't! What if this messes up my chances at Harvard? What if Dad finds out and he won't pay for me?" Alfred panicked, and Matt tried his best to calm him back down. "Dad won't find out, okay? I won't tell him, and you won't tell him. And- look at me Alfred- Have you considered an abortion? They aren't stigmatized in China like they are here. She'll be open to the idea, I'm sure of it." Matt said, hoping that it was what Alfred wanted to hear. "Y-you mean that?" Alfred asked, still looking on the verge of tears. "Yeah. We talked about it in Chinese Culture once. One child policy, remember?" Matt didn't actually know the Wang family's stance on abortion, but he had to calm his brother down somehow.
"Well the Wang family did not listen to the one child policy! There's like 5 of those chinks in that house! What if they don't listen to the abortion policy either?" Alfred wailed. "First off, watch your language, Alfred. They aren't chinks. Secondly, they're from Hong Kong, so the policy doesn't apply to them. But the culture is the same, and if she's pregnant, I'm sure she can get an abortion. She's 18 anyways, isn't she? It doesn't matter what Yao says." Matt said, trying to talk sense into his brother. However, when Matt brought up Mei's age, Alfred's face fell.
"Alfred F. Kirkland, please tell me Mei is 18." Matt groaned. Alfred's silence told Matt everything he needed to know, and it made him borderline furious. Alfred knew better than to have sex with an underage girl! But it wasn't something Matt would put past his brother. Alfred was a functioning sex addict, and would fuck any girl that gave him the time of day. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. "I can't believe you, Alfred! How old is she?" Matt's voice was rising, and it made Alfred wince. Matt was never one to get angry or yell. "Would you yell at me if I told you she was 15?"
"Fif-fucking-teen. You fuck a fifteen year old girl, get her pregnant, then you're worried about how it will affect you going to Harvard? That's- Alfred, you could go to jail!" Matt was livid. That was the moment he was glad he was gay. There was no way he'd be able to accidentally knock Tim up. Alfred just stared guiltily at the ground, and Matt almost felt sorry for yelling at him. He did look like he regretted his actions, at least a little bit. Even though he probably regretted it for selfish reasons. "Al, look at me." Matt said, and Alfred turned his head towards his brother. "I'll text Leon, okay? I'll see what Yao thinks about abortion. But, you listen to me. If Mei doesn't want to get an abortion, you will not force her into one. You're a grown man, and you fucked up. You should have known something like this would happen with all the fucking around you do. You're going to have to deal with this." Matt put his hand on his brother's shoulder, and Al nodded. "Okay," he said, and left the room without a word.
Once the door was shut, Matt padded over to the bathroom. He opened the door to see Tim leaning awkwardly against his sink counter, trying to pretend like he hadn't just heard that conversation. After a few seconds of silence, Tim spoke. "That was harsh, Matt." He said, trying to lighten the mood. He must have been able to see how pissed Matt still was. "My brother is a dumbass. He needs to be treated harshly." Was Matt's reply, and he pulled Tim out of his bathroom and back onto his bed.
"We were all comfy, too. God damn Alfred and his uncontrollable penis ruined it," Matt complained, letting his forehead fall onto Tim's shoulder. Tim let out a light laugh. "Come on, schatje. We can get comfy again." Tim responded, laying his head against Matt's. "But not the right kind of comfy. Not the good, naked, post-sex comfy. Who knows when we can get that kind of comfy again?" Matt asked dramatically, and Tim just smiled. "We'll be in Seattle soon, and we can have that comfy every night. I'd love to get comfy with you any chance I could get." He responded softly, pressing a kiss to the top of his lover's head. This made Matt pick his head up, and turn to Tim. "Gimme a kiss, you sappy dork." He said, and pressed his lips to Tim's.
It was a good kiss, one of the best the couple had had in a while. Matt liked to kiss while he was angry; a good, open-mouthed kiss was like nature's stress reliever. When Matt's lips met Tim's, any sort of negative emotion just melted away. All Matt felt when he kissed Tim was pure love. No anxiety, or sadness, or anger, just love, and the wonderful taste of pipe smoke and coffee and the feeling of his heart about to leap from his chest (in the good way.) Tim smelled good, like incense and smoke and tulips, and Matt wanted to bottle his smell up and keep it. Not in a creepy way, of course, Matt just really liked the way Tim smelled. He had pulled away to tell him that, when he heard his door click open, and Matt's heart stopped.
"Mattie, can I bum a Soviet? I'll pay you back." Alfred had opened Matt's door, without knocking, of course. And, of course, he had to do it right as he was kissing Tim. Matt jumped off of Tim, and attempted to hide the older man with his body. Matt was sure that he was going into cardiac arrest. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry, I didn't know you were with a girl! I'll leave-" Alfred made eye contact with Tim, stopped talking, and closed his eyes. "That's not a girl, Mattie."
"I- Alfred, I can explain, just listen to me-" Matt tried to stammer out, but Alfred wouldn't have any of it. Not even Matt, the master of lies, could work his way out of this one. Alfred might have been stupid and naïve, but he saw Matt flat out kissing another man. What would he say? 'Oh, Tim came over to smoke with me and my face just accidentally fell onto his and our tongues accidentally went into each other's mouth!' Not even Alfred was stupid enough to buy that.
"What, so you can try and convince me you aren't a fucking faggot? I just saw you kissing that- is that your fucking art teacher?" Alfred chided, and Matt stood up, away from Tim. "It's not like that, Alfred! Just calm the fuck down and listen to me!" Matt shouted. "How am I supposed to be calm when my brother likes to put his dick in other dudes, huh? Or are you the kind that likes to take it up the ass?" Alfred wasn't going to hear Matt out. There was a part of Matt that didn't blame him, but Matt was going to be heard on this. "That- How do you know I'm even fucking him? I'm asexual-" Matt decided the best thing to do would be to lie through his teeth. "Oh, that's a new one Matt. Jesus- You said I was going to go to jail for fucking Mei but here you are fucking your art teacher! I knew he was a faggot but I didn't think he would get to you like that, Mattie. I'm fucking out." Alfred spat, turning to leave the room.
Matt should have just let him leave, and maybe he would have calmed down and had an epiphany that being gay wasn't the worst thing in the world. Maybe if he would have just left the house for a while, things would have ended up okay and the ensuing catastrophe could have been avoided. But, no. Matt followed Alfred into his room.
"No! I want you to listen to me, damn it. Like you never fucking do! For once in your life, listen to your god damn brother!" Matt yelled, and Alfred turned to face him. He had his phone in his hand, and Matt panicked for a moment. He wasn't going to tell Arthur, was he? Matt shook away the fear and decided he was going to stand up to his brother. "Tim is my boyfriend. And I fucking love him. I'm a consenting adult, and there's not a thing wrong with that." Matt said with slightly-fake confidence. "There are so many things wrong with it." Alfred sneered, looking away from his brother. "Like what? Jesus, Alfred, name one thing!" Matt shouted, and Alfred looked at odds for a moment. Matt knew he didn't have a good answer.
"You're an atheist, Alfred, so it isn't because you think I'm going to hell. I know that you know deep in your heart that there isn't a thing wrong with being gay." Matt said, still stubbornly trying to prove his point to Alfred. After so many years of being ignored, Matt wasn't going to give up that easily once he had finally been heard. "So you're admitting you're a faggot, then?" Alfred asked, bringing the conversation away from what Matt had said. "If that's what you really want to fucking hear, then yes! I'm a faggot, Alfred, but I'm your brother. So will you accept me?" Matt asked, and Alfred didn't answer. "How long have you been one?" Alfred asked back, and Matt sighed.
"I've known for two years now." Matt just wanted his brother to answer his question. "Jesus Christ, Mattie! We've slept in the same bed since then!" Alfred exclaimed, and Matt rolled his eyes. He hated this argument. He was gay, he wasn't into incest, and he definitely wasn't attracted to the mirror image of himself. "Alfred, we're fucking brothers! Just answer my question!" Matt yelled to his brother, not sure if he actually wanted to know the answer or not.
For a while, Alfred was silent. It worried Matt, because he could never tell what Alfred was thinking. After a long, tense silence, Alfred turned to Matt and sighed. "No. I won't accept you. You make me fucking sick. Get out of my room, and out of my house. I'm gonna tell Dad so you won't be able to come back. You're lucky that fucking fag art teacher has already quit or I'd turn him in. I already told you what I'd do if I ever found out you were gay… You aren't my brother anymore. Leave." Alfred sneered, and Matt's confidence crumbled. He found himself unable to move, and he just stared in shock at Alfred. He didn't think Alfred was actually serious about not thinking of Matt as a brother anymore. Those were words he never, ever thought he would hear; Alfred was an asshole, and Alfred cared too much about himself, but Alfred was his brother. Alfred was his brother and he loved Alfred.
Matt didn't realize he was silently crying until Alfred pointed it out. "Just like a little homo like you to cry. What, are you going to have an anxiety attack over me? Get out." Alfred shoved Matt, and he came back to reality. He gave Alfred a final look, and left his room a bit too quickly. If he was a stronger person, he would have argued his brother until he had forced him to accept him, but he wasn't strong. He was Matthew Kirkland, and he was weak. He realized he was still wearing Tim's scarf, and he was happy Alfred didn't point it out. Matt clutched it tightly and walked back to his room, tears streaming down his face. "Tim, let's get out of here." He said to the confused and concerned looking Dutchman sitting on his bed. Matt grabbed a few things from his room; his stash box, his phone charger, and the sketchbook laying gingerly on his nightstand. Tim offered to take them for Matt, but Matt declined, and dragged him out of his room.
As they went downstairs, Matt clearly heard Alfred yelling into the phone about him. Probably to Arthur. Shakily, he pulled out his phone and sent a text to his father. Alfred got Mei Wang, a 15 year old Chinese immigrant, pregnant. He knew that he said he wouldn't tell Arthur, but if Alfred was going to take Matt down, Matt was going to bring Alfred with him. He stuffed his phone back into his pocket, not wanting to see any reply, and pulled Tim to his car. He wanted out of the house as fast as possible. If he left, like he should have done in the first place, maybe Alfred would calm down and maybe this would all blow over.
They were in Tim's car, just leaving Brookshire, when Matt's phone buzzed in his pocket. On reflex, he pulled it out, forgetting that the message he was getting was probably something he wouldn't want to see. But he couldn't stop himself, and had a message from his father open before he realized what he had done. It was a group message that went to both him and Alfred. I'm filling out student loan forms for the fucking lot of you. I'm done. I didn't even want you, and I won't pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for my sons, the statutory rapist and the homosexual, to go to school. Take your bloody accounts that harlot from France left you, that's the last thing you'll ever get from me. –AK.
That was when Matt realized things wouldn't blow over, and he broke down in the passenger seat of Tim's car.