From that point on, Matthew set his mental switch to 'single'. Sad but true, his first relationship had ended after a little more than three months. Such a short time, three months. No, breaking up was in no way fun, but he'd get over it in a while. He was sure of that.

He'd have to find another teacher for Physics, now that he thought about it, because he really wasn't going to Abel for that anymore. Just the thought of him brought a bitterness to his mood and a nasty dryness in his throat.

He got home, not feeling like talking to anyone.

"Hey, Matthew." His mother said from the living room. "I thought you'd be going to Abel again today? Not that I like that, but-"

Oh, fuck his life. The one time she isn't trying to ignore the guy to death has to be not even an hour after he broke up with him?! Come on!
"You don't have to worry about that anymore because we just broke up." He retorted and ran upstairs.

For some reason, he was really pissed. He felt like snapping at whoever dared to even come close to him, throwing stuff around the room and tearing that stupid pile of homework that had to be done to shreds. Then again, it might also be a welcome distraction.

He started off with French. He simply refused to do Physics now. Unfortunately, French was done in a flash, and so were Chemistry and Biology and there wasn't anything left to do but Physics.

He tried lying down on his bed and think about nothing, but that didn't quite work. The only thoughts that would drift through his mind automatically led to Abel-related memories.

He tried listening to his favourite music. That would distract him and cheer him up for sure. Punk rock was generally jumpy and happy, so that was an easy choice. Come to think of it, he only had punk rock CDs. He picked his favourite album and turned up the volume.

But he ended up skipping every song. He'd never actually noticed that most of Marianas Trench's songs were about love.

He grunted in annoyance and went back to his homework. He could do this on his own. Slightly optimistic, he started the exercises. This wasn't even that hard. He got the first bit. But then…how did that work again with reducing the Amperes by…increasing or reducing the Volts? He looked it up in the book, stared at the formula and tried to visualise it.

"Shit." He threw the book aside. Who was he joking? He really didn't get the shit out of this. He needed some distraction already!

He'd call Francis to ask if he had anything to do. No. Francis would ask his ears off about the breakup. He was always interested in people's relationships. No way he was going to him.

Arthur? No. He was occupied by Alfred already. Who could blame him?

Carlos! He was a great guy and certainly wouldn't ask about unpleasant things. And so, Matthew hung out in the city with Carlos for a few hours, had a good time, and when he went home, nothing had changed.

When he got to school again on Friday, Francis was right in his face. "Mathieu! Are you alright? I heard you and Abel broke up yesterday."

Oh, god. Rumours really did spread like wildfire. "Yes, I'm perfectly fine. Thank you." He said, and awkwardly pushed his classmate back a little. "How did you know? I haven't told a soul."

"Kiku overheard it, then told Lin, who told all the other girls, and Judithe told me."

"You would think she'd have heard it from him when he got home."

"She knew before he got home."

"Oh, god. Can we change the subject now, please? I don't feel like talking all day about-" Just on that perfectly worst moment, Abel walked in through the double doors. Matthew looked away almost immediately, but saw from the corner of his eye that he was goofing around and talking to Mathias very much like usual. Surprisingly, he didn't seem at all affected by the breakup whatsoever. He looked and acted just like usual, as though nothing had happened.

Although that wasn't entirely true, Matthew noticed throughout the day. If everything was as usual, he would have talked to him as well and they would have been sitting next to each other at Chemistry. But no, none of that now. Abel was all the way on the other side of the classroom in every class, and he didn't even glance at him. He treated him like everyone else did: As though he wasn't there.

Well, if he wasn't at all bothered, there was no point for Matthew to get depressed over it either, right? Both happy, no problem. Matthew promised himself he'd just forget about what had happened and get back to his daily life. Easy, right?

Time proved otherwise. 02:12 a.m. Friday December 14th 2012. That was what the clock on Matthew's laptop said. He was sitting behind his desk, so tired he was about to faint off his chair and watching pointless videos in an attempt to smile again. It didn't work. Why would it even work? It was in the middle of the night, and he felt like he was dying. Of course he wouldn't smile. Then again, being tired as hell was still better than eventually going to sleep with your thoughts racing like F1 and then waking up from a night terror only half an hour later. Again.

He eventually tried to sleep again. He shut down his laptop, dropped into his bed and fell asleep almost immediately. And he woke up just as quickly just ten minutes later. This was pointless.

Alfred was asleep. Sound asleep? No. He couldn't. It was the fifth weird dream of that night that kept him awake. It wasn't Alfred who was stressing out, though. Not directly, that was. It was Matthew who couldn't sleep that caused him to be constantly awake and staring at his ceiling.

When Alfred looked on his alarm clock and saw it was around 2:30 a.m., he let his worries get the better of him. He usually let his twin for what he was and involved him into his life the least possible.

Wearing nothing but his glasses and pyjama trousers, Alfred left his bed. In Matthew's room right next to his, he found his brother sitting on the side of his bed. The older one of the two ran his hand through his half-long hair and sighed. The small lamp on the nightstand was on, drawing long and faint shadows in the room and over Matthew's face.
It made the dark circled under his eyes even darker and more evident.

"Matt." Alfred whispered.

"Al? Why aren't you asleep?" Matthew hadn't expected someone at this hour, so he was surprised to say at least.

"Are you crazy?" Alfred asked, shutting the door behind him. "How can I sleep if you're a mess?" He sat down next to his twin and wrapped an arm around him. "Come on, spill it. What happened between you and Abel?"

"How did you know it's about-"

"Twins, Matt. I know that kinda stuff. And since you won't tell me anything unless I ask, I just ask. And it's pronounced about, by the way."

Matthew looked back at the floor. He didn't even bother expressing his irritation about the so called correction.
"I thought you'd know by now that we broke up." He said in a soft tone.

"You what?!" Alfred shouted. "How did he say it? Did he do it by text? He did it by text, didn't he? He's sooo dead. I'll kick his bony butt!"

"Al! Keep it down. And I did it, for your information."

"But, Matty-"

"Don't call me that!" Matthew sneered, but sank back in again. "He always calls me that. Or at least called."
Suddenly, he felt a bit sick. By just hearing the nickname only Abel ever called him by, the memories of every single time he did so flashed through his head. It were those memories exactly that made him want to scratch his brain out. If only he could forget about those things, he might just be able to get himself over it. Maybe.

"Why did you do that?" Alfred asked. "I mean, I wouldn't have minded if it didn't make you feel like shit. But it does."

Matthew was a little hesitant about opening that particular book to Alfred. On the other hand, with all the friends he had, Alfred would probably find out in no-time anyway.
"You know why. He likes picking on you and Arthur. I hate it when people do that and I'll tell them off..." He took a small pause, and continued mumbling: "Even if that person is Abel."

Alfred couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not in the least bit. "Dude! This was one of these moments you were supposed to do what I always do."

"Hm?"

"Completely ignoring me!"

"Didn't you listen? Do you think I like it when he's picking on Arthur? I couldn't get him to stop either."

He bit down on his teeth and combed both hands through his hair again. His thoughts, those countless depressing thoughts were tearing his head apart on the inside. What was he supposed to think? In the back of his head, he knew he wanted to undo that so hated conversation. He wasn't kidding anyone, not himself, not Alfred, not anyone. He wanted him back. After more than five years of being close friends, not having him around was just so strange.

He had screwed it up so hard for himself, as it was clear that the other party was doing just fine. It was a thought he didn't want to have, and yet he couldn't stop wanting to snuggle up close to Abel again, holding his hand again, and laughing at him goofing around with those three rabbits again.

Such fond memories, all flashing by and each and every one adding another painful stab to his heart, caused him to mentally snap and cry out in his brother's chest.

"Matt." Alfred whispered, gently stroking his brother's back. "Come here. You've done nothing wrong. You'll get over it. That guy's a prick to begin with, and there are so many guys out there who'll be so much better for you."

Like that would cheer him up. Sure, Alfred was only trying to make him feel better, but didn't he realise that he didn't care about all those other fish in the sea out there? He only cared about one in particular, and that was the one he had kicked out.
The result of this failed cheer up-attempt was Matthew only feeling more miserable, and Alfred tried to talk his guilt away. The idea to keep his mouth shut, no matter how hard it was didn't even cross his mind.

But that was when he noticed. Alfred pulled his hand back from Matthew's waist and sat straight up. "Matt. You've lost weight." Alfred said.

It wasn't unusual for Matthew to lose weight in stressful times. Alfred looked at him from the corner of his eyes for a few seconds, thinking. Unexpectedly, he pulled Matthew's shirt up to his chest. He was surprised about what he saw.
"I can see your ribs." He stated, poking one of the bones.

Matthew pulled his shirt up again and took a better look. Much to his own dismay, he had to admit there indeed were bones visible. Very visible, alright. There was no denying anymore that he was a wreck.

"Calm down and stop freaking out, and eat lots of cheer up pancakes! What do you think of that?"

Silence.

"Hey, Matt. Have you thought of talking it out like grownups? That you can become friends again like you used to...as long as you don't have him come over."

"That's so…I don't know. I mean…" Matthew felt awkward only thinking about it.

"I know, but someone has to make the first move."

Oh, yes. Because the both of them were so good at that. It had taken them two years and a week of being in the same room in Paris to get together, for crying out loud.
"Hey, Al. You know what bothers me?"

"No."

"He didn't seem to care much."

"Huh?" Alfred asked. "Are you for real?"

"Well, he said he was pretty much fine with it, so…I don't know. Do you think he even liked me that much to begin with?"

"Are you kidding? I mean, dude couldn't get his eyes or hands off you last time I saw him."

Matthew looked at him sideways.

"Uhm, in the totally innocent, cuddly kind of way." Alfred added quickly when he realised that some words really did sound a lot better in his head than when he spoke them.

Matthew dropped onto his back. "Do you think he'd still want to even talk to me?"

"Of course. And if you're not sure, you can ask Judithe. She'll know that kind of stuff."

"I don't think I want to involve her in this. Gossip-network. I don't even want to involve you in this."

"I'm involving myself in this, don't complain."

When was the last time the two brothers had been so intimate about these kind of matters? Usually, Alfred pretty much went his own way and completely ignored his older twin.

"But, Matt?"

"Hm?"

"Now that we're discussing intimate things anyway…How audible was it?" He referred to that one time in Paris. Because how much he tried to get it off his mind, he kept worrying about it. Even without the help of constant reminders.

"Audible enough to know where Arthur has piercings." Matthew awkwardly admitted.

"Ow." Alfred cringed.

"You really didn't know he had a prince Albert before you actually saw the thing?"

"Shut up." Alfred huffed and crossed his arms. "It's not like he told me or anything."

"Why not?"

"It's not exactly the kind of piercing you wave around in public. Unless you're really fucking drunk."

"Maybe it is the kind of piercing you should tell someone about when you have the intention of having sex with them. I mean, I think that'd be better than getting an 'oh my god, you have a piercing in your-?'"
"Yeah, yeah! I know what I said. I was there. And it wasn't like we really thought about that or anything. It just sort of...happened. I don't know."

"Does he still have his nipples pierced?"

"Yeah, duh. And his bellybutton too. He actually likes his piercings you know. And I'm not complaining."

Matthew wiped the last of his tears away with his sleeve and laughed softly at his brother. He thought he was a complete klutz when it came to relationships, but Alfred wasn't nearly perfect either.

"But really Matt."

"Hm?"

"Are you still a virgin?"

"Wha-? Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes. What did you expect?"

"I don't know. He just seems a bit like the type to...you know."

"Al. He cuddles rabbits and sleeps with a huge Miffy plush. How perverted can someone like that be?"

"Sleeps with a wud?"

"You didn't get that from me." Matthew sniggered and carefully hoped that that would make the gossip-network. Just for laughs and giggles.

That conversation had actually made a difference to Matthew. He felt a lot better after he'd gotten all that off his chest. He didn't go to school with lead in his shoes anymore. Sure, he still had this sting in his chest whenever he saw Abel in the corridors, but he'd just learn to live with that. That wound would heal itself with time, Francis had assured him of that.

Speaking of Francis, he got to spend more time with him again too. It also seemed like Arthur was a lot happier to see him again too. And somehow watching the bickering between Arthur and Francis was a lot funnier than it was before. And guess what? He even made new friends now.

One day, Arthur introduced a short young man he knew from primary school. "Guys, this is Leroy Smith. In primary school, he was...pretty much my shadow."

"Yeah, that's true." He admitted, but didn't seem at all ashamed. He joined the small group for lunch, and they asked him a lot. He was in class 4A1, liked reading and knew a lot about history. It appeared that, in primary school, he'd always looked up to Arthur because he was so mature and strict. It was rather clear he hadn't seen Arthur since primary school then.

"So will you be staying here until your final exams?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, no. I'm only here until the end of the July. Then we're going to Finland for a year, and then India."

"Wow, that's a lot of places." Alfred said.

"Yeah, it is." Leroy ran his hand through his messy dark hair. "So enough about me. Arthur, is there anything I've missed in the meantime?"

"Nothing of importance."

"Dude, you were a punker last year." Alfred said. "You forgot that?"

Leroy's smile disappeared immediately. "You...were a punker?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, I was. I had blue, green or red highlights in my hair and I had a few piercings done."

"P-piercings?"

"Yes, but I've taken them out again now, as you can see."

"Oh, that's...interesting."

The lunch break was over soon, and school was over in a second, it seemed. The days after that passed by quickly as well. Leroy was a real talker, and it seemed he'd rid himself of his habit to follow Arthur like a little dark-haired shadow.

One day, after school, Alfred, Arthur and Matthew hung in the main hall a little longer to chat. Leroy also joined them just minutes later. He was an actually cheerful guy, even though he'd gotten detention again for chatting in class.

"Well, that's a surprise. You were always so quiet." Arthur laughed.

"Some teachers are just moody. Have you ever had Brugge?"

"You'll get used to him." Arthur assured. "He's our English teacher for the second year now, and it gets easier not to get detention with time. At least for some." He looked accusingly at Alfred.

"What? He's a grumpy old man. He gets pissed about everything."

"No, he doesn't. You're a nightmare in class."
Chatting and ignoring the other two, Alfred and Arthur left to go home.

"It's time for me to get going too." Leroy said. "I've got art now and Bennett is a demon when someone's late."

"Sure." Matthew said and looked back up at the screen to see if he had any changes in his timetable the next day. But before he left, Leroy took Matthew's hand, and quickly kissed his cheek. Before there was even time to respond, the guy had given him a sweet smile darted off.

And Matthew didn't react in any way. How was he supposed to react to that? Where had that even come from?!

Leroy had a crush on him. Super. Just great. Another pain in the neck to deal with. He really couldn't take that now. One thing was for sure: He didn't want a relationship as long as he wasn't over Abel. And then he certainly didn't want a relationship with Leroy!

Sure, the guy was okay, but...just no.

Oh, how he hoped no one had seen that.

~o~o~o~

More drama!

Yes, Arthur has a prince Albert piercing. DO NOT look it up on Google images! NSFW PIERCING! Because hey, he's still a bit of a punker on the inside. And he probably didn't get them in the first place if he didn't like them.

Yes, I have taken the liberty of making Matthew listen to punk rock.

Please review?