In Which Family Just Super Sucks


His older brother was cooking dinner when Alfred finally got home, which was the first sign that told Alfred he wasn't going to have a good night. It wasn't that his older brother was bad at cooking necessarily, but rather that, for reasons unknown, Arthur didn't seem to believe in using any spices other than salt and pepper. His unfortunate suspicions were confirmed when Mathew arrived soon after him and they all sat down to eat the bland and somewhat undersalted meatloaf and potatoes.

Halfway through the meal, Alfred noticed his oldest brother kept glancing his way, while his younger twin wouldn't look his way at all. Finally, Alfred set down his fork in frustration.

"What?"

At his demanding tone, Mathew flinched, but Arthur seemed to have steeled his own resolve, and put his own fork and knife down as he responded hesitantly, for head creased with concern.

"Alfred.. How are you?"

Alfred had a bad feeling he knew what this was about, by had no intentions of playing along, and just stared blankly at Arthur, who got even more awkward and avoided Alfred's gaze as he spoke.

"What I mean is.. I know I haven't always been the best oldest brother-"

Alfred snorted at that, since his older brother did tend to be a dictator at times, but Mathew piped up with a gentle "That's not true, Arthur!" That had Alfred glaring at his twin to shut him up. Arthur's face was suspiciously flushed as he continued, his every word sounding like it was being extracterld from him forcefully, like a rotten tooth.

"What I'm saying is... That you... You can talk to me. If you ever need too. About anything."

Arthur finished his offer with a strange series of pauses and halts, and he was definitely flushing from embarrassment as he stared resolutely at his mashed potatoes. Mathew fiddled with his fork, but didn't continue eating, and Alfred- well, Alfred was tired of getting this reaction from everyone he knew. Frustrated, Alfred pushed his plate away, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore, and tried to catch his older brother's eye. When that didn't work, Alfred called his name.

"Arthur."

When Arthur looked at him, Alfred maintained ete-contact and spoke sternly, determined to stop this sort of reaction, at least inside his own home.

"Arthur, Matt," He demanded both his brothers' attention, and Mathew also looked shyly to him as he spoke firmly, "I am not brokenhearted, so you can stop acting all funny around me!"

The and Arthur exchanged a look, and Alfred didn't like it.

"I'm not!"

He insisted, slamming his hands down on the table, but frustratingly, his brothers just exchanged the same look again, before Arthur retrieved his silverware and began eating, with a small nod.

"I understand. Although, the offer still stands, should you ever need it."

Mathew, perhaps encouraged by Arthur's move, resumed eating too, but Alfred was beginning to feel queasy. Why was everyone so quick to accept the rumour that Alfred was apparently deeply in love with Ivan and brokenhearted so quickly? Alfred didn't even like the guy! They were pretty close to being full-blown enemies! Having lost his appetite, Alfred grabbed his plate and covered it before sticking it in the fridge, answering Arthur's questioning gaze with a mumble about not being hungry before retreating to the safety of his room.

Lukily for Alfred's sanity, he did not hear Matthew's concerned note to Arthur.

"He's so upset he doesn't even want to eat? Alfred always wants to eat!"

Nor did he hear Arthur's solemn response back.

"It's worse than I thought."