Chapter Two

Mathias's eyes snapped open, chest heaving as he desperately drew in gasp after gasp of cool night air. He stared at nothing but darkness, a single sliver of pale light that warped every time the curtains fluttered from the breeze blowing in through the open window. A thin layer of sweat coated his body, skin sticky and hair damp. His blankets were tangled between his legs, and Mathias slowly crawled off the sofa of the tiny apartment, mind still numb and reeling from-

What?

It must've been a dream, he concluded. He had been sleeping, so if he woke suddenly, it had probably been a nightmare, and thankfully not one that he remembered. Not like he remembered much in the first place.

There was no sound save for the quick streak of a lone car at midnight, a few voices talking, and paper rustling in the next room. Mathias stared at the strip of yellow light peeking from beneath Lukas's door, and made up his mind.

Lukas was so intent on his studying that, for once, he did not notice Mathias creeping in. The small room had no table, so his bed and floor were strewn with papers and books, the teenager perched on his pillow as he trudged through page after page of school work. There was an intense look of concentration on his face, his normally lack of expression broken by furrowed brows and narrowed eyes. Pencil scraped against paper as Lukas scratched down an answer onto the workbook in his lap, then cross-referencing with an open textbook nearby. He uttered a small sigh of frustration, crossing out what he had previously written and replacing it with a new answer.

Just when Lukas was about to flip the page, somebody flopped onto his bed, the mattress sinking and bouncing back like a trampoline as his books and notes-

No-!

"Mathias!" he nearly growled, the tall blonde grinning up at him from where he laid, paper crumbling beneath him.

"Watcha looking at, Lukas?"

"Stuff you won't understand," he replied coldly.

It was too late for Lukas to be dealing with this imbecile. He needed his coffee, and he needed to finish the rest of his workbook (only 38 more pages to go, if he remembered correctly), and he needed to sleep before six so he could have at least three hours of rest before school and oh God help him why was high school so goddamn difficult?

Mathias snatched the book out of his hands anyway, skimming through the page until his eyes brightened at the mention of: "Black market or illegal activities increase with the imposition of price controls in markets. Black markets: a) improve the situation of all participants in the price-controlled market; b) worsen the situation for those people who obey the rules imposed by the government; c) have little or no real impact- okay, yeah, no." He sat up, staring disgustedly at the book, tossed it aside, and picked up another to read. "Eutrophication in lakes results from: a) an increase in ambient temperatures; b) a decrease in temperatures; c) an increase in carbon dioxide- what the hell is carbon dioxide? No, what's ambient? No, what the fuck is eutrophication? No, even better: what in the fucking name of God is this thing?"

"Stuff you won't understand," Lukas repeated.

Mathias shifted, crumbling more papers under his bottom, and twisted around to throw a heavy arm around Lukas's shoulders. "You're working too hard, Lukas. Take a rest!"

"I have SATs." He did not have time to rest.

The taller blonde frowned. "What're SATs? Can't be more important than sleep, right?"

"What are you doing here?" Lukas decided to change the topic. "Why aren't you resting?"

"I don't know!" Mathias answered cheerfully. "But I'm awake now, and you're awake too, but you're tired, so let's go to sleep!"

"Get out."

Mathias stuck out his tongue at him, then hopped out of the bed, stacking up the books and loose sheets into a messy pile before unceremoniously dumping everything onto the floor. He flopped back down onto the bed, not minding Lukas's icy stare, settling down with the blankets flung out of the way and the only pillow occupied by an irritated teenager.

"Beds are comfortable," he commented. "When can I get my own bed? I don't like the couch. Can I sleep on your bed?"

"No."

"Luuukaaassss."

"Get out." And then, quite suddenly, Mathias reached up, grabbing Lukas around the shoulders, and tugging him down face first into the mattress. After a moment of struggling, Lukas pried himself from Mathias's hold, sitting back up with a frown etched across his face as he smoothed back his hair. "Seriously, stop it."

But the taller boy had kicked back and relaxed, almost sinking through the mattress as his body deflated with a shuddering sigh of contentment. Mathias's eyes were closed, and he was smiling as he murmured, "Come on, Lukas, rest. It's just one night. You've been working so hard, you deserved it."

It took some convincing, but finally, both teenagers were sprawled out across the small bed, eyes struggling to stay open.

"I still need to shower," mumbled Lukas.

"Do it in the morning," Mathias replied around a yawn.

"Get out of my bed."

"I'll get out in the morning."

And after a week of less than four hours of sleep every day, Lukas finally allowed himself to rest at a more humane time, SATs be damned.

And if Mathias remembered the fact, he'd probably be even smugger when morning comes to greet a day that crumbled into nothing – again.

Five months had passed since Alfred's plane touched down in New York City and left again for errands and destinations. The six people who were left staring at the tiny speck in the distance took two separate cabs to bring them home, and ever since then, Lukas thought he was finally, truly free from the Underworld, with Mathias as the weak, final tie that he simply couldn't cut off. The Bad Touch Trio bade them farewell when they piled into the different taxis, and the last time he caught a glimpse of them was in the grocery store three months ago, where Francis and Antonio had waved at him from behind a cart piled sky high with vegetables, meat, eggs, beer, cooking supplies, eating utensils, beer, a bottle of milk, several boxes of snacks, beer, tooth pastes, toothbrushes, towels, bottles of water, and beer.

Lukas's grades had taken a minor hit after their little adventure, but it had not worried him as much as when Emil's teacher, Ms. Héderváry, marched up to him on the day they returned to school with a cross and worried expression, demanding to know where they've been in the two weeks of unexcused absence. She had nearly torn him apart with a vicious scolding about responsibility and tact, which might have been slightly better if Emil hadn't been watching on the side, struggling to hide a smirk. But one thing for sure: Ms. Héderváry was terrifying. After he had apologized profusely and was forgiven, life reverted to its original pace, with one new addition: Mathias Køhler, which, to this day, Lukas couldn't determine as a blessing or a curse.

How to describe Mathias Køhler?

He was caring, funny, goofy, warm, proud, oblivious, foolish, ridiculous, blind, stupid, loud, annoying, insufferable, and completely and utterly nuts.

And now that Lukas thought back for a moment, that train of thought had gone downhill pretty fast.

Not like there was anything he could do about it. Mathias was taking up their couch, and their money, and their time, and their food, and his coffee, and-

Why was it so goddamn difficult to stay positive?

Maybe because his SATs were literally looming over him, gaining on him with less than two weeks. Or maybe because Mathias's craziness had finally gotten to him and he had developed, oh he had no idea, bipolar disorder? It may also be the fact that when Lukas woke up the next morning with Mathias latched onto him like a leech, bed surrounded by a mountain of papers and books, he remembered that Emil was having another godforsaken field trip of all things, because it was Middle School and apparently, that's what they did. They were going to some amusement park this time – not in New York – but Lukas was still reluctant. Rightfully so, considering what had happened last time Emil told him they were going on a field trip. Then, in addition to that, Lukas remembered that he had signed up for the study group after school, which meant he wouldn't be able to pick Emil up after the field trip (which was already grating loudly on his nerves) and just what was he thinking when he jotted his name down?

Considering the fact that he had just only remembered that he had signed up last week when a classmate of his texted him as a reminder, he hadn't.

But what was done was done, and he wasn't planning on bailing out anytime soon, because as much as he cared for his brother… his grades.

However, that meant that the only not-grade-damaging, not-very-reassuring, and relatively-probably-not-safe alternative was:

"Mathias." He bemoaned having to say it over a wonderfully warm, comforting cup of coffee: breakfast was for relaxation before the hell ahead, not for alarming announcements he would likely regret. "Mathias," he repeated, a little louder, so the blonde shoveling eggs into his mouth like a madman can hear him through the stupidity clogging up his ears.

Mathias looked up, bright blue eyes wide and too happy for a dreadful morning.

"I need you to do me a favor."

Emil's eyebrows shot up past his hairline as he watched the two older boys from the corner of his eye while he leisurely sipped on a glass of milk.

Mathias, unsurprisingly, looked a mixture of astonishment and emotional, and seemed to be tearing up. "Lukas!" he exclaimed when he had swallowed the food in his mouth. "You've finally decided to trust me!"

"You wouldn't have remembered even if I trusted you before," Lukas deadpanned, then continued before the other blonde could reply, "I need you to pick up Emil afterschool today."

A glass thudded on the wooden surface of the coffee table. "I can walk home by myself fine, thank you very much."

"Sure!" Thankfully, Mathias was louder and faster, his cheerful shout covering Emil's annoyance.

"I'm not a baby-"

"School ends at four thirty?"

"Two thirty."

"I'm not helpless-"

"Eh, close enough."

"Two hours."

"Listen, I don't need you guys staring at my back-"

"It's only two hours!"

"Two minutes late and when I find you, I will cut out your tongue. Understood?"

"Yes sir!"

And all Emil could do was sigh. He decided to shift the topic a bit. "So, what caused your sudden dependency on the brainless idiot?"

"Hey!"

"The brainless idiocy might have infected me, and out of brainlessness I signed up for a study group after school, so I won't be able to pick you up."

"I can walk home by myself," Emil grumbled, but was ignored.

"The study group might take some time, so I thought that it'd be nice if we rendezvous at the café. I'll give you some money, you guys can order something, and when we meet up again we can relocate to a restaurant for dinner."

"Dinner outside?" Emil blinked. That… was a pleasant turn of events.

Lukas shrugged. "Why not."

Mathias grinned, then slapped Emil on the back, making him tip forward and choke on his milk. "I'll be picking you up then, Emmy!"

"Don't call me that!"

Lukas smiled softly, a silent chuckle escaping as a small huff of air. "Eat quickly, Emil. Can't be late for school."

"Yes, mom."

The older brother then scowled, but it was mild and light-hearted. "Mathias, don't you dare forget."

"Yes, mom."

Lukas rolled his eyes, then retreated to his room to pack up. He reemerged with his bulging backpack, and Emil stuffed the last of his toast into his mouth before rushing to get his own.

"Two-thirty sharp, Mathias Køhler," the shorter blonde reminded the other sternly.

"What?" An expression of bafflement cannot get more irritating than this. "Oh!"

"Oh," repeated Lukas drily. "Two-thirty, meet at café."

"Two-thirty, meet at café."

"Don't forget."

"Two-thirty, meet at café."

"It's a deal then." Lukas pulled on his shoes and opened the door, Emil exiting with a casual, almost dismissive wave.

Mathias nodded, chest suddenly feeling strangely hollow as something in his mind thrashed once before stilling in an uneasy silence. Lukas was staring at him, and he nodded again, to reassure himself as he swallowed. "Deal."

The door swung shut, and Mathias found himself alone once more.

A writer's block in the second chapter of the story is not a good way to start off.

Just like Finding Emil, the story starts off slow, and continues to be slow until it decides to speed up.

I'll be flying to China tomorrow, then back to Japan, and we'll be staying there for about a month, I think. I won't be bringing my computer, but I have the planning in my iPad, so although I will keep writing, updates will be uneven throughout the summer vacation, sorry about that.

Min Tvillingbror: I'm sorry, I got a little confused about the em dash, en dash, and hyphen thing. I understand your explanation, and I don't want to sound offensive or anything, but what was the point? Did you want me to use it or...? I'm really sorry, I was just slightly unsure about what you meant. Please do elaborate, thank you.

PLEASE REVIEW!