Chapter 28

Alfred laid on his bed, propped by an elbow and a lazy gaze on Matthew wiggling inside of his bedroom. Matthew stared, waiting for him to say something. "Wassup?"

Not like that. "You talked to Arthur, right?"

"Nah, I went to the convenience store and grabbed a bag of cheesy poofs."

"Seriously?!"

Alfred busted into laughter, "If you could only see your face! Aw man!" Matthew glared as he swiped a finger under his eye and kept going, "I really should have! I'm kind of hungry now!" He finally shut up, and must have caught the meaning behind Matthew's Look of Death. "Uh, yeah, I talked to him."

"And?" Matthew came over to the bed as his brother grew quiet. "What happened?"

Alfred lunged forward and snagged Matthew into a great bro-hug, squealing, "I totally got him, man!"

"What?!" All the intensity vanished as Matthew roughly patted his brother's back to give him a taste of his own medicine. "Al, that's great! What happened? What'd you say to him?"

"Uh, stuff!"

Matthew pulled away, rolling his eyes, "Wow, really?!"

Alfred smacked his hands to his face as he performed an excited wiggle, "Details aren't that important, but I told him I dig him, and he was trying super hard to be serious!" His voice started to get fast, "But he was getting embarrassed, and then, I was getting more embarrassed-"

"About what, Al?! What'd you say to him? And what'd he say to you?" Matthew shook his hands, "Come on!"

"Stuff, Mattie!" Alfred squeaked. "I laid down some tender words, and he totally dug it, even if he tried to act like he didn't and...yeah, we're kind of a thing!"

Matthew almost dished out a high-five, but, "Kind of?"

Alfred shrugged, "Yeah, you know, kind of."

Matthew shook his head.

"We're going to wait. Take it slow." Alfred seemed totally okay with that, even if he was not squealing anymore. "He's got a lot of stuff to do and catch up after all that demon stuff. So, he's going to be away for a while."

Matthew lowered himself on the bed, weakly offering sympathy, "Oh, that's weird."

"Yep, weird. Guess I got a lot of thinking to do in the meantime, huh?"

"You? Thinking? About what?"

Alfred did not even seem bothered. "Artie was worried about people being 'misguided'" - finger quotes - "or something when it came to wanting to shack up with angels, because all their pretty glowing or whatever. Plus, it's like, weird for them to shack up with us!"

"Because we're people-burgers?"

"Yep, because we're people-burgers." A light sigh, more sadder, but determined, "So, he wants us to both sit on it, and see if I'm being legit with my heart. See if I'd hook up with somebody else. I wasn't planning on it, so..."

Alfred ended on a quiet note, leaving the bedroom in silence. Matthew gnawed on his lower lip, astonished from the complexity it takes to woo an angel. With a demon, he could say a few sappy words, and they would come over. "What...what if you do, though? What if it's really mind-glowy magic on your brain and you snap out of it?"

Alfred unleashed a whine, "But I really like him!"

Matthew lightly snorted, trying not to laugh in his poor brother's face. "You say that now, before the magic wears off."

Alfred's mouth popped open, and he stammered, "I mean, yeah? But...yeah, that's...probably what he was trying to get at." Alfred sighed, much more down-trodden this time. "I guess."

Matthew put a hand on Alfred's shoulder, smiling to get him smiling again, "Hey, if that's the case, maybe it'll be something we'll all laugh about several years from now. You could still hang around together, right?"

"That's what he said." Alfred did smile, thank whatever, but a deep pink hit his cheeks. "I-I really, really hope that's not the case, though."

"Why?" Matthew could not miss this beautiful opportunity to tease his brother. "Because you like him?"

Alfred rolled his eyes, "Uh, yes, Mattie! It's because I like him!"

That was no longer fun. Matthew shrugged and commemorated, "Hey, I don't think anybody could ever say it's easy to get with an angel, so kudos to you."

"Thanks, man." Alfred beamed at his fingers twiddling together. "You know, after everything, we're still here." The spar. The neutralization. Being completely uprooted from their expected lives. "We're still bros." Matthew nodded, but started as his brother lugged an arm around his shoulders and butted their heads together. "I love you, man."

"Whoa, whoa!" Matthew cackled, affectionately shouldering Alfred, "Look at you, you sap! What'd that angel do to you?"

"Argh! Shut up!" Alfred pounded his palms against his bed. "Dad's probably been whispering love poems in my ear while I'm sleeping!"

"You can't use that excuse! Dad's been in England for almost two weeks!"

Alfred shoved Matthew away, who just laughed at everything. "Then, it must have been you! Suddenly, you're a love guru because you touch demon butt!"

"Maybe I am! Or...I listen to Dad when he goes on those love rants. Unlike you!"

"Oh, Dad!" Alfred slapped a dramatic hand to his forehead. "Maybe I should have! Although..." That grin could only mean no good. "I did manage to get some without him getting all up in my business!" He fist-pumped, "Score!"

Matthew rolled his eyes, in a good way this time. "You're such a dork. Angel-butt-toucher."

"Hey, don't knock it until you try it!"

"Ugh, no thanks. That guy tried to drown me; I don't want to go anywhere near his butt." As much as Matthew could respect Arthur these days, he had standards. Arthur had nothing back there in the first place! He blanched, "Why are we talking about Arthur's butt?!"

Alfred cackled, smacking his hands together like a delighted idiot. "You started it!"

"No, that was you!"

"I said nothing about touching his butt! You just put that into our conversation."

Zoning on Alfred's ears again, Matthew lifted a hand. "Liar!"

Alfred clapped his palms over his ears, pleading, "No, not again!"

"You ass," Matthew decided a light thump on the back of the head would suffice. He propped against Alfred's back, staring at the pencil scribbles of stars and rocket ships on the ceiling. "I miss just hanging out and talking for hours."

Alfred let loose a rumble of giggles, "Remember we used to have 'sleepovers?'"

"And we got Dad to make us tea and croissants for whoever was the 'guest?'

The brothers shared a little laugh. Alfred, filled with nostalgia, said, "Dude..."

Matthew agreed, "Dude."

"It's going to be different now, though." Even though his voice was a whisper, Alfred was still loud, "If you're going to go to Hell, and I'm not going to live with Dad forever...who knows where Artie and I are going to go. Where's that leave us?"

Matthew leaned his head against his brother's shoulder with a sappy sigh. "I don't know, Al." He did not like thinking about these things, but they were inevitable, and were approaching quicker than they expected.

"As long as we're happy, right?"

Matthew blinked. "Oh, my God." He peeled himself from his personal-leaning-post to call over his shoulder, "To think I have been living with a closeted sap the whole time!"

Alfred groaned in annoyance as his legs repeatedly kicked against his bed. "Quit calling me a sap, man!"

"Too bad! You sap!"

"You jerk!"

Matthew gasped and jerked back as Alfred swatted at him. "Al!"

"What? What!"

"You're a sap!"

Alfred smacked his forehead into the mattress as Matthew howled with laughter, just to antagonize him further, "Fuck off already!"

Matthew lifted his glasses to wipe his eyes from laughing too hard. "I will not-!"

A loud snarl shot from downstairs, followed by a thump and a solid crash. They leaped from the bed, and Alfred squawked, "What was that?"

"Ahhh!"

"Was...was that Ivan?"

Matthew pinched the bridge of his nose before putting his glasses back into place. "Let's go see what's up."

When they stepped into the hall, Ivan scrambled up the steps and almost barreled into them. Alfred spat, "Jeez, calm down!"

Certainly not calming down, "Matthew! Matthew, someone came into the house, and I was not thinking, and tackled them into a wall, but then, I realized it was your father!"

They stared at one another until Alfred busted with laughter. "Are you kidding me? I'll go see if he's all right."

Matthew closed his eyes for a moment, trying to keep his expression clear, whether from irritation or a burst of laughter, he had not decided yet. "Papa told you he was going to come home soon, Ivan."

"I did not know this soon!"

"Okay! All right. I'll go see what's up. Go chill out in my bedroom."

Ivan only replied with a disgruntled noise before slinking down the hall. Matthew hurried down the steps with a shake of his head. Alfred kneeled down and stood their father's suitcase upright while Francis rubbed his shoulder. "Papa! Are you okay?"

"Matthieu! Both of my boys are home. What a lovely way to end the night!" Francis held his arms out to beckon them into a hug. "Come, come. I am fine." When they all pressed together in a warm, joyous moment, he exclaimed, "What a fierce grip! I have not realized how...protective he is!"

Matthew pulled away first. "I'm so sorry, Papa. He's a little antsy with intruders."

"Ha!" Totally shameless, Alfred, still clung around their father. "A little?"

Francis patted his shoulder before sliding away to grasp the handlebar to his suitcase. "No, it is somewhat my fault. He was infatuated with the TV, so I took the...opportunity to sneak up on him and grab his shoulders."

Matthew sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. "Oh, no..."

Alfred lifted his eyebrows, mimicking, "Oh no?"

"Um, yeah, like I said earlier, he gets anxious sometimes. I'm sure he has good reasons for being jumpy." Before Alfred could butt his nose in places they probably should not belong, Matthew asked Francis in a sweeter tone, "How was your trip? Did you have fun?"

Francis winked, "You know I always make sure I do."

"And it looks like you're free of the plague!"

"Ah, that too."

Alfred pulled an expression as if he were constipated. "Hey, Dad, if you're not too jet-lagged, can I talk to you about some stuff?"

Francis stared at him in surprise. "Stuff?"

"Yeah..." Alfred stared at Matthew with an odd fix.

Matthew rolled his eyes. He probably wants to talk about love stuff, that sap! "I'll be upstairs."

"Oh?" Francis asked, "Is your friend staying the night? I can make all of you breakfast in the morning."

Alfred gasped excitedly, and Matthew almost squealed, "Really? That'd be great!" He inched toward the stair case. "Thanks, Dad, I'm glad you're okay," he tried to smile, but also needed to rush back upstairs, "I think I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."

"Of course. Be safe."

Matthew scrammed, and once he dashed to his bedroom on his tip-toes, he reached inside to flick on the light. The lump of blankets squawked and thrashed around, burying itself even more. He glanced to the slacks and scarf on the ground, and back to the bunch of cloth with a glare that he hoped Ivan could feel through his cheap protection.

"So you're going to hide the whole night."

The covers shifted around, but nobody popped out. "Yes."

Matthew marched over to his bed to yank on the top blanket. "No, you're not!"

"I would like to hide here and be embarrassed, please!"

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I pinned your father against a wall, Matthew!"

"Oh, Ivan, you only managed to wrinkle his shirt. He's not mad, you know. He even said he shouldn't have scared you. Bet he knows not to that again, eh?"

A head of shaggy pale hair emerged from the corner of the bed, nowhere that Matthew expected his face to be. "Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not! It was a little misunderstanding. Stop worrying about it." When it seemed that Ivan was still worrying about it, Matthew awkwardly put in, "He probably liked it, anyway."

"What? Your father likes being pushed against walls? Does this entire family enjoy challenging others to fights?"

"Ugh, never mind." Matthew resumed to tug on his blankets. "Come on, you lug. I want to get in my own bed, too."

Ivan grabbed for the blanket that slipped away, but was too late. Matthew bunched all of it in a large ball and backed away from the bed. "Now I am cold."

"Put on some pants, then!"

"I left my clothes in Hell. I thought were not going to be here for this long. We just needed ice for a bit, yes? Then, that angel took care of everything."

Matthew glanced to Ivan's bare legs. "If you're staying up here for a little while, we should go pick up another outfit or two."

"Clothes shopping?"

"Yeah."

Ivan nodded, but looked sad trying to curl his large self into a ball, so Matthew chucked the wad of blankets onto him. "When I come back, make some room for me."

"Oh!" Ivan eagerly grabbed at the comforter and burrowed himself into its depths again. "Back from where?"

"I'm going to the bathroom, dummy. And I have to get dressed."

"You could get dressed in here."

"I could," Matthew tossed a coy smile to the face sticking out of the blankets and firmly shut his bedroom door behind himself. Once in the bathroom, he caught his movement in his side vision, and looked to his reflection in the mirror. He immediately looked away from his pinked cheeks, but instead of feeling embarrassed as he usually did, he smiled even more.

"I must have really low standards in men." At least Ivan did not shoot blinding light out of his hands...and he did not have a bony butt, either.

Matthew returned to his bedroom with a giddy grin, but when he approached his bed, it seemed that Ivan was already headed to dreamland. He squinted through the darkness and patted around to find that he was against the wall, leaving a decent space to wedge under the blankets and cozy up against him. Which of course, he did just that, and the body beside his rumbled with laughter, not asleep yet.

"What's so funny?"

"You, my Matthew."

Matthew pressed his face against the back of Ivan's shoulder and tangled their legs together. In and out, the body against his sighed a little happily, "Matthew, would you like to go to Hell again? Maybe not right away, but in a little while, but not too much of a while..."

"When were you thinking?"

"When do you have another break?"

"Spring Break is coming up soon, like in a couple of weeks. We might...oh, wait," Matthew pulled his head away to mash his eyebrows together through the darkness. "My dad's home for the time being. Last time we were able to sneak away because he left the next day. How are we going to do it this time?"

Ivan promised, "I will think of something. Is that a yes?"

"Definitely. I'll try not to jump out of any trees this time."