Matthew lay in his bunk, tears rolling down his face as he stared at a photo of smiling girl with long, fair hair. Whatever it was that had gone wrong between them, seemed to have been wiped from his memory, but he still couldn't help but feel heartbroken at his loss.

A girl with messy blonde hair sat up on the opposite side of the room and rubbed her eyes in exhaustion.

"Bloody hell, Matthew. How do you expect me to sleep if you keep crying like that?"

"She actually seems nice." Alfred reflected as he sat down on the bed next to Matthew.

"Yeah, I told you so." Matthew replied with a slight smugness in his voice.

"Whatever. I still can't get over the fact you're dating a sixteen year old." Liz said disapprovingly, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wall.

"She's turning seventeen this year..."

"Does that make any difference? People are still going to talk."

Matthew gulped nervously and stared expectantly at Emil, whom was busy playing Minecraft on the computer.

A smartly dressed man reclined in his armchair, reading a magazine while soothing French music played on a CD player behind him. He turned a page to an article about some internationally renowned supermodel and smiled.

The door to the man's apartment swung open slowly and he glanced up from his magazine to see a familiar figure entering and wiping their shoes on the doormat.

"Welcome home, Matthieu. I was wondering if you would even come back at all."

"Francis, there's something I think I need to tell you. Promise you won't get upset if I do." The younger man said anxiously as he hung his coat up on the wall and waited for a response.

"Don't be afraid. Surely, you would trust your mature cousin who kindly offered to take you in after your parents kicked you out."

"Please don't remind me of that time. It's not my fault getting a job is so hard..."

"Anyway, tell me what it is that's bothering you."

"Well...I'm dating another girl now."

"So you've gotten over her? Isn't that a good thing?"

"That's not it, Francis. I'm going out with...a high schooler."

"A high schooler?! What?!"

The magazine hit the floor loudly and Matthew freaked out at the sight of his shocked cousin. Not wanting to cause any more trouble, our hero ran into the bathroom and locked the door until the atmosphere had calmed down a little.

"I'm very sorry for reacting like that. It's just that not even I ever thought of doing such a thing when I was your age."

Matthew blushed. "It's not what you think it is. She's mature and smart and seems to...never mind, just don't tell anyone else. Please."

"Matthieu, you should know me better." Francis smirked, flicking out his cellphone and getting up from his armchair. He walked towards the vacant bathroom, pushing past Matthew on the way there. The door slammed shut and Matthew was left confused at what his cousin had meant.

It became clear mere moments later when the phone on the coffee table began to ring.

"Hello?" Matthew greeted, bringing the receiver hurriedly up to his ear.

"You're dating a sixteen year old?!" A female voice yelled from the other end.

"Who told you that, Emma...?" Matthew asked wearily, leaning his head in his hand in despair.

"Francis."

"You should have known me!" Francis called out from the bathroom.

"I hate you!" Matthew called back before turning back to the receiver in his hand. "Why, oh why does it have to happen this way?"

"Who is the poor child that you've chosen this time, Matthew?"

"Her name's May, I think. She said that her family's from Taiwan."

"Sixteen, and from Taiwan? Could you get any more shady?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"You've been spending too much time with my brother, haven't you?"

"Actually, I hardly even see him now."

"...You haven't done anything...questionable with her yet, I hope?"

"We've just held hands. Nothing else."

"...That's a relief, 'cos I think you should stop this before things get serious. It's been a year since that other girl left you, I thought you would be over her by now."

"I am. That's why I'm with someone else..."

"Listen, I can't talk to you forever. I have customers waiting for coffee and I need to go, but I hope you'll at least consider what I've said. Bye."

Matthew sighed when all he heard afterwards was static. How on earth did everybody but him manage to get decent jobs?

A school bell rang, signalling the end of classes for the day and soon clusters of students were pouring out of the main doors. Matthew stood near the front gates of the school with Francis waiting for 'May' to arrive so that he could go out with her later.

"Why, of all places, does it have to be the same high school I attended when I was sixteen?" Francis moaned, shuddering as he seemed to recall unpleasant memories of his own adolescence.

"How was I supposed to know? You never really talk much about your past."

Matthew looked towards the crowd of teenagers in uniforms and was quickly able to pick out his girlfriend excitedly skipping along while another girl trudged behind her.

"Matt! You're actually here!" She squealed, coming right up to him grabbing one of his hands before he could react. "And who's that next to you?"

"My cousin, Francis. He sort of gets around."

"Oh..." She blinked, unable to comprehend the meaning of the phrase her boyfriend had just used. Francis took this moment of silence from her as a chance to tell her something he thought highly important.

"Young lady..." He began, grabbing her by the shoulders much to her surprise. "You still have your whole life ahead of you. Think twice before you waste it on this boy."

Francis gave Matthew a piercing look before letting go of the girl and departing within a couple of seconds.

Mei stared at her boyfriend, unsure of what to say as he laughed nervously and anxiously suggested that they go as soon as possible.

Matthew and her went to the arcade where they chose a simulation game involving ninjas. The two of them followed and moved perfectly in time to the motions shown on the screen, culminating in Mei taking a step to the side away from Matthew so that she could successfully do a flip over his back.

She landed on her feet and grinned, not quite able to believe that she had just performed such a feat. Matthew straightened up and looked at the screen of the machine, which was now asking him if he wanted to continue, as the numbers counted down from ten.

"Should we...?" He whispered hesitantly.

"Well, there is somewhere else I'd like to go..."

That Saturday, they met up early in the morning and bought pizza together. Mei insisted that they go to a clothing store, so they walked to the nearest Goodwill.

"I know a lot of kids who play the violin, but I've never met anyone who played in a rock band."

After Mei had picked a sweater she particularly liked, she dragged him with her to the record store across the road. He had tried to think of an excuse to not go there, but none of the ones he came up with were convincing in his opinion, so he gave in to her wishes.

"You guys are amazing, I know you're all going to be famous one day." She smiled as she searched through the rock section for an album from her favourite band. She was met with little success, so she waved at the nearest shop assistant to get their attention. Matthew froze.

A young woman with blonde hair tied into a tight ponytail and glasses glared at the couple, putting down the pile of CD cases she'd been holding.

"Yes. What do you want to ask me?"

"Excuse me, do have you any albums by 'The Clash At Demonhead'?" Mei asked, unaffected by the woman's withering stare.

"Why don't you try the section marked 'The Clash At Demonhead'?"

"Thank you!"

The teenage girl skipped off to the section and Matthew was about to follow, when the woman called his name.

"What?"

"Having fun taking advantage of a little girl?" The shop assistant said icily. "You're coming to my party next week, aren't you?"

Matthew shuddered and made his way to where Mei was ogling a bold album cover.

"We should get out of here, and you shouldn't buy their album." He hurriedly grabbed her arm, forcing her to drop the CD case.

"But I love their lead singer! She's so cool, have you read her blog?"

"Cool? She used to be that, until she turned into a bi-"

Matthew bit his lip to stop himself from uttering such a word in front of a minor. "Actually, we should just go, okay? Urgent business..."

"You're so talented, Matthew..." Mei sighed as they walked along the snow-covered footpath holding hands.

"Do you really think so...?" He asked cautiously. Nobody had called him that in a long time and he wanted to make sure she really meant it.

"Yes, I do! You're really cute too, have I told you that?"

A short silence followed between them, in which Matthew tried to shake off the compliments and his girlfriend's dreamy gaze.

"You know, I've never really kissed a guy before." She sighed, letting go of his hand and stepping straight in front of him.

Matthew found himself having to bend over so that he could have level eye contact with her. It was too soon for her to be making such an advance on him, what was he supposed to do?

He rummaged through his mental bank of appropriate responses to use in difficult situations until he found one that he thought would work best in the current context.

"Well, me neither."

It took a few seconds for Mei to process his words, but when she did, she simply smiled and gave him a hug instead.

The action should start to build up in a chapter or two, so please stay tuned until then. In the meantime, here are the latest characters.

Wallace Wells: France

Stacey Pilgrim: Belgium (She won't be his sister in this version, just a close friend of Francis)

Julie Powers: Fem!England