Matthew leaned back on the swing, using his weight to push him higher. He gripped tighter onto the chain, not wanting to fall off. But... what if he did? What if he wanted to fall? All he had to do was just let go of the chains. If his head hit the ground hard enough then just maybe...

"Excuse me," a little voice interrupted him. Startled, he opened his eyes to see a little girl holding onto the chain of the swing next to him. He dragged his feet in the wood chips to stop and smiled at her.

"Yeah?"

"Can you teach me to swing? My mommy is too busy," the little girl said quietly.

Matthew looked around and saw quite a few mothers but wasn't sure which one was hers. He didn't exactly want to get yelled at for kidnapping or something.

"Sure," he answered anyways and the girl smiled, pulling herself up onto the swing next to his.

"My name is Paula," she said with a bright smile.

"I'm Matthew," he responded, "Now all you have to do is kick your legs and lean back a little." He demonstrated for her and she watched intently. She mimicked him, kicking her legs, but barely moved. Matthew stopped and got off the swing. "Here, let me help get you going," he said and gently pushed the swing from behind her. He moved to the side so he wouldn't get hit. "Now hold on tight and kick your legs. Not too fast. You want to bend your knees on the way back and straighten them out going forward."

She had a look of intense concentration on her face as she followed his instructions. "Am I doing it right?"

"You're doing great! Now lean back when you straighten your legs more so you can go higher," he said and watched her get slightly higher. "Good job. Practice makes perfect." She giggled and swung higher, enjoying her new found ability.

"Paula, get away from him!"

"But mommy he's my friend!" Paula whined and kept swinging. Matthew looked up and saw a worried mother marching over. He stepped away from the girl.

"Ma'am I-I w-was just t-teaching her h-how t-to swing," he stuttered nervously. The mother stopped the swing without a word and picked Paula up, who whined.

"Mommy stop! Maffew is nice!"

"Stay the hell away from my daughter, you creep," the mother snapped. Matthew looked at the ground in shame.

"S-Sorry," he said and walked away quickly. He wrapped his arms around himself and when he finally decided to look up, Gilbert and Alfred were staring at him.

"Dude, what the hell just happened?" Alfred asked when he got close enough.

"N-Nothing," he shook his head and sat on the bench.

"You're good with kids, Birdie. We heard her crying from over here. That lady freaked out over nothing," Gilbert supplied in an attempt to make him feel better.

Matthew shrugged. He didn't think he was good with kids, he wasn't around them often. For reasons like that lady mostly.

"Mattie is great with kids. Whenever we visit Artie's family the kids just swarm around him," Alfred said. Matthew shrugged again. Kids were the only ones that seemed to notice him. They made him feel happy.

"Artie?" Gilbert asked.

"Arthur. Our dad," Alfred said.

Gilbert nodded and grabbed a coke, drinking it. "I won again, so do you want to play again or call it quits?"

"We're gonna play again. I never admit defeat!" Alfred declared and ran back onto the court, picking up the ball.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and set the drink down. "Your bruder needs help."

"M-Mental h-help," Matthew agreed with a small laugh.

Gilbert laughed. "I'm going to let him win this time so he doesn't cry," he said and walked back onto the court.

Matthew looked over at the playground and saw neither Paula nor her mother. He felt terrible for... wait. He didn't do anything wrong. He was teaching the girl something the mother was incapable of doing herself. He was unjustly yelled at for being a creep. He was just trying to help! He shook his head and stored his anger away. No use getting mad over it. He sighed and watched them play basketball while his previous good mood slipped away once more.

Eventually they left, Alfred boasting about how great he was at basketball and how he "totally killed it, dude!". Gilbert shook his head but didn't tell Alfred that he let him win. Alfred was grinning like an idiot and acting out the winning shot.

"So, Birdie, is he always like this or just around friends?"

"A-Always," he answered.

"I feel so bad for you."

Matthew shrugged, thinking about telling Gilbert he acted almost the same way. Almost.

Gilbert was more... aware. He seemed to notice when his boasting became too much, even if he didn't stop. Alfred, on the other hand, was dense. Not that he wanted to be mean or anything. He just wished he had more confidence like them so he could stand up for himself. He was surprised that he actually stood up for himself with that mother. Admittedly, not very well, but it was a start. Gilbert and Alfred had an abundance of confidence where he had little to none. Maybe it was rubbing off on him or something.

He left his thoughts behind as he walked inside their house. "Video games!" Alfred announced and grinned.

"Awesome," Gilbert said, "Birdie are you going to play with us?"

"O-Oh, um, n-no th-thanks," he declined. Playing video games with Alfred was a bad idea. He always had to be the "Hero".

"It'll be fun!" Gilbert urged and grabbed his wrist, dragging Matthew to Alfred's room.

He sighed and followed, sitting himself down on Alfred's bed next to Gilbert. Alfred set up his Xbox, the newest model, of course, and threw a controller at Gilbert who caught it easily.

Alfred sat back in his gaming chair and set up the game. Some shooter game, Matthew didn't pay much attention. He was too distracted by Gilbert's arm occasionally brushing against his. After a while he started to think it was on purpose. When Gilbert did it once more, he discreetly glanced at him to see a smirk on his face. He was doing this on purpose! But... why? Why would he... could he... maybe he really did... Matthew couldn't even begin to finish his thoughts. He didn't want to. Why over react to nothing? Yeah, it was absolutely nothing.

He abruptly stood up, muttered an excuse for leaving, and walked out. He went straight to his room, closed the door, and huddled up on his bed. He grabbed his polar bear, something he'd had as long as he could remember- he liked to believe it was from his birth mom- and hugged him for comfort.

He didn't know what Gilbert wanted from him. As far as he could tell, Gilbert was straight. So he could have been smirking because he just did something great in the game.

And Matthew didn't hang out with people much, so maybe that was normal. He gave himself excuse after excuse, delaying the inevitable thought. Once he thoroughly convinced himself he was just overreacting, he calmed down, and left his room.

He wasn't going back into Alfred's room, where gunshots and yells could be heard. Instead he headed for the kitchen, where his Papa was making dinner.

"Would you like some help?" Matthew asked. Francis jumped in surprise and looked at him, quickly covering it with a warm smile.

"Oui, I would love some help," he answered, and Matthew washed his hands.

Cooking was one of the things he excelled at. He always liked to help out his Papa, who had taught him. He always cooked everything from scratch, and whatever he made tasted amazing.

Alfred came out when they were almost done, Gilbert trailing behind him.

"Alfred is your friend staying for dinner?" Francis asked.

"No, but thanks for the offer," Gilbert said politely. Francis nodded and Matthew let him finish to set the table. He got out the plates and started placing them on the table. "So you like too cook, Birdie?" Gilbert suddenly asked, very close to his ear.

He jumped, nearly dropping the plates in shock. He recomposed himself and set the plates down carefully.

"Y-Yes," he mumbled, stepping away from him.

"That's cute. What's your favorite thing to cook?" Gilbert asked as he turn to gather the silverware and hide the blush forming on his cheeks from being called 'cute'.

"P-Pancakes," he answered and set everything in its respective place.

"I like pancakes. Maybe you could make them for me sometime, if you want. I bet yours are awesome."

Matthew nodded. "Y-yeah, they a-are, th-thanks."

Gilbert grinned, "I gotta get going. Bye guys."

"See ya," Alfred said.

Gilbert nodded and left, Matthew relaxing slightly now that it was just family around him.

"Who did that boy come here to see?" Francis asked as soon as the door closed. Alfred and Matthew both gave him a look.

"Me, obviously," Alfred said.

"It didn't seem that way to me," Francis smiled and looked pointedly at Matthew.

He stared back. "What do you mean?"

"He called you cute!" Francis swooned and hugged him. Matthew stood there limply and sighed.

"Yeah, so?"

Francis held onto his shoulders and smiled at him. "So he likes you!"

Blush spread over Matthew's face. "N-No, he doesn't," he denied.

"Oui! And you like him too!"

"I'm not gay," he muttered and Francis just laughed.

"You don't know until you try it."

"Gross," Alfred supplied, watching this interaction for lack of anything better to do.

"Yeah, I have to agree with Al on that one. Gross."

"You'll change you're mind," he assured Matthew, letting him go, "he's a cute one so you don't want to let him get away."

"You were checking him out?" Alfred asked in disgust.

"Of course not. I was merely admiring his unique features."

"Uh huh," Alfred said and Matthew couldn't help from laughing as Francis flipped him off.

Hi guys! I am so so so sorry this took over a week to update. My hard drive failed and it had to be taken in and completely re-installed, ugh! I know this is shorter since it's just filler but it does help character development a little bit. Also that little girl Paula I decided is Wy as a little kid since I just hate putting OCs into fanfiction. Thanks to all you lovely people for reading and hopefully not hating me for this delay.