It was a surprise when he opened his eyes the next morning. The sunlight filtered in through the window and he felt exceptionally warm, not wanting to get up just yet. He snuggled deeper under the covers when he felt something brush against his back. He opened his eyes and looked behind him to find Gilbert cuddled up to him. His arm was holding Matthew close to him and he gasped in surprise. He'd completely forgotten about last night but now it all came flooding back.

It's not that he wanted to move away from him, but at the same time this was a little odd. The only person he'd ever been in bed with was Alfred... no, not like that. They were twins who comforted each other during thunderstorms and, when they were very little, foster parents.

But this was different. This was someone he liked, just holding him because he could. It felt calming and reassuring. Who knew Gilbert could be so sweet when he was sleeping.

But he decided he needed to get up. When Gilbert woke up, he'd have a hangover. So Matthew forced himself to get up, grab aspirin and a glass of water, and set it on the nightstand for him like a good boyfriend.

He quickly got dressed for the day, silently hoping the whole time Gilbert wouldn't wake up and make a comment about his body. Luckily, he didn't.

Matthew walked downstairs to make himself something to eat. Alfred was in the kitchen already, deciding between Lucky Charms and Frosted Flakes. He looked over at Matthew and brightened. "Sweet, you're awake."

Matthew sighed, already knowing he was going to have to make food for Al as well. "I'm making pancakes," he told him and Alfred nodded, putting the cereal away.

Matthew busied himself with making the pancakes. He mixed together the batter, heated up the pan, and poured a perfectly round pancake in the pan.

Alfred left momentarily and when he returned, he leaned against the counter, staring at him for a moment. Whenever he did this, he knew he was about to be interrogated. And he knew exactly what it would be about.

"So... did you have fun with Gilbert last night?" he asked. Matthew sighed and shook his head.

"No, he was drunk and passed out."

"That's not what I saw last night," Alfred said.

"Yeah, thanks for eaves dropping," he muttered and expertly flipped the pancake.

"I wasn't eaves dropping. Your door was open," Alfred defended himself.

"Thanks for closing it," Matthew said a bit sarcastically.

Alfred rolled his eyes. "So he was drunk?"

"Yes. And don't ask why because I don't know," he said and put the pancake on a plate, pouring another one.

"Huh," Alfred said.

"'Huh' what?" Matthew asked suspiciously. Surely Al wasn't done questioning him.

"Nothing. Just wondering if Gilbert is a virgin or not."

Matthew was in the middle of flipping the pancake and almost dropped the pan in surprise. He quickly set it back down and stared at it. That was something he hadn't thought of. Had Gilbert been with other people? The way he acted, it sure seemed like it. He snapped out of it and put the pancake on the plate before it had a chance to burn. "Al, please shut up unless you want burned food," he said.

"Fine," Alfred said and let him continue.

Just as he was finishing, Gilbert came stumbling down the stairs, still shirtless, and clearly confused. He looked at the twins for a whole minute, maybe trying to figure out which one was his, before he gave up. "How did I get here?" he finally asked.

"You walked," Matthew answered, getting out another plate for Gilbert.

"Oh..." he said and pressed his temples with his fingers, "I don't remember anything."

"Well, you were trying to fuck my brother," Alfred said bluntly.

"Trying?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"That's all I saw, I didn't stay for the main act," Alfred said and held up his hands in defense.

Matthew sighed and elbowed him in the side. "I wouldn't let you because you were drunk," he said.

"Huh," Gilbert said and seemed to snap out of his daze, "Well serve up those pancakes Birdie, I'm starving."

"I bet you are," Alfred said and grabbed a stack of pancakes, promptly drowning them in maple syrup.

"Al," he sighed at both his statement and actions. Alfred only smirked and sat at the table. Matthew gave Gilbert a plate of pancakes and himself some. They both sat down and poured maple syrup over their share.

Alfred stuffed his face, Gilbert cut his into pieces first, and Matthew cut his piece by piece, which was definitely the right way to eat pancakes. But as he took a bite, he found them to taste... bland. No, they tasted the same as usual, he just didn't want any. So he set his fork down and swallowed the piece in his mouth.

Alfred noticed him not eating and spoke up. "Mattie is something wrong?"

He shrugged, "Not hungry, I guess."

Alfred stared at him in shock. "But it's pancakes! You'd eat them even if you just had a full meal! You always want pancakes!"

"I know... I just don't want anything."

"Are you sick? Should we take you to the hospital?"

"I'm not sick, Al," he said.

Alfred fell silent and Gilbert spoke up. "Birdie, you hardly eat at lunch every day, are you sure something's not wrong?"

"I'm fine," he murmured, moving his fork absently on his plate. He could feel both of their gazes on them and he shrunk back into the chair as if to escape.

Gilbert set his hand on his, making him stop messing with the fork. He looked over at him and Gilbert looked more concerned than anyone ever had for him in his entire life. He also looked like he was hesitating on saying something "Birdie... Are you-?" he was cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, which he must have put back in his pocket. He pulled it out and answered it, "Oi... I'm at Birdie's... No, I don't remember... but- okay fine, stop yelling. I'll be there in, like, 10 minutes." He angrily jabbed at the screen, ending the call.

"Was that your dad? I could hear him yelling from here," Alfred said, "he sounds pissed."

Gilbert sighed, "No, that's my bruder."

"Wait. Isn't he younger than you?" Alfred questioned.

"Ja," Gilbert said and got up, walking upstairs.

"Ouch. Wouldn't want you pushing me around like that, huh little bro," he grinned and punched his shoulder in a joking manner.

"I'm older," he whispered, wondering why he even put up with Al in the first place. He should slap that stupid, oblivious, teasing grin off of his face. He should have done it years ago. Why wasn't he doing it now?

Right, because Gilbert was tramping back down the stairs, all bundled up to leave. "Bye Birdie," he said and tipped his chin up with his fingers to kiss him sweetly, "You can tell me what happened later. If I don't go, Luddy might explode."

"Are all Germans that angry?" Alfred asked.

"No, just him," Gilbert laughed, "I'll talk to you guys later if he doesn't murder me."

"Bye," Matthew said as he walked out of the kitchen. He got up, told Alfred he could eat the rest of his food, and went upstairs. He thought about watching Supernatural, but he didn't even want to do that. He kind of just wanted to take a nap. A long, long, never ending nap. So he crawled under the covers, which smelled faintly of Gilbert and beer, and fell asleep.

Alfred was digging through the hall closet, making as much noise as humanly possible. Matthew poked his head out of his room with a glare at being woken up. "What are you looking for?"

"Uh, the thing... that's got numbers on it..." he said, moving more stuff around.

"A clock?" Matthew sighed and walked out.

"No," Alfred said, "aha!" He pulled something out and set it on the ground. He stood up and dusted his hands off.

Matthew looked down at the weight scale he had pulled out. "Self conscious about your weight again?"

"Nope, I'm self conscious about your weight."

"That doesn't even make sense," he sighed, "And what about my weight? I'm not getting fat like you."

"I'm not fat!" Alfred said, "it's muscle."

"Sure," Matthew said sarcastically.

"Whatever. How much do you think you weigh?"

He gave him a confused look. "Like 128 or 130..."

"Okay. Now step on," Alfred instructed. Matthew saw no reason to argue, so he did as told. The dial spun and they both stared as the dial settled on a meager 122.

"Mattie, you need to eat something and gain some weight before you wither away."

"No I don't. I weigh just fine."

"No you're underweight!" Alfred raised his voice.

"So?"

"So something is wrong!" Alfred yelled.

"There's nothing wrong with me!" Matthew said and pushed him away angrily, storming to his room.

Before he could even grab the handle, Alfred grabbed his wrist and yanked him back. "Tell me!"

"There's nothing wrong!" he yelled, his voice cracking and tears suddenly filled his eyes.

Alfred grabbed his shoulders and spun him around. When he saw the tears threatening to spill over, he softened and wiped them away. "Don't cry Mattie, don't cry," he said gently and Matthew was brought back 12 years.

It was their first night at their new "parents" house and Alfred was acting all brave even though he was terrified of being with another family who would ultimately dump them back into the system.

They were given separate rooms and Matthew felt all alone in his new room. So he gripped onto his stuffed polar bear, got out of bed, and walked to the door. He opened it, peeked out for either of the adults, and padded to Alfred's room. He opened the door and stepped in.

"Al?" he whispered.

"Mattie?" Al whispered back and sat up, "are you scared?"

"N-No," Matthew denied and closed to door behind him, "I just miss you."

"Then sleep with me," he offered and scooted over to make room for his brother. Matthew climbed into bed, tears in his eyes. "Why are you crying?"

Matthew shook his head, "I don't wanna go though this again."

"Don't cry, Mattie," Alfred said and wiped away his tears,"Don't cry. I'll look out for you, okay?"

Matthew nodded and pressed closer to his brave brother, thankful he was there.

"Hey," Alfred said, bringing him back to the present.

He looked at him in a daze and hugged him tightly. "Thank you. I never said it, but thank you. I'm so sorry."

"What?" Alfred asked and hugged him back.

"Thank you for just being my brother and looking out for me."

"Oh, okay, no problem," he said, not sure what brought this on.

Matthew nodded and let him go, "Are you done yelling at me about my weight?"

"Will you eat something?" Alfred asked.

"I will when I'm hungry," Matthew said.

"Okay. I'm coming to get you for dinner and you better eat something from now on."

"Sure," Matthew said. He left Alfred and went back to his room. He didn't know how else to explain it other than he didn't feel hungry. He felt hungry and oddly irritated and tired.

He sighed and stared at his laptop, seeing no point in turning it on and seeing no point in doing anything really.

He settled on staring at the wall for awhile until his phone chimed. He rolled over and picked it up.

Luddy yelled at me but he didn't kill me

Is that an accomplishment?

A little bit

So do you remember what happened for you to get drunk?

I think so. If you come over I'll tell you

Okay. I'll be there in a few.

He rolled out of bed, pulled his coat on, and walked downstairs. Al had put the stuff away, although knowing him, everything was shoved haphazardly into the closet. He rolled his eyes then went to put on his shoes that were next to the front door.

Arthur and Francis were on the couch, watching some TV show, all cuddled up. He walked past them, trying not to disturb them, but neither of them even batted an eye. He sighed, slipped his shoes on, and walked out with no one noticing.

Matthew decided that if he wanted to be a ninja assassin, he could. He wouldn't even need to have ninja skills, nobody would notice his presence if he walked straight in. The thought was sad, but still, not everybody could be a silent ninja. Only the quiet, invisible people like him.

So we got a whole lot of brotherly bonding and fighting and I know you were expecting more Gilbert. But never fear! Everything will be explained next chapter. Also, I'm sure by now some of you have guessed what's going on with Matthew, you probably could have even guessed since the first chapter. So I'm giving an advance for this.

WARNING: Chapter 11 will deal with sensitive issues such as drinking, anorexia, and depression. I am not making light of these issues, they are all something very serious. Please read the next chapter, and all of the chapters following, at your own discretion.

One last note: I have 29 favorites and 69 wonderful followers! (haha I'm a bit immature sometimes) And I want to thank everyone who has followed and favorited and reviewed, oh how I love the reviews! Thank youuu! \('u')/ *hugs for all*