Fissures disrupted the calm blackness of sleep, bright on his eyelids. The fissures cracked and expanded, the light penetrating the black and brightening. Then he heard the voices.

"We should take him to the hospital."

"I don't think it's gotten to that point yet. We should just talk to him."

"And what if he doesn't listen?"

"We'll figure that out when and if it happens."

Silence for a moment. Matthew forced open his eyes and was now able to see the figures of his family near him.

"I wonder what he was going to do with this," Alfred spoke sadly, holding the pocket knife.

"He cut the bear with it," Arthur said unhelpfully.

"Yea, but he was holding it and it was pointed toward him..."

"Don't make assumptions," Francis spoke, then looked at him. He smiled kindly and stepped closer to his bed. "Oh, look who is awake. How are you feeling, Mathieu?"

"You care?" Matthew frowned, feeling drained of all his energy.

"Of course we do," Francis said gently, taking his hands.

Matthew ripped his hands away. "You think you do, but you don't." Francis had been keeping his expression warm and caring but now he looked shocked.

"Mattie, what's gotten into you?" Alfred asked and shook his head, "I don't know what you've done with my brother but I want him back."

"I've been here this whole time, you just never noticed because you all live in Alfred World. Everything is all about you and you're completely infatuated with yourself. So why would you notice me? I'm just the other twin, part of the package deal," he said bitterly.

"That's not true!" Alfred said and leaned over his bed, toward him, "If I didn't notice you or care about you then we would've been separated."

"You used to notice. But things have changed," Matthew said simply.

"What things?" Alfred asked, "like you stabbing and decapitating your favorite polar bear?"

Matthew stared mutely at the bear head beside him, then the closed pocket knife in Alfred's hand. He shrugged. "What's wrong with that?"

"You don't just stab stuffed animals unless you're completely insane!" Alfred burst out.

"Alfred, I think you meant to say that we're worried for your health," Arthur spoke up for the first time in awhile.

"I'm not sick," Matthew crossed his arms in annoyance. These idiots. They would never listen. He eyed the door, wanting to escape, but Arthur was blocking it.

"Okay, you're not. But we're going to set up an appointment with a therapist so you can vent your anger in a more civilized manner," Arthur said calmly and Matthew twitched.

Oh hell no. "No! You're not sending me to a therapist! I am fine! See? Just fine!" Matthew broke down and yelled, tears in his eyes once more.

Arthur and Francis exchanged a fearful look. Even Alfred edged away from the bed. Time to leave, whether they liked it or not. He grabbed the Kuma head and abruptly got out of his bed. He glared at his family. "If you take me to see a therapist or to a hospital, I will never forgive any of you and I'll hate you forever," he spoke calmly but with venom, making sure they heard every word.

They stood still and silent, like Medusa's statues. Only Arthur moved as Matthew stepped up to him. He opened he door and walked out of their sight. He put his shoes on, stuffed Kuma's head in his pocket, and walked out, slamming the door behind him. He didn't know where he was going, so he just walked where his feet took him, feeling weariness settle in his muscles quickly.

He was now walking down a street he didn't know, probably half an hours walk away from the place he called home. He had his hood up to yield off the chilly air, his hands in his pockets.

Suddenly he heard a girl yelling. "Toris, stay away from my brother! I said I'll cut you, and I will!" That voice made him freeze, his blood running colder than the air outside. He turned to see Natalia- of all people- rushing at him from behind a tree. He watched with wide eyes as she ran, wielding a large knife. Now this was the kind of person that belonged in an mental hospital.

"I'm not Toris!" he was able to blurt and she stopped short, but still posed the knife to stab him.

"Who are you?" she asked and narrowed her eyes at him, "Micheal, right? The one that stole Gilbert from me."

"My name's Matthew," he said. No matter how much she scared him, he wasn't going to let the name game go on any longer.

"Well, Matthew, I'm glad you happened by, because now I have a chance to get rid of you."

"You're going to kill me?" he blinked and didn't feel as much fear as he should have. It was a knife that would end him, either way.

"No. I'm not a murderer. I'm just going to show you that I get what I want."

"Wait," he said once he realized she wasn't going to kill him. She paused in raising the knife, "you can have him.

"What?" she deadpanned and faltered.

"You heard me. You can have Gilbert. He's a jerk anyways," Matthew said a bit sadly. He pushed away the image of the hurt look on Gilbert's face before he ran out at school.

Natalia grinned and lowered her knife. "Good. As long as you stay away, I won't have to hurt you." Matthew nodded and Natalia looked around suspiciously. "Now go before Toris gets here, because the same isn't going for him."

Matthew nodded again and quickly walked away, Natalia slipping back into her hiding spot. He had no idea where he would go. He didn't have any friends to go to. He didn't have Gilbert... He didn't want to go home. So for the next few hours he wandered around. He had no money on him, but he didn't need money to eat, like most stranded people.

Eventually the only safe place he could think of was the park, which in hindsight probably wasn't very safe. He probably should have gone to a church, but considering he hadn't step foot in a church since he was little (Arthur couldn't decide if he wanted to go to a Catholic or Protestant church so he gave up) that wouldn't go over well. What would he say? 'Hi, my name is Matthew and I'm everything your church goes against.'

They'd probably throw him out. So, bad idea. It was getting late so he sat on a bench away from the playground, trying not to look suspicious. He didn't want to get yelled at, even though few kids were here. He busied himself on his phone to look less awkward but he was worried about his 73% battery level. That wouldn't last forever.

When at last night fell and everyone went home, he made his way to the swings. He sat down in the spot he'd had before, unable to look at the other swing. He blocked any memories from surfacing and swung listlessly.

At this point, he wasn't mad anymore, but he wasn't forgiving. He wasn't saying sorry. Something had changed within him and he had no idea what it was.

After an hour or so- he didn't check the time- his head fell against the swing chain. He was so tired. He wanted to go home... no he didn't... or did he? He wasn't sure but right now he wanted to be under warm blankets. He shivered and drew his hood up around his face by pulling the strings. Kuma's head warmed his hand as he stuffed it inside. And before he knew it, he was asleep.

It was pitch black when he woke up next. He found that he was miraculously still sitting on the swing. But he was freezing. The temperature had dropped dramatically- it had to be under 40 degrees. He was shivering violently and he realized that's why he had woken up. But he didn't move to find a warmer place to go. He wasn't going home in the middle of the night. That was the cowards way out... or in, however you want to look at it.

Curling his hands into fists and shoving his face further into his hoodie, he closed his eyes again. He suppressed the shivering, thinking he would be just fine if he slept a few hours more. His brain was moving sluggishly and he couldn't help from falling asleep moments later.

There was a steady beep and the smell of disinfectant. Those were the first things Matthew sensed as he woke up again. There were bright lights beyond his eyelids but he felt too exhausted to open them. His brain tried to catch up since something didn't seem right. He should be smelling fresh air, hearing the chirping of birds. Was he not in the park?

He slowly registered that beneath him was a soft mattress. And on top of him were blankets. How did he get home!? But wait... his house didn't smell like this. He had a sudden realization as his brain caught up and he gasped- or tried to at least.

This next observation surprised him the most and scared him to the point of panic. He couldn't breathe. Well, he could, but a machine was doing it for him. A contraption was strapped over his mouth and nose- pushing air in and forcing air out. His heart beat sped up in fear, the steady beeping from earlier speeding up as well until he heard another loud beeping. He would have hyperventilated but the breathing machine kept his breaths regular and steady, which was incredibly frustrating.

Faces appeared above him, a lady and a man in hospital garb. The man told him to calm down while the lady went over to a machine.

"Matthew," the man said with a somehow serious but gentle smile, "don't panic, you're safe here."

Matthew tried to talk but he couldn't with the damned machine strapped to his face. The lady, probably a nurse, already knew what to do, taking it off so he could talk. He tried to take in a deep breath but it came very shallow, once again making him panic. The nurse, obviously very skilled at this, had a nose tube already in before he could even worry too much. It was the kind that settled just under the nose, so it could help with breathing but not force it.

"What... happened?" he asked once he got his bearings.

The doctor consulted a clipboard he had brought in, a few papers stacked on it. "A jogger ran by the park at 5:42 this morning. They noticed you sitting on the swing and stopped because that wasn't a normal thing they saw on their morning jog. When they noticed you were cold and barely breathing, they called 911. Paramedics showed up and diagnosed you had hypothermia. Do you know what that is?" Matthew nodded his head slightly. He knew, but only to a certain extent. "Good. They determined your core body temperature was a 88.2 when it should be 98.6. They quickly set to warming you up, which is quite a process. Luckily you only received mild frostbite on one hand so those blisters should be gone within a few weeks. You're very lucky to have survived as long as you did with your weight as low as it is."

"What about my weight?" Matthew asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

The doctor furrowed his eyebrows and pressed his lips together before speaking, "You're underweight. I'm guessing you're not eating properly, are you?"

"Um..."

"Well that's changing now. As soon as you're able to be released, with the consent of your parents, I'd like to put you in a support group or-"

"No!" Matthew yelled, startling them both. He didn't want to go to a hospital. And now he was in one. He didn't want any kind of therapy or support group. And he was about to be in one.

If his whole body didn't feel like jelly then he would have gotten up and ran out, even if he was wearing the hospital dress. It didn't sound like the doctor was giving him any choice in the matter and it pissed him off. He was a free human and he could do whatever he wanted to his body! Why couldn't anyone see this?

He fumed quietly as the nurse spoke, gently telling him that his family was in the waiting room and that they could see him if he was ready. Matthew was shocked at first then sighed. Of course they were, they wouldn't want to miss the likely death of one of their sons. He imagined his grave stone would be engraved with 'R.I.P. Invisible Boy' or 'Who Is Matthew?'.

He blinked back to reality to where the nurse was looking at him patiently. He wasn't in the mood to be yelled at. He didn't think he'd ever want that. "I'd rather no one comes in yet. I don't feel very good." At least that wasn't a lie.

The nurse nodded in understanding and brought him some warm water to drink, which was supposed to help maintain his body temperature. He drank the water and it actually helped him feel better.

But that didn't change the fact he was in a hospital. And he had no one to blame, except himself. He was the one that left and decided to stay outside in cold weather. He could have died... he wished he had because now he was stuck here with his family waiting to see him.

What would they say? Would they disown own him? Would they say they were sorry? Or would they go on about how they were right that he would end up in a hospital? Either way, he was dreading it, so he would prolong the inevitable as long as possible.

I bet you guys didn't think it could get any worse... but it did! Sorry, not sorry. This part took a bit to write because I like to be as accurate as I can. So for the hypothermia part I did all my research and applied it the best I could. Same will go for next chapter when other... things happen. I'll leave those things up to your imagination mwhaha!

Also thank you to everyone that has favorited and followed and all that jazz. I'm saying this again because, well... I reached 100 followers for this story! That just made my day! *hands out extra cheddar goldfish that I'm currently eating* Oh and if any of you remember, I stated that this would be around 14 chapters. Well here we are and still going strong! So don't worry, it is not over yet! I mean, what about Mattie and Gil? Matt practically gave him away to Natalia. Whoops.

One last note! The chapter title was inspired by the song Breakeven by The Script so check that out if you'd like. Byeee!