A/N: Thanks for the feedback so far, guys! Wow, I've never updated this quick before...I just really had to update. I loved writing the first chapter too much.

Thankfully, it's the evening here in Iggyland and it hopefully should be more coherent (reading it back, it wasn't all too bad) because it's not 1am XD

Please keep the feedback coming! I'd really appreciate it. I'll give you all my cookies. And my vital regions. Here. Take them both. Please take good care of my vital regions though, they're vital for a reason.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia because Hidekaz Himaruya does. If I did own Hetalia, then America and England wouldn't have sexual tensions, they'd have full blown sex instead.

Chapter Two – The Best Part of Me is You

Matthew held onto his teddy bear in bed that night, the tears turning his white fur a dirty grey colour. It wasn't the first time Matthew had found himself crying into the bear, vulnerable and so alone.

Just as Matthew was growing accustomed to the solitude, Alfred barged through the door with no regards to Matthew's personal privacy. It was nice to be remembered, of course, but if it meant his annoying brother had to just sway in like Matthew didn't care then it wasn't a nice thing at all.

Matthew quickly wiped away the tears the best he could and cleared his throat, hoping his voice wouldn't shake as he knew Alfred wanted something that would require Matthew to speak.

Alfred was oblivious to the fact that Matthew had been releasing his despair through tears and instead started fumbling around with Matthew's items on his desk without permission. Matthew stared at him before finding his voice.

"Um..." Matthew called out, his voice weaker than usual. He knew that speaking more would only release his tears, but nevertheless he continued in case Alfred didn't hear him. "What are you doing?"

Alfred jumped at the strange voice and turned around on impulse. It took a while for his blue eyes to meet Matthew's violet ones. When he finally did realise Matthew, he sighed with relief.

"Oh...Mattie, I didn't see you there," Alfred lamely explained, still searching around Matthew's desk, completely ignoring the fact Matthew had just caught him. "Anyway, I need some money. You get any?"

Matthew bit his lip, so desperate to cry again at the ignorance coming from his brother.

"N-No," Matthew answered. He was lying – he had a secret money stash in the drawer of his desk that he had a key for to make sure his brother didn't steal it. "A-Ask dad f-for some."

Matthew felt stupid over how much his voice was shaking, and in between syllables he would hiccup on accident. Alfred wasn't that big of an idiot not to notice, and instead sympathetically walked over and sat on the bed next to him.

Alfred held Matthew tight, pulling him into his chest. The intimate contact impulsively made Matthew burst into more tears. Matthew clutched Alfred's shirt, feeling embarrassed at the sudden display of emotion.

Alfred had never seen his brother cry so much. It almost hurt him, making him want to cry as well.

"Dude, what's up?" Alfred asked. He couldn't have been more insensitive if he tried.

Matthew couldn't reply; he was far too busy crying.

Alfred was aware that Gilbert had passed on two months ago – he could not have, it was all over the school. He and Gilbert weren't necessarily friends but they had been acquainted, only they had two very large egos, thus making it potentially dangerous for them to socialise with each other.

Alfred didn't care much for his brother's social life or, more likely, didn't even know he had one, thus he didn't exactly know why Matthew was crying or why he was so affected. He'd seen Gilbert hang around him a couple of times, plus Gilbert had stayed over the house plenty of times, but he didn't think anything was suspicious about their friendship.

Friendship was an understatement. Matthew was ninety nine point nine percent sure he loved Gilbert in every way possible. That was one point nine percent more than the ninety eight percent chance he actually existed.

When Matthew finally caught enough breath to be able to speak, he pulled away and looked up into his brother's eyes, wanting to hold onto him forever and just cry his heart out.

"G-Gilbert..." he whispered, as if it explained everything. Alfred raised an eyebrow, not comprehending at all. "I...I m-miss him."

Alfred bit down on his lip, knowing he wouldn't be able to calm his brother down nor offer him any sympathies. He'd held him tight...surely that was enough to cover it? Would it be alright if he just walked out now?

Instead, Alfred hugged him again and whispered back, "I know."

Of course, he didn't know. He wasn't aware of just how much Matthew missed Gilbert.

"I w-want h-him back," Matthew continued, his words muffled thanks to Alfred's shirt, which most likely was going to end up stained with Matthew's hot tears. "I can s-still remember the d-day we m-met p-properly."

Matthew stared down at the cigarette in Gilbert's hand.

"I'm sorry, I don't smoke," Matthew declined the cigarette, pushing it away.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and was about to reply before closing his mouth, not wanting to argue with Matthew. Judging by how Matthew's clothes hung off of him, Gilbert decided that Matthew was the type who looked after himself.

Gilbert shrugged and lit the cigarette, putting it in his own mouth.

What am I getting into? Matthew asked himself, knowing full well it was a bad idea to be hanging around with this group.

He half trusted Francis, although he didn't exactly know why. Probably because Francis lived by the words of 'make love, not war'. Literally.

Matthew wasn't wary of Antonio, either. He seemed like a sweet enough kid that was always smiling. All through the duration of Matthew being with the trio, Antonio was laughing and smiling at Matthew, somehow making Matthew feel a lot less stressed and a lot less forgotten.

Gilbert nudged Francis as discreetly as he could, taking the cigarette out of his mouth.

"Hey, I like this kid," Gilbert whispered. Francis nodded in agreement.

"Oui, he is quite the sweetheart," Francis replied in a (somewhat) quiet voice, all the while looking at Matthew. Matthew had his head down again, his eyes fixated on the ground and it was obvious he looked a bit awkward and uncomfortable to be there.

"Antonio," Francis yelled, although Antonio wasn't that far away, "Are you coming back with me tonight?"

Antonio's smile grew wider – if that was possible, which it probably wasn't – and his emerald eyes sparkled with delight.

"Si!" Antonio replied, running over to Francis and grabbing his arm. "What's for dinner, amigo?"

Francis thought for a moment. "Well, mes parents aren't in tonight, so I shall be cooking."

Antonio hugged Francis in a moment of over-zealousness.

"Yay!" he squealed. "Your cooking is the best!"

Francis smirked arrogantly, resembling that of Gilbert, who was still entranced by how endearing Matthew was.

"Merci," Francis thanked, looking at his watch. "Gil, cher...it's past four now, I have to get going."

Gilbert took out his cigarette completely having finished it and threw it on the ground, stamping on it.

"Yeah...sure," Gilbert said huskily. "See you both tomorrow."

Antonio and Francis walked off together, their arms still linked together. Another group like their one that saw them shouted offensive terms at them, although they weren't what they called them.

When Matthew and Gilbert both heard the word 'fag' get shouted, they both went as red as a tomato. Matthew had no idea why he felt so embarrassed...it wasn't like he was a fag. At least he hoped he wasn't.

Not that was a bad thing, but because it'd just make his sad life more confusing than it needed to be.

Gilbert moved his mouth around awkwardly before lifting Matthew's head up by his chin in order to make eye contact with him. Gilbert wanted to look at his gorgeous violet eyes once more, not the top of his head.

Once Matthew's gaze met Gilbert's, he couldn't help but be astounded by the fact that Gilbert had unnatural coloured eyes. They were red, not something he had seen before.

Plus his hair was platinum blonde, which meant that couldn't possibly be natural either. Matthew thought of the possibility of Gilbert being an albino, which was the only logical explanation, but still was incredulous about his red eyes.

Matthew already knew Gilbert was a strange boy.

"Soo..." Gilbert began, a desperate attempt to break the awkward atmosphere surrounding them both.

Matthew hummed to himself, his eyes meeting the floor again as he bit his lower lip lightly.

Gilbert sighed, knowing his second attempt to keep Matthew's eyes in the right place would just fail.

"Um...Mattie, do you want a ride home?" Gilbert lamely asked. He'd never been so selfless before...so why the hell had he begun now?

"That'd be nice," Matthew replied politely, knowing there was no other way he was going to get home in time for dinner.

Gilbert motioned for Matthew to follow him as he walked back into the school to retrieve his car. He had a car...surely that was enough to spell trouble for Matthew? Or maybe it was a sign of maturity and Gilbert was a lot more mature than perceived to be? Who knew?

Matthew got into the front passenger seat, putting his seatbelt on, before admiring the car. It was a pretty awesome car to say the least. It smelt exactly like a new car did, which implied that the car was pretty recently bought.

Matthew honestly could not wait to get his own car. It would make his life a lot easier for him and he wouldn't have to make his father drive him around.

"This is your car?" Matthew stupidly asked, feeling the leather seat underneath him.

Gilbert smirked at him as he pulled out of where he was parked, trying to stay focused on the rear view mirror. "Nah, I stole it."

Matthew's heart raced. So he was trouble...

"Stole it?" Matthew repeated in disbelief. "How could you do such a thing? That's outra"-

"Relax, relax, I'm just kidding," Gilbert cut him off, laughing at his mistake. "You're so gullible."

Matthew blanched, realising his own stupidity.

"O-Oh..." was all Matthew could say as he looked down at his lap. "It's a nice car."

"Danke," Gilbert thanked him, accidentally slipping into his native tongue, something he did too often around people he lik...respected and admired a lot. "It is pretty awesome. My bruder got it for me."

Again, slipping into German. Hopefully Matthew wouldn't notice...German was close to English anyway...

"Your...your bruder?" Matthew asked shyly, not fully understanding.

"Yeah, I meant my brother," Gilbert corrected himself, mentally face palming. "Sorry. Sometimes I forget others aren't German."

Matthew could tell Gilbert was German thanks to his conspicuous accent, but played dumb in order to enhance the conversation.

"Oh, you're German?" Matthew stated, although the way he said it made it sound more like a question than a matter of fact. "This school is so full of foreign people, haha."

Gilbert smirked, not feeling offended at all.

"Yeah, I'm German," Gilbert responded, still smirking and managing to keep his eyes on the road. "Oh and by the way, I forgot to ask you where you live."

"Sorry...I live just a few mo-"

"Nah, doesn't matter now, come back with me," Gilbert interrupted. Matthew was too polite and shy to say he wanted to go home so instead he nodded, sealing his fate.

"Um," Matthew's eyes darted around the car as he tried to think of how to start a new conversation or at least finish the first one. "So...what part of Germany are you from?"

"Brandenburg," Gilbert bluntly replied, trying to stay concentrated despite how cute little Matthew was. "I consider myself to be more Prussian than German. Prussians are more awesome."

Matthew smiled at the response, despite having limited knowledge of Prussian history. But he did know in Canada there was a place called New Prussia...maybe that was why he smiled. It reminded him of home.

"My bruder considers himself to be more German, though," Gilbert continued, not realising he said 'bruder' again. "He thinks Prussians aren't awesome."

Matthew let out a small 'oh' and fidgeted with his fingers uncomfortably. Every time Gilbert wasn't speaking, it just felt awkward.

"So, where are you from?" Gilbert asked, now making his attempt at keeping the conversation alive. "France, huh?"

Matthew bit his lip.

"No...Canada," Matthew felt bad for having to correct him, but was sure Gilbert wouldn't get offended easily.

"Ah," Gilbert replied. "I was wondering how you and Francis speak to each other in French."

"I'm not French, just Canadian," Matthew repeated. One side of his mind wanted to crack a 'do you really think I'm a pervert?' joke, but the other side overpowered him and instead made him say, "And Francis sometimes forgets who I am, just like the others."

It soon dawned on him what he had said. Instead of mentally face palming himself, he did it literally.

Stupid Canadian... he grumbled to himself. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

"What?" Gilbert asked, bemused. Matthew wasn't sure if it was because Gilbert had heard or not. "What do you mean by that?"

Matthew sunk down into his seat, mortified. He honestly could not believe what he had just let slip. It was such a personal thing to him...and yet he felt so comfortable telling Gilbert his troubles.

"Oh...n-nothing," Matthew lied, keeping his head down. "Don't worry."

Gilbert stayed silent. Though Matthew told him to not worry, he was doing the exact opposite.

"Well, we're here."

Thankfully for Matthew, the drive didn't last much longer and before he knew it they were at Gilbert's house. The rest of the ride had been silent thanks to Matthew's awkward outburst so he was just glad it was over.

The house was relatively large, large enough for Gilbert and his family, and wasn't all too scary. Flowers surrounded the front door, adding some bright colour to contrast with the darkness Matthew felt inside.

Gilbert fumbled with the keys as he tried to open the front door. He noticed Matthew staring at the flowers, which made Gilbert's cheeks burn as much as he didn't want them too.

"Um...t-they're not mine," Gilbert informed Matthew, hoping to restore his masculinity. He found himself having to do that a lot thanks to the homosexual rumours. "Mutti has a thing for flowers."

Matthew giggled. This made Gilbert feel more faint inside because of how freaking adorable Matthew sounded when he giggled.

"I know," Matthew answered, waiting patiently for Gilbert to finally open the door...it was growing colder, he was hungry and the sun was beginning to go down. "My dad has a whole garden full of flowers, so I can totally relate."

Gilbert finally forced open the door, startling Matthew a little bit, and gestured for Matthew to walk inside before him. Matthew walked forward and into the hall.

The hall was very welcoming, with floral wallpaper. A scent was emitting from the kitchen nearby that only warmed Matthew's heart more. Gilbert shut the door behind him and stepped beside Matthew.

"Ah...mutti's making dinner," Gilbert informed him, stating the obvious. Matthew smiled, only growing more hungry.

"Will it be done soon?" Matthew asked as politely as he could.

Gilbert hummed. "I guess. I'll ask."

Matthew followed Gilbert silently, feeling like he had to be introduced to his 'mutti'. Matthew didn't exactly know what that meant, but he had a feeling it was German for 'mother', only more affectionate.

Matthew could definitely tell that Gilbert was secretly a mummy's boy.

As they stepped into the kitchen to be met by a stronger scent than the one in the hall, Matthew couldn't help but 'mm' approvingly. Luckily for him, he was a very quiet person and Gilbert's mutti didn't hear him.

Gilbert cleared his throat in order for his mutti to turn around and notice him. His effort was successful.

"Gilbert! Had a nice day at school?" she showed an over display of affection as she run over to him, completely forgetting about her cooking duties, and hugged him, much to his dismay. Gilbert blushed, feeling too stupid in front of Matthew to hug her back.

"Yeah," Gilbert bluntly replied.

"Is something wrong?" she pulled away, her tone suddenly a much more worried one. "You always hug me back! Has someone hurt you?"

Gilbert blushed harder and closed one eye. Matthew giggled at how vulnerable Gilbert had suddenly gotten, finding it very entertaining but at the same time heart breaking.

Matthew's biological mother left him years ago, when he was still a small little child who could barely walk let alone speak. He was split from his brother and spent most of his childhood in Canada before being reunited with Alfred with Arthur, their new father. Sadly, Arthur didn't have a living wife or partner, which Matthew was hoping for, because she had abruptly passed away a few months into the adoption process.

In short, Matthew was jealous of Gilbert because he had never had a mother before.

"Um, no," Gilbert quickly answered. "We have company."

He pointed to Matthew who waved shyly. It took Gilbert's mutti to notice him.

"Oh, hallo!" she greeted, smiling. "I didn't notice you there, sweetie! Aww, Gil, he's so cute! What's your name?"

"I-I'm Matthew," Matthew stuttered, looking down at the ground again, although he knew that was impolite. "Nice to meet you."

Gilbert soon changed the subject, seeing as he was fond of food rather than people.

"Mutti, what's dinner?" Gilbert asked, taking in the scent for himself as he took a look at the boiling water.

"Ludwig insisted we made pasta," his mutti informed Gilbert. Gilbert raised an eyebrow. Since when did Ludwig eat pasta? Then, it dawned on him.

"Oh, is Feliciano here?" Gilbert asked, although it was obvious what the answer was.

"Mhmm," his mutti replied. "Well...Ludwig isn't home yet, but he said Feliciano would be round tonight."

Matthew had heard of the names Feliciano and Ludwig before, but he was now the one who couldn't remember their faces.

He was guessing that Ludwig was the younger 'bruder' of Gilbert, which made sense, seeing as Matthew remembered very vaguely a German kid called Ludwig that he often saw with Gilbert on Facebook photos of parties Matthew was never invited to.

"So it'll take a while, then?" Gilbert asked, starting to feel the hunger himself.

"Ja," his mutti confirmed, going back to her cooking.

Gilbert turned back to Matthew and led him out of the kitchen, careful not to damage him because of how fragile he looked.

Gilbert opened the door to his room melodramatically, turning on the light to reveal a surprisingly tidy room. Well, the corner by his desk wasn't very tidy and the bin in the same area was over flowering with paper and energy drink cans.

Matthew walked in and sat on the bed, bouncing up and down, making a mental note of how comfortable it was. Gilbert closed the door behind him and sat down next to him, flashing him a 'what-the-fuck' type of face before joining in.

Matthew stopped because he was in fits of giggles, causing Gilbert to stop completely too. They looked at each other, very nervously at first before falling backwards in laughter.

Matthew had never felt so happy before. He'd never felt so alive.

He'd never felt so loved. So remembered.

The sound of his own laughter was almost foreign to him.

"So, what'd you think of my room?" Gilbert asked, smirking arrogantly. "It's pretty awesome, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Matthew agreed, though he wasn't sure if 'awesome' was the right word to describe it. He then noticed the giant Prussian flag – he was guessing it was Prussian, anyway – taking up most of his wall space.

Next to the Prussian flag was a big picture of a man Matthew didn't recognise. He looked pretty noble, too noble to be a family member.

Matthew walked over to it without controlling himself to look at it better.

"Who's this?" Matthew asked, pointing to it.

Gilbert sat up to see what Matthew was pointing to. Immediately, he walked over and bit his lower lip.

He put his hand on Matthew's shoulder.

"That's Father Fritz," he explained. "He's awesome. Almost as awesome as me!"

Matthew sighed...ah, yeah, Gilbert was egotistical. Maybe more egotistical than Alfred.

"How come you've got a picture of him?" Matthew wanted Gilbert to go deeper. He found himself for some reason wanting to know everything about Gilbert, seeing as he was so...enigmatic. So...elusive.

"Uh...he was a Prussian leader," Gilbert's voice was starting to become more husky. It was sounding less threatening and more weak and unstable. It was like he wanted to cry. "He's watching over me. Please don't talk about him anymore."

So he gets depressed if someone brings Father Fritz up...Matthew thought, hoping he was right.

"Okay," Matthew simply agreed. "I really appreciate this, by the way."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, shooting him a confused look.

"W-Why?" Gilbert enquired, not sure why Matthew appreciated it.

"Sit d-down," Matthew's voice was now shaking as he said the instruction.

A/N: That took me two hours. T_T

I am so enjoying this so far. Sorry that it's very long, I'm just getting a bit carried away.

Lol at my random Matthew back story and the contradicting personality of Gilbert's 'mutti' XD

Reviews are so welcome but I appreciate story alerts and favourites, too *insert heart* Go on. It took me two hours. Respect me, da? ^-^

I don't know if further updates will be this quick. Hopefully they should.

Hasta La Pasta~!