Chapter Eight – Indestructible

"Dad."

Arthur turned around at the sound of a voice. Although the voice was quiet, it had a sense of sternness to it.

"Ah, Alfred, there you are," Arthur smiled as he continued to whisk whatever was in the bowl. Knowing Arthur's disastrous cooking skills (or lack thereof), it was better left unsaid. "I have been calling you for the past"- Arthur quickly glanced at his watch –"Half an hour now! I require some assistance."

Internally, Matthew snarled, and thought horrible things. He thought about how much he wanted to snap at Arthur for confusing him for his brother once again.

He let his anger wane before opening his mouth, scared he'd say the wrong thing only to realise he was far too passive aggressive and nice to snap, despite all he'd endured.

"Matthew," he simply corrected, nodding as he did so, glaring at Arthur. He thought it was menacing and was meant to make Arthur learn a lesson, but his efforts failed and he looked more endearing than anything.

It took a while for Arthur to understand before his eyes widened in realisation.

"I do apologise, Matthew," he said sincerely, although Matthew could tell by the look in his eyes his father wasn't as sorry as he seemed. "It seems I forget you far too much."

You really think so? Matthew sarcastically remarked in his head, wanting so desperately to be able to say it out loud without fear.

"It's alright, father," his mind betrayed him by saying the opposite of what he felt. No, it wasn't alright for his own father to forget who he was, especially since he'd done it far too many times now. How many times was it now? Matthew had lost count. "You're getting old, I understand."

Arthur frowned. He stopped whisking and opened his mouth to protest but instead sighed, putting the bowl down. "Yes, I concur. It appears I'm becoming a senile old man."

Matthew knew that wasn't the reason, but he nodded anyway.

"Yeah," was the only thing Matthew could think of responding with. "Anyway, I came to ask you a question."

"A question, hmm?" Arthur walked over to Matthew and rested his hand on Matthew's shoulder. "Alright, I have nothing better to do."

His tone was sarcastic as he gestured towards the bowl.

Matthew sighed and chose to ignore that comment and accompanying gesture (or at least pretended to ignore it).

"Is it alright if I…" Matthew paused as he fiddled with his hands, contemplating the right words to say. Whenever he spoke, he felt like he was just jumbling words together and calling the outcome a sentence although it clearly wasn't. "I go out…tonight?"

The look on Arthur's face was priceless.

Matthew, go out somewhere? Despite the fact Arthur seemed to know very little about Matthew due to his constant forgetting, he knew his son wasn't the social butterfly his other one was.

"With a friend, I presume?" Arthur asked after a short awkward silence. During that silence, Matthew was scared the answer would be no, and Arthur was just trying to process what Matthew had just asked him.

"Of course, dad," Matthew replied, wondering what the problem was.

Arthur folded his arms and hummed in thought, leaning over slightly. He had so many questions resounding in his head, but thought it was best to give his child some freedom for once without feeling as if he were interrogating him all the time.

He was used to reprimanding Alfred, but never Matthew.

Matthew was a good boy.

Perhaps that's why he was always forgotten; no one remembers the good things.

The wind blew through Matthew's long, wavy hair, his curls caressing his face. The sea breeze whistled and hugged him as it flew by, keeping him warm enough to stand the bitterness of winter just a little while longer.

He took a quick glance at his watch; how long had he been waiting for?

It must have been about ten minutes, maybe even fifteen, now.

He kept looking around, desperately searching and observing his surroundings, but he was surrounded by nothing more than darkness, sand and the ocean peacefully dancing. The stars twinkled and the moon bounced off the waves, illuminating Matthew as he stood watching the beauty in front of him.

It was times like these he really appreciated Earth and its wonderfulness.

Despite his melancholy state – oh, how he loathed his solitude sometimes - he smiled, capturing the image painted in front of him with his mind.

Suddenly, he heard a loud and rather obnoxious voice behind him calling his name. The voice kept drawing closer and soon it was so close there was no denying whom it belonged to.

"Matthew!" the voice said one last time before the owner engulfed Matthew in an embrace so tight and so sudden it startled Matthew yet pleased him simultaneously. His heart skipped a few beats, his cheeks grew hot, the blood in his veins surged faster, and his knees buckled.

Matthew wrapped his arms around Gilbert, soaking in his warmth.

It had been a few months since they had last been able to see each other this way.

Why?

Reasons neither of them wanted to speak about.

Reasons that would never be discussed, never again.

They were here, together, and that's all that mattered to them.

"I've missed you," Matthew whispered, hoping his words were strong enough to travel up to Gilbert's ear. They were soft and made Gilbert's heart swell.

Gilbert ran his fingers through Matthew's hair. "I've missed you too, meine liebe."

Matthew chuckled; oh, how he loved being spoken to in German. It felt so personal, like Gilbert was being sincere.

In that moment, it felt like they were the last two people on earth.

The only people on earth.

The only people that mattered to them were each other.

Nobody was going to break them, nobody was going to cut the red ribbon that connected them.

Nobody, not even the strongest man to have ever lived, could tear them apart.

They were indestructible, never to be broken, never to be separated.

…Right?

A/N: I would like to apologise for taking so long to update. My interest in fanfiction may have waned, but my love for Hetalia surely didn't!

Also, I wanna say sorry for this short chapter. I shall be explaining the 'reasons' for them not being allowed to see each other in the next chapter. I will try my best to update it soon so you don't you worry your pretty little minds~

Taylor Swift reference is Taylor Swift. THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE.

But yes.

I would like to thank you all for reading and staying with me. I appreciate your feedback. You guys are so nice to me, I thought it'd be the kind thing to do to update. I love you all~!