After his first date with Carlos he rode his bike home and went to sneak back into his room. He opened his window only to find his step-mother sitting on his bed with her arms crossed over her chest. He gave a scream and almost fell from the roof, he would have if she didn't run to the window and grab him. She pulled him inside and sat him at the table next to Alfred. Matthew looked over at his step-brother, Alfred had his head tilted down. She sat Matthew down next to him and stood in front of them both. "I am disappointed in the both of you! Out drinking all night and not giving me a call! I would have come get you Matthew, but no, I go and find your bed empty. As for you Alfred! Lovino's grandfather was not happy about you and Lovino storming in drunk off your asses! If your father was here you both would be a lot more trouble, you are lucky its me! Next time I would like to know, that way I don't worry!" She yelled and her hands moved about as she lectured them.
They kept their heads down as she yelled, until she started yelling at them for not looking at her. When she was done she sent them to their room. They walked up the stairs together."Good thing she doesn't know that you and Carlos made out, mom has a habit of over reacting to stuff like that. When I had my first kiss she bought me a box of condoms and sat me down and talked about pregnancy and S. . I had to come out to her then that I was gay just to get her to stop talking." Alfred whispered to him. Matthew blushed and laughed nervously.
"Really it was that bad...you know that doesn't surprise me. She sat me down and asked me if I had a crush on Gil." Matthew told him and opened the door to his room. Alfred looked over at him, his expressions always reminded Matthew of a puppy, this time it was a confused look.
"Well don't you? Don't get me wrong but you look at him differently then you do everyone else. And whenever he's with Liz you look so lost, like you're torn between angry and sad and jealous." Alfred said and Matthew stared at him but he couldn't meet his eyes.
"Its not like that, we're just friends. I like him as a friend."
"Matt I'm in your shoes so you can't fool me with that...you can't keep lying to yourself, its not healthy." Alfred said and Matthew looked away. He didn't want to have an emotional heart to heart right now. Just hearing what Alfred was saying made him stop and think, he didn't want to think about it. He didn't want to feel that way, Gilbert was his friend, Gilbert seemed to be straight and was in a relationship already. "It's different for you...I'm just not Lovi's type but you don't even know with Gil. He does like you a whole lot, like when your date with Ivan went sour, he showed then just how important you are to him."
Matthew jumped a bit, he couldn't let Alfred give him that hope. " He's with Liz, he loves her. He likes me as his best friend, he did that because we're friends." Matthew reminded and Alfred just smiled at him.
"So what, they won't last. They fight all the time when they think no one is around to see it. Yeah they like each other an all but they don't fit together romantically."
"How do you know all this?" Matthew couldn't help but to ask.
"Hey I may not be the brightest sometimes and I usually can't read the mood but I'm not stupid. I have eyes and I know what I see when I see it. You like-like Gil even if you don't admit it I know." Alfred said and he disappeared into his room. Matthew stared at the closed door for just a second before going into his room. He crawled into bed to recover from his hangover quietly. He couldn't believe he just was confronted by Alfred like that. He couldn't possibly know what he was talking about, he had no idea how he felt or how Gilbert felt. Matthew's face was on fire, his ears burning with heat. Gilbert was his best friend, he couldn't fall for him, he couldn't allow himself to. It could ruin their friendship.
…...
The nest day Alfred and Matthew got around for school. Alfred was still suffering from his hangover, it wasn't as bad as the day before, it was just a head ache now. Mrs. Williams had made them something to eat before they left for the buss. She sat with them, holding a cup of coffee. "Alfred before you leave we need to have a talk. I took a look at your grades, your doing fine in everything...except English. So I called your teacher to see if you could possibly get some help and she suggested having the student teacher...umm Mr. Kirkland tutor you."
Alfred stopped mid bite and stared at her with wide horrified eyes. "Mom I don't want a tutor, people are gonna laugh at me." He whined and she gave him the parental stare of death and he clamped his mouth close before any thing else could slip out. She set her drink on the table, keeping her fingers looped around the handle. Matthew kept eating as he watched.
"I figured you would say that, that's why he'll be coming over here after school. Don't worry honey it'll only be for a hour, it'll be worth it when that grade starts to go up." she told him and stood up, she had to finish getting herself around for work. Alfred smacked his head onto the table and let out a low groaning moan of protest. Matthew chuckled at him and cleared his spot at the table.
He grabbed his bag and shoved his books into it. "Well think of it this way Al, now you get some alone time with him." He teased, making kissy faces and noises and ran out the door before Alfred could make a move to go get him. Alfred jumped from his spot and grabbed his own bag and took off after Matthew, totally forgetting about his dishes at the table. When he caught up with his brother he playfully took him in a head lock and messed up his hair. Matthew laughed and broke free, the two rough housed for a little bit before the buss arrived.
At school they parted ways, Matthew going off to class with Feliciano, and Alfred going to Lovino's locker to walk with him. Alfred crept up behind Lovino and grabbed his sides to scare him, but today unlike all the days before, Lovino didn't do as much as flinch. Something was wrong. "Hey what wrong? Did your grandpa tell at ya?" Alfred asked, wondering if Lovino's grandfather was angry about the party and the drinking. Lovino's grandfather was a pretty relaxed person about that sort of thing most of the time. He used to be the biggest party animal back when he was younger until a one night stand lead to his first child (that he knew of).
Lovino shook his head and closed his locker. "Antonio is teaching dance classes for extra credit...so I went to one of the lessons and I was the only guy there! If that doesn't scream I'm gay for him then I don't know what else will!" Lovino began, he smacked his forehead into his locker door. He stood there like that and started to tell the rest of the story. "It was so embarrassing having to sit with all the girls. They kept whispering about how cute he was, one of them asked me how bad my Spanish grade was...'cause like why would you be here if you weren't failing, no guy would be caught dead here'." Lovino said mincing a girl's voice.
He stepped away from his locker and walked along side Alfred, complaining and talking about the dance class the entire time. Alfred nodded and listened to him, sometimes making a comment if he felt like one should be made. "Mom is making me get a tutor for English." Alfred said as soon as he had the chance to change the topic away from Antonio.
"Oh that must suck." Lovino told him and Alfred shrugged his shoulders.
"You won't believe who my tutor will be." Alfred said and looked over at Lovino waiting for him to take a guess. Lovino just stared back at him waiting for an answer. Alfred took a breath, he wanted to play a guessing game but they didn't have the time, they both had to split and get to class before they were late. "Its Arthur." Alfred smirked and Lovino laughed once.
"Well I wish you luck, maybe you could try flirting a bit now. You'll have him all alone, just you and him...oh and don't forget about Hamlet." Lovino teased and laughed. Alfred rolled his eyes.
"Jokes on you we're not reading that yet. Right now its Lord of the Flies. I'm not to thrilled about having to read about bugs." Alfred complained and the two of them had to go their own separate ways. They joined back up with one another at lunch, taking a table with a group of other friends, the type of friends that you have that you never talk to outside of school. Alfred had his lunch tray covered in as much food as he was allowed to get, people at their table sometimes would place bets on if he could eat it all or not, they had to stop when he was able to clear his tray each and every time.
They all talked with each other, Alfred and Lovino never talked about their crushes during lunch, it would be to easy for someone else to hear. Gossip is never a good thing, it starts small but it grows and festers like a big open sore, it rots and it ruins, for gossiping always leads to rumors. After school Alfred took the buss home, Matthew got a ride to hockey practice so he wouldn't be home until later. Mr. Williams didn't come home until six and his mother would still be at work for another hour. He had the house to himself, it would be just him and Arthur alone together.
It finally dawned on him how big of deal this actually was. This was his chance to impress him. He ran upstairs to put a brush though his hair, he brushed his teeth and even washed his face. When he just about to be done primping himself the doorbell rang. He flew over the stairs in one big leap, landing at the bottom. He landed off balanced and went crashing face first into the front door. Recovering as quick as he could he opened the door only to find that it had been a false alarm.
Standing there was just a simple traveling salesman. As soon as the man's mouth opened to speak he closed the door and went back upstairs. The man took the hint and he flipped the door off and cussed out his line of work before getting into his car and driving away. Alfred looked at his face in the mirror, his face hit the door pretty hard and it looked as if the cheek bone area was starting to bruise. Desperate to hid it, Alfred took his mother's make up and tried to work some sort of magic.
Soon the doorbell rang again. Alfred walked down the stairs this time, thinking it was just the salesman again. He opened the door with the full intention to tell the man off, as his mouth opened to speak he saw that it was Arthur. So now he just stood there with his mouth slightly open. Arthur stared back at him. "Well don't just stand there. We have plenty of work to do tonight." He said and walked in. He placed his bag on the table and pulled out two Lord of the Flies books.
Pulling out a chair at the table Arthur sat down and opened the book. Alfred closed the door, mouthing a silent 'oh my god' to himself before smiling. He tried to get the smile off his face before he sat across from him, taking one of the books. "Do you know what this book is about?" Arthur asked and Alfred quickly flipped it over to see if he could find some sort of clue to answer that question for him. The back of the book was just a picture, the same as the one on the front. "You were suppose to have already read up to chapter three already. Have you even started?" He asked and Alfred was forced to admit the truth. Arthur sighed and gave a basic description.
He had Alfred read up to chapter three, before bringing out some papers. "Alright if you need help then just asked. Once you finish we'll go over verds." He said and watched as Alfred did the home work. He helpped him where he could and stopped him a bit early so they could work on verbs.
To help Alfred with his verbs he had made up flash cards, he have him draw one out of the deck and then act out what the verb was. It was something his teacher back in London had done, he found that it did help. Alfred was embarrassed by having to act things out, such as running in place, and jumping. Mrs. Williams walked in, slipping her jacket off and kicking her shoes off at thedoor. She went into the kichen to pore herself a drink. "Oh hello you must be Mr. Kirkland. I'm Alfred's mother, Mrs. Williams." She held out her hand for him to shake.
He stood from his seat and took her hand shaking it. "Pleased to meet you. Do you need the table, we can always take this else where." He said and she shook her head.
"Oh no its fine. So Mr. Kirkland will you be joining us for dinner? I'm making pork chops." She asked and began to get things set up of dinner.
"Maybe another time." He said and Alfred stared at her, wanting her to leave the room. Matthew walked in though the door, a leg cramp was causing him to have a bit of a limp as he walked. He dropped everything at the door and hobbled into the kichen for a drink of water. He and Alfred locked eyes for just a split second. He got his drink and smirked at his brother before going upstairs.
Arthur looked over at the time and stood up. "Well I must be going now. It was a pleasure meeting you Mrs. Williams. I'll be back tomorrow, I would love to stay for dinner then if it would be alright." He asked and Alfred looked up from the papers and to his mother chewing on his lower lip.
She smiled and nodded. Her eyes then went to her son, he quickly stopped biting his lip. He showed no signs of liking Arthur, he knew that if he did his mother would notice it and he would have to have one of those awkward talks with her. "Wonderful! I was going to make ribs, you'll just love it." She said and turned the stove on to get it heated for her pork chops. Arthur nodded and placed his books away. "Drive safe." She said and went to start cooking dinner.
Arthur took his bag and placed it over his shoulder. "I'll see you in class Alfred." He said and smiled at him. Alfred's whole face turned red and he smiled back.
"Yeah see ya then." He said back and looked down at his papers. Arthur walked out the door and Alfred quickly got up from the table and he ran upstairs, he ran into Matthew's room. Matthew was on the floor with a ice pack placed on his lower back and two of them of his legs, doing his home work. Alfred flopped onto the ground next to him. "He's coming back! He's gonna have dinner with us!" He squealed and started smacking at Matthew with his hands.
Matthew grummbled at him, he was so sore that even Alfred's small smacks hurt. "Good for you Al. To bad he's like a sophomore in collage and your a freshmen in high school." Matthew told him and he rolled his eyes. He returned to doing his home work, Alfred rolled onto his back and stared at his brother with a smile.
"Hey way da go. Why did you have to go and burst my happy little bubble?" Alfred pouted at him and Matthew ignored him while rolling his eyes. He placed the pappers together and shoved them inside the book.
"I'm not bursting your bubble I'm telling you the truth." He said and slammed the book shut. Alfred stared at him.
"Sheesh what crawled up your ass and died?" Alfred asked and Matthew lifted up his shirt to show that his ribs and sides were all burised up. Alfred cringed and looked at the marks. "Holy shit, rough day at practice. You know Ivan can't treat you like this, there has to be something you can do about it, you need to stick up to him." He said and Matthew sighed.
"Maybe I should, it just getting to hard to deal with, I hurt to much and I never get any time to heal up." Matthew told him and showed him his back. It was all bruised up as well. His arms and legs were stiff, there were days when he could barely move them. "I had plans with Carlos today, but I just can't sit though a movie with him. It hurts all the damn time." Matthew told him and Alfred nodded.
"I would kick his ass if I was you." Alfred said and punched the air a couple times. Matthew laughed at him. He knew he couldn't fight Ivan like this, he would lose in a heart beat. "Well I'm gonng go take a bath, so if you need to use you should go now." He said and got up off the ground. Matthew quickly got to his feet and ran to the bathroom. He got in and closed the door.
…...
Next chapter will be with Lovino once I get my OpenOffice fixed. It has it so everything is misspelled and I can't tell if I actually spelled anything right. I'm going to have my father take a look at it and see if he knows what to do.
Until then please review.