"Alfred!" Matthew yelled as he ran after the teenage Omega that he was pretty sure had been avoiding him all day at school, only to have his suspicions confirmed when Al winced at the sound of his voice, before stopping and turning around to look at him with an expression similar to what a dog, who had piddled on the floor and knew that it had done wrong, would wear. The expression was gone soon enough, though, replaced with a cocky grin so wide that it had to hurt the teen's split lip by the time Matt caught up with him, just outside of his house.

"Hey there slugger!" Al greeted overly happy, folding his hands behind his head and looking every which way, refusing to look Matthew in the eye. "So... the rumor all the Omegas are whispering about at school is 'bout how you beat up Beilschmidt. You caught a lot of people's attention with that little feat. Way to go, didn't know you had it in you.~" He said, literally giving the Alpha two thumbs up.

Matt frown. "Don't give me that!" The Canadian huffed. Closing his eyes, he then ran his hand through his hair and took a breath to calm himself before going on. "We both know that I wasn't the one that beat up Gilbert!" The Alpha hissed under his breath, afraid to raise his voice and risk anyone within ear shot of hearing, paranoid of what might happen if anyone they knew found out.

When Alfred just rolled his eyes at him, (he wasn't even looking at Matt, but Matt somehow knew that that was what he did anyway,) he grabbed Al by the arm, forcing the Omega to look at him. Alfred frowned in reply, not typically very happy about people, especially Alphas, man-handling him like that.

"Win one little fight and ya suddenly got the balls to lay a hand on me?" The omega growled, eyes narrowing, and Matt blinked in surprise. "Eh?! Sorry, sorry!" Wide eyed, the Canadian quickly apologized and released the other teen, taking a step back as he waved his hands in front of himself, trying to show he meant no offense by his actions.

Al's anger quickly dissipated and this time Matt clearly saw the eye roll the Omega gave him as he reached up to scratch at the back of his head in exasperation. "We seriously ain't gonna get away with this if you can't Alpha up a bit, and back up this lie." Alfred sighed, then waved for Matthew to follow him as he opened the front gate. "Come on. We'll talk inside."

Realizing that it was an act and that he hadn't actually offended the other, (or at least he was fairly sure that he hadn't), Matthew let out a breath of relief that he hadn't realized that he had been holding, and nodded in agreement to Al's suggestion. Walking though the gate to join the Omega in his yard, Matthew then let out a sudden yip of pain as the other teen punched him in the arm. "What was that for?!" He asked, rubbing the quickly forming bruise.

"It was one for flinching." Al grinned, his annoyance at Matt for grabbing him earlier now gone that he had shown his clear dominance between the two of them, and headed inside with a small chuckle. Frowning, Alfred's actions quickly helped in reminding Matthew that he was irritated with the Omega. Keeping a wary eye on him, he followed him inside.

Looking around as he quietly shut the door behind him, it quickly became apparent to the Alpha that no one was home. The polite part of him mentally reminded himself that he really shouldn't be inside alone, with an Omega, without parental permission at the very least... but he really had to talk to Alfred about what happened today. Before things got even more out of hand. Besides... he doubted Al cared about proper etiquette concerning such things anyway.

Obviously not as concerned about the fight as Matthew, Alfred made his way through the living room and into the kitchen, bee lining his way to the fridge and pulling out the things he needed to make a sandwich. "Ya want one?" He asked casually as he took the arm load of food over to the counter.

"Al... we really need to talk about what -" The alpha tried again, and Al sighed again in reply. Pulling out a few slices of bread, he smothered them in mayonnaise before throwing on some ham and cheese. "And is there any reason we can't talk on a full stomach?" He interrupted, dipping the butter knife into the mayo jar and stirring it's contents, then asked once more, "So, do you want a sandwich or not?"

Seeing that Alfred was obviously not in a rush to discuss things, Matt sighed and gave in. "Yeah. Alright. I'll have one. Thanks." He agreed reluctantly, figuring that there really wasn't any reason that they couldn't eat first, since he had been to nervous to eat at school anyway, and pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. "But we really do need to talk."

"Yeah, yeah. I got it." Alfred said, throwing together an extra sandwich for the Alpha. Grabbing two plates, he then went over to join his school mate at the table, setting one of the sandwiches in front of the Alpha... and five in front of himself. Matthew couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that, since most Omegas (or Alphas for that matter) didn't eat any where near that much... except maybe during preheat, but that was a thought Matt didn't need clouding up his head at the moment.

Lips pressed in distaste at the amount of mayonnaise dripping from the bread, Matt grabbed a napkin from the cute, decorative cat napkin holder on the table, and wiped what he could off before taking a tentative bite. It wasn't bad, but it was kind of hard to mess up a cold ham and cheese sandwich...

When he was half way through his sandwich, and Al starting on his third, the Omega finally started talking. "So I'm assuming you figured out what really happened last night?" He commented before taking another 'way too big' bite of food.

Swallowing his own mouthful, the Alpha set his sandwich down on the plate and wiped his mouth clean. "The bloody sweater, along with the fact that both you and Gilbert looked like you were hit by a car, gives me a pretty good guess." He admitted bluntly, the reason why the Omega had wanted to keep his sweater that night becoming clear. His mouth pressed into a thing line at the thought, and Al laughed at his expression.

"Heh, okay, yeah... we both got pretty beat up, but he's way worse off then me. I mean, did you see his face today?" The omega bragged, and Matthew frowned in disapproval.

"Al... you can't do these kind of things. What if you had gotten hurt?" He pointed out in concerned, and Alfred's mood plummeted. "What? Ya think just because I'm an Omega that I can't hold my own in a fight?" He huffed defensively, a hint of a growl in his voice, and Matt was took off guard at the sudden mood swing.

"What? No!" Matt lied, because the fact was, despite the proof that Al was obviously more then capable of fighting, the idea of the Omega doing so, on his behalf none the less, just didn't settle well with him. They weren't suppose to have to fight at all. "I just... I just don't want to see anyone get hurt on my account. I mean, what if Gilbert, or anyone else, really, found out that it was you, and not me, that won that fight?" He said, voice trailing off meekly towards the end, all the possible, negative results flashing through his brain, and his concern calmed Al down some, even though his frown remained.

Taking another bite, Al spoke without swallowing. "Look... Gilbert wasn't going to back off until you stood up to him, and face it, you would have gotten your ass kicked in a fight with the dude. Since we got, what? Less then two years of school left before graduation? The chance of you being able to beat him up before then, and stop being an easy target for everyone else, on you own, was pretty slim..." He pointed out, then swallowed. "So I did it for ya. Besides, no one will ever find out. I wore your shirt, so that's I'd smell like ya, and made sure to go at night so that he wouldn't be able to get a good look at me." The teenage Omega explained. "Plus, you totally stood your ground when he ran into ya today! Or at least I'm assuming ya did, since you didn't get beat senseless, but what I mean is, you obviously FAKED acting like an Alpha well enough to make him believe it was you, and that's really all that's needed... "Al rambled, speaking with his hands as he talked, and skimming quickly over the part about how he could have gotten Matt a very bad beating had his plan gone wrong.

Matthew hoped that the truth never got out, since if anyone ever found out that it had been Alfred fighting on his behalf, not only would his own situation get even worse, but Gilbert might feel the need to put the Omega in his place, even if it was looked down upon to hit an Omega, and Matt wouldn't be able to forgive himself if Al got hurt on his account.

"Just... just be careful, Al. I mean... if someone found out what really happened... well, did you think of how much trouble we would both be in?" Matt felt the need to point out the Omega's recklessness, even though he knew it would annoy him, and sure enough, the sandy blonde rolled his eyes behind his glasses.

"Yeah, yeah... I thought it all through. That's why we're not done with plan... 'Alpha Stigma!'" Alfred said loudly, pushing himself up from his chair to raise one hand high in the air in what was probably suppose to look cool, like some anime pose, but was really kind of silly looking to see someone do in real life.

"'Alpha Stigma?'" Matt repeated. "Do you even know what the word 'stigma' means?" He then asked, fairly sure that the other didn't and was simply using the word because it sounded cool or something.

Al smiled widely. "Nope! But it sounds cool, right?" The Omega confirmed Matt's suspicions.

Shaking his head, the Alpha pushed the plate and left over sandwich aside. "Al, you can't just use words 'because they sound cool,' if you don't want people to..." Matthew began to lecture, but sighed and stopped as he noticed Alfred making 'yap yap yap' motions with his one hand, obviously not caring about what was being said. "Never mind." The Canadian sighed and shook his head at the other's behavior.

Watching Matt wipe his hands clean, Al glanced down at the remaining half of his sandwich. "Ya gonna eat that?" He asked, and Matt looked up, a little surprised at the request, after having just seen him eat a whole pile of sandwiches, but shook his head no, and pushed the plate over to Alfred's side, only to watch the Omega finish it in two bites. That certainly was some appetite.

"Anyways, you got a new look, and the whole thing that went down with Gilbert is gonna buy you some time, since it was so unexpected that no one is gonna fuck with you for a while, not when no one knows what to think about ya at the moment. So, since they don't know what to think of ya, we're gonna make them think what we want them too. " Alfred started to explain the next par of his plan as he stacked the dirty dishes, but made no move to take them over to the sink.

Realizing that the Omega was just going to leave the dirty dishes their for his mother to deal with, Matthew decided to help the poor woman out, (because he could only guess how exhausting living with someone like Al must be,) and picked them up and walked them over to the sink himself.

"Being an Alpha is all about show, so we just have to put on a little act now. Have you say, or do, a few small things without actually doing anything too hard, and if we play our cards right, you'll get out of Loserville, population one, YOU, without either of us having to even lift a finger against 'nybody. Sounds good, right?" He finished with a grin, turning around in his chair to absently watch as Matthew rinsed the plates.

While Matthew didn't agree with the means Alfred had first used to go about his plan, what was already done, was done, and he had to admit... the Omega's plan was working. Not only had Gilbert backed off, but all of the other Alphas that would typically laugh at him, 'accidentally' slam into him in the hallway to make him drop his books, or whatever other childish pranks they came up with, had suddenly stop. It was almost like... they were treating him with respect. Why, even the pretty, busty, blonde Omega who sat next to him in homeroom had smiled at him, and had said 'good morning' without his prompting!

"I suppose... if you promise that you won't start any more fights!" The Alpha finally relented. "So... what's the next part of 'Alpha Stigma?'" Matt then asked, glancing over his shoulder as he finished with the dishes, back at Al, who grinned at the fact that he given in, obviously seeing the brilliance of his plan.

When Al wave him over a second later, Matthew stuck the dishes in the rack to dry and went back to joined him. "Firstly, and this is very important..." Leaning over the table, Alfred then motioned for the Alpha to get closer, as if he was about to whisper something confidential, before continuing on. "... you're gonna take me out for pizza. Oh! And ice cream! Your treat. You know... to thank me for kicking that asshole, Gilbert's, butt for ya."

Surprised by the demand, the taller teen laughed lightly and shook his head. "Alright... I guess pizza and ice cream it is then. Matthew smiled in reply, once again finding himself unable to stay mad at the Omega for long.

o~oOo~o

Once again, I'm glad to see that so many people are enjoying the story, and thank those who have left comments.

I guess doing an Omegaverse fic with Alpha!Matthew and Omega!Alfred for it's uniqueness was a good idea, considering how many people seemed thrilled about it. Hopefully i'm doing justice to both characters. I'm used to writing America, but writing Canada is new to me, so I'm not sure if I'm giving him enough personality.

Anyways, more to come soon. :)