"Alfred! Matthew! Come downstairs so that we can eat."

Dad's voice startled me. I wasn't expecting him to just randomly yell from downstairs. I put my videogame down and headed for the stairs, only to see my brother dragging himself to the hall.

"What's wrong, Mattie?" I asked. He looked at me and I could see the tears forming in his eyes once again. "Did someone try to beat you up again?"

"Y-Yes," he replied. He looked at the floor and sniffled, making me feel bad for him. "It w-was…Lovino…"

"Did he do anything bad?"

"N-No…after I told him I was Matthew and not you…he…he let me off with a warning and told me not to pretend that I was Matthew…"

I could feel my blood boiling. I hated when people mistaken my brother for me. We don't even look alike! But I'll have to get back at that kid tomorrow or something. Dad was getting angry with our idle chat. I could tell because he was stomping up the stairs.

"What are you two doing? I called you two down a while ago!" he shouted on the top of the staircase, staring at us.

"Sorry, Dad, I was helping Mattie with something." I looked at my brother and grabbed his arm. "C'mon, bro. Let's go eat~"

He smiled and followed me down the stairs. At the table, we saw Dad's horrible cooking waiting for us. Sitting down nervously, I poked at the food with a fork.

"How was your day today, Matthew?"

"Good…I got an A on my math test…and….."

"Dude, you got an A on that? I got a C-!" I shouted at him, somewhat jealous of his smart-ness. Dad shot me a half-disappointed half-angry face. Maybe I shouldn't have said that…

"Alfred F. Jones! Why did I not hear about this before?" he yelled. I winced, trying not to look in his emerald eyes. I tried to reply but ended up spilling my gigantic glass of Coca Cola instead. Dad sighed. I knew he was thinking of ways that Mattie was better than me or wondering why I couldn't do anything right. He put his hand on his head, trying to stay calm. I felt my self-esteem fall a little. I hate when Dad does this, but I'd rather have him take a beating at my self-esteem than pick on Matthew. I stared at my food while Matthew continued talking.

"I uh…c-called Papa earlier. He said that he wanted to talk to you, Dad," His voice was barely above a whisper. Dad had a surprised look on his face. Our Dad and Papa weren't exactly on the greatest terms. They had a huge fight a year ago and Papa ended up leaving Dad. Dad was so devastated that he disappeared for a little too. Matthew had to cook for me because I couldn't cook anything to save my life. We helped each other with everything. We became closer than we ever were. After Dad re-appeared, our lives became worse. He started bringing both me and Matthew down mentally, telling us things like how we weren't good enough for Papa or comparing us to each other. These little 'events' usually ended with Matthew crying in his locked room and me trying to comfort him. On some occasions, I was the one who was crying. No one checked on me, though, because I cried after everyone fell asleep. I couldn't let anyone think that I was weak. I needed to be the strong one in this messed up family.

I sighed as I push away those memories and thoughts. By now, Dad is on the phone, talking to Papa probably. Turning to Mattie, I decided to start a conversation.

"Hey, Mattie! You okay?"

"Yeah…Why?"

"Oh, I dunno…Sometimes you aren't I guess. I just want you and Dad to be happy!" I exclaimed with a huge grin. Mattie smiled back after adding a barely noticeable "Thanks…"

Dad came back after a little and we chatted some more. Our conversations included how Mattie was going to honor classes next year, how I had to go to summer school, and how I always talk too much, too loud, and really obnoxiously apparently. Once we were all done with dinner, I ran to my room. Being the caring brother he was, Mattie came to check up on me. Okay, maybe I lied when I said that no one cared. The thing is, my brother is too caught up in his own pool of depression to save me from drowning in mine.

I opened the door, only to find Matthew and his fluffy polar bear standing at my door.

"Are you sure you're okay…? Al, you only lock your door when something's wrong…"

I could tell that he was starting to sink into his depression pool again.

"Mattie, of course the Hero's alright! I, being a hero, don't have time to be down and depressed like you, silly~!" I realized my mistake after the words had come out of my mouth. Mattie sniffled as he started to walk back to his room, muttering something like, "As long as you're happy, Al…"

"Hey! I…I'm sorry, bro. I didn't mean it like that," I told him, hugging him from behind. The phone in his pocket vibrated and I have Mattie a suspicious look.

"Who's that…?"

"M-My…boyfriend…" he said, whispering the word 'boyfriend'. Since when did my brother have a boyfriend?

"I didn't want to tell you because I though you would have…been ashamed to have a brother that likes guys, Al…Please…don't be mad…"

"I'm not mad! But who is it?"

Mattie paused before answering.

"You're dating that freaking Commie?"

"Al…I'm sorry…if you want I can…break up with him…"

"No! If you're happy with him then be happy with him! I'm just glad that you finally found someone!" I said, trying not to sound mad. I really wasn't, though. I guess I'm okay with this, because if he breaks my brother's heart I can break his face. I'd do anything for my brother.

"How long have you two been going out~?" I asked in a sing-song voice.

"3 months…today's actually our anniversary…" he said shyly. As he looked at the newest text from Ivan, he ran to his room. I had no idea what just happened. Did Ivan say something bad to him? I swear if he did I'll kill that little Commie. I went to go check up on him again. His door was locked and I could hear him crying. When I knocked once, his crying stopped for a second.

"I hate you, hoser! Get away from my door!" Mattie shouted, obviously angry with me. I wanted to ask what I had done but I had a feeling that he would tell me soon.

"God, Al! Why did you have to—"

"Alfred F. Jones, get your arse down here right now!" I heard dad yell from downstairs. Great, they're both mad at me.

But what did I do…?

A/N: Hi thur you guys~! It's been...maybe...a..few days since I posted the first chapter? Anyways, when I woke up in the morning (cause I submitted it when it was around 11pm here) I had story alerts and stuff waiting for me on my email and I want to thank you guys so much~ That's never happened to me before ^^; Oh and the reason why this didn't come out the day after the first chapter like it should have is because I wanted to make it better...althought I kind of got lost half way through...