...

~(WMD)~

I admit the last three chapters were actually supposed to be one whole chapter, but I've been trying to slim down my word count for each update. My last story was pretty well rounded but this one has been all over the place! lol

'Thoughts' "Speech"

-(SC)- = Scene Change

~(TS)~ = Time Skip

Warnings for - Lovino's Memory Cure, Kitchen Disarray, and Kuma the KindaCareBear~

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Honesty - Part 1

The sun had already set and the wind had picked up bringing with it a cool chill in the air as it blew past the windows of the two story house, creating an eerie howl. Both Matthew and Lovino were silent as they worked on preparing the guest room together. Even though Feliciano had actually offered to help the night before and Matthew vividly remembered his brother saying "we" earlier that day, both Alfred and the northern Italian had gotten out of helping clean the guest room by opting to make dinner for everyone instead.

Lovino looked over to Matthew as he accepted one side of the bed sheet before they straightened it over the bed. The Canadian was being really quiet. Even more than usual. It was odd, almost as if something was bothering him. The southern Italian was still curious about the teen's relationship with his brother, although he knew coming out and asking him about it would be rude. Right now however, he was simply wondering why his host was acting so withdrawn and gloomy. Though, that to, was none of his business. Lovino sighed, he hated the uncomfortable atmosphere.

"Hey.. Lovino?" Matthew asked quietly.

Lovino looked across the bed with mild surprise. "Yeh..?" He awkwardly replied.

"I was talking with Feliciano after the meeting today." Matthew started as he fiddled with the fabric he was holding on to.

"I bet that was enlightening." Lovino joked.

"It was actually.." Matthew replied, devoid of humor. "He told me that Spain experienced some type of memory loss a little while ago."

Lovino frowned. "Why would he tell you that?"

Matthew shook his head as if dismissing the question. "Can you tell me what you did to help him recover his memories?"

The southern Italian released the bed sheet then crossed his arms stubbornly. "Why do you want to know?"

The Canadian dropped his side of the sheet as well as a look of mild annoyance appeared on his face. "Can't you just tell me?"

"I can, but first tell me why you want to know." Lovino demanded.

"I just do, alright?" Matthew sighed in frustration.

"Is someone you know having the same problem?" The Italian pressed.

"Yes." The teen relented slightly.

"Who?"

"Someone very important to me…" Matthew replied quietly as he looked away, refusing to be more specific.

Lovino stopped pressing the Canadian when he noticed the sad expression that had washed over his face after his last words. Whoever this person was, Matthew cared deeply for them. The southern Italian sighed.

"It wasn't anything special…" Lovino started. Matthew looked back to him with interest as he waited patiently for him to continue. "I just took him to all the places he forgot about." He shrugged. "I also kept reminding him of the trivial things that only he and I would remember. I made him eat foods that we ate back then, listen to the same sounds, see the same things. Hell, I even tried to have the same meaningless arguments we used to have with each other back when I was a kid."

"And that worked?" Matthew asked as he absorbed all the information he had just been given.

"Ita took awhile." Lovino nodded. "Mainly because Toni's such an idiota most of the time and it was hard to get him to cooperate. But after awhile, yeh, he just started to remember."

"How did you know what to do?" Matthew asked.

"The doctor gaveh me some suggestions." Lovino replied with a shrug.

Matthew gave the Italian a surprised looked. "You saw a doctor?"

"Eh, when I first found out, I kind of freaked. I thought the dumbass had brain damage. So first thing I did was drag him to the hospital to get his head checked out."

"Did they find anything?"

"No, they said everything looked normal, can you believe it? So after that I took him to see a psychiatrist. All she did was prescribe him with some medication. That was a disaster…" Lovino cringed. "Haveh you ever seen someone hallucinate before? That's not fun at all, plus he had a hard timeh sleeping. I finally had to take him off the meds for everyone's safety."

"So the medication didn't help at all?" Matthew asked.

"Well, I can't say they didn't do anything. Some of his dreams were at least accurate. Although, I think what helped the most, was to just reintroduce him to all the familiar things." Lovino concluded as he bent over and tucked the bed sheet under the mattress.

"Thank you, Lovino. I really appreciate you telling me this." Matthew said as he gave the southern Italian a soft smile.

Lovino blushed slightly and turned away. "So, can you tell me now who it is that is having the memory problems?" He asked awkwardly. The Canadian looked as if he were contemplating whether or not he wanted to divulge that information just yet. But before he could come up with his decision, Feliciano appeared at the doorway.

"Pizza's ready~" The northern Italian informed happily in a singsong voice.

"Pizza?" Lovino repeated with immediate interest as an involuntary smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. The conversation he had been having before, had already been forgotten by the promise of his favorite food. "You better haveh not put bratwurst on it again like last timeh.." Lovino grouched as he brushed past his twin and headed for the dining room.

"I wouldn't do that, Lovi." Feliciano reassured with a smile as he followed after his brother. "Besides, Matteo didn't have any bratwurst. I checked~!"

Matthew laughed quietly as he heard Lovino groan at his twin's last comment. He then sighed to himself as he finished making the bed. 'He's going to find out whether I want him to or not…' Matthew thought dismally as he turned to follow after them once the bed was finished. 'Al needs to know about this. …I really hope he doesn't get as upset as he did the last time I tried to talk to him about it. I don't want him to get mad and leave again…'

-(SC)-

When Matthew finally came downstairs to join the rest of his housemates for dinner, he caught sight of the disastrous state of his kitchen and immediately cringed. Flour dusted almost the entire counter area and there were splatters of tomato sauce here and there, not to mention the stack of dirty dishes that had yet to be washed and put away. The messy scene had "America was here!" written all over it, but somehow it seemed even worse off than usual.

With a small grumble of irritation, Matthew forced himself to look away and then proceeded to the dining room. Once there, Matthew spotted his twin as he was setting a large pizza onto the table.

"Dudes, this is going to be awesome~" Alfred declared excitedly, a characteristic grin spread across his face.

"Yeh, yeh. Just serve it will you?" Lovino grouched as he sat beside Feliciano.

Matthew sat down as well, next to his polar bear companion. He then watched his twin intently as he took his time slicing the pizza. The happy look on Alfred's face was enough to make Matthew's resolve to talk to him about his memory waver a little. He didn't want to ruin his brother's mood. But he knew he couldn't procrastinate about it any longer. Too many people knew about it now and he was sure even more would find out with time. Not to mention, he had no doubt that Arthur wasn't going to be gentle about this issue. If just to make it less stressful, Matthew wanted to be the first to talk with his brother about his memory. He just hoped it wouldn't end in another horrible argument. Last night had seemed like the perfect time to talk to his twin about it, but now, Matthew just didn't feel quite as confident anymore.

Alfred couldn't help but notice the brooding expression on his brother's face. Matthew had been acting really down ever since the meeting today. Something was definitely on his mind. Alfred couldn't help but worry that it might have something to do with what Arthur had been talking about. Maybe Matthew was upset by how he had answered the questions. In truth, those events Arthur spoke of seemed vague at best or perhaps they had actually never happened at all, Alfred really couldn't tell. He was more than a little confused about the subject, plus ever since Arthur had brought it up, Alfred had had a horrible unrelenting headache. It was so much worse than the slight pain he had felt after experiencing the strange sensation of déjà vu the night before. He would be a fool not to realize that the migraines were happening due to the fact that his mind was trying to recall past events. Alfred knew very well that this was most likely the case. The headaches were a common occurrence whenever he tried to remember anything.

The American forced those thoughts away from himself again as he slid a slice of pizza onto a plate. He really didn't want to dwell on that right now. With a smile he placed the plate in front of his brother, getting his attention. "Try some, Mattie." He urged. "It's got Canadian bacon on it and everything!"

"That's what this is?" Lovino asked as he eyed his slice of pizza critically. "I thought it was ham."

"We were going to just put pepperoni on it, but Matteo didn't have any." Feliciano explained. "So Alfred suggested we use this." He said as he pulled a piece of the bacon off of his slice of pizza. "Try it, Lovi. It's good~" He claimed before placing it in his mouth.

Lovino blushed slightly and looked away from his twin. "It's just ham…" He grumbled.

"It's really good, you guys." Matthew complimented with a smile. He was secretly thankful that Feliciano had been there to keep his brother on track while making dinner. Alfred was actually a really good cook but sometimes, …sometimes he experimented a little too much. Matthew could still remember the time his twin tried to make a strawberry-rhubarb pie years ago. To his surprise, it had actually turned out to be perfectly edible despite how terrible it sounded, though it did take him four tries to perfect the recipe. Hours later however, they were both still trying to clean the oven as well as the kitchen itself, after the second pie had somehow exploded…

Kumajiro was not as impressed as he picked his slice of pizza apart and took what he wanted, which was the cheese and bacon of course.

Matthew looked over to his bear and gave a sigh. "That's kind of rude, Mr. Kumakichi." He quietly scolded. The polar bear simply ignored him as he continued.

"I'm actually surprised he's still hungry." Alfred laughed. "Dude's a horrible cooking assistant, he kept eating the toppings before I could put them on the pizza."

Matthew rolled his eyes at his brother and smirked lightly at the comment. 'That's the only reason he wanted to help in the first place, Al.' He silently mused as he took another bite of pizza.

The rest of dinner went by pleasantly as Alfred joked with the Italies while they ate their pizza. Matthew on the other hand, had stayed mostly quiet throughout the meal as he was consumed by his thoughts. Years ago he had retired almost all of his hope of Alfred ever recovering his memories. He thought he had finally accepted it. But after last month, Matthew had found he could no longer lie to himself about that. Even after so long, he still hadn't truly accepted it. He wanted so badly for Alfred to regain his memories. Now that he had learned that other nations have had similar problems and recovered, Matthew's hope that one day his twin would recover his memories as well, had reignited. Lovino had even given him some extremely useful tips. The only problem now, was Alfred. How would Matthew be able to get him to cooperate, no less get him to realize he even has a memory problem. Alfred was so difficult and stubborn sometimes. Not to mention, he gets easily frustrated when he's uncomfortable with something.

The Canadian sighed heavily as he watched his polar bear companion hop off his chair and head off towards the stairs. He then looked back to his half eaten slice of pizza as he subconsciously chewed on his bottom lip. He really hadn't been hungry to begin with. The stress was beginning to take it's toll it seemed. Matthew covertly shot Alfred a grumpy look as he chatted with Feliciano. 'Why'd you have to go and lose your memories to begin with, Al?' He grumbled inside his head. As if to make Matthew feel even worse, Alfred actually caught the look he had just been given and he returned it with a look of hurt and confusion. Guilt welled up inside Matthew and he quickly looked away. To him, this day felt like it just kept getting worse…

~(TS)~

Kumajiro looked up after he heard the bedroom door open. When he noticed it was only his favorite person's doppelganger, he turned away with disinterest and got comfortable again amongst the soft pillows at the head of the bed. The small bear had left everyone to come upstairs after dinner, where it was quiet. He only vaguely listened as the teen walked over then unzipped his travel bag. Kumajiro could tell that the American had just taken a shower by the damp fragrance that had come in with him. He still didn't understand why people felt they needed to get wet everyday, especially when they weren't even swimming.

A few minutes later the polar bear felt the bed move slightly. He looked up again with bored annoyance, then watched as the teen let out a heavy sigh before falling back onto the bed dispiritedly. Kumajiro tilted his head. This was something he had seen his favorite person do on many occasions but it wasn't very often that he witnessed the doppelganger do the same. The small bear huffed quietly then uncurled from his position and emerged from his nest of pillows.

Alfred rolled his head to the side as his brother's bear plopped down beside him.

"What's wrong?" Kumajiro asked, mild concern evident in his voice.

Alfred slowly frowned before releasing another sigh. "Mattie's been acting really strange today… You think he's mad at me?"

Kumajiro tilted his head again at the odd question. "He's not mad at you." The polar bear started as he gave the teen a small frown. "He's worried about you."

"Huh? Why?" Alfred asked as his eyebrows rose in surprise.

-(SC)-

Now that Matthew had finished his shower, he was bracing himself for the conversation he intended to have with his brother. But he didn't know where to begin or even how to start it, so when he heard soft voices coming from his bedroom, he slowed his approach and lingered outside to listen, although he knew he was simply trying to delay the inevitable.

"He's not mad at you." Came the voice of Matthew's beloved polar bear companion. The Canadian quirked an eyebrow in confusion. What were they talking about? "He's worried about you." He heard Kumajiro finish. A frown slowly formed on Matthew's face, he now had a pretty good idea where their conversation was going.

"Huh? Why?" Matthew heard his twin ask with surprise.

The small polar made an audible huff of annoyance. "He's worried because your memory's broken."

The Canadian's eyes widened at the sudden and undeniable truth his polar bear companion had just told. The teen had been agonizing over this impending conversation ever since the World Conference earlier in the day. Now, just like that, the proverbial cat was out of the bag and he had had absolutely no part in it. The long pause that followed Kumajiro's statement put Matthew into a state of immediate worry.

"…I know it is…" Alfred replied sadly.

Matthew's breath caught in his throat at what he had just heard his brother say. 'He knows?'

"I've known for a long time that something was wrong with me." Alfred admitted, while his brother listened in disbelief.

"Why don't you talk to him about it then?" Kumajiro asked.

"I know I should." Alfred agreed. "Years ago, I thought Mattie was just bringing up the past to try and pick fights with me. That was until the last time we talked about it, ..he totally broke down, remember?" Matthew felt a twinge of pain at the unpleasant memory. "It made me feel so terrible that I just figured if we never spoke about it again then that would probably be for the best…" Alfred explained quietly.

Matthew leaned his weight against the hallway wall outside his bedroom as a wave of realization hit him. 'So that's why Alfie refuses to talk about it anymore… I thought he had just gotten mad at me all those years ago.'

"You're an idiot." Kumajiro replied grumpily. "That's not how you fix a problem. You're just avoiding it." He scolded, making Matthew flinch at his bear's blunt honesty. Kumajiro was always so straightforward with everything he said, especially when he was speaking with Alfred.

"..You're right…" Matthew heard his twin reply after a short pause. He sounded so defeated that it made the Canadian's chest ache in sympathy. "But I can't fix the problem anyway, so isn't it better to just try and ignore it? …That way nobody has to be sad…"

'Oh, Al…' Matthew sighed inside his head as he finally decided to join in on the conversation in spite of the fact that it proved he had been eavesdropping. 'You really are an idiot sometimes…' He thought as he silently pushed the bedroom door open and walked in.

xXx xXx xXx

~(WMD)~

What do you think Mattie's going to say? Do you think he'll finally speak his mind?

Also.. Alfie and Feli aren't the Only ones who eavesdrop!

Part 2 will be out soon.

(WMD's Fun Fact - It's actually quite popular to put Canadian Bacon on pizza and it's usually accompanied with Pineapple.)

When it comes to Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie - Don't knock it till you try it.

Feel free to leave a review~