~*~

Chapter Six

~*~

The phone woke Matthew that morning, once again. Clouds were gathering overhead, which was strange in and of itself. The day before had been so… hot. But Matthew was a proud Canadian, and a little cloudy weather wouldn't bring him down.

"Hello?"

"Bonjour, mon belle Mattieu!" Francis sang.

"Oui, bonjour, Francis," Matthew replied.

"Don't forget about me, da?" Ivan asked.

"Morning, Ivan. And what do I owe the plaisir?" Matthew asked.

"Ve vant to see you. Soon," Ivan replied, "Tonight, da? At dat Eenglish pub downtown."

"Oui… oui. Mon Dieu, oui," Matthew replied, and threw the phone back on the receiver. It was only five in the morning…

~*~

"I'm going!" Matthew cried after dinner. Alfred looked up from the book he was reading (!) with a surprised look on his face.

"Where?" he asked.

"Uhh…" Alfred would murder Ivan and Francis if he knew… "Work."

"Oh? You work? Where?" Alfred asked, looking at the clock. It was about seven in the evening.

Uhhh…

"A bar downtown, bye~" Matthew shouted, and ran out of the house before Alfred could start a game of twenty questions with him. He hated to lie, but he had to protect Ivan and Francis.

~*~

"Bonjour, Mattieu!" Francis called, waving the young Canadian to a bar-stool in the between him and Ivan.

"How haf you been, dear Matvey?" Ivan asked, once Matthew was comfortable (or as comfortable as you could get between Ivan and Francis).

"Wonderful…" Matthew replied, looking around the pub. Matthew bristled as he noticed Arthur was behind the bar, mixing an exotic drink for Francis. Arthur hardly noticed him, which was just as well. "… but I had to lie to get here…"

"Da, what deed you tell Alfred?" Ivan asked.

"That I worked here…"

"Here?" Francis asked, a smile on his pale face.

"Well… I didn't say where… I said a bar…" Matthew replied.

Francis whispered something to Arthur, who finally noticed the Canadian man, "He's perfect!" Arthur cried, opening the 'door' of bar. He swept Matthew up and dragged him into a back room.

"What is this, eh?" Matthew asked.

"I need someone as cute as you to be a barmaid. This place is getting so bloody popular, so… I need help," Arthur replied, digging out an outfit for Matthew to put on. He shoved him into a changing room.

Once Matthew was done changing, he came out, dressed in a long-sleeved, dark blue shirt and black pants, complete with a black apron that tied around his waist. Matthew pushed his glasses up his nose and said, "What's the catch, eh?"

"No catch. Just tips and something to do from seven to midnight…" Arthur replied, pushing the Canadian out of the back room and into the fray of bar-maiding.

~*~

Ivan and Francis watched him work from the barstools, Francis sipping his drink and Ivan every once and a while hitting the Frenchman on the arm as Francis said something. Matthew was just about to drop on the floor as some of the last customers left the dining area, but one more person burst in. Before recognizing who the person was, Matthew looked at the clock, it was nearly midnight, and closing was at one, so people had to be cleared out at midnight. Ivan and Francis were still at the bar. They gasped when the person entered, shouting, "Mattie!"

Matthew looked up into the eyes at Alfred, who looked as if he had seen a ghost. Make that three ghosts: Arthur, Ivan, and Francis.

"You work here?" Alfred asked.

"Da, he does, Alfie," Ivan said, his pale eyebrows raised.

"Alfie, darling, how are you?" Francis cried, much to the chagrin of both Alfred and Arthur.

"I would tell you to quit here and now if you didn't… look so…" Alfred stopped talking to blush, "Oh, hi Arthur…"

"Mattie, you know him?" Arthur asked. Recognition spread over the Englishman's face, "Wait… this is the Mattie you—"

"Come on, Mattie, let's go home!" Alfred suddenly shouted, the blush creeping over his nose. He grabbed Matthew's wrist and dragged him toward the door.

"Wait! I have to help clean up!" Matthew shouted.

"No… you're coming home, now!" Alfred growled, causing Matthew to bow his head in submission.

"Keep the uniform, and I hope to see you tomorrow!" Arthur called after him.

~*~

The car ride was agony. Because Matthew had taken the bus downtown to the bar, Alfred had pushed him into the passenger seat and closed the door firmly.

"Look, I'm sorry… I'm sorry I didn't tell you…" Matthew finally said.

"I'm just angry you didn't trust me enough to tell me where you were going. I spent the whole night bar-hopping to find you…" Alfred confessed.

"Are you angry that I work with Arthur?" Matthew asked, "I know you really loved him…"

Alfred sighed, "No… you have every right to work where you want to. To tell you the truth, it wasn't Arthur I was worried about. It was seeing Francis and Ivan again… it's hard to forgive your firsts."

"F-F-Forgive them?" Matthew asked, "What did they do to you?"

"Francis was merely playing a kissing game with everyone under the mistletoe when he caught me, and I was a little… shocked, so I might have thought he was for real… and Ivan? Well, I loved him, and he said he loved me. Then I said I loved him, and he said he wanted me to jump off a cliff… it's hard to forgive them when they do that…"

"That's… that's pretty selfish, Alfie…" Matthew replied, a bit on the blunt side.

Alfred looked like a harpoon had been thrown through his chest. Thank god the car stayed on the road, "Ouch, Mattie…"

"What…?!" Matthew almost whined. He wanted to tell Alfred that he had forgiven the American thousands of times for being a complete asshole to him, for playing with his heart, being sweet at one moment and a complete jerk-off the next. But he steadied himself and said, "I've had to forgive the one I've loved so many times, it's painful to think about… besides, Ivan and Francis have their moments of complete asshole-ness, but they make up for it. Trust me."

Alfred didn't question Matthew further. When they got to Matthew's house, Matthew went upstairs without another word, and Alfred went to the couch, totally drained of any emotion. They both fell asleep as soon as they hit their pillows.

~*~

Ummm... that got just a little angsty at the end, sorry. But Alfred meets his old flame(s) and gets told off by Matthew! Go, Mattie, go!

Anyway... don't ask about Arthur. I wanted Matthew to work at a seedy bar somewhere, and Arthur seemed like the prime candidate to own one. Besides, now the ickle Canadian has yet ANOTHER man after him~

PLEASE REVIEW. Ve~ I'm done.

~Ana~