~*~

Chapter Three: Lovestruck

~*~

Alfred touched his lips once more. Ever since the meeting of Matthew in the snow (when the boy had kissed him, for God's sake), he had absentmindedly felt the boy's lips against his own every once and a while. Not that anyone noticed when he touched his own lips with his fingertips.

He was feeling something for the other blonde, that was for sure. Alfred sometimes felt himself drifting into daydreams about Matthew: his violet-blue eyes, his smile, and most of all his laughter as he and his other busboy coworkers worked together. Matthew was very good friends with both the brothers now, getting up the nerve to visit Feliciano one night. (Lovino had moved out ages ago, apparently.) Something unnerved him, though, about Lovino and Matthew. Lovino was very much like Arthur, in a way: tough on the outside, affectionate and loving on the inside. Alfred looked over longingly as, speak of the devil, Lovino helped Matthew up when he slipped.

"Ve~ Sorry, Mattie… I forgot to put up the 'Caution: Wet Floor' sign…"

"D'accord, Feli, really!" the small blond replied, putting a hand behind his head with an embarrassed blush as the other Italian helped him up. Alfred was snapped out of his head by Ludwig's sharp karate chop to his back.

"Oww~ knock the wind right outta me, why dontcha?" Alfred asked, glaring playfully at his partner in cooking.

"Why don't I, you lazy ass," Ludwig replied, handing the other a spatula, "Pull your weight, or I'm going to tell Arthur that Matt needs to go live with Francis…"

"Not you, too, Ludwig," Alfred whined, but he went to the stove and began cracking some eggs.

~*~

"Francis… you know about love, don't you?" Alfred asked of the Frenchman.

"Mais oui, Alfie-cher, I am French, non?" Francis asked, his voice soothing. If Alfred wasn't careful, he would fall under Francis's spell, and God-knows-what would happen next…

"I… well… when Mattie and I met… he… umm… he…"

"Kissed you? Lucky thing, Alfie…" Francis finished, winking, "Arty told me while we were working a few days ago, when Mattie joined our ranks. Said he was pretty delirious if he was kissing you…" Francis laughed.

Chuckling, the American replied with, "Oh… he told you already…"

"Not saying you wouldn't be a pleasure to kiss, Alfie mon cher," Francis purred. Alfred took a step back, and Francis simply waved the utterance off, "What's on your mind, Alfie-cher? Unless…" the Frenchman paused and his eyes widened almost sadly, "Non… it can't be… tres mal, mon cher… tres, tres mal!"

"What?" Alfred asked, knowing the tone of voice if not understanding the language spoken.

"You don't… You're not in love with le petit Mathieu, are you?" Francis asked, his voice lowering, just in case the violet-eyed boy was listening. He was busy spraying the dishes while Feliciano loaded the dish-washer beside him.

"I'm not… I'm not saying its love, Francis…" Alfred replied, putting a large hand over his mouth to hide the blush that was creeping it's way over his cheeks and nose, "But… it's something…"

"Alfie… mon cher… I heard from Ludwig, who overheard Feliciano and Lovino talking about it… and Lovino's going to ask Matthew out… aujourd'hui."

Alfred blinked, "When?!"

Francis had forgotten that he was talking to an American, "Uhh… I just said. Today… in fact, there he goes…" Francis replied, pointing.

Alfred watched in almost-horror as Lovino breathed in and made his way across the café. The Italian gently tapped the French-Canadian on his shoulder and lead him a little ways from his adopted brother.

"I'm sorry, Alfie… but monsieur Romano got there first…" Francis said sadly.

Arthur suddenly burst from the back, almost crying. He stormed past Francis and Alfred, yelling behind him: "I'm walking home, Alfred. See you later!"

Alfred went wide-eyed. Arthur had come from the kitchen, so Alfred went in there, mostly to get away from the scene in front of him: Matthew was blushing as he moved a section of his blonde hair behind his ear shyly as he (Alfred assumed) said yes to the almost trembling Lovino.

He found Ludwig next to the stove, checking the knobs to see if they were truly off. "What was that?"

"What was what?" the man before Alfred asked.

"Arty. He stormed out of the kitchen to walk home in a snowstorm…" Alfred replied coldly. He was very protective of his friends when it came to it.

"I might have said no to him when he asked me out…" Ludwig replied after a moment, staring too intently at the stove as he spoke.

"What the fuck is your problem, Ludwig. Arthur's a sweet guy once you get to know him. And you do know him! He may look and act tough… but all he ever wanted since coming to work for you was for you to take that stick out of your ass and get to know him!" Alfred knew that he might regret saying all this later, but he was too mad to stop, "What's more, now I have to go to the store and get ice cream and tea for the poor guy! Fuck, Ludwig!"

Ludwig went wide-eyed for a moment, but he said nothing until: "There's someone else…"

Alfred felt like shit after a moment. "Who… so I can explain to Arthur…"

"No. Don't tell Arthur. And if you do get a chance to talk to him… apologize for me…" Ludwig said awkwardly. He put an arm over his stomach to grip his other arm.

"At least tell me who… they… are…?"

"It's Feli…" Ludwig replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

Alfred looked out the window to the rest of the café. Francis had asked the young Italian to do something, and the other was blushing madly and babbling again. Lovino sighed as he awkwardly kissed Matthew on the forehead and went to 'save' Feliciano from himself… again

"I… I hate to tell you, Ludwig… but that kid's head-over-heels with Francis…" Alfred told his boss.

Alfred turned back to Ludwig and saw that the German's face was darkening with red. "I know…" he finally said.

Alfred let the silence slip over them like a wet blanket: unpleasant, and kind of damp. Sighing, he went to leave, but not before glancing over his shoulder at his cooking companion, "Just… think about it for me, okay? Arthur would be forever grateful if you at least gave him a chance…"

Without getting an answer, Alfred left the kitchen, breezing past Feliciano and Lovino to grab Matthew's hand and lead him out into the parking lot and, ultimately, into his car.

~*~

"Arthur! Arty! OI! KIRKLAND!" Alfred yelled once he and Matthew got into the house.

Arthur had taken over the couch since Matthew had been moved to the guest room, where he ultimately had made it his own. Arthur looked up from a wet pillow to his housemates.

"I made a tea-and-ice-cream run, just for you, Arty~" Alfred said.

Arthur simply nodded and went back to the head-in-pillow pose he had been in. Matthew went to the couch and placed his hand on the Brit's back. He then cuddled up to Arthur and began speaking to him in quiet French, soothing words or maybe insults, they all sounded the same to Alfred. (Though he seriously doubted the sweet French-Canadian would insult the heartbroken Brit.)

"I'll… I'll just put the ice cream in the fridge… tell me when you need it," Alfred said, feeling like he had just walked in on his parents or something.

He went into the kitchen and put the ice cream into the fridge. Looking out the window, he knew that it probably wouldn't help that the ice cream was as cold as the weather outside, but it was usually what Arthur wanted after getting his heart broken.

The phone suddenly rang, prying Alfred's eyes away from the snow (Matthew was found in the snow…) and back to reality. He picked up the phone, ready to beat down a telemarketer or something like that. Boy was he surprised to hear Ludwig.

"Alfred… can I… may I speak to Arthur?" the German asked.

"Sure…" Alfred said, a smile playing on his lips. He walked back into the living room. Placing a hand on Matthew's back, he whispered, "Arty… phone for you…"

"Tell them I'm not home," Arthur murmured into the pillow.

Alfred chuckled, "I'm sorry, Ludwig, but—"

Arthur jumped up, knocking Matthew gently off the couch, and grabbed the phone, "Hi, Ludwig. Don't listen to that git…" he walked briskly up the stairs to his room and slammed the door shut like a teenager getting a phone call instead of a grown man.

Alfred chuckled and helped Matthew up, "Looks like we'll be the sad losers eating that ice cream, huh?" he asked.

Not really knowing what he was saying, Matthew replied, quite innocently: "No… just you, Alfred. I've a got a date tomorrow night~"

Alfred felt like an arrow had been thrust through his heart. But it was true. Everyone was getting paired off except him. Matthew realized what he had said and put a hand over his mouth, "No I… I'm sorry, Alfred…"

"No… no worries, Mattie. I'll… yeah. Eat ice cream and maybe… watch a movie or something…" Alfred replied, moving toward the staircase slowly. Matthew watched him like a hurt puppy, but soon Alfred had bolted up the steps into his room, slamming the door shut. The French-Canadian sighed and took the phone back to the kitchen before going to his room, thoroughly confused.

~*~

Translations from French:

D'accord – "Okay" or "It's okay" in this case.

Mais oui – "Of course"

Tres mal, mon cher, tres tres mal! – "(This) is very bad, my dear, very, very bad!"

Le petit Mathieu – "little Matthew"

Aujourd'hui – "today"

~*~

A few notes: since Lovino and Feliciano are adopted brothers, I've given Lovino the full name Lovino Romano, since 'Romano' is a popular last name in Sicily, apparently. Again, this is tres important, for later.

Other than that, all the people only have the heritages of their respective countries, except Matthew and Francis, because they're special (and I'm biased). I think Arthur probably picked up the accent and language from his visits to family in London, but otherwise, still a heritage thing. If anyone can help me with a (good) name for the city they live in, that would be great. I was thinking of Monde (M-oh-nn-d... for phonetics sake) for the city where Matthew and the rest live, and Fou (Foo... again, pronunciation points) for... well... you'll see in Chapter Six, won't you? But any other ideas would be tres beau. I may not use them... but... yeah. Comment whore.

Moving on. Please review and stuff~

Ciao~

~Anastasie~