Chapter 2

Ivan sat up in bed and yawned. For a moment he was confused. It took him a second to remember how he had gotten there. Eventually, the memories of last night flickered through his head. He was in Matthew's guest bed. He smiled as he thought about last night. It had been a wonderful first date. Definitely the best one he 'd ever had. He rolled out of bed and followed his nose to the kitchen where Matthew was making pancakes -surprise, surprise- and humming a song.

He ginned happily when Ivan bid him a good morning. Ivan sat down at the table dreamily. He watched as the sunlight sparkled in his golden hair, and the gentle sway of his hips as he hummed a song only he knew. His gorgeous violet eyes were still just a little hazy from his time asleep. He admired just how adorable he was in his polar bear pajamas. He glance down at his own. They were a pale yellow and were slightly worn in places, or 'loved' as Matthew said when he presented them to him last night. He could tell that were were memories clinging to the soft fabric. He scrunched his eyebrows in thought. They seemed almost... familiar.

He came back to reality as a smiling blond put a plate of steaming pancakes in front of him. Matthew then spun around and reached into the cabinets above the sink... which was filled completely with different bottles of maple syrup. He flipped on a light switch that filled the large space with a maple glow. It was by far the strangest thing he had ever seen, yet he wasn't even slightly surprised. It only took a moment for him to pick the one he wanted and sit back down at the table.

"Did you sleep well?" Matthew asked as he started to eat his pile-o-pancakes.

"Da, I slept very well. Thank you for letting me stay over. And I called my boss and rescheduled the meeting until next week so I'm free for a while." Ivan said after a mind boggling awesome bite of pancake.

"Really, are you sure that's ok? I'd feel bad if I took you a way from your work." Matthew said sadly.

"Nyet, I am free for the entire week." Ivan said cheerfully. His boss was upset of course, but frankly that didn't matter to him.

"Well... then do you want to do something today? I have a couple of chores to do around the house today, but we can always do them before or after." Matthew said with hopefulness leaking into his voice.

"Da, we can leave whenever your ready." Ivan said as he finished up his yummy pancakes.

Matthew smiles beautifully and nods as he put away his plate. "I just gotta put your laundry from last night in the dryer ,then wake up Kumaffie. so you can just sit in the living room. I won't be too long." Ivan nods and Matthew smiles and leaves the room.

Ivan wandered over to the couch and sits down with a contented sigh, but he grew restless after few minutes. He feet took him down the hallway and up some stairs. He admired everything as he walked. He had known Matthew for about five months, but he had never been invited to his house for whatever reason. Suddenly, he found himself in front of a very plain door. He stared at it for a moment. He knew it was wrong to invade Matthew's privacy bygoing into random rooms in his house. Heaven knows he would be unhappy if anyone tried that in his house. But at the same time he felt the unexplainable need to open the door. He looked around briefly before trying the handle only to find it locked.

He looked at it intensely. He considered giving up and going to wait in the living room like he was asked. Without really knowing why he reached into one of his inner pockets and brought put a skeleton key. He slipped it into the lock and turned it. There was a satisfying click and the door swung open slightly.

He pushed the door open the rest of the way and looked in surprise. Inside was a plain bedroom. The sunlight streamed through the open curtains and brightened the pale yellow paint on the wall. There was a large bed pushed to the edge of the room with thick blankets. There was a knit blanket folded neatly at the foot of the bed. The furniture was white and simple. All in all it was a very normal room, yet it left him winded. Emotions were swirling turbulently as he gazed around the room. Confusion mixed with happiness, peace, and an overwhelming sense of rightness. Like he belonged in that room. He didn't even have these feeling about his own home. He was shocked that such a simple room he never remember seeing before would have such a strong reaction from him. He took a few shaky steps into the room. He was happy but... he still felt something was missing.

He was too distracted to hear the soft footsteps coming down the hallway. There was a slight gasp of surprise form the hallway.

"I-Ivan? What are you doing in here? I thought I had asked you to stay in the other room." Matthew sounded upset and refused to look at anything in the room. He pulled gently on his arm to try to lead him out of the room. Ivan pulled out of his grasp carefully and walked over to the bed.

"Did you make this?" he asked quietly. He brushed against the blanket on the bed.

"Umm...yes. Come on. Lets go to the other room." Matthew then gently pulled the dazed Ivan out of the room.

They went back to the morning room where Kumajrou was dozing on the couch. He still felt the need to back back to that room. Like there was a secret he had to learn about in there, a life changing one. He took one glance at the distressed Matthew and pulled him into a comfortable hug.

"I'm sorry I wandered around your house when you told me not to. Please don't be sad. I don't want you to be sad ever."

Matthew smiled and nodded.

After a few moments he wiggled slightly and Ivan let him go reluctantly.

"...So you can knit?" Ivan asked suddenly.

"Ah, yes quite well I think. I can finish a scarf in about an hour and a hat or mittens in half that. It takes me a while to do blanket though. Why?" Matthew asked curiously.

"Can you... can you make me a scarf?" Ivan would love to get a scarf that he would cherish as much as the one his sister gave him.

"Uh, sure. I know a place in the city that has a lot of yarn. You can pick some if you want." Matthew said in quiet happiness, looking forward to making a scarf for someone who would appreciate it. And with that Ivan shouted an enthusiastic 'lets go!' and dragged Matthew out the door like a child just told they were going to the candy store.

Arthor's note:

Hello! It's TreesAndCheese!

So this is the second chapter of my story. i know i said it would only be two chapters but... i decided it would be more! i hope no one too dissapointed. i thought of a little mini plot for this so i'm gonna go for it! :D

sorry for the late~ish update. i ended up busier then i thought.\ but thats kinda a part of life.

Disclaimer: It's not mine! don't blame me!

i'm not entirely sure when the next chapter will be, but when i have even i vague idea i put it on my profile. It also will have other info, my comments and opions of my stories there. you should read it. if you like this story feel free to wander to my profile and read some of my others.

Please leave a review!

Tons-o-luv

TreesAndCheese