The man standing on the other side of the room turned to face Lovino, and they both started screaming. For some reason, Matthew was hanging out in Lovino's kitchen, uninvited. He didn't even knock or ring the doorbell, just waltzed in.
"What the fuck are you doing in my kitchen," he asked more calmly this time. "How the fuck did you get in my house? Where the fuck did you come from? Why the fuck do you know where I live?" He asked the questions so rapidly that Matthew never got the chance to answer any of them. With each "fuck" that Lovino uttered, Matthew shrank back a bit more until he was nearly leaning against the wall.
"I can explain," was all that he said in response to Lovino's string of obscene questions.
"Be my guest," Lovino's face was red by the time he had stopped yelling. He was a deadly combination of mad and confused.
"Okay. It was just after I left the bookstore last night. I unchained my bike from yours—sorry about that by the way—and I remembered that I left my cellphone in the bookstore so I ran back to get it, but you had already left and locked the door. I stood there for a while before I decided that I could come back the next morning to get it, so I did. Luckily, when I went to look for it, it was still sitting where I had left it."
"That doesn't explain why you are in my fucking kitchen."
"Oh yeah." Matthew scratched his neck. "About that," he paused. "Your house looks a lot like the one over there." He gestured in the general direction of Gilbert's house.
"What about Gilbert's house?"
"Gilbert's my boyfriend. I left my coat at his house earlier, and I was going back to get it, but I forgot the spare key that he gave me, so I used the one that he hid under the mat. I guess you keep your key under the mat too. You know, that's not a good place to hide it. Anyway, I made it into the kitchen before I realized that I was in the wrong house. Whoops."
"Are you on drugs or something?"
"I don't think so. Why?"
"Because you just strolled into the wrong house without noticing!"
"Sorry," Matthew shrank back again. "Can I go now?"
"Please." Matthew turned to leave. "Wait."
"Hmm?"
"Why on earth would you willingly date Gilbert?"
"I don't know," Matthew replied before he turned and ran out of the kitchen and through the front door, slamming it behind him.
The only thing that Lovino could do after Matthew left was stand in his kitchen, wondering what the hell had just happened.
Lovino's headache had returned, way worse than before, and the fact that Feliciano just burst through the door—like he always did—was not helping him one bit. Ludwig followed him through the door.
"Feli, would you please calm down," he sighed as he closed the door behind him.
"But there's so many things to be happy about!" Feliciano ran into the living room, looking for Lovino. "Fratello, we're home!"
"I'm in the kitchen, but will you please quiet down." He said the last few words with a small breath in between each one, in the only tone that Feliciano listened to.
Feliciano stepped into the kitchen. "Sorry, but I'm just so excited," he said quietly.
"That's new," Lovino replied sarcastically.
"Are you going to ask me why I'm so excited?"
"Fine. Why are you excited?"
"Because Ludwig wants me to move in with him!"
"WHAT," Lovino shouted, more out of surprise than question, which he regretted because it only worsened the pain in his forehead.
"Ludwig wants me to live with him," Feliciano repeated.
"I heard you the first time. Why do you… what could even… how…?" Lovino was speechless. This was the last thing he wanted.
"Ever since Mama died, all you've worried about is me. I don't want to ruin your life by not being able to take care of myself."
"You're not ruining my life." Lovino pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "You barely even know Ludwig. Why the hell do you want to live with him?"
"I've known him for five years. We've been dating for three. I trust him, and I don't want to live here anymore!"
Lovino scoffed, slightly offended. "Where is he?"
"Who?"
"Ludwig. Where is he?"
"Out in the living room, I think," Feliciano replied. He had calmed down, but for some reason he was crying. Lovino went through the doorway that led to the living room and noticed Ludwig looking at the framed pictures they had on their fireplace.
"Hey Ludwig, I've got some dickish things to say to you!" Ludwig turned to look at Lovino.
"If you're going to insult me now, go ahead," he replied.
"How dare you invite Feliciano to move in with you?"
"I just thought it would make both of our lives easier. You won't have to support him anymore."
"And you will. Do you not understand that Feli. He's…"
"He's what?"
"Ever since our parents died, he's been… different."
"Different? How?"
"I don't know, but he's just not the same; he needs to be protected."
"I am very well capable of protecting Feliciano," Ludwig said as he sat down on the couch. "You know that."
"You're not qualified to make that decision, buddy," Lovino responded as he crossed the room to where Ludwig was sitting.
"Where is Feliciano right now?"
"In the kitchen. Why?"
"Because his decision is the only one that matters."
Lovino rolled his eyes. "Fratello, get in here!"
Feliciano nearly fell through the doorway before he straightened himself out. "I wasn't eavesdropping."
"Yeah, whatever," Lovino scoffed. "So do you want to move in with Ludwig or not?"
"I already said that I did," Feliciano replied as he sat next to Ludwig.
Lovino sighed. "Fine. I don't see why not." He turned to Ludwig. "But if you lay a single finger on him, I will—"
"I know," Ludwig interrupted.
"Yay," Feliciano cheered as he jumped out of his seat and grabbed Ludwig by the arm. "Come on Ludwig. Help me pack." He pulled Ludwig out of the room as he spouted about how excited he was.
"I need a drink," Lovino whispered to himself, but instead of getting one, he just went to his bedroom and slept until the next morning.
Lovino didn't intend to sleep that long, but not until he heard his alarm go off did he realize that it was the next day. He couldn't miss any more work so he forced himself to get out of bed and put clean clothes on.
When Lovino finished getting dressed and eating breakfast and doing everything else he needed to, he was out the door. He walked over to the side of the house where he kept his bike, but instead of seeing the bike leaning against the wall, it was gone, and there was a small piece of paper sitting on the ground. Lovino picked up the small scrap of paper and noticed that there was a note on it.
Had to take your bike for reasons.
Sorry.
-Gilbert
Okay, now he had crossed the line. Sure, catcalling and hitting on him was bad enough already, especially since Gilbert already had a boyfriend, but stealing his things—that was not okay.
He walked up to the Gilbert's door and knocked, then waited a few moments. Maybe he finally got a job. He waited a bit longer, and when no one answered, he left.
What is going on? Lovino considered calling the police, but there wasn't much they could, or would, do about a missing bike, so Lovino made his way to the bus stop around the corner and waited for the bus to pick him up.
He didn't have to wait for long; the bus pulled up only a few minutes after Lovino arrived by the sign. He got on, paid the fare, and sat down at the front, hoping no one would sit next to him. He was not in the mood to interact with anyone, let alone strangers.
He was so lost in thought—staring out the window—that he didn't notice at the next stop that someone had, in fact, sat down next to him.
When Lovino looked up at the man sitting next to him, he let out an exasperated sigh. "Of course it's you."
"Oh, hi Lovino," Matthew replied cheerfully and smiled.
Lovino closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. "Why do I keep running into you," he said more to himself than Matthew.
"I don't know." Matthew shrugged.
Lovino went back to looking out the window, but Matthew interrupted his few seconds of silence.
"Hey, do you know where Gilbert went. I've tried calling and texting him, but he won't answer."
"No, I don't know where he went, and I don't care. That bastard stole my bike, so he could be dying in a ditch and I would not give one single fuck."
Matthew didn't respond, but he kept staring at Lovino. After a while, Lovino noticed Matthew staring at him. "What do you want?"
"What? Nothing." Matthew looked away, and the bus yanked to a stop. "This is my stop. Bye."
Lovino didn't say goodbye, but he made some sort of noise in response as Matthew stood up and put his backpack over his shoulder.
The bookstore was a few stops after Matthew's, and it was just across the street from the Lovino's stop. Lovino got off the bus and checked the time on his phone. He still had a half an hour before the bookstore opened, so he decided to get coffee.
The closest Starbucks was right next to the bookstore, and it was connected by a glass door so people could buy coffee, and then come read books in the shop. It wasn't a bad idea, but it always pissed Lovino off when people left coffee cups on the bookshelves and tables and left it to him to clean them up.
Lovino pushed through the front door, making the little bell above it ding. He walked up to counter, too tired to notice who was standing behind it.
"Welcome to Starbucks, what can I— Lovino?"
"What? How do you…" he looked up. "Oh my God."
Matthew was standing there, smiling at Lovino in his green Starbucks logo apron. "How are you?"
Lovino didn't answer. "Just give me my coffee."
"You're gonna need to be more specific."
"Coffee," was all that Lovino responded. He was too tired to care.
"Um. Alright. Coffee." Matthew turned and disappeared behind a big metal machine.
There was no one in line behind Lovino, in fact, there was no one else in the building at all except for him and Matthew. He checked his phone again. It was 7:35, so he still had quite some time before he had to get to work. He could always open the shop early if he wanted to; he doubted anyone would care. It would probably his only chance to be completely alone for the rest of the day because at exactly 10:05 every morning, Lovino's coworker, Antonio, showed up five minutes late, with his obnoxious smile and perpetual happiness. It made Lovino sick, but he had to admit it had to be better than working with that creepy Russian guy at the diner across the street. Lovino went there once, and never went back.
Matthew emerged from behind the silver hunk of metal holding two coffee cups. "One for you," he said as he handed it to Lovino. "And one for me." He took a drink nearly spit it out. "Damn it that is hot."
Lovino took a sip as well, and it was probably as hot as Matthew's, but he didn't even react to it. He liked his coffee black and bitter, like his soul.
For five minutes, it was silent. Not an awkward silence, but a relaxing one, just how Lovino liked it, but then Matthew had to ruin it.
"So, do you like working at the bookstore?"
"Yeah, I guess," Lovino responded, unwilling to elaborate. Again, it was silent. Again, it was just the two of them drinking coffee.
Then they heard the bell above the door ring as a group of high school-aged girls with backpacks stepped through, talking loudly and laughing. Lovino noticed them and moved away from the counter so they could order. He sat down at one of the tables by the big window in the front of the store and continued drinking his coffee.
Lovino was content just sitting there, drowning out the chatter of the teenage girls with his own thoughts, until he noticed two of the girls looking at him and whispering to each other, occasionally giggling. He tried not to let it get to him, but it was hard when they were being too quiet for him to understand what they were saying. He eventually looked away from them and continued to stare at the window until he saw in the reflection that the red-head was approaching him. He turned to look at her. She was blushing and giggling.
"Hello," she said.
"What do you want," Lovino replied in the most annoyed tone he could manage, hoping the girl would go away.
"Um," she giggled. "My friend thinks you're cute."
Lovino was expecting this. For some reason, he was a teenage girl magnet, which became a huge problem considering he was 23 years old. Did he really look like a high school student? Whatever it was, it was annoying as hell.
"That's nice." He got up and walked over to the door that led to the bookstore. He unlocked it and stepped into the shop. Matthew noticed that he was leaving and waved.
"Bye, Lovino."
Lovino didn't reply, just shut the door behind him and locked it until the bookstore opened at 8:00.
Going to that small Starbucks every morning became a tradition for Lovino. He began to take the bus instead of riding his bike so he could get there earlier and talk to Matthew. Well, that and the fact that Gilbert still hadn't brought Lovino's bike back. In fact, Lovino hadn't seen Gilbert in nearly a week. His mail was piling up in the mailbox, and his yard remained unraked and overgrown.
Lovino didn't worry about Gilbert, though, because he knew he would be back. There was one time before that Gilbert stole his bike—the first day that he moved in next to Lovino— and he brought it back the next day.
To Lovino's surprise, when he checked the side of the house, his bike was exactly where it was before Gilbert took it about a week ago. Next to it was another piece of paper, and again, it had a note written on it in messy handwriting.
Thanks, bro
-Gilbert
Bro? That's new. Whatever. It was better than all the other "compliments" Gilbert used to shout at him as he rode by.
As usual, Lovino ordered his coffee as he chatted with Matthew about anything and everything. Lovino thought Matthew was strange at first, but after a couple weeks of visiting with him, he learned that the two weren't all that different.
However, everything changed one morning. It was early April, and the snow that had fallen nearly a month ago was finally starting to melt. Lovino had spent almost every morning of the last few weeks talking to Matthew. It was all that he looked forward to. Since Feliciano had left a while ago, Lovino often found himself with nothing to do except sit and stare at the wall, bored out of his mind.
On this one beautiful April morning, when the flower buds sprang open for the first time, Matthew seemed to be acting rather different. Normally, on a day as beautiful as today, Matthew would be flourishing, rambling about how he loved the way the maple trees were finally green again. However, today he was distracted. More than once, Matthew took a few moments to respond when Lovino changed the subject of the conversation, or asked Matthew something about his life.
"Are you alright," he asked. Lovino never thought of himself as a caring person, but it was hard not to worry about Matthew's current state when he was usually so cheerful.
About a week after these morning visits became a tradition, the two had started getting off the bus at the same stop, and they arrived at the coffee shop about a half an hour earlier than they did before.
Matthew was staring out the window, his darker-than-usual eyes absorbing the sunlight rather than reflecting it as it usually did. He slowly turned his head to look at Lovino. "Hmm?"
"I said are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine," he replied.
They were both sitting at the table Lovino had claimed the first day he came in here about a month ago. "No you're not." Lovino may not be the best at reading emotions, but it wasn't hard for him to tell that Matthew was acting differently.
"Yeah. You're right." Matthew looked up as he heard the door open and saw someone step through. Lovino turned to see what he was staring at. He sighed when he recognized the obnoxious silver hair and red, piercing eyes of Gilbert Beilschmitd.
"Why are you here," Matthew jeered as Gilbert approached their table.
"I could ask the same about him," Gilbert replied, gesturing at Lovino.
Matthew stood up. "He's my friend. He actually cares about me," Matthew said while pointing at Lovino but still glaring at Gilbert. "Now why are you here?" He jabbed Gilbert's chest when he said 'you.'
"I came to get my spare key that I gave you for some stupid reason."
"Fine." Matthew dug through his pocket for a moment. "Take it." He shoved it towards Gilbert, who took it and immediately turned to leave. "Bye. See you later losers."
"I hate you," Matthew shouted as Gilbert left the building and slammed the door.
"Is that why you're so…," Lovino started. "Sad?"
"I'm not sad, just angry. I could never be sad over losing Gilbert." Matthew sat down again, his face redder than before.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"
Matthew sat quietly for a while before replying. "He… I don't even know why I started dating him in the first place. I knew he was an asshole, but I never thought that he would…" Matthew paused. "I never thought that he would cheat on me."
"He cheated on you? With who?"
"I have no idea. I didn't actually catch him in the act, but I had been suspicious for quite some time. I think he knew that I was catching on because he started acting all weird. Like, he would be gone for a few days without warning, and when he got back he would have such a lame excuse. It was always, 'Sorry, Matthew. It was a family emergency,' or 'I had something I needed to take care of.' I can't believe that I actually believed him. Anyway, last night, I couldn't take it anymore so I upright confronted him about it, and guess what. He actually admitted to cheating on me, like he didn't even care." Matthew leant back in his chair and scoffed. "I just… I'm more pissed off than anything else."
"Well you should be," Lovino responded. It was silent for a while before Matthew spoke again.
"Will you help me find out who he was cheating on me with? Then we can both get revenge on Gilbert, and, of course, you can also help too."
Lovino thought about Matthew's proposal for a moment. It wasn't like they were best friends or anything; they hadn't talked to each other anywhere outside of this coffee shop. Lovino didn't know if he really wanted to get involved in Matthew's personal life or not… But then again, he would never pass up an opportunity to punch Gilbert in the face.
"Eh." Lovino shrugged. "Why the hell not? I have nothing to lose. I should probably go to work now." He stood up. "Bye."
"Meet me here tomorrow, we'll start making plans," Matthew shouted as Lovino walked toward the bookstore.
"Tomorrow is Saturday. I don't work on Saturdays," Lovino replied.
"Well come anyway," Matthew said as if it were obvious.
Lovino couldn't help but smile just a little bit. "Fine."