As Feliciano waited in the line for lunch, he looked out the nearby window. There was a man walking with a grocery bag in his hand on the sidewalk. Feliciano looked back towards the other patients and then down to see his blue scrubs; that man is normal, Feliciano thought as his sorrowful gaze returned to the person outside, and I'm…. not. He realized he never saw borders until he was on the bad side of one; he also never knew freedom until he was in a cage. Feliciano had to hold back his tears as he moved forward in the long line. When he had got up to the section where you grab your eating utensils and your pink tray, he was confused by the labels for the spoons, forks, and knives. The spoons were labeled 'Multi-Purpose Spoons' while the fork and knives were just labeled 'Forks' and 'Knives'. Feliciano knew he should just ignore it but for some reason he wanted to question the weird name for the spoons. What makes the spoons 'multi- purpose', he pondered, and what makes the forks and knives just forks and knives? Feliciano yanked the so-called "Multi-Purpose' spoon and dispensed a fork for himself. He then dropped the thought momentarily when he ordered steamed vegetables and brown rice for lunch. As he went down the line he snatched a banana and a blueberry Light and Fit yogurt cup. When he left the line he noticed a group huddled around the soda fountain and sauntered up to it. Feliciano was not in the mood for any soda so when he grabbed a Styrofoam cup he had just got water and then when to the same seat he sat in this morning. He was the only one sitting there until the boy with the Canadian sweatshirt sat directly across from him; Feliciano was flabbergasted.

The boy talked tenderly and light-heartedly, "Hello."

Feliciano was surprised by the boy's hushed voice, "Um, hi."

"What your name?"

"Feliciano but you can call me Feli, how about you?"

"My name's Matthew. Sorry for not being so social this morning."

Feliciano was ecstatic to finally meet this quiet boy, "Oh no, it's fine. I totally understand."

Matthew smiled and then Matt sat next to the right of the boy while Jett sat on the left. "Hey the kid speaks!" Jett remarked.

Matthew chuckled softly, "Heh, yeah I guess I do."

"What your name, kid?" Matt asked with his mouth full of mashed potatoes.

"Matthew."

Matt swallowed his mashed potatoes, "Is this your first time?"

"No, this is my third."

"Damn!" Jett intervened, "You're pretty quiet for your third time, mate."

Matthew smirked, "Yeah, I get that a lot."

Feliciano asked as Wang sat next to him on the right, "Where did you go the first two times?"

Matthew swallowed the food in his mouth, "Tavernwick and U of M"

Matt groaned, "Oh, not Tavernwick!"

Jett agreed, "Yeah, no wonder you're so coy."

Wang was befuddled and asked, "What's so bad about Tavernwick, aru?"

Jett responded, "You're packed into a room smaller than this cafeteria with thirty-six other crazy kids. All I learned there was how to hurt myself more creatively."

Matt added, "Yeah, plus your bedroom door always has to be open and they check on you like a million times."

Jett chuckled, "One time, I saw a kid try to eat a chair." Feliciano and Wang were shocked, "The best part was that my ambulance people told me Tavernwick was the best place to go."

Matt added, "Oh my God, me too!"

Matthew joined in, "Same here, but U of M was great. They had a swimming pool and everything."

Wang asked Matthew, "So, I don't mean to pry or anything, but why are you here?"

"Suicide attempt."

Feliciano added, "May I ask why you tried to do that?"

Matthew sighed softly, "I always get mistaken for my more popular brother, Alfred. In fact, some people I know really well don't even remember who I am," he frowned, "It's like nobody notices my presence."

Feliciano was saddened by the confession, "We notice you."

Matt added, "Yeah Matthew, you're actually pretty cool!"

Jett nodded, "Yeah, you're a friend in my book."

Wang concurred, "Yes, and a very good one."

Matthew looked at everyone who was so supportive of him and his frown turned into a small smile as his face crimpled up and his eyes overflowed with tears. "T-Thank you!" he sobbed happily, "I've never been t-told that in my entire l-life!" Everyone smiled at the gratifying scene and Jett put his arm around Matthew's shoulders. After a few minutes, Matthew calmed down and adjusted his glasses as he asked, "S-So Feliciano, why are you here?"

Feliciano almost choked on his food, "U-Uh, I shot my friend's hand."

Matthew's violet eyes widened and then returned to their normal state, "Wow, I wish I had the gumption to do something like that. May I ask why?"

"I-I was tired of being criticized by my friend, Ludwig."

Matthew's voice was muffled by a full mouth, "Well friends aren't supposed to be like that, Feli. Are you sure you just didn't want him to be your friend?"

Feliciano stopped eating; want him to be my friend, he contemplated, do I? He frowned and replied sullenly, "I don't know anymore."

Matthew noticed this change in emotions, "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad, I really didn't."

Feliciano was dumbfounded, "No, it's alright. I was going to have to face this sooner or later."

"Oh, okay. Sorry about freaking out."
"It's fine."

Jett asked Wang, "So why are you here?"

Wang was startled by the sudden question, "U-Um, suicide attempt."

Jett was surprised, "Really now?"

"Yes," Wang gulped down his rice, "My parents were trying to covert me to Confucianism but I choose to be agnostic. Plus, my used to be acquaintance Kiku attacked me with a katana the other day, aru."

Matt was in awe, "A katana?!"

"Yes, it left a scar on my backside"

"Damn! You gotta show us sometime."

"I think I'll pass, aru."

Feliciano interrupted, "Is the ice cream good here?"

Jett replied, "Oh yeah, it tastes just like it came from McDonald's."

"Okay, I'll go try it." Feliciano then left his seat and had gotten vanilla ice cream from the dispenser. As he came back to his seat he overheard conversation about Tavernwick and how horrible a place it was. Since this was his first time in a hospital like this, he just sat and listened to them quietly as he ate the delicious soft serve. It does taste like McDonald's ice cream, Feliciano thought. When he finished the sweet treat, he asked Matthew, "So, where are you from? I'm from Italy."

Matthew smiled, "Italy? Cool. I'm from Quebec."

Jett asked, "Are you French-Canadian?"

Matthew nodded, "Yes. I can speak French too."

Wang was surprised, "Really? I speak Chinese."

Feliciano added, "I can speak Italian."

Jett said, "I can speak English pretty well" and everyone laughed in unison. Suddenly, the nurses had concluded lunchtime.

Once back upstairs, Feliciano and Matthew were conversing about their brothers and home life in the middle day room at the far table. "My brother, Lovino, acts tough as nails but cries just as bad as I do."

Matthew nodded, "One time, I told off my brother, Alfred, and he cried!"

"That Alfred sounds like a total jerk."

"Well, not really. When I overdosed on Xanax, I was told he cried in the waiting room."

"Wow, I guess he does care."

Matthew sighed, "Yeah, more than I thought."

"It was the same for me and my brother. In fact, he made me cry today on the phone."

"Heh, yeah I saw that. It was pretty cute."

Feliciano blushed, "So, what do they do when you overdosed?"

"What do they do? Well they make you drink charcoal."

"Charcoal?"

"Yeah, I thought the same thing. But it's just liquid charcoal to make you throw up the meds. I didn't make it to the bathroom in time, though."

Feliciano winced, "That stinks. What did it taste like?"

"Like utter shit."

"Nice."

"So what're you diagnosed with?"

"GAD and depression, how about you?"

"Same."

Feliciano smiled, "Looks like we have more in common than we thought."

"That tends to happen a lot, doesn't it? Meeting similar people."

"Yeah now that I think about it, it does happen a lot!"

Matthew chuckled, "It's funny how life works, isn't it?"

"I'll say."

Character Notes:

1. Mathias will always be called Matt.

2. Matthew : Canada

3. Matthew will always be called Matthew

Hopefully that solves anyone's questions on who's who. :)