Matthew was shaken awake and he blearily looked around. In front of him was his brother…without rabbit ears. Just normal Alfred staring at him with wide blue eyes filled with nervousness. He stopped shaking him and they both stared at each other for a while.
"Dude!" Alfred cheered and hugged Matthew tightly. Matthew slowly hugged him back, a little sad. Alfred had dragged him out of his dream, forcefully. The dream he'd enjoyed more than real life. His lips still felt heavy after kissing Gilbert like he had. "I was so worried! How much sleep did you get last night? Don't just go passing out in the maze in the middle of a party!"
"I'm sorry, Al," Matthew muttered, patting his brother's back before they pulled back. "Really. I'll try to be more careful."
"And you got yourself hurt," Alfred groaned, looking over Matthew. There were rips on his jacket and pants, the exact places Matthew had brushed against the thorns. There was no blood from when Gilbert licked them clean. "You don't look hurt too bad…" Matthew smiled slightly. "Dude, swear to me you won't do that again! We gotta get you inside to rest properly…"
"I brought the rag you asked for," a familiar voice chimed and a woman sat beside them, wringing out the rag from a little bowl filled with water before looking up. Matthew nearly gasped. This woman…her brown hair, the green eyes, the smile on her face. The only thing that was different was the dress. It was a calm green, rather than a bright red.
"Elizabeta?" Matthew blurted out before he could stop himself. Alfred raised an eyebrow at them curiously.
"It's very nice to meet you, Matthew," Elizabeta smiled and carefully dabbed at his forehead with the rag. It felt nice against his got skin.
"How...how do you know my name?" Matthew asked.
"Uh, dude, it's kinda your party," Alfred shrugged. "Everyone knows who you are." Then, Alfred leaned close to his ear. "And since when could you talk so easily to girls?"
"I don't know," Matthew muttered as Elizabeta smiled at him, looking over his cuts.
"Well, you don't look hurt. I'm glad," Elizabeta gave an even wider smile. "I think you could rejoin the party if you felt up to it."
And that was when it hit Matthew, almost dead on. His party. He'd spent the weeks leading up to it researching and knowing all about the party guests. Their personalities, their hobbies, their personal lives. The people in his dream…they were the guests at the party. Matthew had always been really good at figuring out a person's personality by looking through their personal information and always got it nearly dead on. Elizabeta smiled at him with an offered hand. Elizabeta, a Hungarian married to an Austrian and very high up the political ladder, about to take over after her mother.
"It's alright, a lady doesn't have to help a man up," Alfred said proudly, getting up quickly. Matthew took Elizabeta's offered hand with a smile.
"Thank you," Matthew smiled and Elizabeta smiled right back. "I think…I'd like to go back to the party."
"You sure, man?" Alfred asked him carefully. "If you're still tired…"
"I'm fine, Al, really," Matthew nodded to him. "Elizabeta, if you want help through the maze, I could help you get back as well."
"Well, thank you," Elizabeta laughed. "I had quite a rough time following Alfred through the bushes trying to find you. I'm happy you were alright when we found you. Were you just stressed out about the party?"
"I'm not much of a people person," Matthew admitted with a shrug.
"You looked a little frightened at the beginning of the party," Elizabeta said as Matthew lead her through the maze expertly. It was nothing compared to the forest of his dreams. "I was just about to talk to you before you ran off on your own."
"Sorry about that," Matthew rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just…overwhelmed. I think I'm okay now, though. A good rest was just what I needed."
"To tell you the truth," Elizabeta whispered to him with a smirk playing on her face. "I hate this dress. I'm wearing pants underneath it, I feel more comfortable. I just wish I could go to parties without wearing dresses, but Roderich insisted I look like a proper lady."
"I didn't know that," Matthew smiled. That was in none of the information. But, a lot of stuff wasn't. He really hoped not many other people were drastically different than his dream made them out to be.
"Not a lot of people do," Elizabeta winked just as they left the maze, the party still in full swing. There was delicate music playing while everyone mingled. Matthew easily picked out the people he knew from his dream, the most interesting people he found on their invitation list. Elizabeta pulled him over to Roderich. "Roderich, this is Matthew!"
"A pleasure to meet you," Roderich held out his hand to shake and Matthew took it gladly. He looked far more sophisticated when not in a red suit, Matthew had to admit. He smiled at him. "I believe my wife has already introduced us."
"Yes," Matthew laughed slightly. He glanced back to see his brother looking at him, dumbfounded at the edge of the maze. "I'm sorry, but I believe I should at least greet some of the other guests and apologize for my absence."
"Of course," Elizabeta smiled. "It's your party."
"Right," Matthew nodded. He looked around and saw the closest group to him. Feliciano and Lovino, twins from Italy that were in the wine industry, already taken over their grandfather's company after he died. With them was Kiku, the son of Japanese manufacturing tycoon that was usually quiet and reserved, preferred to not let people get to know him on a deep level. Ludwig, the youngest of a German company that was focused on getting Germany onto clean energy. Little brother of…
They all looked over at him as he walked over. Feliciano was the first to speak, naturally.
"Hello!" Feliciano chimed, grabbing hold of Matthew's hand. "Ciao!" He swiftly kissed both of Matthew's cheeks in greeting and Matthew laughed.
"Idiot," Lovino growled, pulling him back by his collar. They were dressed nearly exactly the same as in Matthew's dream. Maybe he was more observant than he thought he was before he ran away. "What the fuck did I tell you about other people feeling uncomfortable about our greeting?"
"I don't mind at all," Matthew laughed. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."
"A pleasure to meet you as well," Kiku bowed to him and Matthew bowed back. It was a rehearsed move their father made them repeat over and over again so he wouldn't insult the Japanese customs.
"I saw you run away a while ago, is everything alright?" Feliciano asked, genuinely concerned.
"I'm fine, nothing to worry about," Matthew said with a wave of his hand. "I was just…stressed out was all."
"It was nice to meet you," Ludwig said gruffly.
"Likewise," Matthew nodded. He felt happiness rise in his chest. He was so terrified of losing all of these people that he got to know that he forgot that they were all outside of his dreams. It was fantastic to see all of them again. He nearly felt like crying, but he held himself together. For the sake of his new friends.
They talked for a short while before Matthew excused himself again and found another group of people around the punch. Francis, French heir to his father's incredibly successful restaurant chain. Antonio, whose father married into an impressive Spanish banking company. Arthur, the son of the Brit in charge of the company that their father negotiated with the most. And…uh…
Gilbert…Older brother of Ludwig, heir to their company. And the person Matthew had unknowingly gained a crush on when doing his research. He was…attractive, smart, strong, protective…He was the cat that Matthew remembered. Matthew looked at everyone but him.
"Hello," Matthew muttered, feeling oddly more nervous for this part than the others. "I'm terribly sorry for running out earlier. You all have my sincerest apologies."
"Ah, yes, I was wondering why our petit host would leave in such a rush," Francis smirked as he sipped his punch.
"I'm sure Gilbert was worried," Antonio snickered.
"Oi!" Gilbert snapped at them from across the table. He hissed quietly at them. "He doesn't have to know that." Francis merely winked at him.
"Honestly," Arthur scoffed, rolling his eyes. "You are all so obnoxious and immature."
"And you still hang out with us, mon cher," Francis laughed and Arthur shook his head.
"It appears you have a new toy to play with," Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry, lad." He walked away quickly, finding better conversation with Elizabeta and Roderich, leaving Matthew alone with the three that he just knew would get along well when he conducted his research.
"I swear to Gott, if you say a single word-" Gilbert began to threaten his friends, but they were already on either side of Matthew, their arms wrapped around his shoulders.
"Now, Mattie," Antonio laughed. "We've got a few important things to tell you before we leave you two alone."
"What?" Matthew squeaked. No, he really didn't want to be alone. Everyone here was different than in his dream, at least slightly. And that was because he over fantasized their personalities. He'd fallen for the Gilbert he'd overly fantasized in his mind, he didn't want to deal with a letdown or worse if he was left alone with Gilbert. He really didn't want to embarrass himself.
"Oh, don't worry, he won't bite you," Francis snickered. "Yet."
"So you two have a death wish?" Gilbert snapped at both of them and Matthew marveled at how obvious his blush was with his incredibly pale features, he hadn't even though about that. An albino blushing… "And get the fuck off of him."
"You see, there was this little…bet we had going between us," Francis explained.
"Stop!" Gilbert groaned. "Mein Gott, I'll just leave."
"No, no, no, no, no!" Antonio laughed. "We won the bet, because he got drunk off his ass."
"It was a fucking drinking game," Gilbert groaned and Matthew couldn't stop little giggles from escaping his mouth. Yes, Gilbert seemed a little different, but it wasn't bad. Not at all.
"And the rules of this bet were," Francis smirked as Gilbert grew even more red from where he stood, obviously pissed off that he couldn't do anything with this, "to confess all of his feelings that he's had for you."
Matthew's eyes widened as he stood there, stock still. Gilbert's friends laughed before running off, leaving the two of them to stand in awkward silence. Confess his feelings? What? Matthew had only really known him for a day or so. Sure, he saw him on a few other guest lists, he was hard to ignore, but Matthew never really did research on him until this party, specifically.
"Those fucking…" Gilbert groaned after a while, slamming his glass down before quickly moving so that he stood in front of Matthew. "Okay, I'm going to just get this over with, like ripping off a bandage, alright? You're gonna listen to all of it and then you're going to make your decision, only after I'm finished, okay?"
"Sure," Matthew nodded. He honestly couldn't think of anything else to say.
Gilbert muttered something in German as he ran his hand over his face and ruffled up his already messy hair. "Okay, so I've seen you at parties and shit for a while, right? And…I dunno you're fucking cute, it's hard to miss you." Matthew blushed and looked at Gilbert's feet. "And I did research on you. Fuck it, everyone does that. You probably know everything about me." Matthew nodded. He did. He even knew about Gilbert's drinking addiction, which Matthew chose to ignore. "And I like ya, okay? There." He paused and Matthew looked up at him only to find that Gilbert was looking away. This was different from the cat. No confident, husky whispers in the forest, no tricks with teleporting. This was just Gilbert, the person that claimed he was confident and awesome, and at the same time was totally lame. "So? If you wanna yell at me or whatever, I'm okay with that. Just…say…something, I don't know."
"Thank you," Matthew said and Gilbert blinked in confusion before looking right at him. Damn, those red eyes looked even better in person. "No one's ever said that to me before. So, thank you very much."
"Oh, uh, yeah, sure no problem, I'm just awesome like that," Gilbert shrugged.
"And…" Matthew muttered. "I'd have to say…why not give it a try?"
"You mean…?" Gilbert stared at him, confused.
"Yeah," Matthew nodded. "It's the 21st century, why can't we?"
"None of your fucking research said you were gay, it said you were straight, fucking…wrong…" Gilbert grumbled and Matthew laughed.
"I think I might have just recently found it out," Matthew laughed. Sure, he thought he was straight, but during his whole dream, his subconscious was perfectly fine with a man flirting with him. And he got a crush on the man, despite him being straight. Matthew just didn't realize it was a crush until he figured out his feelings for the man in his dreams.
"I'm just so fucking hot, I turn all the straight men gay, is that it?" Gilbert smirked cockily and Matthew laughed.
"Sure," Matthew smiled.
"You know, the information also said you were shy as fuck," Gilbert said, sliding his hands into his pockets.
"I am," Matthew muttered. "I just open up easier to people that I know." He shrugged when Gilbert raised an eyebrow at him. Matthew was sure he'd tell him about that dream eventually, just not that moment. He glanced at the party, looking at the friends that he had made, yet was still in the process of making. Alfred looked impressed from where he stood, hardly paying attention to the conversations he was holding with the various adults at the party.
Matthew bit his lip and quickly went onto the tips of his toes, placing a quick peck on Gilbert's lips when it looked like no one was paying attention to them. His lips were nothing like the cat. They were warm and felt perfect when pressed against Matthew's.
"Wanna dance, Birdie?" Gilbert laughed slightly and Matthew noticed a flash of a camera. He glanced over and saw Elizabeta hiding something behind her back while Roderich scolded her and Kiku rushed to the napkins.
"I'd be happy to," Matthew smiled. "But my name's not Birdie."
"I know, I just like the nickname," Gilbert shrugged.
Yeah, they were different. But it was okay. He looked forward to getting to know his friends all over again. And this time he wouldn't dare wake up from his dream.
His Wonderland.
I enjoyed this very much! I loved the idea of his mind helping prepare him for a party by making him go through a dream with the people he liked most at the party. I enjoyed it a lot. Matthew's extremely observant as a wall flower and he did a lot of research, which is why the dream people were so close to the real people. And I tried to make the ending not cheesy, but I loved the way I ended it, so it's fine.
Please tell me what you thought of this story! And Happy Holidays! To every holiday people celebrate this time of year!
I do not and never will own Hetalia!