So, if it isn't obvious, Alice is fem!England and Marie-Elise is fem!France. I couldn't find a canon name for her, but please let me know if one exists. The last chapter felt a bit awkward, but I think I'm getting back into the swing now. On a side note, apologies for the wall of text the greeted you on the last chapter - an update to the site removed all my formatting for some reason. It's been fixed now, but if it does happen again please let me know! Please enjoy this new chapter!
An Unwanted Addition.
How could she possibly look cute when she had to wear a hat all the time? Her parents were so over protective – she was in remission, they could stop fussing over her at any time! They still insisted on dropping her and Matthew off at university every day and driving them wherever else they needed to go, like they were still children. Matty was very nice about it and always said thank you, but he was clearly uncomfortable.
"What about this one?" Alice suggested.
"Mummy, that's purple – I hate purple."
"You didn't like the pink one either."
"What about this red one?"
"It's so masculine looking, though."
Maddie pouted – how could a hat be masculine looking? It was just a beanie.
"What about this one?" Alice suggested, holding the item up for her to inspect "It's got red on, plus it's got adorable little ears."
"I looks like someone scalped a teddy bear." Maddie snorted "I kinda dig it."
She took the hat and tried it on, admiring it in the mirror. Her hair was just poking through underneath, curling around the edges.
"How does it look?" she asked her mother "Cute?"
"It's very darling." Alice agreed "But aren't you a little old for 'cute'?"
"Look at me." Maddie pouted "I'm too dumpy to pull off sexy like Daddy can, and I'm too young to pull of sophisticated like you. I have to be cute."
"Sweetie," Alice cooed, adjusting the hat on her daughters head "'Sexy's not about what you look like. 'Sexy' is all mental. If you're worried about being sexy, can I assume things are going well with Matthew?"
Maddie blushed, busying herself looking at the clips and berets in the accessory shop.
"It's weird." she admitted "It feels like we've always been together. I mean, we've been friends for years, but only online."
"I can relate." Alice sighed "You father and I have always been together." she grimaced "Always."
"Where's Daddy now?"
"Matthew needed some manly things." she told her "I suppose your father remembers where they are."
"'Manly things'?" Maddie thought "What on earth are 'manly things'?"
"...This type is good for curly hair, but this type is specially formulated for blonds, so it depends on which one you want to extenuate." Marie-Elise explained, holding up the bottles of shampoo.
"Do I need to extenuate either?" Matthew asked "The stuff Francis bought home was always pretty good."
"It was probably a salon brand." she figured "You're so lucky to have a stylist for a brother."
"Until he starts going on about split ends. What even are split ends?" he sighed "What kind do you use? Your hair is like that naturally, right?"
"It is." Marie-Elise bragged, running her fingers through her golden locks "But you can't use the same kind I do: it's for women."
"So what, my head will catch fire?" Matty joked, poking around the products on the shelf.
"It smells like vanilla and coconut." she warned.
"Curses! It shall surely turn me gay!" Marie-Elise snorted with laughter.
Her fathers heart really wanted to dislike Matthew, but he was such a cutie that she just couldn't. He and Maddie were very similar, and for being a big boy he was pretty much soft as a marshmallow... not that Marie-Elise was ready for Maddie and Matty to start dating any time soon, but she didn't dislike him as a person.
"Seriously, why do women have so many types of shampoo?" the young man wondered "What's the difference?"
"Honey, that would take all day for me to explain." she told him "Is there anything else you need? We have deodorant, shampoo and conditioner, hand cream, odor eaters … condoms?"
"Marie-Elise, you're a married woman!" Matthew mock exclaimed, causing her to laugh again.
"I'm never going to catch you out, am I?"
"House full of brothers." he reminded her "I could use some lozenges, mind."
Like everything else Matthew had picked up that day, he threw two packs of lozenges into the basket. Marie-Elise subtly took one out and put it back on the shelf. Both she and Alice had noted – Matthew bought two of everything, even things he couldn't use two of, like pairs of gloves and two of exactly the same hat. They figured he must be missing his brother, used to buying everything in pairs because they were twins. His older brothers called about once a week to check on him, but Al hadn't called in a while. Matthew would never last the four years at uni if he was getting homesick now.
"One o'clock." Marie-Elise pointed out to him "Time to meet the ladies on the food court. I'm feeling generous today, so I'll buy you a giant cookie."
"Giant?" Matthew asked "How big can a cookie get?"
"It's as big as his head." Romano marvelled, stared in disbelief at the screen.
"Everything is bigger in America." Al agreed.
"He's in Canada."
"To-may-to, to-mah-to. How long do you think it would take to make a cookie that big?"
"You don't need it." Romano said certainly, shutting the laptop lid.
"Rude."
Romano gave Alfred a look, to which he could only look away. Taking the laptop from Alfred, he got up from the sofa.
"Alright, we had a deal!" he announced "We got Matty's email, now we're going to the gym!"
Al groaned theatrically before going back to his glass of coke, clearly having no intention of moving, but his friend practically slapped it out of his hand.
"Get off your arse!" he demanded.
"I don't want to!" Al argued.
However, Romano wasn't going to take no for an answer this time – he marched into his room, grabbed the pair of jeans from the back of the chair and marched back, holding them up right in front of Al's face.
"You know what these are?" he asked.
"Jeans?" the blond answered obviously.
"Your jeans." Romano told him "The jeans that fit you when we started uni. Do they fit you now?"
No, they most certainly did not. While a few sizes too big for willowy Romano, they were now also several sizes too small for Alfred. Said Alfred looked away guiltily, but that didn't stop him shoving some popcorn into his face.
"STOP EATING YOUR FEELINGS!" Romano shrieked, startling him to the point that he dropped his bowl "I swear to God, Alfred, you are going to fit back in these jeans before Christmas!"
"Why do you care how much I weigh?!" he tried to defend "Go pick up girls or something!"
Romano threw the jeans aside, deadly serious look on his face. Al was more than a little freaked out when he lent down, putting his hands on either side of his face and squashing his chubby cheeks.
"Alfred." he said slowly "You know that jumper Arthur gave you? The one you're wearing right now? It's a hand-me-down. From Ivan. He didn't want it because it was too short."
Well... Alfred suddenly lost his appetite. Romano said nothing else, but released Alfred's face and pointed at his bedroom. Alfred got up, a little difficultly, to change into his gym gear.
Romano was sulking, plodding along on the treadmill beside Alfred's. As one would expect, the gym had plenty of pretty girls in, and handsome Romano had the charm and wiles to spark up a conversation with them. What Romano hadn't expected is that none of them really had anything to talk about...
"Like, seriously, you're totally sulking, like, dude." Alfred teased.
"Shut the fuck up." Romano grumbled "If I never hear the words 'like' or 'totally' ever again it'll be too soon."
"I'm guessing we're not going to try and pull girls at the gym again?"
"I've had more coherent conversations with drunks. At least the girls at the union have an excuse."
"Union?" Alfred asked, slowing the speed on his treadmill to chat.
"The students union?" Romano explained "The pub? On the third floor?"
Alfred shook his head, having no idea what he was talking about, which solicited another lecture from Romano about him getting out more. Alfred sped up the treadmill so that he didn't have to listen, causing Romano to call him a bitch. Romano sighed and went back to his treadmill. He didn't need to lose any weight, and he didn't have enough weight on him to bulk up. Without the option of picking up girls, he was really only here to make sure Alfred didn't sneak out to eat and gorge on ice-cream for an hour. There was really nothing less attractive to Romano than stupid girls, no matter how pretty they were. Maybe he could try the coffee shop? He was bought out of his head when a muscular hand tapped on the control panel of his treadmill. A gym-bunny with a ponytail and a towel wrapped around his shoulders looked up at him.
"I hear you say there was a pub on campus?" he asked.
"Yeah, third floor." Romano confirmed "You know that dodgy looking staircase left of the cafeteria? Right up there. If you find the student counsel offices you've gone too far."
"Cool." the man replied happily "What are the prices like?"
"Cheaper than pubs, more expensive than drinking at home. Where's that accent from?"
"Canada." the young man admitted "I'm here to study History. You?"
"Local boy." Romano admitted "I'm studying catering."
"Lemme guess," the young man joked "Grandpa owns a restaurant?"
"Nah, my dad." he answered, impressed that he figured it out "Carriedos, best food in town, bar none. I'm Romano."
"Jacques." the young man responded, shaking the offered hand "Or Jack. Whatever's easier to say."
Spotting Alfred watching the two of them, Jacques flashed a teasing smile.
"You okay there, chubby?"
"Chubby?!" Al shrieked.
"Ignore chubby over there." Romano told Jacques, gesturing vaguely in his direction "He's fat because he eats his feelings."
"Dude!"
"You can answer back when you have healthy coping strategies!" he barked at him.
"Bad breakup, eh?" Jacques chuckled "Harsh."
"You can both piss off!"
Alfred shut off his machine and went to storm off, clearly upset and probably to buy a bag of chips. Jacques caught him, however, holding up his hands.
"Hey, hey, I'm sorry." he said earnestly "I didn't realise you were sensitive about it: I thought insults were just how you communicated in England. Let's start over."
He held out his hand, smiling pleasantly at unhappy Alfred.
"I'm Jacques." he greeted "How about I buy you two a drink?
" "I'll take you up on that." Romano agreed, stepping off the treadmill "But tubby doesn't need an excuse to consume more calories."
The Canadian looked between the two of them, clearly confused to Romano slapped Alfred arse, causing him to yelp, calling him a pervert.
"Seriously though." he said "You guys need to teach me how the insults thing works here."
"How many more?" Matthew asked.
"Three more." Maddy answered, looking over her reading list "How're your arms holding up?"
"I've lifted trees lighter than this lot."
"Don't exaggerate." she chuckled "Ooh, it's that one there, on the top shelf."
"Why are all your books on the high shelves?" he wondered as he reached up for it, balancing the already fairly large pile of books in his other hand.
"I guess they aren't popular." Maddie supposed.
"'Advanced Mathematical Theory'? I wonder why!"
The textbook was as thick and heavy as a phone book – it really shouldn't be on such a high shelf.
"Grab me one too!" a girl called from the end of the aisle.
Looking around, a bubbly girl the same height as Maddie, arms laden with books, ran towards them. She smiled in a way that was apologetic, but just cheeky enough that you suspected she wasn't sorry at all.
"I thought I'd take advantage while there was a tall person around." she explained "Do you mind, sweetie?"
"Not at all." Matthew obliged, taking another one of them down for her.
"Ooh!" she squealed when she noticed Maddie "You're in my class!"
"Yes, I am." Maddie admitted, feeling a little intimidated by her confidence "I'm Madeline."
"Amelia!" she introduced with a wink "I came up here from Texas and BOY is it cold!"
"I'd be cold too in such a short skirt." Maddie replied.
"Me too." Matty joked.
Amelia laughed a little too loudly, playfully slapping him on the arm.
"You're so funny!" she declared "What's your name?"
"I'm Matthew."
"Wait!" Amelia declared "Maddie and Matty?! That's frickin' adorable! How long have you guys been dating?"
"Uh-"
Amelia danced past Matthew, slipping her arms around Maddies and spinning her around.
"Let's grab a coffee, Mad's, I'm freezing my buns off!" she declared as she started to pull her along.
"Um, okay."
"Come on, Matt's!"
"Red wine." Jacques muttered, almost to himself as he stared at the glass on the table "That's some classy stuff there."
"Pah, this is drain cleaner." Romano corrected "You want classy, Grandpa Giovanni's cousin has a vineyard in Italy – that's stuff's so classy you can't get a bottle for less than £250!"
Jacques just looked at him a moment, then looked at his drink, then back at Romano.
"This is beer." he said plainly "It tastes good. It's not £250 a bottle."
Romano snickered. He looked at Alfred, who sat quietly looking at his diet coke.
"Worn out?" he asked him.
"Yeah." he admitted.
"I'm not surprised." Jacques laughed "You were really gunning it on that treadmill. Keep up that pace and you'll shift that pudge in no time!"
The barmaid called over the music to tell them that their food was ready. Perhaps out of habit, Romano immediately jumped up to fetch it, manoeuvring through the crowd. There was an awkward silence a moment.
"So, what was her name?" Jacques asked.
"Who?" Al replied.
"The girl who ripped out your heart." he elaborated "Seems she tore it up good."
Alfred shook his head, sitting up straight in an attempt to wake himself up a little. The dark and hot atmosphere in here wasn't helping.
"There was no girl." he admitted.
"A boy? You didn't strike me as the type!"
"There wasn't a breakup. Well, not really. Things have just been kind of hard lately."
"I understand if you don't want to talk about it – we've just met, after all."
"Don't you dare try to get him to talk!" Romano chastised as he returned with their plates "He'll never shut up, and I'll have to live with it! Matty this, Matty that, what's he doing, has he met someone... I just got him to shut up last week!"
"Oh, my!" Jacques chuckled "I won't ask again. Matty, huh?"
"Move your trunk, fatty." Romano ordered, kicking Alfred's leg lightly "You're blocking the table."
"You gonna stop with the fat jokes any time soon?" he grumbled back as he moved his leg "It's kinda hurtful, you know!"
"When you fit back in those jeans." Romano promised as he put the plates down.
"That's unreasonable." Al complained.
"No it's not." he disagreed "Asking you to fit in my jeans is unreasonable."
"Al's right." Jacques defended "I know you're trying to help, but constantly calling attention to it is demoralising."
"Easy for you to say, Hercules." Romano replied "I could probably grate cheese on your stomach."
"I don't know about that, but I have crushed a can with my abs. Hey! How about I help you work out?" Jacques offered "It's always more fun to go to the gym with your bros."
"Not my brother." Alfred muttered petulantly, which resulted in Romano shoving some chips into his mouth.
"If you can't say anything nice, plug it up." he spat.
If Jacques had heard him, he didn't let on, smiling at their antics as he took a swig of his beer.
"...And so long story short, I had to eat the whole thing!" Amelia finished, throwing her arm up theatrically "Can you believe that! It was such a pain!"
"That sounds awful." Maddie agreed with a chuckle "All that coconut..."
"Ugh, to this day I can't look at one!"
"My brother Alfred did something very similar." Matthew chipped in "Only with him it was buttermilk icing – he still throws up whenever he sees it now."
"Ooh, you have a brother?" Amelia flirted "Is he cute like you?"
"We're twins." Matty confirmed.
"Identical?!"
"Fraternal, but we're very similar looking. I guess I look more like my older brother Francis than Al."
"House full of brothers?" Amelia groaned "Ugh, tell me about it! I came to Canada to get away from mine, but one went and followed me anyway – he doesn't even like Canada!"
She suddenly turned to Maddie, making her jump. Amelia moved and spoke very quickly, so the laid back pair were having trouble keeping up with her.
"You have any siblings?" she asked.
"Only child." Maddie confirmed, shaking her head.
The American quickly grabbed her hands, staring at her earnestly.
"Be my sister!" she demanded.
"Pardon?"
Matthews phone started ringing. He fished it out with some confusion, frowning when he saw the name.
"God dammit, Al." he swore as he stood to take it outside "He's gonna go bankrupt is he keeps calling my mobile all the time."
Amelia watched him leave, not so subtly checking out his goods. She seemed to come to herself and looked back at Maddie, blushing awkwardly.
"So, how long have you guys been together?" she asked.
"Oh, we aren't... 'together.'" Maddie admitted.
"So he's single?"
Maddie wasn't quite sure what kind of face she pulled when Amelia said that, but the Texan immediately jumped from from her seat to sit right beside her and take her hands.
"Hey, I'm sorry!" she said "You really like him, right?"
Maddie felt her face grow hot, especially as Amelia squeezed her hands reassuringly. After stuttering a moment, she nodded. Amelia groaned, but nodded.
"Okay, I'll back off." she promised.
"Eh?" Maddie replied, surprised that such a confident girl was giving up "Just like that? Don't you like him?"
"I think he's cute as anything." she admitted "But there are cute guys everywhere! The truth is..."
Amelia got a little awkward, scratching the back of her head.
"I have trouble making friends with girls." she said "I had tons of guy friends back in Texas, but all the girls hated me. I don't really know why... I was determined that things were going to be different here! You're in all my classes, so I know we have things in common! Friends don't go after the guys their friends like, so..."
Maddie's heart was touched – she also had trouble making friends, especially since she had spent so much time at home the past few years. Thanks to the cancer she had spent a lot of her secondary school education being home schooled, and was no longer entirely sure how to deal with people her own age in real life...
"I'd like to be friends." she admitted.
Amelia grinned ear-to-ear, squealing happily and kicking her legs.
"Alright!" she declared "Our first quest as BFF's is to find me a cute boy to stalk!"
"Stalk?" Matthew picked up on as he returned "What did I miss?"
"Are there any cute boys in environmental studies, Matty?" Amelia asked him.
"Mostly women." he admitted as he sat down "Just me and this other boy who always wears-"
"Stupid red sunglasses!" she interrupted "My effing brother! Typical! Boo! Hey, we should go out somewhere! Is there anywhere around here?"
"I wouldn't know." Maddie admitted "It's not really my thing."
"Eh, you're a wallflower?! No way!"
"Sorry..."
"I guess we'll find out together then!" Amelia decided "BFF's discovering the world! What do you think, Matty?"
"I think American girls are very energetic."
"Is your camera still not working?"
"Yeah, I don't know why."
"Did you take the camera down the IT shop?"
"Haven't really had time."
"If you damaged it in the move, I'm going to kill you."
Alfred was lying, of course – he just hadn't plugged the camera in. He didn't want Matthew to see how much weight he'd gained. He sat at his desk, muscles still aching from the earlier work out, watching Matty brush his hair through the webcam. He really, really missed him.
"Your computer's fine." he promised his brother "I didn't break anything."
"Hey, what time is it there?" Matthew asked "You sound really tired."
"I went to the gym today."
"Romano picking up girls?" he knew.
"Haha, yeah. I got talked into going regularly, though."
"Trying to get fit before you join the police?"
"Yeah. I didn't realise how unfit I was."
Matthew chuckled, making Al smile.
"Don't overdo it." he urged "You want a free workout, go play football in the park with Michelle."
"Nah, she'd probably win." Alfred admitted "That's not really good for my confidence right now."
"Oh?" Matthew pulled a concerned face "You having a hard time?"
"I miss you." he replied honestly "And people yell at me when I call you."
"That's because you call his phone three times a day, idiot!" Romano yelled through the wall, startling both twins "I suppose you think you're made of money, eh?!"
"Romano!" Matthew laughed "I can hear you across the ocean! How are you doing that?"
"The sheer power of my annoyance!" was the reply, followed by him banging on the way a few times "Turn that down, I'm trying to sleep!"
Alfred plugged in his headphones, Matthews laughing bursting into life in his ears.
"Some things never change." he finished "How are you finding living with him?"
"He's high maintenance." Al admitted.
"This is news to you?"
"Haha, I guess not."
"Hm, maybe you should go to bed." Matty suggested "You sound really out of it."
"On one condition."
"What's that?"
"Read me a story."
"Idiot."
2pCanada and 2pAmerica don't seem to have canon names either - at least none that I could find - but Amelia seemed to be the most popular for fem!America. Romano's kind of being a dick in this chapter, but his heart's in the right place... I think... Please look forward to more soon!