Matthew had to admit, he found it a little awkward sharing a bed with his brother. They both lay in silence, aware that the other was awake but treating them as if asleep while trying their best not to move and breach the other's space.

A couple of times Alfred would have a moment of restlessness that inspired him to jump from the bed and pace the room. Sometimes he'd turn towards the door and wave his hand like he was considering leaving the room, but then he'd shake his head and continue to pace.

The first few times that happened Matthew would ask what was going on or if Alfred was okay. He tried to reach out and let his brother talk but each time Alfred would just brush him off and get back into the bed. At some point, Matthew gave up and let his brother continue the cycle. There was nothing to ask when there was never an answer. Why would that change now after so many years...

So Matthew rolled with his back to Alfred, shutting his eyes and trying to sleep. It didn't come to him. He knew his brother was trying to be quiet but Matthew could hear his clothes rustling as he paced and occasionally muttered.

"Fuck, it's only 11:15? Fuck this," Alfred murmured and sighed. At least that served as a timestamp for when the drama kicked up barely a moment later.

Alfred jerked when a ringtone blasted through the house followed by a loud and concerning thump as if something had been pelted at a wall. The ringtone continued, cutting into the silence of the night.

"What the fuck?!" Alfred ran from the room and to the source of the sound, which was his own bedroom. Matthew jumped up to follow because if something was happening he wanted to be in on it and have all the benefits that came with being so close to his secondary victims.

"-I know, just let me do it- I can-" Antonio was saying as he pushed Gilbert off him, who was swiping for what was presumably his own phone and presumably someone he hated on the line by the way he was aggressively giving the phone the finger to make up for his lack of voice.

"Hey, what's happening?" Alfred addressed them both as he tried to neutralise Gilbert with a bear hug. "Bro, just chill and let Toni explain- Oh shit Toni your hand!"

"It's fine," Antonio dismissed even though thin lines of blood were trickling down his arm because Gilbert's phone screen had shattered and was now digging into his hand. "It's his Grandfather-"

Gilbert made an ugly growling noise before his eyes darted past everyone and landed on Feliciano lingering behind them, widening with conflicting turmoil.

"Amigo, I'm going to answer-"

Gilbert tried to fight Antonio for the phone but Alfred was stronger. Then Feliciano started crying about how they shouldn't be fighting because they're friends while Kiku handed him a tissue and pulled him back.

"I'm gonna go in there," Antonio chuckled nervously as he slipped into the living room and Alfred held Gilbert back.

"Dude, it's probably important so just let Toni take it. You can't talk anyways so no one can make you talk to him."

Gilbert just slumped with an ugly face and Feliciano ran to start a group hug. Matthew edged away to be out of sight from the doorway as he listened to Antonio pick up, doing his best to tune the others out so he could hear the call.

"Hi, it's Antonio! Sorry if you were waiting, we were asleep-"

Antonio seemed to cringe when he was cut off.

"Oh, sorry, Gilbert can't speak right now-"

It wasn't on speaker, so Matthew would have to try and work it out from half the conversation.

"He's not asleep! He just can't speak at all. He lost his voice..."

Matthew didn't know what Gilbert's grandfather would want to speak to him about, but he got the impression that the Chief was persistent. Something Matthew already knew and something the Chief shared with his grandsons.

"Right, sorry... sir." Antonio's shoulders slumped. "I can pass on a message if you'd like me to?"

Antonio looked like he was floundering, like he understood the conversation as much as Matthew did. But he still persisted.

"We're not there, we're staying with a friend, sir."

"Because he didn't want to stay there without... um," Antonio hesitated, and Matthew knew why. He was unsure if it was best to say Ludwig's name at all and risk emotions, or be condescending and not be abrupt. Matthew could pick up on Antonio's dilemma because it was something he'd been forced to consider so many times before and he could walk a mile in anyone else's shoes while his had never been broken in.

"-Ludwig, sir."

"Sir, it's just me, Gilbert and Feliciano staying-"

"Man, this asshole's a real hardass like, Toni's trying to help him and he's just flexing by making him call him 'sir' and shit!" Alfred muttered as he leaned by Matthew, eavesdropping as Antonio paced while holding a bloodied tissue to his hand.

Matthew thought his brother was just saying it for the sake of saying it, ranting to himself as he often does so Matthew didn't bother to reply to the shared sentiment. Gilbert's Grandfather sounds like the kind of man Matthew would hate to be exposed to and resent for being treated like such. Matthew already resented him for the media blackout stunt, but now he could see that the man just thought himself superior and was comfortable treating others however he liked.

"With Alfred, sir," Antonio looked both exasperated, intimidated and entirely exhausted as he sent an apologetic glance to Alfred, who had snapped up when he heard his name.

"Alfred Jones."

"What the fuck?" Alfred muttered. "What's with the fucking interrogation?"

"He can't come now-! Uh, sir, it's late and there's the curfew-"

"No, please, uh, I think it would be best if he slept tonight-"

"What is this?" Alfred sneered. "Fuck, are these guys fascists or what? Is that asshole gonna just make people come to him whenever he wants?! What would he even want Gilbert for anyways?! To actually make sure he's alright? As if."

"I know, sir, we can come to the station in the morning?" Antonio sounded like he was pleading as he continued to pace, one hand covering the ear not to the phone as if to block Alfred out. Alfred continued to rant under his breath and Matthew tuned him out too.

"Well I think that Gilbert could use the support so I should go. Sorry, sir, could you tell me what you wanted him for? Did you have some kind of breakthrough-"

Antonio went pale as he listened to the Chief of Police talk on the other side of the phone.

"I was there so uh, I suppose I'll need to come anyway. If you'd prefer, I could just tell you about it now-"

"Okay, yes... sir."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow sir. Goodb- ah, okay. He hung up."

"What's the fucking deal with him? He's acting like a real asshole," Alfred commented. "Toni, tell me everything, what the fuck was that about?"

"Maybe he's grieving, you know how much he loved Ludwig," Antonio shook his head and Alfred huffed at the statement. "I wish..."

"What?" Alfred asked.

"I don't really know," Antonio chuckled as he gingerly put Gilbert's phone down on the kitchen bench and grimaced at his hand, spurring Alfred to snap his fingers off before running off.

"B-R-B, I'll get some bandaids." Alfred ran back in a second later and offered them to Antonio. "Good thing they were already out, huh?"

Matthew watched as Alfred helped stick them on his friend's hand and continued to listen as he lingered. Trying to figure out what the Chief of Police, Gilbert's grandfather could want him for. Alfred would probably want to know too, so Matthew figured it was just a matter of waiting for his twin to ask before trusting Antonio spilled.

"Lucky us," Antonio chuckled. "I wish I could drink."

"Yooo same but absolutely not," Alfred jokingly wagged a finger in front of Antonio.

"Maybe give Gilbert something, it might help his throat."

"Press X to doubt," Alfred laughed. "No one's touching the good hard stuff while we're having this sleepover."

"It would help with what I have to tell him," Antonio disclosed with worried eyes glancing at Alfred's door.

"Yeah, he's really not gonna be happy about having to go to the police station for some reason. What's the reason?"

"I wish I didn't have to tell him..." Antonio's lip wobbled. "I think you'll have come with us."

"For moral support? I'm all on it dontcha worry."

"No, amigo... Ludwig called us last night."

Oh, the call. Matthew didn't react outwardly, his face stayed exactly the same but inwardly he knew he shouldn't be surprised. If they were investigating Ludwig then of course they'd check his call logs. But they didn't have a time stamp for when he died, because Matthew had taken all the cameras from the car and they only had an estimate from an autopsy-

The shop camera footage. That would narrow it down for sure. If Ludwig was alive when the call ended and dead when the car crashed, it would give the police a window. A small one.

So what? He shouldn't overthink it. Couldn't. Matthew had to have faith in himself that he cleaned up well enough.

"Shit, that," Alfred's face became serious and he hunched forward. "Yeah, you know I know about that. So is it just like... protocol? Or something? Did they just get around to checking Lud's phone records-"

"No..." Antonio looked guilty for cutting Alfred off. "He called us right before he... you know. Apparently moments before. So the Chief wants to talk about that."

There it is. Even if it was just protocol, they would've noticed eventually. But if the Chief knew it was moments before then they already had their window. So was the rest just protocol? Was the Chief just trying to find something, anything he could use?

"So just before he died, he called Gil? Shit, I knew he called at some point but what the fuck? Fuuuck, is Gil gonna be okay?"

"Probably not."

Matthew tried to mentally go back to the call and remember the details but he didn't think there was anything that could give the police more clues. Whether the police thought that was a different story. Shit, now he was overthinking it.

"What if we just didn't tell him? Cus he already knew he called but he doesn't have to know that it was right before? I know it's lying but it's good lying."

Someone brushed past Matthew, making him flinch while Antonio and Alfred jolted when Gilbert suddenly appeared and shoved a phone in their faces.

"Ah fuck, I'm not wearing my glasses," Alfred muttered as he squinted at the text Gilbert was trying to show them. "Fuck, why do I have to be defected? Hang on I'll just squint harder-"

"'What did that asshole want?'" Antonio read aloud before glancing away guiltily. "He wants us to come into the station tomorrow. To interview us."

Gilbert began hastily typing.

"'Is that fucking it why would he call in the middle of the night with the personal number if it's going to be about shit like that when he could just text or wait until the morning fuck him'"

"That's a good point, why couldn't he do that?" Alfred scoffed. "Dude only cares about one thing, huh?"

"Maybe he forgot what time it was? The police have been working hard?" Antonio cringed with a conflicted look as he sighed and turned to Gilbert. "He knows Ludwig called us."

Gilbert looked disgustingly angry as he began pacing and pulling at his hair.

"It's just standard stuff, right?" Alfred shrugged. "Protocol and all that. Chief Grandpa doesn't know what the call's about so you don't have to tell him that Lud somehow figured out you were doing illegal shit."

Maybe it was protocol, or it was trying to piece together a picture of the night. The police would be looking for details that Gilbert or Antonio wouldn't think twice about because they didn't know the significance of them. Matthew relaxed because there were no details. He couldn't remember the call beat for beat, but he could remember the feeling afterwards that everything was still going to plan.

He just had to trust that.

"Then we'd be lying amigo, I don't know if that would actually be helpful..."

Gilbert was typing.

"'Opa CAN'T know what we were doing.'"

Gilbert's look of desperation was sad. Matthew watched with morbid interest. Why didn't Gilbert want his grandfather to know? Probably due to their obviously strained relationship, right? That and the man was the Chief of police. Regardless, Matthew had never seen Gilbert desperate like this before. It was entertaining.

"Look, just twist it a little bit," Alfred said with a confident smile. "You've got until tomorrow to work out what you're gonna say and since it was a personal call it probably wouldn't be too helpful."

"Ah, I'm not sure how much we can lie about amigo... I think you'll need to come with us because it was about you."

Right, Matthew gave that a second thought.

"What?! But Gilbert said-!"

"It... after everything that happened... it just kind of slipped from my mind to tell you that Ludwig knew what you were doing," Antonio said apologetically.

That could be a problem.

"He knew?!" Alfred balked, a hand flying to his hair and tugging as eyes went wide. "How?!"

"I don't know."

If they didn't know, neither would the police and then they'd know to focus on that angle. Who knows what they could analyse and profile from that.

Gilbert was shoving the phone in Antonio's face with a steady hand.

"'Let's just go through what we need to say and work it out.'"

"Yeah, maybe I can figure it out from what he said to you," Alfred stated. "Tell me the truth first and we'll figure it out."

Matthew wasn't surprised that Alfred would lie to the police, but if the police didn't know he was lying then they would assume that the Trail Killer would have to be someone who knew Alfred personally and prompted Ludwig to look for him, right?

No, that was only if they knew the Trail Killer was with Ludwig before the call, when his last known priority was searching for Alfred. Matthew knew the call wasn't suspicious so hopefully the police would assume Ludwig came into contact with him after.

Matthew wasn't the only one straining himself to think it through, Antonio was pacing with exaggerated hand movements as he furrowed his eyebrows in thought.

"We were on Gil's bed when Ludwig called. He was really worked up and he wanted us to prove that we were home," Antonio began, "Gil didn't take him seriously at first but I did because I could hear he was upset and I asked him what was going on... did he say nothing? Or maybe he just dismissed my question?" Antonio winced in frustration as he tried to remember. "Wow, this is hard to remember...it was very stressful..."

"Well yeah, a lot's happened," Alfred brushed off sympathetically. "Just keep thinking."

"After sent him our locations, he said it was because he knew we were acting as vigilantes and he told us just how disappointed he was. I know Gil was upset after... But he also told us that he knew you were out and that we weren't allowed to contact you to warn you. He was really... well, he was upset and he said he wasn't going to let you off this time."

Actually, if the police were as thorough as they pretended to be, they'd realise that Alfred had a warning for being caught acting as a vigilante in the past. Perfect. Even if Alfred lied, even if the police believed that lie or caught it, it would still give Ludwig a motive to search for Alfred on his own accord.

"Wait, do you think he saw me?" Alfred questioned. "Because if he did then that would explain how he knew but if he saw me wouldn't he have gotten out of his car to actually catch me? I don't get it. Why was he hunting me?"

Alfred was pacing and raking his fingers through his hair with a tensed jaw.

"Even if he knew I was out why wouldn't he assume I was with friends or something? ...Unless he knew where all my friends were but if he threatened everyone not to call me at least one person would've, y'know? So what gives? How would he know that I wasn't home?" Alfred was scrambling to make sense of it. Matthew just hoped the Chief would assume that Ludwig had spotted Alfred somehow.

"Maybe he stopped here?" Antonio suggested.

"Oh shit! Maybe he did!" Alfred whipped around and his searching eyes landed on Matthew. "Mattie! Did Ludwig stop here last night?"

"No, I was home alone all night," Matthew said helpfully as he was supposed to. The words came easy and would never be contested. "Nobody came over."

Ludwig had no reason to come here, not until Matthew had given him a reason to find Alfred. By then, it was too late for him and Matthew could personally guarantee that Ludwig never stopped by.

"'His cruiser would show where he went if he did come here'" Antonio read what Gilbert typed.

"Oh yeah, good point- maybe that's why your grandpa wanted to know my full name-!"

"No, he was going to send a police escort here to take us to the station," Antonio chuckled. "He really wanted us there, tonight..."

"Oh, well, okay then, back to scheming," Alfred dismissed. "Is that the full story?"

"He hung up after that," Antonio confirmed and wrapped an arm around Gilbert. "Sound about right?"

Gilbert shrugged as he typed, then tension in his scowl contradicting the carefree attitude he was trying to pull off.

"'I can't even remember most of the day which isn't very awesome'"

"Sheesh, good luck to us tomorrow," Alfred sighed. "So I think we should obviously keep our breaking the law part to ourselves and say he was just searching for me because he cares about me as a friend or something."

To the Chief, that would definitely read as Ludwig thought Alfred was out playing vigilante again.

"Obviously, we'll keep the part about not knowing why he was searching for me because I wanna know why and it could actually be important to the investigation or whatever. But you guys..."

Alfred tapped his lips impatiently as he paced and hummed.

"What kinda excuse... maybe he wanted your location because he forgot if you were going out that night or not? Or he was just really paranoid? I don't know," Alfred sighed roughly. "Something like that where the angle is that 'he cares' and so we don't have to tell the scary Chief of Police that we're naughty naughtycriminals, y'know? The police obviously don't know that he was searching for me yet or I would've been pulled in ages ago... or he would've said I should come too. So I guess they don't know enough yet. What a surprise, the cops don't know shit."

"I guess that'll have to do," Antonio yawned. "We can revise it in the morning."

"Yeah we'll put something together in the car, don't worry, I believe in us!" Alfred waved a hand as he yawned too. "Now how about we get y'all back into bed? I'll tuck you in if I have to."

Matthew watched as Alfred dragged his friends into his bedroom and Kiku and Feliciano emerged when Alfred came out and carefully shut the door.

"How much of that did you hear and will you snitch?" Alfred couldn't hide his guilty expression as Kiku stared at him.

"I couldn't hear much over Feliciano," Kiku replied.

"Sorry!" Feliciano wrung his hands together. "I don't mean to be such a crybaby..."

"Well, I cried a lot when Arthur died so I'm not going to judge," Alfred gave Feliciano a hug. "Plus I have plenty of tissues and pasta so just help yourself!"

Matthew couldn't say he remembered Alfred crying much. At the funeral he seemed happy to be surrounded by friends and the only moment of weakness that Matthew knew of was when his brother did everything he could to keep Matthew from finding out that his own cousin was murdered. Did Alfred have more moments that Matthew didn't know about? It was possible and frustrating because wouldn't Alfred assume that Matthew was hurting the same? Alfred didn't do anything to help Matthew, his only show of caring was the backwards attempt to spare his feelings by keeping Matthew in the dark...

But Alfred had lied to Feliciano before to keep him happy. A prime example was just a few hours ago when he told Feliciano that no one would go hunting for a serial killer. So it was possible Alfred was just saying that to cheer his friend up.

"No, I think I should try to sleep... it's what Lud-" Feliciano started tearing up again and Kiku led him to the makeshift living room bed.

Matthew took his thoughts to his bed.

Alfred was just as restless as the first time they tried to fall asleep and if Matthew wasn't accustomed to sleeping so few hours then he might actually be annoyed.

After a fit of tossing or turning from Alfred that really tested Matthew's patience, Alfred sighed and broke the silence.

"Do you think it's kinda my fault?" Alfred whispered.

"What?" Matthew prodded. There were a lot of things Alfred could blame himself for so he'd have to be more specific.

"Ludwig dying."

What? Matthew supposed that was a conclusion Alfred could come to. But since when did Alfred ask Matthew about sensitive things? Probably because he was wildly insecure and he needed something, from anyone. That was why he was talking to Matthew about his problems now.

"No." Matthew asserted. He didn't know why he answered helpfully. Maybe because with enough time Alfred would stop having those thoughts and move on like he always does. He wouldn't really blame himself. So it didn't matter anyway.

"Well, as long as Kiku doesn't blame me because I can tell that everyone else doesn't. Do you think if Kiku knew Ludwig was looking for me he'd blame me?"

"I don't know." Matthew didn't know Kiku well enough but if no one else was blaming Alfred then he seriously doubted Kiku would be the first. Alfred was too well-liked to suffer from the consequences.

"Well, fuck. That's just great."

"Does this mean you blame yourself?" Matthew pressed, testing the waters. His tone didn't reflect it, but one could assume it was because he cared and wanted to help.

"I don't know. I'll figure it out."

They didn't speak for the rest of the night.