Matthew stared at his brother with wide eyes as he spoke about his friend. "He sounds nice," Matthew mumbled quietly and looked at his hands twiddling his thumbs. "S-so you're going to spend a lot of time with him?" Matthew stammered with a trembling lip. Alfred faced his brother with a frown, he ran up to him and attacked him with a tight hug. "Of course I'll spend even more time with you!" he exclaimed.

"You're my baby brother how can I not spend time with you?" He asked.  "....I just thought that now since you have someone you like you won't love me anymore..." Matthew mumbled glumly. Alfred gasped and squeezed his brother tighter. "I love you more Mattie!" he stated. "Yeah I have a friend, but no one will have what we have." He explained in a firm tone as he held his brother in a tight embrace.

Matthew didn't bother to break away from his brother's embrace, he had missed him so much, and the time he spent with his other father was a little awkward, to say the least. Francis was so talkative and narcissistic it was a bit too much for the quiet boy to handle and he already had a loud outgoing brother to take care of. Though he enjoyed spending time with his brother since they were always together, never apart.

Francis and Arthur were in their room. "Mon amour, it's just a friend," Francis responded to Arthur's stressed explanation. "I know, but I don't know if I'll even keep the job!" Arthur exclaimed and sat on the edge of the bed pulling at his hair, Francis frowned and carefully pried Arthur's hands from his hair in fear that he would rip out clumps of it "don't stress out so much." He stated and kneeled in front of him holding both of his hands in his own.

Arthur faced Francis and sighed. "Right, sorry love." His lips tugged up into a smile and he leaned forward to place a kiss on Francis' forehead. "How was work?" Francis asked curiously which earned him a groan. "Honestly it was tiring and stressful." Arthur dropped his gaze to his lap and he stayed silent for a while, his smile was long gone and was replaced with a sullen frown. "Arthur, amour what's wrong?" Francis who had taken notice of his lover's change of mood immediately was concerned.

"I really am pathetic..." Arthur mumbled. "It's barely been my first day and I'm already stressed out...I'm so weak and pathetic." He spat in disgust, Francis gasped and squeezed Arthur's hands before getting up from the ground. Arthur looked up to see what he was doing. "Fra-" Francis tackled him onto the bed and hugged him tightly. "Don't say such things!" he demanded in a shaky voice and buried his face in the crook of Arthur's neck. "You're amazing and strong, you got a job you have Alfred and Matthew who love you so much. I don't have that, I am the pathetic one here amour. I tried to bond with Matthew but he doesn't speak to me, and it hurts...it hurts because I feel like I failed him." Francis whimpered.

Francis held Arthur tight, he was too embarrassed to let Arthur see him cry like a baby, but Arthur was not laughing. No, he rubbed circles on Francis's shaking back and closed his eyes waiting for him to calm down. And eventually, Francis did calm down enough to pull himself together and face Arthur against. "I'm sorry," Francis mumbled and pulled away from the embrace, well he tried to. Arthur stopped him and pulled him back to his current position. "Don't go just yet." Arthur pleaded. "You're still shaking." He said and ran his fingers through Francis's beautiful golden hair.

Arthur chuckled. "And you call yourself manly. With this hair?" he scoffed and played with Francis' hair deserving himself a whine from the Frenchman. "I like it long," Francis said in defense. "Yes, I like it too. Don't you ever cut it." Arthur demanded. "...alright I promise I won't." Francis chuckled and suppressed a tired yawn, he instantly felt embarrassed and insecure about himself. He hated when he cried.

He wanted to be the one to be able to protect his family, not the other way around, he wanted to be strong and reliable, but he clearly wasn't feeling like he was any of that now. The soreness on the rims of his eyes reminded him just how weak he was and the tear stains sunken in on his cheeks were like scars reminding him each time when he looked at the mirror that he was weak. He wanted all of that to change.

Arthur was beginning to doze off with the warmth he was sharing with Francis it was just pure bliss, now the only thing missing were his children, but he didn't want to bother them. Besides, he was so comfortable at that moment all he wanted to do was sleep. And he did just that, his grip on Francis eventually loosened and as soon as Francis heard the soft snores of his lover he instantly knew he shouldn't wake or bother him.

He slowly escaped Arthur's arms and frowned at the uncomfortable position Arthur was in. "Oh amour," Francis muttered and bit his lip as he carefully lifted Arthur up into his arms, Arthur stirred at the sudden movement but as soon as he laid his tired eyes on Francis he leaned his head against his chest and lulled back to sleep. Francis gave a shaky sigh of relief and practically carried/dragged Arthur more forward and let his head fall on a comfortable plush pillow.

But as soon as Francis was about to let him go he was stopped when Arthur grasped onto his shirt and pressed himself against his chest. "Don't leave me." Arthur slurred, Francis, didn't know if Arthur was awake or just having a bad dream but decided to just lie beside him. "Alright." He sighed and placed a kiss on Arthur's cheek. "I'll stay," Francis whispered and threw the blanket over their bodies. "I promise." He smiled tiredly at Arthur before drifting off to sleep.

Matthew and Alfred lied together on their bedside by side facing each other. "Alfie, do you have to go tomorrow?" Matthew asked in a hushed whisper. "Yes Mattie, my friend will be lonely and I just can't leave him," Alfred answered back in the same hushed voice. "D-do you l..love your friend?" Matthew stammered. "Of course I love him, ah well...I love him like a friend?" Alfred was baffled, his brother's question had confused him.

Matthew tugged at his brother's sleeve and scooted closer to whisper in his ear. "I mean like, love him like daddy and papa." He explained, at that Alfred felt his face grow hot. "W-what!?" he turned away flushed. "I barely know him! We're just friends nothing more." He stated and hid his face with the blanket they were sharing. "What made you think I loved him like that?" he asked embarrassed.

Matthew hummed in thought. "The way you talked about him is just how papa talks about daddy to his friends through the phone." He answered and then continued on. "You both smile and say lots of good things about the people you love, and your attitude changes too, it's like you ate a whole box of cookies!" Alfred smiled at his brother's explanation, he just couldn't help himself. "Mattie, you wanna know who I actually love?" Alfred asked with a mischievous smile. "Yeah!" Matthew nodded with wide excited eyes.

Alfred leaned forward just like how his brother did and whispered into his ear. "...it's you..." This time Matthew was the embarrassed one, he squeaked and hugged his pillow to his chest hiding his face in the cushion. "...not like daddy and papa right?" he asked cautiously. "Nope, our love is different," Alfred answered with a yawn. "Now go to sleep already, tomorrow you'll be able to play with papa." He draped his arm over Matthew's waist and scooted closer to him.

Matthew yawned and draped his arm around his brother. "Hey Alfie, I love you too." He whispered before drifting off to sleep, Alfred smiled and kissed Matthew's cheek before he himself drifted off to sleep. Both boys slept soundly as they held each other in each other's arms, the closed space between them didn't bother them nor did the warmth they shared, they absolutely took after their parents who also slept while holding one another.

When Alfred was awoken by his father's whispers he was quick, but not too quick, to get out of bed. He carefully climbed out and quickly rubbed Matthew's back as soon as he stirred sleepily. "Shh, it's okay Mattie it's just me." He whispered to him, Matthew opened his tired eyes and grasped onto Alfred's hand. "Alfie...please..." He whimpered. "Stay with me." At that Alfred froze not knowing what to do or say in fear that he would end up hurting his brother, he was....frozen.

Matthew though was still exhausted and wasn't able to stay awake much longer. He became panicked and tightened his grip on his brother's hand. "Please.." He whispered before once again drifting off to sleep, and then his grip loosened and his brother was gone.

Alfred swallowed the lump in his throat and turned away from his sleeping brother, his heart was heavy with guilt. He reluctantly pushed it aside and instead got ready for the new day, it was way early in the morning and Arthur was preparing a quick breakfast for him and Alfred. When Alfred got dressed he went to greet his father who was packing the breakfast and lunch. "Good morning Alfred are you ready to go?" Arthur asked quietly. Alfred paused remembering his brother's pleas, he bit his lip and nodded eagerly. "Yeah!" he exclaimed happily.

The only thing on his mind was his friend, Davie. He was not going to leave him alone, because Davie was his first friend, and he was a real friend too. Davie was different, he was caring and kind and so easy to talk to Alfred felt at ease with him he felt like he could always trust Davie. He felt like Davie would protect him and always tell the truth, no matter what.

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"Woah!" Alfred gasped in astonishment as Davie laid out a book filled with many pictures of beautiful flowers, Davie grinned and flipped to a page that was bookmarked. "I've always wanted one of these flowers." He pointed at the picture to show Alfred. "They're blue daisies." He stated. "They're pretty." Alfred gaped and stared at the picture.

Davie watched Alfred with a smile. "One day I hope I could get one." He mumbled. "I collect flowers and give them to my mom, I got most of them from the book." He frowned. "But, I'm still missing a few." Alfred did not enjoy when Davie looked sad, and so he thought of something, something that he could do to make his friend happy. "Oh!" he gasped which caught Davie's attention. "I'll get the flower for you!" he exclaimed happily. "I'll find it and bring it to you, so don't be sad okay?" he pouted.

Davie was startled by Alfred's comment and stayed in a state of shock until finally he processed everything and broke down into a laughing fit. "You're so cute Alfred!" He exclaimed. Alfred blushed in embarrassment and looked away, his face was bright red. "Okay." Davie grasped onto Alfred's shoulders and turned him around to face him.

Davie released Alfred's shoulders and pinched his flushed cheeks. "Alright, then I'll be waiting for it okay?" he smiled brightly which could've blinded Alfred if he were just a few more inches closer. "O-okay." Alfred stammered and pulled away from Davie's grasp. "That hurt~" He whined and rubbed his cheeks. "Sorry." Davie laughed, and the two boys at the moment were in their own world and nothing seemed to ruin it.

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Francis pushed back his hair stressfully as he held a sobbing Matthew in his arms, he stood from the bed and held Matthew close to his chest remembered how Arthur explained to him that children will always feel alone and that parents must always hold their children close.

He himself felt like crying, Matthew sounded as if he were in pain and that hurt Francis the most. He rubbed Matthew's back and rocked him back and forth. "It's okay love, papa is here." He whispered to him. "Papa will always be here for you, I promise." With those words, Matthew instantly calmed down and grasped onto Francis' shirt. "Papa.." He whimpered and hid his face in his chest. "Alfred didn't stay." He sniffed.

"He didn't stay even though he said he loved me, papa Alfred was lying." Matthew was at the verge of tears once again. "He loves his friend more." Francis had had enough, he pressed his son against his chest and stroked his long blonde hair. "Matthew your brother loves you very much, and I know it must be unfair for him to leave, but I promise you that nothing will change. You two will always be brothers, and nothing can change that." Francis explained in a firm yet kind tone.

Matthew stayed quiet and understood his father's word's, it meant that he and Alfred would stay together forever because they were brothers. Related by blood, they had a stronger bond than anyone. "Papa...thank you." He whispered and then blushed. "I love you, papa." Francis was taken aback by Matthew's words, he swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. Tears formed in his eyes. "P-papa loves you too." His voice broke. "Papa loves you very much."