By the time the last bell rang throughout the building, (Name) and Matthew were at the front of the school, waiting on the steps for Louis to emerge from the halls.

"A-are you sure you want me to meet your brother?" Matthew questioned, nervously pulling at his shirt as he adjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.

(Name) nodded, beaming happily at her friend. "Of course. After all, I want my brother to know my best friend." She answered, moving to take Matthew's hands and pull them from his shirt. "You keep doing that, you're going to ruin your shirt."

The Canadian teen sighed, taking his hands and shoving them in his pockets. "What if he doesn't like me?"

"Why wouldn't he like you, Matt?" Asked (Name), quirking a brow at her friend as the two stood off to the side, letting students flood out of the building.

"It's just... You always talk about your brother like he's some masterpiece of a person, I just don't want to disappoint someone like that." He mumbled, fidgeting with his hair this time, instead of his shirt. "I mean, I'm not much to look at, not like Al-"

"Matthew." (Name) stopped her friend's fidgeting by using a stern tone of voice. "Don't talk like that. You're perfect in your own way, you have your own quirks and traits that make you special. Of course you're going to be different from your twin brother, but it's those differences that matter most. Besides, I happen to know for a fact that given the choice between you or Alfred, both Louis and I would favor you."

Staring at (Name), Matthew's mouth was slightly agape. Never before did anyone really talk to him like that, especially about his own insecurities about his self-image. He was so used to people comparing him to his twin brother, even his family did it- not purposely of course, but still. But to have someone come out and say that... It meant the world to him.

Without another word, Matthew quickly wrapped his arms around (Name), pulling her into a tight hug, probably one of the tightest hugs he could ever muster. A surprised cry came from the girl, but she soon reciprocated the hug, patting his back as she did so. "You're the best friend a guy could ask for, you know?" He mumbled, his chin resting on her shoulder.

"Well, I wouldn't really know how to, since this is really my first time having a best friend." She replied, muffled by his shirt.

Letting out a soft laugh, Matthew pulled away slightly, looking down at (Name). "From my personal experience, I'd say you're doing pretty good."

"Thanks, Mattie." She spoke with a grin, looking up at him.

A voice came up from behind the two friends, causing them both to jump. "Well then, what's all this?"

Immediately pulling apart, (Name) looked up to see her brother standing in front of her, Katyusha standing with him with a contented and knowing smile on her face, having just witnessed the two students. Despite the counselor's smile, Louis' brow was raised as he looked over his glasses as he glanced from his little sister to this mysterious stranger who just had his arms around her.

"Louis! H-How'd things go with the principal?" (Name) quickly spoke, drawing her brother's attention from Matthew.

"Just fine, why don't you tell me about this kid, huh?" Louis questioned, crossing his arms over his chest.

(Name) cleared her throat, glancing over to Matthew to see that he was glancing her way as well. "Louis, this is my friend, Matthew Williams. Matthew, this is my older brother, Louis (Last Name)."

Swallowing quietly, Matthew held out his hand four Louis to shake. "I-It's nice to meet you, s-sir. (N-Name) has said a-a lot about you."

The suspicious look Louis was holding managed to break as a smile made its way onto his face. He uncrossed his arms and took Matthew's hand, shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Matthew Williams... You're cousins with the Kirkland family, aren't you?" He asked.

Nodding in response, Matthew drew his hand back. "Y-Yeah, (Name) mentioned that you were close friends with Allistor."

Louis nodded, placing his hands in his pockets as he looked to Katyusha. "It was a little weird, the three of us being back together again. You, me, and Allistor."

Katyusha smiled at the attorney. "I don't know if 'weird' is the word I would use, but it was really nice."

As her older brother and Katyusha exchanged a couple words, (Name) glanced over at Matthew, bumping him with her shoulder to get his attention. His eyes met hers and she gave him a "You're doing great" kind of look, which made him smile.

"So, how long have you two known each other?" Louis asked suddenly, turning his attention back to his sister and her friend.

"A while," (Name) answered. "We've just kinda been hanging out more recently. We've both been pretty busy."

Nodding at his sister's answer, Louis gave Matthew another look over, giving the teen a smile. "Well then, you should come over sometime. (Name) never has anyone over, sometimes it made me wonder if she ever had any friends to begin with." The last quip that came from the young man earned a glare from his little sister, which caused him to laugh.

"She has a lot of friends, though." Matthew assured, looking over at (Name) as she looked from her brother to him. "A lot of our class is friendly with her."

"Really now?" Louis chuckled, smiling down at his little sister. "Glad to hear that you're doing well in school, not just academically."

"Well, I think I'm just lucky to have the friends that I do." (Name) mumbled, really glad that Matthew was making her seem as normal as possible.

With one more nod, Louis placed a hand on (Name)'s shoulder. "Alright then, kiddo. Shall we get going?" He asked.

"Yeah." She answered, looking once more from her brother to her friend. "I'll see you tomorrow, alright?"

"Absolutely." Replied Matthew, giving (Name) his ever-pleasant smile.

Bidding goodbye to both Matthew and Katyusha, the two siblings made their way to Louis' parked car. (Name) climbed into the passenger's seat after having thrown her backpack in the seat behind her. She looked up to the top of the steps to see Matthew and Katyusha waving at the car as it pulled away from the curb. The sight brought a smile to (Name)'s face to see two kind faces watching them leave.

Of course, that smile melted away as she noticed Alfred and Ivan standing close to the entrance of the school, neither of them conveying the kind demeanor that their siblings were. The look Ivan was giving her, even with the distance, was enough to send a chill down the girl's spine. Alfred, however, his look was hard to detect. It wasn't kind in the slightest, but it didn't seem as menacing as usual. She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, though.

"So, (Name). What do you know about that Gilbert kid in your grade?" Louis suddenly asked as he drove down the street.

(Name) was knocked out of her thoughts as she turned to her brother. "Well, I have a couple classes with him, but I'm not close with him."

"Good." He said simply. "Even with his grandpa being the way he is, that kid seems like a real piece of work." Letting out a sigh, Louis looked over at his little sister, a gleam of relief shining in his (e/c) orbs. "What he did to your classmate Elizabeta, it's disgusting. Especially for someone so young."

"No kidding." (Name) mumbled, glancing out the window at the passing scenery. "I'm glad that she has you to help out, though."

Her older brother nodded. "I'm glad that I can help. Knowing that kids in your school are going through shit like that, makes me wish I could just kind of hang around and make sure everyone's safe there."

If that happened, I don't know how I would even survive. (Name) thought as she pictured Louis hanging around her school's hallways, just waiting to witness her being slammed against some lockers or beat up on the football field. "You and Katyusha seemed happy while talking to each other back there." (Name) mentioned, hoping to change the subject. "How was seeing her again after so long?"

Louis let out a laugh, turning his attention back to the road in front of him. "It was nice, really. She seems to be doing good after these past few years." He answered, a wide smile plastered on his face. "We ah... We're gonna have lunch this weekend."

"Really?" (Name) questioned, a look of surprise making its way onto her features. "That was fast."

"Hey, we were close friends before we started dating, we just kinda wanna catch up since it's been a while." Louis explained, turning onto their home street. "It's been a while since we really sat down and talked, just the two of us."

Noticing the flush of color making its way onto Louis' face, (Name) couldn't help but smile at the idea of him rekindling his old relationship with her school counselor. "Do... Do you think you may get back together?"

"Whoa, why the sudden interest in my love life?" Asked the older brother as their neared their house.

"What love life? For as long as I've remembered, you haven't dated anyone since Katyusha." (Name) said to Louis, trying to ignore the fact that it was mostly her fault that was the case.

Louis let out a sigh, glancing over at his sister. "Look, the reason we broke up in the first place was because we both had things going on in our lives. I was dealing with the divorce, and Kat got accepted into this really important internship program." Upon pulling into their driveway, he sat back in his seat. "We both came to the decision that it would be best if we focused on ourselves for the time being."

(Name)'s brows furrowed in question. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, we thought it best if we just call things off. She knew that I was busy taking care of you and making my way into the law firm, and I knew that the internship program was really important to her. It was like three towns over, she would have little to no free time, and I wanted her to focus on working because I knew it was important to her. I wanted what was best for her in that situation."

"Louis-"

"Look, I have been your older brother your entire life. I've known you long enough to know that you take the bad things that happen and blame yourself for them. Like the divorce. You blame yourself for keeping Mom's affair a secret... I knew that when you remembered that Kat and I used to date, you would blame yourself for our breaking up. So let me set the record straight. It wasn't your fault." Looking over at his younger sister, Louis gave (Name) a smile as he placed his hand on hers. "I promise you, nothing that has happened to us has been your fault. I would tell you if it was."

The girl had to force herself from letting tears well up in her eyes as she took her brother's hand, giving it a squeeze. "You're a dork, you know?"

"A title I wear proudly." Replied Louis as he ruffled his sister's hair, earning a noise of discontent from her. "Let's get you inside. I'll make some dinner for us."

Smiling at her brother, (Name) made quick work of getting out of the car and grabbing her backpack as Louis grabbed his briefcase. "Hey, Lou. Since you're planning on going out this weekend, would you mind if I do to? I got invited by a few friends to go to the mall."

"Oh, even more friends, huh?" Louis laughed as he unlocked the front door. "Give me a time when you want to go and what day, and I'll give you a ride."

Grinning happily, (Name) gave her brother a quick hug as a 'thank you' before heading to the stairs so she could get started on her homework.

~~~


"Big Sis? Can I ask you a question?" Asked Ivan as he waited in his older sister's office as she gathered her paperwork to take home.

"You just did, silly." She teased with a laugh, packing her laptop in its case and putting it in her bag with the rest of her work. "But you can ask as many as you like."

Ivan couldn't help but smile at his older sister's demeanor. There used to be a time where she was really bad at interacting with him and their younger sister, she used to be very impulsive with scattered thoughts and advise that wasn't the least bit helpful. Thanks to all the training and studying that she did, however, she was able to make a suitable guidance counselor. Especially given the fact that Katyusha wanted nothing more than to help people.

"I noticed you were with (Name) (Last Name)'s older brother again, was he visiting for some specific reason?" He questioned, watching his older sister moved from behind her desk to head towards the door.

Katyusha let out a quiet but nervous laugh, opening the door and walking out into the hall. "Well, he was here because I asked Mister Kirkland to call him in due to an issue with a group of students. But, yes. I did get to speak with him for a while."

Ivan glanced at his sister, immediately noticing the blush coloring her cheeks. "That must make you happy, then." He mused as he followed Katyusha out the door, watching her close the door and lock it.

"Well, happy enough. It's been a while since I've seen him. We're going to get lunch this weekend so we can catch up a little." She admitted as the two made their way to the entrance. "Would you mind keeping an eye on Natalia while I'm out, though?" She asked.

A smile made its way to the younger brother's face. "Of course, Kat. Anything for my Big Sis."

Smiling at her younger brother, Katyusha gave him a thank you. "Ivan, are you by any chance friends with (Name)?"

The tall teen looked at his sister in question. "Why do you ask?"

"I'm just curious... I just want to keep an eye on her, make sure she's doing well." Katyusha admitted as she made her way to her car, her brother following in suit. "Hey, do you remember when you and (Name) would play together when Louis and I picked you two up from after care?" She laughed softly. "You two were rather close."

Oh, Ivan remembered quite vividly. He knew for a fact that (Name) didn't, however. He was one of the first to hear about when the young girl was first struck with her panic attacks, how they began to cause lapses in the poor child's memory. She was able to forget her friendship with Arthur, of course it wasn't helped when her brother scared the young child away.

When Louis and Katyusha were dating, (Name) and Ivan were close. She was one of the only friends that he had, seeing as when he was younger he was often the target of older kids picking on him. (Name) stood by him and helped him whenever she could, if that meant picking him up off the ground and wiping his face, or chasing away a group of bullies, she would do it. She was there for him when Katyusha wasn't, and that meant the world to the young boy.

That made the betrayal all the more painful.

When Louis chose his little sister over Katyusha and broke her heart, seeing his older sister so sad made something just snap within the boy. He promised himself that if (Name) was going to be the cause of his sister's pain, he would be her cause of pain.

"Big Sis, do you think that you and Louis will get back together?" Ivan suddenly asked as Katyusha began to drive.

The older sister sputtered, looking over at her brother with a face flushed bright red. "W-w-why would you ask that? I-I mean I-I wouldn't not want to get back together with him, b-but I-I don't know if he'd even be interested in m-me anymore..."

"Kat, he was an idiot to break up with you. He'd be an even bigger idiot to not date you again." Ivan chuckled, smiling at his older sister as she turned her attention back to the road in front of them.

"Ivan, don't call him an idiot. We both had our reasons for breaking up." Katyusha scolded gently. "You aren't still angry with him for breaking things off, are you?"

"Sis, you were crying in your room for weeks after you broke up. That isn't something I'm going to forget easily." Ivan's tone turned colder as a frown made its way onto his face. "He hurt you."

Katyusha sighed, shaking her head. "It was a mutual decision, Ivan. I've told you this plenty of times before."

"Still. It was unfair of him to break up with you just because his parents got a divorce."

"Ivan..." The young woman glanced over at her younger brother, letting out a sigh as she shook her head once more. "You need to let that grudge go. There's no need to be angry at Louis for what happened."

"I understand, Big Sis." Ivan replied, his smile returning as he looked over at his sister, meeting her gaze. "Whatever you say."

Katyusha returned the smile before turning her attention back to the road, continuing to drive the two of them home.

Oh, I won't be angry at Louis. But you never said anything about being angry at (Name.)

~~~

Alfred let out a groan as he collapsed onto his living room couch, confused and angry.

On one hand, Gilbert was a cool guy who didn't give a shit about what anyone thought of him. He did what he wanted and when he wanted to do it. He was confident in who he was.

On the other hand, he was an ass who would step over anyone who he wanted to so he could get what he wanted.

Alfred had to think back to any and every interaction that Gilbert had with all his friends, good or bad. Now that he thought about it, the bad outweighted the good. He remembered Gilbert telling his stories of conquest to when he bullied kids when he was younger, how he would beat them into submission and basically conquer wherever he went.

"Dammit... When did I start following a jerk like that?" Grumbled the teen as he rubbed his eyes from under his glasses.

"Finally starting to question your recent life decisions?"

Alfred looked up to see Matthew standing in the doorway to the living room, a cup of coffee in his hands as he leaned against the door frame.

"Matt... Finally talking to me again?" Alfred chuckled pitifully.

"Maybe." Matthew replied, moving to the couch and sitting on the opposite of it, placing the mug of coffee on the table in front of him. "You stayed at school for a while. What took you so long from coming home?"

"Just... Wanted to ask around about some stuff." Alfred mumbled, leaning against the plush couch.

Matthew quirked a brow as he looked over at his twin. "Stuff about Gilbert?"

Letting out a sigh, Alfred stared at his twin before speaking again. "Why did I become friends with such an asshole like him?"

"You got swept up in who you thought he was. He seemed cool, and you gravitated towards him." Matthew explained, crossing his arms over his chest. "You let him blind you into thinking what he was doing was 'cool' such as, beating up (Name)."

Cringing at how bluntly his brother was phrasing it, Alfred let out another sigh. "What can I do to make this right, Matt?"

"It's a long, long list, brother." Matthew cracked a small smile as he looked over his twin. "Are you willing to do it?"

"...Whatever it takes."