"Mom and Dad found out about you and Gilbert. They know you're gay." 

Matthew felt the knot in his stomach double loop and tighten to the point where his lungs could no longer inhale. He sat in frozen silence as his mouth threatened to spill the contents from his stomach. His breath hitched, and his hands shook as he placed them on the desk in front of him. 

"Matthew-" Alfred began, reaching out a hand to grab his brother's.

"H-how did they find out?" Matthew mustered, his eyes watering as his throat felt like it was closing in on him. He quickly took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes before putting them back on to focus on his brother, who was now giving him a look of sympathy which made facing the truth a lot more painful.

"All I know is that mom and dad want to sit down with us tonight for a 'chat'. I asked mom what it was about and she said something about a picture Roderich's mother sent her. I'm almost ninety-nine percent sure the picture was at Ivan's party and that you and Gilbert might've been dancing a little suggestively in the background" Alfred explained, a grim look on his face as he relayed the news to Matthew. 

"They want to sit down with us?! They're in Los Angeles!" Matthew exclaimed, feeling even more nervous now that his parents, who were on the other side of the country, were asking to "sit down" with them. 

"They don't actually want to sit down with us, they want to Skype" Alfred clarified, watching as Matthew's chest rose up and down with his rapid breathing. 

"When?!"

"As soon as we get home" 

"Guess I'm never going home then" Matthew joked, eliciting a sympathetic chuckle from his brother. Matthew sniffled and wiped his dripping eyes and nose with his t-shirt, which was now destroyed by the utter amount of snot on it. Matthew could see Alfred's eyes watering as well. Matthew hadn't even considered how Alfred had felt about this whole situation. If Matthew's secret was uncovered, was it finally time for Alfred to come out as well?

"What are you going to do about Arthur?" Matthew suddenly asked, breaking through the silence as the two brother's sat in the room, teary-eyed. 

"I honestly don't know. I'm afraid they'll disown us" Alfred spoke, his voice cracking as he feared the worst from his parents. 

"Me too" Matthew muttered, reaching over to hug his brother as he tried not to burst into more tears. Matthew had never wanted this day to come. He felt safe in his closet. It was comfortable, and only a few friends knew about it. He didn't exactly want to leave it, especially if it was going to be his parents dragging him out. 

"Your shirt looks awful." Alfred spoke, laughing as he and Matthew's eyes trailed down to Matthew's snot-ridden baseball tee. Matthew giggled at the grossness of it and shrugged, not knowing what else he could do. 

"I have to get back to class. 2nd block starts in fifteen minutes" Matthew said, picking at the gross parts of his shirt like a vulture would to carrion on the side of the road. 

"Take my shirt, I wont need it" Alfred suggested, pulling off his t-shirt to hand to his brother. 

"Are you serious?" Matthew asked, rolling his eyes at his ridiculous brother. 

"I have gym, I can live without a shirt for a block or two" 

"Isn't gym the only class you have with Arthur? I'm sure he'll love that" Matthew teased, causing his brother to turn a bit red in the face. 

"Piss off" Alfred shot back.

"Oh you're using his British English now too?! How cute, you're sharing culture" Matthew joked as he pulled his shirt off and pulled on Alfred's. For some strange reason, teasing Alfred made him feel a bit better about his impending doom.

"Get to class before I take my shirt back you punk" Alfred threatened. Matthew just laughed and stood up from the desk, giving one last sad smile to his brother before turning into the restricted hallway of construction. Today was going to be the longest day of his life. 

~

By the end of the day, Matthew was a mess. He had turned into a snowball of stress, sadness, and overwhelming anxiety that just kept growing as the day went on. He had been avoiding Gilbert all day, going as far as to even change his route to classes in order not to see him. If Gilbert saw him, he'd knew something was wrong, and Matthew didn't want to drag Gilbert into his problem or make him worry about it. 

Gilbert had been texting him all day, and when Matthew ate lunch in the bathroom, he called him. Matthew continued ignoring him as the knot continued tightening, nearly strangling him as he dreaded going home. When it was finally time to go, he ran to Alfred's car and hopped in, laying down in the back seat in case Gilbert decided to look for him in the parking lot. When Alfred finally made it to the car, the two sped off towards home, where they knew their parents' Skype call would be waiting for them. Neither of them cared that they were missing practice, they were too nervous to speak, never mind play sports. 

The two entered the house and went to their rooms to put their school stuff away before meeting in the kitchen to compose themselves before calling their parents. Matthew made some tea and Alfred made some hot chocolate, both sitting in silence as they tried to mentally prepare themselves. Neither of them knew how their parents would react, they were just expecting the worst. After hearing tons of coming-out horror stories, the two couldn't help but think of the worst possible solution. Alfred figured he was going to be shipped off to military school. Matthew didn't know what would happen to him. He'd probably get sent to Canada to live with his cousins. 

"What time did they say to call again?" Matthew asked, breaking the silence as he took a sip of his chai. 

"They're calling us at 5" Alfred responded. Both of their heads turned towards the clock on the kitchen stove. It was 4:45. Matthew looked down at his phone. 15 missed texts. 3 missed calls. The knot tightened.

"You know you don't have to come out if you don't want to" Matthew spoke, looking over at his brother, who was nervously fidgeting with cord of the house phone. 

"If you're being forced to come out, I'm doing it too. There's no way I'm going to let you do this by yourself" Alfred replied, sounding angry that Matthew even suggested it. 

"Thanks" Matthew muttered, giving his brother a fake appreciative smile before taking another sip of his tea. The two sat in silence for the next couple minutes until Alfred finally made his way over to the family computer. Matthew pulled a chair next to him and sat down, taking a deep breath as Alfred typed the password into the computer. He opened Skype, and they both checked the time. 5 o'clock. They sat there for a moment, waiting for the call. Their parents were very punctual, so when they said 5, they meant 5. 

Feeling another wave of anxiety roll through him, Matthew grabbed Alfred's hand and squeezed, feeling a bit more comforted as his brother squeezed back. The two had always done this as children. Even in the stickiest of situations, a simple hand-hold could calm them down. When they finally heard the sound of the incoming call, the two jumped in their seats. Matthew began to sweat. Alfred clicked "accept" and there, in front of them, where their mother and father, sitting down in what looked like a conference room in their shared workspace. 

"Hello boys!" their parents said in unison, smiling at the two shaking boys sitting in front of their webcam. 

"H-Hi" the two choked out, both giving a nervous smile as they awaited their fate. 

"We need to have a talk about something," their mother began, "I was talking to Mrs. Edelstein, and she was questioning me about something she saw on Roderich's phone. It was a picture in which you, Matthew, seemed to be- um- kissing Gilbert Beilschmidt" their mother explained awkwardly. Matthew froze. He knew this moment was coming  but he never imagined how awkward and uncomfortable it would be. 

"We don't want to assume anything because he know photo-work is a thing-" their dad continued seriously. 

"It's called photoshop, honey" their mom interrupted, "Anyway, we'd just like to know if you have something to tell us"

Alfred looked at Matthew for a moment and Matthew looked back, his face red and his eyes wide. This was not how it pictured this would go. His parents didn't look angry, but they didn't seem happy either. He felt like he was being interrogated. Alfred squeezed his hand again. Matthew suddenly remembered how to speak. 

"I-I'm gay. And- and I am dating Gilbert" Matthew stammered, his grip so tight on Alfred's hand that he was surprised he hadn't broken it. After the words escaped Matthew's mouth he stopped breathing. The knot tightened. 

Their parents' expressions immediately changed at the reveal of Matthew's biggest secret. "Congratulations!" the two spoke in unison, their smiles wide as they commended their son. The knotted rope in Matthew's stomach snapped. He began breathing again as his mouth dropped open in surprise. Matthew's grip on Alfred's hand loosened as Alfred turned to look at him witha smile on his face. "Congratulations" was not the reaction he was expecting. 

"Wait, what? You're not going to send me to Canada?" Matthew asked, eliciting a laugh from his parents.

"Of course not sweetie! Though we were very surprised when we heard the news. You are our son, and no matter who you are or what you do we love you. We'll support you no matter what, and if anyone gives you a hard time, we'll put up a fight" their mom responded. Matthew began to tear up. This moment, which he had been dreading for his entire life, could not have gone better than it had. Matthew looked over at Alfred with a huge smile on his face and Alfred took a deep breath, deciding it was his turn to come out to his parents. His parents were so accepting of Matthew that now he had no fear to come out himself. 

"In that case, I have something to tell you too." Alfred began, "I'm gay."

"Yeah, we know" their parents said in unison, leaving the mouths of the boys agape as they stared at their computer screen.

"WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Alfred yelled, wondering why his parents were acting no nonchalant after finding out that their eldest son was gay as well. 

"Your blatant staring at Matthew's friend Arthur tipped us off months ago. You're not very discreet" their mother teased, eliciting a snort from Matthew. Alfred blushed and Matthew continued laughing, blissful tears spilling from his eyes as his parents teased his brother. 

"And you didn't say anything?!" Alfred asked, his voice indicating how baffled he was. His voice had rasied an octave as soon as he found out his heterosexual façade was actually quite transparent. 

"We figured you'd come out soon enough" their father explained, shrugging. Matthew continued laughing even harder and Alfred punched him in the arm, embarrassed that he wasn't as sneaky as he originally thought.

"Anyway, we love both of you and we just wanted to say congratulations. We're coming home in a few weeks for Christmas, so we'll see you then. Goodnight boys! Do your homework and have fun at school tomorrow. We've got to get back to work" their mother said. 

"Love you, bye!" the two brothers spoke in unison, giving one last farewell to their parents as the euphoria of finally being out overtook them. As soon as their mom hung up the Skype call, the two brothers looked at each other, stood up, and starting jumping up and down around their living room. 

"We did it! We did it!" Alfred yelled in a sing-songy way, jumping up and down on the couch as Matthew danced with Nova and Penn, who were now getting excited at the sight of the two boys jumping around the living room. As soon as their 30 seconds of cathartic dancing and yelling were over, the two brothers hugged, smiling wider than they ever had before. They were finally free.