As soon as Arthur texted "here", Matthew made sure to shoot Gilbert a look through the window to let him know that the plan was in action. Gilbert winked back at him and Matthew quickly ducked out of his view, hoping that Gilbert couldn't see the blush on his face. The Canadian often grew annoyed at his own biology, frustrated that his face automatically turned red at any cute boy he saw. 

Once he heard Arthur knock on his door he sprinted over to it and opened it with a huge smile on his face. "What's up Arthur?" Matthew asked, looking down at his scowling best friend from the doorway. 

"I hate you." Arthur grumbled as he stepped inside.

"What?! Why?!" Matthew asked dramatically, knowing exactly why Arthur was so mad at him. Arthur was just mad because he was embarrassed about coming over because of Alfred. No matter how much Arthur denied it, he could never resist coming over when Alfred was roaming the house. 

"Humiliating feelings aside, what do you want to do?" Arthur asked, slipping his shoes off and neatly placing them in the corner of the mudroom. 

"Want to play some Mario Kart?" Matthew asked, a huge grin on his face as he tried not to laugh out loud. He was really bad at not laughing when he was trying to trick someone. 

"Sure, as long as you wipe that dopey grin off your face." Arthur joked, following Matthew into the living room, where the two seniors playing basketball outside were clearly visible. Matthew looked back at Arthur and laughed as he noticed the grumpy blond glaring at Alfred through the window. 

"See something you like?" Matthew teased, winking at the Englishman. Matthew laughed even harder as Arthur's eyes darted away from the shirtless Alfred, his cheeks turning a deep scarlet. Sitting down on the couch, Matthew turned on the console and handed Arthur a remote. 

"I call being Toad!" Arthur called out, choosing the little mushroom on the top left of the screen. 

"You are literally the only person in the entire world that actually wants to play as Toad." Matthew responded to the overly-excited dope to the side of him. Arthur rolled his eyes and pressed play on the controller, launching the two of them into an exciting race filled with smack talk and sassy insults. 

Matthew frowned in fake disappointment as his friend passed the finish line before him. Matthew was an absolute boss at Mario Kart, but letting Arthur win was part of his plan.

"HA. HA. HA. I WIN. YOU LOSE! THE QUEEN WOULD BE PROUD." Arthur triumphantly yelled, pounding the air with his fist in victory.

"Wow. You and Toad are a master duo. Maybe you need more of a challenge." Matthew suggested, smiling at his proud friend. 

"A challenge? Bring it on!" Arthur shot back, his eyes burning with intensity. 

"Alrighty." Matthew muttered, getting up from the couch and making his way over to the slider door.

"Wait- where are you going?- Matthew! MATTHEW NO!" Arthur screamed as he saw Matthew peek his head out the window and call to Alfred. Alfred was the best at Mario Kart, hands down. He could also never refuse a little competition. Matthew knew this was the perfect way to get them in a room together. 

"Hey Alfred! Wanna play some Mario Kart? Arthur just crushed me. I think he needs a bit more of a challenge." Matthew yelled to his brother. 

"Arthur is over!? HELL YEAH IM BEATING HIM AT MARIO KART!" Alfred shot back, dropping the basketball to jog into the house. "Gilbert come on! We're playing Mario Kart. Watch me kick some British ass." 

As the two walked into the house, Matthew shot Gilbert an "I told you so" sort of look, and Gilbert chuckled, realizing that their plan might actually work. 

Walking into the living room, Matthew nearly lost it as he watched Arthur's face turn a dark shade of red, suddenly becoming incredibly quiet as Alfred hopped onto the couch next to him. Gilbert and Matthew sat down on the other side of the couch and watched as Alfred grabbed the controller Matthew had been using. 

"Ready to get crushed?" Alfred teased, trying to intimidate the Brit.

"In your dreams." Arthur shot back, clutching his controller tightly as the time counter on the race slowly ticked down. 

"You're going down." Alfred growled as the race started, averting his eyes from Arthur to stare at the screen. 

"You wish, git." Arthur spat back, rounding the corner on one of the turns. The two had been tied, but Alfred had hit a speed boost and hollered like a madman in victorious pride. Gilbert and Matthew looked on in astonishment at the amount of flirtatious fighting that was happening in front of them. Occasionally Alfred would bump Arthur's arm in an attempt to push him off the course and Arthur would respond with a kick to the back of the leg. 

Eventually, Alfred won, and Arthur sulked angrily as the American hopped up from the couch and did a victory dance, occasionally stopping to stick his tongue out at the Brit or scream "VICTORY!" with a huge grin on his friend. But Arthur wasn't going to go down so easily. Standing up, Arthur yelled "REMATCH!", surprising everyone in the room as he furiously grabbed Alfred's wrist and pulled him down on the couch for another round. 

"While you do that, I'm going to take a quick potty break. Let me know who wins when I get back!" Matthew said, carrying out part two of their plan. 

"Uh yeah! I'm going to go get some water!" Gilbert stated shortly afterwards, hopping up from the couch as soon as Matthew left the room. The two met on the stairs, quietly laughing as they carried out their plan. Crouching on the stairs overlooking the living room, the two crammed together, hoping  the two playing Mario Kart couldn't see them. 

"I told you there was sexual tension!" Matthew whispered, laughing as Gilbert crouched next to him on the staircase. 

"They were literally eye-fucking each other." Gilbert whispered back, eliciting a few giggles from the Canadian next to him. 

As they both stared into the living room, they watched as Alfred shoved Arthur so hard that he fell off the couch. The Brit yelled and the American laughed, continuing the race as Arthur tried to get up from the floor. 

"Not fair!" Arthur cried as the American crossed the finish line and shot Arthur a triumphant smile. 

"Sorry you suck." Alfred uttered apathetically, teasingly shrugging his shoulders to provoke the hot-headed Brit. 

"YOU BLOODY WANKER. I WILL BEAT YOU WITH THIS WII REMOTE AND THEN HAND IT TO THE GRAVE-DIGGERS TO DIG YOUR GRAVE AFTER I HIDE ALL THE SHOVELS YOU GIT!" Arthur screamed, pouncing onto the American angrily in an attempt to grab the other controller from him. 

"YOU CAN'T EVEN BEAT ME IN MARIO KART HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO BEAT ME IN REAL LIFE!" Alfred yelled back, pushing the Brit off of him and standing up to gain leverage. He was a few inches taller than the Brit, which always pissed Arthur off when they got into "arguments". 

"You suck." Arthur muttered, defeated.

"You swallow." Alfred shot back, causing the Brit to turn a bright shade of red, this time not from the rage. Arthur, frustrated beyond belief, pushed past the triumphant American and tried to storm out of the room. Before he could leave, Alfred grabbed Arthur's wrist and pulled him into his arms, leaning down and kissing him as the Brit melted into his touch.

"THEY'RE KISSING!" Gilbert whisper-screamed, not being able to tear his eyes away from the two on the first floor.

"I told you they were gay!" Matthew giggled, feeling happy that his best friend and his brother finally got together. 

"So uh- when do we go back down? They seem to be getting pretty into it." Gilbert whispered, averting his eyes from the make-out sesh that was happening in the living room below them.

"Good question. I'm not sure. At least our plan worked!" Matthew responded happily, tearing his eyes away from the couple to look over at Gilbert. As soon as he turned his head he realized their faces were only inches apart. Matthew looked into Gilbert's fiery eyes, and then down at his lips, and then back at his eyes in nervousness, not being this close to a guy in a long time. Gilbert looked like he was about to lean in, but they were interrupted as soon as they heard Arthur say:

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR YOU BLOODY GIT?!"

and Alfred's response, "YOU LIKED IT."

"DID NOT."

"DID TOO." 

The two on the stairs quickly bolted up from their positions, awkwardly fumbling their way down the stairs as they tried to forget what almost happened on the staircase. Matthew wished he had kissed him. There was a tiny voice in his head screaming at him for being such an idiot, but he dismissed it as they made there way downstairs, where they found Alfred and Arthur sitting on the couch as if nothing happened. 

Arthur's face was bright red and he was curled into a ball on the corner of the couch but Alfred had a huge grin on his face as he picked up the controller. "What was all that yelling about?" Gilbert asked innocently, pretending he hadn't just seen the two sucking each other's faces. 

"Nothing. Just a little bit of gaming rage." Arthur lied, straightening himself out as he stood from the couch. 

"You sure?" Matthew questioned, smiling like an idiot as he acted like an innocent fool. 

"One hundred percent. Do you want to go upstairs Matthew? We could do some homework." Arthur suggested, obviously trying to get out of the living room as quickly as possible.

"Okay! Sounds fun!" Matthew exclaimed, a huge dopey grin plastered across his face. As the two turned to go upstairs, Matthew turned around and shot Gilbert a wink. 

"Told ya so." he mouthed, looking at the starstruck German with a proud smirk on his face.