Mattie's POV

Fish Gil: Hey there Matt what's it like in New York City

Me: Dude did you really just send me Hey there Delilah lyrics?

Fish Gil: Yes.

Me: That's beautiful.

Fish Gil: It's what you do to me

Me: omg remind me to give you a reward next time I see you

Fish Gil: what kind of reward?

Me: You'll see

Me: So why'd you text me now of all times?

Fish Gil: I have a question

Me: what 'tis your question?

Fish Gil: Is it a good idea to slide down stairs with a pillow?

Me: No

Fish Gil: Okay

Ten minutes passed by. I laid there on the couch checking all my social medias, playing games. Back to doing what I always do on Saturday afternoons.

Fish Gil: send help

Me: ????

Fish Gil: so I did it anyway because I am highly caffeinated and have no self control and I woke Toni up and he's hunting me down rn

Me: there's no saving you

Fish Gil: I'm still ready to shit myself

"Matt!" I looked up to find Al coming at full force onto the couch. I barely had time to move my legs before he could crush them. 

"What?" I felt a little annoyed by Al's presence because it was cutting into my subway surfers time. And that time is very essential right now.

"Want to hang out?"

~

"So, McDonalds?" Al asked jokingly. 

"I swear I will murder you in your sleep and make it look like an accident." He laughed. He knew I legitimately hated McDonalds. It was all because about a year ago, Al convinced me to climb into the play area. He betrayed me because he told me he would join me. He didn't. So, it took about three of the employees to get me out. I never want to go back after that. I'm too embarrassed. 

"Alright. So,where?" 

"I don't know...what's a fast food place we haven't been to in a while?" 

"Wendy's."

"Wendy's it is then!" Getting there didn't take long. It could've taken less time. If only we had a car, life would be so much easier. We could have stolen dad's car but he would've murdered us or gone on some long rant about gas prices. Either way, that was not something I wanted. "So, Matt, how have you been?" Al asked me when we sat down.

"I've been good. You?"

"I'm breathing aren't I?" He joked and I chuckled. "How's it been going with Gilbert?"

"What do you mean?"

"You guys seem to be getting pretty close."

"I guess." I shrugged taking a sip from my soda. "What about you and Kiku or should I say Kinku?" He seemed to choke on the fry he was swallowing. 

"What the hell, Matt?" 

"Oh, c'mon you two are incredibly obvious."

"Yes but Matt, I'm eating."

"So am I."

"You're a piece of shit."

"Like you aren't?"

"Alright fair enough." He took a bit that pretty much finished the burger he had. "You ever gonna get any sleep?"

"Probably not, my whole sleep schedule is so screwed up that I'm sure it can never be fixed."

"Question."

"Hit me."

"Is it because of Gilbert?"

"Wha-no!" My face heated up faster than a microwave. I'm a big liar. A really big liar. I mean, half the time I stay up late because I'm shitposting online. However, the other half is a whole different story. And I can't help it. I'm a hormonal teenage guy and Gil is just really really hot. 

"I'm right, aren't I?" He started laughing way too loud causing the few people in the place to look at us. My embarrassment only rose higher. 

"I hate you so much." I said between his laughing. 

"Love you too, bro." He responded catching his breath. 

"You are just the worst." I groaned.

"I know." He sipped from his soda. "But that's how brothers are supposed to be." 

"No, I'm pretty sure brothers are just supposed to ignore each other and fight all the time."

"That's a sign of an abusive relationship and I do not stand for that." 

"Fair enough." 

"My theory is that brothers are supposed to fuck with each other for their entire lives." 

"How is that any better?" 

"There's no ignoring each other."

"You're insane."

"Don't you get annoyed that I'm never home anymore?"

"Yeah but I know that you've got your own life and you can go live it. I wouldn't want to stop you from enjoying yourself." 

"Jesus, Matt, when did you get so wise?" He giggled. "What are you some kind of wise guy?" His impression of a 1920s gang member was ever so strong. 

"You underestimate me Al." I shook my head with a smile. "I have very high power level." 

"Few things have high power levels."

"Exactly." 

He gasped, "You didn't!" 

"Oh, I did." 

"There's no way you beat my subway surfers score!" 

"Oh, but I did!" I laughed like an evil guy from an old TV show. It wasn't loud enough for people to look at us but it was loud. I was almost to regular volume and kind of hurt my throat.

"I hate you so much."

"Love you too, bro."

"How dare you use my words against me."

"Payback." 

~

I was on the roof when I heard the knock on the door through the open window. Before I could really even react it was opened and right as I was stepping through the window, Francis stood confused. I sighed. Best to play it cool.

"Hey." I said casually acting like I didn't have half my body out the window.

"What are you doing?"

"I was going to answer the door."

"Oh-"

"Geez," I slipped through the window. I hit my head against the window sill as I did, clumsily landing on all fours. "you've been here for a few hours, what makes you think you can just open the door like that?" I rubbed my head trying to ease the dull pain from the window sill. I couldn't hide my irritation. I was exhausted and-I'll be honest-I don't like the fact that Francis is just barging into our lives like this. It took me a hell of a long time to get used to dad. It'll probably take me longer to get used to Francis given my age. The bad start isn't going to make it any easier.

"Sorry." He looked down with a frown. "I just wanted to talk to you."

"Something important?" I stood up, letting my hand fall as the pain had near ceased.

"Just wanted to get to know you." He closed the door behind himself. "Since I'm basically your papa now." I could almost laugh. 'Papa'. I haven't called anyone that in years.

"I'm not a little kid, Francis."

"You're right, sorry."

"I'm guessing you really don't know what you're doing, it's all new to you, right?" He looked up surprised. He nodded anyway. "Okay, you should know two things." I held up two fingers. "One, in this house we promote being yourself and to act your age. Two, you're not going to gain trust immediately. We all have massive baggage and whatever it may be we don't talk about it. If you want to change any of that then you'll really piss me off." I let my hand drop.

"Fair enough." He cracked a bit of a grin. "You're a lot like me when I was your age."

"What do you mean?"

"I, too, was a polarizing asshole." He shoved his hands into his sweater pockets with a shrug. "If course, I'm not much older than you but you're really making me feel old."

"And you're really making me feel like I'm too young."

"Bad start, I see..."

"A little." I grabbed my phone from my desk. "Just don't make it any worse and we'll all live like a cliched happy family." This is the part in the movies where I pull out a cigarette and light it just to seem cool or distant. "Who knows maybe when Al gets home dad won't yell at him for the humdreth time. You'll be lucky to see that happen."

"I know things are not entirely stable with you three." His grin felt fast. "It's very easy to see that. Say, what were you doing out on the roof?"

"None of your business."

"It was worth a try." He turned around and opened the door. "Matthew, I'm not here to ruin your life or anyone elses. I'm here to better it if I can. If I can't, I'll live with it. I have baggage just as you do but I'm not going to drag it around everywhere. I don't have the time." He looked back at me. "Some of us are living in the past, some in the future, but few live in the present. You may think you're living day to day but those trust issues you carry is living in the past."

"Maybe I have half of myself out and half of myself in. Balanced between the two. It's not all so black and white-" I smirked. "-Papa." His grin returned.

"Oh, I can tell we're going to get along just fine!"