Hetalia High: Art imitates reality

Who was in my dream again?

   There was a racket coming from somewhere outside of Matthew's room, the sound of a pot hitting the stove and plates being pulled out of the cupboard translating into his dream as him and his long time bully clashing weapons and jumping across counter tops. He had just parried the sword out of his hand and cornered him when he was dragged out of sleep by... an alarm?

   He let out a startled tired noise as he was jolted awake and took a deep breath in. It was the tea his dad was brewing that woke him up. In his arms he was clutching his childhood stuffed polar bear even though he didn't remember going to sleep holding him.

   Matthew sat up and started to rub the sleep away from his eyes. He already couldn't remember much from the dream but he's pretty sure he remembered fighting in a kitchen. The kitchen may also have been from one of the episodes of hell's kitchen his dad was watching before Matthew went to bed?

   It was summer though so thankfully he didn't have to see that jerk for at least another month. Speaking of summer, normally his dad only wakes him up during the school year so why did he wake him up?

   Matthew grabbed his glasses from his nightstand and slid them over his ears. He got out of bed and grabbed his phone to check the time.

6:50... huh... wait 6:50?! What day was it anyways?

   Matthew got dressed at his weekend 'stayed up til midnight doing God knows what because Dad was at work and now just woke up' pace and threw on a green and white hoodie and jean shorts. He brushed out his hair and listened to the sound of Alfred and his dad going through the normal routine of lightheartedly joking passive aggressively over making breakfast. Well, more like Alfred making breakfast because his dad was just trying his best to help out with his classic inability to cook.

"Matthew! Hurry up, at this rate you're going to be late" Arthur called out.

"Coming" Matthew replied as he pocketed his phone and took one last look at himself in the mirror. He really needed to start getting to sleep sooner if he wanted to get rid of the bags starting to form under his eyes.

   He opened the door to see Alfred piling pancakes onto his plate. Huh. Dad only convinced Alfred to help make pancakes if they really needed him in a good mood. I mean they woke him up at 6:50 in the middle of the summer, but what was going on that they needed to anyways?

"Hey" Matthew mumbled.

"Hey" Alfred said, still distracted by putting an unhealthy amount of syrup on his pancakes.

Matthew yawned "Why'd Dad wake us up this early anyways?"

"Oh, were you not listening bro? We've got school pictures today."

   Matthew groaned. That meant he had to change into something nice. Now that he was more awake, he realized that Alfred was in a white button up and blue vest, with a navy blue tie that their Dad probably picked out. Unfortunately for his Dad, he inherited his Papa's love of bow ties.

"I'm gonna need some coffee."

   Alfred didn't say anything, he just motioned to the coffee machine that was already brewing a pot. Matthew sighed in relief and got to work preparing a plate of pancakes from what was left after Alfred grabbed his portion. He had no idea how sporty people ate so much and still looked so skinny, but there Alfred was, just a dry noodle of a person.

"Matthew" Arthur nodded.

"Morning Dad" Matthew muttered.

"I hope you didn't forget what day it was" Arthur's eyebrows furrowed slightly, which normally meant he was just mildly annoyed. He'd gotten good at reading his Dad's microexpressions over the years.

"Al reminded me, I'll change after breakfast."

"Be quick now, ok?" Arthur's expression softened to what it had been before.

"Mhm" Matthew finished putting syrup on his pancakes and poured himself a cup of coffee before sitting down.

   Matthew turned on his phone and popped in a headphone while he ate. He had recently discovered a band called Autoheart so he enjoyed listening to one of their albums while he ate at 'school morning' pace. His Dad had sat down at the table sometime in the middle of him eating with his cup of tea and powdered sugar covered pancakes as opposed to him and his brother's syrup covered ones.

   He finished eating and took the last swig of his coffee before grabbing his dishes to drop in the sink. He quickly made his way to his room where he started to dig around in his closet for something to wear. His brother wore a vest, so he finally decided on leaning into the twin thing and wear a vest as well. He grabbed his white button down, grey vest, and paired it with a purple bow tie he got from his Papa one of the years he spent Christmas at his house.

   He was used to his parents being separated by now, he'd been 10 when it happened near the end of 5th grade and now he was 16 and about to be a Junior.

Jeez, he was gonna be a Junior.

   Throwing on his outfit he pushed that thought out of his head with a shake and was putting on his bow tie when his Dad called out to him to hurry up. He'd have time to do last minute adjustment in the car Matthew thought, so he popped a mint, grabbed his phone, and made a break for the car.

   As he was using his phone camera to do last minute touch ups that's when he realized. Matthew's entire grade would be there. Now he realized why they made pancakes, they remembered his bully would be there.

Gilbert Beilschmidt.

_____

Notes: Haha thinking about the growing up with divorced parents angst I can add. Also the green and white hoodie he wears is something he actually wears in one episode. The blue vest is also a thing Alfred wears, but the grey vest I made up. Also! I really suggest Autoheart. You might have heard of them because of his songs Lent or Stalker's Tango but the rest of his music is chefs kiss.