Ex's to Lovers

Chapter 74

In Which Mathew Tries to Talk Some Sense Into Alfred

Alfred  was never the type of person to be quiet, or mope about, and definitely not the time to meekly listen to their older brother Arthur. That's why Alfred's twin brother was getting anxious. Alfred had gone out, completely normal, in the morning, but by the time Mathew saw him at the end of the school day, Alfred d was a mess. He looked preoccupied and distant, only answered Mathew's questions vaguely, and obediently listened to Arthur when he scolded him to take his feet off the table and sit nicely. All without a single complaint, argument or jab.

Even Arthur had thought it was Wierd, but had assured Mathew he'd be back to normal by the next day. Except he wasn't. And it was now. The third day of ghost-Alfred, and Mathew was getting really anxious.

"It has to have something to do with the proposal, of course." Arthur had said, looking rather concerned himself. "What else is there?"

"Last minute jitters?"

Mathew mused. But the only one who knew the answer was Alfred himself. So Mathew cautiously approached his brother.

"So Alfred, about Ivan.... Did you ask him yet?"

Alfred, who had been staring blankly at the TV, despite it being off, flinched. It was the first real reaction Mathew had gotten for the past two days. Then, Alfred curled into a ball, burying his head in his arms.

"He won't say yes."

The muffled response only confirmed Mathew's suspicions. Alfred was nervous, and stressing himself out. On one hand, it was a bit of a relief for Mathew to see his brother that usually succeeded on first try suddenly struggling, especially as Alfred's tendency to pick things up easily had always grated on him. On the other hand, it was the first time in his life he'd seen Alfred so shaken up about something. Alfred tended to move on pretty quickly. After a moment of internal debate on whether to help Alfred, or tease him, Mathew reluctantly chose to help his brother.

"Why do you think that?"

Mathew didn't really know Ivan as well as Alfred, but he knew Ivan's sisters well enough to trust their opinions, and his own opinion of Ivan seemed to line up with their assessment. Which is to say, that Ivan was in love with Alfred. But Alfred, on the other hand, seemed to have rocks in his head instead of brains, and Mathew could almost hear them clatter when Alfred responded sulkily. 

"Because he likes Feliks instead!"

Mathew couldn't even compute how his brother came to that conclusion. He'd never seen Ivan give any sort of special treatment or attention to Feliks, or anyone else for that matter, excepting his brother, and Ivan's own sisters. These days, Mathew was certain that Alfred got more attention than even Ivan's sisters that he loved. So how Alfred came to this conclusion was beyond him.

Painfully, Mathew heaved a big sigh, preparing himself to talk some sense into Alfred. He plopped down on the couch next to his twin, nudging Alfred with his shoulder. 

"How would you know?" 

Alfred shifted, tilting his head so one eye peaked out curiously at Mathew while he spoke. 

"Did you ask him?" 

From the look on his dumb brother's face, Mathew knew that Alfred hadn't even thought to try. Mathew tried not to groan loudly. Instead, with incredible patience, he lectured his brother. 

"Maybe you misunderstood. You're kind of an idiot, so you do that a lot. Just ask him, okay? I mean, the worst he can do is say no." Mathew paused for a second, then continued with a deep tone of conviction. "But I guarantee he won't say no. Just trust me, okay?" 

Alfred didn't look all that trusting, though he'd raised his head  to give Mathew his full attention, so Mathew added one more line of encouragement. 

"Besides, even if he does say no, you could just annoy him until he agrees. That's pretty much your specialty." 

Alfred began to perk up.