Lost Souls

Chapter Thirteen

Matthew had always been the type to sleep in. It wasn't super hard to wake him, but if you didn't he would sleep all day.
It was because of this that Francis watched each of the friends leave Matthew as quietly as they could, not having the heart to stir him from Gil's side. The German waved goodbye to each of them after they had cleaned up and slipped out of the house until only he, Matthew, and Ivan were left behind.
"I'm sorry if I'm overstaying my welcome, but there's something I need to talk to Matvey about." He nodded his head apologetically.
Gilbert shrugged and played with Matthew's hair to occupy himself.
Eventually, the Russian boy got bored and pulled two knitting needles and a ball of yarn out of his thick coat.
"Vhere did Jou get zhose?"
"I brought them..."
"Okay zhen."
Ivan knitted in silence and Gilbert continued to fondle his boyfriend for quite some time before Alfred came shuffling down the stairs, Kiku in tow.
"I'm pretty sure Bella left some leftover waffles." Ivan called out to them.
"Gotcha." Alfred did finger guns because in his country that stuff is legal. Ew. He lead Kiku to the kitchen to feed his body.
Matthew shifted right then, blinking his eyes open and squinting. "What time is it?" He asked sleepily.
"Eleven." Gilbert answered.
"Oh..." Matthew looked around. "Did everybody leave."
"Zhey all told me to tell Jou goodbye." Gilbert pulled himself away and stretched out his joints. They snapped and cracked as he moved. "But Ivan has to talk to Jou so he stayed..."
"Oh..." Matthew stood up, rubbing his eyes. "What aboot?"
"Can I talk to you...alone?"
"Sure..." Matthew looked at Gil as if he was sorry about kicking him out. The German nodded subtly.
"I'm gonna make sure mein bruder didn't make a mess of zhe basement last night." He announced, strolling out of the room.
Francis stayed, wanting to know what Ivan wanted more than he wanted to know if Feli and Ludwig left a used condom on the jars of jam Arthur made every fall.
"My little sister can talk to ghosts..."
"Yeah...so?"
"So...I mean...if you ever wanted to talk to him again...if you wanted to see if the ouija board really was a prank or not...I can bring her over..." Ivan was cautious with his words, as if he could break Matthew at any minute.
"Please say yes, Matthieu!" Francis urged.
"I just...dunno..." Matthew looked down at his feet. "I'm scared to."
"It's okay to say no..."
"I don't think I want to, honestly..." Matthew pressed his lips firmly together. "It might be too much."
"Fuck! Matthieu why?!" Francis groaned.
"That's fine. You can call me anytime if you change your mind...or even if you just want to chat...I'm here for you. We all are."
"I know. Thanks for the offer, Ivan."
"No problem! Now, I'll be off before big sis starts to worry! Bye!" Ivan bounded out the door with the grace of a giant Russian elephant.
"See ya!" Matthew called after him.
Francis was speechless. He had one chance to let his little brother know he was here....
But Matthew had thrown it away without a second thought.

My novel: It was wonderful, truly an experience that would emblazon his memory for years.

My fanfics: it was lit fam. So lit.