Birthday - A Hetalia Fanfiction (CanAme)

Matthew Williams could be descibed as 'quiet'.

He had a naturally soft voice, and didn't use it often, for fear of drawing negative attention toward himself. 

He didn't want anyone to be angry with him, and so he didn't say anything to make them angry over. 

It was a good plan.. Right?

Wrong.

It was as if Matthew didn't even exist to begin with. 

He would walk around places, and it was like the people there couldn't see him.

He would say things, even if rather softly, and no one would hear him.

Did.. Did they just not care..?

Thoughts like this had been appearing in his mind for quite a while now. 

He would wonder, sometimes even out loud, if people even noticed him. 

His older brother Alfred had always been the loud-mouthed and outgoing one.. 

Did he even know how many times that people had mistaken him for Alfred?

And how each time, it got his hopes up that maybe, just maybe, someone had finally taken the time to stop and talk to him, but each time, they left once they realized that he was indeed Matthew Williams, and not Alfred Jones like they had thought..

July First. 

Matthew's birthday. 

He'd be turning twenty one today, a pretty big step- or at least he so considered. 

He would finally be an adult, that people could look up to and respect, and not just some teenager that no one payed any attention to.

Today was the day that things were going to change. 

He woke up in the morning feeling an overwhelming sense of both pride and happiness that he simply couldn't explain, eve if he tried. 

He was certain that things would be different today, and it gave him a feeling of hope.

That wasn't at all how it worked out for him.

He started his day by heading to work- A meeting, in which he and several other people from other countries would meet and talk about the world's problems, and how to solve them.

He took his usual seat at near the front of the table- after all, he represented one of the Great Eight nations, Canada- and was almost immidiately sat on top of by the Russian, Ivan..

.. And it wasn't as if Matthew was in any position to let him know that he was there.

Alfred -Matthew's brother, who was the American- rambled on for hours, and Arthur -the Englishman- would pick fights with Alfred, and of course Francis -the Frenchman- would have something to add to the fight, and it ended as it nearly always did- one huge mess that didn't get anybody anywhere.

And on top of that, Ivan was rather heavy..

After the meeting, no one even bothered to say 'hello' to Matthew. 

It was as if he was completely invisible to them..

..As if he had never existed in the first place..

Matthew found his way home, and sitting on the couch in the living room of his small little house. 

And Matthew waited. 

He waited for anything, really. 

A phone call, a text, someone to show up and tell him that they'd been planning a surprise party for him all along.. 

Anything to let him know that he wasn't completely forgotten. 

But nothing came..

For hours he simply sat and waited for the reminder of his importance that never came.

And Matthew did something that night that he hadn't done in quite a while. 

He broke down and cried.

Sitting on the couch, he just sort of.. sobbed. 

It wasn't like he didn't have good reason to be crying.

It was just so.. so hard to stop once he'd started, and-.. 

He heard the lock click in his door, and there was only one other person who he knew had a key..

"Hey bro, I brought ice cream! Sorry I'm late traffic was-"

Alfred paused when he saw the tears streaming down his little brother's face, immidiately sitting down on the couch next to him and pulling him into a big hug, setting the two tubs of ice cream that he had carried in aside for now. 

They weren't as important as making sure that Matthew was okay. 

"What's wrong..?" Alfred asked, holding the other man close as Matthew continued to sob heavily into Alfred's shirt. 

"I-It's just.. N-no one remembered me, a-and no one ever remembers me, and I-.. I just-" 

Matthew's statement was cut off by another bout of sobs, and Alfred sighed softly and pressed a kiss onto the top of the other man's head. 

"I remembered you," Alfred pointed out, smiling faintly as he tilted Matthew's head up to look into his eyes.

"Francis remembered you. He was the one who made the ice cream. 'Glace á la noix de coco'. Coconut ice cream. Your favorite."

He nodded towards the containers, which were obviously worn with use and almost overfilled with the homemade ice cream.

"Arthur remembered you. He offered to make a cake and bring it over here when I came, but I told him that wouldn't be a good idea. I saved you from the misery of Arthur's cooking. You're welcome."

Alfred laughed softly, and a small smile spread across Matthew's face as he hugged closer to his brother, looking up at him with teary eyes and saying in his usual, soft voice, "Thank you, Alfred.."

"No problem, bro," Alfred said with a small, sympathetic smile of his own.

"And happy birthday."