My Brother's Best Friend • Prucan

The End

At around noon on Christmas Eve, Matthew found himself rehearsing saying "I love you" to Gilbert in his mirror a million times. He tried it seriously, happily, giggly, jokingly, and even tried it with Gilbert's German accent, which made the 3 words seem way more hilarious than Matthew had intended. Matthew had been embarrassingly rehearsing for over 20 minutes before Alfred suddenly walked into his room, looked at him, and stared, trying his hardest not to laugh as his brother continued talking to himself in the mirror.

"I love youuuuuuu" Matthew sang, this time squishing his cheeks with his hands at he glared at himself in the mirror.

"Getting a bit arrogant, aren't we Mattie?" Alfred suddenly spoke, making Matthew yelp and jump 3 feet in the air as his brother scared the living daylights out of him.

"Oh my god Alfred you scared the shit out of me!" Matthew exclaimed, clutching his chest as his face flushed in embarrassment.

"What are you even doing?" Alfred asked, smirking as his brother continued catching his breath from the scare.

"Nothing! I was just fixing my hair" Matthew stammered.

"Whatever you say, Mattie. Anyway, I'm off to Arthur's to uh- hang out and exchange gifts so I probably won't see you until later. If you're going out, make sure to be back before 10 because we have to pick up Mom and Dad at the airport" Alfred said, his voice sounding slightly parental as he set Matthew's curfew.

"Okay have fun" Matthew responded, shooting Alfred a suggestive wink as Alfred chuckled and turned to go. As soon as Alfred left the room, Matthew groaned and flopped face first onto his bed before screaming into a pillow. That was embarrassing.

After spending a moment wondering why he was such an embarrassing human being, Matthew decided to check his phone. Noticing a message from Gilbert, Matthew opened his phone and smiled as he read:

G: My house is empty and ready for cuddles. Get your butt over here

Chuckling at the message, Matthew contemplated how to respond before finally sending:

M: I'd love to cuddle, but I smell like wet dog. I'm going to shower before coming over. See you soon! :D

As soon as he sent the text, Matthew opened iTunes and pressed shuffle before heading into the bathroom and turning the shower on. He usually didn't listen to music while showering, but today he did not want to be alone with his thoughts. He had barely gotten any sleep the night before because of his anxiety, and he felt like a warm, contemplative shower would not be the best thing for him right before he went to Gilbert's house.

-

After showering, Matthew changed into his warmest, most festive pajamas and grabbed the gift he had gotten for Gilbert before heading out the door. The two had planned to have a festive movie marathon in their pajamas as a way to celebrate their favorite holiday. But as soon as Matthew stepped outside, he was reminded that he didn't have car and in fact didn't even have a way to get to Gilbert's house. After groaning at his own stupidity, Matthew went back inside and grabbed Alfred's longboard before making his way to Gilbert's house, which was only a few miles away.

When he finally arrived, his face was pink and burning from the bite of the cold wind and his teeth were chattering in the freezing December temperatures. Although he was freezing, Matthew still hesitated to knock on the door, feeling nervous being at the Beilschmidt house for the first time. When he finally mustered up the courage to knock, Gilbert's dog started barking and Matthew screamed, nearly falling backwards onto the grass as the sight of a giant German Shepherd popped up in the window near the door.