This is a collaboration piece! Any chapter with Matthew is written in first person by Ultimate Fangirl. Any chapter with Gilbert is written in third person by Llama Queen. We'll try to update as much as possible, but school and life gets in the way. Hope you enjoy!
Note: This is PruCan, but contains side pairings such as LietPol, Spamano, Gerita, FrUK, and Ameripan. If you hate these ships, don't despair-they aren't the main story ^^
"Mattie! Mattie! Wake up!" Alfred stood over me, shaking me awake. I turned over to look at the clock. Seven in the morning. Nope. Too early.
I turned away from him. "Not yet," I grumbled. He could wait. Just because he likes to wake up before the sun touches the horizon doesn't mean everyone does.
"We got new coffee..." Alfred offered.
"Is there any maple syrup?"
"We're out."
"No thank you, then."
Alfred shrugged and sighed. "If you say so, dude."
Now that Alfred had woken me up, the details of my dream were already fading away. There was...a castle? Yes, a castle. I was on a balcony, watching the stars. There was someone beside me. I don't remember him clearly, but he...had grey hair... and red-ish purple eyes.
That was all I remembered. Why was I at that castle? Who was that man beside me? Despite all of my confusion, I remembered one thing: I thought he was beautiful.
What am I talking about?! I don't even know him...! Besides, I'd be too shy to talk to someone at a ball, let alone stargaze with him. Alfred's always been the talkative one out of the two of us. If anyone would fall in love at a ball, it would be him.
I live a quiet and simple life. It might not be ideal, and it might not be complete, but it's enough.
That's what I tell myself.
I heard cluttering down in the kitchen. Arthur and Francis must be awake as well. It's only seven-thirty now! Am I the only one who likes to sleep in?
Arthur and Francis are my adopted parents. They have sort of a strange relationship. One minute they're arguing, the next, they're all lovey dovey. I call them my adopted parents, but I don't think of them that way. They adopted my brother Alfred and I when we were babies. I consider them my real parents.
Maybe I should get up...? They don't even have maple syrup down there. Still, if I let Alfred or-God forbid-Arthur cook, it'll be a disaster.
I pat my polar bear, Kumarjiro, as I walked out of my room and down the stairs into the kitchen.
"Hi everyone..." My voice has always been soft, and a little above a whisper. There was a boy I liked once who thought I was a girl for the longest time, mostly because of my voice. That didn't end well.
The clamor in the kitchen was too loud for a thing to be heard over it. Arthur had tried to start breakfast, and the smoke detector went off right on cue. He was trying to salvage the last of the ruined eggs while Francis waved a towel frantically at the smoke. Alfred watched this whole scene in glee, laughing at the chaos unfolding in front of him.
"Mon amour!" Francis shouted. "You should have known you can't cook anything other than tea and scones!"
"You shut it, frog!" Arthur retorted. "Like you could do a better job!
"Actually, I could!"
Once the smoke had been cleared, I sat down at the breakfast table. "Hi everyone."
Arthur and Francis turned to me.
"Uh, hi Matthew," Said Arthur, scratching his head. "Haven't you been here the whole time?"
I laughed weakly. "No, I just got here."
"Mon fil! Bonjour!" Francis exclaimed. "Good to see you."
"Don't act all righteous," Arthur scoffed. "He didn't realize you weren't here either."
"I see you two haven't changed overnight," I chucked.
"What? Arthur is still mon amour, aren't you?" He kissed Arthur's cheek. Arthur blushed and turned away. Years of marriage, and they still blushed when they kissed. I thought it was cute.
"And you're lucky, frog..." He kissed back.
"Of course I am."
Alfred made a throwing up noise. "Some people want to eat here! Now that Arthur ruined the food, I dunno if that'll happen though."
I smiled without trying to seem too smug. "I've got this, guys."
"Wait, Mattie...you're up?"
"Did you not see what happened? I literally just talked to them."
"I thought it was just Arthur and Francis being gross again."
This was normal. Compared to Alfred, I guess I just don't have a ton of presence. It gets kind of old, but I don't really know how to make myself known. I'm quiet, and I don't know how to get people's attention. I don't want to be like Alfred, though. There's a line where confident ends and douchey-ness begins.
Not that I don't love Alfred - he's my brother! - but his ego is just a little too big, if you ask me.
Anyway, back to making breakfast. We had pancake mix, but no maple syrup. Could I even eat? This was ridiculous! I guess I could make do with honey, but it wouldn't be the same.
On the bright side, everyone enjoyed the breakfast I made. Alfred even asked for seconds!
Arthur flipped through his newspaper. "We're running low on food," he said. "I want you two to go into town to buy some more. Here." He passed us a list.
"Cool!" Said Alfred. "Mattie, dude! Let's go into town!"
"Okay," I pulled on my red sweatshirt and boots. It was a cool autumn day, so I needed to dress right. Alfred slipped on his bomber jacket and sneakers. We grabbed our money and a basket, and were out the door.
Francis had warned us not to get lost...what did he think we were, little kids? We're seventeen...
It had rained the night before, and Alfred was splashing around in puddles and kicking up mud.
"Can you not make such a mess...?" I asked.
"Nah, that's too boring! Hey Mattie, catch!" He tossed a ball of mud at my foot. "Damn, I missed!"
I grit my teeth. "You were actually aiming for my sweatshirt?" I asked dangerously.
"Uh...yes? I mean, no! No!" Alfred laughed nervously.
I picked up a ball of mud and whipped it at his jeans, splattering right on the knee. Alfred stared at it in shock for a moment. "D-did you just...?" After he got over his surprise, he smirked and flung another ball of mud at me. I dodged it, and ran towards town.
"Hey! Get back here!" Alfred sprinted after me, and we chased each other until we made it to the store.
Town was the same as always. People bustling about at all hours of the day, morning to night. It was a little too busy for me, but I didn't mind going to get important things-like maple syrup.
"Looks like Vash is working the counter again," Alfred noticed. "That dude's stingy as hell, seriously."
"He's okay," I said. "He just likes to protect his money."
We picked up the basic life essentials (bread, butter, eggs, milk etc.) and the "us" essentials (maple syrup, tea, croissants, soda) and we were all set to go. Just then, I heard a voice.
"Matthew! Alfred! Hello! How are you?" It was Elizabeta, along with her boyfriend, Roderich.
"Hello Elizabeta!" She's so kind and warmhearted. She actually remembers me.
"Oh! 'Sup Elizabeta? Roderich?" Alfred waved.
"Just doing the same as you...shopping."
I smiled politely. "How're you guys doing?"
"Good," Roderich replied stiffly. Oh, who am I kidding? Roderich does everything stiffly. "Have you heard the news?"
"What news?" I asked.
"This is so exciting!" Elizabeta squealed. "The prince, Gilbert, is looking for a spouse!"
"Really?" asked Alfred. "I heard the guy didn't even want to get married."
"Well, he doesn't," said Roderich. "It's more his brother is looking. Gilbert is the heir of the throne, after all."
"Anyway, he's holding a ball! I think he's going to pick his spouse there!" Elizabeta exclaimed.
"Only after one night?" I piped up. "Seems a little fast."
"Oh no, It's going on for three nights. And I'm sure he'll get to know the lady first," said Roderich.
"Lady?" asked Elizabeta. "I was sure he's bisexual..."
"Oh, right. I forgot."
I didn't know much about Prince Gilbert, or the royal family for that matter. I know that he's the oldest of two sons. He's eighteen years old. He has a reputation for being noisy, like my brother. However, he's also known as kind, and is loved by his people.
I guess by that alone, we may get along alright. Sure, I don't love crowds, but I don't mind noisy people. Sometimes, I even prefer them.
I've seen his picture before, and I'll admit, he's pretty cute. A nice body, pretty eyes, great hair...maybe I could go to this ball? Still, you can't like someone just for their looks.
I'm overthinking things. Why would a rowdy prince want a quiet "pauper" like me? Okay, so maybe I'm not a "pauper" exactly, but still. There are so many others who would want him. I'm out of his league. Who says I'd even be invited to this ball anyway?
"Oh! Oh! One more thing!" Elizabeta was jumping up and down now. "He's inviting everyone around his age who's interested!"
"Cool!" said Alfred. "I'm not really into princes, but I'll go. Sounds fun!"
"Aren't you a little too excited about the whole thing?" Roderich glared at Elizabeta with a slight blush on his cheeks.
"Roderich!" Elizabeta fretted. "I'm not interested in him! I just thought we could go together."
"He wouldn't let us go. We're not single."
"Don't worry! He'll let us in for sure!"
"Uh, how do you know that?"
"No more questions~!"
I placed the food on the counter and handed Vash the money. I pulled on Alfred's arm. "Let's go, we need to stop at the bakery."
"We do?"
"I'd like a maple sponge toffee. And we have extra money."
"Okay cool! Bye dudes!" Alfred waved.
"Yeah, bye!" I said.
They waved back as we walked away.
"I can tell what you're thinking." Alfred smirked. We were in the bakery. He had ordered a cupcake; I had ordered a maple sponge toffee. "You wanna go to this ball and actually flirt with the prince, don't you?"
Okay, so I was thinking about it. Gilbert is handsome, and maybe going to a ball would be nice. But there it was, creeping in on me as always: self doubt and nerves. I know I could go to that ball if I wanted to. I could try to flirt and dance with Gilbert. Would he even notice me, though? Would it even be worth it?
Overthinking again...!
"Yes, I've been, uh, thinking about it. Maybe we should go?" I asked tentatively.
"If you want to, sure." Alfred grinned. "Imagine you end up dating the prince! Not only would it be good for you, I'd be known as the brother of the prince's boyfriend! I'd be known everywhere, and how cool would that be?"
Do you always have to take the spotlight? At least I could possibly go. I don't have high hopes for this, of course. There are plenty of people out there; but maybe I should take a leaf out of Alfred's book. What's the harm in taking a risk and trying?
There was only one thing left to do: Get Francis and Arthur to let me go, and prepare.