"Y'know what, Al!? I can't take this anymore! You can't just keep staying at my home, using my things like they're yours! If you hate living with Dad and Papa so much, why don't you just buy your own apartment!?" the blond furiously yelled at his twin brother.
Alfred felt a little shocked being woken up from his daily nap and seeing his usually quiet brother so angry. But in Matthew's defense, it was the fifth time in only this month that he has come home to a trashed apartment with his brother sleeping on his once clean couch. This has been happening ever since Matthew's been in his new apartment. Which he bought nearly a year ago.
"Speak for yourself! Do you know how underpaid I am these days? I can barely even afford to pay my phone bill each month!" Alfred retorted.
"That's because you work at McDonald's, you hoser! And the fact that you buy Starbucks and takeout everyday doesn't help! Like, what is this?" Matthew leaned down behind the couch and revealed two large bags from KFC with half-eaten food in them. "Holy shit, do you want me to get rats!?"
"You already have a rat! And its name is Matthew Kirkland-Bonnefoy!"
"Alfred, get out."
"You can't do that! I'm your brother!"
"Yes I can, it's my apartment. Now get out."
"No, Mattie that's not fair."
"Alfred, get out."
"No, I'm not listening!"
"I'm giving you five seconds. Get out."
"What!? I'm not a child!"
"Five."
"You can't tell me what to do!"
"Four."
"Mattie!"
"Three."
"Just stop it!"
"Two."
"You greedy motherfu-"
"One-"
"Alright, alright! I'll leave, asshole. But I was going to anyway. I have a date in twenty." Alfred grimaced, grabbing his sweatshirt and slamming the door behind him.
Matthew sighed and pushed his hair out of his face. He can't remember the last time he and his brother had a fight like that. Honestly, he can't blame Al for wanting to escape from their parents. It can get a bit chaotic over there. That's why he moved in the first place. But does Alfred really have to be such a pig? Just look at the mess he left! Matthew has to clean all of this up... But not now... Now he needs to relax.
Matthew quickly changed out of his work clothes into something more comfortable and headed out the door.
"Are you alright, dear? I heard lots of yelling from your room." Ms. Williams, the old white lady from next door, questioned.
The woman had instantly become one of Matthew's best friends while living at the complex. The seventy year-old may seem like a sweet little old lady at first, but underneath that facade, she's a boss-ass bitch who takes no BS from anybody. She grew up in the 60s, the time for protests and resistance. She'd never forget those days.
"Oh, it was nothing Ms. W. I just had a small fight with my brother."
"It didn't sound so small. Wanna come in and talk about it? I have tea and poke cake!" she offered.
Matthew kindly shook his head. "No thank you, Ms. W. I rather just have some time to myself right now, y'know?"
"Yes, I see. But if you ever need someone to talk to, you know my door is always open."
Matthew thanked her and waved as he headed to the parking lot and into his car. He decided to take the longer route over to Tim Hortons. Just to pass time. He doesn't have much else to do anyway. Well besides clean his messy apartment, but that could wait.
However, the blond was met with a devastating site as he pulled into the Tim Hortons' parking lot.
"Closed for renovations!?" he shouted, shocked by his discovery. What could he do now? There was a Dunkin Donuts right down the road, but what he was really craving right now is a double double. And there's only one other place he could think of that has it...
Matthew tried his best to control his anger when the teenage employee at Starbucks asked him to explain what a double double even is. They're so close to the border, they're practically in Canada! How could this child not know?
Sitting down at an empty booth by the window, Matthew sighed and looked down at his phone. He had a few missed calls from his sister, but he wasn't going to return them now. Maybe he could head over to his parent's house later so he and Alfred could reconcile. He'd talk to her then.
Just as Matthew was about to text his dad to give him a heads up, a short black-haired man sat down across from him.
"Hello, Al-Alfred? It's me, Kiku."
Matthew looked up from his phone at the man sitting across from him and his eyes widened. Porcelain skin, small plump lips, jet black hair, and those doe-like chocolate eyes. This man was Matthew's exact definition of attractive.
"Alfred? Are you alright? It's me, Kiku. From Tinder..."
Matthew's eyes widened. Is this the date Alfred was talking about? Why isn't Alfred here? And more importantly... does this guy actually think he's Alfred? Honestly, it's not a shocker. Sometimes even Matthew's best friends mistake him for his brother. Well all of them except Ms. Williams.
"Alfred? That is you, correct?"
Oh shoot, what should he do? Tell the truth? Play along? In all honesty, this guy's pretty hot. Alfred chose well. And second of all, Alfred does owe him for completely wrecking his apartment... Oh, what harm can this do?
"Huh? Oh, yes, yeah. Sorry. You just look a bit different in person than you do online. It's a good difference, don't worry." Matthew smiled.
The man, Kiku, blushed a bit and smiled back. "Same goes for you. Did you get your hair straightened when you took those photos? It is much curlier in person. Though sometimes, I feel like I need glasses. I have a hard time seeing small images."
"No, no. You're right. My hair was much straighter in that photo."
"Really? I think I like it best the way you have it now. Oh, and please let me personally apologize for my atrocious grammar. English is not my first language."
"If you're using words like atrocious, your grammar is fine, trust me." This comment earned a chuckle from Kiku. So far so good... "So, why don't we just start from scratch? Tell me stuff about you as if we've never spoken before."
"Alright... I moved over here from Japan two years ago. I work online, and I live alone with my dog, Pochi."
"Do you remember any of the stuff I told you about myself?"
"Yes. You have lots of siblings, fishing is one of your favorite pastimes, and you live in an apartment with your brother."
Huh, so Alfred's been lying to this guy too. It wasn't exactly a lie since Alfred's always at his place... And to be honest, you wouldn't really want to tell your potential date that you still live with your parents. Especially at his age.
"Yep! But the brother thing's not really true anymore..." Matthew sighed. "We had a fight earlier, and he moved back in with our parents."
"Really? Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's fine, eh. He was too much of a slob and never cleaned up after himself."
"What's your brother's name?"
"Matthew." Matthew blurted out. "We're twins."
Kiku nodded in acknowledgement, and looked down at his watch. "You weren't waiting too long for me to arrive, right?"
"Oh no, not at all. I just prefer being early to things."
"Ah, same. I just got a bit confused with directions today. I didn't know if you wanted to meet on South Street or North Street. Since there's a Starbucks on both. I'm glad I chose the right one."
"Me too." Matthew grinned. How much you wanna bet that Alfred's at the opposing Starbucks right now?
Matthew sighed and took a sip from his "double double", gagging because he forgot how cheap it really was. "God, I hate this place..." he mumbled.
But Kiku was still able to hear. "If you hate this place, then why did you suggest we meet here?"
"Uhh... I thought it would just be easier since it's such a popular place. I mean, don't you like it?"
Kiku furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "No, not really. The smell here is driving me insane. I'm more of a tea person. Coffee has never been my thing."
"I see what you mean. But have you ever tried Timmies?"
"Timmies?"
"You haven't!? Oh my gosh, I need to show you the minute it reopens. It's one of the only things that prevents me from leaving this godforsaken country. Well, that and my loving family, but more importantly, that."
Kiku laughed, causing Matthew to laugh as well. Maybe stealing Alfred's date wasn't such a bad idea after all! This Kiku guy is actually really fun to talk to. And he seems to enjoy talking to him as well!
"Okay, so now that we've established that we both hate this place, why don't we head over to the park across the street for some fresh air?"
"Sounds good to me."
The two men happily left Starbucks and crossed the street over to the park. They made their way around the large pond in silence until Kiku decided to break it.
"So what do you do for a living?"
"Oh, I'm an intern at an animal hospital. I'm studying to become a full-time vet."
Kiku's eyes widened. "Really? You must love animals a lot, then."
"Yep! We used to foster kittens when I lived with my parents. But in my apartment complex, no pets are allowed at all. Not even fish!"
"That's crazy!"
"You got that right. So you're from Japan? Why'd you decide to move over here?"
"Oh, uhm... I honestly just needed a scenery change. I was aiming for Ontario. But I got the next best thing."
"Ontario, really? Y'know my brother and I were adopted from Ontario! Right on the border. But our birthplace is still undetermined so they don't actually know what country I have a rightful citizenship of."
"You're adopted?"
"Yep. I've got two dads."
"That's nice. What about your other siblings? Are they adopted too?"
"Only my little sister Michelle is. The rest, they foster. Right now they have this boy my sister's age from Hong Kong. They're watching over him until his biological father can find a steady job and legally request him back. Oh, and there's also my cousin Lucille, who's basically my sister since she's lived with us for so long."
Kiku smiled at this. "That sounds really nice, Alfred. I grew up as an only child. I never had any siblings to play with. I wish I could have grown up like you."
"Uh, you'll take that back the minute you find out how much of an asshole your siblings can be." Matthew said, making them both laugh. Which is kind of ironic, since Matthew's the one being an asshole sibling right now.
The two continued their silent walk until it got dark outside. It was almost the park's closing time, so the two men decided it'd be best for them to head home.
"I had a lot of fun today, Alfred." Kiku smiled as he leaned against his car door.
Matthew did the same, and adjusted his glasses. "Same here, Kiku. It was nice getting to know you."
"Here, give me your number so we can keep texting. I deleted the Tinder app because I had a feeling this date would go well."
Matthew nodded and grabbed a pink post-it note out of his glove compartment and wrote down his number with a random pen he got from his doctor's office. "We'll talk later?"
"Yes. I'd like that." Kiku smiled, grabbing the paper out from his grasp. The two both headed into their cars and parted ways.
Matthew had to admit, he did feel really bad for lying to Kiku. But in all honesty, all he's really lying about is his name. He's been telling him nothing but the truth all night! But what he's doing is still wrong... Plus, he really likes Kiku. It was a really fun date! But how would Kiku react if he told him the truth? Matthew did not want to find out.
Opening his front door, the blond was met with a pleasant surprise. His entire apartment was in the cleanest shape he has ever seen! No garbage on the floor, no stains on the couch, no rips in the curtains... It was as if a magical fairy came and fixed the entire place up with its wand. And in a way, one did. That is, if you consider Alfred to be a magical fairy.
"Al... Did you do all this?" Matthew asked with his mouth gaping open.
"Yep! Look, I started to feel really bad about what happened earlier, so this was the least I could do." Alfred grinned, taking off his yellow cleaning gloves. "I even changed the curtains, shampooed the rug, and polished your counter!"
Matthew was still in shock from this odd discovery. Alfred really did all this? Just because he felt bad? No... This can't be right... "Gosh, thanks Al. I-I don't know what to say. But I'm still not over what happened earlier, y'know. And doing nice things for me won't change my mind."
"That's no problem, Mattie. Really. I understand now why you're so mad. You should see what Leon did to my room while I was gone! I get home and it looks like Chernobyl in there! I wanted to kill him! But then I realized that was the same exact thing I've been doing to you. And I felt bad."
"Really? Well, thanks Al. I'm glad you can understand." Matthew smiled.
"It's no problem, Mattie. Honestly. Sorry for being a total douchebag earlier."
"It's fine, Al. Really. How was your date?" Matthew asked, feeling like an asshole. But he had an act to keep up, and he just wasn't going to let it down so easily.
"Guy didn't even show up! I thought he was really interested too... We both super-liked each other!" Alfred pouted.
Matthew faked a frown. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, Al. Where'd you even go?"
"Starbucks."
"The one on South Street?"
"Yeah, what other ones are there?"
"Oh, none. I was only curious."
Oh, poor Alfred. Matthew was really starting to feel bad about this whole situation now.
"Alright, well I'm gonna head out now. Wouldn't wanna stay too long. Bye bro, love you!"
"Love you too, Al..."
The two brothers hugged goodbye, and Alfred left. Almost immediately after, Matthew hopped onto his phone and called one of his most trusted allies...
"Âllo? Mattie, why are you calling me so lat-"
"Michelle! I need your help..."