Arthur Kirkland's Guide to Being a Big Brother

Matthew, Part 1

Notes: Soo... here I am. With a chapter that should have been up... two weeks ago, in my plans. I apologize for the delay (but hey, look at this! Super long chapter!), real life got in the way and this chapter proved to be extremely hard to write. As I mentioned in the first chapter, this story was initially supposed to be basically the back-story for two other stories I'm planning – some sort of explanation for Arthur, Alfred and Matthew's family situation. When I decided to expand this, I hadn't properly thought what it truly implied and I found myself quite stranded in dealing with the theme presented in this chapter. I don't think I gave it justice, but I can only hope it's not too much of a mess.

On a lighter note, thank you so much for the likes, and, especially, your kind words of support! I have to admit that a couple of times I pondered dropping this story and marking it as complete, but I didn't because I knew that somebody was waiting for it. Yes, this is how much feedback means to me.

Warnings: This chapter deals with death and mourning. While it's about a minor character, this element is still very much present.

Disclaimer: The cover art for this chapter is a work of ハイジ (pixiv member ID=1657223)

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Matthew, Part One

The months seemed to pass in a blur for Arthur. Before he could realize it, Thanksgiving came and went, and Christmas holidays made their appearance.

For the first time, all his brothers found themselves under the same roof as George. The awkwardness could be cut with a knife, but Alfred's presence somehow mitigated the worst of the tension. The child's poorly hidden antagonism towards Arthur's older brothers had the odd effect of them trying even harder to win his affection. Bewildered, Arthur assisted to scenes of his usually grumpy older brothers transforming into tender caretakers for the bright-eyed Alfred, bending to any whim he expressed.

"They're trying to steal him from me!" Arthur complained to his mother, "It's not fair, I am the one who spends all the time with Alfred, he's my little brother! Why can't I have this, at least?"

At the end of the day, however, Arthur was still the first one Alfred looked for when he needed something, be it some help with his homework or reassurances after listening to a scary story, so it was all right.

Arthur's brothers finally left to spend New Year's Eve with their friends, leaving Arthur able to relax once again. Alfred was going to leave as well in a couple of days to spend the last half of his Christmas holidays with his mother. While Arthur didn't mind the short respite, he knew he would find the house oddly empty after the first few days, just like the other time Alfred had gone to Canada. It was strange how used Arthur had already gotten to his younger brother's presence – for how loud and annoying he could be at times, the way his cheerful disposition and genuine vitality brightened up the entire house was undeniable.

Just the day before leaving, Alfred came to Arthur's room, his face slightly scrunched in the adorable way it did when he was trying to be serious.

"I need your help," he declared, and before Arthur could ask what it was about, he continued in a single breath, "You read a lot, so must know a lot of books. I want to buy a gift for Mattie, and he likes reading and he's often lonely, so I wanted to get him a book."

"To Mattie?" Arthur couldn't help but ask, his eyebrows rising.

Does George know about this?

Arthur was aware of Alfred's strange fondness for who had to be his mother's new partner, but it was inappropriate to say at least... and getting him a gift looked very close to stepping over the boundaries.