Matthew lounged across the sofa with his duvet crumpled around him. From the kitchenette he could hear the gentle slosh of water in the washing up bowl. He made a weak attempt flick the comforter over the gap where Alfred had been sat before.

On the TV screen the credits for Mulan scrolled up. The tune of 'I'll make a man out of you' could be heard softly as he washed up.

"That was awesome!" Gilbert announced from beneath him. His silvery hair sticking up like blades of grass over the edge of the sofa.

"I can't believe you've never seen it before…" Matthew kept his voice to just above a whisper.

"Ja. Mein vater was a bit… different. Und mein Großvater was very strict. We didn't even have a TV."

Feeling a slight pang of pity for the man Matthew nearly reached out to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder, despite not being completely sure he wasn't just hallucinating. It wasn't difficult to guess why he didn't mention his mother.

"What about Bridies family?"

"Eh, it's not so interesting really…" he said, trailing off into a thought, "my parents divorced when we were only 2. I lived in Canada with mom and Alfred in America with dad. Then mom remarried and we moved to the UK."

"Ohh, Ja. You and Alfred having different accents makes sense now."

Matthew smiled to himself. Most people didn't pick up on his Canadian accent, he usually spoke too quietly or people didn't pay it enough attention.

"So when did Alfred come here?"

Matthew looked towards the kitchen, checking to see if his brother was listening in. "Well, our dad remarried and kicked him out… I think we were around 14?"

A slight sadness lingered around the pause in his speech.

"But you seem close."

Not really though, he thought. Despite being twins there was hardly any connection between them. He and Alfred probably talked less that three times a year. Well, until he was diagnosed.

"Hey Mattie!" His brother threw himself down onto the arm of the sofa in his usual puppy like fashion, "are you sure you don't want me to stay tonight?"

"Yeah, it'll be fine."

They stared each other down for a minute before Alfred conceded, unable to match the seriousness of his glare. "Alright then. But you gotta call me if you need anything."

Making movements as though he might get up to see his brother to the door Mathew was brushed off by Alfred waving hands.

"See ya!" Alfred shouted as he listened to the front door slam shut and his brother thunder his way down the stairs.

Suddenly the apartment felt quiet and empty. The noise of footsteps and humming gone. The TV screen turned black as it drifted into standby.

Warm under the covers he started to feel tired. It was only now that he noticed how sore and heavy his eyelids felt as they pulled downwards.

His gentle breathing and the occasional noise of traffic were the only sounds filling the apartment.

Gilbert sprawled himself out on the floor. It was strange having to act as though he wasn't their while Alfred had been around. He stared at the flaky plaster ceiling. It was imprinted with some kind of ugly pattern that he struggled to decipher. Staring deep into it's wiggles he strained his ears to catch conversations passing on the street.

Already he felt more comfortable than he had in the hospital. There had just been something about the place that made him feel unsettled.

He had died there.

"I'm dead…" he said it to himself. A few times. As if testing it out, forcing some kind of conviction.

"I. Am. Dead." So what did that make him now? A ghost?

He looked up towards Matthew on the sofa. He lay cocooned in a duvet, only his face peeking out. Eyes closed.

"Birdie?" Rising concern hitched in his voice. He placed a finger beneath the man's nose, trying to feel a breath. Though he had no idea if, physically, he could.

His eyelids fluttered lightly. Sound asleep. Gilbert let out a breath that he hadn't even realised he'd been holding.

"At least we're not both gonners," he said, chuckling a little sourly. As his hand retreated back from Matthew's face he found himself hooking a strand of hair out of the way. Silky and soft. He could feel it.