Okay, go back and read the 'summary' chapters, I rewrote them so they sound better and describe the story more. :D

Matthew sat on his bedroom floor, knees pulled to his chest. His eyes glistened with tears that wouldn't fall, couldn't fall... The stricken look on Ivan's face had burned itself into his mind, and Matthew hated himself for it. He hated that he had caused it, hated that he couldn't hold Ivan close and kiss his pain away... Matthew wished that he could do something about it, but he couldn't. He was certain that if he even tried to take it all back, to explain everything... Gilbert would go after Ivan and he would be hurt even worse.

Matthew smiled sadly as he remembered a phrase from a song he'd heard- "If it is for the sake of protecting you, I will become an evil..."

That was exactly how he felt... Evil. All Matthew had wanted to do was protect Ivan, but he was painfully aware of how much he'd hurt him in the process.

'Ivan,' Matthew thought, 'Ivan, I'm sorry... Please... Please forgive me...'

Ivan lay curled up on his bed, his face buried in the blanket Matthew had used just last night... Last night, before he'd had his whole world shattered. Ivan inhaled sharply, breathing in the sweet syrupy scent that still clung to the light yellow cloth as he tried to hold back another flood of tears. That smell... In a way, it was Matthew. It clung to his hair, his clothes... And when they kissed... His lips tasted of it, of the sweet maple syrup that he loved so much.

"Matvey, come back..." Ivan pleaded softly, uselessly, as the tears escaped from his eyes, salty drops of water soaking the blanket.

"Vanya, what's wrong?"

For a moment, Ivan thought that the soft voice he'd heard was Matthew and it was only a dream, a terrible nightmare... But then he realized that it was Katyusha that had spoken.

"Nothing, сестра*, I'm fine."

"No you aren't, Vanya, I can hear you crying..."

"Katyusha, I'll be okay." he knew that he wouldn't be okay, he would never really would heal from this... But he wouldn't, couldn't talk about this.

"младший брат**, if you want to talk about it later..." Katyusha reluctantly backed out of the room and softly closed the door, leaving Ivan alone again.

'With Matvey gone...' Ivan's thoughts were beginning to turn dark. 'Who will- No.' he abandoned that train of thought. 'I need to leave... I need a distraction.'

"Mattie, Gilbert's here to see you!"

Alfred's voice calling up to him from the bottom of the stairs shook Matthew out of the trancelike state he had slipped into. "O-Okay!"

Quickly, he changed his pajama pants for a pair of jeans and pulled his hoodie on over his shirt. Matthew descended the stairs, his socked feet barely making a sound against the wood.

"Y-you wanted to see me?" Matthew's voice was quieter than usual, though Alfred didn't notice and Gilbert didn't care.

"Ja, I wanted to know if you'd hang out with the awesome me today?" Gilbert grinned, almost daring him to say no.

"O-okay... Just let me get my shoes..." Matthew forced himself to smile, terrified of what would happen if Alfred caught on to the situation. Stalling, he walked slowly to the back door, slipping on his shoes and walking back at the same pace.

"See ya later, Mattie!" When Matthew got back to the door, Alfred was already leaving. "I'm going over to Soren's house!"

"Okay, Al..." Matthew smiled weakly. "S-shall we go?"

Gilbert smirked, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him out the door. "Ja, and we'll have fun, won't we, Birdie?"

Matthew gulped, wide-eyed and stumbling along after him, and answered, "Y-yes.."

*sister

**little brother

...I feel like I'm tormenting them worse than I did in Kidnapped ;_; But that's meant to bring out anger and terror, and this one sadness... I think it's really going to become a tear-jerker later on.

What do you do when you can't pronounce the name of your own story? XD

It's short again, isn't it? D: I've been focusing more on Hide and Seek... That's the sequel to Kidnapped. It made me kind of happy to finish off a story... But this one should have quite a few more chapters. XD

Sorry it took so long to get this posted! D: I wrote it bit by bit and I got it finished just a moment ago... Took time to spellcheck, of course. XD I'll try to update more frequently, and with longer chapters!