A/N: Okay, so first I'd like to say that I am so so sorry for updating this late. A lot has been going on- preparing for school, traveling (I was previously visiting my cousin who is helping me with this story, but now I'm back home) so I wasn't able to get this chapter done as quick as I'd have liked to, but here it is! Chapters will most likely be coming out every 1-2 weeks from now on. Thanks to everyone who was patient enough to wait, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! I apologize for how short it is, but hopefully the next chapter will make up for it ;)

(You've probably already figured it out, but the reason for broken English from Russia and the Baltics is because, well, it's not their first language. They only moved to America pretty recently in this fic. Just wanted to clear that up!)

"Shh, you're gonna wake him up!" Arthur scolded his boyfriend as the two crept into Gilbert's room. Alfred turned the handle of the door and pushed, praying it wouldn't make any noise. With only a small creak, it opened to reveal a sleeping Gilbert, legs tangled in blankets and an arm thrown across his face. Alfred approached his roommate, supplies ready.

"Dude, rock out, Gil's gonna look so totally stupid in this video!" he whispered excitedly, before turning to Arthur and flashing him a thumbs up. "You can start filming now."

"Got it."

Alfred inched closer to his sleeping friend, taking his can of shaving cream and giving it a shake before removing the cap and spraying a generous amount onto Gilbert's free hand. He nudged the hand on his face, uncovering his nose. He took the other object he held- a feather- and brought it to Gilbert's nose, moving it back and forth in an attempt to tickle the other man.

SLAP!

Alfred blinked in confusion, eyes widening despite the foam now covering his face. Gilbert flashed him a triumphant grin, sitting up and winking at the camera of Arthur's phone. The British man was completely still, mirroring Alfred's confused look. It didn't last long; he quickly dissolved into giggles at his boyfriend's cream-covered face. Alfred scowled and took the phone from his hands, typing furiously.

"Seriously, man?" Gilbert asked, giving Arthur a condescending look. He squared his shoulders and defended himself; "It was Alfred's idea…"

"Oh my god, Gil, you're the best!"

"Yeah," the albino agreed immediately.

"No, seriously, I just uploaded the video and it already has 200 hits!"

Gilbert sighed and flung a pillow at his roommate, indirectly telling him to get the hell out of his room. Arthur grabbed Alfred by the arm and pulled him out of the room, the American never glancing up from the phone. Gilbert stood and stretched, figuring he may as well get ready for the day, now that he was awake. Yawning, he started towards his dresser and rifled through the drawers for something nice to wear; there would be a celebration that night at the Matryoshka to celebrate Asphyxia having performed there for 2 months already, and he was warned by Feliks to wear something other than his usual performance clothes.

Finding nothing in his dresser, he pulled the door to his closet open and halfheartedly sorted through the clothes hanging up, until he came across a deep blue suit accompanied by a black dress shirt and gray tie.. His mood soured when he saw the garments, mind filling with memories he didn't ever want to recall. He had half a mind to take the items outside and burn them, but common sense kept him from doing so, and he grudgingly put them on- having nothing else to wear and no time to buy something.

He crossed the hall to the bathroom, wondering why the hell he didn't have a mirror in his room. Gilbert looked at himself with distaste. The suit looked good on him, but he was barely able to keep himself from ripping it off- even more so when he inadvertently thought, Ludwig would be delighted to see me in this. He shook his head furiously and splashed his face with water, trying to clear his mind of thoughts from then.

"Yo, Gil, we're gonna head out to the bar early- wanna ride with us?"

Gilbert shook his head again, this time fondly; they didn't need to be at the bar for another three hours, but Alfred liked getting places early so he could gloat over others being late. He replied with a, "Sure!", and joined the other two, toeing on his dress shoes and following them into Alfred's car. After a quick drive, the three arrived at the bar, which was empty save for the staff. Alfred immediately plunked down in a stool by the bar, dragging Arthur with him and engaging Toris in conversation. Gilbert sat as well, already regretting his decision to come early- he didn't quite feel like talking to any of the staff, instead wishing that Matthew was there. He sighed and took out his phone, deciding to blog to pass the time.

"Are you, like, the guy that plays here?"

Gilbert replied without even looking up from his phone; "Yeah."

"Cool," was the reply, and Gilbert narrowed his eyes slightly- shouldn't this person be excited to meet someone as awesomely famous as me?

"Li Xiao, leave Gilbert alone!"

There was a voice he recognized. It was Yao, the cook that had started working at the bar the same day of Gilbert's first gig. He was glaring at a lanky teenager- the one who had addressed the musician moments earlier. Li Xiao glared back, muttering, "He's the only cool one here. Everyone else is like, an old man, or really boring looking," he points at Arthur and continues, "Like that guy." Arthur stood, mouth opening as he started to tell the younger off, but he was interrupted by Alfred shoving his hand over his mouth and Yao's shriek of "Li Xiao!"

"Yeah, yeah," he replied, waving a hand like he was used to being scolded. He stalked off to a booth in the corner, taking a DS out of the pocket of his jacket and tapping away at the buttons. However, he wasn't alone for long- Matthias and his usual small group entered the bar soon after, and the youngest (who Gilbert had learned was Lukas's half brother), wasted no time in rushing towards the other teenager.

Matthias immediately took the seat next to Gilbert, flashing his friend a smile. The two had grown rather close over over the past weeks, with Alfred joining them quite often. The group would regularly meet up to play video games, or meet at the bar and drink together. Matthew tended to skip these meetings- claiming that the three were just a little too much when they were all together.

"Hey, man! Congrats! Two months is a long time for a star like you," Matthias joked, elbowing Gilbert in the side and grinning widely. When the other man opened his mouth to respond, he was cut off by Alfred slapping a hand on his shoulder and joining the conversation, completing the trio.

Matthew sighed lovingly, gazing at his boyfriend as he practically fell out of his chair at something Alfred said, wheezing laughs wracking his body. The blond had joined the small party about two hours after, arriving at the bar to find his boyfriend, brother, and their eccentric Danish friend laughing loudly and joking. He decided to let them hang out, and sat at the end of the bar sipping a soda and watching the others in the room- something he found himself doing it more often than he would like to admit.

Ivan stood in the doorway that led from the kitchen to the bar, gazing at the people in the room with a gleam in his eye. Matthew looked on as Yao approached him, standing on his tip-toes to whisper something to the Russian. The taller man laughed softly, responding in a barely audible voice, "It's nice to have so many people around."

Matthew raised an eyebrow and turned on his stool, now facing the booths in the corner. In a far booth two teenagers sat side by side- Emil and Li Xiao, if he remembered correctly. Emil was resting his head on the other's shoulder, pointing at something on the screen of his handheld game. Sitting at the booth next to theirs were friends of Matthias- the married couple. The taller of the two was sneaking pokes at his husband, a small smirk on his face as the other slowly grew more and more fed up.

Everyone was smiling, Matthew noted happily, glad that the party seemed to be going well. There was such a light, positive air; everyone socializing to some degree- although some interactions seemed less welcomed than others; specifically in the case of two waiters, one of whom was being flirted with by Gilbert's friend, Francis. Matthew recognized Francis's target to be the young worker who had walked in on him and Gilbert when they first met. A taller male was desperately trying to get Francis to go away, but his attempts were ignored.

Oh well, Matthew thought. At least they aren't fighting.

"Mattie! How long have you been here?"

"Oh, Gil! Not long," he replied, turning to his boyfriend.

Gilbert frowned, and Matthew stretched his neck to give him what he intended to be a quick kiss. His boyfriend threaded his fingers through his hair, their lips sliding together smoothly, Gilbert biting the other's bottom lip gently before pulling away and touching their noses together. Matthew felt a huge smile grow over his face, stomach twisting in a way that only Gilbert could inflict.

"What was that for?"

The albino shrugged and nonchalantly replied, "I love you."

His mind went blank, and his body acted of it's own accord. He jumped out of his seat and wrapped his arms around Gilbert, pulling him down into a hug. His boyfriend let out a small, "oomph" as he squeezed. Matthews lips brushed over the shell of Gilbert's ear as he whispered a fierce, "I love you too, you nerd."

"I am hating to be interrupting your moment," Ivan's soft voice interjected. "But I am thinking that toasts should be made."

The couple pulled away from each other, Matthew blushing and Gilbert grinning, a bit of pink dusting his face as well.

"A toast, eh? Sounds fun," Matthew said, offering a smile to the large man.

"Da, fun. I will go first," He stated, usually wide eyes narrowing as if he were challenging someone to object. "To Gilbert and his band. Not only did they bring business, they also brought this." He said the last part with a smile, before tipping back a bottle of vodka and taking a large gulp. Yao explained to the confused group, "He means you brought friends. Ivan likes to see you all getting along."

Gilbert beamed, taking a mug of beer of off the counter and raised it, blatantly ignoring Matthias's shouts of, "Hey, that's mine!"

"You bet!" He proclaimed, ruffling Matthew's hair with his free hand. "If it weren't for Ivan, I wouldn't have gotten to meet this cutie- cheers to Ivan and the Matrie… Matryo… the bar!"

Everyone cheered, and Matthew retrieved his soda from the counter and chugged it, silently mocking Gilbert; he always quickly downed his beer and ended up with most of it on his face, rather than his mouth- a habit that Matthew loved to tease him for. Gilbert responded with a playful swat to his shoulder, instantly recognizing his boyfriend's joke, an affectionate expression on his face.

"No fair, I was totally gonna toast the bar first!" Alfred whined. "Whatever, I'll just say mine anyway," he turned to Ivan and gave him a thumbs up. "Thanks for ownin' this place, dude! It gets Gilbert out of the apartment and it's where I met Artie!"

Ivan was clearly blushing, overwhelmed with all of the praise he was receiving. "I never was thinking that my little shop would be responsible for so much happiness-"

The door to the bar slammed open with a loud bang, drawing everyone's attention. At the entrance a large, dark-skinned man stood, armed with a pistol that he moved slowly around the room- showing that he would, and could, shoot literally anyone in the room. He glanced around, gaze resting on a particular blond cop.

"Carlos. I put you in jail, why the hell are you here? "

Gilbert was frozen in place, unable to think. He watched as Alfred took a step forward, narrowing his eyes and speaking in the most serious tone he had ever heard from the man.

Carlos chuckled, eyes darkening threateningly. "It's pretty simple, Officer Jones- I got out."

Arthur reached out and grabbed Alfred's hand, keeping him from going any further, eyes silently pleading for him to calm down. The criminal noticed the movement, and looked cruelly between the two.

"That your boyfriend, Jones?"

One look at Alfred's expression of pure horror was enough for him to decide that yes, that was his boyfriend. Sneering, he aimed his gun at Arthur and pulled the trigger, the bullet heading straight for the Brit's heart- until Alfred pushed him to the side and let the bullet pierce his flesh, falling to the floor with a resounding thud.

No translations this chapter! Also, to all Alfred fans: sorry about that.