Sometime later, Matthew had immersed himself in his homework, unlike his brother, who was probably still staring mindlessly at the TV. As of today, he only had Math to work on. Matthew usually was able to get most of his other homework out of the way at school, so there was an explanation for the lack of piles of papers surrounding Matthew as he worked.

As the sun went down in the oh-so-far-off distance, the light in the room began to dim. Matthew, being the cool person he is, had parted his blinds so that he could use the sunlight to see instead of that costly thing called electricity. But, the light was fading, and soon weirdoes would be out and about. Sighing about having to get up and break his steady work rhythm, Matthew stood up and made his way over to the window, located to the right of his desk. Matthew had to climb over his bed to get to the window, by the way, so his pants got all wrinkled around the knees, making Matthew uncomfortable enough to have to glance down and straighten his pants before looking out the window.

And then a shiver went down his spine, just like in the horror movies.

For a moment, just a teensy-weensy moment, Matthew could have sworn he felt eyes on him. And not the kind of eyes that just glance over you like you're a dust speck. No, no, this gaze had been full of purpose; purpose intended for Matthew.

Immediately, Matthew brought his face to the glass and searched for the owner of the gaze. All he could see, however, was his backyard fence shaking nonchalantly in the wind and the light from his neighbor's window flickering. Just to be sure, Matthew examined the yard and beyond completely. Nothing was hidden in the grass, as far as he could tell, and there was no one up in the oak tree over in his neighbor's yard.

"This is really creepy…" Matthew whined. He shut the blinds in a rush and went back to his homework, which was now visible under the light of the lamp Matthew had turned on. Throughout the time he continued to work, Matthew kept getting the goosebump feeling he'd gotten earlier, despite the blinds being closed. It made it impossible to concentrate, and, finally, Matthew gave up.

"I can't take this anymore! I'm going to bed!" He shouted to no one in particular. Kumajirou, a stuffed-bear seated on Matthew's desk, stared at Matthew with an agreeing gaze. He didn't like this either. Being born (made) and raised in the quiet toy store of Learning Express, he didn't enjoy all this excitement at all.

Matthew shoved his binder and whatnot into his backpack, which happened to be lying under his desk alongside Matthew's trashcan. As he rose up, Matthew head-butted his desk, causing his home-made pencil holder and lamp to shudder and fall over. Pencils tumbled out and all over the wooden desk, making their annoying clattering sounds. One even rolled off the desk and stabbed Matthew in the neck.

"Eep!" Again, Matthew's head found its way to the desk. This time Matthew was sure he heard something break.

"Mattie, Mattie! What's going on in here?" The door, located behind Matthew's desk, popped open, and Alfred's cheery face appeared.

"O-oh! Nothing, I just bumped my head!" Matthew replied, tears in his eyes. He rubbed the back of his neck, which stung like crazy now and softly moaned about his aching skull.

"Oh, really? That's all?"

"Yes, that's all!" Matthew said, now slightly annoyed. Although he loved his brother and all, his loud voice was really making his head throb.

"Ah, dang! For a moment there, I thought you had a girl or something in here! I mean, with all that banging and stuff…"

Matthew flushed, being very sensitive to any matters involving people, not just girls. "Don't be silly!" Matthew shot a glare at his brother. That's when he noticed the fancy getup his brother happened to be wearing. Fancy, that is, if you count a plaid shirt and slightly darker jeans fancy.

"Arthur, are you going somewhere? It's kind of late right now, isn't it?" The clock on Matthew's desk showed the digits '6:23' P.M.

"Yeah, I'm going somewhere. I'm a busy man, Mattie. You, of all people, should know that!"

"But where? Mom and Dad said no more late night adventures for you!" Matthew didn't even want to begin to remember Alfred's last 'late night adventure'.

"Don't worry, don't worry! I'll be back before they get home, I swear. And, even if they do get back before me, you'll cover for me, right?"

"But-!"

The doorbell rang, and Alfred vanished. "ThanksMattie,gottago,bye!"

Matthew stared, dumbfounded, at the spot where Alfred's head had once been. Where on earth was his brother going? Now that Matthew had a moment to consider it, Alfred had been going out a lot these days. Matthew had no idea where he'd been going; Alfred wouldn't tell him.

"Maybe he got a girlfriend or something…"

"Gah, whatever!" His brother's business was his own, and this was no time to be snooping around in it.

Matthew fixed up his desk quickly (Nothing had broken; his paper holder had just tipped over), and, after doing all those pre-beddybye things, flipped the light switch off and went to bed.

Many hours later, the door slammed shut and the angry voices of adults could be heard scolding a fancy-looking young man.

The morning went by quickly, as usual. Matthew woke up to the sounds of his alarm clock, seated right beside his maple leaf-themed bed on a stool and, as he brushed his teeth in the connector bathroom, was soon startled by the loud and proud ballads of American Rockstars coming from behind the closed door leading into Alfred's room. Minutes later, a very groggy looking Alfred with a rat's nest for hair pushed the door open with unnecessary and began to brush his teeth beside his brother without a word. Matthew didn't bother with the good-mornings; Alfred would never reply.

Matthew came back to his room after his daily bathroom routine and dressed. Out the door of his room, he went once dressed, and down the stairs he walked , occasionally slipping on the carpet surface, which Matthew never had a good grip on with his bare feet. He landed in the kitchen, where the simple breakfast of a microwavable pancake and cereal awaited him. There was even milk and a bottle of maple syrup near his plate. In the distance, Matthew could hear a car engine start and the garage door open.

"Bye, Mom." Matthew thought instinctively.

As Matthew calmly chewed through his breakfast, Alfred slid down the stair rails and fell into his seat, where he proceeded to wolf down his breakfast of eggs and toast. After chugging the glass of water, Alfred stood up and went back up the stairs to dress. Why he didn't do so before he came all the way downstairs to eat breakfast was a mystery to Matthew.

About ten minutes later, Matthew was out the door, looking refreshed and renewed. If anyone happened to be watching and/or following him right now, they'd be blinded by his morning superiority. In fact, the whole morning scene Matthew was now walking into now looked perfect. Matthew, trotting across the sidewalk, which cut straight through his lawn of green, green grass. His classical, white house posing valiantly in the sunlight. And the gate, which had no peeling paint or chipped wood, lined up against the rows of carnations. The birds sang and the clouds were fluffy. It was the perfect movie scene, in fact. Matthew even began to whistle a song as he walked to school.

A few moments later, Alfred barged out of the house and tore down the streets like a madman.
"Don't leave without meeee!"

Once Alfred had reached Matthew, the two could be compared and turned out to be opposites in terms of fashion. Matthew was dressed in a simple T-shirt with a logo on the front (and back) and tan corduroys. His bag, which was the classic leather messenger bag, bobbed along at his side. Alfred had thrown on a navy-zip-up hoodie, even though it was a warm, sunny day, and jeans ripped at the ankles. Even their shoes were different; Matthew's beat-up sneakers versus Alfred's torn-up, untied one-stars.

Ah, brotherly differences.

A/N First official chapter up. c:

Thank you so much for all the reviews and such. I've had a rough week getting back into school, and everyone's reviews and such really cheered me up. Many thanks to those who posted helpful comments; I hope I met expectations.

I take a while to update things or respond to messages, so I apologize if I don't reply to any messages sent right away. I really hope that I can continue this fanfiction without making people wait forever for chapters, because no one likes to wait. :c

I know this chapter is pretty boring; I really wanted to get Matthew and Alfie to school. I just felt like it was getting to be too long, so I cut it off. I hope you enjoyed this chapter somewhat, at least. Please tune in again next time! c:

EDIT: How did I not notice. How did I not notice. I switched Alfred's name to 'Arthur' multiple times by mistake. I'm so sorry for the confusion; it should be fixed now. :c