The two small boys laid together arm in arm hidden under the blankets, as they huddled together in safety and warmth, enjoying the short pretence of peace and quiet while they could.

"Al… h-how do you think this'll end? Do you think that maybe… we could get a happy ending."

Alfred shifted uncomfortably on the bed, unwilling to answer as he looked anywhere but at his brother's hopeful eyes.

After all… how could any of this possibly end well?"

xxxxxx

Matthew had barely made his way into the waiting room before his frazzled Uncle accosted from the side him without any warning. His shoulders were grabbed roughly and he was shaken lightly, although only in a sign of concern.

"Matieu! Where have you been all day? Do you have any idea how worried your brother and I were?"

Matthew couldn't help but shoot Alfred a scathing look while he shouldered his way out of his Uncle's grip.

"Uncle I was fine… and Al knew where I was… I-I went to go play some hockey with Ivan."

At the mention of the Russian student, Francis turned to look over at the imposing figure that was standing off by himself, waiting in line to talk to a nurse.

"Stay RIGHT here Mathieu! And Alfred" His Uncle turned to address his brother. "Don't let your Mathieu out of your sight." He told him before releasing his nephew and walking over to join the foreign student.

Matthew wasn't able to hear what was being said between the two, but whatever it was, it was enough to convince Ivan to vacate his spot in the line and return to the seating area where the twins now stood.

"Sit…" Francis ordered when he had returned. When only Ivan moved to comply, Francis clarified sternly. "…ALL of you… sit!"

Matthew quickly sat down in response to the serious tone in his Uncle's voice, unconsciously grabbing the seat next to Ivan, with Alfred faithfully on his other side.

He watched as Francis began to pace, almost as if he was about to give out marching orders, but Matthew recognized it for the nervous action that it was. Francis had never particularly been comfortable in these kinds of situations.

"Ivan, your father…"

"Grandfad'der…" Ivan corrected quietly.

Francis threw him a strange look before continuing.

"Sorry, Grandfather. You're Grandfather, he's currently upstairs having open heart surgery. Do you understand what that means?" Seeing the blank unsure look on the face of the large student, Francis took a deep calming breath before continuing. "It means that… that… this is a very serious procedure, usually something planned months in advance, but because of what happened; he has to be operated on now. Do you... do you have a number to call your parents? They should be told what's happened. The doctors aren't sure how long this is going to take… or what the outcome is going to be…."

Ivan didn't bother replying; only turning his head sadly in the direction of the large double doors that led to where his Grandfather was currently being cut open like a science experiment. His shoulders were tense, and it almost looked like he was ignoring the Frenchman completely, when in truth he was hanging on to his every word.

Seeing all this, Matthew uncharacteristically spoke up in order to save Ivan from having to say the kind of things he knew the Russian would have troubles expressing. His voice wasn't as quiet or as tentative as normal, drawing strength in a way from having to watch over the other young man.

"Uncle… I don't think... Ivan has anyone else here in Canada; I think it's just him and his Grandfather."

Francis shot Matthew a surprised look; he wasn't at all used to his shy nephew choosing to address him, especially not with when his brother Alfred was there to speak for him.

"Crisse" Francis swore, realizing the many implications of Matthew's statement. The least of which was Ivan's status in the country should his grandfather not survive. The young man was mostly likely still here under his Grandfather's citizenship status.

"What about his family back in Russia, maybe they can do something."

Ivan merely shook his head no, his eyes dropping to stare at his knees while knitting his hands together in a painfully tight grip.

Francis rubbed his tired face in frustration, and Matthew was feeling the tension from all three men around him.

"Ivan…" his uncle eventually ground out as he made a decision. "We are not going to learn anything in the next few hours; the operation just started not that long ago. I suggest you come back with us to our house for now to get some food, maybe some sleep… until we know more."

Ivan reacted strongly to this comment, his head shooting up with a look of disbelief written all over his face, his voice filled with determination. "No… I am sorry…but I stay…"

Matthew watched as his Uncle struggled with what to say or do in this unfamiliar situation, not truly knowing what to tell the distressed young man that he didn't know a thing about.

Matthew reached over to grasp Ivan's forearm in a sign of solidarity, and looked up at his Uncle square in the eyes. "I'm staying too Uncle, I'm not leaving until Ivan does."

Alfred's eyes watched his brother's movement with annoyance, and not surprisingly he piped up as well "And I'm not leaving without Mattie."

Realizing that there was no point in trying to reason with the worried young men, Francis reluctantly gave up his argument and sat down across from the three boys to reevaluate the situation.

"Ok... fine… we'll stay. But we might not learn anything until morning, so don't say I didn't warn you. And as for right now, if you can all PROMISE me to stay right here; I'll go leave this minute to get us some food… and some coffee… it's going to be a very long night."

Alfred leaned back into his seat with an equally determined expression on his face, although his eyes were following the path that Ivan's gaze took while looking at the impenetrable wall behind the nurse's station. Matthew had to wonder to himself if there was maybe more to Alfred's wanting to stay here than just to make sure he wasn't left alone with Ivan.

With resignation, Francis rose out of his seat, slapping his knees while he did so for good measure as he left to go make good of his word and fetch them all some dinner.

Matthew watched him walk away, up until his Uncle had completely crossed the room and was almost to the exit, before suddenly making a spontaneous decision, and running after him to gently pull at his sleeve, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

Matthew almost immediately regretted his action when the nervousness and feeling of disquiet he usually got around his Uncle forced its way up to the forefront whenever he was close enough to look up at the striking similarities between the older man and his mother.

They had the same eyes, same hair, same complexion, same French accent event... but…

…reluctantly Matthew had to admit… that was where the similarities ended.

Through everything that was going on, Francis had not once hesitated to put his own thoughts and desires aside to help Ivan out, even though he was a complete stranger in almost every way; much like he'd done for Alfred and himself not so many years ago.

Letting his Uncle's arm go, and speaking purposely on quiet so that only Francis could hear, Matthew bit his lip self-consciously before he finally found the words he needed to say

"Thank you Uncle Francis… for coming when Alfred asked… for trying to help…"

The smile that blossomed on Francis' face was so bright that you'd have thought that Matthew had just given him the greatest gift in the world, and to him, his nephew had done just that.

Francis reached up and gently smoothed away an unruly curl in Matthew's already wavy hair, his eyes sparkling with delight despite the grim scenario surrounding them. "Mon fils, I would always come… if either of you ever asked. And I would never hesitate to help your friends… or…" Francis tentatively asked the next question with a raised eyebrow, hoping that he'd not been mislead by Alfred earlier "or… a boyfriend?"

Matthew flinched at the question, not at all liking where this could lead. In truth he didn't know what Ivan was to him, but that wasn't really what Francis was getting at anyways.

Matthew had never revealed to his Uncle how he'd unwittingly caused the unhappy decline in his family just by being open enough to share just such a sentiment with his father. So it took an incredible amount of bravery now for Matthew to simply nod in answer to his Uncle's unspoken question.

But to his surprise, Francis did nothing more in response other than to sigh in satisfaction in some kind sign of relief, visibly thankful for Matthew's honesty… and to finally be let in just a bit into Matthew's normally closed off world.

If possible, Matthew's Uncle looked like he'd had a huge weight taken off his chest as he gazed affectionately down at his nephew.

"I will always be here for you Mathieu, please never tell yourself otherwise… No matter what happens or what has happened… we are family, n'est ce pas?"

Matthew pursed his lips tighter, almost afraid to show how much the words meant to him. "Yes… of course we are. I just… just… don't…"

Francis' smile faded a bit as it became rueful; he nodded to show that he unfortunately understood what the young man was trying so hard to say. "You just never expect me to stick around… do you?"

Matthew didn't bother denying it, swallowing the sudden lump he felt in his throat as his Uncle griped him on the shoulder sympathetically. "It'll be alright Mathieu… I may not always understand everything that is going on… or everything that has happened to both of you… but please don't ever confuse that with indifference on my part."

Francis reached up to tap Matthew gently under the chin, a genuine open hearted smile once again gracing his face. "I may not be the best 'father figure' in the world, but I'm hoping with… more practice… I might get better."

Matthew's eyes turned sad as he quickly glanced back to his brother and Ivan, both of whom were watching them with great curiosity even though they were unable to catch the conversation.

He turned back to face Francis, suddenly and painfully reminded of all the things his young Uncle had sacrificed and given up in his once carefree life in order to keep their small family together and became a single 'father'.

"I… I think you've been doing a pretty good job as one… s-so far…" Matthew admitted shyly, unable in anyway to look up to see the shocked expression on his Uncle's face. "At least… you're the best one I've ever had…"

Feeling suddenly too vulnerable in his already emotionally charged day, Matthew knew he'd had enough, and he quickly turned to take his leave and to walk back to his brother before Francis could say a thing in reply.

By the time he did look back, Matthew could just make out his Uncle on the other side of the glass windows as he was walking back to the parking lot. But all the exhaustion that had previously shown itself so clearly in his every movement was now replaced by a small spring in his step.

XXXXXX

It was now well into the early hours of the next morning, and the quiet tense atmosphere was almost palpable in the sterile, anxiety filled Waiting Room.

By now the vast majority of the other patients and their family members had gone home, and the only ones who remained were the night shift nurses and themselves

The sound of a clock pendulum could be heard swinging back and forth as loud as if it there were someone banging on a drum right there in front of them.

And Ivan could not in any way take his eyes off of the hypnotic motion of the clock.

tic…tic… tic

As Matthew's Uncle had predicted, they had now been there for well over six or seven hours, and the only news that they had heard was that the initial operation was over, but that his Grandfather was still as unstable as when they'd arrived. The doctors were presumably still doing what they could…. And as for Ivan… well, all he could do was wait...

His body betrayed him as a loud yawn escaped his throat; the noise causing the young man beside him, who was fast asleep and slumped down low in his chair, to become restless enough to reposition himself. The effort was wasted however, and only ended up with Matthew's head and torso falling gently to the side until it intercepted with Ivan's upper arm.

Glancing down at the blonde student as Matthew sleepily nudged his arm with his head until it was in a more comfortable position, Ivan watched as he once again returned to the land of deep sleep.

He was soon following the example of his Uncle who currently lay across 4 empty bench seats not so far from them, using his winter pea coat as makeshift pillow.

Despite Ivan's inner turmoil and his seeming inability to stop thinking about what was happening upstairs or what the future was going to hold… Ivan couldn't help but take advantage of the distraction that Matthew provided him. He carefully reached over with his free hand to lightly trace the full parted lips that were releasing warm shallow breaths, his chest growing tight while he did so.

Mesmerized as always by the sight; Ivan slowly moved his fingers gently across the pale cheek to catch a stray lock. He let himself enjoy the sensation of the silky hair as it slipped between his fingers; forcing himself finally to let go as he tucked the wayward hair behind Matthew's ear, and trailed his fingers back along the underside of his jaw.

A loud cough alerted Ivan to another's presence and the Russian looked up with a sense of guilt and worry as he saw Alfred standing irritably before him, having returned from his trip to secure more coffee for himself.

Ivan wasn't quite sure how the jealousy prone sibling was going to react, but to his surprise, Alfred managed only to make a sour expression before offering him one of the two cups he held in his hand.

"Here… I thought you could use some caffeine." Alfred said nonchalantly as he took a seat directly across from where Ivan sat, all the while not once taking his eyes off of the sight of his brother who was still sound asleep.

"T'anks…" Ivan said as he took a much needed sip from the still piping hot coffee.

For a while, Ivan was positive that the young man wasn't going to say anything else, an eerie quiet settling between the both of them. But Alfred apparently had other ideas, and a few things to get off of his chest.

"You know… I really can't figure out what it is about you… I mean…" Alfred started to blather a bit, his one hand flailing slightly as his brows scrunched in confusion. "Until you showed up… Mattie would never have… well he'd never have played a game of one on one with a complete stranger… or let someone else, besides me… get that… that close…" Alfred nodded reluctantly in the direction of Matthew's prone figure, his knees now curled up on the bench so as to properly use the Russian as a pillow.

"And I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I'm ok with it… because I really, really not… b-but… I also really love my brother, more than… more than sometimes I think it's even possible to love another human being… b-but you know what… maybe that's just to make up for all the people that hated him when we were growing up. So if… this… whatever it is, is what he wants…w-well I guess it's fine then… I… suppose…" Alfred ended his speech, looking down at his own coffee in a sulk, a pout clearly displayed on his lips.

Despite the mixed messages in his rambling speech, Ivan couldn't help but feel his expression suddenly relax a bit, some of the tension he felt evaporating as a small smile appeared on his face.

"I'm glad… very… very glad" Ivan replied slowly… but with sincerity.

"Yeah well… don't get too cocky about it. You may end up breaking his heart… or he'll wake up and realize he's too good for a big goon like you… or something… And then you'll be gone… but me, I'll always be here for my brother. I'm never going anywhere."

Alfred eyed the Russian warily as he said this, but his tone was more to hide the awkwardness of the moment, then to give any real insult.

At the sight of the uncomfortable young man in front of him, Ivan's smile split into a one sided grin, the severity of the situation momentarily forgotten as he took the small advantage he had over the person who'd both terrorized him and saved his Grandfather all in one day.

"Brud'der… hmmm…" Ivan drawled out, a small spark in his eyes as he raised his brows in challenge. "I've never had brud'der before, maybe I like to have one too."

Alfred's eyes went wide as he nearly dropped the coffee into his lap. He quickly scrambled up to start pacing in annoyance around to the other side of the bench.

"Whoa… whoa… whoa! Let's not ring the damn wedding bells just yet. Jesus Ivan… Mattie's still new to all of this… a-and… I'm still… new to all of this… s-so you just take it slow… alright…" Alfred stopped suddenly to once again peer down at his brother, his eyes growing sad as his tone became thoughtful. "Don't… make this happen any faster than it has to… for both our sakes…" he said quietly.

The teasing quality to Ivan's voice disappeared, and he nodded respectfully up at Alfred, while following the other man's gaze to the sleeping figure next to him.

"Da… slow…" Ivan agreed easily, much to Alfred's great relief.

After all, Ivan thought to himself, he had no intention of going anywhere any time soon. So they could certainly afford to take it as slow as they needed to, if that was what Matthew wanted…. If he was what Matthew wanted…

Ivan was so lost in his new train of thought that he almost forgot where he was, or why he was there when a new voice called out his name over at the nurses' station. He jolted so abruptly that spilled some of the now luke warm coffee all over his hand and at the same time jostled Matthew wide awake.

"Mr. Braginski… if you could please come this way, the doctor will see you now."

Ivan wasted no time in jumping up from his seat, practically running all the way to the door, only slowing down a bit when he felt Matthew following close behind him.

Matthew had trailed along without really knowing what was going on, his eyes still not fully open from being asleep.

Alfred stayed sitting on the benches with his still sleeping Uncle, a grim expression set on his face that had nothing to do with his brother following after Ivan, and everything to do with finding out the news about the man he'd earlier tried to save.

The nurse looked over at both of them apologetically as she held up a hand to stop them from entering. "I'm sorry sir, but only relatives are allowed past this point."

Matthew looked back and forth between Ivan and the nurse, his expression letting Ivan know that he wasn't about to let him face this alone, even if he wasn't quite sure how to convince the nurse of that.

"I-I… need to come along… Ivan doesn't speak any English… I have to translate for him." Matthew tried, but the nurse only shot Matthew a disbelieving look, mostly because Ivan had already spoken earlier for updates with the nurses several times that evening.

"Ok… hardly any English…" Matthew conceded.

"And you speak Russian?" The nurse began to ask dubiously but stopped herself when she saw the helpless worried look on Matthew's face, and the unreadable expression that was written all over Ivan's.

Relenting, she shuffled both anxious young men behind the dividing doors. "Fine, you're his translator…. Please follow me this way."

Ivan didn't hesitate to listen, and anxiously kept in step with the nurse ahead of him with Matthew not far behind.

The long corridors stretched out indefinitely as the trio passed silently by the night workers and the few patients still awake. But before long, the nurse slowed her steps as they neared a female doctor carefully going over some charts with another nurse. She looked to be in her fifties, and was still partially dressed in a set of blue scrubs that had been used in the earlier operation.

Upon seeing Ivan, her voice trailed off and she lowered her clipboard in order to stand up straighter and properly address the young man approaching her.

"Mr. Braginsky, I believe you are the patient's grandson?" She quickly checked her charts to verify the information.

Ivan nodded his head, unconsciously reaching back to grip Matthew's upper arm to steady himself for the news.

Rubbing her chin in thought, the doctor tapped the clipboard once more with her pen before looking back up at the tall student. "As you know, your grandfather suffered a severe heart attack, and unfortunately this then led to an unsafe collapse down a staircase causing his cranium to break open and be exposed."

Ivan didn't know exactly what the doctor was saying, but he'd been filled in enough to know the situation up until to this point.

"We were forced to perform an open heart surgery, as well as do some emergency reconstruction on the left side of his frontal lobe…" Her voice trailed off when she physically saw the blood draining from Ivan's face, his grip so tight on Matthew's arm that he had no doubt it would leave bruises, although Matthew made no movement to pull away.

The doctor's voice turned a touch more sympathetic when she realized that the young man was in no condition to be hearing about the medical details, and she suspected he was starting to show some early signs of shock.

"Mr. Braginsky if you could please have a seat." She told him while pointing to a chair next to the wall. She was afraid by the look of his overly pale cheeks that the young man might be at risk of passing out at any moment.

"Barring the possibilities of a few post-operational infections that we'll be looking for, you're grandfather's going to make it. He regained consciousness an hour ago from the sedatives. We just had to monitor his revival and help to stabilize him before we could bring you in to see him… but he is awake now."

The vast majority of what the doctor had just said went clear over Ivan's head, but he understood the most important words, and the tenseness inside him snapped like a tight drawstring being cut as Ivan pulled down on Matthew's arm to keep himself from falling forward, those four miraculous words repeating themselves over and over in his mind.

'He is awake now.'

Seeing the visible relief on the young man's face, the Doctor hesitated before continuing. "I'm afraid there have been some side effects from your grandfather having a second heart attack so soon after the first one. There appears to be some paralysis in his lower limbs, and at the moment we can't confirm how severe it is, or what the long-term effects could be."

Ivan's head snapped up to look at the doctor square in the eyes, his earlier anxiety replaced with some confusion. "Second attack?"

The Doctor returned to her notes to refresh herself of the details before replying. "Yes… he suffered a first attack several months ago, the cause listed here as mixture of high blood pressure as well as severe stress categorized under 'family related'. There were no apparent side effects, and he was released shortly after with a strict prescription regime to prevent any future occurrences, as well as orders to refrain from any stressful situations that could cause a relapse."

Yet again, many of the medical terms escaped Ivan, but he did understand the gist of what the Doctor was trying to tell him, and he felt like she'd just punched him in the stomach.

It was now obvious that his Grandfather had chosen to keep a few things hidden away from him in the past few months, and the result was that Ivan had managed to almost send his Grandfather to an early grave… not only once… but as it turned out, for a second time.

"I… v'ould like to see him… please." Ivan calmly asked with as much composure as he could muster at that moment, not wishing to discuss this any further before seeing his Grandfather with his own eyes.

The Doctor silently followed his wishes, and pointed to the room that they were all standing in front of.

Matthew, who had been silent up to this point, gently reached down to grab Ivan's free hand with his own, both in support, but also so that Ivan's other hand would release his now very sore arm.

Matthew then opened the door for both of them, and without asking for the Doctor's permission, closed it behind them before either of the medical professionals could follow them in.

Ivan showed no emotion what so ever as he surveyed the machines and tubes that were hooked up to his grandfather in one way or another, the beeping sounds fading into the background like white noise. He could feel Matthew nudging him forward, and his feet obeyed the silent command, even when his brain could no longer manage to make the decision on its own.

The lights had been turned down low, most likely to encourage the patient to get some sleep, but Ivan was thankful for the darkness that allowed him to hide somewhat from the wide open eyes that were watching him slowly approach.

Ivan swallowed whatever words he had wanted to say, and licked his dry lips before he pressed them tightly together. He watched as his grandfather managed a small smile when he recognized his only grandson, and in a raspy voice he greeted him in Russian.

"Vanya… I'm so happy you're ok… I was so worried…" His started, but his smile wavered when he saw the young man flinch from the ironic comment. Watching as Ivan's eyes harden and he cast his Grandfather an accusing look.

"Grandfather… why didn't you tell me… about your heart… about what had had happened?" Ivan's voice was barely above a whisper, but the hurt laced in the words caused his grandfather to shake his head sadly in return.

"Oh my Little Ivan…" was the equally quiet reply. "What must you think of me to ask such a question? How could I have possibly… burdened you with even one more thing in your life to cause you to concern? When all this time you have been trapped in such darkness… I had only ever wanted to try and give you some light…"

Ivan could feel the tears beginning to sting his eyes, and he unconsciously pulled Matthew's hand tightly to his chest to use as some kind of life line, too afraid to reach over and grab hold of his Grandfather's own weak hand lying unmoving on the bed.

His grandfather's fingers twitched on the blanket as his dark eyes turned away to look into the dark corners of the room.

"Ivan… I didn't know… I don't know how to save you, I don't even know if you can be saved, but you can't blame me for wanting to try. I had even thought that you were maybe… getting a little better… and I was going to tell you about my bad heart… but then you started to pull away again. And… you are just so… very unhappy here."

"When you didn't show up after your class… I was so scared that you had finally succeeded in doing what you had failed to do back in Russia. You always keep everything from me… and I can't… I can't help but worry about you… every second of the day." His grandfather finished speaking, the drugs possibly loosening his tongue to say a few things that he hadn't meant to reveal.

"B-but… Grandfather… I-I… worry about you too…" Ivan choked out, the words a mix of anger and anguish. "Yes, I miss my home… I miss Father… I miss my sisters… b-but when you left when I was a child… I missed you too… and I don't know… if I could stand to go say goodbye a second time."

His Grandfather turned back to looked at Ivan, a tiny smile inching across his lips in the grim lowlight, a small wave of happiness washing through the old man as he heard the rare words of affection from his stoic grandson.

And it was only then that the older man noticed a second presence in the room, that of the shorter blonde hiding somewhat in the darkness behind Ivan. His grandfather narrowed his eyes in contemplation as he observed the smaller hand clutched tightly in Ivan's own.

Dmitri's mind quickly thought back to where he'd last seen the young man before, as well as to some of the more recent tense conversations he'd had with his Grandson… and suddenly it was like a light switch had been turned on as realization hit him.

The reasons for his grandson's sudden secrecy over where he'd been spending his time, his recent unpunctuality, his nervousness, anger and odd behavior over certain subjects… certain people. It was suddenly as clear as if it had been laid out before him.

In that one moment the old man wished for nothing more than to have the strength to sit up and hit his young grandson sharply on the back of his head as he let out cry of dismay.

"Oh Vanya… my foolish, young grandson… why didn't you just tell me. I had thought… I had thought such horrible, horrible things… and all that time… you were just… just falling in love?"

Ivan's eyes went wide and he immediately dropped the hand he'd been holding, instinctively creating some distance between himself and Matthew who stared back in complete confusion over either the conversation, or the revelation.

"No… I-I… I just… I didn't want to… I…." Ivan's voice babbled incoherently as his Grandfather let out a weak raspy chuckle, obviously just barely hanging on from the strong medication currently running through his veins. He turned his gaze to the startled blonde and addressed him in English.

"Young Man… what is your name."

Matthew's eyes became nearly as wide as Ivan's as he stuttered out a reply. "Uhm… I-I'm M-matthew."

The old man smiled kindly, and while his body was broken, his heart now felt healthy, hopeful, and almost carefree for the first time in a long, long while.

"Hello Matthew, My name is Dmitri Zima… and I'm probably going to go to sleep right now… but when I wake up… I expect you to be here, along with my grandson. And you and I… we are going to have a good long discussion."

XXXX.

The weeks that followed after Ivan's grandfather had nearly died, passed by relatively quickly. Not nearly enough time for the many wounds, both external and internal, to have properly healed… but it was still an improvement from before.

The doctor had unfortunately been proven right in her assessment, and Ivan's grandfather had indeed suffered some paralysis, now being confined to a wheelchair, as well as to the first level of his town house while he waited for home improvements to make things more accessible.

But you'd never be able to tell he was suffering in anyway by the cheerful manner he continued to greet Matthew whenever he showed up at the house, or the genuine smile that graced his features whenever he looked adoringly at his grandson.

Ivan rarely liked to talk about his past, or things involving what had led to the accident, but he had quietly admitted to Matthew one day that it was like his Grandfather had washed away all the sadness and fear he'd been carrying around with him, that he didn't need to… worry so much anymore.

In a way, Matthew felt a similar thing could be said about his own family. While he was by no means incredibly close to his Uncle, something had changed slightly in their understanding of each other that day at the hospital… there was an acceptance now on Matthew's part… or… at least some kind of understanding.

And that was not such a bad beginning, something to maybe build the sort of relationship he knew his Uncle so desperately craved.

And then there was Alfred…

To say that his brother had welcomed Ivan in with open arms would be an outright lie… but he was no longer pulling Matthew away from him either. Although he did tend to insult the Russian every chance he got, something Ivan took surprisingly in good stride. It was even Alfred who had been one of the first people to visit Mr. Zima after he'd been let out of the hospital.

By now the weather had officially turned cold, and any leaves that had not been cleared away, were crystallized in the morning frost.

Matthew was currently sitting on one of the benches in the campus tree line pathway that he'd starting going to every morning after being dropped off by his Uncle. It was here that he would wait with his brother for Ivan to arrive at school before the beginning of class.

His twin sat closely beside him, repeatedly drilling into his head 'important instructions' about where Matthew could meet up with him after he'd finished having coffee with Ivan that morning.

In truth he was barely paying attention to his brother as his eyes scanned the horizon for the familiar sight of a long trench coat and a pale scarf wrapped around a thick neck.

But his stomach did a worried flip when he heard his brother make a passing comment that made his blood run a bit cold, it was made so quietly that Matthew had almost not even heard it.

"After class… I'll meet you back at the house, I'm going to make my own way home."

Matthew stopped in his search for Ivan to look over at his brother in confusion and a good deal of trepidation. "But we have hockey practice after class… our first game's only a few weeks away."

Alfred looked sheepish, and avoided his brother's gaze completely. "Well… thing is… I was kinda kicked off the team for that little stunt I pulled on Ivan…" Alfred quickly put up his hand before Matthew could truly start to panic by throwing out ideas of how he was going to convince the coach of something… anything to change his mind.

"B-but I was thinking, hockey is kinda getting boring, so I kinda signed up for this thing after school that conflicted with hockey practice anyways. It's an intro to Emergency Medical training, just some first aid stuff… you know… just to see if I would interested in that sort of thing… so maybe… if you wanted to, you could just stay on the hockey team while I did… that… instead"

Matthew sat there stunned… positively stunned as he looked at his brother with utter disbelief. The mere fact that Alfred had managed to let him go off with Ivan just for their morning coffee breaks and a few visits to Mr. Zima's house had been a huge show of trust on Alfred's part… but this…. this was something else entirely.

"Damn it Mattie, you don't have to look so surprised. You were always better at that stupid game than I was anyways." His brother said petulantly. "I kept telling you we should have just signed up for the baseball team…"

"I-I… sure Al… I would… really like that… a lot actually…" Not knowing what else to say, Matthew threw his arms around his brother, his wool mitts grasping together tightly behind his brother's back "Thanks Al…"

While deep in the embrace, he felt more than heard another presence walk up behind him, and he looked up in time to catch the gloating look his brother was casting over at Ivan as he held him in his arms.

"Well, looks like the Red Army has arrived to steal you away Mattie… see if you can teach him some damn English while you off being corrupted or whatever it is the two of you do when you're alone… scratch that… I really, really don't want to know."

Matthew playfully swatted at his brother's head, smiling brightly at Ivan who was giving his brother a lopsided frown, irritation plain in his eyes.

"Da Da, I corrupt your brud'der…" Ivan retorted sarcastically in annoyance as he waved his hand dismissively before flashing Alfred a malevolent grin "But only 'cause he likes me to do so."

Alfred practically snarled as he pushed away, his hands moving to cover his ears "Enough… I don't want to hear another word you depraved bastard. Mattie, just take your big oaf of a boy toy away from me… and don't be late for class again, I'm warning you… I won't cover for you a second time."

Matthew wasn't quite sure who to be more annoyed with at that moment, but decided it didn't matter too much when he felt Ivan reach over to wrap his arm around his waist, pulling him in close so as to give him a small kiss on the cheek, partially in hello, but mostly to annoy Alfred.

"Oh for… god… just go already." Alfred exclaimed as he began to walk away in disgust.

Matthew sighed in exasperation, shaking his head in mock disapproval at both of the young men. But he didn't really mean it, and showed this be turning into Ivan's embrace and reaching up grasp his chin lightly between his fingers. Then pushing up onto his toes, he gently guided Ivan's lips down for a single sweet kiss.

When they had separated and Matthew had settled back onto his feet, Matthew jerked his head in the direction of the Ice Rink; his intentions instantly becoming clear to Ivan when he saw a familiar competitive glow flare up in the violet-blue eyes.

"Play?" Matthew asked, slightly mocking the words Ivan had so ineloquently spoken to him when they'd first met.

But the large student was far from insulted, and was more than willing to meet the unspoken challenge for yet another battle on the ice.

"Da… play."

XXXX

THE END

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YAY… it's over… my GW readers are going WTF, you never finish those stories. I'm notorious for not writing last chapters. As any writer knows, it's really hard to try and wrap up things (maybe a part of you doesn't want to either). BUT I did it… so YAY

I'm close to 100 reviews too, so fingers crossed J

Probably going to do a one shot later on for Alfred, and his fumbling attempts at his new job.

But for now REVIEW PLEASE REVIEW! Let me know that I didn't just waste away those evenings for my own amusement (although, I still had fun writing this either way

Also, everyone check out my new story… because… please … it'll make me happy.

Title: A Little Drop of Poison
Pairings: RusCan (others later)
Sum: Trapped in a unforgiving land and forced to rely on a king who'd as soon see him banished away for all time. Matthew must learn to survive in in a world that is not his own, and where every man, woman, child and creature is after the taste of his blood.

Link: http:/ www. fanfiction. net/s/7170182/1/bA_b_bLittle_b_bDrop_b_of_bPoison_b