Matthew and Alfred are the best of brothers.

Born together, orphaned together, adopted together, raised together. They've lived their lives wholly with each other, and they've enjoyed it. To have someone who fully understands the other is a gift from Heaven, and when one steps forward, the other does also. They are completely in sync.

They're a package deal most of the time, the friends they have are mostly mutual, but even if they part ways, they will always return to each other. At the beginning and the end of the day they are together.

They are not immune to quarrels or difference in opinion, but their disagreements never last long. Too much time apart from their other half hurts, so they sort out their differences and become whole again.

Their parents think they are both interested in women and that suits them just fine. Even with homosexual parents, children are almost always expected to be straight by default. Alfred is loud in his appreciation for female anatomy while Matthew admires quietly and from afar. To admire is not the same as indulging, and they both know this. That is why they fit so well.

College could not come fast enough for them. There was too much knowing at home, too much information revealed. There they were known to be Alfred and Matthew, the brothers that were best friends. Here at college they are hundreds of miles away from that home, and it is here that they are not brothers. They are Alfred Kirkland and Matthew Bonnefoy, the best friends that are more than friends. It was with purpose that each had a different last name, a decision they made that their adoptive parents did not question. Who here would know that Alfred and Matthew were related if their last names were different? No one, and that makes their lives easier.

College is nice because they don't have to be discreet. Here they can touch, hold hands, kiss without the worry of being found. A love such as theirs is one frowned upon in society, and it is because of this that they've had to carry on in secret. Now they can make love as much as they please and no one will think anything of it. Their lives are riddled with half-truths and vague descriptions, but this is not a problem. They're not close enough to anyone that they risk someone meeting their family, because their best friend is already family.

Matthew and Alfred are all the other needs, and that suits them just fine.