Sorry for the long wait! I was in New Mexico interning for about five weeks, which is why I've been absent! I do so appologize! So here is a new chapter. It might not seem long, but given as I'm writing Protection on my iPod, I'm proud of how long this is. :) Enjoy, por favor!

After Alfred drove off Matthew went inside and sat down on the couch. All around him the house that had recently been near-silent with unspoken thoughts and worries was now alive with chatter and laughs. Ludwig immediately claimed the kitchen, shooing everybody out and setting to work on cleaning it. Feliciano followed as he said something about the best pasta to use for spaghetti and what's best for just noodles. Ivan, Arthur, Natalya, Katyusha, Roderich, Elizaveta, Eduard, Raivis, Tauris, and Feliks all went to explore their new rooms. Yao began to examine the TV. Lovino and Antonio went out to examine the backyard, and Francis went to see what areas in the house were the most... Romantic and would be the hardest to hear. Gilbert tried to followed Ludwig but was quickly chased out of the kitchen.

"Holy mother of God," Matthew looked around in shock, "This house is alive."

Even when their entire family was alive it hadn't been this loud. This sudden noise came as a shock to him. He had to keep pinching himself to make sure he was actually awake. Matthew finally admitted it to himself when Ivan, the big Russian, sat on him. The man was at least six inches taller than Matthew, and probably outweighed the blonde by a hundred pounds.

"Um, Ivan? Would you please get off?" Matthew squeaked. Apparently his normal ability to be unseen and unheard when he wasn't being looked for was working because Ivan gave no signs of movement. It wasn't until Gilbert noticed and said "Ivan, you're squashing the target." that the man got off.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't see you, da?" Ivan gave a smile, and Matthew wasn't sure if it was an apology or just a smile.

"Normally people don't." His voice was now quiet. Matthew saw Gilbert look at him curiously. He ignored the albino, though, and got up. The blonde made his way up the stairs, avoiding the people coming down the stairs. He saw Francis looking through the rooms.

"Francis, the attic." he sighed. The door to the attic was at the end of the hall. The stairs curved up, away from the house and around to the back, before ending at double doors. The stairway had recently been covered so anybody climbing up it couldn't be seen-or shot at. The attic itself was large, and Matthew and Alfred had hidden in it plenty of times. There were emergency stairways just inside of all the rooms, beside the entrance to the bathroom. Each way to enter was an animal on the wallpaper you had to push, or punch, to open. The handle would appear and you could enter.

Matthew and Alfred had used the emergency stairways at least three times. The attic was, thankfully, fireproof. It was made of concrete, which made it difficult to burn. The whole house was, actually, but it was covered in wood so it was quite difficult to tell. The inside of the house had mostly hardwood floors as well. The only tile was in ever bathroom, and the only carpet in the actual rooms. Matthew's room was the only room with hardwood floors instead of carpet. Even in the winter he enjoyed the chill of the material on his bare feet.

"Ah, merci, Matthieu!" Francis said with a smile. He didn't look even close to being embarrassed that his cousin knew what he was up to.

Matthew nodded. He had t expected anything else from Francis. The poor blonde had been traumatized when he was ten after walked in on a 15-year-old Francis making love with an older woman. Matthew had been frozen from shock and awkwardness. The older blonde hadn't even noticed until Matt had become unfrozen, backed up, hit and bounced off a wall, and then hit a lamp and broke it. Instead of apologizing Francis had finished, bid the woman farewell, and proceeded to explain "the birds and the bees" to Matthew. Matthew's face had been practically on fire before Francis had finished.

Even after knowing his impressionable younger cousin was in the house Francis had continued his little "explorations" of either gender wherever he could.

Nothing of sex could scare Matthew, except rape.

Gilbert stepped into his room with a critical eye. The walls were black with red starbursts and birds. The bed had white sheets with the same design but in black. The pillows were black with white. The floor was a dark carpet, and the tiles in the bathroom were black and went to red on Matthew's side. The bath mats were black and the shower curtains red with white maple leaves. He moved back into he room and looked at the closet.

It's doors were black and the shutters were a dark red. His door to the bathroom was black as well, with white snowflake-like markings and red wolf tracks. Everything in the room was either black, red, or white. The only other splash of color were yellow birds above the bed on the ceiling. 'Canaries,' Gil thought. He examined the room a couple more times.

And decided in suit him quite nicely.

A knock on the door from the bathroom led him off the feather soft bed to open in. Matthew stood on the other side, looking both annoyed and embarrassed. Gilbert stared at the red faced blonde for a moment before Matthew glared at him.

"Ah, yes, Mattie?" Gilbert asked and moved out of the doorway. This wasn't his house, he reminded himself, so he actually had to behave.

"Don't call me Mattie. Only Alfred and Francis can." Mattie sniffed. Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Anyway... I came here to tell you that your stairway entrance is-"

"What? Stairway entrance?"

"Yes," Mattie rolled his eyes, "The stairway to our attic in case of emergencies. Yours is right... Here!"

Matthew felt along the wall before coming across the figurine he was looking for. It was a canary, wings outstretched, seeming to reach for the sky. The feathers were intricately carved with extraordinary detail, along with the head. It was on the left of the bathroom, small and difficult to see. It blended in with the wall, and Gilbert had to squint before being able to spot it. Matthew was able to find it quickly, and this made Gilbert slightly jealous. Then again this was his house and so he probably knew just about everything there was to know about it.

"Push on it. Gently, though. It could break. The one in our parents' room is broken because they fought and Dad shoved it for some reason and it broke." Matthew said softly. He looked at the figure morosely and Gilbert felt a twinge of sympathy. The only thing he had left of his parents were scars and a broken sword. Gilbert had fixed the sword and named it Fritz, but it still filled him with sadness and a bit of hate. And yet he loved the item.

"Anyway. Come downstairs. We're setting rules." Matthew said the last word and his mouth twisted into a sneer. He clearly didn't like having to lay down rules for his own house. It amused Gilbert greatly.

"Lead the way then, captain." The albino replied snarkily.

With a glare, Matthew left to go downstairs. Gilbert followed with a smirk. The blonde, even angry, was quiet. It was an anger that could erupt and become like a volcano, exploding violently. Gilbert could see that as he maintained a steady two-foot distance behind him.

Matt was ignored. He cleared his throat, whistled, clapped, and was still ignored. With a snort Gilbert opened his mouth.

"HEY! EVERONE! MATTIE IS TRYING TO TALK! PAY ATTENTION YOU DICKWADS!" he screamed. Conversation dwindled and ended quickly.

"Ah, thank you Gilbert." Matthew said in his normal, whispery voice. In a louder one, more like a yell for him, he began to speak.

"Okay, first of all, thank you for putting up with my dumbass, overprotective brother. I hope you like our house, but I do want to lay down some rules. First, do what you wan in your room. But if you do anything... Dirty, clean it up yourself. Second, I don't want to HEAR you guys doing anything. Third, I am not making breakfast every morning. We'll switch so somebody makes it or pays for it every morning or something. Lastly for now, on the left side of all your bathrooms is a figure that you can use to get to our emergency attic. Press on it-gently-and it'll reveal a staircase behind you. Try not to break the figurines because Berwald would get pissed." He told them sternly.

"Great. May we lay down rules for you as well?" The big, tough-looking blonde-Ludwig-asked politely.

"I guess... Sure. It's fair." Matt nodded.

"Good. First, you will tell us every time you want to go somewhere. Second, you will have an escort everywhere you go. You will let us help you, just like your brother asked. There will be no complaining about it. We have a right to protect you as well as we can. That means we have a right to do with you as we please as long as we are protecting you. Since Gilbert got us to do this, he will be with you at all times whenever you are out of the house. He will be like your shadow. And you will have one or two more of us following or acting as scouts at all times. We will keep you as safe as humanly possible. And if we can't, Gilbert can take all fall and blame."

Matthew nodded, thinking. He liked dealing with Ludwig. The tall man THOUGHT. He'd love to have a battle of the wits with him one day. But not today.

"Sounds good. We can always renegotiate as it is needed." Matthew agreed.

Ludwig nodded. "But Gilbert stays with you. That is not negotiable." Matthew made a face but nodded.

"Fine. If that's the main rule, I can deal with that."

"Good." Ludwig gave a short, concise nod. Matthew blinked back.

"If that's it I'm going to go take a nap." Matthew yawned and turned.

"Ve~Siesta time!" Feliciano cheered. He grabbed hold of Matthew's arm and Lovino's arm and dragged them up the stairs. "You can sleep with me and my fratello, Matteo! It's always fun to have a group siesta!"

Matthew just nodded, a bit confused. What was a siesta? He heard clomping up the stairs behind them, even above Lovino's swearing and turned his head. Antonio and Gilbert were right behind them. Gilbert was smirking and Antonio wore the same airy smile he'd had for the past few hours.

"Ah, Matthew! Gilbo and I decided to take a siesta with you too!" Antonio waved.

Matthew waved back.

"Oh hell no you stupid tomato bastard! You get your fucking ass down those stairs! I am NOT taking a siesta with you and the potato bastard!" Lovino shouted. His face was flushed although Matthew couldn't tell if it was from anger or embarrassment.

"But Lovi~ Gilbo needs to be with Matthew at all times. And you used to like taking siestas with me!" Antonio gave protest to the protest. Lovino huffed, but turned and continued to swear under his breath.

The room (and bed) that was decided upon was Feliciano's. The happy Italian dragged down his brother and Matthew. Gilbert took the edge of the bed, away from the trio, and Antonio curled right up next to Lovino. The other Italian grumbled but gave up trying to get the air-headed Spaniard off the bed. Matthew was now warm and wrapped securely between two Italians. Feliciano had his head on Matthew's chest and his arms around the blonde's waist, legs stretching around Matthew. Lovino had his head atop Matthew's, and his arms were wrapped around Matt's shoulders.

Despite the fact he knew almost nothing about these people, Matt felt safe. In less than five minutes he was asleep between two Italians, who were already shifting in their own siestas and pushing him towards a certain Prussian.

I think I read something about Berwald being good with his hands somewhere. So he made all the carvings in the rooms, despite the fact that they're all teeny tiny.

I think Berwald and Tino will be in here soon~