Hi there! This is my first (possibly only but hey never know) MapleTea! It's a prize for a Deviant after she won first in a contest I held.

I'm having a lot of fun with this fic, it will most likly be 4-5 parts longs. I at least have 4 planned out right now. I shall see where the plot takes me!

Enjoy! Comment please!

Carefully so as not to disturb either his roommate or the nosey American living across the hall, Arthur shut his dorm door with a small snap. It was late at night and he had class the next day but this was the only opportunity he had to study. Both of his best friends made it almost impossible during the day to get a decent study session in, being so loud and obnoxious. If he wanted any hope of passing upcoming exams, the library late at night was his only choice. Sighing heavily, he shouldered his books and set off down the hall.

Fortunately for him, he didn't pass any one while on his way. He had a spotless record to take care of and wandering the halls late would not do him any favors.

Having gotten to the library with no problems, he went and settled himself on the floor in his favorite section. It wasn't academic but it made him more at home. Surrounded by fantasy, science fiction and adventure books, Arthur pulled his large history textbook out of his satchel and began to study.

It only took him a few minutes to figure out he wasn't alone. Someone in the next row over was making noises. Loud noises. Distracting noises. Arthur grit his teeth and tried to stay focused. Who else on earth would be in the library at this ungodly hour? Further to that, who else but Arthur sat in the middle of a section on the floor to study? Surely anyone else would have chosen to sit at one of the many desks. He tried his best to stay focused on some notes about a battle between the French and English but the noises were all he could focus on.

Finally slamming his book closed, Arthur jumped up and walked heatedly to the next row over to accost the noise maker.

"Oi! I'm trying to study and I can't concentrate with you making all this bloody rack…et?" He started angrily but it slowly turned to confusion when he glanced at the man sitting on the floor who looked like his best friend Alfred. Though this man was different. His eyes were a purple color, his glasses slightly rounder, his blond hair longer but slightly unkempt with one random curl springing from it and he was undoubtedly thinner. Not that Alfred was fat, this boy just looked healthier. Either way, Arthur had never seen him before. The boy gasped and jerked his head up toward Arthur, clearly surprised.

"Y-you can hear me? A-and see me?" He asked softly. Arthur thought that was an odd reaction to the situation but glared at him nonetheless.

"Of course I can bloody hear and see you, I'm neither deaf nor blind!" He spat, almost insulted that this boy he had never met could make such a rude comment against him. He pointed his finger at him roughly, "Who are you? New student? You should know it's against the rules to be out late at night, it could get you into trouble." Arthur stated matter-of-factly if not hypocritically. The boy sighed.

"No I'm not a new student but I'm not surprised you don't know who I am," He said quietly. He sat up straighter and smiled at Arthur. "I'm Matthew Williams, Alfred's older brother, nice to finally meet you Arthur." He said.

Alfred's older brother? Arthur blinked in confusion, his friend had never even mentioned having a brother. That and they had completely different last names, Alfred's being Jones. Arthur stumbled a bit not sure what to do with the new information he had just been given. He felt it rude to ignore the boy now but he did have studying to get done. He shook his head and scoffed.

"Alright likewise but be that as it may, I request that you pipe down. My exam is not going to study for its self and I need all the quiet study time I can get." He said, staring curiously as the young man seemed to relax a bit. He pulled his own books further into him and nodded.

"I'm sorry eh. Not use to people being able to hear or see me," He laughed quietly. "I promise, I'll be quiet from now on." He said giving Arthur a very sad looking smile before returning to his own notes.

Arthur walked away, slightly unnerved by the brief encounter. That boy was certainly odd and had Arthur's interest peaked. He may look like Alfred but Arthur could tell he was very different, someone intriguing. He wished he could go and talk to him more, find out why he was here studying late at night like him or how come he felt like he was always unnoticed and unheard. The boy honestly made Arthur kind of sad, he thought as he settled himself back in his own section.

After a few hours, Arthur tiredly packed up his belongings and made his way out of the library to go to bed. Looking back, he saw that Matthew was still buried deep as ever in his notes. The boy showed no signs of leaving anytime soon and Arthur was even more curious. However, he was exhausted and needed sleep. He left the library and returned, unnoticed, to his dorm and fell asleep soundly shortly after not giving Matthew another thought.

The next morning, sitting with his best friends Alfred and roommate Francis at breakfast, Arthur tiredly stabbed his fork into his pancake. Sleep had come late and the day early. Just how many more late night sessions would he be able to cram in before he keeled? Arthur sighed, this wasn't going to last long.

Creature of comfort, Arthur sipped at his hot tea and felt himself brighten a bit with the hot liquid. Let Francis and Alfred have their ruddy coffee, he thought, nothing beat a good cup of tea in the morning. After a few more sips, he felt inclined to begin conversation with Alfred, who was busy shoving as much bacon as he could into his mouth.

"Oi, for starters, this isn't a race and no one is planning on stealing your fried bits of fat. Stop packing it in." Arthur said roughly. He watched Alfred swallow hard and bit back a laugh as he choked slightly, causing him to reach for his orange juice first and then his coffee. Greedy git, Arthur thought. He sighed and picked up his conversation again, "Secondly, it's quite ungentlemanly and poor friend etiquette not to tell us that you have an older brother that attends this school. The least you could have done is introduce us to avoid possible embarrassment." He finished in a huff, taking a small bite of his pancake. Francis groaned.

"Mon Dieu, you mean zhere are two of zhem 'ere? Did zhe other just transfer in? Certainly we would 'ave noticed anozer village idiot by now." Francis said looking from Arthur to Alfred. The man seemed to think for a moment and then Francis and Arthur could clearly see the light bulb going off in his head. He perked up and smiled brightly, snapping his fingers together.

"Oh yea! I do have a big brother that goes here! Totally forgot about him! Huh, whadaya know." He said in an awed tone of voice. Arthur looked at him in shock.

"You…you forgot you had a brother? Alfred, that's a new level of twat I didn't even think you could reach." Arthur shook his head at his brain dead friend. Maybe he just didn't like his older brother? Arthur took a thoughtful sip of tea, still that wasn't much of an excuse. Arthur wasn't exactly on brotherly love terms with his brothers either but he hadn't forgotten about them. He took another stab of pancake as Alfred launched into an explanation for his daftness.

"Hey! In my defense we almost never talk! He's awful quiet and keeps to himself. Technically he's my half bro by marriage." Alfred said forcefully, shoving more bacon into his mouth. "Why da sudden interest in mah fam'ly trwee? He tried to ask through his mouth full of food. Francis made a disgusted noise at the American and turned to Arthur.

"Oui, I would like to know zhe answer to zhat as well mon ami. 'ow do you know 'e 'as a brother? " Francis asked. Arthur bristled slightly, this situation needed to be treated with some tact. It was obvious he could tell them why he had been studying in the library. It was their fault after all but a gentleman never placed blame on others. He set his half-drunk cup of tea down and puffed out his chest in dignity.

"I met him last night in the library. He was sitting in a book section studying." Arthur said. He tried to recall the section, he wasn't sure but he thought it was the action and international mystery novels. Interesting. Arthur shook out of his thoughts and expected his friends to throw question after question at him. To his surprise, Francis merely sipped his coffee and Alfred shrugged.

"Yea, he has weird tendencies like that." Alfred said nonchalantly, grabbing even more bacon. Weird? Arthur echoed in his head. He shook his head, silently wishing Alfred would choke again, this is why he didn't tell his friends what he did at night. Francis let out a loud, sudden laugh.

"Well, I for one refuse to believe you. 'e must be anozer one of your imaginary friends Arthur." He proclaimed, quiet loudly much to Arthur embarrassment making other heads turn their way for a moment. The gentleman spit into his tea in surprise. Alfred just admitted to have a brother, there was no need to lie about it. He stared at the Frenchman incredulously.

"Come again Frog?" Arthur asked angrily. Francis winked and stared over at Alfred.

"Alfred may be dumb as a bag of 'ammers but I refuse to believe zhe older brother of this sexy man," He cooed reaching over to stroke the side of Alfred's face affectingly. "'as slipped by unnoticed by me." He said, sweeping his hand up into Alfred's hair. Arthur watched as Alfred leaned into Francis's touch for a moment before pulling away with his loud obnoxious laugh.

"You best be careful! Didn't Mathias threaten to break your fingers the next time he caught you touching me?" Alfred chuckled, swallowing his food staring into Francis's eyes playfully. Francis gave a small gentle smile.

"Oui but you said it yourself, 'e 'as to catch me first." He whispered, moving his hand down to Alfred's inner thigh, making him bristle but not protest from what Arthur could see. Francis grit his teeth and leaned in so that his face was inches from Alfred's. "Non?" He said gently. Arthur looked on as he did something under the table that made Alfred jump but emit a small low whine of pleasure.

Arthur slammed his tea down and grabbed his satchel off the floor, slinging it onto his shoulder in disgust. He gave them both an evil glare, "Really Francis? At breakfast no less, have you no shame? And Alfred, to go along with it? Save your lechery for later, in private." He huffed, sliding his chair back under the table. "On that perverse note, I will take my leave. See you both in class later." He called behind him as he exited the dining hall.

It wasn't that he minded the overt sexual display, living with Francis made them a daily occurrence, Arthur was frustrated by their lack of compassion for others. His mind turned over all the new information, Matthew was bothering him. How is it that his own brother had forgotten him and he gone unnoticed by the school flirt? This boy was intriguing Arthur more and more he thought as he made his way to his first class.

Later that day as Arthur sat bored in his upper level history class (one Francis and Arthur had no hope of ever getting into), listening to the professor prattle on, he took a glance around at his fellow students. They seemed to be as bored as he was in here. Eduard was hastily scribbling notes Arthur knew for a fact he wouldn't need. The Albino boy Gilbert and his brother Ludwig looked like they were deep in quiet conversation. A war role playing game strategy session no doubt, Arthur thought. Ivan and his sister sat off the side, staring into space. Arthur shivered, those guys were a creepy bunch.

He almost turned back to his notes when he had to do a double take. There. Right there. He had almost missed him in his scan. Matthew sat off in the corner alone. How had Arthur not noticed him before? Had he always been there? Arthur sighed, maybe he was no better than Francis and Alfred. He continued to stare, Matthew seemed like the only one mildly engaged in the lesson. A small smile was across his face as he took notes. The smile wasn't as sad as last nights, in fact Arthur could swear it was almost eager. The Brit found himself become more intrigued than ever.

Right, Arthur thought setting his pen on the desk giving up on notes. If he's in the same class as I am then that gives me a reason to talk to him.

Tonight, if he comes to the library, I'll study with him.