Chapter Text
Matthew didn’t like being treated like a wounded dog when he was given attention.
The family doesn’t acknowledge his mental issues; they walk around eggshells.
When he returned to school it felt like he hadn’t even left. The teachers would glance at him and frown, but they would never say anything, they knew he wouldn’t respond anymore. The kids never noticed him, the only time he felt seen was when he crossed the street to the public library. There weren't any new people that usually came to the library, it was mostly full of older folks who were talking with each other, the kids his age were studying, and the younger ones were a fresh breath of air.
Canada usually made himself at home where the computers were, he would internet surf for a bit and then he would play games. He gave up on studying a little bit ago, if he felt like he wasn’t understanding it he would just start sobbing and then he would just be unconsolable. Arthur said it was him “Shutting down”. The dirty blonde wasn’t too fond of him being referred to like a computer.
Today wasn’t any different from the usual. School had ended and now he was sitting in the library waiting until later at night for his dad to pick him up. He tapped his fingers on the keys lightly for a moment, listening to the small tap from his nails. Matthew was attempting to find something fun to read, he looked at dumb posts on social media and would smile at the comments under that said post. He found nothing today. With a small grumble and an irritated hand running through his hair he would just go to a usual time waste game.
From everyone else's eyes they saw a fairly tall teenager who wore awkward baggy clothes and always had tired eyes. He was odd looking at the deck, hunched a bit over with his hand messily placed in his hair. The soft purple coloured eyes narrowed and accented with the eye bags he had. Canada looked a mess, and he knew it.
It was a few hours later when his arm felt hellishly itchy, he had put off itching his arm but it was really getting to him. He winced as he did so but it felt better now. God he hated when scabs rubbed against fabric. This locked him out of his thoughtless state, playing games made him focus on the game, not his rushing river of thoughts.
The screen was easy to stare at, at least until someone comes up to you and taps your shoulder.
“Hey uh...” An accent he didn't recognize spoke to him. He turned, looking down first to see if the guy had stepped on his bag, which luckily, he hadn’t. He looked up and saw an upset but distressed guy peering at him in his seat. This guy had dark brownish-red hair, he also had a noticeable cowlick. The boy speaking to him was Romano, a tan upperclassman in his history class. Matthew only knew his name because of his suspensions.
“Sorry. I apparently forgot to bring extra led and post-it notes. Do you think I could borrow some- well…have some I can’t really return…” He seemed fairly awkward speaking to Canada, but his attitude seemed better when Matthew nodded and reached into his bag.
After handing him the things he asked for, Matthew assumed Romano would leave and go hang out with friends or study by himself. Instead the Italian sat himself in the chair next to him, tossing his bag over the back of the chair after grabbing some textbook. Romano didn’t speak to him, at least not immediately.
“You’re related to Fuckass Alfred right?” Romano’s voice caught the blonde off guard again, he turned but Romano hadn’t even looked up from his work.
“Yeah.”
“I would hate that. He is so annoying and I genuinely want to beat him every time he says something to me.” The red-head murmured.
“Same here.”
“... I have a popular brother too.”
Romano’s words stood in the gap between them for a moment, Matthew stared at him as he wrote in tiny sections.
“I know.”
“I’m sure you do. Alfred makes it seem like you only people watch, making you seem like this ghost that haunts the hallways of the school. I think he’s the one actually haunting the halls with his nasty sports smell.”
Matthew smiled a bit at the comment, remembering the odd expensive cologne that Alfred would buy anytime they went to the nearby mall.
“I thought he would rather kill himself than say anything about me.” He muttered, earning a small giggle from Romano. The blonde bit his lip in worry, he usually didn’t joke much so he didn’t know when it was too far. Luckily Romano didn’t say that he should leave and forget everything happened.
“Hah I know right? He is such a stuck-up prick. You are definitely the better one in the family.” Romano finally put down the pencil he had and looked at Matthew, who rushed to stop watching his hand.
“You are going to be my friend now. I think out of everyone in that school, you are the only one who doesn’t seem like they talk just to talk. You have like…a story to you.” He gestured towards Canada, his pointer finger hovering over a pin on the blonde bag.
“And you have far better taste in stuff than like…everyone there.” Romano looked back up from the bag and that's when Matthew noticed the softer look in his expression, his eyebrows weren’t furrowed like usual, and he didn’t seem like he was going to yell at everyone who was going to speak to him.
“Thank you… sorry I’m not very good at like…anything?” Matthew cringed at his words, he totally knew if there was a show about him the people watching would cringe and sigh at his odd way to describe himself.
“I think that's far better than being good at everything.” Romano placed a yellow sticky note on the computer's screen before standing up and leaving with his stuff.
When Canada pulled the note off the screen.
What a weird guy.
On the note was his number, a messy drawn cat with one of Canada’s stupid untamed curls was in the corner. The action was sweet, but of course he couldn’t trust it too fast, so he put it in his pocket to…
Maybe…
Put in his phone.