A/N: Why do teachers decide to give homework over the holiday? D: This really messed up my schedule for this story, sorry! I'm going to try and finish it today, since NaNoWriMo starts tomorrow OTL Happy Halloween!

Countless cars lined Arthur's street, which Matthew could honestly say made him just that more nervous. Said house hosting the party had flashing, hypnotizing red lights that could be seen from a good mile away, and the faint hum of music vibrated from the double doors. Toilet paper was strung across the trees, and the front yard was shrouded with an eerie mist coming from the fog generator.

"Hurry up and get out, I need ta lock the car." Matt blinked and ripped himself out of his trance, quickly got out, and politely and quietly thanked the Cuban man.

The blond walked carefully behind Enrique towards the house. He glanced about, and unconsciously began to wring his hands.

Crap.

Parties and social outings weren't really his scene.

And, of course, he was just going to be alone for the few hours.

And yet, like the obedient idiot he was, he followed the taller man into the house. Inwardly he grimaced; it was like falling into a rabbit hole and ending up in a completely different dimension full of sweat, exposed flesh, pulsing music, and the heavy yet inevitable smell of alcohol.

Within the first few seconds of entering he completely lost sight of Enrique, and if he had felt lost before, well…

Matt adjusted his Mountie hat and started towards the back, where, thank god, there was a decently lit spot to hover by. Even better, that's where the food was. If he was going to suffer through this party, he might as well get a damn caramel apple out of it.

It was difficult to avoid all the dancing happening in between the entrance and his destination, and several times a body bumped into him, sometimes followed by an apology, such as, "Sorry `bout that, Al!"

It wasn't worth sighing about.

Matthew emerged from the horde of grinding bodies and gasped for breath, but to no avail. The air was hot and stuffy and full of a mixture of smells that couldn't be pinpointed as pleasant or not. He fell back into what he mentally claimed as his corner, grabbed a caramel apple, and allowed himself to become a complete ghost.

Eyes scanned the crowd of masked and unmasked faces, and although they had no idea who Matt was, he at least knew who they were.

Right there, see, the girl with the pretty brunette hair and beautiful smile on her face – that was Elizabeta. And he knew that she was dating that one musical guy, the one who was just as uncomfortable as Matt, the one with his arms crossed; Matthew knew his name was Roderich. The only Japanese kid in the school was Kiku; he was also probably one of the prettiest boys, too. But the one who got the most girls was probably that Gilbert guy, the one dressed like a…. a yellow bird? Matt squinted. Anyways, the womanizer was pretty nutty, in Matthew's opnion, since he always claimed that Prussia was going to rise once more.

There were others, but it only made the blond feel lonelier looking at them; it kinda really sucked that even if he could name every single person in his school and their reputation, only a handful of people could even remember his name.

He took a few bites out of his caramel apple, decided it was way too sour for him, and threw it out – but just as he was turning around, someone accosted him from behind.

"Mattie!"

Matthew wanted to groan, but boy, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't glad to see his oaf of a brother.

Alfred let his brother go, and gave him a playful punch to the shoulder. Matt turned to face him, and was… nonetheless surprised at what his brother was wearing.

"Are… are you trying to be David Bowie, eh?"

Al grinned. "Damn right!"

The other was in complete disbelief. "But you said you were going to dress up as a cowboy! You know, so we could have sort-of-matching costumes…" His voice trailed off, and he gave his brother another look-over. No words could describe how ridiculous Al looked right now, but still, people were commenting on his costume.

Why?

Because Alfred always stuck out, that's why. He existed.

"Yeah, I know… I should have told you. But hey, I can sing Fame now without getting weird looks!"

"Yes, you should have told me, eh." Matt crossed his arms and huffed. "And you're still going to get weird looks."

At that moment Arthur came bounding over, dressed as… oh, Matthew just gave up.

"Really? Freddie Mercury?"

The Brit nodded. "Yeah!" His arm snaked around Alfred's waist. They look so adorable together, in their matching costumes and all, Matt thought bitterly. "Hey, is this your brother? Wow, you guys do look bloody alike." Arthur considered Matthew for a second, before nodding slowly. "Now that I think about it, I think I've seen him around before…"

"I'm in your English class, eh." A look of realization dawned on Arthur's face, before Matt stuck out his hand. "I'm Matthew, nice to meet you."

The Brit took his hand with a firm grip. "Charmed to meet you, I'm Arthur." He elbowed Al in the ribs. Hard. "How come you've never introduced him to me before, you git?"

The man shrugged.

Arthur elbowed him again, and turned back to Matt.

"Sorry, he's an idiot."

Matt allowed a small smile and softly said, "Yeah, he is… oh!" He poked his brother. "Hey, doesn't that Enrique guy hate you?"

Al stopped rubbing his side and looked up. "Haha, he's a fucking bastard! But yeah! Why?"

"…how'd you get him to do you a favor?"

"Alfred's incapable of bloody everything, so I had to ask him," Arthur cut in, shaking his head. "Poor bloke looked like he was just standing around doing nothing, but funnily enough, told me to sod off when I tried to talk to him."

"Really?" Matt was suddenly curious. "How'd you convince him?"

Arthur proudly smirked and ran a thumb over his fake mustache. "Pretty easy. Told him I'd hook him up with that one Dutch girl, uh, what's her name…" He looked to his boyfriend for an answer, but Al looked just as clueless. That earned him another elbow to the ribs. "Jeez, anyways, you know the one I'm talking about, right? Well, rumor has it that he fancies her – actually, I think everyone fancies her. Nice tits on that girl, real nice tits. But…" Out of the corner of Arthur's eye, he saw Alfred pouting. He gave a smirk of his own before he leant in and pressed a chaste kiss to Al's frowning mouth. The innocent kiss quickly morphed into a full-blown make out session, which made Matt feel even more awkward as each second passed.

He decided to just completely disappear - maybe walking home wouldn't be entirely bad. After all, it wasn't like it was raining, or anything.

It was raining. Of course, it was raining.

Matthew was trapped here, in a mess of bodies and music. He groaned and scanned the room again, carefully searching for a place to sit for the remainder of the evening and get a ride home. The only open seat was next to Enrique, who was sitting back, chin tilted skywards, a lit cigar lazily dangling from the corner of his mouth.

Shyly, Matt made his way over and quietly took a seat near the Cuban man. Enrique made no gesture to recognize the blond, but that was alright. Actually, it quite nice to be near him – since he was so relaxed it made the atmosphere around him at ease. Matthew liked calmness.

It was when Enrique brought his head forward, took one final inhale and lengthy exhale, that he noticed the blond next to him.

"Hey, who the fuck said you could sit near me?" The darker man growled, pulling broad shoulders back and shooting Matthew a terrifying glare.

The blond inhaled sharply and tried to stammer out words. "I-i-I'm sorry, I just… I-I didn't mean to intrude, it was j-just—"

"Wait," Enrique cut him off, squinting a bit. "Oh shit! Uh, Matt, right?" Matt nodded his head out of confusion and fear. "Fuck. I thought you were your dumbass brother."

"Oh, sorry."

Enrique blinked, and then stared hard at the other. "Why are you sorry? If anything, I should apologize."

"I…" Matt's gaze dropped, and he shrugged.

"Hey, hey, I didn't mean it, Matteo," Enrique had no idea what to do. This kid was actually fragile – usually he didn't care, or he pretty much became their worst nightmare and a complete asshole. "It's just that, well… you do resemble your brother."

The blond sighed in agreement. "Yeah, I know, eh. I wish I didn't."

Enrique let the beginning of a smile cross his face. "Hey—"

CRACK.

The sound cut through the trance of music and a few people stopped their movements to look around, heads turning and trying to detect where the noise had come from.

"It's thunder," Matt said.

"Yeah."

Some moments later, everyone who had stopped went back to what they were doing... but not for long. The room was suddenly illuminated in a white hot flash – everyone froze. A shattering noise followed the light, and the room shook.

It was silent for at least a minute, before a rushed murmur of worry rippled through the party.

And then there was another flash, another clap of horrendous thunder, and the lights went off.

A/N: ruh roh, shaggy!