What is... "Home?" (Hetalia Fanfic, W.A. '13 Finalist)

Chapter 3~!

Can we spell MOTIVATION? Alright, M-O- naw I'm just kidding. Thank you for the motivation, Dead_In_Wonderland and LivreWyrm! Your comments were awesome! And I hope I can keep up with the demand of chapters everyone is wanting to read. If you have any ideas for a chapter you want to share, then please feel free to PM me and tell me all about it! (Nothing R-rated or too dark, if you please!) Not to get your hopes up or anything, but I was thinking about a Halloween chapter of some type later on (or pretty soon, I dunno XP). It just depends on how things go. If you give me an idea and I use it, then I promise to give you credit!

Now, on to Chapter Three~!

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I did my best to memorize the way from the dorms to the cafeteria, and I thought I had it down by the time I got there. It was crowded with nearly all boys and the occasional girl, and somewhat noisy from all the chatter. Matthew and I got in line for food together. They were serving hamburgers, one of my favorites, although there were a few other choices, too.

"I wonder how many of these Alfred is going to get," Matthew wondered as we claimed a table outdoors, where it was colder but quieter.

"Hey, I met a guy named Alfred earlier today," I told him as I dumped ketchup and mustard on my burger.

"Did he look like me?"

I mentally compared Matthew with an image of Alfred and was shocked I didn't realize it earlier. "Yeah, he does look a lot like you. Are you two related?"

"We're basically brothers, but he never remembers me, just like everybody else." He looked so sad, I wanted to hug him. I didn't, though, because that's not something Malcolm would do; Melina, yes. Malcolm, nope!

I patted his shoulder. "You should still count yourself lucky. I wish I had siblings. But what do you mean, basically brothers? Wouldn't you be brothers or not?"

He was about to answer when he was drowned out by a loud, familiar voice. "Hey, Malcolm dude!" Alfred sat on Matthew and plunked his tray down, piled high with what could have been twenty hamburgers. "You got in, sa-WEET!"

I jumped, not expecting him to pop in like that. "A-Alfred, you just sat on Matthew!" I exclaimed, pulling him up by the arm and freeing my squished roommate.

"Ah, dude! Sorry 'bout that, Mattie, I didn't see you there," Alfred apologized, sitting on my other side. Arthur walked over and sat across the table, rolling his eyes.

"You sat on your brother again?"

"I said sorry..."

"It's okay," Matthew whispered. "I'm used to it by now."

I snorted. "That's depressing. How can you say that?"

Matthew just shrugged and continued eating like nothing had happened.

"So, you made it in," Arthur said conversationally.

I grinned at him. "Yeah, and the test wasn't really that hard, either. Thank goodness for that, too." I glanced at Al, who was stuffing his face at an inhuman pace (hey, that rhymed!). "Aren't you afraid of choking, Al?"

He shook his head and paused in his gorging. "I've never choked before." He started eating again, popping in a burger like it was a single bite.

I just shrugged and took a large bite, nearly moaning at the taste. You would, too, if you'd been living off of nothing but water and what you could buy cheaply.

"Bloody American food..." Arthur mumbled as he eyed his burger, disgusted.

"Are you gonna eat that?" I asked, and he handed it to me readily.

"Be my guest."

A creepy laugh sounded, and all three boys around me got annoyed/angry looks. I shot Matthew a confused glance, and he replied in his quiet voice, "Francis."

"'Ello!" a student with shoulder-length blond hair and a bit of stubble on his chin called as he glided over. His accent was distinctively French. "We 'ave a new student, I see!"

"What the hell do you want, bloody Frog?" Arthur groaned.

"Oh, nozhing, Arthur. I just wanted to introduce myself to 'im," Francis said, winking at me before shaking my hand. "Francis Bonnefoy. And you?"

"Malcolm Middleton, nice to meet you."

"No, zhe pleasure's all mine. Say, per'aps you would care to join my friends and I sometime? It's important to get into zhe right crowds early on, you know." He glanced pointedly at Al and Arthur, not noticing Matthew at all.

"Well, not at the moment, but I'll keep your offer in mind," I told him, thinking 'HA! Fat chance.'

"Well, alright. Farewell, ma cheri!" Francis went back inside to rejoin his friends, leaving the four of us alone.

"Dude, you weren't serious about hanging out with him, right?" Al asked worriedly, actually pausing in his eating to speak clearly.

I shook my head. "Heck no. He's not exactly the type of person I'd hang out with willingly."

They all looked relieved. "That's good, because he swings either way and isn't shy about anything," Arthur told me, and I gaped.

"Oh, god," I mumbled. "I made the right choice, apparently."

"Good thing, too," Matthew said, and I nodded at him in complete agreement.

A thought struck me, making my eyes go wide and me nearly drop my burger. "Did... Did he just call me his girl?"

Matthew, Arthur, and Al all laughed at my expression.

"Don't worry, dude. He calls a lot of people that, even guys," Al explained, only setting my fears to resy a little.

'What if he knew? Could he have seen through my disguise somehow?' I thought worriedly.

"Malcolm? You seem kinda nervous," Matthew whispered, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I smiled and shook my head. "Nah, I'm fine. No worries."

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Okay~! When I was typing this, I was surprised when I came to the end because I thought it was longer than this! Oh well. You got what you asked for! :D

Um, I've been fangirling about this hetaloid for a while, and I thought now would be appropriate to publish it because France makes an appearance in it. :) Um, I dunno what else to say, and my sissie is breathing down my neck to give back her computer, so I guess this is it! Until next chapter, which will hopefully be soon!