Alone In A Crowded Room

He just kind of stood there. Due to his rather large size he found himself sinking into the muddy grass. His gaze drifted downwards. He couldn’t quite place what had just happened. He didn’t understand why little Alfred had gotten so upset.

He brushed the hair from his face before getting into his car. For some reason he wanted to go back up to the house. But that was just silly. He had completed the tutoring session. That was all that he went there for.

He turned the keys. He just sat there for a moment before driving away. He supposed that it was time to go home anyway.

Toris thought he was going to die. He needed to stay here to pay the bills but…. Natalia was throwing another one of her fits. For some reason Ivan wasn’t home.

It was odd. Ivan didn’t really have a social life. From what Toris could tell. He didn’t even seem to enjoy the small conversations he had in school. So, without fail, Ivan was always home on time. He normally went to his bedroom and locked his room to avoid his sister.

Not that this wasn’t something he shouldn’t do. Natalia was screeching and throwing things around. A normal person would think she was possessed. Unfortunately Toris knew that this was just Natalia. That being said he stayed far away from Natalia.

Toris took a deep breath and stepped into Ivan’s room. He normally did this when Ivan went to the kitchen. He grabbed some of Ivan’s laundry and ran out. Whenever he stepped into Ivan’s room he feared for his life. He had heard some disturbing rumors about those who were caught.

He dumped the arm full of clothes in the laundry room. Laundry wasn’t his job. He heard the door slam shut. Toris peeked around the corner. Ivan looked like he was deep in thought. It was odd that he wasn’t smiling.

Natalia took a deep breath as she laid eyes on her brother. She instantly got a deliriously happy look on her face. She gripped onto the hem on his jersey. He looked startled at the touch.

“Starsheei brat!” Natalia exclaimed, crooning towards her brother’s frame, “I missed you so much!” She was nearly crawling all over him.

“Natalia, now is not good time,” Ivan replied nervously, but it was obvious that he was actually telling the truth this time.

“Vhat did that moron do now?” Natalia asked, still clinging to the dirty garment. Toris knew that she was referring to Alfred.

“Alfred did nothing. Don’t vorry yourself vith this,” he reluctantly patted his little sister’s head, messing the pretty bow her hair was held with.

“Nyet!” she yelled loudly, “Your problem’s mine.” Toris identified with Natalia. He also loved someone who didn’t love him back. Though Toris couldn’t even get close to the object of his affection. There were no words Feliks would want to hear from a loser like Toris.

Ivan shook his head, and gently took her hand from his clothes. He actually looked tired. It was easy to hear Ivan’s footsteps down the hall. Natalia followed him all the way down. Toris didn’t need to look to know that she sat down in front of his door.

It was more than a little creepy, but it was common in the Braginski house. Nearly every night Natalia slept in front of her brother’s door. Toris didn’t know how Ivan could sleep knowing she was there…

Toris sighed and walked into the kitchen. He started scrubbing the counter. He hated working in the Braginski house. But the pay was good. There was one other reason that he kept his job. He hated himself for this reason though. It was so pathetic.

Answering the phone was another one of Toris’ duties. The Braginski’s couldn’t be bothered with something as simple as picking up their own telephone. But Natalia was on the cheerleading squad. In fact, she was the leader. Toris felt his heart skip a beat whenever that phone rang. And he prayed to whatever god would listen to homosexual requests. He hoped with his entire being that Feliks’ pouting face was on the other end of the line.

Yes, pouting. Because Feliks was impatient. Toris liked to imagine those cute lips form a full pout as he absentmindedly picked at his fingernails. He liked when that cute voice rang through his ears, ‘Is, like, Natalia home?’ He could feel the blood rush to his cheeks. He knew that it was silly. Especially since Toris was a faceless servant to Feliks.

Yes. Toris was pathetic. He could never tell his friends about this. It was just too embarrassing. Even though he knew that Eduard could guess. And he was almost positive that Matthew knew. If they asked him why he was so helplessly in love with Feliks, Toris couldn’t tell them. Toris didn’t even know himself.


It was weird. Ivan didn’t feel like talking to his classmates. The ones that generally got hurt because of their fear. He scratched the lunch room’s table obsessively. Alfred’s brother wouldn’t look at him. He had passed him in the hall this morning. Ivan was close to giving a greeting. But then he got distracted. How do people normally greet their tutors in the hallway? Americans had so many different choices. He was never sure which was appropriate. And Ivan always seemed to pick the wrong one.

“Like, what’s eating you?” the cute voice was familiar. The Pole took a seat on the table space in front of the Russian. He crossed his petite legs politely, and ran his fingers through his perfectly cared for blonde hair.

Ivan raised an eyebrow in genuine confusion. Feliks rarely paid attention to other people’s feelings. In fact, Feliks rarely cared about anyone else. Except if it had to do with some juicy gossip…

“I like, totally get it!” Feliks exclaimed and gave a little giggle. He looked proud of himself, “It’s, like… Totally about going to Al’s, right? His little brother is like, supposed to be a total weirdo or something. Did he like, do something?”

Ivan didn’t know why the weirdo comment upset him. He didn’t know how to respond to Feliks’ sudden interest in him. Ivan had always kind of liked the blonde. His attitude was a little annoying, but he never feared him. He treated Ivan like anyone else at their table.

“Nyet. Nothing like that,” Ivan said in a mock cheerful tone, his normal smile plastered on his face.

“Seriously? Natalia, like said that you were all like weird last night when you got home. She was, like, totally worried about you,” Feliks was staring at the cute flower decals on his long, well-kept fingernails as he said this.

“Nothing. Vas….. Veird seeing Alfred’s home. Not vorry about it. Not big deal,” Ivan said, his smile never faltering.

“Well… Whatevs… It’s like, not like I care or something. I just like, thought it’d be totally nice of me. And I’m like, totals curious about Alfred’s brother anyways. Like, which one is he, anyway?” Feliks flipped his hair when he finished talking.

Ivan pretended to look around the lunchroom. He already knew where little Alfred was sitting. He’d been trying to figure out his behavior all his day. Heaven forbid that he ask the moron about his own baby brother. After a reasonable amount of time Ivan pointed him out.

Feliks leaned closer, “He’s like… A total cutie. He, like, looks like an adorable Alfred. I, like, totally want to hug him. He’s like… Like a teddy bear or something,” Feliks chattered on about Matthew for a few more seconds before he suddenly jumped off the table.

His cute pumps made a rather interesting clicking noise as he hit the ground. He quickly trotted over to the table that Matthew was staring at. Ivan got up immediately and followed after the blonde. Ivan noticed that things always went sour if Feliks went unsupervised. Feliks dramatically swung his hips the entire way over.


Matthew heard Toris make a weird noise. He looked over at his lunchroom acquaintance. His mouth was wide open and he was gasping like a fish. Matthew raised an eyebrow. Toris was always so… Literate. What could make him speechless?

“What’s with you?” Matthew asked in a hushed tone. Toris merely sputtered something about ‘Feliks’.

Matthew turned behind him to look at ‘The Cool Kids Table’. Sure enough Feliks Lukasiewicz was strutting over to their table. Feliks was a force of nature. He destroyed many teenagers’ fragile egos. Even more shocking was the fact that Ivan Braginski was following him like some kind of disturbing bodyguard.

Feliks planted himself comfortably on the table space between Toris and Matthew. Feliks shook his hair and leaned forward to get a closer look at Matthew.

Toris’ face lit up like a Christmas tree. He could smell the flower perfume wafting off of his skin. He could easily see inch after inch of the soft-looking legs that Feliks was so proud of. When Feliks leaned closer to Matthew, it gave Toris a better view of Feliks’ backside. Toris really thought that he just might die.

Matthew didn’t know what to do. Feliks was, by reputation, unpredictable. He was crazy, and a bit of a scatterbrain. That didn’t make him harmless by any means. His sharp tongue could make a full-grown man cry like a baby.

Feliks clicked his tongue, “So, you’re like, Alfred’s brother, huh?” he said this in a soft almost seductive tone that he was sure Toris wouldn’t forget for a long time.

“Yeah,” Matthew muttered. He didn’t know why he was feeling so threatened. Though he supposed it could be because he was a little nervous about how close his face was to Feliks’. He desperately wanted to look at Ivan. He hoped that they would just leave him alone.

“You’re like, totals cute. I guess it like… Runs in the family or something,” Feliks’ finger touched down on Matthew’s chest and trailed it’s way up, “Like good genes, I guess.”

Matthew didn’t know what to do. He knew the attention he was receiving would hurt Toris. And he was afraid that this would upset Ivan. Wait! He doesn’t care what that brute felt or thought. It’s not like Ivan cared about him…

“Like, unless you want me to totally call you cutie, for like forever, you’ve got to give me your name,” Feliks brushed back his bangs.

Matthew eyebrow twitched, “Why don’t you just ask Ivan?” and Matthew regretted saying this the instant that it left his mouth.

Feliks kind of quirked an eyebrow, “I like, guess I could. That’s like, totally weird,” he swirled to look at the Russian, “Is it like a game or something? I like, totally give in. Like, what’s his name, Ivan?”

Ivan’s lips twitched twice before he gave a rather nervous sounding laugh, “Not sure. Can’t remember it.”

Feliks’ lustrous lips fell open, “That’s like… Totally horrible man. You’re like totally insensitive Ivan. Seriously.”

Feliks leaned backwards to look at Toris, “You’ll like, have to excuse his totally brutishness. He’s like… Russian. Everyone knows they like… Lack manners or something like that.”

Ivan seemed more than a little upset about the Pole’s racist comment. It seemed odd that he was friends with Natalia. Who also happened to be Russian. But he had also looked upset before that comment.

“Well, I like, need to redo my make-up,” Feliks leaned close to Toris, “It, like, totally takes tons of work to like, be this perfect,” he nearly whispered the last part, “Let’s like, get of here, you rude thing,” he tapped Ivan on the shoulder.

It seemed that actually getting Matthew’s name slipped right off of Feliks’ mind. That didn’t really surprise Matthew though. The kind of lost look in Ivan’s eyes did….


Ivan wanted to rip Feliks to shreds. How dare he get that close to his…. DAMN! He didn’t manage to get his name this time either. Ivan giggled a little to himself. He was so silly. He could merely ask Alfred later.

Ivan took a few seconds. He might be able to forgive Feliks. He got him close to little Alfred again. And he didn’t steal little Alfred’s lips like Ivan was afraid he might try.

That was good. Those lips belonged to Ivan.


A/N: Yup. Tons of POV swapping. Lots of Toris/Feliks. Feliks is, like, totally inappropriate. And that’s why we love him so much. And Feliks has a slight amount of resentment towards Ivan. Hmm… I wonder why. XP (Sidenote: I'm halfway done with the next chapter.)