Chapter 5

Matthew woke up with a raging headache and the sun bursting through the windows is definitely not helping. Matthew slowly sat up from the bed and was immediately hit with nausea. He couldn't even remember how much he drank last night. He bolted from the bed and ran straight to the toilet, vomiting all his guts out. Ambrose walked up behind him and started to rub his back.

He came back to the beach house at four in the morning and found Matthew downing his third bottle of wine, blabbering about incoherent things. Matthew spat in the toilet before resting his head on the seat. Ambrose groaned in disgust and lifted his head from the seat. Ambrose then brought a glass of water up to Matthew's lips and he chugged it down like there was no tomorrow, only to throw it all back up in the toilet.

Ambrose sighed and pulled Matthew up from the floor. He carried him back into the room and laid him down on the bed before handing him some aspirin and water. Matthew took the pills and slowly drank the water this time.

"I'm sorry for leaving you last night," Ambrose said as he sat beside Matthew.

"It's fine," Matt said as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Matt, if it's fine you wouldn't drink four bottles of wine," Ambrose said,

Mathew's eyes shot open in surprise. "What? I didn't drink that much," Matthew said.

"Yeah, you did. Do you really think you'd be doubling over the toilet if you drank less than that?" Ambrose asked.

"Hey, I'm 40 now. My alcohol tolerance is not as good as it was before," Matthew said and Ambrose rolled his eyes.

"I made some chicken soup for your drunken ass. Can you get up or do I have to bring it here?" he asked.

"Bring it here, please."

Ambrose stood up from the bed and went into the kitchen. He scooped up some chicken soup in a bowl before setting it on a tray and bringing it back to Matthew. Matt muttered thank you as he took the tray from Ambrose. Ambrose went to the bathroom and grabbed a washcloth, damping it with some water and a few drops of lavender essential oil. He then used the washcloth to wipe Matt's face and body as he ate. The smell of lavender helped Matthew cope better with his hangover. He quickly finished the soup and Ambrose cleaned up for him.

"What did your dad need last night?" Matthew asked as soon as Ambrose came back into the room.

"Oh, he forgot his password to access the company bank account. He needed to check the company expenses for the past month because they were higher than usual," Ambrose said as he squeezed himself in between Matthew's legs.

"Did you eat already?" Matthew asked.

"Yeah, it's already two in the afternoon, Matt. I've already had breakfast and lunch," Ambrose said.

"Can we stay here for one more day?" Matthew asked as he buried his face into Ambrose's hair.

"Sure," Ambrose said and Matthew hummed in response.

There were a few minutes of silence that followed so Ambrose turned his head to look at Matthew, but the motion caused Matthew's head to drop onto Ambrose's shoulder. He smiled and ran his hand through Matthew's hair. He quickly went back last night after helping his dad. He felt bad that he had to leave Matthew on his birthday.

When he entered the house, he found Matthew slumped on the couch, holding a bottle of wine. He took the bottle from his hands when Matthew suddenly grabbed him, causing him on top of Matthew. Matthew kept mumbling about how much he loved Ambrose. Ambrose just chucked it up to brotherly love.

He kept repeating I love you to Ambrose and kissing him all over his face. Ambrose tried pulling away to get Matthew to bed when he was suddenly pulled into a kiss. Ambrose just sat there in shock as Matthew kissed him. He quickly realized what his love meant.

"I want you so bad," Matthew had mumbled against his lips.

Ambrose quickly pulled away and Matthew fell back on the couch unconscious. Ambrose just told himself that it was just the excessive alcohol that Matthew had consumed. He was never going to tell him what had happened last night. He carefully slipped out in between Matthew's legs and laid him down on the bed. Matthew's words from last night might just explain why he's been much more affectionate lately.

Ambrose walked out to the beach and stood in the water, enough to cover his ankles. Ambrose then reminisced all the times they spent together were younger. They did everything best friends would do and he never thought of their relationship as more than just that. The marriage was just a front, but now he's starting to doubt if Matthew had the same intention as his when they got married. Ambrose sighed and start to walk back toward the house when his phone rang.

"Hey, what's up?" Ambrose greeted me upon answering the phone.

"Hey, how are you and Matthew doing?" Alana asked on the other side of the phone.

"Matthew's hungover. He's sleeping again right now," he replied.

"When are you guys going home?" Alana asked.

"Tomorrow, maybe? We decided to stay for another day," Ambrose replied.

"Well, mom wanted to throw a party for us sometime this week," Alana said.

"Party? What for?" he asked.

"Mom wants to throw us a baby shower," Alana said.

"Baby shower? Really? The embryos haven't even formed yet. Can't she wait longer?" Ambrose asked as he rubbed his temples out of annoyance.

Their mother loved to throw parties for whatever reason she wishes. Sometimes they had to endure hosting parties five times a week because their pets had different birthdays. Parties always exhaust Ambrose, but knowing his mother, it would be more tiring to say no.

"You know mom, Ambrose. She'll just come up with ten million reasons as to why we have to do it this early. Let's just humor her, oaky?" Alana said.

Ambrose sighed in defeat. "Fine, tell her we could do it Wednesday."

"Okay, I'll tell her. Oh, tell Matthew belated happy birthday," Alana said before hanging up the phone.

Ambrose sighed again before going back inside. He was surprised to find the room empty, but he quickly found Matthew in the bathroom taking a shower. Ambrose waited for Matthew to come out of the bathroom so he sat on the bed and scrolled through his phone. Matthew got out of the bathroom and Ambrose quickly looked up. Ambrose was about to speak, but then stopped when he saw Matthew with just a towel wrapped around his waist.

He saw him naked multiple times before but somehow this time felt different. His eyes followed as a drop of water slowly trailed down Matthew's torso. Ambrose's heart rate picked up as he stared at Matthew's naked torso. He was broken out of his trance when Matthew started to shake his head, spraying water everywhere from his hair.

"Matthew!" Ambrose exclaimed in annoyance.

"What? I was just drying my hair," Matthew said with an innocent smile on his face.

"Mom wants us to have a baby shower this week," Ambrose said.

"What? Why? We just had the collection a few days before. Why so early?" Matthew asked as he started to get dressed.

Ambrose quickly looked away, not wanting a repeat of earlier.

"Y-yeah. You know her. Let's just let her throw the party and get it over with. No use in trying to convince her otherwise," Ambrose said.

Matthew suddenly wrapped his arms around AMrbsoe and he immediately pushed Matthew away. Matthew was confused. Ambrose never pushed him away like that before.

"What? I already showered and brushed my teeth." Matthew said.

"Nothing, I just got surprised," Ambrose said.

Matthew knew that wasn't the reason but he just brushed it off.

"There's a community bonfire later at the beach. Do you want to go?" Matthew asked.

"Sure," Ambrose replied.

"Do you want to go for a walk with me? I think I need a bit of sun before the sun sets," Matthew said as he stood up from the bed.

Ambrose nodded and they both walked out of the house. Matthew grabbed his hand as they walked and Ambrose felt his heart beat twice as fast once again. Ambrose couldn't understand why it was happening to him so he pulled his hand away and walked in front of Matthew. Matthew's heart twisted a little when Ambrose pulled away. His hand felt cold without Ambrose's hand.

Matthew then realized he must've said something to Ambrose last night and he couldn't remember what it was. Matthew cursed under his breath and caught up to Ambrose. He wanted to ask him about last night but he's too scared he will just embarrass himself. Matthew just sighed in defeat. Maybe they'll talk about it someday and he'll just have to wait.