Living Next Door to the Dunphys (Modern Family)

"What... the hell?" Mathew gasped out as he lay on a patch of grass. The park around him was quiet due to the early hours of the day. His clothes were heavy with sweat as he looked around at the air in front of him. "Where are my points?!"

After running four miles and completing his sit-ups, squats, pull-ups, chest dips, and plank exercises, Mathew felt confused by the absence of system notifications. "What's going on?" he said as he sat up, his abs burning with exhaustion. "I did the same exercises yesterday and received a few points. Am I doing something wrong?"

Mathew leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "Is it possible that I can't earn points every day? Or do I need to put in the hard work for several days or maybe even weeks before I receive a point?" he theorized, his expression thoughtful. "Looks like I was right—this isn't going to be as easy as I thought."

With a heavy sigh, Mathew stood up and shook his legs. "I guess I just need to keep working out every day to find out." He released a disappointed breath and moved forward, continuing his run.

Although Mathew was disappointed to discover that his System wouldn't make him overpowered overnight, he remained motivated. He was still grateful for the steady growth his System provided.

"Oh, well. Back to it."

••o••o••o••

Four days later, the Johnson family finally finished the lengthy task of unboxing all their belongings. Without the clutter of cardboard boxes, their home now felt more open and comfortable, providing a welcoming space for the family to settle in.

Now that they were properly settled in, Sasha intended to keep the promise she and her husband made and called their next-door neighbors, Claire and Phil, to inform them that they were now available to join them for dinner. It didn't take long for them all to agree on the date, which ended up being Saturday night.

"Dinner with the Dunphys," Mathew said with a laugh as he sorted his school supplies in his room. After all, he would officially be joining Palisades High School this Monday as a new transfer student. "Never thought I'd say that. Still, if their family is as chaotic as it was depicted in the show, then this dinner should be an interesting one."

With all his school supplies stacked neatly in a pile, Mathew glanced over to his right at the Infinity Backpack sitting on the edge of his bed, then looked back at the ordinary black backpack to his left. He debated whether to use his magical backpack to hold his supplies.

If Mathew had taken the backpack with him, there was a chance it could be stolen. If something as powerful as the Infinity Backpack got into the wrong hands, there could be disastrous repercussions.

"What to do?" Mathew held his chin in thought but ultimately shook his shoulders. "As long as I'm extra cautious, it should be fine." He said with a slight grin before slipping all his school supplies into the infinite space within the backpack. Once he was done, Mathew hung the backpack on a hook behind his closet door.

Walking over to his desk, Mathew fell onto his chair and booted up his high-end computer. At least high-end for the time. With all the unboxing done and his book bag packed, it was finally time for him to start researching what else this world had to offer. "I guess I should check and see what other shows could exist here. Let's see… let's start by finding out what's missing."

Using the power of 2012 Google, Mathew scrolled through several pages and articles for any TV shows or movies that should have existed but didn't. As he looked, he noticed several missing shows and films that should have existed by this point but didn't.

"Damn, I recognize a lot of these shows, but it's hard to remember everything from my world." Mathew groaned as he brushed back his hair. "What's missing… what's missing?" He closed his eyes and decided to think back to the shows and movies that he actively watched in his past life. "The Big Bang Theory! I remember watching that one a lot! Let's see… I can't find it. Does that mean that those guys exist here? Or could it be that the show's creators didn't think of it?"

Mathew decided that this process of determining what was real and what wasn't was inefficient. "Damn it. I guess I'll just have to roll with the punches here." Shutting his computer down, Mathew leaned back on his rolling chair and turned to stare at his ceiling.

[A new Event is available!]

"Cheesus on a cracker!" Matthew gasped out and fell back onto the ground. Luckily, his parents had gone to the grocery store for ingredients in order to bring a dish to the Dunphys for tonight's dinner. Otherwise, his mother would have barged into his room with her service weapon drawn, yelling, "Get away from my son!"

[Event: Dinner with the Dunphys.]

[Task: Make a good impression with Claire and Phil Dunphy.]

[Reward: (x1) Mystery Box]

[Failure: Claire will think negatively of you.]

"What about Phil? Nevermind. From what I remember, getting Phil to dislike anyone is next to impossible." Mathew said as he stood up. Walking over to his window, he looked out to the house next door. "Okay, so… how do I get Claire to like me?"

••o••o••o••

"Alex! What are you doing in there?! I need to go!"

"Go away, Luke!" Alex yelled as she fixed her hair for the fifteenth time. She looked herself up and down to inspect her outfit. "Ugh, I can't believe I actually regret not listening to Haley's nonsensical talks about choosing the right outfit."

Outside the bathroom, Luke sighed in annoyance and headed downstairs to use the guest bathroom. "Women," he muttered, shaking his head. Claire turned to her son in confusion but quickly shrugged it off. It has been challenging to keep up with whatever Luke has done or said these days.

Once she was on the second floor, Claire watched as Alex exited the bathroom with a nervous but excited expression. Frowning at the sight, she followed Alex into her room and leaned on the door frame. "Hey there, my little genius. You look amazing! Do you and Michael have a date today?"

Michael was Alex's very straight and not at all gay boyfriend. He had taken her to prom, and the two had established, in Claire's opinion, an odd relationship. She had tried to get Alex to see that Michael played for the other team during last week's yard sale, but it seemed that Michael was adamant that he was straight.

However, seeing Alex putting so much effort into tonight's dinner to welcome their new neighbors, or more specifically, the neighbors son, gave Claire an idea.

The Johnson's son was a handsome young man with a muscular build. He was also very traditionally masculine, based on what Claire had seen so far. From her early morning walks, she saw that the boy worked out religiously every day. He even trained in boxing every morning and night in his backyard for hours, something Claire noticed when she picked up Luke's dirty laundry.

Mathew and Michael were practically night and day. If Claire could get them both in the same room, then Alex would finally see that her boyfriend was actually gay and that she should stop their relationship before she got herself hurt.

"Michael? No, there's no date. This is just, uh, my outfit for tonight's dinner." Alex said with wide eyes as if she had forgotten entirely about her supposed boyfriend.

Perfect. Claire thought as she saw that her plan was coming together. "You know what? Why don't you invite him over? We'll have a nice dinner. Just us, the Johnsons, and your boyfriend." Claire said.

"Ah, that's okay. It's so last minute, and I don't think Michael will be available." Alex said quickly. "Besides, I know you don't like Michael because you think he's gay, so I don't want to make tonight's dinner awkward."

"It's alright, Alex. I came to realize that I was wrong about him. So, to make it up to you, let's invite him over to dinner so that I can formally apologize to him." Claire said with a smile as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Ah, well, I…" Alex stammered to her mom, unable to argue against her words. If she did, it would mean admitting that Claire had been right all along. A surge of rebellion filled her chest, prompting Alex to smile. "Actually, you're right, Mom. I'll invite Michael over! This way, we can all move on."

Claire nodded as Alex pulled out her phone to call her boyfriend. Seeing her daughter on the phone, Claire walked off with a victorious smile.

"Hook, line, and sinker," Claire said as she walked into her bedroom to get ready for tonight's dinner.

••o••o••o••

"Remember to behave, Matt. I want to make a good impression on the Dunphys," Jefferson told his son as they walked up to the Dunphy's front door. Jefferson, along with Sasha and Mathew, approached the house. In Sasha's hands was a tray holding a freshly made loaded green bean casserole.

"Huh? I'm always well-behaved." Mathew turned to his father with an annoyed look as he motioned to himself. "Look. I'm even wearing my well-behaving clothes today."

"Alright, you two. That's enough. We're already here." Sasha smiled at the two men of her family as they all stood before the Dunphy's front door. "We're here to get to know our neighbors. It's best if we can make friends with them, seeing as how we'll be living here for good. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Both Mathew and Jefferson said in unison. This wasn't the first or the last time that Sasha had brought them to heel when they delved too deep into their antics.

"Good." Sasha smiled and then knocked.

Phil opened his front door with a broad, inviting smile. "Hello there, neighbors! Come in, come in!" Jefferson smiled and shook Phil's hand as he and his family stepped into the Dunphy home after exchanging greetings.

Well, this is surreal. Mathew thought as he looked around the entrance and living room of the Dunphy house. While he wasn't the largest fan of Modern Family back in his old life. It was still odd to see their home in person. So real and tangible.

"Hello!" Walking from around her kitchen, Claire smiled at her guest and motioned to the couches within their family room. "Please have a seat."

"I hope you don't mind, but I brought a little side dish for tonight." Sasha handed Claire the dish. "I didn't want to come empty-handed."

"I don't mind at all! Thank you!" Claire smiled and accepted the dish. "You look like you would enjoy a red wine. How about it?"

"Sounds perfect."

"Phil. Can you get our guest some drinks?" Claire turned to her husband, who was talking animatedly with Jefferson about last night's game as she walked to the kitchen to set up tonight's meal. "You got it!" Phil quickly stood up and turned to Mathew. "What will it be, Matt? A soda? Water?"

"Water is fine, Phil. Thank you." Mathew said, receiving a thumbs-up from Phil.

As Phil left, Mathew began to think about how to make a good impression with both Claire and Phil. Especially Claire. As Mathew thought about what he could possibly do, Luke entered the room.

"Hello," Luke said as he quickly walked into the kitchen, his shirt covered in blue paint.

"Luke! What happened to your shirt?!" Claire said in what she thought was a hushed whisper that ended up being heard by the Johnsons.

"You see, about that…"

As Luke began to explain whatever story had happened that caused his blue shirt, another pair of footsteps descended the stairs. "Hello." Alex shyly smiled at her guests as she walked into the family room. Sasha and Jefferson smiled and greeted her back just as Phil returned with two glass cups, a bottle of red wine, and a bottled water.

"Hey there, Alex." Mathew smiled at the girl as he accepted the drink from Phil. Before Alex could respond, another knock on the door caught her attention.

Opening the front door, Alex smiled awkwardly at the familiar sight of her boyfriend. "Hello everyone!" Michael said in a loud, flamboyant voice before leaning down to kiss her on the cheek. His voice stood in stark contrast to Mathew's low and steady greeting. A fact that Alex was suddenly very aware of.

After Micheal pulled away, Alex quickly looked over to Mathew, who was watching the interaction with an intrigued expression.

Huh? I don't remember this person from the show. Mathew thought with curiosity as he waved at Michael. The flamboyant adolescent paused when he saw Mathew and shyly waved back. A fact that Alex picked up with a growing sense of dread.

From around the kitchen, Claire watched the scene unfold with a hidden smile as she took a sip of her wine.

Her plan was coming together just as she had planned.

-| | |-

AN: To make things clear, this story picks up from Season 4, episode 6 of Modern Family. That way, you all know where the Dunphy family is at when reading this story.