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Chapter Text

And so began the most interesting week in my life...

School just started back up, Christmas break officially over, and I was happy to be out of the house and away from Alfred. He is my twin brother, but we are nothing alike, people always seem to remember and hang around with him, but not me.

I always get up earlier than he does.That’s because I have to catch the bus at six a.m. to make it to my first class period on time, which starts at 6:45 in the morning. Alfred didn't have to be there until 7:40 a.m. .

As I walked down the sidewalk, with my backpack slung over my shoulder, I noticed that the house on the corner, the one that was for sale just last month, that the sign in the yard was gone now. Someone must have bought it.

I have to remember to bring some maple cookies over to our new neighbors. I thought to myself. I wonder what they are like.

As I pass the house in question, I look up towards it just as the dark wooden front door opens. And as if the universe was listening to my question, a young boy walked out.

He had blonde hair slicked back against his head and crystal blue eyes. For a 13-year-old, he wore a rather serious expression.

"Zhe awesome me and little Luddy vill be back later Vati! We are going to school now. Freilos!"

Another boy, from the sound of it, shouted from inside the house, then he also stepped out the door to join the blonde.

He looked to be my age, although he had very pale, nearly white hair, light skin, and ruby red eyes that shined in the morning sunlight. His eyes, such a dark color yet, so full of life...

Stop it Matt. Stop thinking about that kinda stuff. I mentally slapped myself.

Although they were only a few feet away, I assumed they hadn’t noticed me yet and, therefore didn’t see me, so I continued to watch them.

I quickly discovered that I had, in fact, been noticed.

"Hey, bruder, who's that guy over there? Do you know him?"

Realizing they were talking about me and that I was still quiet, I rushed to introduce myself, "Eh... Hello. My names Matthew."

"Im Gilbert, und zhis is my little bruder Ludwig"

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but you said you were going to school.. May I ask which one?"

“We're going to W Academy," Ludwig answered.

"I go there too," I said. "Do you... eh... want to walk to the bus stop together?"

"Sure, vhy not. We're still zhe new kids 'round here so you are now our designated tour guide for zhe awesome me und mine little bruder!"

Ludwig just rolled his eyes at his older brother. "Shouldn't we get going?"

I glanced at my watch, we had four minutes till the bus got to the stop, and we were a good two and a half blocks away.

"Shoot.." I muttered under my breath.

"What's up?" Gilbert asked curiously.

"Well," I started a little hesitantly, "We're gonna miss the bus if we don't run. And if we don't catch the bus, we'll be late."

"That's not ..." Ludwig was cut off by Gilbert announcing, "Well ve better hurry then. Zhe awesome me can't be late."

And before I knew what was happening, Gilbert grabbed my hand and took off running down the sidewalk.

Chapter Text

And before I knew what was happening, Gilbert grabbed my hand and we took off running down the sidewalk.

We all ran as fast as we could possibly run.

Within a few minutes, we arrived panting at the bus stop, just as the yellow school bus itself was pulling up. I heaved a sigh of relief.

The doors to the bus opened, and I stepped in, Gilbert and Ludwig were right behind me.

All eyes followed us as we walked down the narrow aisle between the two rows of nearly filled seats. A few murmurs passed between friends.

At first, I was a bit confused, as no one ever really noticed me at school, let alone as I boarded the bus. They normally just continued on with their normal conversations

However it soon came to my realization that as they whispered things to their friends, they were also blatantly staring at Gilbert.

I walked a little quicker down the aisle to the back row of seats, I'm not really used to people staring, not even in my general direction.

I guess I never really gave much thought to how his ivory hair and ruby eyes might attract negative attention towards him. I thought they suited him quite handsomely.

No Matthew, stop thinking like that. You just met him, and you know he will end up forgetting you.

Normal POV

The bus started to move once again away from the stop, and the other students once again began their loud conversations.

A few of the more popular kids beckoned Gilbert and Ludwig to come sit in the seats behind them.

Ludwig rolled his eyes and walked to take a seat up near the front of the bus, across from two other young boys, seemingly to be twins, as they had the same brownish red hair color.

There were only two main differences between the two twin boys. One being that they each had a single curled strand of hair, however, one was parted to the left while the other was to the right. The second was that one, with seemed to talk incessantly while the other seemed to just try and tune the other out, as he looked out the window.

Ludwig watched the two brothers from the corner of his eye with a slight smile on his lips.

Suddenly the more talkative of the boys noticed him.

"Ciao!" he greeted cheerfully I've never seen you on the bus before! Are you a new student!?"

Ludwig nodded "Ja, my bruder and I are new to the academy,"

"Ve-! That's wonderful! Do you have any friends yet? If not, we'll be your friends. Right, Lovino?"

The other twin, Lovino, just scoffed at his brother "Feliciano, why would I want to be friends with this bastard too? I already am followed around by the Tomato Bastard all day at school. Don't you already have enough friends?"

"You can never have too many friends Lovi!"

"Don't call me Lovi."

Through this entire conversation between the two brothers, Ludwig sat quietly, laughing a little at their exchange of words and insults. It was clear that they were practically exact opposites.

Meanwhile, Matthew took a seat in the far back of the bus alone.

Gilbert kept a watchful eye on his younger brother with a small smirk on his face as he entertained all the other students who continually bombarded him with questions about his eyes and hair.

"Do you dye it?" "Are those contacts?" "Where are you from?" Were the most frequent questions.

"Ksesese" Gilbert laughed. "Nein, I don't dye my hair, it just grows this awesome color. And my eyes are naturally red. Hell knows why, but it's just another reason why I am so awesome."

The other students, boys, and girls alike, found Gilbert to be the most interesting and in his own words 'awesome' teen ever. And being the new student, also helped to draw attention to him.

Matthew continued to sit quietly in his seat 'invisible' to the rest of the kids. He pulled out his headphones and began to listen to some music.

Time passed and the bus pulled up to the front of the high school. The rest of the students filed out of the bus, among them Gilbert and Ludwig.

Matt took a little extra time in putting away his headphones back in his backpack, by the time he walked back down the aisle, no one was left on the bus.

He gave a silent nod of thanks to the bus driver as he exited.

He fully expected Gilbert and Ludwig to have been long gone, most likely surrounded by the other kids. To his surprise, they were waiting for him just outside the bus on the pavement.

Ludwig was distracted with talking to Lovino and Feliciano, however, Gilbert was watching for him expectantly.

Surprised, Matthew's cheeks flushed and immediately, internally smacked himself again.

"You, eh, didn't have to wait for me."

"Nah, no big deal. Plus, you are our tour guide."

"Well then, I guess you need to get your class schedule. Want me to, take you up to the office?"

"Sure! Lead the way Mattie!" Gilbert agreed readily.

Matthew's face was once again graced with a slight pink at the nickname, normally used by his brother.

The two began to walk in the direction of the front office, Ludwig following slightly behind them, listening to all that Feliciano had to say with interest. Looking back towards his brother's smiling face, then Gilbert smiled a little.

In no time, Gilbert and Ludwig got their class schedules front the front office.

Not long after that, Ludwig was dragged off by Feliciano so the boy could show him where the Freshman lockers were, and help Ludwig find his locker number. Lovino had disappeared earlier, just before they got to the office, saying something about needing to go find the 'Tomato Bastard'.

This left Matthew to the duty of showing Gilbert to his indoor locker with the rest of the upperclassmen. He also compared schedules with him.

It turned out they had practically the same classes, however, they were in different periods. They did share two classes, however, one of which was Gym, the other being Chemistry.

Its nice to know I'll get to see him in class, even though it's just two classes. But I guess it's better that way.

"Hey Mattie," Gilbert's voice cut through Matthew's thoughts.

"Eh? Yeah. What's up Gilbert?"

"I vas just wondering. Vhy vere you sitting on your own on zhe bus?'

"Oh um… I don't know… I guess… Maybe I just… like to be alone."

"No one likes to be alone. But hey, if that's vhat you prefer..." Gilbert began to walk away.

"Wait! I mean, uhh you can do whatever you want but.. eh..."

"You vant to be around zhe awesome me for longer. Sadly, that cannot happen." He said simply, glancing at his wristwatch.

"Wha- Why?"

Just then, the bell for the first period rang. Gilbert pointed up to the bell itself. "Because I do believe it is time for you to get to class. That's why."

Matthew sighed in relief inside, chuckling a bit.

"Plus, I don't have the first period, so I'm going to go find all of mein new classes. See you in Gym." Gilbert turned around with a wink to Matt as he left.

Matt felt his face heat up, all the way to English class.

Chapter Text

The first five classes of the day passed normally enough, aside from the fact that Matthew could simply not take his mind off of Gilbert.

Coincidentally, or as fate would have it, the only two classes he had left were also the only two he had with Gilbert.

Matthew's POV

I don't know why I can't stop thinking about Gilbert. I mean, I've only just met the guy. And... yeah, I have to admit, he is kinda... But I really shouldn't get attached to him.

Now, with the majority of the day's classes over, it was lunchtime. Thank God.

As usual, I brought a lunch so I didn't have to stand in the nearly a mile long line with everyone else in the school.

I took my regular seat by one of the large windows in the lunch hall. I usually have the corner all to myself, although on very rare occasions, Alfred visits me. But more often than not, it's just to tell me that he'd be home late cuz of practice or that he was going to hang out with Arthur at his place, and that I had to tell mom and dad why he wouldn't be home on time.

But like I said, the majority of the time, I had this spot all to myself. Here I enjoyed not only watching the birds visiting the school's garden from the window, but I also had recently gotten into the habit of people watching. From here, I could watch all who entered the cafeteria through the huge doors that led outside to a grassy spot.

I saw Alfred enter, surrounded by his usual group of "sidekicks" as he called them. He always proclaimed himself to be 'The Hero'.

In what universe, I have no idea…

They all took a seat at their normal table on the opposite end of the hall.

The next person I saw enter was Gilbert's freshman brother Ludwig, who had apparently made fast friends with Feliciano, as they walked in and sat together with Lovino and Antonio.

Antonio is in our sophomore class, and Alfred has him in his Spanish class.

I believe I've heard him being called the Tomato Bastard before by Lovino, whenever he begins to dote on him or call him Lovi.

I have no clue what that's all about. It obvious Lovino likes it. I guess he just won't admit it. Funny what you can learn about people only by watching them from afar.

A flash of white caught the corner of my eye, and I directed my attention towards it. Sure enough, it was the lovely, ivory hair of Gilbert, who had just entered the cafeteria. He seemed to be looking for someone.

Maybe I should… I raised my hand and waved towards him.

Unfortunately, he didn't see me, and instead went towards Alfred's table instead. He gave a few of them high-fives and began talking with them. I lowered my hand and turned back to my sandwich, and focused solely on it.

Why do I care? I thought to myself, It's not like I expected him to notice me anyway. I'm not all that interesting or funny. Alfred and I are nothing alike, total opposites.'

I felt a small jolt of the bench underneath me, shaking me from my train of thought. I looked up from my food to see Gilbert sitting right across from me.

"Hiya Mattie! Vhat's up?" Gilbert smiled. Or rather, smirked.

"Eh…" I was at a slight loss for words. I didn't think he saw me, let alone actually sit with me... Out of all of the people he could have sat with... me. I couldn't help but feel a little, flattered. I felt my cheeks warm at the thought.

I began to poke at my sandwich rather than eat it, still a bit flustered at having company.

"So, vhat are you next classes? After lunch zhat is."

"Algebra…" I squeaked.

Normal POV

Gilbert made a gagging gesture and Matt laughed, forgetting a little about being embarrassed.

"No kidding, I hate Algebra. but after that I have P.E. and Chem."

"So zhen you and I have the last two classes of zhe day togezher?

"I guess so, yeah."

"Zat iz Awesome! Ve can walk home together!" he paused, "I mean, if you vant to or don't have anyzhing after school."

"W… what? Well, I mean sure. I'd love to,"

"After all, ve do live close to each other, so it only makes sense. Plus someone like you needs someone awesome like me to protect you." Gilbert reasoned.

"Uh, yeah, sure, I mean yes. Wait ... what?"

Suddenly, a white glob of something flew through the air, landing on the teens' table, some splashing onto Matthew's cheek.

"What ze hell? Vhat is that?" Gilbert wipes off what flew onto Matt's face with his finger and promptly licks it off. "Mashed potatoes?"

"Uh oh.."

Not long after Matthew's realization hit, across the room, Alfred yelled, "FOOD FIGHT!"

All of chaos broke loose in the lunchroom.

Chapter Text

Food instantaneously started flying all around them. Matt ducked for cover under his lunch table. Gilbert stayed above, and threw what was left of his own lunch at the most logical target, Alfred.

Gilbert's own mashed potatoes hit Al smack-dab in the middle of his face, covering his glasses. With his own sight now impaired, Alfred threw his so called 'counter attack' in the complete wrong direction, hitting Ivan in the back of the head.

Ivan stood up, grabbing a handful of his own food and slowly walking over towards Alfred. His face had such an innocent looking smile, it was creepy. Momentarily, everyone stopped throwing their food.

Ivan then stood right in front of Al. By that time, Al had just finished cleaning off his glasses and looked up into the looming shadow. Ivan just smiled widely, laughing his creepy laugh, and smothered Alfred's face with his food.

Once the other students saw this, a new and improved level of hell raising began and food flew at an even faster speed, almost like bullets.

Food was flying everywhere, and now Gilbert was under heavy fire. He ducked and dodged a few globs and after firing a few of his own well timed globs of food.

All this time Matt had been keeping an eye on the fight, as well as on Gilbert. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elizabeta winding up with a big wad of mystery meat in her hand. She was aiming straight for Gil.

Without even thinking, Matt grabbed a wad of food that had landed on the floor near him popped out from under the table, and flung that sucker right at Elizabeta. Before she even had a chance to react, Matt's glob hit her right in the arm, causing her to drop her "ammo".

Just as it hit, Gil turned to Mattie, his mouth agape, Matt just dragged him under the table, out of the line of fire.

"Nice shot Mattie!" Gilbert exclaimed in awe.

"Thanks," Matt mumbled, feeling his face tingle with heat.

"No seriously, that was.. You've got a great arm. How'd you do that? Your reflexes have got to be like.. really awesome."

This only furthered Matt's embarrassment, "I-I play hockey.. so I-I guess.." he trailed off..

"No vay! Little Mattie is a hockey player? Zhat's not vhat I would've pinned you as.. No offense."

"Umm… Thank you, I think…"

"So. anyvay, do you wanna get out of the line of fire or stay here under this un-awesome table?"

"Well how should we get out of here without getting hit?" Matt questioned.

Gilbert thought for a moment, his hand stroking an imaginary beard. "Vell... Ok here iz the plan... I, the knight in shining armor, shall be your awesome shield. You vill be armed behind me, throwing food and covering me as we make our vay out of zhe cafeteria."

"Um, ok. Let's go and get the heck outta here." Matt came out from under the table with Gilbert right in front of him as his 'shield'.

Behind Gil, he was armed with a plate, its content were an odd assortment of foods, ranging from corn to mystery meat. Armed and at the ready, they made their way towards the door.

"Hey, Gil and Matthew are trying to get away.. GET THEM!" screamed Roderich and Elizabeta in unison from across the room. Everyone ganged together and went towards the two other boys.

Matthew would quickly threw food at those who now had suddenly turned on them. He hit a few, but they just kept coming, all holding their own until the last possible moment.

Gil stretched his arms out to protect Mattie, in his so called 'duty as a human shield'. They were now backed up against the two way double doors of the cafeteria. As soon as they got through, they would be safe. As were the rules.**

"THREE... TWO... ONE... FIRE AT WILL!" Alfred and Elizabeta yelled at the same time. All at once, the other kids threw their handfuls of food. Matt hid behind Gil.

Practically all the food hit Gil, everyone cheered while preparing their next shot.

Gil pretended to slide slowly to the floor, delusional, and dying. Matt kneeled beside him.

"Mattie..." Gil pretended to swallow hard. "Go, this is your chance... You can go, be free.. forget me.."

"What?" Matt laughed at his friend but attempted to keep a straight face. "No, I can't leave you here."

" It's too late for me. Go and live your life.. leave me here and run while you still can." Gil then decided to play an even bigger drama queen, and pretended to die.

"No way." Matt was now really having to try to stop laughing. This was ridiculous. "Well I can't just leave the goof here."

With that, Matt dragged Gil through the door and into the hallway. Gil continued to play dead and was no help at all.

As soon as he made it through the door, Matt officially lost it. He started to laugh, to really laugh.

Gil lifted up his head at looked up at the laughing boy. Pulling his feet underneath him, Gil stood up, laughing as well.

"Well played, dude," Matt smiled.

"Agreed, it was awesome. However not as awesome as me, because that's just not possible in this vorld."

Matt just rolled his eyes. Then after looking both himself and Gil up and down he realized something.

"We are absolutely covered in food. Especially you." he pointed to Gil's shirt

"Ksesese. Its a good zhing ve have P.E. next huh Mattie."

"Yeah I suppose that worked out pretty well" Matt chuckled. "So... next stop the showers right?"

Gil nods. "Yeah, zhat vould be good."

Matt led Gil down the hallways and out one of the doors into a small courtyard within the school campus. After a few more turns, they arrived in front of the door to the boys locker room and went inside.

Because the school has a variety of sports played year round, the boy's locker room is equipped with showers to allow swimmers to wash off the chlorine and others to wash off sweat. Matt showed Gil the showers and went to his own P.E. locker to get soap. As they were covered from head to toe in food.

(This is good clean fun ladies and gentlemen. How dare you predict such dirty things when I haven't even written them yet. Tsk Tsk. Shame on you.)

The two boys finished their showers and decided to dress in their P.E. clothes.

( Gil had received his P.E. clothes at the front office when he went to pick up his schedule, as well as a P.E. locker number and lock with a code. The school he now went to was very accommodating and helpful towards new students, to make transitions easier for both sides. In case you were wondering)

Realizing the food on their clothes would not get off on its own, and because they still had about 20 minutes until the bell rang for the passing period before next class began, they decided to throw them in the small washer dryer inside the coach's office. Matt was certain that Coach Germania wouldn't mind.

"So, zhats it? Now we wait for our clothes to dry, ja?" Gil was sitting on one of the benches putting on his P.E. shirt. Matt had already gotten dressed, albeit a bit more embarrassed than he should have been. However he was becoming more accustomed to having Gilbert around.

Which worried him, after all, it was still only the first day that he met the teen. It was silly to think he had gotten attached to him so fast.

I don't know if he's just hanging around me because he's the new kid and doesn't really know anyone else. He seemed friendly with Al, maybe he will eventually go join his group. And.. leave me.. No! Stop it, don't think like that now. Enjoy having someone notice you for a change. Try to make it so he doesn't leave. Stop being such a wimp.

"Mattie? You okay?"Gil asked. "You just got really quiet and it's freaking me out a little."

"Oh! Sorry… I was just thinking about something…"

"Was zaht something a very awesome and sexy me in zhe shower?"

Matt choked, "No."

"Relax, I vas just kidding."

"Ok," Matt sighed with slight relief.

Just then, the bell rang.

"We should probably get going now," Matt quickly changed the subject and left the locker room for the courtyard. Gil followed suit.

~~~This lovely timeskip was brought to you by an army of Maple Leaves~~~

All too soon, P.E. was over and Chem had begun, and it turns out that the teacher decided it would be a good idea to trade lab partners.

"Mattie is going to be my awesome lab partner," announced Gil.

Alfred snickered and a couple of kids turned their gaze towards Matt, who felt way too embarrassed by the use of his nickname. Oh why couldn't he be invisible when he wanted to be. Gil just smiled and grabbed his arm, yanking him over.

"After all, someone as awesome as me should have an awesome lab partner, right?" Gil reasoned.

This just furthered to redden Matt's face.

"Right? Mattie?"

Matt glanced over at Gil to see him staring at him intently, waiting for an answer.

"Right," muttered Matt.

"Looks like you've got a lab partner, Mattie," laughed Alfred, as he slid over to Arthur, smiling.

Looking at Alfred with a blank face, Arthur muttered, "And why would I want to partner up with a yank like you?"

"Aww c'mon Iggy. Pleeeeease?" Alfred whined.

Arthur's face reddened. "I told you not to call me that in public!" He grumbled. "Alright fine. But only as long as you stop making that ridiculous pouty face."

"Yes!" Alfred cheered, giving Arthur a peck on the cheek. Everyone knew those two were a couple. Arthur still never wanted to admit it though, which only made their relationship cuter.

after this little event, the other students continued to pair up. Then the teacher resumed a regular class.

"Vait, so Alfred has a boyfriend?" Gil whispered to Matthew.

"Uh yeah, he does," Matt fiddled with his pen in his hands, clicking and unclicking the top of it.

"So zhen.. Gays are like accepted here?"

Matt nodded. "Uh, yeah. In fact, I think the majority of our grade is homosexual." He tried to keep his voice low as to not disturb the class.

"Zhats awesome..." Gil commented softly, turning his attention back to the teacher.

The two boys remained quiet the rest of class, aside from Gil asking Matt the occasional question.

3:00 finally decided to show its face, and the final school bell of the day sounded.

~~~This lovely time-skip was brought to you by an army of Awesome ~~~

Matt and Gil exited the bus at the bus stop and began walking home. Ludwig was coming home later, as he had soccer practice right after school.

"So I like your school. It is pretty awesome, but not as awesome as us of course!" said Gil.

Us? He thinks I'm awesome? How… Strange. Nobody else even notices me.

They continued to walk in a comfortable silence. However, this was broken as soon as they could see Gil's house.

"So, vhat time do you usually leave for school Mattie?" Gil asked, out of the blue.

"Umm. I leave around 6:15 everyday."

Gil nodded, more to himself than to soon arrived in front of Gil's house.

"So, zhen, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Wha- Y-Yeah! Eh- I mean sure." Matt eagerly agreed.

Yes!Gil thought to himself. "Alright zhen. See ya!" Gil then walked up to his house and Matt continued his way home.

Chapter Text

As soon as Matt got inside his own house, he immediately ran up to his room and fished around his desk drawers to find his leather notebook.

This was where he wrote the weird dreams and other random things like a list of chores He also occasionally used it as a personal journal, which is why he had to hide it. He hadn't used it in at least a year.

Tuesday- January 7

Wow, its been a really long time since I've written in here eh? Oh well. I guess it's because I finally have something to write about.

It turns out that the new family in the neighborhood has a kid my age. And just between you and me, he's really hot.

His name is Gilbert Beilschmidt.. is that how you spell it? I hope so...

I bet most of the time he gets weird looks because of how he looks. After all he has the lightest hair I have ever seen. And his eyes.. his eyes.. are like.. rubies.

They glitter and are just.. beautiful... -

Wednesday - January 8

I can't believe Gil. In a good way though..

This morning on my way to the bus, I found him sitting in front of his house, waiting for me.

.

~Flashback~

"Wait, Gil.. You don't have a first period..." Matt paused. "Why are you out here?"

"Vell, I vas vaiting for mein awesome friend."

"And who would that be?" asked Matt

"You, duh."

"Me? I mean yeah, cool, let's go."

Gil wrapped his arm around Matt's shoulders. "Vell of course you. Who else?"

"Well I don't know," Matt replied quietly, "I guess usually people just kind of… ignore me because they like my brother better."

"Vell.. Your brozher is loud, funny, a good athlete and well, for zhe day I've known him... a pretty great guy. Unfortunately, he is not zhe one who was nice enough to show me around. He vas also the one who started zhe whole Great Food War where I died in your arms.."

By this point, Matt was turning red.

"Um, thank you."

Gil moved his arm off, Matt. "My pleasure."

~End Flashback~

.

He essentially said he liked me more than my brother. AND he actually bothered to remember me.

I think by this point it's safe to say, that even though I know it's only been two days since I've met him... I think I may be.. falling for him.

~~Time skip to Thursday after school ~~ brought to you by a cup of Earl Grey tea

I get to go over to Gil's house today after school. He asked me to come over because he wanted help on some sort of assignment.

Ludwig had also come home with us, as he didn't have soccer practice.

"So what is it exactly you need help on?"

"Vell, Okay so I don't understand all zhis math stuff. Und Ludwig doesn't get it eizher and he is in my class."

(You see, Ludwig is ahead of the freshmen and Gil is behind in terms of math level.)

Matt tried to the best of his abilities to explain the work in a way that Gil could understand it.

Gil kept his attention solely on Matt, not the work the other teen was explaining to him. He absolutely adored listening to Matt's voice, from the first time they met. Though he would never admit that to anyone.

After all, having a little crush on another guy he just met was so un-awesome.

He was gay, he had come out of the closet in 6th grade. Despite that, he had never really felt like he did when he was near Mattie with any of his previous relationships.. To him, this was different. But he didn't know if he should act on his feelings or not.

Gil wasn't paying attention to the math at all as I was trying to explain it.

He just continued to look at me.. Me! Honestly what's so interesting about me?

Wait do you think he knows that I like him? I know I blushed a-lot when I met him, and I do feel my face heat up occasionally.. But there's no way he figured it out.

Besides, he... Well, there's no way he knows that I'm gay.. I haven't even told my brother... Which now, in retrospect might be a good thing. He'd probably have tried to set me up with Francis.. Nooo thank you.

Plus what if he's not gay? Then what? It's not like I could tell him about my feelings then...

Al was right, I worry too much.

I suppose I'll tell Gil. If he asks, or makes a move.. I mean it seems as though he wants to hang out with me more often. After all, he did invite me to his house today... but that could just be him needing help getting adjusted to the whole new school thing..

I dont want to get my hopes up, but at the same time...

"Wanna take a break?" Gilbert breaks my train of thought.

"Um, why?" asked Matt.

"Vell to be honest... This is boring... And so unawesome."

"Well, ok I guess... what did you have in mind?"

"How about ve go and get some ice cream? There's gotta be a place nearby here right? Ve could even valk there if it was close right?"

"Yeah sure, Lets go." Matt stood up and headed for the back door.

"Mattie."

"Eh?"

"Zhe front door is zhis vay..." He points to his left towards the front front door.

Matt's face then reddened, "Hehehe I knew that.."

And so our adorkable little protagonist Matthew and the awesome Gilbert made their way out into the world once more. (normal POV now)

The two teens began to walk down the sidewalk. Just then, Gil got a call on his cell, his ringtone, 'Everything is Awesome', breaking the comfortable silence he and Matt had been walking in.

Gil glanced down at the caller ID. He answered it, "Ja? Vat is it Vest?... Ja... Nein, zhey won't be home til later... Oh hey me und Mattie just left zhe house so you two behave yourselves...Ja ve vill... Nein! I can't do zhat! I dont even know if... Just go und hang out vith Feli until ve get back...Freilos."

"Who was that?" Matt asked curiously, "And what can't you do?".

"Eeehhh oh zhat, its nothing. It was mein little bruder Ludwig who called. You remember him right? Zhe short blonde kid with zhe blue eyes."

"Oh yes, I remember him... But why did you call him West?"

"Vell zhat is an awesome story. But a long one. You really vant to know?"

"If you want to tell it, I'm curious."

"Sure. Ok, so it all started when I vas born. On a sunny day in zhe middle of... Well in the middle of a sunny day... Anyvay, during zhat time my mutti and vati, err my mom and dad, lived in Berlin in East Germany."

"Wow, you used to live in Germany?"

"Vell ja! How else do you zhink I got zhis awesome? Anyway, zhat is where they lived vhen i was born und zhey had been zhere for a few years. However, about a year after I vas born, mein vati got a new job. Zhe only zhing was zhat we had to move to Dusseldorf, which is in Vest Germany… Not long after zhat, mein little bruder vas born. Zhe whole vest zhing is just me referring to in which part of germany he vas born. Sometimes he calls me East or Preußen.. But only vhen he is in a good mood."

"Oh, I see. Thats pretty cool." Matt turned his head and gazed at the cement under his own feet as he walked.

They continued to walk for some time is silence.

Eventually they found themselves at a yogurt land and bought some ice cream. Mattie, of course, got french vanilla and a maple flavored frozen yogurt. Gil got chocolate and put every topping imaginable on top of it.

"You sure that you can even eat all that?" Matthew asked curiously.

"Of course! Vhy vouldn't I be able to?"

"Well it is a lot of toppings..."

"Zhat is vhat makes it good! Live a little Mattie! Take chances! Make mistakes!"

Isn't that what Ms. Frizzle says in the Magic School Bus series? Matt thought to himself.

~~~~This mini time skip was brought to you by Ms. Frizzle's Iguana~~~~

~~(leave a comment if you know the Iguana's name!)~~

And so Mattie and Gilbert began walking once again. Unconsciously Matthew directed the both of them to the park, which also served as a scenic shortcut to Matthew's house.

Chapter Text

And so Mattie and Gilbert began walking once again. Unconsciously Matthew directed the both of them to the park, which also served as a scenic shortcut to Matthew's house.

They walked in silence for a time. As they began to pass more people Gilbert, consciously, moved closer to Mattie.

Matt noticed this and instantly became a bit flustered in his own little mind and heart.

Matthew POV

Why are we walking together like this? Why is he so close to me? Does he know what he is doing? Or is it just a coincidence... Is this a way he shows he like someone? Or is is just because he's cold? After all a breeze is starting to pick up and the ice cream doesn't really help... Does he even like me? Or am I just acting like a foolish little child with a crush... "But what am I to do if he says he likes me? ... If that happens... How my going to react? Or what if I accidently blurt out that I like him and he doesn't feel the same way? How is this going to affect our friendship? If I tell him what can happen then? Would we still be friends?"

I suddenly feel a warmth around my left hand.

I look down to see another hand holding it.. Gilbert's hand.

"Hey, Mattie? Are you okay? You keep muttering under your breath..."

Normal POV

"What? Oh I'm fine, it was nothing," Matt's face was tinged pink. He was distracted as Gil's fingers intertwined with his.".

"Uh… Uh no… I'm fine, seriously, I was just… thinking um. Nevermind."

"Hmmmm... Okay... Whatever you say..." At this, Gil squeezed Mattie's hand a bit, causing him to turn even more pink.

Gil then feigned being more concern, "Matie? Are you sure you're okay? Your face keep turning more and more pink.. You're not getting zick are you? Zhat vould be so unawesome."

"No im fine, really.. I just have.. A-a few things on my mind that are bugging me, that's all."

"Like vhat? You can tell zhe awesome me. And in an awesome svay i vill solve all your un awesome problems."

"Are you certain you aren't the one that has problems?" Mattie joked a bit.

Gil took his hand away from Mattie, and held it up to his chest in mock hurt.** "Ooh ouch Mattie, zhat stung. Zhe awesome me hasn't any problems of his own."

Matt giggled a bit at Gilbert's dramatic reaction.

His giggle is soo cute. Mein gott, why is he like zhat? Does he even know how cute he is? Gilbert thought to himself.

"So what problems do you have then? If not your own.."

"Vhat?! Oh vell you see I vas talking to Alfred zhe ozher day und.. Well you see there's this guy that Alfred knows, who knows another guy who is... Errr.. Having some difficulty trying to err tell the person he may or may not have a crush on that he may or may not like him.."

"So basically.. The person who is having trouble confessing.. Is in need of dating advice... from my brother eh?" Mattie shakes his head. "Not the best idea there..."

"Vell, he he did give some useful tips and tricks..." Gil smirked.

"Wait, what? How do you know? Wait, d-did you need the advice?"

"Me? No, I can do zhat kind of zhing all by my awesome self!" Gil laughed, moved closer to Matt once again.

Matt became a bit more bashful at his movement. However, his lips did turn up into a small smile.

That little smirk was enough to make Gil's heart leap, knowing that what he was doing was having a positive effect.

They then continued to walk in silence. They passed benches and trees filled with robins. There were a few other people in the distance. And they could hear the excited squeals of children on the playground.

After a few more minutes, Matt broke the silence once again, after thinking something over in his head.

"So if you don't mind me asking... Is there anyone in particular that you like?"

"Oh, err.. mhmm," and suddenly Gil began to turn the slightest shade of red, "Vell you see there is zhis vone person... but I'm still not entirely certain vhezher or not they like me... they don't drop any hints or anyzhing and I don't know if he is even…" Gil trailed off, leaving Matt extremely curious.

"Umm, yeah I know the feeling…" Matt replied, carefully. He said 'he' just then.. so that means... he does like guys..

"Zhen perhaps you can help me?" Gil took Matt's hand again, "Vill you come over to my house again und give me advice on homework and asking people out.. and maybe ve could go on another walk? Zhen after.. Ve should celebrate with more ice cream!" Gil squeezed Mattie's hand in his excitement.

Matt laughed at Gil's enthusiasm for ice cream. "Sure..," Matt sighed, "But why? I mean," just then Matt paused. Why would he say no? Its not like he had anything better to do. He squeezed Gil's hand back and closed his eyes for a minute, thought about how he should answer, and decided to try and play it cool.. "Eh.. yeah sure... I would love to." Well then, I guess I do have a chance... plus... I don't think Gil is holding my hand on accident... Does he like me? It would be nice if he did... Because I know that I definitely like him..

The two finally reached Gil's house once more after a few more minutes of talking about random things. Everything from hockey to canaries.

When they got into the house itself, matt looked at the time and realized he had to get home before Alfred did. He packed up his stuff and ran out the door.

Little did he know he had left something rather important behind.

Gil walked to the table and grabbed his homework. After going up to his room, he realized that something else was with it. Matt's notebook. Curious, Gil cautiously opened it.

As he read the entries, his face began to heat up and he was filled with excitement. Matt liked him too! Now if Mattie gave any hints, Gil wouldn't have to hold back from letting him know that he liked him too!

"Yes yes yes! He does like me! Little Mattie likes me! Zhis is so much more awesome than ice cream!"

"Hey Gil," Ludwig poked his head around the corner, into Gil's room, "what are you doing and why is it more awesome than ice cream?"

"West!" Gil turned on his little brother, "You vill never guess what happened!"

"Matthew likes you?" ludwig said with a raised eyebrow, and a slight smirk.

"No.. vait yes! How did you know?!" Gil couldn't believe that Ludwig guessed right.

"Maybe because I could hear you? Also, you were gone quite a while on your walk."

"Really? Oh yeah I guess ve were..." Gil paused, thinking a moment, "So how was your little date with Feliciano? Did you two behave yourselves?"

Ludwig's face instantly turned pink. "I-It wasn't a date! He just needed help on some of his history homework and mathematics. And its not your business anyway." with that, Ludwig left to his own room.

Gil's sighed and crashed on to his bed. This is soooo awesome! And Mattie is so cute. I can't wait to see him again tomorrow!

Chapter Text

The following day, Gil went over early to Matthew's house to be able to walk with him to the bus stop.

Gil knocked almost a little too excitedly on Matt's door. Alfred opened the door.

"Oh, mornin' Gil, dude. You here for Mattie?" Al asked, rubbing an eye, still in his captain america pj's

"Ja. Is he ready?"

Alfred just shrugged, turned to face towards the stairs, and yelled, "Mattie! Your boyfriend's at the door!"

"SHUT UP ALFRED F. JONES! HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" was what was shouted in response, surprisingly quite loud, by Matthew upstairs. "I'll be down in a sec!"

Alfred turned back to Gil. "Wanna step in for a bit?"

"Sure. Danke." Gil then stepped through the doorway and into Matt and Al's house. "So your parents gone?"

"Yeah they leave really early everyday. We practically never see them.. But whatever."

Gil simply nodded in response, still thinking to himself, Man, Mattie can be just as loud, if not louder, than Alfred when he wants too... Damn boy.

Once he entered, Al said he could set his stuff down at the table if he wanted. Gil took this opportunity to smoothly take out Matt's little notebook, the one who had given him such joy the night before, and low key, set it onto the chair next to him. That way Mattie could find it.

Not a second later, Gil heard footsteps on the stairs and instantly stood up to face Matthew as he came down the stairs.

Matthew yawned a bit, "Mornin' Gil. You're here earlier than usual, eh.."

"Ja…I guess I am. Sorry…"

"N-no that's.. that's not what I meant.. I was just a little surprised that's all. It's no big deal, eh."

"So, you ready?"

"Yeah," Matt waved goodbye to Al and headed to the door. Gil followed close behind.

They walked fairly casually, Gil making a few random jokes, and Mattie laughing and blushing every so often.

"Hey Mattie, guess what?" Gil asked in a very serious tone.

"Umm.. w-what?"

"It's Friday! Friday! Gotta get down on Friday! Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend!, weekend! Friday! Friday! Gettin' down on Friday! Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend!

Partyin', partyin'! Yeah! Partyin', partyin'! Yeah! Fun, fun, fun, fun! Lookin' forward to the weekend!"

Matthew burst out laughing at Gilbert's almost perfect impression of Rebecca Black. Gil joined in too and the two just kept walking and laughing for quite a while.

Eventually, they made it to the bus stop and got to school. Once the bell rang for first period, they said see ya later and went their separate ways.

~~~This fabulous timeskip was brought to you by SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DOITSU! ~~~

~~~WE'RE BEAUTIFUL LIKE GERMANS IN THE SKY!~~~

(3) ← france kissy face ohonhonhonhonhon~

12:30 finally showed it's face, and it was once again lunchtime.

Matthew went to sit at his usual spot by the window and waited a while. But Gil didn't show up yet.

I bet Gil had to do something during the lunch period, I guess I'll just see him during PE then. Matt thought to himself as he took out his lunch and also some of his chemistry notes. I have a feeling Mrs. Martin is going to give a pop quiz today… He then began to eat his lunch thoughtfully as he reviewed his notes on acid-base titrations and the pH scale.

Absorbed in his reviewing, Mattie didn't notice a certain white haired individual, of whom he admired, entered the lunch hall.

Gil noticed that his Mattie didn't see him enter, and seized a chance to play a little prank…

Walking up quietly behind Matt, he placed his head right next to Matt's head, without touching it, smirked a little and whispered. "Vhatcha doin' Mattie?"

"Gahhhh!" Matt squeaked out loud and dropped his notebook in surprise. Instantly, he turned to where the voice came from, only to find a smirking and snickering Gilbert right next to him, eye to eye. "Gilbert!"

"Zhe one and only." Gil replied, still grinning, and looking into Mattie's eyes, his mirth still showing in his own.

Matt, for a moment, became entranced by them. Wow.. they're so.. pretty…

"Vhat's pretty?" Gil asked as he sat down next to Matt on the bench.

Matthew was caught off guard. "W-what do you mean?"

"You just muttered 'so pretty' under your breath...Vhat's pretty?" Gil tilted his head a bit to the side.

God that was just adorable. Matt thought to himself once again, remarking on Gil's head tilt. "Oh.. T-that.. well I was.. err.." Shoot! I don't know what to say.. I mean, here's my chance to give him a compliment.. and here I am stuttering and being too nervous to even speak my mind… Oh well, here it goes, I can do this!

"I..was talking about.. your eyes.." Matt confessed.

"Oh? Und, vhat else vere you thinking just now about mein eyes?"

"W-well.. I-I love your eyes. They're so big and handsome"

"Oh.. V-vell zhank you Mattie... Most people zhink they are, well, weird.." He paused a moment. "Ya know, 'cause they're red like blood and all."

"Not blood.. the color of rubies or poppies.. some of the most beautiful and amazing things in the world."

Both Mattie and Gil went quiet, just staring at the other. Gil pulled his head slowly back. Matt turned a hue of dark pink as he realized that Al was staring at them.

Just then, the bell rang and therefore lunch period was over. Gil and Mattie stood up together and headed for the door. Just then, as they got to the door, Alfred jerked Matt aside.

"Not your boyfriend, huh bro?" Alfred raised an eyebrow.

Matt pulled away, "Umm, I believe that it's not your buisness, eh?" He headed quickly towards the door to catch up with Gil, leaving Al caught slightly off guard by his brother's snarky tone.

Arthur walked up to Alfred, taking Al's hand is his own. "So, are we on for that bet or not?"

"Oh, we are so on! My money is on Matt"

"And mine is on Gilbert. Shall we go to class now?"

"Yeah. I really don't want to be yelled at by Mrs. Di Antonio in Spanish again.. She's scary."

"And that is why I take French class, despite having Francis in the class... I believe there should be rules against having frogs take their own language as an elective…" Arthur muttered the last part more to himself, but it still earned a snicker from Al as they walked towards the Language hallway.

Back with Gil and Mattie in PE

"Hey, Mattie.. Vhat did Al ask you?" Gil asked, poking Mattie in the cheek as they were walking out of the locker room after they had gotten dressed out for the class.

Gil was worried that Matt might be upset about something, for he seemed awfully quiet and immersed in his own thoughts.

"Hmm? Oh it was just Al being Al." Matt replied simplistically."Its nothing to worry about, eh."

"You know vhat Mattie, I've noticed somezhing about you more recently."

"W-what's that?"

Gil turned around and began to walk backwards, "Vell, to put it simply... You are ever so slowly.. becoming more awesome. And I think I know exactly vhy.. It iz because you and I make a great team…" Ha paused a split second and continued.

"Und, because you have now been exposed to my awesomeness in its natural and unrestrained form" Gil pauses again then pokes Mattie in the center of his chest, "You, have absorbed some of my radiating awesomeness and used it for your own purposes."

Matt shook his head, laughing at Gil. "Hey Gil, you may want to look out."

"Vhy?"

Just then Gil backed up right into a pole for one of the basketball hoops.

Matt burst out laughing as Gil stumbled forward a bit. He was about to fall but Matt caught Gil's shoulders and pushed him back up.

"You okay?"

"Ja, I'm good. Little late zhere on ze warning.."

"It must be some sort of side effect of me absorbing the awesomeness radiating out of your body."

"Nah, zhat must be zhe side effect of having Alfred for a brozher."

Matt giggled a bit, "So then are there any supposed side effect to awesomeness?.. At least any that i should worry about that could have lasting effects?"

"Vell, the normal one I suppose vould include being more awesome.. umm an awesome laugh, awesome eyes.. awesomely hot body... und having me as a really good friend zhat vill always be by your side."

"And which of those do you think have already happened eh?"

Gil averted his eyes before answering, "All of zhem.."

"A-all of them?" Matt blushed a bit. Is this Gil's version of... flirting... no I must be imagining things..

"Ja, all of zhem..."

The two became silent for a while, neither knowing exactly how to start up a conversation again.

Thankfully, the coach called them in so they could change for their next class before their little awkward silence could continue.

"Hey Gil, you wanna race back?"

Mattie didn't even got a response, Gil just took off running for the locker room.

"EHH?! GIL! NO FAIR!" Mattie yelled after him, racing to catch up.

Gil reached the lockers first, with Mattie close behind him. They both slumped onto one of the benches, in an attempt to catch their breath.

Mattie rested his head on Gil's slightly shorter shoulder and spoke in between breaths, "Well, I guess you won.. ya cheater."

Gil just smirked.

Chapter Text

The final school bell of the day rang, it was now officially the weekend. Gil and Mattie left their chemistry class and made their way towards the bus stop.

"So, ve still on for ice cream and a valk through the park, Mattie?"

"Yep!" Matt smiled.

"Awesome! See? I told you my awesomeness rubs off on people."

"Hehe, yes. I suppose so," This only caused Matt's smile to grow.

"Vhy are you smiling like zhat?"

"Oh I… don't know. Eh… ready to go?"

"Vell you don't have to stop smiling.. Und ja, lets go."

The two boys then took their usual bus to Gil's block, and once they had dropped off their backpacks at Gil's house, they left once more to go get their ice cream.

Little did they know they had two shadows each that followed them from the ice cream shop all the way to the park.

As Gil and Mattie walked, they kept moving closer to one another.

"Dont you think it's odd to eat ice cream when it's only like 65 degrees out?" Matt voices

.

"No.. not really.. Vhy do you?"

"No i guess not.. It's just that my hands get cold 'cause I have to hold it, and the breeze doesn't really help in keeping me warm either."

"Well, how about this?" Gil grabs and holds onto Mattie's free hand with his own free hand. "Any better?"

"Y-yeah," Matt began to turn a deep shade of red

Seeing Matt's blush also made Gil turn a bit pink as well, however he stayed quiet and willed it to fade.

"Hey Elizabeta, dudette do you need like a tissue or somethin? You look like you're losing a bit of blood there..." Alfred pointed to Elizabeta's nose.

"Oh no, I'm fine."

"Again? Elizabeta, everytime we see those two you get a nosebleed!" Arthur shook his head.

"Really dont worry it happens all the time when I follow Ludwig and Feliciano, as well as you two. Dont worry I come prepared." With that she took a tissue from her purse an pressed it to her nose. "Now c'mon guys! they're getting too far ahead!"

"You follow us?!" Arthur and Alfred whisper-screamed at her in unison, both turning red.

"You thought I didn't?" She asked innocently. "Puh-lease. You two are the most adorable little things when you aren't at each others throats."

"What?!"

"Oh nevermind..." She looked back out towards Matthew and Gilbert, focusing her camera on the two and snapping a few pictures.

"You take pictures and look at them later? Is that what I'm getting out of this?" Alfred asked

"My dear Alfred, you do not seem to understand the concept of future blackmail. Besides these two are so cute together. I wish they would just admit it, get together, and suck each others face off with kisses." she stated simply.

Alfred and Arthur looked at each other and gave the other a confused look.

"By the way, who's betting on who to make the first move?" she asked as an afterthought.

"Mine's on little Mattie and Artie here has his on Gil." Alfred stated.

"I see, well then, this should be interesting."

"Oh hey look! They're both heading towards our neighborhood!" Alfred remarked" Alfred remarked almost too loudly. ""I better get home before Mattie does. C'mon Artie we gotta hurry!"

He then grabbed Arthur's hand and they both began to take another route to get to Al's house without Gill and Mattie seeing them.

"Remind me again why I am going over to your house? And don't call me Artie!"

"Dude, it's the weekend. Plus it's also the weekend that you promised you would stay at my place over night and I promised we'd have fun. Remember?"

"When did I ever promise you such a ridiculous thing?"

"Yesterday, at lunch, under the tree."

"Oh.." Arthur blushed remembering just what had happened.

"Yup, you promised."

"Yup, you promised. And as a 'British Gentleman' you have a duty to your word. Riiight?!" Al mocked his boyfriend playfully.

"First of all, Alfred, your british accent needs a lot of work," Arthur remarked, "and second of all I don't have any clothes, I didn't pack any to spend the night. I don't suppose there's time to stop by my house?" He asked.

"Nope! But you can just borrow some of my stuff like last time. Now come on dude! We have to hurry!"

(No. I will not go into more detail about what happened under the tree. Imagine something fluffy and cute and a little smutty and Boom! There you go. That's what happened. Ahem... MOVING ON! I think its about time for a timeskip.. Blondie! If you pleeease..Give us that timeskip!.)

~~~~This timeskip was brought to you by a very, very hyper blonde-one!~~~~

As the two made their way towards their houses, they somehow became so deeply interested and engrossed in their discussion on Miley Cyrus's underwear.

How they segwayed into that topic, one can only imagine. I think it had something to do with the end of the world being the cause of a wrecking ball from space... But seriously, who knows!

Anyway, my point was that Gil and Matt were preoccupied and didn't realized that they had already passed Gil's house. Therefore, Gil ended up walking Matthew home, in a way.

As they approached his front door, Matt suddenly piped up. "Hey, Gil?"

Gil looked up at Matthew at the sound of his name from his place at the bottom of the steps. "Ja Mattie?"

"I, ehhh, wanted to.. tell you something.." A pink tint began to dust Matthew's cheeks.

"Vhat is it?"

"I, uhh just wanted to.." He trailed off.. should i just come out and tell him.. or... No i really shouldn't he probably doesn't even think of me like that.. but then again... "I just wanted to.. to..to thank you for the ice cream again. And also for hanging out with me." Im such a chicken..

"No problem. The awesome me has a great time hanging out with the awesome you."

Matt put his hand on the door, and was just about to open it when, "HEY BRO! You've finally made your way back! I thought Id have to be a hero again and send out a search party." The door was pulled open excitedly from the inside by none other than Alfred. A few feet behind him, Arthur was setting up a movie.

Matt jumped back a bit in surprise and almost fell, had Gil not been behind him.

"Guten tag, Al."

"Oh hey Gil! I see you are the sinister guy keeping little Mattie away from home." Alfred smirked and winked at his twin.

Matt reddened, "I'm not a kid anymore Al, for god sakes."

Alfred waved his hand dismissively, "Sure, sure.." He then turned his attention back to Gil, "I hope you arent dragging him into anything a loving and heroic brother, not unlike myself, wouldnt approve of."

"Uhhhh," Gil nearly choked, "I vill just be going now. See you tomorrow Matt"

"See ya Gil."

just as Gil was going, an irritated voice, belonging to none other than Arthur, could be heard from inside the house.

"Oh for god's sake Alfred, you are the farthest thing from a true hero and you know it! Now get your sorry arse in here and help me in my quest for the popcorn. Your kitchen is a disaster!"

"Aha! i hear the call of my damsel in distress! I must go! Bye Gil! C'mon Mattie! I need my trusty sidekick!" With that he grabbed Matts wrist and dragged him inside.

"WHAT WAS THAT, ALFRED?!" Arthur screamed.

"Nothing my dearest love!" Al replied in a mock british accent, one that had vastly improved in the time of his dating Arthur. He then let go of Matt to help his, D.I.D..

Arthur sighed and cursed under his breath, "Bloody hell."

With the odd couple distracted, Mattie took his chance and slipped upstairs to the solitude of his room to finish some weekend homework before writing in his journal, getting some kind of dinner and heading to bed.

By that point, Alfred and Arthur were curled up fairly comfortably on the couch together, despite Arthur's near constant little muttering how Al was way to obsessed with the Avengers and practically any Marvel movie.

Arthur couldn't help but stare at the adorable look on Al's face. "You're cute, you know that, right?" he murmured into Al's neck.

Alfred blushed a bit but then replied in the cheesiest way possible,"Nah, I'm not as cute as you."

Arthur giggled softly, almost like a schoolgirl, then turned his head. "Hmph."

Al then took the opportunity to give Arthur a quick kiss on his cheek.

Arthur's face was on fire as he returned the gesture by leaning his head onto Al's shoulder.

"I love you Artie."

"I love you too, git."

Well journal, It's been a full school week now.

A full week of knowing Gil, and he and I hanging out, and going out for ice cream practically every day after school. Despite the weather.

But for some reason, it never seems too cold when we go together.

But i guess that's also one of those 'side effects' Gil was talking about.

But I don't think his so called awesomeness has anything to do with this.

It's only been 5 days, but at this point, I don't think I can deny it much more.

I think I'm in love.

Dear diary,

I am awesome!

Today is friday, and it is the end of my first week of school in America.

I haven't really written in here during that time because every day I would have written the same thing, but in different words.

He's perfect.

Ever since I saw him Monday, when Ludwig and I were heading off extra early to school.. I just haven't been able to think about anything else. Other than school of course.

And even then, he drifts in and out of my thoughts.

I normally don't write about this stuff, but I feel like he's too important now to not write about.

He's too important to me, and I know that I would do absolutely anything for him.

It's only been 5 days since I've met anyone here, and there's still a lot of things I have to sort out. But there is one thing I'm definitely sure of.

I'm in love with Matthew.

Gil re-hid his notebook and pen under his mattress. With the past week's events and discussions, mainly centered on Matthew, still floating around in his mind, he drifted to sleep.

Chapter Text

Bullets whistled through the air. Explosions of grenades sounded in the distance, and erratic gunfire rang in Gilbert's ears.

"Matthew!? Matthew!?"

He spun around, searching desperately for the familiar blond hair.

He heard a shout, and saw Matthew surrounded by at least four other figures.

"GIL! Gil over here! Help me!"

He ran. He ran as fast as he could possibly go.

He tackled two of the figures to the ground, knocking them out with a few punches. He turned to check on Mattie, who was fighting the other ambiguous figures. He hurriedly went to help.

Matt had managed to get one of the figures to fight him one to one and Gilbert took care of the other one.

In a matter of moments, the two figures were on the ground, with Gilbert and Matthew above then, attempting to catch their breath.

"That was .. incredible.." Gilbert said in between gasps of air.

"Well.. you weren't.. too bad.. yourself." Matt wheezed out, patting Gil on the back.

They stood up straighter, then out of nowhere another figure loomed over the two, the glint of a blade in the figure's hand.

Matt let out an earsplitting scream, and threw himself in front of Gil, just as the blade was driven home.

The force of the blow caused both Matt and Gil to fall back, the figure, disappearing into the smoke.

Gil held Matthew in his arms, pressing on his wound.

"G-Gil.."

Matthew began to cough, little spatters of blood covering his uniform.

"Shh, it's okay.. I've got you now..."

Matt quieted down, his breathing becoming slow and ragged.

"Mattie.. no no.. please..don't do this to me.." Tears welled up in Gil's eyes.

Giving a weak smile, Matthew closed his eyes.

Gilbert shook him. "NO! MATTIE! VERDAMNIT! WAKE UP! DON'T DIE PLEASE DON'T DIE!"

Tears now fell freely don Gilbert's face. "Wake Up! Please Just wake up! Wake Up!

Gil bolted upright in bed, heart pounding, tears still falling down his cheek. Mein gott. Was that dream real? Please let it not be.. please please..

He looked around his room, blinking rapidly, in hopes the dream would fade from memory.. no such luck..

Gil hurriedly picked up his cell phone from his bedside table, scrolling through his contacts to Mattie's number, and without hesitation, hitting the call button.

The phone rang once... twice...

"Hello?" murmured the soft, not yet conscious voice of Matthew.

"Matt, can... you please come over?" His voice still shook and he paused a moment, trying to calm himself a bit more. "I know it's s late... But I'm begging you..., please?"

"Be right over." was the reply the the line went dead.

Not 5 minutes later, Matthew arrived, panting slightly

Matthew was let in quietly by Gilbert, who was still trying to hide his still damp eyes, and led up to Gil's room as to not disturb everyone else in the house.

They sat on the bed, both quiet. By now, Gilbert's tears had stopped on their own, and if Matt didn't know any better, he would have supposed him to be fine.

But he did, and Gil wasn't.

"Was it some kind of nightmare mare?"

Gilbert nodded, feeling very unawesome that he had actually cried over something like this. Let alone call Mattie and ask him to come over. "Ja.. and.. vell you vere in it..."

"Do you.. want to talk about it?"

Gilbert nodded and sucking up some sort of courage began, though he paused often because the dream had certainly not vanished from memory.

"I dont.. I dont know where we were.. it was like.. some sort of.. of war front.."

"And we were what? Like soldiers?"

"I.. I dont know.. maybe.. there was so much going on around us.. gunshots.. smoke.. I saw people fall down and not get back up..and.."

"And what?" asked Matt, worry crossing his face.

Gilbert explained the majority of his dream, for it was still vivid in his mind. However, when he got to the end, tears began to fall once more.

Matt tilted his head, his eyes filled with concern.

"I... I couldn't react fast enough. He lunged at me and.. and you .. somehow.., got in front of me... and.." Another tear fell, "the knife went clean through you.."

"I held you, and we just looked at each other.. and then you just smiled at me and closed your eyes.." Gil sniffed and wiped away the tears, "and then you were gone… and then i woke up.. and.." Gil looked up at Matt, "And now here we are."

Matthew nodded. He had no idea what to say.

"Mattie, I… I'm really sorry for waking you up ... and for making you come here.. especially for something so ridiculous as a bad dream... It's just.. you died.. and I didn't know what to do.. not in the dream.. not when I woke up. And I... verdammt.. I don't know .. I just needed to see you.. or to make sure that the dream wasn't real or-"

A sudden warmth surrounded Gilbert, and for a moment, he felt safe and comfortable. Like the dream never happened.

Matthew broke the hug, and spoke.

"You didn't make me do anything Gilbert. I came because I care... because this past week or so has been one of the best, most interesting weeks in my life... You are a person who, for one, actually noticed me for a period longer than three minutes.. and stuck around for longer than a day."

Here Matthew paused, turning his head and scooting away just a bit.

Gil smiled and pulled Matthew into another hug.

"Thank you Mattie.."

Chapter Text

Light streamed through the window and right onto Gilbert's pillow.

Blinking slowly, he woke and sat up in bed. As he looked over at his clock on the bedside, he noticed the unfamiliar lump next to him.

He peered at the shape warily, when it suddenly moved to reveal the sleeping face of Matthew.

Shit shit shit shit...why is.. is Mattie in my bed?!

He looks down at himself to see he was still in his pajamas. That's when he remembered.

Oh yeah… I had a nightmare and called him and he came over...

Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, Gil got out of bed, careful not to disturb his friend, and disappeared to take a shower.

After a good 20 minutes, he returned only to find Mattie still asleep.

I doubt he'll be asleep much longer. I'll just wait for him to get up.

With his newly developed plan of action, Gilbert quietly snuck over to his computer and opened it.

Mein Gott... He is so cute when he is sleeping! His face looks so peaceful… I wish he knew how I felt…

After another 15 minutes, Mattie still hadn't woken up, and Gilbert's stomach was beginning to growl in hunger.

Alright, I guess I have no other choice.

He made his way over to the sleeping form. He reached a hand out, hesitantly, to shake him awake

"Mattie… Mattie vake up." He shook him gently. "Birdie…"

A muffled groan was emitted from under the blankets. "Five more minutes…"

"Mattie…"

A mess of blond hair appeared from under the covers, followed by a pair of bluish eyes, still half closed with sleep.

"Gil..?"

"Good morning sunshine." Gil greeted with a smirk. "You hungry?"

A look of confusion passed over Matthew's face but was closely followed by another one of recollection of the night before.

"Sure. That sounds good."

"Great. I'll meet you downstairs then." With that, he left the room and quietly made his way down the stairs.

Matt watched him leave then crawled out of the bed rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He found his glasses on the bedside table and put them on.

He made his way to the stairs and soon found Gil taking inventory of the kitchen.

"So, what are we having?"

"Vell… Umm, i'm not… Sure.. Vell what.. Vat do you want?"

"How about pancakes?"

"Ya zhat is a great idea!" Gil agreed. "How do you make zhem again?"

Mat rolled his eyes and laughed. "Hows this, I can make the pancakes while you show me where everything is."

Gil nodded, and soon the two of them set to work.

In a matter of minutes, and with minimal spilling, pancakes were cooking in the pan and their smell wafting through the entirety of the house. As they cooked, they talked and laughed about random little things. Neither of them brought up Gil's nightmare or the fact that Matt had stayed the night.

However, though neither of them mentioned it aloud, they were both debating it inside their own thoughts.

Are we like a thing now? Does he even feel the same way? I mean, out of all people he called me when he had that nightmare.. and I was the one dying in the dream that made him cry… So does he likes me? Its seems like it... but I'm not entirely sure… But… after all, he let me spent the night in his bed. Still… Ugh! None if this is making any sense! If only I knew for certain! A sign! anything! C'mon Gil just...

Make a move! Come on! You are so much more awesome zhan all zhis embarrassment stuff! Why is Mattie any different than the others you've asked out!... I mean he's cute and funny, and really adorable when he blushes… Verdamit! Why… I mean.. I've tried to give him hints… And I'm pretty sure that dream was my subconscious telling me I need to make a move soon or he's gone… But I just...

"Bruder? Vat are you making?" Ludwig's voice cut through both of their trains of thought.

"Some awesome pancakes!" Gilbert announced proudly with a ridiculous grin on his face.

Ludwig nodded his head, "Vell zhey smell good."

"Hey Gil," Matthew interjected, " Should we make some extra for your parents?"

"No need. They're on a business trip." Ludwig answered before his brother had a chance.

"Then.." Matthew hesitated.

"Vhat?" Gil asked.

"Can I call Alfred and see if he wants some? I mean… If it's not too much trouble."

"Yeah! Zhat sounds like an awesome plan. The phone iz over zhere." Gil gestured towards the phone by the couch in the other room.

"Thanks. Watch the pancakes, I'll be right back."

After a few minutes on the phone, Matthew returned. "Ok, he's coming, and apparently Arthur too…"

"I zee the bushy-browed brit stayed zhe night zhen." Gil commented with a laugh.

"Yeah," Matt confirmed, laughing at Gil's rather accurate description of his brother's boyfriend.

"Hey West! Can you set zhe table?!" Gil called over to his brother who was now watching some sort of documentary on the couch.

"Yah." He called back, and quickly set about the task.

Just as Ludwig finished setting the table, and Matt had placed a large plate stacked high with pancakes on it, there was a quick knock at the door and a loud "HEY DUDES!"

"Hey bro. Hello Arthur.'

"Mornin'!"

"Good morning Matthew."

"Food is ready. Let's eat!" Gil called out.

Once they were all seated, Alfred took about half the stack of pancakes and put them onto his plate. Then promptly drenched them in syrup.

"Hey! Save some for the rest of us!"

Chapter Text

"So," Alfred says, as he began stuffing his face with pancakes, "Are you two like a thing now or what?"

Matt's face reddens, "What? No. We're not together."

Gil laughs and turns his head away, attempting to hide embarrassment. Arthur however, being himself, knew exactly what Gil was doing and nudges Al with his knee.

Alfred just laughs, taking the hint.

"Well, I guess Artie and I will get outta you lovebirds' hair. You ready Artie?" Alfred smirks at Gil as he rises.

"Alright," Arthur rises from his chair and smiles, winking at Alfred.

When the two were left alone, Mattie just fiddled with his fork not looking Gil in the eye.

Gilbert grabbed Mattie's hand to stop his incessant fiddling, "Hey, you vant me to walk you home or do you vant to stay here for a bit?"

"Um, I should probably go home. I have some cleaning to do at the house."

"Ja, okay. Let me go get on some clothes and we can go." A few minutes pass and Matt hears Gil call from upstairs, "Hey, do you want to borrow a jacket? It's cold out."

"Yes, please. Thank you"

Moments later, Gil appears in a red shirt and dark jeans, a jacket thrown on and carrying another in his arms. "Here you go birdie.. err I mean Mattie.."

Matt takes the jacket from Gil and puts it on. It fit pretty well and with a smile he says, "Well, how do I look?"

"Like a model all the way from Berlin."

Matt mocks a strut down the runway towards the door and they both start laughing just as they get outside.

"So the scenic route or the fast lane? Your choice Matthew."

"Scenic is good," Matt replies.

"Vundabar!" Gil turns in the direction of the park in the middle of their neighborhood and pointed towards the sky. "Onvards! Zhe awesome me will guide the awesome you through the beauty that is nature!"

Matt laughs and follows Gil.

Gil leads Mattie through the park, pointing out random things and acting like a tour guide. Matthew laughs and plays along. He acts astonished and says ooh and ahh at the appropriate moments.

"You zhee zhis flower here is very rare," Gil gestures at a cornflower, "it only blooms once every few years, and its color helps it to blend with the sky so little bugs on the ground can't see it."

Matt nods, "How unique!" He says enthusiastically.

"Ja. I know…" Gil smirks at Mattie.

Ok Gil... time to make a move…. it's been an entire week... there's no denying now that I like him… but there's no way I can make a move on him just yet... I mean I don't even know if he likes me... I think he does... the fact that he hangs out with me still...it probably means he likes me and thinks I'm awesome… but I don't know… come on Gilbert! you've dated before, you flirted... why is Mattie any different than any other guy!? maybe it's because I like him too much, I don't want to ruin our friendship or anything by asking him out or making any kind of move… The movies make this whole confessing to people seem so easy … but no matter what we're not in a mood this is not some work of fiction this is real life… and I have to make a move, I just don't know if I'm awesome enough and willing to risk it… but then again… if I don't… ok Gil… time to make up your mind...

I can't help but stare at him every time I see him. He's so handsome. Sometimes I get theses urges to just grab his hand and tell him my feelings for him, but I'm too afraid of rejection. Surely he must be suspecting I like him at this point. So if he was going to make a move he would've done it by now. Huh… maybe I should make the move… now would be as good a time as any...

As Matthew came out of his train of thought, Gilbert was still in his. However, they walked in a comfortable silence.

But no sooner had Gil broken his train of thought as Matt decided the silence was now becoming too loud. After all, it wasn't usually in Gilbert's nature to be quiet for more than a few seconds.

"Hey, Gil? You okay. You're kinda quiet all of a sudden."

Gil snapped his head towards Mattie, but then nervously looked away. "I, uh, hey look at zhe birdie!" He pointed up to a tree.

Matthew turned his head to where Gil had pointed. For the split second, they were face to face, Gil closed the gap.

Their kiss lasted no more than a mere five seconds, ending as Gilbert realized what he'd just done and took off. Matt stood there in a stunned, but happy shock, a goofy grin on his face (not unlike Alfred's). Then he hurried to catch up with Gilbert.

He found him sitting on one of the park benches by the small duck pond, with his head in his hands.

"Gil?"

Gil's head jerked up at his voice, "Mattie!... I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass-"

Matthew cut him off with a small peck on the cheek.

"Mattie?"

"What?"

"Wanna go out sometime?."

Matthew laughed. "I dunno… am I awesome enough yet to be in your presence? let alone your boyfriend?"

"You have surpassed, my awesome Birdie..err Mattie."

"You can call me Birdie…I don't mind"

"Really?"

"Yeah… But only if you let me call you maple."

"No vay. I've died in battle for you, mashed potatoes and mystery meat straight to zhe heart… You must call me 'his awesome Lord Gilbert of the Maples'…"

"Gil it is then," Matthew decided mockingly and gave Gil another quick peck on the lips, but Gilbert took the chance to make it last longer.

"C'mon, you gotta get home to change so we can go on that date."Gilbert rose from the bench, grabbed Mattie's hand and they both took off running down the sidewalk, both with the biggest of smiles.

As they ran along, Mattie noticed that they passed by a certain bus stop. He smiled to himself.

Best week ever.

THE END
---------

EPILOGUE!

Several years passed. Gil and Mattie graduated high school together.

They were engaged the summer before their last year of college.

Matthew, of course, said yes.

Among the gifts they got from friends and family, was a photo album from Alfred and Arthur.

Inside were countless pictures of them throughout high school and college, both the big and little moments that made up the entirety of their relationship and life together.

At the very last page was a picture. Of two figures sitting together on a park bench near the duck pond.

The one below that was a picture of their first kiss.