Quietly, I inserted my key into the lock, turned it, and pulled it back out. I turned the knob and slipped into the house, closing the door behind me again, and locking it. Always remembered to do that after Harper walked in on us that one time...

I turned around slowly, and placed my bag on the ground near the door, before finally looking around. It was dark, but I knew my way from the entrance hall to Mattie's room. I assumed he'd be in bed, and I'd get to curl up with him for the next few hours until it was actually light out, and NOT just three in the morning, dark and cold as hell. And then he could give me that "Canadian welcome" he'd been so hoping to give me as soon as I got in. I'd told him not to worry, because the "welcome" would be even more welcome (see what I did there?) once we were both fully rested and had all our "stamina." Gott, I love air quotes.

Tip-toeing, using my awesome powers of stealth, which Mattie had been helping me with, I made my way down the hallway and towards Mattie's room, passing the bathroom and his office along the way. But I froze as I realized there was a pool of light on the hardwood flooring, coming from the living room, a couple feet further down the hallway, closer to Mattie's room. Was he still awake?

I crept towards the light, and peered around the corner. There was Mattie's awesome reclining chair (we cuddled on that a lot), his awesome flat screen television (we watched hockey on that a lot), his awesome comfortable sofa (we made out on that a lot), and... Oh! There he was.

Birdie was curled up on the sofa, sans glasses (they were on the table beside him), hands and legs pulled in close to his chest, and covered by a burgundy colored blanket that almost matched the rich maroon color of the couch. There was a book sitting on the carpet near him, and his cell phone was sitting on top of it, and I smiled, realizing he must have fallen asleep trying to stay up for me.

His small form rose and fell almost imperceptibly as he slept, his wavy blond hair falling over his forehead and giving his innocent features an even more angelic look. His lips were slightly parted, and that one errant curl shifted with each puff of breath that slipped from between those perfect, gorgeous, feminine, adorable lips I loved so much.

I removed my shoes at the entrance to the living room, then padded across the carpet to sit on the couch beside him. I brushed his hair gently out of his face and tucked it behind his ear, and he shifted in his sleep, making me smile. He was so adorable when he slept. Call me creepy all you like, if you regularly sleep with someone -in the most energetic sense of the phrase- and you don't watch them actually sleep, there's something missing in that relationship. Because watching my Birdie sleep... It's even more satisfying for me than sleeping myself is. Because I know he's resting, regaining his strength, and I get to see him at his least troubled.

I could honestly say I was glad I'd flown in so late- er, early. Because it wasn't often I got to see Birdie sleeping. When he fell asleep before me after sex, or even cuddling, sure, but I was exhausted then too. Well, and I always had a bad case of post-sex (or Birdie's-adorable-ness-overload) brain. And in the morning, he was always up before me, usually making breakfast (pancakes, of course). It was the rare times I caught him sleeping that I could truly appreciate him like this, and I loved it.

But then I yawned, and glanced at the clock on the wall. Yes, it was still half past three in the morning here. Might as well get a little sleep... but there wasn't enough room on the couch for the both of us. And I didn't want Mattie to wake up alone, so...

Hesitantly at first, slowly, carefully, I slid my arms beneath his legs and behind his back, and lifted him off the couch, shifting once to make sure I had a good hold on him. He nuzzled into my neck and gripped the collar of my shirt, and it took every ounce of self control I had not to squea- ahem, awesomely declare how adorable he was.

Step by silent step, I carried Mattie from the living room to his bedroom, just one door down the hallway, then deposited him gently on the bed. I covered him with the blankets, and backed slowly out of the room to turn off the light in the living room and retrieve his glasses from the side table. I also picked up his book and phone from the floor to save them from Kumajirou later, just in case he decided to have a midnight snack. It wouldn't be the first phone Birdie had lost that way... Good thing that bear was virtually indestructible. (But despite his tendency to eat cellphones, he still refused to touch England's cooking.)

That done, I made my way back into the bedroom and placed his glasses on his bedside table. I went to climb into bed beside Matthew, but as soon as the mattress dipped beneath the weight of my leg, he shifted, and a pair of light bluish eyes shined red light back at me from the reflection of the glowing numbers on his alarm clock behind me.

"Gil?" He asked blearily. "What-?"

"Shh," I quieted him, placing a finger softly on his lips as I climbed all the way into the bed. "Go back to sleep, Mattie. I just got in."

"Hi," he murmured, a smile curling at the corners of his lips as he wriggled closer to me on the bed, and wrapped his arms around my neck.

"Hi, Birdie," I grinned, and wrapped my own arms around his torso, pulling him closer to me.

He shifted, and laid his head on my chest, and within a few minutes I could tell he had already drifted off again. I threaded my fingers through his hair -making sure to avoid that stray curl- and sighed contentedly. I had the awesomest, most adorable boyfriend ever.

A/N: So, this adorable drabblish oneshot was brought to you by Blizzard Charlotte~ That's the only reason I had enough time to write it. Aaaand now back to homework and stories with followers and such.