The house was completely silent when Matthew woke up. He felt cold and there was no longer a warm arm wrapped around him. He looked over to see that Gilbert was gone. In his place was Kumajirou but the fat polar bear was dangerously close to the end of the bed. Without waking the sleeping bear Matthew picked him up and set him farther away from the edge of the bed. Then to warm himself up he put on his red hoodie and went downstairs, he assumed that Gilbert was attempting to make breakfast again and he really didn't want wurst for breakfast on Christmas day.

Matthew expected the smell of wurst or food of some kind to reach his nose by the time he got to the bottom of the stairs but there was nothing. There was only the maple scent that normally filled the air. He rushed into the kitchen to see if he'd fallen asleep while getting a snack. Gilbert wasn't there either.

"Gil?" He yelled as loud as he could. Although it wasn't as loud as he had hoped and wasn't even close to the shouting of a normal person. Something moved in the living room and he tripped while running towards the movement. Tino poked his head out of the doorway. He was wearing a Santa suit and the fluffy white ball of the house was dangling in front of his face.

"Matthew? Are you okay?" He asked.

Tino extended a hand to help the taller blonde stand, but Matthew ignored it and continued to look around frantically as he stood. "Where's Gil?" He asked. Tino furrowed his eyebrows and looked at a watch on his wrist before looking at the fireplace. "I don't know, I haven't seen him. But I really have to go, my schedule is running late and I still have to go to America's house." He said. "Okay, bye Tino." Matthew muttered.

Tino walked into the fireplace and disappeared with a snap of his fingers. Matthew slumped down on the couch and sighed. It was Christmas day and Gilbert had disappeared even though he had promised Matthew they'd do something fun later today. Now he was all alone… Gilbert had disappeared without a single warning. Where was he? Where could he have gone? He wouldn't have just left Matthew, would he? Gilbert had always been somewhat of a manwhore in the past, but he wasn't still was he?

Doubts dived into his mind and clouded his thinking. For hours he sat there waiting for Gilbert to show up. He called Alfred, Arthur, Francis, Italy, and Germany. They either didn't know where he was or they didn't answer. So Matthew sat on the couch all day and waited.

Finally the clock by the television showed that it was midnight, and Christmas was over. Tears welled up in Matthew's blue eyes. He pulled his knees to his chest and cried into his arms. His eyes burned fiercely and his cheeks felt wet and sticky. He was so overwhelmed with his untamable emotions that he didn't hear the door open. But he did feel the strong arms that wrapped around his shaking body.

"Birdie! Birdie, are you okay?" Gilbert asked.

Matthew wrapped his arms around the albino's neck and cried into his chest. Gilbert pulled the blonde onto his lap and rocked him gently back and forth. He kissed the top of his head repeatedly. "I thought you weren't going to come back." Matthew sobbed. He held handfuls of Gilbert's shirt in a death grip. Gilbert's crimson eyes widened and he held on tighter to his lover. "No Birdie, I would never leave you I promise I won't." He said. Gilbert's shirt grew wet from the Canadian's tears and that made his hold on the younger man even stronger. "I promised you that I would never ever leave you, I will stay with you until the day you die." He whispered.

Tears still poured from his eyes as he pulled away and looked up at the crimson red eyes. "W-w-where were you? I-I s-sat here all d-day waiting for y-you." He whispered. Gilbert kissed the tip of his nose. "I'm so, so very sorry Mattie. Ludwig called me really early this morning and told me that I had to go home and help him. I didn't want to wake you and I forgot to leave a note, but I never knew that I was going to be gone for so long." He said. Matthew looked up at him with blue eyes that sparkled from his tears. Gilbert quickly brought his eyebrows together and used his thumb to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "Oh Birdie I am so sorry I made you cry. I'm really sorry, I should have made time to call you or leave you a note." He said. "No it's fine, I should have known it was okay but Ludwig didn't answer when I called." Matthew said. He turned his head away and stared at the clock which said it was eight minutes past midnight. Gilbert pressed a hand to his cheek and turned Matthew's head back around to look in his direction. "No it's not okay. I want a direct and honest answer and that is not it. It's not okay, and I don't want you to feel sad anymore, not ever again." He said. He kissed him lightly on the lips. "You scared me; I thought you'd left me for some other nation or that you disappeared forever." Matthew whispered. "No Birdie I would never do that." Gilbert said.

The tears were gone from Matthew's eyes but his face and eyes were bright red. He gave a small smile. "Now it's time for that something fun I promised you, I know it's not Christmas now but I can still invade your vital regions on this couch." Gilbert said, a smirk stuck on his face. Matthew's smile widened and the redness of his cheeks spread as he blushed. "But we still haven't opened our presents yet." He said. Gilbert chuckled softly. "Can't that wait until later?" He asked. He kissed Matthew again, a little harder this time.

"I'm so glad you came back. I could never survive a Christmas without you Gilbert." Matthew said.

A.N. – Sorry I meant to post this yesterday but I ended up having no time to get near my computer. So again I apologize for the delayed post.