In January, Gilbert asked Matthew for a birthday kiss. This is how their relationship started.

In February, they had a spectacularly bad Valentine's Day date. It rained, the movie sucked, and Matthew literally slipped in mud. People started to laugh around him, so Gilbert went right after his boyfriend and fell face first into the mud. That, Matthew thought, wasn't so bad or sucky at all.

In March, the Great Pinching War, take nine, happened. Alfred and Matthew had started the St. Patrick's Day tradition when they were ten and held the war every year since then. Everyone partaking in the game purposefully kept green out of their wardrobe for the day and went throughout their day trying to avoid pinches (mostly from other players) by either dancing out of the way or getting immunization by holding up the nearest green object, only to return it to its place when the attacker was a safe distance away. It was Gilbert's second time participating and, like the year prior, suffered a triumphant loss. Alfred and Matthew were both strong players, but, alas, they and numerous other friends lost to third-time champion Yong-Soo. Matthew took the loss in stride and cuddled with Gilbert to help out his weakened ego. They both considered the after-war cuddling a win.

In April, Matthew and Gilbert petted rabbits. Gilbert tried to take one home, but Matthew wouldn't let him. "It's called stealing, Gil," he had said, "not 'rabbit home relocation.' That isn't even a thing."

In May, the semester was coming to an end and everyone was in a tizzy to bring their grades up to where they had to be. Unfortunately, this meant Matthew and Gilbert's time together was cut to barely a few seconds a day, if that. By the end of the month, they were wondering if they would ever get to go on a date again. Well, if anything, absence makes the heart grown fonder.

In June, school ended. They had the whole summer all to themselves and they planned to make the most of it. They were going to go the beach, an amusement park, eat ice cream, play video games, go swimming and try not to burn under the sun if they couldn't help it. In the words of Gilbert, "It's gonna be awesome."

In July, it was Matthew's birthday. This time, he asked for a birthday kiss. His wish was granted.

In August, school began again. The summer had been awesome, long, and all too short. They enjoyed the rest of the summer heat as they could and slowly got themselves back in the groove of attending classes.

In September, they were ready for summer vacation again. While the semester was not quite yet at its pinnacle, they yearned to trade their homework for time spent with each other. They studied together as much as they could. Well, Matthew studied and Gilbert tried to steal his attention away. It's a wonder how any work got done at all.

In October, they had a particularly grand Halloween. Antonio threw a party and they went together with their friends. Gilbert dressed as Dracula and Matthew went as Casper the Friendly Ghost. The party had tons of candy - the good, the bad, and the foreign. By the end of it, Antonio's matador costume was looking worse for wear, Francis's costume was completely abandoned on the kitchen floor, and Gilbert lost his cape. Every other person's costumes were completely intact (though with minor chocolate stains).

In November, Matthew and Gilbert took long walks through the park to crunch the many leaves on the ground. They made a game out of it - if the leaf didn't crunch just right, they would pick it up and stuff it in their pocket. The one with the least amount of leaves at the end of the walk could pick what they ate for dinner. Most of the time, Gilbert won.

In December, both of them floundered over Christmas gifts. For some reason, they were both at a complete loss as to what to give the other. In the end, though, they found gifts. Matthew's face lit up when he unwrapped a new hockey stick decorated with polar bears. Gilbert practically jumped for joy when he discovered his gift to be a bird kigurumi. It was a pretty awesome year.