– New friend –

It was just an average day at school, and Gilbert was on his way to his history lesson after hanging out with his best friends, Francis and Antonio. Upon arrival to the classroom, he noticed that there was someone else occupying the seat he usually sits in. He walked closer to his seat near the window and got a closer look at the blonde boy who was resting his head on the desk.

"Hey, this is where I sit," Gilbert said assertively, hoping the boy wasn't asleep and could actually hear him.

The boy jumped; appearing surprised he raised his head from the desk and nervously looked at Gilbert who was glaring down on him.

"Ah, I'm sorry," the boy said quietly, and stood up from where he was sitting. "I'll just leave."

Gilbert couldn't help but notice how cute and shy the boy appeared. He had a single strand of hair that stuck out in a curl.

"Wait, you don't have to go, the seat next to mine is always free anyway, and you can sit there if you like," Gilbert offered, believing he had scared the boy. It's not like he was really all that bothered about someone sitting in his seat anyway.

"Th-thank you," the boy said with a smile, surprised that the albino was being so kind to him.

The boy moved to the next seat over, and Gilbert sat down in his normal seat.

"I've not seen you around before, are you new here?" Gilbert asked.

"Uh... yeah, I just started today," the boy replied, still speaking quietly. "My name's Matthew by the way."

"Nice to meet you Matthew," Gilbert said with a friendly grin on his face. "I'm Gilbert, the most awesome person in the whole school."

Matthew smiled, but didn't say anything. Gilbert could tell that Matthew was nervous still. He reached out to pat Matthew on the shoulder and reassure him that he doesn't have to feel nervous, but Matthew flinched at the sight of Gilbert's hand reaching towards him. He pulled away so that Gilbert wouldn't touch him.

"Hey, I wasn't going to hurt you or anything, you don't have to be so scared," Gilbert said, worrying about his new friend.

"I... I just don't really like contact with other people, I suppose," Matthew said.

"Okay, I just won't touch you," Gilbert said. "I just wanted you to know that you shouldn't feel nervous or scared around me; we're friends now after all."

Hearing this made Matthew smile, and seeing Matthew's cute smile made Gilbert's smile grow.

Gilbert figured it probably wouldn't be a good idea to introduce him to Francis and Antonio yet; if he's really this shy then they'd probably scare him away.

The teacher soon arrived and began the lesson. When he called the students' names on the register, Matthew's name was not called.

"Hey, Matthew, your name wasn't on the register," Gilbert whispered. "Are you sure you're in the right class?"

"I'm sure it must just be because I'm new," Matthew replied, still smiling.

Gilbert didn't question it; possibly because it was the most confident he had heard Matthew speak since meeting him.

Matthew didn't seem to be paying attention to the lesson. He spent the whole lesson just gazing in awe at the boy next to him. He couldn't keep his eyes of that bright white hair and those fiery red eyes. Gilbert didn't seem to notice that he was being stared at; he was too engrossed in the lesson as they were learning about the history of Prussia.

After the lesson, Gilbert wasn't sure if he should invite Matthew to sit with him at lunch. He didn't want to new student to be alone on his first day, but he knew how rowdy Francis and Antonio could get sometimes and he didn't want them scaring his new friend away.

"Hey, want to join me for lunch?" Gilbert asked. We'll find somewhere quiet to sit until he's used to the school. I'll just have to explain to Francis and Antonio later that I couldn't sit with them.

"Uh, no thank you," Matthew nervously replied, "I'm not really hungry."

"Well you don't have to eat anything, we could just hang out. It wouldn't be fair to leave you on your own since you're new here," Gilbert scratched the back of his head. "We don't even have to go to the cafeteria; my friends and I usually go to the roof."

"Could we just sit outside somewhere?" Matthew suggested. "The weather's nice enough."

"Sure," Gilbert replied as they walked to the doors which lead outside.

Once they were outside, they both looked around for a good place to relax during lunch time. They eventually decided on sitting on the rocks at the other end of the school grounds.

"Are you sure you don't want to eat anything?" Gilbert asked as he pulled his lunch out of his bag. "You look quite skinny."

Gilbert reached out to touch Matthew's belly to feel how skinny he was. Matthew quickly moved away so that Gilbert couldn't reach him.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I forgot you don't like being touched," Gilbert said, feeling like an idiot. Shit, I scared him. But it can't be normal to be that scared of physical contact.

"It's okay," Matthew said quietly, looking down at the floor as if hanging his head in shame.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Gilbert asked with a worried expression on his face. "You look really down. I promise I won't try to touch you again, I didn't know it would upset you this much."

"Thank you," Matthew said almost silently, and a smile began to appear on his face.

They two of them spent 20 minutes happily talking about random stuff. Gilbert warned Matthew of places he should probably avoid in the school and which teachers are the coolest and which are the strictest. Whenever he asked Matthew about himself, Matthew would go quiet, as if he didn't know the answer.

Soon lunch time was over and they had to start making their ways to their next lessons, the last lesson of the day. Gilbert felt disappointed to hear that Matthew wasn't going to be in his next lesson. However, he remembered that his strict teacher wouldn't let them talk anyway, and his other friends would be there.

"I don't know if we'll be in any other lessons together, so do you want to meet here again at lunch tomorrow?"

"Sure," Matthew replied with a smile.

Gilbert burst into the classroom filled with joy and enthusiasm, which was soon killed by the realisation that he was in a maths lesson. Damn, after such a good lunch time, why do I have to be stuck in maths? So boring, and not awesome at all.

"And where were you at lunch?" Antonio asked loudly to his friend who was walking towards him from the other side of the room.

"Sorry, I was busy with some stuff," Gilbert scratched his neck as he approached his friends.

"And what 'stuff' would that be?" Francis interrupted.

"Just stuff, it doesn't matter," Gilbert said, trying to shake off the topic.

"Whatever you're hiding from us," Antonio glared at his white haired friend. "We'll find out."

"I'm not hiding anything, really it was just nothing," Gilbert protested, not making eye contact with his friends. If I tell them about Matthew, they'll probably want to meet him, and these two can't keep their hands to themselves; they'd scare him away for sure.

The teacher started the lesson, scolding the trio each time they tried to talk, making continuation of the conversation impossible.

The next day, Gilbert arrived at school with a little yellow blob in his hair, which got him into quite a bit of trouble with the teachers. He was determined to show Matthew, but he couldn't find him anywhere and so he didn't see him again until lunch when they met at the rocks.

"Matthew!" Gilbert shouted as he ran towards the quiet rocks where Matthew sat. "I have someone who I'd like you to meet."

"Who?" Matthew asked, but then took a look at Gilbert's head as he sat down.

"Meet Gilbird," Gilbert said as he waved his hands above his head gesturing to the small bird that was nesting there. "He's the most awesome bird in the world."

"He's really cute," Matthew said smiling at the bird.

"Yep, and you're really cute too," Gilbert blurted out. After realising what he said, a bright red blush appeared on his face. Did I really say that out loud?

"Wha- What? I'm not cute," Matthew protested, feeling embarrassed.

"Of course you are," Gilbert reassured him. I can't just say he's not cute now after saying he is, that'd just be cruel. "You're just as cute as Gilbird. I know, I'll call you Birdie from now on."

"Okay," Matthew said quietly, still feeling embarrassed about being called 'cute'.

"Anyway," Gilbert decided to change the topic a little, "I was wondering if you could touch Gilbird."

"Why?" Matthew asked curiously.

"You're scared of contact with other people, but what about animals?"

"I can't touch animals either," Matthew sounded ashamed of himself for not being able to simply touch a small bird.

"Then Gilbird and I will help you conquer your fear. One day you'll not be afraid to touch Gilbird's soft feathers," Gilbert was sounding very excited.

"That's very kind of you to offer, but it's really not necessary," Matthew nervously said.

"Not necessary?" Gilbert was shocked, and disappointed, to hear that Matthew didn't want his help. "But it must be difficult for you. What if you were in a crowded corridor? You're bound to end up touching someone."

"Really, I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me so much," Matthew smiled as if he was only pretending that he was fine.

"No way, I really like you, Birdie, so I'm going to help you!" Gilbert said with a cheerful grin on his face.

Matthew looked happy to hear that Gilbert really cared about him, even though they had only known each other for a day.

"Okay, but don't get your hopes up, I won't touch anyone," Matthew replied.

A/N: So I'm going to end this chapter here... and I'll start writing the next chapter eventually...