They say that it has been scientifically proven that it takes a woman at least 15 days to fall in love, and a man at least 8.2 seconds. Thus the logical conclusion is that man possesses the supposedly impossible feat of love at first sight. So does this also mean that a man would most likely fall for looks instead of personality? Well in any case, that most certainly wasn't true when it came to the likes of one Gilbert Beilshmidt, and Matthew Williams was sure of that.
The first thing he had heard about Gilbert, was his loud, overbearing, self-centered, troublemaker personality. Him and his two partners in crime, Antonio Fernandez Carriedo and Francis Bonnefoy, made up a group widely known as "The Bad touch trio" or sometimes "The Bad Friends Trio" if you were fortunate enough to not have heard the worst of the infamous rumors about them. But it wasn't like there was a shortage of crazy tales concerning the trio. Matthew personally believed they had spread over half of those rumors about themselves to gain more popularity. In any case they had in fact managed to become quite the talk of the school. You couldn't go one day without hearing at least one new thing concerning someone from that little group.
The second thing he had heard about Gilbert, was that unlike his pals Francis and Antonio, he refused to purposefully do anything with a girl unless she was comfortable with the situation and had given him permission. This included even small gestures like sitting next to a girl during lunch. He also happened to be faithful in a relationship and would never cheat on his girlfriend.
These, at least, had been things that Matthew had overheard from a group a girls while studying in the library after school, waiting for his brother's basketball practice to end so they could walk home together. They had all agreed with each other so whole-heartedly, that Matthew believed they had all dated him before. The suspicion had been confirmed when they all listed off dates of different months they had been with Gilbert.
Again at the moment Matthew found himself in a similar position. The wheat colored blonde boy sat at the edge of a table in the large, and almost always empty, school library. He tucked a piece of wavy hair behind his ear before turning the page in his book. Violet, glasses clad eyes, skimmed over the page effortlessly. A wayward curl fell into his face, but Matthew made no move to push it away, he was too into the book. The action became intense and Matthew literally slid up to the edge of his seat, pushing his face closer to the pages, as if it could help him somehow read faster. The large wooden door swung open and a rather annoying group of chattering girls looked about the room. Matthew barely spared them a glance before trying to continue on with his reading.
"Good! It's empty!" The brunette in front exclaimed.
Matthew sighed as he slipped a bookmark into his page and closed it. He set the book down. It wasn't like he wasn't used to it. No one ever noticed him, he was practically invisible, and when they did notice him, they thought he was Alfred, his twin brother. He laid his head down on his arms, and listened to the babbling girls. For the most part they droned on about uninteresting things, and Matthew found himself slipping into a light sleep. . . until one of them mentioned Gilbert and they all made squeals in agreement. It startled Matthew enough for him to sit up so suddenly he almost toppled out of his chair. Glasses askew and eyes wide he turned to gaze toward the girls. After a rather forceful shush from Gale, the librarian, they went back to their conversation only slightly subdued.
"Tomorrow 's the first!" the brunette whispered loudly.
"Ohmygawd! Brit you're right!" a curly haired redhead answered.
"Steph said she wanted to ask him out!" A girl with short choppy black hair added happily.
"No way!" Brit said looking towards a blushing blonde.
"Ugh. Jennifer is so desperate I like, hate her." The choppy haired one commented.
"So Steph you gonna go for it! Today's the break up so he'll be single tomorrow! You should like totally try, I bet he'd def fall in love with you. You're like way pretty!"
"Yeah Liz is right, way pretty, especially over Jen." Brit commented agreeing with the redhead.
"You think so?" The blonde one who must have been Steph asked in a hopeful voice.
Matthew, annoyed started shoving his books in his beloved messenger bag. It was one of the last things he had gotten from his mom, before she passed away. The bag was red with a white maple leaf on it. It had come from his and his mother's favorite little shop in Vancouver, Canada. Their home. He had lived in Canada since he was two, after his parents divorce, up until about ten months ago when she had been in a car crash with a drunk driver and died on site, before the paramedics even came.
It had been hard for him, especially when he was shipped to America to live with his brother Alfred and his father in the summer after his freshman year. Frankly he hated it here. Where his mother had been gentle and kind, his father was rough and stern. He was often scolded for his soft-spoken voice, or overlooked by his dad. Matthew knew his dad meant no harm, that he loved Matthew very much, and that he really tried to make the transition comfortable. But it was always a little awkward and their relationship strained.
As for his twin Alfred, things weren't much better. Alfred tried comforting Matthew and they had a nice close relationship, but he was often insensitive to Matthew's feelings, and constantly asked about their mom. He was also very pushy, and knew how to get what he wanted. He went around proclaiming himself a hero, and completely overshadowing Matthew. It was also very clear that Alfred was his fathers favorite by how close they were. Though it hurt Matthew's feelings slightly he thought that if it had been reversed he knew his mother couldn't have helped having a stronger bond with him over Alfred.
As if he could sense his brother's thoughts, the wooden doors burst open and in strolled the one and only Alfred F. Jones himself. His hair was a shade lighter than Matthew's, more golden and shorter, with a strange cowlick that always left a piece of hair sticking up, seemingly defying gravity. His eyes, behind thin wire frames, were a sparkling sky blue that seemed to make every girl swoon. He walked with an air of confidence and ease, hands in his pockets and whistling some popular song from the radio. He looked around spotting the girls. His smile grew and he winked with a little wave. As they all giggled stupidly, Matthew stood and made his way over towards him.
"HEY! Mattie! I knew I'd find you here!" Alfred said happily waving once more to the girls before they left the room.
"That's because I told you this is where I'd be.'" Matthew answered slightly irritated.
"Ah, really? I don't remember that." Alfred admitted with a small laugh, his hand on the back of his neck in a sheepish manner as they walked.
"I tell you every day before you go to practice." Matthew sighed. They had this same conversation at least three times a week, yet Alfred never seemed to remember.
"Oh." Alfred answered shrugging his shoulders.
The rest of the walk was made in a comfortable silence. Matthew spent the time mulling over the conversation the group of girls in the library had. From everything he'd gathered about Gilbert he was a bad boy. But when it came to relationships he was strangely serious. But it also seemed like he had dated quite a lot of the female population at their school, so why do they never speak bad about him. There had to have been a reason they broke up.
Time found the twins lounging in the living room waiting for a delivery man to bring the pizza they ordered for dinner. Matthew sat on the couch writing out his paper for French class while Alfred opted to sit in front of the TV playing some zombie game on his ps4. Of course Matthew was already fluent in French, seeing as he had grown up speaking it in Canada, he had taken the class to avoid learning other languages like Spanish or German, they just didn't suit him. Matthew started mumbling to himself in French, still trying to figure out how Gilbert managed to stay on good terms with his seemingly endless line of ex-girlfriends.
"Gilbert? Gilbert Beilshmidt?"
Matthew, startled, looked up to see his brother's face just inches from his. He let out a small squeak as he leaned back causing him to tumble over the arm of the dark velvet sofa and onto the shaggy brown carpet. "Maple." He whispered fixing his glasses to see a hand in front of his face.
"I know Gilbert!" Alfred smiled happily as he helped Matthew up off of the floor.
"Y-you do?"
"Duh! He's a sophomore too you know! Comes to all the games to watch his little bro!" Alfred answered enthusiastically. "Unlike some brothers." Alfred added as an after thought, giving Matthew 'the face.' It was Alfred's secret weapon. He would widened his eyes and jut out his bottom lip, in a pout that made him look impossibly vulnerable. The look of sadness and pleading it gave his face could only be described as the look of a kicked puppy.
Matthew sighed averting his gaze. "We've discussed this. I don't need to be there for you when the whole crowd already is. You're the star player."
"And you're my brother!" Alfred countered crossing his arms in a childish manner.
"Sorry." Matthew caved, shoulders slumping in defeat. Alfred visibly brightened, pumping his fist in the air and mouthing a 'yes.'
"Great that means you're gonna start coming to my games right?" He said grabbing onto Matthew's arms and shaking him back and forth.
"Sure! Just stop!" Matthew said trying to pull out of his brother's fingers. Matthew rubbed his upper arms to try and ease the slight pain left from his brother's tight grip. "But uh," he started, not quite sure how to ask the question the right way.
"Yeah?" Alfred asked looking at him expectantly.
"Would you, um never mind." Matthew replied silently cursing himself for his shy nature. What if Alfred didn't want to? Matthew would feel horrible hassling his brother into doing something he didn't want to do.
"What is it?" Alfred asked again a slight worried tone.
"Well I mean if I come to your games, and well the Hockey tournament is starting soon, but i know you're not really into the game. I mean I'm not really into basketball but hey, and well-"
"I'll come." Alfred said with his big smile, interrupting Matthews struggling speach. "To your games I'll come too. Who knows I might even enjoy it!"
"Thanks." Matthew smiled back softly. Sometimes Matthew thought it was really nice to have a brother. The doorbell rang causing the both of them to jump slightly.
"JUST A MINUTE!" Alfred yelled loud enough for the person outside could hear. "I gotta go upstairs and get my wallet, can you answer the door please? Thanks." Alfred jogged taking the stairs two at a time. Matthew shook his head at his brother's antics while walking around towards the front door.
He opened the door slowly to come face-to-face with a bored looking teen. The boy had a head of shocking white-silver hair and pale, smooth looking skin. His eyes which were a dark purplish-crimson color, lit up at the sight of Matthew in the door.
"Finally! I was starting to think no one was going to answer the door, which would have been so unawesome!" He said with a toothy grin. He seemed to be about Matthew's age, if not a bit older, and Matthew found himself thinking that in a way the guy seemed somewhat handsome.
"Sorry, eh. My brother went upstairs to get the money." Matthew answered quietly.
"Hey! You sick or something? Your voice is really quiet." The guy replied, squinting his eyes and leaning closer to Matthew.
"Uh. N-no. I always talk l-like this." Matthew stammered leaning further back to avoid being too close to him.
"Woah! You're eye's are purple! I didn't even no that was an eye color! That's awesome!" The guy exclaimed leaning even closer.
"Uh." Matthew didn't know what to say. He was blushing slightly, embarrassed and taken aback by the strangers random personality. "Thanks?"
"No problem Birdie!" He answered leaning back to his original stance.
"Birdie?"
"Yeah it's your nickname, I just made it up!" He answered matter-of-factly.
"M-Matthew. My name is, uh. It's Matthew." He answered shyly. Then quickly added, "Williams."
"Well I am the awesome G-"
"Gillian?!"
"Alpharetta?" Matthew looked back and forth between the pizza guy and his brother who now stood beside him. What was with the names?
"Gilbert! Dude! It is you!" Alfred laughed, fist bumping Gilbert's free hand. Gilbert. This is the Gilbert.
"Hey, Al. I didn't know you lived here?" Gilbert said as he handed Alfred the boxes and tucked the money in his pocket.
"I didn't know you delivered pizzas!" Alfred laughed easily, as he set the pizzas down on the small glass coffee table in the living room. Matthew stood watching the whole exchanged forgotten and invisible.
"I don't. Tony begged me to fill in for his lover boy! Apparently Lovino lost a bet and now Tony gets to take him on a date. I figured I wasn't doing anything and now they owe me a favor, sooo" he trailed off with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Oh hey, this is my bro Mattie! Matt, this is Gilbert the guy you were asking about earlier!" Alfred said waving his hands around making crazy gestures while talking.
"Oi, Birdie! You were asking about me? I guess my awesomeness really is spreading!" Gilbert said with one eyebrow raised in surprise. Matthew's face reddened in embarrassment.
"N-not exactly." He stuttered. Looking at his feet.
"Yeah he was muttering some mumbo-jumbo in French or some junk." Alfred laughed grabbing a slice of pizza. He folded it in half and ate the whole thing in three large bites.
"Well I am a hot topic." Gilbert joked ruffling Matthew's hair as he started walking towards the door. "I gotta go see ya later Ally! Bye Madeline!" He waved giving a devilish smirk before closing the door. Matthew ran his hands through his hair trying to untangle the mess Gilbert had just made of it.
"Madeline? He must like you!" Alfred laughed through a mouthful of pizza. Matthew could see that he had already eaten six prices. "He only does that to his friends!"
"Does what?" Matthew asked walking over to grab a piece before it was all gone.
"Calls them by a girl name!" Alfred explained.
"That's stupid." Matthew mumbled nibbling absently at the food in his hand. Alfred shrugged indifferently.
"Huh I forgot he was single tonight." Alfred muttered over his ninth slice.
"I heard that too. That he would break up with some Jen or something today."
"Well, yeah. He wouldn't be able to accept the confession tomorrow."
"You know about Steph?"
"Steph? So Stephanie Lowwe is planning on asking him. I know Ginger Martin was going to also. I wonder who will get him first." Alfred replied. After a moment he looked over to see Matthew's bewildered face.
"Why would it matter?" Matthew asked. He was thoroughly confused. How would it matter who asked first? Did Gilbert even like those girls?
"You don't know?" Alfred asked.
"Know what?"
"On the first of every month, Gilbert will agree to go out with whoever asks him first. He'll date her a whole month and on the last day, he'll look her in the eye and tell her exactly this: I couldn't fall in love with you. I'm sorry, but we're through. It's kinda harsh if you ask me, but hey what do I know?"
Matthew was stunned. This wasn't what he expected at all. That night he went to bed with Gilbert and his strange ways on his mind.
Haiya! So this is my first ever story, and well I'd really appreciate if you guys could review and tell me how you liked it so far. I know this chapter was kind of boring but introductions usually are. :p I do have a vague plot in mind so no worries I will update, it just may take a week or two at a time. Anyways I really hope you liked it!
