A/N-Woo! Second fanfiction! This is my first shot at an angsty fanfiction and to be honest I am pretty proud of it. I will probably not update this as often as my other Fanfiction: Visible (Russia x Canada) as there will be no fixed update date, but I will probably put a new chapter up every two weeks as I enjoyed writing this chapter.

I'm still not sure if I should make this a romance but I'm seriously considering it.

Please review and tell me what you think ^w^

Chapter 1- Just leave me alone!

Matthew Williams trudged to school miserably. He had had a terrible day so far and he wasn't expecting it to get any better any time soon. Since he had woken up he had fallen down the stairs after being walked into by his mother, been shouted at by his father who had mistaken him for his brother (who wasn't even staying in the house that night and was instead staying the night at a friend's house), had his name forgotten 7 times and had been ignored 11 times. He had only been awake for an hour. He sighed. Sometimes he wondered if his family would even notice if he were to drop dead right in from of them.

In the distance Matthew heard the warning bell for classes go but he didn't bother to hurry up. The teachers never noticed when he walked in late.

When Matthew had first started at high school he had tried to make a good impression. He had promised himself when he finished middle school that his high school years would be different. He wouldn't be ignored, he would make friends and he would be noticed by the teachers.

Four months into his freshman year he had yet to make a single friend. Heck, no one had even bothered to remember his name, not even the teachers who's job it was to pay attention to kids. It wasn't as if he had done anything to deter people from him he was just easily forgotten. He tried his hardest, got all his work done and tried to speak to people, but for all his effort they just ignored him.

Two months after term started Matthew had realized that no-one, no-one, would ever notice him, he may as well be a ghost. After realizing this Matthew began to get more and more depressed. His grades dropped in all his subjects except for Art and English and he had just stopped trying to get to school on time. He had waited for some kind of letter home about his behaviour, wanting someone to worry about him for once but no letter came and no-one noticed his steadily worsening depression.

Finally Matthew's condition got so bad that he started self-harming. At first he had just scratched at himself but once he realized how good it felt, he took a blade to his wrists. Cutting became a regular thing for Matthew, whenever he got home from school he would run the razor down his arm. He didn't enjoy the actual action but he felt so much better afterwards, having released the hatred he felt for his invisible self, the frustration at always being ignored and the sad ache in his heart that threatened to engulf him every time someone forgot his name.

His arms were a latticework of very obvious white scars. Were someone to draw up the sleeve of the red hoodie Matthew always wore, they would see instantly the pain he had been feeling, but no-one had bothered, so no-one knew.

Snapped back to the present by the sound of the final bell going, Matthew quickened his pace. He may as well make an effort for once, especially since he had Art first period, his favourite subject. He was good at art, and his teacher was nice enough, letting the class chat while they worked and allowing students to work on individual projects if they finished what they were supposed to do that lesson.

Matthew reached the school and headed up to the third floor, where his Art room was. He eased the door open and stepped inside. He had just come into class ten minutes late but no one had even looked up from their conversations. Strangely enough, even though it was ten minutes into the lesson the teacher still hadn't entered the class.

Matthew looked around at his classmates as he took his seat and noticed that he was not the only one worried about the absence of their teacher. Several people wore anxious frowns while other's couldn't care less.

Just then the classroom door banged open and in walked their very flustered looking teacher. Walking behind her was a strange looking teen with a casual grin on his face.

The teen had silver hair and wore a baggy grey t-shirt with tight black jeans but the most striking thing about him by far, were his eyes. They were bright red.

The boy turned to Matthew and gave him a smile and Matthew realized he must have been staring. He felt an embarrassed blush spread across his face and he tried to smile back but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Sorry I'm late class," Matthew was jerked back to his senses by the sound of his teacher's voice, "The principle needed to talk to me, he wanted me to pick up your new classmate for you and to introduce him to you." A murmur spread through the students at the words 'new classmate'.

"Right, so this boy here," She gestured to the teen behind her, "Is your new classmate, Gilbert Beilschmidt, and he and his brother recently transferred here from Germany. Now I want you all to be nice to Gilbert and to treat him well. Gilbert, do you have anything to say to the class?"

"Okay then." Grinned Gilbert, before turning to the class. "Okay you lot, listen up. My name is Gilbert Beilschmidt and I am awesome. If you can all remember that then I'm sure that we can get along just fine."

Matthew rolled his eyes. This guy sounded as egotistical as his brother, who went around claiming that he was 'the hero' to anyone who would listen.

"Um... very nice?" Said the teacher uncertainly, not sure what to make of Gilbert's rude words, "Anyway, I guess you should choose somewhere to sit now... How about over there?" She said pointing to Matthew.

"There's someone sitting there." Replied Gilbert bluntly, unimpressed at the teacher's stupidity as Matthew stared into the corner of the room sadly, upset about being overlooked by his art teacher.

"There is? Oh... so there is... sorry um...?"

"Matthew." supplied Matthew in a monotone.

"R-right, Matthew, sorry about that. Anyway Gilbert, you can sit in the chair next to... him." Continued the teacher forgetting Matthew's name in seconds. Gilbert nodded curtly in response and went to sit in his seat.

Matthew sat still in his seat as the teacher went on with the lesson, demonstrating how to draw certain aspects of a face while the class looked on. When she had finished her demonstration the teacher handed out pieces of paper on which to practise drawing on. Matthew absentmindedly doodled on his, drawing several maple leaves and a polar bear. After a while he stopped. Why was he even in this lesson, it wasn't as if anyone took notice of his work. Yes, he was good at art but did he ever get any recognition for it? No.

With a sigh he placed his pencil down on the paper and but his face in his hands. Unaware of the red eyes watching him he let a few tears fall from his eyes.

Gilbert stared at Matthew in shock. He was crying. Right there. In the middle of class. And what made it worse was that no-one was paying any attention, why in his old school if someone was crying practically the whole class crowded round to try and find out what was wrong but here no-one seemed to care. Yeah, a whole class of nosey teens could be annoying when you would rather be left alone but at least it showed they cared. No-one seemed to notice this kid at all, even the teacher didn't see him earlier ans she was looking right at him. Maybe he was new or something but still that was no excuse to downright ignore him.

Gilbert smiled to himself. He would be awesome and comfort the crying boy. Cautiously Gilbert reached out his hand and placed it on Matthew's shoulder. Matthew jumped at the sudden contact and looked up at Gilbert with wide eyes, wiping away his tears hurriedly. If he hadn't been crying, Gilbert would have laughed at the kid's jumpy reaction. Instead he stared intently at the smaller boy. "Why are you crying?" He asked.

"W-well I-"

"It's not awesome."

There was an awkward silence in which the two boys stared at each other, Gilbert with a blank, serious expression, Matthew with a sorrowful, pained one. Eventually it was Matthew who broke the stare, looking back down to his paper, he picked up a pencil and tried to continue his work, Gilbert however, had other ideas.

"Hey, don't ignore me! I'm too awesome to be ignored, I asked you a question." He snapped, trying to steal the other boy's pencil.

As Matthew continued to ignore him Gilbert got more and more pissed. "I asked you a question! Why were you crying?" he cried as he finally succeeded in snatching his pencil off him.

Matthew glared up him angrily as tears filled his eyes. "What do you care?" he demanded, "You've probably forgotten my name as well! Just like everyone else!"

Just then the bell rung, signalling the end of the period. Quickly, Matthew gathered up his things and ran out the door.

Gilbert stared after the boy in dismay but it wasn't the boy's sudden exit that was troubling, it was the fact that he couldn't for the life of him remember what his name was even though he was sure he had been told it. Was this what it was like for him? Did everyone forget or ignore him?

Shaking his head to clear it of depressing thoughts Gilbert gathered up his things and looked at his timetable for his next class. English. Dammit, he hated English.

Groaning, Gilbert set off along the halls to his next class.

Matthew didn't attend his next class... or the one after that... or the one after that. Instead he sprinted down the empty corridors and out the door. He didn't stop running until he was far away from the school and his lungs were bursting from lack of air. Finally he collapsed on the ground and put his head in his hands, sobbing and trembling.

Someone had noticed him cry. They had tried to comfort him but... he had run away because he was afraid to get his hopes up, just to have them dashed. He didn't want to feel that pain. The only person who only ever noticed him was his brother Alfred and even then it was only every now and then. Gilbert was probably only being polite by being nice to him and had already forgotten about him.

Matthew stayed there for what felt like hours, crying and shaking until he eventually stood up and walked back home. His parents wouldn't be home for a few more hours so he had the house to himself. He padded up to his bedroom and took out a small box.

Inside the box was a razor.

It was the end of the school day and Gilbert was yet to see the boy again. He had asked around his classes but no-one seemed to know who he was, the only person that had fitted the description was some kid named Alfred who definitely wasn't him though they looked very similar.

Gilbert had had a good day at school. He had made two new friends called Francis and Antonio and they got along like a house on fire. Teachers already suspected them as the new troublemakers. Francis was tall and blonde and French with blue eyes and was a terrible pervert or "Master of love" as he liked to call himself. Antonio who was Spanish and also tall, was one of the nicest people you could ever meet, with tanned skin, brown hair and green eyes. He was also gay and currently in love with a grumpy Italian named Lovino.

Gilbert grinned as Francis cracked a joke and Antonio laughed. They were currently walking home and though he was smiling and happy, he couldn't get the thought of the boy from Art out of his head.

Who the hell was he?

They rounded the corner and reached the street where their paths split.

"Well I'll see you guys tomorrow yeah?" Said Gilbert, "Unless..."

"Unless?" Asked Antonio giving Gilbert a look.

"Well my dad is having this big barbecue party thing to get to know the neighbours since we're new and stuff and I was wondering if you guys might want to come?"

"Mon ami, That would be simply splendid~" purred Francis with a smile.

"Si, sounds fun!" Grinned Antonio.

"Great!" shouted Gilbert beaming. "So I'll see you there?" he asked.

"Yeah!"

"I never miss a party."

"That's great, so this is my address," Gilbert said, writing it down on a spare piece of paper. "Part starts at six, be there." and with a smile he was off, jogging down the street.

Antonio and Francis exchanged amused looks and set off in the direction of their own houses.

When Gilbert stepped into his house he was immediately bowled over by an auburn haired boy who had decided to glomp him as soon as he stepped through the door.

"Ve~ You must be Gilbert, Ludwig told me about you~ your hair is cool, do you like pasta? I like pasta it's nice with tomatoes but Lovi says I shouldn't eat them 'cus his stalker likes them too much but I know he likes tomatoes as well and he isn't being stalked, well he is but he doesn't mind it but don't tell him I said that because he'll hit me, Ludwig has never had pasta before can you believe that? Ludwig invited me over for the party tonight and Papa and Lovi are coming as well, Ludwig is so nice he gave me some of his food at lunch, it wasn't as good as pasta but it was still really nice and-"

Gilbert stared in amazement at hyperactive boy clinging to his waist, marvelling at his ability continue talking without taking a breath. By the sound his accent he was Italian and he had auburn hair with a single curl sticking out at the side and golden eyes. After two minutes of the Italian boy speaking non-stop it became apparent to Gilbert that he was neither going to let go or stop for air, so he shuffled towards his brother's bedroom door, the Italian still clinging to his waist.

"Ludwig!" he called, "Does this belong to you?" he asked, pointing to the boy who still hadn't stopped.

"Feliciano! There you are!" Exclaimed his brother as he stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him.

The Italian's face lit up when he saw Gilbert's brother step out of his room.

"Ve~ Ludwig~" He cried, letting go off Gilbert and hugging Ludwig instead.

"You shouldn't hug people like that," Scolded Ludwig, "You might freak them out."

"Ve~ I'm sorry Ludwig..."

Gilbert, glad to be able to breathe again watched the unlikely pair in amusement. A short hyperactive Italian and a tall, muscley German. The two had probably only know each other for a couple of hours and already they were acting like they had been best friends for years.

"So you invited someone to the party huh?" he asked smiling fondly at his younger brother.

"Wuh? Oh, yes, yes I did."

"You guys are going to have lots of fun tonight, aren't you~" grinned Gilbert, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, enjoying teasing his brother.

"Gilbert!" Said Ludwig blushing, completely getting what his brother was trying to say.

"Yes we are! I'm going to show Ludwig how to make pasta~" cooed Feliciano, not getting it at all.

Gilbert burst out laughing at this. "Good for you kid, its a skill he needs to learn." he laughed, ruffling Feliciano's hair before rushing off upstairs.

"Ve~" mumbled the Italian happily.

"Oh, by the way, I invited some of my friends as well." Gilbert called to his brother as he climbed the stairs. "They're names are Francis and Antonio, remember them!"

As he walked away from the duo, he was sure he hear Feliciano say "Antonio is Lovi's stalker~" Before he closed the door to his room.

Matthew was asleep when his Brother got home from school. His newly bandaged wrists were still stinging when he woke up after hearing the door bang shut.

He yawned and stretched before putting on his hoodie and wandering downstairs.

"Hey Alfred, how was the sleepover?" He asked as soon as he saw his brother in the kitchen, making himself a sandwich.

"It was great and it wasn't a sleepover, sleepovers are for girls." His brother replied, pouting.

"Then what was it?"

Alfred thought for a moment, "It was... uh... A party for heroes!"

"If you insist..." Shrugged Matthew, not in the mood for an argument.

There was a silence, only broken by the sound of Alfred munching his sandwich. The silence was broken when Alfred finished eating his food. "I didn't see you in school today bro, are you sick or something?"

Matthew tensed and looked over at his brother to see if he suspected anything, but there was nothing but innocence in his brother's blue eyes. "No... I guess you just didn't see me..." He replied hesitantly.

"M'okay." Matthew breathed a sigh of relief. His brother hadn't noticed.

"By the way," Alfred went on, "There are some new people on our street and they're having a party to get to know everyone and we're invited! Isn't that awesome?"

"Mmm..." The small blonde nodded in agreement, though really he would have preferred to stay home.

"Okay well get ready 'cus Mom and Dad phoned me earlier to say they're meeting us there in like ten minutes or something..."

"Okay then Alfred..." sighed Matthew before tuning and heading upstairs to change into a cleaner hoodie, with longer sleeves to hide the bandages on his wrists. He stumbled down the stairs and slipped his shoes on.

"'Kay Al, lets go." He called to his brother and stood by the door patiently.

"Coming!" replied Alfred and Matthew watched as the human whirlwind that was his brother stormed down the stairs, trying to eat a cookie and put on his brown bomber jacket at the same time. As he swung his jacket over his shoulders Alfred tripped over his feet and unable to stop himself crashed into the front door.

"...ow..." he mumbled, picking himself up and rubbing his head and Matthew smiled.

"Ah- I meant to do that!" exclaimed Alfred seeing the amused look his brother was giving him.

"Course you did Al." Smirked Matthew, opening the door and slipping out.

"Hey, I did!" Alfred shouted, dashing after Matthew and the two argued playfully until they reached the house where the party was to be held.

"So who is it who's hosting this thing anyway?" Matthew asked his brother as they approached the house.

"The Beilschmidt's." He replied simply and rung the doorbell.

Beilschmidt... Why did that sound so familiar? Thought Matthew as the door was yanked open by an all too familiar albino.

A/N- So what did you think? Please review and tell me what you think 3

Also, I'm not too sure about the title; "Like Maple leaves on Snow" It's supposed to be comparing maple leaves on snow to blood on skin, but I dunno, what do you think? If you come up with some other suggestions please tell me 'cause I'm terrible at titles. M'kay? Thanks guys~

~Tigress