Chick: Yo! This is my third time posting a fic, but I think it'll be my first one with chapters and such. It will go by in five days - each day being a chapter. Not sure how often I will update this. Reviews are appreciated, as always! Be gently, though; I know I'm late on the Valentine's Day bandwagon. But it seemed fun. So there.

Matthew groaned and closed his eyes as his head thumped down onto his crossed arms. The desk lamp craned over his work, scrutinizing every little detail. He was finally done for the night, just in time for dinner. With shaky feet, the soft spoken boy got up and pulled his red hoodie from behind his chair and headed for the door.

When he opened it, he was barreled over by his brother.

"Mattiiiieee~!" Alfred cried, hugging the stammering Matthew.

"A-Alfred... Can't breathe..." Matthew gasped and pounded weakly at his brother's back. Alfred stopped his crushing hug and backed away, laughing nervously and scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry 'bout that, Mattie," he said hastily as he grabbed a hold of his brother's hand and yanked him out the door. "C'mon, it's dinner time!"

As Alfred yelled, several students poked their heads out of the dorms and made noises of regret. Slowly, the hall started filling with kids as they all headed to the mess hall, with a racing Alfred and stumbling Matthew in front.

"Alfred, can't we slow down a little...?"

"No way, dude! Then the food will be gone!"

Matthew sighed internally, but he couldn't fight a small smile as he and his brother raced to dinner.

With the lack of homework, Matthew found it a lot easier to relax as he followed his brother up to get his food. Mondays were always hard hitters, especially the one before the Valentine's Day dance. Add the studies with the impending doom of a solitary student on the most romantic day of the year and you were bound to have trouble. Not that Matthew minded; as long as Alfred would say hi every once in a while, he was fine.

"Oi, earth to Birdie."

"Huh?" Matthew blinked out of his reverie, realizing that he had stopped the line. Many students were just walking around him, and Alfred had completely left him in the dust in search of a good burger.

He looked to his left and paled. There stood a tall boy with a mess of fine white hair. This, though, didn't shock him half as much as the boy's eyes, which left Matthew frozen. They were crimson red. There was only one person in the school who looked like that.

Gilbert Beilschmidt smirked at the flustered Matthew. "Cat got your tongue, Birdie?"

"B-Birdie?" Matthew stammered, flushing and sidling along in the line. There was something drastically wrong about the situation. Gilbert was one of those guys to freak out about if they approached you; it was just the natural order in this place.

Gilbert shrugged, his mouth retreating back into a complacent frown. "Your head was in the clouds. That and you remind me of my bird."

As if to punctuate the statement, a tiny tweet pierced the air and a small tuft of yellow peered out from Gilbert's hair. The crimson-eyed boy grinned again. "Gilbird!" he said affectionately, shuffling along in the line as he patted the small bird.

Matthew still found himself speechless. He scanned for Alfred, but his loud brother had disappeared. He swallowed hard and stepped to the end of the line, searching for somewhere to sit. It wasn't like this was a rare occurrence; Alfred often forgot his brother and got lost in a sea of people, leaving Matthew to fend for himself.

"Hey, you got a place to sit?"

To Matthew's surprise, Gilbert was still beside him, holding his own tray and giving the boy an almost concerned look. "W-what?" Matthew asked.

The smirk came back. "A seat. For dinner. You have one?"

"Uh, no." Matthew shrugged. "I usually just find one alone." He didn't really know why he emphasized the 'alone.'

"Then follow me," Gilbert said seriously. He walked off in the direction of a table with two other guys sitting at it. They all looked way out of Matthew's league.

But he followed.

And he caught Gilbert's proud smirk as they neared the table.

"The Awesome Me is here!" Gil announced as he sat down with a flourish beside the guy with long blonde hair and blue eyes. The guy was flicking a rose to a girl, who smiled and giggled with her friends, across the cafeteria.

"Si, mi amigo, we know." The boy beside the rose-bearer had a deep Spanish accent and tanned skin with green eyes. He chuckled good-naturedly and elbowed the flirt beside him.

These guys were obvious to name: Francis and Antonio, Gilbert's two best friends.

Not that Matthew paid attention to that stuff all that much; if you didn't know that, you basically lived fifty feet underground.

"Oui. Who's your friend, Gil?" Francis asked suggestively in his French accent, wiggling his eyebrows. Matthew's eyes widened and he blushed, ducking his head as he sat beside Gil and got to work on his meal.

Gilbert took it in stride, throwing an arm around Matthew (who stiffened considerably). "This here's Birdie. He got ditched by his bro, so - being the awesome guy that I am - I decided to lead him here!"

"His name is Birdie?" Francis frowned at Matthew. "Mon cher, I truly am sorry."

Matthew waved his hands quickly. "N-no!" he said quietly. "My name is Matthew. I - uh - well, he calls me Birdie."

"Damn straight." Gilbert nodded, leaving his arm on Matthew's shoulders.

"Matthew?" asked Antonio. "Aren't you Alfred Jones's brother?"

"Yeah." Matthew shrugged like it was no big deal; hopefully these guys didn't hate his brother. "But my last name is Williams."

"Why? If you're going to be related, you have to match." Francis shook his head pitiably.

"Uh... Custody issues." It wasn't entirely wrong. Alfred had just wanted to keep their dad's name. Matthew had reverted to their mother's last name; she was the one that got custody.

Something in his voice must've sounded off, because Gilbert scoffed and said, "Keep your nose in your own business, French Fries."

Francis tsked. "I'll have you know that name has a despicable, eh, je ne sais quoi."

"Yup. It's not nearly as awesome as Birdie." Gilbert still had his arm on Matthew's shoulder.

"So, this is your dorm?"

Matthew nodded wordlessly as he worked his key into the hole. Alfred wasn't home, apparently, which was probably a good thing, seeing as Gil had walked him back from dinner. Francis and Antonio had taken it in stride, but a wink still got tossed to the odd pair before they walked off.

Gilbert glanced up and down the hall. "Not nearly as awesome as my place."

"Where do you stay, anyways?" Matthew asked. Then he blushed and realized that he had the wrong key.

"Top floor."

"You mean the second floor."

"It's still the top."

Matthew stayed with his brother on the first floor. The girls got another building to themselves. For some reason, the fact that Antonio and Francis hadn't just followed them here bothered him. It was close to Valentine's Day, though, so they were probably off on some romantic endeavor.

Suddenly, the door was flung open by a flushed Alfred. "Mattie! I'm so sorry, I forgot that you were with me! Did you get lost? I locked you out, didn't I?!"

Matthew sighed and smiled. "I'm fine, Alfred."

"Are you sure?! I only noticed just now, and I we-" Alfred stopped suddenly and realized the albino beside Matthew.

"Yo," Gilbert said casually, waving at Alfred.

"Who're you?" Alfred asked suspiciously.

Gil mocked astonishment. At least, Matthew thought he was acting. "I am the Awesome Gilbert Beilschmidt! And I'm the guy that brought Birdie here home." He smirked and rested his elbow on Matthew's shoulder.

Alfred didn't lose that suspicious look. Matthew could've sworn he saw sparks flying between the two. Finally, Alfred grabbed Matthew roughly - shaking off Gilbert's arm in the process - and said, "That's nice. Stay away from my brother."

Matthew barely had time to splutter a goodbye before the door was closed on the slightly stunned Gilbert.

Chick: So? Would anyone really be interested in seeing more? I promise I have an explanation for Alfred's sudden door-slam.