Matthew paced nervously in front of the door... This was a bad idea. A really, really, REALLY bad idea. Why did he ever let Feliciano talk him into this? When he had come up to him and said that he had overheard Francis talking to Arthur about how Matthew liked Gilbert, and since he already knew-from when Gilbert had told Ludwig who had complained after a meeting to Kiku, who had told Heracles, who had been talking in his sleep when Feliciano went over to his house to play with his cats about it all-that Gilbert liked Matthew too, his head had been spinning so much, how could he have had the consciousness to say no?
Feliciano had assured him it would all go well. He had even told his Papa all about it already for him. Although, As Matthew thought about it... Telling his Papa might not have actually been in his best interest... Matthew just KNEW he was going to tell his dad, and they were going to be LIVID. They were honestly far too overprotective of him... And really, it was just Gilbert for maple's sake! ...Then again.. Maybe they had reason to be worried...
Matthew breathed in deeply before raising his hand and pressing in the doorbell, nearly jumping as he heard the echo reverberate through the door. He heard a rapid patter as someone ran to the door. The doorknob twisted violently and then slowed, whoever was behind it slowly opened the door and Matthew looked up in fear. Though he was unsure as to what he was more afraid of, facing Gilbert, or being stared down by his younger, and scarier, brother.
As it turned out, it was the former, hand still on the door, face pale and ever so slightly tinted with red, Gilbert stood there, staring at him. The look on his face, one of slight panic and worry, was so out of place, Matthew smiled and and tilted his head to his shoulder, laughing slightly. Gilbert blushed red and dropped his eyes to the floor, smiling gently. "Um, hey."
Matthew continued to grin, "Hey yourself." It was strange, he was always so shy, introverted and unsure of himself, and Gilbert, he was always so confident and loud, showing off to anyone who would pay him attention. But suddenly, when Matthew looked into his red eyes, matching his cheeks in hue, he felt... assured. He was suddenly not afraid, as if he had done this a thousand times.
Like he wanted to take Gilbert by the hand and pull him close, wrap his arms around him, cradle his head to his shoulder and never let another sorrow touch his heart. He wanted to brush the hair away from his face and gently kiss him on the forehead, leaning forward to touch their faces together sweetly. He wanted to murmur, "Je t'aime mon cher, de tout mon coeur." I love you my dear, with all my heart.
Every time he had heard his Papa use those words, he had never imagined having the courage to say them, they were so... intimate. And besides, the only person Papa ever used them on anymore was his Dad, and Arthur always scowled as his face turned red and smacked Francis on the arm. Unless of course, he thought they were alone, in which case Arthur would blush-that never changed-and he would wrap his arms around Francis's neck and murmur "I love you too." Though whenever Arthur said it, he always ended with "you frog."
He stuck mainly to English nowadays, after hanging out for so long with Alfred, it tended to grow on you. And French, it had always felt like he was trying to... court someone when he used it. He had never wanted to... Until now. Looking at Gilbert, he wanted to shout at the top of his lungs, to laugh without ending, to flirt shamelessly, and maybe, just maybe, kiss him passionately on the lips.
Just thinking about it made him blush bright red, but he couldn't have wiped the smile off his lips if he wanted to.
Gilbert sprinted to the door, he grabbed the knob quickly before panicking at his appearance and slowing down. Calm yourself Gil, you're awesome, no need to rush... He very calmly opened the door and prepared a smile to greet Matthew with. But as the door opened far enough for him to view his date, he was overcome with a bout of sudden shyness, his gaze inevitably falling to his feet. Gott verdammt, I can't even look at him without feeling all... Weird. Gilbert could feel the heat creeping over his cheeks and he looked back at Matthew to distract him.
He had the cutest smile on his face, it lit his entire face up and made Gilbert's heart leap. When had Matthew ever gotten so cute? And when had he ever thought that about someone? Why was he so nervous? What made Matthew so... different?
His heart in his throat, Gilbert struggled to say something intelligent, something witty, something to make him laugh. "Um, hey." Well. That went well. Congratulations Gil, you are now cliche.
Surprisingly however, Gilbert couldn't regret his awkward greeting. Not when it made Matthew smile like that. He would dance in the middle of world conference meeting in nothing but a tutu and tap shoes if it meant Gilbert could see Matthew smile like that. Smile for him. Because of him. Hell, he would do it stone cold sober if there was a chance of seeing that delight radiating from him.
Gilbert froze as he retraced his thoughts. When had THAT happened? Since when did he care that much? And since when did Matthew make him feel so... happy?
In accordance with every other awkward situation he had been in, Gilbert attempted to dissolve the tension by opening his mouth and letting the first things that came into his mind fall out of it.
"You look beautiful." Scheiße. Hearing the words fall traitorously from his lips, Gilbert's eyes widened, matching Matthew's. A small part of his mind filled his head with treacherous thoughts. Scanning without realizing what he was doing, he looked Matthew over. The stone grey suit he wore contrasted the purple tie brilliantly and brought out the violet in his eyes, making him look altogether handsome, though he was still adorable, looking at him with wide eyes.
Scheiße that's right. Um. What to say? What do I say? RIGHT! The thing! Trying to backtrack and pretend he was still totally in control, he held forward the soft, white flower. "So uh... I um. Here. This is for you." Gilbert winced slightly, his linguistic skills were certainly failing him today.
He held the flower as the quiet words filtered back into his mind... "Ve! You have to pin it to his button hole! Just like Ludwig did for you! Ve, if you're on a date, it's the romantic thing to do!" Right. Button hole. Flower. I can totally do this.
"Um, here. Let me." He stepped forward and lightly rested a hand on Matthew's lapel, the hand holding the rose shaking ever so slightly. Standing so close, he could feel Matthew's breath ghosting over his skin, knowing he was looking at him, watching every expression cross his face. He could smell a slight air of pine and maple syrup surrounding the other man, reminding him of wide open skies and forests untouched by man for hundreds of years. It made him think of the years when the whole earth was like that, and the countries that existed, all were so strong and believed themselves invincible. The collapse of any but their enemies, nothing but a fairytale.
And of course. That damnable rose that Ludwig had insisted he give to Matthew. "Don't forget! Roses are a sign of true love!" Feli and his talk of true love. He hoped Matthew had no idea about the implication.
He shook himself out of his thoughts and secured the flower, removing his hands. Suddenly, another shot out and grabbed his hand in their own. Matthew held his hand in his and looked him in the eye, in his other hand, he held up the roses he had brought with him.
Gilbert's eyes were inexorably drawn to them, then again... Maybe Mattie knew. "For you." Matthew nearly whispered, his voice reaching Gilbert's ears perfectly in the cool evening air. Gilbert slowly drew them from his hand and held them to his chest. He couldn't explain it, they were just flowers, just something that you gave on a date. But he suddenly wasn't nervous anymore.
Gilbert was loud. Gilbert was obnoxious. Gilbert was annoying. Gilbert was always there. But looking at the flowers in his hand, he suddenly felt as though nobody had truly seen him in years, not really seen him. And nobody, had ever looked at him the way Matthew was looking at him now.
Gilbert felt as though he could fly to the moon and back, maybe a trip around the world, if Matthew would keep that gaze, that loving gaze, trained on him. He could do whatever he wanted. Whatever Matthew wanted.
"Thank you," he murmured, raising their still clutched hands to kiss the back of Matthew's hand. He gave it a squeeze, "let me grab a vase or something. Come on in, I still have to grab the basket too."
He turned and led Matthew into the house before reluctantly letting go of his palm, off in search of a vase. Speaking of which... Did they even own one?
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A/N Weeeeeeelllll. I suppose there are more PruCan fans out there than I had thought! Thank you for the lovely reviews! Keep them coming! They make me want to write…. I swear, I see one, I feel the need to write more! So give me your R&R and I'll give you more chapters!
