Matthew could only stare as he saw the one person he had been wishing to see for so long. Gilbert stood at the counter, speaking in a hushed voice with the woman there. Matthew had to bite back a squeak as Gilbert turned to look at him, and what appeared to be recognition flitted across his face.
"Why are you staring?" Gilbert asked him in what Matthew could only describe as a cocky, yet unsure tone.
"Uh…" He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously, looking down at the floor to hide his blush. "I j-just got the fe-feeling that I… that I know you from s-somewhere."
"Funny…" Gilbert murmured with a small chuckle.
"Why, 'cause you feel the same?" Matthew asked hopefully, looking back up.
"No, I was just thinking that I was sure I would remember a face like yours if I had ever seen it before." The reply sent Matthew's heart shattering, the pieces seeming to hit the floor with tiny, gut-wrenching 'tinks'. "I'm Gilbert, nice to meet you."
Just as Matthew reached to shake Gilbert's extended hand, his parents came out and quickly whisked him out of the office. All he could do was stare numbly, back in the same trance he had been in last night.
Matthew stared at the ground as he waited for Alfred in the rain after school. It was one of those days where the weather decided to reflect his mood, and help him hide the tears he knew full-well were running down his cheeks. He had seen Gilbert around the school, smiling and laughing happily. He was blissfully unaware of the depressed blond wandering around with a forlorn look, bags under his eyes, and his hair always in a mess.
Thunder boomed, and he almost missed the splashes of someone's shoes against wet pavement. Almost.
"Alfred, it's about—" Matthew froze as he spun, noticing that it was not, in fact, his brother, but Gilbert eyeing him in utter amusement. "G-Gil, what are you doing here?"
"Gil?" The albino raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you give me a pet name?"
"It's easier than Gilbert." Matthew replied quietly, glancing down at the cement self-consciously.
"Oh… Well, anyways. I had a question. What did you mean that first day I saw you, about having the feeling you knew me?" Gilbert looked genuinely interested—not like he cared, just curious.
"Nothing." Matthew replied, waving it away. Gilbert couldn't see the tears.
"Oh. Well then. Bye." Gilbert turned away to walk him, hiding tears of his own.
Neither could see the pain that the other was going through.
That night, Matthew dreamed again.
Matthew was in a large field, though it wasn't the familiar, safe meadow that Gilbert usually met him in. No, this field was filled with dead flowers, and what looked like drops of blood on the petals. He could hear the snapping of twigs, and turned to see an evil-looking Ivan. Clean metal glinted in the Russian's hand, making Matthew's heart stop cold.
"Ivan, please don't…" He whimpered, backing up as Ivan began advancing upon him. A root tripped him, and fear immobilized all but his voice. "Help! Gil, please help! Someone, anyone!"
"Want to know the best thing about forest?" Ivan asked slowly, as though to make the terror worse as he leaned down to straddle the Canadian's hips. "If you scream, no one will hear you."
Ivan took the knife and ran it down Matthew's cheek, chuckling quietly, maniacally. It cut into his skin a little, leaving a thin trail of blood.
"Please, p-please…" Matthew pleaded weakly. "S-stop…"
"I would hear him." Gilbert's voice suddenly reached Matthew's ears, filling him with relief. Ivan got up, glaring at Gilbert, before spontaneously disappearing. Gilbert rushed over and helped a shaking Matthew to his feet, hugging him tightly.
"I thought he was going to kill me." Matthew whimpered. "I know this is all a dream, but I thought I was going to die."
"Hush." Gilbert said softly, petting Matthew's blond hair slowly. "It's all better now, I promise. He won't hurt you anymore."
"I love you." Matthew whispered, not thinking of what he had just admitted as he buried his face in Gilbert's shirt. "I didn't think you would make it in time."
"And I'll always love you, forever and—"
The dream cut off abruptly by a very loud American airhead of a brother. "Mattie, wake up!"
"Why?" Mattie whined, rolling over. "I don't want to!"
"Because I said so!"
Matthew groaned, and tossed a pillow at Alfred's head. "Get out of my room, and let me get up!"
Once Alfred got out, Matthew got up and pulled on the hoodie and a pair of jeans before trudging down the stairs, not bothering to fix his bed-head.
"Why can't I wake up on my own for once, Alfred?" He asked in the most irritated tone anyone had ever heard come from him. "I was having a nice dream."
Alfred just averted his gaze, assuming the dirtiest thing, and hoped to God he was wrong; he didn't want to imagine his brother thinking of those things! He was the hero, after all, and heroes didn't let their twins think impure thoughts!
Matthew walked into the kitchen and made himself a plate of scrambled eggs. With a lazy grunt when he was finished, he plopped down in a chair and began eating slowly.
Suddenly, there was a knocking on the front door, and Alfred jumped to his feet while Matthew continued eating.
"Mattie, someone's here to see you!"
"Who is it?" He yelled as he grudgingly got up and made his way towards the door ever so slowly.
"Some weird albino guy." Alfred called back before Gilbert's voice indignantly shouted 'hey!'.
"Hey?" Matthew stared at Gilbert for a second before the latter eagerly walked in, looking around the house in awe.
"Damn." He whistled. "This is one awesome house. Was, you rich?"
"Yes, we are." Matthew's papa's voice sounded behind him, and he mentally winced. "And who might you be, mon ami?"
"Gilbert Beilschmidt!" Gilbert replied with the playful smirk that Matthew knew so well from his dreams—no longer even having a chance at being reality. Gilbert turned to glance at Matthew, and noticed for the first time the familiar hoodie he was wearing. "Hey, where'd you get that hoodie?"
"That, or Matthew's got a boyfriend." Alfred said with an evil grin. "You should have seen the way he blushed when we brought it up. Kind of like he's doing now."
"Don't you have something to do?" Matthew snapped at his brother, rubbing his cheek violently, as though to wipe the blush away. "What are you doing here anyways, Gilbert?"
"Aw, I'm not Gil anymore?" He smirked, just as someone else knocked at the door.
"Whatever…" Matthew muttered as he trotted over to the door, and threw it open, only to stare in horror and shock at whom was on the other side.
"Hello, Matvey." The quiet words were quickly followed by a sharp pain in his abdomen, and the world beginning to turn black as some more words reached his ears. "You've been lying to me about who you are, Comrade."