Matthew took another week before he finally opened his eyes. Gilbert had been there when Matthew first opened his eyes, but the first phrase out of Matthew's mouth asked him who he was. Immediately the nurses called Alfred, who Matthew to still remember. Alfred promised to call Gilbert when they were home and if he could, Alfred would try to jog Matthew's memory. That was about a month ago.

Gilbert was tired of waiting. He still had those feelings for Matthew regardless having seeing so little of the Canadian. Gilbert would just have to take matters into his own hands and try to get in touch with Matthew. So he devised a plan.

The plan was simple. He would take Matthew to a few of the places they enjoyed, like the hockey rink, or the coffee shop they always visited when Gilbert got up early enough. Something there would surely jog his memory, and if it not, well they could make new ones. Gilbert was determined to make it work. After all, he had dreamed about Matthew every night since the accident.

"Alfred, I want to take your brother out on a date. He's up for that right?" Gilbert asked, after Alfred answered the door.

"A date? Dude, Gil I don't know if that's such a good idea. He's having a hard time coping with it all." Alfred rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Normally Alfred was all smiles and trying to get Matthew out of the apartment, so was Matthew really having that hard of a time?

"Then going out is exactly what he needs. I bet he's been locked up in that room of his and hasn't come out unless you dragged. Besides, maybe being with others will help his memory." Gilbert tried to look past Alfred to catch a glimpse, but Matthew was not sitting in the love seat that was in his view. "Come on. Being locked up for a month won't help in anyway."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Wait here, I'll go and see if he wants to go."

Gilbert nodded his head, resigning himself to lean against the frame of the door as Alfred went to talk with Matthew. After a few minutes, instead of Alfred, Matthew shyly walked out of the room all dressed. Gilbert straightened up, cleared his throat, and smiled.

"Birdie, how are you?" Gilbert spoke quietly, but even then Matthew jumped a little at the sound.

"I-I'm fine. Just a little tired."

Gilbert's smile faded a little. Matthew's voice was softer than it normally was, and the poor Canadian jumped at everything around him. Just what was wrong with his birdie?

"Would you like to get some coffee? I know your favourite place. If we go now, it should be pretty empty." Gilbert wondered if Matthew even remembered the coffee shop across the flower shop the two had gotten flowers for a performance they both saw together before the accident.

"Sure. I'd like that. Let me just grab my coat."

Alfred came out while Matthew went back into his room, giving Gilbert a smile and mouthed the words thank you. He disappeared just as Matthew came back out of the room, looking a little more like his old self, even not still a little pale.

"So do you want to walk or are you okay in a car?" Gilbert asked, knowing the walking distance was about two miles, but they had done it before while the weather was nice.

"W-we can drive. I'm not afraid." Matthew nodded his head as if in hopes to try and convince himself more than Gilbert.

"All right, but if you feel sick or something, we can just walk." Gilbert reassured him as the two left the apartment.

Matthew hesitated a little as he got into the car, but didn't say a word. Gilbert watched Matthew's every move to make sure his birdie was doing okay as he cranked the car up and started to drive out of the parking lot. After getting onto the busy street, Gilbert was glad to see the accident hadn't left Matthew with nightmares about the accident. Still, he was a little worried about Matthew forgetting him, yet he couldn't find the right way to bring that up or even really start a conversation.

"So, Alfred told me that we hung out a lot before the accident," Matthew said, bringing Gilbert out of his thoughts.

"Ja, we did. You could even say we were inseparable in the week before the accident." Gilbert smiled, making sure to keep focused on the road to show Matthew he was safe.

"I'm sorry. It's pretty sad eh? That I can remember everyone, but you." Matthew sighed, curling up in a ball as Gilbert drove.

"I don't think it's sad. More like now we get to start over, even if you don't get your memories back." Gilbert's fingers stopped tapping to the beat of the music playing from the radio. "Wait, don't tell me you've been avoiding me because of that."

Matthew gave a dry laugh. "Sort of. I just didn't know how to face you. Al assured me that you would be okay and we could start over. But then he said something about you liking me. I don't know what to say or how to react because I don't remember if I liked you back or not. How could I face you then?"

"Whoa there Birdie. That's a lot to process for just one person, especially if they can't even remember me." Gilbert glanced in Matthew's direction for a moment before reaching out to pat his head gently. "You could have come to me. I wasn't going to tell you about my feelings until I felt you were ready to hear them. I just missed you is all, so I wanted to hang out again."

Matthew nodded his head, relief washed over his face as he smiled a little. "Thanks, Gil. I'm glad you turned out exactly how Al said you would be."

"Hehe, well if anything I'll prove to be even better than what Alfred said." Gilbert gave him a wink as he pulled into the parking lot of the cafe. "Well, we're here Birdie. Order anything you want. I'll pay for you."

"What? No, I couldn't possibly let you." Matthew waved his hands rapidly as they got out of the car.

"Birdie, I'm taking you out so I'll pay for it."

Matthew nodded his head. He followed Gilbert closely as they entered the coffee shop. The barista at the counter smiled brightly, greeting them both. Matthew nodded back, but stayed quiet. Gilbert ordered their usual coffee, hoping that it was really only him Matthew forgot and still liked the caramel mocha he normally got with an extra shot of caramel. With drinks in hand, the two found themselves sitting across from each other by a small table. Everything about Matthew was still the same as they sat there. He was quiet around other people, if a little jumpier than usual, but he still hummed in delight when he took his first sip of coffee. Even the fluttering of his eyes as he melted into the atmosphere was still the same way Gilbert's Matthew had done things. There was no way Matthew had really forgotten only Gilbert.

"So birdie, does being here remind you of anything?" Gilbert tried his best to make it seem like a casual question, but Matthew frowned.

"I remember coming here a lot. And it's a bit hazy, but I know someone usually came with me, but I could have sworn that it was just Alfred. Otherwise, I came here alone." Matthew held the cup of coffee daintily in his hands. Gilbert wondered if the Canadian was careful in his word choice so as not to hurt Gilbert's feelings.

"Well, I can tell you, that we used to go here a lot. It wasn't Alfred who took you, but the awesome me." Gilbert pointed to himself with a grin. If he had to start over he was more than willing to fight for Matthew's feelings once again. Gilbert was sure they were there the first time around.

Matthew nodded his head and smiled. "I'm sorry I keep forgetting things with you in it. I'd like to remember. Really I would. But every time I try, I get these headaches. The doctor said that I might have to talk with a therapist or just wait and see if the memories come back on their own."

"Hey, we can take this one step at a time. You don't have to remember the past, so long as you don't forget today okay?" Gilbert sipped at his black coffee, wondering just how on earth he was supposed to show Matthew the two of them had cared for one another so long ago.

"I can do that. Thank you Gil. I know it must be hard, but I really do appreciate this." Matthew hesitated, but reached out grab Gilbert's to give it a reassuring squeeze. "It probably hurts, so I'm going to keep apologising until we can figure it out."

"Birdie, you don't need to apologise. It's not like it's your fault you lost your memories. It was the accident, which by the way was the other driver's fault, not Alfred's." Gilbert remembered the police stopping by once or twice to talk with Alfred and he overheard the entire conversation.

"Al told me. He said the other driver made it out without as much as a scratch. Funny, how life works like that." Matthew retracted his hand and focused on looking out the window to watch the people passing by. Gilbert watched him.

"You know, I had dream where you couldn't walk on your own any more. You had to use a wheelchair just to get around. I think I prefer this memory loss to that dream because I didn't know what to do to cheer you up." Gilbert absently swirled his coffee around, watching a few coffee grinds swirl around in a circular motion.

"You dreamed about me?"

Gilbert nodded.

"Gil, you do care a lot about me. Well, if it helps any, I did dream of you a little too towards the end. When I woke up, I thought I was still in the dream and I wanted to know your name. You never really spoke in my dreams, so I figured if you called out to me then, I would finally know it." Matthew's cheeks flushed slightly. "I guess, I dreamed about you because you were around so much while I was out cold."

"Maybe. Either way, it kinda makes me happy to know that I was in your dreams." Gilbert rubbed at his nose in embarrassment. "Anyway, let's finish the coffee and go home. Your favourite soap opera is going to be on. You've missed a lot so we'll have to catch you up."

"Okay."