Chapter 7. Disaster Boy.

The project wouldn't be due until Thursday, which was perfectly fine by Gilbert. Though that poster board made him keep thinking about Matthew. The week was turning out to be pretty weird, though. First of all, during the walks to school, Matthew would actually hang back and talk to him while Alfred led the way, glancing back at them constantly.

Tuesday, though, had to be the weirdest of all. Once the three made it to school, Alfred swiftly dragged his brother away to talk to Arthur, so Gilbert was left to simply wander through the halls until the bell rang. Sadly, he didn't stay under the radar as he had hoped.

"Hey, you're Gilbert, right?" some random girl ran up to him and had to walk briskly to keep up with Gilbert's pace.

"Uh, ja," Gilbert nodded. The girl smiled, but in a way Gilbert knew was supposed to be flirtatious. "What do you want?"

"Well, I couldn't help but notice how you've been picking up pretty much every girl in this school that you can," the girl said happily and Gilbert saw that the way she was walking was meant to be sexy. Even her outfit was overly pronouncing every curve on her body.

"Not interested," Gilbert said, taking a turn in the hallway and the girl sputtered before returning back with slightly lowered confidence.

"Excuse me?" the girl tried to laugh it off.

"Are you deaf?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"Are you blind?" the girl glared at him.

"Here's a tip," Gilbert smirked. "If you want a guy to be attracted to you, don't snap at him."

"You flirt with, like, everything that moves!" the girl started whining.

"And, apparently, so do you," Gilbert shrugged and sighed with relief when the bell rang above them. "Gotta go!" Gilbert happily made his escape through the crowd of kids and easily made his way into class, where he slumped in his desk next to Matthew, letting out a long sigh.

"Rough five minutes?" Matthew giggled and Gilbert fought not to laugh.

"I seem to be attracting sluts now," Gilbert ran a hand through his hair. Glancing over at Matthew, he knew full well why he rejected a girl that, a week ago, he would have made out with.

"I thought that was your goal," Matthew smirked.

"Desperate sluts are not attractive, though," Gilbert pointed out. "Some of them are pretty damn sexy, but the ones that start whining need to be rejected."

"You sound like a heartless bastard," Matthew laughed, but stopped when he realized what he had just said. "S-Sorry! No offense!"

"I'm pretty sure I am a heartless bastard," Gilbert shrugged. "Isn't that why it took you so long to actually want to talk to me?"

"Well, now I know you're not, so I feel kinda mean for saying it," Matthew rubbed the back of his head and Gilbert couldn't stop himself from smiling at it.

"Adorable," Gilbert muttered under his breath as the bell rang above them and the teacher started talking about some part of the American Revolution. Gilbert had actually been paying attention to his classes this week, growing slightly interested in what subject they actually were and found himself actually turning in some homework assignments.

He knew Matthew was to blame for his sudden interest, no matter how slight it was. Gilbert had actually thought of a few other things he could do as a job in the future, but video game designer seemed to be his favorite. He was even caught drawing some character in Math class, but the teacher just shrugged him off because he was Fritz's nephew.

At lunch, Gilbert went to his usual spot under the tree and decided to sleep under it, moving the hood from his jacket to cover his eyes as he leaned against this backpack against the trunk. He had already fallen asleep and was nearly deep in sleep when something heavy landed on his stomach.

"What the hell?" Gilbert drowsily opened his eyes and used a hand to lift up the hood. He felt like dropping it when he found another girl with way too much cleavage showing happily sitting on him and leaning forward.

"Do you remember me?" she asked happily as Gilbert begrudgingly pulled the hood off.

"Nope," Gilbert sighed and found that there was no way he was getting up without tipping the girl over, which wouldn't be that bad of a thing, but she might go whining to the principal about him hurting her and he didn't want to risk getting in trouble and not seeing Matthew.

"They were right, you aren't flirting anymore," the girl pouted.

"Nein, I'm not," Gilbert sighed. "Now will you get the hell off of me?"

"Oh, come on, you know you like it," she tried tracing a finger over Gilbert's cheek, but he simply swatted it away.

"Not at all," Gilbert stated.

"What's wrong, then?" the girl that was actually starting to become slightly familiar asked. Gilbert remembered she was probably the girl he got with that day he came to school hammered.

"I'm gay," Gilbert blurted out. He wasn't quite sure if he was gay or bisexual or anything like that, but just saying he was gay would mean it would get the whores off of him and that was good enough for now.

"What?" the girl laughed slightly.

"Oh, sorry, do you not know what that means?" Gilbert sighed. "It means I'm into guys. Not girls."

"But…you…" the girl gave him a confused look.

"Guys fake being straight all the time," Gilbert stated. "Now will you get off me?"

"Fine," the girl pouted and moved over to the side, allowing Gilbert to move freely. The girl resembled a twig, so it wasn't like she was crushing his air supply, but he was happy to have her off. "So, you were just using me?"

"Ja, pretty much," Gilbert nodded, feeling no remorse for saying something like that to the girl.

"Asshole," the girl muttered and swiftly stood up before making her way back to her happily gossiping friends with an overly confident walk.

"You're gay?" another girl asked behind him and Gilbert let out a groan. He knew that voice.

"Uh hu," Gilbert hit his head against the tree. So much for sleeping during lunch…

"That's so cute!" Elizaveta gushed, moving to stand next to where Gilbert was sitting.

"Where I came from, kids got the shit beat out of them for being gay," Gilbert gave her an odd look. "Here, it's cute?"

"But you're just such a bad boy, it makes you so much softer," Elizaveta gave a dreamy sigh and swiftly pulled out a notepad and pen and began writing.

"Something tells me I don't want to know what you're writing down," Gilbert sighed, closing his eyes. "Do me a favor, cow, and let me sit here and sleep."

"Who is it?" Elizaveta asked, her voice close. When Gilbert opened his eyes, he found that she was kneeling down, her face dangerously close to his and he flinched, yelling out slightly as he leaned away.

"What the hell?!" Gilbert snapped.

"Who is it?" Elizaveta repeated herself, tilting her head as if asking what was wrong. "That you're gay for."

"Personal space, thanks," Gilbert muttered, running a hand through his hair.

"Just tell me who it is!" Elizaveta begged.

"Why do you care so much?" Gilbert asked.

"It's Mattie, isn't it?" Elizaveta asked, her eyes seeming genuinely interested, which was interesting because Gilbert was sure she hated him.

"No," Gilbert shook his head. He knew Matthew hung out with Elizaveta a lot and that she was also fiercely defensive(the frying pan was evidence of that). Her knowing Gilbert liked Matthew would only turn out in bad things.

"Oh, come on! You hang out with him on a daily basis now!" Elizaveta groaned. "And he's really cute."

"In case you hadn't noticed," Gilbert sighed, going to stand up, "cute isn't exactly my type."

"The girls were just your cover, though, right?" Elizaveta asked, following him as he stood up and writing more on that notepad. "Just to accent your bad boy image?"

"What the hell are you writing on that?" Gilbert demanded.

"Important information," Elizaveta shrugged.

"Just go away," Gilbert sighed. "I don't want to get in trouble for hitting a girl."

"I still have my frying pan," Elizaveta said proudly, patting her bag happily.

"How is it that I get in trouble for hardly hitting a kid twice my size," Gilbert groaned, "but you don't get in trouble for hitting me in the face with a frying pan? Three times?"

"Because I'm only hitting you," Elizaveta said happily, pointing her pen at Gilbert.

"Why the hell do you have a frying pan in the first place?" Gilbert asked.

"I had this dream once," Elizaveta shrugged. "God was telling me that I had to hit some guy with a frying pan, I just haven't seen the right one yet…"

"So you keep it around just in case?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"And to hit perverts like you," Elizaveta winked. She then pointed the notepad, "If it is Mattie, you better not break his heart."

"Relax," Gilbert rolled his eyes and looked up at the sky through the tree branches. He couldn't help but notice that the leaves were beginning to turn yellow. "Like I said, cute isn't my type."

"Yeah, yeah," Elizaveta sighed and the bell rang, making Gilbert groan before he quickly got up and pulled on the backpack before brushing past Elizaveta, into the school.

The rest of the day, Gilbert couldn't stop himself from thinking about Matthew. Though he did hear a lot of girls gossiping about him. At least they weren't attacking him in hopes of getting an easy catch. At the end of the day, Gilbert simply walked calmly back to Fritz's house and started up the stairs.

"Homework?" Fritz chimed right when Gilbert made it to his room.

"Ja, sure," Gilbert muttered. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Gilbird tweeted in greeting and Gilbert let him perch on his hand for a little bit before he slumped onto his desk and started pulling something out.

The doorbell rang in the distance, but Gilbert just ignored it, flipping mindlessly through a textbook. He stopped, though when he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey," Matthew said, sounding breathless. "I-I was wondering if Gil had made it home yet."

"Ja, he made his way upstairs just a second ago," Fritz said happily.

"Birdie?" Gilbert asked, swiftly making his way out of his chair and into the hallway.

"Hey," Matthew chirped and made his way up the stairs. He had on an adorable smile and Fritz had a smirk on his face as he closed the door. "I-I was wondering if we could do homework together…"

"Uh, sure," Gilbert muttered. "Why?" He felt so stupid asking a question like that; he should just be thankful Matthew was there. But he had to ask.

"We're friends, right?" Matthew smiled and entered Gilbert's room, Gilbird nuzzling him happily. Gilbert was just left dumbfounded in the hallway before he was able to collect his thoughts and go into his room, too.

"Ja," Gilbert couldn't help but laugh slightly and sat down on the bed after picking up his glasses as Matthew sat down at the desk.

"Why don't you just wear your glasses all the time?" Matthew asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

"They're just not awesome," Gilbert shrugged. "There's no way I'd let anyone see me in these."

"You're letting me see you in them," Matthew smiled, pulling a folder out of his backpack.

"Well, you just don't count, I guess," Gilbert rubbed the back of his neck. He froze when he realized what he said, but Matthew just laughed, which made Gilbert relax slightly.

"Why not?" Matthew smirked and Gilbert was left surprisingly speechless. How could this one kid shatter his massive self-confidence so easily? He could just waltz into the room, say a few words, and then Gilbert was left reeling.

"I dunno," Gilbert fell back onto the bed before putting on the glasses. Being in love sucked. It was a fact. Then again, it was Matthew. So that made things awesome.

"You, the awesome Gilbert, are speechless?" Matthew teased and Gilbert sent him a half-hearted glare.

"Shut up," Gilbert pouted slightly. "I can kick you out of my room any time, you know."

"And I'm sure Fritz will let me right back in," Matthew laughed.

"Whatever," Gilbert tossed a pillow at him, which Matthew easily caught.

"You know, I would have come yesterday," Matthew shrugged, "but Al decided he had to drag me to football practice and then we came back when dinner was ready, so I had to stay and eat. After that, I just didn't have enough time…"

"Sounds like Al really thinks we're dating," Gilbert smirked and Matthew blushed slightly.

"I'm thinking it's something closer to he just hates you," Matthew smiled slightly before pulling out some paper from his folder.

"How can anyone hate my awesome?" Gilbert propped himself up on his elbows.

"Don't you have homework?" Matthew asked.

"Party pooper," Gilbert sighed, slowly sitting up as Matthew lightly tossed him a random textbook. "You're making me do math first? What kind of demon are you?"

"Better than Fritz?" Matthew laughed.

"Slightly," Gilbert shrugged, still smiling slightly.


"It's getting late," Matthew said, glancing out of Gilbert's small window into the slowly reddening sky.

"Scared of what your bruder is gonna do?" Gilbert smirked. He was surprised he had actually gotten anything done, but Matthew seemed to be able to get him to focus and be distracting at the same time.

"More like what he'll do to you if he found out I was in your room," Matthew laughed, putting things back into his bag slowly.

"Because I would totally rape you," Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Mind doing this with me tomorrow, too?" Matthew gave him a cute, irresistible smile that Gilbert honestly couldn't say no to.

"Sure," Gilbert stood up, moving his nearly finished assignment to the side on his bed. "As long as Alfred doesn't feel like dragging you to football practice to be a tackling dummy."

"That wasn't, exactly, what I did," Matthew rubbed the back of his head.

"Exactly?" Gilbert raised an eyebrow.

"Gotta go," Matthew chimed and happily made his way down the stairs. Gilbert simply followed him and watched as he opened the door. "See you tomorrow morning, then," Matthew smiled happily back at him and Gilbert smiled.

"Ja," Gilbert nodded and his smile fell slightly when the door closed.

"You have to admit that you two make an adorable couple," Fritz laughed.

"I don't have to talk about this with you," Gilbert sighed, shaking his head and turning to the stairs.

"Oh, come on, just admit it," Fritz was on his feet quicker than Gilbert thought he could be and stood in front of the stairs, blocking his exit.

"Admit what?" Gilbert narrowed his eyes.

"I can tell that you like him," Fritz said happily.

"I've had this too much for one day," Gilbert muttered and tried to shove past him, but Fritz was stronger than Gilbert expected.

"Who else has seen it?" Fritz hummed.

"I'm not talking to you about this," Gilbert rubbed at his forehead.

"Aw, you look almost like Ludwig," Fritz laughed.

"Shut the hell up," Gilbert decided to go for the kitchen, maybe get one of those beers from the fridge Fritz kept letting him have because of Matthew hanging around.

"Your glasses are still on, too," Fritz teased, following him. "I didn't think you'd ever wear those in front of anyone."

"He doesn't count," Gilbert sighed, opening up the fridge in search of something to make him less irritated at the world.

"And why is that?" Fritz leaned against the wall next to the fridge.

"None of your business," Gilbert gave Fritz a quick glare before pulling out a bottle of beer and opening it with his bare hand and started drinking.

"I'm not gonna quite harassing you until you admit it," Fritz laughed.

"Alright, fine," Gilbert groaned. "Ja, I have a crush on Birdie! Is that what you want to hear?"

"Oh, yeah," Fritz said happily and subtly nodded to the doorway of the kitchen. Gilbert glanced over and nearly dropped the bottle. Matthew was standing in the doorway, a subtle smile on his face and a very obvious blush dusting his cheeks.

"I-I just realized I forgot a folder," Matthew muttered, his Canadian accent coming out thick, as Gilbert stood there speechless. "S-sorry I was e-eavesdropping."

"You heard that?" Gilbert asked dumbly, glancing at Fritz who had a knowing smirk on his face. So he knew Matthew was there and made Gilbert confess…

"Um, yeah," Matthew slowly walked a little closer, rubbing at his upper arm awkwardly.

"And?" Gilbert asked. He figured the way Matthew was acting was either a great sign or a horrible sign. Either he liked him back, or this would ruin any chance Gilbert had at an actual friend here.

Matthew opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He tried opening it once again and bit his lip. Then, he quickly darted forward, pressing his lips lightly against Gilbert's cheek, before disappearing and slamming the door as he left. Fritz started laughing at Gilbert's dumbfounded expression. He was tempted to touch his cheek, which was now blazing hot.

"You are so dead," Gilbert sent a glare at Fritz.

"I helped you out!" Fritz argued.

"I don't care," Gilbert groaned. "What if that didn't turn out the way you wanted?"

"But it did," Fritz shrugged. "Let's focus on the happy thoughts! How about you drink up and you won't even remember you're mad at me!"

"I'm not that stupid to drink that much when I have fucking school tomorrow!" Gilbert snapped.

"And when did that start happening?" Fritz raised an eyebrow before retreating from the room.

"It wasn't all Birdie," Gilbert threw his head back into a groan. Eventually he did rub his cheek, while he was drinking some more beer and searching the fridge for food to eat. He couldn't hide the small smile that came to his face. So Matthew did like him…but they never did say what they would be doing next.


Disaster Boy is by Cobra Starship.

Mattie's so adorable! I've had this planned since the first chapter was posted, I think. The whole scenario kept on changing in my head, but the ending was always the same and this was what happened naturally, so here we go! Next time we get to have more awkward teenage conversations! Yay!

Also, school has started, which is why this is so late. My updates will now be every Saturday, along with my other stories, so just bear with me!

Preview for Chapter 8. Fool Like Me.
"I get it, you're just jealous of my awesomeness," Gilbert smirked. "Everyone is."

"Yes, that's the reason," Matthew giggled. "So, I've noticed that you've actually been turning in some work recently."

"Yeah, well, I've had this pain in my ass make me realize I might as well do something productive," Gilbert smiled. "I might even get to be a video game designer."

"Pain in the ass, huh?" Matthew laughed. "Guess I was doing my job right. But, wait, if I was the pain in the ass, what was Alfred?"

"Well, language like that might get me sent to the principal's office," Gilbert laughed. "Can't have that tarnishing my awesomely perfect record, now can I?"

"Right, of course not," Matthew rolled his eyes.

Please review!