A/N Please enjoy! :)


Luckily for Matthew (and Alfred), even though he was technically grounded, their mother let him out long enough to record their new CD. If she hadn't, Alfred probably would have wasted away and become an emo. The Heroes spent two full weekends recording at the studio Alfred had picked out. Matthew was very glad they were recording then, because he might've gone crazy if he had had to stay home all those days doing nothing. At least he was able see Gilbert at school for a bit and text him.

Finally, after two boring, agonizing, Gilbert-less weeks, his grounding was up. The adage had held true: absence did make his heart grow fonder. He knew he never had a chance in the world with Gilbert, but during those two weeks he had missed everything about Gilbert. True, he still saw him during school, but he found that Gilbert acted differently when the other members of the Trio were around than he did when it was just him and Matthew. That was the Gilbert Matthew had missed. That was the Gilbert who had texted him every day of his confinement. That was the Gilbert who had shown up at his house the day his grounding had ended just to hang out at the park. That was the Gilbert he had fallen for.

"Hey, look at that awesome cloud! It's shaped just like a dick!" Gilbert gleefully announced, pointing at the cloud that was indeed shaped that way. Matthew shook his head, laughing lightly.

"I can't believe you'd think of something like that in a children's park," he scolded lightly.

"You know you were thinking the same thing, Jailbird," teased Gilbert. Matthew snorted. "So anyway, you doing anything on Halloween?"

"Well, I have to take Peter trick-or-treating and everyone else in my family has some party to go to."

"Oh," Gilbert said. "'Cause Francis is having a party and he said you're free to come, but I guess the awesome me can go trick-or-treating with you and your little brother." Matthew felt another familiar wave of mushy sentiments wash over him. He had fallen for Gilbert hard. Why did even simple, offhand statements like that have to make him so damn happy? He wasn't sure if he'd ever survive this crush.

"Jailbird?" Gilbert had sat up and was now peering down on him "You okay?" Matthew was certainly not okay. Gilbert was floating a foot over him, the perfect distance for kissing, if he only sat up. His heart was thumping madly and Matthew got the feeling if he didn't get over this crush soon he'd die of a heart attack.

"I'm fine," he stuttered, sliding away slightly from Gilbert to resist the temptation of trying to kiss his best friend senseless. Gilbert drew back as well, feeling a strange disappointment. That was happening a lot lately, him feeling weird things about Matthew. Francis kept insisting that those feelings amounted to love, but Gilbert had continued to deny it.

Nowadays, though, he was starting to wonder if Francis could possibly be right. He had been in love once, and it had sort of felt like this. But it was just so wrong. He had no idea what he should do, since Matthew couldn't possibly feel the same. After a few more moments, both friends still contemplating what to do about their new feelings, they simultaneously sat up and left the park.


The night before Halloween, Gilbert called up Matthew.

"Oi, Jailbird, what are you wearing tomorrow?"

"Well 'hello' to you, too," Matthew said before noticing Alfred staring at him wide-eyed before he mouthed "Girlfriend?". Matthew ignored him and took his phone out to the backyard before continuing. "What do you mean 'What are you wearing'?"

"For Halloween. Aren't you dressing up?"

"Umm, I wasn't planning to." He could hear Gilbert gasping in the background.

"Jailbird, how lame." Matthew could hear him sigh. "Don't worry, I'll bring you something tomorrow. Just come to school early enough to get changed."

"Gil, wai––" Gilbert hung up before he could even start to protest. He sighed and resigned himself to the fact that he was most likely going to look ridiculous the next day.


"Gil, this looks ridiculous," Matthew announced as he stepped out of the stall in the restroom.

"What are you talking about, Jailbird? You look awesome."

Matthew tugged at the black Guns and Roses T-shirt tucked in the black skinny jeans, held up by a studded belt and half a dozen chains.

"Put the jacket on, it'll complete the awesomeness!"

Matthew accepted the leather jacket Gilbert handed to him and shrugged it on. Gilbert was dressed similarly, but his entirely-leather outfit was much more hardcore. And tight. He fished into the duffel bag from which Matthew's clothes had come and lifted out a pair of black combat boots.

"These, too!"

Matthew laced them up as the bell rang.

"I gotta get to class!" Matthew cried out. "Thanks, Gil!" He ran out of the bathroom waving. He stopped for a moment outside the bathroom and lifted the sleeve to his nose. The jacket smelled like Gilbert. He mentally slapped himself for acting like a teenage girl again before he ran off.

He managed to land in his chair before he could be marked late. Of course, no one would have bothered with a harsh word against him that day. Everyone was too busy staring. It was making him feel a little bit unnerved. His Government teacher stuttered something and began class. Matthew noticed out of the corner of his eyes that the girls near him here scooting their desks a little closer to him.

That behavior continued all day. Girls flocked around him and he noticed a few guys even hanging off on the edges of the crowd. The crowd seemed to get bigger and bigger as the day wore on. It was rather rattling for Matthew, who had never had any attention paid to him in the past.

It was also rather upsetting for Gilbert, who found himself filled with bitter anger as he watched a few girls sidle up to Matthew and stroke his arms.

"Jealous, aren't we?" Francis cooed in his ear. Gilbert jumped.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered angrily, sending his glare back towards the trio of girls who were apparently fighting over Matthew now, who was trying to sneak away. How dare they touch him? He was seriously considering homicide.

"You just have to go over there and claim him and all of those girls will leave him alone," Francis murmured. Gilbert shoved him away. Damn Frenchman and his ability to perceive everything. Including things that Gilbert himself was just realizing.

"Shut up."


"Mattie, Mattie, I wanna press the button!" Peter, who was dressed as a sailor, chanted as they walked up to another house. They'd been out there for two hours and had filled three pillow sacks with candy, yet Peter was still going.

"Okay, Peter. Go right ahead." Peter ran ahead excitedly to press the doorbell while Gilbert and Matthew stood back a little.

"Sometimes I miss being twelve," Gilbert sighed. "Halloween was the best when we were little, don't you think?"

"Aww, how cute, a sailor!" a large woman cooed as she poured a river of candy into Peter's pillowcase.

"So what the hell are you supposed to be, a gay couple with their adopted kid?" Matthew and Gilbert turned around, both with murder in their eyes as some stupid preteen smirked at them.

"And what are you supposed to be, a kid who got beat up by saying something retarded?" Gilbert asked sweetly before decking him square in the face. He flopped over just as Peter came skipping up to them, luckily missing the punch.

"Mattie, Gilbert, my pillowcase is full," he complained.

"Then we're done trick or treating, you're not going to eat more than three bags of candy," Matthew scolded. Gilbert walked with them back to their house and then left.


A few weeks later, Matthew was sitting with Gilbert at lunch. He had been getting more attention after Halloween, but for the most part, people had forgotten him once again. He was sure glad of that. He didn't really want to be bothered by all of those annoying girls who weren't Gilbert.

"So have you gotten those CDs you guys made yet?" Gilbert asked.

"We got one sample one, but the rest of the order won't come for a few more weeks," Matthew replied.

"Do you mind if I borrow that one? I want to hear what your band sounds like."

"Sure," Matthew answered. "Just drop on by later and I'll get it for you."

Later that night, the rest of the family happened to be out when Gilbert came knocking at Matthew's door. He let his friend in.

"Hey, Jailbird, how come I've never been inside your house before?" Gilbert asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Because then you'd have to put up with Alfred."

"Oh, yeah."

"I've never been to your house either," Matthew commented as he opened the door to his and Alfred's room and started searching for their CD. He was surprised when Gilbert didn't reply. "Gil?" he asked, turning around. Gilbert was frozen, staring at the corner with burning intensity in his eyes.

"What is that?" he asked, his voice low and deliberately slow. Matthew followed his gaze to his violin case sitting innocently in the corner.

"M-my violin," he answered. And no, his voice did not just tremble.

"You play the violin," Gilbert stated simply. His face was unreadable.

"Yes, I do."

Gilbert suddenly snapped into action, striding across the room and picking up the violin in its case and grabbing Matthew's hand.

"Come with me," he ordered. He dragged Matthew back downstairs and into his car, placing the violin gently on his lap. He then threw himself into the driver's seat and started to drive. A few seconds of silence passed and Matthew finally relaxed, as it seemed Gilbert wasn't angry with him. Confusion filled him as the fear left.

"Umm, Gil, where––"

"Shh!" Gilbert hissed.

"Why––"

"Because we've got an awesome serious mood going on and if we start talking we'll ruin it."

It struck Matthew as a hilarious thing to say, and so very typical of Gilbert. However, he managed to keep silent for the rest of the ride. Strangely enough, they had ended up at the ritzy, gated neighborhood that was filled with mansions. Gilbert pressed a button in his car that opened the gate and they drove through. Matthew was tempted to ask him again where they were going and how Gilbert had a key into the richest neighborhood in town but refrained.

They drove through the maze of mansions until they pulled up in front of an impressive mansion––no, it was more like a castle. Gilbert pressed another gate opener and pulled into the nearly full five-car garage of the house, then parked the car.

"C'mon," he said, finally breaking the silence. "Bring the violin."

Matthew picked up his violin case with shaking hands, following Gilbert as he exited the garage and made his way to the entrance of the beautiful house. Matthew was shocked to see that they even had a speaker system, as Gilbert headed straight for a small speaker located on the wall just next to the massive front door and pressed the button, holding it down.

"Francis, Antonio. You guys here yet?" He asked into the speaker, letting the button up, allowing them to respond.

"Yeah, we're in the inst––" Gilbert pressed the button, cutting off Francis' reply.

"I've brought someone special," he announced. "We're on our way." He let go of the button and grabbed Matthew by the hand, again. Now that his fear of Gilbert leaving him was gone, Matthew actually noticed the gesture, flushing at the contact. Gilbert didn't seem to notice and continued to drag Matthew through a maze of hallways covered in paintings until they were in front of a set of double doors. Here, Gilbert paused.

"Is something wrong?" Matthew asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Matthew, what you are about to see will shock and disturb you," Gilbert said quietly. "But please don't think any less of us after you find out."

"Find out what?" Matthew was starting to get nervous. They weren't up to anything illegal, were they? Because as much as he loved Gilbert, there was no way he was going to jail. He wouldn't last five minutes in the slammer.

"I think it's best if I just show you. I present to you, the Bad Touch Trio!" Gilbert announced as he threw open the double doors.

Matthew's jaw immediately dropped.