Relationship Status: It's Complicated

Chapter Eleven


Comfort can sometimes be found in the unexpected sources.

For Alfred, it's a blog that he fills with a lot of things that will put him in the bad books with everyone in his family.

For Braginski, it's a Spanish soap opera for which, according to a receipt that Alfred may or may not have casually pilfered from his briefcase, he has bought all eight seasons.

For Matthew, it comes in the surprising form of someone from school that he meets at the library, which proves to be somewhat of a good listener.

It's Wednesday afternoon, and Matthew has set out to the library to study for his law test the next day. Alfred is busy babysitting a snotty six year old cousin of his, so Matthew went alone. Matthew was going to suggest to Gilbert that they should work on their history project, maybe. The reply he received was something along the lines of him being busy (with Roderich, most likely) so Matthew finds himself alone as he walks to the library.

When he gets there, it's no better, because he can't really see anyone he knows, except for Kiku, who is at one of the library computers. He takes a seat by a window, on a plush armchair, and cracks open his books to attempt to study. Rupert's over for the day, and he would rather not hear him and his mother engage in couple-like activities, such as baking and making goofy faces at each other, especially since Rupert is a giant dick and no boyfriend of his mom within this year has lasted this long.

Five minutes into him deciding what colour pen will be the best to take notes, someone taps Matthew on the shoulder, startling him slightly.

"Yo."

Matthew blinks. And then remembers his manners, and replies with an "Oh, hey Sadiq."

During the relatively short time that they have sat beside each other during history class, Matthew and Sadiq have developed something that could pass as a friendship. Sadiq seems to be keen to initiate Matthew into the suburban thug life, one song at a time, and is also keen on getting information on Matthew's situation with Gilbert. They have even gone as far as to add each other online, and to give each other their numbers, though the only thing that's been texted between them is "tell vargas im gona b late to class".

Sadiq dumps himself into the armchair beside Matthew, taking one of the earphones out of his ear. He does not bother to take off his big why's sunglasses however, nor his red baseball cap.

"Whatcha got there?" He asks, as he heaves his bag up on his lap to take out his homework.

"Law," Matthew replies, flicking through his notebook. "You?"

"Psych." Sadiq waves a thin textbook. "Just waitin' for my friend to haul his ass over here. Weren't you supposed to be with Gilbert?"

"He's busy." Matthew says, trying to give his most nonchalant shrug.

"What about the movies this weekend? Did y'all go?"

"He was busy." Well, to be specific, Gilbert wanted to postpone going to the movies till later in the day because he had to go somewhere (probably with Roderich) and Matthew couldn't make it so they had to call it off for later. It had made Matthew mope until Alfred thwacked him upside his head and told him to man up.

"Sucks. Plans for the week?"

"None." Matthew says, and Sadiq sighs (as he seems to be prone to be doing for some odd reason) as he adjusts his baseball cap.

There is an awkward silence for a moment

"I'm sorry." Sadiq says finally. "I've never given gay advice before."

"Um, it's okay…" Matthew assured. "I…uh, I generally don't give out advice either."

"What? Really? Don't you have like, chicks coming to you all the time for advice on boys and clothes?"

"No…um, not really." Matthew scratches his head. He would be offended, if Sadiq wasn't sounding so ridiculously genuine. "And I'm just…uh, not the best person to go to for fashion advice either."

He gestures to his outfit, which is his mom's white college t-shirt and a pair of blue and orange plaid board shorts that he fished out from his closet earlier on this morning. It's topped off with a ratty pair of black skate shoes that are the bane of his mother's existence.

Sadiq raises his eyebrows, presses his lips together, and nods. "So I guess this is why ya got trouble with your chop."

"My…yeah. Um, I don't know what to do actually." Matthew shrugs, picking up on the lingo quickly. "I, uh…well, my general plan is to…um…ask him out."

Oh god, he's actually said it out loud. To someone that's not Alfred, to boot. It somehow feels like a heavy weight has been somewhat pushed off his chest.

"Well…" Sadiq scratches his stubble thoughtfully. "You haven't gotten anywhere with that, have you?"

"Seems like it."

"Well, you could…I could talk to him for you." Sadiq starts taking out his phone, but Matthew jumps out of his seat.

"No—!" He exclaims, earning odd looks from other patrons in the library. He blushes furiously, apologizing to no one in particular, and slumps back into his seat.

"I want to do it myself." Matthew mumbles. Because then he can select what he says and not have embarrassing embellishments courtesy of anyone else. "In person."

"Ah." Sadiq nods again, and if it weren't for the big sunglasses and sideways hat, Matthew would think that he was sitting in a therapist's chair. "Do tell me more."

Matthew opens his mouth to tell him that it's okay, he's told all that he needs to tell. But he has a habit of trusting people easy, so the first words that spill out of the mouth are "I'm jealous."

And after that follows an outline of why exactly he's jealous, most of the things revolving on Roderich and how Roderich just being there ruins all his plans but he doesn't like to voice this out loud because it makes him sound like an eleven year old with a crush that's too shy to do anything.

He's sixteen.

"Roderich, eh?" Sadiq asks, then his lips quirk up a bit.

"Yeah." Matthew searches his brain for a moment. "Are exes even supposed to that friendly with each other?"

"Fuck if I know." Sadiq shrugs. "I wouldn't be worried if I were you."

"Really?" Matthew asks. Sadiq opens his mouth, pauses, and then Matthew sees a little grin.

"But yenno, you should pick up yer game. Just in case."

Matthew is about to say he already knows that, but something in Sadiq's tone catches him off guard.

And suddenly, Matthew feels like everyone except for him is aware of something.


Matthew gets a call later on that evening from Gilbert, asking him if he was free tomorrow afternoon.

"Uh, I'm not sure…" Matthew says, even though he fully knows that he is. "I'll have to check and see."

There is a long pause, and then Matthew realizes that Gilbert probably thinks he's checking right now.

"My mom's out right now, so I'll have to wait for her to call back." He explains, and gets an "Oh" from the other end.

There's more silence, then

"Um, yeah…because we need to start working on this history project eventually, yeah?"

"Yeah…" Matthew swallows slightly. He doesn't want to point out that it's been Gilbert that's been busy through the week. "Well, I'll let you know in class tomorrow?"

"Yeah…okay."

"Yeah."

"Okay well…Later."

"Kay, um…Bye."

And with that awkward goodbye, they hang up. In person, conversation always seems to flow much easier, but on the phone, it's sparse. Matthew hasn't really paid attention to it before, but now that Roderich (he imagines that if this is ever written out, every time the boy's name is said, it would be emphasized in italics) is in the picture again, Matthew is paying a lot of attention to it.

Alfred says it reminds him of something middle-schoolers do, but says it's okay because according to him:

1) It's cute when Matthew gets jealous

2) And because Alfred thinks it's cute when Matthew gets jealous, Gilbert will sure think it's cute

3) And if Gilbert thinks it's cute, it will earn Matthew extra brownie points

Matthew reminds Alfred that in order for Gilbert to find it cute that he's jealous, he'll have to know that he's jealous, and in turn it means that Gilbert will find out everything. Since he doesn't know that Gilbert knows already, he insists on not letting Gilbert know he's jealous, even in a subtle way. Alfred says that if Matthew moves any slower with Gilbert, he'll be going backwards, but gives what Matthew suspects is a knowing grin.

This doesn't sit well with him at all.


"Matthew Williams. Stop being a pussy." Alfred repeats for the umpteenth time. "Also, pass me a protractor."

"That's not nice." Matthew says half-heartedly, fishing out a slightly dirty protractor from the depths of his backpack and tossing it towards Alfred.

"Truth hurts."

They are doing in-class work in math class, and Alfred is trying to give Matthew special pep talks since his friend seems kind of down. Matthew's just finished telling him that after History, Gilbert cornered him and asked him if Sunday morning was fine for going to the library. Matthew stuttered out an affirmative, and was very close to asking him if after the library he wanted to go catch that horror movie. He was too slow on the uptake, and Antonio swiped Gilbert away before he could manage to spit the words out.

Of course, this hasn't run through too well with Alfred.

"This is why you need to move fast."

"Nah." Matthew shakes his head. "I don't want to interfere with anything that's happening."

"Nothing's happening, you big doof." Alfred hits Matthew with the protractor before using it. Thankfully, Braginski is floating around the class room and helping students, so he doesn't see it when Matthew pinches Alfred's nose shut before he gets a nasal "Sorry" from him.

"Just letting you know, man." Alfred says, rubbing his nose. "You keep this up, by the time you get around to doing anything, he's going to be gone."

For a self-proclaimed blissfully oblivious idiot, Alfred can sure give pretty blunt advice. But Matthew needs it, and he also needs to use it. He's just wondering when he's actually going to get around to doing it.


"Something got ya down, man?" Gilbert asks, looking intently at Matthew. Matthew immediately snaps back to the present, turning slightly pink at being caught.

"Oh no, um, nothing."

"Sure?"

"…Yeah, why?"

"You've been staring at the same page for the past few minutes."

Matthew blinks and looks down to see that oh yeah, he's still on the first page of the textbook he's supposed to be taking notes out of. They've been at the library for the past fifteen minutes, and unlike other times, have actually gotten down to work. Gilbert had pulled a stack of research books out from shelves and dumped them on the desk they were supposed to occupy. Matthew had taken a book to read, but found himself zoning out and thinking about what Alfred's been saying.

He supposes he does need to have a bit more initiative, now that there's actually competition in the picture. But he's never really been good at those kinds of competitions, since he's more of a "Well, maybe next time" kind of guy. But Alfred has kindly reminded him that:

a) Matthew has come far from the time that he ogled Gilbert from the back of chem. class, and it would be a shame to not put this new found friendship to use

b) He is calling the bet back on if Matthew does nothing at all

c) And worst comes to worst, Alfred will happily ask Gilbert out for Matthew, therefore saving them all a whole load of time and effort. Matthew is completely against this idea, because it will probably be used as an opportunity for Alfred to embarrass Matthew as much as possible, probably by letting Gilbert know that Hey my buddy's been fantasizing about you forever, so wanna give it a go?

So Matthew 's been contemplating on what course of action to take, and how much courage he's actually willing to muster up in order to swipe Gilbert before Roderich does.

"Um, I'm o-okay." He says, cursing his stammer that's come at an inopportune time. Gilbert continues looking at him, and Matthew coughs slightly. "Just, um, thinking about stuff."

"Yeah?"

Matthew nods, and Gilbert's brows slightly knit together. All this staring is getting Matthew slightly nervous and fidgety, and he tries giving a small laugh to break the awkward silence, but it comes out as a weird sound, further worsening the situation.

"Um, okay, well…" Gilbert scratches the back of his head looking thoughtful. He glances at the library clock quickly, then back at Matthew. "Wanna take a break and get some ice cream then?"

"I have no money." Matthew says, and Gilbert shrugs. "Don't worry about it. Let's just go, or we won't be able to make it on time."

"Make it where on time?" Matthew asks, and Gilbert waves him off. "You'll see."

So they pack their bags, leaving the stack of books on the table much to the disdain of the watching librarian. They head out, and the parking lot is relatively empty like the library itself.

"We need to go over there." Gilbert points to a park off in the distance, that's beside a basketball court and another parking lot. "The ice cream truck will be here in fourteen minutes."

"The ice cream truck?" Matthew repeats, slightly incredulous as the start walking towards the park. "You know when it comes?"

"I have my sources." Gilbert says, kicking an empty pop can out of the way. "My brother, actually."

"Your brother?" Matthew frowns, not seeing how the two correlate. Gilbert just replies with a grin and a "You'll see."

Matthew digs into the pockets of his cargo shorts, looking to see if there's any spare change that he's missed. "But I don't have money."

"I told you, don't stress about it." Gilbert slaps Matthew's back, stumbling forward slightly. "Let me and my awesomeness handle it. I don't have any money either, so no worries."

"No money? Wait, then how are you gonna...?"

"No worries." Gilbert repeats yet again, and reaches up to ruffle Matthew's hair.

cheep cheep cheep

Gilbert stops, grin frozen and hand still hovering over Matthew's head as the cheeping continues. Matthew stops as well, giving Gilbert a curious look.

"Dude?"

"Is there something on me?" Gilbert asks, teeth still gritted.

"Um..." Matthew is around the same height as Gilbert, but he doesn't need to raise himself onto his toes to see over Gilbert's head. A yellow ball of fluff is on Gilbert's head, staring at Matthew with the most godforsaken beady eyes he has ever seen. "I...uh, I think a bird landed on your head."

"You're shitting me."

Matthew shakes his head, mouth slightly agape at the fact that a bird has just landed and settled on Gilbert's head within the first five minutes of them being outside.

Gilbert, in turn, continues staring at Matthew until the blond gets the hint.

"Here, uh," Matthew slowly raises his hands, as to not completely scare off the bird. "Hold still, and I'll get that for you."

Gilbert complies, and with a lot of caution, Matthew reaches up and tries to cup the bird.

The series of actions that led to the following events are hazy in Matthew's head, but he vaguely remembers something about actually managing to get the bird for a fraction of a second before it rose up and unleashed its fury on Matthew.

After that, all he remembers is a yellow flurry attacking him, pecking him anywhere and everywhere at every given opportunity as he flails his arms, trying to get it to go away. Gilbert steps in, trying to save Matthew, but ends up getting hit smack in the middle of his face with a flying hand.

"Ow! Fuck!" Gilbert holds a hand up to his nose, as Matthew repeats his mantra of "Oh shit oh fuck oh shit oh fuck get it off me get it off!"

The bird demon from hell is holding its own, and Matthew is very close to just running away. His bag's already dropped to the ground, and holy shit the bird just pecked him on his fucking nose —

"Gotcha!" Gilbert exclaims, finally managing to trap the bird. He cups his hands, preventing escape, and Matthew pants as he brushes hair out of his flushed face.

"Holy..." He says as he tries to catch his breath. "What was that?"

There's still loud cheeping, and Matthew eyes Gilbert's hands wearily as he picks up his fallen bag. The cheeps die down, and within ten seconds, everything is quiet.

Gilbert looks down at his hands, noticing the sudden lack of movement.

"Fuck." They both say in unison.

"Um, I think you killed it."

Gilbert's eyes widen exponentially, and he immediately opens his hands. Matthew's hands immediately shoot up in front of his face to prevent another merciless attack...

And he peeks through his arms to see the yellow bird, hovering on eye level with Gilbert.

"You know..." Gilbert says quietly, so he doesn't provoke the flying creature again. "This fella's actually kinda cute."

"For being a spawn of Satan, yeah." Matthew spits. He's normally not like this, it's just that he was nearly killed by a fucking bird holy shit that has him set off.

The bird cheeps again, and both boys jump slightly. Then the bird floats upwards, and lands once again on Gilbert's head.

"I think it's claimed you." Matthew says, lips quirking up a bit at the sight.

"Take a picture." Gilbert says. "Quickly."

Matthew complies, taking out his phone and turning on the camera. He gets a picture of Gilbert trying to give his best smirk without looking nervous, and the yellow bird just chilling upon platinum hair.

It's actually rather really cute, and Matthew decides that it'd work as a perfect caller ID picture for Gilbert.

"Are we good?" Gilbert asks, and Matthew flashes a thumbs up. "Alright."

Gilbert straightens up, and the bird is still on his head. "Okay. To the park."

"To the park."

They start walking again, but the bird does not flutter off Gilbert's head. It stays there, and Gilbert looks a bit jumpy as they walk.

"Are you okay?" Matthew asks, looking slightly concerned. Gilbert just keeps his eyes straight ahead.

"Every step I take, I feel like this bird is going to shit on me." He says casually. Matthew automatically reaches a hand up again to shoo away the bird with hopes that it won't try to murder him this time, but Gilbert smacks away his hand.

"Don't provoke it." He says warningly. "Or it might end up actually shitting on my head. And I'll make you clean it all out if it does."

Suddenly, Matthew is plagued with mental images of him helping Gilbert wash out his hair. Specifically, the two showering together. He fights down a furious blush as they walk, Gilbert looking like he's balancing on a tight rope while Matthew tries to keep his thoughts as pure as possible and think about the flip side of things.

One of which is that even though he has been a victim of a vicious bird attack, his mood has actually lifted by a lot.


Meanwhile...

"Sometimes I wonder." Alfred sighs, sitting on the cold ramp in an empty skate park. "How can someone who spends so much time with me and be so awkward?"

"I wonder." Lars replies as he chews on a piece of licorice, sprawled on his back along the slope of the ramp.

Alfred narrows his eyes at the newest member of the let's-get-Matt-some-tail club. So far, the member count is at Alfred, Francis, Sadiq, and Lars. Arthur doesn't count because he is doing this for amusement. At the same time, Sadiq shouldn't count either because he's still getting used to the fact that they're hooking two guys up, and doesn't really want anyone else in his crew to know that he's doing something as prissy as match making, but Sadiq seems to get along with Matthew and is good at being blunt with the boy.

"Is that sarcasm I detect?" Alfred asks, and Lars shrugs.

"I think." Francis suggests from Alfred's side. "We should tell Matthew the truth."

Francis and Alfred had decided to meet up at the skate park to discuss things, and had found Lars already lying on a ramp. While talking, Alfred had let slip the situation with Matthew.

Alfred gives Francis a punch on his shoulder. "Do you want to see me die?"

"Barbarian." Francis rubs his shoulder, giving a look of great disdain. "I was suggesting you tell him the truth about Roderich and Gilbert."

"Why?"

"Because it would save a lot of trouble." Francis points out. "I think it will save Matthew this entire unnecessary heart ache. He might even move faster."

"Nah, it's fun watching him get jealous." Alfred waves it off, and Lars raises an eyebrow.

"Remind me to never be your best friend."

Alfred sticks his tongue out. "My methods may be cruel, but they're effective. See how me telling Gilbert worked?"

"And what if Gilbert didn't have any interest in Matthew?" Lars points out and Alfred heaves a great sigh.

"Did that happen?"

"Well no, but that's not my-"

"So then shut up. I got this, dude."

Lars rolls onto his stomach, crossing his arms and resting his forehead against the cool ramp.

"So," he says, voice muffled against the ramp and his arms. "What's your plan next, O great and mighty hero?"

"Simple." Alfred shrugs, and leans in as if he's telling a big secret. Nobody shows any interest, but he speaks in a melodramatic whisper anyways. "I just gotta talk to Gilbert."


Matthew soon finds out the source of Gilbert's accurate knowledge on Ice Cream Truck timings. They're waiting in the parking lot beside the park, Matthew taking pictures of the newly christened Gilbird on Gilbert's phone, and soon, the familiar jingle grows louder and louder.

A large white ice cream truck drives up the road, and pulls into the parking lot. Kids have started to charge towards the parking lot, but Gilbert has a one up on them by sitting by the exact spot the truck is designated to stop.

"Bitches ain't got nothing on this." He states, as there is some shuffling within the truck and the shutters on the window is open. The sound of Enrique Iglesias pours out, and someone tells someone else in a deep voice that they're turning the music down.

The person turns to face out the serving window, and Matthew's eyes widen as he barely contains a noise of surprise. Icy blue eyes stare down the pair, while Gilbert just gives his best shit eating grin.

"I'd like a vanilla cream cone." Gilbert says, and turns to Matthew. "And a..."

Matthew has been staring at the sticker of the SpongeBob popsicle, and Gilbert catches on.

"And that yellow thing for Matt."

"Go away, Gilbert." Ludwig replies. "I'm working."

"Hurry up!" A kid shouts from behind the line forming up, and Gilbert steps to the side, pulling Matthew with him so that Ludwig can take the orders of the kids lining up.

"C'mon, why don't you cut your favourite big bro a bit of slack?" Gilbert asks, pouting as Ludwig starts taking and filling orders for the kids.

"I told you this last time." Ludwig sounds slightly irritated, as he passes a kid his rainbow explosion popsicle. "I'm not giving you or your friends free treats."

"But Luddy!" Gilbert whines, much to the displeasure of his younger brother. He slings an arm around Matthew's waist, shaking him slightly as he draws him close. "That's not fair! What if this isn't my friend? What if he's my date?"

Matthew immediately turns red, even though he knows it's a joke. Ludwig looks directly at him, then sighs. After he collects change from another kid, he retreats back into the truck. He comes back out, handing one SpongeBob popsicle to the kid who just paid. He passes one to Matthew and says, "On the house. Because I pity you."

"Thanks." Matthew mumbles, not sure what else to say.

"Where's mine?" Gilbert demands, and Ludwig shakes his head. "Share."

Gilbert steps in front of the last kid in line, eliciting a loud "C'mon!". The arm around Matthew's waist is still there, and Matthew finds himself being dragged as well.

"It's what you get for telling the awesome me to hurry up." He informs the irritated child, who gives him the finger and calls him a fag before walking away.

"That's not what your mom said last night!" Gilbert calls back, and Ludwig reaches out the window to flick his brother on the head.

"Stop bullying young kids." Ludwig says sternly, and Gilbert mimics him in a high pitched voice.

"Then give me my ice cream." Gilbert dead pans and Ludwig replies with a firm "No."

"Bitch." Gilbert mutters, then clears his throat so that with a clear voice, he can call out "FELICIANO! YO, FELI!"

Ludwig glares at Gilbert. "That's just a dirty move - "

cheep cheep cheep

"Ve, hold on a second! I'm coming!"

"Where did you get the bird?" Ludwig asks, but Gilbert doesn't reply as another boy elbows in front of Ludwig.

"Ah, hello Gilbert!" A brunet in the same white apron and hat as Ludwig says with a wide smile upon seeing the two. He looks like Lovino, but younger and with lighter hair, and with an actual smile. "Who's your friend?"

"Matt." Matthew raises his hand in a wave, and Feliciano waves in return. His eyes travel downward, to see that Gilbert still has his arm around Matthew.

Not that Matthew's complaining, because on the inside he is flipping dick and freaking out and partying over the fact that it actually feels really comfortable.

"Oh, are you two on a date?" Feliciano asks, and Gilbert grins. Matthew is about to answer in the negative, as much as he'd like to answer in the positive, but Gilbert takes care of that. "Yep. And we were just wondering if we could have some ice cream, but Ludwig's not giving us any."

Feliciano tsks and retreats into the truck, admonishing Ludwig for being so rude to his very own brother. Meanwhile, Matthew wonders if he should unwrap his own ice cream.

"Do you still want this?" Gilbert asks, pointing to Matthew's frozen food, and Matthew shakes his head. Gilbert takes it and passes it inside to Ludwig, who is giving him a look of great unhappiness.

Feliciano comes out with a large paper carton with a banana in it, sandwiched between scoops of ice cream and covered in chocolate syrup. There's rainbow sprinkles and m&m's on it, complete with a cherry on top.

"On the house." Feliciano smiles as Gilbert detaches himself from Matthew and takes the treat, and passes Matthew some napkins and forks.

Ludwig mutters something about getting late to other places, and the window shutters to the truck are abruptly shut.

"Love you too, bro!" Gilbert says, and Gilbird cheeps along as well. The passenger seat's window of the truck is rolled down, and Ludwig sticks his head through the window.

"And don't bring that bird home!" He calls out. "The Edelsteins are coming over for dinner today."

Gilbert sticks his tongue out, and Matthew gives an uneasy laugh. Edelstein. Roderich. He likes to pride himself on not having jealousy issues, but hey.

"Man, I am fucking starving." Gilbert exclaims loudly, picking the cherry up. "Want this?"

"Yeah, sure." Matthew says, and pops it in his mouth. He chews on it thoughtfully, and starts playing with the stem.

They split the ice cream fifty-fifty, while Gilbert goes off on how exactly Ludwig and Feliciano have landed a gig being ice-cream truck drivers. Apparently, it's a business they've started on their own since they both got their driver's license, and they make decent cash off of it during the summer.

Matthew is thoroughly amused at this, and wonders if Feliciano's brother has ever tried it. Apparently, he has, but had lost his temper at Ludwig and refused to work with him again.

Gilbird has hovered around them the whole time, and Gilbert has gotten used to it. On the other hand, Matthew is extremely twitchy around the bird and is constantly on guard.

Gilbird seems to adjust to Gilbert quickly, even allowing Gilbert to hold him in his hands without going ape shit. Matthew is pretty sure it is some form of flirting when the other boy says, "If a little bird can get you that worked up, imagine what could a person as awesome as me could do", complete with a wink and bringing Gilbird near Matthew, who slides a full foot away.

Or maybe it's just rubbing in the fact that Gilbert has bonded with the bird, who surely has evil designs on Matthew.

Either ways, the day turns out to be good, and Matthew isn't brooding over how much he sucks and needs to get his act together and move fast.

But still, there's one particular problem that comes in the form of a dark-haired band geek that he's still seeing as competition, and Matthew thinks that he needs to find someone to confer with to boost his confidence.

Maybe Sadiq would be a willing ear tomorrow in History?