Chapter 14. When You Fall Asleep.

"Just…stay still," Arthur sighed and Gilbert nodded, following instructions. Arthur had a whole weekend to cook something up for them. This had to be something good, right? He stood beside Matthew in front of the table in the Dark Magic Clubroom with Francis, Antonio, Alfred, Ivan, Elizabeta, and Roderich observing. The room was starting to feel kinda cramped, but Gilbert wasn't really one to complain about too many people.

When Arthur started speaking in that weird language of his, that was when Gilbert heard the ringing. It felt like it was resonating through his entire head. It didn't necessarily hurt, but it was insanely uncomfortable. He heard Matthew wince beside him. He felt…something pulling him, but it wasn't very strong.

Finally, Arthur stopped and Gilbert finally opened his eyes. He was still Matthew.

"Nice try," Gilbert shrugged and their little audience let out a disappointed sigh. Though Ivan still had that sickeningly curious look on his face. He was so enjoying this, the sadistic bastard.

"Again?" Arthur glared at the book in his hands he'd read out of, like he could find what he did wrong. "This doesn't make any sense…"

"This magic is really interesting," Elizabeta chimed, walking over in an attempt to read over Arthur's shoulder. "Everything you've tried has been body switching spells?"

"Yes," Arthur grumbled, placing the book on the table and going to the bookshelf for another one to leaf through. They still had a few minutes before school started, anyway. Curiously enough, Ivan went over to read through the abandoned book. Actually read through it. Figures he would know Latin, of all people.

"You can read Latin?" Alfred asked curiously, nearly following the teen around like some kind of lost puppy. Gilbert rolled his eyes as he noticed Elizabeta glance between the two. Gilbert went over to talk to her while Francis started a conversation with Matthew, seeing how busy Arthur was.

"Please tell me they aren't together yet," Elizabeta whispered to him. "That would be so fun."

"Believe it or not, Al's brave enough to actually get shit done," Gilbert sighed, crossing his arms over his chest. And here he was hoping he wouldn't have to go an entire week as Matthew. Not that it was terrible…it was just he kinda missed being himself. Sitting in his normal classes sure would be a breeze now… "So don't even try your matchmaking bullshit."

"You'd be amazed how many plans she already has written up after last week," Roderich sighed and Gilbert rolled his eyes.

"Don't tell me this includes me and whatever the hell you see with Mattie," Gilbert sighed. Then again, that might not be a bad idea. Since yesterday, he actually followed Alfred's advice, stupid as it was, and found that having a crush on Matthew really wasn't that bad of a thing. Looking over at Matthew, who was laughing and smiling with Francis and Antonio…Gilbert couldn't wait to see that smile on his rightful face.

"Oh, it's painfully obvious," Elizabeta smirked. Gilbert sighed. He was slightly torn between allowing Elizabeta to do her thing and have him and Mattie together by "chance" or to work up the guts to talk to him himself. "I'm surprised you haven't made your move yet. Or maybe you have and you're just not telling anyone!"

"I haven't done anything yet," Gilbert said before he could properly think it through. Knowing from experience, he dove to cover Elizabeta's mouth before she could properly let out a squeal. No one noticed, they were all being too loud. Alfred, Arthur, and Ivan were talking over the books, Alfred pretending he knew what he was doing. Matthew was busy, too. Thank God no one other than Elizabeta and Roderich would see the blush on his face. "Don't you dare go blurting it out," he said darkly.

"I've never seen you so flustered," Elizabeta gushed, forcing Gilbert's hand away. "Not even with any of your past relationships, you were so calm about it all. And here you're blushing! It's so adorable!"

"Keep your voice down, ya damn cow!" Gilbert hissed and she rolled her eyes.

"This was even obvious to me," Roderich sighed. "Then again, that may be Elizabeta rubbing off on me more than she should be."

"It's a good skill to understand relationships," Elizabeta smiled brightly, kissing his cheek before turning back to Gilbert. "I could help you out! We could set it all up so that you two can get together by-"

"Save it," Gilbert held up a hand to stop her before she got too caught up and the idea got too good for Gilbert to say no. He was going to do this himself, he decided. First, he had to be certain about Matthew. Which could take a bit. "I've got this."

"You?" Elizabeta snorted.

"What?" Gilbert scoffed. "I'm awesome at relationships. This'll be…easy."

"Yes, I'm sure you've impressed him quite a bit so far," Roderich sighed. "What with damaging his hands and allowing him to see just how well you're doing in school."

"I'm doing better," Gilbert protested. "I've got plenty of redeeming qualities. Hell, I played hockey for the kid. Pretty sure I'm never doing that bullshit again. Besides, he probably knows more about me than both of you guys. He's been living my life for a week, for crying out loud."

"I'd be more than happy to tell him even more about you," Elizabeta hummed, casually starting to walk over to Matthew.

"Don't you dare," Gilbert hissed, gripping onto her arm. Elizabeta knew him as a kid, of course he did embarrassing stuff. Matthew didn't have to know about any of that stuff. Nope, that stuff could be kept in the dark. Elizabeta just smiled brightly at him and the bell rang above their heads. Gilbert let out a sigh of relief before walking over to Matthew for them to swap homework. He'd actually gotten all of his done this time. It was actually pretty easy now compared to what he dealt with during Matthew's classes.

"I'll see you here during lunch, then?" Matthew asked curiously and Gilbert nodded with a smile.

"Sure thing," he said simply, taking Matthew's folder and storing it into his backpack. He couldn't help but yawn slightly. But he shook it off. It had been a long night last night. He was exhausted, sure, but for some reason he couldn't quite get to sleep. Everyone in the room had already filed out, Alfred and Ivan first, arguing about some disagreement about burgers or something stupid.

He and Matthew were the last out, aside from Francis and Arthur, who were also arguing about something like a couple. Gilbert shook his head when he realized Francis would have taken that as a compliment. He could make fun of them about that later.

It was only while Gilbert was walking to class that he remembered that the test would be returned to them. He nearly stopped in his tracks. Shit. How did he forget about that? He couldn't let Matthew down, but if the grade was bad, he would have to tell him, wouldn't he? Gilbert subconsciously bit his lip as he walked into the classroom, going right for his usual spot. He didn't even hear everyone else around him as he waited for class to start.

Even then, the teacher didn't give them their tests right away. He went right on with the lesson for the day and Gilbert grumbled under his breath. He couldn't focus while he was waiting for the test, which he could see on the teacher's desk. He couldn't let Matthew down, could he?

And then, finally, after being forced to learn something that didn't even make sense, the teacher gave them their homework assignment to work on early and started handing the tests back. Gilbert felt like his heart was in his throat, but he made himself look calm. He had to be calm. He was Matthew Williams, of course he was going to get a good grade on this test.

The teacher haphazardly placed the paper on the desk in front of Gilbert, face down. Gilbert carefully lifted it up so that he could see the front. He blinked at the red numbers at the top of the page, not even looking at the corrections further down. He couldn't believe it.

85%

"Yes!" Gilbert cheered to himself, nearly pushing his fist into the air when he remembered where and who he was. He immediately looked down at the paper, not looking at anyone else in the quiet room. He couldn't hide the smile on his face. It wasn't that hard, after all. Wicked. He got an 85% on an AP Calculus test. He was awesome.

Matthew hummed to himself as he calmly went through the easy science worksheet the teacher had handed the class when she realized she was tired of teaching for the day. This was going to be another high percent, no way around it. Besides, he could even use his phone if he needed to, not like he really did, though. He found that he didn't really mind giving Gilbert all of these high grades in all of his classes. Sure, it wasn't fair that Gilbert wan't doing it himself, but Gilbert was doing something harder.

He was faced with AP classes and yet he went ahead and did it. He wasn't the best, but he was trying his absolute hardest. If he could do that, then these worksheets weren't so bad. The way Matthew saw it, if Gilbert could take his tests for him, then Matthew was more than happy to help Gilbert ace his classes for as long as this spell went on for.

The bell rang and Matthew handed in the worksheet, even though it wasn't due until the next day. He was done. The teacher seemed surprised, but took it anyway. And then Matthew was on his way to lunch. He couldn't help but smile as he walked. He kind of liked easy classes, it made him feel a lot smarter than he did struggling with his college level courses.

He made a quick stop at the lunch line for food before making his way to the Dark Magic Clubroom. He was greeted by Arthur, who nodded to him from his usual seat. Matthew noticed the paper on the table first, well, the packet. It was a test. The math test Gilbert had taken last week. 85. Matthew nodded and glanced around to see Gilbert lying on the couch, his limbs strung every which way as he looked completely gone.

"He came in looking rather exhausted," Arthur said. "My guess is that he stayed up late last night."

"Makes sense," Matthew chuckled, sitting down at the table to look over what Gilbert had gotten wrong. They were simple mistakes to fix, so that was nice. He could help Gilbert with that sometime later. He easily pulled over his backpack from where Gilbert was sleeping and looked into what homework he had gotten already. If he had free time, he might as well do some homework ahead of time.

As Matthew got settled, he looked over at Arthur and found that he had actually pushed away most of his spell books and had some homework of his own in front of him, seeming to be some kind of science worksheet. Matthew smiled. It did Arthur some good to get away from some stress every now and then.

It was peaceful and silent in the room. That door worked wonders when it came to blocking out the noise from outside. Matthew did find himself looking over at Gilbert more often than he should have. Gilbert just looked so…peaceful. Happy. Almost cute. But, then again, that was Matthew's face. Not his usual expression, though. And that definitely wasn't the position he usually slept in. He wondered what Gilbert was dreaming about, if he had gotten around to dreaming yet. He hoped it was something happy…

There was a knock at the door and Matthew and Arthur shared a look. No one knocked. At least, no one they knew. But there was something almost familiar about the way this person knocked…

"Come in," Arthur said hesitantly. This wasn't someone they knew and it was obvious Arthur wasn't quite a fan of meeting new people, especially when he had no idea what to expect.

"Hello," the person opened the door and Matthew winced slightly. Yeah, it was Ludwig. And Gilbert wasn't even awake! But Matthew wasn't about to wake him up…but then again, this was important. They had decided, after all… "I was told I could find my brother in this room."

"Yes, well," Arthur motioned to the two vaguely. He wasn't willing to give away the secret but he didn't know if it was already given away or not.

"Hey, Luddie," Matthew nodded to him and noticed Gilbert was starting to stir on the couch. Okay, maybe he'd wake up and then they could talk about this. Ludwig was stiff and awkward, he had been since last night. When they ran, he didn't say a word to him, barely even looked at him. And they were silent on the way to the bus.

"Feliciano said you've been here before," Ludwig said stiffly and Gilbert stirred even more. God, Matthew wished he would just wake up. "I was looking for you to ask about-"

"Hey, Luddie, what the hell are you doing here?" Gilbert mumbled in his half-sleep daze. He looked up at Ludwig curiously and Arthur let out a small sigh, but didn't look up from his paper. Gilbert opened his eyes wide when he realized what he'd said. "Fuck. Shit, no, I mean maple or something…shit…" Gilbert sat upright and rubbed at his head. Meanwhile, Ludwig simply looked between the two of them in confusion.

"There's an explanation to this," Matthew blurted out.

"What is going on?" Ludwig asked. "You've been acting strangely, is it because of this club?"

"Not exactly," Gilbert shrugged with a small smile, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. "Damn, I wish I hadn't gotten up so early this morning."

"Gilbert," Ludwig said, apparently looking to Matthew for the time being. "What is happening?"

"I'm not actually Gilbert," Matthew confessed. They'd agreed, after all, that they would tell Ludwig. They just hadn't expected it to happen so soon or while Gilbert was half asleep.

"Keep your panties on," Gilbert muttered, holding up a hand while he yawned. "Let me wake up for this shit first."

"Are you…?" Ludwig seemed at a loss for words.

"I know you don't believe in magic and shit, Lud, but I didn't either," Gilbert laughed slightly, standing up to stretch before looking at him. "And I definitely didn't expect our meeting to go like this. Not that I mind talking to you again after a while…"

"Maybe you should sit down," Matthew offered and Ludwig blinked, looking between the two.

"Let's start from the top," Gilbert sighed when Ludwig didn't move. "The little cutie over there in my body is Matthew." Matthew couldn't stop the small blush that appeared on his face. Did Gilbert even realize he'd called him cute? "I'm in his body. Kinda wonky, it's the fault of the frowning bag of insults sitting by the books. He was doing a spell and messed up and we're…stuck. We've been stuck since…what, Tuesday?" Matthew nodded. Ludwig was processing what was in front of him and it was actually taking some time.

"I'm sorry we lied to you for so long," Matthew apologized and Ludwig blinked, looking at him carefully and then Gilbert. It was really obvious from this standpoint just how different they were and how it really didn't fit each other's bodies. Gilbert was standing proudly with a smirk on his face as always, apparently expecting for Ludwig to just gush about his awesomeness. Matthew, meanwhile, was slouching further into his chair shyly the longer the silence grew.

"How many other people know?" Finally, after all the silence, that was the only thing Ludwig had to say. Gilbert shrugged, like it was just no big deal.

"Let's see, there's Alfred and his boyfriend," Gilbert mused. "Franny and Toni, obviously, Eliza, Roderich…"

"They found out by an accident," Matthew said immediately and Gilbert just shrugged. They'd kept the secret while others just found out…It wasn't fair to him.

"And I'm the last to know?" Ludwig asked, almost sounding kind of angry. Gilbert finally seemed to notice.

"Well, I mean Feli, Lovino, and Kiku don't know," Gilbert shrugged. "You alright, there, Lud? You're not pissed about this, are you?"

"I'm fine," Ludwig sighed, turning around and leaving the room. Gilbert groaned and immediately followed after him. Matthew decided it might be best for him to just stay where he was.

"It might have just been easier to tell him right off the bat," Arthur sighed. "He might have thought that you were crazy, but it's easy to explain…eventually. There's no way around it when they know you well enough."

"Yeah," Matthew sighed heavily. But it was fine…right? Those two were brothers, so Ludwig couldn't be too mad at Gilbert for anything. If anything, he could be angrier with Matthew for keeping the secret. It wasn't like Gilbert was actually around to keep any kind of secret.

Riding the bus home was awkward. Eating dinner was awkward. Cleaning up after dinner was awkward. More random praise from Gilbert's parents about grades, more of Ludwig not saying a word to him. It was so…awkward.

Matthew closed himself into Gilbert's room as soon as he could, happy that Gilbird understood his problems. He barely had a chance to start working on homework when he heard that patient knock at the door. Matthew gulped. He didn't know what Ludwig and Gilbert had even talked about, Matthew liked to respect people's privacy. Matthew mustered up his courage before opening the door to see Ludwig standing, rather awkwardly, pretty much forcing himself not to look away from Matthew.

"Would you mind if I came in to talk with you?" Ludwig asked and Matthew just stood out of his way. Ludwig sat stiffly on Gilbert's bed and Matthew went to the chair. "Let's…start over. It's nice to meet you, my name is Ludwig."

"Matthew," Matthew offered a small smile. Okay, this was good, right? "I'm sorry again, for tricking you for so long."

"I understand," Ludwig said. "I wouldn't have believed you if you had told me. I…would have been worried about my brother's sanity. I still do…and my own."

"Magic was a little hard to wrap my head around," Matthew nodded with a slight laugh.

"You have gotten to know me pretty well," Ludwig sighed. "How long have you been acting as Gilbert again?"

"Since Tuesday," Matthew shrugged.

"I figure it is only polite to get to know you," Ludwig said. "As long as that is alright with you."

"I don't mind at all," Matthew smiled. "And, I promise, anything you said to… 'Gilbert' while I was here…I won't tell anyone."

Ludwig nodded.

"So, what do you want to know? I'll tell you anything," Matthew shrugged.

"You said you went to a hockey game Sunday," Ludwig said. "You went to watch a friend."

"I play hockey," Matthew smiled. "Gilbert had to play for me. Of course, I had to cheer him on. He actually wasn't that bad at it." Ludwig nodded, listening intently as Matthew began a story about one hockey game he went to. It was kind of nice, having yet another friend he hadn't expected before. By the end of the night, even Ludwig had told Matthew a few stories, most of them about Gilbert (wonderfully embarrassing stories Matthew would hold onto forever), and Matthew felt like he really had gotten to know Ludwig rather well.

This chapter was haaard! I don't know why. Oh, well, whatever. I officially have this entire story planned out until the end. There's still a ways to go, but now I know exactly what's gonna happen and when. Everything's chill.

Anyway, I'll see you all next time!