As usual for the last day before a break, this day was far too long. Every time Matthew checked the clock, it seemed to have gone backwards. He wiped his glasses, just for the sake of killing time. After this hour, all this would be over with. Two weeks of doing nothing were ahead in which he didn't have to go to school and hide himself. That would be so relieving.
No Francis nagging at his head, no Abel to avoid (which wasn't even that difficult since Abel was avoiding him as well), and no Leroy to...keep on a distance. Because really, Arthur's old shadow jumping over to him was the last thing he needed.

Leroy himself seemed to think otherwise, though.
"So, what do you say? If you've got nothing to do in the upcoming two weeks, maybe we can hang out. Catch a movie or something?" He suggested.

"Erm, maybe not."

"Are you sure? You don't need to be shy, Matty."

Leroy smiled at him, but Matthew could only frown. Because...Matty?
"Eh, 'scuse me?"

"What is it?"

"The-"

"Oh, I get it." Leroy laughed lightly and scratched the back of his neck. "You don't like the nickname. I thought it was cute."

"Stop it." Matthew said flatly, though unable to hide all of his awkwardness.

"Don't worry, no one's listening. And if they were, that'd be very rude."

The wink Leroy gave him was a bit too flirtatious to his liking.

"I use nicknames for everyone, and I just thought Matty would be nice for you." Leroy gave a light chuckle, during which it seemed his dark brown eyes lit up.

He really was a nice and cheerful guy, and he had a library of historical facts in his head, but overall, he was a bit too reminiscent of a puppy. It was also surprising that Arthur had mentioned him never talking about himself, but still Leroy's stream of stories about his childhood in India and how cool his Indian cousin was seemed never-ending. At least, to Matthew.

"Why is that?"

He shrugged. "Because. Does it need a reason?"

"I, eh, suppose not?"

"Good." Leroy patted Matthew's hair. "Anyway, it's time I got going. See you around." He, once again, gave Matthew a quick kiss on the cheek before darting off.

Even though Leroy was in no way perfect, one thing was very clear: He sure did seem to like Matthew a lot. And even though it was a bit awkward to think about it, maybe that was exactly what Matthew needed. A distraction of some sort to get over Abel. One more second thinking about him would drive him insane for sure.
It did help that Leroy seemed to be the polar opposite of Abel. He was very open about everything, very cheerful and by no means intimidating. And he didn't smoke. That was one advantage in terms of...odour.

Be that as it may, Leroy really needed to stop intruding his personal space all the time. It was stating to get irritating. He meant it well, Matthew realised that, but he wasn't anywhere near comfortable with it. It somehow felt like cheating. Okay, he didn't have a boyfriend anymore, so it was impossible to cheat, but it strangely enough still felt that way.

A promise is a promise, he got that, but that wasn't always an easy thing to do. Of all promises he could have made to Judithe, couldn't he have promised to take over her dish-washing shift for a year or something? He should stop making promises to her altogether. Somehow, the promises he winded up making to his elder twin were never easy to keep.

The day was already over and he hadn't even said 'hi' to Matthew. It was quite difficult to find Matthew in the first place, let alone talking to him when you didn't have a clue of what to say.

He knew very well why Matthew had chosen to break it off. It was only because he had been so stupid to be an insufferable twat to Matthew's friends as well as his brother. Not necessarily all of them. Only Arthur and Alfred, really, because they were just so easy to get pissed.
It had seemed funny at the moment itself, but when he thought back about it, he had to admit he had gone too far. A simple 'sorry for acting like a colossal cunt' probably wouldn't do the trick.

When the bell went after Economics, Abel walked around trying to come up with what he had to do for a while. He could forget the promise he'd made to Judithe; everyone who didn't have economics had gone home already anyway. There was at least one thing he could do to improve his self esteem. Or whatever there was left of it. If he'd apologise to Arthur, then at least it hadn't all been for nothing. It didn't make his own situation any better, but maybe it would give him some peace of mind.
Luckily, Arthur usually awaited the huge crowd of students to disappear before he left. Time to nag at Mr. Eyebrows' head with shitty apologies.
"Hey, Arthur. Do you have a sec?"

"That depends. Is it important?"

"That depends on whether or not you want to hear me say that I'm-" Yuck, that was actually harder than it seemed. "I'm sorry for acting like a massive asshole all the time. You're right, I'm an incredibly blunt jerk." He recited flatly from the many times he'd repeated it in his head.

Arthur scoffed. "You're only saying that because Matthew broke up with you over it, aren't you?"

"Why do you sound so happy about that?" Abel asked bitterly.

"Do I?" Arthur had a smug grin on his face as though he finally got his payback. "Don't get me wrong, I'm feeling terribly sorry for Matthew, but I have to say I can't quite bring myself to have any form of compassion for you in this situation."

Abel huffed. "Figured as much. Compassion has never been your strongest point."

"...Which immediately proves my point." Arthur rolled his eyes.

"Look, I've learnt my lesson. I'll keep my trap shut from now on."

"Do you mind if I'm a bit sceptical about that? You've been quite a wanker, to put it subtly."

"I know I've been an extreme asshole for the past…five and a half years, but-"

"Did it really have to take a breakup for you to realise that?" Arthur asked accusingly.

Abel pulled the most irritated deadpan he'd ever managed.
"Look, if I'd known you had no sense of humou-"

"Hush. Keep your promise, dear."

"Yeah, yeah." He turned around to leave, but turned back. "By the way, do you happen do know anything about some...short guy with black hair hanging around Matthew a lot?"

"Who, Leroy?"

"Who he fuck is he?"

"A boy I attended primary school with in England. Why?"

"It's nothing, really. Just forget it."

"I know what you're thinking right now, and if you're paranoid about Matthew getting another boyfriend: It's entirely up to him to decide. You leave him alone about it."

"Hm. That's not the point." Abel said bitterly.

"Then what is?" The shorter Briton was starting to lose his patience with his classmate, as evident in his tone.

Abel scratched the back of his neck. "Will he be good to Matthew?"

Arthur's frown seemed to soften a little to the point where there was even a slight hint of surprise visible. He frowned again within a second and bit his thumbnail, not saying a word.

Abel was about to walk away again, but this time, Arthur called him back.
"Oh, Abel?"

"Hm?"

"Matthew told me to tell you, in case you'd ask me about him, that he's doing just fine and he's handling himself perfectly without you."

"Great. That's…good."

"That's only what he said though. I doubt he meant it."

"What do you mean?"

"The fact that he was crying when he told me might have been a tell-tale sign."

"Kut."

"Look, I don't know what exactly you're planning to do from now on, but I warn you that if you do anything to make him even more miserable, I'll take personal responsibility that you'll regret it." Arthur spat.

"Fine with me."

So Matthew was feeling like crap, apparently. Abel really had to fight the instinct now to go up to the Canadian and hug him until he was fine. Given the situation, doing that probably wouldn't be appreciated.

Arthur 's content smirk was back on his features when he left.
"Happy Holidays." He chanted.

Abel leaned against the wall near the door to the auditorium, thinking. For the fifth time in a minute, he sighed. He just couldn't seem to relax. He went outside, but even smoking a cigarette in the cold winter breeze didn't do the trick. And neither did the second or the third one.
It usually did, but now it only seemed to give him more guilt. He was in the process of quitting, after all. It was actually supposed to have been a sort of New-Year present for Matthew since he had made it rather clear he didn't like the habit. Now he might as well start again, but that didn't work either.

It was a quarter to five by now; way after everyone had gone home for the day. That was, everyone who didn't help preparing for the Christmas Gala for tonight. And Abel.
He knew he should be at home too. His parents, but especially his mother would be pissed if he'd arrive more than an hour late. Even if he'd use the excuse he had a flat tire, they wouldn't believe it. Even walking he would have been back for fifteen minutes now.

Without actually being interested, he observed tiny first-years dragging around boxes with decorations and small ladders. And by tiny, he meant proper tiny. They were probably shorter than he was at that age, and that was saying a lot. He had to admit that his own 1,45 metres in height when he was twelve was ridiculous, but the kids seemed to be shorter every year.

At a certain moment, Mrs. Bennett passed by. She didn't notice Abel at first, but a tall figure like him wasn't exactly unnoticeable.
"Abel? Shouldn't you be home by now?"

Abel sighed. "Nah. I don't feel like going home yet."

"Did something happen? You seem so distracted lately."

"No, nothing."

She didn't believe him, but decided that it would be a better idea to let it be. Something was telling her he didn't want to talk about it.
"Ah. In that case, why don't you help out with the decorations for tonight? You'd be just lonely standing here otherwise, and I prefer seeing you stand on a ladder rather than a first-year on a ladder on a table."

"Yeah, that seems like a bad idea." Abel said, imagining a Laurel and Hardy-like scene for that while humming the Benny Hill theme. He quickly sent a text message to Judithe: - Please tell mum I'll be helping with the gala-stuff?
Thanks.
xxx

Immediately after that, he got a message back: - Already done that ;)
Love you

He smiled and shook his head. Judithe knew him so well, and she always managed to keep him out of trouble.
Abel then went after Mrs. Bennett to put up the decorations at the ceiling. While he was standing on a ladder, she handed him the ends of the red and golden ribbons to hang up.
She had brought all kinds of stuff. Ribbons, bells, angels, and…
"The heck's this?" Abel asked, holding up a bunch of leafs.

"What? Oh, that. Hahah. That's a mistletoe."

"A wutnow?"

"Don't you know? Well, if two people stand underneath it, they have to kiss."

Abel took a disapproving glance at the leaf and raised an eyebrow.
"Riiight." He held it between his thumb and index finger as far away from him as possibly as if it was covered in mud and garbage. When he climbed down again, he jumped the last few steps, just to make sure not to be anywhere near the bunch of leafs on the ceiling when around Bennett. Because oh, boy. That would most certainly kill him.

"It's romantic. That's actually how I broke the ice with my husband." Mrs. Bennett tried, dreaming away a little at the thought of her first encounter underneath the mistletoe.

"Ah, gadverdamme. Keep the drooling as far away from me as possible." Abel grumbled.

"But it's almost Christmas." Mrs. Bennett said in surprise. "Everyone should be in the mood for romance at Christmas!"

"I'm not." Abel looked away even more now. It was just irritating to have Bennett find out. She'd probably give him some failed sort of pep talk, which wasn't exactly what he wanted. With this prospect, his mood gradually grew darker.

"Okay, now you're starting to worry me." Mrs. Bennett said in a much more serious tone now.

Abel didn't feel like telling her, he really didn't, but somehow, he just had to get it off his chest. Telling Judithe just wasn't enough, as she respected his wish not to interfere. And besides, Bennett could keep a secret. They weren't in class after all.

"Spill it. Now." Bennett commanded

"It's Matthew. We broke up not too long ago." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second.

"How did that even-? Are you alright?"

"I hate that question."

"Because the people who ask always know the answer, I know." She smiled up at him.

He ran both his hands though his hair and leaned back against a table. Once again reminded of how he was not fine, he stared out of the window to try and escape the conversation.

"Hey, you know what?"

"What?"

"Maybe this didn't work out, and you have all reason to be sad about it, but you shouldn't keep hanging in it."

"Tsk."

"You know what I think? There's someone for everyone. It may take a few attempts, but you'll find your dream guy one day. Whether it's Matthew or someone you haven't met yet, you'll find him."

Great. Just what he needed to hear. So basically, he had screwed up a wonderful friendship for nothing. That was the underlying thought. There must have been tell-tale signs he would have been able to tell by it wouldn't last, but he couldn't really find it. The only thing there was to do for him was leaving whoever-he-was-dating's siblings alone in the future.

"Come on, let's go help those guys before the DJ gets here." Mrs. Bennett shook her head at the clumsy first-years trying to decorate the wall, but getting themselves tangled up instead.

"DJ?"

"Yes, we've hired a DJ for tonight. He should be here in about fifteen minutes."

"Why can't they just-" Abel looked at the small group of first-years who were still struggling to get themselves untangled from the ribbons, but only making it worse. "Oh. Never mind."

In just a few minutes, Mrs. Bennett and Abel had managed to set the four boys free from their glittery chains. Everything was done by now, so everyone was free to go home. Abel decided it indeed was time for him to leave before even Judithe would get worried. He said a quick goodbye to Mrs. Bennett before he and the kids left the auditorium.

The rest of the school, save for the auditorium, was empty. It was very calming to know there wasn't a chance on running into anyone now. The school was a lot more peaceful now no one was there. Instead of the constant buzz of talking people and an incidental shout or yelp, it was entirely quiet in the building. Even the cleaners had gone home already. That usually meant only the Headmaster was still there and the rest of the school was abandoned.

Near the lockers, however, someone else appeared to be wondering around in the school: Matthew.

Fuck. Of all people in the entire fucking school, it just had to be Matthew.
Abel didn't know whether to turn around and go the other way quickly before his ex-boyfriend got the chance to spot him or to just ignore the guy like the rest of the world did. He should probably turn around. He still could-

Too late. He'd seen him.

For now, Abel hoped Matthew would just plain ignore him. Just for this one time, he hoped Matthew would ignore him instead of being disappointed if he did. They passed each other at not even an arm-length distance with held breaths, their eyes fixed on the space in front of them, too desperately trying to avoid eye contact.

He had passed.

Shit.
Abel mentally slapped himself in the face. Missed chance. He should have done something. He should have talked to Matthew, but somehow he didn't know where to start. All he wanted was to talk to him again, just as they used to. It didn't even have to be a friendly conversation, as long as he knew he still existed in Matthew's world. That was all he needed. And maybe one day, they'd be friends again like they used to.

For now, he just wanted to see Matthew one more time before he wouldn't get the chance to for two full weeks. He looked around over his shoulder.

At exactly the same moment, Matthew made the same decision: He had to have a quick glance at Abel before the two-week break. Just one look.

Green crossed with violet.
Unexpectedly.

They froze in that position. Looking over their shoulder, eyes fixed onto the other's.

Abel was the first one to gather himself, but it was Matthew who spoke up first.
"Eh-I…I think we need to talk."

"Maybe we should." Abel replied in a soft and mumbling tone. After all this time of faking indifference, he should have gotten better at it, but he was still a horrible liar.

"So how are you now?" Matthew mentally pleaded for him to be fine.

"Absolute shit." Abel said indifferently as if it were nothing.

"Oh." Great. Now he felt even worse.

"Nothing you should be breaking your head over."

"Are you sure?" Liar.

"Yeah. But, ehm. What I- eh. It's just…" He looked at the floor, trying to find words for what he wanted to say but remaining unable to. Oh, he could just kill himself right there. Why was it that every time he got nervous, he ended up stuttering like crazy?! This only ever happened around Matthew. Could someone please kick him in the face right here? Hard?

Seeing Abel stutter and struggle like that, Matthew nearly broke. This was always what happened when he was extremely nervous. Always.
Another thing Matthew had learnt with time: How to read him like a wide open book with bigger letters for the dyslexic. It was impossible for most, but once you had cracked the code, one look could pour out his heart at once.
And that one now look told him one emotion: Regret.

It was then they both seemed to snap. Matthew practically jumped into a hug, and Abel held him tightly as if he'd never let go. He didn't want to. It was as if things were as they should be again. His arms around muscular but slender shoulders, his fingers in spiky hair... It felt safe.

Abel buried his face in the hollow of Matthew's neck and inhaled his scent. Still as soft and sweet as ever. And he was so warm.
"Matty, I know I screwed it up, and I'm really sorry, but-"

"For fuck's sake, Abel, just shut up!" Matthew whispered with his throat almost entirely blocked. He didn't want to hear any more of it, or he'd certainly cry.

Too late.
Two drops of salty water fell from Matthew's cheek onto Abel's shoulder and opened a complete stream of new tears. The Canadian snivelled and gave Abel a big kiss on his unshaven cheek. He took off his glasses to wipe the tears from his eyes, smiling at how stupid he felt right now. He felt slightly pathetic to say at least, and he'd probably hear in about ten seconds how adorable he was again, but for once, he didn't mind. He had Abel back.

Abel smiled through the water that was piling up in his eyes and rubbed Matthew's back affectionately. For this moment, he thought he'd never stop smiling. The thought he should be saying something did pop up in his mind, but for now, he was just too happy to have his own short, cute, adorable, squishy, sweet hearted Matthew in his arms again.

Even when he put him back on his own feet again, he was still overjoyed.

"I'm sorry for screwing it up for you, Matty." He said, messing through his hair.

"I'm sorry for overreacting."

"I started being a massive ass in the first place."

"I messed it up for both of us."

"Are we fighting over who screwed up the worst now?" Abel asked with more than just a hint of self-ridicule.

"Pretty much, yeah." Matthew responded dryly and just smiled until they both laughed out loud at how ridiculous that actually was.

Abel pressed a kiss to Matthew's forehead. He could be so adorable sometimes. Most of the time, actually.
Fuck it, he was adorable. Period.
"You're so cute, Matty."

"So are you, sweetie."
And the response to that was another tight hug which he wished would never end.

~o~o~o~

Okay, here you go. I got them back together. Don't ask me how, but I did it. Just see it as my Christmas Present for you guys. I hope you enjoyed the cheesy-ness.

Again, a chapter I wasn't confident about. Sorry.

Oh, yeah. The very charming translations:
Kut = Slang term for vagina, very commonly used as an expression of strong dismay.
Gadverdamme = Expression of strong disgust.

Please review?