Chapter 4:

Matthew couldn't sleep. Probably because of his little weed nap he had taken earlier. That was a bad idea, but it wouldn't have even happened if his mom wasn't there. And Gilbert. He had hung out a little bit with Alfred in the living room after Gil had left and watched him play story mode on some video game about defending the United States from evil aliens (who were definitely coded to represent the Soviet Union). After a particularly boring cutscene, Matthew decided it was time to leave Alfred to his duties and head back up to his bedroom.

He picked up his cell phone from his bed, noticing a text message from Alfred/Gilbert. Why did Gilbert choose to text him? Out of all the people in Al's phonebook? From the text message preview, Matthew already knew what it was. He rolled his eyes. The Bee Movie script? Really? How did Gilbert even have the time to copy/paste it in the 20 seconds he was holding Alfred's phone? Matthew opened the message and braced himself, fully expecting his cell phone to crash. To his relief, it was just the introduction which Gilbert had seemingly memorized.

Matthew walked out of his room, cell phone in hand and went halfway down the stairs. "Hey Alfred?" he asked, peeking his head out from the railing, "Can you send me Gilbert's phone number? He texted me from your phone."

"Oh yeah dude!" Alfred laughed, "I saw that! The Bee Movie script? That shit's hilarious! Yeah, I'll send you his contact right now! Are you gonna get revenge?" he asked enthusiastically.

Matthew's phone buzzed with a message from Alfred that contained Gilbert's contact information. "Yeah hilarious…" he deadpanned, "Thanks Al." He booked it back up the stairs to his bedroom. He saved Gilbert's number and opened a text message draft.

It took a couple attempts, but Matthew finally came up with a message that he didn't want to delete right away.

"Hey. It's Matthew. If you're gonna send me dead memes you might as well send them from your own phone." He sent it, but as soon as it was delivered, he began to regret it. Was that too mean? He didn't mean it to sound that way. It was just a playful retort. Oh no, now Gilbert definitely had a reason to hate him. He was halfway through typing his apology when he saw those little grey bubbles pop up from Gil's end.

"Heh… dead meme? Bee Movie isn't dead. Heheh…" Oh good. A response. And one that didn't have an upset tone attached to it. In fact, he seemed like he was playing along. Matthew could almost practically hear Gilbert's weird chuckle.

"Lol. Duh dude. Bee Movie died in like 2015. Been under a rock?"

"Well I sincerely apologize that my meme supply isn't up to your standards. I was gonna send some rage comics but you wouldn't appreciate them like I would hope."

Matthew smiled to himself. He shut off his bedroom light and climbed into bed. The only source of light in the room was the glow of his cell phone screen, shining directly into his face. Gilbert was a smartass. Matthew could sometimes be sassy (mostly behind closed doors to Alfred when he was pissed off or when he'd be re-enacting an infuriating conversation to Elizaveta. To which she would respond with "Did you really say that?" and Matthew would sulk and say "No… But I thought it.") It was kind of fun texting Gilbert in a way that made it sound like they were bickering. They texted all night long. It went from bickering, to sharing funny videos, to Matthew sending up to date memes. It wasn't until Matthew heard the soft chirping of birds outside and noticed the soft morning light peeking through his blinds that he realized he had made a grave mistake. How the fuck was he going to go to school? How would he last through eight periods of hell on pretty much zero hours of sleep?

"Dude… you didn't get any sleep. It's 5 AM. Are you going to school today?" Matthew texted Gilbert.

"Hell yeah I'm still going lol my old man would kill me if I skipped after coming home so late last night."

"Me too. I'll wish you luck if you wish me some." Matthew sighed and kicked the covers off of himself. He might as well hop in the shower before Alfred. His brother was a notorious hot water hog.

"Good luck lol I'll see you in calc." His phone buzzed again with a second text message from Gilbert. "Wait aren't you a year under me? How did you get into calculus?"

Matthew half smiled at his phone screen while he was walking to the bathroom. "I placed into Geometry my freshman year. So I'm a year ahead in my math. I think there was a mistake though because I don't understand shit."

"I'm good at math lol… if you ever need help I got you."

"I appreciate the offer. I'll talk to you later. I'm gonna hop in the shower." Matthew sent. He put his phone down on the bathroom counter and got to work. He actually didn't mind being up this early. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation, but he still had an odd amount of energy. The best part though, was being able to shower without the urgency of nearly being late. He took his time, relishing in the scalding hot water. When he was done, he bent over and tousled his hair in the towel to help it dry, then wrapped the plush cloth around his waist. He picked up his cell phone to see if Gilbert had sent him a parting text message and… there it was. The dreaded:

"Without me? ;)" text message.

A deep cringe jolted throughout Matthew's entire body. It started as a tingle from the top of his head and lurched its way down to his feet. Gilbert was just one huge flirt. That kind of grossed Matthew out a little bit. He wasn't one to shame anyone about their romantic/sexual lives. It was fine as long as it was between two consenting adults… or er… teenagers. It was the fact Matthew was being subjected to it that made him feel extremely awkward.

Now Matthew would never admit this to anyone except for Liz, but he was embarrassingly unexperienced for a 17-year-old. It was hard growing up gay in a small town. Sure, there were a couple gay kids that weren't him or his brother. Maybe there were a few who weren't out yet. But it wasn't crawling with folks who were just begging to hook up with Matthew. Yes, he has had his first kiss… with a girl. His first kiss with a boy was at a summer camp when he was thirteen… but that turned out to be the punishment for a lost bet. Which was extremely traumatizing for him (and presumably the kid who had to kiss him). At parties, when his friends are locked away in bedrooms and hooking up with someone, Matthew either stayed on the main floor and sipped at a beer (which he secretly thought was disgusting) or would have descended into the basement with the rest of the stoners. Pot circles could be extremely intimate, but hookups aren't necessarily the activity of choice for a bunch of people who are so high that they feel like their legs don't work anymore.

It felt extremely humiliating to be in a position where… if anyone did decide that Matthew was sexiest thing on the planet and that they needed him now… he would genuinely have no clue what to do. And given his kissing experience, he wasn't even entirely sure how to do that.

Sex was an entirely different beast too. At least with straight sex there's really no confusion with who does what and what goes where. Gay sex requires a load of preparation. If you're not careful, you could wind up in a lot of pain. Based on the video research Matthew did, it scared him. Considering he would probably more closely identify as a bottom. Or maybe he was verse? Who even knew? It wasn't like he had any experience to reflect on. At least, when he would imagine things, he was typically on the bottom.

For a brief moment, as Matthew reread Gilbert's text, he imagined it. Being in the shower. With Gilbert. It sent another shudder through his body and his upper lip curled in disgust. Sure, Matthew found Gilbert to be extremely attractive. And sure, Matthew thought more of Gilbert after their long night of texting. Suddenly, Gil wasn't a complete obnoxious prick who liked to give everyone around him a hard time. He was just sort of an obnoxious prick who found it entertaining to tease others. He wasn't malicious. However, given the state of their current acquaintanceship, the thought of doing anything with Gilbert beyond a handshake gave Matthew the heebie jeebies. Plus, Gil was Alfred's friend. There was nothing more gross than showering with your brother's friend. He opted not to respond to Gilbert. He figured he'll just wave when he sees him in class.

Eventually, Matthew managed to shake these thoughts out of his head and he finished getting ready for school. He pulled on his jeans from yesterday and put on his favorite comfortable sweatshirt. He went downstairs so he could start brewing a fresh pot of coffee, but was delighted to see that the job was already done. His mother was sitting at the table with her own mug, and a separate mug for Matthew was across from her.

"Good morning sweetheart," she greeted, "You're up early!"

"Yeah," Matthew smiled. He sat down and took a sip, feeling as if a warm blanket was draped over his shoulders. The coffee was always better when his mom made it, he didn't know why. He just knew he could never replicate it, "I blame that nap I took."

"I didn't get to see you at all yesterday! You must have felt so sick."

"I was. I went to the mall with Liz and we got food from that new pho spot in the food court. I think that's what it was. I feel a lot better now though."

"That's good!" Josie stood up, and put her professional looking blazer on over her blouse. She walked over to Matthew and kissed the top of his head, "I'm glad I got to see you before work today. Have a good day at school okay honey?" She gave Matthew's shoulder a comforting rub before walking away, her heels clicking softly on the tile floor.

"Okay, Mom," Matthew responded quietly. He heard the front door click shut after his mother had grabbed her purse from the living room, then the engine of her car hum to life, and then eventually pull away. Matthew sighed contently as he took another sip of his coffee. He basked in the morning silence. The calm before the storm. The storm being Alfred galloping down the stairs and shouting about his crazy dream from that night.

Soon enough, Matthew heard Alfred's alarm go off along with the creaking of the floorboards that signaled Alfred was up and ready to go. His brother descended the staircase and stumbled into the kitchen so he could make a cup of coffee for himself.

"Did you sleep okay?" Matthew asked, still at the table.

"Like a flippin' rock dude," Alfred added loads of creamer and sugar before taking his first sip. "I passed out, like, right when I hit the mattress."

Matthew nodded and picked up his own empty mug, carrying it to the sink and washing it out.

"I had the craziest dream about an alien invasion where they would send out these nanobots to track our locations. So they were destroying like everything as long as there were people there. And you and mom were gone and I was hiding in my room and like freaking out."

"I think you need to play less video games with aliens in them."

"I think you're just a pussy who can't handle a little bit of sci-fi," Alfred retorted. In a playful way of course. Matthew just rolled his eyes.

His brother chugged the rest of his coffee and put it in the sink. He head back upstairs so he could take his shower. As time went on, Matthew grew more anxious. He wondered what was going to happen at school. Should Matthew have responded to Gilbert's text message? Did not responding guarantee that Gil would bring it up? Oh god… if he brought it up in front of Liz, Matthew just might evaporate on the spot. That would mean that both Gil and Liz would have something to tease him relentlessly about.

Matthew catastrophized all the way on the drive to school. Alfred didn't notice, he was just rapping along to the radio during the whole car ride. When Alfred parked, they were both greeted by Arthur Kirkland, who ran up to the car and knocked on the window. One of the school's tightasses. Matthew wasn't really listening, but it seemed like Arthur was mad at Alfred for not responding about some class project. Alfred began firing off his typical excuses, claiming he's been really busy these past few days and that he promised he would email Arthur his portion of the presentation tonight.

"See you later," Matthew said as he got out of Alfred's used 2003 Ford Explorer. Neither of them heard him. They were too busy bickering about a project that would either make or break their class grade. Matthew hitched his backpack up over his shoulder and head inside the school and to his locker. As he was loading in the books he wouldn't need until his next passing period, he felt a strong presence approach him from behind. A hand jot out and pinched Matthew's side.

He yelped and turned around quickly, seeing a self-satisfied Gilbert Beilschmidt.

"Morning sleepyhead," Gilbert chuckled and leaned against the locker that was next to Matthew's, "You left me on read this morning."

Ugh… Matthew was right. Gilbert was going to bring it up, "You're early today," Matthew responded.

"I had nothing better to do." Gilbert leaned in close to Matthew, which caused the young blonde to take a step back, "Wanna skip first period with me?" he asked quietly.

"First period?" Matthew asked, "Really? We just got here."

"So? What's your point?" Gilbert leaned in even closer and brought his right hip forward. He flashed Matthew a little flask, "It's always 5 o'clock somewhere."

Matthew's eyes widened in horror. "Gilbert!" he whispered urgently, "Alcohol? At school? You're going to get into so much trouble!"

"Correction. I could get into so much trouble. But you're the only person who knows right now and you're not going to tell a soul. Right, Mattie?"

Matthew gulped.

"Come on. I'm peer pressuring you. I wouldn't go through this amount of effort if I didn't want to spend first period getting tipsy in the boy's locker room with you."

"You know there's cameras in there."

"They don't check that shit," Gilbert's eyes narrowed and Matthew felt like a hot knife was being driven through his stomach. Was it bad that he kind of wanted to go?

Matthew never skipped class. Ever. On one hand it tempted him, but he felt like he had never been given the opportunity. On the other hand, he was always felt like he was too afraid to initiate it in the first place because he knew he would get into trouble.

Fuck it.

He was 17-years-old and he's never been rebellious. Well, at least at school. Plus, he felt like he was making a new friend aside from Liz. He loved Elizaveta more than anything, but she was pretty much his only close friend. Liz had plenty of other friends that she could hang out with besides Matthew. And maybe this would be his only chance to branch out from normalcy. "Fine," Matthew agreed, "Just this one time."

Gilbert threw his hands up in the air in excitement, "Hell yeah!" he exclaimed. "Let's go!"

Matthew followed Gilbert to the locker room with a bit of hesitance. Luckily, there were no first period gym classes for the whole school, so there would be no chance of them actually getting caught by a teacher. When they entered, the temperature rose a good 10 degrees. There wasn't a very good air filtration system installed, so the locker rooms were always extra hot and humid.

Gilbert made himself comfortable on a bench that was in the center of some lockers, sitting so that he was straddling the hard plastic. He dropped his backpack onto the ground and took his flask out of his pocket, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to Matthew. An offer of the first swig.

Matthew's face twisted in disgust and he shook his head, "I don't think so," he muttered.

Gilbert shrugged, "More for me. I guess I can't complain, I got you down here with me in the first place." He tilted his head back and took a quick gulp, squeezing his eyes shut and grunting when he lowered the liquor.

"You know Alfred would probably be more fun here," Matthew sat down on the bench that was across from Gilbert's and set his backpack next to him.

"I don't want to be down here with Alfred," Gilbert said simply.

"Isn't he the one you're friends with?"

"Yeah… we're friends. But who was the one I was texting last night? You're funny. I like talking to you."

Matthew felt a faint blush grace the apples of his cheeks and glanced away in hopes that Gilbert wouldn't notice.

Gilbert took another swig of alcohol and pursed his lips as if he were thinking of a conversation topic. He definitely took note of Matthew's blush. "You weren't at dinner last night," he started, "You missed out on my amazing backstory."

Matthew looked back at Gilbert, "I did? What's your backstory?"

"Well," he took another sip, "I guess you didn't miss much, actually. I just talked about being from the city. I went to a much bigger school than this," he looked around the locker room, "I think our changing rooms were probably 3 times this size. So, you and Alfred have lived in Hickory since you were babies huh?" he asked.

Matthew nodded, "Yeah. We pretty much went to preschool with a lot of the kids in our class. It's really tiny here."

"Do you ever feel the need to like… get out?" Gilbert asked. The liquor already loosened him up. His pale face was now a very light shade of pink.

"Umm…" Matthew scratched the back of his head, "Yeah. I want to go to college in Chicago. Hopefully, I'll be able to get my footing there and maybe move to an apartment or something."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow, "Chicago? Any particular reason?"

"Well… I like cold winters. It's not as big as New York City but it's big enough."

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Gilbert asked, "Long distance doesn't work."

"I…" Matthew felt his face grow hot, "Uh… no… no girlfriend."

Gilbert shook his head and waved his hand through the air as if he were swatting his last question away, "Sorry. Boyfriend. I know you're gay."

Matthew's anxiety had spiked by this point. Why was Gilbert asking him all these questions? He was pretty much under the impression Gil would talk about himself the whole time. That way Matthew didn't really have to engage. "Uh…" he gulped, "Yeah… I am gay."

"Dude you don't have to look so scared to admit it," Gilbert scoffed, "I'm bi. Sexuality is so not a huge deal anymore." Once again, he held the flask out to Matthew to offer a sip.

This time, Matthew took it. He tilted his head back and let the burning liquid slide down his throat before sputtering and coughing. What the hell was in here? Gasoline?

Gilbert seemed to think this reaction was the funniest shit in the world because he burst into a long bout of wheezing laughter. "Like it?" he asked, "I call it the Liquor Cabinet."

Matthew was still trying to regain his composure and he shook his head, "Gilbert what the fuck?" he asked. At first, he was horrified at what Gilbert had just given him, but now he found it kind of funny too. He started to giggle along with Gil.

"Dude, you should have seen your face. That was hilarious."

Matthew rolled his eyes playfully and quickly took another sip. Trying to prove to Gilbert that he could handle the taste of strong alcohol as long as it didn't come as a surprise to him.

They talked and laughed and drank for the majority of first period. Within half an hour, they were well above tipsy. Matthew's anxiety about hanging out with Gilbert to skip class and drink booze had pretty much completely melted away. He was now definitely sure that Gilbert really wasn't so bad after all. He was still a little upset with him for messing with Liz, but he felt like he could just hope that they would sort it out on their own. Matthew felt pretty damn comfortable with Gilbert.

Until… Matthew's cell phone rang. And it was his mother. "O-oh my god," he stuttered, "It's my mom."

Gilbert peered over at Matthew's phone screen for confirmation and nodded, "Just relax. One word answers," he whispered.

Matthew gulped and hit the 'Accept' button on the touch screen. "Hello?" Fuck. He was really in it now.

"Matthew?" his mother asked, sounding worried, "Where are you? The main office called and said you weren't in class! Are you feeling okay? Did you stay home?"

"N-no mom. I'm fine," he tried his best to sound sober.

"Then, where are you?" she seemed to be growing frantic, "You don't sound too good."

"Um…"Matthew looked at Gilbert, his eyes screaming for help. Gilbert just kept mouthing the words "Lie!" to Matthew over and over again. "I decided to uh… take a nap. And then I slept in. I actually just walked into the school now. They want me off my phone. Love you, Mom. Bye!" Matthew quickly hung up and buried his face into his hands.

"Dude," Gilbert asked, "Are you okay?"

Matthew raised his head back up. He was shaking it side to side to imply that, no, he was not okay. But at the same time, he was laughing. "The attendance office snitched," he sat up and rested his head against the tile wall. "We should definitely get going to second period." He looked at Gilbert through his half-closed eyelids.

Gilbert checked the time on his own phone and stood up, "Oh shit. Yeah, we do gotta go," he shoved his phone in his pocket and picked up his backpack. He held out his hand to help him up off the bench.

They both stumbled to calculus together, trying their absolute hardest to appear sober. They weren't entirely sure who they were fooling. Definitely not their classmates. Their teachers? Maybe.

They made their way into the classroom about five minutes late. Everyone else was seated and they both earned a glare from the teacher, but it wasn't enough to warrant a tardy slip. She was pretty relaxed about students being late. She was honestly just happy students were showing up.

Gilbert sat in his chair in the back and Matthew stumbled his way up to the front and sat down in his usual spot next to Elizaveta.

"Where were you?" she whispered to Matthew, "I thought you weren't going to show up. Did you get my texts?"

Matthew slowly looked over at Liz, "Uh… y-your what?"

Elizaveta's eyes widened in shock and her voice lowered even more, "Matthew. What were you doing? You smell like a fucking bar floor."

Matthew pressed his lips together in a thin line and shrugged, "I-I don't know what you're talking about," he responded, much quieter than his initial whisper.

Elizaveta quickly turned around, trying to see who Matthew had walked in with. To her absolute horror, Gilbert seemed to be in the exact same state as Matthew. Clearly under the influence, trying very hard to seem sober. As soon as they made eye contact, her gaze transitioned into a glare. "You were with him?" she asked. Her tone tight. She was pissed.

Matthew didn't respond. And that was enough to confirm Elizaveta's suspicions. Shit.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter :3 I'm actually really proud of it. Please review if you want to!