Disclaimer: All characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya!
A/N: It wasn't fair of me to put up this chapter by the number of reviews I get, so I'm sorry. I can, however, only load up chapters when I have free time off college and the work. It's a real bugger, but that's the only way of doing it.
When Berwald woke up, his backside ached and his body stiffened to ignore the pain. He remembered last night's events all too clearly, but then he was then distracted by an accented-voice.
"Hey, morning, big guy!" Gilbert said with a cattish smile as he leaned over the Swede. "Had a nice sleep?"
"…Ja," Berwald mumbled. Gilbert leaned down and kissed his cheek.
"Awesome! …That means 'yes', right? 'Ja' is yes in German!" Gilbert saying that while looking a little delighted made Berwald smile. He nodded. "Hey, do you want some pancakes for breakfast? I can make some really awesome ones and I got some maple syrup to put on them thanks to my Canadian neighbour!"
"What time is it?" Berwald asked, sitting up and looked around for a clock, but there's none.
"It's only 6… you're an early riser! Kesesese!"
Gilbert's laugh was amusing…
So Gilbert scurried out the bedroom wearing a hastily-put-on robe. That's a thought. Berwald forgot where the German put his clothes at… he'll have to basically walk around the place naked.
Berwald made a move to sit up on the bed, but pain shot through his lower back. Damn, the sex was so good… He slowly stood up and sighed in relief. The pain wasn't so bad that he has to lie down for some time…
"Hoi! Big guy! Your clothes are here! Come and get them!" Gilbert called from down the small corridor. Berwald reluctantly got up and stumbled down the corridor, half-leaning onto the wall. When he walked into the kitchen, he was greeted with a delicious smell.
"…Smells nice," he murmured, watching Gilbert shift a golden pancake onto a pile of steaming pancakes. There seemed to be about 20 piled up. The Swede frowned a little. "…Aren't ya makin' too much?"
"What do you mean?" Gilbert blinked. "I always make 10 for myself, but the other half is for you!"
So if Gilbert eats that much every day in the morning… Berwald was mildly surprised that the skinny man looked so slim despite the… regular diet.
"Come on! Sit if you like! I cleared the living room a little and I FINALLY found the coffee table!" Gilbert ordered when he turned the hob off and swept up the stack of pancakes expertly in one hand and the other grabbed a bottle of maple syrup.
Berwald turned and wasn't surprised to see that Gilbert just pushed all the junk behind the sofa, but at least the coffee table wasn't doomed to being buried by rubbish forever. He remembered something. "Are m' clothes dried?"
Gilbert tried not to grin. "They're hanging off the clothes horse behind me. I washed them before you woke up. I don't think you'd want to go around smelling like you got stuck in the rain. …I think your friend is happy to see me."
Berwald reddened and he brushed past to grab his dried clothes and got changed into them.
Gilbert was already eating some pancakes off the spare plate he took off the shelf. He licked the end of one rolled-up pancake before taking it into his mouth and he chew it, making it gradually disappear. Berwald watched, feeling his cheeks heat up even though his face didn't show his delight in watching the seemingly sensual display. The German grinned, running his tongue up the pancake and humming when he took the maple-dripping end in his mouth. Gilbert moaned a little, shivering on his own.
Damn that stripper for being so sensual… Berwald may still have an aching backend from last night, but he KNOWS that he'll end up throwing the German to the floor and-
"Wanna fuck me right now?"
Berwald choked on his pancake.
Gilbert laughed a little and reached to the coffee table for the bottle of maple syrup, but his eyes widened. "Shit… I'm out of syrup!" he complained, waving the bottle over his bare pancake, hoping to get even a small dot of the delicious amber-gold ooze onto his pancake, but nothing came out. It was empty. "Aww man now I gotta go see my neighbour!"
"Let me," Berwald stood up and put his plate of 7 pancakes down. "Which room does he live in?"
"Uh… just the door on your left when you go into the corridor, but be nice! He's really sensitive!" Gilbert smiled.
Berwald stood in front of the door to Gilbert's neighbour, holding a quickly-written note that the German asked him to give to… "Mattie?"
He already rang the bell, but it's been a few minutes… Oh, Berwald felt stupid. Who'd be up at this time in the morning? He knocked again and he heard a loud voice calling from down the concrete stairs.
"Stop making that racket so early in the morning! I'll have the council onto you!"
It was the old bat who shouted at him and Gilbert last night. She wasn't anywhere in sight, but she kept on ranting.
Suddenly the door opened and a teenaged boy stood there with his longish blonde hair looking a mess. He looked distressed.
"O-Oh, hello, sir, could I help you with anything?" he asked nervously.
"…G'lbert asked me t' give ya this note." Berwald handed the note over and the boy read it, eyes widening.
"Oh for the love of maple… he ran out again?" he sighed and smiled at Berwald. "Wait a moment… on second thought, come inside! I need to find a full bottle for good ol' Gilbert."
Berwald thought Mattie reminded him of somebody very familiar. He couldn't quite place his finger on who he reminds him of…
Mattie's apartment was as small as Gilbert's and are exactly the same, except that the kitchen surfaces were shiny, there wasn't any junk lying around, there were framed photographs sitting on top of the fireplace. Berwald closed the door behind him and went over to the kitchen area, standing on the carpet instead of the shiny tiled floor.
"My name is Matthew Williams, by the way," Matthew said, smiling as he picked out a full bottle of maple syrup and handed it to the taller Swede. "I-I hope I don't sound rude, but I think I know you..."
"It's alright. I think I know you from somewhere..." Berwald nodded. "…Mr Williams?"
"Oui? I-I mean yes?" Matthew blushed hard at his slipping English.
"Do you have a twin brother?" Berwald asked, wondering.
"O-Oh, no! No! I do have an older brother, but people mistake me for him all the time…" Matthew answered, sighing. "He works are IKEA. He crashes at his friend's home sometimes without telling me or leaving any notes, which worries me because I hate being alone sometimes and there are some nasty people living around the neighbourhood… Oh! Forget what I said!" Matthew suddenly yelped, going red again. "I-I don't have any friends to talk to and I call my parents in Canada in the evenings because their time zone is so different to Sweden's, s-so I talk too much!"
"I-it's okay…" Berwald blinked. He had a thought. "Is your brother's name… Alfred Jones?"
Matthew's eyes brightened. "Yes! That's my brother alright! Why? Do you know him?" He smiled.
"He…" Berwald suddenly remembered why he's in a derelict council flat when he could've been at his high-class expensive apartment with his wife and son. His employees are bound to wonder where he went and ask Tino… "I-I just saw him a few times. You two look very alike."
"Oh. Okay then," Matthew went confusedly. Berwald took the bottle of maple syrup out of his hand.
"Thanks."
"Y-you're welcome!" Matthew nodded.
Berwald turned to leave, when Matthew suddenly gasped and said: "W-Wait! I just want to tell you that you can come here anytime!"
The Swede looked at Matthew, blinking, before nodding with a small smile. "Thank you, Matthew."
Matthew blushed hard as Berwald closed the door.
"He seems to like you a lot," Gilbert smirked when Berwald walked into the room.
"Yeah…" Berwald handed over the full bottle of maple syrup and Gilbert gleefully held it. He knew that Gilbert spying on them from outside before coming back into his apartment.
"Yay~!" he cheered but then stopped and laughed. "I was going to tell you… that I already got some hiding under the table!"
Berwald blinked. "Then why didn't y' tell me?"
"Because Mattie needed someone to chat to since his arsehole of a brother is always away!" Gilbert replied and stood up, gathering the two empty plates. "Anyway, I gotta get changed and meet my boss later. He needed a word about some new client or something."
All of a sudden, Berwald felt like a stranger again standing in someone's apartment even though he only knew the German occupant for a couple of days. Not to mention he slept with a STRIPPER when he has an excellent job, a brilliantly expensive home, a (adopted) child and a wife! He started wondering why he's risking throwing all the good things away just for one person he barely knew…
"You alright, big guy?" Gilbert frowned. "It's nearly seven… maybe you should go back home now-"
"No, I'm late for work." Berwald suddenly said and smoothed his clothes out. He patted his pocket and pulled his car keys out. "I'll… see y' soon?"
"Pfft! Don't expect me to come hurrying into your pants next time, big guy!" Gilbert smirked and winked. "See me at the Starlight Glitter Club anytime. Just because I gave you a free service in my bed doesn't mean you could get away with not paying next time!"
Berwald knew that he HIGHLY doubted himself ever going to a strip joint. He hadn't met Tino's wrath yet. Maybe he'll break Berwald until he's too paralysed to walk around and be too disabled to leave the building…
"But really, I had fun. You're the nicest guy I met in this country. Possibly the whole world."
Berwald got into his car and sighed, resting his forehead on the wheel. His stomach was aching despite it being full of pancakes and his back end was only a little sore.
'It's not like I'll ever meet him again… I know where he works, but I have work to do so we should just both get along with our lives…' he thought and then started the ignition of the car before turning the car around and driving towards the road leading to IKEA.
When he walked into the staff room through the back door, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
"Boss, is everything alright?" Francis asked. He looked worried.
"Ja. Why wouldn't I b' fine?" Berwald asked, trying to be as normal as possible.
The ensuing silence in the room was suffocating.
"Well…" Francis wrung his hands together, trying to find his words. "Your wife came around looking very… upset. He asked us all where you were since you didn't come home last night and we assumed you were asleep in your office, but we had security checking the place out and you were nowhere to be seen…"
That was the most words that Francis spoken that didn't involve innuendo, but nobody cared. They all seem terrified.
"I'd take the day off, boss!" Annika suddenly suggested, breaking the awkward silence. "You look like you need a big break!"
A few other employees mumbled and nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Berwald was slowly dying on the inside and his stomach acted up.
He didn't want to, but he had to.
Berwald know he was going to regret coming home so early in the day. Tino is seriously going to kill him. He didn't call him last night, he didn't tell him where he was, he didn't... he just didn't say a single word to the Finnish man.
Berwald nervously keyed in the password into the electronic panel by the door and it beeped and blinked green before the door slid open.
"Tino?" his voice croaked as he walked inside. The curtains were already opened and Peter's schoolbag was gone. That was strange. It's a Saturday. Why would his bag be-
Berwald's vision suddenly blanked out.
A/N: Sorry it took long ^^