Entry 2: Of Friends

It was morning, Gilbert was sure of that, only he didn't know where this morning actually.

The clean bed sheets, a pale blue with white spots dotted across the sides, confused him. Everything smelt new, washed and clean. A little like lavender or some posh washing up powder. So it defiantly wasn't his bedroom. He was aware he was lay on the floor, on a rug no less, with these clean sheets over the top of him and his folded up jacket beneath his head acting as a pillow. He placed a hand to his face to rub sleep from his eyes. With clearer vision he could see a leg in front of him. A very hairy, tanned leg. Who was he sleeping head to toe with?

He didn't bother to look - not after realising that this leg belonged to a boy, which only slightly disturbed him. He hoped it was Antonio or Francis or else he was never going to drink again.

"Gilbert, get up." A voice called from the other side of him, not the owner of the leg. Someone else. "Gilbert." The voice got a little louder as it walked across the room, stopping beside his make shift bed and tapped a foot against his head. "Up."

Gilbert covered his eyes with both arms. "Huh?"

"Get up. Now!" The voice belonged to Francis. What was he doing in Francis' room?

Gilbert tried to lift himself into sitting position but his arms gave way and his ears started ringing. It felt like someone had just dropped a sledge-hammer onto his forehead. He slammed his hands back over his face once more. Perhaps he had got drunk again and passed out at Francis' house. No not perhaps, defiantly. "No."

The floorboards creaked a little under him as Francis walked across the room, very slowly Gilbert uncovered one eye. Blinking away the too bright morning lights he could see Francis leaning towards the mirror on the back of the wardrobe door. Long, elegant fingers twisting together as they tied back his hair into a silk ribbon. "Get up, I have stuff to do and you're dribbling on my pillows."

"Well I am sorry about your fucking pillows." Gilbert said, his voice sounded gravel like and it felt like he had swallowed nails. Although Gilbert often promised he would never drink after nights like the one prior to this day, he knew very well he would break that promise come the next weekend.

"Shut up Gilbert." Antonio said from under the blankets. Gilbert shrieked as the hairy leg in front of him kicked at his shoulder. Sleeping with Antonio wasn't as horrifying as sleeping with a stranger.

Gilbert managed a laugh and pushed the foot away. He asked, "Oh, hey man what are you doing here?"

The blankets shifted and covered Antonio's head. "You two got extremely drunk."

"I can see that."

"I do not regret a thing." said Francis, still trying to perfect the blonde hair as he sprayed a fair amount of hair spray into the sleek golden locks.

Again Antonio's muffled voice spoke up, "I had to come and take care of you two. Ended up staying the night after Gilbert got a little handy."

"Uh, my head." The two boys lying on the floor turned their attention to Francis' bed. Beneath the blankets and bed-clothes a face poked out from its cocoon of duvet. It wasn't a face Gilbert recognised, a delicate looking face framed by waves of blonde hair ruffled up on one side from a bad sleeping position. The stranger sat up and rubbed his hands over his eyes as Gilbert studied his tired body and hoped that Francis hadn't shagged him while he and Antonio had been asleep on the floor.

"The fuck are you?" Gilbert said, too loud for his own hung over state. He tried not to notice that the boy was shirtless and most likely not wearing much else below the blankets. "The fuck is that?" Gilbert addressed Antonio.

"I am not too sure, Francis' new bed-mate apparently." The Spaniard smiled and propped himself up on his elbows. "He makes nice under the cover sounds."

"Oh my God." Said the stranger before slipping back under the blankets. So yes, in a true Francis Bonnefoy fashion he had shagged a complete stranger whilst two of his friends slept on the floor of his bedroom.

"That he does!" Francis said with a smile as he closed the wardrobe and pushed a strand of hair behind his ear. Francis crossed the room, dodging in and out of the discarded clothes of the stranger, Antonio and Gilbert combined, with a glass of water in hand. He sat on the bed and pulled the blankets down, maybe a little too far down as it wasn't nesscary for the other occupants to see the boys shirtless frame but then Gilbert and Francis did have very different ways of looking at the world. "Good morning, Matthew. How are you today?"

The boy in the bed took the water from Francis and downed it in one go. "Uhgh."

Gilbert ran his hand through his hair and sat up. Much like Matthew he was also lacking clothes, only it would be safe to assume that it wasn't for the same reasons as Matthew. He said a 'thankyou' when Antonio through his shirt in his direction and began to get dressed. "What exactly happened last night?"

"You got drunk on Francis' fancy wine, call me over to join you because you promised a take away. I should have known it was a load of bull crap. We then went to the pub, convinced Arthur to buy us more beer so you could get even more drunk. Oh and Francis charmed the little tourist over there into shagging him in the loos."

"Oh god!" With that Matthew disappeared back under the covers.

Francis smiled with triumph and ran his hand over the top of Matthews head. Fingers sliding into his hair, "and it was magnificent"

Matthew batted away his hands and grumbled. "Country of love my ass."

If Gilbert didn't find the situation so humourous he would have said something but instead allowed Antonio to continue. "Then we saw some people from college, got to see Berwald beat the crap out of Matthias for no reason what so ever."

Francis said. "Not true. I heard he suggest that he, Tino and the pretty Norwegian boy go back to his place for a bit of 'you know what' and I guess Berwald isn't over Tino yet."

"Oh, nice." Said Antonio, although Gilbert wasn't sure what was so nice about it. Tino's and Berwald's relationship has ended through a post of Facebook with everyone able to see it. "I cannot be sure but I think Yao Wang got sucked off in the alley way outside."

"Wh said that?"

"Me, saw him heading out there with Ivan, who came back a little while later feeling very happy with himself untill his mad sister started crying, had a fit and pulled a knife. Arthur's brother had to close up early. Then we left in a taxi, got kicked out after Francis tried to undress himself and no-name over there."

"I'm called Matthew." Still hidden by Francis' silk sheets. "and if someone could bring me my pants I would be very grateful."

"Matthew, sorry, then we got the bus and ran into a certain couple." Antonio said, raising his brow suggestively.

"Which one?" Francis asked.

"Elizabeta and Edelstein." Antonio answered. Gilbert stopped getting ready and froze up a little. He had forgotten a little about them. With a nod Antonio continued on. "I ship it. Although everyone kind of shared in an awkward moment"

Gilbert didn't like where the conversation was heading and quickly tried to change the subject. "What the fuck is actually with Edelstein? You cannot just decide not to be gay. It doesn't work like that. Does it?"

"Francis does it all the time."

"Again I have no regrets." Francis fell back on his bed, "If I remember correctly Gilbert, in your mad drunken state you stirred up quite the fuss."

"Oh God what did I do?"

"Nothing much, tried to kiss Elizabeta, tried to snog Elizabeta, almost dry humped Francis, kissed my neck because you though I was Elizabeta and then tried to kiss Rodrich." Antonio said as he pulled on his shirt, Gilbert didn't bother to tell him it was the wrong way around.

"What?"

"Yes, it was very entertaining."

"I don't remember that part."

"Ah yes, you had your hands down Martins pants."

"Matthew."

"Matthew. Sorry." Antonio said trying to pull on a pair of skinny jeans as still lay beneath the blankets. "You then sad a bunch of vulgar things i never thought i would hear you say."

"Shit!"

"Needless to say you scarred Roderich for life." Both his friends laughed and Gilbert couldn't help but feel a little stupid for his actions. "Poor man"

"Shit, that's it. I give up with life. I'm just going to stay here and sleep. Francis fuck off, I live here now." The German boy kicked hs feet at the floor and retreated back into the safe haven of his makeshift bed.

It took around thirty minuets for Francis to get his friends to get dressed. Another ten for them to leave his house and an additional five to clear away the bedclothes they hadn't bothered to put away.

"Hey Francis." Matthew said, the young Canadian boy was still hidden away and to be honest with himself Francis had forgotten that he was there with him being so quiet. He shyly pushed the blankets from his face and sat up trying his best to hide his body - still lacking clothes. "Can you pass me my shirt?"

"Uh, Qui."

"And Francis? Can you take me back to Arthur's house. I have no fucking clue where I am."

Antonio observed Gilbert as they rode the bus. He hadn't had much of a chance to just stare at him. Of course over the years he had noticed in past the little things that made him work but he hadn't taken time to do so recently. Gilbert seemed so much more mature yet at the same time naïve and useless. He didn't fit his skin; still an immature year eleven student staying up all night playing Xbox and not revising instead of the eighteen years of life his body showed off.

As the years had gone by all the fatty flesh had fallen from Gilbert's face and left hallowed out cheeks and reddened eyes slightly sunken in from too many hours spent awake in an unhealthy lifestyle. He still remained with the same body shape, however. Pale and skinny with twigs for arms. He made up for the lack of muscle in height.

The two students sat in silence on the bus ride home from Francis. The Frenchman lived in a small flat of his own in the city center, quite far from Gilbert and Antonio who remained in their families homes in the suburbs. They occasionally shared a glance in the other direction, Antonio would grin in his direction and then the silence would hang between the two untill one would look away. Gilbert choose to look out of the window. The trees going past too quickly for him to pay attention to and the pedestrians were every so often. Very few people awake on this time of day.

Gilbert scratched his chin, calloused fingers grazing over the stubble there before something moved in his pocket. It was an unfamiliar feeling but he recognised it. The soft vibrations and then a sound began to pour out of the speakers of his mobile phone and Gilbert realised that someone was ringing him.

No one ever rang him. What the fuck as going on?

Patting his hand over his breast pocket; pulling out his Blackberry. The number was unknown and almost as though he as scared to see who was calling him - which of course he wasn't - he pressed the button and lifted the phone to his ear.

"H-hello?" He said, having to cough and clear his throat several times to speak.

"Wow," The voice said. Female, defiantly female. "You sound bad Gilbert, I'm not surprised. You were pretty smashed last night."

"Who the fuck is this?" Gilbert, always the charming kind of young man, said.

In return the voice laughed and another muffled voice spoke in the background making the stranger on the phone laugh some more. "God, Gilbert. It's me Elizbeta. I was hoping that by some off-chance you would remember but you were shoving your tongue down Francis' throat for some of it." Gilbert paused. Ignoring Antonio leaning in to hear th other side and asking who was calling him. Elizabeta had called him, for whatever strange reason she had called him and this was the first contact (other than the night before that Gilbert couldn't remember and from what Antonio had told him he probably wouldn't want to) in years. And he was hung over. And now he knew it as her he guessed she was probably in bed with her boyfriend. "You gave me your number last night, told me t call you when you had sometime to spare and you were not seemed a rare occasion so I thought I'd call early. At least I avoid drunk Gilbert, I saw enough of him last night."

Gilbert guessed from the giggle that she may have actually seen rather a lot of him. Well, it couldn't get any worse. He laughed "Ah, what's wrong pretty miss? Cannot stand to see a hot piece of ass like me?"

"Not when that ass is trying to fuck my boyfriend in front of me." Fuck. "To be serious though Gil you sure do know how to make a girl happy."

And this. This was what Gilbert was missing. The easiness. No awkward parts and lack of conversation between anecdotes. It flowed steady and quick. A comfort after so long of feeling alone that Gilbert felt somewhat sad that this was just a phone call and they were not talking face to face. No silence, no long terrible stares. So Gilbert decided to take a chance.

"So, you wanna meet up? Not now. Killer headache and I need food but tomorrow?" Just this once and hoped to a God he didn't belive in that fate was on his side.

He heard the voice again, not Elizabeta's. Probably Roderich's. Before she giggled and gave a soft reply. "I'd love to."