"Th-thank you…" was all I could manage when he stared at me, as if he were expecting something else.

He grumbled in displeasure, crossing his arms across his chest and pouting. "What, no kiss for the hero? The awesome me saves you from frostbitten ears and all you have to say is thank you?"

I felt my eyes widen from my shock at his request. B-but I wasn't really a princess! Why would he want me…? Then again, he had said he'd… done… that… to someone named Roderick… I gave him a forced smile and tried to laugh off his obvious joke. He was just messing with me! Yeah. I opened my eyes, trying to portray how amused I was with my face and instead found him looking down at me, a passionate fire burning in his eyes and a displeased grimace on his face. So he hadn't been kidding…

"U-uh…" I felt my face heat up from the awkward atmosphere. "This might surprise you, but I'm not actually a girl…"

His mouth twitched up at the corner and he told me, "Didn't think you were. Girls are too bitchy for my awesomeness!"

Before I could think of any way to respond to his harsh words, I heard Alfred calling out for me, obviously searching around. "Matt! Mattie! Where are you, dude? How long does it take to catch a hat?" He came around a tree and saw me, the worry and annoyance in his voice fading into relief. "There you are! I was totally wondering if you'd gotten stuck in a tree or eaten by a bear or something! Uh, what are you doing out here?" He looked around uncomfortably and grabbed me by the arm, pulling me back. "We should go back. That place gives me the creeps!"

Shocked, I tried to put up a resistance, but I was so weak compared to him… so outshined… "Wh-what about…" I started, turning around to point at the boy I had just met, but he had disappeared, not a even a footprint in the snow as evidence he had ever been there.

Lazily, he looked back at my puzzled face. "What about who, dude? C'mon, I wanna teach you how to skateboard!" Like a train, he dragged me swiftly back to where Toni and Francis were already skating around, shoving at each other, attempting to make the other one fall. Francis appeared to be losing the war. Alfred, grabbing his board from the ground, spoke obnoxiously to me. "Mattie, you're being really weird! Like, first, you ask where the other guy is and now this? What's up with that?"

"Who's 5MetersofAwesomesauce?" I murmured softly, the cold air caressing my face as I did.

Alfred froze and looked up at me slowly, his blue eyes darkening noticeably. "You never knew him… you never came out of your room to have the chance to. But he went to school with us and he was Toni and Francis's close friend, Gilbert."

A warmth filled my body as I put the name with the face of the boy from earlier… it was perfect. But I hadn't forgotten to note specifically what Alfred had said to me. "Was?"

"Yeah. He was killed in a really bad car accident a few months ago. The three of them, or as they like to be called, The Bad Touch Trio, were in it, but Gilbert was the only one who didn't make it. He was driving and I think there were loose things in the car and he got stabbed by an umbrella… Don't ask them about it though. Anyway, how'd you know about his penname?"

I opened my mouth, about to spill it, but another gust of wind blew, and though my hat stayed on, I felt a frozen hand clamp around my mouth, cutting off all ability I had to speak and forcing me to breathe through my nose. I resisted the urge to grab at the arm holding onto me, knowing that I would only look insane. Obviously Alfred couldn't see him, because he turned to see why I wasn't answering and looked right through the appendage.

"So?" he questioned impatiently. "Why are you clamping your lips together?"

"Hey! You two coming or not?" Toni called, distracting Alfred, who told him we'd be there in a minute.

"Yeah, so let's do it!"

I didn't know what possessed me to respond the way I did, but I knew I wasn't controlling my own words anymore. I never had been so outspoken. "Actually, I really gotta take a piss, so I'm going to be in the bathroom!" Then, without my consent, my body spun and started to walk away while Alfred gaped at my back, silenced by my sudden outburst.

Halfway to the restrooms, I felt my control be restored and I again could move my own limbs. In front of me stood the boy, Gilbert, examining his nails and leaning on the nearest tree trunk, a serious look of the better-than-thou variety on his face. Silently, he turned towards me and gave me a confident grin, gesturing to his outfit. I was taken aback, a gasp erupting from my throat as I realized he had changed from his winter clothes and was now wearing proper knight clothing, a beautifully carved rapier hanging at his side. He waggled his eyebrows at me.

"The awesome me knows what you like!"

My face reddened again. I hoped he thought it was just due to the freezing wind and not the fact that he was right. He looked extremely handsome in the all white fighter outfit, as embarrassing as it was to admit to myself. I had never really thought of anyone as "beautiful" or "handsome" before, so the feelings were all new to me. This was the first time I had ever bothered to pay attention to someone so closely before.

"Wh-why did you tell Alfred I needed to go to the bathroom?" I asked, hurriedly attempting to change the subject away from what I found attractive.

"So that I could talk with you, duh! It's obvious that he can't see me and the awesome me doesn't like to feel ignored. You're the only one who's been able to see me since the damn accident happened… not even Toni and Francis can. Or ! It's like the whole world went blind to my sexiness!"

I shifted uncertainly in my spot. Did Gilbert know that nobody could see him because he was a ghost? Did he even realize he was dead? I played with the fringe of my scarf, anxiously wondering if I should let him know or keep on letting him believe the world was… what had he said? Blind to his sexiness? I decided it wasn't fair that he didn't know. "G-Gilbert," I started, but then stopped, his name coming weirdly familiar from my lips. When I had gotten over the déjà vu, I continued, "Do you… realize you're… well, not HERE anymore?"

I had been trying to be gentle with it, but instead it had come off as vague, confusing him.

"I'm here! I'm standing right in this spot!"

I shook my head, letting my long hair cover my eyes as I looked at the ground and told him, "That's not what I meant. I mean… In that accident a few months ago… well, you didn't exactly make it. You aren't… alive… anymore."

There was a pause between us for a moment, full of tension, before he burst out laughing. I looked up at him, alarmed. Did he think I was joking with him?

"No shit! The awesome me already knew that that lame car crushed me! But I still want people to be able to hear me and see me, because what would they do without me and my five meters? That's why I was on the IM, but nobody responded to me but you. Saying that I fucked Roderick was to get someone to talk to me! I thought it was Alfred at first, but you two are nothing alike. You're way sexier!"

I paused, noticing something I hadn't before. "But what about the invitation for coming here? You sent it…"

He scoffed and explained, "The awesome me just heard the conversation Toni and Francis were having about IMing you guys to come. I did it first, but there's probably another message up now. I sneak around in everyone's houses while they sleep because it's awesome! Nobody ever wakes up or anything! Well, with you, I can go further than just creep around in your house. I can get into your dreams, like an awesome pedo creeper dude and brainfuck you!"

I didn't like the laugh he gave or the words he was saying. Both sent chills shooting down my spine. So he had made me dream about him last night? He had deliberately gone into my head and changed whatever I had been thinking about? Panic rising, I took a step away from him, shaking from fear rather than the cold. Suddenly, I felt vulnerable, which was exactly what I had always tried to avoid by sitting in my room. I didn't want to let people do these things to me, so I had stayed where no one could ever hurt me. Tears of terror welled up in my eyes and I spun around, trying to run away, but the point was absolutely mute; he was a ghost. He could keep up effortlessly.

Despite the fact he was keeping pace with me, I kept on running until I made it to the car, where I quickly started pulling on the door handle, sniffing up the snot that ran down my face and gasping, only to find it was locked. Just as I was about to call for Alfred (though he probably wouldn't have even heard me) Gilbert had grabbed my arms and spun me around, pressing me against the car, his eyes frantic and his face centimeters away. I had never been much of a talker, due to my shy and bashful nature, but if I was in trouble, I could scream like no one else. I sucked up air, getting ready to shriek, my lungs full to bursting so I could let out a good, long, loud-

And he pressed his icy, dead lips on mine.

The scream died in my throat as he breathed, "I'm sorry… But the awesome me wants you to have his babies."

:D What an honor for Mattie! Please, tell me how I'm doing ;)