Hmm... maybe the last chapter, maybe not. I'm leaning towards not... well enjoy :) And yay for snow days!

When I woke up the next morning, I felt relief stronger than I ever had before. Gilbert was back… he had come back, just like he'd said he would. I wasn't alone anymore. He was going to stay with me now. Except that when I opened my eyes, I was no longer looking at his peaceful face, vulnerable in sleep. I was staring at the wall and there were no arms around me. Panicked, I shot up and looked around the room, desperation starting to choke me. Until I saw him sitting in my computer chair, staring with his usual mixture of cockiness and amusement. My heart slowed and I put a hand over it, taking deep breaths, calming myself back down.

"Have a good dream or what?" he chuckled, eyeing my bed slyly.

Huh? I followed his eyes to my sheets, only to find them soaking wet. Wh-what? There was no way… could I have wet the bed? Wait… I flushed immediately as I realized what this was. "N-n… b-bu… I d-didn't…" I muttered, unable to move, staring at the mess, completely flustered.

He burst into laughter, my squeaky chair groaning with every convulsion he had as he doubled over, throwing a water bottle at me wordlessly.

Totally taken aback, I picked it up and looked back up at him, not comprehending. Unless… My face took on a new color of blush as I put two and two together. So he had done this? Embarrassed by my ignorance, I went to my dresser and pulled out a new set of clothes, going to the bathroom to change, bringing the water bottle for some reason. When I had changed, I stayed in the bathroom for awhile, making sure I didn't start crying or something, holding the bottle in my hand tightly. So tightly that whatever was left squirted into my face.

Spluttering, I wiped my face on the nearest towel, pausing as I caught a weird scent… cautiously, I sniffed the towel and then the bottle. Ugh. What was IN this? Whatever it was, it wasn't water. Disgusted, I went back to my room, finding Gilbert strewn across my sopping bed, half-naked. Thankfully he still had his pants on, but I wasn't about to stand there and wait for him to take them off, so I strode over purposefully.

"What's in this?" I questioned, my voice a little too high.

"Just my awesome love juices!" he answered, going into another fit of laughter.

For a short moment, I felt myself intrigued by his answer, until I remembered how disgusting that was and how angry I was supposed to be about it. "I need to shower…" I murmured, rubbing my temples, but making no move to do it.

Just when I thought I was going to have to give Gilbert CPR from him laughing so much, my door opened and Alfred padded in, offering me some sort of Toaster Stroodle, possibly a Pop-Tart thing. Really, it was so mashed up, I couldn't even tell. I declined it, trying to get him out before he saw, but I knew it was too late. Just as he was walking out, he turned around to say something else and spotted the wetness on my bed.

"Dude." With a mischievous grin, he leaned against the doorframe, obviously readying himself to give me trouble about it.

With a sigh, I decided to spare Gilbert and pretend like I really HAD… done something like that. Blushing furiously, I pushed and shoved at Alfred, pretending to be really upset. It wasn't hard, since the trick Gilbert had played on me this morning had really humiliated me. I complained, miserable, until he finally left, laughing as he walked out saying, "About time!"

"You're a jerk," I whispered as I turned back to find Gilbert examining his nails.

He seemed astonished. "You mean the awesome me?"

Nodding, I went and sat down in the computer chair, spinning to face away from Gilbert, crossing my arms and pouting. I had been so happy last night, but now he had to ruin it by being stupid. And right when I thought he was starting to be serious. I couldn't follow his emotional rollercoaster and I didn't even want to try. Despite it being so early in the morning, I was already exhausted, ready for a break and some breakfast. Not that I was going to be able to face Alfred any time soon now.

"I am NOT!" Gilbert protested from his spot on the bed. "Cunning, yes, and tricky, yes, but the awesome me is totally not a jerk. You just don't know how to take a joke!"

As quietly as I could, I breathed on a huge sigh, "I want Apune back…"

But, as my luck would have it, he heard me and started finding intricate ways to contradict me, which I mostly ignored, staring at my blank computer screen. When he finally gave me an opening to talk, all I could think to say was, "That wasn't really your… I mean… in the water bottle, right?"

"Yes," he said with so much sincerity I knew he was lying to me.

I spun the chair to face him again, still trying to keep up my injured façade. "Gross…"

With too much relish, he told me, "You didn't seem to think so at first."

I felt my face burn again as I recalled that it was true. Even if it wasn't his love juice in the bottle, which I was sure it wasn't, when he had first told me, I hadn't reacted the way I was now. "I was taken off guard!" I claimed, my excuse pretty much pathetic. Then, breaking from the topic at hand, another thought came to me, one that I had suppressed last night in the flurry of kisses. "You're all healed… Gilbert, your arm and side… How?"

His smug, relaxed expression suddenly stiffened, making me tense myself. "Uhhh…. The awesome me is magical, duh," he joked, but the feeling wasn't in it.

"Why won't you tell me the truth?" I pursued my thought. He wasn't getting out of this without answering me.

Considering, he glanced down, his eyelashes creating a light canopy over his blood red irises. "Because… I don't want… to hurt you," he struggled out, saying his more tender feelings a seemingly difficult thing.

"I just want to know the truth, even if it's a little painful. Please, I need to know what's going on with you. So I can… prepare." I didn't even want to think about the implications behind my own words.

His eyes were back on me in an instant, flashing fluidly. "Mattie, the awesome me is here and completely normal because… because I used some of my power to bewitch your eyes. It was worth it if you didn't have to see what had really happened from making myself almost alive again… but if you want it, I guess I'll let you see it."

Did I want it? Did I really want to see him torn into pieces and filled with holes like I had imagined he would be? Or would I rather leave his current picture of health in my mind? As I struggled, I could feel him watching me. What did he want me to do? I glanced up with a furtive hope that he would convey something, but his face was like a mask, carefully placed and blank. I could tell he had an opinion; he was hiding it with all that he had. But how many more minutes would I have left with him if he was disappearing before my eyes? How many days? I doubted I'd have weeks, because if he had to cover it up in fear, then it was bad.

Coming to a decision, I told him, "Just let me see the real you."

And he did. I almost cried. There was next to nothing left of him, his spirit waning slowly from this planet to some other, faraway place. A place where only the dead go. Looking at him, I didn't even think I had days left. Every minute, one of his holes seemed to elongate, get bigger, grow wider, take out more of his beautiful body. It looked like someone had gone over him with an eraser erratically, scraping out random parts and now all that was left was… this. His remaining eye stared, taking in my reaction, sobered and in pain.

"Not pretty, is it?" He gave a forced laugh.

Finding that my hands had somehow ended up over my mouth, I put them back down and muttered, my eyes starting to water, "Where does the rest of you go?"

With a barely visible shrug, Gilbert said, "I don't know. But I'm going to find out pretty soon! And then…"

"And then…" I repeated almost inaudibly.

Out of nowhere, he gave me the greatest smile he had ever given me, one untainted with cocky narcissism or any other emotion he had shown me in the past. His teeth were ridiculously white and shiny, which almost distracted me from the tears slowly leaking out of his eyes. Almost. I'd never seen him cry before, but the water dripping down his face now was authentic, painful. Never had I seen him shine so bright.

"And then… then I can finally be by far the sexiest guardian angel that has ever lived!"

His words distracted me momentarily from his evaporating body, but it wasn't too long before I realized what was going on. "No… no… Gilbert, don't leave yet…" I pleaded, the tears finding their way down my own face.

"Pfft, don't worry, the awesome me will be back again! You worry every time I leave. You must love me or something!" I would have believed him if he wasn't still crying.

"B-But…"

"I'm never saying goodbye to you. Now go back to sleep, Mattie, and when you wake up, the awesome me will be there again!" With that, he gave one last eyebrow waggle before leaving.

And I knew that, this time, it really was for good.

"I do… love you…" I sobbed, knowing it was to deaf ears, but unable to help myself.

He was already gone.

"Yo, Mattie, I found some pancake mix in the pantry! Want some?" Alfred yelled obliviously.

Without a response, I just did what I felt like doing most. I crawled back into my wet bed and went back to sleep. Maybe, if I was lucky, I would never have to wake up. I'd only be alone.