A/N: So... I know I started writing this long ago, and some people may have lost interest by now... if that's the case, I'm sorry. I'm going to try picking this up again, though it may not be as good as that first chapter, because I was feeling the emotions as I wrote that.
Matthew was uncomfortable. The only thing that was nice was the warmth on his left hand. As he became more conscious, he could hear voices, and then smell something that made his mouth water and his stomach grumble. He groaned and opened his eyes to see Gilbert holding his hand and taking bites of something in his lap whenever he wasn't talking to the other man in the room.
He didn't know who this new guy was. All he knew was that the blond went to school with Gilbert and himself and was in their senior class. He hadn't actually met him, though.
"Mattie, you're awake!" Gilbert exclaimed, grinning at him. "This is my friend, Francis. He brought me some clean clothes and some real food. You hungry?"
Matt nodded weakly. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to eat with all of the bandages and wires covering him, but it turned out that he didn't have to worry for long as a forkful of whatever food Francis had brought was put in front of his face. Blushing at having to be fed, Matthew ate the food, which turned out to be as delicious as it smelled.
The three of them sat, talked and ate, and were later joined by a Spanish kid, who was also in their class. Matthew was surprised by the fact that he wasn't left out of the conversation, but was happy to be noticed nonetheless. However, they did have to leave when visiting hours were over.
Meeting with those three boys became a routine. After school, the three of them would come to the hospital with Matt's homework and help him to it (it was difficult to write with how much damage had been done to his right hand and left arm). Once homework was done, the four would talk and laugh. Matthew learned a lot about the others, like the fact that Francis and the Spanish boy, Antonio, were dating. For some reason, though, Francis kept getting a strange look in his eye and glancing between Matthew and Gilbert, though the two would just do their best to ignore it.
Francis and Antonio usually left together after an hour or two of talking. That left Matt and Gilbert to talk or just enjoy one another's company until visiting hours ended and Gilbert lingered until someone came to actually tell him to get out.
A few days went by before this routine was interrupted by Matt's parents and brother finally showing up. Matthew's three new acquaintances were told to leave while his family pretended to be worried about him. After what seemed like forever, they left. By that time, Francis and Antonio had gone, but Gilbert immediately came into the room to see how the poor kid was doing. The visit with his family left Matthew feeling drained, so he ended up falling asleep not long after Gilbert joined him. Though he was certain that he imagined it, Matthew could have sworn that he felt lips on his forehead as he was drifting off.
Finally, the day came when Matt was allowed to leave the hospital. He was really excited, even if it did mean he would go back to his family that never remembered that he existed. He could deal with it now because he had friends and Gilbert had made it very clear that he wasn't going to forget him.
Fidgeting, Matthew hoped the nurse would come and unhook him soon. He hadn't told his friends that he was getting out today, so he wanted to get there before it ended so that he could surprise them.
"Hello, dear!" his mother exclaimed in a falsely cheery voice, her fake breasts bouncing as she walked in.
"Hello, mother," he replied, his cheeriness even more forced than hers.
"I bet you're excited to get to go home."
"Yeah," he said, doing his best to sound enthusiastic.
The nurse came in at that moment, getting him unhooked from everything and shifting him to a wheelchair. "You just need to check out at the front desk," she informed his mother.
She nodded and wheeled him to the front. "Oi! We're here to get out of this hellhole," she shouted to the people behind the desk. Matthew sunk down in his chair, wanting to die.
A flustered nurse came up and started making sure everything was in order. "We just need him to keep coming back for two types of therapy. Here's his first appointment," the woman said, handing her a small card.
"I'll take that," Matthew told his mother, noting that she was about to slip the thing into her cleavage. He knew that even if she didn't lose it in there, she probably would forget about that appointment, like she did with all of Matthew's other ones.
"Alright, sweetie," she said, voice dripping with sarcastic cheer. Not that the hospital staff would notice. Matthew had just picked up on her different intonations from living with her for his entire miserable life. He took the card from her, putting it in the pocket of the jeans that she'd thought to bring with her—they were Alfred's, not his own.
Finally, she turned to leave the hospital. "Come on, hon," she said, wheeling him out. "We need to go pick up your brother from school."
"Can I see my friends while we're there?" he asked timidly. He knew that they'd be going to school, so he was hoping the whole time that she'd say yes to that question so that he really could surprise them like he wanted.
She rolled her eyes, but he couldn't see that because she was behind him, pushing the chair. "Fine, but make it quick."
They got to the car and Matthew carefully got up from the chair and got into the car. The pain killers that were still pumping through his veins were causing him a bit of dizziness, but he'd had worse. The nurse who had followed them out wheeled the chair out of their way, so Matt's mother took off, heading for his school. The woman parked in a handicap spot, even though they didn't have a sticker, which made Matt frown because he knew it was illegal. Nonetheless, he wanted to see his friends, so he got out of the car. Unfortunately for him, he moved a little too quickly, bringing on a headrush and more dizziness. Gripping the car door, he clenched his eyes tight, willing it to pass quickly. Since his eyes were closed, he didn't see his mom disappear into the school without him.
Once he'd gotten back to normal, he opened his eyes, sighing when he realized that she was gone. Making his way into the building, he decided that he'd drop into Gilbert's class for the last few minutes of it. He knew what Gilbert had because the two of them shared that class, so technically, it was his class too.
As he was walking, he was looking at his feet, so used to keeping his head down in the halls that it was just instinct, so he didn't notice that there was another person in the hall and he ran straight into them, getting knocked flat on his back. The person who ran into him turned out to be his very own brother, and the kid just kept walking as if nothing had happened.
"Alfred, did mom find you?" Alfred didn't give any sign showing that he had heard and just kept walking. Matthew sighed, not sure if he even wanted to get up any more.
"Mattie, are you okay?" This voice wasn't his brother's but it was definitely familiar, and he heard footsteps quickening and coming closer. "Why are you on the ground?" He was too distracted by the fact that his friend was on the ground to ask why he wasn't in the hospital.
"I felt a little faint," he lied.
"Do you want some water? I heard that helps or something..."
"No, I'm feeling better now." Matt finally sat up and Gilbert smiled.
"That's good. So..." He had finally thought about the fact that the Canadian was out of the hospital, so he asked, "What're you doing out of the hospital?"
"I was released today. I came to surprise you."
"Well, I'm pleasantly surprised." He grinned at the other. Then, he carefully hugged Matt and helped him to his feet.
"I wish I could stay longer, but I think my brother's cutting the end of class to go home early, so they're probably waiting in the car."
"Maybe we'll stop by later, then," Gilbert said, walking with Matthew toward the parking lot.
Matthew stopped, looking out the window at the parking lot with a sorrowful look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Gilbert asked immediately, searching Matt's face as if it held the answer.
"They left," he said softly, instantly looking even more upset now that it had been said aloud.
"Hey, don't worry. I drove Francis, Antonio and myself here this morning, so I've got a car. As soon as they get out of class, the four of us can head off and hang out somewhere other than a hospital room and then I can take you home after that."
"O-okay," Matthew replied, sniffling and trying his best not to let this get him down, even though it truly was doing so. Deciding to try to take his mind off things, he asked, "Wh-why aren't you in class, anyway?"
"I was skipping," he said with a shrug. Then he looked Matt over. "You should probably be taking it easy. Let's find somewhere to sit and relax."
Matt nodded and the two of them found a bench to sit on in the hall. They sat in silence and Matt leaned against Gilbert. It was so comfortable there that it wasn't long before he was dozing. Gilbert found the sight so utterly endearing that he just let him sleep there. It was all ruined, though, when the bell went off, because Matt jerked awake at the shrill sound.
"It's just the bell," Gilbert soothed him, hoping to calm the distressed boy.
After a few moments, Matthew did calm down, and not a moment after that, Francis and Antonio appeared.
"You're out!" Francis exclaimed, pulling him from Gilbert's arms and into his own. "It's good to see you up and about."
Smiling and blushing, Matthew nodded. Then, very slowly, he returned the hug. Soon, Antonio joined and then Gilbert and they had a big group hug, not caring about the looks and raised eyebrows they were attracting. Not that the entire class didn't know Francis and Antonio were gay already, but that didn't meant they didn't get shit for it.
"All right, guys," Gilbert said, laughing. "Let's go to that new gelato place."
"Sounds good to me!" Antonio exclaimed, getting out of the hug. The other two quickly followed suit and they all headed out to Gilbert's car.
"Mattie gets shotgun," Gilbert stated, sliding into the driver's seat.
"Of course he does," Francis commented in an amused voice, sliding in behind Gilbert.
Once they were all piled in, Gilbert drove them to the gelato place that he had mentioned. The four of them all went inside and straight up to the counter, just as someone was making their way out of the back.
"Ve~ Sorry. My shift just started. I hope you haven't been waiting long!" the boy gushed immediately, looking rather worried.
"We just got here, Feliciano," Gilbert said, cutting the boy off in the middle of his rant on how sorry was that they had to wait.
"Oh! That's good, then!" Feliciano exclaimed, grinning. "What can I get you?"
The four of them ordered and, after a bit of trouble finding what he was looking for, Feliciano gave them all their treats. Gilbert paid and then the four of them took over a large booth that could have easily and comfortably fit a larger group than theirs. They made themselves at home and chatted, just like they had all those days in the hospital. Matt felt much better now that he knew that someone was still going to remember him. His own family didn't, and that was going to be hell, but as soon as he was allowed to go to school again, things would just get better still.
It seemed like no time had passed at all, when Francis checked his watch and said, "Gilbert, we need to go."
"Ja... Bruder's expecting me home soon," he said with a sigh and then reluctantly pushed himself up from the table.
They all went out to the car and took the same seats as before. Francis was dropped off first, then Antonio. Matthew quietly listened to the radio as they drove, dreading it as they made their way up his driveway.
"We're here," Gilbert said sadly.
"Yeah," Matthew replied, making no move to get out.
"I promise that I'll come visit you after school. Antonio and Francis might be busy with sports, though... But I'll be here. So cheer up, ja?" he attempted a bit of a smile.
"Only if you do," Matthew replied.
"I will. As soon as I see you again."
"Then that's when I'll cheer up too."
Gilbert gave a sad smile, and Matthew returned it with the same emotion. Then, Matthew got out of the car and walked into his house, completely unnoticed. His room was as he left it, only a bit dustier, as it had been neglected. He sighed and fell face forward onto his bed, wanting tomorrow to get there quickly.