The first night after Matthew admitted his love for Gilbert was spent with him in Gilbert's arms, crying in relief. It was nice to know that he wasn't going to be shunned for something that he couldn't help but to feel. Not only was he not being given the cold shoulder like he had feared, but his feelings were reciprocated. The tears just wouldn't stop. He was happy and relieved and just... his heart felt lighter now that he had that off his chest and wasn't dealing with it alone. The two fell asleep in one another's arms, and Matthew didn't end up pressed against the wall like usual, but instead he was pressed tightly against Gilbert's chest.

Then, there were exams. Gilbert was stressed as it was, and then he had to worry about Matt as well, who was constantly on the verge of tears. Whenever they could, they studied together, but they weren't able to do that with everything. Their language classes, for example, were different and it wasn't something that one could easily help the other with. Luckily for Matthew, that was the one thing that he didn't really need to worry about, as he had gotten rather fluent in it, and even had knowledge from before he was taking the class. But just about everything else was stumping him and he was certain that he was going to fail all of his classes. A few times, they would both just be forced to take a break, more for Matthew's sake than anything. Generally, Gilbert would hold his new love and console him, reminding him that he was smart, and his grades were good enough that even if he didn't take the tests, he could still pass his classes. Once Matthew was calm, he would make them some snacks and they would fuel up so their minds would be sharper as they tried to cram in every last bit of information possible into their aching, over worked brains.

But then, exams were over. They were free for the summer. No more stress from school to push down upon them, only the beach to call them and parties to attend.

A couple of weeks into summer, Gilbert woke up alone in his bed. He was confused, especially after becoming used to waking up with Matthew in his arms. Worriedly, he made his way to the bathroom, checking there first to see if the boy was having problems with his depression again, but the bathroom door was wide open and no one was inside. Gilbert's uneasiness with the situation grew at this point, and he was sure that he was going to run downstairs and find Matthew with one of the kitchen knives in his hand and a long cut in one of his arms. Rushing, he made his way to the kitchen and found Matthew.

"Good morning, eh," he said, turning to Gilbert with the very kitchen knife that Gilbert had pictured in his head only moments ago. Not only that, but the knife had red on it.

"What did you do?" Gilbert asked in horror, eyes wide as he looked at the knife.

"Oh, I'm sorry about the mess. I'll clean it up! Don't worry."

"I am worried. You were with me when I woke up and you're holding a knife dripping red and—"

Matthew cut him off, even though that was something he normally would not do. "It's strawberries, Gil."

"Straw... berries...?" Gilbert repeated dumbly, looking at the knife, then Matthew, then the counter. There were strawberries covering the surface of it. "Oh..."

"Oui," Matthew said, smiling just a bit. "I'm getting ready to make some strawberry pancakes."

"Oh gott... that sounds delicious," Gilbert said with a grin.

So Matthew got back to work and it wasn't much longer before they got to eat the delicious concoctions. And they were the best pancakes that Gilbert had ever eaten. (Granted, the only kind he had ever had were just plain pancakes, and they weren't made from scratch, but from a box of mix that was in the cupboard.)

As the summer wore on, Gilbert stopped jumping to the conclusion that whenever Matthew wasn't in his awesome presence, he must be off trying to hurt himself. With the therapy and help from his new, good friends, Matthew was improving more and more with every day, even becoming a little outgoing. But still, the person that he loved to be with most was Gilbert.

(A/N: This next bit's leading into smut, for those of you who wanted. Skip to the next A/N if you don't want to read it.)

Matthew and Gilbert were on the couch, watching one of Matthew's sappy romance films. Gilbert, as much as he was loathe to admit it, was a sucker for these films. While he would always complain when Matthew wanted to watch one, he secretly enjoyed every minute of it. Especially because Mattie got really into the films. He would hold Gilbert's hand, lean into him, kiss his hand or cheek, sob, shout at the screen, and sigh at different points, always absorbed completely. Gilbert... well, he was interested in this film, but much more interested in Matthew. As the actors shared a heated kiss on the television screen, he carefully turned Matthew's face toward him and delivered a passionate kiss of his own.

With little hesitation, the kiss was returned, and soon grew deeper. Gilbert pull Matthew onto his lap until he was being straddled, then brought his hands up to tangle them in Matthew's soft golden hair. It always surprised him that a man could have hair like that. Nonetheless, he loved it. His fingers moved in circles on Matthew's scalp, massaging it as well as making his hair a mess.

The kiss lasted until Matthew pulled away for air. Normally, Gilbert would press a soft kiss to his nose and then rest their foreheads together until they had both calmed down, but today he wanted to go further. His kisses were trailed down the smooth white skin of Matthew's neck. With no objections coming from his lover, Gilbert undid Matthew's shirt and made his way down the lean chest. Matthew had very little fat; his body just didn't seem to want to gain weight, and it took a lot of work just to get him to the point he was at now. Gilbert's lips went to work, kissing every inch of skin they could reach before coming up to kiss Matt's lips again.

Matthew's arms immediately wrapped back around Gilbert and he pressed against him, trapping Gilbert's hands between them as Gilbert had tried to move his hands to play with Matthew's nipples.

Slowly, Gilbert moved so that Matthew was laying on the couch and he was hovering over him. The movie was still playing, but neither of them really cared now.

"T-take your shirt off too," Matthew stuttered, his face flushing a pleasant shade of crimson.

Gilbert sat up and removed his own shirt, then moved down and kissed Matthew again, playing with his nipples as Matthew arched up into him.

"G-Gil!" he moaned, eyes fluttering closed.

"Matt," Gilbert whispered hotly in his ear, "you're so hot." He pushed his hips down against his lover's, grinding slowly. The two of them were quickly getting turned on, bodies heating up as they moved.

"I w-want to take off my clothes," Matt whined, getting really warm, as well as uncomfortable with his erection straining in his pants.

Gilbert moved off of him and removed first Matthew's clothes and then his own before pressing against him again.

"P-please," Matthew moaned, eyes fluttering.

"Please what?" Gilbert asked huskily.

"I want you." His face flushed. He knew they were both well prepared as they had looked this up long ago, but he was still nervous.

Gilbert nodded, moving off of him to grab some lubricant. He came back, covering his fingers with it. "Relax," he whispered, fingering the ring of muscles before pushing one in. Matthew gasped at the penetration. "Shhh..." Gilbert whispered. He moved down and began licking Matthew's member, testing the grounds to see what he was comfortable. Gilbert pushed another finger in, starting to suck on the tip of his dick. Matthew was moaning, doing his best to stay relaxed, even when he felt uncomfortable. At a snap decision, Gilbert took in all of Matthew, choking on him while Matthew cried out in pleasure. Taking the opportunity, the third finger was added and soon Matthew was ready.

"I'm going in," Gilbert whispered, pulling his fingers out and smearing lubricant on himself. Then, after giving Matthew a moment to steel himself, he thrust in with a rather lewd moan.

Matthew was clinging to Gilbert, panting. "I-it hurts."

"I can pull out," Gilbert offered, starting to move out.

Matthew moaned. "D-dieu! Don't stop!"

Taking that as a good sign, Gilbert pulled out more and then slowly thrust back in.

"G-Gil!" Matthew moaned, pushing back onto him.

A pace was quickly set and they moved with each other, the sound of bodies slamming together and moans echoing throughout the room. Soon, they both climaxed and then held each other close.

"Don't tell my parents we did it here," Gilbert said once he'd calmed, motioning to the couch. "Let's move to my room and clean up."

Matthew nodded and shakily stood, then they made their way to Gilbert's room and cuddled there until they fell asleep.

(A/N: End of smut.)

Matthew and Gilbert grew closer and closer. They were dreading the day that they would have to go back to school. But they would face it together. Even college wouldn't ruin their relationship. The two of them would spend the rest of their lives together, with very few problems with Matthew's depression. They were more than happy together, and never lost touch with Francis and Antonio, throughout all the years of their lives.

A/N: This is the last we hear from Matt and Gil. The next/last chapter is Alfred's, as voted by you people. I love my readers/reviewers so much. Thanks for sticking with me and I'm sad to see this story coming to a close.