It had been nearly six months since Birdie's death, and Gilbert was at his wit's end. It didn't matter how much time passed, he still got up every morning expecting to see Birdie sleeping peacefully next to him, and every time he was disappointed. It didn't help that Arthur visited Alfred more often, and frequently sent pitying glances his way, making him feel even worse. Sometimes he regretted ever meeting Birdie. If only he had known that this was how it would end, he would have never saved Birdie all that time ago.
Actually... now that he thought about it, it had been exactly a year since they'd met. How cruel the world seemed to be to him. It was two in the morning right now. It was even snowing! It was a perfect recreation of the night they met, and it was painful. A wave of bitter nostalgia passed over Gilbert in the silence of Birdie's bedroom as the snow outside fluttered to the ground.
Gilbert reclined onto Birdie's bed and tried to make himself relax. It had been so long, and he still spent most of his time in Birdie's room, waiting for him to come home from school. As stupid as that mindset was, it was better than trying to cope with the fact that Birdie was never coming back.
Maybe it was about time he did cope, though. Get over him. He had all the time in the world to do whatever he wanted, and he was letting Birdie get in the way of that.
But what was the point of doing anything without Birdie...?
The sound of the front door being opened filtered through the walls. Gilbert thought nothing of it. It was probably Alfred's worthless father coming in to do who-knows-what after his trip to nobody-cares-where. If anything, it just depressed Gilbert more by reminding him how little Birdie's father cared for his own son.
That is, it depressed him until he heard a very familiar someone call into the house.
"Gilbert! I'm home!"
Gilbert stopped breathing. No, this wasn't possible. He was thinking too much. This wasn't real.
And yet, he clearly heard footsteps on the kitchen's linoleum floor advancing to the carpeted hall with the bedrooms.
"Gil?" The person knocked on the door. "Are you in there?" Gilbert didn't move a muscle. He refused to believe that he was actually back. That was a ridiculous, hopeful notion that would just hurt in the end.
"Well…" the hallucination said. "I guess you've moved on, huh? Don't worry, I get it. I'm dead, right? So there's nobody to wait for…" He paused. The next time he spoke, Gilbert heard tears through his voice. "But now there is. I came back for you, I really did. A-and… You can't hear me, but… I love you, Gilbert. I always will."
After that, footsteps were heard walking away, and Gilbert had a decision to make. A simple one, but a decision nonetheless.
He shot up off of the bed, threw the door open, and whipped his head to look down the hall at a person walking away with a hung head.
"Birdie!"
The retreating figure stopped in its tracks. Then, his head slowly turned to reveal his eyes.
Brilliant, beautiful, violet eyes.
Gilbert wasted no time in tackling Matthew into a bone-crushing hug. He didn't want to cry in front of Matthew, not now, but tears still pricked at his eyes. It felt too good to be true, so he clung to the blond as if he would disappear at any moment, and didn't let go.
"Oh, Birdie, Birdie, Birdie, I'm insane. You're really here, aren't you? But you were dead, but now you're back, and Gott I missed you, I love you, Ich liebe dich, Ich liebe dich so sehr Oh Gott, ich glaube, weil Sie wirklich, wirklich hier bist ich bin verrückt geworden, und-"
"Gilbert! Slow down, I can't understand you! Are you speaking German? I'll start talking in French if you don't stop-" Gilbert sobbed into the blond's shoulder, effectively cutting him off. "… Gil? Are you all right?"
"You died." Gilbert tried to deadpan while crying. "You were dead for six whole months, and it was all my fault that you died, and I thought I would never see you again, and… No, I'm not fine, and… Goddammit, look at me…"
Matthew finally returned the albino's embrace and rubbed soothing circles into his back. "It's okay, Gilbert…" he whispered. "Shh, it's okay, I'm here now, right? That's what matters… Everything's fine…"
"Don't scare me like that again, okay? Promise?"
Matthew chuckled. "Promise."
They held each other like that for a long time, with Matthew calming down Gilbert, and Gilbert holding on to Matthew as if his sanity depended on the contact.
Alfred couldn't hear them.
They were the same now.
"I missed you so much, Birdie."
"I know, Gilbert. I missed you, too." Matthew pulled away. "Now, let's go outside and make some snow angels, okay?"
Gilbert rubbed his eyes dry of tears the best he could and nodded excitedly.
"Okay!"
"Alfred, you realize that you have snow angels all over your yard, right?"
"Yeah, it's probably just the neighbor's kids. They did the same thing last year. I dunno why they don't just play in their own yard, but it doesn't bother me."
Arthur shrugged and trudged behind Alfred over his snow-covered walkway, when something caught his eye. There was something written underneath two of the angels. They were made close to the house, so it was easy to make out what they said.
Gilbert was written under one, and Matthew under the other.
Startled, Arthur stumbled backwards and cried out as he slipped on the snow and fell. Alfred heard the commotion and turned around in time to see him fall.
"Dude, you okay?" he asked with a laugh as he helped Arthur up. "You look like you just saw a ghost!"
The irony of Alfred's comment was too perfect, and Arthur found himself laughing with him. "Ha-ha, yes, I guess so! I'm fine; I just slipped on the snow here." He brushed himself off and started up the steps to the house. "Let's get inside, poppet. I'm cold."
"'kay. Want me to fix us some hot chocolate?"
"That would be nice, thank you."
The two entered the house and stripped themselves of their cold outer wear and let them hang on the coat rack. Alfred got some instant cocoa and mugs from the pantry and set to boiling the water. Arthur excused himself to go to the bathroom.
He didn't go to the bathroom, though.
He went to Matthew's bedroom and knocked on the door.
"Come in, Arthur."
Arthur's heart pounded excitedly as he let himself in like Matthew instructed.
The deceased young man was sitting cheerfully next to his lover, a smile spread over his face.
"When did you get back here?" Arthur whispered frantically.
Matthew's smile just got bigger. "Early this morning. I was in that purgatory place for longer than I thought."
"Six months, Matthew! Six months! Do you know how depressed and worried Gilbert was for you?" He didn't mention how the ghost's negative energy affected Alfred.
His smile fell. "I know, I'm sorry it took so long… it's just-"
"Just what? There's no excuse for-"
"What are you guys talking about?" Gilbert interrupted. "Birdie couldn't help how long it took him to get through that place! Did you think of how scary it must have been for him to walk around, alone, in the dark? No, of course you didn't! We've already talked about it. Frankly, I'm just glad he actually remembered me and decided to come back!" He was positively fuming at Arthur at this point.
"All right, I'm sorry." Arthur decided to give up this argument. He just couldn't win with Gilbert, could he? "I'm glad you're here, Matthew. Really. No matter how long it took, it was a strong thing you did, coming back."
Matthew gave a timid smile and thanked Arthur.
"Hey, Artie! The cocoa's done!" Alfred called from the kitchen. "I'm drinking yours if you don't hurry up!"
"Don't do that! For heaven's sake, be patient for once!" Arthur yelled back. He spared a final glance at the two ghosts. "Good for you two getting back together. I hope you're happy." With that, he sped out the door to rescue his hot chocolate. "Nonononono don't drink it- Aaahhhh, you already did…" Alfred laughed loudly at Arthur's expense.
"Hahaha! Dude, this is mine anyways. Here." Alfred handed him the other mug full of warm, sweet chocolate drink. There were even little marshmallows in it.
"Thanks." Arthur said as he took a sip. It scalded his tongue, but after being out in the snow for so long, it felt good. The liquid ran down his throat and warmed him up from the inside. He let out a contented sigh. "Let's go sit in the living room." he said, and led the way.
"Okay," Alfred responded with a shrug. The two sat down on the couch together, both careful not to spill their hot chocolate. They sat in a comfortable silence, just sipping their drinks and admiring the snow-covered landscape outside. Alfred took it upon himself to light the gas logs in the fireplace, so now there was a nice fire going to keep themselves warm.
"Hey," Alfred said, breaking the silence. "Do you think… I dunno… my house suddenly has a more cheerful atmosphere? It wasn't like this last night, you know?"
Arthur closed his eyes and smiled into his drink. "I know what you mean. It does feel more positive here now, doesn't it? I wonder why…" He snickered. "It's not like you to read the atmosphere, though. What brought this on?"
Alfred pouted and punched Arthur playfully on the shoulder. "Hey! I read the atmosphere! Sometimes…" Arthur snorted. "Maybe you're just rubbing off on me. Yeah! That's it! You're contagious, you know that?"
"Oh, am I?" Arthur smirked at him. "Is that why you like me?"
"Maaaaybe…"
They giggled like idiots, and Alfred leaned in for a kiss that was warm and sweet on account of their hot drinks.
"Kesesesese! See, I told you they were together now!"
"Wow… Sorry I didn't believe you at first. I just never thought that either one would ever confess!"
"I know, right? They're both so stubborn! They look good together, though, huh?"
"Yeah, they do. Great job, Arthur!"
Arthur tried to ignore the ghosts' conversation behind him, but that's hard to do when it's about your love life. He pulled away from Alfred with an exasperated sigh. Alfred was confused.
"What's wrong? Why'd you stop? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you didn't do anything wrong." The two behind him were in hysterics. He would probably go insane if he stayed around those two much longer. He closed his eyes and kissed Alfred again, this time as more of a distraction so he could show his middle finger to Gilbert and Matthew.
Something told him it was going to be a long eternity for the rest of the world.
A/N: My baby... It's almost done! *tears of joy* I threw in a little USUK at the end. Sorry if you don't dig that o~o
This was excruciatingly awkward to write while at my grandparent's house... Ha-ha, but it's done! I'll try my hardest to write the epilogue, I promise.
I feel like my writing style has drastically changed within these seven chapters... Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Let me know in a review!
I hope you enjoyed this latest installment of Ringing Insanity!
~Jel