A/N: I am so sorry for making you all wait for so long D: I really have no excuse. My creativity just suddenly vanished so I do apologise for that. Please, pelt me with tomatoes, I've been a lazy author.

Thanks for all the feedback so far! ^-^

10th review gets to have my vital regions and my soul –demonic voice-

DISCLAIMER: I still don't own Hetalia but when I do I will make Belarus queen of the world! MUAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahem.

Chapter Five – Mindless Restlessness

Matthew couldn't wait for Art to finally come, even though he often dreaded it. The teacher was always a downright bitch to him.

Of course, her anger only stemmed from the fact that she also taught Alfred. Thus, she would inevitably confused poor Mattie for him, despite him always paying attention in class and he at least tried to learn, unlike the other horny, hormone stricken hooligans (ahem, Alfred).

Whenever Matthew raised his hand to either ask or answer a question, she would only say in front of everyone, "Not now, Alfred. It's probably going to be stupid or irrelevant anyway." At first Matthew felt somewhat offended but by now he couldn't care less.

Because he had met someone who cared about him.

As Matthew added the finishing touches to his work, he smiled to himself.

Because he had met someone who never forgot him.

Matthew was so distracted by his thoughts he didn't hear the bell go, indicating the start of the last lesson before lunch. Embarrassed, he shuffled out, hoping no one would notice. Of course, they never would, so Matthew really didn't know why he bothered to care anymore.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, Miss..."

The whole class turned to the door and looked at Matthew as if he'd just murdered somebody. Well, the majority of them did, anyway. Some looked at him like, 'Who the hell are you?' Some of them looked at him – mostly girls – 'innocently' mistaking him for Alfred and squealing like the over delusional Alfie fangirls they were, whilst others maybe glanced for a few seconds before returning to vandalising the desks with badly drawn male genitals.

The teacher glared all the way from the other side of the room. Matthew could have sworn he saw her face turn bright red and steam come out of her ears.

"Alfred..." she growled, not even caring that she was mistaken. "Don't give me any excuses. Take your seat and shut it. Plus, you've got a detention with me this lunchtime."

Matthew sighed and went to his seat. Now she was pushing it. For a teacher, she was pretty dumb – for starters, Alfred was in the grade above. There was no use arguing with her; she wouldn't listen and Matthew would only end up in real trouble.

It was so unfair. Matthew knew he had to stand up to his brother some day or another, but every time he went to try he only chickened out and said it either too kindly or too quietly.

Plus, to get a detention that your brother deserves pretty much just sucks and it wasn't a surprise when Matthew sat on his own, working silently as anger built up inside of him.

He never knew that not being able to see Gilbert for a while would upset him so much. However, Gilbert was going to wait outside for him, notice Matthew wasn't there and decide to go inside to check, only to see Matthew getting a right bollocking for something his brother did and thus would put her in her place.

Ironically, in Matthew's mind, that was the worst that could happen to him.

So for the remainder of the lesson, Matthew did his work in complete silence, hoping that would convince the teacher to rethink and consider his detention. That unfair, unrighteous detention.

Too bad the teacher never even noticed him once.

At the end of the lesson just when everybody else was leaving, Matthew stood up, his finished work in hand.

It was, of course, only then that Matthew was finally noticed.

She narrowed her eyes and gave Matthew the coldest glare he'd ever received. It felt like a thousand ice cubes had just been dropped into his soul.

"And just where do you think you're going?"

That was enough for Matthew to shiver. Yep, she was cold alright.

Matthew pushed his masterpiece practically into her face.

"I just wanted to show you this," Matthew stumbled over a few words, overwhelmed by fear and judgement. His work was exceptionally good for someone who always put himself down and believed strongly in the fact that he had no artistic ability whatsoever. He had closely observed the details and the shading was flawless.

The teacher merely glanced at it before handing it back to him like it wasn't worth anything. "Very nice, Alfred. Now sit."

Alfred.

That wasn't his fucking name.

The rage was building inside of him, close to boiling point, and Matthew was seconds away from exploding, which he ultimately would...

"Okay," he sighed, defeated. If he couldn't get angry, he could only cry woefully instead. He picked up his picture, which he was proud of admittedly, and went back to his seat. He rested his arms onto the table and put his head into them. The tears burst out and he was convulsing.

Unfortunately for him, the teacher was too engrossed in her romantic novel to even hear his quiet sorrows.

Suddenly, the door burst open, startling both Matthew and the bit...teacher. Matthew wiped some tears away and forced a smile upon seeing Gilbert standing in the doorway.

"Mattie!" Gilbert cried out, much to the teacher's confusion.

...Mattie? Who the hell...?

The teacher stood in front of Gilbert and tired to give him the most menacing glare ever. It was such a shame Gilbert was doing the same, only better, as if it was some sort of competition.

"Mr. Beilschmidt, please leave," the teacher instructed, pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "I'd like to deal with Alfred by myself."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and pulled Matthew up from his seat and dragged him over to the teacher (by his hand, might it be added).

Once there, he pushed Matthew lightly in front of him, close to the teacher.

"This," Gilbert wrapped his arms around Matthew's waist, pulling him into a hug. "Is Matthew. Not Alfred."

Matthew blushed bright red. Why was Gilbert hugging him?

"I don't know a Matthew," the teacher snapped.

Gilbert growled.

"Yes, you do," his accent grew thicker with more and more anger being applied to his voice. "This is Alfred's super awesome brother, Matthew. If you don't believe me, lady, check the school system or go hunt down Alfred."

Matthew's cheeks felt like they were on fire. He kept his gaze directed on his shoes, too shy to speak or tell Gilbert to stop. He didn't want Gilbert to stop now, and soon he loosened his body to enjoy the embrace more.

Matthew could tell Gilbert was glaring at her pretty fiercely by the way she suddenly sighed, "Fine, okay, I believe you! I apologise, Matthew."

Matthew's blush started to fade but his stomach still fluttered and he felt weak. He was about to open his mouth to speak before Gilbert butted in with, "He doesn't want your apologies. Come on, Mattie."

With that, they left.

"You didn't have to do that for me..."

Gilbert smirked. "Of course I did! She's a bitch."

Matthew laughed nervously, tugging at the sleeves of his hoodies.

"Yeah..." he muttered under his breath, letting out a loud sigh. Gilbert could tell Matthew was grateful, but hid that with sadness. He didn't want his little Matthew to be sad.

Gilbert wanted to say something about the matter but instead kept the words locked in his throat for a better time. They had been walking in silence for some time and, before they knew it, they had reached the lunch hall.

There were people everywhere. Almost all the tables were full of people, plus there was a long line of people still waiting for food and then, to top it all off, there were teenagers lurking in each corner of the room eating each other instead of their lunch.

It made Matthew feel uncomfortable just looking at them.

"There they are!" Gilbert shouted, pointing to a table full of kids. Matthew looked to see where he was pointing at but instead was being dragged by Gilbert for the second time that day. No, scratch that, second time in an hour.

Gilbert wedged himself between Francis and Antonio, leaving enough room for Matthew to sit next to Francis. Because of their arrival, that side of the bench was pretty much full, making the other side look completely empty.

The boy next to Antonio was pretty much hanging off the edge and he was not happy about it.

"Stupid bastard!" he yelled at Gilbert.

Matthew twiddled with his thumbs and blushed, mumbling, "Sorry..."

"No, it's not you," Antonio smiled cheerfully. "Lovi's like that to everybody, aren't you?" He ruffled Lovi's hair and giggled, carefully avoiding the prominent curl in his hair for some reason. Lovi blushed bright red and bit his arm to get him to stop.

Ah, Italians.

"You're all so uncivilised," came a pretentious voice from the other side of the table. Gilbert poked his tongue out at him.

"Nah, we just know how to have fun, unlike you, you stupid aristocrat," Gilbert laughed, moving around so much he was pushing both Matthew and Antonio, meaning poor Lovi was only falling off the bench more, which was seriously starting to bother him by now.

"...I'm leaving," the 'stupid aristocrat' suddenly announced, standing up with his lunch tray. "Come, Elizabeta."

Elizabeta stood up with him and smiled at Matthew, who waved at her as she left, following him like a lost puppy.

Matthew looked at Gilbert with a confused expression. Gilbert managed to read it as easy as a picture book for under five year olds.

"Don't mind Roderich, he does that a lot," Gilbert answered, still pushing Antonio in order to piss Lovi off more. Matthew didn't like being pushed himself but kept silent about it.

"Don't we look a bit stupid sitting on one side of the bench?" Matthew asked in his meek little voice which, to his surprise, Gilbert managed to hear. He let out an obnoxious laugh, something Matthew could only describe as 'kesesese~!'

"Ja," Gilbert laughed. "Oh well."

Meanwhile, Lovi was so pissed off he got up too, taking Antonio by the hand (as much as he didn't want to).

"We're leaving, too," Lovi declared, leaving with Antonio before anyone could say their goodbyes to them. Gilbert moved up to the end of the bench, giving Matthew a lot more space to breathe in.

"Does that happen a lot too?" Matthew asked. He really wanted to know why their lunch times were so...strange.

"Sometimes," Gilbert replied, finally beginning to eat the lunch he packed for himself. Matthew took out a bottle of water and nothing else.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Hey...don't you have any lunch?"

"Yeah, but I don't want it," Matthew sighed, his voice even quieter and weaker than usual, if that was possible. "I'm not hungry."

Gilbert was so full of uncertainty that he wanted to shake some sense into Matthew. Something was wrong with that boy and he wanted, no, needed to find out just what.

"...Alright."

There was an awkward silence until Francis finally said something.

"What are the bets that Antonio and Lovi are in the bathroom stalls relieving their sexual tensions?"

Gilbert did that obnoxious laugh again and Matthew almost choked on his water with either laughter or extreme embarrassment.

"I'll bet you a lot of money," Gilbert practically shouted to Francis despite sitting barely fifteen centimetres away from him. He reached into his wallet and put a tenner onto the table.

Francis took the money and hid it in his pocket. He shook hands with Gilbert before standing up himself. Matthew braced himself for Francis to announce his departure, leaving him all alone with Gilbert.

Which wouldn't be all too much of a bad thing.

"I'll ask him later," Francis laughed to himself. He pinched Matthew's cheek and continued, "Well, I've gotta get going. Maybe I'll catch them, non?"

Matthew blushed and didn't say a word and just watched as Francis left to, most likely, the bathroom to supposedly catch Antonio and Lovi in the act.

Matthew wasn't sure if they were joking or not but by the way he had seen them behave they were most likely...not joking.

"Do you think they're really..." Matthew's blush grew when he realised he didn't know what the right words to say were. He closed on eye in embarrassment and whispered, "...Doing it?"

Gilbert did his 'kesesese' laugh again and piped up, "They might be, they might not be. I bet that they are, though."

Matthew nodded and made an uncomfortable noise. Being around Gilbert sure was awkward...

"So, will I see you here tomorrow?" Gilbert asked, smiling brightly and mockingly batting his eyelashes.

"Hopefully," Matthew sighed, pushing his glasses up. "If I don't run into more trouble."

Gilbert laughed and started stroking Matthew's hair, much to his bemusement.

"I'm so tempted to beat Alfred up," Gilbert proclaimed, tangling his fingers with every lock of Matthew's golden hair.

Matthew, although his mind was screaming, 'Oh my God, do it, do it, do it!', shook his head and weakly chuckled.

"Don't joke..."

"Who says I'm joking?"

Matthew had been looking out the window for a while now.

There were a few clouds in the sky. The moon had been completely covered; there was nothing to illuminate the night.

Except for one star.

Matthew slid his hand down the window pane. He could feel his throat grow isolated. Matthew thought he had cried so much, he could cry no more...

But he was wrong...

"Why aren't you here with me...?"

A/N: Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't listen to sad songs whilst writing this...even worse when it's a certain song by a certain Canadian T_T

I'm trying to make Matthew as sympathetic as possible. I need this story to convey so many emotions that your little hearts explode with sadness. Wait what

I hope this chapter was alright :/ I promise to never, ever write when my mind suddenly fails on me again if it wasn't. But I updated. My boyfriend made me feel bad for being such a lazy author that I knew I had to get this up.

Also...tenner: basically just means £10/$10. Bollocking: lecturing, reprimanding, etc. Sorry for the Brit speak XD