A/N: I'm so sorry for lack of updates ;_; Please don't kill me

I've been too busy roleplaying, then I got writer's block and then I forgot I had stories to update...but I'm back!

I started writing this late last night, as in midnight which is the perfect time for writin', but I got caught by my dad and had to go to bed...so I finished it when I got home from school.

-crickets because readers probably all left-

DISCLAIMER: Hetalia does and will not belong to me. If it did, then...ah shoot, I got nothin'.

Chapter Seven – It's a Long Shot

Matthew stood in the hall, looking dazed and dumbfounded. His cheeks were a dark shade of pink, almost red. He rested one hand on his cheek to feel heat emitting from it. A lot of heat, actually. He felt as if his entire face was on fire, burning like a yuletide log.

Gilbert had left. He'd left a few minutes ago. Matthew counted – two and a half minutes ago.

In the midst of his absence, Matthew could still feel his lips tingle. It was like Gilbert never left.

He could recall the kiss. He could recall it well, even going into detail. Vivid detail. The image had been burnt into his mind and the feeling was forever locked away in his heart. Maybe in the pits of his stomach too, where butterflies once resided, fluttering crazily. They'd left now; they'd left around the time Gilbert did.

Gilbert's lips were soft, but they were also tantalising. It felt so wrong yet so right, so bad yet so good. Everything about it was a chocolate coated sin. Matthew resisted for a few split seconds before giving in and he kissed him back. He was gentle and careful; Gilbert had a much rougher way of kissing him yet still it remained so...so serene. So peaceful. So beautiful.

Matthew's heart was now sinking back down into its usual place after remaining trapped in his throat for a while, beating at an abnormally pace, rivalling the speed of a race car. His blood rushed through his veins rapidly, the adrenaline surging through him, giving him a sweet tingling sensation all over like the way his lips felt now.

Gilbert was the first to pull his lips back. He did not separate entirely from Matthew; he kept holding onto his shoulders, his grasp firm but calm. He had a small blush on his face...well, compared to the massive one on Matthew's face, that was. He made eye contact with Matthew for a few short moments before drawing back, standing a few inches away from him.

Matthew was panting slightly, but it wasn't noticeable unless you were standing extremely close to him. He felt as flustered as he looked and that definitely was noticeable. Gilbert chuckled at him, whispered something about how adorable he looked before waving, turning around and walking away.

Matthew didn't stop him or even attempt to and just stood there, not knowing how to feel, not knowing what to think, not knowing where to go.

Until he was saved by the bell.

"Who's there?"

"J-Just me, Alfred..."

"Alright, come in."

Matthew tentatively opened the door, flinching as it made a rather obnoxious creak. He gently closed it behind him, careful not to slam it. Their father was sleeping downstairs and waking him was never a good idea, no matter how funny it could possibly be.

He looked over at his brother who was laying on his bed, one leg hanging off. He was playing on his Xbox whilst stuffing his face with junk (no surprise there). On his stomach was a comic book laying face down, and he was surrounded by a further four. Matthew wondered how he could survive in an environment like this, especially since Alfred's floor was barely visible thanks to the dirty clothing, many comic books, video games and wrappers. His bin was overflowing with McDonald's bags, yet he still managed to stay so thin and muscular.

...How?

Matthew stood awkwardly by Alfred's bed, not knowing where to take a seat. Alfred didn't acknowledge him and continued to eat and defeat zombies. Matthew cleared his throat in an attempt to get attention which, surprisingly, worked on the first try.

"Dude, take a seat," he muttered, moving his leg onto the bed and shuffling over a little bit to make some room. Matthew hesitantly joined him, lying next to him. They were close, their feet scraping against each other's.

"Alfred...about Gilbert..." Matthew began, quieter than usual. He began to fidget with his hands, already starting to feel nervous. He had no idea about what he was going to say – he hadn't thought this through. He was so tempted to just get up and leave, hoping Alfred would forget this ever happened, since that was usually the case.

"Don't worry," Alfred replied almost immediately. "I'm cool. Since when were you all buddy-buddy with him anyway?"

Matthew gulped. What would he say? What should he say?

He erased all memory of their kiss and decided to focus on all their friendly moments. Ones that didn't involve hugs and romantic suggestions...

"Ah...about a month now," Matthew explained simply, awkwardly grinning. He twiddled with his thumbs, his eyes darting all around the room. "I was walking home one day and passed him and...yeah."

Alfred raised an eyebrow.

"And...yeah? Was he with anyone or did he just randomly approach you?" Alfred asked, not taking his eyes off the screen. Damn him for asking that.

Matthew swallowed hard like he did previously. Much to his dismay, he began to blush as images of their kiss re-entered his mind. To shield his embarrassment, he looked away quickly, hoping Alfred wouldn't notice. Thankfully enough, his eyes were glued to his video game. It would take a lot to remove him from his video games; even surgery wasn't enough.

"Francis saw me and..." his voice trailed off, each word quieter than the last.

"And what?" Alfred prompted, vigorously hitting the buttons and twisting the joystick madly. He never broke his concentration, which was odd for someone whose attention span was that of a gnat.

"He said hi..." Matthew continued, his voice full of uncertainty. Why was he asking so many questions? He felt as if Alfred was the police who was interrogating him incessantly. "And Gilbert wanted to hang with me...now we're friends."

Alfred paused the game.

Matthew flinched.

That meant he was serious.

"How can you be friends with him?" Alfred spat, a whole new personality taking over him. A much more aggressive Alfred had been left in his place and, quite frankly, it was scary. Extremely scary.

Matthew's head sunk as did his heart. He looked down at his lap and swallowed again, forgetting how to speak.

Alfred glared at him intently, not taking his glance off of him once, for a few seconds before sighing and throwing the controller down onto the bed. For such a light object, it landed with a large thump. Matthew watched silently as Alfred darted around the room, scouring for whatever he needed.

A few short but agonising seconds later Alfred emerged from under his bed with his trademark bomber jacket. He glared again at Matthew as he pulled it onto his body.

"He's a bad influence," Alfred bluntly told him, his voice barely proceeding a whisper, which was rare. Matthew couldn't tell whether his tone was concerned or not. "I don't want you hanging around with him, 'specially after what he did today. Tell dad I'm out. I don't know where, he can call me if he wants though."

With that, Alfred walked over to his door and opened it. Matthew turned to him and yelled (or at least attempted to), "Are you going to answer your phone?"

"Probably not."

Matthew squinted his eyes as he peered over the bridge, admiring the sparkling sapphire ocean that seemed to stretch out for miles. The colour was a gorgeous array of bright, vibrant colours; it was a perfect dusk. Almost perfect.

Matthew was still in shock. Why had Alfred said that? Why was Alfred so disapproving? Matthew didn't want to approach Alfred for the answers, especially since he had no way of contacting him whatsoever (plus Alfred doubted he'd even pick up) plus he was far too afraid. Alfred angry was never a good thing. It was best to stay on his good side and just keep his mouth shut.

As the warm air scraped gracefully past Matthew's cheek, he felt something else grace his cheek.

A kiss.

A soft, short kiss that still managed to be so blissful.

Without moving his eyes at all, he felt two arms wrap around his waist, pulling him backwards. He let himself be pulled and fell into the arms behind him. It was enough to calm him down, but not enough to make him forget.

Because he promised to never forget. Being forgotten hurt. Matthew knew the feeling. He knew it too well. The feeling and him were more than acquaintances. They'd had a full history with each other but maybe their relationship was coming to an end. Maybe.

"You called me?" came the voice behind him.

Matthew couldn't speak. He nodded instead, even though he knew it was pointless. Gilbert rested his head on Matthew's shoulder and nuzzled affectionately against his neck, tightening his grip as if he was too afraid to let go in case Matthew fell or suddenly disintegrated into thin air.

"What's up?"

Matthew let out a long, fed up sigh. "A lot."

"You can tell me."

"It's a long story."

"I have time."

Dammit.

Matthew tried to loosen the protective grip Gilbert had on him but failed. He was simply too strong and Matthew was simply too weak.

"...I don't want to talk about it," Matthew finally answered after a short pause. It wasn't entirely silent; the water underneath them was splashing about gently and the birds weren't exactly quiet either.

"Not awesome," Gilbert scoffed disapprovingly. "Why not?"

Matthew was starting to become irritated but decided to keep his feelings to himself. He didn't want to distress Gilbert, though staying silent wasn't exactly helping. He'd become paranoid lately that he was going to lose Gilbert, thus tried his best to preserve their relationship even though somewhere deep down inside of him knew there was no point. Going back now was impossible.

Matthew knew Gilbert valued their company just as much as he did. He was as easy to read as a book – Matthew, on the other hand, hid so many feelings it was hard to decipher exactly how he felt. He refused to tell you unless you really prompted him.

"I just..." Matthew bit his lip and thought hard for a good excuse. It wasn't exactly lying, was it? "I just...don't know how to explain it."

Gilbert opened his mouth to speak before closing it like a goldfish. He sighed, defeated.

"Alright," he gave in. "But if you don't tell me now, tell me later, kay?"

Matthew nodded, letting out a soft 'kay' in response.

"Turn around," Gilbert whispered in his ear, loosening his grip significantly, enough for him to be able to actually breathe. Matthew did as he was told without arguing and looked up into his eyes. They were sparkling like the water and Matthew could make out the sun's reflection in them. Gilbert's eyes were, for lack of a better word, pretty.

Gilbert grabbed Matthew's wrist, perhaps a little too forcefully, and thrusted a ring into Matthew's hand. He looked down at it for a few seconds, incredulous, before slipping it onto his fingers.

"Like it?" Gilbert asked, his voice somehow dripping with arrogance. The smirk on his face was back; it was always plastered into his face when around other people but sometimes, only sometimes, he would drop it around Matthew.

Sometimes, his smirk faded into a smile around Matthew.

Matthew liked that. No, he loved that.

"Y-Yes," Matthew replied, mentally slapping himself for the stammer. It sounded like his answer was fake, but luckily Gilbert was too dense to pick up on it.

"I'm glad," Gilbert said. There it was – his smile was there, not his smirk. It made him look so much more attractive when he was smiling and not smirking.

Matthew started to twist it before asking, "But what does it symbolise?"

Gilbert picked Matthew's free hand up and interlocked their fingers. He rubbed his thumb against Matthew's reassuringly.

"Us."

And no one was going to tear them apart.

Even if there were no guard surrounding the both of them, they still couldn't be separate. They just couldn't.

They were inseparable.

And that was never going to change.

Right?

A/N: Phew! I'm so glad I managed to update~

Sorry if it seems a bit short. Writer's block is a bitch and I really had no idea how to continue without rushing it. I really want to take my time with this, that's why Matthew's not aware of Gilbert's upcoming death. I doubt Gilbert's aware either.

I apologise for the long wait once again! I'll try to update more frequently, but I can't make any promises...

Hasta la Pasta~!