A/N: I am so so sorry about how late this chapter is! I don't have a good excuse, besides the fact that I wanted to draw something to post with this chapter so it was delayed a bit... Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed with positive comments about this story, they made me so happy! This one's for you guys :,)
As I said, I wanted to get this chapter posted ASAP so I didn't draw the scene from the last chapter- but I swear I will, soon. For now, check the comments for a link to a Mattie from this chapter! EDIT: Nevermind. I can't find any way to post links on here without them being removed. If you know an alternative way for me to share drawings related to this fic with my readers, I'd love to know! Thank you (:
As always, enjoy!
The sound of the doorbell rang throughout the apartment, startling the only conscious resident. Gilbert pushed open the door to his bedroom, praying that the sound hadn't woken up Alfred. He looked down the hall to his door, and found it still closed. Inching closer, he strained his ears for the tell-tale sound of his roommate's loud snores, and heard them faintly. He sighed in relief and padded to the front door, pulling it open gingerly to reveal his boyfriend, whom he had invited over to hang out before his performance.
"Hey, Gilbert," he said timidly, clearly a bit flustered- the tips of his ears were tinged pink, and he was adjusting his glasses though they looked fine to Gilbert. He did a double-take, and realized that the other man had dressed up; he was wearing a grey button-down and a violet tie that complimented his eyes, along with black dress pants. This kid is ridiculously adorable, Gilbert thought, feeling butterflies in his stomach.
"Hey, Mattie. You look great," he said flirtily, giving the other a wink before ushering him in. Matthew entered the apartment, looking around curiously. "You know, I've never been here before… I've seen it, though, in those videos Alfred likes to make."
Gilbert's eyes widened. "You mean his weird vine things? He broke my ironing board trying to slide down the stairs on it and then said he 'did it for the vine'- what does that even mean?"
Matthew chuckled, continuing to look around the apartment. He strolled into the kitchen and stopped dead at the sight of the table. "Again?" he muttered, horrified expression on his face. His boyfriend shot him a questioning look, quirking an eyebrow. "He did this when we were kids. Mom said she wouldn't take him to see some superhero movie, and he punched the table and dented it."
Frowning, the albino decided that way too much of their time together was spent talking about Alfred. Even though they were friends, he didn't want him to be the subject of every date he had with Matthew. He cleared his throat pointedly, snapping the other out of his reminiscing state.
"So, wanna see my room?"
"Oh, sure," he replied, following Gilbert down the hall and towards his room. The German stood by the door, grasping the handle dramatically. He bowed as he pushed the door open, revealing a neat space- bed tucked into a corner by a window, neatly made with deep blue sheets. To the right of his door was his guitar, and what Matthew could only assume to be speakers, wires, and most likely a microphone. At the foot of his bed were a ridiculous amount of pillows of various sizes and materials.
"You must fall off your bed a lot, eh?"
Gilbert rolled his eyes at the other man. "Yes, but that's not what they're for. It's nice to have pillows."
Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
A mischievous glint in his eye, Gilbert walked casually to the pile before picking one up and turning on his boyfriend. "For this," he said, hurling the pillow at him and hitting him square in the face. The blond gasped, reaching out to catch it a moment too late. He grasped it as it began to fall, and a smirk formed on his usually sweet face.
"Oh, it is on."
Defensively, Gilbert grabbed a large cushion and held it over his face as Matthew flung the pillow back at him, nailing him in the shoulder. He dropped his makeshift shield in surprise, and looked up to see Matthew standing over him, having grabbed both and smiling rather happily. "I win."
Gilbert was torn- on one hand, it was adorable that Mattie wanted to win; it was clear that Alfred had that influence on him. On the other, all he had to do was grab a pillow from behind him and he could…
"Yeah. I guess you do. Help me up?"
His boyfriend reached out his hand and Gilbert gripped it tightly, pulling him down with a smirk. He had no problem letting the other win, but his pride wouldn't let him get away with it so easily. Matthew tumbled and landed on top of Gilbert, not expecting the dirty trick. His eyebrows furrowed and he lifted his head, mouth open as if he were about to scold him. He was stopped, however, when he realized just how close they were.
Gilbert, too, looked flushed. They looked into each other's eyes, foreheads practically pressing together. Unable to focus on just one part of him, Gilbert's gaze darted around Matthew's face. His beautiful eyes, his cute button nose, and his hair- his soft, beautiful hair. Almost unconsciously, he reached his hand up and ran it through the silky locks. Matthew shuddered, leaning into the touch and closing his eyes.
Tilting himself forward, Gilbert pecked his boyfriend on the mouth sweetly, smiling when he opened his eyes, caught off guard. Matthew stared at him hard, confusing the other until he muttered in wonder, "Your eyes are so beautiful."
If he hadn't been blushing before, he certainly was now. Gilbert could feel every inch of his face burning- no one had ever called his eye's beautiful before. Creepy, sure. Awesome, once or twice- but never 'beautiful'. He opened his mouth to respond; to insist that Matthew's eyes- every inch of him was much more so. He was cut off by his phone's loud alarm, shocking Matthew into jumping up.
"Crap, we have to leave for the bar," Gilbert grumbled, standing up and approaching his dresser. "Let me change my shirt real quick before we go."
"Sure. I'll leave you al-"
Gilbert had already stripped off his shirt, folding it and tossing it into a hamper. Matthew gaped at the other's bare chest, taking in his pale skin and defined muscles. He tried to tear his gaze away, but found his eyes glued to the sight. He was so close, he could literally reach out and touch- "My eyes are up here, Mattie."
The albino gave him a wink, pulling his shirt on- much to his boyfriend's disappointment. Matthew tried to stutter an excuse, but was silenced by Gilbert pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Don't worry about it, I know my muscles are awesome and sexy."
The two exited the apartment silently, as not to disturb the sleeping American. Gilbert insisted that he drive them to the bar, since Matthew had walked to his apartment. Upon arrival, the taller man wrapped an arm around his boyfriend's waist and led him inside.
"Ready to meet the band?" He asked playfully, tugging gently at the other's curl.
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. They seemed nice enough on stage…"
Gilbert snorted at his comment, knowing that the only truly 'nice' person in the band was Antonio, but Gilbert was unsure of his kindness at times.
"This must be Matthew, no?"
Confused, Matthew glanced at Gilbert when the blond man approached them. Gilbert grimaced; he knew the two would have to meet eventually, but he prefered later rather than sooner. "Mattie, this is Francis. Francis, this is my boyfriend, Matthew."
Francis waved a hand dismissively, busy staring up the other blond. "Mignon," he muttered, displaying a predatory grin. Gilbert gritted his teeth, tightening his grip around his boyfriend's waist. Ever the savior, Antonio pushed Francis to the side, greeting Matthew with a warm smile.
"Hola! Nice to meet you, Matthew. I'm Antonio!"
Matthew seemed relieved, and returned the smile. "Hello. It's nice to meet you, too. You play the key-"
"His hair!"
Gilbert recognized the squeal- that was, without a doubt, Feliks. The short man quickly made his way to Matthew's side, eyes shining as he examined the other's hair. "Oh my god, it's like, so soft- what conditioner do you use? Where do you get it cut? That curl is totally adorable, do you style it that way? Is it natural?"
Matthew looked extremely overwhelmed, surrounded by his boyfriend's… eccentric friends. Deciding to save him, Gilbert reminded his band that they still needed to set up stage, and that they were playing in less than half an hour. Unwillingly, Feliks stomped away, muttering, "You'd think they'd at least set up the stage before we got here…"
Gilbert gave Mattie a quick kiss before joining his bandmates backstage. "I'll see you after the show!" he said, waving. Matthew waved back wearily, now standing alone next to the barstools and actual bar. He took a seat next to a slight Japanese man, who he realized to be Alfred's close friend, Kiku. "Hello," he said, praying that he would notice him.
He didn't. Instead, he was staring at the bartender who appeared to be cleaning dishes across from the stools. Matthew sighed, and instead watched the stage as he waited for his boyfriend to go on.
About fifteen minutes later, he saw the curtains separate, revealing Asphyxia. Gilbert was clutching the microphone, and he spoke into it enthusiastically. "It's time for Asphyxia! Today is an extra awesome performance, because my boyfriend is here to watch!"
Matthew gasped when Gilbert pointed directly at him, and everyone in the bar turned their heads to him. His face burned with embarrassment; he had never been the center of attention before, and now everyone in the bar had their eyes on him. Thankfully, their attention was diverted by a shout of, "TAKE OFF YOUR SHIRT!" followed by a yelp of pain from a young blond man in a booth with several others. His company looked ashamed, except for a shorter man who had bonked him on the head with his beer glass- presumably the cause for his yelp.
Gilbert shifted awkwardly before speaking again. "Um, here's the first song of the night, A.M.!"
Matthew listened closely to the song, wondering who had written it- that is, until the song stated that "a.m." stood for "awesome me". He smiled at his boyfriend's predictability, finding his quirks to be extremely endearing.
"Hey, I'm sorry about that."
Matthew looked to the source of the unfamiliar voice, and saw the blond man who had yelled earlier. Standing about three feet behind him was the one who had hit him with the glass, glaring at the back of the other's head.
"Um… It's okay, I guess," he replied. Of course he was angry that someone had yelled such a thing at his boyfriend- especially after he had announced that he was taken, but he was used to forgiving others, and firmly believed in second chances.
"It's really not; I got carried away and didn't watch my mouth," he said, looking like a bit like a kicked puppy. "I'm a huge fan of your boyfriend, and I wanted to tell ya that you guys are really cute together! Y'know, I have a boyfriend of my own- we've been dating for four years now, and I honestly love him with all my heart! Anyways, I hope you and Gilbert have a really long and happy relationship!"
Matthew felt tears form in his eyes at the other's speech, and he sniffled, wiping them away. "Thank you, that really means a lot."
Matthias grinned and stuck out his thumb, before turning around to make his way back to his booth. He looked surprised to see Lukas behind him, and Matthew supposed that the other man had followed him to supervise his apology. "Oh, Lukas, you were here-"
"I love you too, you absolute idiot."
Before Matthew knew it, the shorter man had enveloped Matthias into a passionate kiss, running his fingers through the other's spiky hair. He returned the kiss enthusiastically, hands on his waist and back. Matthew looked away, embarrassed- they really had no shame, kissing like that in such a public place…
He tried to focus on Gilbert's music once again, and found that- to his relief- Matthias and Lukas had left. Where to, and to do what, he'd rather not think about- but he was glad that he could now watch his boyfriend on stage. He's really pretty, Matthew mused, watching as the light made Gilbert's snow-white hair shine, and his eyes practically sparkle. Gilbert caught him staring, giving him a wink. Only moments later, another bartender leaned over to where Matthew was sitting.
"You're Gilbert's boyfriend? I am dating Feliks," he said, warmly. "He's the drummer."
Matthew diverted his gaze to the brunet, smiling as he replied, "That's neat! We're both boyfriends of band members- everyone is jealous of us, eh?"
The other's eyes sparkled as he joked, "I'd say it's the other way around, honestly." His eyes darkened for a moment, as if realizing the truth of his statement- in his situation, at least.
Matthew was confused, to say the least, but decided not to question him. "Excuse me, I should get back to work. Your boyfriend is the coming." Thankful for the company, Matthew turned and greeted Gilbert with a smile.
"You were great," he said. "It was only my second time hearing your music, but I think it's very good."
Gilbert grinned. "Of course it is! I wrote it. Well, most of it," he gloated as he sat down, ordering a pint of beer for himself from the bartender Matthew had been talking to. He drank the stuff as if it were water, both impressing and scaring his lightweight of a boyfriend at the same time. As they sat and talked, various people began approaching the rock star, asking for autographs. Gilbert agreed, obviously enjoying the attention.
Matthew tried not to be jealous, but couldn't help the burning sensation in the pit of his stomach as the fans crowded around Gilbert- some even having the nerve to flirt with him, right in front of his boyfriend! He glared at the floor frustratedly, cursing himself for being such a shy person- surely, if he had a big personality like his brother he wouldn't be ignored.
"Mattie, are you okay?"
Gilbert leaned in close to his boyfriend, concern etched onto his face. He put a hand on his shoulder and Matthew slapped it away reflexively, causing Gilbert to spill the contents of his cup onto himself. The blond immediately gasped and stood up, apologizing profusely. "I am so sorry, Gilbert, I just-." Words failing him, he took Gilbert by the arm and gently tugged him into the bathroom, taking paper towels from the machine and doing his best to wipe him off.
"Hey, we're in here again," Gilbert said fondly, attempting to lean in and kiss the other. Matthew backed away, fidgeting as he avoided eye contact.
"Say… You haven't ever done anything with any of your fans, right?"
"What? Of course not- I'm not Francis! I'd never do that; my fans don't know anything about me- besides the fact that I'm awesome, of course."
Matthew grinned at the characteristic answer, and granted Gilbert with the kiss he had tried to steal before. "I'm glad," he whispered against the others lips, before claiming them once again and pulling away. "We should get back out there- I really want you to try dipping your fries in maple syrup; it's amazing."
So much fluff, so little plot... Sorry about that, but PruCan is my life- they're so adorable, I can't help making them do cute things :,)
Translations:
Mignon = cute
(Also, I know 'frustratedly' and 'flirtily' aren't words, but they should be.)