Or, 'In Which Arthur's Not Really That Sneaky.'

Hey guys, Kitty29 here with a new chapter of 'To Follow the Music' for everyone to enjoy. You can thank my neighbours having a party next door and playing loud music for this chapter. If it wasn't for them, I would be sleeping right now. Mmmmmmm...sllleeeeppp. Good thing it's not 3 in the morning. Ohohoho.

Enjoy!

"Today's the day!" Gilbert sang as he skipped down the stairs to his basement two steps at a time. "The day our band is complete! The day we get our singer!"

It had indeed been a weeks time since the Prussian had first heard his mysterious vocalist at Roderich's door. Meaning today was the day of the singers piano lessons at the Austrian's house, making this a perfect time to find and recruit him into the band.

Gilbert hopped over the last step and into the floor with a excited 'Whoop!' before he looked up at the lone person with a large grin on his face. "Where the fuck is Antonio?" The albino's tone was annoyed but his smile didn't slip in the slightest. Arthur glared at his band leader.

"Wanker," He started. "Did you already forget? Antonio has his final exam today."

Gilbert blinked before he 'ah'd in acknowledgement. "Oh, right. That would explain why he called me at three in the morning screaming that he had forgotten everything. Fucking Loon."

Same old Antonio. He had started that strange habit in the seventh grade. Since then not a big test or exam would pass that he wouldn't call one of his close friends and proclaim to forget everything the test was on. Though the next day he would take the test and end up having one of the highest marks of the class. Gilbert always wondered how he did it, as school was something he struggled a lot with, but gave up his investigation in grade eleven and just concluded that the Spaniard was secretly a robot.

"Yes, better you than me," Arthur crossed his arms and sighed. "Is there a reason I'm here? Unlike you my job actually requires time and effort."

"God you've been such a stuck up dick these last few days." Gilbert retorted, though his smile was still on his face. Nothing could get him down today! "Just bone Franny already and get it over with. God the tension is killing me." He was really enjoy the shades the red the other male was quickly becoming. "Seriously, the sexual tension is so high I'm surprised you guys haven't jumped each other ye—"

"Is there a reason I'm here or can I go home?" Arthur interrupted, his red cheeks lowering the effect of his glare. Gilbert just chuckled before he decided to grant the Brit's wish.

"Alright, today's the day that you go to Roderich's house and—"

"Me?" Arthur interrupted with a quizzical look. "Why me? Why can't you do it?"

"Because Roderich is fucking stupid and doesn't see my awesomeness that's why," Gilbert stated like it was obvious, and though Arthur hated to admit it, the Prussian was right. Roderich would never let Gilbert near any of his students, especially the ones that he has shown an interest in before hand.

With a sigh Arthur nodded. "Fine, I'll get the singer. Whoever he is."

"Awesome!" Gilbert grinned at the grumpy bassist before he bent down and grabbed hold of a bag he had thrown on the couch the night before. "Call me when you get him."

"Where are you going?"

"Where do you think I'm going?" Gilbert asked as he ascended the stairs with a smirk. "I'm going to see Mattie!"

/ / / \ \ \

Entering the hospital Gilbert greeted the overweight receptionist who had yet to greet him back before he walked down the hallway he knew led to the young boys room.

"...Is there anything else I should know?"

Rounding the corner, the albino saw Francis chatting with the doctor who was looking over Matthew. Briefly looking over the chart in hand the doctor spoke.

"No, that should be all. But if he gets another fever in the next two weeks or so you should bring him straight here."

Seeing that the doctor was done speaking Gilbert placed a hand on the blond's shoulder and gained his attention. "Hey Franny."

Francis turned and smiled at his friend. "Ah, bonjour, Gil." The doctor informed that he had to be elsewhere before he wondered off.

"What was that about? The kid getting out today?"

Francis shook his head, though his smile still grew. "Non, not today. Tomorrow. Tomorrow my apartment will finally be home to more than one person."

"You mean for more than a night?" Gilbert corrected with a smirk, and Francis could do nothing but shrug. It would be useless to try and deny his womanizing (or...manizing?) ways. But really why should he? Is it so wrong to spread his love to the world? (Okay maybe not the world but...moving on...)

"So what was the kid sick with, anyway?" Gilbert questioned, and Francis couldn't help but look at him incredulously.

"You are the one who saved him and you don't even know why he is in the hospital in the first place?"

Gilbert shrugged, honestly not seeing what was wrong with that. "Does it matter? He's not sick anymore."

Francis continued to stare, wondering if the other was joking. Though after a few moments of Gilbert not doing anything to show that he was kidding, Francis couldn't help but laugh at his strangeness. Gilbert rose an eyebrow. "What?"

"Nothing...It's nothing," Francis said after he was done laughing. The look Gilbert was sending him showed he didn't buy it, and so the Frenchman decided to quickly change the subject. "It was a fever. A fever that grew worse than it should have due to stress and a very low iron count. The doctor says he was surprised Matheiu could even walk before hand."

The albino didn't really understand what that meant, but even so it didn't sound very good. "That sucks," He said simply before he glanced inside the room that the boy in question was in. He was focused on his notepad, same scene as before. "So does he know he's leaving tomorrow yet?"

Francis shook his head. "No, not yet. I've been too busy taking care of paperwork to tell him." He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Everyone is making me jump though hops before I can take him home. I actually have to go to Mathieu's school now for some reason. Do you mind..."

Gilbert placed a hand on his chest in mock surprise. "You're giving me the honour of telling Mattie he can get out of his creepy place soon? Dear god, Franny, you made me the happiest girl in the world."

"That's what they all say," Francis smoothly replied, used to the Prussians rather random and usually unnecessary responses. "And don't call him Mattie."

Gilbert raise in eyebrow at the rather serious sounding request. Why the hell couldn't he call him what he wanted? Francis had never opposed to him nicknaming others. Seeing the others confused look, Francis continued.

"It's a long story I'm afraid I don't have time for right now. Just call him Matt, okay?" With that Francis bid his friend farewell before walking past him to finish up his own business. Gilbert, deciding that he was far to awesome to leave Matthew waiting just so he could stand outside and ponder about 'the long story' Francis didn't tell him, promptly went inside the Canadian's room.

"Hey Blondie," Gilbert greeted, deciding to honour his friends request and go with the second name he came up with. "Writing more stuff?"

Looking up at the voice, Matthew smiled at the familiar face. "Hello, Gilbert." He glanced down at his notepad. "Oh, no, I'm not writing. I'm just...Stick figures." He finished lamely before he set the pad down on the small table beside him.

Gilbert nodded in response before he looked over the blond. He did look a lot better since he was admitted. The colour had returned to his skin and his hacking had reduced to a polite cough every now and then. The only signs showing that the teen was once sick was the still flushed colouring on his cheeks (which, now that it had died down, actually looked pretty cute) as well as the slight rasp in his voice. Even his bruises looked less serious (or maybe he was just used to seeing them now). Expect for the one on the side of his face, which he couldn't see right now due to the fact it was hidden under a bit-too-big-for-his-head bowler hat. Gilbert briefly wondered where Matthew had found this hat, but decided it was unimportant.

"So, today is a big day for the both of us, huh?" Gilbert questioned as he sat down on the chair next to the bed. Matthew tilted his head in confusion.

"'Big day?' Why? What's happening today?"

The Prussian smirked as he leaned further back in his chair, trying to make himself more comfortable. "For starters, tomorrow you're getting out of here and moving in with our beloved Franny."

Gilbert had expected the Canadian to be happy at the news, but to his surprise the other actually looked a bit disappointed, and turned away to look down at his lap. "O-Oh..."

"Hey, what's up?"

Matthew shook his head. "N-No no, it's nothing it's just..." Shaking his head again, he looked to the albino with a smile. "That's great! Really! So why is it a good day for you?"

At that a large smile broke out across Gilbert's face. "Well, since you ask," he began excitedly. "Today is a day that is going to go down in history. For today is the day that my awesome band will finally get it's equally awesome singer. Artie should actually be meeting him about now."

/ / / \ \ \

Arthur was glad when it was Elizabeta who answered the door instead of Roderich, for he and Elizabeta were friends back in high school while he and Roderich...were not. What he wasn't glad to see, however, was the state his friend was in. He wouldn't say she looked horrible, as she was a rather beautiful women, but she could have definably used some fixing up. Deep bags rested under her eyes, her hair was a mess and her clothes were wrinkled and twisted. Seeing her old school friend she immediately invited him inside, which Arthur gracefully accepted. Once inside Arthur noted that Roderich didn't look too great either. He sat in front of his baby grand, his usual straight posture curved as he rested his elbows on the fall. He rested his chin on his interlocked fingers and stared at nothing in front of him with a hardened expression. Truthfully, the sight left Arthur a little uneasy, the fact that the Austrian's foot was slowly pressing and releasing on the petal didn't help either. Quickly and quietly, Elizabeta led him past the sad sight and sat in down in the dining room before she went to make tea.

"I'm sorry you came at such a bad time," the woman apologized as she poured her guest some tea.

"Please, don't apologize for anything, dear," Arthur said as he accepted the offered cup. "Is it anything I can help with?"

Elizabeta sighed before she poured her own cup and sat down on the couch right across from the other. "I wish. You see, a student of Roderich's has been missing for over a week now, and we're very worried about him."

A bad feeling churned in the Brit's stomach. "This student...Was one of his lessons supposed to be now?"

The Hungarian female nodded, and mentally Arthur cussed Gilbert. Damn him and his stupid plans, he wasn't even here! "Are you sure he may not be just skipping a lesson?"

Elizabeta shook her head, looking down at her cup with knitted brows. "No, he...He always calls beforehand or texts one of us if he has to miss a lesson. But it's not just here, apparently he hasn't been to school or work for the last week either. And when we try to contact him or his father we can't get through..." She stopped and bit her bottom lip, nothing but worry showing on her face.

Arthur couldn't help but think that she had lost one of her own children with the way she was acting. "Well, maybe you can describe him for me? I may have seen him around."

Elizabeta's head shot up to look at the male at that. "Oh! Right, yes. Good idea." Setting her tea cup on the table in front of her she stood and raised a hand just a bit above her head. "He's about this tall, really skinny, pale skin, has blond hair to about here," she gestured about halfway up her neck. "And, um...Always wears long sleeved shirts, usually red."

Arthur made a face. Just why did that description sound so familiar? Elizabeta continued.

"And his name is Matthew. Matthew Williams have you seen him?"

The tea cup fell from Arthur's hand and smashed on the ground. Both he and Elizabeta jumped.

"Bulloc— I'm so sorry!"

"No, it's okay! I never really liked that cup anyway."

"At least let me help clean up."

As the two cleaned up the mess Arthur's mind had kicked into over drive. Matthew, Matthew, shit, Matthew, what the fuck? This Matthew, the one Elizabeta was looking for, their singer and their Matthew back at the hospital were all the same person! It made sense that Elizabeta had yet to hear about him, though the police was included due to the obvious abuse he had suffered, the media was being surprising silent about it. Probably because they didn't see it as much as a story until they made some kind of arrest or whatever. So what, should he tell her? If he told her, of course she would tell Roderich and then they would visit Matthew in the hospital. From there it was only a matter of time before they would find out of Gilbert's connection with the boy and just like that their chances of having their singer were gone.

Wait, did he just put the band before another human being? Shit, Gilbert was really starting to rub off on him, and not in the good way.

...He didn't think that.

Sooner than he would have wanted, Elizabeta told him to sit back down as she finished off, and Arthur numbingly did as he was told, still in a bit of a haze. They may not be very connected with Matthew as close family or friends, but they were obviously very worried over him. No matter how badly the band needed a singer, they deserved to know the truth.

"I know where Matthew is," Arthur stated, and instantly Elizabeta dropped everything she was doing to stare dumbfounded at the British man. The heavy sound of hurried footsteps echoed through the suddenly quiet house and within moments Roderich had appeared in the doorway.

"Where is he?" Roderich demanded, sending a very unnerving glare over at the other male. Arthur had to admit that the stare had a great effect on him. He had never seen the Austrian so intense before when he wasn't seated in front of his piano. Even when he looked away he could still feel the glare burning into the side of his skull.

"Well...He..." Arthur released a heavy sigh and decided to just spit it out. "He's in the hospital."

/ / / \ \ \

Entering the familiar hospital Antonio whistled cheerfully. He greeted the overweight receptionist that still had yet to greet him back before he began to scroll down the hallways. Truthfully, he had no idea why he was here. He had no reason to be here, really. All he know was that he had finished writing that terribly long test, thing and had decided that the best way to cerebrate would be by aimlessly walking around the hospital he worked at. Almost like a victory lap if you will, but no running and with a lot more sick people.

He ignored (or more like, didn't notice) the strange looks he got as he strutted (or rather, walked animatedly) down the hallways, still whistling his cheerful tune. He was just about to past by Matthew's room and decided to glance inside before he continued on, just to see if he was okay. Looking inside, he was a bit surprised when he noticed Gilbert there as well, talking quite excitedly to the teen. Deciding to say hello before he went on, he walked into the small room.

"Hello!" He greeted happily, causing the two other males to look at him.

"Hey Toni," Gilbert greeted back with a smile. "I was just telling Matt here about our singer." Then, glancing down at the object under Antonio's arm, he raised an eyebrow. "Why are you carrying your old keyboard?"

Antonio simply blinked for a bit before looking down at the bulky, somewhat heavy instrument he was holding. "Oh!" He exclaimed, obviously having forgotten he was carrying it in the first place. "That's what was giving me trouble when I tried to go though doors."

Gilbert resisted the urge to face palm as he asked his question again, "Okay. So why are you carrying it around?"

Antonio shrugged before he walked over to the other and placed the hand that wasn't holding the keyboard on the back of his chair. "This is my lucky keyboard. I know I have a new one but this one always assures that I do will do well on tests."

Gilbert really did face palm this time. "You idiot. I just want to know if they even let you bring that thing in with you when you took your exam." He turned to Matthew with the intention of telling him more about Antonio's weird ways but stopped when he found that Matthew's attention was elsewhere. He was looking down at the keyboard with wonder shining in his eyes. Noticing the look, Antonio held the keyboard with both hands so that the blond could properly see it.

"Have you played the keyboard before?" Antonio asked, startling the teen from whatever trance he was in.

"Oh, n-no," Matthew answered, a light blush on his face. He looked down at his lap and began to fumble with the sheet currently covering his legs. "But I used to play the piano..."

"Did you like it?"

Matthew was silent for a while, opting to look down at his hands rather than the two males. "...I loved it." He finally said causing the Spaniard to smile.

"Do you want to learn? It's not too different." Walking up to the younger male he placed the instrument on his lap. Just as he began to explain some things about the keyboard Gilbert's cell phone rang. Not wanting to interrupt whatever 'thing' the two had suddenly developed, he got up and went outside before he answered.

"Hey Artie, the most awesome person other than me right now!" Gilbert greeted with a large smile. "So did you find our singer?"

"Y-Yes hello to you too Gilbert," Arthur greeted back with a faint irritation in his voice that Gilbert ignored. Arthur pretty much always sounded like that. "Gilbert, listen, about the singer—"

"He's awesome, right? I told you! Isn't he perf—"

"He wasn't there. He's been missing for days."

Silence fell upon the two. A silence that was making Gilbert increasingly nervous as it dragged out. He was waiting for Arthur to say that he was joking and that the vocalist was actually standing right next to him. It certainly didn't seem like a thing Arthur would do, but he was secretly hoping that from the time he had seen him to now someone had removed that stick that was far up his ass. Finally Arthur spoke.

"Gilbert? Did you hear me?"

"...Are you fucking kidding me?" Gilbert wasn't sure why he was suddenly mad, of course he had considered the option that the singer wouldn't be there. Even so he found himself annoyed. "He wasn't fucking there? Did you at least get his name?"

"No, I didn't get his name. Roderich figured out you sent me."

"What the hell? How could he know that? Do you really suck that fucking hard at sneaking?"

"Me showing up a week after you did wasn't a very good plan! Especially after you caused such a big scene! You got the bloody police involved?"

"ONE cop! ONE! And it was the unawesome, sexually frustrated neighbour!"

With a sigh that Arthur didn't bother hiding he said, "This is getting us nowhere."

Though Gilbert wanted to cuss Arthur out some more he figured that the Brit was right. "Just come to the hospital." He ordered before he hung up his phone with a scowl.

Hearing the dial tone Arthur also hung up his phone with a sigh. He had told Elizabeta and Roderich everything. Well, everything expect for the fact that Gilbert wanted Matthew to join their band as the singer. He had even managed convince the couple to not visit Matthew today. He knew that Gilbert was there at the moment, and Gilbert and Roderich meeting was something that he needed to avoid. He had thought it would have been hard to convince the two to delay the visit to the teen they had spent the week worrying over but the two seemed more relieved that the boy was safe to really argue that much.

Not telling Gilbert of the singers identity was for the best. He knew Gilbert, and he knew that when he got his sights on something he would go after it until it was his. Matthew didn't need that, especially now. The physical and mental abuse he suffered was far more than any boy his age should go though. How old was Matthew anyway? Fifteen? Sixteen? Far too young to be forced into focusing all his attention to a band. If they made it, the kid will be surrounded by bad influences, far worst than just Gilbert, and if they didn't make it, than he would have just wasted time he could have spent going to school and getting an education. They would just have to find their singer somewhere else.

Starting to walk away from the house, he hoped he had done the right thing.

Thank you Italiangurlinamessedupworld, xxassassinxx18, XxTehSparklepirexX, Life's Shadows, HealingNymph, aile-chan, digi-smile, zero434, Ophiouchos, Chocola Emo Shizzle, IchigoMelon, Apollo Pompano, fairy-hime-108, Frozenbreath, gabieblue, and SchemingAlchemist for the reviews!