– I love you –

A few days had past, and Gilbert still hadn't told his friends about his new friend Matthew whom he was becoming very close to. It's strange; I seem to be thinking of Birdie a lot. He's so cute, and I feel so happy when I'm with him; I really want him to get over his fear soon that I can give him a big hug. That's not weird is it? Is it weird for me to like another guy like this?

Gilbert continued to ponder on his feelings as he walked down the corridor. Not paying attention, he walked right into the door. Gilbird chirped as if he were laughing at him for not paying attention. Luckily the corridor was empty, so Gilbird was the only one there to laugh at him.

Rubbing his nose, he wandered outside and saw that Matthew was already waiting for him by the rocks. Gilbert started to feel embarrassed about walking into the door. I hope Birdie didn't see; the awesome me must have looked so un-awesome.

"Hey, Birdie. You're always here before me; do you get let out of lesson early or something?" Gilbert asked as he approached his friend.

"No, I guess I'm just faster than you, or maybe my classrooms are closer to here than yours," Matthew guessed. "By the way, I could clearly see through the window that you walked into the door. Are you okay? Is there something bothering you?"

He actually saw? No way, I can almost feel my awesomeness fading. At least he's not laughing at me.

"I'm fine, Birdie," Gilbert said nervously, rubbing his nose again as he remembered the pain of it hitting the door. "I just had something on my mind."

"So something is bothering you?" Matthew asked to confirm if Gilbert was as fine as he claimed to be.

"I... I was just thinking about you," Gilbert admitted, deciding to be honest. "So really, there isn't anything wrong."

"Why were you thinking about me?" Matthew seemed really surprised, but then sounded hurt. "Am I getting on your nerves? You don't have to hang out with me any more if I'm bothering you."

"What? Why would you think that? I was thinking about you because I love you," Gilbert blurted out.

"You love me?" Matthew looked confused; as if it was his first time anyone had said they loved him.

"Well, yeah, I love you," Gilbert said feeling really embarrassed about saying it out loud. "I feel really happy being with you. Don't you feel the same?"

Matthew began to smile; it was obvious how happy he was to hear that Gilbert liked him.

"I love you too," Matthew said quietly.

"Aw, you've gone all shy, Birdie," Gilbert pointed out. "You're so adorable."

Feeling embarrassed, Matthew didn't say anything.

"Birdie, can I hug you yet?" Gilbert asked, sounding desperate to hug him. He began to lean closer to Matthew as he waited for a reply. Please say yes, please say yes!

"I'm sorry," Matthew moved further away, looking sad. "I just can't."

"Its fine, I love you even if I can't touch you," Gilbert said with a smile. Damn, I really want to hug him... Just one hug!

"Thank you for understanding," Matthew said, still sounding sad.

Gilbert decided that even if he couldn't touch Matthew, he wanted to spend more time with him. He realised that he and Matthew had never seen each other when school finished. It was a Friday, and so Gilbert knew that he'd have to wait the whole weekend before getting to see his Birdie again.

"Want to come to my house after school? Or maybe meet up tomorrow?" Gilbert asked, filled with excitement at the idea of spending the weekend with Matthew.

"Thanks for the offer, but I'd rather not," Matthew quietly replied.

"Why not? It'll be fun to hang out after school," Gilbert said, trying to convince Matthew to agree.

Matthew just shook his head and apologised once more. Gilbert's excitement suddenly decreased and he was left with a frown on his face. I understand why he doesn't want to hug me, but I can't understand why he doesn't want to hang out with me.

After his offer to hang out over the weekend was rejected, he offered to walk Matthew home. To Gilbert's disappointment, Matthew refused his kind offer claiming that they rarely have the same lessons at the end of the day anyway so it's easier for them to go home separately. Despite this, Gilbert told Matthew that he'll wait for him at the gate once school finished.

After waiting for half an hour, hoping that Matthew would turn up any moment, Gilbert gave up and walked home feeling completely devastated. He knew I was waiting for him, so why didn't he turn up? I just wanted to spend more time with him. Does he not really like me? He said he loves me, but he may have just been saying that to be nice.

That weekend was the most boring and depressing weekend Gilbert had ever experienced. I wish Birdie had agreed to meet with me, I'm so un-awesomely bored! There's nothing to do. Picking up the controller to his game console, Gilbert thought of how much more fun it would be if he were playing with Matthew. After an hour of playing alone, he tossed the controller onto the grey bean bag on his bedroom floor. Not fun enough.

On Monday morning, Gilbert felt as if he had wasted the whole weekend, which he had as he spent the whole weekend complaining to Gilbird about how much he missed Matthew. When he was finally able to talk to Matthew again, he looked heartbroken.

"Why didn't you turn up?" Gilbert asked. "I waited, but you never came."

"I did say I wouldn't be there," Matthew protested, unintentionally sounding rude. "And I was let out of class early, so I decided to leave early."

Gilbert looked really hurt. Does he really not care about me? Does he not want to spend time with me?

"Gil, I'm sorry," Matthew said, looking really sad about hurting Gilbert.

"Hey, you never called me Gil before," Gilbert noticed, somehow making him worry less about Matthew not waiting for him.

"I thought I should give you a nickname because you call me Birdie," Matthew explained. "I couldn't think of anything creative, so I decided on Gil. I hope you don't mind."

"I love it," Gilbert stated with a huge smile on his face. I wonder if he wasted his weekend trying to think of names for me, that's adorable. "But don't think I'll give up on waiting for you. I'm going to wait for you every day after school."

"Please don't waste your time, I'm not going to be there no matter how long you wait," Matthew said with a worried look.

Gilbert kept his word and waited every day just as he said he would, but only for three days. On the third day that he waited, there was still no sign of Matthew after school. Why doesn't he want to spend time with me? He said he loves me, he gave me a nickname, but he doesn't want to meet with me after school? Is he scared I might try to touch him? I guess I might be behaving a bit clingy.

Gilbert didn't wait for Matthew for a fourth day in a row because that day at school, he couldn't find him during break time or lunch time. Where on Earth did Birdie go? I haven't seen him all day. I hope he's not avoiding me. I hope nothing bad has happened to him either.

He was sure that Matthew must not be in school, so Gilbert started hanging around with Antonio and Francis again. They continued to pester him about where he had been going when he wasn't hanging out with them, but Gilbert didn't say anything. He didn't even argue back to anything they said, he was feeling too upset about not being with Matthew that he couldn't find the energy to fight. I can't be happy any more without Birdie.

A/N: I didn't want to use the word "love" in this chapter because it seems like a strong word to use considering this is a confession after knowing each other for only a few days, but Gilbert already said that he really likes him back in the first chapter, and this time it needed to be more special.