– Believe in ghosts and friends–

Gilbert couldn't stop crying, he knew he'd never see Matthew in the same way again, but he was still happy to have him with him in the form of a seed. Looking like a complete wreck after crying so much, Gilbert sat under a tree and continued to quietly cry while holding onto the seed. He held it gently enough that he wasn't squashing it in his hand, but tight enough that he knew he'd not drop it. He was determined to not let go of the seed. I'm not going to let you leave me again, Birdie.

After calming down, he thought about how Arthur was right about there being a ghost. He knew it was wrong for him to be bullied just because nobody else you see the ghost. It reminded him of how Matthew had said he was bullied. He decided that he should let Alfred and Francis know that Arthur was right, and put an end to their ridiculous arguments.

Gilbert waited for lessons to finish, and for lunch time to begin. He knew where Francis would be at lunch time, and so he decided he would talk to him first. However, on his way, he saw Alfred walk past and took this opportunity to speak to him first instead.

"Hey, dude, what's up?" Alfred asked as he saw Gilbert approaching him.

"Arthur was right about there being a ghost in the school; you should believe him," Gilbert said bluntly.

"What? But there are no such things as ghosts, he was clearly making it up," Alfred laughed. "I wouldn't have expected you to take his side."

"He's telling the truth," Gilbert's fiery red eyes looked filled with anger. "He's clearly upset that you're embarrassed to be seen as his friend any more. Why does it affect your friendship so much? All he did was say he saw a ghost!"

"If he wants to be the laughing stock of the school, then that's his choice and I'm not getting involved as long as he stops bothering me about it. Maybe if he stops making up all this crap all the time, I'd be his friend again!"

"He's not making it up," Gilbert's thoughts of Matthew were so close to making him cry again. "And that's not how friendship should work. If he's your friend then you should believe him, even if what he says is hard for you to believe. Friends are supposed to trust each other."

Gilbert knew he'd cry again if he were to continue talking, and so he walked away before Alfred could say anything else, leaving Alfred to think about what his friendship with Arthur really means to him.

Francis was exactly where Gilbert thought he'd be. Although, he was surprised to find him alone; he thought Antonio would have been with him.

"Have you still fallen out with your imaginary friend?" Francis asked jokingly. He soon saw from the angry and sad look on Gilbert's face that he probably shouldn't have said that.

"He's not imaginary," Gilbert said, holding back both his anger and sadness. "He was the ghost that Arthur saw."

Francis appeared shocked at what Gilbert had said. "So you're saying you saw this 'ghost' too?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Gilbert replied. "Arthur was telling the truth, he really did see a ghost."

Francis sighed, "Okay, I'll believe you, but only because I'm hearing this from you."

"So are you going to stop fighting with him?" Gilbert asked, hoping he was getting somewhere.

"That depends on him. We've always been fighting; it's not going to just stop. Why does this matter to you anyway?"

"I realised how important friendship really is because of Matthew, so I can't just stand around watching you ruin your friendship with Arthur."

"I'm not really sure you can call it a 'friendship' exactly, I doubt he's ever considered me as a friend. And like I said, we've always been fighting. It means nothing, really." Francis claimed. "If the ghost is gone, he'll stop saying he can see it and I'll have one less thing to fight with him about."

"But suppose Arthur's telling the truth every time he says he sees something that others can't see," Gilbert suggested. "He must feel so hurt by you, his friend, not believing him."

Francis sighed. "I don't understand why you seem to think me and him are friends." Then he paused for a moment to actually consider how his arguments made Arthur feel. "You're being really serious about this… and I guess you might be right," Francis sighed again. "I'll talk to him later. I'll try not to fight, but if he starts it don't expect me to be the bigger person."

Later in an almost empty classroom, with 5 minutes to spare before lesson would begin, Gilbert and Francis sat at their desks. Gilbert gently rubbed the seed between his fingers and Francis could tell by the sad look on his face that he was thinking of Matthew. He wanted to cheer him up or talk about something that would get his mind off Matthew for a while, but he didn't know what to say. He couldn't talk about how Antonio had recently developed a crush on Lovino, because he wanted to keep out the topic of relationships. Francis sighed at how hopeless the situation seemed.

Then Arthur, who looked gloomy as ever, entered the room and sat down at his desk. Francis stood up from his own desk and walk over to Arthur's.

"Arthur, I have to tell you something," Francis sounded very serious.

"Just sod off!" Arthur replied, assuming that Francis was only going to mock him more.

"Arthur, désolé," Francis spoke in French as he felt it came more naturally for him to say it in French than English.

"Could you not speak French when we're not in France? What's that suppose to mean anyway, frog?" Hearing the French and not knowing what it meant made Arthur feel more irritated than he was before.

"I'm saying I'm sorry. I let our fights go too far sometimes. I believe that you saw a ghost, I shouldn't have kept teasing you about it," Francis' apology was genuine.

Arthur appeared shocked. "Ha, you can't be serious, you've never once been sorry for anything. I don't need your pity, just leave me alone."

"Well this time I am!" Francis insisted. "I really believe you saw a ghost. I still think you're being ridiculous when you talk about fairies and other creatures, but I do believe you about this ghost."

Arthur just laughed at how ridiculous Francis sounded to him.

"What's so funny?" Francis asked.

"It's just that…" Arthur spoke between chuckles of laughter. "You actually sound kind of serious."

"Of course I'm serious!" Francis claimed. "I'm truly sorry for teasing you, I really am."

"Fine I'll forgive you, frog," Arthur grinned. "If you get on your knees and beg for my forgiveness."

"As if I'd ever do that," Francis replied, feeling humiliated enough just apologising normally. "I just wanted you to hear my apology; I don't care if you forgive me or not."

"If you're done apologising, then go away," Arthur demanded. "The last time you argued with me before the start of lesson, I got in trouble for swearing, bastard."

"Arthur Kirkland," the teacher spoke as he entered the classroom. "After acknowledging that swearing gets you into trouble, I would have thought you'd stop. Detention after school today."

"That bastard frog," Arthur mumbled under his breath as he slouched in his seat. Arthur did forgive Francis, and it did mean a lot to him that he had apologised, but he had too much pride to let his appreciation show.

Francis returned to his seat and saw that Gilbert appeared happier after seeing him at least try to improve their friendship, if it could even be called that. It was time for lesson to begin, and it was as boring as the class had anticipated it to be. Once the lesson was over, Francis and Gilbert were about to leave the classroom, then suddenly Alfred came zoomed past them. He headed straight to Arthur's desk.

"Artie!" Alfred spoke loudly, appearing more cheerful than before.

Francis glances at Gilbert and gave him a look as if to say: "You went pestering Alfred about this too, didn't you?" The two of them stayed in the classroom so they could eavesdrop on the conversation.

Arthur, who had just finished packing his things away, looked up at the American. He appeared annoyed that Alfred had called him by a nickname. "What do you want?" Arthur asked, sounding rather grumpy, unable to comprehend why Alfred was talking to him in such a happy tone.

"I was wondering if you'd like to watch a new horror movie with me later," Alfred spoke as if he were confident Arthur would agree to.

"Why? So you can laugh about how ghosts aren't real while you cower in fear behind a pillow? Well I don't care anymore," Arthur replied harshly. Once again, he was assuming that he was going to be made fun of.

"No, so I can apologise. I stopped spending time with you and I shouldn't have been so mean to you. I'll believe you; if you say you saw a ghost then you saw a ghost," Alfred said.

"You believe me?" Arthur asked with a confused tone to his voice, wondering what had gotten into the two people who believed him the least to make them suddenly believe him.

"You're my friend, right?" Alfred asked, and then continued to speak as he didn't expect an answer. "It took me longer than it should have to realise this, but I shouldn't doubt my friends, so I'll believe you no matter what ridiculous things you say."

"That's a ridiculous reason," Arthur commented. "So you'll believe anything I say?"

"Well, that depends what it is," Alfred replied. "If I know for a fact that you're lying, then of course I can't believe you. But I can't prove you're lying about the ghost, just like how you can't really prove to me that it is real, so I'll just have to believe that you're not lying about it."

"Fine," Arthur smiled. "I'll watch that movie with you."

"So you forgive me? Thank you, Artie." Alfred grabbed Arthur by his wrists and pulled him out of his seat. "Let's go to my house now."

Arthur tried to pull out of Alfred grip. "I can't yet," he scowled in Francis' direction. "Because of that French git, I have to stay for detention."

"I'll wait in detention with you," Alfred decided. "My only plans for the rest of the day were to spend more time with you anyway."

"Whatever, it your choice," Arthur couldn't hide his smile as much as he tired. He was clearly happy that he and Alfred had made up and were back to being friends. He sat back down at his desk and Alfred took a seat next to him.

Gilbert smiled as he saw how happy everyone appeared, but then clenched the seed in his hand. His smile faded and he bit his lip to stop him from crying. At least they can have their happy ending.

A/N: Aw, good guy Gilbert does the right thing and helps Arthur have friends again so he's not all lonely like Matthew was; he's just so awesome like that!
This chapter was more difficult for me to write than the other chapters for some reason; I hope I did okay. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last.