Argh-thor's note: After like two days of trying to get upload this chapter, I believe FanFiction is being an ass. So, I'm gonna try an experiment....let's see if it works.....
Saturday arrived with such quick timing that Matthew had to pinch himself to make sure it was real.
The hours before Matthew reached Germany's place were nerve wrecking. Before he walked out of the house, he had switched outfits twice, finally going with a nice dark blue turtleneck and grey slacks. Checking his image in the mirror he had to reassure himself twice that he looked okay. He even asked Kumajiro his opinion on the outfit.
"Hey, Kukugachu, Whaddya think of this outfit?" Matthew said, looking down on the white fuzzball of a bear. The bear looked him up and down, nodded before uttering a small, "Who?"
Sighing, Matthew went to put on a matching grey jacket before patting the white bear on the head. "What if they don't like me, Kunamatata? Sigh, I wish I wasn't this nervous. "
The bear replied, "Okay, but who are you?"
"I'm Ca-na-da....sometimes I don't even know why I even keep you around...." He picked up the box that contained the gift he was bringing over for the dinner and proceeded to go to the address Gilbert had left him the day before.
Throughout the journey, Matthew continued his assault of paranoid moments on his brain. What if they don't like me and they disapprove of me? Germany doesn't kill anyone anymore, does he? Argh, I know he's okay with his friends, but that guy still terrifies me! And Gilbert also mentioned that Austria would be there...I don't have anything in common with him! What if we get so awkward that we don't say anything for the entire trip! I hate being so shy sometime! Would they like the gift, I wonder? Oh no, what if they don't like the gift! I hope it's not broken. What if it is? Argh, why can't I be more spontaneous like Alfred, or know the common etiquette for things like what Arthur does? Oh, merde...I hate being me sometimes...What does Gilbert see in me...
He was struck by a horrid thought. Oh no! Maybe the reason why Gilbert doesn't want people to know about our relationship is because he's ashamed of me! Argh...no wonder! Wait, the fact that we're telling them means that he's not actually ashamed of me, right? Oh god, help me out here.
This vein of thinking continued until he reached the gates before of a grand old house...more like a mansion, actually, thought Matthew, looking up at it. Germany's house was one that was simple, yet still bespoke grand elegance in the architecture. Surrounding the house, Matthew could see a wide expanse of green grass and trees. In awe over Germany and Gilbert's living conditions, Matthew thought back to the little two storey log cabin he lived in back in Canada, and sighed. Some people just have all the luck.
Ringing the buzzer next to the gates, Matthew spoke into the speaker when it asked for his name. The gates clicked and opened silently as Matthew walked towards the house, trying his best to look confident while crying in terror over the entire situation inside.
The door burst open while three big dogs ran out to greet Matthew, jumping up and down while barking and sniffing the newcomer arriving in their territory. Giggling despite himself, Matthew bent down to have a better look at the three dogs, while trying his best not to topple over due to the overexcited dogs jumping around. One was a German Shepherd, another a Golden Retriever and the last was a Doberman Pinscher, and all of them seemed happy to see Matthew .Shifting the box in one hand, he reached out the other to stroke the dogs . They allowed him to, panting slightly as they did.
" Hey, even Westen's dogs like you. " said a voice from behind him. Matthew looked up to see Gilbert standing there, the little yellow fluff he dubbed Gilbird on his shoulder. To be frank, Matthew wasn't actually so sure that it was Gilbird, because there was another one sitting at the top of his head.
Matthew stood up, blushing slightly while regarding Gilbert, who was dressed nicely in a white button down shirt and jeans. " H-hey."
"Hey yourself, kid." Gilbert smirked as he absently petted the German Shepherd which was licking at his palm. "Down, madchen." He scolded the dog gently, and turned to look at Matthew. " West's inside." He said, motioning for the dogs to follow him. " I told him I'd come and get you ."
"I should be thankful that you're the one that gets to bring me around the estate , eh?" deadpanned Matthew as he followed Gilbert to the house, the three dogs happily bounding behind him.
"Hey, it's still a cool place." Replied Gilbert as he opened the door. "I share it with Westen , but my awesomeness is the one that surrounds the house. Not that he's not as awesome as I am, but come on, it's me! I rule awesome!"
"Bruder, please don't make the guest feel that uncomfortable around the house." Came a rumbling voice as the tall, broad shouldered form of Germany came into the hallway. Wearing a white apron with ruffles, he strode over and stretched his hand out. "Welcome , Canada, is it not? I thank you for taking the trouble to entertain my brother in your house."
"It's my pleasure." Matthew shyly replied, as he took the hand the bigger man offered and shook it. "And your brother is no trouble, really."Remembering the gift that he had brought over, Matthew passed the box over and offered it to the blonde nation." Here, Gil-I mean Prussia mentioned that you liked baking, so I brought this ..."
Germany took the box and opened it slightly. His eyes widened as he looked at Matthew and said, "We thank you. This is indeed a generous gift..."
"Ya see, West? I told ya the kid likes me!" cackled Gilbert as he swung his hand around his younger brother. Considering that Germany was taller than Gilbert , the arm swinging over his brother's neck looked more like a younger brother hanging on to his bigger, tougher looking older brother. Although said "bigger, tougher looking older brother" was wearing an apron with white ruffles on it, which made the overall appearance look weird.
"Hm..." mused Germany as he regarded both of them suspiciously. He then turned to look at Matthew and said, "Well, Canada, Austria and Hungary are in the living room playing the piano ,so do make yourself comfortable by joining them. " Turning around while holding the box, he said," And Bruder, help me in the kitchen!"
"Aw....come on.....you make people uncomfortable wearing that! I don't wanna spend time with you when you're dressed like a girl!" he heard Gilbert groan as he followed his younger brother into the kitchen. Matthew could almost hear a grumbled, 'Feliciano insisted that I wear this, okay?" before the voices completely disappeared. He giggled softly and went to the living room where he could hear piano music resounding from the living room.
Inside, Matthew could see Austria playing the piano while a listening Hungary stood by the side, listening intently. The tune was a rather sprightly one and reminded Matthew of spring and dancing butterflies. Standing at the doorway, Matthew listened with his eyes closed, enjoying as the tune washed over him and imagine himself lying in sunset filled grassland, dancing butterflies above him while Gilbert laid next to him, nuzzling his cheek as he slept...
"I cannot see you properly, but if you want to listen, please come in." A voice broke Matthew's reverie as he looked up to see Austria looking at- no, looking through him . Matthew blushed as he walked in, about to stammer an apology when suddenly he was wrapped in the arms of a smiling brunette.
Hungary smiled as she hugged the younger nation. "EE! Aren't you a cutie! You must be the nation that is nice to Gilbert! But you're so much cuter than the last time I saw you! "she squealed as he held the nation at an arms breath to inspect him from head to toe. Matthew wondered if he should have felt comfortable with the older nation hugging and inspecting him like that. The gleam in her eye just didn't make him feel right....
"Hm....you're pale , but it's a nice sort of colouring..." she then inspected his face." Beautiful purple eyes, I think that makes you sort of prettier than your brother...your hair is gorgeous, by the way...what shampoo do you use?"
"Erm..."
"Ooh! I know! You'll look so good in this one outfit I brought over! Give me a minute while I get my bag!" yelled Hungary as she ran out of the room , the gleam she had in her eye turning more maniacal as she ran out the living room, leaving a confused Matthew and a more exasperated Roderich behind.
"I apologize for Hungary. She can get a little...crazy ...when she finds someone she thinks is rather cute." Said Austria as he looked at Matthew. Matthew squirmed slightly, uncomfortable with the way he was looking at him.
"Gilbert says that you're the one who's house he has been going over." Said Austria slowly.
"Erm...that's right, sir." Matthew replied.
Awkward pause.
"T-that was a nice piece you were playing j-just now."
"Thank you." replied Austria.
Another awkward pause.
"W-what was that you were playing?"
"It's a Chopin piece.Étude Op. 25, No. 9, in G-flat major . Also known as the Butterfly Etude."
" Oh, I see."
The third awkward pause.
"I'M BACK!!!!"
Ah, there was Hungary. Who was back with a giant bag full of fabric.
"Oh....this would look so good with your colouring! Oh, but this too would just make you look precious!" holding up outfit after outfit on him. Matthew, stunned, could not do anything but stand and wonder, Is it just me, or is she holding up dresses?
She suddenly squealed. "Ooh! This one would look just fabulous on you! Here! "she shoved a garment bag to Matthew's arms and dragged him to a nearby room to change.
*
Ludwig scrutinized his brother next to him.
His brother, who did not like the staring, looked back at him.
"What?" asked Gilbert . "I told you, West, I can't help my awesomeness. But a tip, you wanna be awesome as me, you gotta lose the apron."
Ludwig bristled at that. 'I told you, Feliciano insisted I wear this."( The said Italian was waking up after his siesta and was now getting ready for the dinner as well) "What I want to ask is...what is Canada to you?"
Gilbert tensed slightly, but quickly laughed it off. "Why Westen, since when did you care?"
His brother looked at him even more intensely. "Bruder, with all your friends, you have always been open and crazy with them, but for Canada...you seem to be more...guarded. And just now, in the hallway, the whole time you looked as though you were ready protect him."
"That's crazy!" said Gilbert, even though his brain told him that his brother was right.
"You hang around his house for months and stay over-"
"That's so that I can have pancakes in the morning!"
"You don't get irritated with him like you do with some of your other friends-"
"That's cause this guy doesn't piss me off!"
"And for that matter..." Ludwig said, motioning towards the box Matthew had brought over. He opened it for Gilbert to see. "Kuchen , bruder? Apple kuchen, to be precise."
"What about it?" Gilbert muttered, knowing the answer immediately, but not wanting to admit it.
"Very few people actually know that you love apple kuchen, bruder! Unless you were drunk and just happened to blurt out that small fact, you wouldn't tell anybody about it!"
Gilbert refused ,in any way to look at his bruder.
"I knew it." Said Ludwig. " You love him, don't you?"
Gilbert was known for many things. Pride was unfortunately one of them. The fact that his brother actually managed to figure out the truth was something he was not going to admit in front of him. Despite the happy, glowing face of Matthew in his mind when told that they would tell people about their relationship, his pride, which was at the moment not admitting that his younger brother was right, was right now in the way. Deny everything he said! Deny, deny ,deny!
"You have no idea what you're talking about, Westen." He said, refusing to look at him in the eye, while Ludwig was uncharacteristically smirking.
"And for that matter, what makes you think I didn't get drunk at his house and just blurt out that small fact, anyway?"Gilbert continued.
Ludwig was about to reply when suddenly, a shriek was heard.
Both brothers, having never broken the habit of running out, guns blazing at any sort of alarm given, charged out of the room to the living room, where the shriek was apparently coming from.
It wasn't an army battalion coming through. Nor was it Austria screaming like a girl about the starfish doll that Gilbert had placed on the couch.
No.
It was a shrieking Elizaveta, who apparently was screaming in happiness of something in front of her.
And when both brothers drew nearer, they realised that it was not really a matter of something, but more of a someone.
It was Matthew.
But not just Matthew. This was Matthew "dressed up in one of Hungary's clothes" Matthew.
He was dressed in a yellowish golden silk off the shoulder dress, the sleeves puffed and trimmed with black lace. The skirt was a darker yellowish gold, ending just above the knees and also trimmed with black lace, tied with a big bow at the back of his waist. Elizaveta seemed to have also attached lace cuffs on both wrists, as well as a matching lace hairclip to clip back his hair. To top it off, he was also wearing matching heeled shoes, with the straps around the ankles. Elizaveta squealed and hugged the poor model while the poor model was trying his best not to blush but failing miserably at it. Roderich looked neutral, but even he had a gleam that hinted in admiration. Feliciano, who had wandered in woozily at the sound of squealing, joined in and went to hug Matthew, who was slowly losing all air in his body and turning purple. Ludwig, after checking that there was no real emergency, did not say anything, but was about to go back to the kitchen when he caught the expression on Gilbert's face.
Gilbert was, dare he said it... smiling? Smiling in a rare, gentle way which Ludwig hadn't seen for a while.
Matthew, who was trying his best not to get strangled, looked up and saw Gilbert just staring at him. He turned an even darker red and tried to wriggle out of their grips, but that just made his huggers hang on to him more.
Ludwig smiled slightly, and went back to the kitchen.
*
After 15 minutes, during which Matthew was finally released from the grips of both Hungary and Italy, and was able to change back to his turtleneck and grey slacks, they finally were able to sit down and eat .
Ludwig had finally taken off his apron and was standing up, serving up the bread rolls and passing around the butter plate to every member sitting at the table. Feliciano had , rather excitedly, passed around plates of gnocchi and a large bowl of tomato sauce and melted cheese. Matthew had tried to help, but Feliciano waved his hands away. "Ve~! Ludwig and I can handle it. You're the guest, so don't worry!"
"Thank you, North Italy ,that is very kind of you..."
"Call me Feliciano, everyone does. And don't call us by our country names, just call us by our own names. Austria's Roderich, and Hungary's Elizaveta. Ludwig's Germany, so don't be too shy to call us! I like you, you know that? I don't see you very often but Gilbert talks about you all the time!"
"He does?" Matthew said, smiling slightly at the idea that Gilbert talked about him all the time to Feliciano. Next to him, Gilbert grimaced slightly, but felt better seeing the smile on Matthew's face.
And then, Feliciano spoilt it.
"Yeah, it's great that Gilbert has such a great friend to talk about!"
Matthew, who was about to take a bite of his gnocchi, froze halfway. He then lowered the spoon and softly said, "Friend, eh?"
Gilbert, who noticed that small motion, tensed slightly and looked at him .
Feliciano continued, "Yes, you guys spend so much together and stuff, so Gilbert tells me everything about you! You two are such good friends!"
Friends...eh?
Ludwig took in both Matthew's hurt expression and Gilbert's wince at Feliciano's words. Roderich and Elizaveta ate quietly, both as well observing the situation.
Then Matthew looked up, and forced a smile on his face. "So, how did you make this pasta anyway, Feliciano?"
*
Dinner went by rather smoothly. To the observer's eye, it would seem as though it was perfectly normal.
Well, they would have been partly correct.
Throughout the dinner, Gilbert had kept sneaking sidelong glances at Matthew, who was determined not to look at Gilbert in the eye or talk to him. While the others did not notice, Ludwig was observing the behaviour of both of them .
Even when the kuchen was served, Matthew had only pushed his slice around while cutting it to bits . Gilbert had bitten into his slice only to realise that the apple slices was dipped in maple syrup , not something which the normal kuchen recipe would call for. Matthew had evidently made it himself. While he had loudly complimented on the awesomeness of the kuchen and everyone had agreed, Matthew would only smile slightly and push his broken up pieces around.
After clearing up the dishes, Matthew had insisted on helping Feliciano and Hungary clean up. While the other two had protested at the idea of letting a guest clean up, it was clear they had failed as soon, Matthew was cheerfully chatting with Hungary and Feliciano while helping to wash the dishes. Even while Gilbert had asked Matthew to join him and Roderich to the sitting room, Matthew and yelled back that he was busy cleaning the dishes. Ludwig, who was in the kitchen with his first round of cleaning the tables and floors, noted that there was a bright glint in Matthew's eye even while he was happily chatting with the others, while Gilbert, when his request was refused, had looked slightly hurt, though he had quickly said, " Suit yourself" and went off to join Roderich.
*
Sending Matthew home, Gilbert decided to break the ice first.
"So , great dinner, huh?"
What he did not expect was Matthew exploding.
"Oh, of course, I had a great dinner! There I was the whole time, pretending to be someone I'm not!"
"W-what?"
Matthew turned back to look at him and Gilbert flinched; there were tears streaming down from the blonde's eyes and his face was red from anger.
" Oh, of course, Gilbert, considering the fact that after nearly 6 months of not telling anyone about our relationship, and all the secret keeping, the lying the guilt, and then FINALLY telling me that we will tell people about it, only to discover that you told them we were GREAT FRIENDS? Well, of course, I had a great dinner, Gilbert!"
This was just turning out even worse than Gilbert had thought. While Matthew didn't really shout per say, his light and soft voice had an unusual impact on the speech, and Gilbert found himself hurt more than if Matthew had been actually yelling. Now that he thought about it, he had never seen the quiet, laidback Canadian ever this agitated and mad . This could explain why he wasn't able to react properly to Matthew's anger, he was still in shock.
"And for that matter, Gilbert, why have you been so reluctant to tell everybody about our relationship, eh? Was it because of the fact that I wasn't AWESOME enough? You ashamed of me now?"
Now things were just getting confused.
"Wait...I haven't said..."
" Oh, so you think just because I'm such a nice person who hasn't spoken up much means you can lie to me and say that you love me and promise to do things for me, when in actual fact you were just making fun of me, weren't you? Merde to you, you arrogant dumbass! Didn't you think that I would want to, be proud to be by your side and to be recognised as your boyfriend, Gilbert Beilschmidt? I do want that recognition but you just think all about you, huh? And you didn't consider the idea that I would want to celebrate Valentine's Day! Typical, isn't it? You don't bother actually listening to your friends once in a while! "
"Val-Valentine's Day? " Was this what it was all about? " Look, Matthew-"
"NO! THIS time, it's my turn to talk! Faire, ça va faire! Stop the car!"
"I'm not gonna do that, Matthew-"
"Faites-le!"
Gilbert stopped the car.
Matthew opened the door. "Damnit, sortir de ma vue ! Je vous déteste ! Et je brise avec vous !"
Gilbert got out of the car as well and tried to chase after the young Canadian. But after awhile, he realised that there were too many people on the street, being the weekend and the day before Valentine's Day to boot. He swore in German and drove back to the house.
*
Matthew ran all the way home. He didn't stop in any way possible, but ran as fast as he could back to his log cabin. Only his tears ran faster.
*
Ludwig had known the minute his brother got home how sending Matthew home had gone. With the amount of cursing and stomping he had done, it was definitely bad.
"Ve~? Gilbert nii-chan sounds very angry! Scary!" whined Feliciano as he clung onto Ludwig even more tightly than before. They were in the kitchen, doing the last round of cleaning up (at Ludwig's insistence, they always did 3 rounds of cleaning) when Gilbert had stormed in , stomped his way up the stairs and slammed the door, all with cursing along the way.
"Feliciano, do not, and I repeat, do NOT go near bruder for the next hour or so, you hear me?" said Ludwig , while focusing a stern stare at his boyfriend. The brunette, who often took things like this very seriously, especially if it concerned his own well-being and scary Germans, would, for the next hour, proceed to walk in tiptoe, try to convince the dogs in a whisper to tiptoe with him as well, gather all sharp implements and dump them into a drawer and gathered all the white flags he had with him and carrying them with him. Just in case.
Ludwig, who was more experienced with his bruder's temper, waited for an hour for Gilbert to calm down and simmer, then carried a six pack of beer with him upstairs and placed them on the floor. Then knocking afterwards, he proceeded to walk off so that his brother could be left to drink alone. What he did not expect was his brother, after opening the door and grabbing the six pack, to say, " West, join me inside."
That was how Ludwig found himself drinking in his brother's room, after bringing in another Six pack , while said brother was sitting against the dresser, already on his third can of beer and pouring out what had happened.
Phrases:
"Faire, ça va faire!"- Enough, that's enough!
"Faites-le!"- Do it!
"Damnit, sortir de ma vue ! Je vous déteste ! Et je brise avec vous !"- Damnit, get out of my sight! I hate you! I'm breaking up with you!
Note: I got this from online, so it may not be accurate .
Argh-thor's notes: What will happen to Matthew? Will Gilbert be able to get back together with Matthew? Will Matthew even forgive Gilbert ? God , even I'm excited, and I wrote this story!
Incidently, after putting up part three of the story, I might be indisposed for two weeks. I owe you guys an explanation, so here I go. I swear its a good one.
Last year, during an age which was a bit stupid for me, I took GCE -A levels in my country. This is a test that will be essential in me actually getting into a University in my country, and I've been happy since the end of the exams.....until now, cause the results are out this Friday. God. I'm extremely frightened, cause I'm really bad with tests, and my economics paper was absolute hell. Who on earth would need to explain why there is a need for a country's GDP and GNP ANYWAY?! ARGH!!!! I HATE ECONOMICS!!!! DIE DIE DIE!!!!
In any case, since the results will be out this Friday, I would also need to apply for a uni as well as clean up my house as I'll be moving back to Singapore on Thursday , and my mom would need help in cleaning up, so I might be late in posting up the latest chapter of Why Am I Here Again?. So bear with me, if you don't see me. I promise to be back after two weeks. ARGH. I hate results. shit.....damn nervous......
But now that I think about it, this story is a three parter, and it's complete anyway.....so those people waiting for this story....you won't be affected....unless Fanfiction is being a bitch again.....wish me luck!
And before I forget......Review!!! Or I won't let Matthew wear that pretty yellow dress you all love so much.....