Two or three days had passed since Matthew had consented to be in the band, and Matthew still hadn't heard from Gilbert. He didn't obsess over Gilbert. No, ordinary life plodded along, dragging the Canadian with it.
When Gilbert finally called Matthew again, he was working at the bookstore, shelving books. He answered the call- the store was deserted, like always, and it's not like his boss even acknowledged his existence, so he wasn't worried- and set his books down. "Hello?"
"Hey Birdie! So remember how you wanted to meet Francis and Toni?" Gilbert said, cutting right to the chase.
"Yeah?" Matthew said, ducking into the encyclopedia section so he wouldn't be disturbed.
"Well, I hope you aren't busy, because we managed to track down your house and we're on our way!" Gilbert said, tone extremely chipper. Had Matthew been eating something, he would have choked. Since he wasn't eating anything, he ended up just choking on the dusty air.
"What?" Matthew protested, and Gilbert made a shushing sort of noise.
"Just to clarify, 42069 Maple River Lane, right?" Gilbert said, and Matthew was rather creeped out.
"Well, yes, but, how did you find me out?!" Matthew sputtered, and Gilbert laughed.
"Oh, we have our ways! Okay, see you in like… 5 minutes?" Gilbert said.
'Absolutely not!' was what Matthew wanted to say. Instead, he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Okay…" His shift was about done, anyways. He hung up, and made his way to his car.
~Timeskip~
Thankfully, he had made it back before the others had made it over. Parking his car into the driveway, he ran inside. "Kumaketchup?" He called out, and the bear-like dog wandered in, his woof sounding like 'Who'?
"Did anyone come in?" He asked, panicked, and Kumafrenchfry stared at him blankly. Matthew sighed in relief. Thank maple…
A sudden knock on his door brought him back to reality, and Matthew took a deep breath to steady himself. He opened the door, eyes closed. "Gilbert, I really do not appreciate…" He began to quietly rant, but an annoying laugh made him realize that this wasn't Gil, but instead it was…
"Alfred? What are you doing here?" Matthew asked, looking his twin in the eye. The blue eyed American flashed a smile at him.
"The hero just wanted to say hi!" He chirped, and Matthew sighed again, pushing his glasses up on his face.
"Eh… as much as I'd like for you to do that, I sort of have prior arrangements…." Matthew apologetically said, and Alfred's expression switched from happy, confused, and then excited in a record timing of 5 seconds.
"Oh man! You're finally not being antisocial! I'm so proud of you, bro!" Alfred chirped, cuffing Matthew in a brotherly fashion on the shoulder. "When are they coming?"
As if on cue, a white van blasting rock music came speeding into the street, careening wildly across the cul-de-sac. Bickering could be heard over the music, all of the voices heavily accented. Both Matthew and Alfred could only stare as it pulled into Matthew's driveway. The passenger seat window rolled down and Gilbert's head popped out of it.
"Get in loser, we're going shopping!" He yelled, and stuck his head back into the van. Matthew awkwardly exchanged glances with a disturbed Alfred.
"… Now, apparently." Matthew said, and waved and rushed into the van, hoping Alfred wouldn't be too upset when he realized who he was hanging out with.
To his surprise, when they pulled away, Alfred was laughing.
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"…So, guys, that's how I met Birdie, who is our new singer of our awesome band!" Gilbert said, breathless from his long explanation on who Matthew was. Both Francis- a blonde Frenchman with elegant features and dress sense- and Antonio- a happy-go-lucky Spaniard with green eyes- looked at Matthew in appraisal.
"So… Mathieu, is it not?" Francis asked, glancing at him in the backseat. Gilbert quickly pushed Francis's head back so that his eyes were on the road.
"Keep your eyes on the god damned road! I'm too awesome to die like this!" The albino hissed, and Francis made a 'pssssh' sort of noise.
"Oh hon hon hon, I was just trying to let young Mathieu get a taste of my sexy aura, no?" Francis teased, and Gilbert punched him on the shoulder.
"Ignore them." Antonio said to a slightly scared Matthew, giving him a friendly smile. "They're idiots. This kind of stuff happens a lot, si?" Matthew just nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Of course, he could get much, much more than just the aura tonight if he desires~" Francis said, leaning back and winking at him again. Matthew turned red and Gilbert practically tackled Francis. In fact, he would have, if not for the fact that a car angrily honked at them and Francis turned his attention back to the road.
Once Matthew knew he could speak again, he cleared his throat. "So… where to, eh?" The atmosphere in the car went from tense to awkward. Well, except for Antonio's ever present smile.
"Walmart!" The Spaniard chirped, and Matthew looked at him blankly. Walmart? "I need to pick something up for Lovi~!"
"Lovi is Antonio's roommate/boy toy." Gilbert supplied, and Matthew made an 'ah' sound of comprehension.
"Lovino is not my boy toy! He's just a loving, sweet, kind and supportive boyfriend~" Antonio swooned. Francis rolled his eyes.
"That is, when he's not cussing everyone out. But, I won't deny your obvious l'amour." Francis sighed. Matthew perked up.
"Parlez-vous français?" Matthew quietly asked, his accent more Canadian French than actual French.
"Oui! Je parle français." Francis chirped, and the two dissolved into a conversation In French, which the other two were completely excluded from. Gilbert and Antonio exchanged glances.
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When they had made it to the huge superstore, surprisingly still alive, both Matthew and Francis were still chatting away, much more comfortable. Exiting the car, Gilbert quickly pulled Matthew off to the side and leaned in close to his ear, close enough so that his lips were almost right next to his ear and ohgodhewasblushingsomuchwhatwashappening
"Okay, we're going to get kicked out of Walmart. Deal?" He whispered, and Matthew could hear the smirk in his voice. Matthew nodded, trying to control the blush, and Gilbert pulled away, and Matthew felt strangely disappointed. Shrugging it off, they ran back to where Antonio and Francis were watching with interest.
"What was that about?" Antonio asked, and Gilbert smiled innocently.
"Nothing of your unawesome concern~" He sang-songed, and looked at a still faintly pink Matthew. "Right, Birdie?"
Matthew coughed. "Yup." They were only about to do something that he was fairly certain was completely illegal. No biggie. Francis raised a suspicious and well penciled eyebrow.
"Are you sure that you two weren't whispering sweet nothings into the others ear? Because the way you were both blushing was oh so very suspicious…" Francis teased. Was it Matthew's imagination, or did the other go slightly pink? Matthew knew for a fact that his face was probably rosy- in fact, the heat emanating from his face was like a furnace- but Gilbert? Blushing? He was probably just seeing things.
Yeah, that was it. Gilbert smacked Francis upside the head as Matthew was mulling it over. "Ow!"
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Gilbert coldly said to the Frenchman, and they all started walking towards the supermarket, Gilbert and Francis bickering, Antonio chattering to nobody about the stuff he was going to buy, and Matthew quietly ignoring the stares.
As they got to the front of the store, Gilbert suddenly picked Matthew up and slung him over his shoulder. Matthew, who was too stunned to do anything, at first just laid there like a limp noodle, but suddenly started lightly hitting Gilbert on the back and squirming. "Gil! Let go!" He protested, but Gilbert just laughed.
"Trust me!" He told Matthew, and the four walked into the store, and the stares practically tripled. The four men paid no attention, and continued on talking as if nothing had happened, and that Matthew was currently not lightly pounding Gilbert's back.
When they got past that section, Antonio politely excused himself- he actually did need to get some stuff- and left the three alone. Matthew was finally set down at the bedding section, and he landed on the bed with a 'whump' sort of noise. Scrambling out of the display, he looked at Gil, face red.
"What even was that?" He asked incredulously, and Gilbert and Francis laughed.
"That was but phase one, petite Mathieu." Francis declared, holding up one finger. "We have several phases to go."
Gilbert grinned. "And the first thing we need is to find a shopping cart."
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"… Are you sure about this?" Matthew asked Gilbert, and he nodded.
"We've been doing this for years, it's great to finally have someone film it!" Gilbert cheered, and Francis nodded, holding up his phone.
"Okay… ready when you are, eh?" They assumed position, and Matthew tried his best to look like a concerned parent.
Gilbert strolled out from his hiding point, pushing a cart that had nothing but a gargantuan box of dinosaur chicken nuggets.
Matthew cleared his throat. "Gilbert, put those back." He said, trying to make his tone as motherly as possible. Gilbert shot a scandalized look at Matthew, suddenly seizing the box from the cart.
"You can't make me do ANYTHING!" He yelled, suddenly dropping the floor. Lying down, he scooted away on his back, laughing maniacally. The few people that were in that section either burst out into laughter or covered their children's eyes, turning away from the department in a rushed manner. After about thirty seconds, Gilbert ran back in, laughing. "Okay, it's Birdie's turn!" He chuckled, and Matthew bit his lip.
"… Hit me with your best shot!" He said hesitantly, instantly regretting it.
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Matthew was currently curled up in the fetal position on the floor of the deodorant section, his so called friends watching from the next aisle over. His mission was to curl up into a ball and look like he was sobbing- and since he was the smallest and most childlike looking, they reasoned the Canadian was best fit.
An intercom voice crackled to life, and Matthew began to shake violently. "T-the voices!" He croaked, attracting terrified stares. "They're back! They're back!" His quiet whisper of a voice made it that much creepier, and a nearby foolishly brave employee looked at Matthew in concern.
"S-sir…? Are you alright?" He asked, slowly approaching the Canadian. Matthew snapped his head up, violet eyes watering from the eyedrops they had put in them earlier.
"W-why won't you leave me alone? They're all coming for me!" He said, voice terrified, and suddenly threw his head back and laughed. The employee's face was once of pure terror.
"Sir, stay right there, I'm going to-" The panicked employee's sentence was cut short by Matthew suddenly going on all fours, scuttling away and maniacally whispering 'You can't control meeeee!'
When he was safely in the other aisle, all three of them exchanged glances and began to laugh like hell.
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An hour or two later, Antonio walked to the front of the store, humming a song, and found 3 laughing maniacs, all of them leaning over a device and hysterically giggling. They looked familiar. He hoped to god they weren't….
They were. Gilbert turned his attention away from the screen and waved to Antonio, smiling devilishly, and poked someone who looked really familiar, but he couldn't quite… oh right, Matthew! Gilbert poked Matthew, who turned around and politely waved. Francis tapped the touchscreen of his phone and the three of them ran up to an already grinning Antonio.
"So, what this time?" He asked. Gilbert smirked.
"We managed to do, like, 5 or 6 stunts before we were unawesomely booted." Gilbert informed Antonio, passing the phone to Antonio.
He watched as Gilbert scooted away, as Matthew acted possessed, as Francis begged for tampons. He continued watching Marco Polo shenanigans, shopping cart races, and impromptu lingerie tryouts. When the reel was over, he was nearly shaking with laughter himself. "You guys are idiots."
Gilbert casually slung an arm across Matthew's shoulder. "Ja, we know."
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When Matthew got back, he was beaming brightly. "Hey Al!" He said, grinning, not even bothered at the fact his brother was currently in his house without his permission. Alfred looked briefly up at Matthew, pausing before remembering who he was.
"So, Mattie, dude, did you have fun? What did you do, bro?" He energetically asked, and Matthew paused, thinking over everything they had done.
"Oh, nothing special." Matthew finally replied. "Just got kicked out of a Walmart." He went into his room, leaving a confused Alfred in his wake.
Flopping on his bed, his text tone went off and he unlocked the phone. It was from Gilbert. His lips curved into a smile as he read the short message.
wanna do somethin like that again? :)
Matthew didn't hesitate before typing the reply.
Definitely.
A/N: This is easily the longest single chapter I have ever written! Oh, gosh… most of it was just filler, crack and fluff. I'm still pretty happy with it, though. Also, you like the little ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) divider? It was just an experiment, but if you all enjoy it, I think that I'll use it more often. Anyways, please review, and thank you to those who have reviewed so far! ^^ ~Amity