AN: Finally! They're not cooped up in that hospital room anymore! Still at hospital territory though. x)

Well, this is the end of the road I guess. Gilbert thought bitterly to himself as he continued toying around with his new hospital gown (the old one, he got his dinner on it after he and Matt got into a food fight).

He leaned back into his raised bed, red eyes roaming about the room he's been spending the last couple of days in. They stopped when they landed on the television mounted up in the corner and he wondered why he never saw that before.

How odd.

Oh yeah, it's because he never needed other means of fun because Matthew has always been visiting him. Actually, it couldn't even be considered 'visiting,' it was like Matt was his roommate or something.

Now there was a thought he didn't mind… as long as the room wasn't the hospital room.

Canada, Matthew… Canadian Matthew.

He licked his lips, suddenly having a hankering for Canadian pancakes. Well, damn Matthew and his Canadian cuteness with all the pancakes and the flowers and just… being himself.

Actually, Gilbert couldn't hate him for it. How can he hate him for being himself, but he sure was pissed off (read: sorely disappointed) that Matthew wasn't here. I can't believe I already miss him. He looked around for the remote, anything to get his mind off the guy who said that he wouldn't disappear after he took his medicine.

Freakin' medicine, he knew Matthew was only a figment of his imagination.

Dammit, I feel like smashing my head against the wall. He felt pathetic, pining after some random hallucination. Though since Mattie-boy was a part of his imagination, couldn't it have made him… a girl instead? 'Cause he definitely isn't gay.

Definitely.

He just really… really likes Matt. Yeah. That's it.

He stubbornly crosses his arms over his chest and made a bet with himself. I can have fun without Matt. Who needs him? I don't! It's fun being alone! Yeah… He still felt like making his head implode.

I can have fun. He told himself again as he went into people-watching mode. Oh, there was that pretty brunette nurse, the one with the short wavy hair. Man, she kind of looks like Tony… No! Bad thoughts! Bad.

He looked away, the woman running up to another woman who reminded him of Francis. He dared to look at the two women again, instantly wishing he didn't when the brunette smiled. The female Tony lookalike… God, she even smiles like him. He tipped his head to the side, watching them in silence and just… hoping that wherever his best friends are in the world, they're okay.

He still couldn't believe he almost threw away his chance to see them again.

Gilbert sighed, red eyes trained onto them as they walked away. He didn't look away until he couldn't see them again. He took a deep breath and a young teenager caught his attention.

"Please just follow me, I thought you wanted me 'cause I want you all to myself. I can try and suck it up, I just can't suck it up—"

A small guttural groan escaped his lips as he sank even lower into his bed, pulling those white sheets up and over his head. "Oh come on! I just got him out of my mind! Man!" Don't think about it, don't think about it, don't think about it… Dammit! I lost the game…

And so deep he was in his thoughts that he never heard the quick clumping of shoes rushing towards his bed until his sheets were wretched away from his arms. He met the startled look of a pretty blue-eyed nurse.

"Monsieur, are you okay?"

He saw Francis in that nurse back when he first met him… when Antonio accidently pushed him off the top of the slide and amazingly enough, all Gilbert limped away with was a badly sprained knee.

"I-I'm fine nurse. Just a bit upset."

The nurse breathed a sigh of relief, pulling away from Gilbert's personal bubble as she wipes imaginary sweat off her forehead. "Oh that's a relief, I thought I was going to have to call Doctor Williams in here." She lets out this laugh that really reminded him of an obnoxious imitation of a Frenchman laughing.

Ha, she laughs like Francis.

"That would have been so awkward, we just broke off our affair a couple of days ago, and—"

Okay… how do I respond to that? "Um, that's really… interesting?" Smooth move, Casanova.

"Oh! Sorry, hun! Am I making you uncomfortable?" She looked suspiciously coy, batting her long eyelashes in such a way that would have made something in him stir… if she didn't remind him of his best friend so much. He couldn't help but shudder in horror, but she didn't need to know that.

She leaned in closer to him, so close that he could smell the disinfectant lingering on her scrubs. He didn't move, just eyeing her warily as she traced his jaw line, a glint in her eyes that he's seen all too many times. "You know what, handsome? How 'bout you and I—Dammit!" He still didn't move as she pulled away, hiding her face in her hands.

"I'm so sorry! I forgot about that cute little blonde that you're with. I'm so sorry, monsieur!" Gilbert watched in silence as she dramatically staggered to the wall, clutching at her heart desperately. "Oh the woes of a maiden's heart! Anyways, your boyfriend… he's waiting for you out by the… errr… he's waiting for you by the—J-Just go outside using the side door, take a left when you see that statue and keep walking, you'll see him soon."

"He's not my boyfriend." The German corrected, but with the grin that could make the Chesire Cat cringe… well, he highly doubted that the nurse would believe him. "Wait, when have I been able to go out for fresh air?"

"This morning, handsome. Didn't the Annie tell you that?"

"Annie…"

"Hispanic, short curly brown hair? Kind of has this stupid grin on her face all the time?"

Oh, so female Antonio's name was Annie. He made a note of that to tell the guys... when he sees them again that is. God, they'll probably have a hoot about this. "Okay thanks for that…"

"Francille, but just call me Fran. Everybody does in the end."

"Okay, whatever Fran, I'll be leaving now!" He jumped off the bed, face flushing when he felt a really pleasant draft brushing past his vital regions. "Um, " He covered up his exposed behind, "Can I have my clothes back?"

"Nope."

"What?"

"Apparently they're afraid you'll try to make a run for it or something. Don't really know." She flippantly replied, her head snapping straight up again as if she could hide the fact that she was blatantly checking out Gilbert's ass. "So anyways, yeah. Go have fun with your not boyfriend. Just make sure your little buddies stay down, m'kay?"

"My little buddies—oh. Oh. Oh!"

She laughed heartily at him, a gloved hand swatting at his ass when he tried his best to get past her. She waved him good bye as he looked over his shoulder to shoot a glare at her. "Have fun with the cutie-patootie!"

"Yeah, sure whatever Frenchy!"

Francille smiled to herself. "Frenchy? Where'd he get that from?" She pondered out loud to herself as she went back to her nurse duties. Rearranging the papers in the clipboard, she suddenly had a brilliant idea. "H-Hey! How about a threesome, huh!" Her voice carried through the main room, everybody stopping what they were doing until they realized that it was just 'that French girl.'

He looked around, but he couldn't see him anywhere. He asked people who looked like they might have a clue, he looked up in trees to see if he was lingering there, and he even braved the bush maze. Granted that probably killed about two hours of search time, but it was the thought (and effort) that counted!

"Fucking, I hate this bush." He let out a small grunt as he ripped his gown after it snagged on a branch. He gave it one swift kick, going easy on it despite how many scratches it managed to land on him when he tried bursting through it. "God," He gave it another kick just for good measurement, "It probably scratched my ass."

"It probably did from the way you crashed through that thing like Godzilla."

He looked down to his left, a bright smile on his face that just screamed out utter bliss. But then he realized that it wasn't Matthew, but some kid smoking. Gilbert scowled at him before zoning in on the cigarette. "Who are you to talk, kid?"

The teenager ignored the question preferring to take a long drag out of his cigarette. Gilbert looked away as he blew, the smoke curling elegantly in the air before dispersing. He offered his cigarette to Gilbert. "You look like a smoker." He said, ignoring Gil's question.

"Wow, giving a cigarette to somebody who hypothetically has lung cancer. Awesome."

The teenage eyed him before shrugging, sticking the end between his lips again. "Not my fault they don't regulate this area."

"Well duh, this here is federal property and you can't smoke in federal property. It's illegal, dumbass." Or was it just buildings? Oh well, kid doesn't need to know that.

"I can't?"

"No."

"Really?"

"Am I talking like Aristotle or something? Is my word choice too awesome for you to comprehend? Let me make this easy for you, no… you… cannot… smoooooke."

The other slowly nodded his head in sync to Gilbert's head bobbling. He looked down to the cigarette in his hands before looking up to meet Gilbert's expecting look. "Seriously?"

His eyes slipped closed as he sent a silent prayer for the young male in front of him. Please don't let him grow up to be a hobo. "I give up." Gilbert sighed deeply, scratching at the small of his back as he looked around for his bearings. "You're hopeless. Make yourself useful, tell me where I am."

"… The garden? And you call me dumb."

Gilbert laughed mockingly into the kid's face. "Tell me something I don't know."

"God, stick up your ass much? What? Did your girlfriend break up with you or something?"

"What girlfriend?"

"That blonde you're always with. You know, blonde and totally hot. How'd a guy like you get a babe like that?"

His face burned as he nervously looked away, fingering rising to scratch the side of his nose. Maybe now wouldn't be such a good time to say that the cute little blonde didn't have two X chromosomes. "Yeah… that cute little blonde… know where—" He wanted to bite off his tongue at what he was about to utter, "—she is?" He internally cringed.

God, he was such a great friend to Matt. Leading some random guy into thinking that he was actually a she.

Matt'll have a riot if he learns about this…

"Last time I checked, she was going into the bathroom. Think she went back to waiting for you, she seemed real bent on talking to you when I started hitting on her."

Gilbert felt his finger twitch and he felt like punching something, something preferably short and illegally smoking at a hospital. Don't punch him… those piercings are more likely to hurt you than the pain you cause him. He took in a deep breath, felt better, and ready to face the challenge ahead of him.

"So what… do I bust through the maze again?"

"Instead of bursting through the maze like some sort of tractor, why don't you just follow the path? They have signs you know…"

Once again he laughed mockingly into the kid's face before sticking his tongue out childishly. "Yeah, thanks." He sighed, looking off to the side where he realized there was a worn out path leading around the building. "Anyways, you might want to get your eyes checked. The blonde isn't really a… girl." He flashed the other a peace sign before running off, struggling to not expose his butt.

The teenager watched him run off before extinguishing the dying flame of his killer. "Wait… if that blonde was a guy… doesn't that mean that he's gay?" He stared off into the distance before pulling out his pack and lighting up another cigarette.

Fifteen minutes of trying to make sense of the signs liberally thrown around the hospital ("What the fuck? Didn't I just come from there?"), he showed up next to the blonde that he's been looking for, a crazed look in his eyes.

Matthew visibly paled as Gil grabbed him by the shoulders and tugged him closer.

Matthew regarded him worry. He's seen that look too many times in those horror movies that he used to watch with his brother.

God, why did all those killers have the same look in their eyes? Why can't they be sane?

The Canadian gripped Gilbert by his shoulders, blue-violet eyes going over what remained of his gown. God, no wonder his dad wants Gilbert back on track and fast. The replacement costs for those gowns can get awful pricey.

"W-What happened to you?"

"I tried looking for you the last three hours, that's what happened."

He couldn't help it, the small little smile that suddenly blossomed. Somebody was looking for him? For three hours too? That's actually… kind of sweet, but kind of… sad all at the same time. A two-in-one combo pack! "R-Really?"

"More like one hour because I got lost in the maze."

The smile fell. "Who told you to go into the maze?"

Gilbert frowned in return, the look on Matt's face not making him happy. Not one bit. He let go of the blonde's shoulder and motioned him to sit down. He made himself comfortable, a bit difficult to do from the open gaps in his gown. God, my ass is wet. "A little voice inside my head. Why?"

Matt leaned his head against Gil's shoulder, taking a moment to calm his racing heart. "Your voice is dumb." He commented casually, as if he was just talking about the weather. "So, what else did it tell you?"

"Like you said, my inner conscious is dumb."

"Is it really that bad?"

"It is."

"You have to tell me now."

Gilbert shook his head, laughing all the while. He looked up at the sky, a bit of red and orange hues mixing in with the blue. Was it really that late? "No, I'm not telling you." He looked over, mentally chided himself when he was met with Matthew's attempt at the puppy-eyes. "I'm not telling you."

"Come on Gil, I'll tell you why I was waiting for you outside if you do."

Now that was an interesting tidbit of information he never thought he would want to know. "Err…" He coughed into his fist, fingers reaching to scratch the side of his nose again before Matthew swatted it away.

"What was that for?"

"You're going to scratch yourself if you keep doing that."

"That's the point. I'm scratching my nose—the side of my nose! The side of my nose!"

Matthew smiled, Gilbert able to see all of his teeth. He never noticed how one of his front teeth was bigger than the other. How cute. Back on track, back on track. "You tell me first and then I'll tell you okay?"

The younger man's smile grew even brighter, looking more energetic with the frantic nodding of his head. He clapped both of his hands together, his chest expanding as he took in a deep breathes to calm his nerves. This news was good, so good that he didn't want to mess it up by stuttering or something. Yeah, it was that good.

"You're being discharged in a couple of days."

That look on Gil's face made waiting for him all the more worth it.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

And then things took a turn for the odd. Gilbert actually looked worried. He scratched at his temple; red eyes looking up to the blue sky for help once again. Matthew briefly wondered if Gil was religious, but that thought skittered away when Gil looked him right in the eye and said, "I… kind of don't want to leave."

"W-What? Why not?"

"Well it was fun having people wait on me hand and feet." The German answered, no time to stop and even think about what he said. As a sheepish afterthought he included, "And something sappy about meeting great people in the hospital. I'm too awesome to voice those pansy thoughts though."

And then Matthew actually had to gall to laugh at him. But he got his revenge when he jabbed the blonde in the stomach.

"Ouch, dictatorship much, Gil?"

"Oh shut up, you know you like it."

"Yeah, 'cause I love being told what to do and how to do it."

"Master and slave. Kinky."

Matthew blinked once… and then twice before looking blankly at his companion. His lips twisted into something between a terse grin and a grimace as he looked down to the ground. "I don't know what to say when you say things like that."

"Then just change the subject."

"Okay than… do you still have a job to go to?"

Now it was Gilbert's turn to frown. That was insulting, of course he still had a job. Well… he had a job the last time he checked. Wait, never mind, it was just a false alarm. "I got laid off a couple days back." He shook his head, could clearly remember the events that led up to it. "They skipped me in the promotion. Damn thing could have saved my job."

"Oh… I-I'm sorry." Granted Matthew figured out that Gil didn't have a job, he always assumed that Gil would be fired from it for unruly behavior (harassment comes to mind first). "Well, at least you have a chance to go find a new job. I mean, what was your last job like?"

"Really bad. I was surrounded by idiots, freaks, and creeps who didn't know what the fuck they were doing."

"What about the guy who got the promotion?"

"Oh him? He falls into the 'creep' category. He was a smart creep though, really good at Battleship." The German looked down at his hands, traced the old scars on his hand from when he first started the job with his eyes. He smiled. "I liked my job… I just wasn't all that crazy about the people. They drove me crazy. God, they were retards. They were—they were—Argh! They were stupid! So stupid! This one guy, he almost destroyed our whole entire project because he took home the blueprints and his dog ate it. Fucking lucky I had a back up copy, man."

The blonde's lips quirked up into a grin. He couldn't help it, but seriously? A dog? Oldest trick in the book. Sounded like Gilbert was just making it up, but it was just so outlandish that he probably wasn't. "Don't worry Gil, you'll find a new job where you're not surrounded by freaks, creeps, and idiots.

"Actually, it's idiots, freaks, and creeps, but you got the general idea."

"A bit OCD are you?"

"I picked up bad habits from my brother."

Both looked at each other, before Matthew broke it to inspect the ground, a shy smile playing at the corner of his lips. With his legendary lopsided smirk on face, Gilbert slung an arm over the blonde's shoulder before pointing up at a cloud.

"I don't know about you, but I see an apple."

He's dreaming of somebody, a sweet blonde with the cutest smile he has ever seen. He couldn't see his environment, but that was mostly due to the fact that he wasn't really paying attention to that. Those striking red eyes were more than intent on a blonde curl that was just out of reach…

What was that thing?

How does it stay like that?

What happens when I touch it? Gilbert wondered to himself as his hand acted on its own accord, but he wasn't doing much to stop it either. He could almost touch it now, his tongue sticking out of his mouth from the sheer concentration needed. But then there was a sudden change of pace and everything was painfully bright.

"What the fuck, don't shine that in my face." He whined, shielding his eyes from the painful burning of the light. He breathed a sigh of relief when they moved to an area that doesn't make him want to rip his eyeballs out.

"Mr. Beilschmidt?"

"Yeah… that's me, what's it to ya?"

"Hi!" The nurse waved at him, bright green eyes very much visible despite the poor lighting. "I'm Annie, one of the nurses in charge of you. Sorry about—you know, forgetting about you in the morning." Gilbert smiled weakly at her before looking at the head resting against his shoulder.

"What time is it?"

"Nine? Ten? I don't know, but it's really late. They want you back in the hospital now."

He mumbled something under his breath in German, slowly shifting positions as to not disturb the person using him as his personal pillow. He looked down at Matthew, watching as his curl moved with each breath he took and Gil had that urge to pull on it, just to see what would happen.

But he ignored it.

"You go ahead, I just need to wake up Mattie-boy here." Annie nodded at him, standing up, and smoothing down her scrubs before walking back towards the visible light of the hospital building.

Now how do I wake him up? He tipped his head to the side. Do I want to wake him up? He squinted his eyes, tried cocking his head in the other direction. No, no I do not want to wake him up. How heavy could Matt be anyways? He got his answer when he scooped up the boy, nearly dropping him when he wriggled in Gil's grip before relaxing.

Gilbert sprinted to the hospital, intent on keeping Matt in his state of slumber, all the while ignoring the uncomfortable draft tickling his butt.

When he woke up sometime late into the night, he wasn't surprised to see that Matthew was nowhere to be seen or the lone cornflower resting on his chest.