Oh meh gawd guyyyyyssss! I'm finally over the 100 review mark! This is the first story I've ever had hit the 100 review mark and I'm very pleased about it! Thank you everyone who reviewed! Next milestone, 150, we can do it! YAY!

Anyway, welcome to the 8th chapter of Colours! If you're on this chapter than I can only assume that you like it so far, so thank you for reading it tis far!

Beta'd by the talented Tainted Tuesday. Thank you for editing my horrible, horrible grammar! =D (I'm getting a bit better I swear)

Special shout out to bombayxprodigy for being my 100th review! Your reward will be making me crepes, haha!

Diclaimer: You know I don't own. Yep.

Please enjoy and review!

Gilbert checked himself over in the mirror. Looking awesome as he usually did of course, no one would be able to resist him. He smiled, his red eyes glinting in excitement as he exited his bedroom and grabbed his house keys. He had actually woken up early for this event (eleven o'clock in the morning. On a Saturday!). So being late would be like a slap to the face to both himself and his lovely soon-to-be-his Canadian.

"Where are you going?"

Ah, damn it. Gilbert turned to face his blonder brother, who was glaring at him from his bedroom door, his arms crossed. The albino rolled his eyes at the other before descending the stairs.

"Out."

Another set of footprints closely followed his and Gilbert let out an annoyed sign. Seriously, didn't he have anything better to do?

"You do know what today is, right?" Ludwig asked to the male's back.

"Yeah, I know what today is."

"So?"

"So I'm going out." Gilbert reached the front door and slipped on his shoes, swooping down to tie up his laces.

"Easten, you shouldn't be going out of the house today! Not when you're…" He trailed off, though Gilbert still grew angry.

"When I'm what?" He snapped, straightening up and rounding on his larger brother. "Crazy? Mentally unstable?" He stared his sibling down, daring him to respond. Ludwig remained silent. The albino made an annoyed clicking noise before turning back towards the door. "I'm leaving. I'll call if I need you." And with that, Gilbert walked out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

Ludwig shook his head and sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Great, the day had barely started and he could already feel a headache forming. He turned on his heel and started for the kitchen, a sudden urge for coffee increasing. It would seem as though he would have to change his plans for the day to fit with his selfish brother's.

Damned idiot…

/ / / \ \ \

"I wanna come."

"Alfred you're not coming."

"Mattieee~!"

"Alfreeed~!"

Alfred pouted angrily at the Canadian over his toast and Matthew rolled his eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have told him he was going on a walk with Gilbert. But honestly, he didn't see what the big deal was; he must have been on dozens of walks with Katyusha. He repeated his thoughts to the other and Alfred scoffed. "Please, that's because it's Katyusha. She actually apologizes after hurting a fly!"

It was true. It has happened more than once.

"Alfred, let your brother be more sociable." Francis walked into the kitchen and placed a small kiss on both his sons' foreheads before moving to the fridge.

"But papa!" Alfred whined. "You don't understand! Mattie's befriending a troublemaker!"

The Frenchman looked over the fridge door at Matthew. "Mathieu, are you befriending troublemakers?"

Yes. "No."

Francis nodded before looking back into the fridge. "Well there you go. Now what do you want for brunch?"

Alfred pouted at his brother before finishing off his feeble piece of toast. "Waffles."

"You had waffles yesterday."

"Hamburgers, then."

Francis wrinkled his nose at the thought of the greasy food before directing the question towards Matthew, knowing Alfred would only insist on those two items.

"I don't know," Matthew said shrugging. "I'm not really that hungr—"

"Mathieu."

"French toast," Matthew answered, naming the first thing that came to mind. "And that reminds me." He turned to his twin. "I forgot to give back Kiku's lunchbox. Can you give it back to him for me?"

Alfred opened his mouth to protest but closed it when Francis came up from behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Alfred, why don't you spend the day with Kiku and let Mathieu spend the day with his friend, hm? I'll give you some money to see a movie or whatever you want to do."

The American turned to look at his dad with disapproving eyes. "But papa—!"

"You want to make yourself food?"

Damn it, Alfred knew he couldn't say no to his father's cooking. He pouted at him before turning around and crossing his arms like a spoiled child. "No…"

"Then it's settled." Francis gave his son's shoulder a small squeeze before taking his hand back. "Have fun on your walk, Mathieu." He winked at the blond and Matthew returned the gesture with a small smile.

Meanwhile, the other twin waited until his father turned away before he looked back to Matthew and narrowed his eyes as if to say, 'this-isn't-over-yet'.

Matthew rolled his eyes yet again and crossed his arms over his chest. 'Oh-yes-it-is'.

"Hey papa, where's Arthur?"

"Hm? Arthur?" The older man questioned, not looking up from preparing their food. "He's just in the shower."

Matthew quickly told himself he didn't see his father lick his lips.

"He should be down soon. Why? Are you going to ask him to join one of those famous walks of yours?"

Matthew shook his head. "No, just curious."

And that was that. Throughout breakfast Alfred continued to try and bring up Gilbert and his trouble making ways (which grew increasingly awkward when Arthur came down to join them) and Matthew continued to interrupt him – mostly through kicking. By the end of the meal he was sure he as least caused his brother to bruise.

"You should stop playing hockey," Alfred complained, rubbing his now sore leg.

"You asked for it," Matthew retorted, crossing his arms. "Both dads know about Gilbert and they know I'm going on a walk with him. You don't need to make it into a big deal."

"Wrong. They know of Gilbert, they don't know about Gilbert. Freakin' egoistical, leather wearing freakish—OW!"

The doorbell rang as Alfred hopped around on his even more injured leg.

"I hope you know he's just trying to get in your pants!" Alfred called and Matthew couldn't help but roll his eyes for the, who knows how many times that morning, as he opened the door. Gilbert smirked at the younger blond.

"Hey Birdie. You ready to go?"

Matthew returned the smile with a small one of his own. "Yeah, let's go." He quickly grabbed his keys before exiting the house.

"Mattie!"

"Goodbye Al," Matthew called before closing the door behind him.

"Bothersome brother?"

Matthew sighed and locked his front door nodding slowly.

Gilbert smirked. "We must be soul mates; my bruder was on my case this morning as well."

Matthew shrugged. "He's like this whenever I meet someone new; it took him a while to stop freaking out over… Katy... usha…where are you going?"

Gilbert looked back at the Canadian who was standing further up the street. He raised an eyebrow. "The park."

Matthew pointed in the opposite direction from where the albino was heading. "The park is that way."

"Yeah, if you want to go the long way." Gilbert nodded his head towards the direction he was heading. "My way's shorter."

Matthew paused. He had been to the park more times than he could count, and never had he come across a path from that direction that would lead them to their destination. Nevertheless, he turned around and walked towards the Prussian. It was just another route; why not find out if it really was a shortcut?

Gilbert smiled at his small victory before he began to walk alongside Matthew. "So you go on these trips often?"

"Well, whenever I can I guess," Matthew replied with a shrug. "I like the fresh air."

They rounded the corner to end up in a small pathway that led to a busy road. Though Matthew didn't know how going this way would lead them to the park, he chose to trust Gilbert (though he wasn't too sure if that was a good idea…).

They continued to talk as they walked along, Gilbert leading them from what Matthew believed was further from the park. After they crossed their second busy intersection, Matthew decided to speak up.

"Hey Gilbert, are you sure this is the right way?"

Gilbert nodded. "Of course it's the right way! We came this way once before, don't you remember Max?"

…What?

"Um…no, and its Matt."

Gilbert turned to Matthew and raised an eyebrow. "That's what I said. Unlike all those other unawesome people, I can remember your name."

Huh? Matthew was almost sure that Gilbert had called him Max rather than Matt. Oh well, maybe he just heard him wrong…?

"Hey girly, what are you doing out here?"

Both teens looked over at the mocking tone to see a group of teenage males surrounding one female down another street.

"Aren't you needed back in the kitchen?" The group laughed and Matthew lowered his head. They would have to pass them to continue on their way and he'd rather not be seen.

"Let's go," he whispered to the albino before he continued along. It took him a couple steps to realize the other was not following. He turned back to see Gilbert staring at the larger group with a furrowed brow and a set jaw, as if struggling to remember something.

"Gilbert?" Matthew turned around walked up to him. "Are you okay?"

The Prussian continued to stare; showing no signs that he even heard the blond. Then, suddenly, he started towards the group. "Hey!" He called, and Matthew lost his breath as the males turned to glare at Gilbert.

"Five against one?" Gilbert stopped just a couple of feet away from them. "How pussy of you."

Matthew could do nothing but watch in horror as the largest male, whom he assumed was the leader, walked up to Gilbert.

"Listen, Whitie," he practically spat in the albino's face. "Why don't you just go back to your little boyfriend and mind your business?"

Gilbert did not back down, if anything he moved in closer to the intimating male. "But it is my business. You don't harass people to make up for your lack of dick."—At this the other males narrowed their eyes dangerously—"No matter how small it might be."

The four other males broke away from the female and surrounded the Prussian and Matthew swore his heart stopped. If just seeing it nearly gave him a heart attack, he could only imagine how Gilbert was feeling.

"Hey." The leader harshly grabbed onto Gilbert's bare arm and Gilbert had to fight back his smirk. The jerk fell for it. "You albino freak, I'll give you one last chance to leave he—"

"I'm not the one who's going," Gilbert answered coolly, as if he wasn't surrounded by five guys all bigger than himself. He let his smirk show as he leaned in and whispered something into the leader's ear that Matthew couldn't catch. What he did catch however was the male's face paling after hearing what Gilbert had to say. He let go of his arm before taking a few steps back and gave Gilbert a hateful stare.

"Let's go," he demanded and the other four males turned to him confused.

"But—"

"JUST GO!" The leader barked and instantly the other boys broke away and followed the flustered leader away.

As soon as the goons were a good distance, Matthew slowly made his way up to the albino, still shocked by what happened. As he walked he saw Gilbert begin to talk to the fem—wait, on closer inspection that wasn't a girl, but a male in a skirt! Wow, if it wasn't for his broad shoulders and deep voice he never would have guessed that he was a…well…he!

"Well thanks Gily for being my, like, knight in shining armour or whatever," the cross dresser thanked, placing his hands on his hips in a feminine matter. "But I can, like, totally take care of myself."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Don't think I did it for you, girly. I did it 'cause those guys needed to know of my awesomeness."

The boy flicked his shoulder length blond hair back. "You've never called me girly before." He looked flattered, though that quickly turned to suspicion. "What's, like, up with you?"

"Gil!" Matthew cried, having finally reached the albino. "W-what were you thinking! Are you okay?"

Gilbert wouldn't help but smile at the blond's worried expression. He really was cute. "Course I'm fine! No punk can harm the amazing me!"

"I…" Matthew had to pause to try and allow his heart to calm down. Damn it, why did it seem that he was the only one affected by what happened? "Just…just what did you say to him anyway?"

"Hm? Oh, apparently the jerk has two girlfriends that don't know about the other." Gilbert shrugged as if that was perfectly normal. "Don't know how the guy could manage that though, freakin' ugly as shit."

Matthew simply blinked at the other before he began to laugh. It wasn't because of what the albino said was funny, oh no, it was a laugh of relief and confusion. Relief because Gilbert was alright, but confusion because he wasn't sure if he should applaud by his bravery or be angry at his stupidity.

"Uh…right." The cross dresser turned to Gilbert and quirked his hip flamboyantly. "So are you going to like, introduce us or something?"

"Fine." Gilbert gestured to Matthew, who was just getting over his small laughing fit. "This is Matthew. Matthew." He gestured towards the other male. "This is Feliks."

"Hi~ it's always nice to, like, meet Gily's new boyf—" he paused when he noticed Gilbert making frantic hushing gestures behind Matthew. "I mean, like…one of his friends."

Matthew waved shyly. "It's nice to meet you too."

"Right, right, introductions are done." Gilbert placed a hand on Matthew's back and gave him a gentle push in the right direction. "But we need to go now. Stop wearing such freakin' frilly…stuff and maybe you won't get beat up all the time."

Feliks pouted at the retreating figure of Gilbert and crossed his arms. "You didn't complain about it last year!" He yelled as the two rounded the corner.

"So who exactly is Feliks?" Matthew questioned after a few moments of walking in silence. "He looks a little familiar; does he go to our school?"

Gilbert nodded, though he continued looking ahead with a troubled look on his face. "Yeah, and he always went to school in drag until this year. I'm surprised you didn't notice him before."

Matthew looked over at Gilbert. He didn't know why, but for some reason something about him seemed a little…off. Then again, he wasn't sure if he knew him well enough to know when he was being off. Perhaps it was just a weird day.

"Why did he stop this year?" Matthew questioned telling himself that if anything was wrong Gilbert would tell him if he wanted to.

"'Cause his bodyguard graduated," Gilbert answered with a shrug. "Guy's terrible at standing up for himself. Anyways." Gilbert stopped and turned to the large building they were currently in front of. "Here we are."

Matthew looked at the building with a questioning look. "Um, Gilbert this is the library."

Wow, this is so far from the park. How had he not noticed how far away they strayed? Also...why the heck did Gilbert lead them to the library?

Gilbert nodded and looked over at the public building with a shrug. "Yeah...we better hurry if we want to get Mr. Joseph's assignment done by Tuesday."

Matthew looked between the library to Gilbert. "Oh, um...did you want me to help you with your school work? I-if you had told me before I could have gotten my library card..."

Gilbert threw up his arms in exasperation. "God Jeanine, this is the third time you've forgotten!" He turned away and pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance while Matthew stared at him, incredibly confused.

"What...?"

Gilbert sighed before he turned back to face Matthew with a small smile, which looked out of place on his face. "You know what? It's fine. If anyone can finish up the song before the due date, it's you."

Okay, now he was just completely lost. He gave Gilbert a suspicious look. "Gilbert? Are...are you okay?"

The smile slipped from the Prussian's face and he blinked at Matthew as if realizing he was there for the first time.

"Gil...bert?" He put a hand to his head and shook it. "Shit...that's my name, isn't it?"

What was...what was going on? Matthew watched as Gilbert turned away once again and held his head in his hands while mumbling something to himself. Was he going through some kind of amnesia or something? Should...should he take him to a hospital?

"Gil..."

"Call my brother." The albino handed the blond his cell phone, which he hesitantly took. "Tell him to come here, 'kay?"

"Um—"

"Matt just do it!"

Matthew quickly fumbled about with the phone, getting to the dial pad when he realized he didn't know Ludwig's number.

"What's his number?"

"It's under Westen!" Gilbert informed and Matthew hastily found the number and called it. Ludwig's response was almost immediate.

"Bruder?"

"Oh n-no it's Matthew, Ludwig..." He glanced over at the pale man who was now squatting close to the ground, his head still in his hands. "There's something wrong with Gil, he—"

"Where are you?"

"Eh? Oh, um...in front of the library..."

"I'll be there soon."

And without a goodbye, Ludwig hung up. Matthew looked back to Gilbert and went to stand beside him, awkwardly holding his phone back to him. "Ludwig should be here soon. Gil, what's going on?"

Gilbert paused for a moment before he looked up at Matthew from his spot on the ground. "My name...its Gilbert, right?"

Matthew slowly nodded. He may not understand what was going on, but having Gilbert recall his identity seemed like something he should help him with. Gilbert smiled up at him.

"But you called me Gil."

Matthew nodded again, a faint blush on his face. "I'm sorry, i-if you don't want me to call you that—"

"No," Gilbert's smile grew. "I like it. It's cute when you say it...Mattie." He then took back his phone with a wink and Matthew couldn't help but feel his blush deepen. He looked down away from Gilbert and shuffled about awkwardly, not knowing what to say. Fortunately he didn't have to say anything, for a familiar looking Grand Prix pulled up in front of them. The passenger's window rolled down to reveal a concerned looking Feliciano.

"Matteo!" He called. "How's Gil? Is he okay?"

"Um..."

Gilbert stood at the Italian's voice and faced him with an angry expression. "No, I'm not okay! I'm confusing my awesome self for a bunch of people I don't even care for!" He paused before turning to Matthew. "Who am I again?"

"Gilbert."

"Right..." He visibly deflated with a heavy sigh. "Let's just go." He grabbed onto Matthew's wrist and pulled him into the backseat of the car along with himself. The blond allowed him to do so, knowing that the persons inside would have answers.

"Seat belts on." Ludwig demanded—mostly to Gilbert—before he drove off.

"Hey brotha'!" Gilbert cried annoyingly. "What is up?"

"I told you not to go out today!" Ludwig roared, his grip on the steering wheel tightening dangerously and Feliciano could do nothing but cower in his spot in the passenger's seat. "But you did so anyway! Why? Because listening to me would have been the sensible thing to do, wouldn't it?"

"Ah shut up Johnny!" Gilbert yelled back pointing at his brother accusingly. "You're just jealous because mom brought me to the baseball game and not you!"

"Um, Gilbert that's Ludwig."

Gilbert looked between Matthew and his brother before sinking deeper into his seat. "Ah..." Was all his said before making a mental note to stop talking.

Meanwhile Matthew finally worked up to courage to ask, "Um, can I ask what's going on? Is...is something wrong with Gilbert?"

Matthew waited for someone to start explaining things to him, but was only met with silence.

"Um..." Matthew started again uncertainly. Maybe he should be the one to guess. "Does it...does it have something to do with his—"

"My ability? Spot on," Gilbert answered with a smirk. "Can someone else explain it for me? I'm going crazy here!"

There was a short silence after that, only broken by a long sigh from Ludwig.

"...Because of Easten's ability, he is able to learn a lot about others in a very short period of time." His brow furrowed as he focused on the road. "He learns things like people's birthdays, their relationship with others, what they like and so on." He glanced up at his mirror to see if the Canadian was following him. Matthew nodded dumbly, Ludwig continued. "Now the more information is gathered, the harder it becomes to separate other information from his own."

"So every six months or so I'm reduced to thinking I'm other, less interesting people!" Gilbert finished, his voice dripping with false joy. "That wonderful or what?"

Matthew turned to Gilbert with pity in his eyes. He really did feel sorry for him. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to lose your identity bi-annually. "I'm sorry Gil. This must be really hard for you..."

Gilbert scoffed. "It's nothing the fantastic me can't handle!" He paused. "...I mean awesome. The awesome me. That's right, right?"

The car then slowed to a stop. Matthew looked out the window and was surprised when he saw they were in front of his house.

"I'm sorry for my bruder's behaviour, Matthew," Ludwig apologized, an undertone of bitterness present in his voice. "But it's best if you go home for now and leave him to me."

"Wait, what are you going to do?" Matthew questioned. "Is there some way to make Gilbert remember who he is again?"

"Ve~ even I don't know how he does it," Feliciano said as he looked at Ludwig with a small pout. "And I've been asking for years!" He looked back at the Canadian with a smile. "But don't worry! Gilbert should be back to normal by tomorrow!"

"Or as normal as I can get," Gilbert mumbled with a small laugh. Matthew looked from Gilbert to Feliciano to Ludwig before a small sigh escaped him.

"Alright." Besides, what better place to leave Gilbert than with his own brother, right? "Thank you for the drive, Ludwig." Matthew thanked before he stepped out of the vehicle. "I'll, um...I'll talk to you later Gil."

"Bye Mattie!" Gilbert called before Ludwig started up the car again and drove away. Matthew watched them until they rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. He stood there for a while, continuing to stare as if expecting the car to come back and for everyone to say that this was a big joke.

This was so scary; thinking that simply having an ability could cause something like that to happen. He thought that learning about other people's abilities would give him the courage to use his more often, but after seeing that...

Matthew shook his head before he walked back to his house. He wanted to use his ability more, he really did, but he didn't want to...he didn't want to...

"Alfred?"

Matthew looked up at his British father from the doorway and Arthur blinked at his violet-blue eyes.

"Oh, sorry Matthew; I thought you were your brother."

"Oh, that's okay," Matthew replied before closing the door behind him and kicking off his shoes. Arthur nodded, placing his hand on the stairway railing beside him and idly drumming his fingers against it. He hated to admit this, but he was a bit nervous. With Francis working and Alfred out with his friends, this left him and Matthew together...alone. He couldn't even remember the last time this happened.

"So, uh, how was your walk?"

Matthew gave a half-hearted shrug. "Um...okay."

"Ah."

Silence.

"And school?"

"It's, um...it's school-like."

"Ah."

Silence.

"I'm ah...I'm g-going to do some h-homework now," Matthew lied terribly as he walked past his father and started up the stairs.

"Matthew! Wait!"

Matthew stopped and turned back to the sandy haired man. Arthur hesitated when Matthew's gaze turned to him.

"I, er, I just wanted to tell you that...You know you can talk to me about anything, right lad?"

Though Arthur had said those same words to him dozens of times, something about this time seemed to affect Matthew more than usual. He fully turned around so that he was facing the other male.

"Well, okay. Um..."

Arthur's eyes grew a bit wide in surprise. This was the first time Matthew had actually ever accepted his offer. Could it be that they were finally becoming a bit closer? He leaned forward almost eagerly as he waited for Matthew to collect his thoughts.

"I...I have this friend," Matthew started timidly, and Arthur was forced to lean in closer to hear it. "And my friend...um... he...plays...soccer." It was the first thing that came to mind, but he would have to work with it. "And he just, um, witnessed someone from his team get a really bad injury while he was playing soccer and now he doesn't know if he wants to keep playing anymore!" He looked at Arthur with desperation in his eyes. "What should he do?"

Well, obviously Matthew was speaking about himself and not this 'friend'. But to what problem in his life Arthur had no idea. "Matthew, is this about hockey?"

"N-no!" Matthew stuttered uselessly. "I-it's not me it's my...actually, it's okay. I'm going up to my room." Matthew turned back around and ascended the stairs further.

"Matthew! Wait!" Arthur called for a second time, this time choosing to chase after him. Matthew again stopped and turned back to face him, forcing the Brit to abruptly stop before he ran into the smaller form.

"If he really enjoys the game so much then he should continue playing regardless," Arthur finally answered. "He should be a bit more careful playing, but if he stops now then he's certain to regret it when he's older."

Matthew's eyes softened. Regret...that's right...if he never used his abilities again, then that would just be a waste. He was certain he had this power for a reason...right? His eyes met with his father's green ones and held it.

"Thank you, Arthur."

Pale yellow with a tiny bit of orange in there and...blue? He was...scared? What did he have to be scared about?

"Anytime lad," Arthur answered, and his yellow grew just a bit brighter. "Anyhow, your father will be working late tonight, and so I thought I'd try my hand at cooking." Arthur missed the look of horror on his son's face. "So what would you like?"

Perhaps he didn't know why Arthur was scared, but he sure had a reason to be scared now.

"Y-you know what? I...I found an i-interesting recipe on the int-internet the other day! I'll cook!"

Arthur waved it off. "No, it's quite alright, lad. You do your homework and I'll co—"

"No, it's okay, it's a really cool recipe!" Matthew interrupted before turning around and rushing up the rest of the stairs. "I'll go find it now!" He called over his shoulder before he ran into his room and closed the door behind him. Great, now he had to find a good recipe and fast! He wondered towards his laptop and turned it on.

… …

...There was something a bit off about Arthur's colours. They seemed to hold a bit more...intensity than other people's colours. Kind of like Raiman's or Michelle's did...did that mean that Arthur had...

Matthew shook his head with a small laugh, completely dismissing the idea before it could be fully formed.

Nah.

Fail on Matthew's part .-.

MMMM Teach me how to write Gerrrmmaannnnyyy. I love him as a character but every time I write him he comes out as a jerk, dammit!
Writer Fail on my part.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Please leave a review and until next time! ^^