Chapter Twelve

Gabby's POV

So Caliegh was all loony with love, eh? I tried to be irritated about it; being pissed about my sister's achievements had become an instinct. Yet, I was met with something peculiar: I couldn't look at it in a negative light.

Was I happy for her? Maybe. Probably not. It's hard to be happy for someone when they tended to suck out your own happiness as a child. But it was a miracle: for once in my life, I wasn't jealous of her. Perhaps it was because it wasn't Lukas saying how in love with her he was, though I doubt that's it: he was practically eating her face in the doorway. More likely, I just felt sure that she hadn't accomplished something that I hadn't already. I mean, I was pretty damn in love myself.

In fact, it didn't even peeve me that Caliegh now sat with us at the Nordics table all the time (I, however, was still fond of my friends at the BTT's table, so I'd sit with them on occasion. When that happened, I was more than glad to find that Mathias would join me). I really expected it to drive me out of my mind that she sat there- that she included herself in a group I thought I had to myself- but really, all the Nordics (except our boyfriends, of course) treated her exactly as they treated me. Plus, all the snuggling and hand-holding and food sharing that she did with Lukas was nothing Mathias and I weren't doing as well.

"Hey, babe. I just realized something," Mathias brought up as we headed from the cafeteria to the dorms one Friday night. "We've been dating for what, 3 weeks now? And we haven't been on one date."

That made me pause walking. Tilting my head, I regained my pace, stepping in time with Mathias. Yeah, we were that couple that walked in perfect unison while we held hands. I opened my mouth to counter him, until I realized that he was right. Yeah, we'd hung out alone, and he had technically asked me out, but we'd never been on an official date.

"So I was thinking. There's this cool little restaurant right off of campus that a buncha couples hang at. As long as we get a teacher's permission, we can go. You in?"

"Nope, I'd prefer to sit alone in my dorm and study for my Algebra test." Mathias just stared at me until both of us erupted into a laughing fit. "What time should I be ready by?"

"I was thinking 6:00 tomorrow night," Mathias answered with his signature grin. I could just see amusement dancing in those deep blue eyes of his. It was phenomenal, how the feature was so youthful yet just made him all the manlier… ""I'm gonna ask Mr. Daniels for the permission slip; he's the only teacher that doesn't see me spending my middle aged years in prison."

That just made me let out another short laugh. "That man's got bad instincts." Rolling his eyes fondly, Mathias lightly brought his fist against my arm. "So 6? Tomorrow?" I confirmed. Mathais nodded.

"6, tomorrow. I'll see you in the mornin', babe. G'night."

"Mhm, 'night." I stood up slightly taller, one hand resting on Mathias's broad shoulder as he leaned down just a bit. We'd kissed so much in our 3 weeks (and 4 days, but who's counting) together that the positioning had become routine. I grinned against his lips, never tiring of feeling them against my own, and we pulled apart much too soon for my liking. We just stared into each other's pools of blue eyes, smiling airily like the lovestruck idiots we were, until we both giggled at how corny we were and went our separate ways.

When I made it to my dorm, I found that Caliegh hadn't returned yet. I bet she was off sucking face with her little Lukie somewhere; it still amazed me that this didn't get on my nerves in the slightest. Since I wasn't quite tired yet, I decided to start putting together an outfit for my date. Just thinking about that sent shivers down my spine. For the most part, they were good: thinking of me and Mathias, sharing a dinner together, on our first legitimate date. But there was some anxiety there, too. I'd never been on a date before… and I had no idea how the hell to prepare.

I immediately decided that I didn't have to sort through my closet for the few dresses and blouses I owned. The restaurant didn't sound to fancy, and I doubted Mathias would be expecting formality from his girlfriend anyway. Excluding formalwear, however, didn't exclude skirts; I had a few cute, casual ones, though I looked like total crap in a skirt… Skinny jeans. Nothing said casual-yet-feisty like skinny jeans! …Then again, skinny jeans were for skinny people. Which I wasn't. I did like to wear skinny jeans, but I absolutely hated how they perfectly displayed how fricking fat my legs are. So, those were out.

The next few minutes were spent searching through my closet, sliding hangers this way and that, tossing the occasional garment on my bed before deciding it would just go back in the closet, and comparing countless outfits. For a moment, I considered waiting for Caliegh to come back so I could ask her for help; she had always known so much about fashion…Then I realized how humiliating that would be, and decided I'd figure this damn thing out myself.

Ah, there we go. Feeling bitterly toward my twin; that felt normal.

In the end, I found a perfect pair of pants. It was jeans I had picked out myself right before starting at Hetalia Academy, that were supposed to be skinny jeans but were a size or two too large for me. As a result, they had that cute fit of skinny jeans, while still being baggy enough to not make it obvious that I was a fatass. There was a shirt I decided fit the bill, too: a dark purple off-the-shoulders top with purposely jagged frills on the bottom hem. With the way it was designed and how low-cut it was, an undershirt (and strapless bra, but that was irrelevant) was necessary.

The pride I'd felt at selecting a suitable outfit seemed to be stabbed and shattered right at the core. All my decent undershirts were pretty skintight, and I usually only wore them with shirts that were slightly too translucent. With just the half-length top, the undershirt would be tight against my stomach, which constantly looked like, 3 months pregnant. Pleasant, isn't it. But this outfit was so cute…! I sighed in irritation, falling back on my bed and digging my fingers through my hair, which was a problem in itself. Would I straighten it, or leave it as it was? …Leave it as it was. I didn't want to risk going on my first date with a big ugly burn mark on my temple.

Why? Why the hell couldn't I have been graced with a nice body? I'm not asking to be a supermodel; just not fat. In the mornings, after I hadn't eaten for 10 hours and spent 8 hours lying on my stomach, flattening it, I was perfectly content with how I looked. Yet after I put food in my system, I filled out to my true fatness. Why couldn't I look morning-thin all the time?

Suddenly, I sat up in bed, knocking a discarded t-shirt to the floor. If I was in a cartoon, a light bulb surely would have appeared over my head. Because I was struck with an idea.

My plan had been going perfectly. Yeah, it was a pain in the ass, but it was so gonna be worth it when I looked almost feminine for my first date.

I'd laid everything out so carefully. I stayed up way too late- until 2:30 in the morning, to be exact. I occupied myself actually studying for all my upcoming tests, then browsing Tumblr and Facebook for a few hours. Usually, I go to bed at 10, so I was exhausted. So exhausted, in fact, I slept in until 11:20-something.

Just as planned.

I took way long getting ready in the morning, showering for half an hour, brushing my hair 4 times, applying my mascara with unnecessary precision, and sitting there zoned out in my towel for a good 5 minutes before getting dressed. Then I got three-quarters through the 400-page yaoi manga I'd brought with me to the academy, and finally headed downstairs. By then, it was nearly 1:00, and none of my friends were in the lunchroom.

Perfect.

By the time I needed to get ready for my date, I hadn't touched any food, and still looked as comfortably thin as I had when I woke up. Were there downfalls to this? Hell yeah: my stomach simply wouldn't shut up, and I'm used to having 3 meals a day with a few snacks in between. An entire day without anything was unthinkable.

But it would be worth it. Because I'd look okay for my date with the best looking guy I knew.

It had gotten to the point that I was so hungry I didn't even acknowledge the hunger (besides the occasional stomach gurgle), which was totally fine by me. I was in the highest of spirits at 5:40 as I got ready for the date. In fact, the entire time I combed my hair, washed my face, dabbed a bit of blush onto my cheeks, decorated my eyes with shadow and liner, and layered on my favorite-flavored lip gloss, I was humming the peppiest songs I knew as loudly as my vocal chords would allow.

I already knew my jeans would be fine; however, I held my breath as I changed into the undershirt. I closed my eyes tightly, pulling my arms through the straps, and had to remind myself to stop sucking in my stomach as I faced my reflection in the full-body mirror.

This couldn't be happening… I had to be dreaming… But no, this was real: no matter what angle I looked at myself, I didn't look fat. My last-minute plan had worked! Grinning so widely it hurt, I literally squealed as I pulled on the second shirt. I slipped into my favorite pair of Converse, and practically skipped out the door.

"Damn, girl… You look smokin'," Mathias called up to me from the bottom of the spiral staircase where he leaned against the railing. I currently stood on the landing in the middle of said staircase, and felt myself blush. God, the date hadn't even started yet and my cheeks were already aching from smiling.

"Thanks, 'Thias. You're lookin' fine yourself." 'Fine' was an understatement. In fact, I doubt Mathias Køhler was capable of just "fine." Thankfully, he had the same casual dress code in mind as me: unfaded blue jeans, his usual black combat boots, and a deep red button-down shirt with the upper 4 buttons undone, revealing the top of his perfectly toned chest. I gulped, praying I wasn't salivating. Because that would be disgusting.

"Hurry it up, gurl, times a'wastin'," Mathias ordered, smirking gleefully. I giggled slightly, ignoring the slight wave of dizziness that washed over me. I was probably just so excited I couldn't see straight; that was normal, right? Mathias was just so perfect, and this night was going to be so brilliant, that my world was spinning…

I took a step forward, but my foot did not meet a stair. The next thing I knew everything had gone black.

When I woke up, I was staring at a white ceiling. I immediately had to close my eyes, since I was blinded by lights overhead. Shaking my head to clear my woozy thoughts, I attempted to sit up, and automatically groaned in agony. Dear God, it felt like I'd been hit by a truck. My neck was sore as hell, as were my wrists- was that a cast on my left one?

Okay, what the hell was going on. As I bit my lip to keep from crying out from pain, I realized they still tasted of cherry. That meant it couldn't have been too long since I got ready for my date with Mathias….. Had I even gone on my date with Mathias?

"You okay, babe? That was quite a fall."

Speak of the Devil. "A fall…?" I croaked out. Okay, ow. My hand instinctively shot up to rub my jaw, which hurt the moment I moved it, and my previous suspicions were confirmed: my left hand was in a small wrist cast.

"Uh huh." Mathias was still in that red button-down shirt, a ghost of his usual grin remaining on his face as he held my right hand. "It was the weirdest thing. One second, you were lookin' totally hot, and grinnin' down at me, ready for our date; the next, your face went blank, you completely missed the step, and you were tumbling down the staircase."

Well that certainly took "head-over-heels in love" to a whole new level…

The nurse then joined us in the room, carrying a box of untouched thermometers. "From the sounds of it, you're lucky you didn't break anything, Ms. Bibus. You'll be sore for a while and have to wear that cast for a couple weeks, but otherwise, you're fine." It was obvious that she could see the bewilderment on my face as I took in all this information. She set her box down on a counter. "Do you have any idea what happened, sweetie?"

I paused. "Not, really… I got dizzy before I took a step." Some sort of interest flickered behind the nurse's glasses at those words. "But I'm used to random little dizzy spells like that. I've gotten them since I was little," I explained quickly. And this was true.

"If you're used to them, I'd assume you know well enough to pause before moving during one." Damn, the nurse had me there. I felt a blush sweep across my cheeks. What, was I going to tell her I was so distracted by the overwhelming hotness of my awaiting boyfriend that I didn't want to wait for the dizziness to pass?

Mathias tilted his head slightly. "Hold on a sec. I didn't see you at lunch or breakfast, babe. Don't people get dizzy when they're hungry?" Oh, sure, Mathias. Now you choose to use your head.

"But I ate today," I insisted.

"What'd you have for breakfast?" Mathias questioned skeptically, raising an eyebrow. Liar mode, on.

"Cereal."

"What kind?"

"Corn Pops."

"When did you eat that?"

"I lied, it was more like a brunch. I had it at 12:13, AM. Two bowlfuls."

For once, seeing Mathias's eyes light up discouraged me instead of sending butterflies fluttering through my stomach. "Aha! Liar, I went down for lunch with the guys at 12:08 till 12:30. You weren't there."

Shit. I was caught red-handed.

"Dear, do you often skip meals?" the nurse asked, a little too gently. Time to switch back to honesty mode.

"…No… I'm a pretty big eater, actually. But I uh… I had a date tonight, and I wanted to look thin, so…"

"…you starved yourself," Mathias finished for me. I'd never seen him look so serious; in this situation, I didn't like it.

I shook my head, then remembered I was basically crippled and just flinched. "Not technically… It was only a day, starving myself would've lasted-"

"The point is, you didn't eat. You hurt yourself. So you'd look skinny." Mathias's voice was gradually rising. Instead of giddiness dancing in his eyes like I was used to, it was now frustration and slight agony flickering in those blue orbs. "Do you know who's skinny, Gabby? Sluts. Sluts are skinny. You know who cares about what they look like? Bitches. And do you know what you aren't? A slutty bitch. You're my awesome girlfriend, who isn't even fat. You're like, perfect size. Not a twig, but not a boulder either. You're just right. And I don't appreciate how much makeup you're wearing right now." Were my eye liner and shadow really that noticeable…? "They distract from your naturally awesome face. So wash that shit off, stuff your face with a cheeseburger, and get real.I asked you out so I could spend time and fall in love with you. The real you. Not so you could try to impress me."

I'd heard Mathias rant and ramble plenty of times, but usually it was about a silly topic like bars he'd been kicked out of. But this… This was different. And it brought tears to my eyes. If the nurse wasn't standing right there, and moving didn't hurt like a bitch, I would have grabbed him by the face and kissed him on the spot. "…Mathias…" was all I could feebly manage. He heaved a deep breath and closed his eyes; when he reopened them, he looked a little more like himself.

"You've been out of it for 2 hours, so you can't be tired, but you gotta get some rest. Maybe when you're not a cripple, we can try this whole date thing again."

"I ain't a cripple…" I defended meekly. Still, I smiled as widely as I could (which wasn't much, with my banged up jaw), and gave his hand a little squeeze with the one that wasn't in a cast. "I'm sorry, 'Thias… I was stupid…"

Mathias squeezed my hand right back, and I felt this weird, surprisingly pleasant throbbing in my chest. My breath caught in my throat as I realized what it was: love. True, actual, legitimate, love. "Hell yeah you were. But hey, I'm Mathias Køhler. I wear stupidity like a cloak. I like it. Just try to be stupid in other areas instead, 'kay?"

The slightest of slight laughs escaped my throat. God, was there anything I could do that wouldn't hurt? "I'll do my best." My expression suddenly fell serious. I had never said what I was about to announce to anyone that wasn't related to me, and if this was the wrong time to say it, it would permanently maim my relationship…. "…I love you, Mathias."

If I could have crossed my fingers, I would have. Mathias just looked at me for a moment, before displaying his usual cheery grin but with a little less volume. "I love you too, Gabby." And he kissed my forehead.

Author's Note

Well don't I just sound like an emo little Mary Sue. OOPS :D Well anyway, I don't really like how I ended this... but I was rushed when writing it, so I guess I could've wrapped it up worse.

-67OtakuGirl24X3