So, here it is, final chapter! I'm planning a sequel, but it'll have to wait until I get out at least 5 chapters for Avengers House Rules. (If you're into superheroes, check it out!) Fear not, though, I'll be back to writing for this world in about 1-3 months!
Inner Kiwi: And of course, I'll be there to ruin her self esteem.
Anyway, enough of this! Here you are, the 15th and final chapter!
(PS- I'm sorry for all the unbeta-d chapters as of late but, well... I want this to be a surprise for everyone, so... Sorry! I promise, BlacktiwnWhitetwin will be back in Only A Memory~!)
Gilbert sat in a stiff hospital waiting room chair, his head hanging in his hands. He had been sitting like that for the past two hours. Around him, his group of friends sat listlessly, slouched in the seats or sitting on the floor. All of their faces were pale and worried. More than a few of them were crying quietly, including (surprisingly) Natalya
Of all of them, Lili looked the worst. Her face was red and splotchy from crying, her hands were shaking noticably, and her eyes were screamng guilt at ayone who cared to look her in the eyes for more than a few moments, which, admittedly, wasn't many. Gil was still seething mad at the Germanic girl for not telling him about what was going on in the first place, and after they had been filled in, the others followed suit. The only two who weren't ignoring her were Liz and Vash.
Everything was so stifling and tense, worlds away from what it had been up on the roof, when everyone was carefree and laughing. Gil closed his eyes, replaying the memories for what seemed like the hunredth time, like a broken record.
FLASHBACK~
"Where is he?"
"Uhhm, his apartment, I think. As soon as the words had left Lili's mouth, Gil was off, feet slapping against the linoleum as he raced toward the student parking exit of the school, Lili only a few feet behind him.
He threw his body against the door, not even bothering to slow. Pulling his keys from his pocket, Gilbert quickly spotted his iconic Awesome-Mobile. He and Lili jogged up to it, Gil fumbling his keys for a moment before shoving the correct one into the lock, unlocking the door. As he slid in, he unlocked the passenger door as well. In less than a minute, they were peeling out of the parking lot.
"What's going on, Lili?" Gil demanded, hit gip tight on the steering wheel as he struggled to maintain the speed limit.
Lili's voice was slightly panicked, though whether from the situation or from the speed was unclear. "I-I don't know! Mattie just called me andasked me to stay on the phone! And then-... And then..."
"C'mon Lili, and then...?" Gil prompted, the slightest hint of impatience colouring his tone. Normally, he'd be all soft words and encouraging smiles, but this time was different; his Birdie was in trouble. Swallowing audibly, Lili continued.
"And then he went into his apartment, and his boyfriend started yelling, and Matthew was screaming, and- and-... Oh Gott, er schlagen ihn, Gil. Er war, ihm schlagen!"
Gilbert felt his heart squeeze in his chest. No, no, this can't be true. Birdie would have said something, he would have told us if his boyfriend was hitting him.
But even as he thought that, memories started resurfacing. The way Matthew had looked so miserable and pained when he and Gil had first met, the was he flinched at sudden, potentially violent movements, his soft, meek voice that almost seemed tailored for placating and begging for mercy, the way he always seemed uncomfortable when the boys would wrestle or when Lukas would hit Matthias, Hell, the bruise he had ben sporting for a while after Roderich's concert, for God's sake. All of these signs pointed towards domestic violence and he hadn't even noticed! He should have noticed. For the love of fuck, the entire reason he and Ludwig lived on their own was because of the violence between their parents. He had been so blind.
Gilbert shook his head inperceptably. Self blame wasn't going to help Birdie, having all the information would. There was something that was bothering him about Lili's explanation. Gil turned his head slightly towards his cousin. "Why would he call you, though?"
"Uhm..." Lili's expression was an equal mix of regret and guilt. "I...I already knew..." She answered him. Gil almost crashed right then and there. Instead, he stepped on the acellerator. He was definetely breaking the speed limit now.
"What the fuck do you mean you-" Gil stopped dead, suddenly recalling a conversation. "That time you asked me if it was okay to tell someone about someone else getting hurt... That was about Mattie, wasn't it!?"
Lili, nodded, wincing at his accusatory tone. "Yes, I was going to say something, but-"
"Shut-up," Gilbert ground out, his teeth gnashed together as his grip on the wheel tightened.
"Gil, I'm so-"
"Lilian, I need you to shut up before I explode and say something that I won't regret, okay?" Lili wisely kept her mouth shut after that.
The next three minutes were spent in complete silence but for the sound of Lili's soft crying and the sound of tires against asphalt. After what seemed like an eternity, Gil finally pulled up in front of Matthew's building. Lili got out, but Gil hesitated a moment, reaching into the back of the car and rooting around until he found a set of handcuffs and a metal baseball bat.
slamming his door closed, Gil ran towards the building's entrance. He tried to wrench the door open, but it was security locked. Grunting in frustration, he went to the panel of buzzers, scanning it until he found the button labeled Williams-Jones. Quickly, he pressed the buzzer just below that. He silently thanked Gallagher-Milkovich, whoever they were, for unlocking the door as the pulled it open and ran up the stairs toards the apartment specified on the panel. At this point he didn't even care if Lili was following him.
Once he was on the right floor, it wasn't hard to find Matthew's aparment; the sounds of shouting and metal hitting flesh were unmistakable. Gil sprinted to the origin of the noise, glad to find that the door was open just a tiny crack. Turning to Lili, who had indeed followed him, he pressed his finger to his lips and mouthed 'wait here.' Without waiting for a response, Gil hoisted his baseball bat to the ready and silently entered the apartment.
Before him, he saw a sight that curled his stomach. smears of blood were visible on the floor. Not enough to be fatal, but enough to be worrisome. there were broken dishes and shards of glass everywhere. He could see several holes in the drywall, too big to be fist marks. One even looked Matthew sized. What he couldn't see, however, was the cause of all this damage. Following the sound, Gilbertturned down a hallway to his right and headed to the end, which he assumed to be the master bedroom.
"Ivan, please, stop!" Screamed a voice that was distinctly Matthew. This was followed by the sound of a slamming door and metal against wood.
"Come out of the fucking closet, you грязный обман шлюха!" Roared who Gilbert assumed to be Ivan.
Gilbert walked into the room, un-noticedby the sole occupant, the same tall ash-blond pig from the concert. The bastard was wailing on the closet door in front of him with a lead pipe, ignoring Matthew's terrified screams and pleas. Gil crept closer.
"Where's your little Prussianlover now, hmm?" The Russian sneered, driving the pipe into the wood once again. "He must not care if he isn't here to save your slutty зад."
Gilbert was finally within reach of the digusting bastard. "Surprise, motherfucker!"
As Ivan whirled around in surprise, Gilbert pulled back and smashed the bat into his hand, grinning in satisfaction at the distinct sound of breaking bones. Before he had a chance to recover from the pain, Gil sent another hit at the Commie bastard's knees, sweeping him onto his back and knocking the breath out of him. The Prussian used his momentary paralysis as a chance to pull the restrainst from his pocket and cuff the asshole to the radiator.
"Who do you th-" Ivan started, only to be cut of by an alluminum bat pressing none-too-gently against his vital regions regions.
"I swear to fucking God, one more word out of you, and I'll nail you in the fucking balls, sie ficken kommunistischen," Gilbert snarled, pressing subtly harder. Ivan gulped and shut his mouth. coward.
Ignoring the bastard on the floor, Gil went to the closet door. "Mattie? Mattie, are you okay?" There was a muffled shuffling sound, followed by the sharp click of a lock. the door creaked open, revealing a bruised, bloody, terrified Matthew.
"G-Gil? Is that... Please tell me this is real?" He asked softly, sniffling softly as big tears rolled down his damp face. Gil crouched down to his level, scooping him up into his arms.
"Yes, of course this is real. I'm here, Birdie, you're safe, I promise you, okay? You're safe now," Gilbert reassured him, taking note from his winces that Matthew probably had a few browen ribs and quite possibly a broken arm.
"Thank-you, Gil..." Matthew whispered softly, before slipping into unconsciousness. Gilbert didn't no much, but he was pretty sure that was a bad thing. Ignoring the struggling Russian on the floor, Gil carried the Canadian down the hall and out of the apartment. He turned to the scared looking Lili.
"Call 911."
~END FLASHBLACK
After that, everthing was a bit of a blur. He could remember handing Matthew over to to the paramedics, giving a statement to police, entering the hospital, but the details were fuzzy.
When he opened his eyes, Gil noted that there were two new people in the waiting room. One was short and Asian (Gil kind of remembered seeing him around the house. Kiku, he thought his name was.), and the other was quite obviously Francis' cousin, and, Gilbert suddenly realized, Matthew's twin, Alfred. Admittedly, Gilbert had known Al long before he'd ever acknowledged Matthew's existence, and he'd known that Matthew had a twin brother, but he'd never really connected the dots between them. Now that he was in front of him, Gilbert could admit that they looked similar. Sure, Mathew's eyes were more violet-y, his hair was a tad bit wavier and longer, and his figure was more willowy, (not to mention he was way hotter) but all in all Afred and Matthew looked pretty alike. Gil couldn't believe he hadn't noticed it before.
Suddenly, Gil was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a cleared throat. All eyes shot up to the doctor standing at the door.
"He's awake."
Okay, for serious this time, that's the end. No more until the sequel, which I'll start working on soon, because I may or may not be going away to french camp for a month this summer. I hope you all enjoyed this roller coaster with me!
Summary-ish thing for the sequel, Only a Memory- This fic will focus more on the bonding aspect between Mattie and the others, forming a tighter relationship between Al and Matt, and, duhhhh, LOTSA PRUCAN, GUYS~! Maybe even a lil bit of NotAHomewrecker!China, if you play your cards right ;)
Inner Kiwi: It sounds like a stupid fluff fic.
Me: Shut up. After almost a year of serious, heavy emotions, I think I deserve to get to right fluff, okay? Okay.
TRANSLATIONS-
er schlagen ihn, Gil. Er war, ihm schlagen.-he beat him, Gil. He was hitting him.
грязный обман шлюха- Filthy cheating slut.
зад- Ass
Sie ficken kommunistischen- You fucking commie.
BAAAAAAI~!