Chapter Four

Kiss Me Awkwardly

The next morning dawned much quicker than Matthew expected. He was tempted to just go back to sleep and wait for the hangover to pass, but there were things to do, like get back home and finish his homework. As he sat up, Gilbert still sound asleep beside him, he groaned softly. It was becoming rather evident that there wasn't going to be any homework done for the next couple of hours at least, not until this hangover went away.

"Shit."

Matthew looked over his shoulder as Gilbert rolled his face into the pillow in an attempt to block out the light.

"I think we both drank too much last night," Gilbert said into the pillow.

"It wouldn't be so bad if we had remembered to drink water, the hang over is usually due to dehydration," Matthew responded with a small smile.

"Ug, whatever Birdie, I just say we go get some coffee," Gilbert grumbled.

"You really want coffee?"

"I always have coffee with a hangover," Gilbert replied. He finally sat up and ran a hand through his hair, causing clumps of white to stick up in different directions.

"Alright, coffee it is. You should put pants on though before we head out,"

Gilbert looked down to find he was only wearing a pair of boxers and a tshirt. "Shit, when did that happen?" he asked.

Matthew chuckled. "No clue, you fell asleep before me and had them on when I put you to bed," he said.

"Yeah, well whatever," Gilbert slid from the bed and tossed around a pile of clothes until he found a pair of pants and with a bit of effort, pulled them on. "Now where's my wallet?"

"On the dresser," Matthew said. "I pulled it out and your keys before bed," he said.

Gilbert stepped over to the dresser before turning to him with a small smirk.

"Hey now, don't look at me like that!"

"But they were in my back pocket."

"And you were so drunk you could barely make it up the stairs."

"But you had to reach into my back pocket to get my wallet and keys."

"Oh my god Gilbert you are ten, get your wallet so we can get your damn coffee," Matthew said, sliding from the bed and slipping on his shoes.

Gilbert laughed and slid his wallet and keys into his back pocket and headed downstairs.

Matthew followed after him and climbed into the passenger's side of Gilbert's car. It was a short drive to the coffee shop and minutes later they were seated across from each other at a back table, Gilbert nursing a steaming macchiato and Matthew sipping at a tea.

There was a silence between them, an awkwardness that had been building since they sat down.

"A penny for your thoughts?"

Gilbert looked up in mild shock. "Huh, what?" he asked.

"You seem distracted," Matthew replied.

"Oh, yeah, well, I was thinking about… I wanted to ask you something."

Matthew wasn't sure where this was going, but it was clear that it was something that made Gilbert go quiet.

"What is it?" he asked as casually as possible.

"Last night, I… Well, I said some things, about my brother and it wasn't really something that I really wanted to confess, something I've never really even admitted to myself," Gilbert replied softly.

"I see," said Matthew, staring down at his tea, unsure about how to reply. "But really, Gil," he said after a moment. "It's okay, I'm sure your brother will be fine, it's okay to feel that way."

"Yeah," Gilbert muttered, clearly not sounding convinced.

Matthew watched Gilbert for a minute before sliding his tea to the side and standing to lean across the table and press his lips to Gilbert's.

It was brief, but it got Gilbert's attention. "Everything will be alright, Gil, Ludwig will come back, you can talk to me any time," he said with a small smile.

Gilbert couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah, thanks Birdie."

Birdie nodded and leaned back, but in the process knocked over Gilbert's coffee, spilling it onto his lap.

"Ah, fuck!" Gilbert cried, causing the few people who were in the café to turn and look at him in slightly offended shock.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Matthew cried in mild panic. He rushed over to the counter and grabbed handfuls of napkins. He handed several to Gilbert who was now standing with coffee staining the front of his pants. Taking the rest he quickly mopped up what had spilled on the table and floor.

"Damn that's hot, you're fine Matthew," Gilbert said, using the napkins to soak up what he could from his pants.

"I'm really sorry though, you didn't get burned, did you?" Matthew asked.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm going to go home and change though," he said.

"Right, I have to get home as well unfortunately," Matthew said with a small frown.

"Yeah, of course, when do you want to meet again?" he asked.

Matthew thought about it a moment. "How about this Friday? We can go out to a movie. No drinking, no parties, hangovers or unwanted confessions, just a nice action or comedy or something. Maybe ice cream afterward."

Gilbert grinned. "Sure Birdie, that sounds great."

Matthew nodded. "See you then?" he asked, picking up his tea from the table and following Gilbert out the door.

"Yeah, see you then," Gilbert said, turning and heading home, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.