his right, feeling a warmth bloom on his cheeks as the blond bit his lip. Gil wasn't normally like this. He was flirtatious and didn't mind

making a fool out of himself. However, that's only how he acted when he's met someone mildly attractive. When it came to people he truly

cared for, he was shy as a mouse. Lacking the brain power to think of something to say, he did what cheesy cliches men did in movies. He

faked a yawn and stretched his arms, lightly placing his arm around the other's shoulders.' Reaaaaaaal smooth Gil, real smooth,' he thought

to himself.

[For MattyMcPancakes <3897359875]

Matthew had been lost in his own little world next to the the other, looking resolutely away from him and trying not to blush too hard. This

date was turning out less sucessfully than he'd planned - Gilbert had been fidgeting for the past half hour, and they'd fallen into an

uncomfortable silence. Matt had just reconciled himself to the fact that the Prussian had obviously lost interest in him - not that he could

blame him - when an arm landed on his shoulders, making him squeak in surprise. He couldn't help turning to look at Gilbert with wide eyes,

letting out a stunningly articulate, "uh?"

Gil flushed, looking away as he mustered up the courage to mutter a stream of mangled words. Clearing his throat, he glanced at Mattie from

the corner of his eye before repeating himself. "I said, um, you wanna go g-get lunch?" He mentally kicked himself for stuttering.

Where was the homicidally self-confident Gilbert he knew? Matt stared at him, wondering, for a moment before he realised that yes, Gil was

actually waiting for an answer. "Um, okay. I mean, yeah, sure, that'd be great," he managed.

Heaving a sigh of relief, he stood up and offered his hand to the other. "There's this awesome cafe two blocks down that makes awesome fruit

tarts!" He grinned, lips twitching nervously. He could *not* afford to screw this up. He didn't want to scare Mattie off and be alone for

the rest of his life!

took his hand to pull himself up, landing a little too close to the other, shying back with an embarrassed laugh. "... Awesome." It was an

attempt to make Gilbert smile, but it just sounded kind of sad and pathetic when Matt said it.

looked at the other fondly, before catching himself and averting his gaze. "So..." he prodded his mind for something, anything that they

could talk about. Didn't Mattie say he had a brother...? "Um, how's your brother?" He prayed to God he was right, that it was a brother.

"He's okay." Al was not his favourite thing to talk about, but at least they were talking now. "He's happy, I guess." He kicked at a pebble.

"...Is something wrong? You don't seem exactly happy about him..." He didn't want to invade the blond's privacy, switching to another topic

quickly. Hm, what else did Mattie like? "Oh! Did you see the game the other day? It was Bruins against Senators!" Hockey was a safe topic,

wasn't it?

"No, it's not that, it's just ... it kind of wears me out, talking to him." Matt shrugged. "He's sort of, uh, wrapped up in his boyfriend."

He was happy for Alfred, obviously, but it made it harder to be alone. "Yeah, I did. Good game, eh?"

Smiling helplessly, he nodded. "I'm...sure he doesn't mean to. It's just, when you're in love, you wanna spend as much time as you can with

the other. He just can't help it," he shyly nudged the other with his elbow.

"Yeah, I know." Shit. He was going to give himself away if he didn't watch out. Matt backtracked wildly. "Um, you should come and watch the

Habs game at my place next week." Thank God Gil was a hockey fan. "... If you want to, I mean."

"That'd be awesome!" He grinned, mentally jumping up and down. Gil held the door open for Mattie once they got there. The burst of cold air

sent a shiver down his spine.

"Awesome," he repeated, meeting Gilbert's eyes shyly as he stepped through the door, and shrank back almost imperceptibly. "'S cold."

hummed in agreement. They were seated swiftly and Gil toyed with his napkin. He wasn't good at this conversation thing, was he? "So...how've

you been lately?"

"Pretty ... pretty good? Nothing new." He began to bite at his thumbnail, stopped himself. "What about you?"

(Where did you go? ;A; )

[sidhfuif I swear I responded! ;A;]

"Ah, I'm fine. Same old, same old I'm afraid." He smiled before catching himself. If he didn't say anything, they'd most likely lapse into

another tense silence. "W-Well, something funny did happen at work the other day. But other than that, nothing really."

"Oh?" He leaned forward; he liked the Prussian's anecdotes, even when they weren't actually funny. "What happened?"

"Friday was my first day at work at a craft store. The manager was running me through what my job entitled when this guy - Mike - ran

through the front door with a drenched yellow poncho, shouting that he was a condom!" He cracked up, tears coming to his eyes.

[TRUE.STORY.]

"He ... sorry, *what*?" Matthew blinked, chuckling. "You just made that up," he accused.

"I am so serious!" He grinned, eyes shining. "He just ran in like he owned the place and started shouting! Turns out he works there too.

He's pretty cool," he wiped a tear away.

"Between you two, I'd be surprised if this store has any customers at all." He smiled. Gilbert was so cute when he got all excited.

(( Going out going out going out ;n; ))

[;A; /clings to]

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" He pouted childishly. The waiter interrupted them and handed them menus. "Anything you prefer?" He

asked as the waiter left.

"Nothing," said Matt, with false innocence. "Oh, they have crêpes," he mused, running his finger down the menu. "You said the fruit tarts

were good, though, right?"

"Yeah, they're really good," he hummed, skimming the menu quickly before ordering his usual - a turkey club sandwich. "Oh, and can I get a

black coffee?" He handed the menu back.

ordered blueberry crêpes and orange juice, swinging his legs under the table.

"You like blueberries?" He asked, lacking ideas for conversation. He wasn't used to this...dating thing.

(How did I miss this?! oAo)

"Love 'em," Matt confided with a smile. "We used to have them up at the cottage ... Do you always order the same thing?"