The Valentine's Calendar

February 1st

Matthew woke normally, like any other day would be like, groaning gently as he shifted slightly in the warm arms that held him close to another warm body. Gilbert, of course. They'd met in kindergarten and have been dating since sophomore year in high school, and now they were nearly done with college. It'd been such a long time. It seemed he could still remember the first day of kindergarten, where the albino was running around flailing and screaming "I'M AWESOME" at the top of his lungs. That earned him an office referral right away. And now they were in bed together after years of dating.

No, people didn't take that a wrong way. Well, they didn't. At first Matthew had been quite hesitant, but they'd eased into sleeping in the same bed over a short period of time. They'd never had sex before. And then every morning he would wake up before his lover, who, admittedly, snored much louder than other people. Especially when a lot of cuddling was involved beforehand and Gil was nudged in the most comfortable position he could possibly involve himself in.

Reaching for the bedside table, the blonde's fingers met his glasses and he pushed them up on the bridge of his nose, where they rested comfortably. He had to pry the German off of him to climb out of bed, his bare feet meeting the carpet gently and making him yawn and stretch. The cracking of his vertebrae made him give a gentle sigh of relief and he made his way out of the bedroom and headed towards the kitchen, the ever-loud sound of Gil's snoring echoing down the narrow hallway.

Matthew was in the middle of stacking toaster waffles on a plate to make them presentable, since they didn't have any pancake mix and the only other thing to eat were the waffles when suddenly he felt hands snake around his waist and pull him flush to someone taller than him. He didn't even flinch; instead he gave a warm smile and nuzzled into the person behind him.

"Morning, birdie," Gilbert murmured gently into the Canadian's ear, then moving to his neck to nuzzle it gently.

"Morning, loud snorer," the other retorted teasingly, making the German grimace.

"I don't really snore that loud, do I?"

"Yes."

"Whatever. I'm too awesome for that."

Matthew felt the arms leave his waist and the taller man slipped away, instead edging in beside the "cook" who was still occupied with the waffles. As the blonde began to drizzle maple syrup onto his waffles, Gil stole the maple syrup and downed some of it, plainly, and that made Mattie wince.

"Isn't that gross?" he asked, though he thought it was quite delicious. He liked maple syrup.

"Kind of. But if I get to kiss you afterwards than it's fine, right? Kesese," the other responded and bent down for a loving kiss, and once their lips met it was heated. He lifted the Canadian onto the counter, felt the skin under the baggy t-shirt the smaller was wearing; he did practically everything until Matthew pushed him away gently.

"C'mon, it's only nine in the morning. We can't start it now. But that was delicious," he said in a breathy voice, still aired from the kiss. This made the albino shrug but he didn't let the other off of the counter.

"Know what today is?"

"What?"

"It's the first day of February."

"...And?"

Gil turned around and rummaged through the cupboards for a second before finding a small advent calendar that he scribbled hearts and pink and red and all the gushy Valentine's day stuff on and then handed it to the blonde, who still sat on the counter. Mattie accepted it, looking utterly confused.

"An advent calendar?" he asked, peering at the slots that were crossed out; there were only fourteen that remained. He opened the first door and found a heart-shaped chocolate inside. With a grin, he popped it into his mouth and closed the door. "Okay, so what is this for?"

Gilbert leaned against the counter and pointed to the slots. "You open one every day until you get to the fourteenth. I'll give you a present every day, because I'm just that awesome," he answered, then grinned widely. Mattie looked so adorable when he was confused. "Ich liebe dich, mein birdie."

"I love you too. No, I love you more. But you better give me good presents," Matthew replied, the end of his response teasing as he set aside the maple syrup and calendar and leaned in for another loving kiss.