My Brother's Best Friend • Prucan

Shakespeare

The next day at school, Matthew speed-walked to chemistry class with eagerness. He really wanted to speak to Gilbert after his talk with Alfred last night. Entering the chemistry room, Matthew blushed as he locked eyes with Gilbert. The white-haired boy was sitting at their joint desk, smirking as the Canadian walked into the room. 

"Hey Birdie." Gilbert spoke, his eyes glued to Matthew as he sat down at their desk. 

"Birdie?" Matthew questioned, his lips parting slightly in confusion. 

"Can I call you that?" Gilbert asked, looking concerned at Matthew's confusion.

"Yeah it's fine. Just- why?" Matthew asked, smiling. 

"It's cute, like you." Gilbert said, causing Matthew to turn a bright shade of red in the middle of all his classmates. Hearing a collective "oooooo" from the other students, Matthew hid his face in his hands in embarrassment. Gilbert just laughed and continued taking his books out of his bag.

As the teacher walked into the room to quiet the students, Matthew lifted his head from his hands. Gilbert just called him cute in front of the whole class yet he still didn't know if they were dating. Matthew scrunched his nose in frustration and sunk back into his chair as the teacher began his lecture. 

~

As soon as the bell rang to signify the end of chemistry class, Matthew sprinted out of the classroom. His English class was on the way other side of campus and if he was late again, the teacher would give him a detention. As he dodged through the mass of students in the hallway, he was surprised to hear a voice calling his name from behind. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, Matthew turned his head to notice a breathless Gilbert running after him. 

Matthew laughed at his dopey smile as he caught up to the Canadian. Grabbing his wrist, Gilbert pulled Matthew to the side of the hallway and caught his breath before speaking. "Before you go to English I need to ask you something. Do you maybe want to go to the play together next week- as a.. date?" Gilbert asked, slightly out of breath as he let go of Matthew's wrist. 

"Sure! Alfred and most of my friends are in it so I would've been going alone." Matthew admitted with a laugh, his face turning a little pink in embarrassment. 

"Awesome. I'll pick you up at 7 next Friday. See you later!" Gilbert exclaimed, giving Matthew a quick kiss on the cheek before turning around and disappearing into the mob of students. Matthew felt his face grow hot as some of the students in the hallway stared at him. After snapping out of his daze, Matthew turned and fast-walked all the way to his English class, hoping he wasn't late. 

The teacher was facing the board when he slipped into the classroom, so he thankfully didn't get yelled at as he sat down next to Arthur. "Where were you? You're 5 minutes late!" Arthur whispered as Matthew frantically put his books on his desk in an attempt to make it look like he had been there the whole time.

"I was talking to someone." Matthew explained, slightly annoyed at Arthur's condescending tone. 

"Gilbert?" Arthur questioned, his face showing he knew more than he was letting on.

"Who told you?" Matthew asked, slightly panicked. He didn't want the whole school knowing that Gilbert and him were a thing. 

"Francis saw him give you a kiss on the cheek in the hall and immediately texted me. Are you two dating? If so- why didn't you tell me?!" Arthur asked, looking a little angry that he wasn't informed on Matthew's love life. 

"I'm sorry. Please don't tell Alfred. I'm not even exactly sure what's going on." Matthew begged, hoping Arthur could keep a secret.

"Why would I tell Alfred?" 

"Well-"

"Shut up."

Matthew laughed at his red-faced friend and looked up at the board, realizing that his conversation with Arthur cost him 2 minutes of valuable note-taking time. Searching around for a pencil in his bag, he slightly panicked when he realized he left his pencil case in chemistry. 

"Arthur can I borrow a pencil?" Matthew asked, looking at his friend in desperation. His English teacher was the type of person to write an entire board of notes and erase it as soon as she finished. It was brutal. 

"I only have pens."

"I just need something to write with!"

"Here."

"Arthur, Matthew? Is there something you would like to share with us?" the English teacher suddenly asked, turning around from the board to scold the two blonds for talking.

"We're just discussing how Shakespeare perfectly writes Brutus as a foil to Cassius. It's pure literary genius." Arthur charmed, lying through his teeth. Matthew nearly burst out laughing. Arthur could always charm the pants off any teacher, especially their English teacher. It was probably his British accent or the fact that English was his best subject, but it was nearly impossible for him to get in trouble.

"Insightful, Mr. Kirkland. Would you like to share more?" the teacher asked, genuinely impressed at his input.

"I wouldn't want to take up the class's time. Sorry for the interruption." Arthur spoke cooly, trying not to sound too eager to end the conversation. The teacher just smiled and turned back around to write more notes. Matthew silently chuckled and playfully hit Arthur in the arm. Arthur sighed and leaned back into his seat. They both hated teachers like that.

"So what were you guys talking about in the hallway?" Arthur whispered, continuing their conversation from earlier. 

"He just asked me to go to the play with him."

"Like a date?"

"Yes."

"Oh my god. Prepare yourself for me kissing Natalia and trying not to vomit onstage." Arthur mumbled. Matthew laughed and imagined Alfred standing backstage, probably fuming as Arthur kissed the crazy Belarusian girl. 

"One more week!"

"One more week."

OK FILLER CHAPTER AGAIN. But i needed to update so sorry.. promise the next one will be better! Anyway thank you for reading! (also i didn't edit this at all so there are pros mad mistakes)