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Gilbert felt his heart flutter as he straightened the shirt he wore with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. Petals soon found their way to either the floor or on his shirt. Alfred laughed next to him only to brush some of the petals off Gilbert in an almost motherly fashion.
"Dude, calm down. You've been coming to visit him every day since he woke up." Alfred gave him a thumbs up and a wink to encourage Gilbert, but Gilbert felt nothing but a ball of anxiety form in the pit of his stomach.
"But Alfred, this is different. He's getting discharged and giving me a chance to take him out on an actual date." Gilbert swallowed past the lump he had in his throat. "What if something goes horribly wrong? What if I screw something up and he'll never want to see me again?"
"Dude, whoa. Calm down. You two have been friends ever since I forgot the spider repellent. I doubt you'll stop being the best of friends. Now go in there before I do." With one final reassuring pat on Gilbert's shoulder, Alfred pushed Gilbert to the door, opening it for him.
Gaining his balance, Gilbert straightened up to see Matthew sitting on the side of his bed, staring down at his legs. When the door opened, the sad look on Matthew's face was replaced with a smile, but the smile never quite reached his eyes. Gilbert wanted to help relieve the pain so he held out the flowers with a sheepish grin.
"Hallo Vögelchen. I thought since—well you know—this is our first date an' all I thought to bring you something." Matthew giggled, covering his mouth with his hand like he usually did.
"Thanks Gil." Matthew took the flowers, smelling them before giving him a nod of his head in approval. "So, where are we going?"
"Ah, to apparently one of your favourite restaurants. Alfred said it was, so if it's not blame him." Gil quickly said as he rushed over to the wheelchair to bring it over to Matthew.
Since the accident, Matthew had pains in his leg, making it rather difficult to walk. While the doctors say it's all because of post-traumatic stress and a phantom pain because of the accident, they still wanted him to stay off the leg while he recuperated from the surgeries he had. Yet, when Matthew eyed the wheelchair, Gilbert could tell the Canadian wanted nothing more than to walk on his own two feet again. It had only been a few weeks since the accident, but the doctors wanted to leave nothing to chance.
"Gil, do you think you could maybe get me a cane instead? I promise to use you when I need it." Matthew pleaded when Gilbert paused in front of Matthew with his arms wide open, meaning to lift Matthew into the chair himself.
"Vögelchen, as much as I would love to, I can't. You know the drill. The only reason you're getting released is because of the wheelchair and the promise to go to physical therapy to try get your legs working again." Gilbert shook his head with a sigh. There wasn't much he could do about the doctor's orders. While he wanted Matthew to feel better, to refuse what the doctors had specifically laid out for Matthew could lead in getting him even more injured than he already was. "Es tut mir Leid, Vögelchen."
"No, I'm sorry Gil. I should have known better than to put you through that. Let's just go." Matthew held out his arms so Gilbert could get a better grip.
Once Matthew was in the wheelchair, Gilbert produced a blanket with polar bears on it he and Ludwig had made over the weekend. Claiming it has a gift, Matthew could hardly refuse the blanket, and instead he tugged it a little closer. Gilbert swore he saw tears in Matthew's eyes, but said nothing as he pushed Matthew out of the hospital room. Alfred was waiting just outside, a guilty smile on his lips.
"All set bro?" Alfred, rubbed at the base of his neck nervously. This was only the second time he and Matthew had come into contact since the accident. Alfred blamed himself for the accident, but Matthew had swept it under the rug, knowing that Alfred would never have gotten them into danger on purpose.
"Yes. Thanks for taking my stuff home while I go out with Gilbert. Are you feeling alright?" Matthew asked as he played with the edges of the blanket.
"Yup! Just leave it to me. You two have a great date. Make sure to bring him home around midnight though. The folks are a bit worried." Alfred said, winking at the two of them before pressing a condom into one of Gilbert's hands. The self-proclaimed Prussian quickly shoved the small package into his back pocket and flushed red. "Make sure to be safe."
"Al! This is only the first date!" Matthew shouted after Alfred as Gilbert quickly rushed the two of them out of earshot of the rest of the hospital and into his truck.
It took a little while to settle Matthew into the seat, but thanks to Gilbert's truck, Gilbert was able to just tie down the wheelchair in the back without too much difficulty. The car ride was quiet, but a welcome one since neither knew what to really say to each other. While the two had professed their mutual feelings the moment Matthew woke up, this was certainly their first step to making their relationship more than just best friends. At least, as long as Gilbert didn't muck it up. The drive took about twenty minutes with traffic, Matthew having no clue where they were going until the sign for a small dinner lit up in their view.
The diner was small and run by a local family. They served breakfast, lunch and dinner at any hours of the day. But Alfred had sworn up and down that Matthew loved the pancakes from there. Gilbert had never heard of the place before, but trusted Alfred to give him a good place to go for their first date. The best part about the diner, it was rather inexpensive so it wouldn't even hurt his wallet after having not gone to work because of Matthew's hospitalization, which the club he worked at understood.
"Gil, how did you find out about this place?" Matthew's eyes lit up when he saw the small sign.
"Alfred told me about it and since I know how much you love pancakes, I thought this would be the perfect place to take you on our first date." Gilbert parked the car and stepped out to unhook the wheelchair for Matthew's use. The smile on Matthew's face faded a little at the wheelchair, but made no more requests to compromise the deal he and the doctor made.
"Thanks Gil, I know this must be hard for you," Matthew whispered when Gilbert lifted him once again to set him into the wheelchair.
"Are you kidding? We're best friends and you need help. I'm not going to turn away from you just because you can't use your legs just yet. I'll with you every step of the way. Although, I do have to start going back to my job soon before I get fired, but you can bet your Canadian maple syrup I'll be there for your physical therapy." Gilbert beamed down at Matthew, who turned a slight shade brighter under the waning light.
"Thanks Gil. I'm really glad I have you here." Matthew draped the polar bear blanket over his legs and nodded his head.
The two made their way inside the diner to have their fill of pancakes and joke about the next few weeks and what life would be like. Gilbert promised to help him in any way he could since he was home most of the day even if he slept the morning away. Matthew thanked him endlessly throughout the meal, but promised he would get better at handling the wheelchair and to become as independent as he possibly could in his situation. By the end of the night though, the two were fighting over who would get the last bite of pancakes and who used up all the syrup from the first container. With the bill paid and the night still warm since the autumn had yet too fully set in Gilbert suggested they grab some ice cream before Matthew needed to head home.
"I'd like that." Matthew played with the edges of the blanket as Gilbert pushed him to the only ice cream parlour in town. It was certainly the only one who claimed, and could back up, their ice cream was made fresh from milk and actual fruits. The parlour was one of Gilbert's favourites and hoped it would be Matthew's as well.
"Which flavour do you want?" Gilbert asked as he checked the bins in the window on display. While the parlour on the inside was rather busy, they had a small window for outside customers to grab a quick ice cream cone if they chose.
"Do they have something sweet?" Matthew was too short to see the flavours because of the wheelchair so had to trust Gilbert. "Actually, surprise me."
"Are you sure?" Gilbert raised his eyebrow at Matthew, a little taken aback by the level of trust. Matthew nodded. "All right then. Can I have two of your specials please? One scoop each."
The special turned out to be turtle sundae with extra caramel sauce. Matthew held both cones as Gilbert pushed him back to the car. At times Matthew would raise the cone for Gilbert to lick at some of the dripping ice cream, almost planting the ice cream in his nose a few times when there was a bump in the sidewalk. But instead of getting into the car, Gilbert pulled down the tailgate and helped Matthew onto it. Once Gilbert sat next to him, Matthew shared the blanket and gave him his respective ice cream cone.
"So what did you think about our first date?" Gilbert asked, as they attempted to see the stars in the streetlights.
"Well it certainly was fun. Sorry about the syrup in your hair. Do you think that will come out easily?" Matthew asked looking a little sheepishly at Gilbert, who patted a small spot where syrup matted his hair a little, he shrugged.
"Who knows? But it's not a bad look, maybe I'll just put a bit of gel in my hair and say it's a new style."
The two laughed for a moment before falling into a comfortable silence for a few minutes. Neither knew what to say, but there was also no need to say anything. It seemed perfect with just the two of them sitting there, enjoying their ice cream. In fact, it was a little too perfect. Even Gilbert would admit it but he was afraid admitting it would just ruin the fun both of them were having.
"So, do you think after all of this we could possibly have another date?" Gilbert asked absently, knowing he was putting Matthew on the spot.
"Gil, I don't know why you were so nervous earlier. We already told each other how we felt, it was only natural we would start dating. So of course that means we can have another date. Maybe by then I won't need the wheelchair." Matthew said as he leaned to rest against Gilbert. Beaming with pride Gilbert nodded his head. "I wouldn't change this for the world."
"Ja, me either." Gilbert put an arm around Matthew, who snuggled a little closer.
Gilbert closed his eyes, content with life when he felt someone shaking him. But Matthew had stayed perfectly still underneath him, and didn't even comment about the shaking. It was then Gilbert realised he was only in a dream. His first date with Matthew had been all but a dream.
"Gil, dude, I've been calling your name for a few minutes now. I'm here to take over so you can get some food and a shower," Alfred said, his arm in a sling and bandages sticking out under the shirt he wore.
"Ja," Gilbert said a little disoriented. "Vögelchen didn't wake up?"
"Not unless you slept through it." Alfred set a bag next to the chair Gilbert sat in. "Come on, the nurses are worrying about your mental health. You need a break too. What about your job?"
"I took the rest of the week off. I'll start working on Monday, but after I get a few hours of sleep I'll probably come here to spend time with Matthew if he doesn't wake up." Gilbert stretched before getting up, hearing his legs crack and creak.
"See, you're going to turn into an old man at this rate Gil." Alfred chuckled as he replaced Gilbert on the chair.
"Ja ja. Keep saying that. Just wait till you get up when I get back later." Gilbert turned to Matthew and watched his chest rise and fall steadily. "I'll be back Vögelchen."