APH America One Shots

The Intimacy of Chapstick

I just finished five homework assignments in the span of six hours, and haven't slept for three days so this is what happened. This is crack, please don't take this seriously 😭

Alfred kept biting at and sucking on his bottom lip.

It was insanely distracting for Gilbert. But the daydreams playing out in his mind were doing a better job at keeping the chill of the room away than his jacket was. It was a good thing this was a serious meet-up, just a casual hang out between friends who haven't seen each other in a while, because he wasn't so sure he'd be able to focus on work when he was doing that. It was bad enough he could hardly keep his fork from shaking in his hand.

It was just him, Alfred, and Matthew seated at the table, surprisingly silent without Alfred's usual commentary.

He continued to rub at his lips, wincing slightly. Now that he didn't have it in between his teeth, it was obvious how dry they looked. Maybe the whole thing wasn't as sexy as it seemed a moment ago.

"Can I use your chapstick?"

Gilbert froze mid bite. Or maybe it WAS completely sexy. He wanted to share his chapstick? He might as well have been asking Gilbert to kiss him! Well, in an indirect way...

Before he could so much as reply, Matthew held out his hand, a small tube clasped between his fingers.

Alfred beamed. "Thanks, bro!"

Matthew grunted in acknowledgment before going back to eating.

Gilbert blinked. That was...he hadn't been talking to him?! "You share Matt's....?"

Applying it to his lips, Alfred shrugged. "Yeah, sometimes. Why?"

"Don't you think that's kind of, you know, intimate?" Then again, he could see him not seeing it that way. He was so obtuse to that kind of thing, but surely Matthew would realize?

Alfred frowned at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean it's not..." What? Normal? What about the brothers was normal? "He's your brother."

"Yeah, and?"

For a very brief second, Gilbert wondered exactly what he saw in him. Then he looked at the innocent way he was staring at him, head tilted in cute way, and the thought faded.

"Most people only do that when they're dating," he tried to explain.

Alfred blinked, eyes widening ever so slightly. "Oh!" Gilbert waited for him to look disgusted or wipe at his lips or something, instead he looked at the chapstick tube before looking I up at Matthew.

"Mattie, are we dating?"

Matthew choked on his potatoes for a moment, looking between Alfred, than Gilbert, than back to Alfred. "Do you want us to be dating?"

What. The. Fuck. Gilbert's mouth fell open. Seriously, what was happening right now.

Alfred actually seemed to think about it for a minute. "I dunno. I like our relationship the way it is."

Matthew nodded at that, and went back to eating.

"Welp, now that thats settled," Alfred clapped his hands twice, "Let's eat!" He was smiling at him, like he didn't just turn Gilbert's whole world upside down.

"You're dating, Matthew?" Dear God, this was nightmarish. This had to be a bad dream.

"Uh, no." Alfred gestured at his brother. "He just said that. We're just, how did you put it? Intimate, or whatever."

"But-it's-he's your-" Realizing forming a complete sentence was impossible, Gilbert cut off.

"Are you okay?" Alfred asked, scooting closer to him. "You look kinda pale. Do you need something?"

Gilbert's chair screeched as he stood up abruptly. He would go into cardiac arrest soon if he didn't leave.

"No, thank you. I really need to go reevaluate my life decisions now."