I am so, so sorry that it's been way more than a year since I last updated. I was just super-busy. I am now a college sophomore, and I kind of sort of forgot about this story… Also, if you were reading "Haruhi Fujioka and the House of Night", I highly suggest re-reading it, as I "updated" the first chapter a few months ago so it now makes logical sense.

The moment that Gilbert was out of Elizabeta's line of sight, he started scratching again. Apparently Lizzie's hearing was better than he thought, because a moment later she came out from Roderich's room and glared at him. "You know you'll scar if you keep scratching. Don't make me tape mittens to your hands…"

Gilbert stuck his tongue out at her. "So what if I have a few more scars? It'll just add to the collection."

Elizabeta rolled her eyes and walked back into Roderich's room.

Turning back towards the room he would be staying in, he pulled out his phone and walked over to the bed. He pulled back the blankets and sat down, then lifted his legs up onto the bed, under the blankets. Comfortably settled in, he texted his boyfriend, Matthew. Hey, Birdie. Come over to Roddy's house asap.

Less than a minute later, Matthew replied. I am not helping you prank Roderich. You know Elizabeta will kill you if you hurt him.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. What kind of person do you take me for? Roderich and I are sick, and Lizzie's taking care of us.

Matthew replied immediately. B there soon; don't cause chaos.

Gilbert smiled and put down his phone on the nightstand. He scratched lazily at his chest and tried to fall asleep. He probably would have succeeded, if not for all the itching.

Gilbert had just managed to doze off when Elizabeta came into the room with the calamine lotion. He lazily opened one eye as she entered the room and said, "Okay, please take off your shirt so we can get this over with."

Gilbert reached out for the bottle. "I can do it myself, you know…"

Elizabeta shook her head. "You can't do your back on your own. You can do the rest if you want, but you need to let me do your back."

Gilbert had been trying to sit up, but at this he fell back onto the pillow. "But Mattie will be here soon; he said he'd be here to take care of me." He coughed, a short, dry cough that hurt his throat. Of course, this made him cough again, and after about five or six coughs his throat felt like there was acid building up inside. He leaned over the trashcan that hadn't been by the bed a moment ago and gagged. He looked up at Lizzie, blushing. "Sorry about that."

Elizabeta sighed and sat next to Gilbert, rubbing his back and trying not to irritate the spots further. "See? This is why you need to relax and not argue. You know that when you get sick, especially if you have a fever – " here she put the back of her hand on his forehead – "which you do, you almost always throw up."

Gilbert sighed. "Fine." He pulled off the sweatshirt, then the black T-shirt he was wearing underneath. Then he turned away from Lizzie so she could reach his back more easily. When the cream first touched his back, he flinched and yelped. Lizzie laughed. "Roderich had the same reaction. I should have warned you – it's really cold at first, but it warms up as it adjusts to your body temperature."

Gilbert bit the inside of his lip and kept silent. As more and more of his back got covered, he bit his lip harder and harder until he could taste blood, but he still didn't say anything. He would be damned if he allowed himself to show the same reaction as Roderich, on anything.

Once Lizzie had finished with his back and shoulders, she moved to sit in front of him again. At his questioning look, she shrugged her shoulders and said, "It's easier for me to do your face, too, since you can't see it and will probably miss a few spots." Proving her point, she dabbed a bit of the lotion on his nose, where he hadn't even realized he had any spots.

Elizabeta was soon done with his face, and then she pulled the thermometer from her pocket. "I think it would be a good idea to keep track of your temperature. I'm not going to ask Yao to come over again, but he told me to do the same things for you as I'm doing for Roderich. Now, under your tongue, please."

Gilbert took the thermometer from her and settled it under his tongue. The lotion really was helping; he didn't really feel much of a desire to scratch, though that may have been because Lizzie was right in front of him and would yell at him for scratching since he didn't actually have any lotion on the front half of his body. Eventually, the thermometer beeped, and Lizzie took it back. She frowned and said, "Your fever's pretty high, Gil. I'll give you some ibuprofen, and you try to rest, okay?"

Gilbert nodded sleepily and barely even registered when Elizabeta came back, settled a cold washcloth on his forehead, brushed his hair back from his face, and left the medicine by the bed with a note for Matthew to tell him to give Gilbert the medicine when he woke up. Then she walked downstairs and wrote another note for Matthew, telling him that she had gone out to the store to get more supplies and would be back shortly in case he arrived before she came back.

Matthew had, by a stroke of luck, already been in Europe, visiting Francis, when he had received Gilbert's text. He had borrowed Francis' jet and had touched down in an Austrian airport less than two hours later (Yes, I researched this. My Internet browser history now contains a MapQuest search from Paris to Vienna, as well as the speed a plane travels. Thank you, fanfiction.). He had taken a cab to Roderich's house, though there had been a mild language barrier as he attempted to remember the German Gilbert had taught him.

When he arrived, the door was locked, but Matthew vaguely remembered Gilbert telling him that the spare key was stored in a flowerpot by the front door. He found the key quickly and opened the door. In the front room, there was a note on the coffee table, so he read it, figuring it was for him. Apparently Elizabeta had gone shopping and would be back soon, so Matthew didn't worry about it too much.

Next to it was a list of instructions for what to do in her absence if either Gilbert or Roderich needed anything, and the note even said which room Gilbert was in. How … nice of her. Matthew knew that Elizabeta was rather obsessed with homosexual relationships, and that she knew that he and Gilbert were boyfriends, but it was possible that she was just trying to be nice and really had no ulterior motives… Oh, well, he didn't have time to dwell on it; Gilbert was upstairs, sick and alone.

Matthew took the stairs two at a time and jogged over to the doorway of the room Gilbert was staying in. Poor Gilbert looked rather horrible, Matthew thought. He had calamine lotion on his face, and his bare chest and stomach were covered in red spots. His cheeks were flushed with fever, and he looked pretty sweaty. Matthew walked into the room and took his boyfriend's hand, rubbing his thumb against the back of it. He whispered, "Gil, honey, wake up; I'm here."

Gilbert opened his eyes sleepily and smiled. "I'm glad you're here, Mattie."

And I'm gonna end it here. Hope you enjoyed it. I promise it won't be all Matthew and Gilbert fluff, but I thought fluffy goodness would make up for my overly long absence. Hope you enjoyed!