I sighed tiredly, getting bored with the television; there was nothing to watch. It was all boring stuff like the news. I tossed the remote to the other side of the couch, regretting it, now that I probably wouldn't want to get up to grab it later. I shrugged it off and leaned back on the couch, trying to think of something to do to get rid of my boredom.

Maybe I could go to the park later; it was still pretty early. Plus, autumn is at it's peak, so right now is one of the best times to be outside...

...Oh yeah, one of Alfred's friends is coming over later. Gilbert, dammit. I mean, I guess he did remember me more easily than others, but all he does is tease me. Nonetheless, he annoys the hell out of me. Talk about bittersweet.

After a moment of sitting silently on the couch, still bored out of my mind, I decided to go cook some pancakes. At least it could get my mind off things and give me something to do... For now anyway.

::::

About a half hour later the doorbell rang, and it was, no doubt, Gilbert. I sighed quietly and put the pancakes out on a plate to cool down.

"Hey Alfred, your friend is here!" I called loud enough for him to hear from his room.

" 'Kay, thanks! Could you get the door? I'm kind of in the middle of something!" My brother responded, followed by the unmistakable noise of video game sound effects. As always.

"Okay, sure." I said, annoyed, followed by a nearly inaudible groan. I went to the door and unlocked it, dreading who was on the other side of it. Slowly, I turned the handle and opened the door, letting him in.

"What are you doing here?" Gilbert asked, stepping into the house and throwing a quick glance at me.

"I live here." I said, slightly frowning. "Alfred got caught up in a video game or something."

I walked back into the kitchen before he could get another word in. Not even a simple 'hello'? Oh well, what did I expect? It was Gilbert we were talking about.

I slipped the pancakes into a plastic bag to save them for another time and decided to go watch the television in my room.
I turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Still, nothing really interesting was on. I decided to just keep it on the News channel. At least it would provide some background noise, and keep me slightly busy.

After a while of the television, I got bored and decided to go to the kitchen and get lunch. I heated up a couple pancakes in the microwave and got some maple syrup. I grabbed a fork, before pouring a large amount of syrup onto the pancakes and cutting a piece off.

As I took the first bite, Alfred and his friend came in to get lunch as well. I was hoping they would just get their food and go back up into Al's room.

"Hey Gil, I'm gonna have my leftover chicken nuggets, want some?" Alfred asked, taking the McDonald's container filled with nuggets out of the refrigerator, and placed them into the microwave.

I almost wanted to laugh at the quick nervous glance he shot up at the tiny yellow bird perched on his head. Almost.

"Nah, I'm good. I'll see what else is in the fridge." Gilbert responded as he opened the fridge. He quickly glanced at what was in there, his eyes landing on the pancakes almost immediately.

"I'll have these pancakes if that's cool with you." He said, holding up the bag.

"It's fine, I made them earlier this morning." I said shyly, a microscopic smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "Oh, I'd recommend putting maple syrup on them. It should be in one of the door's shelves in the 'fridge."

He gave me a blank stare, probably trying to think of a snide remark. But instead, just said said " 'Kay, thanks." and smiled at me a little.

The smile would have made my knees give out if I weren't sitting. I had never noticed how... Beautiful his smiles were, nor had I ever really even thought about it.

Looking back up at him with a shy smile of my own, I noticed how pretty his eyes were. They were so...bold. I mean, they were obviously hard to miss; the ruby red color standing out against his pale skin, but looking into them made it all the more striking.

I shoved that thought to the back of my mind, and finished my pancakes quickly. Sparing the pale teen one last glance, I turned and headed to my room, wanting to do something to get my mind off of him.