A/N: Sorry for not updating like a year. School, writer's block, and procrastination are a deadly combination. I apologize for any OOC, but please be aware that I have left this fandom a while ago, and I don't know these characters very well.

Warning: Unbeta-ed and outdated style of writing

- August 19 -

"Please put your seat belts on. We will prepare to land in the next few minutes…"

I stared out of the window as we started to descend from the sky. It only took a few moments before I jerked forward. The plane had finally landed.

The airport was crowded which was expected, but I wouldn't complain about having personal space. Several people would bump into me, only to look around and see "nothing" there. I don't even know why I bother apologizing.

It took ages before I was able to get my bags, and once they were in my possession, I tried to leave the airport as quickly as I could. If getting my bags was difficult, I didn't even want to imagine how long it would take for me to call a cab. Maybe it'll be easier if I just walked to the apartments.

Before I managed to go through with the idea, I caught a familiar shade of hair in the corner of my eye. Unconsciously, I cocked my head around for a double take. Why is he here?

Standing at about 5 meters away was Francis. He scanned the crowd constantly, but his gaze never caught onto my appearance. The mere presence of him had caused me to stay rooted at the spot. Only when someone had accidentally skimmed my shoulder had I broken free of the trance. I turned around, walking away as fast as I could. But, he had already noticed.

"Mathieu!" Francis had noticed and was trying to catch up to me.

Ignore him, just pretend you didn't hear him at all. I tried to continue to walking away, pushing through the crowded. It was futile. A hand grabbed onto my arm and pulled me backwards, making me turn to look at Francis' face.

"Mathieu, didn't you hear me calling you?" He had asked that, but I knew that he was not oblivious to the fact that I did not want to see him.

"No, I thought it was for someone else," I lied. By the way he slightly furrowed his eyebrows, he too knew that I was lying, but he didn't press on it. "I didn't think I'd see you here."

"Arthur asked me to take care of you while you were in Canada. Honestly, he's such a worry wart," Francis joked in an attempt to lighten the mood. Seeing that I was not humored, he used a bit more serious tone. "Arthur told me that a lot of people forget about you-" I frowned even though it was mostly true. "-so since I'm here, do you want me to give you a ride?"

"No, it's fine. I can call a cab," I quickly refused.

"Ah, I see," Francis looked a bit disappointed, but he nodded, acknowledging my decision. Though, he persistently stated, "I'll just wait until you get onto your cab, just to be sure."

"Fine," I huffed in slight irritation before walking towards the exits. Francis continued to follow me, though I mostly ignored his presence.

It wasn't long until we reached the outside world, slightly coated with fresh snow. People rushed to and fro, exiting and entering the airport. Taxis literally covered the entire streets, waiting for their patron to leave and finding another. And, despite the innumerable amounts of cabbies there were, not one stopped for me but instead, continued to give me false hope as they paused only to have stopped for another person.

To say at the very least, I was quite irritated. Suppressed laughter caught my attention as I turned to see Francis holding his side and covering his mouth.

"You know, where you're going isn't that far from where my apartment is. I can take you to the dorms, if you'd like," He smiled.

Yet, his grin pissed me off. I refused to lose to his unspoken challenge. I will get a taxi without his help even if that was the last thing I do.

-2 Hours Later-

Sulking in the front seat, I continued to avoid Francis' gloating face, who was still laughing at my failure. I had spent 2 hours outside of the airport trying to find a taxi, but they were completely unaware of my existence. It wasn't until it had started snowing that I had finally gave up and accepted Francis' offer.

It wasn't until a few moments later that his laughter died down, leaving a quiet awkward atmosphere in its place. I looked out through the window, not daring to look at Francis, though sometimes, I would sneak in glances with the corner of my eyes out of mere curiosity and boredom.

Francis' eyes were glued to the road, cautious of the snow covered cement. He still styled his stubble the same way as he did years ago; it always felt rough back then, I bet it still does now. Though, he grew out his hair, wavy blond tresses barely hovering over his shoulders. Francis' face were worn down by old age, crows feet were starting to form, his skin a sickly pale, bags under his eyes. Did he always look like this?

It only felt like I saw Francis yesterday, yet all these new details seemed more obvious. Was it because we haven't seen each other in a month that I was able to notice this, or was it because I used to live with him back then that I was able to spot the difference?

Well, it didn't matter anymore. I don't want anything more to do with him than necessary. Though, it brought up the question: why was Francis here in the first place?

It couldn't have possibly been that he moved just to watch over me because Arthur asked him too; no, that wouldn't make any sense. I'm 19 now, an adult. I can handle going to college myself just like how I have during high school. Besides, why would he even want to anyway? It's not as if he even tried to these past 12 years.

Now wait a moment Matthew, Francis was just depressed after Jeanne's death. It just took him a while to get back on his feet-

'He took 12 years.'

Well, Jeanne was important to him, so of course it would take a while…

'Jeanne was important to me too.'

...

Frustrated, I banged my head against the window, causing Francis to jolt in surprise by my sudden action.

"Are you alright?" Francis looked at me, concerned, probably thinking he needed to call the psychologist.

"I'm fine," I answered before silently groaning to myself. Did I literally have a conversation with myself? Sighing out loud once more, attracting another worried look from Francis, but this time he didn't say anything.

~Time Skip~

The slight jerk from the car, probably because of some random pothole, woke me up from my unplanned nap. When I came to, I noticed how the city changed into evergreen forests. After a while, these forests cleared into a large grassy field, and in the distance, I could make out some buildings.

When Francis drove closer, I noticed that the dorms were surprisingly normal for a private university. I had expected more of a Victorian design to be present in the architecture. Instead, I found the buildings to have an early modern architecture design.

Several tinted windows adorned the creamy brown walls while a red tiled roof laid on top. The only area with no windows were instead embodied with the school crescent, and mascot, a maple leaf with a polar bear, much to my approval. Within the crescent was the school name, written in bold italicized script, Gakuen Hetalia.

There were only a few students that were outside, most wearing ordinary clothing, probably since the semester didn't start until another week. However, the few students who I saw wore their uniform had either red or blue plaid. The girls' consisted of a red plaid skirt with suspenders while the boys' consisted of blue plaid trousers with a matching blazer. Other than the architecture and the uniform, there wasn't really anything else to look at.

Francis stopped by the curb, so I got out of the car and took my bags from the trunk. There wasn't much, only a duffle bag and a medium sized suitcase. Fortunately, pets were allowed on campus, but Kumarji was still on a plane somewhere; the airport would call me once Kumoroi arrives.

"Thank you for the ride," I nodded before turning towards the dorms.

"Wait!" Francis shouted, causing me to stop and look at him. There was some shuffling inside the car, a few slamming of doors and compartments, and some furious scribbling before Francis emerged from the car, holding a piece of paper in his hands.

"Here," Handing me the slip of paper, Francis nervously laughed, "That's my phone number and address. If you need anything, that's where you'll find me."

"Thank you," I replied before stuffing the note in my pocket. "And thanks for taking me all the way over here, Francis."

"No problem. Just give me a call, why don't you?" Francis grinned.

I gave him a curt nod and small smile before waving my hand as I started leaving, "Good bye, Francis."

"Adieu, Matthieu."

~Time Skip~

It would have been an underestimate if I said that the college was big; it was massive. The campus stretched for miles, large enough to encompass various terrains ranging from the mountains to the lakeside. The inner campus was just as impressive, but I didn't note too much as I made my way to the dorms.

The dorms weren't co-ed. The girls' rooms were in the West Wing, while the boys' were in the East Wing. I was fortunate enough to room with only one person; I heard that some unlucky people were to room with three others.

As I ascended the stairs towards my dorm, the shattering of glass and the tumbling of hard objects caused me to hastily open the door in a panic. Tons of boxes, tossed to haphazardly around the room, obscured my vision for a bit, but I managed to make out a figure sitting on the floor.

"Ugh… scheiße…"

The person seemed to be fine, maybe a little pained, but it didn't seem like he was bleeding or broken anywhere. Walking closer, I was able to make out white hair, was it dyed?

"Are you okay?" There was a jolt before he turned around. Red eyes? So he was most likely an albino. If it weren't years ago, I would have been convinced that my roommate was someone I knew.

Standing up, he was around the same height as me, give or take a couple of centimeters. Although his mouth was agape, he didn't speak, only stared, leaving an awkward silence between us.

"Hi… um," How does a person introduce themselves without make it sound weird? "I'm Matthew Williams. Uh, I'll be rooming with you for a while…"

My sentence dragged off, and it didn't seem like he would respond. "Um, what's your name-"

"Mattie?" He leaned in way too close for my liking; did personal space not exist in Europe?

"Excuse me?" Why was he even referred to me with that nickname? Almost no one called me like that, not even Francis.

"It's me!" He grinned excitedly despite my lack of response. "I can't believe you forgot about the awesome me!"

'Awesome'? It had been years since anyone had said that word to me, and only one person came to mind, the one who I once befriended in grade school. "Gilbert?"

"Of course it's the awesome me," Nothing much had changed with him still being fairly haughty and extroverted, but I was glad; he didn't forget about me despite all these years.

Seizing the bags and case from my hands, he headed towards one of the rooms, "This is going to be the coolest yea-"

A loud crash made me flinch as he fell once more, bringing down several boxes and luggage as he tumbled down. He was once again left on the floor cursing and rubbing his bottom in pain. Well, with him around, there were sure to be no dull days.

A/N: Thank you for reading, despite the outdated and OOC writing. If there is anything you'd like to point out, then please leave it in the comments. There's probably going to be 1 more chapter, but as you can see, it'll take a long while before I'll finish it.