He could understand every other emotion except that. That one emotion, it gave him a strange feeling in his tummy, made his head spin and left him stammering like a fool. And someone as awesome as him does not stammer like the fool.


Gilbert's childhood friend, Elizabeta was a forced to be reckoned with. He couldn't remember exactly how they became friends, but their friendship had lasted from the very beginning. Elizabeta wasn't like the other girls he knew; she liked to hunt, she liked to fight, she didn't mind if her clothes got all muddy and most of all, she wasn't afraid of Gilbert. It must be because she's Hungarian. Gilbert would tell himself, after he lost several wrestling matches.

But Elizabeta's family didn't approve of her behaving like a boy. Her mother attempted several times to get her to wear those pretty dresses with the frills and the ruffles, but Elizabeta would ruin them by jumping into a mud puddle once she was free from her mother's hold. They tried everything they could to change their daughter, but she refused. "I don't see what the big deal is! Just because I don't like to wear those stupid dresses doesn't mean I'm not a girl! I just want to have fun, and being a lady isn't fun." she would complain to Gilbert, pouting.

It was hard for Elizabeta; no one would ever take her seriously at school. All of the boys made fun of her because of her short hair and 'boy' clothes. Of course, they would all end up crying to the teacher because Liz kicked the living snot out of them. "So what if I'm a girl! I can still kick their asses!" she would say. But deep down, Gilbert knew that it hurt her when everyone called her names and poke fun at her.

Much older now, Gilbert and Elizabeta's time together grew shorter each time the met. Liz's family no longer wanted her to be hanging out with a 'crude, immature, disgusting boy', so they often limited her time with him. Plus, the two were both adults now, they no longer had any time for childish game. They spent most of their time reminiscing their childhood, gossiping about the people who lived in the town and playing games that somehow ended up with the two of the wrestling each other. "I don't understand! How is it that you always beat me?!" Liz complained.

"Maybe it's because you are such a loser!" he gloated. The Hungarian gave him an icy cold stare with her emerald eyes and rested her chin in her palm, sighing.

"Figures," she huffed. "You have nothing good to say unless it's about you." Gilbert let out another laugh.

"Of course, I'm awesome!"

And their conversation would go on from there; bantering back and forth with another, acting like children. Gilbert never understood why Elizabeta liked hanging around him; she could easily punch him in the face or smack him and walk away, never to speak to him again. It was almost as she trusted him. Yes, they had been childhood friends, but it wasn't like he had been any different then; he was an asshole then and is still an asshole today.

And today, was different. Liz was behaving strange all afternoon and she had become fidgety.

"Gilbert," Liz mumbled, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. "Have you ever been on a date with another girl? What happens?" Gilbert chuckled.

"Of course I've been on many dates with lots of girls, because who wouldn't want to go on a date with me?" he replied, jabbing his thumb into his chest, proudly. "Why are you asking me this?" Liz shrugged, her cheeks turning a light shade of pink and smiled.

"No reason in particular." she muttered, looking away. "Do you know Roderich?" Elizabeta asked, breaking the thread of silence between them. Gilbert glared at her, waiting for her to turn back around. Roderich? Was she talking about that lame Austrian who was too busy to talk to people because he was playing that lousy piano? What about him?

"Roderich? Austrian, right? What a total loser, a complete pussy if you ask me." Gilbert spat, laughing. Suddenly, Gilbert felt his worlds spin around as his friend had snatched the collar of his shirt and pulled him upwards, ready to clobber him.

"Why must you be so rude?" she snapped. "I think he's a nice and sweet guy, a true gentleman; unlike you!" Gilbert rolled his eyes and pushed her away. He gave her his typical, asymmetrical, smug smirk and locked eyes with her.

"If being a true gentleman means not being awesome and being a total pussy, then I don't want to be one." he growled, crossing his arms. "Besides, prissy Roderich wouldn't want anything to do with you because you're so butch that it's hard to belie—"

"Say one more thing and you're dead!" Now this, was going back to a normal day. By this time, Elizabeta had lifted her fist higher up in the air, her eyes telling him that she was serious with going through with punching him to a pulp. "Look, I really like him a-and…he asked me out to the ball tonight." Gilbert's smug grin faded as she continued to speak and his expression turned into a cliché look of confusion. "You're the only other person I talk to frequently and…oh I don't know…but…maybe you could give me some advice or something…" Gilbert began to tune his beloved friend out as he was consumed by his own thoughts. Liz was asking him for advice? Hadn't she realized that he had made all that mumbo-jumbo about being with a lot of girls up just in an attempt to make her jealous? He had always done that, bragging to others just to make him feel better about himself when really, he was just as insecure as the next person. He had no idea what it was like to go out on a date, spend some quality time with someone special.

"Hello? Are you even listening to me?" Liz scolded, slapping him his face. Wincing from the sting, Gilbert put on his typical smirk and chuckled.

"I don't know what you want me to say!" The Hungarian sighed with irritation and rested her arms against her sides.

"I just want some advice, some tips on what to do, how to impress." Liz reiterated, making it clear that she was repeating herself for the umpteenth time. Gilbert shrugged, not particularly caring about the topic and pushed her jokingly.

"Just act like me, because I am awesome, and everything will be fine." he muttered, chuckling. He heard a grunt from his friend confessing her irritation and saw her storm past him. "What? You ask me for advice and I give it to you, and you're still angry at me."

"You're not helping." she huffed, punching his shoulder. Gilbert winced in pain and massaged his joint, rubbing the pain away, and laughed louder. "Sometimes I don't even know why I bother with you; you're a hopeless man who has no emotions at all! So heartless! And to think that I think of you as my friend is well…" Liz paused, glancing over at the smirking man behind her. "Is just mind-boggling! Goodbye, Gilbert." With that, she turned away and slowly faded away, leaving Gilbert alone. His obnoxious laughter slowly stopped, turning into a stifled whimper as he sat down.

"A hopeless man who has no emotions? So heartless?" he repeated softly to himself. The words had hurt harder than any other harsh words Liz had said to him before. Gilbert didn't think of himself as a heartless person, it was quite the opposite. The mask of self pride worked well for him; he thought of emotions as something weak and well, girly, so certainly he shouldn't express them. He brought up his knees to his chest, watching the wind blow across the hills, pushing the long blades of grass over. A small, sincere smile grew across lips as he thought of a plan for this evening. "Oh Elizabeta, you don't know a thing."


Elizabeta slammed the door behind her with fury and stomped over to her closet. She slid the doors open, finding the one and only dress that she kept there. Her mother had sewn it a while ago, during the period of time where Liz was going through puberty, and her mother wanted her to be more 'feminine', as she put it. Liz only hoped that the dress would still fit, since it was an old dress and all. "He's so self absorbed." she muttered, stripping down to only her under garments and looking for the best way to pull the dress over her head. "He never cares about me or anyone else in that matter!" The dress was so ridiculously fluffy, which made it harder for Liz to pull the blasted thing over her head. There were ruffles at the bottom, which rustled with every movement and tripped her when she walked.

"This dress is impossible!" Liz complained, twirling around in front of her mirror. "And to think that there are some women who wear these everyday! Unbelievable!" She took a step forward and tripped over her own feet, falling to the floor. As she tried to carefully stand back up without out ripping the skirt of the dress, there was a soft, almost inaudible knock on the door. "Come in." she muttered, knowing all too well who it was.

"Elizabeta, dear, be careful or you're going to ruin your dress and you won't look nice at the ball tonight!" her mother said, tip-toeing inside the room. "You want to give that nice Austrian boy a good impression of you tonight!" Liz sighed, blowing her bangs up in the air for a split second and brushed the dust off of her dress. Her mother gently tugged on her daughter's arms and zipped up the back of Liz's dress. "After all these years of fretting over that you wouldn't find a nice boy, you meet Roderich! You have no idea how proud of you I am, Elizabeta!"

"Mom, it's not like I'm getting married." Liz snapped, sucking in her breath. Dresses are so uncomfortable! She thought, fidgeting around as she stood.

"I know, I know, but you always attract the strange ones. For years, you always hung out with that weird albino kid who's always loud and crude! I was worried you wouldn't find a proper gentleman to take care of you." her mother said, brushing her daughter's hair out. "But now, you've met Roderich and talk about a true gentleman! Men like him are becoming harder to find these days. You are so lucky, Elizabeta, and you don't even realize it!"

"Why can't you just call me Liz?" Her mother gasped and gave a look of horror, but collected herself quickly.

"Elizabeta is your name and that's what you shall be called at all times." she replied, sitting on the bed. "Is that what that albino kid calls you? Liz? Despicable."

"His name is Gilbert." Liz corrected, annoyed. "Are you going to help me get ready or not?" Her mother patted the soft bedding on the bed, smiling brightly and began combing her daughter's caramel colored hair.

"You are going to be so beautiful tonight, Elizabeta." she whispered. "Perhaps you and Roderich will become friends and maybe later on he will ask you for your hand in marriage. Wouldn't that be wonderful, dear?" Liz sighed and gritted her teeth. Her family had such high expectations for her and she hated every single one of them. Dresses, strange hair styles, make up; it all just didn't make sense to her half the time. No one in her family could understand that all she wanted to do was be herself, Liz. The only person who did seem to understand her was Gilbert, her longtime childhood friend, the one she trusted the most.

But he wasn't at all what her family wanted.


Quick author's note: This is my first Hetalia story. It started out as a simple one-shot, then turned into a whole she-bang with a love triangle and ridiculous drama. I've tried my best to edit as much as I can to fix the plot changes and if you do find any errors, please let me know and I will fix immediately. I will possibly change the rating of this story later on, depending upon how much in detail I get into at points. Reviews and critiques are welcomed and very much appreciated.