Born to Rock and Born Infamous
Author's Note: This is my first fic in Hetalia Axis Power fandom, and also my first fic after more than 8 years of vacuum. The last one I wrote was Seifer x Squall, my fave pair up 'til now. Due to my hectic time of study (in high school and in university as well) I abandoned this page, until -finally- recently I have some free time to hunt for fanfics and write some of my own. This is AU, because I have some good idea of making the trio as band mates after watching one of BFT fanart with Atreyu's "Becoming The Bull" as BGM. Kesesese and I don't think the story will match any of Hetalia real universe. And oh, I'm one of Ivan x Gilbert fans, but the more I watch Antonio and Gilbert together, the more I have this urge to write them as a couple. Fusososo so…maybe eventually it'll become Gilbert x Antonio. Okay, work with me guys, and feel free to review and to give your insight to this story. Have a nice read.
Disclaimer: I only claim the idea of this fic and some OCs. The main charas are courtesy of Hetalia: Axis Power by Hidekaz-sama. All songs mentioned in the story aren't mine, they're all creative products of the awesome bands I like.
BGM: Rammstein – "Du Hast"
Chapter 1: Wait for Tomorrow
"Gil…Brother…come on, get up. We'll be late." Ludwig Weilschmidt shouted as he knocked on his older brother's door fiercely. He had been ready for his first day in his new school since half an hour ago, yet his brother didn't show any sign of living, or preparing to go to school to be exact. He knew Gilbert was always reluctant to wake up early in the morning (let alone go to school!), that's why he woke up earlier so he could prepare breakfast and everything. It was always his task ever since they left their uncle's home two years before. Being a good little brother he was, Ludwig never complained of the abundant home works he had to manage everyday. Managing his brother was far more difficult, anyway.
"Come on, Bruder! Um Gottes willen! Wachen Sie auf!" he shouted once again, started to lose his patience over his brother laziness. 'Why isn't he getting excited about going to his new school? He usually loves the first day.' Ludwig sullenly thought as he banged at the door harder, only to almost knock his brother off -right on the face- with his fist.
"Jesus God! What's with the aggressive approach to wake the awesome me up?" Gilbert yelled dramatically, feigning shock on his face. Ludwig merely raised one of his eyebrows as a reaction, noticing that Gilbert had been fully clothed and looked as ready as he was, then turned around and proceeded to the kitchen.
"Yelling like mad then suddenly give me a silent treatment. Such a brother you are, West." Gilbert commented tauntingly as he followed his younger brother to the kitchen; speak of whom had prepared a toast and a mug of coffee on the table for Gilbert to eat. The silver-haired boy sat on the stool and started to munch his toast. 'No jam. Unawesome.' He thought, just realized they got no jam at all at the house. It's their second day here after all. 'I have to remind Lud to buy all craps we need for this home. Gotta be today.' He thought again as he took the last bit.
"Finish your breakfast quickly then we're off. It's 8.00 already. And where's your bag?" Ludwig asked, all the time stood at the corner of the kitchen, sipping coffee and looked very deep in thought that Gilbert believed got to be something about their monthly expense.
"Left it at my room. I'll take it." Gilbert said as he half ran to his room. He'd better not anger his brother further. A sullen Ludwig in the morning meant a sullen Ludwig the whole day and it would undoubtedly cast uneasiness in the house, since whatever Gilbert did would become wrong or troublesome in his brother's opinion. 'And in all awesomeness, who want to hear him ranting all day long? It's my second day in this stupid city and I have nowhere to go if I want to escape from Lud's rants.' He thought, rather amused at how his brother actually acting parent to him.
Even though they're not actually sibling –they came from different mother- Gilbert and Ludwig were really close to each other. Maybe the fact that their parents died when he was 10 and Lud's 8, had made them tied to each other. It was a tragedy. Lud's mom had died 2 years earlier from "severe illness", thus made their father brought him to Gil's home one day when the silver-haired boy was still 8, so that his mom can take custody of Ludwig too. His mom, Gilbert recalled, was always a patient woman who never complained of anything, even of his father's –who was her ex husband- mistreatment.
They divorced when Gil's just 4 years old. His father was attracted to another woman –Ludwig's mom- and as the affection grew deeper, he became more and more ignorant to his family, to the point of leaving home for a month –no call, no message, no news whatsoever- before coming back home to file a divorce and then left the family behind once and for all. Gilbert's mom struggled with financial difficulties, even 'tho his ex-husband still paid for Gil's need, and after a year of changing jobs here and there, she finally managed to sustain her little family financially by becoming a journalist. They lived a supposedly happy life together in a small apartment downtown until one day, after fetching lil' 8 years old Gil from school, she found his ex-husband standing in front of her doorway, holding a small blonde kid with eyes bogged from much crying. Gilbert would never forget the scene. How the little blonde looked at him frightfully and would never let go of his father's hold and how his own mom looked so sad and so taken aback. Gilbert never really remembered what the adults said at the time, all he knew was suddenly Lud at his room with him, crying and muffling his father's name as if it could make the man pop in right away to pick him up and bring him to wherever his former home was.
The memory stopped replaying when Gilbert came back to reality in which he gotta walk to his new school with his brother, who'd already been waiting outside. They walked side by side silently, until Gilbert cracked the atmosphere by picking up random topics. He underlined the need to go shopping 'tho, reminded his brother not to forget to stop by at department store for their monthly expense.
"It's unawesome you know, have your toast with no other but the toast itself. It made my stomach cold. I know, I know, people said starting your day with Spartan breakfast would keep your head cool and more focused during the day, but hey, it was thousand years ago! Now we're in much modern era where the Spartan already extinct and metal bands rule. So…"
"I will, Bruder. I will. I'll buy you syrups, enough flour to make us pancakes, and butter, and fresh milk, and orange juice, and…"
"…and beer. Don't forget beer." Gilbert added contently.
Ludwig frowned and slightly shook his head in disagreement. Gilbert watched this and he soon yelled dramatically.
"What? In the name of all awesomeness in the world, why can't I have the beer?" he demanded.
"I don't want to have any drunkard in my home." Ludwig replied shortly. Gilbert flinched at the cold tone in Ludwig's voice.
"Hey, I don't remember being a drunken bastard for you. And it's not your home, it's ours." Gilbert protested.
"What about that one time when you littered our last apartment -oh wait, it's actually the fourth time- and left me to deal with the raging neighbors alone?" Ludwig retaliated. To this statement, Gilbert could only mutter random curses in German. "And by the way, Bruder, what's up with you today?" Ludwig asked, ignoring his older brother's grunts.
"What's up with what?" Gilbert snapped, still irked from Ludwig's disapproval toward beer. Ludwig noticed his brother carefully and realized that against his usual show-off habit of self-proclaimed awesomeness, Gilbert merely wore the plain uniform of the high school they're entering. He didn't even bother to wear his usual necklace or hand bands or any of those accessories. Something's not right here. Gilbert always loved the first day of anything, especially the first day of school. He said that the first day was the most perfect time to show off his awesomeness and to spread out his awesome charms towards everybody, for the first impression was the base of people's opinion toward you. That's why he's always all out when it came to the first day. Now, this severely narcistic brother of his being so plain surely seemed wrong to Ludwig.
"You don't seem excited about the first day of school." Ludwig replied. Gilbert shrugged nonchalantly.
"Nothing's special. Just don't feel like it." He said.
"Don't feel like spreading your awesomeness to people and infesting their first impression about you?" Ludwig taunted his older brother.
"Ha. I'm always awesome. I don't have to try to make people aware of my mighty awesomeness." Gilbert snickered. "It's not like I have anything to do with this stupid uniform, anyway." Gilbert added, playing with his red uniform blazer.
His uncle had helped them move to this city, as well as had managed their transfer to the new school which so happened to be a well-regarded private academy. Being a prestigious school, they had to attend it everyday with the uniform given. Even though the school got a nice dormitory for the students, Gilbert and Ludwig couldn't afford enough money to pay the tuition. Aside from their uncle's help, both brothers entered the academy with scholarship and notable marks, especially Ludwig, who mastered algebra, physics, and those commonly-regarded-as-difficult subjects, as well as being outstanding at sport. Gilbert himself wasn't a genius, but to say he's stupid was obviously incorrect. He never really liked algebra, math, or subjects likewise, but he could do well if he really tried. Sports weren't his best point either. Gilbert avoided hard sports like American football (which quite the contrary, were Lud's favorite), rugby, or even the milder ones like soccer or basketball. Instead, he had a certain passion for arts, especially music. He had played guitar since 12, and his late-mother had used to teach him piano.
Still, Ludwig's not satisfied with the answer. He knew it was something else. He could guess, but he wanted to hear it from Gilbert himself.
"It's not that, I know." He mumbled as they crossed the road to take a left turn toward the school's direction. Gilbert suddenly lost his patience.
"What are you trying to say, West?" he snapped.
"Ivan, isn't it?"
As irritating as the guess might sound, Gilbert suddenly felt the anger seeped through his body. He could just punch his lil' brother right there and then for bringing up the topic he'd rather not talk about. How many times had he told Ludwig to fuck that off? His brother was being extremely unawesome today and it irked him some more.
"It's not and stop mentioning him when I don't feel like reminding you about your racist tendency." He said as he scolded his younger brother. Suddenly Ludwig stopped walking, which made Gilbert stop his steps too, and stared at the silver-haired with disbelieving look in his maroon eyes. They just stared at each other in silence for some moment, totally ignoring all passers, some of which paid no attention and some other noticed them with slight expectation for a fight to start.
"Excuse me, my racist tendency?" Ludwig repeated his older brother's harsh statement before.
"Yeah, just…c'mon, get over it, Lud! I simply don't wanna talk about it now, especially here in the midst of this crowd." Gilbert said in exasperation. Ludwig suddenly realized they're still on the way to school and many people had been watching them hold the staring contest. Slight tinge made its way to his face, and he complied. They walked again side by side until the school gate came to view. Ludwig avoided talking for the rest of the walk, being slightly angry to his brother and partially conscientious about his loss of control earlier which was shameful according to Lud's standard. 'That's very rare of him, holding his emotion well back there, when I almost started a street brawl.' He sighed inwardly, cursing himself for being emotional, for being so not-Ludwig. 'It's all that Russian bastard's fault.' He thought bitterly.
When they entered the gate, Gilbert tapped his back and said, "Well, see you afterschool." to which Ludwig managed his best smile and replied, "Will do. Have a nice day, Bruder." And then they parted ways.
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"Advance chemist…advance chemist…" Gilbert muttered under his breath while examining every sign above the paralleled doors on his left side, looking for the right class. It's not his favorite class and surely not his favorite subject to start the day at school. Too bad his Art class wouldn't be until Friday. 'Ah, here's the unawesome class' he made a mental note to himself as he stepped inside the classroom which had been already crowded with students, all of whom were now noticing him. Feeling a bit of uneasiness in his stomach, he took one of the empty seats at the back row. Curious looks were shot at him from almost every corner of the room. At normal time, this might get the silver-haired boy excited from getting much attention. But today, two days after he left his hometown, was exceptional. He knew his awesomeness had drawn much attention and curiosity from those around him (that's perfectly normal for Gilbert), but he didn't feel like returning the attention back (or giving them a proper reaction in Gilbert's standard). Today's different. Today's no certain Russian would hang around him and act like he own him for himself. No possessive boyfriend whatsoever. Possessive yet loved. Gilbert sighed, suddenly felt tired, and rested his back to the seat. He lowered his gaze, pretending to write something in his black and white scrap book.
He could sense the presence and guess what was going to happen, even before a certain brunette with jade eyes plopped himself down beside Gilbert's seat.
"Hey. Transfer student, I guess?" the brunette opened the conversation. Gilbert looked at the brunette and noticed his warm and welcoming smile. 'Oh great, it's one of those make-friend times.' He acidly thought.
"Yeah." He replied shortly, tried to usher the stranger away in a polite way. The brunette still didn't give up. As his smile widened, he gave him his right hand.
"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. You can call me Toni. What's yours?" he asked gleefully, waiting patiently for Gilbert to accept his hand and do a friendly hand-shake. The silver-haired boy sighed inwardly and did the hand-shake.
"Gilbert. Weilschmidt. Gil. Gilbert. Whatever as long as not some pun like motherfucker or such." He answered, inviting soft laughter from the other boy.
"You're quite funny." Antonio praised with a grin. "Gil." He then quickly added. Gilbert returned the smile, but still not losing hope for Antonio to leave him. And then, just like any epic story about bad day, Gilbert was seemingly fated to have all his prayers go unanswered. As soon as Antonio started a chit-chat about Gil's arrival on the town, suddenly a blonde with medium wavy hair tied into ponytail, joined the group.
"Yo, such a bad friend you are, mon ami, Antonio. Why not introducing me to this good-looking newbie?" he whined in a way that made Gilbert cringe. 'The fuck with handsome newbie? And the fuck with that whine? I'm awesome, yes, but ain't this guy a bit too gay?' he thought. 'And why the fuck this unawesome class hasn't been started yet?' he began to panic inwardly. Before he could say anything, the blonde had already captured his hand in a strong grip.
"Francis Bonnevoy. Francis. Love. Hotness. Sexy. Party God. You can call me by one of those." The blonde shook Gilbert's hand a bit too hard and obviously a bit too long, and the horrified boy quickly broke his hand free from Francis.
"Gilbert." He muttered, horror clearly shown on his face. Antonio chuckled at the sight, and he patted Gilbert's back slightly.
"Don't be afraid of Francis. He's bisexual. Just come outta the closet last year." He explained. This didn't do well to calm a panicking Gilbert. A chuckling Francis quickly added,
"And I can't stop chasing hot humankind ever since, whether it's guy or girl. You're hot, but don't worry, I'm not a maniac with a cock for a brain."
Gilbert looked at his two new friends cautiously and as if reminded by his own relationship with Ivan, he nodded weakly.
"I'm not against your sexuality or anything. Just…don't startle me by trying to grope me in my first day here, even when you can't stand my awesomeness." He said, gave a bit humor in the sentence. Francis laughed and patted him in a friendly manner.
"Holy God, you're awesome indeed, but I won't grope or molest my own classmate in his first day. I can so far control that urge. Haha but can't promise you next times." Francis said with a wink. Gilbert smirked and right at that moment the teacher entered the class. Francis and Antonio quickly got back to their seats, left Gilbert alone, having enough space to breathe.
'Gott, two freaks for my new friends. What a day…' Gilbert muttered inwardly as he drew out a notebook, ready to write whatever was on the board. Then again, "peace" was in a bad term with him today. Just when he thought he finally had his personal space back, the teacher called him from the front of the class.
"Mr. Weilschmidt?" The middle-aged woman called with a high-pitched voice, that actually rather sounded like a shriek. Gilbert responded by looking up at her and smiled unsurely.
"I've been informed by Principal Larry that a new student would join us, started from today. I reckon, it got to be you. Why don't you tell the class some quick fact about you?" The teacher pointed that sentence to him, effectively informed the class as well, and once again curious looks shot at him, sort of expecting him to stand up and start to introduce himself. Gilbert didn't have any problem with public speaking, being the awesome persona he was, he just didn't have the mood to do it at the time. He stood up anyway and started to introduce himself, as short as he could while hoping nobody would ask any stupid question or throw any stupid comment at him.
"Yes, Ma'am. Morning, I'm Gilbert Weilschmidt. I come from some awesome town 110 miles from here and right now residing at a small apartment 3 blocks away from here, the Splendid building. Well, I don't really do sports, but I play music instrument a lot. Guitar's my fave. And I'm a big fan of bands like DT, Rammstein, COB, and such, because they're totally awesome. So…yeah, I guess that's it." He ended up his short introduction with an unsure gesture. The teacher smiled at him happily and asked if anybody would like to give "our new buddy, Gilbert" a question.
A girl with long brunette hair raised her hand.
"Hi Gilbert. I'm Gina Way. First, welcome to Hetalia Gakuen. Second, I'm curious about your look, I mean, your hair and your eyes. Are they natural or do you make it up?"
Gilbert mentally sighed. Sure, why didn't he see it coming? His uniquely feature was always a big attraction to people. Not that he mind anyway. They're part of the awesomeness that was Gilbert Weilschmidt.
"No, I never paint my hair nor wear contact lenses. Thanks God my vision is just as normal as yours. It's natural. I'm born with melanocyte deficiency, that's to say I'm albino. It explains why my hair is whatever-color-it-is and why my irises are red." He explained, rather smugly. He's the most awesome person born albino. The girl muttered an "oh" and she nodded, looked satisfied but still curious.
Another student raised hand. This time it was a boy with thick eyebrows, thick brown hair, and rather underestimating look in his green eyes. When he spoke, it was clear that he got some British lineage in his family tree.
"My name is Arthur Kirkland. If I'm not mistaken, you must be a German descent. I sincerely want to know your opinion about Rammstein. As you have mentioned earlier, you befan them, and general opinion has regarded their music as well as their lyrics as full of Nazi propagandas. What do you say about this?" The said Arthur finished his sentence more with a mocking tone, rather than questioning one. This question brought surprised looks to most of the class who didn't really hope such an argument rose in a simple introduction. Even Antonio and Francis –and the teacher- got a disapproving look on their faces.
'Oh, what now? A rematch of WW II?' he thought amused. Any other day, he could just return the mock with more devilish insult, but right now he chose to play it mild.
"I say, and have said it already, they're awesome. They're German, yes. I'm a German descendant, yes. They're Nazi? Well, I'm not and I'm sure they're not trying to initiate WW III or let's say to overthrow the chancellor's chair in more local scope. But I understand why such question keeps raising. The sentiments have always been pointed at Germany for their wrongdoings in WW II and against the Jews. I feel deeply sorry for that. I regret it got to be Germany who acted as the bad guy. All of Germans do. But forgiving is hard, right? I won't blame people who still have hard feelings against us. There are still so many people think that everything German must be Nazi, even if it's a chicken, all the while ignoring the fact that Neo Nazi moves are building their stands outside of Germany, take US or UK as examples." Gilbert emphasized the word "UK" which quickly turned Arthur's face in a deep red shade. Gilbert looked at Antonio and Francis who gave him thumbs up. He slightly smirked.
The teacher made an "ahem" to stop the argument. It's not really healthy to start your day with a racial argument and to think of it, it's actually an advance chemistry class, not history or debate club. So she asked if there's any other question before they moved to the subject today. No other question. The teacher smiled in relief and asserted Gilbert to sit down.
And so that was practically how Gilbert started his first day in his new school.
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"So…you call this…a food?" Gilbert asked his new mates as he stirred a yellowish spongy blob, that's so happened to be macaroni and cheese, with his fork.
"Um…technically, yes." Francis replied, losing his appetite as well. The macaroni was overcooked so instead of making it al dente, the cook had made it sluggish pale yellow curls topped with yellow cheese that's similarly effective to kill any decent man's mood.
"Yuck…disgusting. This cafeteria is unawesome." Gilbert grumbled as he kept stirring the said food in disgust. Antonio looked sad over his equally disgusting macaroni and Bolognaise sauce. They went to the cafeteria together during the break, even though they attended different subjects for their second class that day. Toni fetched him after he finished his Algebra class and together they made it to the cafeteria to meet Francis who had already been waiting there.
"Actually, it's not always like this everyday. It depends on the cook on duty for the day. Yesterday wasn't bad. We had a real nice Risotto." Antonio explained.
"Yeah…I should have known it that today's Mr. Bard's shift. He never cooks food. He makes random ingredient as a trash he calls food." Francis stated as he rose from the bench. "Care to join me? I'm going to Red Dish."
"Sure." Antonio said. Gilbert didn't need to reply that, he simply followed the two outside of the cafeteria. They walked toward a small restaurant located at the corner of the street, not far from the academy.
"We won't be late for the next class, right?" Gilbert asked casually. Francis laughed at the question.
"I don't know that you're such a devoted student." He remarked. Gilbert gave him a dead glare. "Who says I'm devoted? I just want to know if it's okay being late or if I need to skip the class." He spat. Antonio chuckled at the raging boy. He circled one arm around Gilbert's shoulder.
"Easy, man. You're easily burst, like gasoline. What class you'll have after this?" The Spaniard asked. "Um…history." Gilbert answered. Antonio and Francis yelled a "huzzah" joyously as Gilbert looked at them puzzled. "What?" he spat.
"We'll have the same class then. Heheh and Mr. Fitzpatrick won't mind any of his students coming late to the class. He's super busy himself that he rarely appears on time. 30 minutes the quickest." Francis supplied. Gilbert felt a bit more relieve at this. He's not one with prudent manner. He just felt that it'd be totally unawesome if he got punished in his very beginning of the school. Matter-of-factly he often skipped classes in his former school. 'With Ivan…' he thought sadly, recounting their moments together, moments where they would stealthily went up the spiral stair to the roof and then quietly laid, side by side, smoking, sleeping, or just feeling each other's heartbeat. Nevertheless a slight hint of smile made its way on his lips.
"Here we are. Welcome to the Red Dish, my highly recommended journey of Mediterranean cuisine." Francis announced as they arrived at a small but well-decorated restaurant. The owner had planted some amount of gardenia that lined both sides of the pathway. There was also a small rectangular fountain near two small benches. All painted in white. Inside was more colorful. Modern paintings hung at the walls, together with some vintage ads. The walls itself was painted in a mix of white, black and pastel colors paints. At one corner, there was a reading spot, complete with sofas and book racks. All the tables were encased with a red checkered cloth and there were some different areas; bar complete with the stools, round tables for two, round tables for party of four, and some black sofas with big cushions for bigger party, nonetheless the cushions were Francis' favorite spot.
They made themselves comfortable with the sofa and not long, a waitress appeared. The girl seemed to be familiar with Gilbert's two companions since she and Francis exchanged flimsy flatters upon one another.
"Well, Beauty, before I order, I'd like to introduce my new friend here, our buddy Gilbert. Ain't he cute?" Francis stated with a wide smile that more looked like a silly grin. The girl giggled to the "cute" statement. She nodded sheepishly and introduced herself as Lenia, which actually Gilbert had known already from the nametag on her uniform.
"Hi, I'm Gilbert. Nice to know you, Lenia. Thanks for the intro, Beast." He retorted to Francis. "You're very welcome, Prince Charming. Now aren't we ready to order?" Francis said, acquiring additional glare from Gilbert. Lenia soon wrote down the orders in her small note that consisted of dolmades, breads with taramasalata, Greek salads, mixed fruit punches and fruit ice creams for the dessert.
"Well, what's with this issue of me being cute?" Gilbert huffed as he crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks. Both Antonio and Francis laughed at this remark. How could he not know the answer to this rhetorical question?
"Because you simply are." Francis mimicked Gilbert's expression.
"I'm AWESOME. Not cute." Gilbert retaliated. "Haha. Whatever you say, Your Awesomeness." Francis replied. Gilbert gave both of his new friends his deadliest glare but it seemed unsuccessful. The duo didn't feel threatened and kept commenting about how cute Gilbert was. He gave up in a dramatic sigh and pretended to play quiet.
"Anyway, you said earlier you played guitar, huh?" suddenly Antonio asked. Gilbert nodded silently. "Cool. You play in a band or such?" The Spaniard asked again, forcing Gilbert to speak again.
"Well, used to. Not anymore." Memories about him and Ivan rushed in again. For a second, he felt sadness swept him away. 'I really need to get over it!' Gilbert reminded himself.
"Too bad. What happened?" Francis asked in turn. Uneasiness crept under Gilbert's skin. He didn't want to talk about it, but avoiding the question somehow seemed lame for a personified awesomeness like him.
"Well, I move outta town. That ended everything. Ain't that obvious?" a hint of annoyance in his voice.
"Yeah, but, it's not like you go abroad or move to the other side of the earth. I mean, it's just 110 miles away from here. You can always just visit your old buddies at weekends or holidays." Francis said, followed by Antonio's nod.
"Well, it won't be that easy. Distance is distance. Once you get farther apart from your friends, some things always change. I know I can email them, text them, phone them every now and then, but it's not the same. You can't work your band like that."
"I get your point." Antonio said. "Anyway, what music you play? What your former band's like?"
"Metal, sometimes progressive. I love melodic metal. The band was a five-piece, me in the guitar part and scream. We did cover for bands like Rammstein, COB, some DT songs, Lamb of God…many."
"Melodic metal? You guys must be great. Got some piano/keyboard player?"
"umm…yeah. My childhood friend, Roderich, filled the position. He wasn't that enthusiastic about our music 'tho."
"Oh. Another reason for your band to break up, huh?" Francis remarked.
"Yeah." Gilbert replied sourly. Roddy was forced to join the band because Gilbert wouldn't have wanted anybody else but him to fill the position. Roderich was a very talented pianist and keyboardist, that's why Gilbert wanted him in the band. He only wanted the most awesome persons to join him...and Ivan. Anyway, just as soon as Gilbert announced his transfer to another city, Roderich made no time to announce his own departure from the band. Partly, because of their different music genre, and the rest was –like what Roddy told him boldly - "failure to adapt with your boyfriend's cocky attitude, and without you it will be undoubtedly impossible for me to bear him any longer."
The thought was cut abruptly by the arrival of Lenia with a food trolley full with their orders. Soon, plates were placed on the table and the trio started eating their lunch. They didn't talk much during lunch, perhaps because all three of them were quite starving.
"So, tell us, do you still want to play in a band?" Antonio asked after he finished his desert. A glass of tomato juice still waiting. Gilbert munched the last bit of his dolmades before answered, "Yeah. It's my biggest desire."
Antonio and Francis smiled at each other. "How if we invite you to jam together this afternoon?" Francis offered. Gilbert blinked his eyes. "Yeah? You guys play too?"
"Yup. Actually Antonio and I been together since our junior year. We both love rock, almost any kind of rock, even the screamo one. I fill the drums and percussions part, Toni's on guitar and vocal. Sadly, we never find anyone good enough to join us." Francis explained.
"Screamo…? Well, I do scream but so far I never do cover for that kind of band." Gilbert said with frown on his face. It's not like he despised the genre, he just didn't have enough 'chemistry' to play it.
"Easy, we don't ask you to play our music, just a jam session together. We can play any kind of song you like. Let us see how you play, then maybe, we can really work it out."
"Work what out? Is it some kind of audition?"
"Well, kinda. Listen, we don't force you to join us. If you don't feel like it, we can still be friends and share our thoughts on music. It's just a jam session." Antonio spoke in turn.
"You guys talk as if I certainly match your criteria. I know I'm amazingly awesome, but you haven't even seen me playing."
Both the French and Spaniard laughed at that comment.
"We just know it. From the first time we saw you, we just knew that you could play." Francis said with a wink that made Gilbert flinch.
"Oh…you guys must be some kind of psychics or shamans."
"Haha, unfortunately no. Fact is we saw you playing with your band during the prom in World Academy. Remember? You played Bat City. A7x. And you were indeed awesome. We wouldn't mistake you for another person, thanks to your distinctive feature." Toni reminded him. Gil's face suddenly lit up. He grinned widely, joy clearly shown in his eyes.
"Gott, never thought you two were amongst my fans out there. Kesesese"
Francis' face fell abruptly and even Antonio got a weird smile on his face.
"Ugh…not really fans, actually. We just thought you played really good that night." Antonio tried to correct Gilbert's misperception. But the silver-haired wouldn't accept that kind of 'denial'.
"Oh, c'mon. It's totally cool being my fans. I treat my fans well. Trust me. Kesesese"
"Ugh…" the duo were speechless. Facing a megalomaniac was always difficult.
"Okay, now, don't be shy. No need to be speechless, my beloved fans. Well, as for your offer, I think the awesome me don't have any objection to fill your desire to watch my awesome play this evening. Where and when?" the suddenly super joy Gilbert asked with a smug smile on his face. Francis moaned desperately. He covered his face with both hands while mumbling something that had "helpless sickly sexy bastard" along the line.
"Uhm…we'll pick you up on 8. You live in Splendid, right? Sounds good?" Antonio said between his attempts to smile the way he did before he was accused of being Gil's fan. "Okay, sure. No problem." Gilbert agreed with a cocky grin plastered on his face.
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"So how was your first day, Bruder?" Ludwig asked as he tried to pick one between Lay's and Pringle's. Gilbert put random snacks and threw it to the trolley. They both met again after school and walked together to the nearest store to buy things they needed for their new apartment.
"Awesome. Umm…awesomely boring." Gilbert answered. Ludwig finally chose Pringle's and put the sour cream and onion flavor in the trolley.
"What's this? I thought you hated seaweed flavor?" Ludwig asked as he raised a bag of seaweed-flavored potato chips. Gilbert gave a quick glance at it then shrugged nonchalantly.
"I didn't notice. I just picked it. You'll eat it anyway if I don't." He said. Ludwig flicked his tongue and put back the bag to the rack. His brother was really a careless person who hailed consumerism much to his chagrin. They continued to the coffee section. Ludwig picked his favorite coffee then proceeded to pick another bag of tea, sugar, chocolate…wait, where's his brother? Ludwig just realized he was alone all the time. 'Don't tell me he buy…oh, Gott.' Right when he thought what he feared, his brother came up with arms full of beer cans.
"No. No beer, I've told you. How old are you anyway? They won't let you out with these." Ludwig protested.
"According to my ID card, I'm eighteen." Gilbert said languidly.
"You and your forged ID card will get us in trouble."
"The boys said this store is totally cool with it."
"What boys?"
"My new fans. Kesesese the cashier is their acquaintance."
"New fans? I have to admit that you really are magnet to troublesome guys. How could you just befriend those with defiant recommendation in your first day of school?" Ludwig shook his head desperately. This brother of his surely stood in the opposite pole of morality. Ludwig was always the obedient kid, while Gilbert tended to act rebel against the rules. 'But as long as I can remember, this all started when Mom and Dad passed away.' Ludwig thought, reminisced the times when Gilbert began to behave like a wild child.
"Hey now West, it's not like I'm a badass. I'm magnet to every human being in this world. I'm too awesome for only bad guys." Gilbert defended himself.
"Still, it's a no. Put back those cans. I'm not buying alcohols." Ludwig insisted. To prove his words, he started to take the cans out of the trolley.
"Hey! There's difference between being moralized and being stingy, West!" Gilbert protested. He tried to save some cans but Ludwig went in anti-alcohol rampage, he snatched the cans in Gilbert's hands too.
"You're so fuckin unawesome!" Gilbert whined.
"It's not like you're dying without alcohol." Ludwig said coldly as he pushed his trolley away from Gilbert's reach.
"I am. And I am dying now." Gilbert kept whining. Ludwig chose to ignore his brother. He rechecked his expenses. Bread. Cheese. Jams. Butter. Coffee. Tea…
"And you know what, West? People who are dying somehow can outdo themselves to escape the death." Gilbert continued. Ludwig stilled. Soap. Shampoo. Toothpaste. Air freshener…
"And I can work my awesome brain to revive myself…" Gilbert didn't give up. Ludwig sighed. He turned to face his helpless brother.
"What are you trying to say exactly?"
Gilbert chuckled devilishly. "That is to say, I'll find a way to get what I want."
Ludwig rolled his eyes. That sneaky brother of his. "Look, I'm not buying it now and you will not buy it whenever we out together. If you want to buy it so bad, buy it yourself and drink it anywhere else but in our home. And don't involve me in any kind of stupid problem you'll get yourself into. I'm done with you and your stupid drunk fight." He stated. Gilbert grinned widely.
"Aye, aye. Don't be so grumpy, Uncle Scrooge. You'll get your face full of wrinkles before you even reach 30." Gilbert taunted his younger brother.
"You're helpless." was the only response from the stoic blonde.
They moved to the cashier. Luckily, there's no other buyer so they could finish the payment quickly. As soon as they stepped outside the store, Gilbert started his rant about his awesomely boring day. He came to the part where his two new fans (in his megalomaniac mind) asked him to jam together that evening.
"Sounds great. You seem to enjoy your day." Ludwig commented.
"Ja. Not bad actually. How about you? Don't tell me you don't make friend with anyone. That will be unawesome."
Ludwig managed to scratch the back of his head with his free hand, the other held the shopping bag. That's a gesture that could be interpreted as being shy or being hesitant.
"Well…there was this one boy I talked to during classes. We had the same schedule for the day. He's an Italian and he's so freaking cheerful and giddy." Ludwig said hesitantly as if it was an embarrassing thing to tell.
"So? Something's wrong with the boy?" Gilbert asked. 'Beside the fact that he's cheerful and you're dour?' he thought rather amused, but smart enough not to provoked Ludwig's rage by saying it out loud.
"No…not really. He's just weird. He's giddy. I don't know what else to describe him. And the most awkward part is he's quickly attached to me for some unknown reason."
"Attached? That's how you describe a person who wants to befriend you and give you companion for the day?" Gilbert mocked his younger brother for the use of the word.
"It's not that…" Ludwig released his desperate sigh for the umpteenth time that day. The Italian boy had given him enough headaches for the whole school time.
"Well…so?"
"I guess you can see him yourself. He said he'd come around this evening to do some homework." Ludwig said timidly. Gilbert glanced at his brother and grinned. Ludwig was never a people person. Having one friend came over to their house got to be special for him; moreover it happened in his first day of school.
"Okay…what's his name, anyway?"
Ludwig paused for a moment before answered quietly, "Felix. Feliciano Vargas."
"Sounds cute." Gilbert chuckled. "Well, I guess I can't wait to meet our new Italiano friend tonight."
"Guys don't say 'cute', Bruder." Ludwig muttered grimly, inviting harder laughter from the older brother. And with it, they headed home.
#########################################################################
Gilbert was lying down on his small bed, playing with his cell phone when Ludwig called his name. A moment later, his face appeared on the door frame.
"Dinner's ready." The blonde informed.
"Okay. After this. I'm texting Roddy." Gilbert answered. Ludwig looked at him suspiciously but made no further comment before he walked away to the kitchen. Gilbert knew what his brother was thinking. And Ludwig was probably right. The silver-haired boy had thought to text Ivan when Ludwig suddenly barged in. Knowing his brother was certainly against the idea, he'd lied. In the end, he decided to email the Russian boy instead. 'Ivan must still be angry with me. I don't want to start a lame SMS fight with him. That will be unawesome.' He thought as he placed back the cell phone on the table. He'd write the email later.
Ludwig had fried potatoes and wurst for them both. He also made beet salad and Gilbert was thankful for it, because his younger brother was really a pro at salad's making. The dinner tasted good and Gilbert finished his dinner in no time. It's not always Lud's task to prepare the dish, but more often him than not. Gilbert wasn't that good at cooking and instead of preparing dinner, he usually ended up trashing the kitchen. Being a clean man he was, Ludwig chose to save the kitchen by sacrificing himself to prepare the dishes almost every day.
"Well…it's almost 8. I wonder where our little Italian friend is." Gilbert said as he helped Ludwig clean the table. The stoic blonde merely shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't be so gloomy over it, West. He'll come. I promise you." Gilbert snickered. Ludwig frowned at his brother. "It's not like I really want him here. Maybe it's even better if he's not." He said irritated.
"Kesesese. Joking, little brother. What's up with you being so tense and all? It's just a new friend coming around." Gilbert didn't intend to let Ludwig escape from his habit to make fun of the younger blonde. Ludwig rolled his eyes and just then the bell rang, jolted the blonde as if an electrical wave just rushed through his body. Gilbert laughed out loud at the reaction and Ludwig sullenly walked to open the door. Gilbert peeked from the kitchen entrance to see who was coming. He had appointment with his new mates himself.
"Oh, hi. It's you. Please come in." Gilbert heard Ludwig talk to the guest which turned out to be a small brunette with cute appearance. 'It must be the Italian guy Lud told me.' Gilbert thought happily. He always loved cute things, or more correctly said: 'awesome things'. These included awesome, cute, and good-looking human beings. And the Italian now stood beside Ludwig was one of it. With brown wavy hair that cut short just enough above his neck, big blue eyes, innocent feature, and small stature, the boy had provoked the sense of cuteness in Gilbert's mind. As if radar had caught its target, Gilbert stormed into the living room to greet the new pal of his brother.
"Willkommen. I'm Lud's big brother. Gilbert" Gil took the young boy's hand in his own. The said boy looked bewildered at first, but then a wide smile formed on his cute face. "Hi too. I'm Feli. Feliciano Vargaz. Nice to meet you, Gilbert." He said in a soft voice that sounded not fully matured. 'Geez God, he must be really young.' Thought Gilbert.
"Wait, Feli? I thought you said Felix." Gilbert looked at Ludwig –who blushed violently- with accusing face.
"Ehm, Felix sounded manlier than Feli. You could just mistake him with a girl." Ludwig reasoned, to which Feliciano giggled. "I'm honestly okay with either Feli or Felix." The Italian said. And this just made Ludwig's face even redder than before. Gilbert supposed it was because of Feliciano's feminine acts. 'He even giggles like a girl. Gott…I wonder if he's actually a girl.' Gilbert imagined the Italian boy in a dress. The thought amused him.
"Make yourself comfortable, please." Ludwig tried to control the awkward situation. Feliciano took a seat on the sofa. His bag was put on the floor beneath him. He opened it and took out some notebooks. This reminded Gilbert that the small brunette was there for homework. Meanwhile, Ludwig had disappeared to his room to take his own books, leaving Gilbert with Feliciano alone.
"So, how old are you, Feli?" Gilbert tried to open a conversation.
"Umm…15. I think just the same as Luddy, no?"
"Oh, he's 16. Wait, Luddy?"
"Oh, sorry. That's my nick name for him."
Gilbert burst into laughter at the revelation. Even Gilbert who loved making fun of his brother never once had the idea to call him with pet names like "Luddy". Feliciano looked puzzled. His cute face went into confusion.
"Anything's wrong with that?" he asked the still laughing Gilbert.
"No..not at all. Nice name anyway." Gilbert managed to say between his laughter. Ludwig entered the room with a puzzled look.
"What is it?" he asked as he dropped his books on the table. Smelled something fishy, he observed his brother who wasn't fully recovered from the previous hilarity.
"I told him that I'd given you special nickname, Luddy." Feliciano explained innocently, unaware of the mischief Gilbert could later create from the name. Ludwig mentally slapped himself. Why didn't he see it coming?
"Kesesesese not as awesome as my nickname for you, West. But well, it works. We can start calling you Luddy from now on." Gilbert said, mischievous glint apparent on his eyes.
"Shut up, East. It's not funny." Ludwig retorted. Feliciano exchanged glance between the blond and the silver-haired boy.
"East? West?" the Italian murmured curiously, tried to figure out the meaning behind the nicknames.
"East is my pet name. West is Ludwig's. We've been using that since childhood." Gilbert explained. Still, the Italian didn't find it plausible enough.
"I'll tell you later. We better start doing the homework now. It's best if you just ignore my brother here. He's just that kind of buffoon." Ludwig said heartlessly. Gilbert made a gasp as he clutched his chest dramatically, feigning shock.
"You're such a cruel brother, West, discrediting your own brother like that. I'm so hurt."
Ludwig completely ignored him, but Feliciano was obviously not. He frowned at Ludwig as though the taller blonde had done something really bad.
"You can't talk like that about your brother, Luddy. That's not right." He said in a sweet, almost demanding, tone.
"Um Gottes willen, let's just get this homework done. It's just Gilbert. Nothing is ever right with him." Ludwig felt his patience thinning. Why this Italian boy got to be so damn naïve and so damn sweet at the same time? Frustration seeped through his body, made the blond growl. Feliciano caught it as a bad sign, so he shut his mouth up and opened the book. He'd better not make the German angry. Gilbert snickered. He really liked this new friend of his brother and he still got abundant plans to distraught them from doing their homework. Before any of his evil plans carried out, the bell once again rang. This time Gilbert opened the door, already knew it had to be his guests. He couldn't have been wrong; indeed there stood two boys with silly grin on their faces.
"Hi, cutie. Ready to go?" Francis greeted him. He wore an olive green shirt with long sleeves and a pair of faded blue jeans. He let the top part unbuttoned, revealing a silver necklace. His hair was untied this time. Antonio went with more casual style; black jeans, white tee with word "Exiled" printed on it, and a red capuchon. He also wore a black necklace.
"The fuck with cutie. Come in, guys. I'll change my clothes first." Gilbert stepped aside to let the boys in and a moment later gleeful cries heard all over the room.
"Feliciano!"
"Big brother! Antonio! Ve…why do you both come here?"
It's Gilbert and Ludwig's turn to be at complete loss of what was going on. Francis and Antonio hugged Feliciano and patted the boy lovingly.
"Okay now…what's this? A family reunion or something takes place in my home?" Gilbert said acidly, demanding explanation. Antonio smiled at the question.
"Feli and his twin brother are living in the dorm with us. We're close friends, especially me and his bro, Lovino." The Spaniard said, followed by Francis' nod.
"Okay…so you all are gang of rich bastards who live under the same roof? That's cool." Gilbert commented sarcastically.
"Haha. Not that exclusive. It's not a gang, more like brotherly relationship." The Spaniard clarified.
"Brotherly love to be exact." Francis supplied, as he hugged Feliciano tighter to prove his words. Ludwig was already suffering headache from the scene. What's with today's guys? He could just drop there and then, fainting from the 'brotherly-love-induced heat stroke'.
"I'm friend with Ludwig, Gilbert's brother, and I promised to come here to do the homework together." Feliciano told his two claimed brothers.
"Oh, sounds great. We too have a plan to jam together with Gilbert tonight. Now that we're all here, I guess we can say that we've extended our brotherhood." Francis proclaimed excitedly. Gilbert snorted.
"What? I don't think I want to take you as my brother, Francis."
"Oh, that hurts Big Brother, you know."
"Erm…guys, can you just let us do the homework, please?" Ludwig finally made a sound. Gilbert chuckled at the depressing look on his brother's face. Sure the blonde must find this situation difficult for him.
"Well, I'm going to change clothes. You guys can follow me. I can show you my room." Gilbert offered, tried to lessen his little brother's suffering by averting his new friend's attention from Feliciano to his awesome self. He felt generous tonight so as to let Lud have his personal space back. Ludwig made a thankful sigh as they followed Gilbert to his room, leaving him and Feliciano (finally) to work their school tasks.
##############################################
The guys now were at Gil's small room.
"Welcome to my den." Gilbert announced as they stepped inside. The room was quite in state of a mess. Books, CDs, magazines, school bag, and posters scattered around the floor. On the small bed encased with thick comfortable black cover, were piles of used tees and shorts, the uniform already worn that day, and some black and white cushions. Near the bed stood an electric guitar and an acoustic one. On the nightstand was a diary covered with metal, inscribed with a logo of an eagle of some sort, and a cell phone. The desk was strangely clean, only occupied by a black Apple notebook and a...
"What's this?" Francis asked as he took a close observation at what appears to be a small cage with a cute yellow bird in it. Antonio observed the small creature as well. Gilbert grinned smugly.
"That's my awesome pet, the most awesome Aves in the world, Gilbird."
"Gil…bird..?" Antonio cooed. "Cor-rect. Perfect name to depict the awesomeness of it and of the owner, of-fuckin-course." Gilbert said followed by his trademark 'kesesese'.
Both Antonio and Francis fell into catatonic state at the show-off. But they shrugged it off. That's just how Gilbert was, they figured. As Gilbert tossed his tee with a black shirt, the duo just continued observing the room, 'tho Francis found it hard not to peek at the topless German boy. Done with the clothing, Gilbert turned to find his new friends rummaging around his drawer.
"Hey, I thought you two were the guests here." He said annoyed at the two.
"We are." Antonio replied with a smile as he pulled out a photo. Gilbert's photo; it was taken during a party, seemingly prom night, and he was posing with a grin plastered on his smug face.
"Tck. That is so unawesome of you guys being so impolite in the host's room, taking my private thingies." Gilbert protested. Then as if struck by a shocking revelation, he rushed to save his drawer from the curious hands.
""Stop. Stop. There might be something I don't want you guys to see." He said quickly closed the drawer.
"Like this?" Francis asked as he swayed a photograph right in front of a horrified Gilbert.
The photo showed a picture of a certain blonde with amethyst eyes staring at some point beyond camera's reach; drumsticks rested on his hands and 'tho the guy in the photo didn't smile you could almost feel that he did by the look in his eyes, as if he was adoring something or someone. Gilbert snatched the photo furiously then put it back to the drawer where it belonged.
"Who's that?" Francis asked again, unaware of how sensitive the topic was for Gilbert.
"Band mate." Gilbert replied shortly, before he stepped toward the door, gestured his friends to follow him out of the room. Francis and Antonio exchanged glances at each other, suddenly realized that it had to be a personal matter, otherwise Gilbert wouldn't have acted like that. They followed in silence, tried to be understanding enough not to brag about it, at least for now.
"West, I'm going. Don't wait. I have my keys." Gilbert informed before he left the apartment. Ludwig mumbled a 'take care' then he heard the door shut. He averted his gaze from the door to Feliciano who's still waving his hands.
"Stop it. They're already gone." Ludwig complained which only acquired him a giggle from the boy sat next to him. He blushed furiously, tried to focus back to the homework.
"Next, number 9…"
############################################################
Gilbert finished playing the last part of "Tears Don't Fall". Sweat running down his temple. They'd been 2 hours and a half jamming together and the action had got him excited plus exhausted. Antonio had surprised him by shredding the guitar and playing the melody parts for half the songs they covered. He was quite a pro compared to Gilbert. Antonio also played the bass in turn with Gilbert, since there were only three of them. But they agreed that Gilbert could sing better than the other two. Francis himself was quite a show-off. He sure knew how to beat his drums.
Gilbert snickered, "Well? How awesome that sounds?" Francis laughed –excitedly- and as he casted a glance at the equally excited Antonio, he said, "Let's rock it on, then."
Gilbert whistled. "Seriously? We are a band now?"
Antonio laughed. "I guess you can call it so, if you will to join us. You sure are talented and your performance is better than what we hoped for. I don't mind filling the rhythm. You can fill the vocal and melody." He said smiling.
Gilbert thought for a moment then shook his head. "Nope. You fill the melody. You can do it better. We know I have the most awesome voice here and it'll be difficult to play two major parts like that. I mean, sure the awesome me can do it, no doubt about that, but I think I need more exercise. Besides, I give you chance to show off your magnificent play. Generous, aren't I?"
Francis and Antonio laughed. "Fuck man. You really are so full of yourself. But okay, I guess we can cope with that narcissism residing in your head." Francis said.
Gilbert grinned widely. "Well, okay. I'm in."
"Welcome to the band then, Gilbert." Antonio said with open arms.
"But we still have problem. Who'll fill the bass? And we haven't even had a name." Gilbert raised the question.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. We have Matt. He's our junior at the dorm. He can play for us. He can't join us tonight because he has an athletic meeting." Francis said assuring.
"Well, we can talk to Matt later." Antonio added.
"Okay then, one problem solved. Another, what will we start to call the band with?"
They lost in thought for a moment but no one came up with good idea.
"I always want to name the band with 'Bad Friends' but Antonio won't agree." Francis suggested.
"Bad Friends sounds…uncompromising." Antonio argued.
"Well, not that bad actually…I don't have any better idea either. My awesome brain still sorts out what awesome names we can use." Gilbert interceded. "Maybe we can think about it later." He added.
The other two agreed. Gilbert looked at his watch and realized it was almost midnight.
"Time to go I guess. We still have school tomorrow. I fuckin hate school." Gilbert sighed, feeling bad about that fact.
"Cheer up, Cutie. You'll hang around us again tomorrow. Ain't that cool?" Francis tried to lit Gilbert's spirit up but the boy gave him a dead glare instead.
"Stop calling me cutie, you sexist. I'm not cute. I'm awesome." He corrected.
Francis laughed. "C'mon…I'm just being honest."
"What's wrong anyway with being cute?" Antonio said as they walked out of the studio. Gilbert chose to use Ludwig's statement earlier that day, "Because guys don't say cute."
This invites laughter from the other two. As they continued to make fun of each other, they came to the crossroad where they had to take different direction; Francis and Antonio to the dorm, Gilbert to his apartment.
"Well, I guess this is it for today." Gilbert said as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Antonio smiled warmly, "Such a nice day, Gil. We'll see you tomorrow."
"Au revoir, mon ami." Francis added, to which Gilbert replied, "Ja, Sie auch. Gute nacht." He waved his friends goodbye then headed home.
Antonio stood still until Gilbert disappeared from the view then he hurried up to catch Francis.
"Why you standing there like a fool?" Francis asked.
"Well, this Gilbert boy is really something." Antonio answered lightly. Francis glanced at him and frowned.
"You're not hitting on him, right?" He asked worriedly. Even though well known as a playboy and womanizer, Francis' no 1 rule was 'Never date your band mate'.
"No, no, not that. I was just struck by his awesomeness. That's all." Antonio quickly replied.
"Oh, don't start it. You've been infested with his self-proclaimed awesomeness." Francis mourned. Antonio laughed at that.
"I can't help it. You can't help it either. He's infectious. I can't wait for tomorrow, for the next jam session." The Spaniard said gleefully.
"Well, I agree with you. He did play like a pro. We need someone like him. Ah, we can invite him to drink with us." The idea suddenly plopped in Francis' mind.
"Sounds great. Let's ask him tomorrow." Antonio said, even more joyful at the idea. And with it they walked to the dorm, couldn't wait for the next day when the three of them would hang out together, and maybe, have few hangovers this time.