I kissed his lips lightly and held his hand tightly, just as I did at the end of every one of our dates. Roderich was a gentleman, he was pure and very sure of himself all of the time. I loved him for that, and I had for a year now. We had met at work, and it started out unsteadily because he was my boss. Gradually though, it had become casual and nothing changed at work so no one cared.

We parted, and I smiled as I turned and walked back in to my house. Roderich had told me at the beginning of the relationship that he didn't want sex until marriage, and I was okay with that. I locked my door behind me and took my jacket off and hung it up in the closet. I pulled my shoes off and put them in the closet too. Soon enough, I was walking back to my bedroom so I could undress and get ready for bed.

When I opened the door to my bedroom, I was shocked to see a lump in my bed. Someone was sleeping in my bed! This isn't Goldilocks and the Three Bears, who the hell is in my bed, I thought. I went back to my kitchen and grabbed my trusty frying pan, then came back and stood by the bed. Quickly, I pulled back the covers, revealing the sleeping person.

It was a man. He had platinum blonde hair and a very peaceful sleeping expression. He was wearing a black t-shirt that was askew, showing part of his chest, and a pair of black jeans. A small, yellow bird lay sleeping on his chest. He scratched at a bandage on his cheek, he looked bruised from fighting, as his knuckles were scabbed and bruised too. He was handsome.

"Wake up!" I yelled, gripping the pan in my hands tightly.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned, then opened his eyes and looked at me. His eyes were red, the color of blood. He appeared shocked as soon as he saw me, then looked around. He spoke out loud, but not necessarily to me, "Wo zum Teufel bin ich?"

"What?" I replied. My German was sketchy, I could only understand a bit, and only if they spoke slowly, which he didn't.

He blinked up at me, "Where the fuck am I?" He paused, then spoke again, eyeing my pan, "Are you going to hit me with that?"

"You're sleeping in my bed. And only if you don't leave."

"Well, I sort of guessed it was your bed, but...where?" He replied, genuinely as confused as I was.

"New York City," I said, I couldn't believe he didn't know where he was.

"Was?! Aber ich war in Deutschland, wenn ich schlief!" He said, reverting back to German from his shock.

"Come again?"

"I-I fell asleep at my little bro's place back in Germany though," he said, sitting up and looking down at his lap. By this point, his little bird had woken and had hopped up to sit on his head. It was cute, and sort of funny, but now wasn't the time for laughing.

I gripped my pan tighter, "You've got to be kidding me. You must be on something."

"I swear, I'm not. Right now at least. I'm Prussian, I've lived in Germany my whole life!"

"Liar. There's no way you could make it here without waking up," I raised my pan, about to hit him.

"Wait! Let me call my brother! He might convince you!" He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialed a number. It rung a few times before a pick up, the man put it on speaker so I could hear.

"Gilbert! Wo zum Teufel bist du?" The voice said angrily, I translated it since I knew that much. "Gilbert! Where the hell are you?"

"America, apparently," The man now identified as Gilbert said, he spoke in English for my benefit.

"What? You were just here an hour ago, sleeping on my couch. There's no way. Where the hell are you?" The man said, speaking in English since his brother was too.

I spoke now, "He's definitely in America, New York City to be exact. He woke up in my bed."

There was a pause, then he spoke. "Well, I guess that British tourist got you back. You should've never gotten into that bar fight with him. He did say he was going to curse you."

"Shut up Luddy, you told me before. Can you send me some money so I can get back?"

"None of the banks are open now, you'll have to wait until morning. Miss, can my brother stay with you until I can get some money to him? I'll pay for his stay, and you can feel free to smack him if he tries anything. He won't hit back."

I thought about it for a minute, then replied. "Okay, he can sleep on my couch. My name is Elizabeta Hedervary, by the way."

"Thank you, my name is Ludwig Beilschmidt. People find him aggravating, so all I ask is that he doesn't die."

"Hey! I'm awesome, not aggravating!" Gilbert said.

I chuckled, "Okay, I'll try."

"Bye, Luddy!" Gilbert called and shut his phone.

"Up! You're going to the couch," I said, holding the pan at my side now.

He hopped up, "Can I have a towel? Gilbird likes to sleep in a nest, rather than just on my chest."

I laughed, "Gilbird? THAT's it's name? You named it after yourself?"

"Hey, I'm awesome, and so is he," Gilbert said indignantly.

"Well, to answer your question, sure." I said, ducking into the bathroom to grab a hand towel from one of the cabinets, and coming out again soon after. "There's the bathroom, by the way." I handed him the towel and showed him the couch, then grabbed him some extra blankets.

"Thanks," he said quietly as I left the room, heading back to my bedroom.

"You're welcome," I replied just as quietly as I entered my room, shutting and locking the door behind me. My cheeks were hot and pink, and my heart was beating a bit fast. I had a handsome man sleeping on my couch, a man who had seemingly dropped from the sky. It was crazy.

I went to my bathroom and washed my face, brushed my teeth, and ran a brush through my hair. I took my dress off and pulled on a pair of pajama pants and a tee. I was comfortable again. I crawled under the covers and relaxed, completely aware that a man, who wasn't my boyfriend, had slept there. The thought made me flush pink again, but eventually I was able to fall asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, my alarm clock was blaring in my ear. I slapped the snooze button and sat up, yawning still. After I took my shower, I dried and brushed my hair, then put on my make-up. I dressed in a skirt and a pink blouse, along with a pair of high heels. I walked out of my room to the living room, to see how Gilbert was doing.

Gilbird was sleeping in a towel-nest on the coffee table, but it looked like Gilbert had fallen off the bed in his sleep and hadn't woken up. I arched my eyebrow, "Gilbert! Wake up!"

His eyes opened, and he looked up at me. A lecherous smile spread over his face, and that's when I realized he was in the perfect position to look up my skirt. I blushed hard and kicked him, he winced and grabbed my foot so I couldn't continue. "What a wake up."

My cheeks were still red, "Shut up, and get up. I don't trust you enough to leave you alone here, so you're going to work with me." I huffed, "So take a shower, then we're going over to my friend Antonio's house. You seem about his size, and I'm sure he'll let you borrow some clothes."

Gilbert nodded and got up, he chuckled, "I gotta say, I liked the view." I smacked him. He walked back to the bathroom and got a shower. I made some calls while he was in there, making sure that he could come to work with me and he could borrow clothes. Both were positive.

He walked out with the clothes from the previous day on, and the towel on his head. Gilbird was flying around his head and chirping. I put my phone in my purse and turned to him, "Okay, lets go. Antonio has to leave for work soon."

He followed me out the door and to the subway. He leaned against the wall next to my seat on the train. He followed a few feet behind me going up the escalator to the surface. Gilbert stared into space the whole time, well until a guy in a gray hoodie ran into me when we reached the surface. The man had his hood up and he snatched my purse from my arm, as he tried to get away, Gilbert grabbed the man's hood and held on.

The purse snatcher was stopped instantly. Gilbert yanked him back and took the purse back, then handed my bag back to me. He looked at the man for a second, then pushed him away. The snatcher ran away quickly, tripping over his own feet. Gilbert chuckled at the retreat, "That fool."

"What?"

"It was a kid," he said.

I shook my head, "They should have better things to do. Thanks, Gil, for getting my purse back."

"No prob, you're letting me stay with you, it's the least I could do," he shrugged off the thanks, but I saw the small smile he got from being appreciated.

We continued on, and reached Antonio's apartment pretty soon after that. I knocked, and the Spanish man opened the door soon after, "Buenos Dias!"

"Hey Toni! This is Gilbert," I said with a smile.

"Nice to meet you! Come on in," Antonio said, opening the door wider for us.

He sat me down in his living room while he took Gilbert back to the bedroom. After a few minutes, they came out. Gilbert was dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a red t-shirt, a pair of black Converse, and a black hoodie. He looked relaxed and happy. I smiled back at them, "Well, at least he doesn't look like he slept in it."

Gilbert scoffed, "Oh shut up, I look awesome." He turned to Antonio, "Thanks man."

"No problem!" Antonio turned to me and looked a bit odd, "Does Roderich know that another guy is staying with you?"

I blushed, "No. I'm gonna play it off as an old friend coming to stay with me. He wouldn't be happy at all."

"So, you got a boyfriend?" Gilbert said, a strange expression on his face.

"Yes, last night was our one-year anniversary."

He nodded silently. I felt a bit hollow when I said that for some reason. The day before I was so happy that it was our anniversary, but now...

I moved closer to Gilbert and sighed, "Why'd you have to get yourself in a bar fight anyway? Now you look violent."

He shrugged, "I didn't start it. Some British guy got drunk and went crazy, 'parently his boyfriend broke a promise or something."

I sighed, "Whatever. I'm late to work, so let's go. Thanks a lot for this, Toni." After that, we left and hurried to my office.

As I came in, I saw Francis approach me, "Oh, beau, Roderich's upset. You missed the first meeting! Who's this? New talent?" I worked at a talent agency. We helped rising models, singers, bands, actors, and more, make it. Gilbert did have that sort of look, he was handsome enough, albeit beaten.

"No, an old friend. It's been a long time since we've seen each other. He showed up this morning, and he seemed interested in where I worked. He's going to stay with me for a bit, he hasn't decided when he's going to leave," I lied. Gilbert currently had his hands in the hoodie's pockets and was looking around.

"Eliza, Roderich isn't going to buy that. I don't even buy that."

I shrugged, "There's no way to explain what really happened without looking crazy."

"Tell Roderich he's new talent for that photo shoot later. We still don't have a model, and he'll fit the image," Francis said. "Au revoir!" He called as he walked away.

I led Gilbert upstairs, explaining the plan to Gilbert as we ascended to Roderich's office. He wasn't all that enthusiastic at first, but he looked happy when I told him he'd get money for it. As soon as I entered, my boyfriend looked up. He crossed the room to me and kissed my forehead, I smiled at him. "I'm sorry for being late. I was searching for the model for the shoot today. This is Gilbert Beilschmidt." I gestured to him.

Roderich nodded, looking him up and down, "Okay, he'll do. The shoot's at this address." He handed me a card with an address on it, I nodded as I read it. "And, would you like to go to dinner with me tonight?"

I was upset. I couldn't go unless I left Gilbert alone. "Sorry, honey, I can't. I'm busy tonight. I'll tell you when I can, okay?"

We retreated soon after, and I led the way to the next destination. Suddenly, Gilbert spoke up, "You like him, right?"

"Of course I do!" I said, although I felt like I was being defensive. I didn't know how I felt.

"You seemed like you were dreading seeing him, and you looked repulsed when he kissed you."

"Shut up," I said quickly. I knew that he was telling the truth though. My love for Roderich had dissipated without me noticing.

After a pause, he spoke again. "So, what am I modeling for?"

"A cologne ad. It'll be in dozens of magazines. You'll be shirtless, and it'll appear in black and white. They might enhance your eyes, since they're that nice red color..."

Gilbert arched his eyebrow at me, "You like my eyes?"

I blushed hard, "Well, yeah. I do."

He chuckled, and Gilbird chirped, "I like yours too. They're a nice green." That didn't help my red complexion. Dammit, what was it about him that made me into a bashful teenage girl?!

"Anyway," I said. "We should be there in a bit." Soon enough, we made it.

As we walked in, a girl with black hair and a headset came to meet us, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm here with the model for the cologne," I said.

"Great! We've been expecting you! Come with me," she led us into a large room with a white screen and several bits of camera equipment. "Okay, I'll get the photographer, he'll tell you what he wants."

A few minutes later, a man came back to meet us, "Hello, this is my model, correct?"

Gilbert nodded.

"An amateur, I expect. Hmmm...you'll do quite well, actually. You won't need make up, it seems, those bruises will play in just fine. Take off your shirt for me, we might need to do Photoshop if you don't fit with the body..."

Gilbert pulled the hoodie and shirt off. I was surprised to see that he had abs. And pecs. And biceps. And lots of other muscles that would make a girl with less will power drool at the sight. He was more than handsome. He was sexy.

The photographer smiled, "Good. You're perfect! Now, follow her to get into costume." He pointed at the black haired woman from before, she was gawking at the now-shirtless Gilbert, but she soon straightened up and led him away.

The photographer turned to me and looked me up and down appraisingly, "I know that you aren't a model, but our female model quit abruptly this morning. We can use you as her substitute. You're better looking anyway, since you look good with him. Follow him to your costume." The photographer pointed at another assistant and walked away. I didn't have much choice if I wanted to get this job done, so I followed.

Two hours later, we were both in costume, and I had my make-up changed. We were made up just so, and were waiting for the photographer to give directions. I was wearing lingerie, a black lacy pair that fit me well. Gilbert was wearing a black pair of boxer-briefs. I was feeling uncomfortable, especially because Gilbert and I couldn't help staring at each other.

The photographer began to shout out directions to us, so eventually, I was lying on my back on the white-covered floor, one of my knees bent upward slightly, and my hands were pressed against his chest. He had one hand on my cheek, the other planted to my one side to keep him up. His body was barely an inch from mine, parts of us touched, and it felt so natural that it was scary. His lips were barely away from mine.

"Okay, now kiss."

"What?!" We said in unison.

"Cologne is used to attract women, so there must be more attraction in this shot. Now kiss until I say stop!"

In a split second decision, I leaned up and pressed my lips to his. His lips pressed back instantly, and soon our tongues were tangling together. We could hear the snapping of the camera in our ears. When we couldn't breather any longer, we pulled away, a trail of spit connected us as we stared, but he hadn't told us to stop so we resumed the kiss.

I wanted him bad, and I couldn't deny it.

"Okay! That's good! You can stop!" The photographer called, and we pulled away. Our faces were pink, and we couldn't stop it. I felt heat all over. Gilbert stood and helped me up, we quickly went to change back.

When we were dressed again, the photographer came back to speak to us. "In time square, tomorrow at noon, we plan to unveil your picture. I already have the perfect one picked out." He smiled and walked away.

I went pale, "Damn...Roderich will see it!" I squeaked.

Gilbert put his hands in his pockets, "Sorry for that..."

"I-it's my fault too...Anyway, lets get lunch." We ordered some fast food and ate in Central Park. We chatted about our daily lives, getting to know each other better. About halfway through, his phone rang. He picked up and listened in.

"Okay, I'll tell her, bye." He hung up. "Well, he put enough money in my bank account to get me back. There's a flight tomorrow at three pm, I'll be taking that one, and I'll be out of your life." He smiled.

I stared at him, and gave him a fake smile back, "We should see that ad before you leave."

He nodded, "Yeah, that'd be cool."

Later that night, when Gilbert was asleep on the couch and Gilbird was in his makeshift nest, I sat on my bed with my phone in my hands. I slowly dialed his number and listened to it ring. After several rings, he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Roderich, I have something to tell you," I said quietly.

"Yes? What is it, dear?"

"I can't be with you any longer. I don't love you any more." Pain gripped my chest, as I knew that the man that I had fallen for was leaving tomorrow.

After a few moments of silence, "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm glad that you were straight with me. Goodbye, Elizabeta." He hung up.

I wiped silent tears from my eyes and layed back on my bed. Slowly, I fell asleep. I dreamed of Gilbert, and him staying. But in the end, he smiled and walked away, not listening to me calling for him to come back. Not listening to me sobbing my eyes out.

The next morning, I got ready quickly. I dressed in a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a t-shirt, then put my hair up in a pony tail. I walked out and found that Gilbert was up and dressed in the newly washed outfit that he had shown up in. I faked a smile, and grabbed my purse from the counter.

"Let's go," I said.

"Where?"

"Shopping. I'm not up to work today, and I doubt he wants to see me right now."

"Why? You're his girlfriend," Gilbert said confusedly.

"I broke up with him last night. You were right, I didn't love him," I said quietly, walking out the door.

He followed, "Why don't you, by the way?"

"I just don't"

"There has to be a reason," he responded.

"Why do you care?" I snapped.

He was silent, and didn't speak the entire time we shopped, but he watched me like a hawk and carried my bags for me without me asking. I led him through the city to Time Square. We hung out for a while, looking around, until noon. We watched as the board changed to our picture.

It showed us just parting a kiss. Our eyes were almost lidded, and we were staring intensely at each other. It was black and white, but our eyes were colored vibrantly, his red and mine green. We were tangled together perfectly. It was beautiful. A caption in black, looped letters said "Live recklessly," and then the brand name.

I looked over at Gilbert, he was staring at it with a strange expression. He said in a husky voice, "It looks good."

Eventually, we made it to the airport. He had his hands in his pockets, as we walked to the ticket counter. We stopped in the middle of the room and were silent. I looked up at him, not knowing what to say. He was looking at the counters.

"I better go buy a ticket," he said.

As he took his first step, I reached out and grabbed his hand. "Don't. Don't buy a ticket."

"I won't be able to make it on the plane if I don't have a ticket," he said.

"Then don't get on the plane. Don't go back to Germany. Stay here."

"There's nothing for me here, Liz. I have a brother back in Germany," He wasn't looking at me still.

"I'm here." I began to cry as I gripped his hand tighter. He turned around and looked at me, "Please don't go...I love you..."

He leaned down and kissed me passionately, as if he had been waiting a lifetime. I pressed myself to him, needing him to stay. When we eventually parted, he stared down at me, "I love you too, so I can't leave if you want me to stay."

I will forever remember the day when I found that Prussian in my bed.

((Please, Glob, Please! Review! I thrive off of them!))