"I'm sorry, Elizabeta...I just can't keep doing this. I don't love you anymore. It simply wouldn't be fair to you if we stayed married. You should...probably go." Roderich said in a sympathetic tone. I was completely blindsided. Truthfully, I thought the marriage had been getting better recently.
"I-Is there someone else?" I asked him in a strained voice, I was focused on keeping my tears inside. He hesitated, and I gasped. "Who?"
"You don't need to know...It'll only hurt you more." He trailed off, looking pained.
I glared at him, "If I have to leave the house I've lived in for five years and divorce the man I've loved for eight, don't I at least get to know who he's making me leave for?" I choked back a sob, almost unable to keep my composure.
Roderich looked at the ground and sighed. "I'm ending this for Vash."
"Vash? Y-you mean you're...?" I asked incredulously, I couldn't bare to say it.
"I'm leaving you for a man...A man that I love and have been seeing for three years already." He sounded like he wanted to do anything but tell me this. It broke my heart that he was divorcing me, but to have learned that he had been cheating on me with a man rubbed salt into the wound.
I couldn't take it any more, I had to leave! I dashed from the sitting room and ran upstairs to the bedroom. I quickly gathered my clothes and a few essentials and stuffed them into a bag. I found an old picture of Roderich, Gilbert, and I grinning with our arms around each other's shoulders. Both Gilbert's and my own playclothes were covered in mud, but Roderich was clean. I tore Roderich from the photograph and his piece fluttered to the carpet, just for good measure I stomped on it with my high heel and then spit on his face.
I stuffed my piece, that held Gilbert and I on it, into my bag and pulled a long black coat on, it's hem stopped at my ankles. I fled downstairs and out of the house, hitting the fresh air like it was a wall. Roderich didn't follow me. He simply shut the door and shut the curtains. I sniffed as I stood on the sidewalk, then wiped my eyes as I realized I was crying. I simply couldn't stop as the silent sobs shook my frame, and the tears wouldn't quit falling from my green eyes.
I felt freezing in the winter air. I wore a thin red party dress, we had recently returned from a charity ball at the mayor's mansion when Roderich broke the news to me. My shoes were black strappy heels that seemed to be an inch too high for my taste, I hadn't even picked them out, they were something that one of my friends had picked out for me. The black coat was a slight comfort, as it covered my arms, but it was still freezing out, not to mention that it was snowing.
I could feel the snow on my toes, which had to battle through the slush at my feet. My hands dug into my coat pockets and pulled out a pair of black leather gloves and tugged them on over my nearly numb fingers. I buttoned my coat up so that my top half was buttoned, but the bottom was free. I decided that now I should think of where to go, instead of lingering several feet away from my - I mean that damned Roderich's house.
I decided to just walk for a while to see where it led me. I pulled the hood of my jacket over my light brown locks and wiped away my tears again, sniffing one last time and gulping down any remaining sobs. I picked up the duffel bag that I had filled with my right arm, it was slightly heavier than it should be since I had remembered to pack my nagymama's pan. My left hand dove into my pocket to stay warm as I wallked down the almost deserted street.
After an hour of walking in those god forsaken heels that I couldn't take off unless I wanted frostbite on my feet (which I was probably going to get anyway since most of my foot was exposed), I found a bus that was stopped in front of an old library. An old woman was walking up the steps ever so slowly, and since she was walking slowly I could examine the bus for a minute. The one thing I noticed was that there was steam billowing from the inside, therefore it was warm. Instantly I found myself helping the woman into the bus and sitting in one of the seats with my bag sitting in the seat next to me.
As the bus driver closed the doors and started on his way, I dug out my handkerchief and wiped the water from my feet. I rubbed my pained and frozen feet until they were warm, then tossed the piece of white lacy cloth back into the bag. As I looked out the window, I recognized a house up the street. I glanced around for a bus stop close by, but there were none, so I pulled the line on the ceiling signalling I wanted to get out. The driver stopped a dozen yards from the house and opened the doors.
I payed quickly for my ride with the tiny but of money that I found in my pockets, then hopped off the bus with my duffel. The bus started again and drove off into the night, my sight was slightly blurred by the snow that was coming down harder now. It froze me to the core as I took the steps up the familiar porch and stood in front of the door. The porch light was on, signalling that he was both at home and awake.
I rang the bell and heard the sound of him getting up and walking toward the door. A breif moment before he opened the door I broke down again. I didn't know what I was going to say, or if he'd let me stay, or what he was going to ask! I started sobbing once again, and the tears rained down from my eyes as my body shook with shivers and sobs. I was looking down at my feet, and could see the light pour onto me as the door opened with a small creak.
I looked up at him, my eyes still crying and I was still biting my lip to keep the sounds of my sobs from escaping me. Gilbert looked shocked to see me there, and even more shocked to see the strong woman he had known all his life crying. He looked me over, then led me in. He seemed confused, but looked like he was going to take control of the situation. I let him, I was done thinking for them moment and seriously needed someone else to care for me.
The man took my bag and set it in a chair across the sitting room and took my coat from me and hung it on a coat rack at the door. He picked me up and sat me in an armchair in front of the fireplace and knelt in front of me as he took off my high heels for me. I wiped my tears away as he fetched me a blanket and draped it across my shoulders, tucking it close to me so I could be warmed faster. Gilbert left the room for a few minutes, then returned with a steaming mug of hot chocolate that he handed to me.
After he finished all of that, Gilbert sat across the room in another armchair and put his bare feet up on the coffee table. I stared into the cup of cocoa for a few moments, then I sipped it, then I all out chugged the mug so that it would warm me from the inside out. I noticed that Gilbert was sipping from a metal flask every once in a while and staring at me like I was a puzzle that he had to solve.
"I guess you want an explanation for all of this..." I said miserably.
Gilbert shook his head, "I can wait, if something that can send you, the bravest person I've ever met, crying to my door in the freezing cold, it's obviously bad. So, the awesome me can wait a bit until you tell me, so you can get over it a little."
I stared, shocked at the compliment, "b-but you deserve to know since you let me in and-"
"You deserve a rest. You look exhausted." He interupted.
"I don't know if I can rest with it all bottled up though...I need to tell someone. I need someone else to know what a-" I stopped and wiped my tears again.
He tucked the flask into his shirt and sat forward in his seat, putting his feet flat on the ground. "Tell me everything then. I want to know why you're so upset." He sounded so sincere and serious, and that was strange for him.
I nodded and set the cup on the table, then looked at my hands that rested palm up in my lap. "I-I thought everything was going well, I thought it was such a...a perfect relationship. Tonight though, when we came back from the party, Roderich sat me down in the living room and... and he wants a divorce. H-He told me that...that he had been seeing someone else for three years now. He's...he's been sleeping with V-Vash." I stuttered and sobbed through my short explanation.
Gilbert stood up and looked like he was in such a rage. His teeth were gritted, his eyes looked furious, and he clenched his fists. "You mean that asshole dumped you out of your home without warning, for some guy that he's been cheating on you with?" His voice was tight. I nodded and put my head in my hands.
He left the room again and returned with two bottles, both were vodka. "I don't usually like vodka, but it helps sometimes in situations when you want to forget things for a while. No one should drink alone, so I'll have some too." Gilbert pulled the cork out of one bottle with his teeth and handed it to me, he did the same with the other and swigged it. I stared at him for a minute, and he stared at me, then I drank some of the liquor.
My throat burned every time I drank from it, but it left a warm feeling in me. I was getting drunk on the cheap vodka quick, and I simply didn't care any longer. Both Gilbert and I started ranting about random subjects, but it always led back to Roderich. Sometimes I would end up sobbing about him again, and sometimes I would yell just as hatefully about him as Gil did.
Eventually, both our bottles were empty. We sat silently for a few seconds, then Gilbert growled and threw his bottle at the wall, it shattered and the glass pieces fell to the floor. It left a dent in his wall, but I saw a ferocity in his eyes that I hadn't seen in years. It was one that made you want to run. I did run the first time.
I remembered the only other time I'd seen it. I had told Gilbert that I was going to marry Roderich, and his eyes went like that. He told me to get out of his house, and to not speak to him. I guessed that he just never wanted his best friend to marry the man that he hated. I ran after he slammed the door in my face, I didn't know what else to do.
"How dare he? How dare he hurt you? I made him promise that...I made him...He said he wouldn't ever hurt you! He promised! He swore he would make you...ugh...happy!" Gilbert spat, his body tilted and wavered as he stood.
Sudden clarity from circumstance flooded my mind, although there was still the raging muzz in the back of my mind. "What...? What promise Gil?"
"I...I made him promise that he'd make you happy...before...marriage...I promised that if he...ugh...ever made you sad I would..." He fell back in his armchair, "I would hurt him baaaaaaaaad." He slurred and hiccuped as he spoke.
I stood, "Wh-woah..." I fell back into the chair. "Why?"
"I...nnn...I nlovrre you...Liz...Since...uunnngh...f'revr..." Gilbert dozed off into sleep, stretching out so his feet were on the coffee table again and folding his hands haphazardly on his stomach. I felt sleep overtake me, I only hoped that I would remember those words in the morning so I could ask him about it.
The next morning I woke up with a splitting headache. I felt dehydrated as I lifted my head from the armchair's back. I saw that Gilbert was already awake and was walking slowly to the kitchen. I stood and followed him just as slowly. He got some pain killers and coffee, and we each took some. After a half hour we felt okay, but definitely not great. We both switched back and forth between drinking gatorade and coffee.
Suddenly, I remembered the last night in a flash. Everything that he had said and done was all back in my mind. "Gil, I have a few questions."
He nodded, acknowledging that.
"Last night, you said that you made Roderich promise not to hurt me, or you'd hurt him. Was that true?"
His eyes widened, he obviously didn't remember the previous night. He surprisingly put a smirk on his face pretty quickly though. "Yeah, the awesome me did do that."
"Why?" I asked curiously, to see if the answer was the same.
"Because I didn't want to see the semi-awesome Liz upset. You're the best friend of such an awesome guy, ya' know?"
"That's not what you said last night."
"What did I say last night? You know I was in the unawesome state of drunkness, right?" His eyes looked confused, with a tint of nervousness.
"You said it was because you loved me, and you had loved me forever." I stared at his face, waiting for his reaction.
Boy, did I get one. He stood up fast, his chair falling to the floor behind him with a clatter. A glare was on his face, but he quickly turned away and turned his gaze to the ground. I heard him curse under his breath repeatedly in German and saw him rub the side of his face thoughtfully. "I said that?"
"Yeah, and I wanted to know if it was true." I said matter-of-factly
He turned back around to face me and looked seriously into my eyes. "It's true, but I don't want to make you think about it so soon after...yesterday. That would totally unawesome of me, it would be taking advantage of you."
I stood slowly and walked across the kitchen towards him. I held him by the collar of his shirt in each hand and pulled his face real close. "The only reason I decided to marry Roderich was because I thought that you wouldn't love me back. I was upset because I thought I would be alone forever, and all we'd ever be to each other was friends. I decided to knock on your door because you are the only one that can make me smile when I'm sad, and you are so surprisingly chivalrous that it makes me feel like a queen. I love you because you are truly awesome, and I will never admit that again." I jerked him forward into a kiss with his collar.
He was stiff at first, with his eyes wide open (and truthfully so was I, since Gil was the only other person besides Roderich that I have kissed in eight years) , but I watched him wrap him arms around my waist and pull me closer to him as he kissed me expertly back. His ruby eyes shut behind pale eyelids, and I felt his platinum hair ghost over my brown bangs as his face leaned forward. I shut my eyes as I relaxed into him, hiding my emerald eyes behind my skin. For several minutes we kissed passionately, but we finally parted for air.
We stared at eachother for several moments, then I felt it. He had his hands on my ass! I blushed furiously and slapped him hard. We seperated and he put his hand to his face and laughed, "Kesesesese..." I glared at him angrily, but soon I broke into laughter too.
"Eli, this is gonna be one abusive relationship if you hit me for that." GIlbert said between his cackles. I smiled and kissed his now red cheek.
"You'll just have to suck it up, won't you Gil?" I asked sweetly.
He sighed and looked into my eyes, "Yeah, you're worth it."