Part I
Summary: Modern AU in which Elliot refuses to say anything, Leo is perfect, Alice is annoying and deep at the same time, Oz is not everything he appears to be, and Gilbert is…confused. What the heck is going on?!
Ages: Gilbert is 21 year old college student, Elliot and Leo are both 18 and in 12th grade as high school seniors, Oz and Alice are both 17 (Oz about a month older than Alice) and in 12th grade as high school seniors as well.
Pairings: There aren't supposed to be any pairings in this story, since this is mainly about friendship and hurt/comfort.
-0o0-
"What do you mean you're leaving?!" Gilbert half yelled at Elliot as the teenager ran around the house, searching for some kind of a bag.
"Exactly that," Elliot said and brushed past him into his older sister's bedroom.
"But I just got here!" Gilbert said with exasperation as he stood in the hallway. "I haven't seen you in months, yet the second I decide to visit you need to go on- on- on some kind of road trip?!"
"Yep, that sounds about right." Elliot reappeared with a large backpack and walked past Gilbert without a glance.
"And it's not a road trip!" he yelled just as he disappeared into his own bedroom. "I told you before; I need to go help a friend."
"Leo?" Gilbert asked with confusion.
He heard a snort. "Do you really think Leo would ever need my help?" Elliot's voice echoed through the house.
"As far as I know, he's the only friend you have," Gilbert said, crossing his arms. "That's the only one I hear about at least."
"Shut up, Gilbert. I have tons of friends. I just don't talk about them as much as I do about Leo."
Gilbert rolled his eyes at the ceiling. "Alright then. Who's this new friend I haven't heard about?"
"Not telling," Elliot said as he came back into the hallway. He zipped up the back pack as he strode by Gilbert and hefted it onto one shoulder without breaking stride. Gilbert watched him go, brow furrowed. He really didn't understand this kid sometimes.
"I won't be back until later," Elliot shouted on his way to the door. "My parents won't be home until tomorrow night so help yourself to whatever's in the fridge if you get hungry. And you can sleep in the guest room if you don't have a place to stay in town. Just know that if you touch anything in my bedroom you're a dead man."
"Wait- you're going now?!" Gilbert asked, shocked, and ran after Elliot just as the front door slammed shut.
"Of course. What do you think the bag is for?" He took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked his car on his way across the lawn.
"I- I don't know. But- wait!" Gilbert grabbed Elliot's arm before he had the chance to open the car door.
Elliot looked down at Gilbert's hand then back at the man himself, scowling. "What? I told you everything you need to know-"
"No you haven't!" Gilbert snapped. "Where are you going? Who are you helping? Do your parents know-?"
"To the police station, my friend- like I told you before- and no," Elliot listed with a bored expression. "Can you let go now? I'm supposed to pick up Leo."
Gilbert gaped. He didn't know what to say. Why was Elliot friends with someone who was being held at the police station?! And why wouldn't Elliot tell him who his friend was? Did Elliot think that he would tell his parents or something?
That was what he wanted to say, but when he opened his mouth all that came out was, "Leo's coming?"
"Yup. Now are you going to let go or what?"
"Don't you need a responsible adult or someone to go with you to jail?"Gilbert stuttered, still clutching Elliot's arm.
"No," he said slowly. "I have Leo."
"But- but-"
Elliot sighed, annoyed. "Listen, Gilbert, if you're really that worried you can come along with us. Then you can see that I'm not going to some crazy party or something."
Gilbert flushed. "I wasn't thinking that at all!"
"Just, get in the car," Elliot snapped and jerked his arm out of Gilbert's hold. "I really need to get going and you're just holding me up now." He walked around to the back of the car, opened the trunk and threw in the backpack.
"Are you sure about this?" Gilbert asked hesitantly. He didn't really want to go to jail but Elliot was important to him; he wasn't about to let the brash teenager go without some kind of responsible adult to keep an eye on him.
"Yes," Elliot said with a sigh. "Now get in the back; Leo's going in the front with me."
-0o0-
"Got the directions?" Elliot asked as Leo slammed the door shut.
Leo nodded and held up a few sheets of paper. "You have the clothes?"
"Yeah, but I wasn't sure what to grab for Ali-"
"Clothes?" Gilbert repeated incredulously from the middle seat in the back. Why did the heck did they need clothes for?
Leo turned around in his seat and smiled pleasantly at the golden eyed male. "Oh, hello Gilbert. I didn't know you were coming with us. I haven't seen you in a while."
"My college is far away," Gilbert said with a shrug. "I came over to visit Elliot for the weekend but then he forced me to go on this crazy road trip with him."
"Hey, don't complain!" Elliot said loudly as he drove the car backwards out of the driveway. "You were practically hanging off my arm."
"Was not!"
"Am I missing something-?" Leo started to ask.
"No!" Elliot said sharply. "Just read me the directions so we can get there as soon as possible. I hate long drives," he mumbled.
Leo brushed some of his long hair behind his ear and adjusted his glasses so he could read the tiny font. "Okay, just take the next left-"
"Wait, how long is the drive?" Gilbert interrupted.
Leo shrugged. "It's not that long. Elliot's just paranoid."
"It's a two hour drive," Elliot grumbled from the front seat.
"Two hours?!" Gilbert cried out loud. "I thought we were going to the Pandora police station!"
"Well you thought wrong," Elliot said. "The police station isn't in Pandora. Now, Leo, what did you say before? I take the next left?"
"Yes. And after that you go to the highway-"
Gilbert slumped in the backseat, glowering. He stared out the window moodily and tuned out the pair talking in the front, choosing instead to focus on the passing scenery.
It was four o'clock in the afternoon; by the time they got to the police station, had something to eat and returned to Elliot's house it would after eight. And that wasn't including any traffic they might hit on the way there or back.
Why would Elliot go out of his way to go this far just to help a friend? Who was this person so important to him? And what made this person so special that he hadn't told Gilbert? Their families had been friends before either Elliot or Gilbert had been born and had remained so long after their children had grown up. After all of this time, what was it that Elliot couldn't trust him with?
-0o0-
The door slamming shut jerked Gilbert out of his sleep. He blinked repeatedly, trying to focus as Elliot opened the front door. He must have fallen asleep some time after they had stopped for gas, he thought distantly.
Elliot rapped his knuckles on the glass window of Gilbert's door, motioning with his hand for Gilbert to open it.
"You coming?" Elliot asked once Gilbert had managed to push the door open.
"…coming where?" Gilbert said, confused. He didn't wake up quickly compared to most people and he had a hard time understanding what Elliot meant.
"Inside," Leo said, appearing behind his friend. "We're at the police station, Gilbert."
Gilbert started and looked around. They were parked outside of an old building, one he didn't recognize, labeled with the town name he had never heard of before: 'Abyss'. It was getting dark out now and the streetlamps were starting to flicker on.
"We won't be inside for that long," Elliot said. "You can stay here if you want."
Gilbert refocused his attention on him. "No, I'm coming with you. That's why I'm here in the first place."
"Suit yourself." Elliot turned his back on Gilbert and walked towards the entrance with Leo in tow.
Gilbert followed shortly after a brief struggle of trying to untangle himself from the load of blankets Elliot had thrown in the backseat earlier. By the time he caught up, Elliot had already spoken to the man at the desk and someone was leading him and Leo through a back door.
"Gilbert, hurry up!" Elliot shouted and Gilbert ran the last few feet before the door shut on him.
"Are you sure about this, son?" the man leading them asked. "They are of the Ves-"
"I'm sure," Elliot said firmly. Gilbert looked at him curiously. What was going on?
They made another right at the end of the hallway and stopped. The man gestured at the door and said, "They should be right through there. You're free to leave whenever you wish."
Elliot strode past the man without a giving him thanks, pushing the door open and disappearing.
"Ah, thank you sir," Leo said with a nod. "I'm sorry for my friend's rudeness. He isn't normally like this."
The man shrugged. "It's not my problem, kid. Enjoy the rest of your day." He gestured towards the door and Leo hurried to follow after Elliot. Gilbert trudged after them at a much slower pace, glowering at the man before opening the door.
He was met with a wave of noise that nearly sent him running backwards right through the door he had just entered.
"Elliot!" someone- Gilbert didn't recognize the ecstatic voice- screamed excitedly. Gilbert caught a flash of blond hair and pale skin before Elliot was stumbling backwards, a pair of arms wrapped firmly around his waist.
Gilbert gaped at Elliot's back, shocked that he accepted this blatant show of affection and hadn't shoved the other person away at first chance. From the corner of his eye he saw Leo also watching the pair with a small smile as he stood off to the side.
"Ow-! Damnit, Oz!" Elliot said loudly as he tried to steady himself. "Ow-stop it! We're going to fall!"
He was met with the sound of light laughter and the boy- that was the only word Gilbert could think of to describe this other person as- looked up with a bright smile. Even from this distance he could see the blonde's bright green eyes.
"Don't worry, Elliot!" the boy said cheerfully. "We're fine! Aren't we, Alice?" He looked over his shoulder, still hugging Elliot.
"Hmph!" the new voice came from the corner of the room. "Of course we are! I once hitchhiked on a bus across the country; a few hours at the police station is nothing compared to that!"
A girl with long brown hair and startling purple eyes stood up from a chair and stalked over. Gilbert stared; he had never seen a girl like this before. She had an air of arrogance and self assurance, like a rebel without cause.
He instantly disliked her.
"Alice." Elliot nodded to her while trying to gently unwrap the boy's arms around his waist.
"Elliot," the girl Alice said with grudging respect. "Nice to see you again."
"Likewise. Have you met my friend, Leo?" Elliot gestured towards his best friend and Leo approached Alice.
"Hello, Alice," Leo said, holding out a hand. "I'm glad I finally got the chance to meet you."
Alice looked him up and down warily before accepting the handshake. "I could say the same. Oz says all Elliot ever talks about is you and that stupid knight story they're obsessed with-"
"It's not stupid!" the other two shouted simultaneously and Gilbert's jaw went slack, taken aback by the sudden loudness.
"Holy Knight is the most amazing series-" Elliot began to say angrily.
"-in the history of books ever!" the blond finished with an equal amount of passion.
Alice rolled her eyes. "See what I mean?" she said to Leo who laughed quietly.
"I'm not going to get into an argument with you about this," Elliot said with an irritated wave of his hand. "I'm tired and I want to go home; I'm sure you guys want the same."
The boy- who Gilbert had guessed was the 'Oz' everyone kept mentioning- nodded. "Did you bring the clothes?" he asked eagerly.
"Of course," Elliot scoffed and held out the backpack he had been carrying around. Oz grabbed it quickly.
"Everything should be in there," he said as Oz unzipped the backpack and started pulling out clothes. "Sorry for all of the guy stuff, Alice; normally I would have gotten my sister's clothes but my parents just cleaned out her room."
Gilbert's mind went back to two hours before when Elliot had been searching in his sister's room for something. Now at least he knew what Elliot had been doing in there.
"S'alright," Alice said gruffly and took the jeans and t-shirt Oz held out to her. "I'm not picky with what I wear. But I have one question." She held up a finger.
"What now?" Elliot asked, sounding annoyed.
"Who the hell is the seaweed head in the room?" Alice asked bluntly and jerked her thumb at Gilbert.
Gilbert's eye twitched. "What did you just call me?!" he yelled furiously while Alice folded her arms with a smirk. Oz jumped, surprised at the sudden loudness and whirled around to stare at Gilbert with wide eyes.
"Wow, I didn't even realize you were even in here!" he exclaimed with a bright smile. In the short second Gilbert's attention shifted to the blond haired teenager, all of his anger towards the haughty girl evaporated. He stared openly at the other, feeling something similar to awestruck; he had never seen someone with such intense, green eyes. Up close they looked like emeralds set against the porcelain of his pale skin, and his hair shone pure gold where the sunlight touched it.
"Ah, sorry, I forgot to introduce you guys," Gilbert heard Elliot say somewhere in the background. "Gilbert, this is my friend Oz I was telling you about before, and this is his second in command, Alice. Alice, Oz, this is Gilbert. He's a close friend to my family; he's like my older brother."
"You got it wrong," Alice snapped angrily. "Oz is my second in command, not the other way around."
Gilbert was still staring but Oz didn't seem to notice. Instead he just laughed lightly at Alice's remark and held out his hand to Gilbert, saying, "It's nice to meet you, Gilbert. You must be really cool if you're close enough to Elliot for him to consider you his brother."
"I- I-" Gilbert stuttered, flushing. No one had ever called him cool before. Quiet and occasionally cold towards others, sure, but cool?
"He means thanks," Elliot interrupted and elbowed Gilbert to make him stop stuttering. "Right, Gilbert?"
"R-right," Gilbert said, looking away and trying not to feel too embarrassed. Oz just smiled kindly.
"Can we go home already?" Alice grumbled. "I hate it in here."
"Sure. As soon as you get changed, we'll be out of this place in no time," Elliot said snidely. Alice glared at him.
"C'mon, Alice." Oz turned away from Gilbert and grabbed the girl's arm, dragging her out of the room. "Let's go find a restroom or something so that you can change." He pushed to door open and pulled her through it as the others watched.
"But I don't want-!" she cried out before she was cut off.
The door shut quietly behind them and the room was filled with silence. Gilbert felt a strange pang of loneliness, even though Elliot and Leo were still standing right next to him. The room suddenly seemed less bright and warm then it had a minute ago, and he couldn't figure out why.
"Shall we go then?" Leo asked and his voice echoed around the room.
"Yeah. There's no point waiting in here." Elliot started to walk towards the door with Leo.
"Wait!" Gilbert hurried to catch up. "We're leaving now? Without them?" he asked, panicking.
"No," Elliot scoffed, pushing the door open. "They're coming with us. Do you honestly think we would come all this way just to deliver some clothes?"
"Elliot…" Leo said in a warning tone.
"Of course not," Gilbert said. "But you said we were leaving-"
"Leaving the police station," Elliot corrected as they walked back into the entrance area. "We're just going to wait in the car until they come out and then we'll be on our way back home."
"Did you take care of the paperwork and everything to get them released?" Gilbert asked.
"Yup. It's all done. Right, Leo?"
"Right," Leo said.
"Why were they in there in the first place? Did they do something illegal?" The question had been bothering him ever since he saw the strange pair; neither of them looked old enough to have done something jail worthy. Especially Oz, with the air of innocence about him.
Elliot shrugged. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you 'don't know'?" Gilbert hissed at him as they left the lobby and into the cold night air. Leo followed them, a few steps behind. "You came all of this way to get them out and you don't even know why they were in there in the first place?!"
"Relax, Gilbert," Elliot said with a role of his eyes. "Oz is a good kid. I'm sure it wasn't anything too serious. Maybe Alice insulted a police officer or something and Oz probably got involved trying to stop it. Don't worry about it."
They were silent for a moment, but just before they reached the car Gilbert said quietly, "Why didn't you want to tell me about them?"
Elliot stopped walking and turned around to face him. "What?" he said. Leo walked carefully past them and stepped into the back of the car, shutting the door behind him so that the two would have some privacy.
"Why didn't you want to tell me who they were?" Gilbert repeated, feeling wounded. He had known Elliot since they were children and it hurt to think that there were some things that Elliot wasn't comfortable talking to him about. "I wouldn't have tried to stop you if I knew you cared about them that much-"
"It's not like that," Elliot interrupted with a sigh. "I mean, I do care about them. But it's really nothing to worry about."
"But I don't understand, do you not trust me or something-?"
"What? No- what are you even saying?" Elliot shook his head. "Of course I trust you."
"But then why would you-?" Gilbert tried to say.
"I would trust you with my life," Elliot said seriously. "Don't even doubt that. The only reason why I wouldn't tell you is because I don't want my parents finding out about this."
"But I wouldn't have told them if you didn't want me to!" Gilbert burst out. "You could have told me at any time and I wouldn't have said anything, but it bothers me that you think that you can't talk to me about things like this!"
"Gilbert," Elliot said abruptly.
"What?" he snapped.
"They're Vessaliuses."
Gilbert's jaw fell open and he gaped at Elliot while the teenager stared impassively back at him.
"V-Vessalius?" he stuttered. On the way here he had thought of many reasons why Elliot refused to tell him about his friends; the fact that they were Vessaliuses hadn't been one of them.
"Yes, Vessalius," Elliot said impatiently. "Now you know why I didn't mention anything. If my father knew, I'd be dead."
His eyes shifted to gaze at something over Gilbert's shoulder and Gilbert turned to see Oz and Alice heading out of the entrance. He could barely see in the light of the setting sun, but he could make out Alice snapping at Oz about something while the blond shrugged his shoulders, looking nonchalant. They had changed into the clothes Elliot had given them; baggy jeans and t shirts, Oz's pure white while Alice wore a dark red.
"Listen," Elliot hissed, drawing Gilbert's attention back to the beige haired teenager.
"What?"
"You can't tell my father about this," Elliot said lowly as the pair drew close. "Not even on accident. As far as you know, we spent the rest of the day at home watching those stupid Headhunter horror movies, okay?"
Gilbert hesitated to agree- he hated lying to Elliot's parents, whom he considered as an aunt and uncle- but before he could say anything Oz and Alice reached them.
"Are we okay?" Oz asked, looking back and forth between them as Alice folded her arms.
"Fine," Elliot said shortly. "We were just talking about what to get for dinner." Gilbert looked sideways at him, brow furrowed.
"Something with meat!" Alice said loudly, her purple eyes lighting up. Oz laughed next to her.
"We'll find you a place with meat, okay Alice?" he said as he ushered her towards the car. "Let's get on the road first though."
"I call shotgun!" she cried and ran around the car with Oz following.
"No way!" Elliot shouted after them. "Leo is supposed to give me directions on how to get out of here!"
"He can do that from the back!" came Alice's reply as she opened the car door. Even from the other side of the car Gilbert could hear Oz's amused snort as he shut the door for her.
"Damn that girl," Elliot muttered. "She always has to get her way." He looked back at Gilbert. "You're going to have to sit in the back again. Sorry about that."
"It's alright," he said, watching Oz as the smaller teen opened the back car and asked Leo to move to the middle seat. "I don't mind."
"Yeah, you don't mind," Elliot grumbled as he pulled open the door to the front seat. "You're not in the front with miss loudmouth for two hours."
-0o0-
The ride back to Elliot's house was… interesting, to say the least.
They should have known that they were doomed from the start when, after only being on the road for five minutes, Alice suddenly declared that she needed to go to the bathroom.
"You were just in the bathroom at the police station!" Gilbert cried furiously as Elliot swung the car into a gas station parking lot. What the hell was this idiot girl thinking?! By this rate they would never get back!
"Shut up, seaweed head!" Alice snarled and wacked him over the head with Elliot's backpack. "It's an emergency!"
"Alice, calm down!" Oz shouted over them as the two began to bicker. "It's okay; we needed gas anyway, right Elliot?"
Elliot had mumbled something unintelligible under his breath and they paid for the gas while waiting patiently for Alice to return from her trip to the restroom. Or at least Oz and Leo had waited patiently; Elliot tapped his foot with annoyance as he leaned against the car and Gilbert had scowled at the road, thinking how much quicker this would go if they just left the stupid girl behind.
At least Alice had been smart enough to come back with snacks for the rest of the ride.
Then, of course, there had been the issue of what they were going to eat, if they should stop or just continue to drive, how they were going to eat when hardly any of them had any money left-
"I demand some kind of meat!" Alice demanded, slamming a fist onto the dashboard and scaring everyone in the car. Gilbert scowled but bit back any retorts that came to mind; no one needed more headaches from this trip.
"I told you I don't have enough money to buy you meat!" Elliot snapped at her while trying to keep his eyes on the road.
"Oz!" Alice cried and whirled around in her seat to glare at the blond who jumped. "You said before when we were at the station that you would get me meat!"
Oz winced. "Yeah, but if we don't have any money there's nothing I can do about it, Alice. And you can't force Elliot to buy meat when he went all of this way to get us."
Alice made a pained expression, as if the idea of not eating meat actually hurt her in some insane way, and Oz hurried to say, "I'll buy you meat when we're on our own again, okay?" She nodded and settled back down in her chair, turning to stare out the window.
Gilbert watched the exchange with curiosity. It was interesting seeing how the two got along despite the fact that they were so different. It seemed that no matter how loud or determined Alice was she could always be calmed by Oz. Oz was the only one who make her see reason through her crazy plans, Oz was the one who got her to give the serious answers, Oz was the one who made Gilbert think that there was more to Alice than just the silly girl he saw on the surface.
Likewise Alice was the person who made Oz laugh and smile the most. Oz often spaced out when no one spoke to him and his expression would turn somber. Too somber, Gilbert noted, for a teenager who still had his whole life still ahead of him. Alice could easily pull Oz out of these stupors with a simple comment or flip of her hair. He smiled when she smiled, he laughed when she laughed…it made Gilbert wonder how they ever met in the first place.
They were opposites of each other, yet they also matched the other's personality in a way that was nothing like Gilbert had ever seen. There was a deepness to their relationship too; a depth between them that was lacking from most- if not all- of the college relationships Gilbert had seen over the years.
It made him even more curious about why they had been stuck in the police station in the first place. Why hadn't they called their parents instead of getting Elliot to help? Up until now Gilbert had thought that Elliot hated the Vessaliuses- the idea had been grounded into his brain since he was a child- yet here they were rescuing Oz from the Abyss police station. But then again, how had Elliot and Oz become friends in the first place?
Needless to say, Gilbert had plenty to think about on the ride back.
-0o0-
11/1/2012
THIS STORY. I had so much fun writing this, you seriously have no idea. But, anyways, please review if you liked it! The second part will be added on soon.
I do not own Pandora Hearts.