Gilbert Beilschmidt sat back on his friend Antonio's living room couch. He had gone over there to watch a movie that night. What it turned into was a makeout party where he was the only one with no one to makeout with. His two best friends, Francis and Antonio, had their respective partners, Charlotte and Lovino, while he sat by himself and watched the movie. And it was starring Tom Cruise, so of course it was awful.

Gilbert groaned. "Guys, this blows!" he complained. "Why the fuck did you even invite me?" He was so distracted by Tom Cruise's teeth that he couldn't even form another sentence and threw a small pillow from the couch toward the TV.

Antonio pulled away from Lovino just long enough to say, "Gilbert, you break my TV, and you buy me a new one," before being viciously grabbed by his collar and pulled into another heated kiss.

Gilbert raked a hand through his silky, white hair and groaned louder. "If you guys don't stop, I'll just leave," he warned.

Francis broke away from his Belgian girlfriend just long enough to say, "Then leave," before her hands reached lower than before. "Oh, you naughty girl," he seductively said to her, voice like silk.

"I'm out," Gilbert quickly said, standing. He didn't want to see where that was going. His feet took his straight to the door as he walked out into the night. He went to his car, hoping it would warm up fast.

It wasn't exactly winter yet, but it felt like it. Mid-October always made him shiver, and he didn't even have a coat. Luckily his car warmed up quickly and he drove out toward his dorm on campus.

He hadn't joined a fraternity like Francis and Antonio had. They were both in the same Fraternity as well, which annoyed Gilbert, because they were always asking him to join, too. They wanted to be frat brothers, even though the three of them were already like brothers anyway. They always said they would all be brothers no matter what, so why would it matter if they were in a fraternity or not?

As he drove down the street, he saw a girl with long, brown hair staggering down it. She looked drunk or something, but he couldn't tell. He pulled over next to her and she started staggering faster, away from his car.

"Hey!" he called out after rolling down his window. "Why are you walking around like that? Are you hurt?"

"Leave me alone!" the girl shouted back to him. "Go away!"

Gilbert parked the car and ripped the keys from the ignition, getting out of his car. "Look, you're obviously injured," he said. "Let me fucking help you!"

The girl cringed as she tried to move faster. "Stop it! Please just leave me alone!"

"Where are you going?" Gilbert asked her. "I can take you there!"

"I'm going to…" The girl's voice trailed off as she fainted.

"Shit!" Gilbert muttered, catching her. He used one arm to hold her up as he got out his cell phone and called up Francis. "Pick up you fucking French bastard," he muttered as the phone continued ringing.

"Oui?" Francis asked, annoyed, as he answered the phone. "You just left, Gil. What could you possibly want?"

"There's this girl and the staggering, now she's unconscious!" Gilbert stammered into his phone.

"What did you do to the staggering girl?!" Charlotte demanded, taking Francis's phone.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. Great. Charlotte was involved now. "There was a girl staggering down the street. I asked her if she needed a ride. She ran when I asked her if she wanted a ride. Then she fell unconscious but I caught her, but now I don't know what to do."

"You have a single room, right?" Charlotte asked. "As in it's just you in your dorm room?"

"Yes," Gilbert asked. He pinched the bridge of his nose, not liking where this was going.

"Take her back to your dorm. I know your dorm is co-ed because I've spent nights in there before, Gil," Charlotte said into the phone. "You have no excuses, boy. Take her with you, tuck her into your bed, and sleep on your couch. If she wakes up and asks questions, then explain what you did. Tell her that a female friend of yours told you to do it. Use my name if you have to."

Gilbert closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine," he sighed. "Danke, Charlie."

"Don't mention it, Gil," Charlotte said, giggling a little. "And one more thing. Make sure Gilbird doesn't make any noise, and don't refer to him as your 'side chick'."

"What's wrong with referring to Gilbrid as my 'side chick'?" Gilbert demanded.

"Because it's stupid," Charlotte sighed before Gilbert heard her moan softly.

"Okay, thanks, bye," he quickly said before hanging up. He hated how Francis and Charlotte would still talk on the phone with him while they were having sex. It was so gross! His crimson eyes then went to the unconscious girl that he was supporting. How was he going to get her in his car?

He picked her up bridal style and carried her to his car, buckling her into the passenger's side and then getting in and driving her to his dorm. He was so lucky that his room was on the ground floor and the first room. If not, there would be a lot of questions that would need answering.

Gilbert was quite proud of himself after he took off her shoes and tucked her into his bed. He liked how peaceful she looked, despite the bruises on her arms and face. It made him wonder who did that to her. It also made him want to hurt whoever would do something to a woman so beautiful.

.

A couple hours later, the girl's eyes blinked open. "W-Where am I?" she asked, voice hoarse. She slowly sat up, wincing. Her eyes rested on Gilbert. "You!" she gasped out. "What are you planning on doing to me? I didn't do anything, I swear!"

"I don't want to do anything to you," Gilbert calmly told her. "Why would you think that?"

"It's just that…" The girl's olive green eyes went to the bruises on her arms. "All men want something, don't they? They all want something that not all women want to give them. Isn't that right?" She sadly looked up at him. "I've been good at guarding it, if you can't tell from my battle scars."

"That's why you're all roughed up?" Gilbert asked, astonished. He blinked in surprise. "What kind of a man would do that?"

The girl shrugged. "You'd be surprised," she sighed. "I was just so exhausted when I ran into you. I thought you were trying to take me away and, you know….That's why I was telling you to go away. I didn't want to fight you off. I'm sorry…"

"You have every right to defend yourself in any way possible," Gilbert told her. "You're a strong girl."

"Thanks," she said, smiling. "I'm Elizaveta Héderváry. What's your name?"

"Gilbert," he answered. "Gilbert Beilschmidt. And you don't always have to fight men off, you know."

"I don't?" Elizaveta asked, smiling at him. "Why is that?"

"Some guys may have a rough and tough exterior," Gilbert explained. "Some guys may be loud and brash and rude and all, but those guys can be the nicest ones when it really comes down to it."

"And how would you know that?" Elizaveta asked, biting her lip cutely. She batted her eyes at him flirtatiously. She really liked this guy and everything about him from his unique genetics to his unique personality. He was completely different from the person she had thought he was just a few hours before.

"Because I'm a person like that," he said. "It's all an act. But girls usually can't handle one thing."

"And what's that?" Elizaveta asked, leaning toward him with interest.

"My side chick," he answered. "I understand that most girls have reservations on that kind of stuff, but my side chick is very important to me."

"A side chick?" she asked, confused. "For real?"

He pointed to the yellow bird sitting in the cage across the dorm room. "You better fucking believe it."

Elizaveta laughed so hard that she snorted, causing her to blush in embarrassment yet laugh even harder at her own humiliation. "That's your side chick?" She couldn't stop laughing as her sides began to ache.

"Hey now, Gilbird is very loyal. He's a loyal side chick," Gilbert defiantly stated.

"You even named it after yourself!" she laughed. She held her sides, which felt like they would split open by that point. How had she managed to fall for that idiot after just one conversation? How had that happened?

Once she stopped laughing, she smiled over at the albino man across the room from her. "I think you have found yourself a wonderful girl, Mr. Beilschmidt," she softly said. "And I don't mind your side chick."

He laughed. "Who knew?" he asked himself. "I literally picked up a chick tonight." His smile could barely fit on his face. "Wait, you like me?"

"Just come kiss me," Elizaveta said, laughing.