This chapter just had too many typos - I had to repost it!

Time Rolls On.

The five of them sat in the head masters office, none of them sorry, at least two of them defiantly, and all of them a little worse for wear. The head master rubbed his temples as he sat as his desk – it had already been a long day, and he really didn't want to be dealing with his right now. Why was it always the same group of rowdys?

So once again, someone had picked a fight with little Arthur Kirkland, knowing him to be of short temper and stature, not expecting him to be quite so proficient at fighting back. Said instigator was of course Mathias Køhler, who seemed incapable of keeping his opinion to himself or his mouth closed. Seeing his friend getting picked on, Ivan Braginski – who was far too big for his age and a good boy if you left him alone – decided to intervene, which of course garnered the attention of the everyone within a 500 metre radius, including noted trouble-maker and friend of Arthurs step-brother, Gilbert Beilschmidt, who seldom missed an oppourtunity to get into a fight. With Mathias on the wrestling team and the biggest of the boys (although for how long was debaetable with Ivan still growing), he didn't seem to be having any trouble keeping the other three at bay. Until Elizavetta Héderváry got involved.

Never before had this educator met such an un-ladylike student. Her long hair and girls uniform were a mask of inhumanity under which lay another rowdy teenage boy. Upon seeing her idiot boyfriend getting into yet another fight, she had waded in to break it up, and succeeded in breaking Mathais' nose…again. The five students sat before his desk waiting for him to speak, but no words came out – what could he say that he hadn't before? With a sigh, he sentenced Mathias to a weeks suspension for picking on the younger students, gave Gilbert and Elizavetta a weeks detention each, ordered Arthur to spend 3 hours after school tomorrow in the quiet room and gave Ivan a stern telling off. Mathias grumbled as they filed out of the office.

"Why was I given the harshest punishment?" he griped.

"Because you started it." Lizzie pointed out.

"Pardon? Did the hemale say something?"

Mathias received a rough smack on the head. Looking around in shock, he saw it was Gilberts grandfather who had struck him – his own mother stood behind him in the hallway, clearly fuming.

"I didn't raise you to be so disrespectful to women!" she nearly yelled, marching forward and grabbing him by the ear "Why can't you ever keep your hands to yourself? Wait until your father gets home! Your cousin Berwald is such a good boy!"

She continued to berate him as she dragged him down the hallway, ignoring his protestations. Lizzie and Gilbert smirked to themselves, but their mirth was short-lived as they also received smacks to the head from Grandpa and a disapproving glare. He didn't bother saying anything – they had had the lecture so many times before that it didn't bare repeating – but turned on his heels and walked away, the two following him with the heads bowed. Francis and Ivans elder sister Katyusha loitered in the hallway as well.

"Arthur!" Francis scolded the moment he saw him "Why didn't you come and find big brother if someone was picking on you?"

"Why the hell would I?" was his spat response, storming right past him down the hall.

"Arthur, hold on!"

Francis ran after him. Katyusha patted her brother down, checking for wounds and cuts and fixing his hair. He just smiled patiently. Satisfied, she sighed.

"Please don't get into fights, Ivan." She urged "You promised me that Arthur wouldn't be a bad influence."

"I'm sorry." He assured, voice squeaking where it was in the process of breaking "I tried talking but he wouldn't listen."

She sighed again and patted his head.

"You're a good boy." She assured "Please be more careful."

She took his hand, leading him down the corridor with another sigh – they were already late picking up Natalia from middle school.

"Man, that guy never learns!" Antonio laughed as he placed the wooden platter of garlic bread on the table.

"Tell me about it!" Gilbert agreed "He should know by now that I'm too awesome for him to beat me!"

Lizzie and Francis, sat on the other side of the table, grumbled.

"Did you break his nose?" Ludwig asked as he took a slice of the garlic bread.

"Uh…"

Gilbert really wanted to say that he had, but between his Grandpas lecturing and the fact it was actually Lizzie, he thought it might be best to hold his tongue. Wiping his hands on his apron, Antonio just laughed.

"His nose has been broken so many times, it probably just fell out." He reasoned, saving Gilbert from an awkward explanation "You want another lemonade, champ?"

"Yes, please." Ludwig asked, handing Antonio his empty glass.

Being early in the evening, the traditional restaurant Antonio family owned was still pretty empty, so he could loiter at their table with them without getting scolded by his mother for slacking off. Since he worked at the place most days, if they wanted to hang out with him they had to come here – his parents were of course used to this by now, and gave the group free drinks and garlic bread, but anything else they had to pay for. It wasn't an awful place to hang out – it was warm and dry in the winter and had the benefit of free drinks in the summer. Francis checked his phone again, pouting.

"Answer your phone, Arthur!" he mumbled to himself as he flicked through his contacts.

"You worry about him too much." Gilbert pointed out "Give the kid some space!"

"Says the man surgically attached to his little brother!" he retorted.

Gilbert covered Ludwigs ears, gasping theatrically.

Luddy was too used to this kind of thing to pay it much mind, and happily continued eating his garlic bread.

"That kid's got such a temper." Lizzie thought aloud.

Francis snorted – his mothers marriage seemed to be lasting this time, meaning he was stuck with the four Kirkland boys for brothers. Luckily the older two had moved out and gone to university, but that still left the younger two, plus the latest editions to the family. Pampered and fashion-conscious Francis had had more than a little trouble adjusting to their boorish ways, but had – for reasons his friends couldn't fathom – become unnaturally attached to the youngest one.

"He wasn't so bad until the twins were born." Francis reported, speedily typing a text messege "These days I'm lucky if he comes home at night."

"Don't your parents tell him off?" Lizzie asked, concerned.

He huffed again.

"Like they'd notice."

Antonio returned with a fresh round of drinks.

"Hey, I just remembered!" he cheered "My cousin has tickets for the semi-finals. You guys wanna go?"

"Are you serious?!" Gilbert shrieked, almost jumping up from his chair "The semi-finals?!"

"Why isn't he going?" Francis asked.

"He had to work. None of his friends could make it either, since they all had kids and stuff."

"Antonio, you better not be pulling our legs or I will beat you to death with this garlic bread!" Lizzie warned.

"Would I joke about the semi-finals?" he assured "It's legit!"

"Yes yes yes yes yes!" Gilbert shrieked "We are totally there! We're so there, we're practically there right now!"

"Oh my god, oh my god, the semi-finals!" Lizzie enthused just as dramatically, practically jumping up and down in her seat "My dad is going to be so jealous!"

They all looked at Francis, who was oddly sedate considering the earth shattering news they had just been given. He was still staring moodily at his phone.

"Semi-finals of what?" Ludwig asked, not following what the teens were talking about.

"The World Cup, Luddy!" Gilbert told him "The single most important sporting event ever!"

"I thought that was Olympics?" the child asked innocently.

"Only if you aren't manly enough for the awesomeness that it the World Cup!"

"Huh."

"To think we'll actually be there!" Lizzie agreed "Not just watching it on tv this year!"

"That means we'll miss the party." Ludwig realised.

"That's okay, little man." Antonio assured, ruffling his hair "The best parties happen at the finals anyway."

With a gut wrenching realisation, Gilbert paled.

"Hey… how many tickets do you have?" he asked Antonio.

"Six." He replied with a smile and a wink, knowing exactly what he had just realised "Enough for us four, Luddy and one more."

"Will Heracles want to come?" Ludwig asked Lizzie.

"Nah, he's not really into sport." She admitted, slight disappointment in her voice "There are no cats or sleeping involved." she sighed to herself "We should probably take an 'adult' as the sixth."

A groan spread through the four teens. Ludwig looked at them curiously – he wasn't yet old enough that his every action was a desperate attempt at freedom, so he couldn't quite understand their attitude.

"If Grandpa goes we won't have any fun." Gilbert knew "In bed by nine, no talking. Haha."

"Yeah, it's a no for me too – it was hard enough getting time off for myself to go." Antonio agreed.

"I guess I'll ask my dad, but I already know the answer." Lizzie offered "He'll say 'you're already 17 and you're with all your friends, what do you need me for?'"

"We may have to bite the bullet…" Gilbert thought "Unless…"

"Don't even ask." Francis knew right away "Henry's too busy, my mother would rather die than be caught watching football, and if Angus and Patrick even catch a wiff of us having tickets we can kiss them goodbye." He pouted a moment "Arthur would probably like to go, though."

Gilbert groaned – either way, he was going to have to beg Grandpa to let him take Luddy, especially after what happened last time the teens had tried to take him somewhere (his ears were still ringing 2 years later). Well, the earlier he bought it up the better. Antonio's mother yelled from the kitchen that the dinner shift was starting, which was shorthand for 'get your free-loading friends out of my restaurant', so they departed into the evening, Gilbert giving Luddy a piggyback down the road.

"Francis, put your phone away while you're walking!" Lizzie scolded "If you walk into a post, you'll get a black eye!"

Francis grumbled and stuck his phone in his bag.

"Man, this summer is going to be awesome!" Gilbert thrilled, practically hopping "Semi-finals! I can't wait! I knew there had to be some perks from having such a big family!"

"Walk normally!" Ludwig begged, holding onto his shoulders to dear life.

"If we're going into the city anyway, we may as well make a week of it." Lizzie suggested.

"We can go shopping!" Francis realised with a happy gasp.

"Or we can not." Gilbert quipped.

"You're no fun."

"Sounds expensive." Ludwig pointed out.

The three teens groaned – it made their hearts heavy that the child in their group was the voice of reason. Gilbert did the sums in his head – 4/5 adults, 1 or 2 children, accommodation, food, travel, expenses… he audibly groaned.

"I need a job." He grumbled.

"I need a better job." Lizzie sighed, having done similar calculations herself.

"Let me know what my share is." Francis said airily, since worrying about money was neither necessary nor important to him.

"Maybe we should ask Grandpa to come." Gilbert thought.

"A week in the city with your grandpa?" Francis grimaced "Maybe I'll just meet you there."

"I thought you liked Grandpa." Ludwig asked.

"I do, tiger!" he assured with a wink "He's just very…"

"Strict." Lizzie knew.

"Unweilding?" Gilbert suggested.

"Old." Francis settled "I was going to say old."

"Francis is spoilt." Lizzie 'whispered' to Ludwig, leaning over Gilbert's back "He's used to getting his own way, and he can't do that with Grandpa."

Ludwig grinned. Certainly, no-one got their own way with Grandpa. Francis said goodbye to them at the cross roads, immediately fishing his phone back out of his bag. With the promise of summer of the horizon, the afternoons were getting longer, and the smell of the grass and spring flowers drifted up into the early evening air. They walked along the riverbank to get home – until recently it had been surrounded by fields, but now the area had been covered in houses. It was a crying shame – Gilbert and Lizzie remembered fondly their 11th – 13th summers spend mucking about in the fields, playing football and fishing in the river. Gilbert in particular, as he had taught Ludwig to kick a ball around in those fields.

As they entered the road that led to Lizzie's house, they spotted Heracles and his friend Kiku fussing over a cat on the side of the road.

"Stop harassing that animal, Hairy-cuticles!" Gilbert teased, loud enough to make the cat jump up and run away.

Heracles glared at him as he stood – he was only 14, but he was already the same size as Gilbert.

"Guess what!" Ludwig nearly yelled at them "We're going to the World Cup! Semi finals!"

"Oh, that sounds great!" Kiku said "You're very lucky."

"Meat-head." Heracles mumbled, eyes firmly on Gilbert.

"Oh, you're not still mad about that cat?" he asked "Don't you have like three inside?"

"Yes." He admitted curtly "But that was a Siamese cat."

"Oh drop it, Heracles." His sister ordered "It's not like you won't see it again."

With a final glare at Gilbert, he turned to his sister, his tone softening.

"By the way, I got my internship at the vet." He reported to her in his usual laid-back manner "I start the Wednesday after school ends."

"That's great!" Lizzie congratulated, punching him playfully on the shoulder "I'm so proud of you!"

"Just don't fall asleep in the surgery or you'll get fired." Gilbert teased, earning him another glare.

Kiku made his excuses and left – like Antonio, he also had to work at the family restaurant from time to time, only it was his brother that owned it instead of his parents. Lizzie and Heralces father happened to be in when they arrived, and as expected, he was very jealous of their news.

"It's all I've been hearing about since it started!" he reported "The Italian guy I work with has been going on and on ever since he found out it was going to be in this country." He snorted in laughter "Apparently, it's illegal in Italy to take time off work to watch football."

"Sounds harsh." Gilbert agreed.

"Football's for meat-heads." Heracles proffered as he wandered up the stairs.

Sadik shook his head at his back – what kind of boy didn't like football?

"So it's okay to go?" Lizzie confirmed, although no one expect him to say 'no.'

"Who else is going?" Sadik asked.

"Francis and Antonio." She explained.

"That Francis boy makes me uncomfortable." He groaned, scratching his belly "He's lucky puberty was kind to him, or else he might have spent the rest of his life in a dress, if you know what I mean."

"Dad, that's awful." Lizzie scolded.

"Tell me it's not true." He countered "Well, that's fine – I'm sure you can kick his ass if he tries anything. Sure, you can go. You got the money?"

She groaned.

"If I don't buy anything in the next 2 months." She admitted.

"Hm." Sadik thought a moment, continuing to scratch his belly. "Tell you what." he said to her "You do my chores for the next two months and I'll top up your purse before you go."

"Really?"

"Sure – you're pretty independent, so I don't get to spoil you often. I'll double whatever you save."

"That's awesome!" Lizzie declared, throwing her arms around her father, who chuckled happily "But you're going to regret it!"

"Just like your mother." He muttered happily, letting her go "You're going to regret it when you have to do all the laundry and cooking."

"No chore scares me!" she declared, showing off her guns, causing her father to laugh again.

"So, what did the old man say?" he asked Gilbert, knowing his way pretty well by now.

"Haven't told him yet." He admitted.

"Don't put it off." Sadik suggested seriously.

"No sir."

"No, sir." Ludwig echoed, still sat happily on his brother back.

Gilbert left soon after, taking Luddy over the field at the back of their houses.

"You think they might build on these fields too?" he asked, taking a good look around the green grass.

"No way." Gilbert assured "It floods in the winter and the ground is uneven – no one would buy a house here."

Ludwig yelped unhappily as Gilbert hopped over the stones in the river, gripping his brothers shoulders tight.

"If you keep doing that, I'm going to be sick." He warned.

Gilbert just laughed.

"We're nearly home." He pointed out "I'll put you down when we get in the gate."

"Aren't your arms tired? You carried me all the way."

"No way! I'm awesome enough that I'm not tired at all – I've carried you every day since you were born, so there's no way you're ever going to be too heavy."

Ludwig seemed unconvinced.

"I'm going to ask Grandpa about that." He announced.

The smell of lamb greeted them as they stepped into the back door, Gilbert finally releasing his brother.

"Take off your shoes." Grandpa ordered immediately, pointing out his freshly cleaned kitchen floor.

Gilbert told his Grandpa the news as he undid his laces, keeping an eye on his reaction – it was hard to read, so he wasn't sure if he was winning him over. He didn't answer right away, only coming to a decision when he was serving up dinner.

"You can go." He decided "On one condition – you must stay out of trouble for the next two months."

"Really?" Gilbert said, half way between delighted and devastated.

"I've given up on you getting good grades in anything that doesn't interest you." Grandpa elaborated "But if you can stay out of trouble, I'll let you go. I'll even put some money to it."

"Really?! I can totally do that! I'll be the least troublesome person in the world!"

"We'll see."

Elizavetta ran through the darkening hallways – where the bloody hell had she left it? She already tried the maths room, the library and the English room – if she didn't find her uniform soon, she was going to be seriously late for work! She still had the music room, the science lab and the sports field to check – God, please be in the music room! As she entered the music department, she heard the sound of piano drifting through the air. Who was still practising this time in the afternoon? Who would hang around school of their own free will?

She threw open the door of the room she had been in earlier that day, stopping short in shock when she realised it was inhabited. A boy sat at the piano, plugging away at it with swift and elegant movements. Lizzie stopped a moment, but he didn't seem to have noticed her. She couldn't help but take a moment to listen – his rendition was perfect, not a single note out of place. It was almost hypnotising…

Snapping back to her senses, she remembered why she was there, looking all around the desks. Her heart leapt for joy when she spotted her sports bag at the desk. She didn't really want to interrupt the boy, so crept over as silently as she could. The minute she had it in her hands, she bolted out the room, running as fast as her legs would carry her to work.

"You're late!" Katyusha pointed out as she ran into the restaurant, five plates balanced on her arms.

"Hurry up and change, there are customers waiting!" Mr Wang ordered from the kitchen.

Six hours later, the two girls left the restaurant, Lizzie rubbing her sore back - Mr Wang was a slave driver at the best of times, and since she had been late he was especially merciless today.

"He really knows how to get the most for is money." Katyusha complimented "Maybe that's why he owns so many businesses."

"You think a man with all the money could afford to be a little nicer." Lizzie moaned, stretching her back as they waited under the awning.

Katyusha just smiled, keeping to herself that the only reason she had a job here at all was because her brother was friends with the owners brother. As the door to the restaurant opened, the air was filled with delicious smells and the sound of diners conversing and having fun. As the door shut again, both disappeared.

"Are you okay to get the bus?" Katyusha asked "There are creepy people around this time of night."

"It's fine." Lizzie assured "I'm not, oh wait, let me check my change."

She rooted around in her bag, looking for her wallet. The longer it continued to be allusive in the recesses of her bag, the more frantically she searched for it. With a heart wrenching suddenness, she realised it wasn't there. Oh good god… it definitely wasn't in her locker back in the restaurant… was it still at school? Ugh, that's even worse! Was it still in the music room? Had that boy taken it? Had she lost it while running to work? A million horrid thoughts crossed her mind – she was going to have to cancel her cards. She still had a twenty in there. How was she going to get home?

Katyushas brother and sister turned up, wrapped up warmly despite the temperate night – he always came to pick her up when she worked late, and if there was no-one to watch their younger sister, he would bring her along.

"What are you going to do?" she asked before she left "Are you going to call your dad?"

"If he's home he'll be asleep." She knew "I'll have to call Grandpa and just apologise a lot."

Despite her insistence, the siblings waited with her until Grandpa showed up, pulling up to the pavement in the dark. She apologised for causing him trouble as she climbed in, but he shook his head.

"I'd be more troubled if you walked." He insisted.

The next morning, Lizzie grumbled to the others over her missing wallet – the boys promised to keep their eyes out, but she didn't hold up much hope. She would have to call the bank at lunch to cancel her cards – hopefully she called them before some fraudster took her savings.

"That's, like, totally harsh." Feliks concurred, leaning over his chair to talk to her "The least Francis could do is lend you a little money until you get your new cards. What a cheapskate."

"I wouldn't want to be indebted to him." Lizzie admitted, remembering what a hard time she had had when she borrowed a fiver off him in the past.

"Hm, I guess I see your point." He admitted "He's a real skirt chaser, that one. If I was a girl I might mace him at least once."

"I thought you liked good looking men." Lizzie said.

"I do." He confirmed with a smile "It's his personality that bugs me. I like the shy, quiet type." He put his head on his palm and stared openly at his friend Toris, who busied himself with his late homework and pretended not to notice, causing Feliks to smirk.

"Speaking of personality." Lizzie mentioned "Why are you wearing a girls uniform today?"

"Because the girls uniform is way better than the boys." He said plainly.

"Makes sense."

"Doesn't it suit me?"

"Actually, it suits you pretty well."

"Lizzie!"

They looked over to the voice that called them – Eduard stood at the door, talking to a couple of boys she didn't remember having seen before. One looked remarkably like Feliks, only moodier, while the other was tall and pale, with thick dark hair and a mole under his mouth. Damn… he was pretty! Lizzie scolded herself as her thoughts went astray, especially as he turned his violet eyes towards her. With a nod, he floated into the room, stopping before her desk.

"Elizavetta Héderváry?" he enquired, the tenor of his voice suggesting he was more at home in private schools than public ones.

"Yes." She confirmed.

He pulled a confused face, and it made her heart flutter a little. He was cute! He held out his hand, and for the first time he realised he was holding something.

"I believe this is yours." He pointed out "Although from the design I could swear it belonged to a man."

"My wallet!" she exclaimed in glee, jumping up from her seat "Where did you find it?"

"You left it in the music room when you snuck in yesterday." He revealed "It must have dropped out of your bag."

"Thank you so much!" she said as she took it back from him "I really owe you…?"

He stared at her a moment before realising she was waiting for his name.

"Roderich." He introduced, blushing slightly "Roderich Edelstein. A pleasure to meet you."

Lizzie went to shake his hand, but instead of grasping it firmly like she was used to, he took it gently, bending at the waist and kissing the back of her palm. To say she was shocked would have been an understatement. Who… who did things like that?! This wasn't the middle ages!

"Are you, like, from the continent?" Feliks asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, what of it?" the boy who looked surprisingly like him challenged.

"Nothing, nothing." Feliks assured. Roderich released her hand, leaving her speechless.

"I've taken up enough of your time." He said apologetically "Please be more careful with your belongings in the future, Ms Héderváry."

"Please, call her Lizzie!" Feliks insisted on her behalf "And you can call me whatever you want."

"Feliks!" Toris scolded, which seemed to make the blond happy.

Roderich didn't look quite so happy, giving him the same look everyone gave him the first time they saw him wearing girls clothes. With an uncomfortable sigh, he looked back at Lizzie, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Goodbye, Ms… Elizavetta." He corrected, turning on his heels and walking back out the classroom.

No one knew who this boy was – it seemed he and his friend hadn't been at the school very long. Between his air of aristocracy and the fact that he (a boy) had sought out Elizavetta Héderváry (the she-devil of Hetalia Secondary school), word of him spread very quickly. Having heard about the incident themselves, her friends wasted no time in teasing her.

"He didn't even give you a love letter?" Antonio quipped "That's cold."

"He clearly has no idea what he's doing." Francis agreed "Although if it's our Lizzie, he'd have better chance challenging her to a duel!"

"Shut up, you morons." Lizzie spat, giving Francis' leg a kick as best she could while sat on the grassy bank with her lunch in her lap.

"I'd have put my phone number in the wallet." Heracles agreed, sat a little further down on the bank than the older lot.

"You aren't that subtle." Kiku pointed out.

"I could be."

"I doubt it."

"Shut up the lot a ya!" Gilbert ordered, lay on his back with his hands behind his head, staring at the clouds "So a pretty-boy did Lizzie a favour, it's not a big deal."

"Thank you, Gilbert!" Lizzie cried, already sick of the teasing.

"Did you check your wallet though?" Antonio finished, swiftly silence by Gilberts trainer smacking him with force in the face.

As school ended, Gilbert ran home immediately – for the sake of the semi-final, he was keeping his head as low as possible, which for him meant going right home and keeping his mouth shut. Antonio went to work as always. Francis was going to stay with Lizzie to do their science homework (as neither of them was particularly good at it), but spying Arthur slinking off with Ivan, he made his apologies and ran after them. The sun was setting by the time she finished, throwing the heavy textbook onto the cart with a satisfying thud.

The campus was practically empty, save for the cleaners and a few straggling students. As she got to the front gate, she was surprised to hear someone calling her name. Looking around, she saw Roderich jog up to her. She was slightly amused that even this light exercise seemed to take his breath away.

"Ms He… um, Elizavetta." He corrected again, catching his breath as he caught her "Are you going home?"

"I am." She confessed "And yourself?"

Roderich looked all around, like he was expecting someone.

"I don't understand." He admitted "I was given to understand that all your friends were male."

"That's right." She confirmed, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"Well, where are they?" he asked.

"Home." She pointed out "Antonio had work, Francis had to catch his brother and Heracles volunteers at the animal shelter after school."

"That'll never do." He insisted, clearly put out "They can't leave a young lady to walk home alone at night. That's simply unheard off." He groaned, pushing his glasses up his nose "Very well, I shall have to walk you home."

Lizzie laughed, clearly catching Roderich by surprise. She stopped when she realised he was serious.

"Oh… that's not necessary." She assured "It's not that dark, and I don't live far."

"It is entirely necessary." He insisted "My mother would disown me if I even considered leaving you to walk alone."

Lizzie was immediately uncomfortable – he was seriously serious, wasn't he? Walk her home? How old fashioned was this boy? Although pale and easily winded, he seemed determined, and truth be told, she wouldn't mind an excuse to look at that pretty face for a while longer.

"Which way to you live?" she offered "Maybe we can walk part of the way together."

Luckily for her, he lived in the same direction she did, and the two of them strolled along the lane together, chatting away in the usual getting-to-know-you fashion as the sun set and street lights came on overhead.

"So after the divorce my mother came here." Roderich finished "Her good friend from college had just become divorced herself, so they bought a house together. It's not nearly as big as my fathers house, but I don't have to share a room with Vash, so I can't really complain."

"That sounds rough." Lizzie empathised "It must be tough getting used to this place after having lived on the continent your whole life."

Roderich stopped short, eyes on the riverside path ahead of them. Noticing his hard stare, she looked down the path herself – Mathias and his friends loitered on the riverbank, and the small orange glow of cigarettes could be seen floating in the gloom. She startled a little as Roderich took her arm.

"Let's go the other way." He suggested, eyes still on the gang of boys.

"Oh honey, that's not necessary!" she laughed, taking his hand and pulling him down the path.

Despite being a boy, he was pretty light, and didn't seem to have the strength in his bones to stop himself being pulled. The group looked at them as they came close, but didn't say anything.

"Evening, Mathias." Elizavetta greeted "How's your nose?"

He flipped her the bird. She just laughed, especially as Tino proceeded to tell him off.

"What did your mother say?" he scolded "You want to go to military school?"

"They'll shave off all that chicken hair!" Lizzie pointed out with glee.

"You should go." Lukas said plainly, snuggling up with his little brother in his lap.

"That's mean!" Mathias shrieked.

The group got rowdy – well, Mathias got rowdy, the others were pretty quiet (except Tino when he got mad, but that's a story for another time), and Lizzie laughed openly as she pulled Roderich past them. She finally stopped pulling when they got to the end of the dirt path and back onto the tarmac.

"See, that wasn't so bad, was it?" she pointed out "And we shaved ten minutes off our journey!"

Roderich was, if possible, even paler than before, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.

"You… those ruffians… right past them…"

"Those guys?" Lizzie laughed "Mathias has a big mouth, but they're not bad guys. Certainly not 'ruffians.' Stick with me, sweetie, I'll protect you!"

She laughed again, continuing on her path. Roderich soon caught up with her, walking her the rest of the way to her house.