Having diligently paid attention to the GPS' instructions, Erzsébet made it to Gilbert's apartment complex in no time.
She had only packed the essentials: not that she had much stuff in her dorm anyway. Erzsébet wasn't one who kept a lot of luxuries. She preferred to keep her room more open and spacious.
She'd landed herself in a bit of weird situation. Okay, maybe it was really weird. Staying with your childhood friend who you haven't talked to in months is less than ideal, but staying in an apartment with your ex-boyfriend is just plain awkward. The two hadn't said much to each other since the split, except for uncomfortable "hello"s for when they would occasionally bump into each other at the university. Although Erzsébet had become quite good at avoiding him while at the university, now it will be impossible.
Having made it to the door leading to the apartment, Erzsébet knocked exactly eight times, something Gilbert instructed her to do. He'd mentioned that he didn't want "that Italian guy who comes to bother Ludwig" showing up again... whatever that meant.
The door creaked open. Once Gilbert was certain it was Erzsebet, the door swung open and he greeted the girl with a smile.
"Well, it's certainly been a while, hasn't it?" he asked, before pulling her into an unexpected hug.
"G- geez, Gil… give me some room to breathe, why don't you?" she asked, prompting him to release her. "But, I'm glad to see you too!"
Gilbert proceeded to show her around the surprisingly spacious apartment. It was complete with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a large kitchen, dining, and living room area that all sort of was morphed into one place. Gilbert somehow was the owner of the master bedroom, though Erzsébet assumed this was because he was the one who spent the most time at home, since he was the only one of the other males who didn't attend a university. The refrigerator was packed with beers, something that didn't surprise the Hungarian in the slightest. It was overall a very nice area, much more commodious than her dorm. Why hadn't she thought of doing this before?
Still, one thing was bothering her.
"Where is Roderich?" she asked. She then quickly added, "and Ludwig?" to avoid sounding like Roderich was the only person on her mind. She did not underestimate Gilbert's ability to tease her endlessly about boys; this being one of the things she clearly remembered from her childhood.
"Hmm? Well, Roderich is most likely practicing the piano or some other music shit like that, at one of the practice rooms at university. Sometimes he plays at this restaurant as a kind of part time job, but maybe he's out with his girlfriend..." Gilbert trailed off.
Erzsébet froze. Roderich had a girlfriend? Since when? His Facebook updates never mentioned anything about this, how could this be-
Gilbert let out a satisfied grunt. "Just fuckin' with ya. Roderich can't get a girl. I don't even know how he got someone like you." Gilbert gave her a sly grin.
Erzsébet went slightly red at his subtle flirting. "Wh-what is that supposed to mean, someone like me?"
Before Gilbert could give her an answer, which would most likely be even more flirtatious, Ludwig came through the door.
"Hey, Gil and…" Ludwig paused, before a big smile came to his face. "Wow, Erzsébet, I haven't seen you in years! What brings you by our apartment?" Erzsébet had missed Ludwig, he was absolutely adorable as a young kid. Seeing him grown up taller than Gilbert reminded her of how much time had gone by.
"Ludwig!" Erzsébet exclaimed, going over to give him a hug. "Look how tall you got! And, well, muscular! You look great!"
Ludwig let out a satisfied grunt. "Thanks... but did Gil invite you over or something?"
Gilbert had a sheepish grin on his face. "Yeah, about that... Erzsébet kind of lives with us now."
Ludwig's eyes went wide.
It was now about eight o'clock, and the three sat themselves around the small dining table. They were eating something that Ludwig had picked up, though originally he only got it for two. Ludwig, of course, got angry at Gilbert for not mentioning a word about Erzsébet's move. Words like, "you're so irresponsible, this is why you don't have a job," may have been thrown around from Ludwig, but eventually the two managed to simmer down, much to the relief of a very uncomfortable Erzsébet.
Still, the awkward atmosphere didn't improve when Roderich finally got home.
"So, Erzsébet... Lives with us now?" Roderich said, the words coming out slowly, as if he wanted someone to confirm that he was just having a bad dream.
"She had nowhere else to go! I don't see why everyone's getting pissed off at me for this. This should win me a good samaritan award!" Gilbert cried, clenching his fists to add a dramatic flair.
"Calm down, Gil. Next time just give us a heads up," Ludwig said. Erzsébet took it that at this point, Ludwig was done talking about the whole thing. "Besides, we're just making our new housemate uncomfortable."
Erzsébet hadn't said much, she just let the three boys argue over her sudden arrival and hoped it would be over soon.
Once Roderich had gotten over it (or at least stopped talking about it with Ludwig), and after a long period of silence, Ludwig finally broke the ice.
"So, Erzsébet, what happened after your family moved back to Hungary?"
Erzsébet perked up. "Well, you know I moved back when I was about eleven, but it really wasn't all that exciting. I kept on dancing, and my parents sent me to a private arts school when I was older. During one of the summers, I went to an arts camp in Hamburg, and, well..."
Erzsébet and Roderich exchanged fleeting glances.
"...Yeah, I met and dated Roderich. It didn't work out since I had to move back to Budapest and he had to move back to Munich, so… anyway, I applied to the university here in Hamburg, and here I am, studying for an arts management major and a dance minor. That's pretty much it, I guess."
After Erzsébet's recap, there was little more to talk about. What was there more to discuss, anyway? It was simply a really awkward scenario. Ludwig, Gilbert, and Roderich all had their eyes on Erzsébet while she ate, but the atmosphere was too tense for anyone to actually begin conversation.
After dinner, the four simply all retired to their bedrooms. It had been quite a long day.
A/N: HUGE thanks to my two amazing betas and dear friends Sara and Jordanne. I love you guys!
And to the readers, sorry for taking so long on this update! School has been stressful, and also I was waiting for this chapter to get beta'd, which I'm so glad it did. It definitely needed the work, heh. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!