A/N: I miss writing so much that I'm posting every other night. I hope this story doesn't burn down like the rest. Enjoy!


Chapter Three

The next morning was filled with hope, and the idea of seeing Gilbert Beilschmidt lingered in the early autumn air.

It was typical for Alicia to wake up before her brother, so she had left breakfast for him as usual before dragging herself to school. It was a pretty chilly morning, she noted, as she shut the door behind her, and she made a mental reminder to pick up her sweater from the Student Council room before she headed in for homeroom. What about Gilbert's jacket? She thought to herself. She had always been fascinated with the red hoodie that the Prussian wore everywhere. She was always the first person who would deny upon deliberations if he needed to be sanctioned for not wearing the proper clothes, and she would usually be backed-up by her brother (which usually ends the discussion for Arthur, who never wanted to get on the Spaniard's bad side). She mused about it as she walked through the empty halls: was it lined on the inside? Fleece, maybe? It looked so soft to touch. It almost represented the albino himself – attention-grabbing, but not really as brazen as it seems.

Alicia reached her locker and entered her code, 0816. She pulled her door open, then looked up at the clock that hovered across her. It ticked 6:47.

6:50.

The Germanics always arrived at exactly 6:50.

She wasn't sure if Ludwig was the one who instigated it, but the Germanic brothers usually arrived at that exact time, and almost always, all together. During football season, Ludwig and Gilbert would come in earlier, being in school for drills by 6:30, enough to have a quick shower by 7:05, in time for homeroom at 7:20. They only disappeared for twelve days in October, all returning to Germany for a celebration, and would usually return to school sick, dazed, or constantly in the Hospital Wing. Alicia experienced being a volunteer with them as the patients.

Three minutes.

Her heart skipped a beat. What was going on? It wasn't like she's never seen the Prussian before.

She grabbed her algebra book and, quite annoyed, shoved her reading material into backpack. "What the hell am I doing?" she muttered to herself.

There were giggles, and footsteps, and she knew that they had started to come in:

Roderich had his head behind the morning paper, and students were making sure they quite avoided him at all costs. Before he reached Alicia's locker, Eliza had joined him, and the Hungarian immediately caught his attention. Next was their Bavarian brother, who was built very much like Gilbert, but with his sandy-brown hair and light brown eyes. He was drinking a cup of coffee, but headed straight down to the school vending machine – probably to pick up a Danish or a loaf. When Ludwig arrived, Gilbert was right at his shoulders, and Alicia almost swooned. The morning light behind him made him look ethereal.

She was barely in their line of sight when Ludwig adjusted his glasses, then turned to his older brother, "Look, she's already here."

Gilbert squinted, then grinned, and ran down the hall to her, leaving Alicia stunned again and rooted to the spot. She wasn't really used to the attention, "Good morning, sunshine!" he greeted enthusiastically, coming up to her, "Sleep well last night?"

She nodded for a moment, before she smiled, "Yeah, I did." She seemed to be lost in the crimson colours of his eyes, "I, uh… How-how about you?"

He didn't seem to think she was behaving oddly, "Slept fine. I couldn't wait to see you today, though." He said.

"Oh?" she asked, almost as though she hadn't been anticipating the moment when she could see him again as well, "Why? Are we doing anything special?" she asked.

"Not really," he admitted, "But you're the one who's special."

She couldn't help it anymore, and she nudged him in the sides, making him laugh at her meager attempt to hurt him, "Stop it~" she said, lacking the usual bite to her words.

"Why? Do you need me to tell you again that your beau-"

Alicia slammed her locker shut before he could even finish, "Just… Come on." She was frustrated, but her cheeks were burning red.

Gilbert looked pleased.


She used her own keys to open the Student Council room, and Gilbert raised an eyebrow at her, "Isn't it too early for you to be catching me for anything?"

"I'm not doing that, I need something." She said, going straight for the storage cabinets, "It's been chilly. I know I left a sweater here somewhere…" She opened one, two… She couldn't find any of her sweaters. The last cabinet was locked, and only Arthur had the key. She sighed, "Damn it, I don't know who cleaned up here yesterday."

"It should be okay," Gilbert was taking off the red jacket, "Here, why don't you borrow mine?" he asked.

And he held out the red hoodie for her.

For a long time, she blinked at it. Then, "W-Wait, don't you need it?" she asked.

"I keep my blue uniform in my locker. I have a black one too, you don't have to worry." He smiled a bit.

"But this is, like, your signature look," she said, and he chuckled a bit, making Alicia roll her eyes, "Gil, I'm serious. I don't want to take this away from you, maybe you can lend me the black one instead or something."

"No, wear it." He insisted, draping it over her shoulders now, "If you say it's my signature look, then good. It means people will know just where you got it, and will know just not to mess with you so easily."

"Well… Okay." She said, still sounding a little worried as she pushed her arms into the jacket. She wasn't disappointed. It was very warm, and soft on the inside. She knew why Gilbert liked it so much, "I can give it back by lunch."

"Nah, keep it with you." He flopped himself down in the lounge, "You don't need to give it back just yet."

She looked at him, "Why not?"

He smirked at her, "Don't you know that dogs mark their territory?"

"Yeah. By peeing on them." She stuck her tongue out at him.

Gilbert laughed, "You're really not good at taking compliments, are you?"

She sat on the other side of the sofa, and the Prussian watched her carefully, "I… I'm just being careful. I feel like I walk on eggshells after the last risk I took."

All of a sudden, though, the Prussian's head was on her lap, and she flushed crimson, "G-Gil, what are you-?"

"Shh." He said, turning to face her, "I really couldn't sleep last night, thinking about how we'll see each other today. Just… Just give me a few minutes."

Alicia looked at the clock in the room. It ticked 7:12.

When she looked back down, the Prussian had his eyes close. His skin, so pale and white, was smooth. She wanted to touch him. His hair was white right down to the roots, and was scattered across his forehead. She gently brushed it away from his face and she noticed it was like silk. Even his eyelashes were white. And while she was gently caressing his head, the albino began to smile.


"It is… unforgivable!"

"Relax. He's asleep. She's asleep. It's not like they used the office to-"

"Alicia has never been missing from homeroom before! He takes interest in her and-"

Gilbert groaned: so he really did fall asleep, eh?

A gentle hand upon his head made him realize he wasn't the only one. He opened his eyes and found himself resting upon the Aragonese woman's lap, one hand was upon his fluff of short white hair, the other against his chest, feeling the movement of his breathing as rose and fell. There was a short silence, but the Prussian was sure he heard something. And then, "… I know you're awake, ruffian. Get up."

He moaned softly, making the other occupant of the sofa stir. When he stood up, he first glanced at the clock. It was 7:45. They had enough time to make it to their first class. Did they really sleep that long?

"What the hell were you doing, bringing Alicia in here?" He was surprised that the first person who questioned him was not the Student Council President, Arthur Kirkland, but one of his best friends, the Vice-President, Francis Bonnefoy. "If Antonio finds out-"

"Take a chill pill, Franny," he yawned, and turned away from his friend to look at the slowly waking girl, "Antonio's fine." He neared her, making the Frenchman huff, but glare at them. Gilbert decided he didn't want to know the real reason. But the moment Alicia's eyes began to open, the Prussian grinned, "Hey sleeping beauty, we need to get to class."

She rubbed her eyes for a moment, blinked, until her eyes widened in horror, "Dios mio, we missed homeroom!" she looked around frantically, "W-What… What time is it?"

Gilbert could only laugh at her, "It's seven forty-five," he replied, "We have about fifteen minutes 'til algebra."

She looked at him, frowning, "Now I need to make up some excuse about why I didn't show up for homeroom."

"You don't," he said, "Just say you were late."

"Don't make her lie like that, she isn't you, Gil." Francis made his presence known, and Alicia seemed to have been taken aback, "You should go get your things, mon cher." He added, looking at her more softly now.

"It's okay, I've got what I need." Alicia said to him, almost decidingly.

Francis looked at Gilbert as though he was the reason why Alicia wasn't paying any attention to him. If that were the case, Gilbert fully accepted it: He liked being the center of Alicia's attention (well, he liked someone paying attention to him in general, but having it be Alicia was definitely much better than if it was just someone).

After what seemed like centuries of silence, Arthur decided to clear his throat, "Well if you two are done using the room as a bunk, we'd like to use it for more official duties while we still have free period."

"O-Oh, right. Sorry, Arthur." Alicia looked at the Prussian, "Come on, let's grab our bags."

Gilbert seemed unfazed, "Can you come pass by my locker first? I need to pick up my uniform."

Both Francis and Arthur stared long and hard at him. When he stood up, that was the only time they realized that the bright, red hoodie that the Prussian was so known for wearing was now snugly around the smaller frames of Alicia, who had already gotten up and picked up her bag from the meeting table.

"Alicia, my dear," Arthur began slowly, "Are you quite sure what your wearing doesn't belong to the confiscation cabinet?"

She looked at him, then at Gilbert, then back at the Englishman, "No." Her voice was firm, "I rather like it. It's a bit chilly out. It's not really harming anybody."

"You're starting to sound like Antonio." Francis commented.

He didn't know why, but Gilbert felt the need to tease his friend, so he looked over at Francis with a grin, "She's his sister."


It was enough exchange for Alicia to note that she had to bring the Prussian out.

Given, she knew that she barely really knew what was going on. It was only a day since Gilbert asked her to walk home with him, and even that wasn't really much to go on ("It's nothing to go on!" Clara had hissed behind her binder, her green eyes narrowing at what little information Alicia had shared with her). She was in no rush, that was for sure. But she wanted Gilbert not to rush too. But he was a little excitable, a little too enthusiastic, and she was still scared about what can happen. He had agreed to everything she said, that they didn't have to be sitting together all the time, and that they didn't need to go everywhere together, and that they needed to stop looking at each other in class – which they both did all too often. She was also able to do all of that, except the last, because she just couldn't. Regardless of it being her idea, she just couldn't keep her eyes off him.

… And so to make sure she wouldn't, she decided to have lunch with Lovino.

Sitting with Lovino during lunchtime meant being away from the cafeteria and the general populace. The South Italian was notoriously known for being a potty-mouth, and an obnoxious headache wherever he went, and so both he and Alicia decided to hide the soft, the caring, and the more timid side of him where nobody can see it.

"Do you think the fucking idiot is serious about you?" Lovino asked as he bit into his panini, looking at Alicia his eyes that matched hers. He'd noticed the hoodie – in fact, anyone would.

The sky above the rooftop they sat on began to darken as clouds covered up the sun. She was grateful for the red hoodie as a cold wind brushed against them. She shrugged, poking at her fries, "I… I want to say yes." She admitted. It was something she would only tell Lovino.

He swallowed his food, took a swig of lemon tea, then looked at her, "Look," he started, "I've known that moron for a couple hundred years. He also knows I'm not as extreme as people think I am. I'm not afraid of how he's going to treat you – he may be an asshole, but he knows how to properly treat a woman. What I'm afraid of, to be honest, is the fact that he might be projecting his feelings on to you, and that when he realizes this isn't what he really wanted…" He trailed off.

She looked confused for a moment, taking a few fries and dipping them in her melted cheese, "What do you mean?"

"Gilbert spent most of his life fixated on one girl." Alicia nodded in agreement here, "You and Eliza have a lot of similarities, but also a lot of differences. I'm worried that once he realizes that those differences set you two apart, he might not be as charming as he usually is. Or," he said, now thinking up another, "I don't want to be right, since I know he most probably didn't, but he might also just have taken advantage of the whole idea of the fall."

Alicia had absolutely no idea what he meant. It was evident on her face.

Lovino sighed, "Well… It's much easier to fall in love with someone, knowing they've already fallen for you."


She refused to believe it.

She wasn't in love with Gilbert Beilschmidt. Hell, she barely even knew the guy (okay, not true, but it wasn't her fault he can barely recall what they did together). But she definitely was not in love with him.

"Hey, stop biting your pen. We're supposed to be studying." The albino in question broke her out of her stance by lightly nudging her as they sat in a library table with Clara and Francis.

Her sister narrowed her eyes, and Alicia went back to her reading material:

Doubt thou the stars are fire,

Doubt that the sun doth move,

Doubt truth to be a liar,

But never doubt I love.

She firmly shut the book and drew a deep breath. Gilbert was starting to get worried, "Hey. Do you need some help?"

"No," she shook her head, "I'm just… Overwhelmed with things to think about, I guess." The planner that sat beside her was gleaming in color-coded schedules, practically laying out every to-do list from her homework, projects, club activities, down to her chores within the Student Council room.

"I'm starting to think you're overworked," the Prussian said, still looking seriously at her, "Maybe you should take a break."

"Oh, she's fine," Francis said exasperatedly, "She's handled much worse than this, Gil, trust me."

At his words, Alicia seemed more irked. She didn't know if it was wanting to annoy the Frenchman for what he said, or she simply wanted to just take a step back, but she eventually said, "You know what, maybe that's a good idea." She looked at the albino, who seemed pleased, though still worried, at her answer, "I think I'll take about fifteen minutes off."

"That's good." He smiled at her, "Will you just nap it off?"

"Hmm…" She thought about it, "The cafeteria sells smoothies. Do you want to get one with me?"

And so, ignoring the glares from Clara's green eyes, and Francis' attempts to say that they could all go instead to no avail, Gilbert simply stood and joined her to go to the cafeteria for a quick drink.

They walked back to the library with the smoothies, knowing it'll be finished by the time they get there. Alicia was busy sipping on her coffee-chip smoothie when Gilbert spoke, "I want to formally court you."

She almost choked on a chocolate chip, "W-What?"

"I know you heard me. I'm not saying it again." He stopped walking and turned to her, "Alicia, I've decided. I want to formally court you. Antonio said yes."

Her jaw dropped, "Y-You…" she stuttered, "W-Wait… When did you ask him?"

"Before we went to the library, inside the Student Council Room," he said, smiling a bit, "They were meeting with the club presidents, and I was supposed to attend too, but I went there just for that and then came over to study with you."

"Gil, that's not-"

"Hey, I'm still technically in class. And we're just in the library for research purposes." He grinned at her, "Look, I want you to know that I'm serious. I've put a lot of thought about it, that's why I couldn't sleep last night."

"Gilbert," she said softly, almost as though his name was porcelain, "You barely know me."

"You know, you keep saying that, but you've never said that you don't know me." He pointed out. She kept silent. So, he took his hand in hers once again, the same, innocent way he had taken it just the day before. He took her hand gently, with his sword-calloused ones, holding it like it was the key to the earth's secrets, "I'll wait until you can tell me. I'll wait until you want to tell me everything. I'll wait until you open up for me, and until then, I just want you to know that I'm here. And after asking your brother, I want to ask your permission first. Will…" he drew a deep breath, "Will you allow me to formally court you?"

Alicia didn't make it back to the library.


A/N: If there are any followers out there, would you like to guess why?