Author: MercurialLily
Fandom: Hetalia
Title: Gilbert and Elizabeta's Infinite Playlist
Rating: T
Pairing: Eventual PruHun

This chapter is in two perspectives: the first in Elizabeta's, the second in Gilbert's. Gilbert's part will help us gain more insight on his actions.

Enjoy, my pretties!

Elizabeta kept staring after Gilbert - of course by now he was long gone, but she hadn't quite processed that yet - until she was pulled from her daze by a buzzing in her skirt pocket. My phone. She pulled it out and saw that her mother was calling her. After a second or two of just staring at the screen, Elizabeta hit the "talk" button. "Hello?" she said.

"Elizabeta!" came her mother's voice from the other end of the line. "Where are you? I've been waiting in the car for fifteen minutes. Are you okay?"

As her mother spoke, Elizabeta deduced that school had ended about twenty minutes ago. She had left the building as soon as she could to talk to Gilbert, but their conversation hadn't lasted as long as she would've liked. Yeah, that one's on me, she thought. Then how long had she been standing here alone?

"Elizabeta?"

Her mother's voice brought her back. After stuttering a little, Elizabeta said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be there soon."

She could sense her mother's relief. "All right, sweetie," Mrs. Héderváry said. "See you in a bit."

"See you." Elizabeta hung up and slipped her phone back into her pocket. She stared at the ground for a minute or two before heading around to the front of the school. There she saw the familiar black hatchback parked by the entrance.

When Elizabeta opened the front passenger's door and sat down, her mother immediately asked her several questions: "What took you so long? What were you doing? How was your day? Did you make any friends?" Ms. Héderváry was an expert at posing questions.

Elizabeta sighed inwardly and shrugged. "I made some friends, sure," she mused. "They're pretty nice. But there's this one guy -"

"Ooh, a boy? Do you have a crush?" Ms. Héderváry teased as she pulled out of the parking lot.

"Wh-what? No, it's nothing like that!" Elizabeta rolled her eyes. Seriously, Mom... "This guy is in my homeroom class," she went on. "Apparently he doesn't talk to anyone, and he doesn't have any friends. His name's Gilbert, by the way."

"He sounds like he's just shy," Ms. Héderváry said.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. But I managed to catch him at lunch and talk to him a little. He said we could meet up again and talk after school in the back field. That's why I wasn't at the front when you got here. When we were talking, he was acting kind of weird, and then I said something and he just..." Elizabeta shrugged again. "He got angry, I guess."

"What did you say?"

"Well..." Elizabeta chewed on her bottom lip as she put her words together in her mind. "He has...white hair and red eyes. So I asked him about it. He didn't like that."

Ms. Héderváry sighed. "Honey, you know better than that," she said. "How would you feel if you were in his position and someone asked you something like that?"

"I wasn't thinking, Mom. I've never seen someone like him before..."

"You mean an albino," Ms. Héderváry corrected. "That doesn't matter. It's rude! How do you think you made him feel?"

"I get it, okay? I get it." Elizabeta looked out the window. "Is Adam home?" she asked, changing the subject.

"No, he's still at work."

Adam was her mother's boyfriend. Ms. Héderváry had divorced Elizabeta's father when Elizabeta was eleven, and two years later had met Adam. He was nice enough, but Elizabeta missed her real father. However, once she and her mother moved three cities over, Elizabeta hadn't seen her father since the divorce.

The rest of the drive was silent. When the car finally pulled into the driveway of the house, Elizabeta jumped out before it had even stopped. She heard her mother call out to her - "Erzsi..." - but she ignored her and ran into the house.

Tossing her bag by the front door, Elizabeta dashed up the stairs and into her room. She slammed her door and kicked off her shoes before flopping onto her bed. Elizabeta stared at her ceiling, refusing to answer her mother when she called up to her. She ignored the question about what she wanted for dinner. She didn't even try to listen to the conversation that went on downstairs when Adam eventually came home.

Instead, she continued staring at the ceiling, her thoughts in a different universe than her body.

. . . .

Crash!

"Dammit! Who left this plate on the edge of the counter?"

Gilbert flinched when he heard the sound of a plate shattering, followed by the angry yell of his stepmother. He remembered using the plate to make a sandwich, but he didn't remember what he had done with it. Come to think of it, he'd probably left it on the edge of the counter. He was stupid enough to do that.

There was a soft knock on his bedroom door. "Gilbert? Are you okay?" It was the calm, even voice of his younger brother, Ludwig. Ludwig was a freshman at the same school as Gilbert, but he had a maturity beyond his years. The two had been very close when they were younger, but they had grown apart over the past few years. Gilbert knew it was his fault - since starting high school, he had become anti-social and wary of strangers. Due to his sudden withdrawal from most social aspects, the brothers hardly ever talked anymore. The few times they did, it was awkward for both of them.

Gilbert stared at the floor from where he was slumped against the wall. Even though he was in his room, he didn't feel safe like he used to. He felt scared, but he wasn't quite sure why. He wasn't really sure of anything anymore.

"Gilbert? Come on, say something. I'm worried about you," Ludwig continued in a gentle voice. "We haven't talked in a while... I know you don't like talking to me, but I'm here if you want to."

Gilbert remained staying as quiet as possible. If he was lucky, maybe Ludwig would just leave him alone.

After a few minutes, he heard a dejected sigh and the sound of departing footsteps. Gilbert let out a sigh of relief.

Then he thought about the broken plate. That had been his fault. In fact, everything in this godforsaken house was his fault. When was the last time he'd done something right? When was the last time he'd felt good about himself?

His thoughts wandered to the new girl in his class, Elizabeta Héderváry. Yes, she was pretty, but she was also quite nosy and a bit rude. Why did she have to ask him about his hair and eyes? Hadn't she thought about his feelings?

I can't help the fact that I'm different from everyone else... Right? No... It's my fault. Everything's my fault.

As he continued to sit on the cold hardwood floor, Gilbert began to cry.

A/N: Erzsi is a pet name for Erzsébet, which is the Hungarian form of Elizabeta.

And now we've gotten (somewhat) into the mind of Gilbert Beilschmidt. There will definitely be more chapters in his POV because it's so much fun to write as him. We'll also find out more about his family situation.

Just as an aside, it makes me so happy to know that you guys are reading my stories. I really hope I'm keeping you entertained. I love you all-you're what inspires me to keep writing. Virtual hugs for all!