Author's Note: nothing to say today. :P


Valentin peered into his fridge, trying to find something to cook. He decided on making Rasol a fairly easy dish that he was sure Gilbert would like. It was hard to make many Romanian dishes because most of them had garlic in them. He knew he could just substitute the garlic for some other spice, but it never tasted right to him, so he just didn't bother to make them, though his servants at his castle were always the ones cooking, fully aware of their master's allergy. Rasol didn't have to have garlic, and so it was one of his favorite dishes. This dish was made with meat, beef, chicken, and pork in this case, peeled potatoes and vegetables that were boiled together. He filled a pot with water, placing it on the stove and turning it on to boil. Gilbert had just walked in, feeling bored just sitting in the study by himself. "Hey, what are you making?" he asked, the Romanian turning around for a quick second before going back to peeling the potatoes over the sink. "Rasol. It's a dish from my homeland, I'm sure you'll like it. It's like a stew really. If that's okay." he stopped peeling to look at Gilbert for affirmation. Gil nodded and walked further into the kitchen, standing next to Valentin, "Anything I can do to help?" he asked a little sheepishly. Vali smiled and handed him the potato in his hand, "You could peel these for me. I just need four, since it's just you and me and my brother might want some leftovers when he comes home." Gilbert took the vegetable and the peeler and began to skin four potatoes. "Thanks." the blonde thanked, moving to the counter to slice and chop up the meat.

Gilbert liked this. He liked being wanted, being treated so kindly. He liked helping. There was silence in the kitchen, aside from the almost boiling water, Valentin's knife against a chopping board, and potato skins hitting the metal basin of the sink, but it was a comfortable silence as the boys worked. "So, Valentin, what was it like, living in Romania? Why did you come here?" Gilbert asked, looking up from his peeling for a moment. Valentin sighed, but answered the question, "I really did love it back in Romania. I lived in a castle that over looked some tiny village in the country side. It was so beautiful there. I had a few servants in the castle, but I did do some things myself. There was a school, a small one, in the village that I attended. I didn't have many friends, but I was alright with that. I wasn't bullied or teased like I am here, that's one thing I miss. Being treated equally. My brother left a few years ago to come to America, so I stayed there with my parents. But….a little over a month back, they died. Murdered."

Upon hearing this, Gilbert slipped with peeler and cut his thumb. He dropped the potato and gripped his thumb, hissing. Valentin rushed over to the albino, taking his injured hand in his own as he turned on the faucet. "Are you okay?" Valentin asked in worry, holding the other's hand under the cold rushing water. Gilbert nodded, "S-sorry." The blonde chuckled, looking up at the other, "Why are you apologizing?" Gilbert didn't know why he was apologizing, he just felt the need to, so he shrugged. Valentin just chuckled again, taking the other's finger from the water and wrapping it in a dish cloth. "Keep that on there, I'll go get you a band-aid." he said before rushing of to the bath room. When he came back, his was a unwrapping a bandage, throwing the wrapper in the waste bin and putting it on Gilbert's finger, giving it a light kiss, then smiling. Gilbert blushed when he felt the smaller boy's lips on his finger. "Thanks for helping. You can just make yourself at home now." Valentin said with a soft smile, letting go of Gilbert's hand and rinsing the potatoes, getting ready to chop them up. "J-ja. No problem. Can I go into that garden room?" Valentin smiled, stopping his chopping to glance up at Gilbert with a nod, "Sure, just be careful. Zanzibar is very protective of Petranella, so I suggest you don't pet her. But you can play with Zanzibar if you want."

"Okay." The German said, reluctantly leaving the room and going to play with Gilbird and the dog named Zanzibar. Valentin plopped the now chopped potatoes into the boiling water, going to the fridge and getting some carrots and onions to add to the soon to be Rasol.


"Das ist Gute!" Gilbert exclaimed after taking his first bite of his first Romanian dish. "I'm glad to know you like it." Valentin said with a smile, also taking a bite of his meal. "How's your finger?" he asked the German who sat next to him. "Better, danke. Um, so, I'm sorry for asking this, and I know I shouldn't, but, was happened to your parents?" Gil asked, slurping up a chunk of potato from his spoon. "No, it's okay. Aleks says that I need to talk about it anyways. That I cant keep it bottled up. Some of the villagers were very…superstitious I guess you could say. Even today, a lot of Romanians believe the stories of old. You know, like myths and fairytales. I do, so I can't judge them. But a few were so entangled in them, they believed that my family were vampires. Strigoi, immortal vampires. They thought that because of the many similarities in physical appearance of my relatives throughout the many years my family has been around. Thing is, my family has lived in and kept watch over that village since it came about. My family has always been a little…off. We've always been interested in magic, myth, and folklore. A lot of my ancestors were allergic to garlic, like me, the villagers taking this as another reason we were vampires. We liked to be out at night, the adults loved to drink wine, always mistaken for blood. So I can understand why I'm thought of no differently here." Valentin peered into his bowl, a slight pained look on his face as he remembered his life in Romania.

"But as time changed, so did the people. They stopped believing my family was one full of those creatures. Unfortunately it wasn't all. It was a tiny group of some people from the families that never stopped suspecting. It was sometime past midnight when they came. They snuck their way into the castle, finding my parents' room first. They drove stakes through their hearts and finishing them off with bullets to the head. I heard the screams of pain and the gun shots from my room. I was terrified, hearing those horrifying sounds. I tried to call out to them, but that only led the killers to me. They tried to kill me the way they did my parents. I have a scar on my chest, above my heart, where one of them tried to stab me with a silver knife." Tears began to blur the Romanian's sight, rippling the broth in the bowl as the fell and speckled his glasses. "My servants were the ones who hear my screams, pulling the offenders away. I went to check on my parents…..I'll never get the image of them displayed like that out of my head." Valentin began to shake slightly as more tears flowed. "I called my brother and told him what had happened. He told me he was going to bring me here to live with him. I didn't want to at first, but when he came up with the money, I didn't have much of a choice, and so I came here."

Valentin trembled as he remembered the gruesome death of his parents. Gilbert's heart dropped at seeing the blonde in so much hurt. He stood up and pulled Valentin into a hug. The smaller boy clutched onto the taller one, gripping the back of his green shirt, burying his face into his chest. Gil rubbed Valentin's back soothingly, whispering, "I'm sorry I asked. I didn't mean to make you upset." Valentin shook his head, still shoved into Gilberts chest. "It's okay," came the muffled response, "I needed to let it all out. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being here." Valentin murmured, gripping the other's jacket tighter. Gilbert pulled Vali closer, as much as he could. He wanted to let Valentin know that he was there for him. Valentin soon pulled away, moving his glasses up with his knuckles, wiping away tears and sniffling. "Are you okay?" Gil asked with genuine concern. Valentin nodded. "Thank you." he gave a weak smile, still teary eyed, then gave a light hearted chuckle and smiled. "I really needed that. Thanks for listening." Gilbert smiled back, "I'm more than happy to help you , Valentin."

"I love you. I love you." Was all Valentin wanted to say "I love you." He couldn't. He couldn't say that. That would ruin everything. Instead he bit his tongue to silence himself. "Was time is it?" Gilbert asked suddenly, seeing how dark it had gotten outside the kitchen windows. "Um, 9:00." Valentin replied, looking down at his watch. "Scheiße! I have to go." Gil cursed, turning around to head into the study and gather his things, calling for Gilbird as he did. Gilbird nested in white tresses and his owner all but ran from the room, towards the front door. "Gilbert!" Valentin called, rushing to the German's side with a small Tupperware in his hands. "Here, you didn't finish it, and well, consider it a little thank you. For everything so far." he smiled, handing Gilbert the rest of his contained dinner. "Danke." Gil grinned, taking the container. "It's no problem. I'd love to cook for you again." Vali said, blushing. "Ja, I'd really like that too."

"How about you come back over, same time, tomorrow? I can tutor you some more, and then I could cook for you again." Valentin offered, looking up at the taller boy. Gilbert thought a moment (as if he had to) and agreed. He left the house, dinner in hand, and walked back to his own.


When Gilbert arrived back home, his father was waiting for him in the living room, Ludwig in his own. "Where the hell have you been?" His father asked dangerously calm. "What's it matter to you? You'd only think I would be lying if I told you." Gil retorted, making his way to the basement door when he was grabbed by the wrist and yanked back. Dropping his book bag and dinner, the container bursting opening and splattering the contents all over the floor, Gilbird flying off his head and going into the kitchen, Gilbert spun around to see his father with a very unhappy aura floating from him. "I am not done speaking with you." he growled. Gil leaned back, a little afraid. "You wanted to know if today was the day I'd get physical with you? Well, I wasn't planning on it being today, but since you asked so nicely…" Okay, Gilbert was afraid now, not that he'd show it. He turned and tried to make it to the basement door and failing, being dragged back towards his father. A large hand clamped onto his mouth and hot breath landed on his ear causing him to shiver, "Don't be stupid. Do not make a sound. I don't want you disturbing my son." Gilbert swallowed and his eyes widened in what was undoubtedly fear. Oh, God, he was scared.


Author's Note: Woah. God, why the fuck am I so evil? Okay, so I know this is short, but I thought it was a perfect place to end the chapter. What's his dad gonna do to him? What ever it is, it is not going to be good. Or bad, but cruel. Terrible. When I was reading this, I seriously started to cry when Vali was talking about his parents. That's some twisted shit there. Cruel and unusual, fo sho. Looks like Valentin's feelings finally come out! Too bad he cant say anything. Ahh, but he's so sweet! And so is Gilbert! Like THE perfect boyfriend! Ugh, now I'm jealous of Vali. Oh! If anyone has seen those Rise of the Guardians movie trailer, anyone else sides me think that Jack Frost looks like Prussia without red eyes? Maybe it's just me. Well, hoped you enjoyed this chapter. See ya!