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

Elizabeta hummed quietly to herself as she took her uniform out of her closet. She didn't know what it was like outside, so she chose her long-sleeved blouse and a cardigan in case she got chilly. She glanced up to make sure that her bedroom door was closed before she started to get changed.

This would be her first day back to school in over a week. She was understandably hesitant to go back, but she knew no good would come from continuing to stay at home. Just breathe. You can do this. You can't hide away forever. Hey, wasn't that from a movie or something? That's not important right now. Stay calm. Nothing bad will happen if you have a positive mind-set.

Once she was dressed, she tied her hair back in a loose ponytail and approached her bureau to get her jewellery and make-up. She didn't want to look too fancy - it was just school, after all - so she put her simple silver studs into her ears and applied just a bit of eyeliner and blush. Then, slipping her lip gloss into her pocket, she opened her door and headed for the stairs.

For someone who liked to live in the present moment, Elizabeta found that she had her head in the clouds. This didn't surprise her too much. She was still giddy about finally confessing her feelings for Gilbert. To her, it was a huge deal - she'd never done anything like it before.

Gilbert, for his part, had been remarkably quiet since then. Elizabeta wondered why. She hoped that what she had said hadn't ruined their friendship.

As she continued humming, Elizabeta made her way downstairs. She set her bag near the front door and headed for the kitchen. She went through the cabinets for a short time before finally choosing a granola bar. There was no use packing a lunch, since she was planning on buying something at the cafeteria, but a light snack before school - could it be considered breakfast? - wasn't a bad idea.

She was just about to leave the kitchen when her mother strode in, saying, "I'll be home late tonight because of work. It might be like that for the rest of the week, too. There are leftovers in the fridge that you can heat up for dinner. Maybe one night I'll bring home some take-out or something. Will you be okay?"

"Of course," Elizabeta replied with a nod.

"Do you want me to drive you to school?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine walking. By the way..." Elizabeta took another granola bar and slipped it into her pocket. "Do you know where Gilbert is? I haven't seen him this morning."

"I thought I heard him go outside a little while ago," her mother said. "Oh, and you might want to wear your coat. It looks like it's pretty cold out."

Eh, I'm sure it's not that cold. I'll be fine with just my jacket. "I'll see you later, Mom."

"Bye, sweetie. Have a good day at school."

"Thanks." With a small wave, Elizabeta went back out into the hall. She put on her shoes, and, after a brief moment of deliberation, decided to heed her mother's advice and took her coat. Then she picked up her bag and opened the front door.

Just like her mother had said, the outside air was crisp, and the wind had a sharp bite to it. Elizabeta shivered slightly and buttoned her coat right up to her chin.

Gilbert was sitting on the front steps of the porch.

He hadn't looked up when the door had opened, and Elizabeta wondered if he was lost in his thoughts, or if something mundane as a door opening didn't deserve a reaction. With a soft sigh, she said, "Good morning. What are you doing out here?"

No response.

"Aren't you cold? I mean, your jacket isn't even done up."

Still nothing.

"Hey." Elizabeta took a seat beside Gilbert. The step felt cold beneath her. It wasn't at all comfortable, but she did her best to ignore it. "You okay? What's up?"

Gilbert slowly turned his head to look at her. He seemed confused. "What?"

"Is something wrong? You seem a little spacey." As she spoke, Elizabeta happened to glance down and saw that the ends of Gilbert's fingers had a bit of blood on them. This concerned her, but she didn't comment.

"Oh... Um, I..." Gilbert gave a half-hearted shrug. "I've been up since five. What time is it now, like, seven-thirty? Whatever. I hung out downstairs for a while, and once it started to get light out, I decided to come outside. It's not that cold." This was a lie, as he was shivering quite badly, but he probably just didn't want Elizabeta to worry.

"Are you okay?"

"I guess."

"Oh!" Elizabeta suddenly remembered the granola bar in her skirt pocket, and she took it out and showed it to Gilbert. "I got this for you," she said.

After a second or two, Gilbert took it and examined the packaging. "Yes, it has chocolate," he said in an excited whisper.

Elizabeta smiled to herself. Then she said, "You know, I think we should probably start on our way to school. I don't want to be late."

"I don't want to go."

"I know you don't, but you have to. Come on, please? I'm sure it won't be that bad."

"I really don't want to go."

"Look, you always say this, and to be frank, it's getting a little old." Elizabeta stood up and dusted off her skirt. "I'm going. You can do whatever you want." Shaking her head, she made her way down the steps and toward the sidewalk.

"Hey, hey, wait."

Elizabeta stopped. She looked over her shoulder to see Gilbert get up and hurry after her. "You decided to come?" she asked.

Gilbert nodded. "I guess so. It's better than you being mad at me."

"I'm not mad," Elizabeta said, resuming her walk. "It's more like frustration. You always protest about going to school. I get that you don't like it, but you have to go. It'll be good for you in the long run. I want you to do something with your life, but you won't be able to do that if you don't go to school."

"Oh."

Both were quiet for a time. Elizabeta wished she had brought a hat and scarf, as her neck and ears were cold. I'll have to remember that for tomorrow. She would have said something about this, but Gilbert spoke first.

"You know, I'm...sorry for always being such a pain. I don't mean to be like that. Honest." He sighed and stuck his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I guess I just can't help it sometimes. But yeah, I want you to know that I really am sorry."

"Okay. Thanks for telling me that." Elizabeta tilted her head back to look up at the sky. It was gray and miserable, the type of sky that presented itself shortly before a storm. "Do you think it might snow?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Do you like snow?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's cold."

The conversation didn't get much better as they approached the school building. Several students appeared seemingly out of nowhere, their loud voices carrying down the street. Elizabeta wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she heard Gilbert call them idiots.

They had barely set foot through the front doors when the five-minute warning bell rang. Students from all grades hurriedly bade their friends farewell and rushed off to their respective classrooms. Elizabeta joined them in dashing up the stairs. It wasn't until she was up on the second floor that she realized how slow Gilbert was behind her. "Come on!" she urged.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me a second," Gilbert muttered in response. He didn't seem too worried about getting to class on time.

Elizabeta groaned in mild distress as she weaved her way through the masses. "Excuse me! Pardon me. I'm sorry, but I have to get to class," she said, though it was likely no one heard her over the din of the crowded hallway. Finally, she reached room 221 and marched right in.

Only two or three other students were there. She noticed right away that Laura Dupont and Michelle Kent were absent. She wasn't sure about Laura, but class president-esque Michelle would never not show up. I wonder where everyone is?

"Ah, good morning, Elizabeta."

She turned. Mr. Vargas, sitting at his desk, raised his hand in greeting. He wore his typical cheerful smile.

"It's good to see you. We missed you last week," he said, going through a folder to his right. "You were, ah, sick? That's what the office told me. How are you feeling?"

"Um, better, sir." In her mind, Elizabeta thanked her mother for coming up with a good excuse. It was something that wouldn't prompt too many questions. "Where is everyone? Class begins in two minutes."

"There's a basketball game this morning," Mr. Vargas replied. "Several students opted to participate in the buy-out. With such low attendance, today's class will be a free period. Are you interested in going to the game? It's two dollars."

Elizabeta shook her head. "I'm good, thanks. I'd actually like to catch up on my work."

"I see. Well, here you go." Mr. Vargas handed some sheets of paper to Elizabeta. "This is what you missed from last week. There's a test on Wednesday, but don't worry about it. You can do a make-up at a later date. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask, okay? That's what I'm here for."

"Okay. Thank you, sir." With her work in hand, Elizabeta went to her seat. Even if she hadn't had work to catch up on, she probably wouldn't have gone down to watch the game, anyway. Basketball had never interested her. If it was a soccer or volleyball game, however, there was a much higher chance she would have gone.

She heard the door make a small squeak, and she looked up.

Gilbert slowly entered the classroom, looking puzzled by the lack of students. Aside from Elizabeta, none of those at their desks gave any sort of reaction. At that moment, Elizabeta realized how little Gilbert mattered to them. He wasn't even worth a glance.

Elizabeta gestured for Gilbert to come over. Most of the seats around her desk were vacant. Gilbert hesitated slightly, then began to make his way over.

He had barely made it to Elizabeta's desk when he was stopped by Mr. Vargas' voice: "Oh, Gilbert, can I see you for a minute?"

Elizabeta and Gilbert exchanged a few confused looks before Gilbert set his bag down and went to the front of the room. Not wanting to make it seem like she was eavesdropping, Elizabeta began to go through the work she had missed the week before. Of course, she wasn't actually paying any attention to the papers in front of her.

It wasn't long before Gilbert shuffled back through the rows of desks and sat in the empty chair to Elizabeta's left. He crossed his arms and stared at the floor. "This school is so stupid," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Elizabeta asked.

"Apparently there are a few papers I never did. I have to get them done before the break if I want to get any credit."

"Do you want help?"

"Yeah, I guess. Otherwise, I don't think I'll ever get them done."

"Okay." Setting her work aside, Elizabeta took out a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. "Let's start with the first one. What's the topic?"

"Um..." Gilbert shrugged. "I have to, uh... What was it? Oh, yeah, pick a book and identify at least three archetypes. I don't think the paper has to be more than two pages."

Elizabeta nodded and took a few notes. "What book do you think you'll choose?" she asked as she wrote.

"I don't know. You can pick for me."

"Hmm." Elizabeta thought about the books she had at home. It should be something he can get through quickly. After all, there's not a whole lot of time before the break. Something that has good characters... "How about Oliver Twist? It's a classic."

Gilbert made a small gesture of agreement. "Sure."

"All right, sounds good," Elizabeta said. "We can get to the other papers later."

"Cool. Can I have a pencil?"

"Yeah, of course. Do you want some paper, too?"

"No."

"Um... Okay." Elizabeta was definitely a bit confused, but she knew better than to question Gilbert's odd requests. She handed him her pencil and took another one for herself. She started to do her work, but after a couple of minutes, she paused to glance over at Gilbert.

For whatever reason, Gilbert was using the pencil to draw all over his desk. Well, it wasn't actually his desk. Isn't that where Antonio sits? Elizabeta thought. He's in for a surprise. Gilbert seemed perfectly content with his vandalism, and Elizabeta couldn't help but smile.

Okay, it's time to get back to work. That's what's important right now. Not him. School. Focus on school. She sighed quietly and reluctantly turned back to the stack of paper in front of her.

A/N: I have returned! There's still a lot to go with this.

Random fact about the writing process for this chapter: 98% of it was written out by hand in the last three days. Most of my ideas came at night, once I was in bed, and I decided to use my notebook instead of my computer to write. I'm not sure if any of you care about my writing process, but I thought I'd say this anyway.

Thank you for reading!