It was a fine Wednesday morning; the sun was shining, the birds were chirping—and Alfred was a total nervous wreck. The Homecoming dance was in three days, and that was including this one! He still hadn't managed to muster up the courage to ask Tolys to go to the party with him, and a fear began to wrap its ugly claws around his mind.

Someone might have already asked.

Tolys had been acting rather happy for the last few days, a sharp contrast from his usual anxious demeanor. It was by no means a bad thing—Alfred was glad that Tolys was in a better mood. But what could have warranted that happiness?

It could have been something simple. While they were only Juniors, many students in their grade liked to get a head start on college applications. Perhaps Tolys got accepted into a particularly esteemed university.

Or, something not-so-simple.

Like love.

Had Tolys finally found somebody? Or maybe…

Somebody had found him.

Ivan.

The events of the stormy night flickered through Alfred's mind like an old movie. Except things really weren't so black-and-white when it came to that. Matthew had made it quite clear that he didn't like Ivan, and Matthew was fine with basically anyone.

Maybe it's because that commie literally tried to kill me.

Alfred could practically feel Ivan's hand around his throat, suffocating him. Ready to crush his jugular in an instant. It was a sick feeling. He felt a tide of nausea wash over his body.

"Al? Are you there? We're going to be late," Matthew said as he entered his brother's bedroom.

Alfred adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses which somehow managed to sit askew on the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I'm almost ready."

He was almost ready. His backpack was sitting on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed. He was dressed in W academy's neat uniform, with his hair neatly combed (with the exception of that one stray piece.)

But at the same time, Alfred wasn't ready at all. What would he say? What would he do? He had to make a move, before somebody else made one before him.

Like Ivan.

It was almost like a game of chess—but without any rules. There was no say on who took their turn, no order at all. Simply one thing:

If you want to make a move, make it.

Alfred had to win. He needed to. It shouldn't be too hard, right? He was strong, handsome, and outgoing. Meanwhile, Ivan was creepy and intimidating and didn't even know how to interact with others without making them run crying.

Matthew crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing Alfred suspiciously. "Like I believe that," he said sarcastically. "This is about Tolys, isn't it?"

Alfred nodded sheepishly. "Mhmm. I decided that I'm gonna make my move today."

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that what you said yesterday? And the day before?"

Alfred opened his mouth to protest, only to realize his brother was very much correct. He had planned on talking to Tolys on Tuesday afternoon. He'd even given himself a quick pep talk in the bathroom mirror before walking out to the courtyard where Tolys had been sitting earlier.

Perhaps "quick" would be a severe understatement. One minute turned into five minutes. Five minutes turned into fifteen minutes. Before he knew it, Tolys had already left the school.

"Yeah, yeah. But I'm actually going to ask him this time! Just watch!" Alfred insisted, trying to appear confident.

Matthew smiled. "Alright, then. Good luck with it."

"Pfft. As if I need luck. I'm the hero, Matt!"

Another lie. Alfred needed luck. Without it, he would probably just end up making a total fool out of himself. Or, alternatively, his brain would just short-circuit just like how Ludwig's did when he was out having dinner with Feliciano on Valentine's day of the year prior.

"How could I forget? But you do realize it's almost 8:00, right?"

Alfred's eyes darted to the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. Sure enough, 8:00 AM was spelled in luminous, red, characters for him to see.

"Shit!" Alfred yelled as he snatched his bag from the ground. "C'mon, dude! We've got a bus to catch!"

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

Elizaveta waited at the doorstep, biting her lip nervously. Gilbert hadn't overslept again, had he? She made a mental note to yell at him about it the moment he set foot outside his house.

Just when she was least expecting it, the door flung open. There stood Gilbert, his choppy white hair a total mess. Elizaveta would have normally scolded him about this, too, but she couldn't help but find Gilbert's bedhead someone endearing.

"Hey, Liz!" Gilbert yelled in greeting. Elizaveta glared at him in response.

"What were you doing in there? Certainly not taming that bird's nest." Elizaveta gestured loosely to Gilbert's hair.

Gilbert pouted. "You on your period, or something?"

She shook her head, contemplating whether she should punch him. "No! It's 8 in the morning, and I really didn't have to drag my ass all the way out here just to wait for hours for you to get ready."

Elizaveta's statement was somewhat of an exaggeration. She had lived near Gilbert her entire life. They weren't next-door neighbors, but her house was diagonally across from his.

"But you still did," Gilbert offered with his signature shit-eating grin.

Elizaveta sighed and began to walk. "Yeah. I did." While she didn't necessarily want to admit it, she genuinely cared about him. They had been friends for so long; it was only natural.

But what she knew wasn't natural was the strange feeling she would get every time she inadvertently held eye contact with Gilbert for a few seconds too long. Her heartbeat would quicken at the slightest touch, like the accidental brushing of their hands. Elizaveta never felt this way before. All throughout the first 17 years of her life, the odd, fluttery, feeling was foreign to her. Some of her friends would go on and on about love ; exploring their interests eagerly. Love was like uncharted territory to Elizaveta. Well, there was that small crush she had on the conductor Mr. Edelstein. He was posh and almost royal in the way in which he carried himself. Dignified and polished, unlike many of the other boys at W Academy.

Elizaveta stole a glance at Gilbert, who was distracted by a nearby squirrel. Her German companion (who claimed to be Prussian) was almost like Mr. Edelstein's complete opposite. Gilbert was loud and cocky; Mr. Edelstein was calm and composed.

Opposites attract, they say. I wonder…

Elizaveta's mind wandered more than she'd let on. She'd taken a (somewhat) embarrassing interest in media involving and/or following relationships between two males. Whether said relationships were 100% wholesome or not was, more often than not, determined by her mood.

Yes. I can see where that would go.

She was fairly lucky, too. Most (if not all) of the fellow students at World Academy swung either both ways or every way, making every day like a fantasy for her. Elizaveta observed many relationships over the years. Particularly one involving Ludwig and Feliciano. She had taken care of the two when they were younger, and seeing their bashful and innocent interactions was nothing if not amusing.

Well, mostly innocent, Elizaveta thought as she recalled the incident involving Ludwig accidentally pulling young Feliciano's underwear off.

Word of Feliciano and Ludwig's newly-confirmed couple status spread like wildfire, traveling through the hallways at record speed.

Ah, how adorable. I'm glad to see that they're official, now!

Elisaveta was roughly pulled away from her thoughts as the loud snap of a branch underneath Gilbert's foot registered in her ear.

Gilbert flinched and stopped for a second, then kicked the branch (now broken in two) away. He was acting oddly jumpy, that morning. A detail that Elizaveta did not fail to catch.

What's happening with him?

Normally, Gilbert would be the one to start the conversation; animatedly retelling his so-called awesome and true stories about his antics with the rest of the Bad Touch Trio while occasionally going off into unrelated (yet somehow still interesting) tangents.

Now, Gilbert didn't say a single thing. He kept his crimson eyes trailed on the pavement, only breaking his stare to look up to make sure he didn't bump into anyone or anything.

Elizaveta should have been glad. Hearing his obnoxiously loud, scratchy, voice first thing in the morning wasn't very appealing. Shouldn't she be happy that she didn't have to deal with it?

Maybe I'm just used to it, by now.

An awkward tension hovered between them. Almost like a thick cloud of fog, a hazy smoke that made it next to impossible to tell what the other person was thinking.

Elizaveta intended to break it, with small-talk popping up as the first solution.

"So, uh, Homecoming is coming up soon, isn't it?" Elizaveta waited for a response, any sort of sign that Gilbert was himself.

To Gilbert's credit, she did get a response. A half-hearted one.

"Ja."

Elizaveta pursed her lips. Gilbert had been so excited about Homecoming; he'd been talking about how excited he was for hours on the phone about a few days before.

What had gotten into him?

"Gil. You're acting funny," Elizaveta said. "Are you okay? You're not sick or anything, right?" She placed a hand on Gilbert's forehead.

Within an instant, his pale skin flushed with red.

Elizaveta drew her hand back quickly, feeling her own face heat up, too.

So weird.

"I'm fine! Everything's great," assured Gilbert, his voice cracking just a little.

"You don't look fine," Elizaveta insisted. "Is something bothering you?"

Gilbert shoved his hands in his pocket, still refusing to make eye contact. "Not something. Someone."

Elizaveta's eyes widened.

He could be getting bullied. Though, that's strange… normally he'd be able to defend himself or laugh everything off.

"Someone?" she echoed, her voice curious. "Who? You know you can tell me anything, Gil."

Gilbert shook his head. "Just this one thing… I can't. Sorry, Liz."

Now, Elizaveta was even more suspicious.

When has he ever apologized for anything?

Even when Gilbert was caught vandalizing one of the bathroom stalls, he didn't even seem the slightest bit sorry. Had he apologized, he would have gotten off on just a couple of weeks of detention.

Instead, he was suspended for the rest of the month.

Elizaveta was getting annoyed. What did he really have to hide from her? Didn't he trust her?

I guess if he doesn't want to talk about it, I shouldn't press him.

"Hey… so… you know the concert on Friday?"

Elizaveta felt like a weight had been removed off her shoulders. It looked like their conversation was finally going somewhere. "Mhmm. I still can't believe Mr. Edelstein hasn't told us what that god-forsaken piece is even called, yet."

Gilbert looked uncomfortable at the mention of Mr. Edelstein. His gait was beginning to look less like a swagger and more like an awkward pace.

"Yeah. Totally un-awesome, of him."

Elizaveta squinted her eyes. They were nearing W Academy's entrance, already. She slid her phone out of her bag and turned it on.

It was only 8:09. She deduced that she would arrive at the school in less than 3 minutes, leaving her with about 45 minutes to do whatever she pleased before the first period started.

"What're you going to do?" Elizaveta asked.

Gilbert furrowed his brow. "Huh?"

"Like, once we get there. We still have time," she reminded.

"Oh. Yeah. I was going to hang out with Francis and Toni."

Elizaveta saw right through the lie. Francis hated coming to school earlier than he had to (claiming that it would ruin his beauty sleep) and Antonio had sectionals on Wednesday.

"Is that so?"

Gilbert stared at her for a few seconds before rolling his eyes and admitting. "Nein. I was actually going to talk to Miss Priss."
'Miss Priss' just so happened to be Gilbert's flattering nickname for Mr. Edelstein.

Although, Elizaveta was still somewhat surprised. Gilbert didn't even like being in the same room as Mr. Edelstein. Why would he go out of his way to talk with him?

"Well, I suppose you're at least being productive today," she said with a small chuckle.

"Yeah. I guess I am."

NOTES:

Firstly, I'd like to say that I'm sorry this update took a while. This chapter might not have been the most climactic either, but I felt like I needed to set things up before some of the real stuff begins.

Secondly, writing hotheaded Prussia as an awkward, shy, teenage boy was pretty fun.

You might have seen that I have some new works. I'd really appreciate it if you'd check them out! If you're looking for some PruAus, (because you won't find it in this story) I think Danse Bacchanale will be perfect for you! Part of the reason why this update was slower was that I've been working on that story, so any support would help a lot :)

Thanks for reading!