Author's Notes: WHOO. One more chapter to go and it's finished and I really hope to get it up tomorrow so I can leave for the beach and not have to be paranoid. 8D
Again, i'd just like to say thank you for all the kind words in your reviews and for so many alerts and faves. You're all such cool kids, I wish I could just share my nonexistent popsicles with you.
... I wrote this while watching the ending of Lord of The Rings, parts of Indiana Jones, and Project Runway. 8D
Stocking a cereal box on to a shelf, Gillian felt a frown tugging at the ends of her lips and not because the earliest shift she could manage was at eight in the morning and it was two in the afternoon now. She was actually glad someone was willing to trade shifts with her for the day on such short notice, but it didn't take long to find out why they were so eager to seize the proposition. Moving her gaze to the counter where a blonde and raven stood, Gillian's eyes narrowed. She knew the blonde, Belle, since she was Lars older sister and they'd never talked before and now she knew why (the blonde was a pervert and one Francis was more than enough). The other employee was a quiet, Asian man with a level head named Kiku, but Gillian happened to stumble upon him in the freezer reading, er, magazines.
Placing the last Cheerios box on the now full shelf, Gillian waltzed up to the counter while clapping her hands to show she'd done a good job and was met by two pairs of curious eyes (emerald and onyx hues piercing her being). She raised an eyebrow at the duo and Kiku was quick to return to the PSP in his small, fidgety hands while Belle remained in place while radiating sunshine as her lips parted to speak.
"Saw your status last night, can't wait for the party."
How'd Belle even have her Facebook? She never recalled adding the woman.
"Uh, right," Gillian hummed uncertainly, "it'll be awesome; you should come."
Belle agreed to that enthusiastically and Gillian was far too glad when the doors to the store chimed at the arrival of people. The three employees' heads snapped up as if on cue and Gillian couldn't help the smile that spread contagiously when she recognized that mop of unruly curls and silkly French hair of her idiot friends. She promptly darted up to them then and pulled them in to a group hug that would've made you think it'd been years without each other instead of just a day before demanding to know what they were doing there.
"Your shift's almost over, right? We thought we'd all go out and celebrate," Francis replied smoothly and winked at the girl behind the counter (and quite possibly at Kiku, too).
"Celebrate?" Belle piped up brightly, despite being out of the loop and her eyes focused on the trio.
"Gil's in love," Antonio replied cheerfully while grinning.
"S-Shut up!" Gillian hissed when Belle cooed over the fact, roughly shoving the Spaniard in to another fit of hyena giggles.
"Aww, you're all red just like my little Lovi~!" He cooed in that voice people used for puppies or babies while pinching the girl's cheek and quite frankly, she didn't appreciate being either.
"I will castrate you," She threatened darkly after slapping the unwanted limb near her face away.
"Mes amis, s'il vous plait," Francis coaxed them while heavily applying his accent and slung his arms over their shoulders, tucking them under his hold. "Gil, we'll be waiting for when your shift is over, oui?"
With a final goodbye, Francis and Antonio were out the doors as quickly they came and Gillian could feel the other two staring bullets in to her back. Only thirty more minutes, Gillian thought as a way to keep herself going as she returned to her post next to the blonde woman who decided that the ruby eyed girl would enjoy ranting about cute guys. Just thirty minutes.
Time couldn't pass any slower and needless to say, Gillian was glad when she clocked out and was able to dash out the doors of the hell hole she called work and approached the camaro that was parked a bit sloppily while still remaining in the lines. When she was close enough, she stared at them through confused eyes at the sight of cigarette buds lying carelessly in their mouths while they leaned against the hood of the car, their eyes undoubtedly on the cars speeding down the paved roads (she'd never know Antonio to smoke, but Francis started when he turned twenty after the death of his fiancé). Though, after her mind drifted to the party later and how she'd be pouring her heart out to Matthew, she heavily considered asking for her own cigarette to burn.
Before she could do or say anything though, a buzz in her pocket brought both her and the two men's attention to it and she fumbled with her jeans anxiously until she whipped out the phone, unlocking it with a single swipe of the finger.
'From: West
Message: I am going to pick up Germania. Don't trash the house.'
Rolling her eyes that lit up with childish humor, Gillian typed back hastily.
'To: West
Message: whatev. have fun with that while I be awesome.'
Pocketing her phone, Gillian perched herself in the spot between the men that they made for her and wordlessly accepted the cigarette that was lazily offered her way.
"How 'bout this shirt? Oh, Lovi~! Pay attention!" Felicia cried and threw the twenty different clothing articles in her arms to the air while parading through her bubbly room and groaning.
Lovina, on the other hand, was sitting at her sister's desk, her face pulled in to a deep scowl while resting her cheek in her sweaty palm. There was only an hour until that blaster party Gillian and Felicia came up with and her sister simply insisted they dress to impress. She tried to convince Felicia otherwise, but was cut off, like expected.
Huffing and placing her balled up fist on her hips and sashing them to the side all to theatrically, Felicia glared at Lovina and said, "C'mon! Don't you want Tonio to drool over you?"
Rolling her eyes melodramatically, Lovina retorted, "No, I'd have to clean that mess up."
"Kill joy," Deadpanned Felicia.
"Creeper," Countered Lovina.
They both settled with sticking their tongues out at each other like they did more often as children when a pounding at the door was heard. It wasn't too long before it swung open, not giving the girl's enough time to protest against the intrusion, and their dad bounced in as smiley as ever.
"Hi girls," Feliciano said and even though he tried to hide it, Lovina could tell he was just about bursting at the seams with excitement (the girls never really attended parties). He then maneuvered his self on the bed and made himself comfortable while rocking back and forth expectantly, his gaze darting between the twins to see who'd cave first.
"Papa! We're getting ready for Gil's party~!" Felicia cried and threw her hands up happily.
"Vee~! What're you going to wear?" He replied just as enthusiastically and Lovina could see the twinkling in their matching eyes.
The two continued with their chat after that and Lovina swore she felt her brain cells disappearing one 'vee' at a time. She really didn't understand how she managed to keep up a good level of sanity these days.
Music blasted out of speakers and beers were going all around like the plague and Matthew still had yet to show up. All the while, Gillian's head was spinning like a merry go round at it's fastest that wasn't stopping and it was only her fourth beer, but it was hard to keep from losing herself completely for when the blond did show. Someone had even declared a chugging contest and Gillian almost gave in when the door could be heard and she could barely make out the two figures approaching her.
"Gil!" A high pitched voice followed by a bone crushing hug led the girl to recognize it as being only one person.
"Liz," Gillian laughed easily and squinted her eyes slightly when she felt a bit dizzy. When they parted, Gillian noticed that Elizabeta hadn't changed much except for the fact that she'd grown her hair out and stopped restraining her bust with bandages. She then moved her gaze to the tall, brunet man at her side and smiled when she recognized it as Roderich Edelstein, an Austrian exchange student from when they were back in tenth grade who had a knack for piano and being overly formal. From her knowledge, the two were engaged now and even though Gillian used to harbor feeling for the man, she had moved on to someone better and was able to be fully happy for them.
"Hey, look! You even brought four eyes!" Gillian exclaimed while pointing teasingly in the man's face.
"Hello to you too, Gillian," Roderich stated rather rudely in response, but bowing his head slightly nonetheless.
Smirking slyly at the Austrian and about to poke fun at his mole ("It's a beauty mark," He'd claim proudly while sneering at the girl's devious expression) when she caught a glimpse of the brunette's face. When she raised a questioning eyebrow, Elizabeta must've deemed it safe to speak.
"So, how's Mattie? Haven't seen him since graduation," She pondered, twirling a strand of hair while still managing to look like she possessed a secret.
The door then opened again and the three of them glanced back at it and Gillian's eyes zoned in on the wavy, golden haired man in his too big of a red sweatshirt that was just falling apart at the seam and jeans that did nothing for his long legs. She'd noticed the way her heart skipped a beat and despite herself, she found herself weaving through the accumulated crowd and only stopping once she was grinning up at the flushed face that had obviously been in that unforgiving frigid air.
When Gillian casually reached for Matthew's much larger and bony hands, she flinched at how his contrasted against her own, sweaty palms that only seemed to worsen now that she was near him. Though, when she did take the hand (and good lord, the way it felt was just so right) and tugged at him to go with her, because before she could even manage to start rambling about feelings and things of the sort, she needed a drink.
"Eh," Matthew squeaked timidly and hesitated a moment before pulling the girl back to remain at the front door. "Actually, I need to say something," He declared.
That's how she knew he'd been waiting out in the cold for some time, because his hands wouldn't be so cold for a minute walk (and maybe that's why Elizabeta asked about him, while she thought about it). All she could do in response though was frown, retract her hand, and watch as the blond shifted nervously under her harsh, expectant stare.
His cheeks flushed considerably (and his ears as well, but that might've been from the cold) before Matthew managed to get past stammering incoherent words and actually stringing together a sentence. "Well, uh, Gil, I like you," He sort of mumbled while clenching and unclenching his hands while staring at what seemed to be an interesting floor, which, it really wasn't.
An expression crossed Gillian's face then – uncertainty, rage, embarrassment – and her mind raced a mile a minute, because hey, Matthew was dating Katyusha and even though she was pleasant with having him to herself, she didn't want him to be a two timer. When she chose to call him out on it, she felt her face burn to life at the chuckle he emitted.
"I sort of asked her if she'd pretend to date me to make you jealous," He admitted and Gillian couldn't help but think of how juvenile it was he'd tried to play the jealousy card on her while still remaining to be both creepy and endearing. "I mean, I-I've liked you ever since we met and well, I kind of figured now was a good time to finally let you know?" He added as an afterthought.
Gaping at the Canadian and his declaration, Gillian really couldn't help when she snapped at him, "You drove me half insane and you waited this long to tell me?"
Matthew flinched at the ferocity in the girl's bite, but smiled nonetheless and replied, "Well, you're not exactly the easiest person to confess to when you're always going on about how much better it'd be to be forever alone."
"W-Whatever!" Gillian yelled and averted her gaze to go anywhere but the beautiful man in front of her. She settled on the photograph of when Gillian and Ludwig were just children and still doing professional portraits. Yeah, that'd work.
She let her gaze slip for a moment and caught a glimpse of an enlightened smile before a hand found hers and was glad to find it was warming up it in her grasp. There was a tiny, reassuring squeeze and Gillian returned it while her cheeks painted themselves a faded, pastel pink.
It took her a moment, but Gillian realized all the commotion around her seemed to cease and all eyes were on the new couple and she wasn't sure how comfortable she was with it, no matter how much she loved being in the limelight.
"Kiss!" Antonio shouted from what seemed to be the direction of the bedrooms and before Gillian had time to confirm or dissolve the theory, the rest of the party seemed to teem to life while cheering the same word.
Gillian and Matthew exchanged puzzled expressions and inched closer, only causing the crowd to grow even more rambunctious. They hesitated for a moment, but buckled under the pressure and leaned in for a quick, chaste kiss that only lasted maybe ten seconds or so, but it was enough for them to convey their feelings and she was giddy when she could make out the smell of vanilla and maple syrup on him (she wondered if maybe she reeked of alcohol). When they parted, cheeks flushed and lips rosy red, the cheering sounded more like a riot and it echoed in Gillian's ear as if they were in the mountains.
The door opened again, for a final time that night, and when Ludwig entered with baggage in hand and Germania following in, Gillian could tell just by their expressions, she would be in trouble, but frankly, she couldn't care less. She'd just had the best night of her life and was with the best guy on earth.
Swigging another large quantity of beer in to her mouth carelessly, Belle cackled loudly for no apparent reason as she wobbled over to where her brother was leaning against the counter sink while fumbling with a cigarette in hand (he'd been scolded for the bag of weed he tried to smuggle in the house by Arthur and well, no one really knew what the Briton did with the bag after he confiscated it). Once she was safely at his side and putting all her weight on him, she finally seemed to process all of the noise bouncing around walls and groaned.
"What just happened?" She mumbled while grabbing at Lars bicep in an attempt to steady herself. God, the noise was beginning to irk her in her drunken state.
"Matt and Gil got together," He retorted lazily, his eyes glazing over Belle briefly before focusing on his nicotine addiction again.
Belle moaned in aggravation and finally gave up on trying to be independent and fell against Lars again while pressing the cold can to her lips. "'Bout time," She slurred.
"Told you they'd end up together," Elizabeta gloated while not being able to help as her lips curled in to a wryly smirk.
"And I still feel bad for Matthew," Roderich mumbled sourly despite the smile that spread on his lips.
Slumping against a wall in a secluded room she'd managed to wind up in, Lovina figured it was Gillian's since it wasn't worshipping the very ground of potatoes and wurst like her bastard brother's room probably would be; she was thankful that the room tuned out the noise she was trying to escape from. Sure, she was happy for Matthew and Gillian just as much as the next person, but the people were treating them like they were the royal couple of England and not just two adults who'd realized they harbored a feeling more than friendship for each other.
There was the short sound of the door screeching (Gillian should get that fixed) and Lovina glanced over her shoulder and sighed when she saw it was only her jerk boyfriend, Antonio. When he made it so he was lingering in front of her, she figured she might as well entertain him and make the eye contact he'd eventually demand. When she did, she scowled at the concerned expression on the man's sun kissed face and the way his tender lips were pressed together tightly in hesitation.
"What's wrong?" Antonio asked and proceeded to tilt his head like he usually did when questioning someone.
Figuring it'd be futile to lie, she replied, "They're being treated like they're fucking royalty."
Antonio smiled sympathetically at the Italian girl and casually grazed his rough knuckles against her soft cheeks before turning them over and cupping the very same cheek, to which Lovina leaned in to the gesture appreciatively. "You're still the most beautiful and amazing girl and you mean the world to me," He whispered low and laced it in his accent in that way she'd never admit to loving. Their foreheads mashed themselves together then, eyes slipping shut, and their breathing syncing together like a well oiled machine. "We should get married," He added quietly and to the point where the girl almost didn't catch it.
Lovina's eyes snapped open then and was pulling away faster than she thought humanly possible and felt her heart pounding against her chest and truly wondered if the man could hear it. "W-What? We- I… I'm hardly old enough and I've got school and…" She was cut off by Antonio's harmonious laughter.
"Shh, I know. I just wanted you to know how much I love you and that I can't wait for the day I can ask you for real," He admitted.
"Idiot…" Lovina flushed red while swatting playfully at the guy before hugging him.
Author's Notes 2: I hated typing cigarette, because I call them smokes. And... and I know the ending is a bit odd, but I felt like putting all of those extra people, besides, I like Lovina. Also, I know I really should put some Felicia and Ludwig, but I just don't like the couple? Like, I support them, but I just can't bring myself to love them. :'D
Feliciano would be a cool dad. And Arthur is still forever alone (forever a scone. haha.)