Laurel Silver; We've been a bit shitty at keeping the updates on schedule, and at keeping chapters full of content/a decent length. School sucks, and like I said before you will just have to bear with us.

[Know your enemy, Green Day]

The journey to Wisconsin is painfully silent. Roderich clings to the side of the pickup for dear life, and Ludwig somehow manages not to laugh at him. Matthias's driving is just safer than maniac, and only just below the speed limit. The pickup passes over freeways and highways without a problem, the police having no reason to follow them. Elizabeta stares out of the window as the buildings turn to empty fields turn to thick trees as Matthias slows down, the pickup bumping slowly and carefully over the dirt roads of the Forest of Wisconsin.

"So what even is your plan?" Roderich asks as he wipes the dust off his ass as pretentiously as one is able to wipe one's ass.

"You joined us, and you don't even know what you're doing?" Matthias raises an eyebrow.

"Don't question me," Roderich snaps at him, "I'm aware of your intentions; you want to bust Gilbert out of jail. I want to know how."

"I want to know why," Ludwig retorts, and Roderich interrupts him;

"I beg your pardon?"

"Why you're here," Ludwig finishes, "You've got nothing to do with us. You're some posh pianist; why do you give a fuck?"

"I'm a friend of Elizabeta's, if you must know," Roderich snaps.

"She's never mentioned you," Matthias shrugs.

"That's because I've met him once," Elizabeta answers before Roderich can, "At the Millenium Park. And he was a dick."

"Such a good friend," Matthias says sarcastically.

"How did you know I was a pianist, than?" Roderich challenges.

"Don't look at me, I didn't know," Elizabeta retorts, "I didn't tell them."

"My fiance has a CD," Ludwig answers.

"Has a what-now?" Matthias asks.

"What is the plan!" Roderich snaps, exasperated.

"We break in, we bust him out," Ludwig answers.

"Then what?"

"I'm not sure," Ludwig admits, and Matthias shrugs.

"We go back to the bar where Gilbert was first arrested," Elizabeta answers.

"Why?" Matthias asks.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Elizabeta laughs.

[Somebody that I used to know, Gotye]

Gilbert lies on his bed, waiting. Time travel seems to need a lot of planning, organising and waiting. It's awfully boring. Gilbert couldn't do this sort of thing long-term, and despite the way the Russian's fucked him over, Gilbert's developing a strange respect for Ivan and Madeline.

Without access to basically anything to distract him from the cold emptiness that is his cell, Gilbert finds his mind wandering a lot. He writes a lot, silly stories and poems on bits of paper he's allowed, but the guards are beginning to give him funny looks when he requests more and Gilbert doesn't want them asking to read them. The papers are basically a journal to him. As he runs out of paper and he's waiting for one of the nicer, politer guards to wander past on their round, Gilbert sits on his bed, staring at the door without really seeing, daydreaming.

His daydreams revolve mostly around his memories. Ludwig as a young child, and his cute crush on the little Vargas boy that Elizabeta would babysit and dress up. Getting stark raving drunk with his high school friends, Spaniard Antonio and Frenchie Francis. Laughing at Rabbit-face Kirkland when the traveller-boy couldn't hold his alcohol and one of his siblings had to carry his "wasted arse" home. His crush on Elizabeta which slowly developed from silly playground teases to a full on, long term relationship.

Of course, the relationship wasn't perfect. What relationship is? There were times Elizabeta was so engrossed in schoolwork, it was like Gilbert was completely alone, even in her company, for hours on end. And when she was done with that, she would just collapse into bed, asleep and snoring immediately. Or she would wolf something down, even if it was just a handful of cereal, before dashing out to work. It was never Elizabeta's fault, Gilbert understands.

There were times he wouldn't speak to her, in a depression over something but unable to talk about it, and Elizabeta would scream and shout at him until the neighbours were banging the door down telling them to keep it down. Then there would be several minutes of awful silence. It would alway be Gilbert, despite it being him to start the silence, who would cave first, slinking up to Elizabeta and hugging her until she'd hug him back, and they could just sit there like that for hours, basking in a strange, addictive kind of sadness.

[Boom Clap, Charli XCX]

Yes, a large amount of Gilbert's life, or rather the life he should be leading if Ivan hadn't existed, has been built around Elizabeta, and visa versa. He loves her madly, like she's some sort of drug, and he's fought and worked to give her anything she wanted. Not that she ever wanted a lot.

He'd dragged her on a trip to Amsterdam with him, something planned with him, Antonio, Francis and Matthias. He was pretty sure Antonio and Matthias were only going for the easy drug laws, and Francis had been gushing something about stars and metaphors and then sobbing about Christmas trees. Gilbert had dragged Elizabeta, his long-time best friend despite people making fun of a boy/girl friendship, to get drunk with.

It was in Amsterdam that he realised that he loved her. She had looked beautiful, picture perfect, laid across the top of the hotel bathing in the moonlight, stargazing. No silver, no gold could dress her up so good than that pale blue.

Their first kiss was like a drug, and Gilbert was under her influence, and he knew he was in love. And as Elizabeta's smiling face was the only thing in his vision, he knew she was in love too.

Laurel Silver; Feliciano (Ludwig's husband) likes to listen to music when he's cooking/working/whatever. Classical music is good, because it's predominantly instrumental so has no distracting lyrics.
Also, a study has shown that listening to Mozart helps you to concentrate, listening to action film soundtracks helps keep you motivated, and video game soundtracks does a bit of both to get you to focus and work harder. Just a note to all of you who need to study or whatever. I recommend 8tracks for playlists.

-We own nothing
This chapter feels like a bit of a filler. Sorry about that. We'll get back to the action soon, promise.