Chapter 13

Alin Popescu roamed the brightly light halls of the Academy, not caring that he was skipping his stupid French class. The frog that taught the class was more worried about his looks than whether or not anyone was actually learning something-so why not skip it?

Alin passed the Spanish room as the large teacher with dreadlocks yelled at that annoying American sophomore. When Alin had tried out for the 'American Football' team, that sophomore-Alfred Jones- had been the star of the field: basically kicking everyone's asses. In which also added Alin into the ass-kicked statistic. And that 'Prince Charming' at the dance-he could go fuck himself.

Alin never liked being overpowered. He was a man after all. To be beaten by a boy was most disgracing to his family's name. The Popescu family had always had a high title in Romania-they were even rumored to be from royalty (or even vampires). Which was preposterous, seeing how vampires don't exist.

Alin continued walking, shaking his head to move the brown locks from out of his eyes, and moving his hands into his pockets as he strolled past the math rooms. Alin hated math too. To be frank, Alin hated this school with a burning passion. He never understood why his parents had encouraged him to go to the Academy. Something about finding a wife and bringing her home-but that was extremely medieval sounding, and Alin wasn't ready to have a wife. He was nineteen, but a wife could wait.

The girls here are boring anyways...

Alin stopped his stroll as his eyes focused on the body of one Elizaveta Hêderváry. She was bent over, her soft lips moving as she drank the water flowing from the fountain. Her body was what the Americans called 'A Perfect Ten'. She wasn't too short, but she didn't tower over boys; her skin was soft-a creamy tone with a hint of a tan; her breasts were a nice handful-C's. And at that moment Alin had a clear view of her pink underwear. If only she were to bend lower…

He didn't know why, but Alin grabbed a soft cheek of her ass. Maybe it was the fact that he was a sexually repressed teenager, or maybe because he was a sick slime ball. Regardless of either, he rubbed the soft material of her underwear-a finger or two maybe traveling somewhere they shouldn't have...

"What the fu..." Elizaveta said in surprise as she spun around. Elizaveta raised her bandaged hand and tried to slap Alin. He caught her wrist and pressed his body into her back.

"Tsk. Tsk. Ve vouldn't vant to hurt oursselves, now vould ve?" he whispered hotly into her ear. Elizaveta bit her lip so as not to cry from the hot pain that stung her hand and wrist. Alin grinned as he spun her around and pushed her up against a nearby locker. Elizaveta's green eyes grew wide in fear as she tried to escape, but Alin's grip on her wrist was strong and cold, like the metal she was pressed against.

Alin brought his face to her throat and smelled her sweet flowery scent. He nuzzled his mouth at the nape of her neck.

"I vould keep quiet if I vere you..." he said as his strong teeth grazed her collar bone. Elizaveta let out a whimper as she struggled beneath him, her non-bandaged hand stuck in between the two. This was how women should act-the man should be dominant, he should make a woman weak in the knees, the woman should succumb to the overpowering desire to fulfill the man's wishes.

Alin used his free hand to slip the strap of her jumper off, his fingertips grazing a round breast. Elizaveta tried to move her legs to kick him the groin, but he blocked her knees with his thigh. He chuckled as he cupped her breast. Elizaveta's tears flowed down her chin and dripped onto Alin's pale hand.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" shouted Gilbert as he rushed towards the pair.

Shit! thought Alin as Gilbert ripped him away from the crying Elizaveta. Elizaveta scrambled up and ran, stumbling as she rounded the corner at the end of the hall.

"WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO TO HER?" shouted Gilbert as he grasped the collar of Alin's white shirt. Alin smirked, the German probably liked her.

"Nothing she vasn't asking for, vith those panties she vears..." The German's red eye's glowed; his teeth were clenched as he growled. Gilbert drew back his arm and punched Alin with all that he had. Alin's mouth smashing into Gilbert's hard knuckles, his canines cut the inside of his cheek.

Gilbert breathed in and out roughly as he stared down at the Romanian who deserved so much more than a punch to the kisser.

Gilbert flung Alin to the ground and ran after Elizaveta. Alin spit the blood from his mouth onto the ground and laughed heartily. He wiped his mouth and stood up. He started walking toward the dorms, still laughing.

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Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! resounded in Gilbert's head as he ran after Elizaveta.

Where did she go? Gilbert's senses were on overdrive-trying to hear every sound that could be Elizaveta. He heard the squeak of shoes around the corner. Gilbert turned his head both ways, and saw Elizaveta running towards the stairs on his right. He ran faster when he saw her stumble. He caught up to her when she started to go down the stairs.

"Elizaveta!" shouted Gilbert. She spun around at the sound of his voice. The startle made her slowly slip off the step, waving her arms around as she began to fall backwards.

"Nien!" he shouted as he reached out for her not bandaged hand. He grasped her fingertips and shot out his hand in order to reach further to her wrist. He began to fall with Elizaveta.

After Gilbert's body had tumbled down the stairs, bruises that he knew would form later began to ache. But Elizaveta was unharmed. He'd caught her and cushioned her fall so she wouldn't get hurt. She tried to move from his tight hold, but it was useless-even with his body banged up and bruised, his grip was like steel.

"Sind Sie okay?" he whispered hoarsely. Elizaveta slowly nodded her head. She tried to break free once more, but Gilbert stopped her by tightening his vice-like hold.

"Nein, ich möchte Ihnen zu hören, was ich zu sagen habe." Elizaveta was silent, but didn't hint at her decision.

"Schau mich an." Elizaveta didn't look at his face, but was starring at the top of the stairs were a yellow wet sign was displayed.

"Schau mich an," he said, stronger. Elizaveta turned to him, tears still in her eyes, and her face red from the dried trails.

"You...you mean a lot to me. You may not believe it, but it's true. You were there 'with me' when my mom died, you were there...for me. No one has ever...cared about me as much as you do-or did, I guess." Elizaveta's eyes stared at his sleeve instead of his eyes, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"When I first wrote to you I thought it was the most idiotic thing the school came up with. A Pen-pal letter exchange? No one sends letters anymore. I thought it was going to be boring and stupid, but that was before you wrote to me." Gilbert lifted her chin up, trying to coax her to look into his eyes. Elizaveta moved her head to the side, straining away from his touch. Gilbert dropped his hand and continued.

"You were nice to me. A complete stranger. Nevertheless, you introduced yourself as...'A Girl'-nothing special, just an ordinary girl. But you're more than that. Maybe it didn't help that I was a dick in the first letter, but you ignored it and told me you thought it was kinda stupid to be sending letters, but...you secretly thought it was fun. And you were the only person that I told that I thought it was secretly fun, too." Elizaveta flashed her eyes briefly to Gilbert's face, but as quickly as they looked at him, they went back to staring at his shoulder. Gilbert sighed.

"What I mean to say...is that you were the one person I was true to. I put up this disguise that I'm awesome and have the perfect life-but it's far from that. My mom's dead, my dad's a fucked-up alcoholic, and my uncle's a hard-ass. Don't even get me started about Ludwig, poor kid. I tried to pretend that I was on top of it all-King of the World. But you were the person that knew the truth-the real me." Elizaveta started to pick at her fingers, slowly ripping off a jagged piece of her nail.

"I went to drinking, to drugs, and to partying hard. You were there in letters, but you weren't there to kiss my booboos or anything silly like that. When I was sad, you were the one thing I wanted to see. I wanted to see your smile, hear your laugh, to hold you, to be there with you. I wanted it all...But now...I know that I'm not good enough-assholes like me shouldn't mess with nice girl's lives like yours. So...um, I just wanted to let you know..." Elizaveta sniffed and looked into Gilbert's bright red eyes.

"I...I...I pictured you as the perfect boy." she started hoarsely. Her voice cracked as she met his eyes.

"You were meant to be my 'Prince Charming'-even when I-I had Roderich." she faltered at her ex's name, but continued strongly.

"You were the one who I pictured 'kissing my booboos'. I got into fights when I was younger because I wanted to be the Price Charming I knew would never come to my rescue. I wanted to be the strong one, the one who would protect the ones I cared for." Elizaveta wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye.

"But, after I wrote to you, I realized that I could finally be a...a girl. I could relinquish my childish duty to the one who was meant to play the role in the first place. The real Prince Charming. You."

"You were to be the perfect person, but...I know-I know that I'm wrong now." Elizaveta's eyes cried no more, all of her tears were gone, and there were no more to shed.

"I know that I was stupid and selfish. So, I understand if you're mad at me-or if you even hate me..." she said in an almost sour tone, but she pretended to be okay with what she said. Gilbert lifted her chin once more, this time Elizaveta didn't reject his touch. He dropped his hand and lightly touched her bandaged one.

"I could never hate you... Besides, nobody's perfect," he said with a small smile. He lifted her burnt hand and kissed it gently. Elizaveta's eyes grew wide and she looked as if she might cry again. She flung her arms around him and pressed her face into his warm shoulder.

Elizaveta whispered something, but it was too quiet for Gilbert to hear. But it sounded a little like:

"Ich habe dich vermisst."

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"Tha sstupid Morgens assi'ed tha projec at the lassst minute! Doe'n't the wanker und'a'stannnd I could be fighting piratesss right now?" mumbled Arthur in his sleep. He was sprawled in his school uniform on Alfred's bed, sleeping like a baby. Well, like a baby that talks in their sleep.

Alfred and Arthur had the same Health & Science teacher, Mr. Morgens, despite being in different grades. Alfred was book smart, so he was in advanced classes, some were even in higher grades than his. But, that didn't mean he had common sense, he just threw that to the wind.

Arthur had met up with Alfred every day after school and had hot sweaty sex for hours-or at least that was Alfred's fantasy. They were really completing a project for their Science class. They were studying plants and their medicine qualities, so it was all about salves and balms-which were very boring. So boring that studious Arthur had fallen asleep in Alfred's dorm room. Matthew was always off somewhere these days, doing something, but Alfred didn't mind that his best friend was MIA because that meant more alone time with Arthur.

Every day in class, Alfred had to stop himself from staring at Arthur. Maybe it was the way his bushy eyebrows furrowed when he was thinking, or the way he laughed, or the way he talked, and acted, and did things, and just was. Alfred didn't know.

All of his chances with Arthur, however, were ruined by the fact that Arthur was in love with the hoity-toity French teacher. But that didn't stop Alfred from liking Arthur-not one bit. He thought he could maybe sweep him off his feet with his southern charm, just like Clark Gable or some country singer. But so far, Arthur was oblivious to his advances.

He's so cute when he's sleeping, thought Alfred as Arthur mumbled about unicorns under his breath. Arthur's lips were right there. Alfred could touch them if he wanted to-hell, he could kiss them if he could only get away with it!

But...his friendship with Arthur would be ruined if he kissed him, and his chances of ever dating him would be slim. Alfred shivered at the thought of dating and how his father would react. But his father would never know... And neither would Arthur if you kissed him now, whispered a voice at the corner of his thoughts.

Alfred's gaze landed on Arthur's lips. They were so pink and full. They're probably soft. Alfred shook his head, trying to erase his dangerous thoughts. And now Arthur was mumbling about blue telephone booths and 'Dolly-something'.

But it wouldn't kill him. It wouldn't hurt to give him a quick peck...it would be his first kiss. Why not get it over now? Arthur would never know...

Alfred sat at the corner of his bed, near Arthur's waist. Arthur mumbled again, this time about some guy named Watson and... an elementary school? He wasn't sure.

Alfred licked his lips. He couldn't believe he was going to kiss Arthur. He couldn't believe he was getting away with it. He couldn't believe Arthur hadn't woken up.

Alfred was barely inches way now, going slower than a snail. He was four inches away...

Three inches...

Two inches...

One inch...

A breath's way away from those pink lips...

Alfred closed his eyes and puckered his lips slightly, but was interrupted by Arthur's forehead smacking against his own.

"Ow! Bloody hell, Alfred! What were you doing?" he said in annoyance as both boys rubbed at their slowly forming goose eggs.

"Dude, you were sleeping so quietly I thought you were dead-I had to check if you were still breathin'." Arthur mumbled and grumbled a few more funny British words and grabbed his notebook.

"Never mind then. What part were we on again?"

"Um, aloe, I think?" Alfred said as he thumbed through the text book. Alfred couldn't think of what would have happened if Arthur had woken up later. It probably would have been much worse. He shivered at the thought.

"Are you cold? I could make tea?" Alfred shook his head 'no', and continued to look through the book.

Maybe it was a good thing Arthur had woken up when he did-it saved Alfred from having to explain why he had just kissed a boy when he was so obviously straight.

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Hey, emotional chapter guys! Hoped you liked it-and please review! I wanna hear your opinions!

Sorry the UsUk was so short-I'm tired and Thanksgiving break is over and I have to go to school tomorrow. D':

Bye, and wish me luck! :D