A/N Hey you guys, Skipperr here:) Chapter 13 comin' your way~ Also, please note that I kinda screwed over the fluff and got kinda…serious:3 , so I guess this is where that 'This is rated T for a reason' comes into play. And I am sad to announce, that this is the second to last chapter :c I was gonna leave it a surprise, but just couldn't, it would be too weird, you know? So, I just decided to tell you guys up front. Enjoy.

"So, do you guys ever go out or do anything at all?" Michelle asked Roderich and Elizabeta one Saturday night.

Roderich and Elizabeta looked at each other and back at Michelle. "Uh, yeah, we do." Elizabeta answered.

"No you guys don't." Madeline said as she walked pass them to sit at the counter.

"But we do." Roderich said after.

"No, not really." Antonio said as he also walked pass them to sit with Madeline.

Elizabeta sighed. "Look you guys, we go and do things all the time."

"It's never a good thing to lie, Lizzie. Besides, walks in the parks and through Budapest don't count." Francis said coming out of his office.

"Well when you put it that way," Roderich started.

"We really don't go anywhere." Elizabeta said after.

There was a beat of science.

"W-We can change that if you would like." Roderich asked Elizabeta.

Elizabeta grinned. "I thought you would never ask. What did you have in mind?"

"Well I haven't had a drink in a while; do you want to go to a bar?"

"Sure, I know where one is. It's right up the street actually."

Roderich and Elizabeta got up and linked arms.

"Well, were going out because we actually do go places." Elizabeta said.

"Right, what she said." Roderich said after. With that being said, they walked out the door. Leaving Antonio, Francis, Michelle, and Madeline alone in the café.

"Aren't they just the perfect couple?" Madeline and Michelle asked in dreamy voices.

"Yes." They again said at the same time.

"Oh I just wish they would just tell each other that that they love each other so they can get married." Michelle said.

"I know right? Am I the only one that thinks that they would have a big pretty wedding with a big pretty cake?" Madeline asked.

Michelle grinned. "Nope, I think that too."

Madeline giggled. "I knew I wasn't the only one. Oh! Something just came to me."

"What?"

"Their children would be absolutely beautiful."

Antonio and Francis just watched as the girls went on and on about Roderich and Elizabeta's kids and their very possible future.

"Do you know what's going on here?" Francis asked Antonio.

Antonio just shook his head. "But I do think that it's best that we don't disturb them."

Meanwhile, Roderich and Elizabeta were walking up the street to the bar.

"So I didn't know you drink." Elizabeta said.

"Not a lot, just when I haven't had one in a while. What about you? You don't seem like the type that drinks."

"Well actually I used to drink a lot with Gilbert, but since we split, I haven't had a good drink in a while."

"Oh, I see."

When they arrived, they took a seat at the bar.

"What can I get you two?" The lady bartender asked.

"I'll have a beer please." Elizabeta said.

"Make that two please." Roderich said after.

"You drink beer? You seem like the type that would drink the fanciest wine."

Roderich chuckled. "That's what they all say. But you on the other hand seem too…feminine to drink beer."

Elizabeta giggled. "That's what they all say."

Two mugs of beer were placed in front of them and Elizabeta held hers up. "We should make a toast only because I always make toasts in my first drink."

"Ok. What should we toast to?"

"Uh… how about to beer?"

"To beer?"

Elizabeta nodded. "You know, since we both drink it."

"Alright. Here's to beer." Roderich said and clinked his glass with Elizabeta. The chugged down the beer and placed the mugs back on the bar. One round turned into two, and two into twelve. Twelve rounds of beer, and it was no secret that they were both intoxicated. Both of their cheeks were stinging and red, and they couldn't be happier.

"Hey, let's blow this Popsicle stand." Elizabeta said slightly sluring her words.

Roderich nodded as he got out his wallet.

They split the bill and they left out the bar.

"Your gonna walk me home right?" Elizabeta asked as she tried her best to walk straight.

"Of course, darling. A beautiful lady such as yourself shouldn't walk the streets alone at a time like this." Even Roderich's speech was slightly slurred.

Elizabeta grinned at him. "You say the sweetest things."

When they got to Elizabeta's house, Roderich had walked her up to her up to the porch.

"Listen, I'm gonna have to get home." Roderich said.

"Are you sure you'll be ok? I mean my house is here and yours isn't." She said after she unlocked her door and slightly cracked it.

"I'll be fine; your safety in your house is all I care about."

"You surely care about me a lot."

"Because I love you, sweetheart." He said and kissed her forehead.

"Aw, I love you too Roderich." Elizabeta said and kissed his cheek.

Roderich grabbed Elizabeta's hands and pulled her close to him. Elizabeta looked at him and gave a small smile. He smiled back and couldn't help but kiss her perfect smiling lips. Elizabeta had kissed him back and tangled her hand in his hair.

At that moment, Roderich had pulled her even closer and wrapped his arms around her waist.

The kiss became deeper, and Elizabeta had wrapped her legs around his waist. Roderich pinned her up against the door, but the door swung opened and they tumbled inside breaking the kiss.

They both laughed at what had just happened for a moment then Roderich asked the woman under him, "Are you ok?"

She just nodded with a cute grin on her face. Roderich pulled her up and Elizabeta pulled him over to the couch. "Hey, Roderich."

"Yes?"

"Things were less boring and more fun when you were making out with me."

"Well we can change that, love." Roderich said pulling her close. He brushed the hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear, and kissed her again. Like before, Elizabeta tangled her hand in his hair. The kiss once again became deeper and Roderich had climbed on top of her. Elizabeta leaned back on the couch. Her hands ran up and down Roderich's back, but she felt like something was missing.

Or rather, needed to be missing.

Her hands slipped under his shirt, and she tugged his shirt over his head, leaving it to fall to the ground. His skin was soft and warm. Really warm.

Secretly, Roderich was glad she took off his shirt, he was burning up. Elizabeta was pretty warm herself, so Roderich did the favor of slipping of her shirt for her. Just like Roderich's, her skin was really warm too.

Strangely, there was something inside Elizabeta that was telling her that this wasn't right. That they shouldn't be doing this.

Or rather, it.

But, she liked it. A lot. Besides, she 'loved' him, why would she not like it? When Roderich's hand traveled down further south, she grabbed his hand. "No, don't." She panted. "There's a little voice in my head that keeps telling me that it wouldn't be right. I'm not sure what it is or why it's telling me that, but it is. And, as much as I love you and love being with you, I can't get rid of that stupid voice that's telling me the right thing."

Roderich gave a grin. "That's ok sweetheart, I understand…but we can still make out right?"

Elizabeta grinned back."Of course."

Roderich grinned again before he continued the make out session that was held with Elizabeta.

The next morning, Elizabeta woke up with a headache out of this world, but how she woke up was an entirely different story.

But the only problem was:

What was the story?

She had no idea.

Why was her shirt off? Why was she sleeping with Roderich? Why was his shirt off too? Determined to get her questions answered, she woke Roderich up. Maybe he knew what was going on. When he woke up, he quickly grabbed a side of his head in pain. "It feels like my head is about to burst." He mumbled.

"Roderich, do you know what happened last night?" Elizabeta asked him quietly.

"No, not even a little."

Elizabeta panicked and stood up to pace back and fourth. "Oh my God, what did we do? How did I allow this to happen? Ugh, I'm such an idiot."

Roderich watched her as he put on his shirt. She was shirtless, and now that he wasn't drunk, it was a sight he just couldn't handle. "Elizabeta?" He called.

"I should have been more responsible and not have went so many rounds. I thought I figured that out the first time I got drunk."

"Elizabeta?"

"Of course that was a very amazing night but in the end I ended up doing some pretty regretful things with—"

"Elizabeta!"

"What?" She snapped.

"Obviously you're an attractive woman, and you being shirtless makes you much more attractive than you already were. So would you please just put a shirt on before my nose starts to bleed?" Roderich yelled.

"Well didn't know I was so attractive." Elizabeta mumbled with a small smile on her face. She grabbed her shirt off if the floor and slipped it on. "Better?"

"No."

"Why?"

He tilted his head back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Because my nose started bleeding regardless. Excuse me." He said and went to the bathroom to get tissue.

Elizabeta held back a giggle.

When he came back, he found Elizabeta patiently sitting on the couch. He sat down beside her. "Care to take a guess about what happened last night?" She asked him.

He shrugged. "If I could, I would. But I don't even know where or how to start."

"Me either. I just wish that I hadn't done something, so…"

"Regretful?" Roderich suggested.

"Oh no, not at all." Elizabeta started as the grabbed his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "I never regret spending time with you at all Roderich. I mean I regret drinking so much and not remembering anything at all the next day. But I don't regret being with you and only remembering the fact that I was really happy last night." That's all she said. If she were to say more, she had a feeling that the words 'i love you' would slip out before she even knew she said it.

But, why did she have that feeling? She didn't love Roderich. 'Just because I think he is the cutest guy I've ever seen; he never ceases to amaze me, and that I feel like I'm flying every time I'm with him does not mean I'm in love with him…right?' She thought uncertainly.

"I remember being happy last night too, so I guess we were just happy together." He said with a small chuckle. But then, his chuckle was replaced with a frown and his eyes widened. He turned to Elizabeta, "You don't suppose we had—"

He didn't even have to finish his sentence for Elizabeta to understand. "Oh my God, what if we did?" She said as her skin paled. Before she could start panicking, Roderich grabbed her shoulders. "Alright, don't flip out just yet." He said quickly, "Have you considered the fact that maybe we didn't do something like that?"

Elizabeta's eyes flickered back and fourth in thought. Then she sighed in relief. "You know what? I think your right. I mean if anything, and I mean anything happened last night, then I would be more clumsy than usual."

"Really?"

She nodded. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"There has to be something you do afterwords. Everybody has or does something."

"Well…I whistle Twisted Nerve actually." He said with a small chuckle.

Elizabeta had to laugh at that. "So you whistle and I fall?"

"Some dynamic duo we are, right?"

Before Elizabeta could laugh again, her headache came back twice as bad. "Well it seems that my headache is getting worse." She mumbled. "Would you like something to take for your headache as well?"

"Oh, yes please." Roderich answered.

Elizabeta got up, and slightly struggled to keep her balance. If she wasn't intoxicated, why is she trying her best to keep her balance?

She came back with a bottle of Motrin. Elizabeta tossed it to Roderich and then went into the kitchen to retrieve two cups of water. She gave Roderich a cup and he gave her back the bottle. Elizabeta opened the bottle and slipped out four tablets. She gave two to Roderich, and she kept the other two for herself. They took the medicine, and went back to sleep.

The time was around 3 in the afternoon when Roderich woke up. He grabbed his glasses off the coffee table and moved slowly and carefully to not wake Elizabeta. The Motrin worked. He knew it did because when he woke up, he didn't have the same hungover feeling he had earlier in the morning. He felt refreshed, and now, really hungry. Like always, he would get a bite to eat at the café, but he didn't want to have lunch with out Elizabeta. Then again, he could always meet her there. Besides he needed to change his clothes anyway. Roderich ran around the house in search of a pen and paper, so he could leave a note for her when she woke up.

When he found what he was looking for, he scribbled something down, signed it at the bottom, and placed the note on the coffee table.

When Roderich arrived at the café, he took his usual seat. He looked around, Michelle was playing with Francis' hair while he sat casually reading a book, and Antonio and Madeline were sitting down talking. 'Nothing out of the ordinary.' He thought.

"Roderich, I have some important information for you, do you mind coming over here for a moment?" Francis asked without looking away from the book he was reading.

Roderich walked over to the pair and leaned on the counter. "Good afternoon Michelle." He greeted her.

Michelle looked up from her project to smile at him. "Hi, Roderich." She said and went directly back to playing with Francis' hair.

"You called me over here Francis?"

Finally Francis set the book down to make contact with him. "Ah yes, Roderich, I have the information about you're transportation back home."

"And?"

"And the letter said that your train will arrive at the station tomorrow, at 1:00 p.m. I think it's best if you would make for the station at around 12:45 so you won't be late."

"Right. Anything else?"

"Where's Lizzie?" Michelle asked.

"She's at home, taking a nap."

Both Francis and Michelle held back snickers. "Gee, I wonder what she's tired from." Francis mumbled with a small smirk on his face.

"I'm sorry, did you say something Francis? I didn't quite catch it."

"Oh nothing. Nothing at all." He lied.

"Well alright." Roderich said with a shrug and walked away.

As soon as he left the two, they snickered. "Boss, why did you say that out loud?" Michelle said as she continued to laugh.

"Oh, it's not like you weren't thinking the same thing."

"…Toché." She mumbled. Then, she smiled and finally figured out what to do with his hair. Michelle gathered up all of his hair and took off the elastic band off her wrist and slipped it around his hair. A ponytail. "Ta-da. A perfect ponytail." She said and patted the top of his head. "You look much more adorable with it."

Meanwhile, at Elizabeta's house...

Elizabeta woke up about half an hour after Roderich left. She felt much better than she did earlier. She stretched, sat up, and looked around. Where is Roderich? "Roderich?" She called through the house.

No reply.

She looked at the paper on the coffee table. It was a note from Roderich. It read:

Went home to get cleaned up and going to The Shadow's afterwards. Meet me there.
—Roderich

Elizabeta hopped off the couch made her way to the bathroom, but tripped over the coffee table. "Oww. Stupid table." She whined. She pushed herself off the ground and continued making her way to the bathroom.

Elizabeta looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was pretty dark. How long had it been since she washed it? 'Two weeks?' She guessed. Well however long ago it was, it needed to be washed. She got into the shower, washing her hair with her strawberry shampoo and conditioner and cleaning herself with her vanilla soap. 'A prefect combination.' She thought as she rinsed her hair off for one last time.

When she got out she wrapped a bath towel around her and climbed out of the tub. Then, she looked at herself again. Her hair was lighter than before, in color and in weight. "Much better." She said to herself smiling.

Elizabeta left out the bathroom and into her room to get dressed.

Now that she was dressed, what was she to do with her hair? Let it dry all the way and curl up like usually? Elizabeta shook her head. "No, that won't do." She said to herself. It wasn't she that didn't love her curly hair, it's just that she was kind of tired of it. She's had it curly for years, why not change it? She grabbed her flat irons, and quickly ran it through her hair, pulling it as straight as she could get it.

She thought it would be much straighter than it is now. Actually, the word 'straight' didn't really fit the description for her hair. The word 'wavy' did it more justice, but she didn't mind having wavy hair at all, she liked it. Elizabeta grabbed her keys off of the table, slipped on her shoes and went out the door, locking it behind her.

When she arrived at the café, she sat down next to Roderich. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hey. Ready for lunch?"

"I thought you would have eaten already. You haven't?"

He shook his head. "No, I waited for you."

Elizabeta had to smile at that. "That was very sweet of you. Sorry for taking so long, had I known you were waiting for me, I would have just kept my hair in its usual hair style instead of straightening it."

"It's alright. I didn't mind waiting at all. Besides, I think your hair is even more beautiful like that."

"Thank you."

"Hey you guys." Madeline said to the two, "Anything to drink?"

"I'll just have a water." Roderich said.

"And I'll have a water… with lemon." Elizabeta said in a cool manner.

"Whoa, watch out you guys, we've got a bad ass over here." Madeline mumbled sarcastically as she walked away.

"I herd that Madeline."

Madeline just laughed.

"Anyway, you know what's really unfair?"

"What?"

"The fact that this is your last day." She gave a small sigh.

Roderich placed a hand on top of Elizabeta's. "Don't worry, I'll come visit you whenever I can, I promise."

'He promised.' She thought and started smiling.

"And between you and me," he said and leaned closer to Elizabeta, "You're my favorite." He said quietly with a small smile.

Elizabeta giggled. "I feel special now."

Madeline came back with their drinks on a silver platter. "One water, and one water with lemon." They thanked her and then sent her off.

"I just realized something." Roderich spoke.

"And that would be?"

"I've been all around your house, and I have not seen a single contact case."

She knew exactly what he was talking about. He was referring to the time Roderich first played for her and how the song was so beautiful, that it moved her to tears. But, she didn't tell him that, she told him that her contact slipped. Elizabeta chuckled. "Alright, you win. I didn't cry because, my contact slipped. I cried because the song was so beautiful it moved me to tears."

Roderich smiled. "I never knew my music could make someone cry. Now I feel special."

There really wasn't much to do. Business was unusually slow and things were deadly quiet. Michelle was sitting on top of the counter, looking down at the ticking foot.

"Michelle, are you ok?" Antonio asked.

Michelle looked up but didn't stop ticking her foot. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just that I really hate the silence. It drives me crazy."

Roderich got up from his seat. "I'll take that as a cue." He said as he walked over to the piano. He sat down on the bench and started to softly play. Michelle's ticking slowed down, and then stopped completely. The music calmed her down by ten fold. "Thank you, Roderich."

Elizabeta sat next to Roderich just to see his fingers glide delicately across the ivory keys. 'I wonder what goes through that little head of yours while you're playing Roderich. I bet it's nothing but music notes, beats, and rhythms.' Elizabeta thought.

'I wonder if my house would be covered with dust when I get home.' Roderich thought, 'I mean, two months would seem long enough for a home to be covered in dust. What if I left a light on? Oh that would be terrible. Wait, no. I'm pretty sure that I turned off everything before I left.'

Roderich only took about a one minute break between songs to maybe flex his fingers or maybe ask for something. When he was about to start another song, it started off dark and mysterious. Then, an amazing sent tickled his nose. 'Is that strawberry and vanilla? What a perfect combination.' He thought. Because of that, half way through the song, it changed from dark and mysterious, to light and happy.

When the song was finished, Elizabeta asked, "Why such a change in the music?"

"I smelled strawberry and vanilla. It was an amazing combination that it made me change the song." He said with a small chuckle.

Elizabeta giggled. "I smell like Strawberries and vanilla."

Roderich looked up from the piano keys and at Elizabeta.

"What?"

"I'm sorry for doing this, but…" He trailed off his sentence to lean over to Elizabeta and inhale deeply. Then, he gave a nod of approval and said, "Very lovely."

"Thank you."

With that being said, he played the next song.

Roderich played for the rest of the day. It amazed Elizabeta that he had so many tunes in his head. 'Well maybe that's just the way a musician is.' She thought with a small shrug.

They all sat around the counter casually talking and observing the customers.

Madeline got up from her seat and stretched. "Hey Boss, I'm gonna go and sit on the steps for a minute to get some fresh air."

Francis, Roderich, and Elizabeta looked around, Antonio was no where to be found. "Alright, go ahead." He said with a small smirk on his face. Elizabeta couldn't stop giggling and Roderich simply smiled.

Madeline saw Francis' smirk, noticed Elizabeta's giggling, and noticed Roderich's smile, but chose to ignore all of it. "Thanks Boss." She said and hurried out the door.

"Ah, young love." Elizabeta said in a dreamy voice.

"A time where you just can't keep your hands off one another." Francis said after.

"I remember like it was what? Six years ago?" Roderich said with a small chuckle.

Michelle watched as the three of them talked. They made her feel so young. Then again, she was the youngest out of all of them, being 21 and all.

Roderich looked at his watch. "I'd better be getting home, it's almost ten and I still have a little more packing to do." He said. He stood up and turned to Elizabeta."Would you like me to walk you home?" He asked.

"Yes please. Thank you." She said. Elizabeta got up and followed Roderich to the door.

He opened the door for her, and before she could even walk out, two figures were blocking her way. It was Madeline and Antonio in what Elizabeta would have described as a 'very heated make out session'.

Elizabeta couldn't help but smile. "The least you two could do is scoot over closer to the wall so people can have a walk way."

Antonio moved closer to the wall and pulled Madeline closer to him. Madeline looked up and smiled at the two. "Better?"

Elizabeta nodded. "Have a goodnight you too." She said and continued her way down the stairs.

The whole walk home, Elizabeta couldn't stop thinking about Madeline and Antonio. They looked so happy together. It warmed her heart enough to where she had actually missed being with someone. Now, did she miss Gilbert? Of course not. But she did miss when he would pull her by the waist just to kiss her, when he would hold her hand when they would take long walks though parks, when he would tell her all types of embarrassing secrets about himself and others, and when he told her that he loved her. Those are things that a lot of couples do, and that was what she missed. She missed being a couple. She missed being in a relationship.

But then again, what Gilbert had done was absolutely terrible. What if that happens again, except ten times worse? She didn't want to go through that again. Honestly.

Roderich walked her up to her porch. "Here we are."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay over? I mean, it is late, you could just leave early in the morning if you want to finish packing."

"I'll be fine. Your safety is all I care about."

"You surely do care about me a lot."

"Well that's because—wait, haven't we gone through this already?"

Elizabeta looked up in thought. "It seems pretty familiar, don't you think?"

"Maybe it came from a dream." He said with a small shrug.

"Maybe. So what time should I meet you at the café?"

"For what?"

"To say goodbye to you, silly."

Roderich's heart sunk. He hadn't thought about saying goodbye to Elizabeta. Would he be able to even do it? He didn't think he could. Not to her. Not to the one he was in love with. He can't believe he was doing this, but in order to avoid the unavoidable, he had to. "Well the train comes at 2 in the afternoon, so Francis thought it would be good if I left around 1:45." He rubbed his hands together nervously, lying was something he wasn't good at.

"Well I'll be there at 1:15." She said.

"Of course, how could I forget your strange habit of coming earlier than expected?"

"Um…Thanks for walking me home." She kissed him on his cheek and hugged him. Roderich didn't hesitate to hug her back.

"It was no big deal, really." He said quietly in her hair. He knew he would have to let her go soon, but he really could stay like this forever. Soon, Elizabeta wiggled her way out of his hold.

"I don't want to keep you, you've got a big day ahead, so I'll let you go." She said unlocking the door. She looked at him one last time and quietly said, "Good night, Roderich." And with that, she closed the door.

With a small sigh, Roderich turned on his heel, and walked home, quietly whistling Twisted Nerve.

Elizabeta didn't sit down or go to sleep. Instead, she paced back and fourth. She couldn't sit down when she was contemplating something as big as this: Deciding to forfeit her independence or not. With much thinking and self arguing, she finally reached a verdict.

She opened the top left drawer to her desk and rapidly searched for two things: Her Deceleration and her lighter. She found the deceleration first. Elizabeta unraveled it and read through it.

The Deceleration of Lizzie's Independence

I Elizabeta Héderváry have written this deceleration for one reason and one reason only, to become independent. I have come into the realization that if I don't want to get my heart broken again, is to not depend on men. I am perfectly capable of doing things on my own, and I shall have no man by my side when there are hardships. No longer will I let a male interfere with my own life. I'll be on my own, and stay on my own as a strong, independent woman.

~ Elizabeta Héderváry

"You changed my life." She spoke to the paper. "You taught me that I was much stronger than thought I was. In the past 3 years, I always looked to you when I was alone during a tough time. You protected me, but I think its time to go in a new direction. It took some time for me to see that love can actually be a very beautiful thing, and that maybe it's not that bad. I mean don't get me wrong, there's still something inside of me that keeps telling me not to do this and that I've worked way to hard to get where I am today, that I should use my head on this one. But instead I chose to use my heart."

With a slightly shaking hand, she set fire to the deceleration.

Elizabeta slipped the burning paper into the waste basket, watching it go from burning paper to soft embers.

She changed into her pajamas and crawled under the covers of her bed. She didn't go to seep happy, sad, or mad, but she didn't go to sleep as Elizabeta: An Independent woman either. She went to sleep as Elizabeta: A woman free of her own independence.

A/N Yay! No more independent Lizzie~ Well, truth be told, I'm kinda gonna miss her:3 now all I have to do is write up the last chapter and I'm done with this story~ well again, truth be told, I'm kinda gonna miss writing this story haha…So who caught the hair straightening thing?:D I did:3 Well if you did that's another gold star. *Slaps another gold star on forehead* :) um... I guess this is the time I say 'Review?' So…review? :')