Lili recognized the one who opened the door for her and Ludwig almost immediately: It was the one with the ridiculous hair, who had delivered the grand speech about Legos the day before.
"Hello, Mathias."
His eyebrows shot up. "Well then… you know my name. It'd seem Alfred invited a little stalker." He opened the door wider to let them pass. "Just don't go looking through my criminal record. It's not nearly as pretty as I am."
Lili and Ludwig only nodded politely and made their way to the living room, where Feliciano was waiting on the couch, trying not to pay attention to the two Asian exchange students making out on the cushion next to him. He stood and hugged Ludwig. "You know, Gilbert said this would be fun, but so far the only fun thing I've seen is Francis singing the Russian national anthem. He's still doing it, too." The three of them turned their gazes to the far side of the living room, where Francis was singing his heart out between gulps of wine. Ivan stood behind him, grinning sweetly.
"Do you see that, Lili?" asked Ludwig.
"I think I do…"
"That's what it looks like to sell your soul to Satan. I'd advise you to never learn that song."
She nodded. "Got it." But her mind was on other things. She had not even caught a glance of Elizaveta yet. Or Gil, now that she thought about it. Thinking that she would ask where she had gone, she pulled out her phone, but she saw that Elizaveta had already sent her a message. "Upstairs, in the linen closet." How cryptic. She excused herself from Ludwig and Feli, who were now cheering on Francis. He was still singing, despite the fact that Ivan looked like he might consider groping Francis's ass. This, she decided, was not her scene.
The upstairs hallway was nearly pitch-black. She couldn't find a light switch anywhere, and for all she could tell, the hall stretched on forever. She could have tried random doors for ages and not find the linen closet, but eventually, she saw a blinking light that illuminated the crack under one of the doors. She found the knob and swung it open to reveal one of the biggest linen closets that she had ever seen. Elizaveta was curled up on the floor. She stood, and without a word, she pulled Lili inside and shut the door again. "Liz—"
"Sh." The closet was smaller on the inside than it had seemed to be when Lili was on the outside, looking in.
"Where were you today?"
"There's no time for that." In the dark of the closet, Lili could only sense Elizaveta's closeness. She wished she could see her face.
"There's plenty of time! You just disappeared. Were you sick?"
"You might say that." She sounded sick.
"Well, are you going to tell me what it was or not?"
Elizaveta's voice dropped to a harsh whisper. "Gil tried to force me into something last night. I didn't want to do it, and he tried to pressure me into it, so I broke things off between us."
"Oh…" Her mind went wild, trying to imagine it. "I'm sorry."
"I'm not. But the thing is, he's here. And if he's here, I don't know what he's going to do. That's where you come in."
"Really… wait. What do you want me to do? Is this about that condition you were telling me about?"
"This has everything to do with that condition. I need your help, Lili, that's the only way I'll be able to get out of this house unscathed."
Lili imagined her friend's pretty eyes wide and desperate, maybe even teary. "What do you need me to do?"
"I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend, at least when Gil's around. If he thinks I'm with somebody else, then he'll leave me alone."
Lili didn't say anything for a while. Being asked to pretend Elizaveta was more than a friend was like… well, asking somebody to pretend that they were a human. But still, it didn't add up. "But I'm a girl. And Gil already knows that you're my best friend. Why not ask some random guy?"
"Because… it's not going to be as awkward if it's you. You're the only one I can really talk to right now. Just do me this one favor?"
"I'll do it. It's just until we can get you out, right? I can ask Ludwig for a ride home."
She heard Elizaveta drawing breath to answer, but she was cut off by the sound of footsteps. They were accompanied by a voice:
"Liz? Where the hell did you go?" It was Gil, and he didn't sound happy.
"We can start now," Liz whispered. Before Lili had a chance to ask what she meant, there was a hand on the back of her neck and Elizaveta's forehead was resting against her own.
"Elizaveta, what—"
"Shh. He'll hear you." as soon as the last word left her lips, they brushed against Lili's. With only a moment of hesitation, they were pressed together, and Elizaveta's arms were around her waist. Lili felt her eyelids fluttering closed, with only one dim thought breaking through the layer of shock covering her mind: She's kissing me. It took every ounce of determination to stay upright, instead of collapsing, either backwards or against Elizaveta. Either one would likely knock Liz over, too, and to hurt her was the last thing Lili wanted. But at least the kiss would be over.
She had imagined this happening so many times, wondering what those lips felt like. Wondering what the hands would feel like, resting on the small of her back. But she only dared to think these thoughts when she was half-asleep, or dreaming. Yes, only in sleep and dreams was Elizaveta hers. But she was wide awake now, so she knew none of this was real.
Because in the waking hours, whether either of the girls liked it or not, Liz belonged to Gilbert Beilschmidt. That much was made clear the moment the closet door opened, a sharp gasp was heard, and a rough hand grabbed Liz's shoulder and yanked her away from Lili. "You filthy little liar."
Liz glared at him and struggled to pull away, but Gil only let go to take hold of her forearm. "I hardly see how I'm lying. I told you last night, I'm done with this."
"We both know that's not true. What are you trying to prove by making out with that,"— He jerked his head towards Lili, who was still standing in a daze— "Anyway?"
"I'm trying to prove that I can do better than you. She doesn't try to force herself on me if I disagree with her over something stupid. She's willing to talk. She…" Liz looked back at her friend, with her eyes full of tears, apology, and something else that Lili couldn't quite identify. Her next sentence was only a murmur. "She's everything I could ever want."
Gilbert could do nothing but gape. "So you're serious."
"So I'm dead serious. I'd appreciate it if you didn't touch me anymore." The hand dropped her arm, but it didn't fall to Gil's side. Instead, it was brought across Elizaveta's face with a sickening thwack. He then turned away and disappeared down the hallway. They stood like that for a few moments: Lili frozen, still standing in the linen closet, and Liz standing in the doorway, facing away from her. "You know…" Lili began. "I know that you used to be into theater, but that was the best acting I've ever seen."
Liz spun around and grabbed Lili's wrist, pulling her out of the closet. "Anything to get him off of my case. We should go."
"Ludwig can give us a ride…" Liz pulled her down the hall and down the stairs leading to the living room.
"Then ask him. I just need to leave." But a sudden presence brought her to a halt.
"You're not going anywhere." In the few moments before the girls had made their way downstairs, Gilbert had secured one of the guns that Alfred kept in his cabinet. "You wouldn't like me to use this, would you? You're staying here."
Liz's grip on Lili's wrist tightened. "Over my dead body. I'd hate for my girlfriend to go home alone. It wouldn't be the ladylike thing to do, you know?"
Gil opened his mouth to say something, but Lili didn't hear what it was. Ludwig, her savior, had appeared at the far side of the room, and he seemed to be alone. "Ludwig! Can I ask a favor?"
In a matter of seconds, he had made his way across the room. "What is it?" His eyes fell on the shotgun, barely concealed at Gilbert's side, and his eyes narrowed.
"I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to give me and Elizaveta a ride home? It'd be a huge help." She smiled sweetly.
"So the queer ones found each other. How sweet." Ludwig grabbed Gilbert's shoulder and pushed him to the side.
"Gil… just shut up." He eyed the pair of girls curiously. Lili could've sworn she saw him wink at her. "We should be going, shouldn't we?"
Lili cast one final glance around the living room. The Asian exchange students were still making out, Ivan was holding Francis bridal style while Francis continued to sing, Alfred was arguing with Arthur about the use of the letter "U", and several other students were drunk off their asses. "Yes. We should be going."
I figured that, three chapters in, I may as well make a few announcements.
I might get started on Journal Pour Le Ballet again, but it's going to be completely rewritten and broken up into several stories: one for each pairing, all set on the same timeline. Kinda like George Devalier's fics… except, you know, I'm not George Devalier.
Sorry for the late update! Life got in the way, along with the fact that it's ill-advised to write romance stories when you're crushing on somebody.
Happy late Thanksgiving to my fellow Americans! I'm thankful for my viewers, my reviewers, Italy's curl, Spain's ass, England's eyebrows, LietPol, and the fact that Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D) have finally kissed.
God Bless America, Doitsu bless Hetalia, The endless void bless Night Vale, and I wish you all every happiness. I love you all.
—Lagoon