In the fifteen minutes that the house had been abandoned, the house had grown cold. Of course, it may have just seemed that way because of Elizaveta. She had started shivering ever since the three of them had gotten into Ludwig's car, and nothing seemed to be able to warm her up. By the time they arrived at Lili's house, she was already wearing both Lili's and Ludwig's coats.

"You can go on in," Lili had said, tossing the keys to her friend. She had nodded, shedding the coat belonging to the young man and tossing it into the back seat. Once she was gone, Lili leaned into the window on the passenger's side.

"I just wanted to thank you… for everything."

"It was barely anything. And Lili?"

"Hm?"

"I saw that gun. Don't pretend that it wasn't there. Are you sure that you're safe here?"

"Of course! He's going to look for her, at her house. By the time he even thinks to look here, he'll probably be too drunk to remember where I live."

He furrowed his brow. "That's not very encouraging, you know."

"Well… I'm just trying to be optimistic. We're going to be fine, Ludwig."

He sighed. "If you say so… oh, and one more thing."

She buried her hands in the pockets of her jeans. It was a shame that Liz had already left with her coat; she was freezing. "And what's that?"

"I had no idea that you actually plucked up the nerve to tell her how you felt. Good for you."

She blinked. To tell her how I felt…? Oh. "Actually… that was just an act. We were trying to get Gil to leave her alone, but you can see how well that worked out."

He nodded. His expression was unreadable, something caught between deep thought and faint disappointment. "So your crush pretended to like you back… you know, that's a little cruel, when you think about it."

Lili could only shrug. "Well, it was something that needed to be done. I'll call you if I need any help, all right?"

"All right. And… good luck." He rolled up the window and pulled away, leaving Lili on the curb, still shivering slightly.

"Thanks… I'm going to need it."

After that, she had turned and made her way up to the front door. She had stood there for a few moments, resting her hand on the knob, wondering what would happen once she went inside. Elizaveta was waiting for her, she knew. She was waiting for her friend, who would have done anything to keep her safe. So after one final breath, she had pushed the door open and stepped inside, only to be greeted by the sight of the shivering girl, huddled on the floor, still wrapped in Lili's coat.

"Liz, you should really go and sit on the couch. I bet it'd be warmer than the floor… come on."

She held out her hand to help her friend up, but rather than standing, Liz took it and pulled Lili down to a kneeling position in front of her. She had forgotten how strong Liz was. "But I don't feel like moving…"

"Fine, at least let me get a blanket. You're cold as death." At this, her hand was released and she was free to grab a blanket off of the couch. Elizaveta was still in the same position, shivering and staring at the floor. Lili sat down next to her and threw the blanket over both of their shoulders. "You do know that the couch would be a lot more comfortable, don't—"

She was cut off by an arm that wrapped itself around her waist, just like it had in the closet… but this time, nobody was playing pretend. It's just a friendly hug, Lili. Stop breathing so fast, or she'll notice something's wrong.

Slowly, she calmed herself and rested her head on Elizaveta's shoulder. When she spoke, Lili felt the warm vibrations against her cheek. "But I don't feel like moving now."

"We can't just sit on the floor all night and wait for Vash to come home. We should at least go up to my room, or on the couch…"

"I'm too cold to move."

"Well… it'll be warmer upstairs. Come on." She stood, pulling the blanket with her. Liz, however, didn't move. "Liz…" She only sat there, staring at her knees. "Please just come upstairs. Your legs are going to get sore if you stay like tha—"

"Please don't be mad at me."

She stood behind the girl and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Why would I be mad?"

The only response was a whispered, "Because I dragged you into this. It wasn't fair… I should've just…"

"Just what? Just gone along with what Gilbert wanted? Liz, I'd be mad if you did that." The brunette slowly turned to face her. "All I ever wanted was for you to be alright."

Those perfect green eyes brimmed with tears. "My knees hurt."

"Then come with me.

Whether Liz was curled up on the hardwood floor or Lili's bed, it made no difference. She still shivered, and she still stared with empty eyes.

"He wasn't always like that."

"I know." Lili sat on the edge of the bed, with her elbows resting on her knees. "I remember." Of course she did. There had been a time where Gilbert Beilschmidt was happy… friendly, even, without a jealous bone in his body. He took Elizaveta out to dinner. He bought her a necklace once. He had even smiled at Lili. But somewhere along the line, he fell in love a little too much, and it stopped being love and became an obsession. This was when Lili had started saying "no".

"I should have known this would happen."

"Come on, there's no way you could've known that. I mean, he was going down a bad path, but… I didn't think it'd get that bad."

"It wasn't just him, you know."

She sighed. "Then what else was it?"

"Who." A hand emerged from under the layers of blankets and grabbed Lili by the wrist.

"Fine, who was it?"

"I'm afraid that's classified."

"Liz… if you're not going to tell me, then don't bring it—" A sharp tug pulled her onto the bed next to her love. Friend. Next to my friend. She sighed. "Then don't bring it up."

"I just thought I'd let you know that it's not entirely his fault. He knew that there was somebody else before what happened last night, and I think that's why he—"

"Liz?"

"Hm?"

"You should get some sleep. It's been a long day."

"If you say so." She uncurled herself and wrapped her arms around Lili. "Goodnight."

"G-goodnight."

After a few minutes, the rhythm of Liz's breathing pulled Lili into a sweet, dreamless sleep. Liz, however, was not so lucky.

"Gilbert… Gil."

"Elizaveta." His hands… his hands were on the hem of her shirt. This was wrong.

"Wait. What are you…" But she was not allowed to finish the thought. His mouth crushed itself against hers, and she found herself pinned to the wall. "Mph…"

His hands abandoned her shirt and took hold of her hips, while Gilbert moved on to her neck, trailing kisses, biting softly.

"Stop."

"And why should I?" His gaze met hers, eyes the color of blood. They shone with lust.

"B-because…."

"If you say it's because of her, I don't want to hear it."

"Well, maybe it is! Maybe it is because of her. What are you going to do about it?" But that was the wrong question. She knew exactly what he was going to do about it. "Wait, no." But the damage was already done. He slapped her, and before she had the chance to recover, he had dragged her to her knees.

"I'm going to make you forget about her."

"You can't make me do anything."

Lips collided. Hands groped. Cries sounded. But no matter how loudly she screamed, there would be no help. She was wrong: Gilbert had power over her. But there was still one thing she could do.

Liz's eyes snapped open. The room was dark, and she was in an unfamiliar bed. For some reason, it felt like home. It smelled like Lili. Looking next to her, she could just make out a few locks of her honey-blonde hair. Yes, this was home—it was the place Lili was, and a place where Gil would never find her. "Lili. Are you still awake?"

The covers stirred. "I am now. Are you alright?"

Her face eventually surfaced from under the sea of blankets. "Yeah, fine, I just…" She sighed. She had run out of words, not that she had much to say to Lili to begin with, aside from I'm sorry. But there was still one more thing she needed to say.

"You just what?" Lili's voice was heavy from sleep. It was adorable. Before Elizaveta knew what she was doing, she leaned down and pressed her lips against Lili's, gently. This wasn't like the kiss in the closet, the one where they had both been pretending. Liz desperately wanted this one to be real. Kissing Lili was like kissing sunshine, and it felt like it belonged in the best kind of dream. It seemed that the girl agreed. She pushed Liz away and blinked for a few moments, blushing.

"That was a dream, wasn't it?"

"I think so," she whispered. "Go back to sleep." Lili nodded. If Liz could have seen her face through the darkness, she would have seen that she had fallen asleep smiling. Elizaveta fell asleep guilty.

Sorry for the late update! There hasn't been a lot of time to write, between holidays and food comas and homework. (Who even gives homework over winter break?) But yeah.

Oh! For those of you who are waiting for any updates on the Journal Pour Le Ballet project, I've mapped out the first story, finally. I've almost finished the first chapter. Be on the lookout for a story tagged with the word JournalVerse.