A:N/ So, I'm still obsessed with Erwin Smith, so here's a story to fill a void in my life LOL. The only thing that belongs to me is the original character.

Elyse stared at the clock that hung on the pristine white wall in her father's pristine white office with her pristine manicured hands scraping against the pristine white leather couch cushion. She inhaled and exhaled as she sat, shoulders up and hand folded properly on her lap after scraping the pristine leather.

Pristine. Everything is so pristine.

She hoped the scratching didn't her nails. Or maybe she does.

Well, dear old daddy wouldn't notice, hopefully.

Speaking of dear old daddy, the man was reading the papers in front of him like it was his damn daily newspaper.

Not her marriage contract to the man who was his age.

"Elyse, once you marry Mr. Garnier, you will need to quit doing trolling up and down the stage. Once you're married, you will need to enter a more domestic lifestyle. Your fluff years of dance are over." Her father's solemn voice echoed against the white walls that, she was pretty sure, were closing in on her.

She felt her heart break with the command. Dancing was what she was proud of, what she was good at. She had been dancing since she was four. Levi had made sure she was in a class she wanted, and it had taken hours to convince her father until he begrudgingly agreed for her to have an "extracurricular" activity.

"Yes, Father." Elyse's light voice replied, softly. She had acting classes, too. At least they were working in her favor right now.

Her father didn't respond as he scanned the pages of the contract that held her life with complete nonchalance.

After a moment, he placed the papers down and folded his hands on his pristine white office table. His narrowed grey eyes studied her own large, docile hazel ones and he held large yet wrinkly hand up for her to take.

Elyse didn't hesitate as she got up, mannerly, and took the hand offered to her with her own soft hand.

He looked up at her and a small practiced smile graced his aging features. Her father was undoubtedly a once handsome man, but years of hard work and life had beaten his face, leaving him to look hard and stern. He had brilliant eyes, still. Levi had inherited those eyes.

"You are making me very proud, Elyse. This will keep the family business in the family. I wouldn't have this done if that good-for-nothing—"

"Father, please. The situation is now fixed." Elyse pleaded with her father, urging him to continue without berating one of the most loved people in her life.

"Your brother decided to choose an unwise path in life. You, my dear, have saved our family once more." Her father finished, proudly patting her hand in his.

He frowned once he brought her hand up to his eyes to inspect something that suddenly displeased him.

"Also, don't forget to get a manicure, dear."

Elyse bowed her head in apology as she accidently bumped into someone as she walked towards a café in downtown Manhattan.

She entered the aromatic café and inhaled the scent of coffee, with a warm sigh. Just what she needed in this cold weather. Scanning the tables, her eyes shone bright once she saw her brother waiting for her in their usual booth.

He was reading a newspaper in French and Elyse couldn't help but roll her eyes. Could he be any more pretentious?

Oh, yes, there's his cashmere jacket and scarf properly folded on the chair reserved for her.

She walked up to the table, and she moved his things, gingerly, to the bay window on their right.

"You need to stop reading French newspapers in New York City, mon frère aîné." Elyse teased, as she settled down in her seat, removing the layers that warmed her.

"Then, don't encourage it by calling me older brother in French, Ely." Levi retorted, his eyes not leaving the newspaper.

A waitress came to their table to take her order, judging by the already hot coffee cup in front her brother.

Elyse placed her order with a grateful smile and thanks. The waitress's appreciative glance of her brother didn't go unnoticed.

Elyse was even more amused once her order came around just as quickly, and the waitress was still staring at her brother with a flush to her cheeks.

"Will that be all for the two of you?" The waitress asked, her eyes darting back and forth between the two of them.

"That will be all for me. Thank you." Elyse said, warmly, already pitying the waitress. She kicked her brother's shin, lightly, to get his attention.

He glanced up, a little miffed at being interrupted from his reading, "Yes, Ely?"

Elyse motioned to the waitress with her cup of tea, "Our waitress was asking if you need anything else."

Levi turned his attention to the waitress, "No, that'll be all. Thank you." He turned back to the newspaper in his hand and Elyse wanted to roll the newspaper and hit his half-French head with it.

"I noticed that you have a slight accent and that he's reading a French newspaper. Are you guys from France?" The waitress asked, curiously, and Elyse could tell she wanted to have more attention from her brother.

Poor girl.

"Yes, we were born there and had our childhood there, but our father—"

"Don't you have other tables to wait upon?" Levi's sharp voice interrupted his sister's storytelling. The waitress, who seemed very into Elyse's tale, stood up straight and flushed red. With a quick apology, she left to wait on other tables.

Elyse, annoyed, turned to her brother, who had finally placed his newspaper down to glare at his sister.

"You didn't have to be so rude." Elyse scolded, frowning.

"You shouldn't be telling strangers our life story." Levi snorted back, picking up his cup of coffee.

Elyse rolled her eyes, and a small laugh chuckle escaped her lips in affectionate amusement. Levi gave a small smile back.

"You better tip her well. Poor girl kept staring at you. That's maybe why she wanted to know our life story." Elyse sighed, taking a sip of her own tea.

It was Levi's turn to roll his eyes at his sister's compassion.

With a sigh, he placed down his cup and folded his hands in front of him. Elyse couldn't help but think of how her father just did that moments earlier.

Ah, yes, here comes the memory of having to marry at the innocent age of sixteen.

"Sometimes, I forget you're only sixteen. You are precocious at that age, Ely. It's like talking to someone of my age. I mean, you're in fucking Julliard for God's sake." Levi stated, a sense of wistfulness in his voice that only she could detect.

"Feeling old, brother?" Elyse teased, one eyebrow raised. She placed her elbow on the table and her head on her hand and playfully tilted her head towards her bother.

"More like useless. The older you get; Father decides to keep using you." Levi stated, his tone getting darker.

Elyse immediately cringed and frowned. She removed her elbow off the table and folded her hands on her lap, playing nervously with her fingers.

"Levi…don't say that. Father loves, he doesn't use." Elyse weakly defended.

Levi snorted, "The man is incapable of love. Especially when mother-" Levi immediately stopped himself, his hands gripping his cup.

"I'm sorry, Ely. I forgot myself." He apologized, shaking his head in apology.

Elyse simply offered a small smile of understanding.

"He talked to me about how he set up a marriage with one of his business partners. Of course, I told the old geezer that he's out of his damn mind if he thinks you're going to agree with it. I mean, that should be the line, Elyse." Levi said, pressing one of his hands on his temples to massage them.

Elyse froze.

"Did you meet with him today?" Levi asked, not missing a beat from his rant. His gaze finally turned towards her.

"…No, I was about to after this." Elyse lied, easily, her eyes wide for effect. As if she heard this news for the first time.

Levi nodded, approvingly. "Good, don't go today. Don't go ever, just go back to your dorms. How about this, I have a friend who's coming to visit from Germany. Father and his father actually go way back and I went to Uni with him back in Germany. We'll have dinner at my place. I'll see you then?"

Elyse still smiled her practiced smile and nodded, with fake enthusiasm.

Her brother walked her back to her dorms at Julliard, and she gave a kiss on his cheek as goodbye with a promise of seeing him later.

She entered her dorm room and noticed that her roommate was out, which gave her a room to herself for once throughout the whole day.

Placing her stuff down, gently, and sitting down on her bed, Elyse finally let go of the breath she had been holding the moment her father told her the news.

With that breath, tears rolled down her face and she found that she couldn't stop them from flowing.

Her brother didn't know that she had already accepted, and she felt horrible for lying to her brother. But, he couldn't know, not until it's close to happening. She didn't even know when it was happening, technically. She had just signed the papers where her father told her to sign.

She was the good child. The good girl her father deserved after what she had done to him.

Levi wouldn't understand. He'd be angry at her. Telling her that she was throwing her life away.

But, he knew why she did the things she did for their father. He was almost close to saying it in the café. That's why whenever Elyse made her decision about accepting what her father wanted, Levi would know he was fighting a lost cause.

This wasn't any different.

Coming down from her sobbing, Elyse walked to the bathroom to clean her face and to prepare herself for the dinner she was going to have with her brother and his friend.

Maybe for the last time.

She apologized as she bumped into another person in the train. Geez, what was up with her and bumping into everyone today.

"It's quite okay." A baritone voice caught her off-guard as she was still looking down, apologizing.

Elyse looked up and she found herself staring into gorgeous blue eyes. She forgot that the train doors were closing.

"Look out!" The man she had bumped into with the gorgeous blue eyes yelled at her as he grabbed her towards him inside the train.

The impact had her tumbling into his arms as his arm shot out to grab the pole next to him. Elyse found that the pleasantly attractive man had a pleasantly hard body.

She flushed and pushed herself away from him and apologized, shyly.

"Thank you. I'm so clumsy sometimes." Elyse stated, with a small laugh. The man smiled with his perfect white teeth and chuckled, a throaty one that had Elyse fascinated.

"It happens to all of us." The man assured her, his blue eyes sparkling. Elyse studied the man with curiosity. He was very handsome. He had blonde hair neatly parted and gelled into what she called The Businessman hair. Blue eyes that reminded of the one time she visited the beach with her brother in California when she was awestricken by how blue the water had been compared to the beaches in the Tri-State area. He was wearing a navy blue business suit that just complimented his eyes even more with a red tie to complete the ensemble. He was very tall compared to the men she was used to seeing. I mean, her brother was pretty short and she had remembered how miffed he had been when she hit her growth spurt.

But, the man before her didn't just hold her attention because he was tall and handsome. There was plenty of men who were like that in New York City.

This man exuded something that had her smiling almost flirtatiously at him.

She couldn't help but feel pleased when he returned the smile with one of his own dimpled smiles that accentuated those sharp cheekbones of his.

"May I have the name of my savior?" Elyse found herself asking, was that her voice? When did she get so confident? She could feel her inner self wanting to run away screaming at how stupid she was being.

"Erwin. Erwin Smith." The man replied, his voice still sounding so utterly beautiful in her ears.

"Erwin," Elyse loved how his name rolled off of her lips, "Interesting name. You don't hear it often here."

Erwin chuckled, "Here? Excuse my forwardness, but your accent doesn't seem so New York either."

Elyse smiled at his contagious teasing, "Your forwardness does indeed need to be excused. I am actually from New York…for seven years now."

Erwin had laughed at that, his laughter booming and clear. Elyse loved the rush of power within her. She had made this gorgeous man laugh. Her, Elyse Rose.

"Well, then. Seven years does seem enough for me to put my foot in my mouth."

"Foot in your mouth? You don't hear that every day, either. Where are you from? Mars?"

"You wound me, Miss…?"

"Smooth, trying to get my name with your weird lingo."

"I try, Miss…?"

Elyse couldn't help but laugh even more at this man's confidence. Everything about him was contagious. His humor, wit, and mannerisms were definitely one in a million. She wasn't wrong when she said that there was something different about him.

She decided to entertain him more.

"It's Elyse. My name is Elyse."

"Elyse."

The way he said her name, she knew she was doomed.

They talked in the train for a very long time, and Elyse noticed a young brother and sister entering the train amidst the interesting and entertaining conversation she was having with Erwin.

"Oh my God!" Elyse suddenly gasped, interrupting Erwin in the middle of their conversation.

"What is it?" Erwin asked, alarmed, placing a protective hand on her back while looking around.

Elyse wanted to melt right then and there, but there were more important matters.

"I need to get off on the next stop. I have plans with someone. Geez, he's going to kill me!" Elyse gasped, trying to find her phone in her purse.

She didn't notice when Erwin's hand left the small of her back, hesitantly.

"Oh, yes, I understand." Erwin stated, softly.

Elyse looked up once she got her phone and smiled, "It was very nice meeting you, Erwin. I do hope you enjoy New York, Mr. Foreign Name."

Erwin smiled back, but the smile didn't reach his eyes like before much to Elyse's slight disappointment, "And it was nice meeting you, too, Miss Elyse."

Elyse clutched her phone. It would be easy to take his number and exchange hers in return, but it wouldn't be right.

It was nice to have attention from someone like him and it was flattering, really. But, it could only last so long.

She'll just say this was her bachelorette party in her own little way.

The train came to a stop, and Elyse got up and walked towards the closed doors.

When they opened, she didn't bother to turn around.

"I mean, I know I was late, but your friend must really not know New York City." Elyse said, amused, watching as her brother paced his living room in his penthouse suite.

"He's from Germany, Elyse. He only goes here when there's meetings for him to attend and even then, he has drivers to take him around." Levi groused, clutching his wine glass.

"You're just feeling terrible because you know you should've at least picked him up from the airport, you slacker." Elyse said, more amused at her brother's attitude.

Levi turned to glare at his sister and was about to say something until his door buzzed. He got up after muttering a, "Finally," under his breath.

Elyse sighed at her brother and would've helped greet his guest, but she was already settled on her favorite spot on the comfy couch with a secret wine glass she managed to procure under her brother's distracted mind.

She heard voices from down the hall and she sighed as she slowly sat up and went back to thinking about hiding the wine glass that she was already missing. She was slightly sad after leaving that beautiful man, Erwin, on the train.

Plus, she was getting married. Technically, she was an adult in some twisted way. So, she deserved the red wine.

"…And this is the living room. My sister is actually here tonight. I wanted you to meet her since you wouldn't stop bothering me about her." Levi's voice got closer.

Elyse couldn't help but smile at that. She remembered Levi mentioning that friend back in his travels that wouldn't stop asking about her.

"Here she is." Levi stated.

Elyse looked up with a welcoming smile, not even caring anymore about hiding the wine glass in her hand.

She dropped the glass in hand once she saw her brother's visitor.

"Elyse, this is my German friend-"

"Erwin."

A:N/ Chapter one is here. Chapter two will be out in a jiffy.