Alright so, I made this fic for two reasons-

I got this cute idea and it wouldn't stop leaving me alone until I wrote it down.

Ehehehe… This fic is also a bit of an apology fic, as in "I apologize for deleting the new chapter of Locked up with HIM on my computer and further apologize, in advance, for the more time that it will take me to finish that. (Which, given all of the junk my teachers assign me for homework, will probably take another week or two.)" So, yeah… I'm sorry and I hope this makes up for it~

~(^-^)~

"Hey kid, what are you doing here?"

The boy looked up to see a shadowy group of four to five people emerge from the alleyway.

He wanted to run. He always wanted to run, to escape the bullies or gang members that would always pick on him. But every time, his legs would turn to jelly and begin to wobble precariously. It was a burden to stand and impossible to run.

"It's that snotty rich brat again."

A gasp escaped his lips as a tormentor pushed his body against the wall, fingers closing around his throat and blocking off his air supply.

"I thought we told you to never come here again… and what would happen if you did."

"I-I'm so-sorry!" He choked out. A strange blue color had begun to creep up onto his face as the other's fingers tightened around his throat and pushed him harder against the wall. The boy could feel his skin splitting open from the texture of the rough wall and the blood snaking down the back of his shirt.

"What are you gonna do now? Money ain't gonna save your life, now is it?" A cruel laugh echoed throughout the alley way sending chills up his spine. "You spoiled rich kids make me sick. You think just because you have money you have everything, don't you? Ha, you're so spoiled and pampered you can't even defend yourse-"

"Oh shut up."

"Who said that?" The bully dropped Roderich's body onto the ground and spun around to face whoever dared interrupt him.

A boy, only a year or two older than the one already getting beat up, stood triumphantly, his red eyes glowing eerily in the dark.

"And what are you going to do? Fight me?" The bully laughed, seeing as he was about ten years older than both of them. "You honestly think you can beat me in a fight? I have three or four other guys behind me and you just have that beat up rich kid!"

"Ja, I probably could," The boy replied carelessly. "But I'm only here for prinzessin, so if you'd just excuse me…"

"In your dreams!"

It was hard to say who started the fight. Punches from both sides began to fly in at more or less the same time, fists swarming the air and cries and screams echoing through the alley.

All the while the victim kept his eyes shut. He never liked fighting and he especially never liked the bruises and blood that resulted from it. Every time a fresh cry echoed across the walls and pavement, he would hope that it wasn't the cry of his rescuer's, who was, actually, a pretty decent fighter. He got into fights often, especially with people older than him and in a group. He would always laugh it off and say that was all part of the fun, his ruby eyes twinkling with mischief.

That being said, it didn't take long for the noise of the fight to die down and for the boy to feel himself being lifted up from his spot on the ground and into the safe protective arms he knew.

"Verdammt Specs, why do you always get caught up in these situations?" The bruised silverette smirked as the other stirred in his arms. "But I have to say… You always look so adorable when your hair's messed up like that…"

He was only ten at the time, but he could still remember the feel of the other's chapped lips against his own, the close embrace they shared, all of it. They were both badly beaten and bruised, but all of that was forgotten the instant their lips touched, wrapping the two of them in their own little world.

The best part however was when they broke apart and the words he had been longing to hear finally fell from the other's mouths.

"I love you…"

~(^-^)~

"D'aaaw! Look at how cute the two of you are! All ready for your first day in a brand new highschool. Oh! Let me get my camera!"

The moment Mrs. Edelstein turned her back and raced upstairs, Elizaveta broke her "sweet and innocent" act.

"Ugh! You're mom's so fussy! Why does she have to baby us like this? We're going into f***ing senior year for crying out loud! Not kindergarten!"

"Elizaveta, please try to control yourself."

"Now you're acting all uptight!" She whined. "Can't you be a little more informal? Don't waste those good looks on being a total idiot!"

Roderich winced as she tightly pinched his cheeks, no doubtedly making him look like a fool.

"Cut it out!"

"Not until you stop being mommy's little boy!"

"I'm serious Elizaveta!"

"So am I! You're so boring and fussy! If our parents weren't so hooked on making us marry one another, I'd dump you in a heartbeat!"

As the noise of quickly paced footsteps grew louder, Elizaveta stopped abusing her "boyfriend" and began to act civilized once more.

"I found it!" Mrs. Edelstein beamed. Her smile was bright, much unlike the one of her son's and his forced lover who tried their best to share her enthusiasm. "Come on, one quick picture before I drive the two of you off to school."

It really took fifteen pictures before Mrs. Edelstein was satisfied, not to the new highschoolers' surprise. Despite her lack of skill when it came to technology (a trait that Roderich had unfortunately inherited), Mrs. Edelstein loved to use all of the newest gadget's and appear "cool." This time, her camera had been specially imported from Japan where it was all the rage, or so she told them on the car ride to school.

"This one actually comes from a new company that just started up over the summer in Japan. Oh! If only I could remember the name…"

"It's alright," Elizaveta interrupted, to Roderich's joy. (He was getting quite bored of the same talk over and over again after all.) "Are you picking us up after school today? We get released at four now instead of three so…"

"Oh, I'm sorry darling. You know can't leave work until nine. Policy standards," Mrs. Edelstein explained. It was the same excuse she gave every year, so Roderich really wasn't surprised. What he was surprised at was that Elizaveta bothered to ask.

"Awww! Elizaveta pouted, or pretended to at least. Roderich was quite certain that he saw her wink at him before drying up her tears.

"I'm sorry Elizaveta, but my schedule is too busy!" Mrs. Edelstein sighed as she pulled her car into the parking lot. "The two of you can get a ride if you want, but remember my rules."

"I know… No rides from teachers. No rides from boys. No rides from upperclassmen, which don't exist because we're seniors. And no rides from 'juvenile delinquents.'" Elizaveta replied before opening the car door and stepping out into the parking lot and rushing up the steps to the school. Roderich was about to do the same, but his mother grabbed a hold of his uniform sleeve.

"Roderich, you're in a regular highschool again, not our safe little private school or house. You have to be careful who you and Elizaveta hang out with. Highschool can be extremely tempting, especially for girls. Don't let her emotions get the better of her, understand? She will date nobody but you. I want that to be clear in the school so no boy so much as touches her."

"Yes mom.'

"And sweetie, please try to stay out of trouble. You remember how we had to pull you out of elementary school because you kept coming home covered in bruises. You have to protect yourself now. You're not a small boy anymore. You're a man, understand?"

"Yes, mom."

"Well then, have a good day at school!"

~(^-^)~

"What took so long?" Elizaveta asked when Roderich finally made it up the steps to the school.

"My mom dragged me in for a last minute talk."

"Did you do something wrong?"

"Of course not! She just wanted to warn me about highschool here, which I still don't understand," Roderich sighed. "Why do we even have to go to highschool here? Honestly Elizaveta, if you could have just kept your quiet we'd be in a more civilized place."

"Because I didn't want to!" Elizaveta exclaimed, hands on her hips in a manner showing her dominance. "I wanted to go to a normal highschool and be normal for once! This is our last year at highschool, Roderich, our last chance for normalcy. Don't you understand?"

"No, I can't say I do…" Roderich replied bitterly. "I was perfectly happy with our old highschool, thank you very much."

"Ughhh! What's the point of explaining it to you? You know what? I give up!" Elizaveta groaned. She had begun to make her way inside the school when she stopped.

"Now what? Are you going to insert some kind of derogatory comment?"

"Of course, not! I just forgot… Notice anything new?" Elizaveta grinned. She spun around quickly, her plaid school skirt flying up to reveal her laced panties.

"Elizaveta! What in the world-?"

"I hemmed them this morning before I headed over to your house. Do you like it?"

"Me? Wha-What are you suggesting? Of course not! Mein gott, Elizaveta! You're a civilized girl from a highly valued family. Now start behaving like it before I tell your parents!"

"Relax Roderich! Everyone does that here. Besides, mine is only hemmed 5 inches. There are other girls who hemmed there's like 10 inches!" Elizaveta argued.

"Fine, I won't tell you parents." Roderich gave in with a sigh.

"Good," Elizaveta smiled with another spin that lifted her skirt up higher. "So… do you like it?"

~(^-^)~

Roderich hadn't even made it to homeroom yet, and here he was already beginning to hate his new school. The moment the bell had rung (which luckily for Elizaveta, had been after she found her classroom) students stampeded in from all of the exits, pushing and shoving him around in order to meet up with friends they hadn't seen for the entire summer and catch up with the latest trends.

The really funny part was that, despite the amount of students flowing in from everywhere, nobody would tell him where his first class was. He'd open his mouth to ask, but end up getting shoved against the wall and ignored.

"Watch where you're going!" A sharp voice (with an accent a bit like his own, but certainly not Austrian) declared from seemingly nowhere. Roderich looked up to see that he had walked right into one of the students.

"I-I'm so sorry! Do you know where I can…" Roderich froze.

The other boy's silver hair gleaming in the light…

His slight accent…

His piercing crimson eyes…

There was something so familiar about it all, but he couldn't identify it… Maybe this was someone he knew back in elementary school. Yes, that was probably it.

"Lost?" The one word, carrying much more than one note of amusement, sharply brought Roderich back to reality. Who cared who the kid was as long as he got to class!

"Yes, I'm sorry, but do you know where room 212 is?"

"Hey are you the new senior kid?" The boy asked, a smile breaking out over his face. As much as Roderich hated to admit, he had quite the dazzling smile. It showed off not only his sparkling white teeth, but also pure joy… something that the superficial smiles in his life lacked.

"Yes, I'm Roderich Edelstein and-" Roderich's hand, held out for a formal handshake, was eagerly grabbed by the other boy's and shaken quite roughly, leaving him to wonder if he had any manner whatsoever.

"I'm Gilbert Beilshmidt, but you can just call me King of Awesomeness!" The boy, Gilbert, exclaimed.

"That's nice, but I think I'll stick with Gilbert."

"Suit yourself."

"Are you going to show me to room 212 now or…?"

"Oh yeah, right!"

Gilbert hastily grabbed Roderich hand once more and dragged him through the crowd of students at top speed. Roderich's feet, unused to running at such a speed or in such a manner, often tripped over each other or the feet of the other students, to the point where he was literally being dragged by the "King of Awesomeness."

"Gilbert! Stop! I can't keep up like this!" Roderich panted.

"You need the exercise!" Gilbert just laughed as he sped up the steps dragging the poor Austrian with him.

"Of all people to bump into, why you…?" Roderich moaned to himself.

Well reader you know why, don't you?

It's because love and fate are two intertwined forces…