“Kesese! Hallo, frau!” You jumped at the thick German accent that suddenly came from behind you. You whirled around to see the tall albino boy looming over you, his mischevious grin matching his twinkling red eyes as he looked down at you.

You jumped, backing up into your locker. Blushing furiously, you looked up at him, a scowl forming on your face.

“Gilbert! You scared me half to death!” You punched him in the chest, feeling a mixture of annoyance and awe at how hard his chest was. You shook the thought away, deepening your scowl.

“Kesese… Aren’t you jumpy, frau?” He repeated the German nickname, his grin widening even further. The red jacket he wore over his school uniform was only half on; to be more precise, it was only draped over his shoulders, and you could see his skin as he crossed his arms. Your blushed increased. It was unfair that he was so hot, especially since he was always bragging about how great he was.

“Leave me alone Gilbert. I want to go home as soon as possible.” You tried to sound as convincing as you could, but he could tell that being so close to him made you uncomfortable. And, being the “awesome” him, he decided to make you even more uncomfortable.

Putting his hands on either side of your head and leaning forwards a little, Gilbert trapped you against the locker, forcing you to look at him.

“I could walk you home if you want, ______...” He whispered, sending a chill up your spine.

“N-No… No, I’m good!” You assured him, putting your hand on his face and pushing.

“Aw, don’t be like zat!” He mumbled through your hand. After you didn’t stop pushing against his face, he straightened up and shoved his hands into his pockets. “You’re no fun…”

You quickly moved away from the lockers, making sure he couldn’t put you into such an awkward position again.

“Really, Gil,” You sighed, straightening out your uniform. “How many times have I told you I hate it when you do that?”

“Dunno, frau, probably a lot.” He grinned again.

“Don’t call me frau!” You crossed your arms, trying to look defiant. Your best friend simply laughed at you.

“Kesese… _______, you’re so cute when you’re angry!” He ran his fingers through his messy white hair, watching you carefully with his gleaming red eyes. “Seriously, frau, are you sure you don’t vant ze awesome me to valk you home?” He followed you as you headed down the hallway towards the entrance, ignoring your request to give up the annoying nickname.

“If you really want to walk me home, I guess its okay,” You admitted, twisting a stray strand of hair around your finger. You saw Gilbert’s face light up, and he grinned grabbing your hand and walking a little faster. “Uh, Gil, we don’t have to hold hands just because you are walking me home!” You blushed, turning bright red.

“Ja, but I vant to hold your hand, frau!” He grinned back at you, laughing at your red face. “Ze awesome me does not vant to lose you in ze street!”

“I’m not gonna get lost!” You laughed, catching up to him so you were walking next to him again. He dropped your hand, shoving it back in his pocket. As you walked down the sidewalk in the direction of your house, you and Gilbert talked about your day, specifically the few classes you did not share with each other, laughing and teasing each other.

Halfway to your house, a droplet of rain fell onto your nose. You paused, looking at your nose. Gilbert laughed at your expression, stopping only when a drop landed on the back of his neck, making him squeal at the sudden chill. You laughed, the rain starting to fall harder. Gilbert swung his jacket off of his shoulders, putting it on your head to protect you from the rain and picking you up.

As the rain started to pour harder and harder, Gilbert ran down the sidewalks, the rain slicking his hair down and soaking through his t-shirt. Your face and shoulders were protected by Gilbert’s jacket (which smelled a little bit like beer), but the rest of your body was getting soaked. After 5 more minutes of running through the cold and hard downpour, you finally arrived at your house. Gilbert put you down, panting while you dug through your pocket for the key and opened the front door. Swinging it opened, the two of you rushed in and closed the door quickly, leaning against the walls of the main entrance. You handed Gilbert his jacket, which was sopping wet. He eyed it for a moment, then dropped it onto the ground, still trying to catch his breath.

“Thanks for… Uh… Carrying me…” You stammered, waiting for him to straighten up.

“No prob, frau…” He gave you a grin, looking down at his clothes. “Mein Gott… Mein clothes are soaked!” After a second of thought, he pulled his t-shirt off, revealing his chest and folding the pile of damp cloth up, dropping it on top of his jacket. He caught you staring at him, and he grinned again, flexing his muscles.

“See something you like, frau? Kesese…” He snickered as your face turned bright red again, and you quickly looked away.

“Shut up, Gil!” You grumbled, which made him laugh harder. “Just don’t go taking off your pants!”

“If you insist!” He shrugged, shaking his head to get the excess water out of his hair.
You put your arm in front of your face to protect yourself, laughing.

“Calm down, spot!” You joked, taking off your shoes and speed walking to the towel closet so you could grab something to dry off with.

“Voof!” He padded after you in his sock feet, grabbing one of your towels and putting it over his shoulders like a cape.

“Good boy!” You wrapped a towel around yourself, accepting the warmth that came with it.

You laughed, and he barked again. He leaned forward, licking a water droplet off your face and growling a little. You bopped him on the head with your fist, pushing him away.

“Gross!” You told the hopeless flirt, and he snickered again, rubbing the spot on his head where you had smacked him.

“Vhatever, _______. Can ze awesome me borrow your phone?” He asked, turning off his pervert for a short moment.

“Yeah,” You hurried back to where you had dropped your backpack, pulling out your cell phone. You were still blushing from Gil’s recent… Show of affection. Sometimes you wished he wasn’t such a pervert, but that was just another part of his charm.

Finding your phone, you returned to Gil, handing it to him. As he started to punch in numbers, you went around him, heading towards the stairs.

“I’m gonna go get changed,” You told him as he put the cell to his ear. You gave him the evil eye. “Don’t you dare follow me!”

He stuck his tongue out at you, then grinned again, giving you a wink.

“Hey, Vest…” You heard him say loudly into the phone as you bounded up the steps, entering your room and locking the door. Pulling off your clothes, you pulled on a pair of sweats and a (f/c) pajama shirt. Putting your wet clothes on the towel, you left them in the bathroom to take care of later and headed back downstairs. Gilbert was just finishing his conversation, and he tossed your cell to you as you came down the steps.

“So?” You asked, watching him run the towel through his hair again. “When is your brother coming for you?”

“Ludwig said he can’t come until late tonight because of his job,” Gilbert finished fluffing his hair, holding the towel at his side.

“What? Can’t you get any other ride?”

“No, sorry frau. None of mein friends are available!” He shrugged, his devious grin returning. “Looks like you’re stuck vith ze awesome me for ze night!”

“Ugh… You are so lucky my parents aren’t coming home tonight…” You imagined your parents reaction to finding a guy hanging out with you, the two of you alone in the house.

The two of you alone in this house.

Alone in this house.

Aw, crap.

“Kesese…” He snickered, folding his arms across his bare chest.

“Do you want a shirt, Gil?” You asked him, looking away again.

“Nein, I’m good.” He assured you, waving away the offer. “But pants vould be nice, ja?
Unless you don’t mind me running around in mein undervear.”

“I’ll go get you some clothes.”

<^><^><^><^>

Gilbert and you sat on the couch together, flipping though the HD channels on your TV. A
now fully dressed Gilbert, who you had forced to wear a shirt because you didn’t want him running around half-naked, was watching you click through the channels with a bit of a distant look in his eyes.

“What are you thinking about, Gil?” You inquired, stopping on a rerun of some action flic.

“Huh? Oh, notzing important.” He scratched his head, now watching the movie. “Change ze channel, I have seen zis vone already.” When you didn’t listen to him, he reached for the remote to do it himself.

“No way! I like this one!” You held the remote away from him, watching the explosions that the hero of the movie was narrowly avoiding.

“_______!”  Gilbert whined, reaching across you for the remote. You stretched even farther, keeping the device just out of the German’s grasp.

“No!”

“Please?”

“No!”

Gilbert pouted for a moment, and then his wicked grin returned.

“If you don’t change it, I vill make you!” He looked you straight in the eye, and you returned his glare defiantly. Then you made a very bad decision.

“I’d like to see you try.” You challenged him, standing up and moving to a chair on the other side of the room, hiding the remote behind your back so you could watch the movie.

For a moment, Gil made no move to get the remote. Then he stood up, slowly, and crossed over to you. You pretended to ignore him, hiding the remote underneath the cushion in a manner that he would not notice. He looked around the chair for a little while, but could not find it with just his eyes.

“Vhere did you put it, frau?”

“I’m not gonna tell you.” He snickered, and you looked up at him, annoyed. He wrapped his arms around your waist, picking you up and putting you on the ground. You squeaked, trying to kick him, but you were in no position to fight him. He started digging through the cusions, searching for the device, nd you quickly stood up.

It was war.

You jumped on his back, making him drop the remote in surprise. You bopped him on the head again with your fist, then dropped to the floor and grabbed the remote that was now laying on the ground. You started to race across the room to protect it, but Gil tackled you from behind, and the two of you fell over.

“Ow!” You squeaked, rolling over onto your back. Seeing Gil, who was about two inches from your face, you hid the remote behind your back again. He growled in frustration, trying to reach behind you, but you managed to protect the remote quite well.

“I vill tickle you if you don’t give me ze remote!”

“I’m not ticklish!” He poked your side and you squeaked, making him grin.

“Liar.”

“G-Get offa me, Gil!”

“I’m not-“ The albino began, then noticed the position the two of you were in. You were underneath him, your legs under his and his arms on either side of your head, a pose the made you blush furiously. “Ah. Vell zen.”

You noticed him blush again, and you came up with a devious plot.

“Hey, Gil?” you returned his attention to you, then you grinned. Reaching up, you gave him a kiss on his lips, and he froze in surprise. You took his sudden shock to your advantage, pushing him off of you and racing upstairs and hiding the remote in your room.

When you came out, he had already bounded up the stairs, his face pink.

“No fair!” He pointed at your room. “I can’t go in zhere!”

“Great! Now we can watch my movie.” You smiled to yourself, wallowing in your victory.

“You are un cheater!”

“All’s fair in love and war.” You slid past him, bounding down the stairs and plopping back down on the couch for the best part. He followed you, a little slower, sitting down next to you again and crossing his arms. After a moment of silence, he looked at you, watching the explosions on the television light up your face.

“_____?” You turned to look at him. “Vhich vone is it?”

“Which one is what?”

“You said all is fair in love un var. Vell, vhich vone is it?” A blush creeped up both of your faces, and you had to look away.

“I… Uh…” The words clogged in your mouth a little.

“Because if it’s love, I vant unother kiss, frau!” He laughed his weird laugh again, and you blushed even harder.

“Why would you care…” You mumbled, still not looking at him.

“Because ze awesome me zinks zat you are awesome! Kesese!” He rubbed the back of his neck, waiting anxiously for your reaction. You looked up at your tall friend, his red eyes telling you that he meant every word. His grin softened a little, and he pulled you into a hug.

“Ich liebe dich, _______,” He whispered. Your heart skipped a beat, and you smiled into
his t-shirt.

“I… I love you too, Gil.” You admitted, both to yourself and Gil. He laughed, pulling out of the hug ever so slightly so he could bend his face down to meet yours, pulling you in a passionate kiss.

“Awesome.”