sorry this took longer than usual. had that ACT to study and take.

Chapter 7

The next few weeks were not a fun time for Gil. He constantly had a vile taste in his mouth and anger brimmed and simmered just under the surface. He was like a tea kettle, boiling inside the pressure getting unbearable. Pretty soon it'd get too hot and he'd explode.

But he couldn't explode. He had promised Liz he'd behave. He had promised Liz he would be a good friend. He had promised himself not to hurt her.

Gil was starting to worry he had made some promises he couldn't keep.

He was sitting with Liz in Chemistry and they were working on a lab, which meant they had tons of time to talk.

"How was your weekend?" he asked her, playing around with the copper wires they had.

She smacked his hand and took the wire, basically doing the lab herself. Gil had no clue what was even going on in this class anymore so he just watched and tried to understand.

"It was good, I went shopping with Felica. Oh Gil, you should hear how she gushes about Ludwig. They saw each other Friday night, and she said he brought her chocolates! He's such a sweetie inside."

Gil smiled a little "Hey, tough guys can be great romantics. Ludwig really likes her too. When he came home after their date, he looked like he was high. He was walking around the house with this lost look on his face and a smear of lipstick on his cheek. I finally made him sit down before he floated away to Cloud Nine."

Liz rolled her eyes "I hope you don't tease him too bad. This is his first real girlfriend isn't it?"

Gil nodded, now playing with some iron shavings. "The first one he's crazy about." He dropped some of the shavings into their acid and watched it fizz.

"How about your love life?"

Liz tensed a bit. They hadn't agreed on what should be off limits or not. Since he asked, she decided it was safe to talk about her date with Roderich. She was careful though, watching his face for anything that was unusual. She really didn't want to cause a problem. Truthfully, the few days she was cold to him had been pretty lonely for her as well. This friendship was a lot of work, but it was worth preserving.

"We went out to a dinner, just the local diner."

Gil smirked "Oh come on Liz, that's hardly an explanation. How am I supposed to give Ludwig tips about being the dream boyfriend when you won't give me the details of Wonder Bread."

Liz arched her eyebrow "I think you mean Wonder Boy..."

Gil shrugged. "So, tell me. You always told me about your dates in detail, why stop now?"

Liz wasn't sure why she was being so careful. Gil was normal again from what she could tell. He did usually listen to her talk about any dates she had with the nobody guys who struck out on their one shot with her.

"Doesn't Francis usually handle the romance department for guys?" she asked

Gil snorted, nearly knocking their hydrochloric acid over. "Well Francis believes he should keep sending roses to Arthur along with some filthy poems. That's been his tactic for nearly a year and it hasn't worked yet, so don't mind me trying for a second opinion. Plus it benefits Ludwig and Felica."

She moved the acid away from Gil. The last thing he needed was an acid bath with his already overly sensitive alabaster skin.

"Well he picked me up in his car. He drove over and I told him to stay in the car, and I came out. But he insisted on opening the door for me." Gil nodded, listening to her. She usually told guys to stay in their cars. She wouldn't tell her parents she was dating until at least date five, when she knew they guy was a solid character. She'd just say she was going out with friends. Gil thought it was good she hadn't yet shown them Roderich. Maybe Liz still had some doubts about him.

"We drove to the diner and he got out and opened the door again. Oh and he let me change his radio station too. Inside he got us a table and we sat and talked. He was really nice, he made it clear I could order anything. You know how I hate being pressured into eating a salad or something lady like."

Gil laughed a bit. Once a football player took her on a date and made a comment about her eating a burger and not a salad. And well, that was the end of him. She had walked out of the place and Gil had to pick her up off the side of the road.

She went on, "We talked about school and our friends, he's getting along really well with some of the boys in his music classes. He plays the piano you know? It's really beautiful, he showed me a video of him playing."

Liz went on about Roderich; how cute his glasses were, how sweet he was, how he was the perfect gentleman, and all around the dream boy she had always wanted. It hurt Gil, to hear the things he already knew were true. It hurt so see that she was perfectly happy in the arms of a man that wasn't him. It steeled his resolve however, he wouldn't do anything to break them up. She deserved her happiness.

She finished her story about Roderich and then asked him how his weekend was. Truthfully, Gil had done nothing productive and he had pretty much sulked and nursed away his heartbreak by binge watching Dance Moms. The drama and the crazy woman were a guilty pleasure of his.

So instead of admitting that, he poured in a tube of some chemical into their beaker and said "I just slept in and relaxed, tried to zone in for the week." He grinned and looked at her "I saw that that horror movie we wanted to see is out. I can get it for us! Do you want to watch it together still or..." he trailed off. She was his movie buddy, he'd really hate to have to stop that activity with her.

But she surprised him with a smile "I'll tell Felica to leave without me and we can go to your house and watch it." She winked at him and he had a strong rise of hope fill his chest. He hadn't lost his movie buddy. He hadn't lost her entirely.

"We can swap. I take you, she takes Luddy." He stuck the final part of their mixture together and for once it turned the color it was supposed to.

"Perfect." She said, recording the last of the data just as the final bell rang.

He stood up and grinned one last time before walking out. However she didn't wait for Roderich like he had thought, she walked out with him.

He smiled slightly and she grinned "What's with that look?" she asked

He shrugged it off and said "Nothing."

He wished he could look behind him and see the dark haired boy's face. Gil was sure that Roderich wasn't very pleased about being left by his girlfriend, and even more unpleased to see her leaving with the boy who punched him in the face.

They made small talk before they split off in other directions to go to their different classes.

Come the end of the day, Gil was waiting for Liz at his locker like the old days. Ludwig was waiting by him as well, knowing Felica was like Liz's shadow.

When the two girls rounded the corner they were chatting happily, giggling and laughing like girls did. Ludwig blushed and smiled seeing his new girlfriend, and he walked over to her and he even took her hand as they walked out the school doors together.

Gil smiled slightly, he was glad his brother was happy. And he was thrilled he got to have Liz over at his house, all to himself, like the good old days.

She smiled at Gil, with that bright easy happiness she always seemed to possess. "They're so cute together." She said with a dreamy sigh

Gil faked gaged "Is that all you two talk about? You sigh over each other's love lives and then read Nicholas Sparks together?"

Liz glared at him, but her lips still curled in a smile. "You know that I hate those books."

"But you read them"

"Every girl has read one at least once."

"You made me watch The Notebook and Dear John."

"I recall you tearing up during The Notebook too." She said, shoving him lightly

They started to walk out together, nearly in the same fashion as Ludwig and Felica, minus the hand holding. They looked and sounded like a couple, and Gil was sure that people thought they were together sometimes.

"Well today we are going to watch the Conjuring so no worries. I won't be tearing up." He grinned and unlocked his car, and they got in together.

Gil couldn't help but note how beautiful she looked today. She just had jeans and a blouse but she had just managed to work it so well. The jeans fit her great, the shirt was loose and white, and she had worn a gold colored bracelet. The way her hair fell freely down her back in tendrils really gave her the look of some Greek goddess.

He looked away quickly and drove them over to his house. She walked in before him, which great familiarity. He smiled, dumped his backpack and got the movie.

She had walked into the kitchen to get them both drinks and snacks, and possibly even check to make sure Gil hadn't opened any other bottles of alcohol.

He drew the blinds closed to make the room darker and he got the movie rolling just as she walked in and set everything down. They didn't sit on top of each other by any means, but they didn't sit on totally opposite ends of the couch either. They were close enough that their arms sometimes brushed when they moved to drink or eat.

All went well, they enjoyed the movie together. They didn't talk to each other, but sometimes Liz jumped slightly and even once or twice Gil flinched. No screaming however, Liz wasn't a sissy.

The one disturbance came near the end of the movie. Gil had been pretty sure that he had heard a phone buzz many times during the moive, but Liz either didn't hear or ignored it, and so he did the same.

Though this time she growled "Pause it."

Gil raised his eyebrow and did as she asked, and Liz got up and got his phone from her backback. Then she glanced over her shoulder at Gil. "I'll be right back, I have to call someone." She opened his front door and stood on the step. The door hadn't closed firmly and Gil chose not to shut it all the way. He watched, wondering who it could be. She seemed pretty irritated at whoever it was.

It didn't take him long to figure out who it was. Liz started to yell on the phone.

"Roderich! Why is it such a struggle for you to be alone? I told you before I was going to a friend's house!"

There was a pause and she yelled again "I don't have to tell you whose house it is! I'm allowed to keep all the friends I had before I was dating you, and that includes guy friends like Gil!"

So Roderich was ticked off that Liz had gone to another guy's house. Well actually he was probably mostly ticked that is was Gil's house, since Roderich knew Gil liked Liz as well.

He felt threatened. Good.

There was more yelling "I will stay here! He's my best friend Roderich! Boyfriends have come and gone, but he's always been here. And I will always be there for him too, so either you get used to that fact real quick or you won't be around much longer!"

Gil's chest swelled with hope and even pride. She would yell at her dream boyfriend for him. She would fight with him for Gil. She would fight to spend time with her best friend, even if that best friend was a guy.

Gil admired how she worded her threat too. It was similar in the way he had gotten himself in this mess. She pinned him up against the wall with two options Roderich didn't like; losing her, or letting her spend time with his greatest adversary. Naturally, Roderich would take the lesser of the evils, and he'd never voice again a complaint about her seeing Gil, in fear of losing her.

Which ironically, was the same exact thing Gil did. Gil had feared losing her as a friend so much that he would put up with her dating another guy, his greatest adversary, in silence.

Funny, how that was the similarity both boys shared.

And, even stranger that is what made them the most different. Gil had inflicted this vow of silence on himself to keep Liz. Liz had to force the matter in Roderich's face for him to choose.

While he was lost in his thoughts, the call ended and Liz came back inside. Gil grinned, acting like he hadn't heard a thing. "Damn Liz, can't we get through a movie without interruptions?" he had his trademark smirk and a heavy dripping sarcasm in his voice.

She just rolled her eyes and sat down, and he played the movie. She was quiet now, and Gil could tell she was upset. Instead of saying anything, he lifted his arm.

And Liz moved closer, slipping under it, and allowing him to hold her.

I hope that made up for breaking your feels in the last chapter.

well please vote and comment! I love seeing your thoughts!