HOME | DD

Description
A/N: This story is long. I lot longer than it should have been. It's actually 15 pages longer than it was supposed to be… Sorry if you don't want to read it now.

Even when I stumbled in reality  and tumbled down right before I reached my dream
And I couldn't arrive at my final destination
I know that the reason always lies within myself
And I'm always searching for a way to break out of that situation

The rain hissed around you, making everything in sight a shade darker. You sat on a bench and let your clothes soak in the current weather, literally, you found it calming. You liked the rain for that reason; it never talked to you or asked you anything. It just did what rain did best, it fell. You let the cold drops plummet to their death, suffocated by their neighbours, off your exposed arms. The drops ran off your fingertips to go join their friends on the pavement. You smiled thinking about what it would be like to join friends.

You had friends, good, kind friends, but it wasn't what you wanted. You wanted friends that are described in books and movies, friends that understood you and spent all their time with you, friends that never let you down when you needed something.

Friends that would sit in the rain with you.

You looked around and saw the world matched your mood, dark, you shivered. You always sit in the rain after you work to take your mind off your horrible job that might not be as bad if you 'tried' as others put it. You were a waitress, afraid of people. It was like a fat nutritionist or a mute talk show host, they just don't mix. You sit in the rain to think about what you could do to like people more. The internet said to act natural but it's hard when you're a natural introvert. You wished you could be more social but no one ever showed you how.

"Hey!" a loud voice broke your thoughts. You looked up from your rain splattered hands to find the source of the voice. There was a man with messy grey hair almost as soaked as yours standing in the distance, waving. You ignored it, no one ever waved to you.

Feet splashed in the water around you, louder and louder with each step. You looked up and saw the man was standing in front of you now. The light made his red eyes dark but you could still see light coming from them.

"Hey, didn't you hear me calling out to you frau?" The man asked bending over slightly to look you in the eyes. "It's 2 in the morning! What are you doing sitting in the rain?"

You looked up at him carefully, he looked serious. Did he really want to know? You thought about telling him but then you would have to give the stranger details about your personal life. You could laugh and shrug it off like you read in books but you wouldn't be able to fake a laugh.

"Hello?" the man asked waving a hand in front of your face. You shook your head to break out of your trance. You saw rain fly in every direction; you needed an answer for the man, fast.

"I like rain." you said simply, you mentally kicked yourself. Was that really the best you could come up with?

The man laughed a strange laugh. "I get it; you were so surprised by my awesomeness that you are at a loss for words!"

You could make out an accent on the man, you guessed German but it was hard to tell through his crushing ego. You sighed and stood up, deciding to get some sleep since you had to work the early shift at the café later that day.

"Wait! Come to my house, you're all wet! I can't let a girl walk all the way back to her house at night. You've been sitting in the rain for an hour." The man said stopping you. You thought about what he said, he could be a rapist or a murderer but your apartment was pretty far away and you were starting to get cold.

"I-it was 3" you said still thinking about his offer.

"What was 3?" he asked pushing some of his wet hair out of his eyes.

"I was sitting in the rain for 3 hours, not one" you said quietly as you made eye contact for a second before looking away.

The man laughed again, you cringed at the sound of it "all the more reason for you to come with me!" he exclaimed loudly.

"A-alright" you nodded, hoping you made the right choice. He didn't give you very much time to think his offer over.

The man grinned. "Follow me~" he sang gesturing for you to follow him. You walked behind him carefully, just in case he tried something. "My name is Gilbert by the way"

You looked at the back of his soaked head 'Gilbert' you thought to yourself trusting your brain to remember it.

"How about you?" he asked turning down a street.

"_______" you answered, you were happy he couldn't see you smiling.

---

"Here's a towel for your hair" Gilbert said handing you a grey towel. The colour reminded you of the sky when the weather was 'nothing' as you liked to call it. It wasn't warm or cold or sunny or raining. It was nothing.

"Your clothes a soaked, try not to get my stuff too wet" he grinned and handed you a men's shirt and sweat pants. "These will probably be too big for you but it's the smallest things I have. You can change into them if you want"

You thought about the consequences of getting naked in a stranger's apartment but you were too tired and cold to make sensible decisions.

"You're not going to rape me are you?" you asked. You realized what you said and quickly regretted it. That comment was supposed to be in your head! You clenched your fists and hoped for the worst but you only heard the now familiar laugh.

"Only if you want me to liebling" he answered huskily. You were glad you were facing away from him, hiding your blush.

"b-but then it wouldn't be rape." you said trying to steer the conversation into another direction like you read online. Before he could reply you walked over to his bathroom quietly and changed out of your wet clothes.

---

You exited the bathroom with a wet pile of clothes in your hands, trying to not let them drip on the floor. You were curious as to how your underwear managed to stay dry and silently thanked god that they did. You could almost see them through Gilbert's thin white shirt but he was too nice to stare right?

Wrong.

When you walked out all he did was stare, smirk and nod his head in approval. You blushed at the attention and turned to walk back into the bathroom. You almost changed back into your wet clothes to leave but were stopped by Gilbert's comment.

"Is that a waitress uniform?" he asked pointing at the wet pile in your hands.

"Y-yes" you answered simply, staring at your frilly café uniform.

"I think I went to that café before, the waitresses are really friendly when they serve you. They're also hot." He said staring into space and smirking, thinking about his visit. "It's like they were born with charisma, you know?" he said taking the clothes from you

"All but one" you whispered looking at the last of the rain on your hands sadly.

"What was that? What do you mean all but one?" Gilbert asked from the other room.

You panicked; he wasn't supposed to hear that! "I-I didn't say anything." You said trying to convince him.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes"

He shrugged and you sighed. You could see him better now, more clearly, in the light of the apartment. His hair was white, not grey like you thought. He was an albino and shorter than you imagined when you were sitting down, he was only about a foot taller than you.

"You don't seem to like people very much" he said walking back into the room and leaning on the wall next to you. You didn't know how to reply to his comment. You did like people, you just didn't know how to talk to them and conversation scared you.

"Why are you a waitress then? It's not a very awesome job for someone like you" he said staring at you. You started to get angry; you grabbed onto the bottom of the shirt and clenched your fists. "Don't you want a quiet job, like working as my awesome maid instead?" he smirked cockily and you lost control.

"You don't know me!" you snapped at him. He took a step back and looked at you surprised. "I do like people! I love people. I love watching others' actions and conversations. I wish I could do that myself. I work with people because I admire them, I'm jealous and I'm trying to learn from them. I just- I just-" you stopped. Why were you saying this to a stranger? A man you just met that might be a murderer or a rapist?

"Your plan worked so very well." he said sarcastically. You looked away from him and around the room. You saw the door. A simple getaway if you needed it.

"I heard about this thing called talk therapy that works to help people overcome shyness and to make conversations. Do you want to try it with the awesome me?" he suggested moving closer to you. You shut your eyes and took a couple deep breaths to control your anger.

"c-can I sleep on your floor tonight?" you asked with your eyes still closed. You were tired and cold. You didn't have enough energy to continue with Gilbert's games.

"Wouldn't you like to sleep in my bed with the awesome me instead?" he whispered in your ear. You were so uncomfortable you thought you would cry. 'I need to be more agressive.' you thought to yourself.

"No, I'm fine, all I want is to sleep on your floor" you told him taking a step back. You were pretty proud of yourself for being able to say that. You grinned at him.

He closed his crimson eyes and shrugged. "The offer's always there" he winked at you and walked out of the room.

---

You woke up to the sound of your ringtone. That's strange; no one ever called you on your cell phone. You got up and looked around the strange room quickly, where did Gilbert put it? You stood up and made yourself look appropriate in case Gilbert saw you.

"__________" Gilbert groaned from the other room "Answer your damn phone!"

"Where did you put it?" you yelled back at him.

He moaned as a response. You looked around the apartment hastily before the ringing stopped and wandered into a room with a washer and dryer. You opened the dryer and heard the ringing louder. Fishing around your uniform you finally found it and answered the caller.

"Hello?" you asked carefully, a little scared of who might be calling you.

"_______! Where are you? Your shift started 20 minutes ago!" one of your coworkers yelled into the phone. You quickly looked at the time and realized she was right.

"I'm so sorry! I'll be there in 10 minutes!" you replied hoping your apology was enough.

"Don't bother, we've already found someone to take your shift." She laughed into the phone; it was like she was enjoying it.

"_______? Who are you talking to?" Gilbert asked loudly as he walked into the room. His white hair was sticking out in almost every direction.

"Are you with a guy?" your coworker asked. You could almost hear her grin on the other end.

"N-no! Well, yes but it's not what it sounds like" you stuttered into the phone. You're face heated up as Gilbert walked over to you smiling.

"I'm offended _______! I can't believe you told her that!" he whined into the phone.

"_______ you're a little slut!" she squeaked into the phone. You clenched your one empty fist to control your anger.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll n-never be late again." You apologized and moved away from Gilbert in case he tried something else.

"That'll be kinda hard to do since you don't work here anymore" she replied with an ugly tone. You could hear her and the other workers giggle in the background.

"Please, give me another chance!" you pleaded. You were almost about to cry, what would you do if you lost your job?

"Sorry, Maybe if you tried a little harder this wouldn't be happening" She giggled and hung up the phone. You stared at wall in front of you, thinking about what you were going to do now. You wouldn't be able to pay for your apartment or your food.

Gilbert took the phone out of your hand and hung up. You missed the empty dial tone.

"How does that maid offer sound now?" he said grinning. You took the phone from him and picked up your uniform. You went into the bathroom to change without saying a word.

---

You walked out of the bathroom and handed Gilbert the folded pile of clothes he lent you.

"Thank you" you whispered making your way over to the door. Accepting Gilbert's offer was a horrible choice.

"W-wait!" Gilbert said reaching out to you. You turned to face him with a sad expression on your face. "I guess my joke was kinda un-awesome" He said avoiding eye contact. "I'm sorry, please don't leave."

This guy ruined your life; you might have to live on the streets because of him! It was unintentional but still, you couldn't forgive him, you wouldn't forgive him!

"Alright" You said defeated, so much for that plan.

"Awesome!" He said sitting on the floor. You carefully sat down in front of him. "So what do you like to do?" he asked grinning.

"I-uh" you stuttered, uncomfortable to be talking about yourself "H-how about you tell me about yourself instead?" You asked him giving him an awkward smile.

"Awesome! Well I'm awesome and I have two friends that aren't as awesome as me but are still pretty awesome, awesome right?" He answered grinning. You had never heard someone say so many awesomes at one time. You nodded in acknowledgement, unsure of what to say about that.

"I-I think I'm going to go now" you said getting up. Gilbert grabbed your leg.

"n-no! You can't leave yet!" he pleaded.

"Why not?" you asked him curiously, why wouldn't he let you leave?

"I want to help you with your job!" He said enthusiastically. He stood up and put his arm around you. "One of my awesome friends owns an awesome restaurant. I might be able to get you a job there~" He sang. You looked at the floor. Him arm was warm against your cold body, it was almost comforting.

"I-I don't know, I'm not a very good waitress and you know that from this morning." you whispered, embarrassed you were saying that.

"Tomorrow, we will have an all day waitress training day!" He said without letting his grip around you fall. How did he have so much energy this morning?

"A-alright" You accepted, it's not like you had a job to go to or anything.

"Awesome! I'll have my two awesome friends, Antonio and Francis, help with the training. I'll see you tomorrow!" He said pushing you out the door. You stood in the hallway outside his door with a small smile on your face.

---

You sat at your kitchen table and thought about your walk home. Gilbert's house wasn't as far as you thought it would be but the walk was along all the populated streets full of shops, markets and tourists. The thought of walking through them still makes you cringe. You chewed your cereal slowly and thought about Gilbert's plans for today. He wanted to do waitress training with his friends. Would he make you do things like set tables with an obstacle course? The thought made you smile.

You put the bowl away and hurried to get dressed. You assumed that Gilbert wanted you to meet him at his house since he didn't know where you lived and you were more than able to walk. You looked out your window and saw sun so you guessed it was warm outside. You opened it and felt the warm air push your messy hair out of your face. You were right.

You put on a pair of tan shorts and a light (colour) shirt after taking a short shower and drying your hair. You picked up your bag with your phone and waitress uniform just in case you needed it. You walked over to your door and took a deep breath. You promised yourself you would be kind and courteous to the people you see, no matter what.

You opened your door and saw Gilbert standing in your doorway with his hand raised, ready to knock. You stared at each other wide eyed for a second before forming a smile to match his grin. You looked and the floor still smiling, a blush making its way to your face.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were standing there" You said quietly, you didn't notice you were still smiling.

"You ready to start our awesome day?" He asked enthusiastically. You avoided eye contact and followed close behind him as he led the way. You liked the way he said 'our day', it made you feel connected to something.

---

"Come on _______, show us!" You heard Gilbert whine from the other side of the change room curtain.

"I-I don't think I want to." You replied looked at yourself in the mirror. You were wearing another revealing waitress outfit. This one was your 5th in the last hour and was significantly more revealing than the last 4 and less frilly.

"I'm sure you'll look fine Chica!" Gilbert's Spanish friend, Antonio, yelled. You sighed when you heard his French friend, Francis, agree.

"I-I don't want to show you guys this one." You replied trying to be more aggressive like you promised yourself earlier. You could almost see their annoyed faces.

You heard Gilbert and his friends complaining they were hungry. Antonio and Francis agreed to go and get food together. You waited until their footsteps were too far away to hear and stepped out from behind the curtain. Gilbert did a double take at you and you quickly covered yourself with your arms and looked away.

"I-I don't like this one very much" You said, trying to start some kind of conversation. Gilbert stared at you. You could see his mouth moving like he was trying to say something but nothing came out. You decided that would be the last costume you tried on that day. You turned around to go back into the change room but were stopped by Gilbert's reply.

"Y-You look-" He started but he was interrupted by someone calling his name. You both turned your heads to the front of the store and saw a girl with long light brown hair and bright green eyes smiling and waving at Gilbert.

'He has a girlfriend' you thought to yourself. Why were you so disappointed by this? You didn't have feelings for him and he didn't have any for you. Why were you so upset?

You quickly walked back into the change room and put your shorts and shirt back on. You took a couple deep breaths and ignored Gilbert and the girl conversation. You opened the curtain and banged right into the girl.

"I'm so sorry" you said with an awkward smile, she didn't seem to mind.

"It's fine! I was standing to close to the change rooms anyways" She said with a natural smile and a light giggle. You clenched your fists and put the clothes back in the places Gilbert and his friends found them.

You made your way over to the front door, ready to leave when you heard Gilbert call your name. You turned around carefully and saw the girl give you a shocked look that quickly turned to disgust. You looked at Gilbert and saw him wave for you to come back over but you continued your walk.

"Who's that?" The girl asked him. You could hear the anger in her voice.

"That's _______ she's my-" you heard him start. You closed the door to the store and walked away.

You didn't want to hear what you were to him. You were afraid to be disappointed and not know why.

---

You threw yourself on your bed and buried your face in your pillow like a twelve year old girl that doesn't get what she wants. In a way it was true. You thought about Gilbert and his sparkling red eyes and messy snow white hair that always seems to make you smile, of course you would never tell him that. You should have known better than to trust him into creating some kind of erotic show for him and his friends. You were too gullible and passive. You would never see Gilbert again but that's okay. You felt your heart clench at the thought, why? He made you lose your job and embarrassed you in front of his friends and girlfriend. Why did it hurt so much to think that you would never see him again?

"_______?" you heard a familiar voice say from the doorway of your bedroom. You shot up from your position and kept your back to him. You quickly wiped the tear you didn't know you shed from your face before he saw.

"How did you get in my apartment?" you asked him. You clenched your fists to keep yourself from throwing things. Why were you so mad?

"The door was unlocked." He said plainly. You heard him take a step towards you.

"How did you find out where I live?" you asked hoping to finally get information out of him. He already knew too much about you.

"I saw you walk into the building before" He said, another step.

"Why were you at the building?"

"My brother lives here, he wanted to keep his distance from my apartment. I don't see why, I'm awesome!"

Step

"That doesn't explain how you knew my apartment number" you could feel him getting closer.

"I followed you" He answered. You tensed up.

Step

"Why?" that was the question you've been wondering ever since you met him.

"I thought you were cute" He whispered in your ear. You cringed at the sudden close contact. "Why did you leave the store after I called your name?"

"I didn't want to bother you and your girlfriend" you whispered looking at your hands.

Gilbert laughed. it wasn't his regular arrogant laugh, it was a real laugh. "Eliza isn't my girlfriend!" he said between laughs. You smiled, his laugh was contagious.

"I'm sorry" you said without looking at him. He continued to laugh and your smile grew until you also started laughing. You were laughing so hard you fell on your back. You lay on your bed looking at your ceiling and Gilbert lay down next to you.

"We never got to finish our awesome waitress training day" He said looking at the ceiling with you. You smiled at the word again.

"Being a waitress isn't about how fast you can set a table or how revealing your clothes are. It's about service. How confident you are when you serve and how kind and courteous you are to your coworkers and the people around you." You said to Gilbert turning your head to look at him. He was smiling at the ceiling, thinking about what you said.

"I have to try this thinking thing more often" he said with a laugh. You smiled as he turned his head towards you. For the first time since you met him you kept eye contact, you were proud of yourself but it didn't matter.

"You look nice when you smile" you said in unison. You laughed together and lay quietly, side by side. You loved Gilbert, but you couldn't tell him that.

---

A few months after you met Gilbert you finally had a job at Francis' Restaurant. Gilbert came and visited you every day and would playfully insult your waitress skills even though you finally had your dream of being a waitress in a 5 star restaurant. Francis even said you were one of the best he had.

You smiled a lot more now that you knew how but you were still uncomfortable around people. You put on your best face and always smiled when you greeted the customers. You were friends with your coworkers but not the kind of friend you wanted. They had the same dream as you and you got along well.

You walked over to Gilbert's Table and saw Elizabeta sitting with him, as usual. She gave you a glare when Gilbert wasn't looking. You smiled and pretended you didn't see. You didn't care; you were allowed to talk to Gilbert.

"What would you like today Gilbert?" you asked politely. Gilbert smiled at you and ordered the same thing he ordered every day, a diet water.

"Alright, what would you like Elizabeta?" She rolled her eyes but you kept smiling. You couldn't let one person ruin your dream.

"Nothing" she said looking at Gilbert. You walked away and sighed at Gilbert's order. He was lucky that he knew the owner or else he would be kicked out every day. He couldn't afford anything else and you didn't blame, you couldn't either. You loved his strange order anyway; it was what made him Gilbert.
You walked back over to the table and set the water down.

"Are you sure this is diet?" he asked seriously. You played along like you do every day, it was almost scripted.

"Of course, we have the best diet water in the world! It's imported right from France, just for you." You answered smiling.

"Good. I can't just drink any water now!" he replied earning a loud laugh from Elizabeta, signaling for you to leave. You nodded your head and tended to another table, a real smile on your face.

---

After your last shift you saw it was raining. It hadn't rained since the day you met Gilbert. You were as excited as you were last time. You walked through the rain and thought for a long time. Why does Gilbert come to the restaurant every day? It couldn't be to see you because he always brings Elizabeta with him. Elizabeta could be there to stop him from looking like he is loitering. You smiled at the thought of him going just to see you. You thought about more useless things and stopped when you reached a familiar street. You were standing in front of the building where Gilbert's apartment was. You smiled as you thought about visiting him. You've spent hours together in his apartment before but his would be for a different reason. You loved him and you wanted to tell him.

Your heart pounded at the thought. What if he really does like Elizabeta and not you? You won't be friends anymore and he wouldn't come see you at the restaurant anymore. You sighed and turned away but something stopped you.

'I have to be more aggressive' you thought to yourself. You remembered hearing that exact phrase last month when Gilbert wanted you to sleep in his bed. You clenched your fists and decided to confess your love to him.

You walked up the stairs to his floor, floor 6. It gave you enough time to think about your decision, tell yourself it was a bad choice and build new confidence. You walked down the hallway and saw that his door was already open.

You carefully looked inside and saw him kissing Elizabeta. You knew this would happen but you thought you would be less upset when it did. Elizabeta saw you and smiled, drawing Gilbert's attention to you.  You hoped the look on your face wasn't as sad as the one on Gilbert's.

"___-"he started but you didn't give him the chance to finish. You ran down the stairs without a second thought and into the rain filled streets.  You didn't care where you ended up; you just wanted to end up somewhere, anywhere, away from Gilbert.

Your favourite reason you liked the rain was because it hid your tears.

You heard Gilbert yell your name for you to stop but walking everywhere built up your stamina and you weren't stopping anytime soon. You could hear his voice getting quieter and quieter until it was drowned out by your feet splashing in the puddles. You concentrated on the sounds of the rain and your feet; you didn't hear the sound of Gilbert coming up behind you. You slowed down and he grabbed your arm. You shook it off and looked at the rain dripping off your hands.

"_______, it's not how it looks." He said trying to grab your arm again. You took a couple steps away from him. "I love you" he said hugging you from behind.

Your eyes widened. Your heart pounded, you were so happy he did. You stood there for a few seconds, absorbing the warmth from his body, until realization struck you. You pulled away from him and at where you were, you were at the bench from the first night you met. More tears slid down your face. You pushed Gilbert on the wet bench and pinned him down. He was shocked at your strength.

You sat on him and used your arms to punch him. He grunted with every hit you took. You punched harder and harder as more tears slid down your face silently. You slapped him across the face and he looked at you. He forced a grin but you could see in his dark eyes that he was pleading for you to stop.

"I can't-"he started, you stopped hitting him and waited for him to continue. "Breath!" he exhaled. You quickly stood up and sat on the bench next to him. You listened to him catch his breath.

"I didn't know you could hit that hard!" he yelled at you once he caught his breath. You tried to hide your smile.

"I'm sorry" you said, he could tell you didn't mean it.

"Elizabeta wanted me to stop talking to you, she was jealous of you." he said, you looked at him to see if he was serious. You saw his red eyes sparkle in the dark. "She just kissed me and I tried to pull away and I told her that I love you but she wouldn't stop, then you walked by." he said putting his face in his hands.

"I-I love you too" you said quietly, all your confidence used up. Gilbert grinned and sat closer to you.

"I was serious when I said you were cute" He whispered in your ear. You smiled.

"I guess I just can't help myself" you replied, trying his arrogant attitude. He laughed his famous laugh and tilted you face towards his. He moved in and kissed you softly, the opposite of his regular attitude. You kissed him back trying to be more forceful. You could feel him grin under your lips and pin you against the bench, kissing you harder. After a few seconds you both pulled away.

You smiled shyly and looked at the rain around you; Gilbert slipped his hand in yours and sat next to you, with you.

You found out at that moment that it wasn't a friend you were looking for at all. It was more than that; you just didn't have a word for it yet. You did know one thing; you were looking for someone to sit in the rain with you, and that someone was Gilbert.

Whenever I bump into the high wall  and get lost
I'd always lose sight of everything and forget the most important things at my starting point
But when I turned back, I realized  that beyond that sky
The scenery I envisioned in my dream map was there.