Feliciano wiped down the last table in the restaurant and went back to the bar to place the cleaning spray back into it's cupboard. He rubbed his sore shoulder and frowned before shrugging and hanging up the small apron he wore around his waist.
He locked the till and then shut off the lights before putting in his coat and locking up the door. He began to walk down the quiet street and then heard someone calling after him.
Elizabeth ran to him, hair in a frenzy and tears streaming down her face. Feliciano swore under hia breath and grasped both her arms.
"What the hell is... Why are you crying? Jesus, what happened?" He felt like a deer in the headlights as she laughed and then cried again.
"Run away with me." She said breathlessly, grabbing his hand and tugging him the other way. "Come on! Let's go, let's leave this place."
"Elizabeth-" The Italian stumbled after her and tried to get her to stop. "What are you going on about? Stop this."
She suddenly turned around and practically draped herself onto Feliciano. He tried to comprehend the situation and looked down at her as best he could with her head lolling against his shoulder.
"You're drunk." He rolled his eyes and tried to stand her up but she just wobbled and giggled. "Jesus Christ."
"C'mon, let's go. Get a train and we can get married and we won't have to worry about Roderich." She slurred and leaned up, sloppily kissing the side of his mouth.
"What are you-" Hepushed her back by the shoulders as his eyes widened but she just planted another whiskey-breath filled kiss on his lips, somehow landing on her target.
Feliciano grunted and shoved her off as gently as she could. "Stop! You're drunk! Elizabeth, you're married!" She scoffed at that. "God, you need to get home."
"No!" She began to tear up again but angrily this time, prodding the Italian in the chest. "We aren't going there. Not going back!"
Feliciano grabbed her hand with a huff and lead her along, ignoring her babbling all the way to Vash's house. He took her out onto the back porch and made her a coffee.
"Drink this." He handed the steaming mug to his somewhat sobered up friend. "What the hell are you thinking?"
She looked out, her eyes unfocused and shrugged. "Don't wanna go back."
"You love your home and this town, Elizabeth." Feliciano sighed. "Of course you want to go back."
"No-"
"You can't just come and try and drag me on a runaway trip and kiss me and... Jesus, I don't even.." He blushed and looked away. "I'm not your type and it doesn't even fucking matter!" He said, flustered. "You're married and you have a life and you can't just-"
"He said he'd take the opera house over me." She muttered quietly while Feliciano went on.
"-that was not acceptable, wait. What?"
"Roderich said he'd take the opera house over me." She repeated, tears slowly trickling down her cheeks as she squeezed the locket around her neck before taking it off.
Feliciano looked at her sadly and sat closer, putting an arm around her. "I'm sorry... Oh god, Elizabeth... Don't, don't cry.. I'm sure he didn't mean it."
She sobbed softly and cried against his shoulder. "Of course he did!" She whimpered, feeling a pain spreading across her chest. "He doesn't care anymore, I don't matter to him. I'm sure he has plenty of women to keep him satisfied in Stockholm."
Feliciano kissed her forehead. "Stop it. Stop putting these ideas into your head. Look, I don't know what happened between you two and I don't know if it can be fixed but you can't just run away from him."
Elizabeth opened the heart-shaped locket to reveal small wedding pictures. One close-up of their hands and another far shot of Roderich leaning in, kissing her temple.
"There was a time," She sniffled but continued, "when we were happy. We'd waltz to his favourite composers around the furniture in our small house. We would make music together, sometimes duets on the piano, sometimes Roderich on his violin and me on voice. Sometimes we would go for evening walks and we would enjoy each other's company."
Feliciano listened intently, wiping her tears gently with his thumb.
"Roderich always dreamed of having his own opera house with it's own orchestra, hand-picked by him. He would tell me, in this tired-happy voice after we'd spent the night, well, together..." She blushed, "And he would twirl my hair between his fingers while he mused about his singers and the traditional costumes and the people that would fill the seats to come see the classics." Pausing, she wiped a single tear and went on, "I always supported him and I wanted him to follow his ambitions as far as he could."
Feliciano nodded and hugged her a little closer. "I never thought we'd get to this point of just... Tolerance. When we got married, we were poor musicians but we were ridiculously happy. And we were happy for a long time, even when Roderich first opened his opera house. But he's so wrapped up in his work and the music and I remember when he was wrapped up in me."
She bit her lower lip and let a few more tears fall. "That was before the miscarriage."
Feliciano gasped softly and held her tighter. "Oh god... I'm sorry. Elizabeth, I'm so sorry."
"Shh..." She swatted away some tears and smiled a tiny smile. "It's okay. It's okay, Feli. We were both broken up by the news, we felt crushed. I knew Roderich wanted children but I can't. The doctor said, it's impossible. I'll never be able to give him what he wants and now I'm too selfish to even move to Stockholm with him. It's my
fault we've fallen apart."
Feliciano was at a loss for words. He collected her into his arms as she began to cry again and rubbed her back in soothing circles. He kissed her head repeatedly, trying to calm her down.
"Shh..." He whispered. "You need a break, okay? I get it, you need to get away. Running away isn't the right answer, but you deserve a break, Liz. It's okay. Shh.. We're going to take a break. Catch a train, like you said, alright? Go wherever you want."
"P-Paris." She choked out.
"Okay, okay, Liz." He closed his eyes and rested his chin atop her head. "Paris."
~
A/N: two updated y'all! i know this totally has nothing to do with gerita or the spamano going on in the last few chapters but this is all going somewhere, i promise. And i ship the shit out of AusHun so i'm throwing it in here too
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To be continued...