White And Suffocating ~{ΑυѕЅωιѕѕ/Edelweιѕѕ}~

Chapter 9

It was probably around 4pm when the Swiss silently sat on the passenger seat and looked outside of the window. It was snowing again and made the road hard to drive on. Lilly had fallen asleep in the back and didnt seem like she would wake up anytime soon as the soft tune of some classical music resonated through the car. It was silent. And that had been the case for almost the whole ride. Yes, vash had been swayed to come with Roderich, it wasn't as hard as expected. Most likely because of his fear of suddenly being alone again. To be fair it was pretty awkward between the two. After the long hug neither of them had said much and no one knew how to start the conversation.

The blonde rested his head in the palm of his hand as he stared at the passing cars and the trees that disappeared so quick after only being in his vision for a second. Luckily he didn't have to wait too long until he was out of the quiet car as they had soon reached the big and nice Austrian mansion. It wasn't the same as it was in his childhood, it also stood way closer to the Swiss border than the old one and was maybe even bigger? He didnt quite know but he guessed Roderich had probably gotten spoiled by his parents and built this house off of their money. He got out of the car and took in a deep breath as he looked up the house's high walls and the others stepped out as well, Roderich swiftly grabbing their luggage. Vash was just silently staring at this mansion before snapping out of it and moving away from the passenger side's door to take his own bag off of Roderich. "I'll take that." The Swiss said and watched how Lilly walked to the doorsteps of the house with her teddy bear in her hand which she had taken with herself a long time ago.

She remembered the house vividly. It had been a really really long time since she's last been there so she felt a bit nostalgic. She'd have smiled if it weren't for the horrible atmosphere between her father and Vash who didnt speak to each other. It was better than when they yelled at each other but she still didnt like it much...

Roderich opened the door once he stood next to Lilly and pushed it open while carrying her bags. "Hubert? I'm back! Look who's here!" He announced in the house and the small boy peeked out of the living room into the hallway. He was a bit shy but upon seeing Lilly he felt happy and walked towards her. "Hello, Hubert! How have you been?" She asked as gentle as always and cracked her honest smile towards him. He was happy to see her and soon took the hem of her dress in his hand to drag her to the living room where he had been drawing. He really wanted to show her!

Vash watched after the two before looking at Roderich "And that's?" He asked frowning a bit. He didn't know of any second child! And it looked nowhere similar to Lilly too. "Who's that? Your relative's?" He asked again as Roderich hung up his coat and got out of his shoes. The brunette coughed to clear is throat before turning to the other. "He's my son." He replied and Vash couldn't help but to wonder more. "But you said you had divorced your wife when Lilly was born! Don't tell me this is one out of a.....a one night stand?" He asked and Roderich shook his head before frowning too. "Are you suggesting that I whored around, Vash?" He asked and huffed standing up all straight as he looked down on the other. That annoyed Vash. With the money Roderich had and that pretty face he could get any woman, of course he'd think that!

"So he IS a son from some past lover of yours?" He asked and somehow felt betrayed. If he could keep that child, why couldn't he take Lilly back? Does that mean he never cared about Lilly because she was the daughter of his past wife?! Roderich sighed and pushed his glasses up his nose. "No. I adopted him. He's my cousin's son who had an accident and passed away. Are you happy with that answer?" He hissed at Vash and brushed past him.

Once he showed so much compassion for the other and the moment he steps over his doorstep he starts acting like that towards him! How rude could he be? He never learnt manners didn't he, that Swiss.

Vash on the other hand felt bad at that answer and shut up. He had gotten too hotheaded. It wasn't any of his business anyway right? He slipped out of his shoes and out of his coat placing them neatly on the hanger and the tiny cupboard. He then continued to walk into the house, into the living room where everyone was currently. Roderich had taken off Lilly's coat and told Hubert to not be too pushy since she was older and he should respect her. He didn't look at Vash again and offered the two children to get them some tea. The Swiss on the other hand felt Ike he needed to at least tell him his condolences since what he had said really went overboard. He didn't quite know what to do so he allowed himself to sit down on the big soft couch that was so prominent in the room. It was really cozy and not cramped at all, not that vash had expected any less from such a nice house.

Lilly was drawing with Hubert on the floor and chuckled as he already was very talented. He didn't smile much nor express his emotions a lot but one could see he was extremely happy in that moment and had a lot of fun. After a while Roderich came back with a tray on which cookies laid, milk, sugar, tea and four teacups for all of them. The blonde didn't want to be picky and just took the cup of tea that got handed to him even if he preferred coffee by a lot. He looked at it for a bit and stared at the bottom of the cup through the gold brown liquid. Eventually he took a sip. Again Roderich did not look at him and began to drink his tea once he had sat down on the armchair facing the couch. It was quite understandable. Still Vash couldn't help but want to talk to him. Why did he have to mess up already?

The two children began to chat together and ate some of the cookies as the two adults sat in silence. "So, you only began working recently haven't you? I think its been two years?" the Austrian then asked and stared at the others eyes. Surprised by the sudden interaction the Swiss flinched unnoticeably but nodded and looked back at him. "That's right, I'm just an office clerk though." He told him. He had hard work and was the youngest member in his department so he was quite lucky to be valuable. Or at least he thought he was. Even if his boss liked to make him work late, give him impossible tasks and everything he himself didn't feel like doing. One could say he was getting bullied by his boss not that Vash would admit that. "I already issued my leave for a few days so I don't think that'll be a-" he interrupted.

"Quit work." Roderich told him and sipped from his tea before reaching for a cookie. "You don't need to work if you'll be living here, if you want to make yourself useful you can just cook and take care of the children for me. You'll be given whatever it is that you want so don't worry." He said sounding quite a bit cold. Vash frowned and glared at the other. "Quit work? Cook for you? What do you take me for? If I don't work how will I get a job later?"

"You don't need one."

"But I'm still young I should be working, what if you throw me out?!" He accused him but Roderich only shook his head. "I won't. Even if you should anger me that much that I can't handle living in the same house with you anymore, I have the money to buy you an apartment where you can stay as well as your living expenses." he told him and Vash's jaw almost dropped. "Why would you do all of this? Didn't you want to take Lilly away from me?" He asked and crossed his arms. What was his deal? Give him all he wants for the rest of his life? Why on earth?? "Because I'm nice. I'm well aware of it that I don't need to do this for you and could just abandon you. But I don't. Why are you making such a fuss? Just accept the gift I presented to you. You're soon going to be short on money anyway right?"

The Swiss didn't answer and instead glared at him. What was that? The two children had stopped speaking as well and stared at the two adults, Lilly being quite shocked at what she was hearing. "U-Uhm.... Dad, you should maybe give him some time to think about it... This is quite a big decision." She eventually said and stood up to grab the empty water kettle. "Should I get us some more?" She then asked with a warm smile, didn't wait for an answer and left.

// PHEW! This was a long one!!! Sorry it took so long, I hope you can forgive me!!