One of the worst sounds in the entire world is the sound of an alarm clock going off. Even worse, it was the sound of an alarm clock going off in the morning. Even Ludwig had his pet-peeves. After a groan, he moved past the mound of think covers to slap the blaring alarm clock off it's pedestal of books on his desk. There was a moment of silence before,

"For the love of God Luddy, get rid of that thing." The muffled voice came from across the room, the same voice that the blonde woke up to every morning. Ludwig sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"If I have to get up, you do too bruder." He would have rolled his eyes, but the albino was buried to the point where he could barely be seen, and he knew that it wouldn't be of use anyway. "... If you're late for class again, you'll get detention."

"So? Wouldn't be the first time." He flipped over, pulling the overly-fluffed up pillow over his head.

"Have you forgotten what day it is?"

"Why are you yelling?" Gilbert moaned, is voice still muffled of his place under the covers.

"I'm not yelling."

"Yes you are~"

"... Hangover?"

"I don't even remember my name~"

Ludwig rolled his eyes, finally climbing out of bed. He pulled his dresser open, grabbing his neatly folded uniform from the top as he continued speaking, "Gilbert, it's Valentine's Day. The one day you haven't been able to shut up about for the past two weeks, and you're suddenly silent now?" Immediately, the white-haired teen jumped up, scrambling to get out of bed with new-found motivation.

He made it one step, before his foot caught a blanket. On the hardwood floor, the padding easily slipped away from him, and as Gilbert hit the floor with a thud the could be heard easily in every dorm, Ludwig could only sigh.

"Doitsu~!" Only one person called him by that nickname, and the blonde turned to see Feliciano bolting his way down the hall. It was strange, the way his heart would give a slight flutter whenever the Italian was near, but Ludwig just ignored it. It was true, he had had his fair share of odd moments around the brunette, ranging from annoying to life-changing, but still moments all the same. Every time the Italian smiled, Ludwig was reminded of their, unofficial, first kiss.

It was during middle school, at the school's pool. For some reason, some one had appointed Gilbert as lifeguard, and while he was hitting on anything that walked by, it was Ludwig who was up in the lifeguard chair, watching over the pool in place of his brother. He looked away for only a moment to check on the albino, and when he looked back there were shouts and calls for help, along with a flurry of activity from the deep end. Without thinking, Ludwig dove into the pool.

Moments later, the blonde had gotten hold of the drowning class mate and pulled her to the edge of the pool, climbing up before pulling her out as well. No response came from the brunette, her eyes were shut closed and no breath escaped her pale lips. He was slightly taken aback by how pretty she was, she had a pale pink one-piece suit on, with something like a frilly tutu hanging off the edge of it. Ludwig could remember if he had ever seen her before, but the only thing he cared about was the fact that she wasn't breathing.

As he had been taught, he tilted the girl's head back, plugged her nose, and pressed his lips against her's.

Magic.

It lasted only for a second, before Ludwig was violently pulled off of her and throw into the pool. After resurfacing and several coughs of his own, the blonde swam to the edge of the pool and looked up to meet a very angry-looking Lovino. He quickly glanced away, in the direction of the girl. She was sitting up, a pink towel matching her bathing suit wrapped around her, although she was still dripping wet. Now that he had a better look at her, he knew her from somewhere... but where? His attention was jerked away as Lovino crouched down in order to get closer to eye level with the German who was still in the water, the words leaving his lips in a slight growl that would forever be remembered by Ludwig,

"Stay. Away. From. My. Brother."

…

…

…

BROTHER?

The blonde almost passed out on the spot, and as Lovino backed away to join the still-shivering younger Italian, he crawled out of the pool. Gilbert approached the 14 year old with a towel, and began trying to tell him something, but the German just blocked it out, glancing at the 'girl' in the pink swimsuit again. Blue eyes meet golden brown ones, before the Italian looked away, being pushed out by Lovino towards the dorms.

There's no way that could be a guy.

… right?

Ludwig's bad luck held strong, and when he made the transfer to high school, he had trouble recognizing the Italian without the pink frills he had had on at the pool. He had on the boy's uniform, just like Ludwig and every other guy, and seemed totally oblivious to the whispered rumors around while the German managed to hear every single one. Eventually, Feliciano gave up the story on what happened: It was just a dare. A Hungarian girl that was called Elizaveta had dared him to go to the pool and try to pass himself off as a girl for the day, and everything was fine until he fell into the water.

The bell rang, and the day ended with the Italian blushing slightly as he thanked Ludwig for saving his life. The two had become fast friends after that, despite the awkwardness presented by their first meeting. After Kiku Honda transferred in, the three could hardly be separated from each other. Or rather, Feliciano could hardly be separated from Kiku and Ludwig.

"Doits-" He cut off as he stumbled over his feet, his never-tied shoelaces causing it, his books that he had been holding spilled to the floor. The German managed to catch the Italian before he hit the ground as well, almost unconsciously preventing his fall, "Thanks!" He said without a second thought, as if it were a regular occurrence. Which it was.

Both the blonde and the brunette bent over to pick up the books, Ludwig handing them back to the Italian as they stood up. Grinning, Feliciano continued as if nothing had happened, "Ve~ Can you believe it's Valentine's day already? How many chocolates did you get?"

Ludwig sighed at the mention of chocolate. The money-making scheme that the school had thought up, where you could pay to have either a flower or chocolate delivered to the person of your choosing. Honestly, Ludwig didn't see the point; it was more of a popularity contest then anything else. The only plus side to it was that, if you wanted to, it could be sent anonymously. He took a second to glance down the hall, where the school's golden boy-Alfred F. Jones-was having chocolate shoved at him by at least five different girls. The unlucky student council member assigned to him, Arthur Kirkland, waited impatiently to give him the ones that weren't to be given directly, a thick eyebrow twitching with irritation.

The German was brought back by Feliciano continuing, "I've got five so far, one was even from Gilbert." He laughed, not noticing the slight frown crossing Ludwig's face, "Even Kiku got a couple." He grinned, though the blonde raised an eyebrow at this.

The only thing he had received was one chocolate, which didn't really count because it hit him in the face after Gilbert threw it at him. It was an accident or anything either. After not shutting up that morning, the albino grabbed the first thing available and chucked it at him from his pillow-topped bed, and because he was still half-asleep, Ludwig didn't have the reaction time needed to dodge it. He could swear there was still a red mark on his cheek from the hit.

But if Kiku of all people had more then one (nothing against him, of course) then Ludwig knew something was wrong. Not that he wanted chocolate or anything. Of course not. It didn't matter to him at all.

The bell rang, knocking the German from his thoughts and allowing him to realize that they were the only two left in the hall, and, on top of that, they were now late. Sighing, Ludwig glanced at his watch, "Guess we better go get notes." And with a nod, Feliciano started down the hall, his free hand lacing its finger around Ludwig's. The Italian didn't even notice the slight blush across Ludwig's face as he followed him down the corridor.

Several hours later, it was free period and Ludwig was in the library. He was one of the only people there, since most of the other students were using this time to spend with their Valentines. The German sighed and he turned the page in his textbook, skimming the page and not really taking in any information at all.

All of a sudden, the German felt cloth being slipped over his eyes. His immediate reaction was to take off the blindfold, but the laughter of one certain Italian stopped him, "Ve~ Don't you trust me?" The blonde could feel it as he tied the fabric together at the back of his head. He sighed, but didn't answer. After a moment's pause, "I'm taking that as a yes~" Before grabbing Ludwig's hand and dragging him from the chair, going slightly slower then his normal speed due to the German having his vision impaired.

The blonde blindly followed him, gripping his hand tightly and trusting him to not let him run into things. He didn't like the blindfold, Ludwig just wanted to take it off and see what the big secret was. But he knew if he did, Feliciano's feelings would be hurt, which would only lead to more suffering for Ludwig in the end. So he decided to stick it out, somewhat eager to know what it was all about.

After several doors and what seemed like and endless amount of hallways, Ludwig could tell they were outside. His hand was released, and moments later, the blindfold was taken off as well. The German squinted his eyes open, having to adjust to the sudden light. When his vision cleared, he was actually shocked at where they were.

He was standing right near the edge of the pool, the strong smell of chlorine finally making itself present. Ludwig turned to his right to face the Italian, slightly confused. Feliciano, however, couldn't have looked happier. Speechless and confused, Ludwig just waited for Feliciano to explain.

"I wanted to give you a proper first kiss," He admitted, finally starting to look at tad nervous as his eyes darted in the direction of the swimming pool, "The only place that I could think of was here." And with that, he was done talking. The bright-faced Italian turned towards Ludwig, having to grab his tie and pull him down to his height before pressing his lips against his.

Wide-eyed, Ludwig had no idea how to react. So he did the first thing he could think of; what instincts told him.

Kiss back.

It only lasted for a brief moment, but just like the first time, every second was just pure magic.

Feliciano pulled away, now blushing slightly, "There. Happy Valentine's Day Ludwig." He smiled, looking the happiest the German had ever seen him. Ludwig was still confused and somewhat frozen, as if his brain had short-circuited at the overload of emotions. What had just happened started to sink in, and his face just got redder, and redder, and redder at every passing moment. He fumbled for something in his pocket, withdrawing the projectile-chocolate that had been used as a weapon against him before holding it out to Feliciano, now a deep shade of scarlet with embarrassment.

"H-happy Valentine's D-day." He tried to smile as the stuttered out his words, but at this point he was too nervous for it to come out looking the way he wanted it too. Feliciano took the piece of chocolate all the same though, looking at the foil-wrapped object with open eyes. Bright, clear, chocolate brown eyes looked into Ludwig's, full of gratitude.

"This is the only chocolate that matters to me." The Italian hopped up on his tiptoes to peck Ludwig on his still-blushing cheek.