Candles
Chapter 1: The First Spark
A/N: This is a joint story idea based off of a RP with me and PristineDreamworld (PDW). For chapter 2, watch PDW (and I'll post a link when it's done).
Disclaimer: Does not own Hetalia.
In a normal business office, this meeting would have been called a disaster. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on who you asked, this meeting was a usual meeting. Everyone seemed to be talking at once and no one even seemed to be listening to anyone else. No one was on topic or even paying attention to the meeting; they were too preoccupied with their own personal business.
Ludwig tried to get their attention and rein them back on topic but his voice was lost in the sea of shouts. He tried to keep his calm but as time was quickly burned with no progress occurring, Ludwig started to get angrier and angrier.
Slamming his hands on the table, he stood up, knocking his chair backwards. The loud thud halted the other countries conversations.
"Everybody shut up!" Ludwig yelled, his face tight with rage. "Gott, you all act like children! We're countries and we have responsibilities! Can't you all just pay attention for a few hours of your life?"
Silence filled the meeting room for the first time since the meeting started. A pin could be heard dropping on the floor but the only thing that was heard was the clang of Ivan's pipe meeting the floor, followed by the frightened squeaks of the Baltic nations. Ludwig sighed and pinched his nose. "Anyone who wants to speak has eight minutes with absolutely no one going over their time limit." he said, glaring at the American who could babble for practically hours about super heroes and hamburgers.
He righted his chair and sat back down. The meeting proceeded forward. The order Ludwig had created slowly began to unravel despite Ludwig's efforts. By the time the meeting ended, Ludwig was fuming and tired. He neatly collected his papers and stood. He walked to the hall, wide shoulders back and chest forward. He sighed as he exited the room. It felt as though the meeting had crushed his mood; it's why he hated meetings do much.
"Ve~ Doitsu! Germany!" the familiar voice exclaimed. Ludwig groaned quietly. He wasn't in the mood to deal with the ditzy Italian.
The jovial Italian ran over to Ludwig and enveloped the German in a hug. Ludwig groaned and sharply pushed him off.
"Ve~ what's wrong, Germany?" Feliciano asked, pouting. Ludwig ignored the small voice in his head thinking of how cute he looked. Instead, the frown that seemed ever present on his face only deepened. He started walking down the hall.
"Just leave me alone, Feliciano," Ludwig grumbled. He listened to the steady thumping of his feet as he walked down the nearly empty corridor. A pin could have been heard dropping and he was satisfied. Maybe now he'll be able to find some peace and quiet far away from countries who couldn't focus on their work for more than a few minutes.
What he didn't expect was to hear the Italian start crying. Sure, the Italian did cry a lot but he expected that since he had been in such a good mood and had so many other friends around that he wouldn't care that Ludwig didn't want to spend time with him.
"WAAA! Ludwig doesn't want to play with me anymore!" Feliciano sobbed. Ludwig was surprised by his own reaction. The Italian sounded absolutely pitiful. He stopped and quietly turned to see the boy hiding his face with his hands as his shoulders shook uncontrollably. Something seemed to break in Ludwig. As much as he could get annoyed with the Italian, he did love the boy.
He didn't even need to order himself to go over; he just did it. He gently took a hold of Feliciano's shoulders and shook him. He didn't shake him hard but it wasn't gentle either. Ludwig bit his lip as Feliciano looked up, his face red and streaked with tears.
"L-Ludwig?" he stammered, his voice quiet with a slight undertone of disbelief. Ludwig's heart thumped against his ribcage for some unknown reason. He had seen the Italian cry many times but there was something different about this one.
Maybe it was because he had been the one to cause him to cry. Maybe it was because he was the one who had destroyed his good mood. He had to fix it. He didn't know how but if he was responsible for making him sad then he would also be responsible with cheering him up.
He loosened the grip on his shoulders and awkwardly patted his arm. "Don't cry," he said, forcing his voice to smooth out instead of sounding harsh. Feliciano blinked and looked up into him. His big brown eyes were big and round and wet with tears but they were also clouded with confusion.
"W-what?" he asked, sniffing and wiping his tears. Something in Ludwig gut twisted and his heart fluttered. Despite his face being so red, there was something cute about him. His mind searched for things to say to cheer him up; to put that smile back on his face and to make him bounce with energy again.
As his mind fumbled, his mouth seemed to speak for itself. "Please stop crying," Ludwig pleaded quietly. He didn't know where the words were coming from and he tried to snatch them back or at least prevent him from speaking again but Feliciano brightened just a little, "How about I take you to dinner to make up for making you cry?"
Wait what?
Did he just ask Feliciano to dinner? He couldn't have. He never would say that. But the Italian smiled and Ludwig couldn't bring himself to change his mind. The Italian seemed so happy and deep down, he wanted to go to dinner too.
"Ve~ really?" Feliciano asked. He smile happily and wiped the rest of his tears away. Ludwig blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He nodded quietly.
"Ja..." he said quietly. Feliciano beamed happily and clapped his hands with a bounce that made Ludwig's heart flutter. He hugged Ludwig tightly.
"Ok! That sounds great!" Feliciano exclaimed happily. Ludwig blushed and lightly hugged back. Feliciano pulled back. His eyes were closed but he wore his classic grin. Ludwig blushed an even darker red and tried to calm his thumping heart.
"I-I'll pick you up at five..." he said. Feliciano nodded enthusiastically.
"Ve~ ok!" he exclaimed happily. He gave Ludwig one last hug. "I'll see you soon! I have to go!" Feliciano smiled happily. Ludwig nodded and watched as the Italian bound off to go find his brother.
Ludwig sighed. He doesn't know where the idea had come from but he oddly didn't regret it. He actually found himself looking forward to seeing the Italian later on that night.
He knew he couldn't deny it to himself but he was attracted to the Italian. He was just so sweet and cute that he couldn't resist him or his personality. He never wanted to see him cry again and he wanted to be the one to always cheer him up.
A light smile tugged at his lips. Ludwig went down the hallway towards his car. He had to hurry if he wanted to make reservations and get ready. He could hardly wait for it.