Uh. Hello, my name is pigeon. This is my first time writing a fanfiction in nearly three years, and my first time publishing one ever. This is actually a lot of firsts for me, it's my first contribution to the Hetalia fandom, it's the first multi-chapter fanfic I've ever done. Please be easy on me with the reviews? I'm new here.

I intend to continue this fanfic, but I really have a tendancy to abandon my work, and I'm really sorry for that. I have a few chapters plotted out, and chapter 2 is almost done, but I may need some reader-direction at one point or another.

I also might be writing in some smut or self harm, so rating may switch to M sooner or later. Thanks for reading.

A muffled sound echoed against the dirty white tiles in the bathroom. If you were to be in the room, it would only sound like another vibration of the bass through the wall. But it wasn't. There was a quiet sound accompanying the music, of someone crying. The music was so loud- so loud, and no matter where you went you could still hear it vibrating in your ears.

Feliciano Vargas, a junior in highschool. He was hunched against the wall, in the handicap stall, the one with the broken light over it. The words 'DRAKE LOVES SUZANNE' were etched into the fresh tan paint that was meant to cover up the last scrawls of bathroom graffiti. The young man looked up at the ceiling, tears dripping down his cheeks and dribbling off his chin. He was wearing a black suit with a blue tie, and a white shirt with cocoa-cola spilled down the front.
He cursed, audibly, and rubbed the tears off his face. The audacity of those people. The pure maliciousness he'd seen in their eyes as they had cornered him. Fuck. Just stop crying. Stop.

However, his breaths came no more steadily, and his tears came no less frequently. He'd been having a wonderful time today, the day of the Homecoming Dance, when everyone in the new school year shows off their relationships, their body, their popularity. He'd always been good at beguiling women, so he'd had no problem talking to one. A girl named... fuck, what was her name? Abbey? Ally? Addison...? No, he couldn't remember. She was beautiful, in a superficial way. She'd had too much mascara on, so her eyes looked dark and intense, and every high-school girl wants that, huh. He was drawn to her, in a mess of hormones, and he'd almost been shocked when she said yes to his invitation. They had little conversation between then and the dance, which he found kind of sad, and funny, in a sad way. She'd came to pick him up in a generally unimpressive car, since he didn't have a car himself, and she'd been wearing a strapless orange party dress with gold stick-heels that made his feet hurt looking at them. Clutching her seemingly meaningless be-dazzled handbag, they'd set off. She drove them to a restaraunt. They had meaningless conversation, and he felt sick. It's all so superficial, isn't it? He paid for both of their meals out of politeness. They'd arrived at the highschool, and the music had already started. The entire building shook just a little, and his head hurt already.

He took the girl's coat and hung it up on the coat racks sitting in the hallway, in front of the gym, and they went in together. It seemed they were almost waiting for him, weren't they? The group of young men, the five of them. Alfred had poked him hard in the stomach and said 'So what are you doing here, fag?' He'd curled in on himself where Alfred had touched him. Ivan hit the back of his head with the side of his hand. 'Seems the little guy's on a date!' The group of them had laughed. That sound repeated in Feliciano's mind as he shook on the bathroom floor, and he whimpered between his shaky sobs. Yao had chuckled along with them. 'With this pretty girl? What a joke!' He spilled his coke down the front of Feliciano's shirt. Francis had slung an arm around Feliciano's date, and he saw her gold stick-heels turn with a slight hesitance away from him, as she tried not to smirk at his expense. The girl walked away with the five men, one of which (Alfred, of course it was Alfred) had turned to flip him off.

And now he was here, sitting in an empty bathroom, listening to muffled club music and his own crying. Was this normal highschool life? He supposed so.

Ludwig Beilschmidt wondered why he was even there. Was there a reason? He didn't think so. The music was so loud. And so BAD. It was hot in there. He watched girls grind against their boyfriends in the darkness of the room, the scent of sweat and purfume making a pungent odor that could only be described with the word highschool.

There was a multi-colored strobe light in one corner, that threw discs of bright color around the room in an attempt to theme the party like a rave. It was a little sad, because this didn't feel anything like a rave at all. This felt like a sweaty highschool homecoming dance, and Ludwig didn't want to be there.
He came only because he felt like he needed to. Like it was a part of highschool life, and if he didn't go, he would be missing out on something. Missing out on what? He didn't know. This wasn't anything to look forward to for him, as he was simply sitting on the bleachers at the edge of the gym. He didn't have a date, because he felt like he didn't need one. Who the fuck needs a date?

Fed up with watching the bump-and-grind 'dancing', the blonde stood up. He turned on his heel, making a squeak with his dress shoes on the polished gym floor. On his way out, he bumped into a girl in an orange party dress. She was teetering on her gold stick-heels and laughing hysterically with several boys. Ludwig knew them, he knew their names, and they knew his, but he tried to avoid them, at least. It was nasty buisness dealing with them.
He put his hands on the girl's shoulders and steadied her before apologizing and leaving the gym. He could still hear the bass of the terrible rap song muffled through the wall, and it echoed strangely through the huge main hallway. He stopped at the refreshment table and got a drink of water, glad to be out of the dark, hot gym. He decided to head to the bathroom and wash the sweat from his face, and as he stepped in the white-tiled room, he continued to hear the booming music. No... something else, something quieter. From the corner, someone was... crying?

He walked slowly to the door and knocked softly with the back of his hand. "Uh... are you alright?"

A choked sob answered him. "Leave, go away. It's not your problem."

He swallowed. "Let me in, it doesn't have to be my problem."

"N-no. Go away," the strangled voice replied.

"Let me in."

He heard the person stand up with a clack of dress shoes against white tile. A click of the latch and the tan stall door was opening, hanging from one hinge to reveal short boy with reddish brown hair and swollen eyes. Tears ran down his tired-looking face and he clutched the door to keep himself upright. He sat back down on the floor and buried his face in his knees. Ludwig stepped inside, closing the stall door but not locking it. He sat down on the other side of the handicap stall, leaning against the etching of 'DRAKE LOVES SUZANNE' in the tan paint. He looked across at the small kid who shook a little as he breathed. "What is your name?" Ludwig asked him.

"F-feliciano." The boy stuttered out, still attempting to control his breaths.

"That's a weird name." he said anxiously. He noticed Feliciano's shoulders tightening a bit. "Eeh... I'm Ludwig."

"Your name is s-strange too." Feliciano rebuked.

"I guess so." A tense silence built between the two for a few seconds, then Ludwig sighed. "Are you alright, Feliciano?"

"Yes."

"That's a lie."

"I know."

"Would you tell me what happened?" Ludwig held his breath.

Feliciano tried to chuckle, but it came out as a half-sob. "It was... my date. She had gold-stick heels, but I don't remember her name. Then those guys. Y-you know, Alfred and Ivan and those guys. They called me a fag. The took my date, a-and they spilled coke on me, an-nd-" He couldn't go on, he just hugged his knees tight to his chest. He cried out in anguish.

Ludwig boiled with anger. He knew that the group was known for bullying, but it filled him with disgust. They were juniors in highschool, for christ's sake. They should stop asking like seventh-grade girls for a change and grow the fuck up. Feliciano was a crying mess in front of him, and they were out there partying with his date in the darkness of the foul-smelling mock-rave party in the gym. The bass vibrated through the wall behind Feliciano.

"What about you?" Feliciano said, a little louder than they were speaking before. "Why are you here? Where are your friends? Go see them, leave me alone."

The blonde was taken aback, still more concerned for Feliciano than himself. "I-I came here alone. I don't... really have friends here, at least."

Feliciano looked up at him through watery hazel eyes. "Oh. That's t-too bad then." He pulled at the cuffs of his jacket.

"Maybe you could be my friend, then?" Ludwig couldn't even believe himself. It sounded so fucking cheezy. Whatever, maybe with it being so cheezy Feliciano would at least laugh at his failed attempt to socialize. He'd never been too good with words.

"Y-yeah. Let's be... f-friends." A weak smile showed through his tears.

Ludwig stood up. He took a few steps over to Feliciano, and grabbed his shoulder, helping him to stand up. "Come on. Do you want a ride home?"
Feliciano looked relieved. "Yeah. I'd appreciate it."

Ludwig opened the stall door and the two of them left the bathroom. He kept his eyes out for any of those guys or the girl in the gold stick-heels, but they
(thankfully) didn't come across anyone malicious on their way out of the school. They walked into the dark parking lot, only seeing one couple that seemed to be getting a little more intimate than just making out, leaning against a baby-blue car that reflected the yellow light from the windows in the highschool. They reached Ludwig's small gray car, Feliciano climbing into the passenger's seat as Ludwig started the engine. Ludwig asked Feliciano where he lives, and Feliciano told him the neighborhood, one Ludwig was familiar with.

Ludwig pulled out of the parking lot quickly, since there was very little traffic around the school. Homecoming was less than half-way over. Ludwig didn't mind that though, since it was a boring event for him anyways. Feliciano was looking out the window back towards the school. A few droplets of rain started to hit the windshield. "Do you have a cell-phone?" He asked Feliciano, hoping to get the boy's number.

"Oh, yeah. I do. Do you want me to add my number in your phone?" Ludwig nodded, reaching in his pocket and handing Feliciano his phone. It wasn't anything fancy, just a silver slide phone with a small screen. He sometimes wished he had a smartphone, but he realised that he would rarely use it, anyways, so he was happy with his current phone. Feliciano slid the screen up and quickly typed his name and number into the contacts. "Ve~ There you go!"

Feliciano seemed to have calmed down a lot more since they had left the school, smiling at Ludwig from the seat beside him. His hazel eyes seemed softer, even though they were still puffy from his crying earlier.

Ludwig pulled into the neighborhood and asked Feliciano which house, and he pointed it out quickly. The blonde pulled into the driveway and pressed the brakes, looking over at the other. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked the smaller boy.

"Yes. Thank you, Ludwig. Thank you so much." Feliciano smiled at him, then opened the door and stepped out of the car.

Ludwig wouldn't text him until Sunday, two days later, and learn that that wasn't entirely true.

Well... was that ok? Please review. I'd love to hear from you all about this, and whether I've still got it when it comes to writing fanfictions.

Thank you all again. Chapter 2 should be up in a matter of a few days~