April 4th, 1961 West Berlin

"Ludwig, breakfast is ready!"

Upon hearing his name, the child didn't budge from his comfy spot in the corner. Ludwig was fully engrossed in his book, mouthing the words as his eyes scanned the pages intently. From the amount of times he'd read the book, Ludwig was positive he'd be able to narrate it from memory soon. Perhaps that would cheer his brother up.

"Hurry up! You have school in, what, 40 minutes?"

His voice was considerably sterner than usual. Ludwig could only assume that meant their supplies were sparse. Typically in a situation like so, especially as this was becoming a frequent problem amongst the two, Ludwig would be fed the minimum required to get through the day. His brother, no matter how much he tried to hide it from Ludwig, either didn't eat or only had the scraps. No amount of crying or whining from Ludwig would make his older brother shift when it came to portions.

Ludwig located the page number before shutting the novel, leaving it in the same spot he'd been sat in for later. "I'm coming!" Ludwig called out to his sibling, trotting through the hall and to the dingy kitchen. In all honesty, Ludwig despised the place. Forgetting the claustrophobic size of the abandoned dwelling, the place was crumbling apart; the wallpaper peeled off at all corners and the bottom of each door was splintered. For Ludwig, the smell was the worst. It wasn't necessarily an unbearable stench – since the second they stepped into the place, a musk of damp sadness seemed to linger no matter what the boys tried. Ludwig wouldn't dare complain about it, he knew better than to do so. The house wasn't their own. Ever heard of the stories about kids exploring abandoned haunted houses, only to discover the 'phantom' to be some homeless guy living there? Ludwig and Gilbert had been living as the phantoms of this particular house for over 6 months.

Gilbert was sat at the kitchen table (a makeshift cardboard box with a dusty cloth) with a newspaper in hand – definitely stolen, not that Ludwig was old enough to know any better. Opposite Gilbert was a glass of milk, buttered toast and jam spread over it. "Thank you Gilbert. Are you… sure you don't want any for yourself?" Ludwig asked, dropping into his seat and picking up the glass. Ludwig took a sip; warm, not as sharp-tasting as yesterday. He drank up without complaint.

"I told you not to worry about me, just eat up. I get my food for the day at work!" Gilbert grinned toothily, newspaper abandoned on the table. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept okay. I'm getting used to the, erm, bed," Ludwig replied quietly, half his attention on breakfast. "How about you?"

"Work tires me out enough to be able to sleep anywhere, so I'm good. Glad it's getting warmer though, I can't find any extra blankets at the moment," Gilbert sighed dramatically, resting his cheek in his hand and shutting his eyes. Ludwig rolled his own.

"You can smoke if you want to, I don't care…" Ludwig uttered between bites of toast, much to the relief of Gilbert who immediately got out a cigarette. The older of the two hopped out of his seat to light his cigarette with use of the stove. Usually the smell bothered the 8 year old, but how could he fuss when Gilbert was close to starving himself for his sake? Gilbert had always been skinny and as of late, it was clearer than ever. "Are they making you do a lot at work?"

"Huh?" Gilbert took an experimental drag, then decided to heat it up some more, "Yeah but… They're paying me more than the last place did, Lud, so I couldn't care less. You shouldn't care either. Just focus on school, okay?"

Ludwig stared down at his food. "Do you miss going to school?" Silence filled the room, only the crunch of toast audible until Ludwig stopped, waiting for an answer.

"Sometimes I do. But having a job is so much cooler! It's like school but you get money!" Gilbert claimed excitedly, gaze averted from his little brother. "I – Lud, you're a good kid and I'm lucky to have you. Hell, I'm a selfish bastard for keeping you by my side after… Look – I just… Y'know. I really, really don't want to lose you. You can't talk about me at school or anything like that. Especially not to your teachers. They might tell them." Ludwig became ten times more attentive, eyes wide with concern at his brother's seriousness. "If anyone finds out I'm not actually 18, they'll take you away from me. I can't lose you."

With a harsh scrape of his stool legs, Ludwig jumped out of his seat and rushed to his brother's side. He stumbled over after losing his footing thanks to the thick layer of grime on the floor, but managed to latch onto Gilbert before falling, holding his brother's waist tightly. "You won't lose me! I promise!" Ludwig snapped, eyes squeezed shut. He couldn't cry in front of Gilbert. That'd just worry him, and Ludwig knew that was the last thing Gilbert needed. Something else to worry him. "You're the bestest Gilbert. You're my bestest friend ever and- and… they're not gonna take me away, I won't let them!"

Gilbert chuckled at his brother's naïve determination, messing up Ludwig's hair until it stuck up in short tufts. The innocence of a child was refreshing. Gilbert, only being 16, never thought he'd think in such a way for a long time. Maybe he was fortunate to have such an intelligent younger brother. "I won't let them either, okay? How else will I see to it that you get good grades, like ma wanted? You'll be the most awesome policeman ever – You still wanna do that?"

"Yeah. Maybe a firefighter. Or be in the Olympics! Last year was amazing!"

"You'd be a good athlete. You're super smart too Ludwig, you have loads of options."

"What do you wanna do in the future Gilbert?" Ludwig queried, staring up at Gilbert with childlike curiosity.

Gilbert smiled down at him. "I don't know. Find a pretty wife. Make money. Get out of this place with you and settle down somewhere. Wouldn't England be nice?"

"Can we live in the countryside?"

"Eh? Why the countryside?"

Ludwig took a deep breath, clearly having thought about this a lot. "Well… Then we'll have more space and I can run around lots. You can also get that car you've always wanted. Three of them, maybe even four! And – we can get a dog. There'll also be room for your wife and-"

"Alright, alright, I get it. Calm down!" Gilbert snickered. It was always amusing to see Ludwig become overly enthusiastic about things. Even at home the youngster was reserved and stoic most of the time. "We'll take the world by storm Ludwig, just you wait."


Thanks for reading the first chapter! Reviews appreciated a lot, also sorry if the characters are a bit OOC at first!