Kiku took a deep breath in as he gave his family one last goodbye. Since the day he met them, he knew Ludwig and Feliciano were inseparable. The fact that Feliciano was kind enough to invite him to go on this trip and Yao letting him go as a Christmas present meant a lot to him. Kiku began hauling his bags to the car as Feliciano jumped out to help him.

"I'm so happy you can come with us!" Feliciano beamed as he grabbed a few of the bags and stuffed them into the trunk of the Vargas's car.

Kiku nodded. "Thank you for inviting me." He said as Feliciano jumped into one of the back seats, leaving the door open for Kiku. He followed Feliciano and sat in a seat, closing the door.

"Hello, Kiku." On the other side of Feliciano was Ludwig. In his lap was an opened book, indicating he was just reading. Kiku greeted him back, and soon the car started.

Most of the car ride was Feliciano and Ludwig chatting while Kiku looked out the window, listening to music. Every now and then he could hear one of Feliciano's giggles, despite how loud his ear-buds were turned up. That was the thing about Feliciano: he was always so cheerful. He was able to befriend Ludwig who was a solemn boy. Even himself where he would rarely interact with others and was generally shy. There were other factors about Feliciano that Kiku admired. His bright eyes that opposed his darker ones, his bold attitude unlike his docile one, and his smile. Kiku loved it when Feliciano smiled. He sighed, musing to himself. He knew that neither of them would ever be a thing. It was painfully obvious that Ludwig and Feliciano had some sort of relationship. He saw them hold hands numerous times and even heard that they kissed. Perhaps it was just a rumor, but it still put him down. Kiku soon found that he was lost in his own thoughts before Feliciano shook him.

"Kiku? We're here. You fell asleep." Feliciano whispered, pointing at the lodge that was in front of the car.

Kiku realized he must have been asleep for a few hours, and quickly slid out of the car door. The two began grabbing stuff from the trunk, and Kiku awkwardly refrained from making eye contact with Feliciano. He knew the other was staring at him, but he pretended not to notice.

Once they were inside, Feliciano looked for Ludwig and called him over. "With my brother and grandpa having their own rooms, two of us will have to share." Kiku froze. What if he shared a room with Feliciano?

"Would you like your own room? Feliciano and I can sleep together just fine." Ludwig offered.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind sharing." Kiku bit his tongue when Ludwig nodded. He shouldn't have been surprised—of course Feliciano and Ludwig were going to end up in the same bedroom. Kiku grabbed his stuff and brought it to his room. After unpacking everything, he left the room just to find everyone gone except for Feliciano, who was sitting on the couch with the television on.

"Everyone went shopping for groceries. I thought it'd be alright for just us two to stay here…" Feliciano's voice trailed off followed by a silent pause. "Do you hate me?"

"What?"

"Do you hate me, Kiku?"

"Of course not! I'm very happy to call you a friend." Kiku reassured. Feliciano scooted on the couch, indicating that Kiku could sit next to him. Kiku's words seemed to have unfazed Feliciano. Those bright eyes he admired so much were tearing up. Kiku sat next to him and felt his heart sink.

Feliciano took a deep breath in, "Lately it's felt like you've been avoiding me, even before today. Maybe I'm over-exaggerating—"

Kiku shook his head. "I understand what you're talking about." Should he dare go on? "I'm just not wanting to get in yours and Ludwig's way. After all I am just a third wheel—"

This time it was Feliciano's turn to cut off Kiku. "That's how you've been feeling?"

Kiku looked away for a moment but then forced himself to keep contact with Feliciano. "It's not anything you should worry about, really."

"Why wouldn't I worry? You're my friend!" Feliciano was slowly inching towards Kiku. He felt his face lightly flush. This confrontation was too much. "What's making you feel like a third wheel? Did you want to share a room?"

Feliciano's gaze was intently locked on Kiku, meaning he wouldn't take silence as an answer. He wanted to say yes, he wanted to share a room with Feliciano. All of his stuff was already unpacked anyways, and he didn't see the point in bothering. "I guess it's just that I'm left out of most of the conversations between you and Ludwig. But it makes sense considering you two, you know." Kiku could tell Feliciano was trying to understand what he meant until he gasped.

"Ludwig and I are just friends! What made you think that?" Feliciano asked, twiddling his thumbs.

There's a lot of things, Kiku wanted to say. "I heard you two kissed. Or were those just rumors?"

"Oh! One time I thought Ludwig was mad at me and since my brother and I kiss to show appreciation, he did the same for me. He didn't have to though!" Feliciano let out an awkward chuckle.

Kiku narrowed his eyes. "If I did the same, would you be sure I don't hate you?"

"Oh Kiku, you don't have too!"

At this point Kiku's face was almost completely red. "I insist."

It looked like to Kiku that Feliciano didn't see the point in arguing. Feliciano did a simple nod and faced his direction. Kiku slowly leaned over and their lips locked, even if it was brief. Kiku wasn't sure whether Ludwig kissed Feliciano on the lips or cheeks, as it wasn't specified. Nonetheless, Feliciano was turning red himself and a small smile approached his face. "T-thank you."

"Of course." Kiku tried sounding collective to the best of his ability.

"I promise to make sure you never feel left out, too." Feliciano vowed. On the television screen, a soon-to-be couple were holding hands. They kissed and then confessed their love to each other.

Feliciano's hand slowly made its way towards Kiku's.

"What a coincidence."

A/N: This was written for theconvictcolony on Tumblr for the aphrarepairexchange! Sorry for this being a few days late! I was originally planning on using your 'competition' prompt with AmeriPan, but there aren't that many ItaPan stories out there, so I ended up doing this. I wasn't completely sure what 'a different kind of Christmas' meant—a song and a movie popped up when I looked it up—so I ended up getting a little idea (: I hope that's alright with you!