As if his day hadn't been bad enough so far, the sky was starting to look gray. Which meant rain. Which meant he'd have to walk through mud and puddles to get to his car, which was parked in one the farthest spots in the lot because he'd been slightly late to work. And he was late to work because his cat had decided it would be fun to chew on his clothing, namely his ties. So he had to search for one without small holes or torn out string. Having no luck at searching for a tie both damage free and well fitting to his outfit, he'd ended up just picking out one of his boyfriend's ties, a nice dark red one. After all, nice red ties went well with nice blue suits, didn't they? And his shirt just happen to be white. Red, white, and blue. He knew his boyfriend, who loved all things American, would get a kick out of his ensemble. If he was awake, that is. He got up early for two reasons: he was used to it, and he got a good parking spot at work. But since their cat had decided to go to town on his ties, he was running behind schedule, which meant he'd probably end up having a bad parking spot. And with the rain...
Yeah, today was not his day.
Looking out the window to the sky he thought why do you hate me? A coworker of his came up to him. "Hey man, you got what I asked for?" He nodded absentmindedly as he gathered some scattered papers in front of him and handed them to his coworker, who flipped through them briefly before smiling. "Thanks man!" And he was gone.
Ludwig sighed as he turned back to his computer, but let his focus shift to the pictures and notes pinned to the wall of his cubicle. He smiled fondly as he recalled the great memories associated with each picture. There were pictures of them swimming from a trip up to the mountains; there was a picture of them in the snow, him laughing while his boyfriend had a pile of snow on his head; there were pictures of them and their families from holidays; and right in the middle there was just a picture of the two of them, a small but genuine smile on his face and a bright, wide one on Alfred's.
Then there were little notes his boyfriend had managed to slip into his lunch bag or pocket without his noticing. It was always a welcome surprise to come across one of the notes, as they were filled with assurances of love and happiness scribbled in Alfred's messy handwriting. And like the little tease his boyfriend liked to be at times, some notes were a little on the...inappropriate side, at least for his work environment. Those ones were never put on his wall, though he hardly forgot about them, and when he'd get home, Alfred would be waiting for him, sly smirk and one of his too big shirts on him, but nothing else.
When he was particularly stressed or upset at work he would look at his pictures and read the notes he'd practically already memorized. They never failed to calm him down and put him at ease. Just the sight of Alfred's smiling face could do that to him, and he was very thankful he had the blond, which was strange, because when they'd first met they hadn't liked each other much.
They'd met junior year of high school. Although they had been going to the same high school for two years already, their paths had never crossed until one faithful day in the beginning of junior year. The thing that brought them together was football.
Alfred wasn't heavily defined muscle wise; he was tall and thinned from a growth spurt, but he was strong. And he was fast. Ludwig was tall as well, but he'd grown into it the summer between years. He was tall and intimidating, despite his gentler nature. But just because he liked poetry and cleaning didn't mean he couldn't kick ass on the field.
Naturally, a rivalry was started. Two stars on one team created a lot of tension, most of it for attention. He didn't know it at the time, but his reason for wanting attention and Alfred's reason were completely different. It also wasn't helping that his hormones seemed intent on making him admire the other every chance he got. He tried to justify to himself, Alfred was attractive, it was natural for a homosexual male to check out other guys, though he had to be sly about it; he didn't want to be confronted for blatant staring. What really didn't help was finding out Alfred was of the same orientation as he was, or at least partially.
Eventually their rivalry had come to a peak, but what quelled it came as a complete shock to Ludwig. They'd been alone in the lockers after practice, having their usual banter when their hatred for each other had caused some harsh words to fly between them, until Ludwig had said something along the lines of "attention whore desperate for it like a slut", which was totally out of line and severely out of character of him, and to this day it was something Ludwig looked back on in disgust.
The look on Alfred's face was ingrained in Ludwig's memory, possibly forever: pure hurt. Whatever Ludwig had said had been like a harsh slap to the face, as if a parent was scolding their child and tired of backtalk. But instead of getting angry like Ludwig had expected, he'd broken down. He'd fallen to his knees right there and started sobbing, all the while saying something about how Ludwig didn't understand him or why he did what he did. And instead of scoff and turn away from the vulnerable boy, Ludwig had surprised himself and comforted him.
From that day on everything between them was okay. They'd seen how silly their rivalry was and strived to work together on the team instead of separately. They'd gotten closer and in that time they learned a lot about each other. And as junior year became senior year, and senior year dissolved into graduation, they'd realized they didn't want to leave each other.
Fortunately, the college in their city was the ideal college for Ludwig to attend to get a degree in business, which he excelled at. It would make him and his father happy so he went with it. Double fortunately, Alfred didn't plan on going to college. His family owned a business, one him and his brother were obligated to continue. And Alfred wanted too. It was a family restaurant, with one of his mothers as the head chef and the other as the owner and manager. Alfred would be working as the host while his brother Matthew worked in the kitchen with their mother. It made Alfred happy to make other people happy, and he'd made good friends with some of the regulars.
So, after deciding, yes, they were together as a couple, Ludwig went to college and Alfred worked at his family's restaurant. After a couple of years, Ludwig and Alfred bought their own place and moved in together, but more importantly away from their families. They loved their family of course, but it was nice knowing they had their own place; a place that was theirs and theirs alone...until Alfred found a cat.
And it was with this cat snuggled with its owners in front of the fire on a cold winter night that Ludwig asked about the event that had brought them together. At first, Alfred had been hesitant, but with support, he'd relented.
That is how Ludwig learned about Alfred's abandonment issues. Not only had Alfred been unwanted by both his biological father and his biological mother but every family that adopted him ended with broken promises and tears. Alfred hadn't understood why and still didn't understand why nobody had wanted him, but what he did know was that all that moving around and all those false promises had really hurt him psychologically.
He knew he had those problems. But his family was very supportive of him and they helped him through his problems. And it was their acceptance of him, when no one else wanted him, that started the healing. He couldn't have found a better family to be adopted by, but being so hurt at such a young age was not easily healed. Even then, sitting on the couch with their cat, Alfred had admitted to having some problems he still needed to work out, but he was definitely better than he'd been in high school.
That is also how Ludwig found out about why Alfred didn't like sharing the spotlight. If he couldn't get attention any other way, his looks and skill would have to do. And sharing that with someone made him angry, though later on, when things were alright between them, Alfred had gotten over his issue, if only because he now had a friend in Ludwig.
Brought out of his thoughts by the beeping of his wrist watch, Ludwig noticed the it was time to go. Glancing over at the window confirmed that, while he'd been spaced out and wasting the last few minutes of the day, the sky had decided it would rain, and rather heavily too. Now everything outside was soaked and soon, he would be too.
He quickly pulled his briefcase out from under his desk and opened it, then paused. There was an umbrella in it, with a note attached. He picked up the umbrella and read the note.
You've been forgetting this a lot lately and I know you can't like coming home wet and grumpy so I packed it for you! Now when you get home you'll be...dryer? drier? How do you spell that word? Anyway can't wait till you get home~ Love ya
Ludwig smiled and set the umbrella aside to shove papers into his briefcase. He pocketed the note and shut down his computer and went to clock out, passing by his coworkers and saying goodbye to anyone still there. In no time he was standing in front of the door to the parking lot and staring out into the rain. Now that he had an umbrella it didn't seem so bad. He'd have to do something for Alfred, as a thanks for being so thoughtful.
He got to his car quickly, the top half of him dry thanks to the umbrella but the bottom half of him wet and clingy. The heat was turned on all the way as soon as he'd turned his car on, then it was back home, his favorite part of the day.
The drive took him twenty odd minutes and soon he was walking through the door, just about to call out he was home when he stopped. Quietly shutting the door and setting his briefcase on the table along with his jacket, he crept into the living room to observe his boyfriend's sleeping face. He didn't think he'd ever get tired of watching Alfred, whether it be when he was asleep, or smiling, or blushing, or angry. He was so expressive and beautiful(though he'd insist he was handsome), and Ludwig often wondered why Alfred liked him at all. How could he have been so lucky as to have such a kind and funny person in his life?
Alfred was sprawled out on the couch, their cat cuddling up to his side. There was a hand dangling off the side of the couch, the remote that had previously been clutched in it on the floor. Ludwig noticed that this time, Alfred had managed to turn off the television. Shaking his head but deciding to let his boyfriend sleep, he gently ruffled Alfred's hair then went to change into something more comfortable than work clothes.
Once accomplished he figured he'd start dinner, so he went into the kitchen. But first, dinner for their feline friend. Opening the can resulted in a purring and meowing cat rubbing against his legs, eager to have food in its belly. He scooped the contents onto a plates and set it down so the cat could dig in. Now that that was taken care of, he could focus on dinner for them.. As he was looking into the refrigerator for something that looked good, he heard rustling and looked up.
It seemed the cat had woken Alfred up in its rush to the kitchen(most likely Hero, as they'd named the cat, had jumped on Alfred's stomach to jump to the ground). He yawned and stretched, hands above his head before he let them carelessly drop to his sides.
"Hey Ludwig. When 'd you get home?" he asked tiredly, still half asleep from his nap. What time was it anyways? How long did he sleep for?
"Hello to you as well, and I just got home. I saw you were asleep and I didn't want to wake you." He closed the refrigerator and glanced down at the cat. "...though, it appears I have anyway." He chuckled as he walked up to Alfred and gave him a light kiss, which was apparently not enough for the blond, as he tugged Ludwig back when he pulled away. He wrapped his arms around Ludwig's neck to hold him there as they kissed softly, in no hurry to go beyond gentle touches.
Alfred smiled against his lips. "Ya know, I don't think I'd mind wakin' up to that every mornin'," he drawled. Ludwig laughed. "Yes, but I don't think you'd appreciate waking up at five every morning." Alfred pouted and dropped his arms. Ludwig ceased laughing and patted Alfred's cheek before turning back to the kitchen. Alfred grumbled to himself as he sat at the kitchen table. "So, what's it look like for dinner?" Alfred asked. Working at a restaurant didn't mean Alfred was a five star chef; that was his mother's and Matthew's profession. He was a decent cook, but Ludwig was much better than him. It was a habit of his to ask what was for dinner practically every night. Ludwig would act annoyed sometimes but Alfred knew he didn't really care.
"Hmm...well I don't think—ah! I know just the thing." Ludwig started taking out various food items while Alfred watched. "How about we make it together?" Ludwig offered. Alfred pretended to think about it before smiling and walking over to him. "Sure! What are we making?"
"You'll see," Ludwig answered.
One messy kitchen and two ruined shirts later, dinner—a quick and healthy soup, perfect for the rainy weather—was ready, and both men were enjoying it together. As per usual, dinner was filled with conversations about their respective days and any other topics they thought about.
"Thank you for remembering the umbrella. I really wasn't looking forward to walking to my car in the rain and I was kind of in a hurry this morning." Ludwig finished off the last of his soup and stood up to start the clean up. Alfred, who had finished his a little before but continued sitting at the table to talk with Ludwig, followed him to the sink.
"It's no problem, I understand. By the way, what was up with all those ties?" When Alfred had been woken up by the persistent meowing of his cat, there had been ties everywhere: on the floor, hanging from doorknobs, on the foot of the bed. It looked like someone had gathered all their ties and thrown them about the room. Some even had wholes in them.
"You can blame the little monster running around for that. Apparently, important businessman tie is a part of his diet now, and I was not informed. I will have to keep them in a higher place." Ludwig glared half-heartedly at the aforementioned monster, who was playing under the kitchen table.
"Oh, so it was the cat. I should have guessed that," Alfred mused. The rest of the night was spent cleaning the kitchen from dinner's messy creation, and by the time they were done, their shirts were not only stained but also fairly wet from the impromptu water fight that had erupted. Alfred sighed when they were finished and tugged his soaked shirt away from his body. "I'm going to take a shower," he announced, but paused under the doorway to glance behind him and smirk, pulling his shirt off completely and slinging it over his shoulder. "Are you coming?" he teased, walking out of the kitchen with a purposeful sway of his hips. Ludwig watched with narrowed eyes and a slight smile. "Oh I am most definitely 'coming'," he snickered to himself, then followed the blonde to their room, turning off the kitchen light as he went.
Two rounds of intimacy later, one on the bathroom counter and one in the shower, they were snuggling up together in their bed, content in each other's warm embrace. A loud purring machine was cuddled near the foot of the bed.
"Love you," Alfred mumbled, eyes closed as he started falling into a light sleep. Ludwig smiled and leaned forward a little to kiss him. "I love you too," he whispered. "Goodnight, love" A sleepy "'night" was the last thing he heard before he joined Alfred in sleep.