It's been a while! Hallo guys :) I wrote this for my bruder for her birthday and figured I'd put it here seeing as I haven't uploaded in a while.
Warnings: Very light hints at depression and cutting in the past.
Gilbert glared furiously at his door with blurred crimson eyes. The light was still off even though it was well past noon let alone 8:30 when he was supposed to have been at school. Another day of ditching school because he had overslept. Working two jobs, going to school full time and all but raising his little brother was too much for him to handle most days. He was brilliant, a genius just like the rest of his family members, but that never got a chance to show with how overworked he was. A should be straight a student barely managed to scrape by with d's. A normally hard worker had been fired from two jobs because some days he just couldn't push it and go, or Ludwig was sick. Something. It was all almost too much. No. It was too much, but seeing Ludwig's little face just break into the biggest, most adoring grin a child could wear every time he'd see his older brother made it all worth it.
With a groan he figured he could get up and at least make it to his afternoon classes, especially since Calculus was the one class he wasn't passing and just happened to be an afternoon class, but he was interrupted by the phone ringing. Muttering to himself he got up from his bed and made his way to the phone down the hall, blinking and wincing as the bright light of the house stung his super sensitive eyes. Clearing his throat, he picked up the phone without even bothering to check the caller ID, not that he'd have been able to see it with his God awful eyesight, and answered the phone with a sigh. "Hallo?" He rasped in a sleep ragged voice, accent thick with the mumbled word.
"Mr. Beilschmidt?" Came a vaguely familiar female voice on the other end. She sounded polite, young, worried... Gilbert knew the voice, he just didn't know where he knew the voice from.
"Nein... This is Gilbert, his son. He isn't home right now... Actually he isn't even in the verdammt country right now so you'll have to try again later." He bit back in a much harsher, bitter tone than the familiar, mysterious woman deserved. He couldn't help it... Vati was never home. Never. He was always away on some business trip or another, leaving him and Ludwig all alone. A bitter lump formed in his throat as he rubbed his free, pigmentless hand against the opposite arm, feeling long forgotten ridges against his fingers.
The woman was silent for a moment, no doubt speechless at the hostility she had been greeted with. "I'm... I'm sorry. Um... I'm only a Teacher Aid. Ludwig's Teach Aid? He got into a little trouble and I was told to call home?" The girl explained, sounding awkward and unsure of what to do.
Ludwig? Gilbert felt stunned. His little brother never got in trouble! As he stood there in disbelief he swore he could hear quiet sniffles on the other end of the phone. "I'll... Be there to get him..." He said after a minute of struggling to find his voice in his absolute state of shock, and hung up the phone before the girl could respond. Apparently he was going to school after all.
With a sigh he moved into the bathroom and expertly put in his contacts, blinking until the world around him came into focus. As he looked up at himself in the mirror to brush his tangled, silver hair, he couldn't help but stare at the albino reflection staring back at him, "What did Luddy do?" It just didn't make any sense! The German child never misbehaved, only very rarely argued... What could he have done to get him in so much trouble the school was calling home? He was still contemplating this as he pulled on a pair of pants and his jacket, not bothering to put a shirt on over the tank top he had already been wearing. A sick feeling had pooled in his stomach. What if by "trouble" the teacher aid had meant something bad had happened to his little Luddy? His blood ran cold at the mere thought and soon he was just a blur in the house, slamming his feet into boots, pulling his hood over his head, grabbing for his keys and whipping his sunglasses onto his face before flying out the door, the brutal heat of the sun in his unseasonable get up barely registering in his mind.
The drive to the school was hardly bearable with the thought something bad had happened fixed in his head, making his heart heavy enough that he thought it might just break through his ribs and drop out of his chest. So bad was his panic, he didn't even stop at the gate in front of the school like he was supposed to, earning an angry shout from the person in the booth, but he could hardly care less, not when something could have happened! He recklessly pulled into a parking spot, threw the door open, nearly hitting the vehicle beside his, and slammed the door shut behind him before taking off at a dead sprint. He tore through the administration office and the primary school building, not sparing a glance at the building to his right, the bane of his existence.
The halls of the primary school building were empty, making it easy to get to the door of Ludwig's class, but just before he threw the door open he heard sniffles against the wall and looked down to see a small, blonde haired boy with his knees clutched to his chest and his face pressed against his knees. Gilbert's heart broke in his chest and he knelt beside the trembling child, drawing him close with jacket covered arms. "Luddy? Bruderchen what's wrong?" He asked in a soft voice, pressing his cheek atop his little brother's head. What had happened? He still didn't understand! Why was his brother crying? The door opened then and a green eyed, brown haired girl stepped into the hallway, eyes pitying. Of course! That was the voice he had heard over the phone... Elizabeta. She sat beside him in Calculus.
"What's wrong with him? What happened?!" Gilbert demanded, crushing Ludwig to his thin chest protectively as his crimson eyes glared up at Elizabeta, still hidden behind sunglasses. Whoever made his brother cry he was going to... To... He didn't know, but he'd do something!
"Why don't you come with me inside the classroom. The other kids are at recess." Elizabeta said quietly, holding the door open. When Gilbert made a move to take Ludwig with him though she shook her head. "Leave him out here. He can come join us in a minute." She asserted, looking firm. When Gilbert hesitated, she raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She'd rather tell him what happened without the distraction of comforting the young German. "Come on."
Sighing heavily Gilbert released Ludwig with a soft kiss to the temple. "I'll be right back. Will you be ok out here?" He asked, wanting to be sure before he went anywhere. He nearly missed the tiny nod Ludwig gave him, and it was hardly reassuring, but he got up when Elizabeta impatiently started to tap her foot and followed her into the empty classroom. He twitched when the door shut behind them, but then Elizabeta's green eyes were fixed on him calmly, unnervingly. Of course Ludwig's teacher aid had to be Elizabeta. He took of his sunglasses and hood and rolled up his sleeves now that the sun couldn't damage his albino skin and looked back at her with hard crimson eyes. "Alright. What happened." He demanded again, though he sounded more resigned than angry.
"Honestly I am not quite sure. You see, at the start of recess Ludwig and another student had gotten into an argument that eventually lead to fighting. I didn't get a chance to ask the other student what happened before he was taken up to the nurse to see if his nose was broken, and your brother won't tell me or his teacher." Elizabeta said, not missing the pure shock that flooded Gilbert's eyes. Quite frankly she was just as surprised. It wasn't like Ludwig to hurt anybody. Hesitantly she rested her hand on Gilbert's shoulder reassuringly. "Maybe you can try talking to him so we can see what happened?" She suggested, glancing towards the door.
Gilbert just nodded, too stunned to speak. Ludwig really had gotten in trouble. He... Broke someone's nose? That... Was that even possible? He honestly didn't know if he should feel angry or not. He was probably supposed to, or maybe at least disappointed, but really all he felt was shock and concern, not for the boy who's nose was broken but for his little brother. There had to have been something pretty big for Ludwig to resort to violence. He actually shivered despite the overly excessive warmth his jacket produced as he opened the door and looked down at the still trembling, softly crying Ludwig beside the door. He didn't speak, though he did wince when Ludwig flinched away from him.
Ludwig just couldn't help but flinch away from Gilbert. He hadn't been able to stop crying since Miss Eliza had called his brother. Not because he was afraid of getting in trouble, Alfred had deserved getting hit, but because he was afraid his brother would be mad at him. He hated when Gilbert was ever upset with him or angry with him and he was so scared of being mad at that he thought for a second he might be sick. He didn't have to be scared for much longer though because Gilbert was beside him again, scooped him up into his lap and pulled him close just like always. Maybe Gilbert wasn't upset with him after all. Feeling a little better, he curled against his brother's familiar chest and sniffled. "Es tut mir leid... Es tut mir leid... I didn't... he just..." He mumbled, voice quivering as he spoke.
Gilbert pat his brother's back and glanced over at Elizabeta, his eyes saying to keep quite. "He just what? Who's he Luddy? What happened?" He asked quietly, rubbing his brother's back soothingly. Poor baby looked so torn up and upset... He didn't quite know what to do to comfort him. How would he know when things like this hadn't happened ever before?
"A-Alfred... We had to write a p-paragraph about our p-parents..." Ludwig whispered, tears falling relentlessly from his beautiful blue eyes again as he remembered what had started the whole thing. He could feel Gilbert hug him tighter and he sniffled again, pressing close to his brother with a shiver. "A-And... I didn't want to write about Vati because he's never home s-so... I wrote about you instead... a-and so Mr. C-Carriedo asked me to read mine to everyone just before recess and so I did... And he was really happy with what I wrote but Alfred was upset because I didn't write it on my Vati and because Mr. Carriedo liked mine better... So at recess he found me and started saying how..." He stopped and coughed, trying to clear the hard lump in his throat as he sobbed softly. "How y-you don't g-get to be special and g-get written about... and that y-you aren't so a-awesome because y-y-you ditch school and a-always wear w-winter clothes and a-are all sick looking... A-And it made me mad." He whispered, trembling again. "S-So I hit him... I h-hit him in the n-nose... Es tut mir leid..."
Gilbert hugged Ludwig to him fiercely, eyes closed as he curled protectively around his brother. That even people in Ludwig's class recognized how hard he struggled and looked down on him for it hurt. It took all he had in him as it was to just push through without ignorant people, children, looking down on him. None of that mattered though because Ludwig needed him. Had gotten in trouble over him. He glanced over at Elizabeta who, startlingly, had come to sit right beside him and Ludwig. What was he supposed to say? "Good for you Ludwig. I am... Proud of you." He whispered after a moment, smiling faintly when his little brother jerked up and looked at him in teary eyed confusion.
"Y-You're not mad at me?" Ludwig asked in a soft, hopeful voice, glancing over at Elizabeta before looking back up at Gilbert. He could hardly believe his ears. Getting in trouble would be worth it if Gilbert wasn't upset with him.
Gilbert couldn't help but smile as he shook his head. "Nein. Of course not. How could I be mad at you for standing up for me and for backing up what you believe in? I could never be mad at you for not letting people tell you what to believe." He promised, lifting Ludwig up into his arms and getting to his feet. "Now that doesn't mean you aren't in trouble with the school..." He said, looking over his shoulder at Elizabeta.
"Yea... He's suspended for two days..." Elizabeta said with a sigh, though at Gilbert's look of excitement she raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be a little more upset about the fact that your brother is kicked out of school for two days at such a young age?" She asked, sounding rather disapproving.
Gilbert just shrugged as he began to walk away back towards the car. "If you dealt with what I do, you wouldn't think of this as bad. He stood up for me because he loves me. Knowing that, I can face anything and everything." He called over his shoulder, grinning and laughing in his strange way as Ludwig put his sunglasses on his face and pulled his hood up for him. He turned back to Ludwig then as Elizabeta shook her head and went back inside the empty classroom. "Besides. Now that you're out of school, we can do thing because I have to stay home with you. Tell me. What do you want to do for the day bruderchen?"
As they walked out the doors of the building, headed to the car, Ludwig looked thoughtful and shrugged after a minute. "Anything with you is good enough for me. Ich liebe dich bruderlein!" He chirped with a smile.
Gilbert ruffled Ludwig's hair with a broad smile, his heart warmed as he set him beside the car. "Ich liebe dich auch bruderchen."
So there you all have it :) Tell me how you liked it!