It was a normal night for Ludwig Beilschmidt. As usual, he was working well into the night, typing on the keyboard with his eyes glued to the computer screen. After a few hours of this, possibly around 2AM, he would decide he had done enough for one day and return home, too exhausted to do anything but collapse in his bed. Once he woke up in the morning he would eat a quick breakfast, get dressed and then head back to work. Rinse and repeat.

Most people told him this way of life wasn't healthy. They would say that he needed more sleep, he was eating too little, he cared more about his job than anything else… But in all honesty, Ludwig couldn't see the problem. Shouldn't being dedicated to your work be a good thing?

The company had been passed down to him two years ago after the death of his father. Some were surprised by this, since Ludwig had still been rather young at the time, and he was also the youngest of two sons. Shouldn't the company have gone to Gilbert, the older brother?

The thing was, Gilbert hadn't even wanted the company. When they were told the business was now Ludwig's, he was glad. …Well, almost. Their father had been a workaholic who, especially near the end of his life, had spent barely any time with his family. Sometimes it felt like he didn't even know they existed.

And after the first few months of owning the company, Ludwig had been beginning to show these characteristics as well. It seemed like he resembled his father in more ways than one.

But again, Ludwig saw no problem with this. His father had been a great man, in his opinion, even if they had never seen much of him. The German simply couldn't see that he was slowly pushing his loved ones away.

Speaking of loved ones…

The door to his office swung open suddenly and Ludwig looked up in alarm. Who could it be at this time of night? It would be midnight soon; everyone else had usually left by now. But then he looked at this visitor, and he immediately realised it wasn't any of his employees.

Feliciano Vargas was standing in front of his desk, smiling cheerfully and holding a Tupperware box. He swayed on the balls of his feet, that one gravity defying hair curl on the side of his head bouncing with him.

Ludwig had known this man since high school. Feliciano was his own age, (although slightly older, oddly), and had always been known as a goodhearted wimp. He was always smiling, as long as there was on obvious danger, and loved cooking, singing, painting…

…And was also Ludwig's long-term boyfriend.

"Feliciano," Ludwig said with a sigh and standing up to meet him, "what are you doing here?"

The Italian seemed surprised by this question, frowning slightly, but quickly brought the smile back. "I'm here to see you! We hardly see each other anymore, which is strange considering that we live together, so I thought I'd surprise you with a visit!" He held the Tupperware box forwards. "So… surprise!"

Ludwig gave him a gentle smile. "Feli… I'm sorry I haven't been around much lately, and I promise I'll make it up to you another time, but you have to understand that I am very busy right now."

"But…" Feliciano pouted. " But you're always busy…"

"I-I know, I'm sorry, and-!"

"Oh, don't worry about it!" It was as if Feliciano had expelled all negative emotions. "About making it up to me, though, do you think that could be tomorrow? We could go to see a movie; we haven't done that in ages! And then maybe we can eat out! My big brother has been working at this Italian restaurant lately, and he says it's really amazing-"

"Feliciano," Ludwig started apologetically, "I'm sorry, I can't. I have work tomorrow. Some other time, I promise, but I just can't."

There was a pause.

"What?" Something had changed. Feliciano looked stunned. "Ludwig… don't you know what tomorrow is?"

"…Tuesday?"

"N-no! Ludwig, it's Valentine's Day!"

Ludwig froze. Usually he did not care for such holidays. To him, their only purpose was to take money from unsuspecting victims. Valentine's Day, however, was different.

It was the day he had first worked up the courage to ask Feliciano out.

"I-I'm sorry, Feliciano, I had no idea-"

"No, it's fine." Feliciano's voice was hollow. His hair curl seemed to have drooped. "Like you said, you were busy… I-I guess I shouldn't keep you from your work any longer." He practically shoved the Tupperware box into Ludwig's chest. "Goodbye, Ludwig."

With that, he turned and ran out the room, trying to hide his face the entire time. He was obviously crying.

Ludwig's hand reached out towards him uselessly. He was already gone. With a sigh, he looked down at the Tupperware box and opened it curiously. It was sausage pasta. How typical of Feliciano. He had even drawn a heart shape in tomato sauce.

He smiled down at it fondly, but that soon turned into a frown. He had been neglecting Feliciano lately, and it was really no one's fault but his own. Ludwig was actually surprised that the Italian hadn't acted the way he did before.

He wanted to apologise. No, he had to apologise. Except… he was extremely awkward when it came to that kind of thing. Actually, he was extremely awkward with anything that involved his boyfriend. Feliciano was very affectionate in the relationship, often showering Ludwig with hugs and kisses, but the German could barely say he loved him without stuttering madly. In truth, Feliciano had been his first proper crush and relationship.

Ludwig seriously hoped he hadn't ruined everything.

He carefully placed the box on his desk and went to his seat. He could always apologise later.

"Wow. You really are hopeless!"

Ludwig's head snapped up. "Who said that?" he shouted in alarm.

"What? You mean you don't even recognise your own brother's voice?" An all too familiar laughter filled the room, and Ludwig backed away slowly. The next thing he knew, Gilbert Beilschmidt was sitting in his office chair.

"Heya, Luddy!" Gilbert waved at the stunned German, grinning wildly and his red eyes gleaming.

"B-brother?" Ludwig had to will his mouth not to fall open. Gilbert had literally appeared out of nowhere. "H-how did you…?"

"Not important!" Gilbert stood up. He was wearing what looked suspiciously like the demon costume he wore for Halloween last year. "What is important is for me to help you fix your relationship with little Feli!"

"I… What?"

"Um… You know the whole Christmas Carol story, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, it's like that, but with Valentine's Day!" Gilbert clapped his hands together. "I'm your ghost of Valentine's Day past, present and future all rolled into one awesome package!"

Ludwig stared at his brother sceptically. "…I don't understand."

"Okay, look," Gilbert said, walking up to Ludwig, "I'm here to take you on a 'magical' journey so that you realise what a terrible boyfriend you're being so that you'll stop ignoring poor Feli, 'Kay?"

"I-I think I've already figured that out, thank you."

"Really?" Gilbert blinked. "…Meh, I'm already here. Might as well do something, I mean, at least it'll kill some time." He grabbed Ludwig's shoulder and closed his eyes. A wave of dizziness suddenly hit the blond, and he fell to his knees.

The last thing he saw was a blinding light.


-Chapter end.

Hello, everyone! ^0^ This is my first time writing a GerIta story XD I am aware that I have a lot of unfinished stories (more than 10 O_O) but I was in a small slump with them… I don't know, my imagination, motivation and general confidence with all of them suddenly vanished. But I didn't want to waste a day by doing no writing whatsoever, so I thought I'd start this ^_^ I've had this idea for a while. It's going to be rather short, and probably fluffy XD

Well, that's all from me for now. Please review and tell me what you think ^_^