"Houston, we have a problem," you announced, kicking open the door of your brother, Alfred Jones's, apartment complex, only a few doors down from your own. The two of you had always been close and living near each other in college, despite his being two years ahead of you, had always been a dream that was realized your sophomore year.
"Houston to Apollo 13, what seems to be the problem?" he responded automatically as he slaughtered zombies on his Xbox, decked out in his favorite red "gamer hoodie". His roommate, Gilbert Beilschmidt, was perched beside him on the couch, biting his tongue in concentration while armed with his own controller, the hood to his black jacket pulled up over his head to reveal the Prussian eagle graphic on the back.
"Watch out, they're starting to horde," he warned bringing his own character to back up Alfred's, having given up on barricading the room.
"Already ahead of you, dude," the latter responded, having received a weapon upgrade only moments before. An explosion colored the screen and the corpses of fascist zombies littered the screen.
"Will you two pay attention for one minute?" you demanded, exasperated and ticked. Their attention was still divided and so you took the opened envelope that you had brought with you and slammed it onto the coffee table in front of the two boys with such force that the resounding slap caused Alfred to jump.
"I'm getting evicted."
Alfred paused the game immediately and abandoned his controller to the table in favor of the letter from your landlord.
"Whoa, seriously?!"
"The fuck?" Gilbert added, tossing his hood back and reaching over Alfred in an attempt to grab the notice. Alfred easily evaded the albino with his elbows while he read the printed letter.
"Yeah, seriously," you sighed, slumping down onto the couch with them. "My part time's just not doing it. I can't keep up with rent, and Kirkland's not buying my excuses anymore. He really means it this time."
Gilbert scoffed and finally snatched the paper from Alfred's hands. "Let the awesome me talk to him, I'll set his ass straight," he boasted, scanning the notice for loopholes. Unfortunately, "You have two weeks to either pay up or get out," was rather impenetrable and not exactly open to interpretation.
"Don't worry, little sis," your brother ruffled your hair affectionately. "I'll find a way to fix this. I am the hero after all."
"How?" you moaned, leaning against him in defeat. "I can't keep up with classes and increased hours at work and you can't afford to cover both our rents at the same time. I'm seriously stuck right now!" You groaned again to accentuate the hopelessness of the situation.
"Why don't you just get a roommate?" Gilbert offered. "I know you've gotten used to living alone, but if you can't afford full rent then splitting the cost with someone else might be your best bet. Last I heard, Ludwig was still looking for a place. You two are still close and shit, right?"
You had known the Prussian man for quite a while. He was arrogant, obnoxious, obtuse, narcissistic, and at that moment the single most brilliant man in all of existence. You pecked him on the cheek, hugged his neck, and thanked him before running out and slamming the door behind you.
Gilbert blinked, slightly surprised at your outburst of grateful affection. "Dude..."
Alfred picked up his controller and unpaused the game. "That's my sister, I don't want to hear it. You may be my best friend and all, but I can and will smash your skull in."
"Ew, that's not even funny dude. That'd feel way too much like incest. I'm talking about her and Ludwig. They could really hit it off," he rapidly pressed buttons as a zombie attacked him from behind. The loser didn't have a chance against the awesome Gilbert, though, and it was soon hacked to pieces.
"Who?"
The albino rolled his eyes. "Ludwig and _! Think about it, living together might be the push my not-so-awesome bruder needs to finally make a move on her."
"You really think it's that big of a deal? They've known each other since they were, like, five and haven't ever taken an interest in the other. I don't think this'll change much. That and he hasn't even said yes yet."
"Oh, he's going to say ja. I can already tell. Think of how awesome it'll be when they get married. We'll be actual brothers."
"Duuuude," Alfred concurred as the television screen was colored red when the horde proved too much for the hero to handle. "Damn... you game for round two?"
"Sure, why not?"
"And that's why you have to live with me!" you announced in the same heroic voice that
seemed to work so well for your brother. Your longtime best friend and Gilbert's little brother, Ludwig, was by no means charmed.
"...Nein."
The two of you were sitting in Gilbert's two friends, Francis and Antonio's, dorm room where the German had been crashing for the past two weeks since his own dorm mate skipped town with his fifteen cats. Ludwig didn't really miss the man, he'd always ended up paying for his meals and expenses anyway and the excess of felines had become a real problem, but he did miss having his own space separate from the perverts he was now bunking with.
"Luddy!" you whined, draping yourself across his lap while he blushed at the sudden contact. "This is the perfect opportunity to get a bitchin' apartment and live with your best friend AT THE SAME TIME. Why do you insist on being difficult?"
"Because, _, you're a fraulein! It's inappropriate..."
You sat up, resisting the urge to chuckle at his chaste response. You were well aware of his 'collection' underneath his bed and no amount of awkward blushing could fool you.
"Seriously? We used to sleep in the same bed together all of the time when we were little!" You smiled fondly at the memory; the two of you really had been friends for quite a while.
"Ja, but that was a long time ago. Now if we end up sharing a place people will talk badly about you."
Ah, so that was it. Ludwig, the ever protective wingman, was concerned about rumors.
"Ludwig, everybody talks. It's not that big of a deal. Even Gilbert thought it was a good idea! Besides, can you imagine how much fun it'll be to live together? It'll be like a super extended sleepover! And once Alfred graduates I don't know what I'm going to do. It'll be nice having you so close."
That did it. Ludwig couldn't bear to see you sad and he knew how close you were to your brother. That, and he actually kind of liked the idea of sharing an apartment with his best friend.
"Fine," he finally conceded, running his hand through his neatly slicked hair. You squealed in excitement and hugged his neck while he scoffed and shook his head.
"But you can't know you're going to have to actually clean up after yourself, including laundry."
"This is a sweet moment, Ludwig. Don't ruin the sweet moment."
He smiled and ruffled your hair, hoping that this decision wasn't a bad one.
A/N: Another request courtesy of Vulcanblood! This time she requested a Germany x Reader with college student/friendship theme. I hope she doesn't mind that I twisted the plot a bit to fit my recent roommate fetish ^^ Germany's a bit OOC in this chapter, but he's going to back into character next chapter. I was just trying to set the scene ^^
Also notice that this is named after the Neon Trees song. It was not originally inspired, based, or ever even connected with that song, but the idea struck me when I was trying to come up with a reason for Ludwig's resistance. Because of it, I'm going to have other characters analyse the relationship as it blossoms, kind of like how Prussia and America were. I hope y'all enjoy!