Façade

Hallo! This is the Author, Audrey! If you're reading a story of mine for the first time; welcome! I hope you enjoy it! I have more somewhere around here if you want to find them? Anyways, if you're new to my stories please note that when I say Lemon, I mean there'll be a sex scene EVENTUALLY, if not several. I like to develop the plot and characters before they go banging around. There will be several close encounters along the way though so this story is likely rated M or R or whatever. ALSO, There is foul language and suggestive themes (such as suicide or suicidal thoughts) in several of my stories; If this could be a problem I will let you know in the author's note before a specific chapter; but just be aware of that and if you need any help, feel free to message me!

With that, I formally present the first chapter of Façade.

Chapter 1

It was a normal night at Ol' Fritz Pub as you worked the bar as the bartender; the same way you had been doing for five years. You wore that same old white button-up shirt with your name embroidered above the chest pocket and the sleeves rolled up into cuffs; but as you grew over the years, the shirt had shrunk. Leaving you with a small white button up that hugged all of your curves, leaving you some arm room and breathing room. Your (hair color) hair was tied back so it didn't get in front of your (eye color) eyes as you ran around filling up cup after cup, mixing various drinks, and taking some hefty tips from the regulars.

You had begun working at Ol' Fritz Pub sometime between your senior year in high school and your freshman year in college. Fritz was a friend of your parents when they were still around and once he heard that you were going to go to college in the town over; he offered to rent you an apartment above the pub for dirt cheap. There were only three conditions: you had to get good grades, No guys allowed in your apartment (Fritz was a bit old school) and Every Sunday night was his night. Meaning that every Sunday night, you and that old man would get together in front of the fireplace in the pub and drink to your heart's content: talking about anything, everything, and sometimes nothing. Fritz had become your fatherly figure over the past 5 years due to those Sunday night get-togethers, you learned a lot about each-other in half drunken stupors over several years.

You had learned that Fritz used to be a high ranking military official in Germany, where he lived with his family. But after one particularly bad battle, he resigned as the German General and moved to the United States, taking his daughter and wife with him. They lived here for several years, until their daughter decided to study in Germany. She got married and settled down in Munich where she and her husband had two boys; Gilbert and Ludwig Beilschmidt. Fritz always got a glow when he talked about his grandsons; he loved them and their beloved mother. Their parents passed away due to a car accident in Germany, leaving the two boys orphaned. By this time, Fritz' own wife had passed away, so he took the boys in. He raised them from the ages of 3 and 6 until they went to college. The eldest Gilbert, who was the same age as yourself, chose to join the military in Germany when he turned 18; so the summer before your freshman year and several weeks before you moved in with Fritz, Gilbert moved out and joined the German Military where he engaged in a 5 year in-country contract; after which he would have the option to work in the United States again. Due to that, you had never met Gilbert; he couldn't leave Germany while he was serving unless it was for his job, so he couldn't come visit Fritz.

Ludwig on the other hand, was still with Fritz when you moved in. He attended high school and excelled in everything he did (although you did help him with his homework at times). He was like a little brother to you, especially since your apartment was right across the hall from his in Fritz' place. When he was still around, Ludwig would join you and Fritz for a beer or two on Sunday evenings. You would mess up his hair, call him Luddy (despite his protests) and even commission him to get take-out for you both; you loved that kid. But eventually, his small gangly muscles grew and it seems he grew a foot overnight; soon enough he wasn't so much of a kid anymore. The day he moved out and went to college in Germany, you cried; it was like losing a little brother. Since then, Fritz has wanted to see his grandsons with a burning passion.

Fritz had wanted to take a trip this fall, but the town in which Ol' Fritz Pub was located, happened to be a football town because of your University being not even 5 miles away and fall is football season at your University. For 12 weeks, you are swamped with football fans from all over the US to see your University's' team play and Fritz feels like he can't abandon you in that mess. Much to your chagrin, Fritz didn't go to Germany this fall. But about a week ago he got a call from a Ludwig, apparently Ludwig was coming home for his winter break that lasted an entire month. You both were very excited, but you didn't know when he would be coming back. You hadn't seen Ludwig since he left for college because he did summer programs in order to get ahead in his schoolwork.

You didn't really have time for summer classes when June rolled around; you were normally working at Fritz' Pub, and when you weren't working you were off doing research for your Graduate Dissertation. Yea, you were a Graduate Student now; to be more precise, a medical student. You aced all of your Undergraduate classes and ended up in top percentile of your graduating class, you had the best scores on the MCAT's and your GPA was the best out of all of the Biology Majors. After 4 years of undergrad work, your university offered you a scholarship to their Medical School, so you figured you might as well stay and work nights at Fritz' until you got your Doctorate and Medical License. Plus, you couldn't leave this crazy old man to himself, he'd forget to bathe; or worse, bathe himself in beer.

Your first semester as a Medical student had just ended; you passed with flying colors and beautiful recommendations from your professors. Needless to say, Fritz was proud of you; both in and out of the pub (you were the best damn bartender he's ever had). That's why, when your shift ended on that cold December evening, Fritz took you out to your favorite German Restaurant to eat Brats and Potatoes. Fritz said he's "too old to be cooking mein own verdammt meals." So he mostly eats whatever you cook or whatever the specialty is that night in the pub; so going out to eat is a special thing for the two of you.

Once you took your seats, placed your orders and got your beers; Fritz turned to you. Now Fritz really was an old man, his long silver hair was always tied back at the back of his head by a dark blue ribbon, but that always left some silver strands to frame his face. He said his long hair was his was of shedding his former military life and that the ribbon was given to him by his wife many years ago; whatever his reasoning was, you didn't question it. There were small wrinkles around his blue eyes and mouth, signs of aging. If he didn't have those wrinkles however, you would've sworn he was maybe in his forties or fifties, he was still relatively slim for an older gentleman and he still insisted that he work out, even though every time he did you would end up having to carry him to his house situated next to the pub because he would pull a muscle.

Fritz turned to you with a familiar fire in his eyes and a beer in his hand, "(Name), do not get too excited, but I got a call and Ludwig is coming home tomorrow!" He said with a grin on his face, you didn't spill your beer because you were drinking it while Fritz was talking; instead you inhaled your beer, causing you to cough continuously until you finally got control of yourself. Of course Fritz was laughing his ass off, Thanks old man. "Really?! He's coming back tomorrow? When!?" You were so excited you were nearly shouting, it had been too damn long since you'd seen Luddy and you couldn't wait to mess up his hair again!

"Hah! Fraulein, calm. He comes in tomorrow at 8 in the morning und you will come with Ja?" Fritz asked right as your food arrived, he raised an eyebrow teasingly; he was taunting you. You chuckled and stabbed a potato on your plate with a fork, "Of course Old man!" You retorted, luckily Fritz had a sense of humor and laughed. "(name) I feel as if you will be surprised to see mein Ludwig again, he is no boy you know." You groaned "Ugghh Fritz, not this again! You know I only see Luddy as a brother!" In Luddy's senior year of high school, Fritz had tried to get the two of you to admit that you had feeling's for one another; it turned out to be you explaining to Fritz how Ludwig was a little Brüder and Ludwig sat there blushing the entire time. It was awkward, to say the least.

"Ja ja (name), I kid." He began to devour his Bratwursts and potatoes. You snorted and continued eating. After dinner you returned to your apartment and Fritz returned to his house next to the bar since the pub closed early, the pub was situated on a corner of an old historic street in your town. Above the bar were two apartments, yours and the one Ludwig had previously stayed in. You nearly jumped up the stairs and ran into your apartment because of your excitement; as you stepped in the door you said hello to your little yellow bird and your cat Rica. Rica was a solid white cat who hated everyone except for yourself, she didn't even like Ludwig; and the little bird had been in your apartment ever since you moved in. You had just taken to calling him bird. As you hung your coat up and walked towards your bedroom, you were followed by Rica and thoughts of your plans tomorrow swirled in your head. Even when you rested your head on your pillow, you were too excited to fall asleep. Until finally, you drifted off into unconsciousness as dreams overtook you.

"(Name)! Aufwachen!" You heard Ludwig pound on your bedroom door; you remained in bed unmoving, waiting to spring your trap. A faint sigh could be heard outside your door "I'm coming in (name)!" You bedroom door opened as Luddy stepped in, you kept your eyes tightly shut as he walked over to your bed and shook your shoulder. Your plan was now ready for action! Before Ludwig could realize what was going on, you jumped out of bed and popped several loud party poppers right in his face and pulled the trigger on a small confetti handgun you had hid under your pillow. This made Ludwig jump nearly a foot in the air as he was assaulted with confetti and a birthday hat. Once the confetti settled you laughed so hard you cried because Ludwig just stood there in shock in his boxers and a black tank top; his bright blue eyes wide and mouth agape as you rolled around laughing at his expression. "Happy 18th Birthday Luddy!" You said as you jumped up and gave him a huge hug. After several seconds he returned the embrace, "Verdammt (name) you nearly gave me a heart attack, thank Gott that's over."

"Not yet Enkelsohn!" Fritz stepped out of (name)'s closet with a video camera and a huge smile on his face. "Your face was priceless!" After Ludwig confiscated the camera and hid it from you and Fritz, you spent the rest of the day with Luddy; eating and drinking beer until one of you passed out.

Man, I really do miss him…

You awoke the next morning at 7 a.m by request of Fritz so you would have time to drive to the airport and wait for Ludwig's flight to arrive. You dragged your ass out of bed and showered, you figured Ludwig would have a cow if he found out that you didn't even shower for his arrival. Quickly shaving and washing your hair and body; you bolted out of the shower and rummaged through your closet for a specific outfit. On your last official date with a guy, Fritz had convinced you to wear a dress. Fritz was a bit odd with you dating, he would act like an overprotective father; if he didn't like the guy, he wouldn't say anything until it's over. You didn't date around too much in your later years of Undergrad and thus far in your Graduate studies because you were too devoted to school; which worked out well for you both. However, about 3 months ago you saw this guy for a few weeks, he had been your first boyfriend-type thing in about a year. Fritz wouldn't ever admit it, but he worried about your happiness; so he urged you to wear a dress, he figured if you wore a dress then you'd let loose more and have fun.

This dress was a (color) dress that clung to your curves in all of the right places but wasn't skanky or too slutty to wear anywhere besides a nightclub. You slipped on your favorite pair of heels as well and put on some light makeup. You figured you might as well impress Luddy, It had been about 2 years since you had last seen him; you frequently emailed or wrote letters, but lately you'd both been getting so busy that it just kept getting put on the back burner.

It was about 7:45 when you walked out of your apartment and met Fritz at his BMW with a cup of coffee for the road. You arrived at the airport at 7:55 and were inside waiting for Ludwig's flight in a matter of minutes because you and Fritz had nearly run through the airport to the gate in which Luddy's flight arrived. There you stood for what seemed like forever until people began pouring out of the small hallway that connected the plane to the airport. You were nearly bouncing up and down from excitement as less and less people began trickling out of the airport, Where the hell is luddy?

Just as you were wondering whether he was kidnapped, a tall, buff, blonde man stepped in front of you and blocked your view. "Hey, do you mind-" You said before you realized who it was; it was Luddy. He had surely grown up since you'd last seen him, he was now easily a foot taller than you. His blonde hair was slicked back; allowing you to see his bright blue eyes hidden behind black glasses frames. He had also grown substantially larger, as in he was now so buff and so fit you could practically see his six pack underneath his t-shirt. If you didn't know him, you would've been intimidated as hell, but you did know him; he was your Little Luddy! You nearly tackled him after you recognized him, you gave him the biggest hug as tears began to prickle at the corners of your eyes. "Verdammt Luddy, don't scare me like that! You're huge!" You laughed and stepped back from your embrace so you could look at his face; he really had matured, his baby fat was replaced by a rigid jawline and high cheek bones. Ludwig chuckled and scratched his head, "Er, Ja I suppose." A Light pink brushed his cheeks, same old luddy! Ludwig turned to Fritz and shook his hand; they looked so serious before Fritz burst out laughing and pulled Ludwig into a huge bear hug. Fritz even let a tear or two slide down his cheeks before he let go of his grandson. "Better watch out Ludvig, our (name) here has gotten even crazier since you left." You huffed tried to wrap your arm around Luddy's shoulder; he was so large though that it turned out to be more like you hanging onto his arm "Hmpf. You know old man, if you're not nice I'm gonna steal Luddy and hold him for ransom! Or worse, Luddy and I will drink all the beer!" All three of you laughed loudly, loud enough that you didn't hear or notice another figure approaching your little group.

You didn't notice anyone until you heard someone clear their throat; there, standing between Fritz and Ludwig was another man dressed in a Military uniform of sorts. He had a grey jacket on over a blue dress shirt and black tie, his jacket had military rankings and a cord across his right shoulder and his black dress pants and shoes matched nicely to the rest of the outfit. Sitting on his head was a green beret with an insignia of sorts. After the man cleared his throat, he took off his beret to show his short platinum blonde hair that framed his blood red eyes, his hair was so light it was nearly silver. He placed the beret underneath his left arm and he stuck his white gloved hand out to Fritz for a handshake; Fritz had a nostalgic smile on his face as he firmly grasped the man's hand and gave a strong handshake. You were completely confused until Fritz took the man by surprise and quickly pulled him into a hug, the man stood there wide eyed and in shock for a few milliseconds before he returned Old Fritz' embrace. You heard the strange man whisper "Großvater." Which you knew meant grandfather. So does that mean this is….?

Ludwig cleared his throat after Fritz and the man hugged each-other for a while, after which the two men pulled away from the hug and turned to face your little group. You scooted behind Ludwig a bit; this man would also be intimidating if you didn't know him, and you didn't know him. He was a bit shorter than Ludwig and not as buff, but years of training had made his once small body into a highly dangerous weapon that packed a lot of power for being so lean. You could also practically see his six pack beneath his uniform; as you gazed at this man wide eyed, Ludwig finally spoke up "(Name), this is my older Brüder, Gilbert Beilschmidt." Gilbert smirked slightly and held out his hand to you, you took his hand and gave him a firm handshake. "Hallo, I am zhe awesome Gilbert, Und you are?" Oh dear, he's one of those guys. "I'm (name). It's a pleasure to meet you Gilbert, I've heard a lot about you from Fritz and Ludwig." Gilbert raised a silver eyebrow and grinned, "Oh? All bad I hope?" He laughed and looked at Ludwig "Now Luddy, you never told me you had your own fraulein." Ludwig blushed madly and started to stumble over a sentence before you cut him off "Nein. I am not Luddy's girlfriend, he's like a little brother. I've lived in Fritz' old apartments for several years now and Luddy grew up with me while he was still in high school." You stated, Ludwig nodded.

This Gilbert looked at the both of you and shrugged "Ja, okay. Ludwig, let us get our luggage, I could use a beer." With that, the two german brothers walked off towards baggage claim as you and Fritz followed behind them. Gilbert was the first to get his luggage, and once he got his suitcase he came to stand by you and Fritz as you waited for Ludwig. You stood in the middle of Fritz and Gilbert when Gilbert began to speak to you, "So Fraulein, if you are not mein Little Bruders girlfriend, what are you doing staying with This old man." And he motioned towards Fritz, Fritz laughed and went up to help Luddy with his Luggage. You sighed, you didn't really want to deal with this guy right now; from what you could tell of him all ready, he cocky and joker. "My folks were friends with Fritz when they were still around." You stated bluntly, hoping that would deter him. "Oh? Vhat, did zhey move away to your summer home in Hawaii?" He teased, you gave him a blank stare as you looked him directly in his eyes. "No actually, they died." At that point, Ludwig and Fritz had picked up Luddy's luggage and were walking back, you met them halfway between them and you; leaving a guilty and speechless Gilbert.

You hauled the brother's luggage out to Fritz' car, where they threw it in the trunk and everyone packed into the car. Fritz said that since you were in a dress, you could ride shotgun since it would be difficult to get in and out in the back. That left the two brothers to cram in next to each-other in the small car; it was quite comical to see two large men try and stuff themselves in the small car. The ten minute ride back to the pub was silent except for the radio and the humming of the engine. Finally you arrived back at the pub, "Boys, let us go upstairs. I will help you get situated." Fritz motioned to the stairs leading to the apartments above the pub, located in the back. The two nodded and climbed the stairs, Ludwig began to walk into his old apartment and dragged his suitcase in with him. But Gilbert began to drag his stuff into your apartment "Whoa whoa whoa there Gilbert. This is my apartment." You walked up behind him as he was opening the door to your apartment, "Oh? Fraulein, this is my apartment. See, There is even Gilbird!" He said, motioning excitedly to bird. So he does have a name…You quickly snapped out of it, "Hey-" You were about to argue when you heard Fritz' voice, "(Name), you will be sharing this apartment with Gilbert. This apartment is significantly larger than the other one, and zhis is his old apartment so he should be acquainted with it." You stared at Fritz with desperate eyes, "Fritz…" He raised his hand gently, "(name), please. Do it for me, he is a gut man. He won't hurt you." He smiled reassuringly before exciting your apartment and heading over to Luddy's. By now Gilbert had taken Gilbird out of his cage, where he was now sitting on his head; resting in the Silver hair adorning Gilbert's head. "Fraulein, where shall you sleep?" He grinned slightly as you tilted your head "What do you mean?" You asked, Gilbert chuckled and sat down on the sofa in your small living-room that attached to your kitchen. "Vell, it was my apartment first; the best was mein. But I'm always willing to share." With a devilish grin on his face, Gilbert winked. You wanted to laugh and cry at the same time at his attempt to sleep in the same bed as you, "Hah! Yea you're funny, you'll be repping the couch for a while then Gilbert." You turned on your heel and began walking towards you bedroom door, "Tch, sure Fraulein. You'll be begging to have me in your bed soon enough." You turned around to see his cocky grin again, he leaned against the back of the couch with his hands behind his head and one leg over the other. He looked so self-confident that you lost it "Oh yea? Don't count on it Romeo, and By the way. My name is (name), not Fraulein. So enjoy the couch." With that you slammed your bedroom door and flopped down on your bed. This is going to be an interesting Winter break….

Meanwhile, sitting in the living room; Gilbert couldn't help but think of how pretty you looked in your dress and he was preparing for the best winter break he'd ever experienced. (Name) sure is interesting, may I'll enjoy this new job in the US.

To be continued in Chapter 2…