Author's note: Oh hey look, a new chapter. I am so sorry it took so long. There are so many things going on in my life right now and I got lazy and procrastinated BUT IT'S HERE NOW. I DIDN'T ABANDON THIS FIC :) Like I said in the beginning, these chapters aren't in any specific chronological order so they jump around in the timelines a bit but towards the end of the story, things will start going in order. So it's my headcanon that Gilbert and Ludwig grew up in Germany but because their father got a job in England, they moved there and as Gilbert began secondary school (aka high school), he met Arthur and they instantly clicked. I'm sorry this chapter's so short. I'll be posting the next one right after :'D

Chapter 6

First Meeting

The first time they met was when Arthur was 15 and Ludwig was 13. Arthur had been invited to his new best friend's house and of course the first person to answer the door had been Ludwig. They stared at each other for a few minutes, not really sure what to make of each other, before Gilbert jumped down the stairs and shoved Ludwig away.

"Heya, Artie!" he said with a grin. "Don't mind my little bro, Luddy. He won't be bugging us."

Arthur nodded, though still curious about the other boy who had walked back up the stairs to his room. Later that same day, Gilbert had ran off to use the bathroom, leaving Arthur alone. That's when Ludwig decided to make himself known.

"Hello," he said softly and Arthur jumped a little.

"Oh, i-it's you," he mumbled. "Um…what are you doing here?"

"I wanted to meet you. Gilbert never lets me talk to any of his friends…"

"Oh…" Arthur felt sorry for the kid and almost invited him to play some video games with them but Gilbert came stomping back into the room. When he saw his brother, he scowled.

"Lud, I told ya not to bother my friends!"

"H-He wasn't," Arthur said. Both Gilbert and Ludwig stared at him with wide eyes. "We were just introducing ourselves, Gilbert," he continued. He stuck his hand out at Ludwig. "I'm Arthur. Nice to meet you."

Ludwig's blue eyes were wide. His cheeks were very pink as he shyly shook his hand back. "I-I'm Ludwig."

"Greaaaat, now that you're both acquainted, can we get back to our game, Artie?" Gilbert groaned, rolling his eyes. "Lud, you better head back to your room. Dad's gonna be pissed if you didn't finish your homework."

Arthur watched Ludwig walk away, looking over his shoulder at him sadly. It was in that moment Arthur somehow knew he'd be seeing Ludwig a lot more in the future.