Oh, by the way, those characters from the last chapter, John and Danny, I just made them up. I needed characters for that idea, ya know? Anyway, there's a couple more characters I made up in this chapter, 'kay? =D


"Ludwig! Calm down, it'll be fine. You're just going out to lunch, please calm down." Roderich put a hand on Ludwig's shoulder, stopping the taller man from pacing.

"How can I calm down?" He started tugging at his tie. "I know I'm going to mess something up!" He wore a full white suit, a little warm, but he didn't know what else to wear. The doorbell rang and Ludwig jumped. "I can't do this! Why did I say yes, I- I can't-!" Roderich let out an exasperated sigh and went to answer the door. He came back with Matthew behind him, his cheeks the usual rose color. He wore a nice black shirt with thin, vertical red stripes, nice black pants and shined black shoes. His hair was pulled up in the back with a thin red ribbon tied in a bow. Ludwig blushed. He looked…good. But one thing… "Um…Hi…Matt…" He looked down and shuffled his feet nervously.

"Hi, Ludwig. Um, no offence, but you're a little over-dressed for…my taste…and where we're going…" He blushed a bit darker as he walked over to Ludwig. "Would you mind taking the jacket off? It looks nice on you, it really does, but-…"

"S-sure…" He quickly took off the jacket and handed it to Roderich.

"Great! Are you ready to go?"

Ludwig swallowed hard, a wave of nausea caused by his nerves. "Y-…Yeah…"

"Let's go then." He smiled, tilting his head slightly.

"Uh-Ye-yeah..." Matthew took Ludwig's hand and pulled lightly.

"Oi! West! Your date here yet? I wanna meet him!" a familiar and annoying voice called.

"Shit! My brother-Let's go!" Ludwig ran to the door, pulling Matthew, giggling, behind him. He quickly ran to Matthew's car. An old, red compact car. Kind of ugly, but it still worked. Quickly backing away from the house, Matthew glanced at the front door, seeing a man waving. "My brother…" Ludwig sighed. Matthew tried to see the man more clearly. He looked familiar but they were too far down the street. After sitting in silence for five minutes, Ludwig said, "It's kind of weird, seeing you driving."

"Oh…really? Huh…"

"Um…Matthew dressed like that…you kind of look like Francis…" Matthew swerved, almost running up the curb and hitting a tree. Ludwig's arms shot out, grabbing at the door with one hand and the other clutching Matthew's arm. Matt straitened out the car and pulled over against the curb.

"I'm sorry!" Matthew shouted, placing his hand on Ludwig's. "You-caught me off guard!" Matthew, looking at the still terrified look on Ludwig's face, added softly "I didn't mean to…"

"I-It's alright…I-I'm sorry I said that…" Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed down considerably. "I guess I shouldn't have mentioned that…" He added, muttering under his breath, "Already I screwed something up…"

"I-It's okay. Well, d-do you want me to let my hair down?" He reached back to untie the ribbon. "F-Francis always has his hair up like this…he said it looks good on me though so I thought…"

"No, it's okay…It does look good…" He looked out the window, trying to hide the blush. "L-Let's just go…okay? I'm okay now…" Suddenly realizing he was still holding onto Matthew's arm, he jerked away, crossing his arms over his chest.

"A-Alright…" They made the rest of the trip in silence. Matthew occasionally glanced at Ludwig, but every time he did, the larger man was still staring out the window. When he pulled into the small lot adjacent to the restaurant, he turned off the car and quietly said, "We're here…" Ludwig looked out the front window at the lit up sign reading, 'Un Goût de Paris.' The stayed in the car for a while. Silence was something they usually had in common, and now was no exception. "Um…Shall we?"

"Uh-Yeah…" They stepped out of the car and walked to the door. Matthew held the door open and Ludwig walked in ahead. Hearing the man at the front desk asking Ludwig if he had a reservation and the thin blond stepped up. "Hello, Nathan."

For a moment, the man just stared at him. "Ah! Je suis désolé! Monsieur Mathieu! Terribly sorry! I thought you were Monsieur Francis for a moment!"

"Really?" Matthew looked down at his feet and grumbled something, but Ludwig couldn't tell what he was saying if anything at all. "Well…can we just go to our table?"

"Ah! But monsieur Mathieu! You have not yet introduced me to your boyfriend."

"H-He's-…" He looked up at Ludwig who was blushing furiously. "He's not my boyfriend! H-He's just a friend!"

"But you're on a date, non?"

"Ah…" Ludwig was looking away from them, obviously embarrassed to be with him. "Ah…No…it's not a…date…exactly..."

Ludwig, as casually as he could, took Matthew's hand in his, lacing his calloused fingers with the slender digits of his companion. "Y-Yeah…it's a date…"

Matthew smiled, blushing brightly. "Th-This is Ludwig…"

"A pleasure to meet you, Ludwig. I'm Nathan, a friend of your adorable little date here."

"Ah…Acquaintance…Friend of Francis'."

The man named Nathan sighed. "Oui, let me show you to your table. Follow me, s'il vous plaît" He led them to the booth in the back of the dining area. Ludwig slid in first, positioning him self so that none of the other diners would be able to see him. "Ah, Monsieur Mathieu, may I have a word with you?"

"Uh-Sure." The stepped aside and Nathan whispered, "I'm terribly sorry, but when Francis heard you were going on a date, he pressed to find out if you were coming here…he has his ways of…persuasion…" He looked down at his feet. "Je suis désolé…I'm terribly sorry…But he seemed honest when he said he just wanted to make sure your date went well…"

Matthew sighed and whispered back, "Whatever. As long as Ludwig doesn't find out he's here, I'm fine." He slid into the booth across from Ludwig, in plain view of anyone who happened to look over.

"Oui, your waiter will be here shortly." He placed two menus on the table and left the two staring downward, a bit awkwardly, at the table. "Um…Now that I think about it, maybe it wasn't a good idea to come here…Francis may be off work, but I know everyone else that works here too…

Ludwig didn't look up. "It's alright…" Shortly after, a young blond woman wearing a nice white blouse and black pants walked up to their booth, her ponytail bouncing cutely.

"Hello, Matthew. Who's your friend?" She smiled as she turned to Ludwig.

"Um…Dani?" Matthew looked up at her, pleading for her to leave Ludwig alone.

"Oh! Um, sorry. I'm such an airhead! What would you two like tonight?"

The made their orders and Dani walked away. "Sorry…I promise though, where we're going next will make dealing with them worth it! Okay?" Ludwig nodded and Matthew smiled. Soon Dani came back with their drinks and quickly left again.

"Matthew…" Matt looked up at Ludwig. "Why did you ask me out tonight?"

Matthew looked back to his drink. Feliciano told me not to tell…But I should tell the truth… "It's because I like you, I'd been thinking about it for a while and finally got the courage to ask you," he lied. "Why else?" Be honest; just tell him, it'll be okay.

"Why do you like me? I'm so boring…Not at all…d-…dating material…" He started playing with his drink, turning it, watching the ice. "Why'd you pick me?"

Matthew was silent, looking down at his drink as well. Come on! Just tell him!It took a while to muster up the courage to speak. "Truth is…I would've never asked you out if Feliciano hadn't…told me…"

Ludwig looked up. "Told you what?"

"Well…Th-That night…I fell asleep…Feliciano came and woke me up…He said you were talking to Roderich…about how…you couldn't t-tell me…" He looked away, out to the crowd of tables. Someone quickly hid behind a chair. Ugh, I'm seeing things now… Francis looked up from behind the chair. When he saw Matthew still looking, he waved with an awkward smile. Matt turned back to Ludwig. He was staring back in disbelief.

"What?"

"I'm so sorry…But don't misunderstand! I didn't ask you out because I felt bad, or I just wanted to make you happy. True, I had never thought about you like that…but…Feliciano made me think…and I realized that I'd like to be with you, see if we can make it work…" Matthew glanced back to where Francis had been hiding. He wasn't hiding anymore. Sitting, his elbows on the table and chin in his hands, he had a hopeful look. Matthew's frown and downward glances had kind of worried him. Matthew shrugged his shoulder slightly. Francis flashed him a sympathetic look and Matthew turned back to Ludwig, still in shock. "I like you, and…and you're not boring…"

"Wh-…Why do you like me?"

Matthew looked up at him, a small smile on his face. "I'm always happy when I'm with you. I feel like I can relax and be myself around you…without being ignored…You know what? Despite my smile…I'm usually not too happy…but with you, it's sincere!" He looked down, folding his hands on the table. "So far, there're only two people like that for me…You're one of them…"

"The other is Francis."

"Yeah…But you know that he's just a friend. If anything he's almost a father figure, totally different from what I think of you." He smiled awkwardly and turned back to see if Francis was still there. He was still watching, Nathan hovering over his shoulder, telling Francis something. Then he saw Dani, carrying a large tray with two meals, walking toward them.

"Oh, our food is here!" Dani placed their plates in front of them with a quick, "Enjoy your meal," and left.

Ludwig just looked down at his food and Matthew began eating. After swallowing the first forkful, Matthew asked, "You're not hungry?"

"Not really…" He pushed his plate away from him. "Why don't you come sit next to me?" Ludwig patted the seat next to him.

"Uh…sure." Matthew slid around the booth to sit next to Ludwig and pulled his plate over.

"You can...come closer...if you want..." Ludwig was looking down at his hands, folded in his lap, blushing again.

"Only if you eat!"

"What?"

Matthew smiled up at him, tilting his head slightly. "I'll only move closer if you eat." He took Ludwig's fork, scooped up some food and held it up to him. "Say 'ah'!"

Ludwig's heart began thudding in his chest, pumping violently in his throat as a hundred butterflies partied in his stomach. He was reminded of his too often daydreaming of Feliciano as his wife. Being with Matthew like this was, as corny as it sounds, a dream come true. He opened his mouth and let Matthew feed him for a while. It was nice. Alas, even this must come to an end. "Matthew, you have to eat too..."

"So you'll eat on your own?" Matt flashed another smile.

"Yeah..." He took his fork back and looked at his plate. It was over half eaten already.

Matthew started eating, and with his mouth full he started, "Ya' know-" He swallowed. "That was kinda fun." He smiled.

"What was?"

"Well...It's been a while since i've been on a date...and...well...it's nice to be...affectionate like that...It's nice..."

"Oh..." They stayed for almost an hour, just talking, occassionally stopping to take a bite of their food. They mostly talked about how aggrevating Alfred and be, how annoying Francis is, and how cute, adorable and loveable Feliciano is. Ludwig didn't use those exact words, but he got the point across. They left without finishing their meals and Matt had insisted on paying since he was the one who asked Ludwig out. On the way to the car, Matthew smiled to Francis, hiding inside, looking out one of the windows.

"So," Matthew started as he climbed into the car. "You're not regretting coming on this date with me, right?"

"What? Why would I regret it?"

"Dani and Nathan. They were watching...But i guess from where you were sitting they wouldn't have seen you...Well, they were watching just me then."

As if he had known the whole time, Ludwig replied, "So that's why you kept looking over there..."

"Yeah..." Matthew pulled out of the lot and drove down the street. "Well, where we're going now...I hope you like it. It's a little too early in the year for the leaves to have changed much, but it should still be nice!"


Finally! sorry for taking so long...i kept getting distracted, writing other chapters and other stories...i've got such a short attention span... ^^; and yeah, i kept randomly d'aww-ing while writing this ^^;