Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia or any of the characters.

Chapter 9: Now Commencing the Bachelor Parties!

The day of the bachelor parties arrived a lot quicker than expected. It was two days away from the wedding, which was to be set in a beautiful church where Feli would be taken up to the altar to meet his future husband.

Both of the grooms were ecstatic—well, as much as Ludwig could be—and had no idea of what each Best Man had planned for them. Gilbert, Francis, and Antonio would be taking Ludwig out, while Romano, Kiku, and Matthew would be handling Feliciano. It was decided that they would all meet up at the Italians' home and take them from there to each of their respective locations.

Planning to be there first, Romano and Antonio had taken the train after classes to the Italian's stop and walked the last stretch of the way to the house. The streets had already turned dark and a few streetlights illuminated their surroundings as they walked down the sideway in a peaceful silence. Each were quietly preparing for the night ahead of them. The Italian surreptitiously glanced a look at Antonio who was contently smiling up at the sky. He knew he had promised Gilbert he would follow through, but really, would he really be able to do this?

Distracted by his nervousness for the night's events as they arrived at their destination, Romano absentmindedly pulled out his keys and turned them into the door. Walking into the living room, the couple stopped in their tracks as they came across Feliciano and Ludwig on the couch, breathing heavily with their faces glued to each other in a heavy make-out session. It looked like they planned to get the party started early. They weren't even aware that they were no longer alone.

Face scrunched in horror, the older Italian dropped his bag to the floor with a loud thud.

"Oh my god."

Noticing their presence, Feliciano detached himself from the blonde man with a loud smack of their lips and smiled with slight flush to his face at the two boys from across the room.

"Ah, fratello! You're here early." Romano pretended to gag and covered his eyes.

"What the hell are you doing? Never mind, don't answer that," he stated, shaking his hands in front of him. Ludwig, who had a faint red also tinging his cheeks, sat up with messy hair very unlike his usual slicked back do. Sighing, the buff blonde man rubbed his face.

"I apologize that you had to see that." A growl built up in Romano's mouth as he stepped towards the couple.

"Yeah, and I won't apologize when I shove my foot up your—" Sensing danger, Antonio held him back around the waist and smiled at the couple on the couch.

"It's fine~! We'll give you a minute to fix things up. The others will be here soon." Feli flashed the Spaniard a grateful smile as he placed an arm affectionately around one of the German's.

"Grazie, Big Brother Antonio."

With great force, the brunette dragged the struggling Italian out of the room and into the corridor. When he seemed to have enough self-control, the man released the boy, who laid his head on the wall depressingly.

"I'm never going to un-see that. Never! Those bastards," he moaned out and pounded the wall. Antonio placed a comforting hand on his boyfriend's back.

"It's ok, Romano. It's not like it's any worse than what we do." Romano blushed at the brunette and then looked away.

"T-that's different, j-jerk! Besides, at least you're not one of those wurst-loving bastard." Rubbing his neck, Antonio laughed awkwardly.

"Well, wurst is ok but his family sort of adopted me." Shocked, the boy swung his head to look back at his boyfriend.

"What?" Astonishment and confusion was evident in the Italian's voice. What was Antonio talking about? He was part of the Germans' family? This was the first he had heard of this. The Italian was about to inquire further, but stopped when Feli's head popped around the corner and flashed a smile at them.

"We're ready, ve!"

Taking one last look at Antonio who didn't meet his eyes, Romano followed Feli into the room to see that they had fixed their clothes. Feliciano was wearing a gray dress shirt with a few buttons undone and extremely tight black pants that Romano would have objected to immediately if it wasn't for his party. Ludwig was wearing something dressier: a white dress shirt that was cuffed along the sleeves and loose black business pants. Twirling around, the younger Italian grinned at his brother and Antonio.

"What do you guys think~?"

"You look great, Feli." Antonio gave him a thumbs up while Romano shot several glares at his boyfriend. Looking down, the man pointed at the big duffle bag the younger Italian was holding.

"What's in the bag though?" Romano was suddenly on the other side of the room, grabbing it out of his hands.

"It's nothing. It's just for the party." Feli giggled while Antonio and Ludwig raised an eyebrow suspiciously. The two men wondered what their Italian boyfriends were up to.

"Is that so…?" Antonio answered disbelievingly.

A ring at the doorbell saved them from further questioning.

"I'll get it!" Feli piped up as he skipped over to the door. When he pulled it open, he was suddenly grabbed into a hug by Gilbert.

"Hey, awesome future-brother-in-law! You excited?" The albino set down the happy Italian and gave him a pat on the back. The younger Italian laughed.

"Ve~, very excited." Feliciano winked at him while Romano just slapped his own face. God, these idiots. A smooth French voice came from behind the men.

"Well aren't you the cutest? Mon ami, you picked a handsome fiancé." Francis walked up from behind Gilbert and kissed the Italian's hand. Ludwig just sighed, clearly used to the trio's antics. Another voice—this one quieter and just as familiar—spoke from outside.

"Ma ji de…shall we not all stand in the doorway at once?" Kiku squeezed his way between the men with a grim expression on his face. Gasping, Feli wrapped his arms around the Japanese man and pulled him in a loving embrace.

"Kiku! I'm so excited to see you!" The boy just patted his back and offered a small smile to the eager Italian. With a groan, Romano rubbed his head. This was going to be a long night. Maybe he should take some aspirin before he left?

"Is everyone here?" he asked with a sigh, eager to get the part over with.

Gilbert looked around. "Where's Birdie?"

"Here! I've been here…the whole time," A docile voice answered with a sigh. The whole group turned to see a meek blonde man standing on the side that everyone seemed to notice for the first time. With wavy hair and violet eyes, Matthew offered them a shy smile. Laughing, Gilbert scooped him up in his arms.

"There you are! Guys," the man turned back to the group, "This is Matthew, my awesome boyfriend."

The boy waved timidly and pushed his glasses back onto the bridge of his nose.

"Nice to meet you all." Gilbert suddenly turned to Romano, serious expression on his face.

"Don't lose him, ok?" he whispered with the boy still in his arms. Raising an eyebrow, the Italian glared at the unrelenting red eyes.

"Why would I lose a grown man?"

"Well, we've had issues in the past." The albino shrugged and shook his head, "Anyway! Doesn't matter! Take care of him!"

The albino set his boyfriend down on the ground and gave him a kiss on his cheek, which made the boy giggle. Romano rolled his eyes and clapped his hands together.

"Ok, everyone out of this house and head to your respective vehicles," he yelled above the idle-less chit-chat. Complying, the men started to head out and, when no one was looking, Gilbert slipped him a couple hundreds. With a smug grin on his face, Romano flipped through the bills and slipped them into his pocket.

It was time for the show to begin!

~x~

Romano had decided to go traditional for Feli's bachelor party, so he took him to one of the most expensive restaurants in town. Feli gasped in shock as they drove into the parking lot, and pressed his face to the window like a child would do.

"Ve, Fratello? This is La Bellezza! How did you manage this?" he mumbled against the car window.

"I made a call." Romano said nonchalantly, feeling like a cool older brother for once. Feliks, who was actually about as rich as he acted, had hooked him up. Apparently his father owned a variety of brasseries and eateries, including La Bellezza, and made lots of money on high end restaurants. He considered it "an apology for overstepping his boundaries", but really, Toris had made him do it. Turns out, the Lithuanian boy had a little bit more control that Romano originally thought. Feli screamed in delight and jumped into his brother's lap for a hug. With a large swerve. The older Italian almost hit another car before slamming on the breaks.

"Idiota! I'm driving!"

"Kudasai, don't kill us." Kiku gripped onto the seat with his life, a grim expression on his calm face.

"I'm too young to die!" Matthew cried from the back.

With a shove and growl of might, Feli was back into his passenger seat. Romano pulled up to the valet parking a bit off, but—screw it—he still made it. Handing the keys off to the chauffeur and taking a ticket, the older Italian and the others walked up to the receptionist.

"Reservation for Vargas."

The young woman scanned her computerized list almost robotically before looking up with a smile.

"Welcome, Mr. Vargas. Please follow your waitress to your seats."

A friendly woman came towards them form the left and directed their group to follow her. Scowling, Romano ignored his brother's starry eyes focused on him and walked up a flight of stairs to a table in a balcony seat that oversaw the whole place. It was previously an old theatre, which was renovated years after its closure into the fancy restaurant it was now. Seats were replaced with hand-carved tables and chairs, but the stage stayed put. The waitress, who wore a black dress and white bow tie, sat them down and handed them their menus.

"The show will start in thirty minutes. Your server will be right with you." She told them before taking her leave. As soon as the woman had walked away, Feli jumped up and down in his seat like an excited school boy.

"This is so cool, fratello~ Ti voglio molto bene!"

Kiku nodded, holding up his wine glass as the waiter came around and poured them some expensive wine.

"I am surprised, Romano. This is much better than I expected."

"Well, you're going to like this even more. Order whatever you want, it's on me." And Gilbert. Smiling like a fool, Feli looked over his menu.

"Fratello! You're my hero! I want the fettuccine pasta, the penne pasta, spaghetti—oh! The shrimp with angel hair pasta! Ve~" Kiku felt sick from just thinking about all the pasta types.

"That is quite a lot, Feli-san, are you sure you don't want to try one first and go from there?" the boy suggested with a hand covering his mouth. Feliciano frowned.

"Ve? But that's no fun. There are so many options. How can I choose just one?"

"Wow! Do you think they have pancakes and maple syrup?" All of the boys turned to stare at Matthew, who was excitedly looking back at them.

"Uh…maple syrup?" Kiku inquired.

"I'm Canadian." Matthew clarified, looking down at his filled wine glass, "It's the best food out there, but no one listens to me. Not even my brother." With a friendly smile, Feli leaned over the round table.

"I think pasta is the best food, but no one listens either! Let's eat pasta now, and then why don't we go out again and get some pancakes with lots of syrup, ve?"

A happy smile grew on the man's face as he nodded eagerly. "Of course! I'd be happy to."

He had to admit that his brother had a gift when it came to dealing with people. There was probably no one that could hate the younger Italian, even Romano as much as he tried—though he would never tell him that. Rolling his eyes at his brother, the older Italian turned to the Canadian boy to ask a question that had stumped him and probably everyone else.

"So how did you meet Gilbert, Matthew?" Not used to being noticed, Matthew looked fairly surprised to see everyone's focus on him.

"Ah, well! I was at the supermarket trying to get a bottle of maple syrup flavored cereal on the top shelf, but whenever I'd ask people they would just ignore me."

"Why didn't you ask the people that worked there?" Kiku asked with a hint of irritation. He did work part-time in a market, after all. Workers were supposed to do their jobs and help the customers! Matthew nodded his head.

"I did! But no one noticed me. It's been that way forever though," The boy chuckled sadly, "Anyway, I was still reaching for it when a tall man pulled it out and handed it to me. Then the man—which was Gilbert—started talking to me. I was so stunned that I just stared at him with my mouth open the whole time. He had to wave his hand in front of my eyes a couple times before he finally got my attention, but it was all good after that."

"Aw how romantic~!" Feli said dreamily, while Matthew shyly scratched his cheek. Before the boy could respond, the waitress finally came to their table, dropped off a basket of French bread, and took their expensive orders. Romano silently thanked Gilbert for proposing the deal, even if he himself wasn't excited to do it. After she was finished, Matthew smiled and turned to Feli.

"Well, you're the bachelor boy. How did you meet Ludwig?" Feli giggled happily and moved the salt inattentively in his hands.

"Luddy was very shy when I first met him. For the longest time he tried to deny our connection. It was hard. I took a lot of classes with him in college so I would do my best to talk to him every day! He rarely ever smiled and didn't have a lot of friends aside from Kiku, so I would try to make him laugh and spend lots of time with him, so he didn't feel lonely. I don't know, when I saw him I just knew he was the one."

The bottom of the salt bottle lightly scratched against the wooden table as Feli pushed it back into place in the center of the table. Romano blinked in shock. His brother, who was always so cheerful and likeable, had trouble convincing that potato bastard to date him? God dammit, he was going to beat up that son-of-a-bitch! Shaking his head, Kiku curved his lips in a small smile towards Feli.

"Feliciano-kun, I just wanted you to know that you and Ludwig are perfect for each other. He, too, fell in love with you at first sight. I know, because I was there when he saw you for the first time. It was like one of those romantic scenes in dramas."

Feli smiled gratefully at the Japanese man.

"Grazie, Kiku. I think we should all share our love stories, so go on ahead! Tell us yours!" Kiku's expression darkened.

"Oh... no… I respectfully decline…" Feli grinned and leaned closer to the boy.

"Come on! Tell us!" A nod came from the Canadian.

"If you would, please!"

Kiku turned to Romano, who, too, was waiting for his response.

"I don't really care, but it would be entertaining to hear it," he mentioned nonchalantly looking into his wine glass. Now cornered, the short boy sighed.

"All right…well… It's not much…but I met Heracles in high school," The three men waited for him to continue as he took a sip of his wine, "We both had ceramics together, and we sat next to each other in class. One day he asked to borrow a pencil and then we just talked from there."

The Japanese boy made no move to say any more. The three boys stared at him, slight confusion on their faces.

"…That was it? Not that it matters, but…" Romano asked first, still trying to hide his interest.

Kiku nodded.

"He asked me out a few weeks after that."

"What did you guys talk about?" Matthew questioned as he munched on a piece of bread.

"Cats, the sky, art, history, and more things..." he trailed off, not eager to elaborate.

Feli piped up. "That's cute, Kiku! Well it must have meant to be? You and Heracles are very happy, ve?"

"Hai, we are." The meek boy replied with the ghost of a smile on his lips.

Distracting them for a moment, the waitress brought their salads out and refilled their drinks. Once she was gone, all the boys instantly turned to Romano. The auburn-haired boy raised an eyebrow as he peppered his salad.

"What?" Realization dawned on him, "Oh hell no. I'm not—"

"Come on, fratello! They haven't heard yours yet." His brother insisted with an innocent smile.

"Yes, Romano-kun. We would like to hear how you met Antonio." Romano glared at Kiku, who looked pretty smug for the timid little Asian. Sighing in defeat, the Italian took a bite of lettuce.

"Fine. Let's see… We met on the train… well, we didn't really meet, I just sort of noticed him and I guess he noticed me too. And then I ran into him at this coffee shop that he worked at and the bastard tried to buy my food for me. I refused, of course. Who did he think he was? Tck, then I ended up falling asleep on the train and he woke me up before my stop…so yeah…after that we kind of just kind hit it off…though he did kidnap me that one time…"

The men stared at him blankly as well.

"…That's a very interesting story, Romano-kun." Kiku responded first with his brows that were knit with confusion. The boy groaned at their hesitant faces. This way why he never told stories!

"You wanted to hear it bastards, so deal with it." he spit out and crossed his arms indignantly.

"It's like a romantic novel~ Antonio seems like such a good guy for you," said Feli with a genuinely happy expression on his face. Not that he didn't usually—there was practically nothing that could depress the younger Italian.

"How long have you been dating?" Matthew inquired. Romano hummed and took a sip of wine.

"About two months?"

"Have you had sex yet?" Kiku asked calmly.

The older Italian spit out his drink. He knew that Japanese man had a perverted side to him! What was with these people and their lack of boundaries? Before he could think of something, Feli grinned and answered for him.

"Yes they have! Apparently it was really good!" Dropping his jaw, Romano stared at his brother.

"I never told you, you bastard! How do you know? Did Antonio tell you?" Was his bastard of a boyfriend telling the whole world about their sex life? He was going to kill him. Smirking, Feli tapped his chin thoughtfully.

"Brother's telepathy? As soon as you came back home, you were a lot nicer and relaxed. Besides, I assumed from the hickeys…"

Blushing, Romano covered his neck, although they were no longer there. Feli giggled and waved his hand.

"Don't be embarrassed, fratello! Ludwig and I do it all the time, in fact last night after we made pasta—"

Shaking his head, Romano waved his hands in front of his face.

"Too much information, idiota."

At that moment, the waitress brought their food. Keeping true to their extravagant Italian tastes, Romano had ordered tomato agnolotti, while Feli had ordered the Penne all'arrabbiata. Kiku and Matthew, however, decided to have something more main-stream, with the dark-haired man ordering fettuccine alfredo and the blonde ordering lasagna (though each were dissatisfied that the restaurant lacked any of their own cultural dishes). All of the foods looked amazing, and tasted even better.

Feli placed the short noodles on each point of his fork and waved it around.

"Veeeeee! They look so tasty and fun~!" Kiku's face grimed at the Italian's childish behavior.

"Feli-san…please don't play with your food." The boy cocked his head and thrust the fork in his mouth.

"Ve? why?" the boy tried to say with his mouthful. Giving up, Kiku just shook his head.

"It's…ah, nevermind…"

Matthew, who actually had made a solid presence in their group, decided to change the subject.

"So…uh…Feliciano, where are you going for your honeymoon?" Before he answered, Feli moaned as he took another bite of his pasta.

"This is very good pasta! Not as good as mine, but still yummy. Ah, well…" Feli hummed and tapped his lip before remembering, "We are going to go visit our hometowns in Germany and Italy! It's been a while, so we thought we would reconnect our old lives with our new ones."

Pulling out chopsticks from his bag and breaking them apart, Kiki blinked and started on his noodles.

"Wow…that's actually pretty intelligent." Romano sat up.

"You're visiting Salerno?" The wine rocked back and forth in his glass as Feliciano held it up and looked at his brother through it.

"Well…It was actually Ludwig's idea. He knows how much it means to me." Grimacing, Romano plucked a piece of his pasta in his mouth and let his mouth flood with the delicious taste of tomatoes.

"The potato bastard actually lived in Germany? I should have known…" The Japanese boy sighed in contentment.

"I have visited Germany. It is very nice. You will like it there, Feli-san." Kiku gave him a small smile.

"Ve~! I'm looking forward to it!"

The lights suddenly dimmed, leaving only a candle to illuminate each table. Violins and a piano enchanted the guests while two head lights moved downward towards the stage. The curtains opened up to reveal a stage set up to look like Rome, with a woman in beige pink robes reciting lines from a play. Hearing the "oohs" and "ahs" of his companions, Romano soundlessly thanked his annoying Polish friend and leaned back to enjoy the show.

It looked like the boys were in for a treat.

~x~

Ludwig was horrified. He had been expecting a lot of things for his bachelor party—video games, some crazy activity that could kill you like skydiving, shooting guns, or sword-fighting, naked women or men dancing on poles, drinking like there was no tomorrow. But he definitely wasn't expecting this.

"Well! Here we are!" Gilbert exclaimed, placing his hands on his hips and letting out one of his obnoxious laughs. The big blonde man stood still as his brother and his two idiot friends walked ahead of him and looked around.

"What the hell is this?!" spoke the German man as turned to his brother. Jumping at his forceful tone, Gilbert patted his younger brother's back cautiously.

"This is your awesome bachelor party!" He said with a little hesitancy in his voice. Ludwig's eye twitched.

"This…this…THIS IS A BAKERY!"

Scanning around, Ludwig took in the plethora of cakes, cupcakes, croissants, and pastries that littered the shelves and counters. It looked like a ten year old girl's dream room filled with whatever cute food you could imagine. Antonio was even putting on a tomato apron and asking "Do I look cute in this~?" while Francis just laughed and tried to grope his butt. Gilbert grinned and leaned his elbow on his shoulder.

"Nice, isn't it?" Holding back his temper, Ludwig let out a sigh and gestured to his surroundings.

"Why is my bachelor party here?" The albino frowned.

"Well you like baking and shit! Your little Italian even said so!" The blood drained from Ludwig's face like he had seen a ghost.

"Feli told you about…my baking?" Gilbert nodded.

"Ja! Said you're pretty good at it, too." The man winked at his younger brother. The blonde walked a few more steps in and looked at all the creations.

"Mein gott… I was not expecting this at all." Gilbert snickered and slung his arm over Ludwig's.

"Uh-huh! Your awesome bruder got it right! And we aren't judging you or anything, we're all gay here anyway, besides Francis," He pointed a finger at the Frenchman, who was tying a pink flower apron behind his back, "Okay…well he swings both ways. The point is, we want to do something you really want to do. And if that's baking, we're your men."

Shrugging him off, Ludwig flashed his brother a silent smile. Wow, maybe his brother had changed and matured. Coming to respect the culinary art of baking was a step towards maturity any day.

"Danke, so what are we making?" The Prussian man shrugged.

"Well we have two hours to do whatever we want. You know what that means?"

With a devious smirk, Gilbert stepped away as the blonde stared at him in confusion.

In that moment, all of the Bad Touch Trio faced Ludwig and yelled, "FOOD FIGHT!"

Ludwig was not prepared for the glob of cake batter that was thrown in his face.

Never would he put "Gilbert" and "mature" in the same sentence ever again.

~x~

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:10 p.m.]

Hey, bastard.

How's the party going?

xXx

[Text from Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:16 p.m.]

Aw, Roma~

You text me first. I'm so happy~

It's good! He liked it…I think.

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:18 p.m.]

Jerk, I see your stupid face too often to need to text.

What do you mean, 'you think'?

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:20 p.m.]

Aw, you're so mean to me, mi tomate :(

Well…you know how I told you it involves baking?

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:22 p.m.]

Well, someone needs to slap some sense into you.

Yeah. Can't believe the bastard bakes.

xXx

[Text from Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:25 p.m.]

Aw, I miss you too! :)

Anyway, we sort of…kind of…wasted half of the supplies…

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:27 p.m.]

Idiot. That did not mean I missed you.

Of course you did...not that I really care how that bastard's night goes, but if Feli sees him in a bad mood, he's going to be sad, and I'm doing one hell of a job as best man tonight so—to politely ask—DON'T FUCKING RUIN IT.

xXx

[Text from Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:30 p.m.]

Well, I miss you :) Are you having fun?

We'll fix it, I swear! We're cleaning up now. I think even Ludwig kind of got into it towards the end! It was fun~

[Text from Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:31 p.m.]

Gilbert said we're making cakes for our boyfriends, so what kind do you want (:?

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:38 p.m.]

Ugh…bastard… I may miss you…a little. Only a little.

Yes, ok. I'm having fun. This place has fucking everything.

I'm not even going to ask what went down.

What the hell? Ask him why.

xXx

[Text from Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:41 p.m.]

3 (: We should go there sometime! It sounds romantic~

He said it's a gift for being an awesome boyfriend! I didn't know Gilbert could be so thoughtful!

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:43 p.m.]

If you can afford it. This place would put me in the poor house if I ate here twice.

That bastard is about as thoughtful as I am with giving compliments.

I want a coffee cake.

xXx

[Text from Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:45 p.m.]

Aw you're so cute, Roma~

I will make you the best coffee cake ever! :)

And I will do my best to save up some money so we can go one day! ;)

I have to go~ baking awaits!

xXx

[Text to Tomato Bastard, Oct. 24, 8:48 p.m.]

It better be, bastard.

Don't kill each other.

~x~

"Oh, Francis! Yours turned out very good~!" exclaimed Antonio as he bent over and inspected the cake from different sides.

The Frenchman had created an elegant three layer cake with little dolphins and sea animals dancing over the surface. Blue-dyed fondant created waves that splashed outwards and contrasted with the white frosting nicely. Francis just laughed and put down the tube of frosting.

"Hon hon hon~ Of course, mon ami. I come from the country with ze most delicious food in the world! Making this iz a piece of cake, literally." Francis spoke smugly, placing a handmade orange starfish in the middle. Antonio turned back to his creation and frowned.

"Now what do I do with my cake? It's not even an actual cake…I can't decorate it." It was true. What could he possibly do to a coffee cake without ruining it? Francis leaned over and stared at it intensely.

"Ah~ You are right. But you can add frosting and drizzle it on. Even write your love's name in ze middle."

Smiling at the man, the Spaniard avoided Francis's wandering hand.

"Gracias, amigo! I hope Romano likes it. Who is your cake for?" The French man only smiled and placed a seashell on the side of his dessert.

"A very special girl~" he began romantically.

"That's what you say about all of them!" Gilbert yelled from down the counter. Francis batted his eyelashes and looked to the ceiling in awe.

"Ah, it iz very true. All men and women are so beautiful~"

"How's yours coming along, Gilbert?" Antonio asked while the blonde was still daydreaming. The Prussian hummed and pointed at his cake.

"It's not as awesomely easy as I thought. I think it needs something else."

Looking at the creation, the brunette saw that it was partially lopsided with a badly shaped pancake on top with some brown substance on top. He squinted his eyes.

"Is that maple syrup?" Sighing, Gilbert took a swab of the gooey brown substance and tasted it.

"The babe's favorite food." Antonio gasped in excitement.

"Ah~ Romano's is the tomato, like mine! We have so much in common!" The French blonde on his left laughed and shaved off a little of the side of his own cake.

"You two are about as different as night and day."

"No, they are." Gilbert cut in and pointed at Ludwig, who was busy placing a meatball made out of chocolate cake and covered in strawberry sauce on his pasta cake. Despite the initial food fight, Ludwig had really gotten into baking and decorating after they had settle down. Even the Bad Touch Trio enjoyed it. Sensing everyone's attention, Ludwig looked up with a glare in his green and white polka dot apron. Francis leaned down on the granite counter and smirked at the German.

"Yeah, Luddy, how did you manage to win over such a beautiful, free heart~?" The man ignored him.

"I am not going to answer that." The blonde said, going back to his work. Antonio pressed on with his friendly smile.

"Aw, come on, Ludwig! We're sorry for throwing food at you! If it makes you feel any better, Gilbert is paying for it all."

"Hey!" The albino said, still depressed that his hard earned money was going to making cakes and having food fights. Ludwig growled and put down the frosting.

"I didn't win his heart…he won mine."

The boys stared at him blankly.

"Wow. That's deep, little bruder." Gilbert teased, sure the defensive man would respond.

When Ludwig didn't bat an eyelash, Francis spoke with a hint of surprise to his tone.

"What? The little Italian went after you first?" The German nodded reluctantly.

"I was not planning to get romantically involved with Feli." Gilbert laughed obnoxiously and gave him a confused look.

"What the hell, Luddy? You had a nice piece of ass chasing after you this whole time and you didn't go for—"

"Don't talk about Feli like that!" Ludwig rose and announced loudly, shocking all of the men. Sitting back down on the wooden stool, he sighed, "He's…ah, I love him. He is my other half."

"Why did you not want to be with him at first then?" Antonio asked calmly. The blonde boy looked down at his cake and poked it lightly.

"Feli's the type who's friendly with everyone. It's hard to tell if you're different, and I couldn't for the longest time. Besides, he's a wonderful person that deserves someone better than me."

"Why would you say that, mon cher? You are a great man!" Francis smiled encouraging at him.

"Besides, I think Feli feels the same way." Antonio added as he cocked his head to the side.

"He sure does! Don't worry, awesome little brother!" Gilbert wrapped his arm around Ludwig, "You know what this calls for?"

"DRINKS!" The two other men of the trio cheered enthusiastically.

Ludwig sighed, but then again, he really could use a beer.


Some GerIta and BTT, because it's lovely as awesome as well xD

So there's about two chapters left + an epilogue!

Hope you all have enjoyed the story and thank you for the support! :)