San Donà di Piave wasn't that big in comparison with Venezia. Not even close. While Venezia had 220 000~ habitants, San Donà di Piave had only 15 000~. And still, it was the epicenter of really gruesome battles and invasion during the World War, maybe because it was in the middle of the route towards Venezia, who knows. War is an unfair gameplay, anyways.

But recently the city was finally finished reconstructing, and its beauty was once again visible. And yet, the habitants still had that downhearted air in their eyes, mainly when they spotted the blond German walking by their streets. Everybody stared for a few seconds, whispered between them and then went away; it seemed they wouldn't do anything besides that. Maybe they were just tired of fighting. Or maybe they were busier stressing out for their own business; the German had heard in Venezia that Italy was starting a new wave of revolution. It was supposed to benefit the poor and the peasants of the country, but in the meantime, it meant more violence.

Back on his country; people were divided after the World War, between the conservatives and the pro-democracy, it wasn't a pretty sight – being honest – and everybody was stressed and unsure of what would happen with this new type of government. For him, though, it seemed logical to let the people decide who would be their leader, based on their capacities and such, than just wait for the next emperor to rule without question.

But all of this, right at this moment, didn't matter for the German. It didn't matter because he was feeling too nervous and too stressed out; why, you ask? Because he was walking along side a certain artist who owned a certain sketchbook that had certain drawings of certain face; his face, to be clear. Ludwig didn't know how to act, the awkwardness was invading his whole body and he knew he was over-thinking everything. The Italian was as merry as always, talking about San Donà di Piave's history, ignorant of the other man's conflictive feelings.

"Vee~ we need to find a restaurant, soon, or else I'm gonna die" Feliciano said with a smile while dramatically putting the back of his hand on his forehead "and of course I want pasta or pizza, what are you gonna ask for, Ludwig? I would recommend pasta or pizza, they are delicious, but you already know that, right? I mean, you've already eaten in Italy; I wonder if San Donà di Piave's pizza is different from Venezia's pizza..." he rambled while looking at the aforementioned; who cleared his throat before hand to prevent his voice cracking.

"Anything is fine, I'm not a picky eater"

"Well, that's because Italy's food is always delicious" again, talking like it's a matter of fact "even the cheap one"

"Would... would you like to go to somewhere more expensive? I could pay for both of us" he didn't look at the little man, afraid of his eyes.

"Ehhh? Are you sure?" even if he was asking that, the excitement on his voice was obvious.

"Yes, that's why I asked"

"Vee~~! That would be amazing, Ludwig!" the blond could almost see stars surrounding the Italian, and a little bit of drool on his mouth.

Following his trusty tourist guide, Ludwig decided on a restaurant downtown of the city. Even from outside, it was obvious the place was more expensive than where they usually eat. It only had one floor, with a big arch and wood door to enter, this door was decorated very detailed – flowers, circles, grapes and such -, but before entering, a few metal tables were outside along with chairs, so if the diners wanted to enjoy the scenery of San Donà di Piave while eating they could. Big flower pots adorned the restaurant's perimeter. Some people were already eating and didn't noticed when the two tourists sat on a table outside.

A waiter with a really refined look, wearing an elegant suit and all, approached them and said his greetings. He had white skin, black hair and dark eyes, he looked like he was on his twenties. He stared for a few moments at Ludwig; if he was disgusted, he faked it very well, because his face didn't show anything.

"Would you like the menu?" the man finally asked as he offered the items to them.

"Yes, thank you" the German simply replied, deciding to ignore the sudden whispering everybody was doing around them, and grabbed the menu to open it.

"This is so expensive" Feliciano whispered to himself, but Ludwig accomplished to hear him.

"You can order whatever you want, Feliciano, I invited you" a faint tint of red crossed his cheeks as the Italian give him a wide smile.

After ordering and left alone, the artist started to talk relentlessly as he always do, but this time Ludwig had more difficult to follow the chit-chat, as he still had the sketchbook on his mind. He felt slightly guilty for peeping on it, he didn't know why exactly, but he felt like that. Maybe he saw something he wasn't supposed to see? Maybe Feliciano would get mad if he knew? Was it a secret? Well, he never did tell Ludwig about those drawings, so it was the logic way of thinking, he assumed. Suddenly he had this strange urge to run away again.

"… and anyways, how is it you have a lot of money, Ludwig?" the Italian asked and went silent, surprising the mentioned "I mean, I kind of guessed you had to have money to go to college, but now you're paying for a nice hotel and a nice restaurant, so I was wondering if you were actually rich or a millionaire, Ludwig, are you actually stinky rich? Wow! I have never have a rich friend, this is nice" the German made a sound with his throat.

"I guess you can call me that. My grandparent is owner of a big company in Germany, along with my older brother and I, we keep it floating even if the country isn't in the best shape after the war, with hard work and discipline" Ludwig was proud of his work, you could tell by hearing his voice.

"That makes sense, but then why are you all the way in Italy? Instead of Germany with your family and company?"

"I wanted to make myself of something, I can't only relay on the company success for a living" he crossed his arms, with eyes closed and a nod of the head. He could feel Feliciano staring at him. The Italian put his chin on a hand, still observing. Ludwig started to fret.

"And yet, you're living in Italy, traveling and eating from the company's money, aren't you?" an out of character smirk appeared on his lips.

"… Well, yes" he felt… attacked? "I can't help it, can I? I still need it, and it's not like I just get it for free, I worked for it"

"I never said you didn't, Ludwig" Feliciano straightened up on his seat "Ahhh~ must be nice, to have money so you can invite your friends to eat, and travel a lot, and buy pretty things"

"You once said you traveled all of North Italy along your grandparent, right? And you travel a lot today too, isn't it?"

"Mmmm yeah, but it's different" his eyes diverted to the sky "I do it because I have to, not because I wanted" he once again looked at Ludwig with a smile "you decided to study here, in Italy, because you wanted to, not because you had to, am I right?"

When the German was about to answer, the waiter arrived with their plates, closing the conversation because now Feliciano was too busy eating and yumming. He had never seen the other man talk like that, it usually was about everyday things, meaningless if you must, but suddenly this speech about money shocked Ludwig in a weird way. He tried so hard to not stare Feliciano too much, but it was getting harder and harder every second.

After eating; they retook their walking through downtown deciding where to go next. But all of the sudden, a strong rain started to pour everywhere, making them retreat to a close building to take refugee on a little tent outside of it. People were running, trying to wet themselves the less possible, while other people took out their umbrellas. The air got chilly and thunders could be hear. They were on an isolated part of the city, so the people around them soon disappeared, leaving them behind all alone.

"One can't never guess when will it happen, right?" Ludwig observed while passing his hands on his hair, to prevent it from getting messy.

"We don't have umbrellas, anyways" a soft chuckle finished the sentence, the Italian was hugging himself; he wasn't that wet, but he also wasn't wearing a jacket like Ludwig.

The German stared at the other for a while, still thinking on the sketchbook.

He should tell him.

"Feliciano, remember this morning you fell asleep on the bed?"

"Yes! Such comfy bed~ I'd rather be there than here all cold and wet"

"Well, when you were sleeping I decided to order your things on the room, and—"

"I noticed! Thank you for that, Ludwig"

"Yes, you are welcome. But the thing is—" he hesitated for a second. What if Feliciano gets mad?

"The thing is?"

"… the thing is, I looked at your sketchbook"

The artist didn't say anything, just kept looking at Ludwig in silence, with a face full of unrecognizable feelings, or so it seemed. The rain got stronger, to the point where all that could be hear was it falling down along with the occasional thunders. The German started to feel nervous because Feliciano still hadn't said anything it what it felt hours but were actually seconds.

"Oh" the silence was finally broken for the little man, as he diverted his eyes from Ludwig "so you saw everything?"

"Yes, I did. And I want to apologize, because it wasn't my place, but I just wanted to see—"

"That includes the drawings of your face, right?" what kind of question is that? Of course he had seen those.

"Correct"

"Oh"

And silence once again. With Feliciano still not looking at Ludwig, maybe he was actually mad? The German also turned his eyes to somewhere else.

"You know, Ludwig?" the brunette started and provoked the other to look his way "I'm not mad, if you are afraid of that" a shrug on his shoulders "well, kind of, a sketchbook is something very important for an artist, you see? My grandpa always said that it was a reflection of their soul, at first I didn't understand what he meant by that, but as I grew up I finally got what he was trying to tell me"

The German simply looked at Feliciano, listening attentive to everything he had to say.

"When I'm happy, I draw, when I'm sad, I draw, when I'm bored, I draw, and so on" he sighed "it's almost like a diary but without words, just emotions. Of course, not everyone gets that, for the majority it's just a book with pretty pictures in it" he looked at Ludwig, sending him shivers on his skin "I'm not mad at you looking at it, I'm mad because you did it without asking"

They stared at each other in silence. Ludwig felt he was drowning on it.

"If you had asked, I would had shown you, but you took that power away from me and decided on your own, while I wasn't aware of it" the Italian said as he looked other way again.

"… I'm… I'm sorry" was everything the blond could say.

"I know you are"

The little man turned his head to the sky, and was greeting by the darksome clouds of the storm, all while still being stared at by Ludwig.

"It's been a while since last time we saw the stars, isn't it?"