Charity smiled as she walked into her favorite part of the park. She may not seem like the smartest girl but she was more intelligent than she let on, and she absolutely adored playing chess. Across the way was her favorite grandpa-like figure playing against a black kid with sagging jeans. She loved seeing sights like that. It proved something to her. Turning her head to the right her mood went into free fall.

That boy... What the hell was he doing here? God was he good-looking, wearing a light gray jacket, with a pair of jeans and what looked like combat boots.

Go away, she ordered silently. Go back to that pretty-when-she-wants-to-be girlfriend.

He didn't go away. Instead he came very close and her mouth began to go dry. Oh shit. He was looking at the board set in front of her, his eyes glancing over at the empty chair across from her. He was stopping and sitting down and, hell, looking right at her. "Do you want to play?" he asked.

He wanted to play her? God damn, this was unexpected. She was planning for him to make a snide comment about an hour ago when she dumped hot coffee down his chick's shirt. But, fine. If he insisted, what could she do? She'd play him.

"Hello?" he scrunched down a little in his chair to gain eye contact.

"What?"

"Do you want to play?"

She was flustered. "Fine."

"Don't feel like you have to."

"No. It's fine." She sounded wooden or robotic, something like that

"Okay. You start right?"

"No...I mean...well...dammit." She grabbed a white and black pawn and mixed them up behind her back then shoved her fist forward for him to randomly choose. "You pick..."

He pointed to her left and she produced a white pawn. "You go first."

He looked tentative. "You play for money around here, right? How much?"

"I dunno... Twenty?"

He blew out some air and nodded. "Okay." Aleksander wasn't sure what to make of this girl. He'd sat down across the board because she was new and that invited opportunity and, well, okay, that wasn't the only reason. The other one was the fact that she was pretty and not afraid to call Erika a bitch. Hell yeah for some balls. Glancing up at her, he thumped to E4.

She predictably took E5.

Pretty as she was, she was annoying. She obviously felt like she knew what she was doing. So what, she may have won some stupid high school tournament. That didn't mean she had a right to take over the table. And why was she glaring at him like that? What had he done to piss her off? He'd give her hope for a good few minutes then shut her down. He could really use twenty bucks.

He flinched at the sound of clapping thunder as the air grew heavier with the promise of rain. He'd give her very few minutes.

She was surprised, not alarmed, just surprised. She hadn't expected him to respond so confidently to her opening. They'd progressed quickly to the mid game, and she achieved almost no advantage. Now that the wind was blowing in rain clouds and thunder rolled through the sky she was looking to the possibility of a complicated ending.

He wasn't the idiot she imagined. That much she had to admit. Leaning forward to examine the board, she unintentionally knocked her knees against his under the table. He glanced up at her. "Sorry," she mumbled. Her face felt warm and she was praying that it wasn't actually turning pink.

His hair had fallen over his eyes and she couldn't make out an expression. She forced her on eyes back to the board. A cold, fat raindrop landed on her forehead. She needed to hurry and end this. She moved her king bishop.

Ugh. He closed his eyes in brief disgust at himself. Why hadn't he seen that? What was wrong with him? He was forced to defend with a knight. Temporary loss.

The main thing wrong with this girl was that she was totally shocking. She was not good. She was very, very, very, very good. Her play was not only smart and challenging but also different. Who had taught her? Who was she?

He glanced up at her. Her light hair was soaked flat with rain. Her blue eyes were dark and steady with concentration. The harsh set of her jaw had dissolved and self-consciousness had fallen away as her focus intensified. Her eyes were lovely, rimmed with long dark lashes. Her face was open now and almost sweet. Raindrops stood on her bare arms, and her t-shirt was...

She snapped her rook into the center of action.

Okay better not look anymore. His heart was beating with nervousness and excitement. He could feel the warmth radiating from her legs. His palms felt tingly. Think about chess, you bastard, he ordered himself.

Alarming, it was officially alarming. How had she misjudged him? He had to be the best person she had ever played except for her father.

He was looking at her. Not impatiently just looking, like he was trying to find something. His eyes had taken hers and she found it hard to look away. The loud explosion of her cell phone filled the air. She jumped and quickly fished it out of her pocket glancing at the caller id. "I...I gotta go." With her index finger she felled her king and leaped out of her chair practically running away as she answered her phone.

"W-wait, please," he whispered. He watched her go, a terrible tightness in his throat. What had she just done to him?

O-o_O_O_O_O_O_O_o—O-O_o-_o_O-O-o

Ludwig was swearing to himself, rubbing away at the mess Anneliese and Feliciano made when they had their food fight. The two promised to help clean when they got done with showers. He sighed in slight frustration, Feliciano reminded him a little of his daughter. He continued to scrub at the food covered floor when someone touched his foot. Startled his head shot up and banged against the top of the table. "Verdammt!"He pulled out from under the table to see Feliciano on his heels in front of him, trying not to grin.

"Ve~"

Ludwig sighed again, "Where's Anneliese?"

Feliciano motioned to the the part of the house the shower was located. "She's taking a bath." He smiled and stood holding out a hand for Ludwig. Ludwig hesitantly took the hand and stood. In the next instant, Feliciano stepped toward Ludwig that smile still plastered on his face and Ludwig looked down in surprise. He deliberately placed his hand on Ludwig's chest and pulled himself up, watching Ludwig's eyes, he kissed him. His lips were warm, firm and gentle, and Ludwig had the insane thought of yes. In the next second Ludwig gently pushed him off and put a hand to his mouth, full of shock and maybe a bit of wonder. It felt too familiar, too wanted.

"Hey, guys, you ready to start cleaning?" came Anneliese's voice as she bounced into the kitchen.

O-o_O_O-o_O_o_o

Michel walked down the hall he was directed to by Ezra's dad. Supposedly one of these doors led to Ezra's room. Randomly choosing he barged in, finding the boy he was seeking practicing his air guitar. Michel leaned against the door frame watching him as he rocked out to a song. Dancing along the floor belting out the lyrics, "Make a move so carefully, cut me down and let me bleed, and I'll slowly, walk away." Michel was stifling laughter, this was a side to the rude boy he hadn't expected to see. And, damn, wasn't it super adorable?

Ezra nearly jumped out of his skin when his heel stamped down on someone's foot. Jerking back, he looked up and, to say the least, his face turned red, brighter than a cherry. Shit, shit, shit, this wasn't supposed to happen. "Mother fucker why didn't you say something?"

Past his grimace of the pain in his foot, Michel's eyes were teasing. "I was enjoying the show..." Michel stepped closer to Ezra. "Who knew our Ezra could be so cute." He grinned as a flustered and embarrassed look crossed over Ezra's face. He reminded Michel of a cross between a cherry and tomato. He was adorable and Michel was going to show him as much so he flicked at his flyaway curl.

Shit! Ezra bit his lip as heat coursed through his body. Michel was an idiot. God damn was he an idiot. "Fucking idiot," he said softly. Deciding it was better to not make eye contact he kept his gaze on the floor.

"Aw, don't be embarrassed. It was entertaining!" Michel smiled softly. For some reason he really wanted to touch that red cheek and play some more with that curl that seemed to defy gravity. "Well, I guess it don't matter. Either way, blushing or dancing your adorable as hell."

"S-shut up!" Ezra demanded, crossing his arms and huffing. God damn it, the blush wasn't going away. Why was Michel suddenly interested in making him blush and how was he able to? Was it something Ezra ate?

Michel's fingers brushed against the curl and flicked it slightly. Damn...

Ezra let out a strangled breath. "Michel..." He stepped toward the boy, hand raised as if about to slap. Instead his fingers buried themselves in the blonde hair and yanked his head down to Ezra's as he pressed their lips in a sloppy kiss. Shit! Realizing what he was doing he pushed Michel back. "Fuck!"

Michel was quiet. He didn't know what to think. What the hell just happened? Ezra kissed him...? Holy shit... "Ha...haha, man, I think we need to practice."

Ezra buried his face in his hands. He wished he could just curl up and die. Curl up and die and rot away as three other teens walked into the room.

"Practice what?" Charity asked, eyes gleaming as she took in the situation of two very red faces.

"Fuck, fuck fuck..."

"Ezra! Antonio is here, come down and let's go!" Lovino called, totally unaware of the situation that just happened upstairs.


A/N: Ahhh...I'm...sorry. I know I said concert this chapter but...I got distracted and added some...bonding? time between a few characters. I absolutely love the idea of their curls being erogenous zones, and since Ezra has a curl I thought what the hell. And Feli finally kissed Ludwig, gosh I knew he was dying too. And even though Ludwig acts shocked I'm sure he enjoyed it. So yeah...concert was put on hold, sorry for those of you who were looking forward to it. I'm kinda procrastinating and putting it aside. I promise I'll get to it. But yeah...I love ya'lls reviews. And Ezra will probably act like he no like hugs, I'm sure he enjoys your concern and cuddling. But don't pity...never pity. He'll bite you head off. Oh yeah...Ezra and Michel kissed...that just barely grasped in my mind...awkwardness ensues I bet. And I came up with a bad guy~, they'll probably show up in the concert chapter... Yup... *kiss kiss*