Chapter 10 - Secret

Feliciano was lying on the grass, waiting for his friends to arrive so they could have lunch together. While he was waiting, he was thinking about how his relationship with Ludwig was developing. 'The day we both confessed our feelings, my heart was filled with joy. But he asked me to be patient and to wait until a better moment for us being together comes... He's right, I think. After all, I could get him in so much trouble if somebody else found out about us... Yes, it's most reasonable. But, why do I still have this selfish feeling? What is this growing anger for him not being next to me? I mean, it's not like we've been together for a long time already but...I miss being by his side. His glances, his touch…'

"Feli, hi!" Elizabeta was standing next to him with a wide grin.

"Elizabeta, you're here!"

"Yup. You ready?"

"Well, yeah, but where's Kiku?"

Elizabeta couldn't help but giggle, "Well about that..."

~OwO~

The second period had just finished and Kiku was preparing himself for the next class. He let out a loud sigh without noticing then looked around to see if somebody heard him but the classroom was already empty. He was a bit sad because Heracles had to travel back to his hometown for a family event for a week. He sighed again and turned to leave. Before he could, two arms embraced him tightly. The Japanese man, still very sensitive to body contact, yelped.

A warm voice filled his ear, "I missed you Kiku." Heracles was now embracing the shorter man with his whole body.

Kiku was experiencing a horrific situation - something he had never lived before. He had totally lost control of his body and the reaction to Heracles' touch and his intoxicating aroma were quite visible now. Heracles didn't miss these things. "I see you missed me too?"

As much as Kiku liked his boyfriend, he didn't like being teased. Especially in this position. He squirmed, "Please Heracles let go of me..."

"No."

"What?" A desperate look appeared on the black haired boy's face.

"You always hide your feelings from me. This time, I won't allow it."

"Heracles, please..." Kiku was now really suffering.

"I'm not playing with you, Kiku. Just let me show you how much I love you."

Kiku's embarrassment turned into angst. "But we are at school now and-" His speech was cut off by a kiss for Heracles started kissing the smaller boy softly.

Heracles let his hands wander under his lover's shirt, caressing him. This just caused Kiku's erection to grow more. Heracles massaged the member to see his boyfriend's reaction. A few more seconds of sweet kissing, Kiku gave up struggling, transforming into another person - somebody quite different to his usual self. He put his arms around Heracles' neck, pulling him down to his height for a more ardent kiss. Then he threw his legs around the other's waist. Heracles took this chance to carry Kiku to the desk so that he was now on top of him.

When they had to break the kiss for some air, he gave his lover a mischievous grin. "I don't know you"

Kiku who was now fully into the game answered with a provocative smile. "You provoked this."

"Then I'll try to make it happen more often." Kiku just smiled and started kissing him again.

Suddenly, the door opened, making the two suddenly stop.

"What do you kids think you're doing?" Kiku arranged his clothes nervously while Heracles was very calm. It was Mr. Kirkland who was at the door with Elizabeta. Kiku saw her and covered his face in embarassment. "I want both of you in my office, pronto!"

Kiku couldn't even talk so Heracles took care of the situation. "Yes, sir. We're sorry for our behavior."

"I hope so. What you two were doing was utterly improper! I can't believe how you kids behave this days."

The couple followed him outside the room. He was scolding them while walking towards the principal's office and Elizabeta was behind them as she still had things to arrange with Mr. Kirkland. She then whispered to her friend, "It's okay, Kiku. Don't worry."

Heracles heard her and replied "We'll be fine, Elizabeta. Thanks for calming him, although, we don't regret it, right, Kiku?"

Kiku was all red. "How can you say such a thing now..."

"I don't mind being punished or scolded if I get to be with you like that."

Kiku didn't answer but took Heracles' hand shyly looking for comfort. The brunette inclined a little to give his lover a quick kiss on the cheek. Elizabeta just smiled at cute gesture.

~OwO~

"...and that's what happened," said the green-eyed girl very calmly.

Feliciano was impressed, kind of jealous, but still worried for his friends. "I see. Poor Kiku! I hope he isn't in too much trouble now."

"He'll be fine, Feli. Don't worry. After all, he has Heracles."

"Yeah, you're right..." This just made Feliciano feel even more miserable about not being next to his love.

The kids then made their way to the cafeteria while talking about some other stuff until Elizabeta spotted Mr. Beilschmidt outside the nursery. "Well, look who's over there." Feliciano searched in the direction his friend indicated him and his face suddenly lightened up. "Wow, it seems that you're still really into him."

"Veh~? You think so?" His voice quivered, he was worried. Even though Elizabeta was his closest friend, he had made a promise to Ludwig and he wasn't going to tell anyone about their relationship. He stole another glance at Ludwig. From where they were, he could stare at him without the fear of being noticed.

Then, an outstandly beautiful woman emerged from the nursery. "Mr. Beilschmidt," she called as she moved towards him and touched Ludwig's forehead. She began scolding him but Feliciano didn't take in any part of her words for he could not hear anymore. He was filled with a certain type of rage - jealousy.

Elizabeta noticed that Feliciano was frowing and glaring at something. She then noticed that he was getting irritated by the woman touching Ludwig. "Feli, you okay?" Feliciano didn't answer. His eyes were fixated on the lady's hands, the hands that were touching his Ludwig so freely. "Feli, you know who she is, right?"

"No," he said drily, not breaking his line of sight. Ludwig was smiling at her. Smiling! How could he? What did he think he was doing flirting with that woman?

Elizabeta, afraid of her friend's growing anger, tried to explain him. "She's Natalya, the school nurse and a good person. Many people say she's kind of scary and rumor has it that, even thought she's so beautiful, she hasn't any relationship 'cause she's in love with her older brother. What a freak, right?"

"Really?" Feliciano looked over to Elizabeta, just to scare her. When mad, Feliciano was almost identical to Romano. "Well, anyways he's letting her touch him, right?"

Elizabeta gulped "Well..."

"And he's even smiling at her. Isn't it...weird?"

Then the bell rung, "Oh, well, I have to go, Feli. I'll see you later!" Elizabeta took this chance to run away.

Feliciano stayed in the same spot until Ludwig left Natalya. He was no longer annoyed, but disappointed. Doesn't he care about how he feels?

~OwO~

It was math class now and Feliciano was sitting in his usual seat, next to a nervous Elizabeta. It looked like Kiku had been sent home with Heracles due to their awkward incident earlier today. Feliciano was feeling uneasy. Ludwig hadn't arrived yet. It was strange since he was so strict about punctuality and such.

Suddenly, the door opened. Feliciano whipped his head around to see Ludwig at the door but it wasn't Ludwig. Instead, the principal entered the classroom with a tall blonde man in tow. "I'm afraid Mr. Beilschmidt wasn't feeling well. Mr. Jones will be taking over the rest of his lessons for today."

The blonde man - Mr. Jones, apparently - grinned widely as he stepped forth from behind Mr. Kirkland. "Hey, you guys! I'm normally teaching the physics course but I'll cover for Mr. Beilschmidt!"

"Thanks for the help, again," Mr. Kirkland said.

"No prob, man. I'm always here to save the day! Ha ha ha!"

Mr. Kirkland then hit Mr. Jones in the back with more force than he realized. "Argh, I'll leave you with the students then..."

Elizabeta turned to Feliciano. "No wonder why Principal Kirkland dislikes this guy so much; he's kind of a character."

Feliciano didn't even look at her. He sighed, "The last thing I need is a loud guy shouting and yelling for an hour and a half..."

Elizabeta didn't dare say anything else but she was laughing inside. Feli wasn't such a quiet boy himself.

Feliciano was truly in rage right now. His whole aura changed with his mood. This was scaring people around him. During the class, Feliciano didn't even bother to open his notebook to take notes on the lesson. He fixated his glance at the board and slipped deep into his thoughts with a frown on his face. "Sick. Sure, as if I was going to believe that. He surely found somebody to take care of him. After all, Natalya might be a lunatic but she's still very attractive. That bast-"

When he was about to finish the sentence he realized how much he sounded like his brother and got scared of himself. "I'm being unreasonable. It's just my mind playing tricks. But why was I so angry? I never felt like this before Is as if I was..."

"-jealous," said Elizabeta, she had been trying to talk to Feliciano.

"Sorry, what did you say, Eli?"

The girl sighed in relief that her friend was back. "It's just that I think you're taking this thing for Mr. Beilschmidt too serious and...well, you shouldn't let it get to you like this."

"Maybe you're right. I'm sorry for how I treated you. It was very rude from me."

"Don't worry, Feli. We all have our days."

~OwO~

"Hey, Feliciano!" Feliciano turned his head to see who was calling him. It was Gilbert, who was walking in his direction. "Why are you looking so lonely, Feli? Are you missing my bruder?"

Agh, this guy! "Hello, what do you need, Mr. Beilschmidt?"

"Ah, Feli, don't call me that! We're like family now!"

"But we're at the school right now. You should be more careful or Ludwig could get in trouble..."

"Aww! You're so cute protecting, Lud! Kesesese~!" He continued laughing for at least a minute. "Anyway, I'm here because of him. I think you've already noticed but the poor thing was so nervous of meeting you today that he got sick." Feliciano just raised an eyebrow. "It's because he was either too damn shy to come by himself, or he was just afraid of being caught hitting on one of his student's as you said." Gilbert handed out a small box with an envelope and gave it to Feliciano. "He asked me to give this to you before he left."

Feliciano stared at the little box being held before him before taking it. "What is it?"

"He threatened me if I dared to open it. And trust me, even if he avoids the use of violence and that shit, when it comes to his personal stuff, he's kind of scary." Feli opened the packaging carefully and inside was an iron cross attached to a silver chain. It looked like a necklace. Well, it was a necklace.

Gilbert stopped making stupid comments and opened his mouth in amazement. "Oh my, he gave it to you?" Feli looked at Gilbert, confused. "Sorry, boy. I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just impressed 'cause those necklaces are like a family treasure. See?" Gilbert pulled out an exact replica of the necklace Feliciano had just received. "And if Lud gave it to you, it must mean you're really important to him."

Feliciano was now blushing. "Kesese, I can't believe he preferred me giving this to you! He lost the opportunity to see this cute expression of yours!" Gilbert patted the shorter boy's head.

"Please, Gilbert, don't mock me. Should I give him something in return just to show him that he is a very important to me as well?"

Gilbert smiled. It seemed the feelings of this boy towards his brother were pure and sincere. He was glad Ludwig had found a person like him. He then cleared his throat as if he was going to say something important, which Feliciano had hoped for. "It's up to you, Feli."

What's wrong with this guy? "What? But I don't know what to get him!"

Gilbert turned on his heels to leave. "My job is done here. I'll leave it to you, I know you'll impress him."

"Gilbert- I mean- please!"

"Bye bye, Feli~!" Gilber then sped off, cackling his 'kesesese' sound.

Feliciano was about to run after the albino but he realised it wasn't a good idea. Looking again at the gift, he held it against his chest. "Thank you, Ludwig," he murmured. It seemed his day hadn't been so awful. The man he loved was more wonderful than he already thought.

"Who are you talking to, idiot?" Feli gasped when he heard his brother's voice. He nearly dropped the box too. He quickly hid it behind his back.

"Ah, Romano! I was just..."

"And what are you hiding behind your back?"

"Nothing!"

"Don't hide things from me!"

"Really, it's nothing!"

Romano was all over his brother trying to reach for whatever the younger Italian was hiding and Feliciano desperately trying to run away from the situation. Then somebody approached them.

"Romanito you forgot your... "Antonio stood in front of the brothers staring at the scene. "Oh, please don't mind me! Keep on whatever you were doing. Seeing you together like this just made my day."

It was then that Romano realized he and Feliciano were in a kind of compromising position. He stood up and screamed at the elder man, "You sick bastard, you'll pay for this! And I've told you I hate you calling me Romanito!"

"Oh, don't get mad, Romano! I just thought you looked cute~!"

"I'm not cute, idiot! I'll kill you!"

"Even if classes are over you shouldn't be so loud in here, amor," sang the Spanish boy, taking the Italian's chin in his hand.

Romano tossed the hand away aggressively. "What did you just say, bastard!"

Feli used this opportunity to run away. "Fratello, I'll walk home today, okay?"

"What? No! Where you think you're going? We're not done yet!" It was too late, the younger Italian had already run off.

Antonio hugged Romano. "Aww, Roma, don't leave me just yet! I haven't seen you all day!"

"Don't touch me, idiot. Aren't you worried about somebody seeing us?"

Antonio pulled Romano inside an empty classroom and kissed him sensually. As they parted for air, Romano said with a blush on his cheeks, "I hate you, bastard..."

"Well, yo te amo mucho, Romano." Romano did understand these words and the blush on his face was now an even darker shade of crimson.

"Shut up, you idiot," Romano murmured and kissed Antonio again taking him by surprise.

~OwO~

Feli arrived at home. He wasn't surprised to see that Romano hadn't arrived yet, even though he had the car. He went directly to his room, not bothering to change or eat anything, just to stare at the present Ludwig had just given to him. He took out the necklace and put it on. When he did so, a paper fell from the little box. He picked it up. Was it a letter?

He unfolded the paper and read it's contents. It was from Ludwig.

'Feli I know what I'm asking you isn't fair, and for that forgive me, but as much as I want to be with you, I can't let anything get between us, that's why I want you to be patient. we'll be together soon, please accept this gift. It means a lot to me just as you.'

"I love you, Ludwig." Tears of happiness rolled down his cheeks. Feliciano was now sure of Ludwig's love and he would never doubt about it again. He stared at himself in the mirror, seeing how the ornament look on him. He then recalled seeing the cross dangling from Ludwig's neck the night he slept at his place. "He looks better wearing it..."

He then heard banging from the front door. "Feliciano!"

"Urgh, not again..." He placed the cross inside his shirt, making sure it wasn't seen, and hid the note in his pocket. When he was going down the stairs, he saw that his brother was already waiting for him. "Romano, you scared me."

"Well, I…uhm, I just…wanted to apologize for what I did earlier today..." Feliciano was startled at his brother's words. An apology? From Romano, of all people? He sensed that the Spanish boy had to do with his sudden change of attitude. "Well, say something, idiot!"

Romano was staring at his feet. "Veh~! Don't worry, Romano. We all have our days," said the younger brother with a smile. "By the way, there's a soccer match on TV. Wanna see it?"

"Sure, I'll make something to eat. What do you want?"

~OwO~

"Boys, I'm home!" Arsenius received no answer, which was strange. He then began to search for the kids in the house. He saw a soccer match playing on the tv in the living room and his grandsons sleeping on the sofa. What he found interesting was that both - yes, both - were smiling and seemed very happy. He sighed. "Ah, youth..."

He placed a blanket over them and kissed each one on the forehead. He was about to head to his room but he noticed a little paper lying on the floor infront of Feliciano. Curious, he picked it up. "What's this?"