Happy birthday, Alfred! Yup, it's Independence Day here in America. No better way to celebrate than eating grilled chicken in the city where it all started. Lol. Anyway, I got around 30 reviews just last chapter. :O Thank you guys so much. Thanks for telling me about your experiences learning English, too. It was really interesting.

So Spain won against Italy in soccer? Congrats Spain and you still did an awesome job, Italy! I feel so American because I know nothing about soccer. I've always wondered why Americans aren't into soccer.

Did you get your APH Volume 3 or season 4 yet? I'm SO FREAKING HAPPY that Volumes 4 & 5 are going to be sold.

Enjoy!~

Friday was pretty uneventful. Ludwig and Feliciano were asked about their detention, if you could even call it that. No one was surprised when they said they only stayed for fifteen minutes and did absolutely nothing. Other than that, it was a typical school day. And they couldn't be happier with that. Feli's pain was much better than the day before. When he took the bandage off his eye before his shower, the redness and swelling had gone down significantly. His and Ludwig's cuts were healing at a healthy pace and the soreness in his limbs was slowly disappearing. Everyone was still admiring them over the whole Father Brooks incident. All of the students and faculty heard about it. In religion class Mrs. Tori pretended that nothing happened, which was probably the best approach. Feli, Ludwig, and the others were surprised when Joey asked to sit with them at lunch.

"I just thought I'd stick with you guys," he shrugged. Everyone looked around, shrugged, and let him sit.

"Veh, have you talked to those three?" Feli asked through bites of linguini.

"They sent me a bunch of texts," he rolled his eyes. "Cause you know, they get all big and powerful when they hide behind their phones."

"What did they say?" asked Ludwig.

"That they couldn't believe I betrayed them and sided with faggots and all that crap. I don't care. But, they said once their suspension is up they're gonna do somethin'."

"Like what?" Feli trembled a little.

"They didn't say. They didn't say to who, either. It could be me. I was the one who told on 'em."

"They might try to do something to all three of us," Ludwig said. "They probably hate us all equally now."

"They'll have to answer to my frying pan," Eliza growled.

They were eating in silence before Sister Katherine's voice broke through their thoughts. "I'm watching you. Uh huh. I'm watching you."

They all looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"What a lunatic!" Arthur laughed.

"Seriously!" Francis flipped his blonde hair. "Who the heck says something like that?"

"She's so annoying," Eliza said.

They didn't discuss the whole bullying matter any further. Classes got their minds off the matter quickly. Mr. Jones was especially animated for that day's history class. "Okay!" he hopped off his desk. "Who can tell me where the totally not cool attack on the U.S. by Japan took place that became the main reason we got involved? I wanna see all of your hands!" He was beaming when every single hand was trying to get his attention. "Oh, who to choose, who to choose…."

Some kids were standing up and waving their hands frantically. "Uhhh….Ambria!"

"The World Trade Center?"

Most of the hands went down immediately only to be slapped on the foreheads of most students.

Mr. Jones frowned. "No….That was 9/11…."

"Oh."

He wanted to slap her across her face. Why did she always have to give stupid answers?

"Okay," he exhaled. "Can someone else tell me?"

The hands went back up and Mr. Jones' smile returned. "Alright, Feliciano!"

"Pearl Harbor!" he answered confidently.

"CORRECT!" he flailed his arms in the air.

"I can't believe he's our teacher," Arthur whispered to Ludwig. "He's such a child!"

Ludwig smirked. "You two seem to get along well, though," he whispered, satisfied when Arthur blushed.

"As if!" he sad a tad too loud.

"Have something to say, Artie?" Mr. Jones walked up to his desk and sat on it. The class snickered and Arthur averted his eyes away, his blush growing deeper as Mr. Jones' butt was far too close for his liking. "I'm going to call the cops one day..." he mumbled. Feli giggled in his hand. He loved this class so much!

Friday afternoon meant the very unusual music class with the very unusual teacher. By the way, they still had no idea what her name was. Or if she was fat or pregnant. When they walked in, she was standing at the front of the class with that creepy smile on her face. "Her stomach looks around the same," one kid speculated. Feli and Ludwig sat in their usual spot near the front of the class. They took note of the teacher's interesting outfit. She was wearing an olive green sweater about two sizes too small, an argyle skirt, and orange socks. Her short blonde hair was in a messy bun. Smashing. With the ever-present smile, she walked over to the computer and put on some video about rock n' roll and went to her desk. Feli reclined in his chair opened up his notebook.

"What are you doing?" Ludwig asked idly.

"Doodling," Feli smiled.

"I'm surprised you're not sleeping," he scoffed.

Feli stuck out his tongue and sat up. "Hey, I don't sleep all the time."

"Just about."

"Shut it," he smacked him lightly. "Ooo! You should doodle with me!"

"I can't draw," he blushed slightly. The thought of drawing in front of such an amazing artist like Feliciano was beyond humiliating. The most he could draw was a stick figure.

"You don't have to be good at drawing to doodle! Doodling is just for fun! Watch!" He quickly scribbled something on the page and turned the book around so the paper was facing Ludwig. There was a hot dog with a smiley face. Ludwig raised an eyebrow and looked at him, expecting some kind of explanation for such a ridiculous picture.

"See? Doodling is just for silly things! You try!"

Ludwig took Feli's pencil and stared at the paper. He wasn't creative at all. He looked around the classroom for inspiration, and then found it. It may have been mean, but he was bored. He drew a stick figure woman with a fat stomach and a skirt with an arrow that said "music teacher."

Feli giggled. "Luddy! That's not nice!"

He shrugged. "Only thing I could think of."

They heard the teacher laugh. "Hurhurhurhurhurhur!"

Feli drew a little speech bubble next to the figure with "hurhurhur!" next to it.

Ludwig smirked. "Who's being mean now?"

"At least I didn't draw her fat!"

They continued to write random things on the paper. It varied from various phrases in their native languages to random TV shows they liked. The kids in the back of the class were having a paper war. They were screaming and laughing and hitting each other. The teacher responded by putting her hand in the air and moving it up and down, "Quiet down," she said quietly.

"You should ring the bell," a kid suggested. She just laughed her weird laugh and did not follow the helpful advice.

Ludwig and Feli weren't speaking to each other. If they had something to say, they would write it down.

"Can we hang out after school? 3" Feli wrote in his sloppy cursive.

"Fine," Ludwig wrote in neat cursive. "Improve your handwriting," he added.

"Why? Who cares?"

"I do."

"I don't," he added a tongue face. "I knew Germans were strict but…"

"Hey!" Ludwig actually voiced his words this time.

"Well it's true!" Feli laughed. He picked up the notebook and began to write something. Ludwig leaned over to see what it was. Feli put it against his chest. "No peaking!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes and listened to the teacher laugh again. So, so strange.

"There!" he tore the paper out of the book after a few minutes. Ludwig's eyes widened and he went scarlet. The paper had "Ludwig" written in the middle with a bunch of words written smaller around it. The words were: "smart, handsome, adorable, shy, sweet, strong," and "caring." He put his hand over his burning cheeks and looked away.

"You don't like it?" Feli's lip quivered.

"It's not that," he removed his hand. "It's just…That…Why?"

"Eh?" he blinked his large eyes. "Because these are things I like about you, silly!"

"Hm," he looked away. "Please get rid of that paper."

"But why?"

Damn, why did his eyes have to get so huge and watery when he was upset? Luckily for Ludwig, the music teacher pulled out her flute and played a few awful notes. Just like before, some kids stood up and cheered. Ludwig was very thankful that his boyfriend had a short attention span. When they left the class Feli left the paper on the desk. Ludwig grabbed it and intended to just throw it in the trash. He looked at the paper and a small grin formed on his face. He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. It may have been embarrassing, but he loved the little things his Feli did.

Ludwig went to Feliciano's home that afternoon. He froze when he walked into Feli's house to find people other than his grandfather and brother in the living room.

"Feliciano!" they greeted in unison.

"Ciao!" he skipped over to each person to give them a kiss on the cheek. There were two men, two women, one toddler, and Roma. "Everyone," he skipped back over to Ludwig, "this is my boyfriend, Ludwig." He felt all the blood rush to his cheeks when he heard one of Feli's relatives (or at least he assumed they were his relatives) say, "Ohh, he's so handsome!"

"N-nice to meet you…" he mumbled.

"Ohh, this is the German you were going on and on about the other day?" a man asked.

"Si!" Feli chirped. Ludwig wanted to go hide in a hole. It seemed like Feli was not the only one in his family who was extremely shameless.

"Potato bastard!" Lovino entered the room with Antonio.

"Don't call him that!" the toddler stomper her foot. The adults laughed at her and Lovino crossed his arms. Antonio laughed and waved to Ludwig and Feli. The little girl trotted over to Ludwig. She stared up at him with her big brown eyes. "You're tall!"

Ludwig was not one to deal with children, so he stared at her. She wasn't fazed at his lack of response at all. "Can I touch your hair?"

"Um, what?"

"It looks soft!"

"It is!" Feli said.

"You would know," Lovi rolled his eyes.

Ludwig leaned down and let the girl pet his hair. He wanted to shove the child away as he felt her sticky hands go through his hair. She laughed and scurried away. He stood up and whispered in Feli's ear, "Can we please go somewhere else?"

"Okay~" he giggled at the nervousness in his voice. Ludwig asked who those people were when they got into Feli's room.

"Two of my aunts and uncles and my baby cousin," he sat on the bed. "They come a lot on Fridays. Veh, they like you!"

"I've noticed," he sat down next to him. "Does all of your family live here?"

"No. Some of us are still in Italy."

"Ah….Why did that little girl want to touch my hair?"

"Her name is Ella. I don't know. It is pretty soft," he nuzzled his face into the soft blonde locks, messing up the gel.

"Stop," he whined, gently pushing him off.

Feli just latched onto his back like a koala and kissed the back of his neck. "But I love your hair! It feels like silk."

Ludwig kept quiet and blushed at the sensation of Feli's slender fingers running through his hair. He allowed himself to close his eyes and leaned back on Feli's chest. Feli had to keep himself from squealing in delight. It was a rare treat to see his Ludwig so relaxed. He was even happier to see Ludwig's cuts fading. His right hand kept playing with his hair and he made his left start to stroke Ludwig's fair cheek. Ludwig never really liked to be pampered, not even by his own parents when he was a child. But he figured he'd lose a bit of his pride for Feli. They were alone, after all.

"Feels nice," he commented softly.

"I'm glad," the usual volume of Feli's voice lowered and he kissed the top of his head.

"Ella's hands were sticky," he said.

"She's a little kid! Of course they're sticky!"

"But with what?"

"Um, probably spit."

Ludwig grimaced and wanted to wash his hair. Why do children have to be so gross?

"Do you not like kids?" Feli sensed the mood for once.

"Not especially," he tried to sound polite as possible. "I'm the youngest so I never had to take care of kids or anything. I just don't know what to do with them."

"Just smile and nod at them, even if you don't know what they're saying."

"Easy for you to say. You're like a little kid."

"Meanie," Feli pinched his cheek at that. Ludwig shook his head to get Feli's hand away from his face. Feli hopped off the bed which caused Ludwig to lose his balance. Ludwig gasped and fell back on the bed. Feli laughed and quickly got back on the bed, this time sitting on top of Ludwig's stomach. Ludwig blushed and stared at his boyfriend in shock. Feli laughed and leaned down, "That's what you get for being a meanie."

Having his boyfriend's crotch pressed against his stomach and his lips centimeters away from his was obviously too much for the awkward German. He grabbed Feli by the shoulders and brought him down so their lips touched, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's waist. Feliciano wasn't intending to start a make out session, but he didn't oppose. Who would? Feli became painfully aware that if he were to become a little too excited, Ludwig would feel it. It's not that he hadn't considered that. No, it came to his mind in the past. But, what if Ludwig didn't want it? What if he wasn't ready? Honestly, he wasn't really sure if he himself was ready. In reality, they had only known each other for about two months. Damn, only two months? It felt more like six. Feliciano figured that his teenage hormones were getting to him. He would stop before making a bad decision. But still, there was nothing wrong with just making out, right? Having decided that they were long overdue for a good make out, Feliciano bit Ludwig's bottom lip. Ludwig moaned and Feli slid his tongue into his mouth. Usually Ludwig was the more dominant one in their kisses, but not this time. Their tongues tangled and they both started to feel hot.

Ludwig was grateful when Feli got off his stomach to lie next to him. He knew that if he were to get too hot, Feli would feel it. The Italian smiled. "Your lips are always so soft."

Ludwig cleared his throat and sighed. "Please don't talk about the texture of my lips."

There was a light knock on Feli's door. Ella entered and ran to the bed.

"Feliii!" she jumped on the bed and did not watch were she was going. At all. She jumped on Ludwig's balls. He grunted and turned so he was curled up in a ball. She didn't even notice and instead sat on Feli's lap. Feli put an arm around her and moved his other arm to rub Ludwig's back, holding back laughter. As if Ludwig wasn't having enough problems with that area after kissing Feli, she just had to waltz in the room and squish them. He sat up and groaned in pain.

"Are you okay?" Feli asked with a cheeky grin.

Ludwig glared at him. "Do I look like I'm okay?"

"Nope!" Ella answered. His glare rested on Ella. This kid was really trying his patience.

"There she is!" Lovino entered the room with Antonio. "They asked us to entertain her and she ran away from us." Lovino glared at Ludwig. "What's your problem, macho potato?"

Ignoring the barely-an-insult, he spoke. "Ella came in and, uh, when she jumped up on the bed she kind of…hurt my groin area."

Lovino smirked. "Serves you right."

"Don't say that, Lovi!"

"I don't know, Feli," Antonio's green eyes sparkled. He remembered that there was a little girl in the room, so he chose his words carefully. "Maybe you could massage Ludwig's sore area."

Ludwig choked on air. Now he knew why this guy was good friends with his brother. He was grateful that his brother was not there. He wouldn't take into consideration that there was a child there, and would probably say something like, "Maybe he could lick the pain away!" He wanted to go over there and punch him, but he remembered that he wasn't in his own home. Feli's face resembled a tomato and he stayed silent. He covered Ella's ears when the room was filled with a parade of Lovino's curses.

"You better not do that with my brother, you potato-sucking bastard! I'll fucking kill you!" he launched forward but was stopped when Antonio caught him by the arms.

"Lovino," Feliciano's voice was clipped. "Take Ella and go downstairs with Antonio." It wasn't often when the cheerful Italian spoke like that, but Ludwig liked it. He enjoyed the look of annoyance on the older Vargas' face. He smirked when he saw Lovino get even angrier. Ella got off the bed and went out the door. Antonio dragged Lovino away and shut the door. Feli quickly got up and locked the door. He sighed and shook his head. He loved his family, but sometimes he wished they would just disappear.

Saturday's baseball game started exactly at noon. Sure enough, Feliciano was in the stands. He didn't know much about baseball. He liked to watch it and rooted for the city's team, but he was more of a soccer person. He came to the game with Elizaveta, who was just dying to see Ludwig in his uniform. They were playing against a team that was known to be good in the city. Just what I need for my first game, thought Ludwig. Feli looked around the field. The smell of freshly cut grass was pretty overwhelming. He squealed and kicked his feet when the teams came out and Ludwig stepped onto the pitcher's mound. Feli couldn't see up close, but he loved the way that uniform looked on him.

"Blue is a really nice color on him!" Eliza was just as happy.

"I know! He looks adorable with that cap!"

Meanwhile, Ludwig's parents and brother took a seat behind them.

"Feliiii!" Gilbert clasped him on the shoulder.

"Eeep! Oh, hi."

"Hey," Gilbert's scarlet eyes sparkled when he saw Elizaveta. "Oh hellooo, who's this?" he smirked.

Eliza's eyes narrowed. "I'm Elizaveta."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt," he held out a pale hand. "Nice to meet you," he winked. She shook his hand and squeezed it tightly as she could. He yelped in pain and Mr. Beilschmidt smirked, but said nothing. Elizaveta turned around briskly.

"Man, she's feisty," Gilbert said to his parents in German. "I like it."

When Ludwig would pitch, he would bend over and stare at the strikeout zone in concentration. He would look at the signals the catcher would give and either nod or shake his head at them. Feli found himself staring at Ludwig's butt every time he bent over to pitch. He couldn't help it; those pants just fit him so well!

"Thinking about what you can do with that butt, Feli?" Gilbert cackled. Mrs. Beilschmidt was about to scold her son, but was beaten to it by Elizaveta. She gave him a hard slap on the arm. A flustered Feli muttered thanks to Eliza and continued to watch the game. Their team was winning. The score was 5-2. Although he knew Ludwig wasn't pleased about it, Feli thought the crushing look on his face when he would give up a hit or a home run was pretty funny. It was the top of the 9th inning and Ludwig fiddled with the baseball in his hand. He threw the ball and the batter swung widely and stuck out awfully. A small smile formed on Ludwig's face when the umpire called it a strike and his team was declared the winner. The catcher walked to him and they gave each other a high five.

"Good game," the catcher pat him on the back. Ludwig's mood brightened a little more when he saw Feli clapping in the bleachers.

"You were amazziiing!" he hugged him. "And you look so hot in those clothes!" He wanted to say how good his butt looked, but refrained when he remembered Ludwig's family was there. Ludwig blushed when Elizaveta giggled.

"Awesome, West!" Gilbert gave him the thumbs up.

"Yeah," Mr. Beilschmidt smiled. "Come on. Let's go home."

Not wanting to cause a scene in public, Ludwig just silently nodded. He gave Feli a quick peck on the cheek and said goodbye.

"See ya, sweetcheeks," Gilbert winked at Elizaveta, who gave him the middle finger in response.

"What an ass," she rolled her eyes.

"Veh? I like Gilbert! He's funny!"

Eliza just rolled her eyes again. "It's hard to believe that thing is related to someone like Ludwig. They're nothing alike."

As a little side note, the trio of dicks were present, disgusted that Ludwig pitched a great game.

When the Beilschmidt family arrived home, Gilbert grabbed his house keys and stated he was going out. "I'm meeting two of my friends. See ya!" Rosa went into the living room to watch TV and Ludwig went into the kitchen. The game made him pretty hungry. He made himself a ham sandwich and was chomping away when his father entered the room.

"Ludwig, can we please talk?" his blue eyes were pleading. Ludwig swallowed the mouthful of sandwich and nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Mr. Beilschmidt took a seat across from him and folded his hands on top of the tabletop. He sighed. "Ludwig, I know you're very angry at me," he made direct eye contact. "But I want you to know that I am proud of you."

"For what?" Ludwig asked quietly.

"For not being afraid to be with Feliciano. For fighting for him. Standing up to those little bastards."

"Then why don't you approve of our relationship?" Ludwig was growing impatient. Mr. Beilschmidt paused and sat in silence for a moment. Ludwig's icy eyes were locked onto his father, waiting for a response.

"It's not that I don't approve," his voice was barely above a whisper. "It's just… It's hard to accept something you know nothing about. I know now that your relationship with Feliciano is no different than a relationship with a boy and a girl. Before that, I don't know, it just seemed foreign. The thought of my son with another boy was just unsettling. It's not that there's anything wrong with it-"

"That's not what you said that night," he kept his voice calm.

"My mind changed," he started to drum his fingers on the table. "I'm sorry that I thought like that. I don't know what was going through my mind," he shook his head in shame. "Ludwig," he raised his eyes. "I'm sorry. I think Feliciano is a wonderful boy and I'm happy for you two." It's funny how emotions can change. How anger can wash away so quickly. Ludwig had so many things to say to him before, but now no words came to his mind.

"We were so close, Luddy. And now you don't want to look at me."

"Dad…" he felt his heart breaking in two.

"But, I just wish we could go back to the way we were," he looked down at his hands. "I…I don't care if you're gay. It doesn't make a difference." He brought his eyes to look back into Ludwig's. Ludwig's eyes were watering and he just couldn't stop them. "You're my son. I still love you just the same."

And that's when he broke down. "V-vatti," he wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "I-I'm sorry for being such an ass!"

Hans smiled sadly and got up and hugged Ludwig. "It's okay," he rubbed his back like he would do when Ludwig was a child. His eyes filled with tears as memories of him spending time with little Ludwig came to his mind. Ludwig hugged his father back and took a wobbly breath, his tears subsiding. It seemed like he just could not stay angry at his father. That he could choose his friends, but not his family. Ludwig pulled away and smiled at his father. Hans smiled back and ruffled Ludwig's blonde hair. "Great game today."

"Thanks," he said softly.

Gilbert then ran into the kitchen and tripped on his own two feet. Laughter came from the other room and Antonio walked in with someone else.

"Francis?" Ludwig asked in confusion.

"Bonjour, mon ami!"

"Yeah!" Gilbert got up from the floor. "This guy's the best!" he slung an arm around Francis and Antonio.

"I don't even want to know how you know each other," he shook his head.

"Just don't destroy the house," Mr. Beilschmidt said. The smile on Ludwig's face refused to vanish. After days of angst, he and his father were finally on good terms.

Hooray for happy family time! So everything's okay with them. Ahh, I love the Bad Touch Trio.

By the way, Ella is based on my baby cousin. For some odd reason, I'm her favorite. I have NO IDEA how to entertain her. She's always sticky...

And yes, the names of Ludwig's parents are a reference to The Book Thief.

Please review!~