The Inevitable

Ah, yes. Now I'm glad that I spilt this and the pervious chapter. Obviously I apologize for the terrible lateness of this chapter. At least you should know that there will be two more chapters. I swear I will not let another year go by before I finish a story. The same goes for my Estonia story too. Wow, that's kinda sad on my part…damn. Well, at least this chapter is longer than the last.

…

At the hospital, the Beilschmidt family plus Feliciano made their way to the front desk. They asked for Gilbert's doctor, who happened to walk by them, "Doctor! There you are…can we go to see my grandson now? Did he ever awake?"

The doctor thought about it a little, "Well, he has yet to wake up. But, I don't see any problem with his family seeing him. I only ask that you let me know when he wakes up so that we can start his rehab right away." The doctor opened the door and they started going in until Ludwig hesitated.

"Ve~? Ludwig, don't you wanna see big brother Gil?"

"…"

His grandfather rubbed his back, "Don't worry. You can go see him when you're ready." Feliciano stayed behind with Ludwig as the others went in the room. Right away, they were glad that Gilbert was able to get into a private room because they wouldn't have wanted anyone to see how shocked they were at seeing him.

Gilbert was lying peacefully on the bed although he appeared paler than he usually was. He had a temporary cast on his right arm and an IV hooked up in his left arm. Unfortunately, Gilbert's arms were completely exposed and his numerous scars were shown to all in the room. Some of his cuts were dressed as they were either reopened or infected.

The elder Beilschmidt rubbed his fingers along his grandson's arm and trembled. One of his grandsons went up and held Gilbert's free hand. When he squeezed the hand, Gilbert started groaning, "G-Gilbert? Are…are you awake?" His arms felt too heavy to stretch, so he twisted his head around and gave out a huge yawn before slowly opening his eyes to a large figure with long hair looming over him.

"West? I-is that…you? Oh West, you look so much…older! I c-can't tell if it's you or a younger gramps. I can't believe you grew up…into s-such a beautiful…hot young woman."

Almost immediately Gilbert's older brothers laughed as the 'young woman' pinched his younger brother's nose shut, "Gahhh! I'm up! I'm up!" Even his grandfather started to laugh, "Gilbert, how are you feeling?" "Feel…where the hell am I? This isn't my room!" Gilbert frantically looked around the room.

"Gilbert, do you remember anything from last night?"

Gilbert stopped and slowly opened his mouth, "W-well…I, uh, I was with Roderich and…" He didn't want to say that Eliza was there too, but his grandfather sighed, "Both Roderich and Elizabeta were with us last night." Gilbert frowned, "I-I see…anyways, I remember watching some movies and, oh right! West was there too! Say, where is little West anyways?"

"He's…Luddy outside at the moment…"

"Oh…guess he's still mad at me then."

"What happened with you and Ludwig last night? He won't say anything."

Gilbert opened and then closed his mouth and touched his cast with his hand, which his grandfather promptly removed, "I'm getting the doctor. We were told to get them when you awoke." He walked out and called out for the doctor.

Once the doctor went in the room, everyone else got out. Feliciano noticed that they all seemed to be in high spirits, "Did…did Gilbert wake up, sir?" Opa Beilschmidt smiled, "Yes, he is fine. And back to his mischievous self. The doctor said that we could see him again once they're finished."

Feliciano was ecstatic, "Che meraviglia! Ludwig, Ludwig! Did you hear that? Gil Gil is okay! Isn't that great?" Ludwig gave him a weak nod, worrying him. He could already tell that Ludwig did not get enough sleep. He really wished he knew what happened that night so that he could help, "Roderich!" Ludwig jumped, "W-was?"

Feliciano grabbed his phone, "We forgot all about Roderich!" Roderich was still asleep in his room with his punched out alarm clock on the floor. When his phone rang at its loudest volume, he rolled around in his bed trying to find the noise and destroy it.

Fortunately for him, it took awhile to find the phone so he was more awake once he found it, "Verdammt!" He jumped off his bed and rolled on the ground, "Feliciano! Was zur hölle?" "Ve! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to forget about you! I-I thought Ludwig or…or one of his brothers…"

Immediately, a lot of fumbling and loud sounds were heard from the Austrian's side, "I'm going to leave right now!" Feliciano suddenly felt cold, "No, don't! You can't drive here!" "Feliciano, I know how to drive…"

"But you'll get loooooost!"

"Why does everybody say that?"

The phone made a loud click and he hung up, "Ve…Roderich's on his way over here now…" Ludwig sighed and looked at the room door. He was so tired, but every time he closed his eyes he remembered the look on Gilbert's face when he told him that he'd hate him. He didn't even know why he said it. He most definitely didn't mean it.

The doctor came out of the room and smiled, "Don't worry, I told Gilbert that he needs to keep up with his exercises, but…Mr. Beilschmidt, may I speak with you?" "Oh, yes…of course. You kids go on ahead and see Gilbert." They started to walk away, but the doctor stopped.

"Um, please don't give him or leave anything too sharp, alright? Just as a safety precaution, of course."

Ludwig gave the doctor a hard glare causing the doctor to back up and quickly walk away. "I guess we'll go in first," Ludwig's older brothers said as they went in the room and Ludwig couldn't help but feel helpless. Feliciano put his arm around Ludwig's shoulders, "You're gonna have to see him eventually…" Ludwig sighed, Believe me, Feliciano, I know.

Almost thirty minutes later, Roderich arrived with Elizabeta, "Eliza! Ve…what are you doing here?" She giggled and punched Roderich's arm, "First things first. Roddy has something to say to you, do you?" Roderich sulked and rubbed his arm, "S-sorry, Feliciano…" "Ve? Sorry for what?"

Roderich looked away, but Elizabeta put up her fist, "Aah, sorry for yelling at you on the phone! I broke my alarm clock and woke up late on my own! You had nothing to do with my tardiness! Es tut mir sehr leid! Please don't hit me again!" Feliciano hugged him, "I don't know about that last part, but I forgive you!"

Roderich sighed in relief, but Elizabeta still hit him, "He spent about twenty minutes driving around with his head up his ass trying to find this fucking place until he somehow made it to my house and I had to drive the both of us here even though I only have a damn learner's permit and we got here almost instantly!" Ludwig was taken aback by her rough manner of speaking. Usually, when directed at him, she spoke more politely.

Ludwig's brothers filed out of the room laughing and in a good mood, "Hey, Luddy, Gil's kinda worried about you. Gonna go in now?" "Well…I…" Roderich stepped up, "I-I'll go in now, if you don't mind!" His older cousins started mischievously crowding around him, but he slipped past them and made it in the room with Elizabeta. "Aww, we just wanted to play with Roddy for a bit first!"

Gilbert was absolutely not expecting to see those two, so he was reasonably shocked. "Gilbert!" Elizabeta ran and hugged him as tight as she could, "G-good to see you too." She was almost in tears, "Don't you ever, EVER do that again!" She gives him a long kiss on the lips and he smiles, "Kesesese, with a kiss like that how could I even try?"

Roderich was still moping by the door. "You know, Roddy, I think two kisses would really seal the deal, if you know what I mean~!" Roderich crossed his arms, "No! I'm…I'm very upset with you!" Gilbert looked at Eliza and she gave a sad smile, "He's so cute when he worries about others!"

"I am not worried, I'm pissed!"

Gilbert stretched out his arms the best he could, "Stop pouting and give my awesomeness a hug! Don't hesitate on that kiss either!" He turned away from Gilbert, quickly wiped away a tear from his eye, and walked over and hugged him. "There! Are you happy now?"

He thought about and looked over to Eliza again, "I don't know…maybe?" Gilbert tapped his lips, but Roderich kissed his forehead, "I really am glad that you are okay, Gilbert." Gilbert felt a little embarrassed, "Damn, Roddy, gotta make me blush like this! I'm…I'm really sorry."

Roderich's face got red and he was about to speak, but his voice cracked and he promptly stopped it. Elizabeta went over to him and held his shoulders, "I hate to sound all sappy, but you do know that we really do love you and that you can talk to us whenever you feel like doing…this again, okay?" She walks over and slides her hand across Gilbert's arm, "Yeah, I know."

Roderich takes off his glasses and walks to another corner in the room, "Damn it, you prissy crybaby! You better come over here and cry in my fucking manly arms!" Elizabeta had to admit that line was a little funny so she pulled then pushed Roderich onto Gilbert. He breathed in and out until he knew he could talk properly even though he was now in tears.

"You unrefined idiot! H-how dare you scare us like that? I tried calling out to you, but you wouldn't answer me. You're such a cruel bastard…we love you too much for this…"

Well, Gilbert didn't expect that kind of reaction. And when he looked over to Elizabeta, she gave him thumbs up with tears rolling down her face, "My friends are weird."

….

While Roderich and Elizabeta were in the room, Ludwig's brothers went to get some food and left Ludwig and Feliciano alone, "Ludwig, looks like we're finally alone." He looked away and Feliciano gave out a rare groan, "Ludwig, we're finally alone~!" "And?"

Feliciano stood up, "And it's time for you to tell me why you won't say anything. Why you won't you say more than two words? Tell me, please!" Ludwig tried looking everywhere but at Feliciano, "I…I…I can't! I-if I say anything…what I said, I could…I told Gilbert I hated him!" Feliciano backed away slightly, "Wh-what?"

Ludwig smoothed out his hair, "I didn't exactly say it, but I practically told him that I hated him and that's why he…if I say anything, I'll probably hurt someone again!" Feliciano put his hands on Ludwig's face and forced him to look up, "No, Ludwig, no! You did not put that knife his hand or tell him to cut himself!" "But I-"

Feliciano hugged his head, "You just weren't thinking at the time, that's all. Ludwig is always good at thinking before he speaks, so when he doesn't I guess terrible things happen, right?" Ludwig didn't know what to say, so Feliciano pulled away his hands and got close up to his face, "You know, I wa-"

He heard someone whistling and noticed that the brothers came back, so Feliciano sat back down again and silently pouted to himself. Sadly, Ludwig didn't feel any better. I know that Feliciano means well, but he wasn't there! It didn't matter that I wasn't thinking, the point is that I said it!

Roderich and Eliza left the room, "Sorry, but we're going to leave now. Send Grandfather my regards." Once they left, the Italian boy pulled on his friend's arm, "Come on, Gil is waiting for us!" Ludwig started to panic and Feliciano stopped, "It's fine…I'll go first."

Ludwig started panicking again, "Y-you're not…mad at me, are you? I know that I've been acting childish, but…" Feliciano smiled, "Of course I'm not mad, silly! Just promise me that you will definitely see him after me!" Ludwig nodded and Feliciano left. As soon as he did, the older brothers quietly surrounded Ludwig.

Feliciano slowly walked in, "G-Gilbert?" Gilbert was shocked again, "Oh, you have got to be shitting me. Feli, you came too? That is so fucking awesome! You better give me a hug!" Feliciano practically ran into his arms and cried.

"Gilbert, Gilbert! I'm so glad you're alright! I don't want big brother Gilbert to die! I love Gilbert!"

He laughed and patted his head, "Hey now, leave all that love for West, ja?" Feliciano laughed, "I have plenty of love for everyone, Gil Gil!" When he caught sight of his arm, Feliciano couldn't help but flinch and Gilbert knew why.

"Ah, so you finally saw my arm…p-pretty gross, right?"

"Can I…can I touch it?"

"Uh…yeah, why not? Who'd ever resist a touch from someone as cute as you?"

Feliciano rubbed his hands on the arms and was careful not to be rough, "These must have hurt big brother…" Gilbert shyly looked away, "Uh, no…not really." Feliciano hugged him again and Gilbert sighed, "So, is West really out there?" Feliciano nodded and hugged tighter, "He's just a little nervous, but he really wants to see you!" "I see…"

After a few more minutes, Feliciano walked out and saw Ludwig surrounded by his older brothers. Some were heckling him for making Feliciano upset, while some of the others were pulling him around. One brother was constantly poking his cheek. When Ludwig saw that his friend was back, he immediately broke free of his brothers and 'hid' behind Feliciano.

"I'm so happy that you wanna see Gil so much!"

He almost forgot that he was stalling himself, "Oh, that's right…" Feliciano rose up his arms to grab him, but then placed them back down, "I'm not gonna force you or push you into his room. I want Ludwig to go see Gil on his own!" Not what Ludwig was expecting, but he was right. It would be better if he went in on his own, "Thank you, I'll g-go in now."

Ludwig slowly went in, first popping his head in the room to see where his brother might be. When Gilbert saw him, he almost yelled out but stopped himself. They couldn't look each other in the eye, so Ludwig slowly made his way to the left side of his brother and sat down in a chair.

"How…"

"I…"

Gilbert balled up his fist, "You must be pretty angry at me, I know. I…I'm still alive." He looked up, but Ludwig's head was hanging down. "Guess you noticed these grotesque marks too. This is why I didn't want to show anybody. Pretty…pretty bad, right?" Ludwig didn't respond or move, "Damn it, West…I'm right here, you know. Say something! Are you here just to see if I was dead?"

"Shut up!"

Gilbert stopped and Ludwig covered his mouth, "Oh, I guess you really did. S-sorry." They were quiet for about five minutes before Gilbert spoke up again, "You don't have to be here if you don't want to. You can leave now and I'll stay out of your life from now on…"

"I said shut up!"

"T-then get the hell out of my room!"

Ludwig pulled at his hair, "No! I…I don't want to leave! Please! Damn it, Gilbert! I don't know what to say!" Gilbert sighed, "You don't have to say an-" "But I want to say something to you, don't you understand? But if I do…if…"

"West, look at me."

"No! I can't! Not after what I said to you…"

"Ludwig, I said look at me right now!"

He looked up and saw Gilbert's weak looking face. Ludwig couldn't believe how dead he looked, "Now tell me what you really want to say." Ludwig's face was slowly turning a darker shade of red and he covered his eyes, "No, I…please…" Gilbert started scratching his cast and Ludwig broke down.

"NO! Don't do that! Please, anything but that!"

"Huh? I was ju-"

"No…d-don't…not again! Please!"

Ludwig was now completely in tears. Gilbert pulled him closer and Ludwig threw himself on the brother's chest and cried as hard as he could, chanting "Please don't die" over and over again. As emotional as it was, Gilbert couldn't help but laugh. It's been years since he last saw his younger brother cry and he had to admit that it was very cute, "No, no, I'm not dead just yet."

After Ludwig finished crying, he kept his face hidden. He was completely embarrassed by his actions and didn't want his brother to see his face. He decided to stay very still and hope that Gilbert would think he fell asleep, "Hey West, you okay? You're not sleeping, are you? Wake up."

Ludwig sighed and shook his head, "Come on, West. Let your big brother see you!" He slowly lifted up his head and Gilbert was immediately taken in by his brother's flushed, tear stained face, "Too fucking cute!" He kissed Ludwig's forehead numerous times while messing up his hair more.

He sat up, "I'm too old to be cute." "Nuh uh! How do you explain Feli? Anyways, you look as cute as you did back then, all clingy and crying to your awesome big brother! So cute~!" Ludwig wiped his eyes and crossed his arms, "For your information, when you're as childish as Feliciano then everything you do will appear cute!"

"Did…did you just admit that you think Feli is cute?"

Ludwig stood up to walk away and Gilbert grabbed his arm, "Whaaat? Did I say something wrong? Kesesesese!" Ludwig gasped when he saw the arm, "Seriously, West? You already saw my arm before, so why are you still freaked out by this?"

Sitting back down, Ludwig held up Gilbert's arm, "Just because you're used to looking at it doesn't mean I am!" He stared at the injured arm and started tearing up again, "W-West, shit! I told you that I'm fine! So please, calm down!"

He wiped his eyes again, "Why couldn't you just masturbate when you're alone like everyone else?" Gilbert was almost speechless, "I…ignoring the fucking obvious…I don't know about you or anybody else, but if you jerk off while you're feeling depressed then you have worse problems than me!"

They had a good laugh at that and Ludwig was feeling better, but he still needed to know, "Why are you depressed, Bruder?" That seemed to surprise Gilbert, "I…you know, haven't you even been depressed before?" He wasn't sure how to answer, so he answered a question with a question which Ludwig didn't like.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'll rephrase it, how can you be so depressed that you'd hurt yourself?"

It took a few minutes before Gilbert answered, "I've been through too much shit for you to understand. You wouldn't understand the pain I go through everyday with no way to let it out." "Then talk to me!" Ludwig balled up his fist, "Talk to me! If it's too hard to talk with your friends about it, then talk to me! You can't do this anymore, Gilbert!"

Gilbert started scratching on his cast more, "I…West, you don't understand…" Ludwig stood up, "Then help me understand!" He covered his eyes with his hand, "Please don't do that to yourself anymore, promise me." Gilbert looked down at his fingers. His fingernails were getting kind of long…

"Bruder, promise me!"

Gilbert was feeling really bad, "West, I…what am I…?" Hearing his brother hold back a sob made his heart sink, "S-sure, West. I won't. I'll do a-anything for you." Ludwig moved his hand and gave his brother a giant smile that he hadn't seen him make since Ludwig was a little kid. For some reason, that smile made Gilbert feel worse.

Ludwig hugged him and walked toward the door, "I love you, Bruder. Remember that!" Gilbert knew that his brother was riding on his good mood high or he'd never say anything close to that so easily, "Of course! Why wouldn't you? Kesesese!"

When Ludwig walked out of the room, he saw his older brothers surrounding Feliciano. Some were sweet talking him while some of the others messing with him. One brother was constantly poking his cheek. Ludwig grabbed Feliciano, took him down the stairs, and led him outside to the hospital's courtyard.

When they were far enough, Ludwig stopped with his friend behind him, "Ludwig? Is something wrong?" When Ludwig said nothing Feliciano got more worried, "Ludwig?" "Gilbert, he…" Ludwig quickly spun around and hugged Feliciano and started crying. To say Feliciano was surprised was an understatement. His whole body completely froze as Ludwig cried harder and squeezed tighter.

"Ludwig, I can't breathe…ve…"

He nodded and eased up and Feliciano led them to a nearby bench, "Are you okay now, Ludwig? Is Gilbert alright?" Ludwig sniffed and nodded, "Ja, Bruder…Gilbert is fine. More then fine!" "Really?" The little Italian boy smiled as he wiped the tears from Ludwig's eyes.

"Yes! And better yet he promised me that he wouldn't cut himself anymore!"

"…R-really? Just like that?"

Ludwig smile faltered a little, "Well, yeah. What do you mean by that?" Feliciano felt like hitting himself. He just had to ruin quite possibly the best moment he'll ever have with Ludwig, but he needed to finish what he started, "I just meant that…doesn't it all seem too sudden?"

The smile was now gone, "Feliciano, stop it. You weren't there with me, so you wouldn't know how my brother feels now." "But, I-" "I said, stop it!" Feliciano jumped at that last outburst, but then he sighed. Ludwig pulled him closer, "My brother is fine now. That's all that matters. I've been so angry for so long that I don't want this feeling to end, so please don't ruin this."

Once again, Feliciano was completely confused. It was only at times like this that Feliciano could see more than Ludwig. It was too hard to believe that Gilbert would stop doing something that he's been doing for who knows how long right away. Feliciano also understood that Ludwig was very happy that his brother was alive, so he decided to nod his head and say nothing.

A few minutes later, Ludwig stood up and pulled Feliciano up and the two walked back into the hospital and ran into Ludwig's family in the front lobby, "Where is everyone going?" One of the older brothers walked up, "Actually, we were going to leave." "Leave?"

Another brother crossed his arms, "Luddy, we can't stay in the hospital forever. Opa told us to go on ahead while he talked with Gil, so you can go back up if you want. But hurry up because we're still gonna go." Ludwig nodded and looked at Feliciano, "Don't worry. I'll wait for you down here." He smiled and got up the elevator.

As he walked out of the elevator, Ludwig caught his grandfather about to go in, "Ludwig, what are you doing back here? We're about to leave." "I know, but just I need to tell Bruder something." Ludwig rushed off to his brother's room before his grandfather could say another word.

Ludwig slowly opened the door to his brother's room and saw the doctor holding Gilbert's injured arm and Gilbert shivering a little, "Yeah, it's been really hurting a lot suddenly…" The doctor sighed, "Guess, I'll have…oh, looks like you have another visitor!" The doctor quickly put the cast back on and turned around.

Gilbert looked at the door and gave a huge grin, "West! I thought you left. What are you doing back here?" Ludwig gave the doctor a huge death glare as they left the room, "G-Gilbert, please keep it short. I still need to finish you check up." Gilbert waved the doctor off with his good hand, "I know, I know. This will be short, right?" Ludwig crossed his arms and grumbled and the doctor left.

The two brothers stared at each other for awhile before Gilbert cleared his throat, "So…was there something you wanted to tell me?" Ludwig didn't really know why he came back to see his brother. All he knew was that he didn't want to leave him alone again. As Ludwig tried to figure out what he wanted to say, Gilbert continued to stare at his fingernails, Damn it! Damn it all! Why did he have to come back! Now…now I…

Gilbert sighed, "H-hey, West? Could you…do me a little favor?" Ludwig looked up, "Yes?" Gilbert closed eyes and bit his lip, "I…could you bring me my nail filer from home?" Ludwig was confused, "A nail filer? Why? Can't you get the doctor to do it for you?"

Gilbert laughed, "Oh West, do you really think that a hospital would provide a manicure service? Anyways, if I told the doctors they would probably use scissors or some crazy shit. Do you really trust the doctors enough for them to do something like that?" Ludwig already knew the answer to that one. Not only had the doctor claim that Gilbert had some mental problems, but he heard Gilbert just say that he was in pain despite being in the doctor's care. Logic was now completely lost on Ludwig.

Ludwig noticed that his brother's nails were starting to get a little long. Long enough that he might even scratch himself and get more cuts, "Of course, Bruder! Of course! I could bring my emery board the nex-" "Eww! Don't be gross, West! No offence, but I wanna use my own file if you know what I mean." Ludwig rolled his eyes, "Whatever. Where is it?"

As Gilbert tried to remember, he started scratching his nose. Ludwig quickly grabbed that hand, "I'll just buy you a new one…" "No! I mean, I like my nail file…it's special! Anyways, it's in the bathroom. In the medicine cabinet! If nothing else, bring that for me." He hugged his brother, "Of course, Gilbert. I promise to bring it the next time I come to see you." Gilbert frowned.

"Of course you will."

…

Shit, I am so super vague in this chapter. I mean really! Is the doctor male or female? What do the brothers look like and how many are there? Am I really that lazy? I'm pretty sure you all know the answer do the last one…