A/N: This is my final chapter! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read my story! I had no idea that I would get such a wonderful response! Thank you!
Weeks had passed since the incident with Herr Sonnenstitch. Autumn was in mid swing and the leaves had begun turning brilliant shades of amber and copper. Even the vineyards, a usually determined green, were now a brilliant scarlet against the golden sun baked grass. Hanschen lay, alone, among the vines, peering up at the cloudy sky. He often spent time alone; Ernst never talked with him in public and avoided eye contact no matter how much Hanschen tried to achieve it. It was if they had never even become friends, let alone lovers. It was if nothing had ever happened in the first place. They were merely acquaintances who were in separate social circles. Everything was back to how it was, how it had been. Hanschen sighed and rolled on to his side, tracing the earth with his fingertips. He didn't notice Ernst behind him, staring at him with a bemused expression on his face and his hand fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve nervously.
"Hanschen," he finally said, causing the older boy to turn around, an eyebrow raised.
"Herr Robel," he nodded in greeting and then turned back around to what he was doing.
"Hanschen, you don't need to use such formalities with me. It's only me, Ernst." Hanschen rolled his eyes and propped himself up on his elbows, facing the boy.
"Where have your friends gone?" The word "friends" felt strange on his tongue.
"They're playing tag with the girls."
"Oh, so your friends are boys now?"
"And yours seem to be the girls, Hanschen, from what I've been hearing," Ernst said, his eyebrows raised and a smile on his face. Hanschen smirked and sat up, placing his arms behind him to support himself. Gradually Ernst leant down and laced their arms together. "You and Martha," he said quietly, his eyes wandering over Hanschen, "I would have never guessed." Hanschen smirked at the repetition of his own phrasing. "Do you think you're going to marry her?" Hanschen shrugged hyperbolically and sighed.
"I don't think so. I suppose I'm still waiting for the right…." he looked at Ernst intensely, playing with which word he should say, "girl." Ernst hit him lightly on the shoulder, making Hanschen feel satisfied with his chosen phrase.
"What about something else?" Ernst replied, looking up at him with his large, honest eyes.
"What? Something else? As in not a girl? Really, Ernst, I don't know…" Before Hanschen could finish his theatrical commentary, Ernst pressed their lips gently together. Hanschen gave a wry smile. "Or that could work, I suppose." The both laughed and Ernst kissed him again. He arranged himself so that he was neatly sat in Hanschen's lap. Hanschen pressed his hand on the younger boy's knee and delved deeper into his mouth. Ernst felt familiar and comforting yet always enticing, like some sort of delicious treat. He pulled away, his hand resting on the back of Hanschen's neck.
"You and me," he murmured, their lips brushing as he spoke. Hanschen tilted his head to the side, waiting for him to complete his sentence. Ernst smiled and bent down to whisper a familiar phrase softly in Hanschen's ear. He was surprised Ernst still remembered it but, of course, they both remembered everything that was ever said, every brief touch or glancing look. The phrase echoed through Hanschen's mind as Ernst said it: "You and me, we aren't just best friends."
A/N: I was going to separate them but, in the end, I didn't have the heart to. Hopefully you won't mind the ending too much and perhaps enjoyed reading my story. Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback that you all gave me!
Kawaiisprinkles