"Hey."

The scene could not have been weirder. Alfred had been getting ready to go home after a long practice, minding his own business not bothering anybody. Then Carlos decided to swagger up and start bothering him. Alfred watched as the larger boy stood in front of him awkwardly, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he stood there.

"So… I just wanted to say… well, I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Alfred frowned.

"Well, it's just Kiku happened to mention what happened-I say mentioned but I asked him so don't, don't get mad at him. And I… I just feel so guilty man." Carlos seemed exhausted, like the words or maybe the emotions and thoughts behind the words were taking a physical toll, "I keep wondering if maybe we had fought our way back in or something, maybe we could have saved your brother."

"I'd like to think we would have but probably not." Alfred admitted. He'd heard it enough times from both his parents, how foolish even going up there had been. He also had to wonder, if he hadn't forced Kiku and Carlos into taking him up there, could he possibly have saved his parents all this pain? Maybe Mattie would have been found another way… although what other way had yet to come to mind.

"Anyway," Carlos said after a rather awkward and pregnant pause between the two, "I was thinking… when Mattie gets back he's going to need friends-"

"Are you asking for my brother's hand in marriage or something?" Alfred couldn't help but remark, feeling like he had to say something because Carlos was just acting so out of character, "Am I arranging a date for my brother when he comes home?"

Carlos rolled his eyes, normally he would have been hitting Alfred for such remarks but today he just smirked dryly.

"I'm saying call me to come hangout with him when he comes home. We could show him around, I'll make sure he sees the very best our little town has to offer."

"So the best alleyways for smoking and beating people up. I can't think of much else to do around here."

"You know I don't do that." Carlos said patiently.

"Do I? I mean it's not hard to imagine-"

"Whatever burger breath." Carlos sighed.

Alfred grinned, "Thanks… I guess it's just nice to hear someone else believes he'll come home too."

Carlos grinned and the moment was still awkward, if not a bit less so.

That is until Coach Davie walked through the door and frowned at the two.

"Are we making plans for a future fist fight or having it out right here?" He asked and both boys jumped in surprise at his arrival.

"Neither!" Alfred snapped quickly, "I was just telling this loser he should keep away from me!"

"Yeah whatever, four eyes here thinks he's so tough but one swipe and I'll have him screaming for Daddy."

Coach Davie rolled his eyes but he was sure of what he'd seen through the door window before he'd interrupted whatever moment these two had been having. And the lack of fighting sounds as he walked away only confirmed he was not crazy in thinking the two had reached some sort of truce.


When Theodore crossed the threshold into the motel room, swiftly shutting and locking the door before turning to Ludwig smiling, Ludwig realized something was off. That smile was a bit to strained, to forced. Whatever lay beneath it was refusing to be concealed, and Theodore didn't exactly bother to as he pushed Ludwig onto the motel bed and leaned over.

"Feels weird," He whispered hotly into Ludwig's ear, his fingers beginning to travel, "I feel like I'm meeting some filthy whore when it's in a motel room."

Ludwig allowed himself to be pressed further into the mattress, reaching up to trail his fingers along the side of Theodore's face as slowly as possible, as Grandpa had shown him to do. Theodore didn't seem to appreciate the gesture, he snatched Ludwig's hand and pinned it above his head as a dark shadow crossed his face.

"Don't touch me, this place is disgusting… you're disgusting." Theodore pulled away from Ludwig, looking nauseous, "I can't do this… you're just another two-bit whore here. There's nothing special about you."

This wasn't the first time Ludwig was insulted for the things he did, the things he was forced to do, but somehow the insults just seemed to make sense in this particular setting. Or maybe with everything that was going on other things had become difficult to ignore or swallow. He remained sitting where he was, quiet and pained while Theodore paced the room, running a hand over his face.

"No… no this isn't worth my money. We're done for the day, possibly for a while." He stormed towards the door connecting the two rooms where he was met with a waiting Gerhalt.

Gerhalt looked surprised to see Theodore already, his eyebrows raising as he glanced between Ludwig and the client.

"So soon?" He asked, allowing Theodore to pass when the man made for him to move out of the way.

"It's no different than some cheap disease-ridden skank." Theodore hissed, "I'll be happy to do business again once you've found a more respectable base of operations."

"Such a picky customer." Gerhalt sighed as Ludwig was waved inside the other room, directed to sit on the bed nearby, "Well fine, I guess. But before you go, I don't believe you paid."

"We didn't even do anything." Theodore said, looking to Ludwig as if the boy would speak out in the man's defense. Ludwig looked away, finding the bedspread pattern very interesting instead. He heard Theodore scoff over him.

"Mr. Bayern, I'm not sure how you think this works, but to even get in the room you need to be willing to pay." Gerhalt sighed, although amusement colored his expression.

"But-"

"Now I don't doubt nothing happened between you and Goldie, so I'm only charging the entry fee this time."

"How dare-"

"Or I could just break your knees and take whatever's in your wallet." Gerhalt suggested, "It's your choice really."

Theodore spluttered for a moment or two, looking between Ludwig and Gerhalt as his face colored before plunging his hand into a back pocket and withdrawing his wallet. The middle aged client cast another nasty glance Ludwig's way before slapping bills into Gerhalt's palm and storming out the door. Gerhalt turned to glower at Ludwig before retreating into the other room, leaving Ludwig to stay on the bed alone and useless.