Hours earlier around eight or nine PM that same night. Before Gilbert took off with Matthew. Lukas was currently getting dinner ready. While Emil sat at the table reading a book needed for a report due that week as Andersen sat across from Emil. Andersen has been quiet. Oddly so.
"Are you sure you're up for Tino and Berwald coming tonight?" Lukas questioned as he stirred his pot. They were having soup. It was cheap and easy to make for the short notice. Tino just sprung it up that they wanted to come over tonight with this new kid of theirs. They haven't adopted him yet, obviously, but they did do the right thing and inform someone in CPS-
At least that's what Andersen said. That CPS had been properly notified, but Lukas's mind telling him that wasn't the case That Andersen being ungodly quiet was a sign of a guilty man? What was he doing? what was he hiding?
"Huh?" Emil must have kicked Andersen's leg because Andersen let out a sharp. "Ouch!" after that. "Oh, of course!" He finally answered Lukas.
Lukas 'hmphed' at that answer and he started to add some pepper to the pot of soup. Lukas put the pepper down dipped his spoon into the pot to taste the soup. The flavors came back nice and he went looking for his pot grabbers. "Emil, can you set the table, please?" Lukas asked, but it was more of a demand disguised as a question. Emil let out a heavy sigh, placed his book down on the table, and got up to do so.
Andersen was tapping the table now; pinky, ring-finger, middle-finger, and index finger. A rhythmic tapping, fast, and full of anxiety. Lukas frowned again and with an annoyed sigh of his own. Lukas couldn't take this anymore and slapped the potholders down on the counter top. This was very un-Andersen like and he had enough.
"Andersen." Lukas tapped his roommate's shoulder gaining his attention. "A word." this wasn't disguised as a question. No, this was a demand plain and simple. Andersen complied and got up from the table.
They walked into the laundry room that was just down the hall from the kitchen. Lukas immediately turned the washer on. The Laundry room wasn't much bigger than a walk-in closet, but it was more than enough room for what Lukas needed for now. "Talk." he ordered.
"I don't know what you mean-gak!" Lukas grabbed Andersen's tie and tightened it around his fist.
"Talk. Before I shove this tie in the washer with you still attached to it. What do you know?"
Andersen made an uncomfortable face as Lukas pulled on the tie, bringing Andersen down to his height. Andersen, realizing that he wasn't getting out of Lukas's grip without a fight, just sighed. "T-The kid." Andersen choked out. "I'm pretty sure he's a missing kid." he wheezed.
Lukas let go of the tie and crossed his arms. He glared at Andersen. "You told Tino that kid wasn't missing. You told him that you called CPS for him, but you didn't. Did you?"
Andersen awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
"Dammit, Andersen!" Lukas threw his hands up. "You don't think they aren't gonna notice when CPS doesn't show up? Or when they go to officially try to foster or adopt him that he's not gonna pop up?" Lukas rolled his eyes. "You have to tell them the truth!"
"I know that. But… it's gonna kill them inside!"
"The boy already has a family."
"..." Andersen huffed and turned his head away. "Does he though? If my information right he ranaway because of his abusive father-"
"That's something they need to know! They need to know this, Andersen! You can't keep this a secret. You need to tell them the truth and call CPS for god's sake!" When Andersen didn't respond right away; Lukas puffed his chest out, and poked Andersen's chest sharply. "If you don't tell them. I will!"
Andersen bit the inside of his cheek before turning his head away from Lukas. There was a pause between the two of them before Andersen nodded. "You're right. I know you're right." He defeatedly hung his head. "But… let them have tonight. Please, let me just… talk to Matthew tomorrow. Get some more details about the situation… and then tell them once I'm sure I know everything."
Lukas felt his eyebrows suddenly furrow. "Matthew?" he questioned.
"Yeah, the kid Máximo took in. The, uh, weirdo. Emil called him…" Andersen looked at Lukas for a few seconds before noting on Lukas's face as it had shifted from furious to slightly confused. Andersen gave Lukas a strange look. "You don't know Matthew, do you?"
"No-" Lukas shook his head, but not before adding. "I mean, I knew a Matthew. But that was a long time ago. Besides, Matthew is such a popular name…"
"Good point. You can't go anywhere without running into a Matthew."
"Look, I'm giving you this one night, just don't blow it and if you don't tell them by the end of the week I will. Got it?" Lukas quickly changed the subject back.
"...Right."
There was a knock on the laundry door. Lukas opened it to see Emil. "The table is set- and the soup is over boiling-"
"Dritt!" Lukas cursed out before rushing out of the laundry room. Nearly knocking Emil to the ground as he did so.
"Language!" Andersen laughed from behind him. Lukas was tempted to throw him the bird for good measure but decided against it.
He rushed to the steaming, hissing, and bubbling pot of soup; and first turned the burner off. He grabbed the potholders and held them in his hands. He grabbed the pot by its handles and carefully lifted it up and off the burner. All at once the hissing and spitting stopped, but not before a bit of hot soup landed on his index finger.
"Ah! Dritt." Lukas cursed and put the pot down on a cold burner. He then carefully put the index finger to his mouth, not just to suck the soup off but to cool it down before a blister could form. It was then did someone knock on the front door.
"I'll get it," Andersen called before he walked past the kitchen and towards the door. Lukas sighed and carefully picked the pot up by its handles a second time. Now the spitting and hissing completely stopped so it was safe to transport it to the kitchen table.
He never did get to do that. Nor did anybody get to eat soup that night.
"Lukas! Hei!" Tino enthusiastically greeted him as he, Berwald, and their newest addition walked into the kitchen. Lukas smiled in greeting but the moment his eyes landed on the kid his smile slipped.
A little blond boy, with steel-blue eyes, and big black bushy eyebrows, stared back at him. This boy was dressed up in a sailor outfit that one would call 'adorable.' it was a complete set with a little hat and everything.
Lukas gasped in absolute shock and his hands instinctively dropped the pot of soup on the ground. He ignored the absolutely searing pain in his legs as the scolding hot liquid splashed onto his jeans and through the fabric. He ignored the pain in his arms as some of the soup had splashed up high enough to reach his exposed arms. He was sure the soup even landed on his face.
The only sound he could hear in the kitchen was just the sound of the lid that was on the pot as it clattered and then spun, and spun, and spun until it clattered to a stop. Lukas didn't hear their gasps or exclaims of worry. He didn't even pay attention to any of them. No, he just stared at the child. The one that Tino had instinctively pulled in close to shield from the hot food being splayed everywhere.
Thankfully nobody else was in the blast zone, though Berwald did take his glasses off to wipe some soup off of them.
"Lukas!" Andersen rushed to Lukas's side in an instant and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Are you alright!?" Andersen gave Lukas a little shake. "Do I need to call an ambulance?!"
Lukas's voice died in his throat before he could answer.
Instead, he just looked at the kid.
The kid looked back at him and frowned. For a moment there seemed a bit of knowing behind those steel-blue eyes and for a moment the two had the exact same thought: 'I know you. I know you and you should not be here.'
It was the sound of tiny rasps at his window that woke Ludwig up from his slumber. At first he could only figure it was Gilbird wanting inside and so he flipped over in his bed ready to ignore the bird until morning. When the rasps continued, Ludwig resorted to throwing his pillow over his head to block the sounds out.
"Luuuudy."
Unless Gilbird magically turned into a parrot then that wasn't Gilbird at his window. Ludwig sat up letting the pillow roll off of his face. He knew that voice anywhere and that only added to his ever-growing annoyance.
With a march to his window, he pulled the blinds up and glared at Feliciano. Feliciano wiggled his fingers in greeting. Ludwig let his blinds drop.
"Don't be like that!" He heard Feliciano whine on the other side of the window.
"You better have a good reason to be here at-" Ludwig paused and looked at his alarm clock. "Four twenty-eight in the morning!?"
"I'm running away!"
"Well, you're terrible at it."
"Let me iiiiinnnnn. I want to say goodbye before I go!"
Ludwig rolled his eyes and turned back to his window and pulled the blinds up. "Why are you running away? I thought you liked living with Rodrich and Eliza?" Ludwig questioned and he opened his window. Feliciano was quick to climb in at the opening.
Feliciano was wearing a matching PJ shirt and pants combo with little brown cats all over the pants and button-up top. He had his school backpack on his left shoulder as he climbed in. Ludwig noted Feliciano's sneakers were untied.
"I did. But then Rodrich and Eliza told me I had to stop coming here and that upset me, and then Mr. Rodrich sent me to bed without dinner for sassing back to him about it. So, now I'm running away." Feliciano pouted before he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Feli, you can't be serious."
"Dead serious. That and I'm tired of the yelling, of the fighting between them and my brother!"
Well, he did have a point there. Honestly, Ludwig didn't even think about that, obviously, the fighting would get to Feliciano but enough to make him run off? "I don't think you should be running away; I think that'll just cause more problems, and more problems cause more yelling." Ludwig tried to logically get to Feliciano while he instinctively went to tie Feliciano's laces.
Feliciano pouted before sitting his butt down on Ludwig's bed. "Maybe…" Feliciano chewed on the inside of his cheek. "I don't know… I feel it'll be better if I just disappeared for a while…"
"Oh, don't think like that." Ludwig sat next to Feliciano on the bed.
Feliciano looked unsure about that and Ludwig just sighed. "..."
A few minutes passed as the two boys just looked at the floor beneath their feet. "Well…" Ludwig grabbed on to his upper arm and felt himself blush. "I'd miss you if you'd disappeared…" he managed to spit out.
Feliciano blinked before laughing a soft laugh. "I figured you'd be the happiest to see me go."
"Don't get me wrong, your habits are annoying and I will show you how to properly clean! But I don't want to see you go. Why don't you stay the night and think about it."
It seemed that Feliciano was going to answer as he opened his mouth, but before anything could come out; the front door to the apartment slammed open making both boys turn their heads. 'It's the cops.' Ludwig thought as he rushed to his bedroom door. 'It's the cops and they're here to take Feliciano back and arrest me for... uh...being an accomplice?'
Ludwig poked his head out of his bedroom and blinked in surprise. It wasn't the cops. No.
Gilbert and Matthew both came waltzing into the apartment. Literally. They waltzed in hand and hand twirling and spinning through the door. They were absolutely blitzed. They giggled, laughed, and then fell over the coffee table that failed to see. Still giggling and laughing.
'When did Bruder even leave?!' Ludwig could only think at that moment. Then a more alarming thought struck him. 'Did he drive here?' then an even more alarming thought struck him. 'Did Bruder kidnap Matthew?!' Ludwig knew that Matthew lived with Máximo and that Matthew had to be seventeen to eighteen years old- also why was Matthew drunk!?
So many questions.
"Hey!" Matthew grinned as he drunkenly pointed at Ludwig. Matthew's glasses were askew on his face and his face was red from all the booze he had undoubtedly been drinking. "It's…. Not Peter! and little Feli!…" Ludwig's name seemed to have escaped Matthew, but Ludwig didn't care about that. " Hi Feli!" Matthew's eyes went wide as a sudden thought had struck him.
Gilbert was passed out on the floor and Ludwig groaned. He hated it when his brother was like this. He hadn't seen Gilbert liked this in a long time, granted, but still.
"My brother…" Matthew muttered to himself as he untangled himself from around the coffee table and sat down on the couch. Matthew put his hand to his mouth in thought and Ludwig could see the wheels in Matthew's head spinning.
Ludwig turned and ran towards Gilbert's bedroom to grab a pillow for his brother to rest his head-on.
While he did that he could hear Matthew talking, probably to Feliciano. Really, Ludwig wasn't paying attention as to what was being said as he grabbed a pillow and throw blanket for his brother.
He didn't tune in until he walked back into the living room.
"-do exist! I knew I wasn't crazy!"
"Yes, but you can't tell anybody, Feli. It's a secret. I have to be a secret. Do you understand?" Matthew's words slurred as he grabbed Feliciano's hands into his. Feliciano nodded with wide eyes that seemed to glow with amazement and wonder. Matthew laughed slightly and stood from his spot on the floor.
"Uh.." Matthew then made a disgusted face before he suddenly grabbed on to his stomach and clenched his hand against it tightly. "I don-" He heaved suddenly before gagging audibly.
"Oh no! Bathroom!" Ludwig dropped the blanket and pillow and rushed to Matthew. Feliciano realized what was going on fairly quickly and grabbed Matthew's arm. Matthew gagged again and with the help of both children pushing him urgently to the bathroom he only just made it to the toilet before he upchucked.
Ludwig gagged first because Matthew was gagging, then it was because of the stench of the vomit. He was the first to leave the bathroom.
Matthew let out several deep breaths once his first round of vomit ceased. From the living room, Ludwig could see Matthew's chest heaving up and down frantically with each breath. "God!" Matthew spat into the toilet. "That was-" Matthew gagged again and before he knew it he was vomiting again. Feliciano left the bathroom and shut the door behind him. They could still hear Matthew throwing up through the door.
Ludwig busied himself with his brother now in an attempt to ignore Matthew's retching. "So, you're just going to leave him on the floor?" Feliciano asked as he jumped to the couch and leaned against the armrest.
"I can't very well pick him up, now can I?" Ludwig laughed at the mental image. "But one day I will. I want to be strong!" Ludwig flexed his imaginary muscles. "Like vater was!"
Feliciano shook his head. "I don't think I want to be big and muscular like Nonno." Feliciano thought about it and scrunched his nose in distaste.
"Well, what about your father? Wasn't he big and strong?"
Feliciano shrugged. "Never knew him, remember?"
"...Right, sorry." He had actually forgotten that Feliciano never knew his biological parents. Lovino knew them though. But according to Feliciano, Lovino: "Doesn't like to talk about it."
If what Gilbert had said was true, then Lovino was there during the car crash that took their parents. Putting that into perspective… then Ludwig could see a little more clearly why Lovino was fighting Rodrich and Eliza tooth and nail for his only living family member back.
Ludwig kept the frown on his face as he threw the blanket over his brother's sleeping form. Ludwig knew a rather selfish thought crossed his mind at that moment, which was: 'I'm glad I don't have to go through all of that.' He would never express this vocally. He knew it was the wrong thing to think especially now.
Feliciano yawned suddenly making Ludwig look back at his friend. Obviously staying up all night was now taking its toll as Feliciano's head started to droop. When his head dropped he jumped up and rubbed his eyes. "C'mon. Let's go to bed." Ludwig ordered as he walked up to Feliciano.
"Can't… running away. Remember?"
"Run away tomorrow. Sleep now. It's best here than on the street."
Feliciano was too tired to argue with that logic and Ludwig let out a sigh of relief when Feliciano jumped from the couch and went into Ludwig's room to lay down.
Ludwig was about to follow but stopped and looked over at the bathroom door. He should check up on Matthew before he went to bed for the remainder of the night. Matthew had gone quiet. So, Ludwig first knocked. No response. After a few more lame attempts and no answer Ludwig squared himself up. "Matthew? I'm coming in if you don't answer."
No answer.
'Damn it.' the ten-year-old thought in demise. He really didn't want to do this, but he reached up and opened the door. He peeked in; the sharp stench of vomit hit his nose first. Matthew wasn't at the toilet though. Ludwig had to open the door a little more to see where Matthew had gone.
The bathtub. Of all the places, this weirdo chose to sleep, yes, sleep, in the bathtub!
There's a lot to unpack with that. But it seemed that Matthew was breathing and alive. So, Ludwig shut the door and turned his heel. Matthew will sober up soon enough.
By the time Ludwig got back to his bedroom Feliciano was already in bed, the blanket up to his neck and his head on the spare pillow. Ludwig sighed, what a night. He rubbed his tired aching eyes.
He crawled into bed, turned out his lamp, and snuggled up close to Feliciano. Feliciano was already snoring. Ludwig watched him sleep for several long seconds. 'I can't let him run away tomorrow… I feel like… I may never see him again if that were to happen... like something bad would happen to him. I'll try and talk him out of it in the morning…'
At some point in the night/early morning, Gilbert had gotten up from his spot on the floor and limped back into his bedroom. Still slightly drunk he simply kicked his shoes off and just got under the covers and ignored any and all pain in his body. However, after a minute or two he started to feel hot, probably because he had his shirt on. He preferred to be shirtless when in bed. So he took his shirt off and chucked it to the floor.
It wasn't until he felt a weight on his chest did Gilbert crack one eye open. All he saw was blond hair and in his drunken mind his only response was to wrap his arms around Matthew's shoulders bringing him in closer. He felt bare skin and realized that Matthew, like him, had lost the shirt. Matthew muttered something but didn't wake. It sounded like "Shirt smelled. Got it off."
Maybe? Gilbert was still too drunk to think or care about it. So he just rested his head on top of Matthew's. Matthew wrapped his slim arms around Gilbert's torso in response.
"Gil?" Matthew muttered, he was so close that Gilbert could feel Matthew's breath on his chest.
"Yeah?" Gilbert grunted tiredly.
"I think Máximo might find out we snuck off."
Gilbert passed out before he could properly reply.