Matthias was nervous.

He had accidentally over-complicated his life by not telling Ludwig the truth as soon as the opportunity had presented itself. Instead of coming clean, he had chickened out at the perfect moment. Rather than tell the German student the truth, Matthias agreed to help Ludwig write up a letter to ask his unidentified pen-pal to meet each other and speak face-to-face.

He sighed, a long, aged, and tired sound that didn't quite match with his age or usual personality, as he looked at the book that had the most recent of Ludwig's messages to him inside of it.

'The Hobbit'

A great book that made for a mostly fantastic read. Certainly a class by all means- at least, the part that Matthias had managed to read.

If not for the invitation to meet today at 10:00 pm in front of Kaffebar, Matthias would have loved to re-read the book. Hell, he would have even been able to come up with some witty commentary about the movies when compared to the book (he really loved how the movies made each character feel like a fully lived and experienced individual even though he was more than capable of acknowledging its mistakes) if not for this meeting.

He would have loved to be able to discuss the book and admit for the first time in his life that he was an undeserving lover of the book because he had never truly finished reading it. He had seen the movies before he had read the book- it had never been assigned in school and he had not been a big fan of fantasy- so he had known about the bittersweet ending. In his book, the dwarves never retook the mountain. They merely climbed up to find Smaug but never fully met him.

He'd never admitted that to anyone in his life.

Admitting this to Ludwig would have to wait, though, because of the meeting the German had kindly asked for.

They had worked together for a few minutes to come up with a short and sweet message that would ask for the secret pen-pal to meet outside of Kaffebar hours. Ludwig had seemed more than happy with Matthias' help and thanked him profusely as he handed him the book with the message inside so he could leave it in the Kaffebar tomorrow so the mystery person could pick it up.

This was a meeting that he was absolutely dreading.

How was he supposed to explain to Ludwig that he was the mystery pen-pal that had been too much of a coward when the perfect opportunity had presented itself? In just what world would him completely chickening out of telling the object of all his recent affections about how he felt be see as something okay- or, even further, even slightly desirable?

No world like that existed. He was doomed because he was an idiot.

Matthias could admit that Alfred was correct in at least this one thing.

He wasn't set to work today, but Ludwig had not known that when he left the book with him. He had thought that Matthias would continue with the tradition of leaving the book for the secret pen-pal to find once he got to the coffee place.

Lukas waltzed into his room as he began to fidget with the hem of the jacket he thought of wearing tonight. It was dark and thick, looking like a regular, leather jacket, although made out of cotton and with a hood attached to its collar.

"Just what in the world are you worrying over now, brother? Your lack of bills?"

Lukas had never been particularly fond of his choices in life. He made sure of making this explicitely clear whenever the chance presented itself.

Matthias closed his eyes, counted to ten, then turned to his brother with a fake smile. "What're you doing here, Luke? You aren't the kind to come and visit me on a school day."

The man had a mug filled with steaming hot chocolate in his right hand, the delicious smell filling up Matthias' room with its warm comfort. It was filled to the brim and didn't seem to have been touched by his brother.

"Irunya asked me to bring you this." Lukas explained with a sigh, "She ordered me to take a break from grading tests."

Matthias nodded, grabbed the cup, and took a small sip of the delicious drink. It warmed him in the best way possible, making him lose the sense of impending doom for a couple of seconds before it reappeared.

"But, really, what's eating at you?"

Matthias frowned for a moment, then shrugged, "Nothing, really. Like you said, I don't really have anything that should worry me."

He was lying through his teeth. But how was he supposed to explain the situation to his more than judgemental brother? And, even if he knew how, just why would he tell him anything? Lukas would undoubtedly throw his cowardice in his face and tell him he was being an idiot. He didn't really need that kind of conversation at the moment.

Lukas remained quiet for a moment, huffed, and left the room.

For some reason, Matthias felt guilty over having kept his worries a secret from his brother. But that didn't make any sense. Lukas had never been the kind to care about his brother's personal lives as long as their business aspirations were not derailed.

He sighed once more when he scanned over the shirts he had picked out to wear.

They all seemed much too nice to wear to what was supposed to be a casual outing. But this wasn't a casual outing, now was it? But... It wasn't a date either. They would be 'meeting' for the first time.

How was he going to play his stupidity and cowardice off?

"Red... Or blue?"

He had narrowed his closet down to a nice pair of jeans and a tight fitting red shirt or a dark blue button up shirt.

"Red makes your eyes pop!"

Matthias turned around as soon as he heard Tino's voice, "What is this? Random cameo day?"

His brothers usually ignored him. Just what were they doing popping up out of nowhere?

"Besides, if you wore dark blue with that jacket, you'd look like your dressed for a funeral." Matthias found Tino smiling brightly at him, hugging a stack of large books to his chest. "I was just passing by when I heard your dilemma and decided to grace you with my expertise."

Out of his siblings, Tino was the most like him. He was bright and bubbly, a complete antithesis to Berwald, Lukas, and Emil. But he wasn't as outgoing as Matthias when it dealt with people that weren't family.

"Why are you worrying over your clothes? Meeting a special someone?"

This was creepy.

His family was creepy.

Matthias completely ignored his burning cheeks as he coughed and looked away from his brother. "Not like that's any of your business, little bro. So just scuttle along and leave me alone."

Tino didn't seem insulted at all by Matthias' words. Instead, he smiled, offered a small wave, and left the doorway to Matthias' room.

The worried Dane frowned over how odd it was to talk to one of his brothers; much less two. Then he turned around and looked over the clothes once more... With a sigh, he picked up the red shirt and made his way to the bathroom to bathe and get dressed.

~/~

He stood in the cold for ten minutes before Ludwig appeared.

He had been fifteen minutes early. Ludwig had been five minutes early.

As soon as the German's eyes landed on him, they widened with recognition and confusion.

"Matthias? What are you doing here?"

He couldn't help but have his cheeks flare up as soon as the German walked up to him.

He had to swallow his fear as he began to fidget with his hands, even though they were currently within the pockets of his jacket.

"Uh... Look, Ludwig, I've got to be honest with you..." Matthias murmured softly, then grabbed the book that was inside of his backpack.

Coming clean was the only way to go about this. He knew this because it was what both his heart and gut were saying. His brain was yelling at him to come up with a lie and escape; but his brain could be pretty stupid at times.

"I... I'm the one you've been exchanging books with." He showed Ludwig his copy of 'The Hobbit', not daring to look him in the eyes as he ran his fingers over the beautiful book.

It was an older print, expertly kept and in almost pristine condition. Ludwig clearly took good care of it. Ludwig clearly was one of the most perfect people around.

"I was too much of a coward to tell you anything when you asked for my help... I was scared you wouldn't like me, so I didn't say anything. But I couldn't not turn up... I'm sorry for having been too chicken to say anything." He finished with a whisper, seeing how his voice had slowly lost volume as he had spoken.

Tense silence fell over them, threatening to suffocate the terrified Dane.

A large hand appeared on the cover of the book, just above his own fingers, covering the title of the book. He almost jumped when he felt another hand covering the one he had beneath the book, pleasant warmth immediately covering it.

He looked up with wide eyes and found Ludwig smiling softly down at him.

"There's no need to be sorry." His eyes were fond, kind, and accepting. "It... It took up a lot of courage for me to ask for your help. I can only imagine how much I must have surprised you with that... I am sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"Y-yeah... It came out of left field..." He chuckled awkwardly, then looked down at their hands on the book. "Would you like this book back?"

"Ja. Eventually." Ludwig's cheeks seemed to brighten beneath the subtle light around them, "But... Did you finish it so quickly?"

"Nah. I read it once, but never finished it." Matthias blurted out before he could stop himself, then felt his face redden even further when Ludwig quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Never finished it?"

"I... Uh... Kind of refuse to acknowledge Fíli, Kíli, and Thorin's deaths at the end..." He explained lamely, looking away from the German's gaze.

He heard a small puff of exhaled breath, "Th-That is a relief... I-I mean..." Matthias looked at Ludwig, only to find him looking away from him as well, eyes glued to a streetlight to their left. "I have not finished the book... Completely... Either."

Neither of them had ever managed to finish this book.

Ludwig was perfect, wasn't he?

"I watched the movies before I read the book." He prodded, to which Ludwig nodded.

"I got my first C on the test I took in school. I refused to find out about the deaths... I didn't even know who died; just that someone would."

"Oh no!" Matthias jumped, grabbing at Ludwig's hand before he could stop himself. "Did I spoil it for you? I'm sorry!"

Were his eyes fooling him? Or was Ludwig's whole face completely red? He could feel how tense his arm was... But the lack of proper lighting wasn't really letting him see if the other man was so flustered.

"N-not at a-all! Movies... I-I mean, I vatched zhe... zhe films!" Ludwig lifted his free hand to cover his face, groaned softly, and chanced a peek at Matthias. "I... I am sorry for being so flustered." His accent became thicker; adorably so.

Matthias couldn't stop himself from smiling broadly.

His heart waas beating so fast that it felt as if it were about to pop out of his chest at any moment. He was so warm inside he may just burst with spontaneous combustion at any moment. And he was kind of dizzy because of just how happy he was with just being able to hold Ludwig's hand.

"No need to apologize. I'm pretty nervous too."

Ludwig slowly pulled down his hand from his face, allowing Matthias to see it completely, and soon enough they were both grinning like fools.

"You know..." Matthias began, "I'm sure we could read the book together. Make each other finally finish it."

"Togezher?"

"Mm-hmm."

Ludwig looked down at their still joined hands, then glanced down at the book in Matthias' other hands.

"Ja. I vould like zhat."

Nothing could make him stop smiling. Not after how well this meeting had gone.

~..~..~

There will be one more chapter! An epilogue, of sorts, just to wrap everything up.

Hope you all liked this! Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.