"All right everyone the party's starting!" Alfred asked opening the door with a bang. Feliciano bolted upwards while Ludwig moved back. Alfred danced in the doorway a bit before walking in. He took noticed Ludwig and Feliciano. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"Nothing at all," Ludwig said a bit awkwardly. Thankfully there no sarcasm in his tone.
"Sorry about him," Matthew said quietly walking in. He looked around the place. "Nice place. Are we the first ones here?"
"Besides Feliciano, yes," Ludwig said. He looked over at him. He had moved a few feet away from him. And he was now curled up on the couch a little. Holding his knees against his chest. He took notice of Ludwig staring at him and smiled.
"Woah look at that!" Alfred yelled from the porch. He was leaning so far off the railing, he was almost falling off it. "Man, we better have only good weather this week. because that lake is perfect!"
"I think all but one day there's supposed to be the sun," Ludwig thought aloud.
"Aww yeah!" Alfred said pumping his fists in the air. "It's party time!"
Feliciano laughed as Matthew pulled Alfred away. They started to walk upstairs. Feliciano adjusted himself on the couch. Slowly rubbing his arm. He tried to speak but stopped himself each time. Ludwig slowly reached over and grabbed his hand.
"So, how long do you think it will take for them to find out?" he finally managed with a bit of a lab.
"Not sure," Ludwig looked down a little. "Is it alright if we don't tell anyone right away? About us. Nothing against the relationship..."
"I understand," Feliciano said sweetly. Leaning closer to Ludwig. "And I don't mind taking things slow."
"So first night by ourselves," Alfred cheered as everyone sat in the living room. Feliciano and Ludwig were sitting close to each other but they kept their distance. "I suggest we have a wild rager."
"No wild ragers," Ludwig said firmly crossing his arms.
"Boooo!" Alfred shouted but turned around like he was hoping no one would notice it was him. Everyone else just stared at him. Matthew buried his head in his hands. Arthur gently patted him on the back as he did.
"I kind of want to relax tonight," Emma said as she was leaning on Tezera.
"And I'm still tired from packing," Arthur said a bit annoyed.
"Alright," Alfred said defeated. He sighed and sat on the floor.
"You know there are normally fireworks tonight," Ludwig said after a few minutes of quiet. "That way we aren't sitting in the house all night."
"And you know they would probably look really nice with the lake," Tezera said a bit lost in thought.
"And we could grab some blankets and snacks!"
Instantly, the group started going on about making plans. With small arguments here and there. Feliciano sat there before moving closer to Ludwig.
"Are-are you okay?" Ludwig asked.
"Yeah, I just like being near you." Feliciano beamed. He made sure to keep his voice quiet. Ludwig smiled.
Before they knew it, everyone was running around gathering different snacks and towels. Feliciano walked up to his room and dug through his drawer. He pulled out a blue towel with white stripes before slinging it on his shoulder. Glancing over at his backpack, He couldn't help but walk over to it and pull out his sketchbook. After thinking about it for a moment, he figured it wouldn't hurt to bring it.
Walking back out to the lake, Feliciano had to stand in place for a moment. The sun had started to set over the lake. Turning the sky a pallet of colors. Any picture wouldn't do it justice. Glancing at everyone else no one seemed to notice. Feliciano sighed before following them to the shore. Slowly he spread out his towel. as he sat down, he noticed the reflection of the sunset on the water. While not pretty as the on the sky, the small ripples of the water gave it a unique look that couldn't be replicated. It was something Feliciano even struggled to do in his own painting. If could, he could avoid adding rippling effects in the water. While it looked less realistic but if art history taught him anything, having your style and techniques was usually good in the long run.
"How have you been holding up?" Tezera asked Feliciano after a bit. Emma currently wasn't were as she was dipping her feet into the water.
"Not ideal," Feliciano said lying down. "But I could have it a lot worse. At least I have a roof over my head."
"Have they tried to contact you at all?" Tezera asked. She struggled to get a lot of the words out.
"Aside from my brothers, no." Feliciano adjusted himself, so his hands were under his head. "And if I'm gonna be honest I don't care."
"Ludwig is Feliciano alright?" Matthew asked leaning over. Making sure Feliciano wouldn't hear.
"He's going through." Ludwig paused. "Some personal issues right now."
"Is it bad?" Alfred asked.
"Yes, please don't ask him about it unless he brings it up," Ludwig said in a very soft tone. Both of the twins were taken aback by it. "I don't want him feeling uncomfortable."
Both of them nodded before turning their attention elsewhere. Ludwig looked over back at Feliciano. Tezera had gone to join Emma by the water, so Feliciano was currently by himself. Seemingly lost in thought. A small breeze was blowing by. Moving his auburn just enough to make it noticeable. That along with the sun rays hitting just right giving him a golden glow, made it look like Feliciano was right out of a magazine. How could someone so beautiful actually be real? And on top of that, love him. However, knowing all that Feliciano has been through, something told Ludwig that Feliciano felt similar about him.
"Enjoying yourself?" Ludwig asked standing next to Feliciano. Feliciano turned to face him. The sunlight was now somehow highlighting his face even more.
"Of course I am," Feliciano said smiling on of those smiled that Ludwig loved so much. Feliciano moved over on his towel. "I'm sure no one will bat an eye if we sit next to each other."
"I'll get my own towel," Ludwig told him and start to walk away. When he was gone Feliciano turned towards the lake. He sighed a little and started to doodle in the same. Nothing too elaborate, just a bunch of lines in the sand. Soon he heard Ludwig place his towel down and sat on it.
"Is something on your mind?" Ludwig asked.
"Yeah." Feliciano stopped drawing and faced him. He spread the sand over the doodle with his hands "Just playing with the sand a little."
"It seems like everyone else is enjoying themselves," Ludwig said looking at everyone else. They all seemed to be by the water. Feliciano noticed and scrunched up a bit. Now the sun was almost completely set, making the beach almost completely dark with the exception of a few lights.
"You know when Gilbert and I were kids, we practically spent our whole week in the water." Ludwig started to laugh to himself as Feliciano didn't even budge. "One year we somehow convinced our parents to let us get fishing gear for Christmas. Well more like Gilbert convinced them. We spent months leading up to our next trip talking out all the fish we would catch. Of course, we hardly caught anything. Gilbert got so fed up, and we ended up trying to use our hands. It was fine until we tried to grab the same face and fell face first in the water."
Felician laughed a little. "It was pretty hard for me to do things with my brothers. But one time we went to an amusement park and ate so many snacks we nearly puked. It was our first time where we had our own money and we couldn't control ourselves."
Ludwig smiled and moved a little closer to Feliciano. "You know if there's anything on your mind, you can tell me."
"I know."
"Guys they're starting!" Alfred yelled pointing at the sky.
Both Feliciano and Ludwig turned where they saw a stream of light shooting up into the air. Soon it exploded into a big bang. Quickly it was followed by many others. As they watched Ludwig reached over and grabbed Feliciano's hand. He smiled and did a quick surrounding check. Once he knew he was in the clear, he gently placed his head on Ludwig's shoulder. Ludwig's heart skipped a beat but he smiled. Today was a day he would never forget. And this was the best way to end it.