Umstand

Hallo! Once again, I've gotten lots of requests to continue which is GREAT. You're all fantabulous. I've heard many people like it thus far and it makes me ssuuupper excited to work on this!

Once again; I don't hold much back in my stories. Therefore, if under any circumstances you are depressed and can be triggered by deep emotions or the reminiscing of the act. PLEASE Read with Caution! I don't want anyone else to hurt themselves.

Anyways, Enjoy lovelies!

Chapter 3- But how Unfortunate?

It had been two hours since your last class had ended and Ludwig had dropped you off at your apartment. Never before this moment had you experience such a fluttering of butterflies in your stomach! Is this even healthy? You laughed; you cracked yourself up. Besides, I don't know Ludwig that well…I can't do any more than think he's attractive. You weren't one to date purely on looks; you wanted to know whether your significant other was a decent person; caring, helpful, nurturing, all that fun crap. You sat on your bed trying to read the pages in your philosophy text book for class the next day; the pages were on Aristotelean love.

The first condition for the highest form of Aristotelian love is that a man loves himself. Without an egoistic basis, he cannot extend sympathy and affection to others (NE, IX.8). Such self-love is not hedonistic, or glorified, depending on the pursuit of immediate pleasures or the adulation of the crowd, it is instead a reflection of his pursuit of the noble and virtuous, which culminate in the pursuit of the reflective life. Friendship with others is required "since his purpose is to contemplate worthy actions... to live pleasantly... sharing in discussion and thought" as is appropriate for the virtuous man and his friend (NE, IX.9).

Your eyes began to droop as you continued to read about the conditions of Aristotelean love and conditions that must be met..So the idea that one must love themselves before loving another and you must be friends? Ha. As if. At this point I'm just going to end up with 20 cats named Sven…Your thoughts also drifted off as your consciousness faded into sleep. Maybe someday I can love myself again..

Your mind went blank as you began dreaming of a darker time. You sat alone in your room at your parents' house, listening to their screaming arguments from the other rooms. "…GET THE FUCK OUT…YOU ASSHOLE…WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU…WORTHLESS PIECE OF.." You only heard bits of their shouting flowing through your door that was tightly pressed shut to prevent as much sound possible from leaking in. Why does this happen? You cried silently to yourself as you sat on your bed, the walls of your room plastered with bands that you liked at the young age of 15. Looking down at your wrists, you saw a line of red highlighting your (color) skin; the fresh pain running through your veins and pulsing through your bloodstream. A steady flow of blood leaked from the cuts on your wrists, a bloody razor could be found several feet away on the floor. Tears raced down your cheeks and washed some of the oozing blood off of your wrist; Why am I so worthless? Why don't they just stop? Why Can't I make it stop? Your eyes glazed over as you gazed at the cuts, the cuts weren't so useful anymore, and they didn't make you feel better like they once had. I need something more…The desire to feel something, anything; lead you to the bathroom where you found high dosage painkillers. The script originally written for your mother's migraines, If I take enough the pain will stop; and maybe I'll feel something…Half of the bottle was gone by the time you thought you were feeling something. Then the whole bottle was gone, taken 5 at a time. Shoveled down your throat in order to stop the pain, before you knew it, you were passed out on the floor of your room. The pain had stopped, but you could no longer move, no longer feel, no longer see, no longer care. Until you heard a voice pulling you out of your numbness "Oh God! (Name)! Wake up!" The voice of your brother brought you out of your numb-haven; you could feel something wet on your face and cheeks, you thought you heard sobs as you sunk farther into numbness, "(Name) (name) (name), please stay with me." You slept for a long time after that.

Wake up.

(Name), wake up.

"(naaaammmmeeee) Waakkeeyy wakkeeyy!" You felt a hand on your shoulder that roughly shook your shoulder; it was (best friend). "Listen here, wakey wakey or I'm gonna bakey bakey you in a cakey cakey." You smiled at your friends' awful rhyme scheme; and stretched on your bed. You had fallen asleep with the philosophy book in your lap and hunched over with your head resting on your hand. As you stretched you groaned "UGH, jeez what time is it?" You blinked several times to regain your sight and focus on your friend laughing at you "It's abooouutt time to get up!" You gave her the 'I'm really tired of your shit' look and she laughed her big hearty laugh "Oh man (name)! You should see your face! It's about 8 a.m. you have a little time to stuff yourself in a sexy outfit and find me a man!" You rolled your eyes and laughed "well hot damn! I see how it is" You grinned and rolled out of bed and to the bathroom where you heard (best friend) shout "Hell yea! You know I'm only in it for the booty!" You couldn't help but laugh so hard that you started crying while brushing your teeth. Today is going to be a good day! The dream completely gone from your memory. You finished getting ready, pulling on a nice pair of jeans, (favorite color) converse, and a (color) v-neck sweater than clung to your curves beautifully. As you walked about the door (best friend) cat called towards you and shouted to 'get some'. She's crazy. You smiled and continued towards philosophy 101

8:26. Made it just in time! You ran into the lecture hall of Philosophy 101 with 4 minutes to spare. You strolled down the center aisle between the two main seating sections of the lecture hall; hearing cat-calls as you continued down the aisle. You were flattered but this wasn't what you wanted at 8:30 in the morning, all you wanted was coffee and a bagel. Walking up to Mr. Karpusi's desk and signing in, the tired Greek noticed your presence and lifted his head with a cat on top. "Good morning (name)! How did you like the assigned reading?" His teal eyes shone with anticipation, you smiled brightly "Good morning Professor Karpusi! Personally I enjoy Aristotle, but why are we starting with Aristotle if Socrates was the first radical philosopher of Ancient Greece?" Professor Karpusi chuckled and the cat on top of his head yawned, "Good question (name), I'll be discussing that today. Great observation however, please enjoy class today." He winked and a small smile formed on his lips, you smiled back and went to take your seat near Feli. Well, that was slightly awkward…You walked up to the group of seats in which Ludwig, Feli and several more people were sitting. Ludwig was the first to notice you, "Hallo (name)." He looked as if he were trying to smile, but it ended up looking like a pained expression; you giggled and motioned to the seat next to him "This seat taken?" He shook his head and you nestled yourself into the seat. Ludwig mumbled under his breath briefly, "Hm? What was that?" You turned and gazed as his now slightly pink face "Oh, I was wondering when my Brüder and that Italian would get here." As soon as Ludwig said this, the door to the lecture hall was thrust open by a slender German with pale white hair; a huge grin plastered on his face as he strutted into the hall and took a seat in the row behind you. Several seconds after him, was the darker Italian who looked less than enthused to be there, let alone be awake.

"Fraulein! Have you decided to accept me as zhe winner of the bet yet?" The albino leaned forward and said quite loudly in your ear; you chuckled "Ha no. The bet is still on, whoever gets an A on both tests wins a date Gil." Gilbert grumbled and leaned back in his seat "Whatever Frau, you'll love our date so much that your clothes will come off!" You didn't turn around, you knew that there was a huge cheeky grin placed on the albino's face. Ludwig shifted uncomfortably next to you and you heard him sigh audibly. You just sighed as well and turned to the front of the room were Professor Karpusi was beginning lecture "…Your first test will be next week over chapters 1-3." You heard Ludwig chuckle and whisper "Let the games begin".

Philosophy 101 flew by again that day, the material was interesting; it discussed the different viewpoints of ancient Greek philosophers. "…In preparation for your first test, I'd become very familiar with chapters 1-3 before next Monday, Have a good day." You stood up and stretched your arms and legs when you felt a small poke on your arm, followed by a small giggle. "Bella~! Wouldyoulikesomecoffee?" Feli excitedly yelled out as you bent down to grab your stuff. You giggled, "Feli, if you have any coffee I think you'll have a heart attack! But sure, I'd love a good cup of joe!" You smiled, "Vee~! Grazie bella~! Can Luddy come too?" Feli briefly gestured towards Ludwig who was now discussing something with Professor Karpusi. Smiling, you gazed in the direction of Ludwig, "Of course! I love spending time with Ludwig." Feli, noticing a certain warmth in your gaze towards the german man, giggled "(name) do you like-a Luddy?" He said quite loudly. Your cheeks turned a deep scarlet in a matter of seconds as you turned to glare at the loud-mouthed Italian, you hoped no one had heard his little outburst. But it was too late, the damage was done. Taking your silence as a yes, Feli began dancing around and hugging you excitedly "Vee~! (name)! I'm so-a happy~YouandLuddywouldbesocute~!" You finally covered Feli's mouth so that he couldn't utter any more blasphemous words "Feli, listen. I need some time for myself. Okay?" Flashes of (ex-boyfriend) and what happened at the park just a few days ago flashed through your mind. I just need time and space…Your (color) eyes peered down at him with a stern look, he looked slightly dejected but eventually he calmed down.

Just as Feli began calming down, Ludwig walked over with some papers; he didn't appear to notice you standing there until he gazed up. "Hallo (name) will you be joining us for coffee?" A ghost of a smile played on his lips, "If that's okay with you, I'd love to!" Ludwig nodded, sending a few of his pale blonde streaks out of their slicked back state and swinging in front of his glasses.

The three of you turned and headed out of the lecture hall and towards the coffee shop in the middle of campus, you were about halfway through your ten minute walk to the shop when Feli got a call. "Ciao? Zio?..." The call continued for several more minutes as Feli rambled on in Italian, you heard Ludwig chuckle after an exasperated sigh from the small Italian. Feli turned to you "Bella, I'msosorryIhavetogoworkagain! Forgivemeplease!" He rambled on as he began panicking again; He reminds me of a lost puppy! You smiled and hugged Feli, "Feli it's okay! Don't worry, I'll see you soon!" His face instantly relaxed, "Grazie (name)! Have fun!" With that he ran off, arms flailing and all.

After Feli disappeared behind some trees, you turned to Ludwig and smiled "Would you like to go in?" His gazed refocused, as he seemed to be lost in thought, "oh, uh-Ja. Please." You walked into the coffee shop and found a seat in the corner for two, the inside of the shop was nice. It smelled of freshly ground coffee, brightly lit by large open windows and a possible forest theme; as there was vines hanging on the ceiling and many trees inside. After sitting down, you noticed that Ludwig was oddly quiet, more so than normally, and he kept gazing off in the distance. He's probably just tired…You reasoned, it's true college takes a lot out of you. You reasoned that after several minutes he should be feeling better, so several minutes passed and you couldn't take the awkward silence.

"Hey, Ludwig, are you okay?" You asked, once you spoke his eyes snapped back to attention and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. "Ja, I suppose…" His eyes glazed over again as he stared off in the distance. You were really concerned now, you'd never seen Ludwig like this; what could make him this anxious? "You know, you can talk to me…" You gazed at the table as you felt your cheeks tint the lightest shade of pink. Ludwig chuckled and a half-assed smile made it's way onto his face, "Danke (name). I'm just nervous about Biochemistry later today."

"Biochem? Why? Worried you'll get me as a lab partner?" You teased. He chuckled again and stared down at the table "Not exactly, an ex of mine is in that class as well und I don't really want to see her…" His voice trailed off as his eyebrows continued to knit together. This really bothers him. You decided that the best way to cheer him up, would be to distract him; you suppressed your inner nosiness and urges to pry into their past relationship and began telling funny stories about when you were a kid. After several stories and one particularly embarrassing story about your first crush in kindergarten, he finally smiled. Not just the half-assed smile or smirk, but a full on smile. You finished giggling at your own story and gazed at him, "Erm-(name), did we ever finish that question game?" He sheepishly looked at you, you swore you saw a light blush on his cheeks, but that may have been the coffee. "Nope! Want to continue?" He nodded his head in agreement.

The questions that day where a bit more theme oriented, it began with your first kiss, then where your first date was, who your first significant other was, what you liked to do on dates, and your last relationship. You had him smiling and chuckling up until that dreaded question "What about your last relationship?" How'd I know this was coming…You took another sip of your coffee and sighed. "Well, that's a funny story. I began dating (ex-boyfriend) in the beginning of my senior year. He was a good guy in the beginning; but after a while, we began to drift apart. I began to get busier and couldn't spend as much time with him as I could before, he didn't like that. He'd call me at absurd times and call me all sorts of names, he'd accuse me of cheating and other awful things. I grew sick of it eventually, but when I'd try to leave, he'd threaten to kill himself or hurt himself in some way. I was in such an awful state at the time that I just tortured myself and stayed, that it until a few days ago. He came to visit, we had gone out to the park late at night because he got in late. I wanted to talk to him about his behavior, but once I brought it up he got very angry; he began yelling and threatening and beating me. He got a nice blow to my head; He would've killed me if these two…people hadn't shown up. I think they were men, I don't remember much of their faces…" Your face scrunched and eyebrows knitted as you tried to remember as much as you could about your saviors, "All I remember next is waking up in my dorm, with all of my stuff and medical supplies." You sighed "I wish I could thank them…I owe them my life…"

You didn't realize that you were lost In thought until you heard Ludwig clear his throat; your vision refocused and saw Ludwig gazing at you with his blue eyes full of compassion. "(name) I'm sure whoever it is, is grateful that they could help someone as amazing as you….But that's just a speculation of course!" He hurriedly sipped his coffee and you smiled. Eventually you both finished your coffee, enjoying the peaceful silence around you. Since you both had the same Biochem class as well, you began walking towards the lab together when it occurred to you that Ludwig didn't tell you about his last relationship. "Oh! You never told me about your last relationship!" You elbowed him lightly and smiled "come on, let's hear it!" He grunted and continued walking "Well, we met in high school. Feli had set us up on a blind date, I didn't originally like her much, but Feliciano kept throwing us together. I began to like the façade she showed me when we were together around Feli. But without feli, she was completely different; she wasn't a gut person per se. So I broke it off." He shrugged and stared forward. You slumped down a bit, What's this feeling? You heart was clenching in your chest as your eyebrows knitted together, you were imagining Ludwig with some cute girl hanging on his arm. Your palms began getting sweaty and the image bothered you to no end; but you said nothing besides "Ludwig, you know you can always talk to me. Right? Here, I'll even give you my number, so if you ever need me I'll be there!" You smiled and grabbed his large hand. With a pen you pulled out of your bag, you wrote down your cell number on the back of his hand, completely oblivious to his bright pink face and flustered state. "Uh-! Danke (name) it means a lot to me." He looked down at the number on your hand with a scrawled message under it saying "text me if you want to!"

You continued through the science building, and stepped into your biochem lab. You were greeted by several familiar voices.

"Why Bonjour ma cherrie." You heard Francis yell across the room; this brought the attention of the entire class, and your other friends included.

"Oh be quiet you git, why would she want to sit next to a pervert like yourself!?" That's when the bickering between Francis and Arthur restarted.

"(Name)-a! Sitbymeplease!"

"SHUT UP YOU SHIT TACO, YOU'RE-A MY LAB PARTNER YOU GARLIC SMELLING DUTCH OVEN" You heard Feli and Lovino shout.

"Kekeke Come here (name)! Ditch my little Bruder and come zit on mein lap!" You nearly gagged as you heard Gilbert shout across the room. But as your gazed skimmed over the spot next to Gilbert, signifying who his lab partner would be, you found a pleasant surprise.

"(NAME)! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND MEET THIS FINE GERMAN MAN." (best friend) yelled while pointing at Gilbert, if she was going for obvious; it was working. You and Ludwig walked over to the lab spot across from Gilbert and (best friend), signifying that you and Ludwig would be partners.

"You zure you don't vant to sit on mein lap fraulein?" Gil smirked as Gilbird chirped on top of his head. This is going to be an interesting class…

About three hours later and several almost chemical explosions from (best friend) and Gil, you made it out alive; but there was a test next week. After class, you said goodbye to Gil and Ludwig and began walking home with (best friend) for the day. About mid-way through your walk and your friend's rant about how hot Gil and Ludwig are, you felt your phone vibrating in your pocket from a text message.

Unknown Number

Don't worry, I want to .

You stared at the message screen dumbfounded, What?

Unknown Number

Wait, That sounded weird. Let me try again.

Another message

Unknown Number

It's Ludwig, I'd really like to talk to you some more

But through text.

Another Another Message

I'm sorry I'm weird, I hope I didn't freak you out.

You laughed and smiled as you replied.

You

Don't worry Luddy!

He was just too cute.

As he got your reply, Ludwig let out a deep breath that he didn't know he was holding. He was so happy that you had given him your cell phone number, not only because did he want someone to talk to who was as understanding and caring as you; but because he truly enjoyed talking to you. You continued texting throughout the night, successfully annoying both Gilbert and (best friend) with your text ringtones. You finally called it quits around midnight when you nearly passed out from being so tired.

You

I'm gonna go to sleep, goodnight Luddy! Don't let the Gilbirds bite!

Ludwig

Gute Nacht (name), Don't let the bugs of the bed bite.

P.S. I can't wait to win the bet.

You both fell asleep with a smile on your faces, not only because of your blossoming friendship; but because you were both finally happy with someone else's presence. You'd become so accustomed to doing everything on your own that you had forgotten what it's like to rely on someone else for once; as did Ludwig. At that moment, Ludwig found a reason to care.

And you finally found a reason to Trust again.