Author's Notes: Like pulling out teeth, this one. Had most of it in my mind but it refused to be written until now (A time when I should be doing a ton of other things, of course!) I own the parent's names and the British sisters' existence. Jackidy beated this one so many thanks to her.

Hidden Intentions

Casimiro Vargas blinked as his youngest son re-entered the house after answering the doorbell holding one of Ceridwen's pies. The Italian man sighed, by now quite familiar with the woman's habit of punishing him with her food when she felt mildly irritated by his actions. If she had truly been offended she would had at the very least knocked his door down and beat him with a broom or something.

"...I don't remember doing anything to anger her lately." But then again, it could also have been something that he had forgotten to do. At least it wasn't anything truly important or Ruprecht would have warned him... Maybe… Hopefully.

"Aunt Wen said it was for me." The teen informed him dejected, staring at the thing as if it was going to jump and attack him. Casimiro couldn't exactly blame him.

"...Oh." Well, now that he thought of it, Feliciano hadn't been spending much time with Ludwig lately. And Lovino had left in the blonde's brother's van. "Want to talk about it?"

His son grumbled, not looking up even when the male relieved him from his burden. At least his secretary would enjoy it when he brought it to the man tomorrow... "I... think Ludwig… heard me complaining to Feliks about him."

"Ah~." And by the way his son was behaving the poor boy must have heard quite the nasty rant. It was a pity that his youngest had inherited his temperament, at least Lovino, blessed he must be, was more like his mother in that sense. Camilla had never any problem with telling people she didn't like off and hated to take advantage of people… Or more like they knew from the start she was doing it. "Have you talked to him?"

"Ludwig has been avoiding me at school..." No surprise there, really, Ruprecht didn't speak to him in weeks after a similar incident during their youth, similar only because Ceridwen didn't bake a pie that time. No, she and her sisters decided to use him as target practice. Xenia was probably still laughing about it. "He always leaves the room when I enter or turns away in hall ways..."

"Hum..." Feliciano pouted childishly and Casimiro held back the urge to sigh. He supposed it was his fault; after his wife death he had spoiled his sons rotten, despite warnings from his friends. Ruprecht was of the opinion it was a wonder that the two turned as well as they did with the way he brought them up. Xenia saw it as a sign of the existence of God. "I think you should speak to him. It's going to be awkward, but it's the only way you two can patch things up."

"But what I'm going to say to him?" The Italian demanded in a rare show of temper, looking like the tomatoes their Spanish friend was so fond of comparing them too. "It's not like Ludwig is going to forgive if I just say sorry! I… I don't know what to do…"

"I think, Feli that that is something you will have to think by yourself."

"And, like, he has been totally ignoring me!" Feliks cried, throwing exasperated hands to the air. Lovino sniggered causing the blond to pout at him, but Feliciano was too depressed to care. Toris, Feliks' best friend, was making a rather odd expression, almost like a mix between a grimace and a smile, and too remained silent as the blond raged. Quite frankly, the Italian hadn't heard a word his friend had said during the last half hour.

Feliciano had been trying for a week to corner Ludwig so he could talk to him, but he was proving to be quite adept in escaping him. It was quickly coming to a point where he would be forced to ask his brother help to trap the blond but he was still to sore about the 'cheer up Ludwig' party to do so. The Italian grumbled, staring vacantly to the floor until he felt someone poking his side.

"Feliks left five minutes ago, you idiot." Lovino informed him when Feliciano looked up, pointing at the empty space behind him. "Come on, we will be late for class if we don't hurry."

Feliciano spent the rest of the day even more distracted than normal, but most of the teachers didn't bother him since he was normally a well behaved student, if a bit dizzy and when the bell rung to signal the end of the school day he disappeared down the hallway, presumably to hunt down Ludwig, leaving his twin behind without a word.

The brunet was about to give up when he saw the German teen heading towards the school exit while reading a thick book, probably the only reason he hadn't noticed him yet. "Lu-Ludwig! Wait!"

The blond jerked and for a moment the Italian feared that he would bolt again, but he didn't move, instead he waited for him. Feliciano shifted uneasily when the other male refused to met his eyes, looking for all the world like he wanted to leave. "Feliciano."

"I… I want… Ludwig, I want to speak with you." The taller teen bit his lower lip, a sight of anxiety that Feliciano recognized from all Beilchmeist males and it did nothing to sooth his own anxiety. "I… please, Ludwig… please."

"Very well" Ludwig sighed, finally turned disappointed blue eyes to his companion. The Italian flinched but refused to trow away this chance, knowing there wasn't going to be a second one. "What do you want?"

"I wanted… I wanted to… I wanted to say I'm sorry! I'm so sorry; I didn't want to hurt you!" Feliciano closed his eyes as he began to shout, not wanting to see the other's expression. "I-I! You are my friend! I want to go to places with you! With Kiku! I don't want to be alone!"

"…I'm not a pet." It was like a slap to the face, Feliciano reeling back with a wince. "…I thought, I thought I was your friend. But you said it yourself; you don't want me near… You…You said that you felt sorry for me! That you wanted me to go away! Why are here? Why are you following me? Do you need someone to do your job? Do you need stupid, gullible Ludwig to pull you weight for free?"

"No, no, no, no! Ludwig!"

"What do you want from me? WHAT?"

"I WANT MY FRIEND! I DON'T CARE IF I HAVE TO DO MY WORK, I DON'T CARE IF I CAN'T TAKE MY SUNDAY NAP OR WHATEVER! I JUST WANT MY BESTFRIEND BACK!" The male roared with all his force, gasping as he finished, then continuing in almost a whisper, feeling tears running down his face. "I don't want Ludwig to hate me…"

"Feliciano…"

"LUDWIG!" Alfred F. Jones shouted as he turned the corner, grinning cheerily and giving them a thumb up. "Hey, Arthur needs to talk to you!" And with out giving him a chance to answer, the male dragged the other blond away, leaving Feliciano frozen at the hallway.

"Come on, it's time to go home." The Italian nodded, barely recognizing his brother's voice, rubbing his eyes harshly as the tears continued to fall, long after they had left the school hallway and reached their home.

"I think you should give it time." The Japanese boy declared while he offered the other some sort of candy. Feliciano stared at him with tear filled eyes and Kiku hoped he wouldn't do anything rash. "You can't push Ludwig. True forgiveness is not something that is easily archived."

The Italian boy nodded, much like a dejected puppy, and continued to pout at the table. It only served to make him uncomfortable, far too used to having Ludwig to comfort the other in his place. Of course, that was not a viable solution at the moment. "Ah, but I'm sure if Feliciano is sincere Ludwig will understand his feelings."

"…Yeah."

"Ah, Feliciano, do you want to try a new game?" The Japanese boy offered, trying to alleviate the mood. "I'm sure you will find it most entertaining!"

"Maybe next time…" If anything, the Italian boy seem more depressed, tears gathering in his eyes despite his valiant effort to hide them. "…Ludwig won't be with us…"

"Ah… Alfred invited us to eat with him after school. Perhaps we should take his invitation up?" But the boy didn't even bother to look at him this time. Kiku wished, not for the first time, that he had taken Arthur's invitation for lunch instead. At least there he wouldn't have to worry about getting hit by the thundercloud gathering over his friend's head.

He knew, of course, that he could have never actually left the boy alone. Friendship was strange like that.

Lovino watched as his brother mopped for the rest of the week, the Potato Bastard staying as far away as humanly possible. Gilbert, thankfully, had given no signs as to intervene now that the reason behind his brother's depression had become apparent. It was probably due to the fact that the trio didn't know the exact circumstances behind the fell out or Lovino was sure that his brother would had been reduced to a bloody pulp long ago. It was a good thing Feliks hadn't talked to Elizabeta about it, a life saving thing.

"Hey, Lovi, do you think they are going to make up?" Antonio asked him cheerfully, drawing a suspiciously familiar smiling face on his notebook. The Spanish hummed softly before adding a frowning face complete with a curl next to it. "Francis is getting worried too… But Feli refuses to tell him why they are fighting no matter how much he ask him, which is only making him more worried."

"…I don't know if they will ever make up… Probably… Maybe." The Spanish nodded as he stared concerned at the other Italian boy, ignoring the fact that the brunet hadn't told him why the two were arguing either. Lovino yelped when the other tackled him suddenly, sending them both crashing into the ground. "WHAT THE HELL! WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU FREAK SHOW?"

"Don't worry! I won't leave Lovino alone! Ever! Antonio will stay with you!"

"LET GO OF ME YOU WEIRDO! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

"Such a dirty mouth Lovi~ so un-cute~"

"I am rather surprised he didn't attempt to murder Vargas for upsetting Ludwig." The Austrian male leaned on the window frame as he watched the German brothers enter the library building, Gilbert teasing his sibling for something or another. Ludwig has steadily been returning to normal the pass few days, much to their relief, and by now was growing tired of his brother and Elizabeta's constant presence. "…I had thought you would aid in his attempt to do so as well."

"Ludwig wouldn't have forgiven us if we had hurt Feli." The Hungarian female replied, joining her companion by the window to spy on the siblings. Their classmates mostly ignored their conversation, far too used to the stuck up Elderstein and his Amazon bodyguard. "Besides, I think Feli is going to find out that he has lost much more than he has realized… It's a pity, really."

"…Please refrain from causing anymore trouble Elizabeta… Both of you if you will." The brunette chuckled as the male stared at her disapprovingly, only succeeding in looking like a particularly stern school teacher scowling a misbehaving student. But this time she had no intention of meddling, it would be useless by this point anyway. "The two of you drew far too much amusement of meddling into the affairs of others…"

"And you are right there with us every time, Roderich!" The Austrian male winced, scoffing as he stared un-amused at the female which only served to make her giggle. He was sure that if their other friend was present he would be in the receiving end of quite the amount of teasing.

"I would greatly appreciate if you don't remind me of the fact."

"You know you love it Rodie."

"And kindly don't call me that. It is bad enough when Gilbert does it."

"And he was like, totally surprised! He like, totally didn't realize I was, like, totally flirting with him!" Feliciano yelped when Feliks tackled him, almost sending them both crashing into the ground. The Italian was surprised to note that the Lithuanian male was absent today from the Pole side, but didn't paid it much thought in the face of an upset Polish male pouting at him. "Like, can you believe it?"

"Uh?" Feliks pouted, realizing his friend hadn't heard a word he had said to him for the last half an hour. Again. "Sorry Feliks. So, uh, what were you saying?"

"Well, I have like…" The blond trailed of before running towards an unsuspecting Ludwig and Gilbert, the eldest teasing the youngest as he helped him carry a pile of books out the library. "Ludwig!"

Feliciano stared frozen as the blond tackled the other to the ground, kissing him soundly in the lips, ignoring the other's protest or the Prussian's laughter over them. He didn't even feel when his brother grabbed him by the arm, dragging him not too gently to their own classroom. Lovino's words went unregistered as the image stayed burned in his eyes, mind reeling as he tried to make sense of it.

It was cold comfort when the two of them hesitantly resumed their friendship a week later. It would take a while yet for the Italian to realize the exact reason or to understand why he found himself growing closer to Toris in the following months. It was his entire fault anyways.

Author's Notes: Uh… If anyone noticed something weird about Austria speech is because in my head he only would talk 'normally' with Hungary and Prussia. In the presence of others he acts like a (spoiled) rich kid… Yes, my mind is a weird place.

By the way: Xenia = Ancient Greece if anyone is wondering. She will appear if/when I do a Greece chapter or a parents chapter.