"Why does Gilbert keep on going to eat in his room with enough food for two?" Feliciano inquired. He and Lovino were eating pasta together in what was now dubbed 'Feliciano's room' and the days Gilbert had been at home, he had always gone upstairs to eat. Since Feliciano had been bedridden for so long he had lost feeling in his legs, so Lovino often sat on the armchair and ate his meals with his brother. This gave them time to catch up, the two hadn't been apart ever before and although only Feliciano would admit it, they both missed each other greatly. Since Feliciano insisted the door to be open, he could see most of what was going on in the house. From where he sat, he was on the second floor and it seemed his room was at the end of a thin corridor, with a small window at the other end. The people of the house would frequently use this corridor as it was the one connecting one stairwell going down on the right, and another going up on the left. He had noticed Gilbert furtively make his way up the stairs with two meals instead of one, every breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lovino was taken aback by this question, but didn't seem too surprised. He finished chewing the pasta in his mouth, stood up, placed the plate on the armchair and left the room. Going up the stairs, he left Feliciano in complete bewilderment. After about ten minutes he came back down and sat on the armchair, placing the plate of pasta back on his lap. Feliciano raised an eyebrow. Lovino's face was a mixture of disgruntlement and embarrassment.

"Fucking hell." He sighed. "Well, Gilbert has this guy with him upstairs and we can't tell Ludwig because they have like, you know, have a relationship like Antonio and I. Plus he's one of their enemies, so like us."

"What's wrong with that? Why can't we tell Ludwig?"

"Because, Feliciano, we don't know how Ludwig will react. You know how those fucking Nuns reacted, right?"

Feliciano nodded solemnly. He still didn't know what happened that night but never brought it up just in case Lovino would snap at him for doing so.

"So I need you to keep it a secret from Ludwig, alright?" Lovino continued, "You better keep your fucking mouth shut, I'm warning you."

Feliciano nodded quickly. He had been trusted with a lot of secrets lately. This made him think back to Francis and Arthur, and their escape plan. It was quite funny to him that he had been able to escape without their help, although it hadn't been planned and he had no part in it. He wondered how long it had been since they had started planning to escape, which led him to another thought; he didn't even know what month it was.

"Hey, Lovino?"

"What is it, Dumbass?"

"What day is it?"

Lovino looked up from the pasta and frowned at his younger brother. "Um, Tuesday."

"No." Feliciano giggled. "I mean what month."

"You mean you don't know what fucking month it is?"

"I was kind of ill for a while."

"Fucking hell, Feli. It's been about a week since you came here, you could've asked anytime."

Feliciano shrugged. "I didn't think of it before."

Lovino exhaled heavily. "It's December 15th, okay?"

Feliciano clapped excitedly. "It's ten days until Christmas!"

"Don't expect anything this year, okay? Not even a fucking turkey."

Feliciano pouted. "Do you think I'd be able to walk by then?"

Lovino made a noise of uncertainty. "How long did it take you last time?"

Feliciano thought for a moment. "I don't know, I wasn't really counting the days."

Lovino then made a noise of frustration and stood up. He took his and Feliciano's empty plates and placed them on the chest of drawers. Walking back to Feliciano, he held out his arms for Feliciano to grab onto.

"Come one then, we don't have all day."

Feliciano smiled widely. He positioned himself so he was facing Lovino and his feel were firmly planted on the floor. Holding on tightly to his brother, Lovino managed to pull Feliciano into standing position. They were able to stay like that for a brief moment, but before long Feliciano's legs gave way and they both ended up on the floor.

"FUCK!"

"Sorry!"

Lovino sat cross-legged while Feliciano was stuck lying down. "Maybe we should call it a day."

"But how am I gonna get back into bed?"

Lovino thought for a second. "I could carry you?" He seemed unsure about this idea but tried to carry it out anyway. At first he tried picking him up like a toddler under his arms, but this made Feliciano giggle infectiously, so he abandoned the idea. Next he tried bridal style but he only got Feliciano about an inch from the ground before dropping him.

"Why are you so fucking heavy? It's the German diet, isn't it? It's making you fat." Lovino deduced.

"But I thought I was supposed to get fat?" One of the symptoms of Feliciano's disease was unexplained weight loss. If you took his top off you would be able to see his rib cage, so Lovino took it onto himself to cook large meals for Feliciano.

Lovino stood up. "I think we're gonna need Gilbert's help." He promptly left the room and returned with Gilbert in tow.

Gilbert chuckled at Feliciano's predicament. "You guys should tell me before doing something like this, I could've helped."

"Now you tell me. I have a bruise on my ass now because of him." Lovino scowled.

Feliciano laughed sheepishly. Gilbert crouched down and lifted Feliciano up easily.

"You're very light, have you been eating enough?" He placed Feliciano gently back on the bed.

Feliciano sniggered. "Now I'm getting mixed messages. First Lovi says I'm too fat, now you're saying I should eat more."

Gilbert poked Lovino on the forehead. "Stop giving Feliciano mixed messages."

Lovino scrunched up his nose and rubbed his forehead. "It was your fault too, you fucking bastard."

Gilbert then proceeded to poke Lovino continuously on the side of his head while sniggering. And each time, Lovino would try to bat him away, but with limited success. Feliciano watched this sight amusedly until he decided he wanted to ask a question.

"Gilbert? You know the man you have upstairs?"

Gilbert stopped teasing Lovino and faced Feliciano. "Yeah?"

"Why don't you tell Ludwig?" Gilbert looked doubtful so Feliciano continued. "If I'm able to get downstairs by Christmas, all" Feliciano counted on his fingers. "All 5 of us could eat together."

Gilbert assessed this for a moment. "Only if you're able to walk by then."

Feliciano smiled. This made him more determined than ever.

To be continued...