Ludwig had tried and failed not to grow attached to Berlitz.

Ludwig had been in denial about his feelings for Ber—the dog on the Sunday after the first UN meeting, when the silly thing had run ten miles with him in the morning. Many times during the run, Ludwig would look over and demand in German that Berlitz leave, but he would just bark. By the end of the run, Ludwig was more impressed that Berlitz had kept up than angry.

He couldn't help it, really. That week, when Ludwig saw other classmates making friends, Berlitz would be by the exit of the lecture hall, waiting for Ludwig. When Ludwig saw he had one of the lowest quiz grades compared to the rest of the class, Berlitz would be waiting with a tennis ball he had found. Berlitz didn't think Ludwig was a scary foreigner, too serious and too studious for friends.

By Wednesday, Ludwig had bought a collar for the dog. Well, that makes it sound like it was a simple trip to the store. The entire process, Ludwig was agonizing on whether or not this meant he was attached to the dog—whether he was responsible for Berlitz now. After all, once Ludwig put a collar on Berlitz, didn't that mean that Ludwig owned Berlitz—or at least partially?

That Wednesday night, Ludwig gazed down at Berlitz, collar held in his hand. Berlitz, to his credit, wasn't at all concerned. He was on his back and looking at Ludwig questioningly.

"Once I put this collar on you, things are going to change," Ludwig said in German, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm going to train you, and you're going to be my dog."

Berlitz barked.

Ludwig chuckled and bent down, and Berlitz scrabbled up and licked Ludwig's face. Ludwig put the collar around Berlitz's neck, scratching behind the dog's ears. Whoever abandoned this dog had let a—

"I thought he wasn't your dog."

Ludwig let out a startled shout, losing his balance and falling on his rear. Feliciano was standing over Ludwig, a grin plastered across his face. Ludwig felt a flush spread across his cheeks, and he wondered how long Feliciano had been standing there.

"Uh, he's not," Ludwig answered lowly, standing up and dusting off the back of his pants.

Feliciano laughed and crouched down, patting Berlitz. "Hey, it's okay. I won't tell anyone that he's your dog! I like Berlitz. He comes over to my dorm and I feed him dinner. I don't know why they don't allow dogs, and they should allow Berlitz, because he's the sweetest dog I've ever met."

Ludwig stood awkwardly and nodded his agreement when Feliciano looked up at him.

Feliciano smiled and his gaze fell down to Berlitz. "What did you say to him?"

Ludwig crossed his arms. "It was stupid."

"I used to talk to my cat in Italian," Feliciano replied, and stood back up. "Well, I have to go because it's pretty late, and I have a bunch of morning classes, and I get really grumpy if I don't get enough sleep! Bye, Ludwig." Feliciano waved and started to walk away, humming to himself.

Ludwig watched in slight disbelief as Berlitz followed the auburn haired man.

However, the next morning, Berlitz was waiting for Ludwig's morning run. Ludwig clipped the brand new leash onto Berlitz's collar and set off, pleased when Berlitz fell into step with him.

"You're supposed to be my dog," Ludwig reminded in German.

Berlitz barked.

The rest of the day passed normally, Ludwig walking to and from class with Berlitz. In Foreign Affairs, the Professor assigned a project. Ludwig felt worry settle on his shoulders like a physical weight while he watched Feliciano bounced excitedly in his seat.

In Calculus, a quiz was handed back, and Ludwig was relieved to see he had received a good score. Ludwig left and nodded to Berlitz and began to walk, looking over the quiz. He muttered to Berlitz in German, and was surprised to see the golden retriever had stopped a couple of yards back. Ludwig stopped and looked at Berlitz, who was standing stiffly and staring off into the distance.

Ludwig followed the dog's gaze and was again surprised to see a man leaning against one of the lecture halls, smoking a pipe. He didn't seem like a student in his grass stained clothes and careless disregard to the campus smoking rules. Ludwig watched the man watch Berlitz, and he felt a creeping sense of fear. Ludwig whistled, and Berlitz's head flicked to Ludwig and trotted over to him. The man met Ludwig's eyes.

The man straightened and blew a smoke ring before turning and walking down the sidewalk.

Ludwig wished he had a place to keep Berlitz for his Biology class, but he wasn't sure that keeping an illegal dog with his illegal brother would help his cause much. So, when Biology class rolled around, Ludwig was forced to leave Berlitz by the door, giving him one last pat on the head before walking inside. As soon as class was finished, Ludwig headed outside, and felt his stomach twist when he didn't see the familiar dirty, yellow dog waiting for him.

Ludwig hurried toward his dorm, looking for Berlitz as he walked. It was already getting dark, and Ludwig didn't want to be caught wandering around campus in the middle of the night, so he reluctantly trudged into his dorm room.

Gilbert was mopping the kitchen, little canary perched on his shoulders. Roderich was searching for something in the mail, leaning against the fridge. Gilbert waved greeting as Ludwig walked by. "Hey, Lud. How was Biology? Did you get to the reproductive system yet?" Gilbert laughed, shaking his head.

Ludwig threw his Biology text book on his bed, returning to the kitchen and sighing wearily. Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "They only did the female one, huh?"

Ludwig, despite himself, let out a laugh. "No, I couldn't find my dog. He usually waits for me, but he wasn't there today after class."

Gilbert threw the mop to the ground. "What?! You have a dog? You bitched and moaned about me keeping Gilbird—"

Roderich made a face. "Are you seriously going to call it that?"

"But you're allowed to keep a dog? What is this?" Gilbert said, glaring at Ludwig.

Ludwig sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Oh, I let you keep the bird, didn't I? And he's not really my dog. He just runs with me in the mornings."

"Dogs aren't allowed on campus," Roderich said, still sifting through the mail.

"I know they're not allowed—"

Someone knocked frantically on the door. All three pairs of eyes swung to the door.

"Gilbert, did you invite Antonio over again?" Ludwig asked.

"No, not on the weekdays, not after the last complaint."

Roderich rolled his eyes and threw the mail on the kitchen counter. "Honestly," he switched to English, "you two need to learn how to answer the door when someone knocks on it. Every time, you two stare at it. Gilbert, hide."

"Don't tell me—"

Roderich opened the door, and Gilbert fell to the floor and hid behind the island in the kitchen. "Hello, can I—"

"Is Ludwig here?!" Came a familiar, desperate voice.

Ludwig frowned and went to the door, Roderich standing aside. Feliciano was standing in the hallway, tears dripping down his cheeks as he rung his hands. When he saw Ludwig, he spoke rapidly. "Oh, Ludwig, I'm so sorry! I didn't think that he would get sick and Alfred said it was okay but then he ate it and he started to, to, I'm so sorry I didn't mean to!"

Ludwig blinked, confused and concerned. "What happened?"

A fresh wave of tears spilled from Feliciano's eyes. "It's Berlitz."

Ludwig grabbed Feliciano's shoulders, making the man flinch. "Feliciano," Ludwig spoke calmly, but panic was cold and heavy in his stomach. "I need you to calm down and tell me what happened."

Feliciano shook his head as Ludwig pulled him into the apartment, Roderich closing the door. "I, I, I don't know! I was just feeding him like I always do, I give him scraps sometimes and I always ask Alfred or someone who knows if it's good, but Berlitz ate some and then he started to shake and he fell down and—Ludwig I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt him, I was just giving him dinner."

Ludwig squeezed Feliciano's shoulders and then released him, head reflexively turning around to where Gilbert was crouching. Gilbert, as if he sensed his brother's look, hopped up from behind the counter.

"Berlitz is the dog, Gilbert," Ludwig explained, leading Feliciano over toward the albino.

"I figured." Gilbert rolled his eyes before turning toward Feliciano. "Now, what did you feed to—"

"I didn't think it was bad!" Feliciano interrupted. "It was just bacon and some toast crusts. He started to shake and then he fell down."

Gilbert clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I don't think it was that. Where did you leave him?"

"Alfred brought him, they're outside—"

Ludwig swiftly walked toward the door, opening it and leaving. He marched down stairs and saw Alfred holding Berlitz wrapped in a blanket. When he noticed Ludwig he hurried over, handing Ludwig Berlitz.

"Hope he's okay," Alfred said, nodding.

"Thanks," Ludwig returned, heading back upstairs, cradling Berlitz and looking warily around for other students.

Ludwig opened the dorm room door and walked to the living room, setting down Berlitz carefully. The golden retriever was shivering—or was it twitching—with white foam drying around his mouth. Gilbert appeared next to him, messaging someone on the phone.

Gilbert locked the phone and bent down, stroking Berlitz's side. "Antonio says that one of the other gardeners puts out dog food laced with rat poison," Gilbert muttered. "I'm going to go find something to induce vomiting. You stay here and watch him, okay?" He stood up and glanced over at Feliciano. "And calm him down too, yeah?" He said in German.

Ludwig barely had time to nod his agreement before Gilbert rushed to the door, pulling up the hood of his sweatshirt and dragging Roderich behind him. "Austrian, you're with me. Show me where the Bio labs are."

Suddenly, when the two left, a deafening silence fell in the room. Feliciano still stood in the kitchen, tears finally subsiding. Ludwig sat beside Berlitz, stroking his side. He could feel Feliciano watching him, and when he looked up, they made eye contact. Ludwig looked back down quickly.

"Is he going to be okay?" Feliciano finally asked, with his hands still clenched together.

Ludwig nodded. "Gilbert was going to be a vet. He knows what he's doing."

Feliciano played with his hands for a moment before moving further back into the kitchen. Ludwig looked up; about to tell Feliciano he didn't have to leave, when he returned with a damp cloth. He gestured toward Berlitz with the cloth.

"For the drool."

Feliciano slowly approached, sitting down on the other side of Berlitz. He leaned forward over the dog and began to gently clean away the foam that had crusted. "What's wrong with him?"

Ludwig clenched his teeth, "It was rat poison someone left out. Who does that?"

"I don't know. Maybe it was an accident." Feliciano set aside the cloth and began to play with one of Berlitz's paws. "I'd like to think it was." His voice broke in the middle of the sentence.

Ludwig, desperately trying to avoid more of Feliciano's tears, finally spluttered, "Uh, what are you doing for the project?" He coughed, reiterating, "What do you think you're going to do for the project in Foreign Affairs?"

Feliciano looked up at Ludwig, confused. "Wha—I don't know," he admitted, reaching over to play with Berlitz's ears. "I don't like presenting."

Ludwig was surprised. He thought that if anyone, Feliciano would love public speaking. Personally, Ludwig enjoyed presenting. It was nice feeling in control of the situation, and to have access to all of the information he needed, thoroughly prepared.

"Really?"

Feliciano nodded and looked up, smiling slightly. "Well, people laugh when I present. But I don't know if they just watch me and don't listen."

Ludwig stared at Berlitz. "Why do they laugh?" He asked, surprised the words came from his mouth. He knew why they laughed. Feliciano was one of the happiest people Ludwig had ever seen, but he seemed too ditzy. He seemed like the friendly ice cream man, not a Politician.

"I don't know. No one used to laugh when I would show them sketches or my paintings. I acted the same then as I do now but… Hey, Ludwig, would you laugh if I presented?"

Ludwig kept his eyes lowered and focused on his hands running through Berlitz's fur. "No." And he wouldn't. "Thank you for telling me about Berlitz."

Feliciano smiled, and reached up to scratch under Berlitz's ears. "You're welcome. We only had cats growing up, because my Grandpa didn't like dogs. My brother always wanted a dog though, and he was so angry when he didn't get one for his tenth birthday." He laughed. "My brother, Lovino, he's… Well…"

Ludwig felt the corners of his mouth threaten to lift up. "Yeah, I know how you feel."

Feliciano perked up. "Oh! You have a brother? What's his name? How old is he?" Ludwig closed his eyes briefly in annoyance—it was dumb to mention Gilbert. Feliciano noticed the pause and continued on. "Lovino goes to school here, actually. He's a sophomore, though, and he doesn't hang out with me much, either."

Ludwig grimaced. "You're lucky. My brother is around far too often. He just gets drunk with his friends."

Feliciano crawled toward the front of Berlitz, cradling the dog's head in his lap. "Oh, that doesn't sound so bad. Hey, Ludwig, is your brother anything like you?" He looked up at Ludwig, curiosity evident in the glint from his eyes.

Ludwig thought, before finally responding, "Well, he's neat. He cleans, well also."

Feliciano smiled. "Oh, both me and Lovino are super messy. My Grandpa was always yelling at us. Our house is still messy, and we don't even live there anymore!" Feliciano played with one of Berlitz's ears. "Hey, is that Gilbert guy…"

"Yes, he's an albino," Ludwig answered.

"Oh, that's pretty interesting," Feliciano said brightly. "Lovino did a project once on albinism, for Biology. Is anyone else in his family an albino? Or is it super recessive? Why was he here so late?"

As Ludwig opened his mouth to respond, the door burst open and Gilbert and Roderich returned. Gilbert brandished a brown bottle. Ludwig frowned, squinting across the room. "What is that?"

"The layman's ipecac for dogs!" Gilbert declared, rifling through the drawers in the kitchen.

Ludwig turned to Roderich.

"It's Hydrogen Peroxide," the Austrian explained.

Feliciano frowned. "Isn't that for cleaning cuts?"

Gilbert nodded, pulling out a spoon and bowl. He turned toward the fridge and opened the freezer, pulling out Roderich's birthday cake ice cream. Feliciano stood up and settled on the couch nearby as Gilbert settled in front of Berlitz. He scooped out some ice cream and dumped some Hydrogen Peroxide into the bowl and mixed it around. Berlitz perked up and struggled to sniff the bowl, which Gilbert offered happily.

Once Berlitz had licked the bowl clean, Gilbert scooped the dog up and headed toward the door. "Off to vomit!"

Ludwig sighed and stood up, looking down at Feliciano sprawled on the couch. "Uh, you can stay here, if you want. I have to, Berlitz…" He turned and quickly followed after his brother, praying that neither of them would get caught.

The process of feeding Berlitz Hydrogen Peroxide laced ice cream happened ever couple of hours, each person taking a shift of caring for the dog. Except for Roderich, who slunk into his room and locked the door, the sound of classical music from his radio occasionally drifting through the air. Feliciano fell asleep a couple of hours into the watch, leaving just Gilbert and Ludwig to care for Berlitz.

"Is this kid a friend of yours?" Gilbert asked in German, hitting his head on the wall he was leaning against every few minutes and nursing another cup of coffee.

"He's in a couple of my classes," Ludwig responded, yawning and leaning against the couch. "He knew about Berlitz. And you now, as well."

Gilbert nodded. "He's cute."

Ludwig didn't answer for a moment, and instead reached out to rub Berlitz's head. "He's interesting."

Gilbert grinned. "Oh, no, Ludwig."

Ludwig looked up, annoyed already. "What?"

Gilbert shook his head, clicking his tongue. "This isn't the kid who's better than you at the Law stuff, is he?"

"What has that have to do with anything?" Ludwig snapped.

Gilbert shrugged, still grinning.

"What?" Ludwig asked again, his German becoming harsher as he became angrier.

"What does interesting mean?"

"It means—"

"Do you two mind?" Roderich pulled open his door, glaring at the two brothers sitting on the ground. He was wearing what looked like silk pajamas, and his glasses were gone. He put his hands on his hips and tossed his head at Feliciano. "He may sleep like a rock, but I certainly do not."

"Sorry," Gilbert muttered, rolling his eyes.

Roderich shut the door, huffing.

Gilbert stood and stretched, heading toward the bathroom. Ludwig shook his head, still frustrated at his brother. Ludwig craned his neck behind him to see Feliciano.

The man certainly wasn't cute. The Italian was sprawled on his back, mouth open, a small line of drool working its way down his cheek. His brown red hair was a mess, and it looked like it needed a good cut. Ludwig's eyes drifted down further, inspecting the way the fabric of Feliciano's shirt bunched over his skin. He didn't seem like he worked out, but he was thin. His shirt had ridden up, and a small sliver of skin was showing; Ludwig furrowed his eyebrows at the discovery.

Berlitz whined, and Ludwig turned his head sharply back to the dog. His eyebrows remained furrowed for the rest of the night.

*Collapses*I'm sorry. I love everyone on here. It's just been hard to get by this one part of this chapter, so I'm completely jammed on this thing.

I'm on Tumblr now, and I post Hetalia drabbles as well as extras for this story. *Well, I'm supposed to* I have another little goofy story on there, as well. The link's on my profile. :)

As always, comments, suggestions, and critiques are welcome!