Summary: For street urchin Feliciano Vargas, it seems Christmas for him will be the same as usual. By some stroke of fate, Feliciano stumbles upon a kind stranger, Ludwig Beilschmidt, who delivers a miracle to the Italian's life- and strange feelings he's never felt before...

Pairing: Ludwig x Feliciano (Germany x N. Italy, AU)

Ludwig also got in the car and buckled himself in. He watched the Italian look around in the car, waiting for him to calm down. Once he did, Ludwig started the car and let it warm up a bit before driving off.

The roads were clear that night, many people avoiding the snowy conditions. Ludwig kept a steady and reasonable speed up the highway. Once he was comfortable, he glanced over to Feliciano a moment before turning his eyes back to the road.

"So, Feliciano, have you ever traveled outside Italy?" he asked.

"Nope... Since I'm poor... I've never been able to travel anywhere... not even outside Firenze..." Feliciano explained sadly. "I like my home though, it has a lot of pretty churches~" he remarked. "I always go to the cathedral every day to pray for a miracle to happen... they say you can't ask God for miracles, but..." Feliciano's voice faded away as he tilted his head down in deep thought.

Ludwig nodded a little as he watched the road, driving around the cars that had swerved out of control on the snow.

W-what should I say...! L-Ludwig is my miracle. But that would be too embarrassing to say out loud... uwaaah! I don't know what to do-! Feliciano thought, his face nearly as red as a tomato. Feliciano didn't want to make Ludwig feel uncomfortable, especially while driving, but he wanted to get his thoughts out so they wouldn't stay inside. But he didn't know how.

"U-um... Ludwig..." he stuttered, attempting to express his thoughts. "...y-you've helped me so much already. And I'm happier than I've ever been... y-you're my miracle..."

Ludwig's grip tightened on the steering wheel and blushed slightly.

"I-It's no big deal, I couldn't leave you there all alone," he said as evenly as he could.

"I can't thank you enough for what you've done already..." Feliciano told Ludwig, looking down at his locket. "R-resta sempre con me, per favore..." Feliciano whispered, blushing lightly, a tear forming in the corner of his eye. "I-I need you more than anything..."

Ludwig slowed down a bit more as the storm picked up and they were getting off the highway.
Ludwig didn't really hear what Feliciano said. The car fish-tailed rather violently as they turned onto his street. He was able to regain control and drift into his driveway. He turned the car off and sighed a bit as he pulled the key out of the ignition. "I'm sorry, did you say something earlier? The car's reaction to the turn caught me off guard.." he looked at Feliciano.

"Ve~ it's okay, Ludwig.~ A-and I didn't really say anything important..." Feliciano told the German, blushing heavily. "...n-nothing that you needed to hear~!" he added, trying to cover up the blush on his face. "N-now l-let's go i-inside... o-okay?" he suggested, stuttering and turning his head away from Ludwig, too nervous to say anything else.

Ludwig nodded and got out of the car. After grabbing some of the things from the boot, he walked up to the door and opened it up.

Once unlocked he turned to Feliciano, "If you could just wait on the couch for a little bit, I will set up the guest room for you."

"G-got it-!" Feliciano replied nervously, walking inside Ludwig's house. Wow-! So this is what a real house looks like~! Feliciano remarked to himself, gazing around the room, his eyes drifting to the various pieces of furniture. He laid down on the couch nearby, the first time he ever relaxed on something so comfortable. Resting his head on the soft, fluffy pillow, his mind drifted off again to thoughts of Ludwig. Feliciano tried shaking them off, but it didn't work. I-It won't matter anyway.~ A-as long as L-Ludwig doesn't notice... he can't tell that I'm having these thoughts about him... I want to be with Ludwig this Christmas, and every Christmas after that...

Ludwig placed his purchases upstairs and grabbed the rest from his car. He locked the car and went back upstairs.

It was rather quiet upstairs, then suddenly a bark came from upstairs followed by paws running down the stairs. A small German Shepherd pup scampered in front of the couch. Ludwig was upstairs still straightening up the guest room.

Feliciano was waiting for Ludwig to come back downstairs. Even though he was too afraid to tell the German about his strange thoughts, he still enjoyed the other's company. Ludwig's presence sparked a light in Feliciano's heart.

Feliciano was struck with a dilemma a few moments later. Maybe I should tell Ludwig how I feel about him, even though I'll probably make him feel uncomfortable... besides, if he sees me worrying too much about it then he'll worry too... ahhh! I can't decide what to do! S-should I tell him? I don't know-! All of the turmoil was building up in his mind as tears started falling from his eyes. He squirmed and shuddered on the couch, hoping that Ludwig wouldn't come down and see him in his current state.

The pup that had scampered down earlier propped it's front paws up on the couch and licked the Italian's salty tears. It whimpered to Feliciano, curious.

When Ludwig finished, he made his way downstairs. When he noticed Feliciano laying on the sofa, he stopped. "Feliciano, are... are you okay?" A slight hint of worry was in his voice.

"Uwaaah!" Feliciano shyly turned away, wiping his tears. "N-n-nothing's wrong, L-Ludwig! Everything's perfectly okay~!" he added as he tried to hide his blush. Feliciano was still debating whether or not to tell Ludwig about his strange thoughts. After a while, he determined it was best to tell Ludwig about it. Feliciano knew if he did, then he would find out exactly what he was feeling.

"A-actually... Ludwig... I've been having some strange thoughts since... before we left Firenze..." Feliciano admitted, his head still turned away from Ludwig. "I don't know what any of it means... I've never felt like this before..."

Translations

Resta sempre con me, per favore= "Stay with me, please" (ITALIAN)

Author's notes:

No, Feli is NOT having sexual thoughts, don't ask. Feliciano is in love with Ludwig, but he's not aware of it because he's never felt anything like it before. I felt I could give him a different personality, since he hasn't experienced love before.