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)

"Alright. Sleep well then," Ludwig said before Feliciano skipped off.

Ludwig hung around upstairs, changing into his own pajamas and got ready for bed in the master bathroom attached to his room. He pulled out the latest book he was reading, a large, thick, black covered book. He opened up to where he left off, put on his reading glasses and immersed himself in his reading.

Feliciano opened his eyes, finding he was surrounded by nothing but darkness and snow. As he looked around him in the seemingly endless blizzard, he noticed a forest of looming trees encircling him. He was in his pajamas, but it was clearly not enough to keep him warm. Feliciano tried rubbing his hands together to generate heat, but his efforts were in vain. He must have been left to freeze here by someone.

Remembering the day's events... and his confession of love, he knew immediately who had left him here to freeze.

Ludwig had left him here.

Right after Feliciano found out what love felt like. Would anyone come and save him, anyone at all?

It was too late to pray to God now. He was nearly buried head to toe in snow, hail falling down on his head, icicles hanging from his hair and even his curl, which was nearly frozen.

No use crying for help... but maybe...

"Uwaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!" Feliciano cried out in the middle of the night, having awoken from a nightmare. Panicking, he ran out of his room and into Ludwig's, crying and shuddering helplessly as he stood in the doorway.

Ludwig sat up, the air a bit cold due to the temperature outside, and turned on his light. It took him a minute to gather thoughts and have his eyes adjust.

He grunted a bit and looked at Feliciano, his earlier slicked back hair was falling in his face. "What is wrong?" he asked as he climbed out of bed and walked over to him.
Ludwig's clothes were a bit twisted around him from tossing and turning in his sleep, but he didn't bother straightening them.

Feliciano quickly threw himself into Ludwig's arms, tightly clinging to him as if he was about to die. "D-don't leave meeeeee-! I-I'm sorry I'm in love with youuuu!" he cried, still thinking he was in the nightmare, tears streaming down his face like a waterfall.

Ludwig staggered back a little, caught off guard, and held the tired Italian close.

"I-It's okay, Feliciano, really," he said as he rubbed Feliciano's back. Ludwig honestly had no idea how he should respond, so he was trying his best.

"B-b-but you left me in the blizzard-" Feliciano stopped crying for a moment, looking around him and noticing he was inside Ludwig's house. "J-just... a nightmare...?" he asked himself out loud, before turning his head up to Ludwig.

"Ja, it was just a nightmare," Ludwig replied to reassure him.

"I-I know I'm in love with you... but I know you probably don't feel the same way..." he said, making a guess. "...maybe I should just give up on my love for you. It would save you the trouble..." he sadly added, tears forming in his eyes again.

When he noticed Feliciano was about to cry again, he held him close and spoke with a soft voice saying, "I may not share the same feelings as you do right now, Feliciano, but that doesn't mean I never will..."

Feliciano turned his head down slightly, smiling halfheartedly. "You don't need to worry about that anymore, Ludwig~. I'm giving up on that. It's better for the both of us..."

"Now, how can you say that? We only met just a few hours earlier," Ludwig said, not having any idea really as to what he was saying.

"I admit, you're rather cute.." he stated. It took him about 15 seconds to realize what he said. When he did he blushed and held his hand over his face to try and hide himself, closing his eyes and lowering his head slightly. "I-I'm sorry, I must still be partially asleep.."

Feliciano perked up a little, opening his eyes in surprise. Still, he kept his head turned down, as to not worry Ludwig. "Y-you didn't mean that, right? I'm sure you didn't..." he said, trying to assure himself it was just a slip-up. "I think I'll just go back to bed now..." he told Ludwig, starting to walk back to his room and hoping this would help the situation. "I won't bother you anymore..."

Ludwig sighed a bit as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Actually, I did mean it," he said softly his gaze averted to the floor to try and hide his blush, for he really did.

"If you would like, you can just stay in here for the rest of the night. I'm sure it's a bit cold alone in the guest room," he suggested, not totally sure if the other would like the offer or not.

Feliciano turned around in surprise. "No... don't force yourself... you don't have to do this, you know..." he explained, tears building up in his eyes again. He was trying to assure himself that Ludwig didn't mean it, yet he wanted it to be true. Secretly, Feliciano wanted Ludwig to prove himself, to show that he really did mean what he said. The tears were slowly but surely revealing that desire.

"I'm not forcing myself, I do want to.." Ludwig replied.

He didn't know what came over him, but he took Feliciano's chin in his hand gently, lifting his head to meet his icy-blue gaze.
"Why must you think that I may not want you to be here?" he asked before kissing gently.

Feliciano's eyes were open wide in shock. His blush was nearly covering his entire face as sweat dripped down his skin. He was too shocked to say anything; he never expected Ludwig to actually kiss him. "I-I-I don't know-" Feliciano muttered, almost inaudibly as his face was becoming even redder.

Suddenly, Feliciano fell over backwards, and fainted.

Author's Notes: Awww~ Little Feli is so moe! Almost too moe... yeah... I'm glad this story is getting so many nice reviews, but my other stories are getting quite lonely, you know...?