Gilbert returned at about seven in the evening, and Ludwig knew that the albino was unsurprised to see that no dinner had been made, and the guilty crease of his brows told Ludwig that his brother had gone out to eat with those two new friends of his. Ludwig still sat in their room, his homework now completed and a manual in his hands. Gilbert flopped down on his own bed and rolled to his back.
"Here you go, Lud." Gilbert said, tossing a white bag over at Ludwig.
Ludwig caught it easily. "What is it, bruder?" he asked, opening the bag. A second later, the smell of chicken wafted out of the bag, and Ludwig's stomach rumbled. Ludwig pulled out a to go container with grilled chicken, cheesy rice, roasted potatoes, and a plastic fork.
"Mein Gott, Gilbert, you're awesome." Ludwig said, grabbing the fork and taking a bite from the chicken.
Gilbert chuckled. "I know I am, little bro, I'm a beacon of awesome!" The albino laughed loudly.
"Shh!" Ludwig hissed, panic flaring in his stomach for a moment. Gilbert quieted instantly when they heard a muffled groan from downstairs. They waited in tense silence for several wrong moments, hearing nothing.
"Anyway." Ludwig said, taking another bite of food. "I'm going to try to get a job. Anything to get me out of the house, you know? Not to mention that the extra money wouldn't hurt."
"Ja, I agree, Lud." Gilbert said, folding his hands behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. "I'd try too, but—"
"Yeah." Ludwig said. He knew that Prussia couldn't work. He was too much of a goof and couldn't stay serious enough to hold down a job. He knew why Gilbert acted like that when he was with other people, though. He understood. So that always made it okay between them.
Ludwig ate in silence for a moment, letting his mind wander. Gilbert stared at the ceiling, and Ludwig could tell that the albino's mind was basically snow on a television screen for the time being.
Suddenly, however, their bedroom door slammed open, shattering the quiet and making both brothers jump. Gilbert sat up, eyes wide, and Ludwig almost choked on his food. Standing in the doorway, eyes red rimmed and glaring menacingly, was Opa. Ludwig and Gilbert both scrambled to their feet, and the plastic fork went clattering to the ground. Opa's eyes followed the fork, and then shifted slowly up to Ludwig's face. He felt himself go pale, heart thumping.
"What the fuck are you doing…?" Opa growled in low German, eyes meeting Ludwig's unflinchingly.
"I was eating." Ludwig said, squaring his shoulders and trying not to look scared. That's what Gilbert had taught him. Don't be afraid, but don't insubordinate either.
Opa stormed towards him, the older man's violent temper unhinged by alcohol and shouting loudly in slurred German, and Ludwig ducked around him, fleeing out of the room and down the stairs, hearing the thud of Opa's feet on the stairs.
Ludwig rushed into the foyer and stopped about two feet from the front door, turning to face Opa as the drunkard came barreling into the foyer, Gilbert following and looking rather fearful, though he did not dare to interfere.
"GET OUT!" Opa all but screamed at Ludwig, and he cringed towards the door, locking eyes with Gilbert. The albino held up three fingers, then made the motion of pushing something up. Ludwig nodded slightly and grabbed his coat before escaping out the front door.
Ludwig jogged at a quick but steady pace away from the house for almost a mile before slowing to a walk as he passed into the town's center. Gilbert told him not to go home for three hours, to make sure Opa was drunk enough not to remember the incident. Then, just to be safe, Gilbert would open a window for him. Now, what was Ludwig going to do for three hours?
With no real plan in mind, he wandered into the town park, pulling his jacket tightly around him to combat the early March chill. Finding a nice bench, Ludwig parked his bottom on it. He sat there for awhile and, slowly, became aware of a sound on the frozen wind. It sounded like someone… crying?
Ludwig frowned, standing and following the sound. There, not ten feet away from the bench he had been sitting on and couched against the base of a tree was a familiar girl. "Felicia?" Ludwig said quietly.
The Italian girl truly was a pathetic sight. She looked half frozen, still dressed in her school jumper, knee socks, and long sleeved dress shirt and without any heavy clothing to combat the winter chill. Her eyes were red rimmed, and her face was stained with tears and her nose running. What caught Ludwig's attention the most was the fresh bruise blossoming across the girl's left cheekbone. She peered up at him with her teary eyes.
"L-Ludwig?" she hiccupped uncertainly, scrubbing at her face with her sleeve.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, extending his hand to her. She took it with frozen fingers and pulled herself to her feet, shivering.
"S-Sì…" she whimpered, lower lip trembling.
"Did someone hurt you…?" Ludwig asked the delicate question, reaching out to touch the beginning bruise on her cheek.
Felicia flinched away from Ludwig's hand before it could make contact. "I-I'm fine." She said. "I was running and I fell, see?" she held out her hands, showing the delicate hands to show skinned palms. "I fell into the tree and bumped my head." The small girl shivered again.
Ludwig shrugged out of his coat and draped it over Felicia's head, and the Italian clutched it, pulling it closer and shivering against the warmth. "Gr-Grazie… but won't you need it?" she asked, those endearing honey eyes looking up at him.
"Don't worry about it. I'm going to go to the movie theatre anyway." Ludwig said rather gruffly, looking away and feeling his cheeks flush slightly.
"Then how will I be able to give you your coat back?" Felicia asked innocently, the red eyes from her crying fading. A sudden idea struck Ludwig, and he couldn't stop the small smile on his lips.
"Well, I guess that you will just have to come with me." He said, smiling faintly down at the Italian girl. "Is that okay?"
Felicia's smile broke across her face so quickly that Ludwig was startled, and she grabbed his hand, trying to pull the much larger Ludwig along with her. Ludwig blushed hard as Felicia's fingers locked with his own as though they belonged there, and moved along with the pretty girl to keep her from trying to drag him.
They got to the movie theatre before long, a fact that Ludwig was very grateful for. He was freezing without his coat, though he tried to hide that fact from Felicia. He relaxed more in the warmth of the movie theatre.
They bought tickets for some new action movie, each of them paying for their own tickets. Ludwig couldn't help but grimace at how empty his wallet was.
The movie had been pretty good, a fact that Felicia had agreed to afterwards, although Ludwig had caught her hiding her face during some of the gory parts of the movie. Overall, Ludwig had actually enjoyed the evening with Felicia, and was almost sad when they exited the theatre to see the redhead from earlier, Felicia's brother.
"Lovino!" Felicia sang, running to her brother and throwing her arms around him. The grumpy looking boy merely grumbled, pulling away from Felicia and practically shoving the girl's jacket at her. "You forgot this. Whose fucking jacket is that, anyways?"
"Oh!" Felicia said, spinning oh her heel and trotting back to Ludwig. "Fratello, this is my friend Ludwig. Remember him from earlier?" she asked brightly, as though the bullying incident hadn't been anything more than bumping into him at a restaurant.
Lovino's eyes narrowed at the reminder. "Sì, I remember…" he said bitterly. "Come on, Felicia, we have to go back to the house."
Felicia seemed to deflate a bit, and she shrug off Ludwig's jacket, handing it to Ludwig and smiling up at him. "Thank you, Ludwig." She said, unusually serious, her tone holding a deeper meaning that Ludwig did not understand. She pulled on her coat, waved, and then the two Italians disappeared out into the dark, where snowflakes were starting to swirl through the air.
Once Ludwig headed back into the cold night, he made it exactly 2.03 seconds before running into someone else he knew. This time, it was the Spanish girl Isabel. And he literally ran into her, too, nearly knocking the girl to the ground.
"Verdammt!" Ludwig said, cursing his own clumsiness. "I'm very sorry, Isabel, I didn't see you!" He steadied the Spaniard carefully.
"Don't worry about it. You must be Gilbert's baby brother." Isabel said. "I was just leaving. Do you need a ride?"
Ludwig hesitated. He almost refused, but the thought of walking home through the rapidly quickening snow was very unappealing, so instead he gave a slight nod. "Yes, that would be very nice." He said finally.
Isabel grinned, turning on a heel and heading to her car. "Don't worry, I dropped Gil off earlier so I know the way." She said as they ducked into the car. Isabel turned the car on quickly and turned up the heat. "Oh, and to formerly introduce myself, I'm Isabel Fernandéz Carriedo." She said.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt." Ludwig said, buckling his seatbelt.
The drive was filled with Isabel's quiet humming along to the radio, which was kept at a Spanish station. She pulled up to the house, and Ludwig climbed out, thanking the Spaniard profusely before closing the door. Isabel drove off and Ludwig headed up to the house, spotting the open kitchen window and climbing into the house with the ease of someone who had done so many times. Granted, it was harder now that he had hit his growth spurt and was now almost six feet tall and still growing, but he could still manage it with no more than a few bruises. Once actually inside the house, Ludwig crept past the living room and up the stairs, slipping into his room and making sure to look the door behind him this time.
"Hey there, little bro." Gilbert said, standing from the bed and crossing over to Ludwig. "Are you okay? Did Opa hurt you?"
"Nein, nein, I'm alright, bruder." Ludwig said to placate his older brother's fears. The albino nodded, and went back to sitting on his bed.
"You know that you're taller than me, you little shit." Gilbert said, laughing. "What did you do while you were 'kicked out'?"
"I went to town." Ludwig said. "When I was in the park, I ran into a classmate of mine. After that we went to see a movie." He said, looking away and hoping that the faint warmth in his cheeks was not showing on his face.
"Ooh!" Gilbert's red eyes lit up. "Like a date?!" The albino was practically bouncing on his bed in excitement while Ludwig scowled.
"Don't be so foolish, brother, you know that I don't date for a lot of the same reasons that you don't." Ludwig said, rolling his eyes.
"Ah, but a man can dream!" Gilbert flopped back on his bed, grinning. "I saw a fine piece of Hungarian ass today, though. Damn, that Home Ec. girl was beautiful. However—" Gilbert grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. "—the girl is deadly with a frying pan. Goddamn, she nearly knocked me out!"
Ludwig smiled, shaking his head at his brother's antics as he pulled off his shirt and changing into a pair of sweatpants, pulling back the covers. "Go to sleep, Gil, it's late." He said, climbing into bed and pulling the covers over himself.
"Ja, ja." Gilbert sighed, sliding into bed also. Ludwig leaned over, flipping the light switch by his bed and shrouding the room in darkness. He lay quietly in the dark until he heard Gilbert's breathing changed as the albino drifted off to sleep, then sat up, creeping across the floor and feeling blindly with his hands, until they encountered the soft fabric of his jacket. He got back into bed, pulling the jacket up to his face and buried his nose in the collar, eyes closed. It smelled like a combination of lavender, cinnamon, and warm brown sugar. It smelled like Felicia.
He clutched the jacket close to him, breathing in the warm scent and letting out a quiet sigh. With the sweet scent lingering in his senses, he drifted off to sleep, dreaming of the girl with red hair and eyes like honey.