I know this update is late, but this chapter is also ridiculously long


All's well that ends well

It was early on a Saturday morning and Francis was already arguing with Feliks again. Francis had exited the bathroom with damp hair and a matted ball of muddy yellow fuzz in his hand and promptly began blaming Feliks for clogging the shower drain.

'I had to pick up your hair with my hands, Feliks,' Francis complained. 'Do you know how disgusting that is,'

'Yeah; because you're waving that gross wad of hair in my face.' Feliks retorted. 'And it's not even my hair!'

This same argument occurred on a weekly basis, but at least the other two had the good sense to never accuse Ludwig of blocking the drain due to the fact he was the only one who ever cleaned up the bathroom after he showered. However if this argument carried on for much longer, Ludwig would have to find a quieter place to finish his homework.

'Are you saying it's my hair then?' Francis sounded offended.

'That's exactly what I'm saying!'

'Then why was it in the drain when I started showering?'

'It was already in there before I showered!' Feliks was beginning to flush in anger. 'And you were the last person to use the shower last night!'

'I'm still saying this is mostly your hair,' Francis refused to back down.

'Well excuse you! My hair is straight, unlike the majority of the fur ball you're holding over there!'

Feliks was right, the strands that were sticking out of the now mostly dried ball of hair were indeed wavy.

'That's the only thing about you that's straight,' Francis muttered sulkily after a moment's silence, knowing he'd lost the argument.

'Says you!' Feliks retorted. 'You're just jealous that I happen to have a boyfriend and you don't.

'I could date anyone I wanted to,' Francis sniffed. 'I just don't want to date anyone right now.'

'Oh yeah?' Feliks jeered, triumphant with finally beating Francis at an argument. 'More like nobody wants to date you and your "I'm so much better than everyone" attitude.'

Francis opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by the sound of a chair scraping across the floor. Ludwig had packed all of his books into his bag and gotten up from the table, wincing at the sound the chair had made.

'I'm off to the library,' he explained as the two whose argument he'd interrupted looked over at him, and without another word he exited the apartment.

Francis and Feliks looked at each other after he left, argument momentarily forgotten.

'You know,' Feliks ventured. 'How does a guy as good looking as him not have a girlfriend?'

Francis murmured an agreement.

'Maybe because he spends too much time studying and doesn't get out enough,' he said after a moment of thought. 'We should set him up on some blind dates.'

'That is actually a good idea,' Feliks conceded. 'If you weren't such a pretentious shit, I'd be calling you a genius—,'

Why thank you,'

'Shut it Francis, don't forgot I was winning that argument,'

'Save that for another time, right now I'm trying to figure out which one of my friends would be a good date for Ludwig,'

'Pssh, I'm sure he'd be more interested in my friends than that philosophical bunch you hang out with,'

'In your dreams, Feliks. Now, help me decide on where to send this future couple on a date to.'


Ludwig returned from the library to find his roommates waiting for him at the kitchen table, in a way that unnervingly reminded him of the scenes of family intervention that Gilbert had received in his childhood.

'Is everything alright?' he asked uncertainly.

'Oh yes, perfectly fine, better than fine actually—,'

'I'll take it from there,' Francis interrupted. 'Ludwig, you're going on a date tomorrow.'

'What?' Ludwig wasn't sure he'd heard right.

'Now you've just scared him,' Feliks chided. 'Ludwig, sit down.'

Feliks waited until Ludwig did as he was told then continued:

'Look, Francis and I have decided to do you a favour and set you up with a girl—,'

'It was all my idea actually—,'

'Will you just let me explain the necessary details?'

'Me showcasing my genius is a necessary detail,'

Ludwig wondered for at least the fifth time whether Francis practiced the offended expression he was currently wearing, before registering what had actually been said.

'Do I have a choice in this?' he asked warily.

'Nope,' both Feliks and Francis replied blithely.

'Besides,' Francis assured. 'Your date is a lovely lady, even if I have to say so myself.'

Feliks grumbled something that sounded like "of course you would".

'Now for the details that are actually relevant,' he added. 'You'll be meeting with Manon at one PM tomorrow at that nice Italian café a just off campus. It's a great place, Toris and I go there all the time.'

'Now who's the one with giving unnecessary details?' Francis smirked smugly.

'Shut up, Francis,'

'I thought it might be helpful to tell you that we've booked table three for you. You know, seeing Feliks forgot to mention it.'

Feliks looked torn between rebutting and accepting the fact that Francis had been right. Ludwig felt the beginnings of an oncoming headache.

'Alright then,' he sighed, unsure what he'd signed up for as he got up from the table and headed for his room.


Arriving at the café five minutes early, Ludwig nervously located table three and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. A waiter with a name tag reading "Feliciano" greeted him with a smile.

'First date?' he asked Ludwig cheerfully.

'Yeah,' Ludwig managed to mumble in reply.

'You look nervous,'

'Yeah,' Ludwig said again.

'Don't worry too much,' Feliciano spoke blithely. 'Good food is the key to anyone's heart, and we have plenty of it here.'

'Ah, thank you,'

For some reason Ludwig did feel more relaxed talking to Feliciano, but before he could think of anything to say, a young woman with glasses and neatly braided blonde hair tied with a ribbon walked up to the table. Feliciano winked at Ludwig, mouthing "good luck" before disappearing behind the front counter.

'You must be Ludwig,' the woman said as she checked the table number.

'Err… Yes that's me,' Ludwig stumbled over his words and quickly tried to remedy the situation. 'You must be Manon… Umm, I mean nice to meet you.'

Manon giggled and sat down across the table from Ludwig.

'Francis was right about you being charming,'

'Oh… Thanks?'

Manon giggled again.

'What he actually said was that you were "awkwardly charming" – his words exactly,' she shrugged. 'If he's given you any warning about me, he might have said that I'm brutally honest.'

'Oh,'

Once again, Ludwig was at a loss for words. Manon seemed to sense this and waved a waiter over.

'It's okay,' she reassured him. 'We can talk after we order, the philosophy study groups come here a lot.'

To Ludwig's disappointment, the waiter who wasn't Feliciano, but a taller brunet with a similar amount of cheerfulness whose name tag read "Antonio". Ludwig simply picked the first item on the menu, while Manon took a few moments to decide. After Antonio left, she began their conversation again.

'So, it's established we're both students,' she began. 'What do you study then?'

Over the course of the next then minutes, Ludwig learnt that Manon was a music student. She played the clarinet and was particularly fond of classical music, particularly the works of someone named Dalayrac, of whom Ludwig had never even heard of. Nevertheless he nodded as if he understood, and answered the question she asked him about what he found interesting about engineering. It turned out Manon lived in the dorms, and was quite jealous of Ludwig's apartment situation, despite the anecdotes he gave about living Francis and Feliks. Ludwig was quite relieved when the food arrived, not only because he was beginning to feel hungry, but also because he'd have an excuse not to talk. The conversation hadn't been entirely awkward, but Manon just so happened to ask questions like an interrogator, even if she did give the same amount of detail about herself.

After he'd finished eating, Ludwig quickly came up with an excuse about needing to be somewhere else and offered to pay the bill. Manon accepted and Ludwig left in relief, already wondering what his brother would say when he relayed this story later that night.


Feliks was waiting for Ludwig when opened the door.

'How'd it go?' he asked excitedly, clearly having more faith in Ludwig than Ludwig himself ever did.

'Umm…'

Ludwig was saved from answering by Francis, who was sprawled lazily across the couch, clearly in the middle of texting somebody.

'You could have just asked me, you know,' he said, looking momentarily up from his phone. 'Manon has been telling me all about the date already.'

'Well?' What happened?' Feliks demanded, turning his attention away from Ludwig.

Francis smirked at Ludwig and shook his head slowly.

'You really need to work on your game, my friend,' Francis sounded amused as he scrolled up through the messages on his phone. 'Let's see… Manon says that you were "the most awkward person she's ever been on a date with" and that you "obviously didn't want to be there".'

He raised his eyebrows as if expecting an explanation and Ludwig cringed internally.

'Ouch,' Feliks hissed empathetically. 'Hey, how about we try this again, like next week? Obviously Francis here picked out the wrong girl for you. But I have a friend – Katya, who's really sweet and I'm sure the two of you would have a really nice date.'

'I really…' Ludwig paused as both of his roommates looked at him expectantly.

'Feliks has a point,' Francis sighed dramatically. 'Manon might not have been the right choice. I've gotten used to her and forgotten how harsh she can seem to people who've just met her.'

'Yeah! Go for it!' Feliks nodded enthusiastically.

'I guess…' Ludwig reluctantly agreed. It was hard to disagree with Feliks when he was passionate about an idea, besides, at least the food had been delicious and quite affordable.

'Yes!' Feliks clapped his hands together. 'You're not going to regret this.' He promised.

'I hope so,' Ludwig muttered to himself as he went into his room.


One o'clock Sunday afternoon rolled around again and Ludwig once more found himself seated at table three of the nice Italian café. Having been given some advice potentially unhelpful advice from Gilbert, he felt slightly more prepared than he'd been the previous week and casually took a look around the place. Most of the tables in the spacious but cosy café were filled, there were several students frantically scribbling or typing over a cup of coffee with a muffin or salad, a large group of student pouring over papers spread out over a table, and even a few professors who Ludwig recognised simply having lunch. Soon enough, a familiar waiter approached the table.

'Second date?' Feliciano asked.

'Oh no,' Ludwig clarified. 'The first one went disastrously and my roommates have set me up with someone else.'

'They sound like they're very helpful,' Feliciano offered.

'A bit too helpful,' Ludwig said honestly. 'I didn't ask them to do this.'

Feliciano laughed, and Ludwig noticed it was a very nice laugh; friendly and somewhat musical.

'So a bit of a handful then?'

'Pretty much,' Ludwig laughed as well, before wondering if he should introduce himself and did it without thinking too much. 'I'm Ludwig, by the way.'

'Nice talking to you, Ludwig,' Feliciano said with an odd smile. 'I'm Feli, in case you couldn't tell by the tag. Also I think your date is here…'

Ludwig looked in the direction of the door and saw a woman with a flushed round face and blonde hair styled into a bob rush over to his table.

'Hi! Sorry I'm late! I'm Yekaterina – Katya.'

She stopped to take a breath and straightened her clothes, looking slightly flustered.

'Err… I'm Ludwig. Nice to meet you.'

Ludwig held out his hand before realising that wasn't usually what people on dates did. Katya shook his hand uncertainly.

'I'm not actually sure what I'm doing,' she admitted.

'Same here,' Ludwig tried to remember what Gilbert had said the previous night. "Look for something in common to talk about", right. 'I guess we can both just blame Feliks for this?'

'Yes…' Katya spoke with a slight frown.

'Umm… The food here is nice,' Ludwig offered.

'Really?' Katya picked up a menu. 'Do you come here often.'

'Not really, I was just here on a date last week,'

Katya didn't look away from the menu, but Ludwig noticed her frowning again. Perhaps mentioning his last date hadn't been a good idea. Once again he questioned why he'd agreed to put himself through this.

The rest of the afternoon progressed just as awkwardly. Ludwig had asked Katya if she had any pets, hoping to be able to talk about his dogs, unfortunately this only led to Katya informing him she was allergic to dogs, and the conversation only got worse from there. No matter whatever Ludwig said, it always seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Finally Katya mentioned she had to leave for a study group. Ludwig offered to pay for their lunch and Katya looked like she wanted to argue for a moment before she simply nodded. Feeling like he'd done something wrong, Ludwig waited for Katya to pick up her things and leave before paying and tipping Feliciano generously for being sympathetic.


When Ludwig got back to the apartment, Francis covered his mouth and snickered, which earned him a glare from Feliks.

'Be nice for once, could you,' Feliks spoke disapprovingly. 'It's not like you can get a date either.'

'I could totally get a date,'

Ludwig ignored Francis, which was starting to become a thing he and Feliks habitually did.

'What did I do wrong?' he asked Feliks, despair creeping into his voice.

'I don't think you actually did anything wrong,' Feliks patted Ludwig on the arm. 'She just thought you were a bit intimidating.'

From across the living room, Francis snickered again, before ducking into his bedroom to avoid being lectured by Feliks.

'Thanks,' Ludwig deadpanned.

Feliks shrugged.

'You're welcome, I guess,'


'And so she thought you were intimidating,' Gilbert howled with laughter on the other end of the line. 'It must be your height, baby brother. It must be your height.'

Ludwig waited for the wheezing on the other end to stop.

'It's not that funny, Gil,'

'I know, I know… but ahahaha— Alright I'll stop, I'm in the library and also Arthur fell asleep.' Ludwig heard some shuffling of paper from the phone. 'Okay, in all seriousness though, did you like her?'

'What?' Ludwig wasn't sure why Gilbert was asking.

'Just answer the question, Lutzi. Did you like her?'

'Not really?' Ludwig sighed. 'I mean we didn't actually get to talk that well but I'm not sure if she was my type…'

'Then there you go, it wasn't a complete disaster. You didn't like her, cut your losses and move on.'

'It makes sense when you put it take way,'

'That's what awesome big brothers are here for,'

Ludwig could practically see his brother grinning.

'Thanks, Gilbert,'

'No problem, good luck with that next date your crazy roommates have set you up on,'


On Wednesday Ludwig received a call from Feliks. Wondering what was so urgent that Feliks couldn't wait or at the most just text him, Ludwig picked up his phone.

'Is there something wrong?' he asked, concerned.

'Oh nothing to worry about,' Feliks said flippantly. 'Like I mean I have a tute I have to be at in ten minutes but are you at home?'

'Yes…?' Ludwig wondered if Feliks actually had a point he was planning to make.

'Right, cool! So Francis and I just met an exchange student called Jackie at the Arts Meet and Greet, and she's pretty keen on getting to know some local guys… Long story short, we scored you a date. Like I know Francis is already trying to get one of his friends to meet you on Sunday, but nothing's set in stone yet and he can easily cancel it if you hit it off with Jackie tonight.'

'Tonight? What if I had plans?'

Ludwig knew that Feliks and Francis thought they were helping him, but really it was a bit tiring.

'Do you have plans?' Feliks countered.

'No,' admitted Ludwig.

'Then what do you have to lose?' Feliks demanded. 'Look, if you really don't want to go, it's cool cos we just told her it's a nice place to eat and also one of our single friends might be getting dinner there too. But if you do want to meet her, be at Vargas' Café at seven o'clock and table three's your lucky number again. Now I really have to get to class, bye.'

With that Feliks hung up. Ludwig sighed and rubbed at his temples. It was currently a bit past five and it would only take him around an hour to finish his notes. Feliks was right, he might as well meet this Jackie, and besides he'd at least see Feliciano if nothing else went right.


A girl with a deep tan and long dark brown hair pulled into an unruly ponytail sat with her back to the door at table three as Ludwig entered the bustling café. Weaving around the packed tables, Ludwig nearly bumped into Feliciano, who was carrying empty plates back into the kitchen.

'Oh hey!' Feliciano exclaimed happily upon recognising Ludwig. 'I'll talk to you later, my brother will get annoyed with me otherwise.'

Before Ludwig had time to register what he'd said, Feliciano had disappeared into the kitchen. Shaking his head, he made his way over to table three to greet its occupant.

'Hi, are you Jackie?'

The girl scrunched up her face. Up close Ludwig could see the flyaway hairs that framed her face and the muddy hazel green of her eyes. She was pretty, in a very different way to his first two dates, but what really struck Ludwig the most about her was her accent when she spoke.

'Yeah, that's me,' Jackie's accent was unmistakably Australian. 'Only started going by that when I got here, folks back home used to call me Sheila. You're Ludwig right?'

'Yes, I'm Ludwig. My roommate said he just met you today.'

'Which one? I met Francis and Feliks at the same time.'

If anything Jackie was friendly, smiling as she spoke, leaning across the table to hear Ludwig better over the noise of the other diners, a marked difference from the previous two.

'Feliks – Francis doesn't like to call people,'

Jackie nodded.

'Those two are pretty cool, but I think they could be a hassle to live with,'

'You've got that right,' Ludwig inched the bridge of his nose.

Jackie laughed, not quite as nicely as Feliciano, but an infectious sound nonetheless.

Conversation was fairly easy with Jackie, she was indeed from Australia and currently studying politics – "there's too many asshole politicians around you know, I wanna get in there and change up the game" – and had studied physics in high school, which allowed her to follow along when Ludwig talked about engineering. When asked about why she was known as Sheila in Australia, Jackie laughed.

'It's a bit of a funny story,' she waved her fork to make her point. 'So sheila is Aussie slang for a girl, and I was the first girl born into my Granddad's family in ages, basically everyone kept calling me "our little sheila", until it stuck and even my friends and teachers started calling me Sheila.'

'That is pretty funny,' Ludwig agreed.

Jackie flashed him a grin, eating a mouthful of food before talking again:

'Your turn to tell a funny childhood story,'

Ludwig told her about his childhood misadventures with Gilbert and the family dogs. In turn Jackie recounted holidays with her "rowdy cousins" and showed him photos of her Australian Kelpie, Patchy.

'I miss him so much,' she sighed as she put her phone away. 'The worst part about being away from home is I can't scratch his ears while I'm doing homework or watching tellie. At least Mum and Dad always makes sure he's with them when I Skype.'

After they'd both finished eating, Jackie eyes Ludwig seriously.

'Look,' she folded her hands and looked away for a moment. 'You're a cool guy and all, Ludwig, but I think I'd rather just be friends with you. That alright?'

'Oh, umm, sure,' Ludwig blinked, he'd forgotten he was supposed to be on a date and not just talking to a new friend. 'I think you're cool too… In, umm, a friend way.'

Jackie laughed pleasantly, pushing her chair back slightly to allow herself room to stretch her legs.

'That's great! We should go drinking sometime.'

'I'm under the drinking age…'

'Oh I forgot that it's twenty-one over here,' Jackie frowned at her mistake. 'The legal drinking age is eighteen in Australia, so whatever.'

'I'm actually not eighteen yet,'

Jackie stared at him for a moment.

'Wow, you must be pretty smart then,' she whistled, looking impressed. 'But hey, underage drinking is Australia's unofficial nation al sport.'

Winking, Jackie cocked a finger gun at Ludwig in an exaggerated gesture that made him laugh.

'I guess I'll go pay the bill then?' he asked, still chuckling.

'Oh hell no!' Jackie shook her head furiously. 'Don't do that, we can split the bill. We just met, it's only fair.'

Ludwig agreed and they each paid their own part of the bill, before preparing to go their separate ways.

'I'm serious about getting drinks or just hanging out sometime,' Jackie said as they exited the café together. 'Add me on Facebook – Jacqueline Kirkland. Spelt with a "Q"; Granddad got a bit fancy suggesting my name and my parents just went with it.'


On Sunday morning Francis still had not told Ludwig whether the date was still going to happen, and Ludwig secretly hoped that Francis' friend had cancelled. As usual, he had no such luck.

'Hey Ludwig,' Francis called, looking away from his phone with a satisfied expression. 'You going on a date today, you know the drill.'

Ludwig stifled a groan, keeping his eyes on his unfinished assignment.

'That thing's not due for a week,' Feliks eyed the date on Ludwig's assignment from across the kitchen table.

Ludwig brushed away a pink feather off of his notes; Feliks was sewing some sort of feathery jacket and the bag of feathers he was using kept spilling across the table.

'If it's because you don't want to pay for lunch, don't worry, it's on me. Laura owes me some money and I told her she could settle it by buying your lunch.'

'Wait, you set him up with Laura?' Feliks looked at Francis incredulously, his face lighting up as if he'd just heard a joke Ludwig wasn't in on.

'She is a gorgeous woman,' Francis informed Ludwig, after seeing his concerned expression. 'I'd date her myself, but she isn't my type.'

'Liar!' Feliks exclaimed, mouth stretching into a Cheshire cat grin. 'You asked her out and she turned you down, she told me!'

'Fine, I did get turned down, but just that once,' for once was Francis who was losing composure.

Feliks cackled, dropping his needle onto the table to avoid poking himself with it.

'No it wasn't,' he said smugly. 'I remember the time you tried to ask that one cute barista out – he flat out refused you.'

'He was probably just trying to be professional!'

'But I was there the whole time, and he was interested right up until you started trying to hit on him,'

'Shut up, Feliks!'

Francis picked up his textbook with a huff and began to highlight pages viciously. Feliks raised an eyebrow then turned to Ludwig, still looking smug.

'This means I won, right,'

Ludwig had to agreed, and laughed alongside Feliks as Francis screeched at them:

'You did not win! And Ludwig, you have a date you should be going to!'


If he had to use a word to describe Laura, Ludwig would have to say "bubbly". Walking in with a spring in her step, short golden curls framing a heart shaped face set with wide green eyes; Ludwig could see why Francis had tried to ask Laura out. Ludwig often had trouble talking to girls, particularly ones who also happened to be pretty in the bright feminine way Laura was, but this proved to not be a problem after he recognised their waiter.

'Toni!' Laura exclaimed with pleasant surprise as Antonio approached their table. 'I thought you weren't studying this year, what are you doing here?'

'Oh I decided to work before I went back to studying, and a friend of my put a word in to get me this job, it's pretty nice,' Antonio replied with as much oblivious cheerfulness as ever.

'That's good! I've missed you.'

All throughout the meal, Laura kept asking Antonio questions whenever he passed their table, and Antonio would stop for a few minutes to answer them, leaving no room in the conversation for Ludwig. Ludwig felt like the third wheel at his own date, and awkwardly excused himself to the bathroom. As he slowly made his way back to the table, Feliciano came out from behind the counter to talk to him.

'Your date seems a lot more interested in the waiter than you,' he observed, the small frown he wore looking out of place on his usually happy cheery face.

'She apparently knows him from high school,' Ludwig shrugged, glad to have an excuse not to go back.

'Don't worry, he'll have to stop talking to her soon, or else my brother will get mad at him. Especially seeing he's the one who got Antonio this job.'

'Huh, you mentioned your brother last time too,'

'Oh yeah! This is our grandfather's café and Lovino is the staff manager, he's always trying to make Grandpa happy and doesn't like it if we talk to the customers too much. Though I'm sure Grandpa loves to talk to people as well.'

Ludwig nodded, being a family owned and operated business explained why the food was so good. He looked over to the table where Laura was now laughing at something Antonio had said.

'I don't care what my roommates say this time, I'm not going on another blind date,'

'Oh,' Feliciano sounded disappointed. 'I was just getting used to seeing you all the time.'


'This is the last time,' Ludwig said forcefully, as Feliks and Francis debated whether they should up their "wingman game" and accompany Ludwig to the café. 'And no, I don't need you two to come with me.'

'Fine, fine,' Feliks sighed. 'But I don't actually know your date this time. Katya was the middle man – lady – whatever, in this. She said her cousin Natalya also needed some help with her love life so she encouraged her to meet you. From what I've heard, Natalya isn't as shy as Katya, so you'll be fine.'

Natalya was already seated by the time Ludwig arrived, she was facing the door and narrowed her eyes as he approached.

'Are you Ludwig?'

'Ah yes erm… Natalya?' Ludwig swallowed nervously.

Natalya gave a curt nod, seeming to judge Ludwig with her heavily lined ice blue eyes. Black seemed to be her favourite colour; her limp platinum hair was pushed back with a black velvet band, black lipstick contrasted again her pale skin, and studded black bands encircled her neck and wrists. Ludwig had no idea why Katya would have suggested this idea to Feliks. If she'd found Ludwig intimidating, then Ludwig was most definitely intimidated by Natalya.

'Err… How are you?' he decided to strike a conversation with her.

'Well I'm alive,' Natalya said detachedly.

'Yeah, that's always nice,' Ludwig gave a nervous chuckle. 'The weather is pretty good today.'

Natalya shook her head in disbelief, and let out a short bark of angry laughter.

'I can't believe I agreed to this,' she whipped a strand of hair from her face as she spoke. 'When Katya said she thought she'd found the perfect guy for me, I didn't expect someone as boring as you.'

With that she stood up from the table and strode towards the door, leaving Ludwig looking dumbfounded as she left.

'Bad date?'

Ludwig heard Feliciano ask the question from behind him and smiled at the waiter's voice, turning back around to answer him:

'Yeah, I don't know what I said wrong. Do you do take away?'

'We do,' Feliciano confirmed. 'Come up to the bar and pick something you want.'

Ludwig did just that and bought a chicken Panini. Feliciano heated the sandwich for him before handing it over with a slice of cake wrapped in a napkin.

'Our homemade tiramisu,' he explained. 'It's on me. It'll be a good pick me up after the terrible time you just had.'

'Oh thank you, I'll umm tell you what I think of it after I try it,'

'I'm sure you'll like it,' Feliciano smiled and waved him off.


The Panini was delicious, and the tiramisu even more so, but the best thing of all was what Ludwig found on the napkin after he'd finished the cake. As he went to wipe the crumbs from his mouth with the napkin Ludwig noticed several lines of writing. A phone number, followed by:

"Call me : ) – 3 Feli".


'So you two have been dating for how long now?' Gilbert asked for clarification.

'About three weeks, yes,' Ludwig replied.

'And your roommates just found out?'

'Yeah… I left my phone unlocked on the table,'

Gilbert's laughter sounded tinny over the bad phone connection, but Ludwig joined in nevertheless.

'How did they react?'

'They were so disappointed that I didn't need their "wingman skills" to end up with Feli, though I guess they helped, just not in the way they wanted to,'

Gilbert laughed again and Ludwig felt smug remembering the stunned expressions from his housemates earlier.

'You enjoy your date today then,'

'Thanks, Gilbert. I'll be sure to.'


The next update is scheduled for the first day of next year, and it should be on time this time