A warning for emotional abuse and angst in this chapter.

Dearest readers, I'm so sorry. I planned a drop in the mood of this fic but I didn't expect it to end up like this and I feel bad that I didn't paste a warning in the first place on the summery. I really sugar coated the warning in the last chapter, too.

I am so sorry. Just remember, this fic WILL have a happy ending.

Thanks for reading. I love you guys.

I never should have left my phone unattended, Ludwig cursed at himself. He would never forget the way his dad barged into his room, one hand clutched into a fist, the other holding his phone. He had left it in the living room. He never just leaves it places like that. Why, he asked himself constantly, why this one time?

I should have hidden the pictures; Ludwig wiped his tears just for them to be replaced by more. As many times as he's been in trouble, he knew at that moment nothing he's said or done would be worse than this alone.

I should have been more careful, Ludwig's guilty conscious pounded against his heart. His dad was already hard on him, his mom getting involved made matters even worse. She took away his phone and laptop. All he had left was the notebooks Feliciano had written or drawn on. Ludwig hid them away, they only made him feel worse, and he didn't want his parents to find them and take them away either.

I should have been honest with them from the start, this was the first time in a while his dad had even acknowledged him. They were always busy, and Ludwig was always locked away in his room. Maybe he could have tried harder when it came to forming a relationship with his parents. Maybe he could have told them he was interested in a guy rather than keep it from them forever. He never even told him he was staying the night with him so often. They almost never noticed he was gone.

I should have never admitted my feelings for him, he thought as his parents' threats rung in his head. They wouldn't have approved before him and Feliciano had made things official. He laid his head down on his pillow. Maybe they are right, he cried to himself, I am a mistake to begin with.

I should have never fallen in love with him, he said to himself before he finally fell asleep. He was to stay in his room and away from Feliciano.

"Ludwig? Feeling alright?" Gilbert softly knocked on his bedroom door. Ludwig carefully got up, feeling weak. His neck cramped from lying in the same position for hours. He had stayed home from school since the incident with their parents and only got up to use the bathroom or occasionally puke. He already missed three days of school, and he had no idea if he even wanted to go back.

"Yes," he choked out, not really, I feel like I'm losing it. It was a stupid question, Gilbert knew that.

"I'm coming in," Gilbert opened the door and walked in. He was instantly affected by the aura in the room. Ludwig's blinds were closed, the room was dark, and there was a disturbing vibe that came with it all. He's seen Ludwig go through plenty of things, but this almost tops the list. "I brought you some water." He set the bottle of water on Ludwig's nightstand.

"Thank you," his voice was hoarse and devoid of any emotion at all.

Gilbert sat down by him. The room was quiet for a while. Gilbert thought he might have been disturbing him at a bad time, though Ludwig really didn't mind. He was tired of being alone, and he was glad to see he cared. He picked up the water bottle and took a sip.

"What was his name?" Gilbert asked, looking at Ludwig. He almost added "if you don't mind me asking" to the question, but Ludwig stopped him.

"Feliciano Vargas," Ludwig answered, clearing his throat. Did he just light up a little? Gilbert thought. "He's Italian, he loves to play soccer, cook, watch movies, and write all over other people's notebooks. Not that I minded." Though he looked down, Gilbert saw a small smile on his face. It only lasted a second. "His family is very nice and always let me come over. His brother, Lovino, isn't fond of me at all but it was a small price to pay. I've known him for 4 years and I fell in love with him about a year ago." Ludwig felt the need to cry again, but he distracted himself by fiddling with the bottle in his hands.

"I've never met anyone more amazing than him, Gilbert," Ludwig's voice shook. "I should have been more careful."

"Ludwig, you honestly believe you did this to yourself?" Gilbert interrupted him before he can ramble on with the harsh self-hate he contained, Ludwig went silent. "Well, do you?" his voice became assertive.

"But I did mess up," Ludwig answered. Gilbert sighed and looked him in the eyes.

"Did you want to be with Feliciano?"

"Yes, but-"

"Do you love him?"

"Yes but dad-"

"You were living your goddamn life, Ludwig. It doesn't matter if dad or mom had approved it, you were happy and not wronging anyone." Ludwig was sobbing again. "Look at me, mom and dad are wrong."

"But,"

"Shit, man, I watch them just pile blame on you without even flinching. And you take it in, you believe them." Gilbert raised his voiced. He went silent and continued in a quieter tone. "You have for years, and it's really affected you, you know?"

"I…" Ludwig lost his thoughts. They're my mom and dad. Our mom and dad. They can't! They shouldn't!

"As strong as you are, you really let things get to you, huh? I'm sorry, Ludwig, I really am. But I really want you to stop trying to obey so much and start living your life again. You were better off that way," Gilbert's tone changed again. "Let's just chill…" He looked over at his brother, who was sobbing again. "How about you stop crying and tell me more about Feliciano?"

"W-What?" Ludwig replied, confused.

"You were in a better mood talking about em, so uh, do it again."

"Well," Ludwig took a deep breath and began to explain the movie nights and the sleepovers to Gilbert. The emptiness in his chest was forgotten by the time he got to the night him and Feliciano had kissed and how Feliciano had confessed his feelings for him. He told him about meeting Kiku, actually befriending Alfred, the day out with all of them and running into Francis and Ivan. The karaoke, the sand castles, the boat ride, everything. Gilbert listened closely, and when he finished talking, he just nodded.

"I think you need something to eat, I'll be back," Gilbert got up and walked to the door. "It'll all be okay, Ludwig, just remember that." He left the room, Ludwig was all alone again.

It was typical that it took a while for Gilbert to return with some soup and bread. "Eat up, we're going for a walk later," A walk was always a solution to Gilbert. Every time he was sad, Gilbert would try convincing him to take a walk with him, even when it was raining, like that particular night.

"Gilbert, it's raining," Ludwig explained, sitting up to eat.

"We have umbrellas," Gilbert replied. "Eat."

Gilbert came back in the room around 8, wearing his coat and holding two umbrellas. "Ludwig!" He turned on the light, waking up him up. "Let's go,"

"Gilbert it's late," Ludwig complain.

"I have flashlights, get up,"

"I'm tired,"

"You've slept all day, put on some decent smelling clothes,"

"It's raining!"

"And we're going for a walk," Gilbert pulled the covers off of him. Ludwig sighed, knowing he didn't have a choice. Gilbert's never been so forceful about these walks, it could be extremely important that he went. He felt nervous about it.

Gilbert dug out some clean clothes from his closet. "Hey, wear this!" he threw a green sweater at him. "No wait, this blue one looks better." The blue sweater joined the green one on Ludwig's lap. "It'll go better with… This jacket." The jacket landed right onto his face.

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm going to be honest, Ludwig, you look like absolute shit right now," Gilbert noted. "When was the last time you showered?"

"I-I don't remember," Ludwig turned away in embarrassment. "But it's not like anyone would be outside to see us in the weather anyway."

"Yeah okay, get dressed," Gilbert threw a pair of pants on the bed before exiting the room. "Hurry up."

"I will, I will," Ludwig got dressed and took a look in the mirror. Gilbert was right, he thought to himself, I do look like trash. He had obvious bags under his eyes and his hair looked bushier than Arthur's. He ran his hands through his greasy blond locks, pushing them out of his face. Oh well, good enough.

He slipped his jacket on and met Gilbert outside his bedroom. "Eh… Wait, hold on," Gilbert messed with his hair, brushing it different ways and not being satisfied with the results. "I should have gotten you to take a shower." He quit trying to fix Ludwig's hair and pulled out a bottle of cologne. He gave Ludwig a quick spray.

"You're taking me on a quick walk, not bringing me to meet the queen,"

"Of course, Ludwig, we don't have a queen here," Gilbert laughed and handed him an umbrella. "Let's go,"

Outside, the rain was falling gently, creating a rather relaxing pattern of noise. Ludwig was relieved that it wasn't raining heavily anymore. During the beginning of their walk, they didn't talk much. While walking by the convenience store, Gilbert stopped. "I need to get something, wait out here."

"But-" Ludwig began.

"We aren't talkin' about butts," Gilbert closed his umbrella. "Stay." Without another word, he walked into the building. Angry, Ludwig almost walked into the store anyway. It was wet and cold outside, why would he make him stay outside? He stepped closer to the door when he noticed a familiar face.

Standing a few yards away was someone he wouldn't have expected to see at all. "Francis," The blond man looked up at him.

"Ludwig, feeling alright tonight?" he began to approach Ludwig. He's not going to ask where I've been? What happened?

"Yes," He decided it was better to not to trouble him with his problems.

"Look," Francis' voice got suddenly serious, he leaned up to Ludwig. "I know,"

"Gil…. Gilbert told you?" Ludwig's heart pounded in his chest.

"Well, that too. I was talking about how it feels," Francis smiled warmly at him. "I haven't had the best parents for most of my life, but that's not important right now. What is important right now is you, and that's why I came out here. That's why your brother took you out here. "

"Francis," that's all he could choke out. The tears had started again, France gently took him in his arms.

"I once gave your brother this game he really wanted back in Elementary school. The look on his face was priceless. It was Nintendogs, by the way. But it made him happy, and it was a delightful sight. The way Alfred stares at Arthur and how most of us know except them puts a smile on my face. How Ivan awkwardly tries talking to their brother and how he shyly responds gets me out of bed in the morning sometimes." Ludwig pressed his face to Francis' shoulder and nodded.

"Have you seen the way Kiku smiled when you guys were around? It's almost hard to notice. But you know what the most beautiful thing I've ever witnessed is?" Ludwig pulled away from Francis and looked at him. He turned Ludwig around, facing him towards the sidewalk.

First, he noticed Antonio Carriedo; the tallest one out of the three standing on the other side of the parking lot, on the other side was Lovino… But in between them was Feliciano. Ludwig gasped, wondering if he was dreaming. Feliciano looked back at Ludwig with both worry and happiness.

Both ran to each other, wanting to forget the world around them. Ludwig had never hugged the boy tighter in his lifetime. He cried vocally, the deep weight of sadness that settled in his chest was no longer there.

Ludwig took in his scent, his presence, his voice as he went on about how much he was worried, and how happy he was. "At first I thought you were busy, but then you weren't at school, then I asked around. Kiku, Alfred, Arthur, Matthew, even Ivan and Francis were worried. I… I…" Feliciano began to cry so hard, his words were slurred.

"Ludwig, I love you. I knew your parents were bad. I didn't know this would have happened. I'm so sorry. I love you so much. I wish… I wish I can…" Feliciano cried.

"Feliciano… My…. Feliciano…" Ludwig murmured between sobs and kisses he was placing all over his head, cheeks and lips. The two had fallen onto the sidewalk. Crying, but then laughing. Smiling and kissing, forgetting about the others standing around, not noticing more had gathered around.

This hurt to write. One more chapter, though. Things will improve. There will be happiness.

Please feel free to point out any spelling/grammatical errors and give me tips on how I can improve my writing. Any other (constructive) thoughts are also VERY appreciated. 3