~ July 8th -Part 2- ~

"I wanted to tell you this for a long time," Ludwig sighted. "I'm sorry, Feliciano. I'm sorry I'd ignored you for so long, I'm sorry that I spoke rather to your brother than facing you. I'm sorry for so many things. But what I'm most sorry for is that I caused you pain."

Feliciano patted his arm. "It's okay, ve~ I know you didn't mean to." With this, he wrapped his arms around the blond German and kissed him on the cheek.

"But," Ludwig went on and pushed Feliciano away. "I love Francis. I don't know if it will last forever, but right now, he's the only one I want to be with. Sorry, Feliciano, but despite anything my Bruder may havetold you, I don't want to break up with him."

"It's okay," Feliciano smiled. "I have never seen Ludwig so happy as when he was with big brother France. And if Ludwig's happy, I'm happy, too. That's how friends are. So, go and make sure you see your darling as soon as possible." With this, the smaller Italian tried to push Ludwig away.

"Thank you, Feliciano," Ludwig beamed. He kissed good-bye and rushed off to the place where he was to meet Francis. How much he looked forward to see him again in person after over a week in which they had only talked over the telephone. To hold him again and finally being able to kiss him again. This prospect made him hurry even more.

They were to meet at the bank of the Tiber river, somewhere near the place where Ludwig had confessed to Francis a long time ago. Francis was already waiting for him, unusual punctual. Francis stood there, his back turned towards Ludwig and staring down on the water.

Something was wrong, Ludwig noticed. But he couldn't think of a reason. Wait, there was one reason he could think of. Had his brother done something to make Francis look so miserable? Ludwig almost ran towards Francis, now seriously worried.

"Sorry I made you wait," he said when he reached Francis. "I had something to-"

"You had to tell little Feliciano that there's only one for you," Francis interrupted him. Something was not right with his voice, there was a strange sound adding to it, Ludwig had never heard before. He didn't even bother to look up. "Your brother told me. Now can you just get over with it?"

Ludwig blinked. "Get over with what?" What the hell had Gilbert told him? The way Francis looked, Gilbert had told him that he was talking to Feliciano … oh, no, Ludwig thought when he started to put two and two together.

"Francis, listen," he started but Francis cut him off by waving his hands.

"Get it done already. It's not the first nor will it be the last time I experience this," he muttered.

Ludwig felt that he started to get really angry now. He grabbed Francis by his shoulders and turned him around to finally face him. But even now, Francis turned his head away so Ludwig couldn't look him in the eye. Ludwig sighted. "Whatever my stupid brother has told you I would do isn't true, Liebling," he said. "Yes, I went to see Feliciano after the match. Yes, we did talk about the past. And about how it is now. You want to know what I told him or do you trust my stupid know-it-all brother that much, so you already know?"

"But Gilbert said that you told him you wanted to break up," Francis replied. It sounded not as confident as before. Ludwig could feel that he shook slightly.

"Oh, really? And why would I?" Ludwig asked. He was sure he would make his brother pay for this, sooner or later.

"Because you love Feliciano?" Francis said, though it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"...loved," Ludwig almost automatically corrected his love. "That's what I talked with him about. We both moved on. Nowadays, there's only one person, I want to be with and that's you, Francis, no one else than you. Not Feliciano, not Gilbert, only you."

"Vraiment?" Francis now finally turned his head towards Ludwig, who could see tears glistering in the corner of his eyes. He couldn't withstand the urge to kiss him.

"Why would I lie to you?" Ludwig finally said. He wiped a tear away, which was running down Francis's cheek. "Je t'aime. And I won't let my brother or anyone come between us. That's why I called you and told you where to find me when Gilbert dragged me down here. That's why I wanted to see you again so badly. Je suis fou d'amour pour toi."

To Ludwig's astonishment, Francis now started to laugh. He blinked but decided that it would have time until later, when Francis wrapped his arms around his shoulders and hugged him. Too much time had passed since they had been this close together. Too much time to spoil this moment with an unnecessary question. Time and breath that could be put into better use by kiss his beloved.

Right now, he didn't care about all the people around them like he normally would. Ludwig didn't care about the weird looks they got. All that counted was Francis and feeling Francis's lips on his own again. It made him feel so good again.

They stood there kissing for several minutes. Ludwig enjoyed taking in Francis's smell and breath, feeling their lips touch, Francis's tongue in his mouth. Too long had he had to miss this. He wrapped his arms around his lover and hugged him close. When they finally loosened the kiss, Ludwig rested his head on Francis's neck until he could breath normally again.

"So, why did you laugh?" he asked. He was still curious if his French had been that bad that it made Francis laugh.

"Because you're so cute when you say things like I love you with that seriousness of yours," Francis giggled. He brushed his hair back and then smiled at Ludwig. "So, what do we do now?"

Ludwig hadn't to think long about this question. "You have rented a double room, right?" Francis nodded. Of course he had, he'd always rented double rooms, so why would he give up that old habit when he had the prospect of not spending every night alone. "Then let's get my stuff and move it to your room. I won't share the room with my sneaky brother if I could share the bed with you instead for sure."

"But we might run into Gilbert there," Francis noted.

Ludwig shook his head. "I doubt that. I'd bet that he's getting as drunk as possible this night. To him, there's to much to celebrate to stay sober. He won't be there."

Ludwig was proven right. When they arrived at the hotel room, no one was there. Knowing Ludwig's mania for cleanliness (of which he often made fun), Francis had to wonder how he could bear the mess Gilbert made everywhere he was. They had to step over several pieces of clothing which had been carelessly thrown on the floor.

The other half of the room was as tidy as the cleaner had left it, if not tidier. Ludwig opened the wardrobe and took out his bag. To Francis's astonishment, it was already packed. Yet, Ludwig checked it again. When he was sure he got everything, he shouldered it and headed to the door.

"You're not going to leave your brother a note?" Francis asked.

Ludwig shook his head. "He can figure that out for himself. I'm through with him." After a brief pause, he added: "At least for the moment. Maybe I'll calm down. But right now, I'm too angry at him."

"Under any other circumstances I would tell you that you shouldn't be so harsh with him," Francis murmured. "But right now, I have to agree with you. Sometimes, Gilbert needs to be put into his place."

Ludwig smiled at him for this. "Thanks. Come on now, let's go," he said. Francis took his hand and placed a small kiss on Ludwig's lips before they left.

The moment they arrived at Francis's room, Francis pulled Ludwig into an intense kiss. Ludwig had just enough time to drop his bag in the entranceway before he was pulled into the room, towards the bed.

During the kiss, Francis already started to undress him. For both of them, this couldn't go fast enough. Ludwig, too, fumbled with the clothes of his dear, first unbuttoning the shirt, then the trousers. On their way towards the bed they left a trail of clothing.

Just once, for a mere second, they broke the kiss to get rid of Ludwig's t-shirt.

When Francis pushed him onto the bed, Ludwig was yet undressed and Francis was only in his shorts which were soon to join the rest of their clothing.

Ludwig noticed the bulge forming under the thin fabric. He was happy to see that his lover was just as exited about this as he was. For a moment, Francis lingered over him and took in the sight he got, which made Ludwig blush and turn his head away.

He could hear Francis chuckle quietly. Then, he felt another weight on the bed as Francis crawled on him, shortly before he was kissed on his cheek and sweet words were whispered into his ear.

Ludwig turned back at his lover again and Francis immediately kissed him over and over again, more demanding now, in the same way as their bodies rubbed against each other.

Soon, Ludwig started to moan for more. The last time they had been this close together was much too long ago. The stress of the past months had prevented them so often from more than cuddling and kissing.

But now, this time was over. Now, the had any time they wanted to make up for the past months.

Ludwig lifted his hips to show Francis that he'd had enough kissing and wanted more. Francis stroked over his tights before gently pushing Ludwig's hips back down. Ludwig hadn't been much serious about this attempt anyway so he didn't struggle. He knew exactly that his lover liked foreplay way too much to cut it short.

It didn't matter. What Francis was doing felt so good, made his blood boil and enjoy him the sweet pain of waiting. All those little kisses and small strokes over his skin, when Francis traced the shapes of some muscles made him moan and long for more, so much more of it. Francis knew exactly where to touch him to do this to him, how to make him cry out and shake in lust.

Ludwig pressed himself against Francis's touches to fill his longing for his lover's warmth, his lover's touch.

"Patience," Francis hummed into his ear. "I'll make you feel even better soon. Just hold out a little more."

With this, Francis reached out for the nightstand to get the bottle of lube standing there. He poured a good amount of it into his hands and warmed it before he told Ludwig to raise his hips. Carefully, he rubbed the lube into his dear.

On the first touch, Ludwig jerked. He was still not entirely used to be this exposed to anyone and felt so vulnerable in this moments. It was okay for him as long as it was with Francis, but still he felt unsure. But he loved Francis so much; he wanted to feel him.

When Francis finally entered him, a wave of heat and pain and pleasure shot through his back up his spine. Ludwig couldn't withhold a low growl of bliss. He clung to the bedsheets as Francis thrust into him.

Much, much too soon relief came for both of them. The hot, sticky fluids covered Ludwig's belly and his insides. Francis collapsed on top of him shortly after the climax and nuzzled Ludwig's trembling chest.

When he caught his breath again, Ludwig wrapped his arms around his dear and hugged him tightly, closing his eyes ready to fall asleep any second. This day had been too much trouble, too much physical exertion and too much anger at Gilbert. Ludwig now just wanted to cuddle a bit and the fall asleep soon.

"Ich liebe dich," Francis suddenly murmured.

Ludwig blinked, unable to process his mother tongue at first. Then, he smiled and embraced Francis, whispering: "Je t'aime aussi."

~ July 9th ~

It was already late afternoon, when they left their room to get something to eat. Initially they had planned on staying in bed all day, but hunger had upset their plan. So they walked through the streets of Rome in search of a cafe or a restaurant. Of course, in a city like Rome something like this was easy to find.

They decided on a small restaurant in one of the countless small alleys where they go some small dishes. Francis complained at little about Italian food being not as good as his own, but that was more of an habit than an actual complaint.

During the meal they talked about how they had spent the past week. Ludwig told about the evening after the match against England in every little detail to dispel Francis's worries about Feliciano and about the meeting with the little Italian the day before. Francis had spent most of the week at home and took care of some of his business since there was currently so much work to do.

"So, and what are you planning to do about your brother?" Francis asked abruptly.

Ludwig shook his head. "I don't know. I wish he would accept our relationship. But I don't think he will anytime soon. So, what I thought about was getting a flat at Straßburg."

"Strasbourg? When did you decide that?" Francis marveled.

Ludwig shrugged. "I thought about it for a while. It'd be convenient for several reasons and had at first little to do with my brother. It has become just a bit more urgent now. I know it's complicated to move to another country. My original plan was to wait another five years, but now... well, I don't want to live with Gilbert in the same house when he's like this. Kehl would be another option..." He blushed. He hadn't wanted to tell Francis anything about this until it was set.

It took Francis quite some time to overcome his first astonishment. "...Are you implying that you thought about moving in with me?" he finally asked.

Ludwig's blush became more intense. This reaction was enough to convince him that he was right. Francis smiled happily, taking Ludwig's hand with both of his. "Look at me, mon amour," Francis said, an unusual seriousness in his voice. "What about this: I'll get a flat at Strasbourg and you can come and stay as long as you want. And as soon as the Schengen agreement comes into effect, you officially move in with me, qui?"

"Are you serious?" Ludwig asked.

Francis nodded.

"It'd be complicated to explain this to the others, you know," he remarked. Even though they had been together his long, they still hadn't told the other nations about their relationship. It was a personal issue after all and they had agreed that it was non of the other's business. But moving in with each other put this on another stage.

"Don't worry too much. I think, there are some good reasons why they wouldn't have much to object," Francis smiled. "Can't we agree that we'll try? S'il te plaît? If it don't work out as we thought, you can still go back to your own house."

Ludwig nodded. "Fine. You know, I want this to work just as much as you do. I love you."

With this, he leaned forward to kiss his boyfriend. Both of them were so happy right now.

Why had they been angry at Gilbert again?

A\N:

Vraiment? - French for really

Je suis fou d'amour pour toi. Means "I'm madly in love with you" (I think/hope)

Kehl is on the other side of the border, just next to Strasbourg.

And the Schengen agreement technically shut the border controls between the signing countries down. Since then, Europeans can go to other EU member states without a visa or an passport. Ask Wikipedia for more.