Well, here I am again writing this crappy story. I would like to apologize for my absence and will take a paragraph to explain myself.

Kay so I (finally) graduated on the 30th of may and as a side note I would like to inform everyone that this Roderich person I keep talking about editing this thing was our VALEDICTORIAN! I was totes proud of her and now you know that the editing of this god-awful story rests in good hands if I ever get off my lazy ass and email to her before I post! So anyways between make-up work there at the end, graduation practice, actual graduation, graduation parties, working at a campground (memorial weekend was insane! And for any non-Americans out there who may be reading this and have no knowledge of our crazy American customs memorial weekend kind of kicks off summer for us!), writing on a bus on the way to Washington DC for girl scouts 100th anniversary (Rock the Mall was pretty sweet by the way, I've never been around that many people before!), trying to write over fourth of July hell week (yeah that sucked!), and finally the fact that I wrote myself into a nice little corner, things kinda came to a halt… that and I couldn't tear myself away from Euro 2012 (congrats Antonio! I was really sad when Gil and Ludwig lost though… and Arthur… and Mathias… and Lars… and Feliks… well you get the point…)

So as I said I kinda wrote myself into a corner and it was a very dark and depressing place I just couldn't get out of! But then an idea came to me and thus the story was saved! I decided to GO BACK IN TIME! I figured out that I wanted to move on with things that hadn't happened cause for some reason I hadn't written the entirety of the first day of school! I wrote breakfast and then BAM! It was afterschool. Sooo, here is some of the first day of school!

Oh and Athenabeth totes won those points for slytherin! It was procrastinating by stellar kart

Kapitel Vier

~Ludwig Beilschmidt~

Remember about the time jump I told you about in the author's note!

The halls were pure chaos as they always were on the first day of school, and I thanked Gott again for my height and build: students always seemed to clear away from me which was incredibly useful when it came to getting to class on time. I could feel Feliciano clutching to the back of my shirt and mentally rolled my eyes; the boy was so dependent it was honestly frustrating sometimes! Here we were juniors in high school and he had cried, honest to gott cried when he found me in our room this morning after breakfast. The little Italian had crashed through the door all out of breath and close to tears, making Kiku and I jump, and as soon as his amber eyes landed on me the tears began to fall. He clung to me and began carrying on some nonsense about how he couldn't find me and his brother had slapped Antonio or something. It was all just so… I took a deep calming breath as Gilbert gave me a knowing smile as he glided past talking to Elizabeta. Feliciano was just too much sometimes… most of the time… ninety percent of the time. He would just look up at you and his shimmering amber eyes would brim with tears, and it was just becoming so hard not to brush those tears away softly and take him gently into my arms where he could feel safe and lov—No!

Feliciano Vargas was truly a devil in disguise.

He would lure you in with those angelic features and pathetic helplessness in an English Lit class freshman year, and then he'd just burrow into your heart and make a home there, right where he shouldn't be, right where you knew very well he just shouldn't be. And then next thing you know you're putting in to be his roommate and he's messing with your GPA because you have to stay up late and make sure he's passingbecause gott forbid he leaves. You begin to crave him like a drug and then suddenly you're agreeing to go with Gilbert and his crazy French friend on their trip to go and see their crazy Spanish friend who's ironically staying with him. And you tell yourself day in and day out that you really should stopbeing his friend because you obviously cannot control yourself anymore and before you know it you're giving up your first kiss to an Italian, a boy, in a secluded part of his grandfather's vineyard watching the Tuscan sunset… I shook my head and reminded myself that thatwould not be happening again. We had not discussed it and until school began, nearly two months after this little incident. I had not made anymore than polite conversation with the boy who would most assuredly wreck my future if our friendship were to continue.

But looking into those amber eyes I just couldn't. That separation would surely kill us both.

My father, a great man and greatly esteemed military figure in Germany, tolerated very few things. His patience was very thin, and if someone had disappointed him in some way they, and everyone else, knew it. So when Gilbert had come home in handcuffs at the mere age of fifteen, it was a very well known fact that his claim to anypart of the Beilschmidt fortune was permanently terminated. Gilbert could become the greatest solider the Germans, even the world, had ever seen and he would still be exiled, all because of one small mistake. And after my father had gotten off the phone one night over holiday, red-faced and yelling obscenities at the other Beilschmidt brother, telling me sternly that "Gilbert was a disgrace to the family" and if I ever "pulled half the shit he does" I would be "toten um ihn"(1). With this knowledge I knew I could never let my feelings towards mein wenig Italienisch(2) surface. I had to be strong so Gilbert didn't have to.

"Ve~ Ludwig why are people looking at us?" Feliciano asked when he, Kiku, and myself were seated in our three-seat desk first hour Recent European History class. His soft voice made me look up from my worn copy of The Tin Drum and glance around the room. Sure enough, apprehensive glances were being thrown our way and I couldn't help but roll my eyes in exasperation. Really, it was a shame that three people couldn't get together and be friends without it meaning something to everyone else.

"They're cautious of us." Kiku said amusedly from beside him as he flipped through the pages of one of his animes.

"Cautious?" this time Feliciano turned his big eyes to me, and I shot Kiku a look telling him how irritated I was that he couldn't have been the one to give Feliciano some innocent answer that wouldn't scar him.

"Ja um, you know how in World War II there were the Axis Powers…"

"Yeah of course! It was Germany, Italy, and Japan right?" he said smiling brightly and gesturing to each of us.

"They're afraid we're trying to resurrect that whole fiasco." Kiku added nonchalantly, still reading. I heaved a great sigh, obviously Kiku was not going to be much help this year at keeping Feliciano in the dark as to how the world works. Which, thinking on it, wasn't too bad of a notion really: maybe it would do him some good to realize that the world isn't all pasta and kittens.

"Us?" he whispered harshly, looking between Kiku and I with wide, shocked eyes. "But- but how could weever do something as awful as that? Ve~ Ludwig, you and Kiku are some of the nicest people I know!" Damn those butterflies that made an appearance in my stomach anytime he complimented me! No wait! No-not butterflies, eagles! Yes, manly eagles, not butterflies.

"Don't worry about it Feli-chan, let them suspect what they will. We're all friends without any ulterior motives and we will continue to be, right?" He actually looked up from the pictures long enough to send a slight smile Feliciano's way and offer him some of his pocky.

"Right! Friends forever!" Feliciano grew content and began to munch on pocky and doodle in his notebook as Kiku and I shared an amused look over his head. I went back to reading, wondering how long we were having between classes, because it seemed like the break was lasting forever, until the quiet buzz of the room was shattered with a shrill voice.

"SACHON!"(3) All eyes turned to the doorframe, where a happy Korean was standing waving to his cousin… who had further engrossed himself into his book, cheeks burning a bright red. I sent up a silent prayer that he wasn't actually in this class and was simply stopping by. "Kikkkuuu!" he sang as he skipped over to the other Asian. "Kiku, look we have first hour together how cool is that?" I mentally facepalmed when Im Yong Soo began to chat at a million miles a minute as he sat cross-legged on our desk in front of Kiku but chuckled at the look of Feliciano.

Despite being a boy who seemed to love everyone and everything, Feliciano was notfond of the happy-go-lucky Korean. Though he would deny any ill will towards the kid if you asked him, you could just tell by the way his smile would falter or how he was gripping his pencil a tad tighter than normal. "Oh hey Li! I was just telling Kiku about how pocky was originally made in Kore—ow! Ow Liiiiiiiiii! Li let goooooo!" The Asian had grabbed onto the loud Korean's ear and was dragging him down the row to a two top in the back. I couldn't help but smirk when Kiku let out a relieved sigh.

"Kiku, is that your brother?" Feliciano asked, as he blatantly stared at the strange boy.

"Hai," Kiku stated shortly looking thoroughly annoyed. I couldn't believe it either honestly, looking at the boy with a blue streak in his hair and those ever-present earbuds, an almost intimidating fire in his eyes was night to Kiku's day. Okay yes, Kiku had his J-Rock days where we'd go to town and he'd be wearing strange clothes like that but it wasn't every day like Li's seemed to be.

"But- but his fingernails are painted! I thought only women did that!" Feliciano gnawed on his bottom lip in confusion before his face lit up. "Oh wait! Luddy doesn't your older brother do that? Is it an older brother thing? Lovino doesn't do it though so that must not be right! Or doesn't he count because we're twins?" As I was about to stumble my way through yet another explanation, the professor called class to attention and began to hand out the syllabus.

Kay i know it was short but we're gearing up for christmas in july here at the campground i work at and thats pretty much hell on earth cause its like one of the busiest weekends of the summer (I don't even like christmas!). But have no fear cause this story will continue!

TRANSLATIONS:

1.) "toten um ihn" - Dead to him (German)

2.) "mein wenig Italienisch" - my little Italian (German)

3.) "Sachon" - cousin (Korean)