Part 16

Feliciano woke, his body aching softly, covered in sweat and other bodily fluids that they hadn't bothered to fully clean when they'd finally fallen asleep in each other's arms at 4am, he looked over at the clock, startled to find it was no longer morning.

"12:10..?" he mumbled almost disparagedly, turning in Ludwig's arms to nudge him awake, kissing at his face and neck to help wake him up, "Luddy, we have to wake up, it's afternoon."

Feliciano felt his heart ache at the thought that they'd missed the morning together, they had less than five hours now before he had to leave.

"Was..?" Ludwig groaned, his eyes slowly running over Feliciano, a small smile coming to his face as he realised where he was, "Feliciano," he cooed, pulling him in for a kiss, he looked over at his clock and frowned, "Midday?" he growled, "We have to get up."

Feliciano nodded, "I know, that's what I was telling you," he pulled away, smiling softly, "Get up then, I want to see you naked, it's my last chance for three months."

Ludwig chuckled softly, beginning to pull the covers off of them, "Ok but I want to see you too."

They smiled and looked at each other, absorbing the sight. Ludwig pulled Feliciano into a soft kiss, holding the man close, feeling their skin press together, he could feel everything they'd done over the past 14 hours.

"We need to shower," he mumbled, continuing to hold him tight, pressing softly against him. "Do you want to shower together..?"

Feliciano smiled and blushed, "…What if Romano sees?"

"Who cares," Ludwig said with a soft chuckle, kissing him and moving with him towards the door. "Come on, I want to clean you."

Feliciano blushed, letting Ludwig pull him into the bathroom, letting him pull him into the stream of water and soak him, they soaped each other, kissing as they touched every inch of one another.

He could barely remember what actually happened, the heat and feel of the water and the bliss of the other man's hands on him, it felt like a dream, more so than the 14 hours previous.

They emerged from the room in a daze, wrapped in towels. Romano's frowning face greeting them.

"Feliciano," he growled, obviously holding back, "Lunch will be ready soon, get dressed…" he glared at Ludwig as they stood together awkwardly.

The younger brother smiled and nodded, "Ok Romano, we'll just be a minute… Did you have a good night?"

Romano huffed again, "You were loud," he stated, "But me and Gilbert weren't trying to sleep, so, yes."

Feliciano smiled and nodded, "You had fun with him?" he asked quickly.

Romano grit his teeth, "I don't want to make small talk with you while you're both fucking naked, get dressed, now, get the fuck downstairs."

The pair nodded, filing into the room. Ludwig watched Feliciano pick out his clothes, letting the towel drop to the floor as he took them from his bag.

"You look so perfect," he observed quietly, moving towards him, letting his own towel drop as he pulled him into a kiss.

Feliciano smiled sadly, letting out a soft breath as he broke their kiss, "…Romano will be mad if we take too long, he'll think we're having sex."

Ludwig huffed and smirked, "Sex takes more than 10 minutes Feli," he said in protest, pulling away regardless and collecting up his black trousers and green shirt, pulling them on and watching Feliciano do the same with his skinny jeans and sweatshirt.

He couldn't take his eyes off the smaller man, the way he moved entranced him, he couldn't think when he was around him, his voice made him dizzy.

He was so amazing. He couldn't believe his luck, he didn't deserve him, Feli could do so much better.

They made their way downstairs, their hands entwined as they exchanged 'I love you's and 'ich liebe dich's.

As they entered the kitchen they were met again by Romano's icy glare, they reciprocated with happy smiles, though Ludwig had a harder time ignoring it that Feliciano seemed to.

"Here's your food," Romano almost sneered, handing them a plate of spaghetti and meatballs each.

"Thank you Romano," Feliciano said quietly, trying to quell his smile and failing. He stood awkwardly, he wanted to talk normally with his brother but he didn't feel like he could. "…Should we go into the living room?" he asked gently, not fully remembering the way round the house from the previous night.

Ludwig nodded, taking Feliciano's hand again, leading him through to find Gilbert already sitting on the cream sofa with his food on his lap.

"Hallo Bruder," the white haired man cooed. Ludwig frowned at him, he was still wearing the same clothes he'd had on the previous day; a grey shirt and blue jeans. Ludwig had no idea why though, he'd brought clothes he was sure.

"Why are you still dressed like that?" Ludwig asked quietly, not entirely sure if he wanted to know the answer.

Gilbert shrugged, "I didn't go to sleep, neither did Romano but he changed into his pyjamas at about midnight," he shook his head and rolled his eyes, "…We've been playing all night, it was great."

Ludwig frowned softly at the weird smile that had come to Gilbert's face, he'd never seen it before.

"I bet you two regret sleeping in so late," Gilbert said, looking up at the clock, "You've only got four hours together now."

Feliciano frowned sadly, sitting down with his own food and beginning to push his food around his plate. "I don't want to have to go, I've never been more happy, I don't want to leave…"

"Well you can't stay," Romano said from the kitchen, bringing through his own food and sitting on the arm of the chair next to Gilbert, the older man's smile growing slightly as he glanced up at the Italian.

"Why not..?" Feliciano whined, pressing himself against Ludwig side, Ludwig pressing back against his and resting his cheek atop Feliciano's head.

"Because Ludwig has a counselling session at half past five, you should know that Feliciano," Romano said again, continuing to eat, seeming unconcerned by the information.

Feliciano's eyes widened, he pulled away from Ludwig and looked up at him, seeing a look of shock mirroring his own. His eyes darted back to Romano, who still had his eyes down, eating. "Counselling session for what?" he asked abruptly.

Romano frowned, finally looking up, looking at his younger brother with a slight confusion, "For his-"

"Feliciano," Ludwig said loudly, frowning hard and looking down at his food, "I have depression," he said pointedly, forcing the words from his mouth, digging his nails into his knees.

The elder of the Italians looked between them, frowning in confusion, Gilbert also frowning, "Feliciano?" Romano said softly, "You didn't know?"

He shook his head, his mouth lulling open and his eyes wide, "N-no, I didn't, I didn't know," he whispered, almost breathless.

Ludwig felt everyone's eyes pin on him, he bit his lip hard, almost hard enough to draw blood. He closed his eyes to gather himself, taking a soft breath before speaking up. "…I didn't know how to tell you, I didn't want you to worry."

Feliciano could feel tears coming to his eyes, he couldn't believe Ludwig wouldn't tell him, they talked all the time, how could he leave something like this out?

"…You…" he swallowed hard, "You told me you had extra lessons," he squeaked softly, talking past the hard lump in his throat.

"You bastard!" Romano snapped, anger almost visibly dripping from him, "You lied to him? He's your boyfriend, how could you lie to him about something like this?"

"I-I" Ludwig began to stutter, being instantly interrupted by Romano's overprotective ranting.

"Everybody knew except him, Ludwig, how the fuck do you think that's making him feel, I knew and I don't even care. How could you hide this from him?"

Feliciano felt tears began to drip down his face, he tried to stop himself making the accompanying noises but he couldn't help it. Ludwig's eyes snapped from Romano to Feliciano as he heard the smaller man let out a squeak.

"Feli…" Ludwig sighed, pulling him into an embrace, holding him close, "…Ich liebe dich…" he whispered to him, the smaller man whispering it in return. "Feliciano, it doesn't change anything," he tried to explain quietly, "I'm still the same person, I still love you."

"I know," Feliciano said into his chest, "I love you too, I love you so much. I-I'm sorry, I didn't know," he whimpered softly, "I want to help," he said, pulling away slightly, "I want to help you Ludwig, anything I can do."

Ludwig smiled at him, biting his lip softly, "You are already helping me Feliciano, I can talk to you every day, it helps, I know you love me, that helps too… You don't need to do anything. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but it was nice having someone who I loved, who treated me normally… Everyone treats me like I'm ill."

Feliciano shook his head, "I won't treat you differently, I want to help Ludwig. I love you, I want you to be happy."

"I love you too," Ludwig repeated, kissing him again, "…We should eat our food, before it gets too cold."

Feliciano nodded, pulling away and wiping his eyes, "Yeah... Ok, sorry, I didn't mean to cry."

"It's ok… we should just try and enjoy the time we have left."

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave a review.