New chapter!
Warning; the chapter after this will be very sad!
Ludwig looked out the window of the car, tapping the window with his knuckles, feeling unexpectedly excited about visiting this park, it'd been worked on for months, the people at school had been talking about it since its announcement almost two years ago. Ludwig had at first hoped that he'd be able to bring Kiku with him, during his relationship Feliciano he had hoped to bring him, he hadn't guessed he'd end up coming on his own, invited by his brother as a way of distracting him from his mental problems.
They parked up, Gilbert drawing his attention as he moved to open the door by placing his hand on his knee.
"Ludwig," he said, sounding oddly serious, "I have something to tell you."
Ludwig settled back into his chair, looking his older brother up and down, he seemed nervous.
"I have, uh, omitted information about today," he said weakly, forcing a smile.
"What do you mean?" Ludwig asked, feeling his internal barriers raising, a frown appearing on his face as he straightened slightly.
Gilbert bit his lip, "You'll know when you see it," he said, still smiling, "Promise you won't get mad at me."
Ludwig raised an eyebrow, "I won't get mad if you don't give me anything to get mad about. What is it Gilbert..?"
Gilbert's forced smile widened, "Just get out the car Ludwig…"
He did as he was told, following Gilbert as he began to walk towards a small field lined with picnic tables.
He frowned, looking around, he had no idea what Gilbert had meant.
"Ah," Gilbert said almost triumphantly, beginning to walk towards one of the tables on the other side of the field.
Ludwig squinted across, he couldn't make out who it was. There were two figures, one of them got to his feet, jogging towards them. He took a step back as he realised who it was, his mouth lulling open as his brother walked forward with his arms wide, pulling the approaching man into a hug.
"Lovino!" Gilbert said happily, giving him a squeeze before letting go, pausing for a moment to look him over.
Ludwig felt himself pale, Romano was here? The other person couldn't be..?
Feliciano looked up as his brother left him, running up to a couple across the field and pulling one into an embrace. He'd never seen his brother be so eager to hug someone.
He got to his feet, following after him, wondering who he was with.
He began to smile as he realised who they were, his heart pounding in his chest and tears of happiness coming to his eyes.
Ludwig was here.
Did he want to meet again?
Did that mean he'd forgiven him?
His heart pounded hard in his throat as he walked up to them, his smile dropping as he saw the astonished expression of the older boy's face.
"Ludwig?" he squeaked.
Ludwig's eyes widened, bile rising in his throat, he suddenly lost the ability to speak or breathe, he felt like a lead weight had just fallen on him.
"Feli?" he said in return, his voice weak, about to break.
This was it, he was going to die, here and now, through embarrassment and anger.
Feliciano exhaled sharply, unsure of what to say, his eyes wide, "Ludwig I missed you so much, I-I've been so sad, please you've got to forgive me, I can't live without you I-I'm-"
Ludwig stared at him as he blabbered on, the boy starting to cry as he tried desperately to explain himself, their brothers standing side by side, looking on.
"Ludwig please, say something to me, please," Feliciano pled, reaching out a hand to hold Ludwig's. Ludwig jerked his hand away, anger rising in him at the boy's touch.
"No Feliciano," Ludwig snapped, "I said I didn't want to talk to you and I meant it. You don't care about me or what I want Feli, if you did you wouldn't have come here."
"No," Feliciano squeaked through tears, "I do care about you Ludwig I swear," he let out a small sob, shifting, wanting to fling himself into Ludwig's arms but not being able to. "Please, Ludwig."
Ludwig shook his head, feeling his eyes sting, he turned and began to walk away, praying that Feliciano wouldn't follow him, he couldn't face him now, he needed to think, he felt like he was going to explode.
Feliciano let out a sob as the older boy walked away, he turned to look at Romano, "Lovi," he whimpered, taking a step towards him. Romano moved away from Gilbert's side, pulling the smaller boy into a hug.
"Feliciano," Romano cooed, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry… We thought that if you two got a chance to talk then you might work it out." He turned, frowning at Gilbert, "Your brother is a fucking bastard, you said he was more rational now, you said you thought this would work?!"
Gilbert shrugged, "I thought it would, I'm sorry Lovi, Feli, I really thought it would work, I thought he was having a good day…"
"Well go and talk to him," Romano snapped over the sound of Feliciano's sobs, "Get him back here."
Gilbert nodded, "Yeah, ok Lovi." He gave a small nod before trotting off towards his car.
Feliciano hugged Romano tightly, crying against him, pulling away after a moment and looking over towards Gilbert's car, giving his eyes a wipe to clear his vision. "Can I wait in the car please Romano? Just for a little?"
Romano paused for a moment, thinking it over in his head, he didn't feel comfortable leaving Feliciano alone. He'd only been on his pills a few weeks and they weren't working yet, no matter how much Feliciano assured him they were.
He'd already taken everything dangerous from the car, unless his younger brother was willing and able to rip open the chair cushion and tear out a spring there wasn't any way he could harm himself.
"Ok, Feli," he pulled out the keys, taking his brother's hand and walking him to their car. He sat him down and threw the keys down on the driver's seat, closing Feliciano's door and walking round to get in his side of the car. He heard the wurr of the internal locks, he frowned as he tried the handle, not able to open it. "Feli?" he said, a slight panic striking him.
The boy didn't respond.
"Feliciano Veneziano Vargas you open this door right fucking now!"
Feliciano looked up at him, teary eyed, his lip quivering along with his voice, "I just want to be alone for a little, please Romano."
Romano leant against the side of the car, watching his brother begin to cry again.
There was nothing dangerous in the car, he knew that, he was certain. "Ok Feli," he said softly, nodding, "I'm going to talk to Gilbert."
Feliciano nodded, tears streaming down his face again. Romano walked across the carpark to the car he knew to be Gilbert's, frowning weakly at the men leaning against it.
"He's crying," he stated, trying to stop tears appearing in his own eyes, he hated when his brother got this upset.
Ludwig looked towards Romano's car. He was still so filled with hatred, he couldn't stop it bubbling over.
"Why did you two try to do this?" he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Because we care about you," Gilbert said, frowning, "You've been so miserable without Feli, and he's been miserable without you. I know what he did was bad but look what's happened to him since, you suffer without each other."
"So what you want me to forget what he did and go out with him again?" Ludwig deadpanned, looking between them.
"We want you to fucking forgive him!" Romano yelled, his face turning red with frustration, "He did a stupid thing, but he does stupid things all the time, he is stupid! He tells everyone everything Ludwig, he cannot keep a secret, it is impossible for him. You go over to that car right fucking now and you tell him you forgive him!"
Ludwig frowned, letting out a small huff, "No, he should apologise to me."
"He has," Gilbert growled, "He has apologised countless times Ludwig, and he means it each time. You are being stubborn, you need to stop."
Ludwig paused, his head bowing slightly as he thought it over… He'd let his anger get the better of him, and not talking about it made him more angry, he couldn't help it.
"Maybe if you verbalise how you feel, you will start to feel better?" Gilbert offered, "You've kept all your emotions pent up, you need to talk to Feliciano about what's happened. It'll make you feel better."
Ludwig frowned, that sounded like a dumb idea… but…
He frowned as he thought about it.
"Feliciano can't talk to me, if I talk to him he must listen, he can't talk while I try to talk," he frowned, "I get so angry when he talks… He just keeps saying sorry and giving excuses why he did it, it makes me so angry."
Romano frowned, the idea that anyone could be that angry at Feliciano baffled him, it made him angry. "Fine," he said sharply, "I'll go and talk to him, see if I can get him to agree." He glanced at Gilbert, giving a small longing smile before beginning to walk off.
Ludwig huffed as the shorter man walked off, he looked at Gilbert, noting the strange look on his face. "You shouldn't have done this."
Gilbert looked at his feet, biting his lip, "I know," he said softly, looking back up towards Romano. He paused for a moment, letting out a soft sigh, "…There's something about Italians isn't there."
Ludwig frowned at him, crossing his arms, "What do you mean?"
Gilbert smiled weakly, his eyes still pinned on the other man's figure as he reached their car, "When you first found out about him, you kept saying 'But he's Italian, Gilbert' and I never understood why that was important, but I think I get it now."
I hope you enjoyed, please leave a review :3