I brushed my nose against skin. I suddenly remembered the events of last night and as if to assure myself, my eyes fluttered open and my hand flew to his face. I made out his sleeping profile, his sharp nose and strong chin.
My blue eyed beauty responded with a tired "Ow."
"Sorry," I whispered quietly, snuggling my face into the hollow of his neck. He was real, last night actually happened. I was really in the arms of this gorgeous man.
"It's okay," he whispered lightheartedly in my tousled hair, "Did you sleep alright?" he said in a way that was sweeter than sugar
"Yeah," I flashed him a smile.
"What kind of food do you serve around here?" he rubbed his face and punctuated his question with a yawn.
"I could check." I said beginning to slip from his grasp reluctantly. Cool air took over where his strong arms had been. I wanted to crawl back into his embrace and stay there. It hurt a little to move my legs, a slight sting radiating with each step. I yanked a big shirt off a hanger in my closet and pulled it over my head. I padded to the kitchen, the room was dark. I didn't bother turning on the light, the light from the widow was enough to see by. I opened the refrigerator, there wasn't much adorning its shelves. I spotted the Brioche I'd made a few days ago. Could I give it to him? It was two days old and it had been in the refrigerator. I pulled it out deciding I could. Far too tired to make something else, I popped about four in the microwave.
I watched the electronic numbers count down until they deemed my food ready. Then I heard his tired footsteps on the tile. He stood behind me, wrapping his strong arms around my fragile body. He placed his chin on my shoulder. He kissed the shell of my ear and then my cheek, then he gave me a small squeeze before sitting himself at my counter. The microwave beeped in an annoying way. I opened it cutting the sound short, and pulled the warm plate from the lighted cubicle. I set the plate delicately in front of him.
"What… are those?" he asked, eying them suspiciously.
"Brioche, silly." I said, taking one for myself and biting the sweet bread. I was surprised that time and a refrigerator hadn't ruined the flavor. Brioche usually tastes better when it's fresh the fact that it had been in the refrigerator for a few days hadn't killed the flavor.
He gingerly picked one up and examined it. "It's just bread?"
"It's sweet bread. I could put some Gelato in it, but it feels a little early for that." I said cheerily. Ludwig bravely took a bite of the foreign food. He chewed slowly, purposefully, attempting to figure out whether or not he liked my Italian food. I waited with wide eyes I wanted him to like it.
"I like it." He said, "Did you make it?"
"Well, yes, I made them from scratch a few days ago but I just heated them up this morning."
"It's really good," he took another bite "Is everything you do amazing?" It was at this precise moment that my brother decided to grace us with his riveting presence.
"Oi! Feliciano, I've got something to…" Lovino said before examining the scene in our kitchen, his eyes widened his jaw dropped and he had a horribly confused and angry expression on his face. "What the fuck!" he spluttered. I can only imagine how odd we must look him in nothing but his boxers and me without any pants.
"Lovino! You're home, I was worried!" I sang cheerily trying to avoid the subject that had him swearing.
"What the hell is going on?" he replied angrily.
"Uh, uh, Well, I …we…. Um…" I scrambled for words; I didn't know what to tell my brother, so I looked desperately at Ludwig.
"Nothing you need to concern yourself about," he replied very calmly. "When you left Feliciano at my house last night, I brought him home, it was late, so I slept here." I couldn't help but notice he 'forgot' everything that happened between us. I wanted my brother to know, I wanted him to understand. I had decided last night, that I didn't care, love is love and I love Ludwig. I was still afraid to tell him because if he got mad, there might be police involvement.
"Wait," I heard myself say, I ignored Ludwig's confused glances "Lovino, I have something kind of important to tell you…" I braced myself and sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "I am in love." I stated simply. There was no explosion; the roof didn't cave in on me. As If Lovino's face wasn't enough to stop me, it was a mixture of someone putting ice down his pants and having something stinky hit him in the face. I should've stopped, but I continued "With Ludwig. He loves me too, and I don't care what you say, that won't change." Lovino stood with his expression, his eyes switching from me to Ludwig and. I felt Ludwig's reassuring hand on my shoulder, and I have never appreciated anything more.
"With him?" he asked pointing at my beautiful German. I nodded positively. "Why him?" he questioned me. I didn't know why it mattered.
"What do you mean?" I asked horribly confused
"Couldn't you have picked someone more… romantic? I mean why him?" he said making gestures at my newfound love.
"What?" I'll be honest, I was dumbstruck, what was he saying? Why did he care about how romantic Ludwig was? (He was very blessed in that category if I do say so myself) "Lovino, are you feeling okay?" I asked him.
"Don't be stupid! I'm fine," He said "It's just that… Feli, He's German. That isn't romantic. And his name is Ludwig, right? What kind of name is that to call out in an orgasm?" Why was Lovino concerned about these things? Though… on the bright side he didn't seem angry…
"Lovi, none of that stuff matters." I said very matter-of-factly; I stepped out of Ludwig's comforting grasp. "You couldn't understand how I feel, unless you felt it too." I said, a small smile turning up the corners of my mouth. What a ludicrous notion. Ha! My brother: the die-hard catholic, gay? Yeah right! Suddenly his phone rang, he pulled the sleek black electronic from his pocket pushed a button and pressed it to his ear, we could only hear this end of the conversation, which wasn't very informative.
"No … … Did I say you could? … ... No, something came up … … … when I say so! … … I said no you damn bastard!" he flipped the phone closed and stuffed it back in his pocket.
"Lovi?" I asked prompting him to tell me who it was and what they had been talking about, he had no such intentions. While he had been talking I had shrunk back into Ludwig's strong comforting embrace. If we had been alone, I might've kissed him. But with Lovino around that was definitely out of the question
"Feli," he said very seriously "I wasn't expecting this. You just met, like last night? And you're already in love? I'm very surprised," He was stalling I could tell. I snuggled closer to my Ludwig, holding onto him tightly, even if the ground sank out from beneath my feet, I would always have him to hold me up.
"Lovino, I assume you have a point?" Ludwig, who been quite silent, spoke up unexpectedly.
"I do," he said patronizingly "Feli, I gotta tell you something, too." He had somewhat of a pained expression, "I- I-I'm-"
The door to our apartment swung open and a boy with chocolate hair and olive eyes strutted inside and embraced my brother grabbing him from behind shouting "Lovi! Your ass is too cute today!"
"Fuck off Toni!"
Who was this boy?
"Lovi, are you, is he…?" trailed off, hoping someone could finish my sentence and assure me.
"Oh, Roma, you still haven't told him?" my brother wasn't speaking; I don't even think he was breathing with the way the cheerful brunette was squeezing him. "God, you look so hot! Look at your face! It's all red! Like a cute little tomato!" he hugged my brother tighter, "Hola! I'm Antonio, it's great to meet you, Roma has told me so much!"
"Uh, okay?" I managed
"You wouldn't believe how many times I pestered him to tell you about us!" he interrupted himself to pinch my older brothers cheeks "God damn! Isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?"
"I-I can't really say…" I was at a loss, my brother had always frowned upon homosexuals… when had this changed? I recognized Toni from Gilbert's party, he and Lovi were going around together, but I never imagined…
"I think he is! And underneath all these clothes he's got a rocking body!" my brother wriggled from the tan boy's death hug. And let out a string of swear words
"Shut the fuck up you motherfucking bastard! I told to wait outside what the hell happened to that?"
"It's cold. And you were taking forever!" he reached for Lovino again, "Are you gonna tell him or should I?" Lovino evaded his grasp and came around to face me
"Feli, Toni and I are… he and I have… Well you see it's like this…" My tomato faced brother stuttered.
"Good god, Roma, you take forever it's not hard." He grinned and wrapped his arm around my brother. "Your brother and I are together, I don't know why he's so worried, you two seem pretty close!" he winked and Ludwig and I, in our half naked embrace. My face suddenly went a hundred shades darker as I remembered that I had no pants on. I don't always mind wearing no pants (I'm Italian, nudity doesn't bother me) but in front of my brother's boyfriend I was a tad self-conscious
"I'll be back!" I shouted running into my room. Once I was secure in the confines of my bedroom I realized how much it had hurt to run like that. I pulled a pair of shorts from my drawer; I heard the door open and shut. I whirled around like a hurricane to see Ludwig pawing the ground for his clothes. He had assembled most of what he had been wearing last night. I sat myself on the bed and looked up at him; he set his pants on the bed. "Ludwig?" I asked pathetically, he was beautiful, simply organizing his clothes. "I'm so confused, I really thought my brother would be upset, but he can't be, can he?" I laughed.
He snickered, and began slipping his clothes on. I crawled across the bed and sat back on my heels watching intently, he did up his pants and then reached for his jacket. But he found that I was sitting on it, normally I would've jumped up asking for forgiveness but instead I sat there until he finally asked for the jacket.
"Kiss me, and you can have your jacket." I said coyly. He snickered again and kissed me on the cheek. I shook my head, "Not on the cheek." He leaned in and placed a muscular hand on my cheek bringing our lips together. I swept my tongue across his lips, his mouth opened for me I explored his mouth with my tongue. I didn't have to, I knew my way. My hand slid up his shirt.
He pulled back, "Feli, not now!"
"Later then?" I said a smile on my lips.
"Yes, my beautiful Feli if you want to, later." He kissed my forehead "For now let's put on a face for your brother." I sighed blissfully and followed him out of the room. Lovi was pressed against the wall Antonio, holding him there. I guess Ludwig and I weren't the only ones getting close. Lovi's hands ran through Antonio's hair, Antonio's hands dipped below my brother's belt. I wandered off to my kitchen taking a glass from the cupboard. I placed the glass on the table followed by a second. I opened my refrigerator and set the milk carton beside them. I filled each glass in turn and handed one to Ludwig before taking a sip of the other one. Eventually my brother and his ultra-affectionate-super-cheerful boyfriend found their way to the kitchen as well.
"Lovi, where did you go last night?" I asked nonchalantly.
"Well, I was kinda drunk, and I forgot you were there, so I," he began but was interrupted by the talkative Spaniard.
"We went back to my place!" he grinned crookedly "and we did… things…¡dios! ¡eso era asombroso! ¡el sexo borracho con Lovi es caliente como infierno!" he snuggled my brother.
I giggled even though I didn't really know what he was saying. (Something about sex…) "Erm, Toni, How long do you plan to stay here?" I asked awkwardly
"Not long, I have to be somewhere, but I was gonna take Lovi. That desperate to get rid of us?" he replied.
"No, just curious." I smiled back. Ludwig was my stony-faced rock, he kept me grounded. I held his hand under the table, listening to them tell stories and laughing with them. Eventually they excused themselves from the apartment saying they had places to be. I watched them leave, relieved. Ludwig held his hands behind his back as I waved them off, I turned around and hugged him laying my head on his chest. "Well, that was awkward." I said.
"Mhm," he replied simply.
"But he seems to make Lovi happy."
His arms encircled me and I felt him kiss the top of my head. "Yeah."
"Do I?" I said into his jacket.
"Do you what?" he said into my hair.
"Do I make you happy?" I looked up at him. He smiled at me and nodded before kissing my forehead.
"Yes. You do. You are the sweetest, cutest, most amazing person I have ever met." He said kindly. I linked our hands and swung them cheerily leading him back into the apartment. We went in and finished our food.
We were eating and I was laughing as we shared chaste kisses. He reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out his cell phone.
"Hello… … Yeah I was drunk… … Because I was tired… what do you need me for? … Can't you do it yourself? … fine I'll be home soon… whatever." He flipped it closed and slid it back in his pants. "Feli, I have to go, Gilbert wants me home."
Was it bad that I didn't want him to leave?
"Oh, maybe I could go with you?" I offered
"I don't know, maybe some other time." He said
"Oh…" I was disappointed. "You have something on your face." I said walking up to him prepared to wipe the crumb on his upper lip off. I don't really know why, he is perfectly capable of wiping his own face. I licked my thumb and wiped it away. His eyes were wide as if nobody had ever done that before. I realized how funny that must have seemed. "Sorry." I said. I started to take my hand off his face he held it in his; he kissed the inside of my wrist. He pulled my hand and the rest of me followed until I was in his grasp and our faces were millimeters apart. He kissed me gently. His hand rested firmly on my back.
"I'll see you tomorrow okay?" I smiled lamely nodding happily in response. "Now can you do me a favor?" I raised my eyebrow and nodded slowly. "Can you find my other sock? I think it's in the sheets." I giggled to myself as I went on the quest for Ludwig's sock.
I walked into my room, the curtains were open and some midday light sprinkled in. Jumping on the bed, I attacked the sheets. It was entangled in the pile of linens at the foot of my bed. I found it and congratulated myself. I brought it back like a puppy playing fetch. He thanked me and pulled it on before his shoes, he put his helmet on and kissed my forehead once more before riding off on his growling steed of steel. I turned back to my kitchen, I still had half a glass of milk on the table I finished it off in a couple of gulps when I noticed the note on my fridge I went up and read it.
Feli, baby, when can we get together again? Call me.
I felt scandalous, like one of those girls you meet at a club and screw in the bathroom. The number was there and I'd call it after I took a shower.
Ha ha phone-sex sounds fun? On second thought maybe we shouldn't overload my beta! Love you Speck!