Lovina moves closer to him, feeling this energy between them. She shifts onto his lap now feeling safe. He looks confused as she leans up and cuddles into him. "Alfred...thank you so much...all of it means more than you can imagine..." She smiles and kisses his cheek. "Just promise me...through all of this, you'll always be like this..." She lets out a small yawn and cuddles into him.
Alfred smiles at her strokes Lovina's soft chestnut brown hair. She finally smiles, and he's happy to see her look cheerful for once.
Ever since Antonio and the breakup, Lovina seems more fragile almost as if she could break at any moment. Alfred worries for her, wishing that he could save her from her own pauses and thinks about what Aki said to him about Lovina, and why he's human in the first place.
In Lovina's dreams she is alone, watching the rest of the world go by her. She opens her mouth to speak, but it's as if her voice was silenced or muted. She reaches up to try to touch her grandfather, but he coldly brushes her away, as he walks off with Mr. Beilschmidt. She frowns at the two. Next was her sister, who ignores her and walks off with Ludwig. She tears up, however her tears sting ten times more, causing her to open her mouth to scream out, but not a single word came out. Then, a warm hand touches her should and she looks up to see Alfred. He smiles at her in that familiar way, before leaning down until they were at eye level.
Soft gentle blue eyes met fierce amber eyes, in what seems like a perpetual eye contact. She softens up at the warmth behind those warm eyes, and without realizing it, smiles. He is grinning now, and strokes her cheek with a gloved hand, caressing her in a kind and loving manner, while getting any straw hairs, and tucking them behind her ear.
"Lovina...please smile like this...only for me." He moves in closer by sitting down. Before she realizes what is happening, he has an arm around her waist, and pulls her onto his lap. He continues to hold her, brining what little sunlight into what she loosely calls her life. He wipe any spare tear, before leaning in closer and closer until...
Lovina sits up, with a startled gasp. 'Just a dream...' she feels her chest rise and fall, as she softly pants from being jolted awake. 'J-just...just a dream...' takes a few deep breaths to try to regain her composure, telling herself over and over that yes it was a dream, and no, he wasn't going to like her in that way. 'Wait...' her eyes widen in shock. 'Does this mean...I have feelings for my cat?' She cringes at the thought, feeling like there might be something wrong with that picture. "Alfred..." she looks over to see he's still asleep. "Hey...wake up" she frowns and pokes him in the back. He lets out a weird nose and rolls over. "Damn it...wake up." she hissed out and pokes him harder. He slowly opens his eyes and looks at her with a sleepy expression.
"Just five more minutes..." he gives her his best pout, but is quickly denied. He gets a small glint in his blue eyes, and without hesitation wraps his arms around her waist, and pulls her back down, until she's cuddling into him. "That's better..." he yawns and rests his head against the crook of her neck, and then falls back asleep.
She sighs and relaxes, even though she wants to get up and do something. Not to mention it was a little awkward for them to be cuddling like this, because her irrational side was starting to think they're boyfriend and girlfriend. 'No' she mentally slaps herself as she gets rid of that thought. Her and Alfred...no...never...not going to happen...right? She blushes more as she thinks about what he has done for her, and how grateful she is, but was that really right? Was she really supposed to fall for her former cat? Feeling nervous, she closes her eyes, and tries to think of other things, but those thoughts won't leave her be. Like a plaguing nightmare these thoughts haunt her, until she wriggles out of Alfred's hold, and goes to the bathroom.
Lovina looks up at her reflection as she splashes water onto it. The cool water gave her some comfort, but she still feels nervous. Just what was going on with her? She looks over back into her room, and sees Alfred's peaceful face as he sleeps. He has a soft smile, as part of his bangs droop due to him sleeping on his side. She feels her heart skip a beat, when he slowly opens his eyes, looking at her with a slightly dazed look.
"Hey...Lovina...please" his tone is soft as he tries to talk her into going back to rest with him. She sighs and goes back to him, lying down. "Thanks..." he cuddles her again. She feels her heart skip a beat again, as she feels warmer.
A while passes as Lovina and Alfred just lie there, as if nothing else in the world is of any significance.
"Lovina...?" He finally asks, breaking what feels like an eternity of silence.
"Hmm?" Lovina yawns, feeling a little drowsy from how calm and peaceful it is. "What is it Al..." She rubs one of her eyes in a sleepy manner.
"Want to get something to eat?" he hears his stomach growl. "Or is there something here?"
She pauses. "I smelt something really good earlier, so I think sorella made something to eat, but it's probably in the refrigerator..." she yawns and sits up. "Let's go check..." she gets up and goes into the kitchen. Out on the counter were a few snacks that had to have been made a few hours ago. She goes back to the room. "Get dressed..." she picks out a dress and puts it on. She heads into the living room, and turns the tv on, and looks through the channels, before stopping at program she knew Alfred would like. He walks in and sits down next to her, before taking a snack off of the table and eating it. She is startled when he puts her onto his lap, but at this point she got used to it. She leans back into him, but stiffens when she feels him touch her dark brown locks of hair. He doesn't realize what he's doing, and somehow his hand winds up near the curl. His hand brushes up against it, causing her to gasp out.
"A-alfred...n-no..." she covers her mouth to keep from betraying herself. He accidently touches the curl again, and she lets out a muffled whimper. "C-cgh..." she grits her teeth, as a moan manages to escape. She gets up and moves away from him. "D-don't...don't do that again..." she goes into her room leaving a very confused Alfred behind.
"Alfred...you shouldn't touch sorella's curl..." Felicia shyly comes in and sits near him.
"Why? what's wrong?" Now Alfred is extremely confused. Not only did he upset Lovina, but he might have just made her hate him, or so he thinks. He blinks when Felicia blushes more and fidgets with her sleeves.
"It...it's a spot that..." she tries to find the right words to use for Alfred. "It...it's a very special place...that...that makes us...f-feel good...Nonno...nonno told us not to let anyone touch it...o-ok?"
Alfred nods and gets up. He has to make it up to Lovina somehow. Just how exactly was he going to make things right again...? He tries to think, and then he just sits down. "Felicia?" he looks over at her, and she blinks at him. "Will Lovina be alright?..." he feels really bad now, since he swore to be her hero, and to make sure she's safe, comfortable and happy. So far, he has been doing his best, and yet he still manages to slip up and mess up with her.
"She...she'll be fine..." Felicia softly smiles at him. "She just needs a moment or two to calm down, but she'll be fine..." she lets out a small 've' as she thinks of the last time this happened:
"Lovi? what is this?" Antonio asks as he pulls on Lovina's curl. Lovina lets out a small gasp, before slapping Antonio across the face. "Lovi?" he tugs on the curl more, confused at why Lovina was reacting this way. He looks at her flustered expression, and finds the shades of red adorable, while her expression. "Lovi~" he smiles. "Lovina es linda~" he leans in and kisses her cheek. "Just like..."
"Don't...d-don't you d-dare say it!" Lovina glares at him.
"Tomate~" He chuckles, until Lovina slaps his hand away, and storms off.
Felicia giggles at the memories of Lovina with Antonio, remembering how they used to be the perfect couple. They really did complement each other, and Felicia was sure they would have made the cutest little nieces and nephews. She heard they weren't together anymore, which still made her sad. She was happy to see Antonio happy with Julchen, but she always could, and always will picture her sister with Antonio.
Meanwhile, Lovina sits in her room, calming down after Alfred touches her curl. Her heart feels like it's beating a million beats a second. Just what has he done to her? She takes deep, even breaths and slowly starts to relax.
Ludwig sits in the living room with Mr. Beilschmidt, as he teaches. Ludwig watches and listens intently, even if as a kitten, he would make Alfred change the channel to something educational and beneficial to the three of them.
After the lesson, Ludwig goes to the room he's given, a room that used to belong to Aldaric. Inside of the room, were various books, and trinkets, but what stood out the most was the flag above the bed, which Ludwig instantly recognized. Ludwig moves closer, and touches the flag, feeling a sense of unknown nostalgia. All of this room feels familiar, and most of all, the room, feels more than just someone's room. He lies down on the bed, feeling something hard under the pillow.
Upon further inspection, Ludwig finds a journal that looks like it saw better days. The cover is a worn out leather material, with a photograph mostly glued onto it. The lock is weak, and easy to take off, and soon Ludwig is flipping through the pages.
The writing is neat and meticulous in a manner that he has not seen before. the writing style itself could rival Mr. Beilschmidt's. In this journal, a young man, or so Ludwig guesses, writes about his life, mentioning a young girl, that he loves. The young man writes about how he wishes to talk to her, but is always too scared. A few loose pages fall out, and Ludwig picks them up, recognizing some sketches that look like something Felicia would draw. He narrows his blue eyes into a confused frown, and keeps reading.
Gradually over time, this young man becomes closer to the one he calls his angel. Each word he uses to describe how happy he is with her, brings up some emotions that Ludwig doesn't expect. He feels for the writer, and for reasons unknown, it brings a sense of dread to him. He goes to the last written entry:
To anyone who stumbles upon this,
Today is my last day with Felicia...my hands shake as I try to write this all down. Felicia...I hope that when all this hell is over, I can return to you. All I want is to wake up to that warm smile, and to feel the way we do when we're close. If only time couldn't keep us away like this...or at least allow me to put down all of my love in here. Felicia...I was so scared to talk to you. You always are an angel to me, while the others treated me horribly for my late development, or how I was that weird kid who got into history. My father, and your grandfather may have had a falling out, but all I wished was to be with you.
Felicia...it's likely I might not make it...so I am leaving you this message here. I hope you find this, and no matter what, please know I will be watching over you in case my health gives out on me. I...I'm sorry for not mentioning that my health always was a problem, but I couldn't let you suffer for my own sake. Whatever you do...always remember
Ich liebe dich
Forever
Aldaric
Ludwig looks at the last pages, feeling his hands shake. Aldaric, the one that everyone keeps mistaking him for, and especially the one Felicia cries over. He closes the book and puts it back, feeling a sense anger build up. Just how can he live up to those expectations? Just how can he think about filling in his spot, when he sees all of that. He sighs deeply, wondering what he was going to do.
"Well...I better ask..." Ludwig stands up and goes to the kitchen to see Mr. Beilschmidt. "Hey...Mr-"
Mr. Beilschmidt turns around and looks at him with a questionable look. He's currently working on a meal for them. "What is it, and you can call me vati." he adds the last part in, since he adopted Ludwig .
"Could you tell me about Alderic?" Ludwig isn't afraid to ask. A loud clatter is heard as metal hits the floor. "Vati...?" he is confused now. Mr. Beilschmidt frowns at him. "The one who lived in that room...his journal was under the pillow...how was he sick?"
Mr. Beilschmidt sighs and gestures for Ludwig to sit down.
"Alderic was born with a lot of difficulties. His mutti...she wasn't so lucky in the birth, while each day he struggled to live..." his tone holds pain in it. "Growing up, Aldaric had a weak heart..we did our best to help him, and even Gilbert made sure to help him with small exercises that strengthened his heart...but we were told his life could be cut short."
"Vati...I'm sorry..." Ludwig feels guilt now, and a part of him wishes to comfort Mr. Beilschmidt. "You don't have to say anymore, I understand..."
"Nein...it's fine Ludwig." Mr. Beilschmidt frowns. "He wasn't going to live a full life, but we did our best to make sure he was healthy, and well...one day his doctor told us that he was starting to get stronger. They never understood why, but the more time he spent with Felicia, the more his health seemed to improve...then I noticed it...that look he had with her. Before he left...she always motivated him to get better..." he stops and looks at Ludwig. "Don't tell Felicia this, she's been through enough."
"Understood."
The next day Lovina and Alfred go to a baseball game. Normally she doesn't like this type of thing, but she decides to be nice, and go for Alfred. They find a good seat, and sit down, watching the game.
Alfred smiles as he watches, glove in one hand just in case, and a soda in another. His eyes full of happiness, as he watches the first homerun of the game. Sure, he got a few weirded out looks for cheering when someone scores a point, but in all honesty, he's happy to be there, and doesn't want to pick sides just yet.
Lovina bites into her tomato and looks up right as she sees a baseball headed towards her. Her eyes widen in fear before she covers her face, expecting to get hit. A soft thump is heard, and Lovina looks up to see Alfred's gloved hand, which has the baseball in it. He smiles at her, before handing it to her. Lovina starts to blush, not noticing that they're starting to draw attention.
"A-alfred...you...thank you." She softly smiles at him. She feels this warm feeling that she felt with Antonio. Leaning closer, she rests her head against his shoulder.
"Well would you look at it folks, the perfect save for the perfect couple, let's give them a round of applause" The announcer says into the mics, which is then followed by a bunch of cheers, and congratulations. Lovina is dark red, but at this point, she really couldn't care any less. Alfred wraps his arm around her waist, pulling her closer, and they watch the rest of the game in silence.
By the time it's over it's pretty late, and so they head out. Lovina yawns as she drives back to their place, ready to fall asleep. She looks over at Alfred, who has fallen asleep in the car, and just something about him, she feels safe around. She smiles at him, and before she knows it, they're back home.
"Alfred...come on...we're back..." she tugs on his sleeve. He grogily wakes up, and together they walk into her room. With a smile she places the baseball on her jewelr bob, but specically on the top of the weird earring holder, because is has an indent that seems perfect for it. She steps back and smiles at this. Everything feels perfect. She yawns before going to her bed, and cuddling up next to Alfred, who in return wraps his arms around her waist. As the days go on, she finds him self closer to him, and the more time they spend together, the more she finds herself feeling secure with him.
As she drifts off into a slumber, she thinks of what he has done for her, feeling a weird fluttery feeling in her chest. She cuddles into him more, as she finally falls asleep.