A/N: The rating is now M. Thank you.

Finally, on a pleasant Saturday in the middle of March, Feliciano's birthday had arrived. It was the perfect day for it. The air was warm but not hot, clouds were scattered across the sky but none threatened a storm. Ludwig and he had been talking for the past few days, and they had come up with a plan. Gilbert was going across town for a couple days to visit a friend, so Ludwig had the house to himself. Feliciano would come over in the early evening. They would have a picnic outside, talk, and just have a good time. The plans weren't extravagant or detailed, but to Feliciano they were absolutely perfect.

It was ten in the morning, and Feliciano was in his room. Ludwig had called him two hours earlier to wish him a happy birthday, and Grandpa Roma had called not long after. His day had started off great, and deep in his heart he knew it would be great all the way through. Even though he had several hours before he had to be anywhere, he was both excited beyond believe and nervous as could be. His birthdays had always been so lonely and lackluster. He wanted this one, his first one with Ludwig, to be perfect.

Feliciano stared at his reflection in the mirror. He had no idea how birthday parties worked. Was he supposed to wear something special? If so, what? Ludwig had told him not to worry; he could wear whatever he'd like. Still, it nagged at him. Were there any strange birthday rituals that no one had told him about? He made one half-hearted attempt at getting his stray curl to behave before it returned to its permanent position, sticking straight out of the rest of his hair. He might be seventeen now, but some things never changed.

Done with examining his appearance, Feliciano collapsed back on his bed. His chest was tight, his stomach tossing and turning over and over again. He shouldn't be this nervous. It was just Ludwig, he was comfortable with Ludwig. More comfortable than he had been with a friend since, well, Ludwig, all those years ago. The only difference was he was more than a friend now. Maybe that was what made him nervous. He had a gut feeling that something was going to happen that evening. He wasn't sure what, however.

There was only one thing that was bugging him that morning. Lovino hadn't called. Feliciano tried to shrug it off, telling himself it was still early, it was likely his brother hadn't even woken up yet. He would call. Feliciano was sure. He checked his phone again. No missed calls or messages. Feliciano sighed and flipped the phone on its face. He would call, eventually.

Several hours later…

The doorbell rang. Finally. Feliciano had been jittery all day, a ball of emotions twisting in his stomach. Nervousness, excitement, joy, a tad of impatience since Lovino had not called yet- it was all there, flying around in his body like a swarm of hyperactive birds. He raced down the stairs dressed in a simple button down shirt and fitted khaki pants, the clothes he had finally decided on.

Feliciano flung the door open and was met with Ludwig. He was wearing dark jeans and a button down shirt that was just tight enough that Feliciano could see the outline of his muscles through the thin fabric. He caught himself staring for a moment before his head snapped upwards.

"Hi!" He said, smiling at him.

Ludwig's hands were behind his back. He brought them forward, revealing a bouquet of red roses. His mouth twitched into a very slight, embarrassed grin. "Happy birthday, Feliciano."

Feliciano beamed and took the flowers from his hands. "Mio dio!" He exclaimed; eyes fixed on the roses. They were bright and healthy, adding up to exactly one dozen. "They're so pretty!"

Ludwig's cheeks were nearly as red as the flowers. He stared at his shoes, his stoic expression back in place. "Gilbert said roses were, uh, romantic." He said, picking a piece of invisible lint off of his sleeve. He said the word like it was in a foreign language.

"He was right!" Feliciano smiled down at the bouquet. At that moment, he felt like the luckiest person in the universe. "Let me go put these in water!"

Without giving Ludwig time to respond, he darted from the door to the kitchen, quickly filled an old glass vase with water and set the flowers in it. He left them sitting on the counter for the time being, intending to put them in his room when he got back home. Feliciano raced back to the door, smiled brightly at Ludwig, and they went to his car.

It didn't take long to reach Ludwig's house. The streetlights lit up the backyard and the trees cast shadows on the walls. It was dreamlike. Feliciano's eyes were glued to the brick house he'd seen many times before and he suddenly felt euphoric. His chest fluttered in anticipation as Ludwig got out of the car, walked over to the passenger side and opened the door for him. He went as far as to hold out his hand for him and pull him gently from his seat. Feliciano's entire body felt light like he was floating, drifting.

Feliciano was prepared to have the best night of his life.

His breath was taken away when they reached the backyard. The perimeter of the yard was lined with tiki torches, the flames flickering in the darkness of the roughly half-acre yard. Beyond the patio that sat by the door was a picnic blanket, laid out rather deliberately at the middle of the slope of a small hill that made up the yard. The top of the small hill overlooked a road in the distance. Feliciano could make out what looked like a forest preserve beyond the distant line of traffic, the cars looking like fireflies as they sped down the street.

"Wow." He breathed the word; feeling like the oxygen had been knocked out of his lungs. "It's beautiful, Ludwig."

He shrugged modestly and looked around his own yard. "Gilbert had the lights from some party he had." He said. "It was no big deal, really. I probably could have done something else…"

Feliciano smiled, touched by his desire to make this special. "I love it!" He said and threw his arms around him. "It's absolutely perfect!"

And it was.

Feliciano sat down on the blanket while Ludwig went inside. There were already utensils laid out for them, everything from plates to napkins to glasses. He emerged just minutes later with two take-out boxes with a portable stereo balanced on top, and to Feliciano's surprise, a bottle of red wine. Setting everything down, he smiled at him apologetically.

"I can cook Italian food about as well as I can paint," he said, "so I got takeout. I hope it's okay."

Looking at the box, Feliciano immediately recognized the restaurant's logo. He had gone with Lovino and his grandpa on very special occasions, since the food was expensive. Still, it was worth it. This place had the best Italian food in the area. The pasta was nearly as good as it was when he had lived in Italy. Feliciano's face lit up as he opened the box and he was hit with the wonderful aroma. He felt like a kid on Christmas.

"Wow!" He exclaimed. "You got exactly what I would get! This is amazing! Thank you, Ludwig!"

Ludwig smiled at his excitement and nodded. He uncorked the wine and poured them each a glass before holding his in the air. "A toast."

Feliciano clinked his glass against Ludwig's. "I've never had wine before." He said. "Where did you get this?"

One side of Ludwig's mouth twitched upwards in a slight half-smile. "They didn't card me."

"Really? Wow!" He didn't doubt that Ludwig could pass for being over twenty-one, but it still managed to surprise him. Ludwig found a way to surprise Feliciano each and every day. He took a sip, initially shocked by the bitter taste but soon got used to it. He felt a warming sensation in his stomach and suddenly understood why people drank wine.

"It's good." He said, smiling. Feliciano looked up to take in everything that was around him, realizing how much it actually was. "I hope this didn't cost you too much."

Ludwig shook his head. "I wanted to make this special. You deserve it."

Setting the glass down carefully, Feliciano swirled a bite of pasta around his fork absent-mindedly. "I don't know about that. I'm just me, nothing terribly special."

"That isn't true, Feliciano. I have never met anyone quite like you."

The words sent a chill down Feliciano's spine and a blush across his face. When he was with Ludwig, he believed that statement. He made him feel special, even wanted in a way that no one else had ever managed to. Every time he looked at him with those blue eyes of his, he felt like the luckiest person to ever grace the surface of the planet.

"I think you're the special one, Ludwig! It's amazing how you're so serious and strong but shy and sweet at the exact same time." Feliciano felt no reluctance as he spilled his emotions for the world to see. He didn't feel any need to hide them anymore.

Ludwig chuckled. "Is that so?" He said, a rare hint of humor in his voice. "But this evening isn't about me. It's all for you today."

Feliciano felt a flutter in his chest. They ate listening to the wind blow through the trees and crickets chirp in the distance. The sky was lit up with a sheet of stars shining down upon them like lights from a Christmas tree. It was a usually clear night, allowing the stars to be seen as clearly as they could be. Feliciano felt calmer than he had in months. He didn't believe this was all entirely coincidental. Something, somewhere was working hard to make this night as beautiful and perfect as it could be. Looking into the sky he felt infinite, like he was one with the universe. Still, the dazzling sky held so many unanswered questions in its hands.

"Ludwig, what do you think happens when we die?" The question was not something Feliciano had planned to ask. The words passed his lips unconsciously, a product of staring up into sky above them. He was mesmerized, intoxicated by the endless glowing lights.

Ludwig set down his fork and slowly looked up, a puzzled expression spreading across his face. "That came out of nowhere." He said.

"I'm just curious."

In reality, that question was something Feliciano pondered often. However, this was to first time he had bothered to vocalize it. Throughout his life, the thought of death would cause his blood to run cold and his body to tremble. If he could, he simply pushed in out of his thoughts. If he allowed the idea to linger in his mind for too long, he would begin to feel his sanity slip away from him piece by piece. Feliciano wasn't brought up to be particularly religious beyond the occasional church service, so no answers to the question had been laid out for him.

"I'm not sure, Feli. No one can be sure. I prefer to focus on life rather than death." Ludwig said. He planted his hands behind him and leaned back against his arms. "A man can drive himself mad thinking about it."

Wasn't that the truth? Feliciano snapped out of his euphoric state and was hit by flashbacks of what had happened when he did overthink his own existence. It never ended well for him. At some point, everyone comes to the realization that the world doesn't actually revolve around them. If they dropped dead to very next day, life would continue to happen. People would continue to eat, sleep, dream, love- they would simply go on living; the vast majority of the world never even knowing they'd existed. That idea isn't upsetting until you think about it for long enough.

Feliciano sighed into the darkness, tracing the consolations with his eyes. "Well, do you believe in God?"

Ludwig opened his mouth to speak only to close it again. The air around them fell silent for what felt like an eternity before he actually spoke. "My father is very religious." He said. He avoided eye contact by focusing on the ground, ripping up a handful of grass and letting it fall. "But me, personally? I am not arrogant enough to pretend I know the answer. I don't have much of an opinion on the matter, I'm afraid."

That made sense. Whether Feliciano told himself that he absolutely believed in God or that he absolutely didn't, it felt equally as strange. He was never comfortable with church services; the masses of people mindlessly repeating phrases like drones never sat right with him. "That makes sense. You can never be sure, right?" said Feliciano. "I try not to think about it too much..."

His mind wandered back to the night it had stormed like the world was ending, remembering the terrifying feeling all too clearly. That feeling recreated itself whenever he was alone with these kinds of thoughts for too long, whenever he allowed himself to drive himself crazy. "When I think about that kind of stuff I almost feel like I am dying! That's ironic, right? It's really scary. Actually, I think I get those, um, what did you call them?"

Ludwig raised his eyebrows and kept his gaze focused on the ground. "Panic attacks."

That's right. That was the term. Feliciano shuttered at the words before he nodded. Panic attack. It sounded so ominous, so threatening. The term was almost as scary as the experience itself. He brought his knees to his chest, hugging them close to his body as if to attempt to become smaller than he already was.

"Don't worry." Ludwig's voice was gentle yet commanding of attention. "We are still very young. We have long lives ahead of us. I promise you it will be alright."

Feliciano nodded almost robotically. "I guess you're right."

Ludwig must have sensed that Feliciano was unconvinced, because he continued to speak. "If I can spend it with you, I'm sure life will be more beautiful than I could have ever imagined."

Feliciano felt his anxieties roll off his back like water, just like that. "Ludwig…" He blinked a few times, and the heavy feeling in his chest was suddenly a thing of the past. "I don't think I could imagine anything better than that if I tried."

A life with Ludwig would truly be a life well spent. The thought itself was calming. No matter how scary the subject matter, talking about things with Ludwig always seemed to make whatever it was less frightening. Even if he had just sat there with him, not saying anything, he was sure the anxieties he felt still would have been kept at bay.

Still, the intrusive thoughts invaded his brain like another country's army. Thoughts of life, death, and oblivion- it was the last thing he wanted to think about right now. Even worse, what if he lost Ludwig to these things? He had someone to worry about now, someone that the harsh realities of the world could take away at any given time. A sharp pain shot through his chest. Hugging his knees tighter, Feliciano looked into the night sky for answers.

"You seem interested in the stars." Ludwig said suddenly. "I bet you'd be interested in how NASA organizes its company parties."

Feliciano snapped out of his daze, confused by the odd statement. "I beg your pardon?"

"How do you think NASA prepares for their parties?"

He stared at him blankly. "Um, how?"

"They planet."

It took Feliciano a moment for the joke to register. Even thought it was probably the worst joke he had ever heard in his life, laughter bubbled in his chest before it finally escaped. He laughed out loud from the sheer absurdity of it. It felt so good to laugh. It was like a two-ton boulder had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Ludwig, that was terrible!" He exclaimed. He felt the tension and the worry that had built up melt away from him as he continued to giggle to himself.

Ludwig made a sound that was almost a laugh. "You were unusually quiet. I had to at least try."

They finished eating; Feliciano stifling giggles the entire time. The short philosophical conversation in itself comforted him. He made a mental note to think back to it whenever he caught himself lost in an existential crisis, to think of Ludwig's voice and his eyes as well as the things he had said. The present was here, and it was wonderful. It was no use spending such a precious time thinking of death.

When they finished the food, they moved onto the wine. Ludwig poured both of them a second glass. Feliciano began to feel warm in every inch of his body by the end of it, his fingertips tingling. He made the decision not to have much more of the stuff. He wasn't going to get drunk. He didn't want to be drunk. Feliciano wanted to remember every second of this night, not lose it by the end of the bottle.

Still, the drink evoked certain lightness in him. He laughed at the smallest of things and felt as though he was floating. Everything, right down to the flickers of light from the tiki torches seemed more beautiful and more interesting than before. When Ludwig so much as brushed his hand with his, tingles ran up and down his skin and caused him to turn red from his cheeks to the base of his collarbone.

Ludwig set down the now empty wine glass. "What do you call dangerous precipitation?"

Feliciano rolled his eyes jokingly. "Oh, no." He was already beginning to giggle. "What do you call it?"

"A rain of terror."

Feliciano could not help but laugh at the absurdity. "At least that wasn't as bad as the last one." He said. "Where are you even getting these?"

"You're forgetting how absurd Gilbert can be." Ludwig poured the last of the wine in their glasses. "He makes a lot of terrible attempts at humor."

"I can tell!" said Feliciano before bursting into a fit of giggles again. "Oh! I got one! Why do vampires believe everything you tell them?"

Ludwig chuckled quietly. "Oh, I'm dying to know."

"Because they're suckers!"

He actually did laugh that time. "Amazing." He said. He smiled with a look of mischief. "What do you call a sketchy neighborhood in Italy?"

"Come on! That hits home!" Despite his protests, Feliciano was still smiling.

The alcohol having made it's way into his bloodstream, Ludwig laughed out loud before he even got to the punch line.

"At least finish the joke!" Feliciano could not help it. He was laughing already, if only out of anticipation alone.

With a dumb grin on his face, Ludwig finally told him. "A speghetto."

Feliciano burst into a laughter so strong it made his stomach hurt. It wasn't even that funny, but between the wine sitting in his stomach and the way Ludwig had to strain to keep from laughing when he spoke made it seem like the funniest thing he had ever heard. "You have got to be kidding me!" He choked out in the mist of his hysteria. Only seconds after he managed to get it out, he started laughing again. Tears began to prick his eyes not long after. Ludwig followed suit not long after, laughing harder then Feliciano had ever heard him laugh.

Then, Feliciano came up with a joke so horrendously bad that at that point he thought it was the funniest thing he'd ever thought. "Hey," he said between laughs. He took a deep breath and tried his best to calm down. "Ludwig, what do you call an elephant?"

Ludwig, having stopped laughing, looked at him with an amused grin plastered on his face. "Oh, no. I can already tell this will not end well." He said. "What?"

"An elephant."

After a split second of silence Feliciano exploded into laughter again, the not-joke seeming so unbelievably hilarious under these conditions. After Ludwig contemplated what he was funny about what he said and when he realized there was actually no point at all, he laughed with him. Not quite as hard as Feliciano, but hard enough.

They were sitting right next to each other, and in one glorious, laughter-filled moment, Feliciano fell to the side onto Ludwig. This knocked the larger boy backwards and only caused them to laugh harder. Feliciano propped himself up on his arms while he lay on his torso, looking at him as he lay underneath him. Their laughter slowly died down as both of them came back to reality. Feliciano let out one last chuckle and then they were simply gazing into each other's eyes, their hair wild and messy and their cheeks flushed from laughing too hard.

The world slowed down. The redness on Ludwig's face soon turned from the product of laughing to a blush as he realized the position they were in. Slowly but not hesitantly, he wrapped his hands around Feliciano's hips. Feliciano let out a short, surprised gasp. The wine had effectively had him hypersensitive to every touch, every movement Ludwig made. For a moment, neither of them said or did anything.

This time, it was Ludwig that made the first move. He pushed gently on Feliciano's hips and brought him closer. For a second, Feliciano just looked at him with teasing eyes that dared him to try something else. Ludwig obeyed the unspoken command. He kissed him, hungrily yet gently. Feliciano forgot how to breathe as heat surged throughout his body and concentrated itself in an area he wasn't used to it being. When Ludwig bit the edge of his bottom lip, he swore he could have fainted. Suddenly, he stopped.

"Feli, are you sure you're okay with this? You're not drunk, are you?"

Feliciano smiled at the sentiment, but he had other things in mind. "No, I'm not. Now shut up and kiss me." He said teasingly. It was probably the wine talking, even though he wasn't lying about not being drunk.

Ludwig didn't hesitate. He pulled him back into the kiss, the unfamiliar heat encasing Feliciano like a blanket. He sighed against his mouth, his head spinning with the undying want that was winding around itself in his stomach. This wasn't a feeling he was used to, with his head spinning and his skin hot and tingling; the sensation only increasing the more he was kissed. Ludwig's hand slid from his hips to his waist and his whole body shuttered like he was possessed.

"Feliciano." Ludwig's voice was quiet and strained. He moved his hand to Feliciano's shoulders and pushed them upwards so he was forced to look at him. "Do…" Even in the dark, it was easy to see how red his face was. He took a deep breath and his eyes darted around, as if the right words to say would be written somewhere on Feliciano's face. He watched in awe as the always-stoic Ludwig succumbed to embarrassment. When he continued, he could only stammer. "Do you want to stop? That would be fine of course, or we could stay here or…we can… do you want to go upstairs?" His mouth parted partially when he was finished as if he was shocked by his own words. His face had only grown more flushed with every word he managed to say.

Oh. Oh. This is probably what Feliciano was anticipating earlier that day. This was the "thing" he had guessed would happen. He felt like he should be more nervous about it, more hesitant. The realization hit him. This is what he wanted. He didn't want to stop. He did want to go upstairs with him, and he knew full well this wasn't the same kind of invitation to go upstairs then the one he was given a couple weeks prior.

"Yes, Ludwig." He whispered the words into his ear. "I want to go upstairs with you." This time, he was sure it wasn't the wine talking. He wanted this. He knew that much.

He started to adjust his position, preparing to get off of Ludwig when instead he picked Feliciano up and carried him inside. The empty boxes and wine glasses were forgotten on the lawn in the flurry of passion. It didn't take long to reach the upstairs, Feliciano with his legs now wrapped around Ludwig's torso. They barely broke the kiss from the yard to his bedroom, not even bothering to turn any of the lights on.

In what seemed like a blink of the eye, Feliciano was being set down on the bed with Ludwig kneeling above him, his hands resting on the mattress by the sides of his head. The activity stopped, and Feliciano looked at him with a 'now what?' expression on his face. The lamp next to his bed was conveniently still on from earlier, and only then he could see exactly how red Ludwig's face was. He was surprised when he noticed that he really was as scarlet as a tomato.

"Ludwig!" He brought his hand to his cheek, which was burning hot. "Are you okay? Are you sick? Oh, I hope you don't have a fever!"

"I don't have a fever." He mumbled. "This…just became very real."

Feliciano mentally kicked himself. He finally realized, just because Ludwig was bigger and stronger than him didn't mean he was incapable of getting nervous. He suddenly wondered if he was rushing him, if this was too fast. "Do you want to stop? I'd understand, completely! Really!" Feliciano said, quickly clamoring into an upright position.

"It's not that." Ludwig said quickly. "It's just, well, I've never done anything like this before." His eyes were fixed on the wall, as if he would do anything to not make eye contact in that very moment.

"That's okay! It's not like I have." Feliciano was telling the truth. He had hardly ever had a friend before.

"Yes, well…" Ludwig cleared his throat and had to choke out his next word. "Sex has always been the last thing on my mind. It was how I was raised. But I want this, if you do."

The blush on Feliciano's face deepened as he slowly nodded. He definitely wanted this. He knew that for sure. With a slightly trembling hand, he turned off the lamb that shined next to them. Then they were cloaked in darkness, the only light coming from the stars and the moon shining through the window. Fumbling around in the now-darkened room, they managed to get under the blankets and lay facing each other.

Slowly this time, they kissed again. What followed was a slow process. Their limbs tangled together, the embrace slowly becoming more passionate as the time passed. Feliciano's hands found their way to the buttons on Ludwig's shirt and he began to undo them. His mouth twitched against Feliciano's as his hands met his bare chest, his breathing picking up as they explored this torso. Moments later, both of their well-ironed dress shirts were on the floor. Ludwig's necklace remained clasped around Feliciano's neck.

Feliciano shifted his body to sit on Ludwig's lap, who was still lying down. When his hands met Feliciano's belt buckle, he froze, his hands trembling like leaves in the wind. Instinctively, he brought his hand to Ludwig's chest. His heart was beating at an alarmingly fast pace.

"Feliciano, I don't know what to do, I…"

"Ludwig, it's okay. I don't know either. We'll learn together, alright?"

He took a deep breath and nodded. Steadying his hands enough to use them efficiently, he managed to undo Feliciano's belt, his hand brushing against him in the process. Having forgotten his hands were there, Feliciano had to bite down on his lip to suppress a moan. When Ludwig slipped his hands down the sides of his legs to remove the trousers, he couldn't hold it back any longer. Feliciano let out a whimper. The unfamiliar heat manifested itself lower until he couldn't control his body any longer. Looking down at himself and realizing what had happened, he blushed as strongly as he ever had. His skin felt feverish under his touch.

Feliciano's clothes suddenly felt like a prison. He needed them off, immediately. One wild, slightly messy moment later, their pants joined their shirts on a heap next to the bed. Feliciano gasped as Ludwig lowered himself against him, only separated by thin layers of fabric. Their lips met desperately as Ludwig's hands wandered Feliciano's torso as if he were searching for something. They got lower until they were toying with the waistband on his boxers. Feliciano nearly forgot to continue breathing. This was real.

"Wait." Ludwig said rather abruptly. "We…we will need to use something. It would be too difficult otherwise." He said, his chest moving up and down rapidly. Moving one of his hands away, he reached into the nightstand drawer. "Not long after I told Gilbert about us…he may have given me something."

Realizing what Ludwig was holding, Feliciano tried and failed to stifle the laughter rising in his chest. Of course Gilbert would do something like that. His laughter didn't last long, however. He snapped out of it as soon as he realized the position of Ludwig's hand and the position of their hips and the heat between his legs. It went beyond the physical side of things, no matter how strong it was. He yearned to share that closeness with Ludwig, a closeness he never thought he would experience with anyone.

After Gilbert's "gift" was put to use and after a brief moment of struggle, it was happening. Officially. Their hands locked together, breathing grew more rapid, and everything felt so perfect and passionate and just right. There was pain, but it was only slight. Besides, the pain was completely unnoticeable when the pleasure hit him and washed over his body like a current. Feliciano let a whimper escape his lips.

"Am I hurting you?" asked Ludwig frantically. "Gott, I don't want to hurt you. We can stop. No questions asked."

Feliciano knew he needed to stop him or he would never stop worrying. "Ludwig, no. Hush." He said, a smile spreading across his lips. "You could never hurt me."

Ludwig looked unconvinced. "You've been through so much pain in your life. I don't want to be the cause of anymore."

"And you won't be." Feliciano said honesty. He could simply never imagine Ludwig hurting him. But the ache between his legs was becoming more impatient. He fought to urge to shiver with desire. "But I'm begging you, please…"

Feliciano now understood why everyone made such a big deal out of this. It was like a whole new world crashing into him as he forgot every worry he ever had. Their hearts seemed to beat in sync. They fell into a rhythm and Feliciano shuttered, holding Ludwig even tighter than before. It felt like centuries passed. They knew every inch of each other.

"Is…this okay?" asked Ludwig, his words hot against Feliciano's neck. He sounded like he would have continued speaking, if he were able to.

"Yes, Ludwig." Feliciano said it in a sighing breath. Nothing had ever been more okay in his entire life. His next words came out in a whisper. "Dio, yes, it's perfect…"

"Feliciano…I love you."

"I love you too, oh my god, I love you so much…" Feliciano felt his chest swell with all the emotions and sensations hitting him at once like a hailstorm, and it took all he had not to cry tears of joy.

This was different, so, so different than anything Feliciano had ever felt. The buildup was unbearable, all consuming. Ludwig held him tighter and pulled his body as close as he could manage.

"Gott, Feliciano…"

Then there was silence, a beautiful, comfortable, knowing silence. Ludwig wrapped his arms around Feliciano's torso, embracing him, holding him so close he could feel his racing heart beat. Their breathing was heavy as the adrenaline finally gave way to exhaustion.

"That was amazing." Feliciano whispered. "Best gift I ever could have asked for."

Ludwig rolled off of Feliciano and sat up. "Speaking of gifts, that reminds me." He said. "Let's get cleaned up first. Then you can open your present."

Feliciano gaped at him. "You didn't. You've already done so much!"

"Too late." He said. "I'm going to take a shower, there's another bathroom a few doors down to the right-"

"Why don't I shower with you?"

Ludwig froze. His face turned white, then red, and he spoke as if he had forgotten how to speak English. "Uh…"

"It'll save water!" Feliciano said, seeing no flaws in his idea. "Oh Ludwig, don't tell me you're shy after what we just did-"

"Let's go."

Afterwards, Ludwig gave him a set of flannel pajamas to wear. Of course, the clothing was much too big and hung off on Feliciano, the fabric spilling off his wrists and pooling around his feet. Ludwig put on his own pajamas and reentered the room with a box wrapped in wrapping paper. Feliciano smiled, jumped on the bed and beckoned for Ludwig to sit with him.

Ludwig sat down next to him. He looked almost nervous. "I hope you will like this."

"I know I will! Can I see it now, please?"

"Alright, alright." He said, giving the wrapped package to Feliciano.

Feliciano eagerly tore the wrapping paper from the gift. It was a simple gift box a little bit bigger than a shoebox. "A box! It's just what I've always wanted." He said with a sarcastic grin on his face.

"Very funny."

Putting the jokes aside, Feliciano took the lid off the box. Sitting in it were cylinder-shaped bottles of various colors. He picked one up and realized what they were. They were bottles of paint, but not just any paint. Feliciano usually used cheap paints you can get at places that you can also buy groceries because they cost less. These were the kind of paint you had to go to a specialty art store to get. These were the expensive ones that Feliciano always wished he could afford to buy on a regular basis.

"Maybe don't paint on me with these." Ludwig said, that signature not-quite-a-grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

Feliciano threw his arms around him. "Ludwig, these are perfect! Thank you thank you thank you!"

"Happy birthday, Feliciano." He said. He leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

Feliciano felt his cheeks grow hot as he continued to smile down at his gift. He had expected this to be a great day, but he had gotten something even better. It wasn't because of the material possessions he was given anything like that. Finally, after waiting so long, things were finally beginning to look up for him. The days no longer ran together in a never-ending mass of grey. Now, each day brought something new and the world was filled with color. That spark in his life that was missing for years and years finally came to him. For the first time in forever, Feliciano was excited about life.

Out of the blue, Feliciano noticed his eyelids were drooping. His limbs felt heavy and all he wanted to do was lie down. He never wanted the day to end, but he couldn't ignore the fatigue that had set in after everything that had happened. He set the box down carefully on the nightstand. "Ludwig, I'm tired."

"Me too." Ludwig said. He hesitated for a moment. "Do you want to stay here?"

Feliciano couldn't think of a single better way to end the perfect day. "Well, I'm already wearing your pajamas."

"You're right." Ludwig said before getting up and switching the lights off. While he was doing this, Feliciano laid down. Ludwig joined him not long after. Expecting him to simply lie next to him, Feliciano started to close his eyes. His eyes shot open when Ludwig wrapped his arms around him and pulled him close. "Ludwig?"

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…" He murmured. Feliciano thought he must have been dreaming. Maybe the wine was still affecting him. Maybe it was both, because there was no way Ludwig was singing to him, albeit very quietly, in that amazing deep voice. But this could not be a dream, because he continued. "You'll never know dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away…"

Feliciano could have cried. He felt like he was floating away from himself, never having imagined that this kind of happiness was possible. In a matter of a couple months, Feliciano had seen so many of the sides Ludwig had to offer, keeping him on his toes as to what could possibly come next. Never in his life had he met such a fascinating, beautiful, wonderful person. He realized he might be the only person who knew Ludwig beyond his tough exterior, most not bothering to get to know him beyond it. And that was a real shame.

Ludwig stopped singing abruptly and groaned. "That was embarrassing." He muttered. "I read about singing to your love interest in a book once…verdammt, I apologize for that."

Feliciano shook his head. "It was beautiful." He said, his eyes closing again. "Buona Notte, Ludwig. That means goodnight."

"Gute nacht, Feliciano."

To be continued...