Feliciano wasn't dead. He wasn't sure of much else, but that he knew. He was confused. He didn't know where he was, or how he got there, or even much of what had happened. He wasn't sure what time of day it was. Time passed. How much, he couldn't be sure. It could have been seconds. It could have been days. He could have lived his entire life and started another, just like that.

Voices. There were voices everywhere. He heard beeping, things being moved and a constant slur of things he couldn't make out, but nothing could cover all of the voices. There were men's voices, women's voices, children's voices, loud voices and soft voices. No matter how many voices there were, Feliciano couldn't open his eyes. He was just too tired. This was an exhaustion more overpowering than anything he'd ever felt.

He was lying on something. His sense of touch was coming back; Feliciano could feel a pillow behind his head and maybe a blanket-

The pain hit him. It hit him like an avalanche of bricks. His head felt like someone had taken a jackhammer to it. Every inch of his skin was on fire, scraped raw and full of cuts. There was an awful, metallic taste in his mouth. Feliciano felt the urge to cry out, but couldn't. After a few minutes in the strange limbo, he decided it was time to take control of his body. Channeling every ounce of control he had, Feliciano slowly found the strength to curl his fingers. It felt like moving through cement, every tiny movement taking a monumental effort. Pain coursed through his body as he moved on to his arms and slowly gained control over them. Movement becoming easier, Feliciano took the plunge and pried his eyes open.

The light was blinding. Feliciano squinted against the intrusive florescent bulbs. It didn't take long to figure out that he was in a hospital. That didn't surprise him. After sitting up, he realized he was alone. That didn't surprise him, either.

The solitude didn't last long. Minutes after opening his eyes again, a woman flew into the room. Feliciano recognized her straightaway. This was the same nurse that had diagnosed him with a concussion. He smiled. She was a nice lady. If anything, he was grateful to see a friendly face.

"You're up! Good heavens, I was worried," she said. "I'm nurse Héderváry. You remember me, yes?"

He nodded and offered a slight smile. "What happened?" Feliciano brought his hand to his throbbing head. "Everything hurts, and I'm very confused."

Miss Héderváry frowned slightly. "I wouldn't be surprised if you're confused. You were hurt pretty badly. Do you remember how you got here?"

Feliciano looked down at himself and took inventory of his injuries. "Well, I remember being jumped. That's about it, though."

As he inspected the collection of cuts and bruises, he suddenly remembered why he was jumped, or at least part of the reason. Panicked, he slapped his hand against his chest. Oh, thank god. Thank god, thank god, thank god, the necklace was still in place. He gripped the pendant with desperation like it was his child. They had taken so much from him, but at least he had Ludwig's gift. He still had the last remaining piece of him.

The nurse walked over to his bed and pulled a chair up next to it. She clasped her hand together in her lap. "Yes, you're correct. You'll be happy to hear that those responsible have been arrested."

For a moment, Feliciano was sure he had heard incorrectly. He just stared at the nurse for what seemed like a very long time, his mind numb and void of coherent thought. Never, ever had any of the people who had harassed him have gotten in any kind of serious trouble for it. "What?" He couldn't say he completely understood. "What do you mean?"

"The situation was stopped, fortunately. Someone called the police," she said. She opened her mouth as if she would elaborate but instead stopped herself. Feliciano stared at her, a blank look on his face. "Let's put that aside for now. We should discuss your injuries. You have a pretty bad concussion. Three of your ribs are broken, and you had cuts that required stitching. That was taken care of before you woke up." Her face pinched, and she lifted a hand to gesture to his cheek.

Feliciano brought his hand to his face and was shocked when he felt a rough, tender line on his left cheek. So that was where the stinging was coming from. He winced as he pressed lightly on his side, nauseated by the thought of his ribs snapping like twigs.

"Do you have insurance?"
He brought his hand to his pocket and was shocked when his wallet was still in place. He opened it and pulled out the insurance card that his grandfather had given him, just in case something happened. He handed the card to her, who accepted it with a nod. Feliciano ran his fingers along the stiches. "Is it going to scar?"

"I'm not sure. I wouldn't think it would be too bad." While her words were soothing, the look in her eyes told a different story. "I'll get you some ice for your ribs."

The second person to fly into the room was Alfred. He looked considerably more frazzled than usual. His blonde hair was flying everywhere and his glasses were crooked. He had this wild look in his eyes, like he's just seen a ghost. "Dude!" he just about screamed. "You will not believe what happened!"

Before Feliciano could ask what happened that was so exciting, Miss Héderváry cut him off. "Alfred, will you stop harassing my patient? He needs his rest. Shoo!" She turned to Feliciano. "He always bursts in here and makes a scene, ignore him."

"Harassing? Who's harassing? I need to tell Feliciano something!"

"He'll figure it out soon enough, he doesn't need the stress! Out!" Miss Héderváry rushed over to the door and pushed Alfred out as she walked through it. "I'll be back, Feliciano!"

After getting over, well, whatever that was, Feliciano rested his head against the pillow and wished his brother were there. He hated the idea of Lovino having to see him like this, but he was so sick of being hurt and alone. He wished his grandfather was there; stroking his hair and telling him it would be okay. Feliciano allowed himself to imagine it, the thought giving him the smallest amount of comfort. He was about to close his eyes when a sudden ruckus from the hallway broke him out of his fantasy and shocked him to the core.

"I told you; I need to see him!"

"Yeah you do! Get in there, dude!"

"Alfred, go away!" There was a loud sigh. "Sir, your hand might be broken. You really need to calm down so we can evaluate your injuries."

"I don't care about my hand! This is important!"

Feliciano forgot he was in pain. He strained his ears to hang onto every word that was being spoken outside his room. One of the voices belonged to Miss Héderváry; another was clearly Alfred's. The other voice was agonizingly, unmistakably familiar. He thought he must be going crazy, he must have been hearing things again or his injuries had caused him to hallucinate. There was no way. His heart was too fragile to believe, to hope.

The world stopped when someone burst into the room. Feliciano's concussion must be playing tricks on him. The figure's blonde hair fell loosely in his face; his blue eyes wild and locked in on Feliciano. Feliciano only stared back into them, unseeing, not thinking. He didn't blink, move or breathe, terrified he would make one wrong move and everything would fall away from him. He was convinced he would look away and he would disappear. If this was a hallucination, he never wanted his injuries to heal.

"Ludwig?" His voice had been reduced to a hoarse whisper. Reality came crashing into the room upon hearing himself say his name, shattering everything. Every emotion that had pulled him under the current over the past three months flooded into him at once, hitting him like fists and tearing him apart. Just like that, the world regained its color. "LUDWIG!" He screamed his name this time, lurching forward in his bed but tortuously unable to get up from it. Every inch of his body and soul was screaming. There he was, back after he had said he wasn't going to be.

Not a split second passed before Ludwig was on his knees, holding Feliciano from the bed so tightly he thought he would break. Feliciano held his face, looking into his eyes like he was searching for something. His hands moved to his shoulders, grabbing him to make sure he was real, like he would disappear into thin air without warning. His world was collapsing, a new one being built in its place.

"Is this real?" Feliciano's voice was strained. "Are you real, Ludwig? Am I hallucinating?"

"You are not hallucinating, Feli. I'm here."

Ludwig had lost weight. His hair was hanging in his face, flying out wildly in all directions. Feliciano was only able to look at him for two seconds before he broke. He was reduced to tears in an instant. The ache in his chest hurt worse than any of his injuries. He didn't think when he smacked Ludwig's shoulder. "Why did you do this?" he said, quietly at first. He hit him again, but he was not sure why. It was all he could think to do. "How dare you?" His voice rose with every word. "How dare you? You said you were going to be gone forever! You said you would never leave me again and you did! How could you do this to me, to your brother, you're so stupid, Ludwig, stupid, stupid, stupid…"
Feliciano smacked his shoulder to punctuate each word, but stopped when Ludwig held his hands, preventing him. The feeling of his hands, the feeling that he had missed so much only caused Feliciano to cry more. A low growl escaped his throat, coming out as nearly a scream. Ludwig looked at him with sadness in his eyes as Feliciano lost himself in his overwhelming, painful feelings.

Through all the emotion, only one thing came to mind. "You need to call Gilbert." Feliciano's voice broke on his name. "He's been falling apart, you need to call him right now, I'm not kidding!"

Ludwig grimaced. "I feel like I should explain first."

Feliciano was sure he could not register an explanation. He could barely think straight, every inch of his body ached, and he could only yell. "Just call him!"

So he did. Feliciano listened as Ludwig called his brother, Gilbert's loud voice clearly audible on the other line. There was a lot of yelling, both in English and in German. After a couple of minutes, he hung up with a sigh. "He will be coming here," Ludwig sighed and ran a hand through his loose hair. Feliciano noticed that his eyes were rimmed with dark circles. "Will you give me a chance to explain myself now?"

Feliciano nodded wordlessly, unable to say much of anything with his conflicted emotions battled each other in his head. He wanted to be mad at Ludwig for leaving him and destroying the sanity of him and Gilbert, but he couldn't. At the same time, he was scared to just throw himself at him again. Now he knew how much this could do to him. He knew Ludwig could bring him such immense, powerful joy, but him leaving could take that away and replace it with despair just as fast.

"Gott, where do I even begin?" He walked back over to Feliciano's bedside and sat in the chair next to him. "I will let you ask the questions."

Feliciano didn't need to be told twice. "Where have you been?"

Ludwig pursed his lips. "I have been…around," he said. "Sometimes I stayed in my car, other times I found motels to stay in."

"Why couldn't you stay with me? It's dangerous out there, Ludwig!" Feliciano thought back to what Alfred had told him, and his voice grew soft. "We were starting to think you were dead." He nearly whispered it. He didn't want to hear himself say it.

Ludwig closed his eyes briefly, taking a shaking breath. "You did?" He ran his hand through his hair before meeting his eyes again. "Words cannot express how sorry I am, Feliciano. What I did was selfish and it was wrong. I was running away from myself, and I went about it in the worst way possible. All those awful things I said to you…that was my father talking. I don't think I will ever forgive myself for that."

"You could have stayed!" said Feliciano again. He did not want to be reasoned with. He was not sure he even wanted an apology. All he wanted was his life to make sense again. "Why did you leave, Ludwig? What made you think that was the only thing you could do?"

"What happened with my father-" Ludwig's breath caught, and he looked away. "It kills me that you had to see that, he even worse, I could not protect you. I was helpless." He broke off and sighed in resignation. "I couldn't face you after that."

Feliciano's mind whirred with questions. The incident with Ludwig's father played for what was probably the millionth time in his head, breaking his heart like it did each and every time. In the midst of it all, he realized that he hadn't asked the questions that were probably the most important. "Wait, how did you find me? Why are you here?" There were so many questions, none of which had any semblance of a tangible answer. "This doesn't make any sense!" Nothing ever made sense anymore. Nothing had made sense for months.

Ludwig looked surprised. "You mean they did not tell you?"

If there was one thing Feliciano was tired of, it was being left in the dark. "Tell me what? Mio dio, why does no one ever tell me anything?"

"The last thing I want to do is paint myself as a hero, because I am far from it." Ludwig's mouth twitched. "Remember the first day we met? The circumstances, I mean?"

Of course Feliciano remembered. How could he forget? More importantly, how was that relevant? "Of course I remember! What does that have to do with this?"

"You could say this was a repeat." Ludwig's words were slow and careful. "Where I was planning to sleep tonight…it was close to the store you went to. I saw what was happening, and I intervened."

He didn't have to say anything else. Feliciano felt his chest tighten as he put all the pieces together. None of this felt like reality. Part of him still hadn't grasped that Ludwig was here, talking to him. He was waiting to wake up. "How?" he said, his voice a rasping whisper. "How do you keep finding me?"

"It may be childish, but I would like to think its fate."

Feliciano looked down at Ludwig's swollen, bruised hand that still managed to hold his. This was too much. All of this was too much. In the middle of the silence, miss Héderváry walked into the room again. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed soon after. "Ludwig," she said. "Please let me look at your hand."

Ludwig looked at Feliciano, his eyes asking for permission. Feliciano nodded, giving it to him. Ludwig, using his good hand, gave Feliciano's a reassuring squeeze before following the nurse out of the room. The second he was gone, Feliciano laid back down. He curled up into the fetal position and stared blankly at the wall. He had found him again. His angel came back to him, and he had no idea how to feel about it. No matter how confused, upset and conflicted he was, he couldn't say he didn't understand. If the same thing happened to Feliciano, he couldn't be sure if he would have taken it any better. After being beaten by your own father, practically disowned, being told your love was an abomination, how could someone not fall apart? Still, it hurt. It hurt so much.

His inner monologue was cut off when Gilbert burst into the room like a hurricane. "Where is he?" His voice was a shout. Angry was evident on his face, to the point he was physically shaking with it. "Where is my stupid brother?"

"Ludwig is getting x-rays," said Feliciano. "He broke his hand."

"How the hell did he break his hand?"

Feliciano dropped his gaze. "Gilbert, he saved me."

It wasn't until then that Gilbert actually looked at Feliciano. "What the hell happened to you?"

The broken memories raced around in Feliciano's head like a pinball machine. "I was jumped." He stared into his hands, and quickly realized he barely even cared about the attack anymore. "I don't remember it perfectly, but Ludwig must have found me, because he stopped it."

Gilbert's anger turned to disbelief. "You're shitting me! How did he find you? Where was he?"

"I think you'd be better off asking him that yourself." Feliciano wasn't sure of the answers himself. He looked at Gilbert, whose teeth were clenched like a wild dog. "Are you mad?" He was not sure why he asked. The answer was painfully obvious.

Gilbert rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You bet your ass I'm mad! Ludwig is such an idiot!"

Just like that, the faint trances of anger disappeared from Feliciano's system, and the overwhelming, powerful urge to protect Ludwig set in. After all that had happened, the last thing he needed was to be attacked by those closest to him. "It's not like he did this for no reason!" he said. "He's not a bad person! Do you think he left just to upset you?"

Gilbert relaxed his jaw and dropped his gaze to the floor. "Still," he said. "I hate our dad. I hate him so much. I told him Ludwig was gone. Do you know what he said? He told me he didn't care!"

Feliciano suddenly understood where Gilbert got that act. "I bet he does care. Just like you did."

Gilbert's head shot upwards, and he dropped the sullen attitude he allowed himself to have in an instant. "Whatever!"

Ludwig walked back into the room not long after. His hand was bandaged in a white cast. When he saw Gilbert, he froze. "Gilbert, I know I have a lot of explaining to do. If you would just hear me out-"

He was cut off when Gilbert stood up, walked over to him and immediately smacked him across the face with an open palm. Ludwig barely flinched. Feliciano made a wounded animal sound. He was so tired of seeing Ludwig being hit.

Gilbert looked an odd mix between relieved, confused, and furious. All he could do was shout. "What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have any idea how much time we've spent looking for you? Do you have any idea how much this kid has cried over you?"

Feliciano bit his lip. Gilbert had only seen about one twentieth of the amount of crying he had been doing. "Please don't hurt him." His voice shook, and he was sure it was too quiet to hear. "He's been hurt enough."

Ludwig glared right back at his brother. "Please, Gilbert, when dad beats the living scheiße out of you, calls you every slur in the book and disowns you in an instant for the person you love, please get back to me on how easy it is!" Silence. Gilbert just stared at him, and Ludwig dropped his fiery gaze. "No, you're right. I have no right to yell at you." He visibly tensed and kept his eyes fixed low. "I apologize sincerely, for all of this. Gilbert, if you want me out of the house, I understand."

The earth stood still. Feliciano held his breath from his bed. Gilbert looked so angry, he wondered if he did want Ludwig out of the house. If he did, where would Ludwig go? How would he react? He wouldn't be able to handle if he had to run away again, he just couldn't.

The earth started moving again when Gilbert smiled. That arrogant, ever-present grin was back in its rightful place after being gone for so long. "Ludwig, you big idiot." He managed to sling his arm around his shoulders despite the height difference. "Of course you're coming home, how else would I keep your ass out of trouble?"

Ludwig sighed like a deflating balloon. "Thank you, Gilbert."

When Gilbert seemed pacified enough, Ludwig made his way to Feliciano. He pushed the chair aside and got on his knees, so he was at eye-level. Feliciano met his gaze, waiting with baited breath for what was to come. "Feliciano," he began. He lowered his head and stared at the floor as if it would hold the right words to say. "If you never want to see me again, say the word and I'm gone."

Never in his life had Feliciano heard something so ridiculous, so impossible. He reached out to him and held the sides of his face. His heart stopped in his chest when Ludwig slowly looked up, revealing the tears threatening to spill from his eyes. Ludwig bit the inside of his cheek and looked away, seemingly out of embarrassment. "Gott, I'm so sorry. I'm such a coward. I'm serious, Feliciano. I would understand-"

Feliciano didn't want to hear anymore. He stopped him from speaking by kissing him with everything he had. He kissed him with all the emotions he had been bottling up, taking all the pain away. His entire world burst apart, faded away and started again, just like that. When he broke away, Feliciano looked Ludwig in the eyes. "Don't be silly." He wiped his tears with his thumb; unsure whether to feel relieved, upset, devastated or some ludicrous mix of the three. "Don't cry Ludwig, please don't cry…" Feliciano couldn't continue, because he too was crying.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Gross." Despite his complaints, he still had that grin on his face.

Feliciano ignored him. He gripped Ludwig's shoulders. "Ludwig, please look at me," he said. "You have to promise me one thing."

Ludwig nodded and took a deep breath. "Of course."

"You have to promise me you will never, ever do this again. If something happens, you come to me." Feliciano's voice was quivering. "Or go to Gilbert. Either way, please don't leave us behind again. I'm begging you." He paused and looked away, questioning if what he was about to say was fair or even true. In the end, it only felt appropriate. "Because I don't think I could forgive you again."

Ludwig pulled Feliciano close and tucked his face into the crook in his shoulder. "I would never make this mistake again. I couldn't bear to do it." He sounded deadly serious, and more importantly, he sounded like his old self again- nothing like how he was on the phone. Feliciano believed him. "I promise, Feli. Never again."

Feliciano nodded wordlessly, silent tears falling on Ludwig's shirt. Finally, everything was in place again. Ludwig was safe. Gilbert was back to being himself. It was like the world was back to spinning on it's axis, Feliciano's heart was back in his chest and his broken pieces were sewn back together. There was still so much that was going wrong, but finally there was one thing going right.

Miss Héderváry walked back into the room. "I finally got Alfred out of here." She paused, seemingly shocked at the scene in front of her, but smiled when it registered. "Oh, wonderful!" She walked over to Feliciano and handed him a bag of ice. "I'm so glad everyone is okay. Feliciano, I just got off the phone with your grandfather. I was legally obligated to tell him about this."

Feliciano's blood ran cold. He had spoken too soon.

To be continued...