Chapter 21

Up the Wolves

The snow outside was blinding and beautiful to see. It was harsh and bitter and freezing outside since October and finally, in late January, they had received enough snow to stick and cancel school!

Feliciano was thankful for his issues to occur when it was normal to miss school and wear layers upon layers of clothes, though the upcoming months would soon warm up and create a new problem for him… attending the end of the school year in long sleeves when it would surely be ninety-degrees outside by June.

When Elizaveta came into the living room she was met with the sight of Feliciano and Gino sitting at the large front window and staring out into the gently-falling snow.

"Feli, do you want to go outside?"

The Italian startled and looked back to her. "But there's snow."

"And we have gloves and coats! Come on, just because you're seventeen doesn't mean making snow angels isn't any less fun! Now go get your jacket on and I'll find some of Roddy's extra coats for you."

Feliciano smiled and quickly scampered to his room, followed by the excitable Gino. Inside he found his old black beanie, the one that he used to hide his busted head months ago, and the scarf Ludwig had given him for Christmas with the Italian flag stitched into the ends. Inside his closet rested his sacred jacket with the tomato snagged and faded over the heart and he slipped it on after throwing on another couple shirts and sweatpants to fight the cold.

Elizaveta entered the room and helped him put on a fluffy brown coat and some mittens before they raced out the front door with Gino trailing behind. The snow was fluffy and not icy, something Elizaveta commented on being perfect for playing in. Feliciano felt like a kid once again and they played in the white masses, making snow angels and snowmen.

Their snowmen resembled their friends, even going as far as to make a tiny family. A tall snowman with a pebble mole under his mouth, a snowwoman with an apron tied around her waist, a snowman with a bit of dead grass on the side of his head, and a small lump they claimed was a snowcat.

Feliciano giggled and recalled when he was a little boy playing in the snow with Lovino, who had claimed to be too old for snow but was playing with him anyway.

Roderich's car pulled up and he watched the two curiously before calling them to come inside and get warm. They were promptly scolded for tracking water inside but they ignored it in lieu of getting warm as fast as possible.

Later that day Antonio called and spoke with Elizaveta, excitedly telling her they picked a date for the wedding and finally got the rest of their stuff unpacked in their home. They spoke a bit more and she held her hand over the receiver before calling out, "Feli, honey!" The Italian walked in, finishing a text on his phone, finally acting like a teenager. "How would you like to visit your brother? Antonio said they finished unpacking."

"I get to visit fratello?" He bounded with excitement.

"I take that as a yes," she giggled. "Pack an overnight bag. Antonio will get you in twenty minutes."

And within that time, Feliciano was packed and ready to go. He waited in the living room, stroking Gino's fur, trying to remember where he put the mittens he was given earlier.

Antonio let himself in, calling out to Elizaveta as a greeting before ushering Feliciano out to the car with him. It was still running and warm as ever. They backed out slowly, Antonio mumbling about watching for black ice as they went.

It took them longer to get to Antonio and Lovino's house since Antonio was trying to be slower and more careful now that he had another person in the car. They got to the house, a nice little home that wasn't on a main road nor in a neighborhood. It sat in a mostly deserted area, the neighboring house spaced out considerably and the road to it being a side-road no one would take unless going to one of the few homes. It was quiet and nice, though the roads weren't as well salted or cleaned as the roads in Roderich's neighborhood.

Antonio parked the car and grabbed Feliciano's bags before they rushed inside, slipping on the icy porch and laughing it off before finally meeting the door. Inside Lovino was cooking something Italian and didn't bother to look up when he called, "Hey, bastards."

Feliciano waited in the living room while Antonio dropped his bags off in the guest room. There was a fireplace and the mantle was covered in framed photos (most likely Antonio's doing) of the engaged couple, along with a scattered few including Gilbert, their blonde friend Francis, and an older one of Lovino and Feliciano that was bent and torn at the edges.

There was a nice knitted blanket on the back of the couch and a few big throw pillows were around, something obviously meant for Lovino's daily siesta. Feliciano left and walked down a short hall where there were doors to bedrooms, a bathroom, and a closet. He peered in the one open door and entered, seeing Antonio in there.

"Hey, Feli! This will be your room tonight," the Spaniard happily chirped. There was a twin bed in the center of the plain, light blue room. Being that it was a guest room it didn't have much, though it did have an alarm clock, a closet that surprisingly had clothes in it, and a few dressers and nightstands with either generic lamps or little trinkets adorning them. "Normally I sleep here with Lovi's mad at me."

The young Italian turned to leave and stopped when he saw something on the wall near the door, something he had completely missed coming in. On the wall hung a beautiful painting, shiny and colorful and professional-looking. Feliciano immediately recognized it as a painting he gave Lovino for his birthday the year before.

"He kept it?"

"Of course he did! It's always great when you get a painting this good and don't have to pay a few hundred for it," Antonio winked. "Hey, if we ever go bankrupt all we need is to get you to make a few more paintings and we'll be rich!"

The three ate their dinner and took turns picking movies to watch as the night went on. Of course, Lovino picked Boondock Saints and identified a little too much with Rocco. Given that Guardians of the Galaxy wasn't out yet, Feliciano and Antonio had to pick different movies (wishing for their beloved Star Lord to save them). When they ran out of movies to agree on they flipped channels on the TV and let Feliciano pick what they watched since satellite television was a new and exciting experience for him.

It was late and they were growing a little too amused by random "reality" shows and other ridiculous shows with people acting over-the-top for stupid reasons.

"It's getting late," Antonio commented. "We should get to bed."

Feliciano nodded and walked to his room for the night. Antonio, a classic host, popped his head in to say "Buenas noches."

"Buonanotte," Feliciano tiredly replied.

The Spaniard left, closing the door behind him. Feliciano watched the door in amazement, noting that this was the first time someone closed the door for him. The open-door policy at his home was no longer being enforced, but no one closed the door out of the small worry in their head that the same problem from before would resurface, as if a door could hold that power.

Antonio trusted him. There was even a lock on the door. Feliciano smiled to himself before getting under the covers of the bed. Finally, things were going back to normal.

Then there was a muffled banging from a nearby room in the small hallway.

"Fuck, Toni! It's so big already—"

"Shh, or your brother will hear us!"

"The door's closed, isn't it? He won't hear! Come on, fuck m—"

Feliciano pulled his pillow over his head and held it tightly to his ears. Maybe things weren't totally normal. In the dark he reached for the nightstand and found his iPod, carefully turning it on and listening to it to try to block out his loud brother's sex noises.

"FUCK, TONI!"

He turned the volume up and hummed to himself, "Let's dance in style, let's dance for a while—"

"GOD, YES!"

"Heaven can wait, we're only watching the skies. Hoping for the best but expecting the worst, are you gonna drop the bomb or not?"

"RIGHT THERE, YES! GOD!"

"FOREVER YOUNG, I WANNA BE FOREVER YOUNG," he squeaked into his pillow.

The loud banging and continuous cries of his brother didn't cease and Feliciano eventually sat up, wide-eyed, realizing his iPod did nothing to drown out the noise. He picked up his phone, quickly typing a text.

Meanwhile in the next room Lovino and Antonio were in the midst of lovemaking when there was a quiet buzzing on the nightstand next to an abused bottle of lube. Antonio saw it from his position on top and stopped moving.

"The fuck did you stop for?"

Antonio tossed him the phone and Lovino's curl went limp. On the brightly-lit screen was his brother's name, and under it read the simple message,

Do you think Ludwig could make me scream as loud as you two?

The couples' faces were tomato red and they could hear a "Thank you!" from the guest room.

"I told you he could hear us," Antonio said, embarrassment filling him.

"I fucking swear to God, he better stay far away from that potato bastard."

Snuggled cozily in his bed, Feliciano sighed in contentment at the silence. He knew it was low to bring Ludwig into this, but what better way to cockblock his brother than give him some scarring imagery?

A/N: I SWEAR THIS ISN'T GERITA.

One more chapter to go! We did it!

Fun fact: I got some of these songs from The Walking Dead soundtrack (Serpents, Civilian, and Up the Wolves).

"Up the Wolves" by The Mountain Goats

There's going to come a day when you feel better

You'll rise up free and easy on that day

And float from branch to branch, lighter than the air

Just when that day is coming, who can say, who can say?