More A/N at bottom

So this is going to be a pretty lighthearted chapter, as will the next few. After that, the story gets a little more upsetting for the characters, so beware! ;)

1673

"Are you sure it's ok for us to be in here?" Mattieu timidly questioned. The group was currently navigating the depths of Spain's dimly lit basement, a place Matthieu and Ludwig didn't prefer to be in.

"Calm down, it's perfectly fine!" Romano shrugged off Matthieu's concerns.

"What are we even looking for?" Ludwig grumbled.

"You'll see! I know it's here somewhere... Ah-hah! Here we go!" Romano grabbed a bottle off of a fully stocked shelf and held it up to the light to read the label.

"Cerveza," Ludwig read aloud. "What's that mean?"

"Don't ask me, I don't speak Spanish," declared Romano. Ludwig and Matthieu glanced at each other, knowing full well this wasn't true.

"Well, what does it do?" Matthieu spoke up.

"I don't know. Antonio just said you use it when you want to have a good time."

"Hmm..." thought Ludwig. "Sounds promising."

"Yeah. Let's go drink this upstairs though," Matthieu agreed. Even though he had his doubts about the whole situation, he would have done just about anything to get out of the Spaniards basement, where he was sure he could feel spiders crawling down his back.

"So, how much of this are we supposed to drink?"

The trio had gathered in Antonio's kitchen, the bottle on the table in front of them. Matthieu, who had asked the question, attempted to come up with a solution.

"A glass full seems pretty reasonable, right?" The other two shrugged, having no experience with the said drink.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Romano guessed. He poured generous servings into three glasses before distributing them to his friends.

"So, uh... Cheers."

Matthieu immediately felt a burnin sensation in his throat as he drank. Ludwig began to cough immediately. No one spoke for a moment before Romano began to giggle, setting Matthieu off in hysterics.

"Guys, what's so funny?" Ludwig asked. This only made the other two laugh harder. Ludwig let out an uncomfortable chuckle.

"D'ya have any more of that stuff?" Matthieu asked.

"We have, like, a whole bottle!" Romano laughed as he began to pour another round, which the trio drank.

"Guys, do you wanna dance?" Romano asked. Matthieu began to laugh again, and Ludwig, who had been overtaken by a feeling of warmth after his second drink, had to agree that he was in the perfect mood to dance.

"But guys," Matthieu gasped through his fit of hysterics. "We don't even have any music!"

"I will take care of it!" Romano declared as he managed to hum an indecipherable tune, which caused the other two to laugh harder.

"I love this," shouted Ludwig, "having fun with you guys." Matthieu and Romano were too taken up with Romano's humming to notice Ludwigs words. Ludwig sighed and joined in on the dancing, savoring these moments he shared with his best friends while still getting to experience them.

Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio were not pleased when they returned home to find their little brothers passed out on the floor, an empty bottle of alcohol sitting on the kitchen table. This forced the older brothers to pick up the younger ones and carry them home.

"What you guys get up to when we're gone," sighed Francis, "I'll never know."

And that's the chapter! As always, criticism is greatly appreciated. Next chapter next Friday!