POS **ON HOLD**

Chapter Five

Chapter 5

~

Feliciano went to the park and his heart fluttered when he saw Ludwig sitting on the bench. He sped up and sat down beside him, greeting him.

"Hey," He smiled, looking up to him.

The German gave him a warm smile and leaned back a little. "Hi, Feliciano."

The Italian was glad he was there and they talked for a few hours, not an awkward silence or stutter in their whole conversation. Eventually, they went over to the swings, gently swaying as they laughed, sharing childhood memories.

"One time, my brother had this huge crush on a girl in grade seven and they had stayed after school to bake cookies with their teacher." Feliciano began, laughing softly. "And of course he wanted to be all cool so when the cookies came out, burning hot, he grabbed one and called her name, smacking it against her face. Well the melted chocolate chips got stuck to her face and she ended up with like third degree burns on her cheek."

Ludwig smiled, then laughed softly and shook his head a little.

"And no, she did not talk to him, if you were wondering."

The German looked up at the sky briefly, thinking of a story from his elementary days.

"There was this girl," He began. "She was really nice but she could be badass if she wanted to. If you messed with her, she messed with you." Ludwig bit his lip a little. "Sometimes I think if I wasn't such a douche to her, we could've been good friends."

"You were a douche?" Feliciano asked with a small laugh.

"Yeah, kind of." Ludwig shrugged and looked at him again. "High school changed me, I guess you could say. Douches got into bad things and as soon as I saw what they were really up to, I knew I wanted to be a police officer."

The Italian bit his lip a little, thinking about the other night when he'd gone out with his friends. "Hm.. Interesting." He said slowly.

"I know in a small place like this, it can get boring and all there seems to be done is to get into trouble with your friends, but there's always good trouble and then there's bad trouble." Ludwig looked directly at him now. "Stay away from the bad trouble. I've seen a lot of people get really screwed up, you don't want to get mixed in with that crowd, alright?"

Feliciano nodded and his gaze faltered a little. "I'll try my best."

"You come to me if anyone gives you some serious trouble, okay?"

"Yeah.." The teen spoke softly, thinking about Nick and how angry he'd been behaving lately. "Uh.. Well I should get going home now."

Ludwig smiled again and nodded, understanding and telling him to be safe. He watched as the younger male strolled down the street down towards his home.

~

Feliciano got home shortly and he locked the door behind him, walking into the kitchen where his mother was starting on dinner. "Do you need any help?" He asked softly.

She turned and looked at him as if he were crazy. "You're actually offering?"

The Italian rolled his eyes and moved to stand beside her, busying himself chopping vegetables. "I may not be the perfect son but I'm not inconsiderate. Plus, I've always helped with dinner."

They worked on dinner together, conversing as they prepared all the food to be cooked. Feliciano put in the freshly made lasagna in the oven and he closed it gently, setting a timer so they wouldn't forget to take it out. His mother told him he could have a beer with dinner if he wanted it.

"Really?" His voice was full of shock, eyes wide.

She nodded and he thanked her. The Italian grabbed one from the fridge and opened it. "I'd rather have it now." He said with a small smile.

His mother rubbed his arm and then went into the living room to answer the ringing phone.

Feliciano leaned back against the counter and took a long drink, appreciating it even more. He was rarely allowed to drink in the house, this was a miracle.

~

Feliciano groaned as he sat at the dinner table with his parents, rubbing his temples.

"Do we have to go?" He cringed and shook his head.

"Don't be so dramatic! It's going to be fun. You know the church has a picnic every year and you also know that we attend ever year." His mother said with a frown. "You're going."

He grumbled under his breath and stabbed at the food on his plate, knowing that he really had no choice. If he didn't go, everyone would notice anyway because this town was in the middle of nowhere and it's population had nothing better to do other than know everything about everyone.

This would be fun.

~

Ludwig greeted Feliciano's parents as they walked over to him. They all sat around a picnic table that was set up all over the large lot that the church sat on.

Children ran around in their best Sunday shoes and played games, while their parents chatted and everyone partook in all the food everyone had prepared.

"Feliciano didn't want to be here." His father said to Ludwig halfway through their conversation. "He never likes church functions. I don't know what kind of man that makes him-"

"Ah, don't worry about it, sir. He's a good kid." Ludwig waved his hand. "Plus, to be honest, no teenager wants to be hanging around a picnic with little children or older folks, no offense." He paused. "All the people his age skipped town today. Do you see any of them here?"

Paula and John, as Ludwig had recently learned, looked at each other and sighed a little.

"Where is Feliciano, anyway?"

Paula nodded over in the direction of the creek. "He went down there right after church, didn't even eat anything." She frowned. "Maybe he's sick."

"I think he's just bored." Ludwig assured her, patting her hand. "I'll go find him."

"Thank you, Ludwig." She smiled. "Oh! Bring him something to eat, would you? I don't want him to be hungry."

The German nodded and filled a paper plate with an assortment of things, shrugging when he thought there would be something the kid would want.

He made his way down to the creek and saw Feliciano a few yards away, skipping stones across the water. He approached, sitting next to him on the log he was perched on.

"Hey, your mom wanted me to bring you some food." He placed the plate between them.

"Thanks, dad."

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up. I was doing her a favour."

"Well, the deed is done." He mumbled, kicking a stone into the water.

The German frowned and looked at him properly. "What's wrong, kid?"

Feliciano glared at him and then stood up. "Nothing."

"Feli-"

"I said it's nothing!" He shouted, turning to face him, cursing under his breath when he realized Ludwig had gotten up and was standing mere inches from him.

"Hey, calm down." The German said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, okay?"

Feliciano swallowed hard and looked up at him, anger leaving his expression. "I'm not a kid."

Ludwig nodded and inhaled deeply. "Alright." He closed his eyes and hugged the younger man. "I'm sorry."

Feliciano hugged back, feeling like quite the five year-old because of how he was acting. He closed his eyes and just breathed in Ludwig's scent; fresh but musky. Even a hint of lavender to it, like he used lotion or something.

What a girl.

~

To be continued...