Philophobia: A GerIta Story (Rewritten)

Chapter Four (Ludwig)

I blink when the doorbell rings, I guess I dissocated for a few minutes while waiting. The dogs run over to the door, barking in excitement, all of them trying to look out the windows to see who was outside. I smile a bit at how silly they are, they do this every time Gilbert and Matthew come over, as if it's been years since they last saw the two instead of three days. I look down at my phone when it rings with a text from Gilbert.

'It's us, Lud.'

A warm feeling fills my heart as I use the coach arm to help myself stand, still feeling a little unsteady and out of it from the amount of social interaction I did today as my hands shake violently due to the amount of coffee I've had today. I walk towards the door, holding onto the wall to steady myself. I open the door and smile at my brother and Matthew, who smile back at me.

"Hallo Gil and Matthew."

I move to the side to let them in, but the dogs take my place and attempt to jump onto Gilbert and into Matthew's lap, making the two of them laugh as they pet the dogs, which makes the eight of them even more excited by the attention.

"Hey little bro," Gilbert says, ruffling my greasy, definingly not nice to touch, hair, but thankfully he doesn't have a reaction to how disgusting I know it feels, especially to people who aren't used to it.

Matthew gives me a soft, sweet smile as Amara attempts to make herself at home in his lap despite being nearly as big as Matthew is. Now that I'm really looking at him, he looks stiff, like every movement is causing him pain, and exhausted, as if he'll collapse at any moment.

"Bonjour Ludwig, it is nice to see you again."

I nod, worrying about him as I lean down so he can give me a quick peck on each of my cheeks as he does every time I see him.

Standing to my full height again, or as full height my slouching allows, I give him a small smile, trying to ignore the nerves and the two of us move to the dining room, where Gil is setting out the Italian food on the table.

It reminds me of Feli, how ironic that Italian is what they choose to bring today.

Amara follows close behind Matthew, sitting beside his wheelchair when he moves to sit in his chosen place at the table where there isn't a chair, staring at him as he takes off his wheelchair gloves. He finally gives her a few pets once he sets the gloves in his backpack, which makes her tail wag even faster in excitement.

Amara absolutely adores Matthew if you were unable to tell.

"How was your day, Lud?" Matthew asks, serving himself a little bit of salad and nothing else. I serve myself some pasta and salad as Gilbert grabs the three of us glasses of water, worrying about Matthew, knowing he must be in a flare or something.

"It was okay, I went to the store." I pause as Gilbert walks back in, placing a glass of water in front of Matthew and I before filling his own plate with pasta and salad. I blush a bit, looking to the floor and scratching my arm lightly, "I...I made a...a friend? At...at the store?" I tell them, and both of their eyes light up in excitement.

"Oh that's so wonderful, Ludwig!"

"Awesome job, Lud! I'm so proud!"

They say the same time, I let out a small chuckle, taking a sip of water.

"How'd you guys start talking? Let me guess, reached for the bread at the same time? You dumped into each other and you dropped your crackers, your hands touched when they went to pick them up when you did?"

Gilbert guesses, and I laugh.

"No, it wasn't very exciting...I was in the bakery section since my groceries weren't done and he was just...he was just looking at the cakes sadly and I couldn't stop thinking about him...so I went over and said hi," I explain and their smiles turn happy, a nice happy that makes me happy too.