Chapter 16
You woke again with a jolt; you really needed to stop falling asleep in the middle of things.
Actually, you needed to stop having weird dreams.
"Y/N. Would you like to put the star on the top of the tree?"
"Wha?" you ask rubbing your eyes as you let out a soft yawn. Ludwig hazily came into view and you smiled slightly. The Christmas tree was alight in the background; the only thing it was missing was the star currently in Ludwig's hand.
"You feel asleep; you always seem to fall asleep."
"Yeah, and I have really weird dreams too," you reply, standing up and taking the star.
"Finally, the awesome Gilbert couldn't wait forever."
"Well you did," you reply to Gilbert, sticking out your tongue. He was sitting suspiciously on top the bar counter. But you weren't going to ask questions right now.
Walking up to the tree you realize how tall it is, looking around for a stool you can't find one but Gilbert's smile gets bigger.
"Well West, help out your friend."
You see Ludwig roll his eyes, but he leans down and makes a movement for you to get on his back.
Reluctantly you climb on, he moves upward and now you're the perfect height to reach the top of tree.
"Move forward a bit," you say after you realize your arm isn't long enough. He moves forward carefully and you slip the star into place on the tree.
You're about to tell Ludwig that he could set you down now when Gilbert's loud laughter is drawn to your attention.
"What?" you snap, Gilbert just laughs harder.
"Kesesesesesesesese-"
"I hope you choke," Ludwig mutters sarcastically. Gilbert looks up pretending to wipe away a fake tear.
"You feel right into my trap! This is revenge for earlier," Gilbert snickers as he points to something above us.
Looking up, a small bushel of a plant with pointy, green leaves and round, red berries hung above you.
Gilbert was still cackling when you realized what it was.
Mistletoe.
Before Ludwig could react, you use your right hand to tilt his head to the left, giving him a small kiss on the edge of his mouth.
Ludwig moved as if wanting more, but with a swift movement you were out of his grasp and on your way over to Gilbert to beat the shit out of him.
Yeah, today was great.
.
.
.
Once again, you had no idea why you were up early in the morning walking around with Gilbert and Ludwig.
Like seriously, the sun hadn't even risen yet.
Taking a sip from the coffee mug in your hands and pulling the cloak-that Gilbert had kindly let you keep-tighter around you, you continued to follow the two German men wherever they were going.
"Hey, Y/N, now that I've been thinking about it for some time the awesome me thinks that you should join our family. That way I can make fun of Ludwig for dating a sibling."
You have a 'What the heck?' expression on your face as you just stare at the German who currently decided to rest his arm on your head.
"You woke me up," you say slowly, your bad attitude starting to sink in, "so you could treat me to a deluxe serving of BS?!"
"It's not that bad, you're hanging out with the awesome me."
"It's four in the damn morning."
"So, we have a surprise for our new family member."
"Ugh, you're still mad aren't you?"
"Ja, he is," Ludwig mutters, grabbing your arm and pulling you away from his brother. Gilbert shoots both of you a hurt look that quickly turns to one of a person pairing two people together...a shipper look. Just great.
"Can someone please tell me what the heck's going o-" Ludwig places a single finger in front of your mouth before leaning down and whispering into your ear.
"It's a surprise, just wait."
You sigh.
"Why am I the third wheel?" Gilbert groans not letting the conversation die out.
"Well I guess it's my turn for once," Ludwig mumbles, pulling you a bit closer.
"You were twenty-two and single, that is a sign."
"Well Gilbert, that's fate. But maybe you'll find someone," you reply.
"Or he could stay a loner forever," Ludwig said with a smirk, Gilbert made his move by grabbing your other arm and tugging you his direction.
"I doubt Y/N can resist my charms, do you really want me to unleash my full awesomeness?!"
"Oh god," you mumble as Ludwig opens his mouth to retort.
Slipping easily out of the two men's grasps, you go back to watching their backs and drinking your coffee. Which was empty, so you were just walking and pretending to be productive.
"Y/N, tell Ludwig that I am awesome and that it isn't something to argue about." Gilbert suddenly goes, wrapping an arm around your neck and pulling you closer to him than necessary.
Dragging you forward to Ludwig's side, Gilbert starts to poke you.
"Gilbert's awesome and it isn't something up for debate," you state bluntly with a heavy sigh. Gilbert has this stupid smile on his face and Ludwig looks like he's about to slug him.
Tossing your cup away into a trash can, Ludwig and Gilbert point at a small road that leads out of town.
"It will take some time to walk, but the reward is amazing," Ludwig says as all three of you start down the hard, dirt path. Your feet sink into the layer of snow.
"Is the reward allowing me to go back to sleep?" you mumble, rubbing your eyes again. The coffee wasn't kicking in, it was getting annoying.
"Nope," both brothers said in perfect harmony.
"Oh no, they're starting to harmonize. The worlds ending," you reply jokingly, and both brothers burst out into laughter.
"Maybe this will wake you up!" Gilbert grabs your cloak and rips it off, he takes off down the path and the reality of how damn cold it was hits you.
"Hey! It's freaking cold! Give it back!" you scream taking off after Gilbert. As you start to catch up Gilbert bundles your cloak into a ball and throws it over your head to Ludwig.
You turn shooting Ludwig a glare.
"Sorry Y/N, but not this time," he replies with a smile and a shrug. And by the time you reach your destination, your limbs are buzzing with an itchy feeling from all the warming up and cooling down.
Breathing heavily, you plop on to the ground with a groan. The final destination was a cliff overlooking a nearby valley. The mountains in the distance were barely noticeable against the midnight sky. But it was still beautiful, no matter how damn dark and cold it was.
Your cloak lands on your head, not even bothering to thank the person who had finally given it back you bury yourself into the fuzziness.
"Y/N, we usually view it from over here."
Looking up you see Gilbert waving at you to come to a tree that hung over the edge, the large sturdy branch turned to allow a view of the mountains.
"Don't worry, we're not dead yet are we?" Ludwig whispers, offering you his hand. You take it and follow him over to the tree. Taking a seat next to Gilbert on the branch, you can see your warm breath fan in front of you.
"What are we waiting for?" you ask Ludwig who was on your right. Ludwig only smiles in the darkness, you turn to your left but Gilbert is watching the mountains.
Turning your head, a light glow is starting to touch the sky around the mountain range.
In beautiful colors the sun starts to rise. A light yellow, to a rich gold. The beautiful colors crossing the sky, light pink, a rich red, a smooth orange.
Your mouth is wide as you feel the image steal your breath away. The valley comes to light with the evergreen and the snow reflects the light causing everything to glitter and feel so alive. You could even see the pale blue of a stream that was still running its course.
"It's amazing," you whisper and both brothers turn to you a huge smile on their face.
"Well then, this is just the beginning of the day." Ludwig begins only to be interrupted.
"And we have plenty of things planned out. THE START OF THE AWESOME CHRISTMAS WEEK IS HERE!!! SEVEN DAY'S TILL CHRISTMAS!!!" He yells out across the valley, and just like that the sun finishes rising over the mountains and you feel it's warm, gentle rays brush against your skin.
You and Ludwig exchange glances and decide to bask in the moment a bit longer. After a few minutes Gilbert loses it.
"HEY LOVEBIRDS, THERE'S SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO GET OFF THIS STUPID BRANCH!" he yells and you laugh at him, Ludwig hops off offering his hand to you.
Gilbert mutters profanities under his breath realizing you two were messing with him again.
Yes, you think, I want to be part of this family.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes~
There is a bright flash, and you blink in shock. Pulling back, Gilbert is holding up your phone. A picture of all three of you was on it. And you looked so zoned out.
"Hey! How did you get my ph-?"
"West get back on here, we're taking another," Gilbert orders. Ignoring you as Ludwig climbs back onto the branch.
Gilbert grabs a fistful of Ludwig's jacket and pulls him into you, holding up your phone he takes another picture. Ludwig isn't smiling, you're still wondering how Gilbert got your phone, and Gilbert is now pissed off.
"Ludwig, Y/N! SMILE FOR THE DAMN CAMERA!"
You grabbed your phone as Gilbert yelled at the both of you. Grabbing Ludwig's arm, you pull him into you. Gilbert (being Gilbert) quickly gets into position and you take the photo, a huge smile on your face.
"There." Much to your surprise, Ludwig has a smile on his face too.
"Well, now that that's over, why don't we go into town?"
Ludwig hops off the branch quickly, pretending to dust himself off. You smile largely, and jump, tackling him to the ground.
Gilbert quickly follows and ruffles up Ludwig's slicked back hair.
He's yelling at you to stop, but he's much larger than both of you and eventually he will come on top.
But right now, you were the one winning.
It felt like something was trying to escape from your heart and take off, but it stayed trapped inside. A large smile was on your face as it continued to flutter around.
Your laugh floats away in the morning breeze; it may sound evil to those around you.
But it was undeniably full of joy.
Fate, this was fate.
A/N
FAVORITE CHAPTER. I LOVED WRITING THIS ;_; OMG.
F-A-V-O-R-I-T-E
C-H-A-P-T-E-R
And that was your spellin' listen for today folks.
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