The next morning Feliciano woke to one of the best sleeps he's ever had. He was awake but he hadn't opened his eyes yet, and he could feel that there was something large and warm next to him so he shuffled closer to it. When his head made contact with whatever it was, it was hard, like muscles. He reached his hand up and ran it along the spot next to his face, he could feel the dips and curves of something, but what was it?
"Guten morgen, Feliciano," said Ludwig tiredly.
Feliciano suddenly opened his eyes and realized that the hard thing his head was on was Ludwig's chest and the large, warm thing that he had scooted closer to had been Ludwig's body. He felt his face flush with embarrassment as he jumped backwards and fell off the couch, drawing down the blanket with him.
The events of last night came rushing back to him as he lay on the floor underneath the blanket. The shopping, him waking up in his room on a pile of blankets, he and Ludwig talking then dancing, then the two of them watching TV together until they passed out from exhaustion.
The dance, he thought to himself, how could I ever forget that? Just the mere thought of it made his heart stop. How close they were, the way Ludwig's hands seemed to fit perfectly wrapped around his waist, and how Feliciano seemed to be the perfect hight to rest his head on Ludwig's chest without strain. They just... fit.
"Dear Gods, Feliciano are you okay?" Ludwig asked worriedly as he reached over and threw the blanket off of the smaller man on the ground, but when he did Feliciano was covering his face. "Feliciano?" he asked timidly as he gently took hold of both of his wrists and pulled them away from his face. Once he did, he saw the heat in Feliciano's cheeks even though he had turned to look the other way. His heart flipped. He wanted to look away, knew that he probably should look away, but for some reason he couldn't.
Feliciano bit his lip out of embarrassment and gave a nervous laugh, trying to play it off. "H-hey, you want to help me up?" he asked jokingly as he gestured towards Ludwig's hands wrapped around his wrists.
"Yeah," was all Ludwig had to say before he helped him back onto the couch, this time they were sitting up.
Once again Feliciano became hyper aware of their closeness, and knowing that, he felt he needed to get his mind off of it, so he decided to start a conversation.
"Thanks for helping out and everything, all we need to do now is unpack. Did Francis drop off all of the stuff in his car or does he still have it?"
"I think he still has it, hold on I'll text him." Ludwig searched his pockets, then the ground for his phone. He eventually found it in-between the couch cushion and whenever he went to his messages to text Francis he noticed that he had a text from him.
Hey mon ami, sorry I forgot to drop off all of the stuff that we all got for Lovino and Feliciano. I'll swing by tomorrow around noon to drop it all off. Make sure you two are decent don't be fooling around now ;)
Ludwig felt his cheeks heat up and he face palmed after reading the message.
"What?" asked Feliciano, so he showed him the message. His face visibly heat up as well and he looked away, trying to cover it up.
Ludwig coughed to try to cover up his own slight blush, "Well, at least he's bringing it all by."
"Yeah, what time is it now anyway?"
"11:28," said Ludwig, running a hand through his hair, "well I guess that makes sense since we didn't get to sleep until a little after three."
Feliciano nodded in agreement before standing and adjusting his clothes, the collar of his shirt always seemed to slip to one side or the other, exposing his collar bone. Grabbing his hands out in front of him, he stretched his arms, and then his back, trying to shake off the feeling of having just slept on a cramped couch. He tried not to let his expression show the thought that just weaseled its way into his mind, that he wouldn't mind sleeping on that cramped couch again, even if it did mean a stiff back and muscles for the morning, as long as the reason it was cramped was because it was he and Ludwig squeezed onto the small space.
"What's on your mind? You seem like you're thinking hard about something," asked Ludwig.
Damnit.
"Oh, it's just..." that every time I see you my heart speeds up to a pace I can barely control, and just the mere thought of you sends my mind spiraling into oblivion. I can still barely wrap my head around the fact that I danced with you and then slept the whole night pressed up against you without dying. "It's nothing."
Feliciano could tell that Ludwig didn't believe him, but thankfully he didn't press the subject any further. For the next half hour as they waited for Francis to show up, they did a mix of unpacking a few boxes and watching TV. They were both sitting on the couch watching the TV when Francis came bursting through the door.
"You two better not be doing anything nasty!" he called from the kitchen. When he made it to the living room he looked at the two of them and waggled his eyebrows before casually leaning up against the wall. "It's safe Matthew!" he called over his shoulder, "I brought over all of the stuff that was in my car, Matthew came along to help unload."
Just as he finished Matthew came in the room carrying a large box. "I told you that they wouldn't be doing anything," he said quietly. He glanced over to where Feliciano and Ludwig sat on the couch, "Hey, is there a place where I can set this?"
Feliciano rose from the couch and helped Matthew place the box in the corner of the room. After that the four of them began to unload everything from Francis's car. Once everything was inside and boxes now scattered the living room floor all the way to their bedrooms, Francis announced that they had to leave.
He rubbed his hands together before flicking his blond hair over his shoulder. "Well," he said, "I guess we should get going. I don't want to be a burden on the two of you," he winked and earned a slight blush from Feliciano and caused Ludwig to roll his eyes at the french man. "Just to let you know, Lovino is still at Antonio's dorm, I don't know when he'll leave but he hasn't yet. Au revoir, mes amies," he said before he took Matthew's hand and led him towards the door. It might have been the lighting or something but Feliciano could have swore he saw a blush on Matthew's cheeks whenever Francis touched his hand.
Feliciano and Ludwig watched from the kitchen window as Francis and Matthew got into the car and pulled away, Francis giving a slight wave as he did so.
"So what do we do now? I want to take a little break from unpacking," said Ludwig, leaning on the window seal.
Feliciano thought for a moment as he looked out of the window. Then, an idea struck him. He quickly left the room and began to head to his room at a brisk pace. Ludwig followed.
"What are you doing?"
"Can you help me find my school bag, it should be in this room somewhere," said Feliciano as he began to move boxes in search of his bag.
"But it's Saturday, you don't have any classes today do you?" asked Ludwig as he helped search for the bag.
"Yeah I don't but there's something inside of it that I want... Here it is!" he declared as he hurriedly unzipped it and drew out his sketchbook along with a small pouch of different pencils. "Okay, put on your jacket and let's go. I want to go to the tree." He was practically radiating with excitement, an excitement that Ludwig didn't quite understand, but he enjoyed seeing him so happy so he went along with it.
The two of them picked up their jackets which had been disregarded onto the floor of the living room. Feliciano had found a beanie for himself to wear and one for Ludwig, and he accepted the dark green hat gratefully.
Together, the two of them left the house with nothing more than what they were wearing and Feliciano's sketch book and pencils. They decided to walk to the campus instead of drive, it wasn't that far and with their jackets on it felt nice outside. They were already past the campus gates whenever Feliciano realized that he forgot his cell phone, but he brushed it off when he remembered that Ludwig had his.
"So we are going to the willow tree?" asked Ludwig now that they were almost to the edge of the campus. They could see the tree line up ahead of them.
"Yeah," shivered Feliciano as a cold breeze blew by. He shuffled around in his pockets and pulled out his gloves and slipped them onto his hands. "If you don't mind, I want to draw the trees and..." he caught himself so he didn't finish his sentence.
Ludwig looked down at him, "and..." he prompted.
"And nothing," he said, trying to dismiss the topic.
Ludwig didn't seem to let the incompletion bother him as they walked through the tree line and down the path that would lead to their willow tree. The trees around them were filled with bright yellows, reds, and oranges. A few leaves had already begun to scatter upon the ground.
They walked in vocal silence, the only sound between the two of them was their footsteps mixing with the dead leaves and gravel. The tree's leaves rustled with each slight breeze, causing some of the already fallen ones to blow across the terrain a good ten feet before stopping once again.
Once they finally saw the willow tree up ahead, they began to pick up their pace. Feliciano practically ran to the tree, his sketchbook and pencils clutched to his chest.
Following close behind, Ludwig watched as Feliciano pushed away the willows drooping leaves and held them to the side, waiting for him to walk through the opening. He thanked him as he passed him and took a seat near the trunk of the tree, like how they had been doing the past couple of times they were here.
Feliciano took a seat next to him, but he was a few feet farther away than usual and he was turned slightly so that he was facing him more the the scenery in front of them.
"What are you doing?" he asked as Feliciano shifted and drew out a pencil from his pouch of many.
"I'm going to draw."
"I thought you were going to draw the trees."
"I am going to draw the trees," he said, "the trees and you." He had said the last part much quieter though, more to himself that to Ludwig. Which was good, because he didn't even hear the second part.
Ludwig watched as Feliciano began to sketch away, every few moments glancing up to look at what was in front of him. He could have swore that a few of the times that Feliciano had looked up he had looked at him. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but the feeling quickly passed as he watched Feliciano concentrate on his drawing. He decided that he liked it when he did that, worked hard on something that he was passionate about. The way Feliciano's face had contorted into one of seriousness seemed foreign on his features, but as the time ticked by, a faint smile had etched its way onto the edges of his lips as he became closer to finishing his picture.
Ludwig just stared out into the distance of trees before him. They all had their own unique shape and color, the way they branched out into he sky and the way their leaves clung to the branches. It was all very beautiful, and he wondered how Feliciano could capture all of that onto paper whenever he himself could barely draw a stick figure.
It confused him all so very much, and he wondered how long he had been thinking about this because before he knew it Feliciano was packing away his pencils and studying his picture.
"May I see it?" asked Ludwig.
Feliciano was hesitant at first, but eventually turned the notebook around to face him as he handed it over.
The picture was not what Ludwig thought it was going to be, well, not entirely. Yes, he did draw the trees, but he also drew him. He drew him staring off into the distance, surrounded by the drooping leaves from the willow tree around them. He had even managed to put the correct trees into the background; even the beams of light and shadows that came along with the sun had been included. It gave the picture depth, meaning, almost feeling behind it. The way he drew it, it looked like more than just a picture on a piece of paper, it truly was art. It seemed to have character, like it was telling a story, and that's what Ludwig loved most about it.
"Feliciano, it's... it's beautiful. I didn't know you could draw like this," he said handing him back the sketchbook.
Feliciano nodded his agreement as he accepted the sketchbook. He was glad that Ludwig wasn't mad that he had drew him without his permission. That's what he had stopped himself from saying earlier, I want to draw the trees and you. He knew for a while that he had wanted to draw Ludwig, but he wanted to make it inconspicuous so he decided to tell him he was going to draw the trees, and then just decided to add him in as well.
"Thanks... I guess," he said quietly, closing the book.
Ludwig patted the ground next to him, "Come over here, it's cold. I won't bite." He was trying to be funny; Feliciano didn't know if it had actually worked on him or if he was just doing it out of politeness, but he laughed anyway.
Once he was by Ludwig's side, he was glad of it. He had been so cold without realizing it and now that he had Ludwig's body heat to leech off of, he didn't feel as cold anymore.
"I'm sure you've been told this thousands of times but you are a very talented drawer." Ludwig tried not to blush as he said that.
Feliciano hadn't been as lucky, "thanks," he said quietly. He could feel his cheeks getting red.
After that neither of them spoke, they just sat there underneath the tree, watching the leaves break away from their branches and gracefully float to the ground below. As the minutes passed, and the breezes became colder because of the now partially hidden sun behind the tips of the trees in the distance, they somehow managed to get closer and closer to each other. Eventually they were to the point where Feliciano's head was resting on Ludwig's shoulder, and his bent knees were on top of Ludwig's outstretched and crossed legs. He was practically curled up into Ludwig's side, but neither of them minded.
The silence left them to their thoughts, but Ludwig's mind was filled with one thing, Feliciano. The small man that was currently curled up into his side, the one who was fighting off sleep as the sun set behind the trees and day turned into evening and evening into night. There was just... something about him that made Ludwig's heart flutter and skip and stop all together. Feliciano, the man who had a bright imagination and a pure outlook on the world, the one who would forget his phone but not care because he didn't think is was important, the one who always smiled, and may I say, that smile could work wonders, cure cancer and stop wars. At least, that is what Ludwig thought. This is everything that he has gathered about Feliciano in their short time of knowing each other, but he hoped that after six months, when he has to go back home to Germany, he hoped that he would know so much that he wouldn't be able to write it all down in a list.
As the stars began to poke through the blanket of night, he noticed how bright they shone, how beautiful they were, how each one seemed to be unique which only made the night that much more beautiful. Despite this, a thought came across him and he agreed with it whole heartedly.
He would rather be looking at Feliciano's smile.