It's been three years since Feliciano and Ludwig have reunited. Ludwig has graduated from college and has now taken up a job as a lawyer in the States alongside Feliciano who works at his restaurant. As soon as Ludwig graduated, he moved down to the States, and so did Folkert. There was no reason for him to stay in Germany now that Ludwig had no reason to stay so he found a house to live in not too far from Ludwig and Feliciano's house. Lovino has long since moved in with Antonio at their house many years ago, while Ludwig had moved in with Feliciano at their house. It was perfect.
Today Ludwig got off work early but Feliciano had to stay to help out at the restaurant, so he surprised him by showing up on his way home. He had something he wanted to ask him.
Ludwig was grateful that this was a nice restaurant because otherwise he would have felt a little awkward walking in wearing a suit and tie. The other employees and a few of the customers greeted him as he passed by. He said hello back to them as he made his way over to where he knew Feliciano would be, the kitchen.
Just as he was about to go through the doors someone grabbed him by the arm. He turned around to see a boy who couldn't have been older than 17.
"Sir, you can't go in there," he said.
Ludwig was confused at first but then he realized something. "You're new here aren't you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"That's what I thought," he said as he pulled his arm free from his grasp and walked through the doors.
"Sir–"
"Dude, what are you doing?" a waiter asked the boy.
"That guy with the suit just walked into the kitchen!"
"Was he tall?"
"Yeah."
"Blond hair?"
"Yeah..."
"Kinda muscular with a German accent?"
"Yes... what does this have to do with anything?"
"Yeah, that's Ludwig leave him be."
"Why though?"
"He's cool, and he's dating the boss."
"Oh..." he said.
Ludwig heard the exchange from the other side of the door and chuckled to himself. Yeah, he was quite known around here I guess you could say.
He walked up behind Feliciano who was currently at one of the stoves, mixing a pot of sauce.
"Hey babe," he said before taking hold of Feliciano's chin and giving him a quick kiss.
"Ludwig? Why're you here, did you get off early?"
"Yeah," he said peeking over Feliciano's shoulder to look at the sauce. "You forgot the basil leaf."
Feliciano chuckled, "I put it in there don't worry, I don't forget my basil leaf unlike you." He gave him a cheeky grin.
Ludwig ran a hand through his hair, "I still can't believe that's all I had to do, I even said it and you still didn't tell me."
"It's fun watching you struggle," he said, giving his sauce a taste. He held up the spoon to Ludwig's mouth for him to taste and he accepted it gladly.
"Damn that's good. I'm going to guess you haven't eaten yet?"
"No. I haven't, do you want to go somewhere?"
"Yeah, there's this really good Italian place called Salice."
Feliciano laughed, "Alright just let me change clothes and then we can get a table. Terry! Take over for me I'm done for tonight!"
A guy on the other side of the kitchen who was chopping onions gave a thumbs up in their direction before returning back to his chopping.
Feliciano walked down a little hallway and turned into this office and came back out a few seconds later wearing his same black slacks but with a gray button up, which he was still currently buttoning up, instead of his white t-shirt.
"Okay I'm ready," he said.
The two of them walked out of the kitchen and Ludwig picked a booth near the windows along one side of the restaurant. As soon as they sat down the waiter that told that boy what's up came over to them.
"Hey boss, Ludwig, you guys customers tonight?"
"Yeah," Feliciano chuckled.
"Date night I see. You guys want your usuals?"
"Yeah," they said in unison.
He just nodded and marked something down on his notebook before tucking it into his apron. "Alright, I'll be back soon with your drinks."
"You know, I like how well respected you are here," said Ludwig after he left.
"Yeah," said Feliciano, "me too. It's because they know that if they disrespect me I'll fire them."
"That works too."
After that, they got their drinks and they talked about how their days were and soon enough they got their food. They ate slowly, savoring the food. A few times a worker would come by and refill their drinks or take away unnecessary plates, but besides this, they were left alone to themselves.
Ludwig reached his hand down and patted his pocket, as the night drew nearer his heart sped up, knowing what he was going to do. Their food was gone, they were now chatting over glasses of champagne. Whenever Ludwig had asked for a bottle Feliciano was surprised and curious, "What's the occasion?" he had asked. "Just glad to see you," he had answered, trying not to sound too suspicious.
Now he was trying to find the right moment to start what he was wanting to say. He just couldn't find an opening. He was looking out of the window behind Feliciano whenever something caught his eye. It was his brother, holding a huge sign.
HAVE YOU DONE THE THING
Ludwig just facepalmed and scratched his nose; his signal for no. Francis appeared from behind the building beside Gilbert holding his own sign.
GET ON WITH IT
Where did they get all of these? he thought to himself. He had told his brother what he was going to do, and he had asked Lovino for permission, which he had surprisingly agreed to. By now he was pretty sure that the entire group knew that he was planning on proposing to Feliciano tonight except for Feliciano.
"What are you looking at?" asked Feliciano. "Is something there?" He turned around in his seat, luckily, Gilbert and Francis had already returned to their hiding spot behind the building, so all he saw was an empty street.
Ludwig sighed and reached across the table, taking Feliciano's hand in his own. "Feliciano," he said, "do you remember when we kissed underneath the willow tree for the first time?"
Feliciano smiled shyly, his cheeks carrying a light blush. "Yes," he whispered.
"Every time I kiss you it feels as if I were doing it for the first time; if anything my feelings have only grown stronger for you. My love for you will never deteriorate, not even when we were apart for years, I still loved you more than you could ever imagine."
Feliciano could feel his heart stutter, "Ludwig," he said softly.
Ludwig reached up and casually scratched the top of his head. Lovino, who had been watching from the pay counter, saw this and sent a message to Antonio who was currently in one of the offices in the back. A few seconds later the soft music coming from the speakers around the restaurant switched and began to play a very old and familiar song. Feliciano noticed right away, and this is when he knew that something was up. His heart began to pound as the music flooded his ears along with Ludwig's loving words. The hand that was being held by Ludwig suddenly felt as if it was shooting sparks through his veins. Is what I think is going to happen, happening? he thought.
"I'm never going to let you go," said Ludwig just after the line if you love me don't let go played overhead.
"You know," said Ludwig as he stood from his seat. Feliciano watched him with wide eyes. "I knew that I would do this some day, I just didn't know when, or how and I'm not really good at this kind of stuff but..." he bent down on one knee.
Feliciano covered his mouth with his hands, shock evident on his face. Is this really happening? he thought. It seemed as if the entire restaurant hushed down to silence at the sight.
Ludwig reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "Feliciano," he began, "I have loved you for as long as I've known, and I will for as long as I live. I have been thinking about this all day so Feliciano," he opened the box, "will you marry me?"
Feliciano was stunned into silence, the widest smile spread across his face as tears of joy began to trickle down his cheeks. He nodded his head frantically and eventually he managed to choke out a strangled "yes" before practically jumping out of his seat, grabbing Ludwig's face with both hands and kissed him, almost tackling him to the ground in the process.
The restaurant erupted into cheers, waiters and waitresses, customers, cooks, everyone clapped and cheered for them. Lovino and Antonio watched from a few tables away, clapping along with the crowd, Antonio even let out of woo! of excitement.
Ludwig pulled away and took Feliciano's hands, taking the promise ring off of his ring finger and placing it on his right hand before replacing his left hand with the simple, gold band from the box. Feliciano laughed and tried to wipe away his tears as he hugged him again.
"HEY! SHOW US A LITTLE LOVE!" shouted someone from the other side of the windows. They looked behind them to see Francis, Gilbert, Alfred, Arthur, and Matthew on the outside of the restaurant all cheering and watching them from the windows. Gilbert and Francis held a sign that said CONGRATS in big bolded letters while the others threw around confetti and cheered.
Feliciano raised his left hand up to the window, which only caused them to cheer louder. Ludwig helped Feliciano up off of the floor and kissed him once more, and it was in that moment that they all knew that they were going to be truly happy for a very, very long time.
[End]
~A/N
So this was the last chapter which means that this concludes Willow. I want to thank all of you guys who read this from the beginning, who stuck with me and this story from the start. I know it's not the best, and I know there are many, many flaws, but I appreciate all of the votes and loving comments. I'll keep this short and sweet, but seriously thank you so much. <3
~Xavier