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Chapter Text

Bach’s Italian Concerto, “Concerto nach Italiænischen Gusto” or, “Concerto in the Italian taste.”

Beethoven’s twenty-four Polyphonic Italian Songs, studies he made under Antonio Salieri’s teachings.

Mendelssohn’s fourth symphony, affectionately dubbed “the Italian.”

Every single one of these great German composers had in some way written something to Italy. A study, an appreciation, a love letter. A kiss on its hand, offering intricate and soothing music to honor the beauty of the boot-shaped land wielded.

It wasn't a lie that for some reason Germans seemed to gravitate towards Italy and Ludwig was not the exception, though he preferred to say it was Italy who jumped on him first. The northern part of it, of course.

Just like many great composers before him, Germany himself now considered North Italy his muse, but this realization happened a while back before he even considered such a thing to be possible.

Some months ago, Ludwig felt like he had been stuck for a while now in what most artists considered the worst fate imaginable: artistic block.

It didn't matter what he tried to compose, which chords to string together or what melody to create, everything was awful to him and his ears begged for it to stop. It would be almost four weeks since he entered this artistic block that was slowly nibbling his soul away.

His brother, Gilbert, considered he needed a break from music, but both of them knew such a thing wasn't possible when they had to prepare for a performance. The most important one of the year, where all talents and skills came together in a festival the school organized yearly and from where all sorts of people came to see what World Academy W had to offer. It was only a month away...

All talents and skills were needed, which meant both choir and orchestra had to work together.

To anyone with a brain such a thing didn't mean anything, but to Gilbert who had a vendetta against the choir kids... It meant war.

For some reason, his brother despised the choir members' mere presence and as such, he often played pranks and made fun of most of them, notably South Italy, the baltic trio and their quote unquote “blonde valley bitch.” Gilbert hated their guts and it didn't matter how much Ludwig scolded him and told him to knock it off and leave them alone, Gilbert wasn't budging and in turn, Feliks —the blonde valley bitch— returned every remark tenfold followed by a snarky phrase in Polish while Lovino kept insulting everyone involved, especially Gilbert with whom he clashed violently. The war never stopped, not even when they were supposed to rehearse for the performance.

It was an exhausting evening of containing both self-proclaimed representatives and trying to keep Roderich, also the self-proclaimed leader since the teacher gave him the title of conductor, away from anything sharp enough that could be a murder weapon when his patience reached the limit, so when rehearsal was over, the first thing Ludwig did was to run off and hide in one of the many abandoned music rooms with his notebook tight in his hands, hoping for some peace and quiet. He had been awfully tense and irritable lately so he needed his space to avoid snapping at the first person that breathed wrong in his general direction.

And to top it all off, he also needed to compose something for his own personal and separate performance at the festival, which just added even more stress.

Turns out that being an honor student came with way too many benefits that for Ludwig almost felt like curses, but he couldn't just decline this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and thus, he was now doomed to prepare all by himself an entirely new song, right in the middle of an art block. “This year's theme is love, so make sure to compose something that makes someone think of love!” The professor in charge of guiding them had said. “We know you'll do a fantastic job, Ludwig!”

Love.

Love?

Love?!

Did God hate him? Why was he punishing him like this when Gilbert was right there?!

If someone asked who was the most uninterested and inexperienced student when it came to love, everyone would shout in unison his name!

Ludwig groaned, almost throwing his notebook to the floor but deciding against it. It wasn't like he despised love or wished it never came to him, but it just was too strange for him. His mind was built with rationality and strict rules, so something so abstract like love was not his forte.

He sighed, fixing his glasses and leaving the hard case in which his musical instrument was stored in on the floor. He had already wasted a lot of precious time trying to compose in an orthodox manner, so he decided to try something else that afternoon.

That instrument was a cello, which soon it was in his hands and after preparing accordingly and sitting with an upright position, he decided to try a more organic approach to composing. Instead of music sheets and empty pages, he hoped the melody would come naturally. With his left hand on the cello’s neck and the right holding the bow, he caressed the strings with his eyes closed and tried to make something sound good.

At first he failed, making him wince in annoyance when his thoughts were filled with the stupid arguments and fights of today's rehearsal. Naturally, when he thought of unpleasant and annoying things, the music he made would be unpleasant and annoying to hear, and clearly he didn't want his love melody to invoke such nasty feelings, so he tried to think about something else.

... Love, huh?

He couldn't decipher that thing even if his life depended on it. It was complicated and strange but represented in so many forms of art. Painting, writing, singing... Love was the soul of the artist, or that's what everyone said. Well, Ludwig couldn't relate but he did understand it from a scholarly perspective.

Love, that thing capable of making men go mad and perform equally amazing or horrifying feats in its name, though for students in a prestigious academy, love looked a bit different.

Whispers and low chuckling, passing notes in class, gossiping during lunch and holding hands on the way home. He saw it many times but he never experienced it. It just seemed too foreign to him, nothing came to mind when he thought of romantic love or its many forms. Except maybe...

Some brunet curls swaying in the wind. A carefree stance, leaning against Ludwig's desk with smiling amber eyes that seemingly hadn't noticed him yet.

... Guh, why did he always remember that annoying Italian classmate of his?! It wasn’t the first time and he was beginning to get tired of always coming back to him whenever he felt especially overwhelmed, which in turn only made it worse.

Well, it would be a lie to say he hated North Italy, but he sure as hell didn't deem him a pleasant company. Not when he was so touchy and acted so familiar with him, or when his cheerful personality and strong presence made their neighboring seats a hell to endure whenever Feliciano decided to be surrounded by people.

He knew Feliciano wasn't a bad guy, but his chest felt uncomfortable whenever the brunet said good morning to him. Plus, he was really loud! Sometimes, when Ludwig wanted to compose in the classroom, Feliciano's booming voice would always distract him with that clear pronunciation and intonation as if he was singing, and of course Ludwig couldn’t ignore his charming voice.

As expected from a member of the choir, he supposed.

In a choir, no one should attract that much attention, but it seemed like Feliciano couldn't keep his mouth shut, whether he was in class or in rehearsal. Everyone knew him; some thought he was charming and others deemed him annoying, but at least he wasn't part of the troublemakers who tried to make their rivalry everyone's problem. No, Feliciano seemed to be part of the people who actually wanted them to get along and he always tried to stop his own choir mates —especially his own brother, South Italy— from fighting with Gilbert, and it worked most of the time because he almost always ended up on the brink of tears. Thankfully, he recovered fast so he never really cried out loud.

It was annoying to Ludwig how easily Feliciano dealt with emotions, but he knew it was most likely envy. To Ludwig, feelings had to be shut down and hidden and he only ever expressed them through music, but now that he couldn't even do that... Sometimes, he felt either incredibly empty or like he was a dam about to break. How happier would he be if he was more like Feliciano? If he could laugh and cry as easily as him? If he could stop being so bitter and pessimistic, if Ludwig could at least be part of the people he smiled at?

He didn't hate him... Then, what did he feel towards him?

Feelings were difficult to decipher, but to Ludwig, they always became easier to understand through music, so he decided to try and do that instead of working on his composition.

What came after that was a long G flat.

Sol, the sun note.

That would be the beginning. The rest he let it flow naturally.

It was a short melody, only eleven notes that he repeated three times, each time with a variation.

A question, then an answer, then disbelief and then in the end, a new tune that sounded like a sigh.

After that, everything was repeated perfectly until the end, in which a high E finished the brief cello solo. An acceptance of that answer.

It was short, sure, but for the first time in weeks Ludwig felt genuinely happy with a composition of his even if he didn't know what it meant. Usually, whenever he composed he made sure to know exactly what feelings and thoughts were the basis for the melody, but this time he didn't know where it came from or what sentiment it was supposed to convey.

Well, at least he felt satisfied and he sure missed the feeling of the bow in his hand caressing the strings. Could this mean that he was one step further from escaping from the artistic block and finally finishing —starting, actually— his piece for the festival? That thought made him smile with hope.

That hope was short-lived, however, since he heard something and noticed someone standing right next to the door. An intruder.

It was none other than Feliciano who was sporting a sweeter smile than usual. Did he hear him play? Why didn't he say anything?! Ah, he must've looked so foolish! That might explain that smile! God, Ludwig wanted to disappear, it was so embarrassing!

“...! Y-you! How long have you been there?!” Ludwig asked and miraculously the cello didn't slip from his hands. He instead clutched it with anger, glaring at the Italian.

“Not for long!” Feliciano answered, his eyes bright as stars despite being intimidated at first by Ludwig's stare. “But that song was so beautiful! It felt so, so... So romantic! Like someone's first love, so overwhelming but so warm at the same time... Like they don't believe it! What's it called?”

Hearing that interpretation made Ludwig's jaw drop.

He was baffled. Absolutely stunned. Offended, even, but no coherent words came out of his mouth and instead he ended up grumbling and trying to not yell at Feliciano since that would either frighten him or make Ludwig look even more foolish. He took a moment to regain his composure and looked away, annoyed.

“What are you talking about? It's not like that...!” He coughed a bit to clear his throat. “And it doesn't have a name.”

“Oh..., I see.” He seemed a bit disappointed. “Did you compose it yourself?”

“... Yes.”

“Woah! That’s so cool! As I thought, you are the best composer in school! Maybe even in the whole world!”

“Why are you here?” Ludwig hurriedly asked, begging for this embarrassing exchange to stop. “Did you lose something? I thought you went straight home after rehearsal...”

Like he always did! Why did he choose precisely that day to come here?

“How do you know that?” Feliciano asked with confusion and Ludwig wanted to chew his own tongue out after realizing he now sounded like some sort of stalker, though Feliciano didn't seem to mind and just shrugged it off. “My brother will be inviting some of his friends over and he forbade me from going home early, so I was looking for a place to pass time or sleep... but when I heard music, I got really curious because it was so pretty! Really, it was like... Like woah! So pretty! No, pretty doesn’t make it justice. It was gorgeous! Beautiful! Bellissimo!”

Ludwig was about to ask Feliciano to stop, but then he realized that he, like everyone else in the world, liked being praised. It wasn’t a crime, alright?! Especially after suffering so much under artistic block! He could indulge in some nice words even if they might have been spoken out of pity by a classmate who was always nice to everyone, not only him... Now that he thought about it, this had to be their first real interaction. There were times where Feliciano did reach out to him like he always did with everyone else, but because Ludwig was far too stubborn and unamicable, Feliciano’s friends told him to leave him alone after one or two exchanges. This was the first time they spoke alone one-on-one and contrary to his expectations, it was... Nice, even if he couldn’t quite keep up with it.

He enjoyed this one-sided chatter until Feliciano stopped in his tracks, looking like a lightbulb had brightened up on his head. Searching the music room with his eyes for less than a second, his lips parted up in a wide, hopeful smile and he walked across the room to reach a lonely piano, sitting on the stool as if he owned it. Then, with the most charming puppy eyes he could conjure, he looked at Ludwig, pleading:

“I kinda want to play that melody too, can I? Please say yes, please say yes!”

“You know how to play piano?” Ludwig asked, a bit confused. “Aren't you part of the choir?”

“Yes, but I love all sorts of music, I can't help but feel it's a waste if I don't try everything at least once!” Feliciano chuckled and pressed the keys of the piano swiftly, a cascading arpeggio accompanying his voice as he recounted every instrument he ever laid his hands on. “Flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, piano... I owe Roderich most of it! He taught me a lot and it was really fun, but I think he got fed up with me when I said I didn't want to choose just one instrument.”

Feliciano slided through the piano bench to stare right at Ludwig, furrowing his brows and crossing his arms while he made a gesture as if he was adjusting some non-existent glasses.

“If you cannot choose and all you can do is whine, then settle for singing instead, you fool! ... Is what he said!” And he laughed out loud, remembering how irritated Roderich was that day.

Ludwig could imagine that perfectly and he had to admit, Feliciano's rendition of an annoyed Roderich was perfectly accurate.

“I like all types of instruments so I can't settle on one, but I think what I like the most is accompanying someone else... Whenever Roderich needed a violin for his piano, I offered to help him out and even if he looked annoyed, I could tell he was happy. Playing music alone isn't as fun as doing it with others, don't you think so, Ludwig? Ah, but I like singing too! I think that playing musical instruments helped me a lot with singing, so I really, really, really can't choose one! ... Oh, I was talking all by myself, wasn't I? I'm sorry, people always tell me to shut up and stay still, I'll shut up.”

“No, don't shut up,” Ludwig hurriedly said. “I like listening to you.”

He said so without thinking and it made his face flush in red, but Feliciano didn't seem to mind and instead, he smiled again with a faint pink coloring his cheeks.

“Really? I'm so glad! I was afraid you hated me.”

“H-huh? Why would I?”

“Well, choir and orchestra always seem to hate each other, and your brother really dislikes us... Plus, whenever we are in a class together, you look at me with a scary face, like I am annoying you...”

“Ah, no, don't mind him, he's just too dramatic. There's no real rivalry between choir and orchestra, if anything, I wish we could just cooperate,” Ludwig muttered. “As for the way I look at you, uh, sorry, it’s just my face.”

He decided not to tell him how Feliciano did annoy him in some ways, mostly because he didn’t want to make him feel bad. Ludwig knew how harsh he could talk to others and he was beginning to feel quite at ease with this chat they were having.

“...! Really? Yay! I’m so glad you don’t hate me!” His eyes lightened up and he joined both his hands in a pleased gesture, barely containing his excitement. “And yes, I also wish we could all cooperate. Music is for everyone no matter how they approach it.”

Well, he couldn’t contain his energy any longer and without warning, he once again directed his hands to the piano, a smile so bright the sun paled in comparison and then he began to play the same melody Ludwig was playing earlier, jokingly puffing out his chest.

“Ludwig doesn’t hate me, I’m so happy! We’ll all play together in har-mo-ny! Mhm-hm, mn-mhm!”

Feliciano's voice was soothing and melodious even when he wasn't singing, but when he did, it was as if the whole world stopped in its tracks just to listen, even if the lyrics were not serious since, well, he was making them on the spot. Connecting the notes seamlessly like a string instrument came to life, it soon became clear how much he enjoyed music. The piano accompanied his brief singing sweetly, but because he was no composer he soon ran out of original chords to play after a minute or two.

“Heh, that was fun.”

Ludwig didn't know what to say since he was too awkward, so he only nodded. This made Feliciano chuckle again for seemingly no reason and after a second of silence, he looked away from Ludwig with a sheepish smile.

“I'm not good at composing like you... I’m not strong or smart either, but I hope I can accompany you when you need it.”

It took Ludwig a solid minute to infer he was referring to accompanying his cello with a piano and nothing else, but he didn’t have time to retort because Feliciano looked at him again and asked the forbidden:

“Will that be your song for the festival?”

“What?”

“Yeah, the festival. You’ll have a separate performance, won’t you? I heard the teachers talking about it, that’s so cool! You must be so proud of yourself... As expected of Germany, the land of music! Don’t tell Roderich I said that, though, we all know how proud Austria is about his music.” He giggled, lowering his voice like it was supposed to be a secret but it only made Ludwig feel even more nervous.

These expectations were too heavy for him and he couldn’t really deal with this right now.

“No, I don’t... I don’t know if I will be able to participate,” he confessed in a low voice, grabbing both bow and cello with intentions of putting them back into the hard case. “I still have nothing for the festival and I don’t see myself finishing anything in time. Well, at least I’ll be in the main performance with all of the orchestra and choir, but I’ll have to tell the teacher and apologize properly...”

He kept his head low, so he couldn’t see how Feliciano’s expression froze up in surprise and thus, he didn’t expect the brunet would suddenly run towards him and grab his hands.

“You can’t do that!” He shouted with teary eyes that stunned Ludwig in place. “You have to perform! You definitely, definitely have to!”

“W-why?”

“Because I-”

But he cut himself off, pressing his lips together as if they had been sealed by magic and he took some seconds that did not go unnoticed to come up with a very obvious excuse.

“Because we all want to see you on stage!” With an awkward smile, Feliciano tried to improve his answer, still not letting go of his hands. “We all know how hard you work and how much talent you have... No, not only talent, you pour so much time and effort into music and it would be such a shame to lose an opportunity like this... We are all rooting for you!”

Even when Feliciano seemed to be more genuine this time, Ludwig was still not buying this and frankly the closeness was too much for him, so with more harshness than he intended he averted his hands, taking a step back and glaring at the other, who in turn flinched with a nervous expression on his face.

“Who is ‘we’?”

Feliciano stuttered. “C-choir and orchestra, of course! We all know you can do it!”

“Forgive me but I find that hard to believe. They wouldn’t even agree the sky is blue... Well, that’s my brother’s fault, but still.” He sighed, looking down and practically growling his words. “Even if they did, this artistic block wouldn’t let me make anything good enough to perform.”

He felt strangely angry at both himself and Feliciano.

No, it wasn’t just anger, all sorts of emotions he couldn’t give a name to were bubbling in his chest and becoming too overwhelming for him, so he had to step out before it escalated any further.

Now he wasn’t in the mood for even trying to be productive, so he began to pick up his things in front of a nervous Feliciano who didn’t know what to do now.

“W-where are you going?”

“I’m going home. I wanted a place to think in silence, but I guess I can only hope for that in my own house,” Ludwig coldly replied with a neutral expression that camouflaged the messy emotions he was feeling at the moment. “You should do the same too, sleeping anywhere but in your home is irresponsible.”

Feliciano wanted to say something, but before he could even piece his thoughts together Ludwig had already grabbed his cello case and left. He didn't even look back.

To calm himself on the way home, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to have a back-up melody for the festival if he decided to participate since, well, he was too prideful to admit defeat yet, so he tried to repeat and recreate the exact notes of the melody in hopes he could at least write them down, but it proved to be far too difficult when all he could think of was reddish brown curls swaying in the wind.

Annoying.

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He thought he had been rude enough to Feliciano to avoid further interaction. It worked wonders for everyone else, even if at first he hadn’t intended to come off as unfriendly and intimidating. Whether it was his face or how difficult social interaction was for him or even how he began to be known as a rule enforcer in school, most of his classmates avoided him altogether. He didn’t really mind, not anymore. He was fine with being alone; silence didn’t bother him when he could fill it up with melodies in his head.

However, this time it didn’t seem to work.

As students in the same class, Ludwig always had to deal with Feliciano’s bright presence, but after their messy encounter, the Italian was now constantly sticking close to him, blabbing about too many topics in merely a few sentences even when they were in the middle of class, something that made Feliciano the target for the teacher's scoldings. They even included Ludwig in the scolding now! It seemed they thought this chit-chat was reciprocated, so the teacher would point at him too and ask him to stop talking. Him, the model student!

That was preposterous!

At first he was so angry he made sure to tell Feliciano —during recess, of course— to knock it off, but neither he nor the teachers succeeded in their attempts to shut him up. Whenever the teacher scolded them, some minutes would pass and Feliciano would be whispering to him once again, barely holding his chuckles back. Other times he tried tapping Ludwig's desk to grab his attention and show him a cute cat he drew in his math textbook and, to Ludwig’s dismay, it did manage to steal a smirk from him. During recess and lunch, Feliciano would follow Ludwig around, flirting with whatever cute girl he saw but remaining by the blond's side nonetheless, chatting and saying how nice the weather was for a nap and if Ludwig wanted to join him, as if they never had that strange fight in the music room. It was too awkward and Ludwig didn’t know how to bring it up, so it was soon buried under all the recent interactions they had carried out solely by Feliciano.

“No, I don't want to nap,” Ludwig would retort, but then somehow he would find himself right by his side when Feliciano napped, sometimes on a bench, sometimes on the rooftop of the academy, which was his preferred space.

All of these places were where Ludwig went to search for enough tranquility to work on his composition, but without fail Feliciano would find a good spot in any place Ludwig was in and he would stick by his side, sometimes even asking to bring friends along so they could become Ludwig’s friends too. Of course he declined.

The first few days he was so annoyed he didn’t waste time in being rude and even hostile to him, but for some reason Feliciano persevered and, well... He found out he wasn’t that annoyed by his presence and the change it brought.

It wasn’t that Ludwig fervently longed for an idyllic school life filled with friends and laughter, but he realized he came to enjoy it a bit after Feliciano became even more determined to interact with him. Not a single classmate of his ever showed that much interest in him nor did they try so hard to make him get out of his shell, Feliciano was the first to ignore the serious facade he put up. A bit aggressive, he supposed, but he appreciated it more than he realized. It managed to make his mind drift away from his impending doom; the fact that he had yet to finish his piece for the performance.

A week and a half passed where he did nothing but lament himself and be followed around by North Italy. He hadn't progressed at all and he was getting more and more nervous, especially with the more frequent rehearsals to prepare for the festival. It was so annoying to deal with Gilbert making chaos just to spite out not only the choir kids but also the conductor, Roderich, and that was added on top of Feliciano being even more insistent in talking to him, something that was noticed by Gilbert.

“Yo, Feli,” he called out, holding the flute he was supposed to be playing. “I didn't know you were so close to my brother!”

Despite him being part of the choir, Gilbert actually liked Feliciano quite a bit so he had no hostility or mock in his tone when addressing him. Instead, Gilbert seemed to be hesitant and even excited whenever Feliciano spared him a glance.

“Do we look like we are close?” Feliciano asked with a shy smile, holding onto a small book where the lyrics he had to sing were printed, but it was clear he wasn't interested in it since he had yet to leave Ludwig's side.

It was supposed to be the break where the students drank water and went out for some air, so why was Feliciano still talking to him when he never did such a thing before? Gilbert seemed to have that same question in his head, so he wasted no time in pointing at them with the flute.

“How long have you been so close?”

“A week or so!”

“And how did it happen?”

“Oh, well, it was after school when I-”

“Are you done fighting and wasting time?” Ludwig asked with a menacing tone, interrupting both Gilbert and Feliciano. He finished tuning his cello and was about to ask Roderich to guide everyone back to rehearsal, but he realized he wasn't even in the room and then, a fourth actor had appeared in the scene.

The most annoying person to deal with.

“Hey! You damn vultures, what do you think you are doing?” Lovino's voice traveled across the wide music room, causing every person inside to look at them. Glaring at the two German brothers, Lovino scoffed as he walked towards them to grab Feliciano's arm and try to drag him out of there. “I look away one second and you orchestra bastards are already ganging up on Feliciano. Just because he's an idiot doesn't mean you can take advantage of him!”

As if he wanted absolutely everyone to know what his interpretation of the situation was, he spoke loud and clear, making it obvious why he was one of the most important members of the choir. It had to be a brother thing having such powerful voices.

“Fratello, you're wrong, they weren't ganging up on me,” Feliciano tried to explain, a bit flustered, but Lovino shushed him with a roll of his eyes.

“You're just saying that to be nice. I've seen that potato bastard following you around for more than a week now!” He practically gagged in disgust when looking at Ludwig. “What the hell do you want?”

Ludwig was both baffled and offended since Lovino clearly understood everything wrong, but when he tried to speak and defend himself, Gilbert jumped right in to reap the seeds of discord already laid down beforehand.

“We were just minding our business and having a nice, civilized chat for once until you came, what do you want? Some attention? You got it, now piss off!” Gilbert stuck out his tongue with a cheeky smile. “It's such a shame we can't turn your sound off, you'd be cute if you shut up.”

Lovino didn't back down. If anything, he got even angrier which was reflected in his increasing hostility and vulgarity.

“That's rich coming from you, the amount of shit you spit out makes me doubt whether that's a mouth or an asshole.”

“What silly love poems you are reciting! It sounds like they were written by a whiny little bitch.”

“Do you want some classes or something, shithead? It would do you some wonders to learn real poetry instead of whatever crap you people consume. Perhaps you can even learn how to play actual music that isn't a crime against my ears.”

“Ohh, getting cocky, aren't we? Let's see how long you keep up that facade.”

“Come at me, stronzo.”

Feliciano’s arm was still in the power of his older brother and he was beginning to get incredibly scared by the increasing aggressiveness in the air and despite his best efforts, he couldn't mediate between the two and he feared it would escalate into an actual fight. It never happened, but the possibility always lingered whenever those two insulted each other. The remaining students all tried to ignore them, but they were too loud and they began to grow worried as well judging by their whispering.

Thankfully or perhaps not, Ludwig was fed up with their whole act that had been going for months and the fact they were now involving Feliciano in it. The screaming, the insults, the noise... Everything was too overwhelming, so after another two derogatory exchanges, Ludwig suddenly grabbed both their arms with great force, causing Lovino to let go of a teary-eyed Feliciano, and shouted out:

“Aahhh! Shut up! For the love of God, shut the fuck up!! Can't you do anything else but fight?!” He breathed in, red in the face with anger. “We have a damn performance to give and if you two keep using the time designed for rehearsal to fight we'll end up making a fool of ourselves in front of the whole world!” He breathed out. They were indeed going to perform in front of the whole world as is, people coming from many countries and those countries themselves. “With the amount of time we've lost because of the both of you we could've done at least two whole serious rehearsals, but no! All you do is fight and whine because, apparently, doing the fucking job you've promised to do is too much for you!” He let go of both their arms and roared again, his deep voice echoing across the halls and making the loudest opera singer shy away. “I don't give a fuck about whatever conflict you two have, but you are affecting other people with your stupid quarreling and I will not put up with this anymore! If you two are not serious about this, then get the hell out!!”

He finally caught up his breath, feeling his throat a bit sore, but at least he managed to make both Gilbert and Lovino to look at him, stunned.

“Are we clear?” Ludwig asked. However, when he didn't receive an answer, he repeated the question more aggressively than before. “Are we clear?!”

“Yes, sir!” Both Gilbert and Lovino spoke at the same time and scattered away, looking like scared animals.

Everyone else just stared at Ludwig with shock and no one said a thing, not even Feliciano who was looking at him with indecipherable eyes.

Ludwig, on his part, felt sick all of the sudden, the influx of emotion and attention placed on him making him way too anxious to exist properly, so with all the dignity he had left he walked towards the door and no one stopped him, he only heard both Gilbert and Feliciano call out his name before he practically ran off.

Ah, he wanted to disappear.

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He didn't know where to go at first. Maybe the bathroom? It sounded like a good idea until he saw two professors talking with each other in front of it and Ludwig did not want anyone, much less a teacher, to see him in such a state, so he rushed off in the opposite direction, feeling the emotions bubble up and making him lose a bit of strength in his body.

He stopped thinking straight and before he knew it, he was back at the rooftop. The strong breeze helped calm him down a lot and his own breathing was stabilized with every step he took towards the metallic fence, almost like the beat of a song.

The same song he came up with in the music room, but how did it go? What note was the first one? What was it?

He looked up, searching for the sun in the sky and finding it was hiding behind some clouds. The sun, the sun... The note, the sol...

Ah, there it was. G flat.

Soft and soothing, containing so much emotion in a single string instrument. He could hear it as he paced around the rooftop, distracting himself. He suddenly knew what other notes followed the incomplete song and hummed them in an attempt to keep his head clear and to avoid any further distress. Starting with a G natural now, it was going down and then up, like a confused mind trying to put its thoughts together but unable to formulate a coherent one, exactly how he was feeling at the moment. This small exercise sure helped him calm down and process the overwhelming emotions as easily as he breathed out, but then he got stuck again. It felt as if something was missing to complete the melody, he needed a second voice to pick up where he left off... What was it, what was the answer?

A piano, perhaps?

“Ludwig?”

Chapter Text

Feliciano followed him to the rooftop, sweating and panting as if he had run after him. It took him another two seconds to catch his breath and finally call out his name again, interrupting Ludwig’s thoughts.

“Are you okay?” Feliciano asked softly.

Ludwig wasn't sure so he only nodded halfheartedly. At least it hadn't been a full-blown meltdown so he was quite alright, but now such a side of himself had been shown to the one person he didn't want to let know. Ludwig felt anxious again, and with anxiety came the need to apologize for not meeting up the standards he had set up himself.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“For, uh, screaming and lashing out. It must've been...”

“... Scary?” Feliciano completed as he took some steps forward and Ludwig nodded, since he knew how easy to frighten the brunet was, but strangely enough Feliciano seemed fine. “No, it's okay, I was surprised but it wasn't scary. If anything, I was worried, you looked really distressed.”

Not angry, but distressed.

Well, he felt both things, but he supposed the attentive eye of Feliciano caught on the second part.

“I just got overwhelmed because they were too noisy when fighting. They always do that and it's always annoying, but this time... I don't know why it felt worse.”

Feliciano tilted his head with a worried expression, opening his mouth to say something and then closing it again. He wanted to say many things but now wasn't sure if he could. His hesitance made Ludwig frown and feel even more anxious.

“What? Just say it,” he said with more harshness than he intended which made Feliciano flinch.

However, the brunet still found enough courage to speak, although he was looking somewhere else.

“I’ve seen you much more tense lately, is it because you are nervous about the festival?” He paused, looking afflicted. “Or is it because I've been sticking to you too much? I promise I never wanted to make you angry, I just wanted to help... Artistic block is really bad, isn't it? I've experienced it too and hanging out with my friends often helped, so I thought it could work for you too, but then I realized I didn't know if you had friends since, well, you are always alone, and then it made me sad because I think you are really cool and kind but most people don't see that, so I decided to try and befriend you so you could befriend more people and maybe that would help you out with coming up with new ideas and-”

He ran out of breath so he had to take a moment, but it barely lasted a second and before Ludwig could even process every word pronounced Feliciano continued:

“If I was bothering you all this time I'm so sorry! I've been really annoying, right? You already had to deal with the pressure of the festival and rehearsal and I never realized you were so exhausted, but there I go, adding more stress just because I wanted to get close to you! God, I am so selfish! Please forgive me, Ludwig! I never wanted to bother you!”

Now some faint tears were dwelling in his eyes and he was practically begging for forgiveness, his hands clenched on his chest while he trembled in fear. Ludwig wasn't sure why he looked so scared, was it because Ludwig was intimidating? But he wasn't even trying to be! That was just his face!

“I won't do it again, I will leave you alone and I will stop bothering you, so please, please don't hate me...”

“I don't hate you,” Ludwig shouted out, letting out a long sigh. “And you weren't bothering me. At first it was... Baffling, but I got used to your presence, so stop crying already.”

He couldn't be gentle with his words or his tone even when he tried to; it was too awkward, though this seemed to reassure Feliciano enough to the point he stopped crying and instead smiled brightly, his emotions as open, genuine and tangible as always.

“I'm so glad!”

Ludwig really couldn't understand Feliciano. What was so great about not being hated by someone like him? Feliciano had so many friends and people who cared about him, people who would do anything to receive a smile from him or to even be acknowledged by him. Why was he so insistent? Did he want something in particular? Then what was it? Because Ludwig could not believe he only wanted to be friends with him.

He wanted to ask him directly and finally understand, but the ringing of the school bell made both of them flinch. Ludwig checked his wrist watch and surely enough, classes were over. It was another unsuccessful rehearsal and time's sand was slowly falling prey to gravity, sitting on the lower part of the hourglass. At this rate, it would take a miracle to properly prepare for the approaching festival which was mere weeks away and Ludwig found himself so disheartened he felt as if it was better to just cancel everything despite how much he liked being responsible with his promises.

“Ah... School is over,” Feliciano muttered, looking a bit disappointed, but he soon directed his eyes towards Ludwig and tried to cheer him up. “Let's go pick up our stuff and go home! I'm sure tomorrow everything will be better.”

“How do you know that?”

Feliciano chuckled. “It's just a feeling!”

Ludwig groaned but ended up accepting after noticing he hadn't brought his notebook with him, so he couldn't finish writing down the melody he came up with. He was betting everything on that melody, if the main performance went badly at least he could try to save it with his own song, but...

“Was that thing you were humming earlier the continuation of the melody?”

Feliciano seemed to catch on to this. He offered him a smile and extended a hand towards a confused —and frankly, embarrassed— Ludwig who could only accept it awkwardly.

“It was so pretty! I think it went like this,” he pressed his lips together in a gesture of concentration to try and remember the notes which he then hummed perfectly much to Ludwig's surprise.

“...! Yes! That's how it went!”

Feliciano seemed delighted to be of help and he pulled Ludwig closer so they could start chatting and walking back to the music room, expecting to find it empty, but by the time they returned they saw most of the students participating in the festival remained inside, waiting for them. Some of them seemed nervous, others apologetic and some scared, but all of them had a certain determined look on their faces that made Ludwig wonder what the hell was going on.

Roderich stepped forward first, baton in hand and a very stern expression.

“I heard what you did, Ludwig,” he started with that accusatory and snobbish tone he always had and Ludwig was prepared to apologize, but Roderich stopped him. “No, I should be the one to apologize. I have the authority but I did nothing with it, so chaos and anarchy ran rampant in here... You were the one to put a bit of order at least and I will make sure it stays that way. From now on, I will be as harsh as it is humanly possible to make sure this performance doesn't fall apart.”

He glared directly at both Lovino and Gilbert, who were both pretending to really like looking at the walls, and he then looked at Feliciano, who was hiding behind Ludwig, knowing exactly what would come next.

“Don't you think you are exempt from the iron fist I will wield from now on!”

“B-but I didn't do anything!”

“Indeed you did not, that's the problem. Slacking off so you can talk to Ludwig during rehearsal is now prohibited!”

“Ehhh? B-but Roderich, you know I-”

“No buts, now move your butt to your designated place, if I see you even glancing at him you will face the consequences. We will not leave this music room until we rehearse successfully at least once.”

Feliciano seemed to groan in pain and despair, but before walking to where his brother was waiting with the rest of the choir, he looked towards Ludwig, winked at him and blew a teasing kiss in his direction, a gesture so strange that bewildered the blond instantly.

Roderich sighed when seeing this embarrassing exchange take place and poked Ludwig with the baton to make him come back to Earth.

“It wasn't just your display of authority that made everyone willing to cooperate. You have to thank Feliciano, despite how he looks he chewed us all out with tears in his eyes for making you upset when the festival was important to you...” Roderich paused and then snorted, barely keeping himself together. “He said all those things in front of everyone when he doesn’t tell you anything... I truly cannot understand what goes through that fool's mind.”

“... Me neither,” Ludwig agreed, deciding not to ask any further questions since his brain had taken enough damage today.

And then, while admiring how Feliciano spoke with Lovino and pretended to play the piano to tease him, he realized what was the thing his melody needed. An accompaniment.

Before he could even reach out to him, someone else blocked his way.

“Hey, Lutz...”

Ludwig looked at the voice that called out to him.

“Brother.”

“That's me!” Gilbert laughed, but it was clear he was nervous. “Hey, uh... I'm... I'm sorry, for, uh, everything. It wasn't cool. I didn’t even notice you got so upset, I should’ve known... I will do my best from now on and I will...” He closed his eyes as if this was painful to say. “I will stop picking up fights with those damn choir kids, at least until the festival is over. How does that sound? Awesome, right?”

Roderich had rolled his eyes and left the moment Gilbert opened his mouth, so only the albino saw Ludwig sigh and then smile.

“Thank you, brother. I mean it.”

That rehearsal went smoothly and Ludwig could even write the following notes of his melody. It was starting to look promising.

━━━━⊱༺༻⊰━━━━

On their way home, Feliciano decided to walk with Ludwig since their homes were fairly close and thankfully there was no awkward silence between them because Feliciano made sure to talk and talk and talk. Of course Ludwig wasn't complaining, it was pleasant to hear him speak.

“So, Lovino once wanted to flirt with Iryna and tried to show off with Nessum Dorma but his voice cracked so badly at the end he still can't look at her properly... Well, his voice always cracks whenever there's a pretty girl around, but it was in front of the whole school, you know? It must've been pretty traumatic for him! It's so awkward, especially because both he and Iryna got chosen to be the main singers for the festival, I'm a bit worried about him...”

Ludwig listened to him in silence, walking slower than usual so this conversation could be prolonged as long as possible. He was trying to pay attention, but for some reason whenever Feliciano’s hands moved to accentuate his words in true Italian fashion, Ludwig got fixated on every movement and gesture, every shift in his expression. The way his hair was moved by the breeze and how his curls swayed, how he played with the schoolbag to try and keep his hands occupied. How his steps got lighter whenever he said something that made him laugh, and how whenever he did laugh his voice would rise higher, sweeter. How his eyes gleamed when looking back at him... Oh, Feliciano was looking back at him. Did he ask something? Ludwig didn't hear, oh, no, what should he do? He could gamble and say yes or no, but if the question was not one you could answer with yes or no then he would look so foolish! He could ask for Feliciano to repeat it, but then he would look rude and like he didn't listen to others!

Feliciano noticed this strange inner monologue and he just chuckled and repeated:

“It's really weird, isn't it?”

“What is?”

“Falling in love!”

Taken aback, Ludwig coughed a bit to clear his throat. “Ah, that...” Sure, he agreed wholeheartedly, but saying it out loud was embarrassing. “Well, I don't know much about the subject, so I can't comment on it.”

“Huh? You've never fallen in love with anyone?”

“No, never.”

Feliciano looked strangely hopeful when Ludwig said that and he looked away, so he couldn't see what expression the brunet had. Before he could even inquire about it, however, Ludwig remembered what he wanted to say before so he stopped in his tracks, deciding to go for it before it was too late.

“Mhm? Ludwig?”

The breeze and the setting sun brought a strangely calm and refreshing air, the scene feeling as if it was out of a movie. Perfectly orange and yellow, a bit red too, with the singing of the leaves pushed by the wind making the following silence strangely unnerving and exciting at the same time. Feliciano felt his heart ferociously beat and echo in his ears and his face was beginning to be painted in pink, waiting for what Ludwig wanted to say to him. Expecting.

“Feliciano, I have to ask you something.”

“...! Y-yes, what is it?”

“Will you...” Ludwig paused, the words getting stuck in his throat while he looked away, shying away from Feliciano's burning gaze. “Will you...”

“Yes?” Feliciano felt his knees weaken.

“Will you please...” His voice rose higher.

“Yes, Ludwig?”

“Will you please be my piano accompaniment for the festival?!”

Silence broken by the wind carrying a plastic bag that crinkled its way into the scene.

Ludwig couldn't look Feliciano in the eye, knowing how selfish and late his request was, so he couldn't quite see Feliciano's face.

“... Oh, mio Dio, Ludwig...” Feliciano muttered.

Ludwig feared his answer would be no with how strangely unnerved he sounded, but when he looked up he saw Feliciano smiling as always, though he looked like he would burst laughing anytime. Laughing at who? Ludwig or himself? He couldn't tell, but he was holding his heart as if it needed some time to rest.

“Sure thing!” He said after taking a second to compose himself and chuckled. “For your personal performance, right? I would love to help!”

Ludwig smiled with relief and as they walked again, he began to explain everything he had up until now and what he needed Feliciano to do, what chords and all that other stuff.

Feliciano, although endeared as he always felt whenever Ludwig was talking about what he was passionate about, could only sigh to himself for hoping too much. Next time... Surely next time would be better.

━━━━⊱༺༻⊰━━━━

Some days passed after that.

Rehearsal was going surprisingly well, the fighting had practically stopped completely aside from Lovino occasionally complaining about having to sing in German —it was Mozart, after all— and Gilbert making fun of him for it.

Whenever their confrontation got especially dangerous, Feliks would tell them to get a room and it was enough to make both Lovino and Gilbert yell and walk away as if the other was the most disgusting being to ever disgrace the Earth.

Before, the baltic trio couldn't give their all, but ever since Gilbert stopped bothering them Raivis, Eduard and Tolys were having a fantastic time rehearsing, so having such strong members back on board made the performance pick up steam fast. As for the solos... Well...

Iryna was the soprano and she had been doing a fantastic job as she always did, but Lovino, the tenor, was having a hard time being in the spotlight. Well, he could resolve that later! Feliciano, despite worrying for his brother, had his sights set on Ludwig ever since they stepped into the music room and that was obvious for everyone around him, though out of respect they did not mention it. It did earn him some whispers and chuckles when he stayed behind after rehearsal was over; Ludwig was cleaning up and organizing some of the instruments while people left the room, but Feliciano waited patiently sitting on the piano stool and humming the song they would be performing.

“Alright, that should be enough,” Ludwig said after he finished preparing the room for their rehearsal. For him it was easier to practice in an organized space. Grabbing the small notebook he always carried, he turned around to see Feliciano staring at him with a strangely excited smile, but he decided to just ignore it; it did, however, make him stumble on his words as he reached out the open notebook to him. “I, uh, wrote down the music sheet for you, it has the piano chords and all that... If you need time to read it and prepare, I can, uh, you know, wait...”

“There’s no need!” Feliciano chuckled and accepted the notebook, his fingers barely touching Ludwig’s hand but managing to make it feel as if his skin was tingling. “I can sight-read just fine and we need to use all the time we have to prepare, don’t we?”

Feliciano placed the notebook on the music stand so he could read it as he played and looked at Ludwig, waiting for further instructions. Ludwig was used to working alone, so he still wasn’t sure how to approach this sudden partnership so he awkwardly stood behind Feliciano and explained how he wanted the accompaniment to be.

“In this part,” he said pointing to a section of the music sheet, “I want you to echo the main refrain as it is written, but try to make it... Sweet. I tried to make everything sweet and tender, like a conversation between two people which are represented by the strings and the piano, but it needs to be... Ah, I don’t know how to describe it, but it has to sound like... Like love.”

Saying it out loud was embarrassing, but even if he did like how it was turning out Ludwig couldn’t help but have doubts about the melody and if it could evoke the feeling of love properly. Thankfully, Feliciano seemed to have a better grasp at the subject than Ludwig, so he nodded and smiled sheepishly as he began to explain his own interpretation of the melody.

“Well, to me the whole song does sound like a conversation where one part takes the lead and repeats loving words to assure their partner, and in the end, it is reciprocrated. In the final section, it’s like the piano is finally saying I love you back to the cello.”

Feliciano looked away while Ludwig was staring directly at the notebook, furrowing his brows and squinting behind his glasses, unaware of Feliciano’s reddened neck and cheeks due to feeling Ludwig’s warm breath against his skin.

“Indeed, that sounds like a good and plausible interpretation. It does evoke that feeling, doesn’t it?” Ludwig then smiled, a bit more confident. “If we can make it seem like that, then I’m sure the audience and the teachers will approve of it as a love song...”

“It does sound like one! Maybe you can also make this passage right here a bit higher? Almost like a frustrated cry, like... Argh! I can’t believe I’m feeling like this! So frustrating! Grrr!” He paused and laughed at himself, pointing then at another section. “And this one, the beginning, it can be like a... Hello, beloved! How’s it going? Would you like a cup of tea?”

His way of speaking and putting such emotion on what to everyone else would seem like silly pranks made Ludwig stare in disbelief for a moment and then laugh softly, reaching out for a pencil.

“Yes, it sounds like a good idea.” He looked at the sheet for a moment, carefully and seriously considering how to integrate Feliciano’s silly input and after settling for a note and a chord, he, without realizing, smiled tenderly at the brunet. “This will work, thank you. We can begin now.”

Ludwig walked away, grabbed his bow and cello and prepared accordingly, waiting for Feliciano to give him a sign he was ready. Feliciano, who had been holding his breath, let out a subtle sigh with his slightly reddened cheeks and nodded, preparing to play the love song that wasn’t composed for him.

It went splendidly! However, Ludwig wasn’t sure why Feliciano looked so defeated at first, but after shyly asking him if he would like to walk home together, Feliciano was once again smiling as brightly as always and Ludwig was relieved he seemed to be in good spirits. But only because he needed him for the festival. That was the only reason. Nothing else.

When they parted ways, Ludwig ignored the strange and heavy feeling in his chest after seeing Feliciano not look back.

━━━━⊱༺༻⊰━━━━

After that, rehearsal for both performances was going great and soon, the day of the festival came.

It seemed that Lovino managed to resolve his issues and was talking to Iryna normally, but what was most surprising was the fact that he was also talking to Gilbert without spitting one insult at him; it seemed like something happened behind the scenes. However, neither Ludwig nor Feliciano could wonder about that because they were both incredibly nervous.

Everyone was nervous, but for the two sole performers the weight of failure and mistake was too much to bear.

School was hectic, there were some food stands from the Asian classes and many people from all over the world were attending to witness the many artistic endeavours the nations had in store for them. Orchestra and choir were not the exception, though because they had to prepare none of them had interacted with the public yet. Instead, they were preparing, re-reading, even some were rehearsing alone while waiting for the time of their doom.

Ludwig was so nervous he felt he could pass out and not wake up until the next day, but he forced himself to stay strong not only because of his own pride, but because others were depending on him. No matter how small or insignificant an instrument looked when it was alongside the whole orchestra, it was important.

Well, the orchestra seemed to be faring well since they had Gilbert to give them the motivational speeches he was so proud of, but the choir kids were awfully silent unlike their usual selves. Feliciano was the most silent one; he hadn’t even walked up to talk to Ludwig all day and that only made him feel more nervous.

“Well, if we fuck up we can laugh it off some weeks from now on, so quit moping!” Lovino shouted out to his fellow singers, but he only got a long groan in unison as an answer.

“Oh, dear... It seems everyone is getting cold feet,” Iryna said, a bit worried. Despite her usual timid demeanour, she was surprisingly strong-willed regarding her singing. At least the soloists seemed fine and all the others had to do was to trust their practice, but the fact Feliciano seemed so off was making her worry. “Feliciano? Are you alright?”

Feliciano flinched when his name was called and almost dropped the book on the floor due to the surprise.

“Ah! Sorry, I was lost in thought.” Feliciano laughed it off and picked up the book, trying to smile as he always did, but of course it wasn’t fooling anyone.

Iryna, as the gentle person she was, decided to pull him aside and talk to him.

“Is there something bothering you?” She softly asked. She was the most reliable older-sister in the whole school at least when it came to emotional affairs. She instantly recognized what was truly tormenting him and with all the tact she had, she decided to speak about it as privately as they could. “Does it have to do with Ludwig?”

“W-what? No! Of course not, Ludwig is great!” Feliciano retorted instantly, almost offended by the mere implication. “Even if he doesn’t look like it, he’s kind, he’s hard-working, he’s strong in all sorts of ways, he can do no wrong!”

She couldn’t help but chuckle and nod, brushing off some blonde hair off her face with a hand.

“We know that, you always try to tell us how great he is.”

“Well, you should listen to me, then!” He pouted.

“Have you told him any of these things, though?”

Feliciano froze in place.

“Uh... No, I haven’t... Not yet... I mean, it’s complicated, because...” He paused, looking towards where Ludwig was. He was currently talking to Roderich about God knows what, probably trying to make the performance as perfect as it could be and that sight only made Feliciano smile tenderly. “If I told him any of these things he would get all nervous and he still has to focus on the festival, I can’t just tell him...”

“... That you like him,” she completed.

Feliciano turned around to look at Iryna with an incredibly red face and he began to stutter, but after realizing he had no chance of denying it in any credible way he just sighed and laughed.

“Was I that obvious?”

“Very obvious,” Iryna said with a nod. “Everyone knows, everyone but Ludwig. At first we had hunches, but it wasn’t until you began to actively seek him out that it got confirmed for everyone who had eyes. It makes me wonder how Ludwig doesn’t realize.”

“I know, right? Just the other day, I even thought he would be the first to confess! The scenery was perfect for it, I mean, imagine it: sunset, the wind blowing, we were alone and I, argh! I felt so dumb! Che sciocco che sono!” Feliciano covered his face with his hands, overwhelmed by the situation and his own feelings. Despite having a better understanding of the subject of emotions, he still couldn’t control them and it was frustrating. “All this time I thought it couldn’t be because I thought he disliked me, and now that I know it isn’t true I had hope... B-but what if, after the festival is over, he... He...”

Iryna listened to him in silence, placing a hand on his back to offer him some comfort.

“You are scared that after the festival is over, everything will go back to how it used to be.”

“Yes! Back when we didn’t talk, when he glared at me whenever I spoke, when I thought it could never be... Maybe to him I’m nothing but a classmate that happens to be the one accompanist that helped him out that one time... Then, after the song is over, everything will be over too...”

Oh, God, he wanted to cry but he did his best not to, mostly because crying right before a performance was a big no-no, since it would just mess up with his singing voice.

“Why don’t you confess to him, then? You said it yourself; he won’t do it. If that’s the case, then do it yourself. Tell him how you feel right after the song is over so you won’t miss out the opportunity. Tell him everything you told me.”

“B-but... But what if he says no? If we can’t even go back to being friends because I messed up by telling him my feelings... What then?”

“Dear, sweet Feliciano,” Iryna soothed him with her melodic voice, averting one of his hands from his face and squeezing it tight. “Isn’t it painful to keep it hidden? To have unsung love words trapped in your throat... Why would you do that to yourself? You are so lovable.” She pinched his nose playfully. “So sweet and full of love, you shouldn’t keep it to yourself. Whatever happens, happens, having regrets for not saying what you wanted to say is much worse. And... You know Ludwig isn’t the type of person to shun you off for such a thing, right? I don’t know him as well as you do, but you should at least try to be honest.”

Feliciano stayed silent for a moment and then he wanted to say something, but they got interrupted by their cue to prepare to enter stage. Iryna gave him a short but tender hug and wished him luck with a gesture, hurriedly following Lovino to stage while for Feliciano it took a second to react. He only did so because he heard Ludwig call out to him, with a foot already on the stairs up to the stage and holding his hand for him.

Ah, whatever, he had a job to do first and he couldn’t disappoint either Ludwig or all the others who were counting on him. He had never been so afraid of the stage before, but after holding Ludwig’s hand he felt as if he could do anything.

━━━━⊱༺༻⊰━━━━

The first performance was amazing. Of course it had to be because both Iryna and Lovino were there to show off their incredible singing skills, but the orchestra and the choir didn’t fall behind either. The applause was deafening and it took them three minutes of bowing to finally leave the stage, though Ludwig couldn’t hear anything but his own nervous heartbeat.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the professor in charge of all his suffering said, talking on the microphone to address the audience. “Truly, our students are something special. That performance was incredible indeed, we have to thank not only their conductor, Austria himself, but every single student for such an exquisite display of talent...”

And they talked and talked, mentioning every single nation present in the choir and orchestra and gaining new sets of applause and roars whenever the country of a certain group of people in the audience, which was mostly a tactic to give the organizers time to clear the stage and prepare for the next big event.

Ludwig and Feliciano were both waiting behind the curtains but neither could say a word. Feliciano had sung properly as he always did and that brought him some confidence, but he still couldn’t look at Ludwig who in turn could not stop staring at him, wondering what happened and why he wasn’t looking at him.

It was... It wasn’t pleasant. The thought of having made a mistake, of maybe upsetting Feliciano somehow and not knowing what he did, or maybe that someone else said something to him and that made him sad... Ludwig knew he had to focus; he was so close to finally ending this agony that had tormented him for so long, but if that meant not being able to speak again with Feliciano then... Then it wasn’t worth it.

It was an irrational thought. Even he was surprised by it, but when he saw how troubled Feliciano looked, almost as if he was regretting everything, he just had to speak.

“Feliciano,” he called out in a low voice that sent shivers down the brunet’s spine. “What’s wrong? Do you feel sick?”

“No, I’m fine,” Feliciano replied after a second, dismissing his concerns with a weak smile that of course did not convince him.

“Are you nervous?”

“A little.”

“Why? You’ll do great. Your practice won’t fail you, you worked hard.”

“It’s not that...”

“Then what is it?” He asked, more impatient than before.

Feliciano still wouldn’t look at him.

“Will you... Will you listen to what I say even after the song is over?” Feliciano asked in a weak voice, his eyes barely rising to meet Ludwig’s. “Even after the festival ends and we go home and we part ways and we don’t look back? Will you stay here and not leave me behind?”

Ludwig was very confused.

“Of course,” he said without skipping a beat. “Do you have something you need to tell me?”

Feliciano nodded.

“Can’t you tell me now?”

Feliciano shook his head and Ludwig could only sigh. It sounded as if he was annoyed, but in the end he, in his infinite awkwardness, reached out to brush his hand against Feliciano’s as if he was asking for permission to hold it. His brother always held his hand whenever Ludwig was nervous, so he thought it could maybe be of help.

“Don’t worry, I won’t leave.”

It was then that Feliciano finally smiled genuinely, feeling the warm skin against his own and holding tight to that hand full of callouses— a sign of effort and hard-work. A hand that played such beautiful tunes, always so full of emotion and honesty.

Exactly how Ludwig was as a person and exactly what he loved about him. The reason he wanted to see him perform and show the whole world how much amazing and kind  Ludwig's music truly was.

“Thank you, I won’t leave either.”

After it was all done, a teacher gave the signal that the stage was ready and the professor finally coughed to clear their throat and pointed at the stage in which only a piano and a cello sat.

“But we are not finished yet, for there are two students who had the honor and joy to prepare a new melody only for this audience to witness, a song made from scratch by them with the theme of love. Indeed, love for music, love for art, love for love itself... Ah, should I step down now? Sorry, sorry” they looked around, having lost themselves in their speech and then welcomed the two students who walked up to stage again. “Please, give a round of applause to Germany and Italy Veneziano!”

If the audience did clap for them, neither Feliciano or Ludwig heard.

Their hands separated the moment they stepped onto the stage, but when they touched their respective instruments it was as if the warmth was still there and with that lingering sensation both of them could play the greeting of a timid but blooming first love.

Indeed, with only a piano and a cello it was enough.

No words were needed to describe what love sounded like.