A/N: Sorry if the last chapter was not quite… up to par. After taking about a month-long hiatus, I had come to realize that my writing was indeed quite rusty, and I feel that it showed. I also apologize if Ludwig seemed OOC- I have the hardest time writing his character, for whatever reason.

Eh, to make up for it, this chapter is brimming with little moments of friendship and mild GerIta, as well as a brotherly bonding and a cliffhanger for the end (don't we all simply love those?). So, I hope you will continue to enjoy (or loathe) TEH and continue to give me your feedback!

En joy~!

~w~w~w~

Ludwig rose from his place beneath the comforting sheets of the bed, frowning ever-so-slightly at the distasteful flavor of sleep that still lingered upon his tongue and coated his mouth with the revolting taste of bacteria. Feeling an inward groan arise in his throat, the German stood up and staggered exhaustedly over to the bathroom, adjacent to the mattress. He took care to step silently over Gilbert, who was curled up in a ball, more or less, upon the floor, blanket draped loosely over his bare shoulders. Sleeping in had always been a particularly common thing for the platinum blonde to do, considering how often he chose to get wasted the night before. Ludwig assumed this would be no different- as the younger of the two had trudged off to bed the previous night, Gilbert could have been seen sitting upside-down upon the couch, legs hanging over the backrest with his head lolling near the floor. A bottle of wine could be seen on the end table, and while wine wasn't Gilbert's preferred alcohol of choice, it was more than satisfactory at this home- after all, Feliciano and Lovino made it a point to buy the best of the best, especially when taking wine into consideration.

Feliciano… Ludwig repeated his master's name within his head as he grabbed a toothbrush from the holder beside the sink. Though quite a while had passed since his job acceptance, Ludwig found that he was becoming less and less certain about what really passed through the younger Vargas' head. In fact, Lovino was probably the only person in the entire manor that could usually tell what Feliciano was thinking, as well as his possible motives, but that only made sense, considering how long they had lived together. Allowing the thought to pass by his mind, he quickly scrubbed his mouth clean, washed up, and left the bathroom, spotting his brother still lying lethargically upon the carpet. With a final head shake of disapproval, Ludwig maneuvered his way around the body of Gilbert once more and over to the bedroom door, twisting the knob with a swift flick of the wrist and exiting the premises of the shared bedroom, shutting the door silently behind him. Why was it that Gilbert was staying with him? Feliciano had insisted, though Ludwig found that he knew no real explanation.

Releasing a sigh of slight fatigue, the blonde German turned on his heel and plodded down the hallway, taking care to step lightly at the sound of sickly snoring that erupted from Matthew's bedroom. The Canadian had come down with a meager head cold recently, and had been thoroughly congested for about three days. The German man could only sigh once more; there was still no information on Alfred's whereabouts, and all hope directed at the subject seemed to be entirely dissipated. Clambering down the long, winding staircase, he made his way into the main living area, upon which Feliciano was sitting on the large cream sofa, grin broadening at the sight of his bodyguard appearing from the stairwell.

"Ve, Ludwig!" his master exclaimed, snatching a long, rod-shaped object that Ludwig assumed to be biscotti from a large platter upon the vast coffee table. He lightly patted the seat on the couch beside him, beckoning for Ludwig to sit beside him and have a friendly chat. "Come here and have some biscotti! I just made some this morning!"

The German rolled his eyes, though found the slightest inkling of a smile cracking upon his lips before a content façade soon conquered the smile. He nodded curtly, taking a seat beside his master and grabbing some biscotti for himself, finding that a few mugs of coffee, enough for each member of the household, were placed upon the table as well. He reached outward with his right hand, hesitantly hooking the cup's handle within his fingers before dunking the biscotti into the warm drink.

Feliciano grinned wider, if that was at all possible, as Ludwig brought the food up to his mouth, tentatively nibbling on the end of it before taking a much larger bite, chewing slowly in a thoughtful manner. "So, how is it?"

"It's… pretty good, actually." Ludwig gave another nod, sipping from the mug of coffee and leaning back into the comforting embrace offered by the sofa as the warmth distributed throughout his body. However, a sudden thought struck his mind, and he placed the mug back upon the table, thinking aloud and consulting Feliciano about a somewhat important matter. "Feliciano, sir… Have you been threatened at all by those criminals since Alfred was taken hostage?" It had never really dawned on him, but the more Ludwig considered the idea, the less sense it was making.

"Hmm… I don't think so!" the latter replied, biting off a rather large piece of biscotti. "I sure miss Alfred, though. I wonder why they haven't tried to capture me or Lovino again? Ve~…" His face fell a bit, vivid eyes gazing ahead blankly as the piece of biscotti was placed back upon the platter, half-eaten. Ludwig felt an eyebrow raise in question. For his master to seem down in the dumps at all surely meant the apocalypse was drawing near. Under normal circumstances, the German bodyguard would likely have taken cover and planned a strategic way out of the world's sudden end, drawn out by Feliciano's discomfort. However, for whatever reason, he felt compelled to reach a hand uncertainly forward and place it on the Italian's shoulder, shaking him lightly.

"F-Feliciano?"

And a pair of arms wrapped around his torso, causing Ludwig to squirm a bit uncomfortably in surprise. Admittedly, there were very few things in this world that stunned Ludwig in any way whatsoever, but Feliciano's sudden need for a hug was not something he had anticipated in the slightest. Clearing his throat with a slight blush creeping along his cheeks, the bodyguard merely patted the other's head, glancing awkwardly from side to side at the discomforting situation. "Feliciano?" he repeated again, gently peeling- Feli apparently had quite the grip- the other man off of him and returning to his coffee.

"Thanks, Ludwig!" the Italian said cheerily, all signs of irritation wiped clean off of his face. Ludwig, on the other hand, gazed up with a glimmer of confusion glinting in his sapphire eyes. What had brought on the peculiar, out-of-the-blue hug? Well, he supposed Feliciano was always clinging to his brother, and every now and then he would give Antonio a quick embrace, so perhaps this was the younger Vargas' way of showing his acceptance of Ludwig into his group of companions. Such a thought, though it did meld Ludwig's stomach into a mushy discomfort, it also made him feel a bit happy, though certainly not a giddy happiness, and presented the faintest whisper of a grin, which the taller man swiftly concealed behind his coffee cup.

"Oi, bastard!" And leave it to Lovino to break the silent bonding. The older Italian's head peered out from behind the wall, typical scowl slapped upon his face. "Get any closer to my brother, and you'll find an extra fist, connected to your face." Without another word, nor even a glance, at the German, Lovino clambered over to his brother, tugging at his arm and urging him to stand.

Feliciano obliged, though waved goodbye to Ludwig and took one last piece of biscotti before returning his attention to his brother. "Lovino? What is it, fratello?"

Lovino stopped at the front door, snatching a coat from the coat rack and handing another one to his younger sibling. "We're going out to the market to buy some things. I'm not leaving you at home with those potato freaks, and I don't know what kind of things you'll want for dinner this week, so you have to come with me."

"Ve, okay." Though a bit of disappointment graced Feliciano's voice, he soon slipped on the coat and followed his beloved brother out the door, stumbling down the stairs and turning towards the garage. A slight look of worry convulsed the younger's face, however, as he noticed Lovino passing by the garage and towards the gate. "Hmm? Lovi, where are you going?"

"Don't call me that. And we're walking this time." Strange, Lovino wasn't typically one for physical exercise.

"… why?"

To that inquiry, Lovino didn't answer; instead, he grabbed his brother by the wrist and pulled him harder, picking up speed as they exited the gate and proceeded down the pathway. The two walked on in an awkward silence, Lovino finally extinguishing his hold on Feliciano's wrist as he advanced upon a single stall.

Yet again, Feliciano broke the silence. "Lovino," he repeated. "Where are we going?"

Lovino whirled on his brother, narrowing his eyes. "Many things. First of all, I didn't leave you home because I need… erm…" He swallowed hard, eyes shut in disgust as he forced the foul-tasting words off of his tongue. "I need your help with something."

Feliciano cocked his head to the side, resembling a puppy dog in utter confusion. "What do you-?"

"Alfred's been missing for a long time now, Feliciano. We need to continue asking around, to see if there's any more information on him, or the criminals. People are more accustomed to opening up to you than me, so I figured you could be used to my advantage. Secondly…" He sighed, placing about eight tomatoes into his bag and paying the stall keeper, avoiding his brother's gaze at all costs. "I don't know what to do for our wedding anymore. We're in Italia now, and I'm not leaving until this matter with the convicts is solved. With Alfred gone, and the both of us as targets for the criminals, there's just not much of an opportunity to get married in a situation like this. I can tell Antonio's not too concerned with it, but… Well, a month or so ago, I had thought that I would be getting married soon, dammit! I'm sick of getting promised something and then not getting it!"

"But… That doesn't matter at all! Stupid brother!" Feliciano scolded, though embraced his frowning sibling with a smile upon his face. "It doesn't matter if you're married or not! You're still with Antonio, and the rest of your family, so that's all that matters!"

"That's corny," Lovino replied, snorting, though returned the hug quickly, pulling away as hastily as he had accepted it. "And what family? You're the only flesh and blood I have left, remember?"

"That's not true. Me and Ludwig and Matthew and Toris and-"

"Alright, alright! I get it, you idiot! Let's move on! We need to find out more information on that damned American's whereabouts." Crossing his arms, Lovino continued along the path, deep in thought. That's about the time that a sudden realization struck him like a blow to the face. "And Ludwig's not included in this hypothetical family!"

Feliciano suddenly beamed, tackling his brother in another sickeningly-loving hug. "Ve~!" he squealed as Lovino shoved him off. The younger Italian still smiled up at his brother, however, as he rose from his spot on the ground.

"What the hell's your problem?"

"You called Ludwig by his name! That never happens!" Lovino frowned, scarlet hue returning to his face. Feliciano continued to smile, positively relishing the fact that he had found a successful loophole in his fratello's words. "You usually call him bastard, or potato freak! But you called him Ludwig! Maybe you don't hate him as much as-"

That earned Feliciano a swift shove to the shoulder once more, rougher than the previous one as Lovino looked away. "Shut up. I will never accept that bastard."

Feliciano only continued to smirk as they stopped at another stall, grabbing a handful of various nuts. In time…

~w~w~w~

Time passed rather quickly that day, particularly for Toris. Nothing had really occurred that day that was at all out of the ordinary- well, Gilbert had managed to get himself locked in the bathroom, but other than that, things had run relatively smoothly around the Vargas manor. He smiled contently to himself as he bid everyone a final goodnight, climbing exhaustedly up the stairs for a good night's rest. Deep within, however, he still felt a profound fear of what lie in the night, for that was Ivan's most active time of day. How was the Russian reacting to Toris' lack of obedience? Was he even aware of it? Nothing in his mind doubted that Ivan had known for some unfathomable amount of time- he seemed to have eyes everywhere around town, the creepy bastard- and, yet, he felt moderately safe within the haven of the Vargas' mansion. Slipping into his pajamas, Toris shut his bedroom door tightly behind him and scrambled into bed, pulling the covers above his head and falling into a peaceful sleep.

Or, at least, it was somewhat peaceful. The only real disturbance was the bizarreness of his dreams, consisting of five frogs and a drunken bowl of pasta (however that was possible). One of the frog spoke, smiling (smiling?) all the while as he hopped about the bowl, chanting, "Like, Toris! Wake up! Toris, seriously, get up! Now!"

… And that was precisely when his eyes snapped open, revealing a certain blond companion of his leaning over him, observing his sleeping face with a curious expression.

A slight shriek nearly welled up from within the Lithuanian, but he somehow managed to force it back down. "F-Feliks? Is that you?"

~w~w~w~

A/N: Eh, it's gotta be better than the last chapter. Sorry for the lack-of-awesomeness in this chapter, but Gilbert will appear much more later on! I guarantee it~!

Hope nobody was too OOC that time. I tried my best, really! But, alas, at times, my best is not good enough, I'm afraid…

R&R~!