This chapter starts off right where the first one ended. Please enjoy!

Chapter 02 - Overwhelming Emotions

As they walked out of the storage room, Ludwig immediately noticed the two people standing in the middle of the room. One was the supposedly brother he had often seen with Feliciano, and the other some older man who was probably the grandfather Feliciano just mentioned.

"Ve, Lovino's here too," Feliciano commented, his voice with a hint of surprise and slightly disheartened.

"What? You've got a problem with that?!" the other shouted angrily back. "And what's that macho bastard doing here?"

Feliciano brightened up instantly, squeezing Ludwig's hand and giving him one of his biggest smiles.

"That's Ludwig. He's my soulmate!" Feliciano proclaimed proudly, making a blush rise on Ludwig's cheek. Everything felt so new and raw, nothing like he had ever experienced before. That someone would ever introduce him so happily, so full of joy and excitement. He knew that most of his peers dreamt of the possibilities of their first meeting with their soulmate, tried to picture every possible scenario their words could lead to. But Ludwig... he felt so unprepared. Well, he was unprepared.

To be honest, everything was just too much for him at the moment. He'd just found his soulmate, after stupidly thinking that he didn't even have one for most of his life no less, and now he was already being introduced to the family? He needed a break from all that emotional stuff to think everything through, preferably in peace and quiet.

"Oh my! My youngest grandson is finally reaching adulthood. We should celebrate this joyous occasion tonight," the oldest said, while he showed a toothy smile, nearly identical to Feliciano's, making him look years younger and leaving no doubt that they were related.

"I know, I know, it's just sooo great! I still can't believe it. We should make lots and lots of pasta. There's no better dish to celebrate than pasta."

While Ludwig let those two discuss the recent events, he felt some dreadful aura coming from the side. Lovino, who had stayed silent for the time being, scrutinized him from head to toe. In the end, his eyes landed on his left upper arm where his sleeve was still rolled up, the tattooed words plain to see for everyone present. He turned back to his brother, anger back on his face.

"'I love you.'?! The first words you said were 'I love you.'? How can you say something like that when you first meet someone? Are you stupid? No, don't answer that, I already know the answer."

Their grandfather put one hand on Lovino' shoulders. "Nah nah, Lovino. You should be happy that your little brother found his soulmate."

Lovino only scoffed at that. Feliciano turned to Ludwig, one hand in front of his mouth as if to whisper in secret, although his voice was still loud enough for all to hear. "Don't worry Ludwig. Lovi is just jealous because his words aren't so nice. His words are–"

"Don't you dare tell some stranger about my words, fratello!"

"– 'I'm your boss, so listen to me.'" he finished, ignoring his brother's protests.

"Damn you!" The older brother tried to take a leap forward and made some squeezing hand movements as if to strangle Feliciano, only to be held back by his grandfather's grip on his shoulder. The same grandfather who just laughed at the whole situation, as if one grandson trying to kill, or at least attacking, the other was a normal occurrence. Ludwig wondered if maybe it was for them…

Not even slightly bothered by his brother's outburst, Feliciano just wrapped his arms around Ludwig's left one, snuggling up to him, not minding the presence of his family members. How was he already so comfortable doing this kind of stuff?

And anyways, wasn't there a specific reason he came to the art room? Looking around the room, he noticed the nearly forgotten documents for Professor Vargas on the table he left them. Now that he thought about it, didn't Feliciano say his last name was Vargas? Then that would make his grandfather the man he was searching for.

He looked at the oldest in the room. "There are some papers for you I was asked to deliver on the desk over there, Professor Vargas," he interrupted the family squabble. Business before pleasure. One of the main teachings of his late parents.

"Ah yes, thank you, I was waiting for those. But no need to be so formal, lad, we're family now. Just call me Grandpa Romulus." The Professor gave him a big grin and pointed his thumb at himself.

"So, why don't you come with us right now? There's this beautiful restaurant I know where we could grab some really tasty food and then you could tell us all about yourself. I'm curious with whom my dear grandson ended up with."

Ludwig clenched his jaw together, thinking about it. He really didn't like how fast everything was progressing. And it didn't help that Feliciano, his soulmate – he still couldn't even believe that part – was looking at him with big sparkling eyes, practically begging him to come along. Couldn't they give him some time to process this situation properly?

"I'm sorry. There are some things I have to attend to today." He didn't like to lie like that, preferring honesty over pity excuses. But it was just too much for him.

"Really? Ve~" he made a rather pathetic sounding noise, that pulled on Ludwig's heart strings.

"Oh Feli, don't cry, dearest grandson." Romulus reached out to ruffle Feliciano's hair, before turning his attention back to Ludwig. "Then what about tomorrow? It's a Saturday, and exams are over. You'll have time, right?"

"Yes, that's acceptable." He clearly hoped that only one day was enough to get mentally prepared. Though, he had the slightest suspicion that it wouldn't.

They started to walk outside of he room and building, to the parking lot, Feliciano hanging onto his arm the whole time, and exhanged a few basis information about each other on he way. How old they were, where they grew up, or what they studied. Well, Feliciano did most of the talking, together with Romulus who seemed ecstatic to welcome him into their family, but Ludwig did manage to get over his initial stupor and get a few sentences out himself.

Once they arrived at the parking lot, the time to say good bye - and for him to take a good breather from the happenings of the past half an hour - came. The prospect of getting the chance to digest the whole ordeal was more than just inviting for Ludwig, but at the same time, he felt a tugging at his heart, not wanting to part so soon.

"Are you sure you can't make any time today?" Feliciano asked once more, maybe feeling the same way as he.

And it nearly worked, the repeated question making him almost give in, his resolve grumbling with every second of looking into those pleading amber eyes. But no, he couldn't give in. Feliciano may was his soulmate, but it didn't automatically mean that Ludwig had to do anything he asked of him. Or did it?

Oh god, he felt the dread rise again from the pit of his stomach. He had no idea about all this soulmate stuff, hadn't even the slighest clue about what was supposed to happen next, once you found your destined soulmate. Well, aside from the scheduled lunch tommorow that was thrown at him. But...how was he expected to act around Feliciano?

He massaged his temples, already feeling a headache forming slowly behind his eyes. This was really not something he excelled in. He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

He felt so torn. Like a tug of war happened inside of him, between his heart, wanting to spent more time with Feliciano, and his mind, wanting to get away, to get some time to sort all these new impressions out.

And now they just stood there, not saying anything anymore, and stared into each other's eyes. Until Feliciano leaned in, getting even closer than before, and eyed him curiously, their faced only inches apart. Was he going to...? Ludwig's heart sped up, so much that he was afraid it could jump out of his chest. Somewhere at the back of his mind, a tiny voice told him that this was normal for soulmates and was one of the things he should have expected. But now, the voice was too late, the situation already at hand, and he wasn't able to do anything but stay frozen on the spot.

Suddenly, they were interupted by loud gagging noises coming from the side, curtsy of Lovino. They drove away from each other, or more like, Ludwig jerked away in surprise and embarrassement. He'd completely forgotten that Lovino and Romulus were here.

"If you believe I'll just watch you two suck face for even a split second, you're dead wrong, you piece of shit."

"Be nice to your brother, Lovino. You only meet your soulmate once. They should get to do all the couply stuff they want," Romulus chastised.

"Why are you always berating me and never him, dammit? You're favoring him all the fucking time. And I don't care he met his soulmate, it's disgusting."

"You'll understand once you meet your own soulmate. You won't be acting any different, let me tell you."

They argued on, all the while he and Feliciano stood at their side, both flushing a subtle red on their cheeks. Well, Feliciano's cheeks had a light red tinge, but Ludwig liked to think that the scorcing heat he felt in his face wasn't any worse than a subtle blush either. Although, the sheepish smile thrown his way from his soulmate didn't exactly help.

He didn't know how to defuse the situation, but fortunately, Romulus ended the argument with Lovio and turned to his other grandson.

"But you shouldn't keep Ludwig so long when he has something important to do. You will see each other tomorrow again. Then you can take all the time in the world and kiss how often and how long you want."

Yeah, surely it won't be worse than a subtle blush.

"Okay, nonno." Feliciano nodded his head in assent. "Ciao, Ludwig," he said his goodbye. But still, he didn't move an inch, reluctant to actually leave, until eventually, Lovino took ahold of his arm and dragged him forcefully away. But even this harsh treatment didn't stop Feliciano from waving enthusiastically at him until they went around the corner where all the professors had their assigned parking spots, out of his sight.

After they went their separate ways on the parking lot, Ludwig took the time to take one big breath to calm down. He wasn't sure if he could really grasp what just happened right now. He only wanted to deliver some papers and get home quickly to enjoy the weekend. Seeing as he turned in his last term paper, his brother wanted to celebrate it and go to a bar with him, which was most likely just another excuse to get wasted. But, tonight would be a major football game of their favorite club airing and there was nothing better than to watch it in a bar and to get drunk while cheering for your favorite team. But Ludwig guessed he couldn't do that tonight. He didn't think getting drunk the night before going to lunch with your soulmate's family was considered appropriate. A hangover wouldn't leave a good impression after all.

Reaching his car, he quickly got in and drove off. Speaking of his brother, he would have to tell him about today. Well, Ludwig hoped he could keep it simple. 'I met my soulmate and I'm having lunch tomorrow with his family.' Yeah, nice and simple, it would do.

Or not.

"You what?!" His older brother was jumping up from the couch, nearly knocking over the beer bottle standing on the table in front of him.

"I said, I can't go drinking with you tonight because I met my soulmate and I'm having lunch with his family tomorrow."

"I heard you the first time, but… damn." Suddenly, he started to crack up, holding his stomach to keep himself from doubling over. Once he recovered himself, he wiped away some laughing tears from his eyes and came over to Ludwig, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"You're serious, right? Man, I always told you not to worry. The awesome big brother always knows best, so you should have just listened to me." He shook Ludwig in his excitement. "But what's this about not going out. Meeting your soulmate is just one more reason to drink! Let's celebrate!"

But somehow, Ludwig couldn't muster the same enthusiasm his brother had. He still felt a bit drained from today's events. Gilbert frowned. "Hey, what's wrong? You should be ecstatic."

"It's just…" Ludwig took a deep breath, while he grabbed his brother's arm and took it off of his shoulders. "…a lot to take in?"

Gilbert regarded him with a sceptic look for a moment until he went into the kitchen. Ludwig sighed and went to the couch, sitting down with a thud. He leaned back and closed his eyes, finally able to relax now that he was in his own home. He felt so emotionally drained right now, as he was not used to having a lot of feelings. And he could only picture tomorrow being even worse. They didn't talk that long today, with him making an excuse to get away, but it was still exhausting. How could he last through a complete lunch? He just wished he could have some time alone with Feliciano. They hadn't any time to really talk to each other before his brother and grandfather had arrived. So, instead of dealing with them one at a time, he got the whole package at once. Wait, what about the other's parents? Were they coming too? And in his hectic to get away, he completely forgot to exchange numbers with Feliciano.

Ludwig massaged his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. How had it come to this? He had been happy enough with his feelings and the chance to experience love even without having a soulmate, just watching that cheerful boy who made him feel like that from a distance. And now, that exact boy turned out to really be his soulmate. His world was turned upside-down, his inner life in disarray after being through almost existing emotions in only one day.

A sudden metallic thump made him open his eyes again. Standing on top of the table was a six-pack of his favorite beer, every bottle already opened, while Gilbert just grinned down at him.

"You looked like you needed a beer. Or two. And we don't even need to go out to get some. So grab a bottle and tell me all about your soulmate." He flopped down on the couch next to Ludwig. "You said his family, so it's a guy? Huh, that's weird. Based on your hidden magazines I always thought it must be some big-busted chick." He made some obscene gestures in front of his chest to emphasize his point before grabbing a beer from the six-pack for himself and stretched his legs to let them rest on top of the couch table.

Ludwig also took one, ignoring any of his brother's unnecessary remarks, and leaned right back on the couch. "Thanks, brother."

They clinked their bottles together before both took their first gulp. Feeling the cool chill of the beer flowing down his throat, Ludwig immediately felt a relaxing wave wash over him. A good chilled beer always helped him after a stressful day, relieving him of his worries. Well, not all of them, but it was a start.

After taking a few more sips, he eventually calmed down enough to talk about the events of his day. Ludwig told his brother the whole story about when he saw Feliciano for the first time, until this very afternoon when he found all the paintings of him in the storage room, to the awkward moment at the parking lot. During his retelling, the football game started, providing some distraction, their concentration always divided between the game and his story.

"So, then what were your first words you said to this Feli-guy?" Gilbert wanted to know.

For a moment, Ludwig thought about not telling him, knowing that it would only lead to some mockery but with the alcohol making his tongue loose, he ended up sharing the details.

"'What are your words?'"

"Huh? You know my tattooed words. I'm asking about what you said."

"Yeah, I know. These were my first words to him. I asked 'What are your words?'"

His older brother blinked slowly, before he, once again, started to crackle, not able to contain any laughter that soon changed into a loud cheer when their team scored a goal.

"You asked him for the words?! Oh man, this is rich. Kesesese."

Blushing for what felt like the tenth time this day, he took a big gulp of his beer. "I didn't know what to say. I never really thought about what my first words to my soulmate could be, so…," he trailed off.

"So you just asked for them. That poor guy. You have such sweet words, you actually have a love confession tattooed on your body, and what does he get in return? 'What are your words?' Damn, I have to tell this story to Francis and Antonio."

"Urgh, please don't. They're annoying and I don't want them bothering me about it."

"Ha, you just can't handle our combined awesomeness," Gilbert muttered into his beer.

"If you say so."

The conversaton died down at this point, both turning their attention to the television where the game reached the final phase. They watched the game until it ended, their team having won. They continued to drink beer, until Gilbert broke the comfortable silence.

"Well... then, tomorrow we eat lunch with your soulmate, his brother and his grandfather?"

"We?" He couldn't remember inviting Gilbert to come along. Ludwig may already had two beers, but he still had all his wits.

"Of course. I want to meet your soulmate, too. And even more important, you can't keep them from the experience of meeting the awesome me. They deserve the chance to meet me!" he stood up and delared confidently, putting one food on top of he table.

Three chaotic Italians and his overbearing brother together. Well, what could go wrong with this setup? On the other hand, the lunch will already be draining his energy, what big difference could Gilbert make if he were to come along? And maybe... it wouldn't be such a bad idea to have someone on his side. It would surely help his nerves to have someone he knew present...hopefully.

"Go ahead and do what you want."

"If you want to even it out I could also invite Francis and Antonio."

"First: that wouldn't even it out and second: no, thanks. The lunch will be chaotic enough as it is, I don't need your nerve-racking friends coming along, too."

"Ah, don't be such a pussy. They're awesome, not as much as I am, I know, but I'm sure they would love to meet the soulmate of my baby brother. I'll just text them if they want to come," he insisted, words a bit slurred.

Pulling out his phone, Gilbert quickly typed some words without really concentrating on the screen, before he hit the send button. Ludwig snatched the phone from his brother's hands, ignoring the loud 'Hey!' from Gilbert, a bad feeling forming in his gut. He quickly checked the sent texts.

meat soulmate tmw w bro. cuming too?

"God, how drunk are you?" Ludwig stood up, throwing the phone back at his brother who just laughed at him. He took a few of the empty beer bottles and made his way into the kitchen to clean up. He made another trip to put away all the remaining bottles, making a mental note to buy a new six-pack as soon as possible to refill their stock. Once everything was delt with, he went back to the living-room where he saw his brother already dozing off with his mouth wide open. Just when Ludwig was mentally debating on leaving his brother on the couch or not, the phone lying in Gilbert's lap peeped, a new message arriving.

Taking the phone, he opened the new message.

you met your soulmate?! omg! of course I'm "cuming" ;) A.

He closed this message and saw yet another new one, together with two missed calls from Francis. Ludwig also opened the other message and knowing Francis, he feared the worst.

you'll cum with your soulmate tomorrow? and your brother will be joining too? hon, I don't know how much you had to drink, but if you're serious you know I'll always join in 3

Ludwig sighed. Of course Francis would take it in the most perverted way possible. Closing the text again, he thought for a short moment until he deleted the two messages, as well as Gilbert's sent one. With a bit of luck, his brother will have forgotten everything about inviting his friends to the lunch by tomorrow.

Coming to the conclusion that a night on the couch wouldn't be that bad for his older brother, he left the phone on the table and went to his room. He went through his nightly routine before he sat down on his bed, taking a few minutes to collect himself.

Today was one of the most stressful days he had since the start of college and he still couldn't decide if it was the positive kind of stress or not. He guessed it was, recalling all the new feelings, his raging heart, the moment when realization hit home that he really found his soulmate, the big smile of Feliciano when he realized that he found his soulmate, the gentle touch of Feliciano on his arm, the proud look when Feliciano introduced him to his family, Feliciano…

He clapped his hands against his cheeks, embarrassed of his own thoughts. When he finally lay down after fighting down yet another blush, the thoughts turned to the nearing lunch and his worries came back to him. Between his talk with his brother, the football game and the beer he didn't have any time for worries, but now…

He pushed one of his pillows down on his face, hoping to hide from his conflicting feelings behind it. Not that it was working, but still… it did provide some comfort at least. How did other people handle this stuff? Ludwig didn't know. As someone who never had any close friends and with his brother not having found his soulmate yet, even though Gilbert was the older one, he couldn't ask anyone about it.

With a sigh on his lips, he removed the pillow again, the air under it too sticky to breath normally anymore. Maybe he should read one of those romance novels first thing in the morning to get the gist of what would be expected of him.

Deciding that this would be the best course of action, he nodded to himself and closed his eyes. He had the slight gut feeling that he needed all the rest he could get for tomorrow.