August 16th, 1961 – West Berlin

"…And after talking to Lovino, I brought Ludwig back here!"

Feliciano resorted to wild hand gestures to accompany his story-telling, all on Ludwig's behalf, only now having reached the end. With his ever-cheery smile the Italian stared up expectantly at his grandfather. The man in question bore a heavy resemblance to his grandchildren; olive-toned skin with a fresh and vibrant touch, warm green eyes and dark curls chopped short. Ludwig would even argue that 'Lovino' was the spitting image of him. Contrary to what one would assume, the man hadn't aged as much as he should have, much to Ludwig's surprise.

At the present moment, the man was solemn and attentive, eyes fixed on the small blond who stood rigidly.

After what felt like a dramatic pause, the man spoke; "I see. Ludwig, is this true?" Ludwig nodded slightly. "I'm sorry to hear that. I'm afraid what happened with Conrad Schumann was down to luck. It isn't safe to cross the border anymore, and it'll only get worse. I'm sorry Ludwig," the man stopped, placing his hands gently on Ludwig's shoulders and kneeling in front of him, "Is there anyone else you can live with for now?"

"No…" Ludwig whispered, curling his hands into fists and keeping his gaze downcast, "I only had my brother."

"What happened to your parents? How old is your brother?"

"I don't know, they disappeared. Gilbert said they went to travel to heaven," Ludwig replied, "Er, sixt- No! Eighteen, I meant… I – Please don't tell anyone, I don't want him to get into trouble." He rubbed his eyes with his fists as tears welled in them again. "I have a house. I don't know where it is, I can live on my own though! I just need to find it!"

The grandfather shook his head firmly, "No, I cannot allow a child to live on his own. You're younger than my Feliciano and I don't even let him stay home alone for a few hours. Ludwig…" He retracted his hands, now smiling kindly, "Why don't you stay with us for a while? I'm Roberto De Luca, and you've met my grandsons Lovino and Feliciano."

Ludwig didn't think he'd heard correctly, "Stay?"

Feliciano took the opportunity to interject, "Yes! Yes, stay with us! We have lots of space and cats too! No one should be alone Ludwig. Not ever! I'm sure your brother will find people too."

Roberto scooped Feliciano into his arms, who practically squeaked with either surprise or joy, "You can stay with us until you and your brother are reunited, Ludwig. You won't be able to survive on your own."

Ludwig hesitated, "I did promise him he wouldn't lose me." He wiped his face on the back of his hand, "Are you sure it's fine?"

"I've never been surer in my life," Roberto responded, holding his hand out to Ludwig, who took it loosely, "Let's get you fed and cleaned up."

As the evening rolled into play, Lovino took to returning home for the time being. The scraggly thirteen year old approached his cosy home with a subtle skip in his step, pace speeding up as he picked up the scrumptious scent of dinner. He delved inside and kicked his shoes off by the front door, briefly looking around the place. It was the same old same old; a house like every other, just with the accessories of an Italian family and a few litter boxes for their cats. "I'm home!"

At his words, footsteps rumbled downstairs to reveal Feliciano with his new friend in tow, "Lovino! Ludwig is staying! Isn't that great?!"

Lovino pulled a face, "No. Where is he staying? Not in my room, I hope."

"Nope – with me!"

"Good, I'm fucking hungry, so shoo." Lovino shuffled past the two, eyeing Ludwig warily. He'd taken it better than anyone could have anticipated, but the future was yet to come. Alongside the bickering in waves of German and Italian to a delicious home cooked meal to which the scrubbed-clean Ludwig savoured every bite of, he experienced the simplistic joy of domesticity in the first time in forever.

From what had been the impulsive act of kindness from a stranger, Ludwig knew everything was taking a new path. After the grand tour of his new home from Feliciano, Ludwig was lying down on Feliciano's floor, on a spare mattress that was temporarily his own.

"Hey, Feliciano, are you awake?"

"Mmm." Ludwig took it as a yes.

"Thank you for everything."

"Hrmm."

"I'll pay you back one day."

"Mmhm."

"Goodnight Feliciano."

I'm super sorry for the late chapter, school's been busy and stuff keeps coming up! This chapter is more of a filler to establish a fixed setting for now; so it's a bit shorter than usual. This fic is a lot more detailed that I'd planned for it to be xD

Thank you to those showing support, love you all 3