Hi, this is my first story on , so please don't kill me for any errors that I may have made. All characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya.

It was the last hour of the school day and the class was gathered around the gigantic world map that was sprawled across the floor when suddenly... KABOOSH! Feliciano Vargas, a short and energetic young Italian boy with shiny auburn colored hair was now laying haphazardly on the floor across the map.

"Ivan, why'd you do that?" Feliciano wined glaring up at the snickering boy he had been standing in front of. Ivan ignored him and kept on laughing.

"You have a nice trip boy?" he spitted.

"Yes, it was beautiful," Feliciano said sarcastically, "I landed in Germany."

"Shut up Ivan!" a muscily blonde boy with bright blue eyes and a thick German accent snapped as he stooped and extended a hand to Feliciano. Feliciano graciously accepted the hand and used it to help stand himself up.

"Grazie Ludwig!" Feliciano said to the blonde in front of him.

"No problem." Ludwig replied smiling. Ludwig and Feliciano had been best friends ever since kindergarten. They did everything together. Whether it be playing kickball, swinging on the swings, or going down the slide. They were practically inseparable. These days it was no different.

"Ivan." the teacher Ms. Hedervary barked, "Go to the principal's office! That behavior is not appropriate for the classroom!"

"Mat bevor int aproprit for the classroom." Ivan mimicked.

"IVAN!" the teacher roared. Ivan quickly fell silent and trudged out of the room.

"Are you okay Feli?" Ludwig asked using his nickname for his friend.

"Ya, I'm fine." Feliciano replied looking into Ludwig's bright blue eyes. Lately he'd been looking for these bright pools of blue more often. Although he and Ludwig had been friends for a long time he had started of late to experience new feelings that he hadn't had before. He recognized friendship and admiration and was familiar with both. But now there was a new feeling that he couldn't quite put a name to. After many long days and countless hours of thinking there was only one answer that had come to him. The answer was love. Yes, love. He loved Ludwig. He also wanted to tell Ludwig that he loved him, but he was afraid that Ludwig would reject him. Not love him back and be scared to come near him. He did not want to ruin his friendship with Ludwig So for a while now he hadn't even thought about telling him, but now as his feelings were becoming more and more promenade he had actually considered telling his friend. He was slowly building up the courage to do so and he knew that he'd be ready soon. Maybe he'd even tell him today.

"Feliciano!" Ludwig said breaking him away from his thoughts. Ludwig had a look of concern on his face. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem a bit off."

"Don't worry Ludwig. I'm fine, really."

"Feliciano why don't you go down to the health room," Ms. Hedervary chided, "You do seem a bit dizzy." Feliciano sighed but decided not to argue and walked quietly into the hall. They were all empty. Slowly he trudged thought the barren halls kicking up a few stray papers that had been left out there by other students. When he reached the health room he pushed open the door and steeped inside. The office staff glared at him when he entered.

"Um, my teacher sent me down here because I hit my head." Feliciano stuttered. An office lady with short curly brown hair and glasses stood up and lead him into the back where the health room was. Feliciano was told to sit on one of the benches and wait for a minute so the office lady could go and get him some ice. When she returned she handed him the ice and asked,

"How'd you hit your head honey?"

"Someone pushed me." Feliciano replied.

"Huh, there was a boy over here just a little bit ago who had to talk to the principal about pushing someone. Oh, what was his name? Ahhhh... ummmm..."

"Ivan?" Feliciano answered for her.

Yes, Ivan!" exclaimed the lady, "That was his name!"

Hmmm." Feliciano hummed in response. The last thirty minutes of school passed rather uneventfully and soon the bell that signaled the end of the school day began to ring. Feliciano was excused from the health room and was able to go to his locker. While he was in the health room he had been thinking again about telling Ludwig about his feelings. After all, he had been having these feelings for a while now. He finally decided that he would tell Ludwig on the walk home from school today. When he got to his locker he got his binder and a few other schoolbooks before heading down to the C-wing of the building where Ludwig's locker was located. Just as he arrived Ludwig was putting the final things into his backpack and shutting his locker. Ludwig picked up his backpack and spun around to find Feliciano standing right in front of him.

"Whoa, Feliciano! I wasn't expecting you to be there!" Ludwig said startled.

"Sorry," Feliciano said apologetically, "We're still walking home right?"

"Yep!"

"Oh, hey, can I ask you something Ludwig?"

"Ya, sure, but can I tell you something first?"

"Of course."

Feliciano and Ludwig began walking toward the rusting metal doors and pushed them open. They stepped outside onto the pavement and began to walk.

"Okay, so what did you want to say?" Feliciano asked.

"Okay, so guess what?"

"What?"

"There's something I've wanted to tell someone for quite a while now."

"What is it?" Feliciano asked, looking up with a hint of hopefulness in his voice

"I want to know what your opinion is. I was thinking about asking someone out." Feliciano stopped dead in his tracks.

"You what!"

"I was thinking about asking someone out." Ludwig said looking concerned. "What, do you not think that is a good idea?"

"I... uh... um..." Feliciano stuttered. What? Ludwig was thinking about asking someone out? B-but he was just about to ask Ludwig out! No, he couldn't like someone else! He couldn't!

"Feli?" Ludwig questioned looking at Feliciano's shaking form.

"Uhhhhh... um." Feliciano continued. Oh no! Ludwig already liked someone else! What could he do? And suddenly Feliciano snapped. He bolted away from Ludwig covering his face the whole time as not to let anyone see the tears that were streaming down his face. He dashed up to his house and ran straight into the front door.

"Owww!" Feliciano moaned as he shook himself off and opened the door. He ran passed his mom who was cooking something the kitchen. He stumbled up the stairs and slammed the door to his room. Feliciano flopped himself on his bed and just let himself go. He sobbed violently into his pillow before chucking it to the other side of the room. It landed with a harmless thump on the floor as Feliciano wasn't very strong and couldn't throw a pillow hard enough to break anything. Suddenly he heard someone turning the knob on his door and his mother's head slowly poked through the crack of the now open door.

"Feli, what's wrong?" his mother asked seeing Feliciano's tear streaked face and puffy red eyes.

"Its nothing mom." Feliciano mumbled.

"It certainly isn't nothing." Feliciano's mom replied, sitting down on the bed next to Feliciano. "Come on Feli, tell mommy what's wrong."

"Mom, I'm not a kid anymore!" Feliciano wined.

"What's your point sweetie bear?"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a little kid! It's annoying!"

"Since when was I talking to you like you were a little kid honey bunches of oats?"

"You're ALWAYS talking that way!" Feliciano raged. "You never treat me like my age! Get away from me!" His mom took a step away from him and gave him a dangerous glare as she walked out of the room. Feliciano buried his face back onto his pillow and continued to cry. He couldn't believe what had happened today! And he was acting like such a girl about it! His whole life, family, friends, love, and everything had just come crashing down upon his head. It was terrible!

"Why? Why did Ludwig have to like someone else?" Feliciano asked himself this question over and over. What made me think that he would ever want to be with someone like me? He probably never even wants to see my hideous face ever again. What can I do? Commit suicide maybe? Run away?

"Run away?" Feliciano said out loud as he lifted his head from the pillow. Maybe that would work. He did have over $450 dollars saved up from doing chores over the summer. But, what would his family say if he ran away and never came back? Well, come to think of it they probably wouldn't care too much. His older brother already hated him because he was jealous that Feliciano had better grades than him. His mom was too preoccupied with her failing job, and his dad... well a dead person can't care too much for you right? After a little more thinking Feliciano came to a decision. He went over to his closet and pulled out his black soccer duffel bag and started cramming random clothing articles into it. On second thought he knew that a kid walking the streets with a gigantic duffel bag is likely to draw attention. Instead he grabbed his camouflage army style backpack that his grandma had got him and carefully started shifting through his cloths. It wasn't likely that anyone would recognize him by his backpack. This was one he never used because he didn't like the army look to it. Next, he was about to pack his favorite, I Heart Italy sweatshirt before again realizing that he'd definitely be noticeable in it as he wore it almost every day. So instead he went over to his drawer and pulled out the most embarrassing piece of clothing he'd ever owned. It was a dark blue sweatshirt with the words, I Heart German Boys, printed on the front. He'd secretly bought it off of about two years ago when his feelings for Ludwig had started. He never had planned to wear it, just have it for something to have, but it looked like it would come in handy after all. After packing all the rest of the essentials, other clothes, toiletries, and a few blankets, he snuck downstairs and into the kitchen. He didn't have to worry about his mom finding him snooping around the kitchen though because he had heard his mom get into the shower about five minutes ago and he knew that his mom loved to take long showers. He didn't have to worry about his brother either because he was spending the night at his friend Antonio's house. Feliciano quietly reached into the cupboard and pulled out three packages of dried 'Jack Links' beef jerky. He also grabbed a bag of Oreos and a few juice pouches. Feliciano resisted the urge to grab a box of pasta to take with him, but he knew he wouldn't be able to cook it and he refused to eat it raw. He then crept back up to his room and stuffed these items into his bag. Lastly he got his money out from the box that he kept under his bed, put it in one of the socks, and placed it gently into the bag. Zipping it up was a struggle though as the backpack was already overflowing with the stuff that Feliciano needed. Finally he had gotten the bag closed and put on longer pants and a longer shirt. He slipped the embarrassing, I Heart German Boys, sweatshirt on over that and looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't look half bad in it.

"Ok, now I wait." Feliciano told himself. He would wait until night when his mom was asleep. That's when he would sneak out. He laid back down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He didn't have to worry about having to take off any of his cloths to go down to dinner. Usually when his mom was mad at him she didn't make him any dinner. Maybe he could get a little sleep before he left. Feliciano closed his eyes and let himself drift into the world of dreams.