Gilbert laughed a little. "Um, would you invite any random person off the side of the road into your home? You shouldn't trust people so easily!" Besides, he and Ludwig were more private than most.

Feliciano tilted his head. "But you made friends with me so easy!" he pointed out with a bright smile, sidling up even closer to Ludwig. "It's as easy as smiling!" He reached up to try and pull the taller man's lips up in a smile.

"Of course I wouldn't do that! And I don't trust just anybody you know." Matthew told him, his tone indigent. He felt outraged that he was being called over trusting by a guy who has already broken his heart once. With that in mind, he wasn't really sure why he agreed to even come here.

Ludwig leaned away from him and pulled his hands back down to his sides. "I've asked you not to do that." he reminded him. It was something Feliciano had done when they first met to. He didn't know it at the time, but he has grown to really care for this extremely lovable Italian.

Gilbert had mainly been poking at Feliciano's habits, so he started at the tone Matthew used. Looking away, he muttered an almost incomprehensible 'sorry'. "W-well Feli does that. That's why Lud is always looking after him..." People like that were so full of sunshine. He didn't blame Feliciano for it either because he liked to see his brother smile.

Feliciano pouted. Even if Ludwig said not to do such things, he felt for sure he didn't mean it. "But you look so good when you smile," he hummed before lacing their fingers together.

"It's good that they have each other." Matthew replied. He wanted to have that sort of connection with someone. Sure, he had a few friends. But nobody he really connected with on that level. The thought of that was starting to make him sad, so he pushed the thought away.

Ludwig blushed lightly at the compliment. "And you're beautiful when you do." he said without even thinking about it. He blushed deeper once his words registered in his mind.

"Yeah. I guess." It seemed to work for Ludwig anyway and it reminded him that he didn't have friends himself. Frowning, he whirled away before anyone could see it. He moved around the table to start picking things up and putting them back in an obsessive neat order. These sorts of actions served as stress relief for Gilbert. "You probably have friends right? Yeah, since you're a good person." He focused on a frame hung crooked on the wall.

Feliciano just smiled a little more, glowing from them compliment. He didn't need to blush because he didn't find the mushy words awkward, but he giggled at Ludwig's reaction. "I really, really like you."

"A few. But we don't really have to much in common. Certainly nothing close to having the sort of connection Ludwig and Feliciano have." Matthew said wistfully. "What about your friends?" He asked, completely certain that he has some. He was definitely the type to have at least a few.

"And I really like you." Ludwig responded truthfully. Though he meant the words, they seemed to be hard to get out. Expressing himself was never something he was good at. But Feliciano made him want to try to be better at it. And he did try, so very hard.

Gilbert accidentally knocked the picture twice as crooked as it had been. He jumped to fix it, uttering a curse under his breath. "Uh..." He glanced over at Matthew before dragging a hand though his hair. "Friends? Why does everyone think I have them? Honestly I'm pretty sure those two invited you because they think I'm pathetic and...fucked up or something." He didn't really know what Ludwig thought about their friend conversation. They probably thought they were helping.

"Aw!" Feliciano exclaimed. He jumped forward and wrapped both arms around Ludwig. Grinning, he stared up at him. A second later, he'd jumped away. "I want to tell everyone how much we like each other like Lovi and grandda and..." He continued listing off everyone he knew.

Gilbert didn't have any friends? Matthew felt sad at that thought. Everybody deserves to have a friend. "I"m sure they don't think that." He assured him. He thought for a moment. ".. If you want, I'll be your friend." he suggested, already wondering if he'd regret it if it happened. He was sure he wouldn't. Even if he ended up hurt in the end. Nobody deserved to be alone.

"Feli! Calm down! You really don't have to tell everybody you know." Ludwig told him. Definitely not Lovino. Feliciano's brother already hated him enough and always threw tomatoes at him whenever he went over to their house. He dreaded the thought of what would happen if Feli told him something like this.

Gilbert felt sure the others thought that though and nothing would convince him otherwise. He was in the middle of shaking his head when he realized what Matthew said. Freezing, he forgot to breath for a second. "I don't need-" he yelped as he spun around, his red eyes narrowed. Matthew wanted to be his friend? That had to be a lie. Gilbert was supposed to have to beg him for that. Because yeah, he was listening to Ludwig's advice. "Would you really? Oh god, please be my friend!" The words jumped out before he could stop them.

"But why?" Feliciano asked. "What you said made me really happy. I know it will make everyone else happy too!" Although he noticed Lovino acted mean a lot it didn't make sense because Lovi was a good person and there was nothing not to like about Ludwig.

Matthew was slightly startled by the way Gilbert reacted to his words. "Of course I'll be your friend. I'd be happy to." he told him. That certainly hadn't been the reaction he had been expecting. What he expected at best was a 'sure' and at worse was rejection. This was somewhere completely off the chart of what was expected.

"I'd prefer it if you kept this just between us. At least for now." Ludwig stated. In his mind, one of Feliciano's worst traits was his need to announce everything to everybody. No matter how private it was. And he felt something like this was something that should stay between them. It's a private moment that everybody they knew didn't need to know about.

Gilbert clapped a hand over his mouth and almost squeaked when he realized what he said. That had to be the lamest utterance of his life. "It's not that I need a friend! Just....it's just because Ludwig told me to..." He wanted to hit his head against the wall so badly, but that wouldn't exactly make him look less lame. How could Matthew just agree so easily?

After a second, Feliciano nodded though with a little pout. "If you don't want me to say anything, I won't," he said. Though chances were, he would forget at some point and say what he wanted anyway. "I'll do anything you say! Or...not do what you say not to..."

So Gilbert only wanted to be his friend because Ludwig told him to? Now didn't that just make him feel pathetic. "... Ok..." he muttered. Matthew hung his head and dropped his eyes down to Astor, who was now trying to climb into his lap. He let him and wrapped his arms around him, needing his comfort.

Ludwig leaned forward and lightly kissed Feliciano's forhead. "Danke." he told him before moving away. He went over to the sink and began rewashing all the dishes to be sure that they were clean.

Gilbert and his big mouth. That probably wasn't the right thing to say either even though it was sort of true and he saved face. Maybe? He watched Matthew and the dog for a second, finding himself frowning. "But you still want to be my friend right?" he asked before he dropped his gaze to stare at his fingers as he twisted them together.

Feliciano felt warm and so happy. He wanted to text Lovi right then and say so, but he remembered that he wasn't supposed to do that. Instead, he skipped away from the dishes he deemed clean. "Can I go play with Astor now?"

"Why? Do you even care about having a friend?" Matthew asked, not looking at Gilbert. If the albino truly didn't want to be his friend and was just offering because of Ludwig, then his answer would have to be no. Fake friendship wasn't worth the pain that would come of it. But, if he was being genuine, then of course he'd say yes.

"Not yet. Give bruder and Matthew time to talk things out. You can play with Astor later." Ludwig told him. He continued to wash the dishes, even the ones Feliciano already washed. He could tell they were still dirty and that was unacceptable.

Gilbert chewed on his lip. How could he explain what he was thinking or feeling over the idea of friendship when it confused even himself. He wanted friends. He didn't want friends. "I don't know," he said honestly after a minute. He didn't think he could take it if Matthew just said no though. Then he could say he tried and failed. "Lud said it was kinda nice to have friends though..."

Feliciano plopped himself onto a counter and swung his legs back and forth. "But I'm bored!" He didn't like cleaning like he liked cooking. There was no art in that, though he did like Ludwig being all serious about it. He looked so cool.

"It is very nice to have friends." Matthew responded. "But I can't be friends with someone who 'don't know' if they want to be around me. I've had friends like that who were only using me to get close to my brother or my father. So when you decide what you want, you know where to find me." With that, he gently pushed Astor to the ground and stood. "I really should be leaving." he informed him, heading towards the kitchen to thank Feliciano for inviting him.

"I'm sure you can find something to entertain yourself with for a couple more minutes." Ludwig stated, not even turning to face him. He was just about finished with these. Just a couple more pots left.

Gilbert hung his head. He understood what Matthew said and had to agree. What would be the point of befriending him so casually. It probably wouldn't work out anyway. "Bye then. I hope you enjoyed dinner..." he muttered, not doing a thing to stop the other from leaving.

Feliciano had just been about to find something amusing that he shouldn't be doing when he saw Matthew pop his head into the kitchen. "Hello! Did you have a nice talk with Gilbert?" he asked, starting to swing his legs again.

Matthew was a bit disappointed when Gilbert didn't try to stop him from leaving. That definitely showed that he didn't actually want to be friends. There goes the brief bit of hope he had for that. He popped his head in the kitchen and wasn't really surprised by Feliciano's question. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner. But I really need to be heading home. he replied, avoiding the question about Gilbert. He gave him a smile before heading out.

Ludwig was surprised by Matthew's sudden need to leave. By that time, he was done cleaning, so he went to the dining room to confront Gilbert about this.

"Come back any time!" Feliciano called with a wave. The cleaning over with, he went to find Astor and rolled on the floor, playing with him.

Gilbert stared sullenly at the wall, looking well on his way to face-planting in the table. He noticed, but did not look up when Ludwig walked into the room. He didn't want to deal with his brother's chiding right now, but he hadn't worked up the effort to leave the room. "What do you want...?"

"So.. Matthew just left.. He seemed upset. Did something happen in here?" Ludwig asked. He had been really hoping that things would work out between his brother and Matthew. He wanted his brother to have someone in his life that he could turn to that wasn't family. It would make a huge difference in his life.

"Uh...probably, " Gilbert muttered in response, not elaborating much. "Anyway it's not a big deal since it's my fault. I don't really care." Pushing back his chair, he continued to speak to his brother without ever really acknowledging him. Nothing Ludwig could say would make him feel any better. He needed to think. No one else could do it for him this time. "I'm going to my room." With that, he slipped out of the dinning room.

Ludwig watched Gilbert leave the room. He was annoyed that he didn't really get any answers out of his brother. He figured he could just ask Matthew himself when he saw him on Monday. Discreetly, of course. He didn't want to say or do anything that would make things worse. He liked Matthew. He seemed like a good person. The type of person Gilbert could use in his life. So he was going to fix whatever happened, if only for his brother's sake.

Since Gilbert didn't work until Monday night, he threw himself into his room and stayed there for the rest of the night, his face buried in a pillow. He wished he was working because then he wouldn't have to think and he could feel okay when he danced. That was his haven and he fell asleep looking forward to the next night.

Tino was having such a wonderful day. So far, none of his students were acting out like five year old's did. The sun was shining, his students behaving, and the best part his relationship with Berwald was going wonderfully. Right now, as his students were taking their nap, he was talking with the man online. He would normally call when wanting to talk to someone, but he knew it made Berwald more comfortable like this. Plus his students were asleep after all. Wouldn't want to wake them up and have to end the conversation, right?

Berwald sat deep in a comfy chair, his computer in his lap and coffee and the newspaper in reach. He had the tv on mute, leaving the sound of the afternoon to filter in through an open window. He of course, had been online more or less since he woke up and answered Tino's message immediately. 'Have the kids been behaving today?' he typed out. They'd only just started talking and already he could say this was a good day.