On the other side of the threshold, standing soaking wet in the freezing rain, was...


...your German friend Ludwig.
You both gasped; you at the fact that it was him on the other side, and him at the baseball bat you held threateningly in your hands. You looked at him, then at the bat, then back at him, and then at the bat again. You slowly lowered the bat, blushing at the look he was giving you.
'Uh...vy do you have a bat?" he asked as you lowered it.
"Well, um, I didn't recognize you or your car and I thought you were a possible burglar," you blushed even harder.
"Oh, sorry about zat _______. Mein car is completely out of gas und I barely made it to your driveway. I vas vondering if you had and gas you could spare?" he asked.
"Yeah, I have some. Its in my garage," you said and turned to go get it, but you remembered something.
"Don't you live all the way across town?" you asked.,
"Ja."
"Do you want to stay for the night or something?"
"I-I vas just about to ask zat," he blushed.
"Feel free to explore, help yourself to anything in the fridge, my house is your house tonight," you told him and gestured widely at your living room.
"_______," Ludwig said after a minute.
"Hmm?"
"Can I take a shover?" he asked
"Of course. First door on the left and I'll get you a towel," you said, pointing to your hallway.
He went down the hallway and you followed closely behind with a towel and slipped it on the rack, closing the door as he removed his shirt. You stood outside the door thinking about how perfect his abs were. You shook your head to get rid of the image and went to the front room to watch TV.
Ludwig came into the living room about 20 minutes late and leaned on the back of the couch you were sitting on. You felt his eyes on you and you turned to face him. You were about to say something, but then you noticed he was wearing your (f/c) tank top. And the pink, fuzzy pajama pants your friend Feliks gave you for Christmas a few years back.
"Um, Ludwig, why are you wearing my clothes? Specifically my pink pants?" you asked with a look of amusement.
"Vell, I realized zat I had no clozs  here ozer zan ze ones zat are soaking vet und you said your home vas mine, so, um, I just grabbed ze first zing I touched," he answered, finding the ceiling suddenly interesting.
You stood up and examined him. His abs and chest lines were visible through the tight fabric of your tank top, his hair wasn't slicked back, and just, Ludwig with pink pants. You felt a nosebleed coming on and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door behind you. You heard Ludwig running up to the door.
"Are you alright Frau? Vat happened?" he asked, obviously worried.
"Nothing. I'm fine. God that was so hot."
"Vat vas zat last part?"
"Nothing."
He was silent and you cleaned up the blood, eventually making your way out. Ludwig was sitting on the floor next to the door. As soon as the door opened he scrambled up and pulled you into a hug.
"Frau, are you sure you're alright?" he asked and you were trying to suppress another nosebleed.
"Yes I'm fine."
He let go of you and smiled down at you. You blushed again.
"Do you want to watch TV or something?" you asked.
"Ja. Zat vould be nice."
You both walked to your living room and plopped down on the couch. Your favorite TV show (fave TV show) was on and you relaxed on your couch.
"Ever watched this show?" you asked glancing over at him.
"Nein. Is it gut?"
"It's my favorite," you said.
You noticed your Nutella on the coffee table. You reached for it, bringing it back to your lap and scooping small amounts onto your spoon and eating it. Ludwig eyed you strangely.
"_______, vat is zat?"
"Nutembla," you said with your spoon still in your mouth.
"Vas?"
You took the spoon out.
"Nutella."
"Hm, never heard of it. I s it gut?"
Upon hearing those words, you shot forwards in sitting position, launching the spoon out of your mouth and onto the floor. Ludwig pushed you back into the couch and looked at you with panic in his gorgeous blue eyes.
"Vas? Vat happened?" he asked frantically.
"N-never heard of N-nutella?" you stuttered, slowly turning your head towards him.
"N-nein. Judging by your actions,  I take it zat is pretty amazing."
"Oh yes. Yes it is."
"Could I maybe, try some?" he asked, giving you the puppy dog eyes, or maybe you just saw them like that all the time. Hard to tell.
You never let ANYONE touch you Nutella, not even your closest friends, but you had developed strong feelings for the German and you decided it was ok to share with him. You dipped your finger in the jar and lifted out a large blob of Nutella and held it up to him. He looked at you like you were crazy, but you nodded for him to go ahead. Hesitantly, he leaned forward with his  mouth open and closed it over your finger, slowly sliding it off. He closed his eyes taking in the flavor and moaned in content.
He ran his tongue through the amazing chocolatey substance and swallowed. He looked at you with wide, exited eyes.
"Zat vas amazing! Vere do you get zis stuff?" he demanded.
"Um, stores? You know, the places where you buy food?" you told him.
He sat back in the couch and watched TV. After a while you stood up to put the Nutella away and Ludwig grabbed you shirt. You spun around and stared at him. He immediately released your shirt and fiddled with his fingers, blushing.
"Are you, um, putting ze Nutella avay?" he asked nervously.
"Yes," you answered, giving him a weird look.
"Can I have one more taste?" he asked, sticking his finger out.
You handed him the jar and he eagerly dipped his finer in, scooping out another large blob. He sat back and put his finger in his mouth and started to watch TV again. Every once in a while, you would glance over and he would still be sucking on his finger. He did this for you swear, and hour and a half. It was cute, the happiness in his eyes, but having it in his mouth for that long, there couldn't be any left on his finger.
"Ludwig, take your finger out, making sucking noises as he was doing so. It was taking forever and you were getting impatient. You slapped his hand out of his mouth, a little harder that you meant to. He gasped and stuck his hands between his legs. He looked at you with sort of a hurt and confused look.
"I'm sorry but you were making it too dramatic," you said, turning back to the TV.
"Oh," he said quietly.
It was uncomfortably quiet as you both watched the TV drone on. You glanced at the clock; it was 10:30.
"Well, I think I'm going to bed. I'll get you some blankets and you can sleep wherever you want," you stood up and got a blanket out of the closet and threw it at Ludwig's head.
It landed on the top of his head and he slowly pulled it off, laid down with it and cuddled with it. He almost looked sad and you felt a pang of guilt shoot through your body. You walked to the couch and crouched down next to his head.
"Hey," you said quietly.
"Mmm," he mumbled.
"Can I get you anything?" you asked.
He shook his head.
"Are you sure?"
He nodded. You stayed next to him for a few more seconds.
"Ok," you sighed.
You put your hand up to your mouth, kissed your fingers, and put them on the side of his head. You stole a quick glance at his eyes; they looked moist.
"Good night Ludwig."
"Gut nacht," he said quietly, his voice quivering.
You stood up, turned off the lights, and shuffled to your bedroom. After closing the door quietly behind you, you flopped down onto your bed, shoving your face into your pillow. You hated yourself for that. He probably hated you too. Big, bad, tough Ludwig and you almost made him cry. In fact, he was probably crying right now into that blanket.
You pulled your blankets up over you and curled up in your bed . God you felt awful.
~time skip to later that night~
You felt you mattress bend and your eyes snapped open. The time on your alarm clock said 2:15 am. You rolled over and were suddenly face to face with Ludwig. You let out a surprised squeak and he cringed back,
"What the hell are you doing in my bed?" you hissed.
He backed up as far away from you as he could without falling off the bed.
"I-I-I-I," he kept stuttering the word "I".
His eyebrows lowly inclined, his eyes began to water, his lip started, and his breath went staggered. In a few seconds, he started sobbing into his hands. It took you a few seconds to realize what was happening, but when you did you shot forwards and threw your arms around him, pulling him close to you. He gripped your shirt and continued to sob into your chest. You rubbed the back of his head and rested your nose and lips in his hair. After a few minutes he calmed down and was sniffling into your shirt.
"Ludwig what happened?" you asked, still rubbing his head.
"I vas cold but I didn't vant to bozer you you because I zought you vere angry at me und I didn't know vat to do so I came into your room und tried to be as qviet as possible so I vouldn't vake you up," he explained with fear and sadness building in his voice.
"Honey," Oops. You weren't supposed to say that out loud. Oh well, better play along. "Why would you think I was angry at you?"
"Be-because of ze vay you slapped mein hand out of mein mouz, und you vouldn't look at me before you vent to bett."
"I'm sorry Ludwig. I didn't mean to slap you that hard. I'm not angry at you. When I saw your face while you were on the couch with the blanket and it immediately made me feel like...oh what is it you Germans say, arsch?" you said.
He smiled a little at you saying something in his native language.
"Ja"
There was silence.
"Do you want to stay with me tonight?"you asked.
"If zat's not too much, ja."
He snuggled up to you and you gently squeezed him to you.
"Ich liebe dich _______," he said.
You didn't need a translation for that.
"I love you too Ludwig. Luddy."
"Luddy?! Seriously?"
"Yes. You are my Luddy. Get used to it."
You kissed his forehead and closed your eyes, drifting back to sleep.
~time skip to morning~
You woke up in bed, but you didn't feel a mattress under you. You opened your eyes and saw that you were on top of Ludwig. You tried to roll off of him, but his arms shot up and around you and you looked at his face. His eyes were open and he was smiling lovingly at you.
"Oh nein you don't. You're staying viz me," he teased.
You felt your stomach rumble and smiled.
"But I'm hungry!" you whined playfully.
He sat up with you still on top of him and flung you over his shoulder.
"Ludwig what are you doing!?" you squealed.
"I vill make you breakfast," he answered and began to march to the kitchen with you over his shoulder.
He pulled out a chair and gently set you down in it and went to find breakfast material. As soon as he turned his back, you went to get your Nutella from the cabinet, but when you opened it, your precious Nutella wasn't there. You frantically searched your kitchen for it but it was nowhere to be found. There was one place you still haven't checked; the trash can.
You opened it and as soon as you did, you heard Ludwig take a sharp intake of breath. You looked at him; he had tensed up with a pot in his hand. You looked into the trash can and under a breakfast sausages, was your beloved jar of Nutella, scraped clean with hardly a trace of any left. You sighed with mock anger.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt, did you eat my Nutella?" you asked without looking up from the empty jar.
"N-nein. Vy vould I do zat?" he replied, giving you a nervous chuckle.
You closed the trash can and walked to him. You both stared at each other for a few seconds, then you threw your arms around his neck an smashed your lips to his. He wrapped his arms around your body and kissed you back, pan still in hand. You slipped your tongue into his mouth, exploring every inch, gathering the information you needed. You pulled away and glared at him.
"I knew it," you said.
"Vas?" Ludwig gave you a confused look.
"You are such a terrible liar. I can taste the Nutella in your mouth," you told him.
He was frozen, then he tried to run, but you grabbed the back of his pants and he slipped on the excess material under his feet. He fell forwards and tried to get back up, but you were already on top of him, straddling his back. He buried his face in his arms. You leaned forward and kissed both of his ears.
"You owe me a jar of Nutella," you whispered.
"I know, I know," he chuckled into the floor.
You slipped your arms under his chest and lid down on his back, nuzzling his head.
"I love you, my sweet Nutella thief," you sighed happily.
"Ich liebe dich auch mein Nutella obsessed frau," he said and you both lay on the kitchen floor, happy as can be with no Nutella.
~Germany End~