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To be quite blunt, she wasn’t the type of girl he would’ve picked for himself. Seriousness and a businesslike temperament were usually what he looked for in a relationship. He, in general, had very little patience for the so-called “free spirits” of the world. But her carefree attitude had caught his attention. How couldn’t it have? She seemed almost like a negative image of the German man she had claimed as a paramour. He would have never guessed she would have been the one to make him feel so… complete and whole. It was almost as if she had fallen from heaven in order to make him aware of the wonder and beauty he was missing in the world. Well…

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“And then François said, ‘Not even if that was the last beer on earth’! Isn’t that just the worst, West? One of my own best friends, insulting my most favorite, most awesome drink!”

“Mmmm… Ja, that’s wonderful, Gilbert…” To be honest, Ludwig Beilschmidt wasn’t paying much attention to the albino man by his side. Although he usually at least pretended to listen to his older brother’s stories, today he was simply too preoccupied to even pretend. The price of stock in his company had fallen steeply over the past two weeks, and he simply couldn’t figure out how to bolster sales. His forehead creased, he shook his head trying to work out his dilemma. The white noise of his brother’s voice continued in the background of his thoughts.

“And then that’s when the giant fish began to suck my dick.”

“How wonderf- Wait, what?” Ludwig was ripped from his contemplation by the ridiculousness of the statement.

“Jeez, West. You should learn to listen better!” Gilbert grinned slightly as he ruffled his little brother’s slicked, blonde locks. “Usually it’s you telling me to pay attention.” His grin faded a little as he examined Ludwig’s slightly annoyed face. “Anything wrong?”

Ludwig batted Gilbert’s hand away from his head and began to smooth his hair back into place. “There’s nothing wrong.” The strained tone of his voice worried Gilbert a little. He hated seeing his baby brother upset.

“Is it girl trouble?” He questioned. Ludwig shook his head. “Boy trouble then?”

“What the hell, Gilbert?”

“Just asking!” The older man held his hands up in a defensive gesture. “I don’t judge.”

Ludwig rolled his eyes and brushed his hand over his hair once more to make sure that it was back in place. “My company’s sales have decreased recently, which means stock prices are dropping. The investors aren’t happy, and that means I’m not happy. I’m more than a little worried for the fourth quarter report,” the man sighed as he straightened the cuffs of his suit jacket.

Gilbert hummed thoughtfully to himself and pursed his lips. He knew how easily his younger brother worked himself up and often got sick because of it. He certainly didn’t want to see him work himself into the ground yet again. “Well, when you’re done with work today, we can go to the bar for a while and maybe flirt with some pretty girls… Or boys, I don’t judge!”

“Gilbert, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m straight! Plus, I can’t tonight. I’m going to be working late on some of the foreign files,” Ludwig exclaimed, a little irritated at his older brother. He couldn’t be slacking while the company was in such a dire situation!

“We are going out tonight for at least an hour and that’s final. You aren’t going to make yourself sick yet again.” The albino man was, for once, quite serious. He hated seeing his brother so stressed and unhappy. He set his mouth and thrust his chin up as if daring his brother to defy him.

Ludwig watched his brother with some exasperation. He knew that look. If he didn’t agree now, Gilbert was going to pester him until he said yes. “Fine, but only for an hour, and then I will be returning to the office.”

“Awesome! The awesome me will come pick you up around 6:30 then!” Gilbert turned and quickly walked away before his brother could change his mind and refuse.

Ludwig grumbled angrily and continued his journey down the sidewalk towards his office building. He really hated when his brother forced him to take time away from work. However, he did have to admit that it was probably for the best. After all, even he couldn’t go without sleep and fun forever. Maybe tonight would be just what he needed to finally begin to re-

A short shriek from above his interrupted his thoughts again. Ludwig quickly looked up in time to catch site of a young woman clinging to a balcony about a story off of the ground. It was her yelp that had pulled him from the quagmire of his musings. For a second, he was frozen in confusion; what was she doing on the outside side of the balcony?

Another gasp from the woman whipped him into action. Quickly, he approached the girl who appeared to be clinging to the balcony for dear life. “Um, excuse me miss, do you require any assistance?” He felt a bit silly even asking, but it was the polite thing to do. Plus, it wasn’t as if she was in any real danger. She wasn’t too far from the sidewalk below her balcony; it was only about 14 feet high, give or take about a foot in either direction.

The woman craned her neck to get a look at the man below her. As she shifted to get a better look at him, Ludwig noticed her grip on the balcony railing loosing. He was instantly under her, arms open to catch her when she fell. It was if he was young again and playing one his brother’s ridiculous games. Instinct took over. She landed solidly in his arms, a warm and heavy weight that pulled him down toward the concrete until he corrected his balance.

“Oh my god, that was so…” The girl seemed a bit breathless. Ludwig peered down at the woman in his arms. He was slightly afraid she was in shock. Her face was pale and she was shaking slightly. He was about to ask her if she was all right when she interrupted him by whisper yelling, “That was so amazing!”

The girl threw her arms about Ludwig’s neck. “You just caught me out of nowhere! Like, I just dropped into your arms! Thank you so much for catching me! You are a hero! I probably would have broken something falling from there… But it is kind of your fault I fell. I mean, if you wouldn’t have startled me, I would have been fine!” She chuckled. Ludwig was a bit stunned. A quite part of his mind wondered if he was the one going into shock. He had saved this young lady; she had thanked him, and then blamed him? And she thought that what had just happened was amazing?

Ludwig couldn’t help but wonder, ‘… Is this a joke?’ Surely this young woman must have been playing an elaborate prank if she thought falling off of a balcony into the arms of a strange man was “amazing”.

“Oh! But I never asked if you were ok… I mean, it can’t be easy to catch a person falling from that high up. You can put me down now, if you want.” The girl removed her arms from around Ludwig’s neck and leaned back so that she could look up into his face. “Wow! You’re really good looking!” She blushed. "Sorry. Sometimes my mouth moves without me telling it to." The words seemed to have surprised her as much as they had startled him.

Instantly she was back on her feet, the bare soles of her feet touching the warm concrete sidewalk. Ludwig’s face was splashed in a slight blush as he finally got a good look at the girl that had fallen into his life. Her messy [color] hair waved freely around her face, gently ruffled by the slight summer breeze. Her lively eyes sparkled as she looked him over, the slight blush of her embarrassment still dusting her cheeks a light pink color.

Ludwig felt his spin straighten, almost as if he was in an inspection meeting for work and the head of the company was there himself. He felt a slight need to impress this girl. He frowned and pushed this unreasonable feeling deep back within the wellspring of his emotions. He needed to make sure that this girl understood just how dangerous of a thing she had done! He didn’t want to impress her; he wanted to scold her!

“That was very dangerous and stupid! You were lucky I was here.” Ludwig’s steely gaze apprised the bare-footed young woman in front of him. To his satisfaction, she looked ashamed.

He noticed the way she turned her feet in, standing slightly pigeon-toed now. She looked down at her slightly filthy feet poking out from beneath some worn jeans. When she looked back up, she had a slightly rueful look on her face. “I’m really sorry.” She glanced down again and the looked back up, meeting his gaze squarely, “Thank you for saving me, but you really shouldn’t scare people like that!”

The tall German man frowned again as he spoke, “I…” He trailed off. He was at a bit of a loss at the moment. He had never found himself in a situation quite like this one. He couldn’t think of the proper protocol for such a situation, and the slight thrumming of his heart didn’t do anything to help matters. It was annoying and quite worrying now that he thought of it. Did he need to go to the doctor? Perhaps Gilbert was right and he really was working himself to death.

A hand flashed in front of his face. “Uhhh, you ok?” The girl was standing slightly on her tiptoes to peer into Ludwig’s face. “You kind of just cut off mid sentence there.”

Ludwig shook himself mentally. “Yes, I’m fine,” he said brusquely. He needed to stop becoming so distracted. What was wrong with him today? A sudden flash of memory overwhelmed him for a moment.

‘And she was just such a bella! I couldn’t help but start chasing after her to ask name, and now we have a date set for Saturday night!’

Feliciano’s antics never ceased to confuse Ludwig. ‘But if you didn’t know her, why would you even attempt to speak with her? That makes no sense. You should have been introduced before you asked her for a date.’

Feliciano giggled at Ludwig’s apparent naiveté. “Mio amico, when you know, you just know! My heart told me she was the one for me!’

This sudden (and most unwelcome) realization caused him to recoil from the young woman slightly. She took a small step backward and smiled up at him. “Just making sure my hero’s fine!”

“Mein gott, not her,” Ludwig hissed under his breath before he could stop himself.

The girl, who had been looking back up at the balcony, turned back to him. “Hmm? What did you say?”

The man’s stomach clenched almost painfully as the sun glinted off of the girl’s locks of hair. It looked almost like she had a halo around her head with the way the sun was shining. Ludwig’s hand clenched into a fist at his side. “I, uh, asked what your name was.”

“Oh! Silly me, I completely forgot to introduce myself! My name is [Name].” She smiled and held a hand out to shake his.

“Ludwig Beilschmidt,” he replied, taking her smaller hand in his. The instant their skin met, he felt a slight jolt in the pit of his stomach and his heart seemed to jump into his throat. He glanced back up at the girl in front of him. Their eyes met for a brief second, and he felt the slight blush return to his cheeks.

He gripped her hand for a few seconds longer than was probably polite or necessary. Finally, he loosed her hand and she slid it gently from his. “Well,” she murmured a bit awkwardly. “I suppose I should go back in…” She began to move back toward the building they had been standing beside.

Acting once again on something almost like instinct, Ludwig grabbed her hand. “Wait!”

Quickly, she turned to face him again, an almost eager look playing across her features. “Yes?”

“Why were you up there in the first place?”

The girl giggled and replied, “I wanted to see what it was like to fly.”

Ludwig was a bit dumbstruck. “To fly? You wanted to see what it was like to fly, so you stood on the outside of a balcony,” he questioned.

The young woman blushed again. “Well, it sounds pretty silly when you say it like that, but yes. When the wind blows, I come out here, climb over the rail, and lean back until the sky is all I see. It feels like I’m soaring.” She seemed a bit wistful by the end of her explanation. She quietly stared up at the sky as another breeze ruffled her slightly messy hair.

Without warning, she was suddenly facing the blonde man. “Would you like to come fly with me?”

Without thinking, Ludwig instantly replied, “Yes.”

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He shook his head as he thought about that fateful day three years prior. Luckily for Ludwig, his boss was very forgiving. Plus, a huge order had just been placed, bringing sales back up to normal levels. It was almost a miracle.

Ludwig smiled to himself again, and fingered the small object in his pocket. The past three years with [Name] had brought him many adventures and so much joy. He couldn’t rightly remember how he had managed to function without her in his life. She balanced him. To be honest, she was his home. As long as she was with him, he was happy and safe.

“Ok, I’m back!” The girl slid back into the seat across the table from Ludwig. She smoothed her dress and peered at him curiously. “What did you want to tell me?’

Ludwig smiled as he noticed the small quirk of her lips, the way her hair moved around her face as waiters passed behind her, and the way the candlelight seemed to make a halo around her head.

It was time.

He slid his chair back and moved to her side of the table.

She looked up at him, puzzled, and asked, “Lud, what are you-“

“Shhhh.” He cut her off, gently placing a finger on her lips.

He dropped to one knee and she gasped.

“[Name], will you marry me?”