It had been about a month since (F/N) had been assigned to working as Ludwig's classroom assistant and little by little things had started to become more odd. While (F/N) had proved to be an excellent teacher who could not only teach German well but interact with the students easily, sometimes she'd show up late and sometimes she wouldn't show up at all. Ludwig did want to talk to her about it since he hated tardiness but the head teacher, Mr. Rome insisted against it.

It was quite odd indeed. Whenever Mr. Rome asked Ludwig to simply ignore (F/N) not showing up for the day he had this uncharacteristically serious look in his eyes that told Ludwig not to ask questions. Whatever they knew, it was serious..

Through all the secrets and fake smiles, Ludwig tried to ignore everything that seemed to be happening to his assistant yet instead he just found himself becoming more curious. This girl who'd been tasked with helping him teach German to students, she was honestly quite captivating. The way she acted, the way she spoke and the way she taught were all captivating. She seemed to hang around Ludwig a lot despite his awkwardness around women, she stayed and ate lunch with him everyday she was in and thus Ludwig slowly became less awkward and uptight around her.

~~~

The morning had been quite dull.

Yet again (F/N) couldn't show up to teach and yet again had Mr. Rome told Ludwig to excuse it. Ludwig almost wanted to believe the Head was just letting (F/N) stay off yet knowing (F/N) for the amount of time he had, he knew she wouldn't just take time off like that. She liked to teach.

It was one day at school when the students were on break and Ludwig was free to roam the corridors a little while before the 20 minute period of break was over that he overheard something he maybe shouldn't have. It was when he walking past the nurses office and he heard the faint noise of sobbing, yet it was slightly muffled. He wasn't entirely sure what to do. The nurse was on her break and he didn't know whether to leave or go in and see who was crying and what was wrong with them. But then he heard a voice. A familiar voice.

"I can't keep doing this..." The quiet voice said in between sobs. It was (F/N), but what was she talking about, and who was she talking to? Was someone else in the room? "I can't keep living in that house with him, it's too hard.." (F/N) took a shaky breath.

"I know (F/N), I'm sorry just a little bit longer okay?" The second voice was Mr. Rome, but why was he talking to (F/N)? "You're saving up aren't you, you'll be able to move out and then he won't bother you, I promise," Mr. Rome had an air of sadness to his voice as the sobs of (F/N) continued. "I'm sorry I can't let you stay with me at my house, he'd know..." Who was he? Ludwig felt slightly bad for listening in, it was right. If (F/N) wanted to tell him what was wrong then she could tell him in her own time. He didn't want to find out like this, what ever it was. He walked away and made his way back to class, not hearing the rest of the conversation.

"I'm sorry that I have to keep coming here.." (F/N) muttered after sniffling slightly. Mr. Rome gave her an uneasy smile and patted her head lightly.

"No no, don't be, home isn't safe for you. And you can't get patched up there." He paused, as if struck with a sudden idea. "Why don't you ask Ludwig if you can stay with him? If he knew why, I'm sure he'd agree, you two do hang around each other a lot." (F/N) shook her head frantically.

"No I couldn't do that.. I don't want to get Mr. Ludwig involved." She said with certainty. "I'll be fine, just a little longer, I don't want to trouble any more people than I have." Mr. Rome sighed but gave (F/N) a smile.

"Stubborn, aren't you? Okay then, stay here as long as you want, you're not bothering anyone (F/N)." He said, standing up and making his way to the door. (F/N) nodded.

"Thank you Mr. Rome." She smiled and Mr. Rome left, closing the door behind him. (F/N) let her smile fall into a frown and she felt tears filling her eyes again.

She honestly didn't know how much more she could take. She'd been to the nurse's office a lot since she'd started working here and her body was beyond broken. How many more times she'd come back her she didn't know. Maybe one day she would be able to. She shook her head. No, she wasn't go to die. She was going to earn money and move out of her home and then everything would be okay..

She didn't need anymore help then she was getting; she didn't need to be a bother anymore than she was.

She didn't need to ask Ludwig for help. There was no need for him to get involved with something as dangerous as this and she didn't want to trouble him. Though Mr. Rome was right; if she asked Ludwig whether she could stay with him for a whiles, he would probably agree under the circumstances. Though he seemed strict, she knew once you got past the cold exterior he was nice. He just sometimes had trouble showing he cared. (F/N) sighed and flopped back down onto the bed.

She'd be fine without him.

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I swear some fluff'll happen soon, because I like fluff and this story needs some!
But other than that, I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading! Bye.