It was dark. Well, almost dark. The sun was setting on the horizon, reds and purples splattered against the ever-changing sky. You heard your feet crunch against the autumn leaves and kept walking, and you snuggled against your jacket as it was quite cold. The trees were tall and a few colored leaves drifted down and shifted in the wind. The houses that aligned the street were old, the paint cracking ever so slightly; you found the calmness of it all too heavenly. But no matter how beautiful it really was, it didn't do much to lift the mood you were in. A heavy feeling weighed on your chest and you sighed. Of course it didn't help, but the feeling of air escaping your lungs released an ounce of despair. For a while it seemed this is the calmest you have been.

Taking your eyes away from the sidewalk, you felt your phone buzz in your pocket. It made angry knowing exactly who it was. Why did he keep calling you? You should have brushed him off the moment he said hello to you. When he helped you. When you fell for him... No! You shook your head wildly, the one blonde curl that stood in the middle of your face brushing lightly against your nose. You refused to think that thought again. All he brought was pain. You never really loved him that much…

It kept buzzing and you had the urge to throw it at the cracked concrete if it wasn't for the fact it was so damn expensive. Couldn't he get the message? Growling at your phone uselessly, you gripped it tightly, ripping it from your pocket.

"Listen, Birdie, please-" The voicemail was desperate; you shut off your phone. You couldn't listen to what he had to say right now. All that you did know was that you wanted to be alone; forgotten this once.

The apartment where you lived was tucked into the corner of an intersection. Vines grew elegantly from the edges of the old building and around the complex were small shops, lined up shoulder to shoulder. They were all advertising for the upcoming holidays. It made you happy in remembrance of home, spending time with Alfred and Francis and sharing gifts. Only if this year though if it weren't for your plans with Gilbert…

No!

It was really too much for you to handle the thought of him. Why'd the thought of him have to be painful? You felt so weak. Running up the stairs to your apartment at the top floor, you managed to unlock your door with shaky hands, slam it shut, and sink to your knees only to let out a sob. Alfred always told you that you were a crybaby.

Slowly getting up from your cheap shag carpeting, you wiped the remainder of the tears from your bright blue eyes. Your vision was dreadfully blurry, but you made it over to the couch.

"What seems to be the matter, Matvey?"

Your heart jumps out of your chest as you sit down on a foreign figure. Seriously, how did you not notice the tall, Russian man on your living room couch watching you cry and stumble into your apartment?

"I-I-Ivan!" you jump off said Russian's lap, face beet red with embarrassment. Your hand lay over your chest, gripping the shirt and skin over your heart. Eyes no doubt puffy from crying, you hid them with your long hair and looked down at your feet with interest. Then it became quiet.

You dared to look up. But when swollen eyes met strange, violet eyes, the Russian man seemed to have the same childish grin plastered on his face you saw when you walked in.

Regaining composure you stood awkwardly in front of him, forcing words to form in your mouth. "W-what are you doing here? How did you even get in my house?" You hated how your voice softened and broke as you spoke.

"Oh, silly Matvey, you still have that little stutter, don't you?" he happily replied, his mouth turned upward into an unsettling grin. "Do you not remember allowing me to come into your apartment?"

"But… you never asked?"

"Of course not, Matvey!"

"B-but then how did you get in my house..?"

The Russian paused for a moment, and after another, his lips grew into a creepy smile while his eyes dripped with an uncomfortable stare. "You left your window unlocked, comrade!"

You stared briefly from him to your window and back again, shivering at his word choice. A chill passed through your body from a forceful breeze, and you turned your gaze slowly down to the floor.

"Oh."

"I apologize for barging in without asking for your permission first," Ivan said after an awkward pause, caring less that he broke into his neighbor's apartment through his window on the top floor. "But I figured I would wait until you arrived home from work to take you to the movies."

You were a bit surprised by everything right now; the problem with him, your neighbor breaking into your apartment and asking you to go to the movies with him. Which, bluntly stated, sounded like a date. Not that it could ever happen, nor that you wanted it to.

"I'm sorry Ivan, I'm not in the mood right now…"

"I wasn't asking."

"Ivan, I really… I just can't."

Before another word was uttered, you feel a hand clamp onto your right shoulder. You look up to see a Russian man with light blonde hair and suspiciously soft violet eyes towering above you, a bit too close for comfort. "It will help you feel better, da?"

No, you thought. "I suppose so."

The once threatening look he held changed almost instantly back to his childish smile. "Then what are we waiting for, Matvey?"

Abruptly grasping your hand, he leads you out of your apartment with your window thrown open and your door unlocked to the rest of the cold, cruel world.