The coldness of the Russian winter was normal to the tall, strong Ivan, but for the first time in his life, he truly felt cold. He sat in a large red leather chair & stared into the fireplace. He used to find joy in watching the flames dance around like two lovers, but something was depriving him from that joy. Something very precious to him was now gone, a certain someone decided to leave him, shall we say, out in the cold. "What did I do wrong? It's what we wanted, wasn't it?" a small tear rolled down his face as the sound of the front door opened & slammed shut. Ivan could tell by the slamming door & chattering teeth, Gilbert still wasn't accustomed to the Russian weather. He quickly wiped the tear from his face & tried to welcome the Prussian with his usual smiling face. "How the fuck can you live in a place like this! This is where Hell freezes over!" The shivering Gilbert took off his wet gloves, jacket, & socks & stood right by the fire. "What's the matter with you? Did your sister try to rape you again?" Ivan was confused, he was smiling & doing his very best to hide the pain, but it didn't even take him 10 min. to figure something was wrong. "Why would you think something's wrong?" Gilbert stood with a demeaning smirk on his pale face. "Look I've been here long enough to know you at least a little, & never before have I come in & see you staring off into space with watery eyes & a sniffy nose." The Russian then gave up his act & slowly broke into tears with his face in his hands. Gilbert stood in amazement, never before has he seen this man shed a tear much less bawl his eyes out. He thought to himself. "What should I? I can't just walk off. Yeah I like the guy but I can't let him know or I'll never hear the end of it." Gilbert then let out a sigh & slowly walked to the crying Ivan & attempted to pat him on the shoulder; but before he could the Russian threw his arms around him & continued to cry. Gilbert found himself in an awkward position but decided to go with it, he cleared his throat, gently pulled him off, & looked into those watery deep purple eyes. "Just take a deep breath & tell me what happened. Can you do that?"

Still sniffling, the Russian sat up right in his chair & nodded. "Da." Gilbert pulled up the matching foot-rest & sat in front of the tear stained man. "So...where do I even start?" "The beginning is usually nice." Prussia tried to inject a bit of humor into the situation & it seemed to work. The bigger man chuckled & finally had a true grin on his face. "Well, I don't really know how to put this..." the Russian started to twiddle his thumbs & biting his lower lip. "D-Do you remember Yao?" Prussia thought for a moment. Why would he bring him up?

"Ja, I remember him. He represents the country of China at the world meetings & has the squinty eyes. He even used to come over here quite often." Ivan nodded looking depressed & even lonely. A long silence took over & this annoyed the Prussian a bit. "So, what does he have to do with any of this? You two are gute friends."

Ivan sighed & slumped back in his chair. "We were more than just friends Gilbert..." His eyes widened a bit, knowing were this was going. Ivan looked up with a sad smile. "We are...were, lovers."