Francis sat on a bench at his local park. As he watched Ludwig's car disappear over the horizon, a tear slipped down his cheek. A moment later, he broke down, tears flowing freely and hands scrunched in his curly blond hair.

Once again, Francis had been rejected.

Francis flirted with a lot of other nations, but only two had he ever truly loved. Both had easily rejected him without a second thought.

"Mon Dieu," he sobbed, "why must I have so much trouble with love? Have I done something to anger You? Aren't nations Your children, too?"

After about fifteen minutes of weeping, Francis got up and walked to his car. The drive home was short'; he wished it was longer because he wasn't looking forward to his empty house. As he unlocked the car door and stepped to the porch, his beautiful, sky blue eyes and his beautiful, passionate heart were full of sorrow.

He walked into his kitchen. The light on his receiver was blinking, indicating that he had missed calls and voicemails. He walked to his phone and listened to his voicemail lady. He had two missed messages.

"Hey, mi amigo! Antonio here! I thought maybe this weekend we could go out to our bar with Gilbert and catch us some chicas… or Italians... Anyhow, call me when you can!"

"Yo, broja, this is Gilbert. I heard you went to the park with mein Bruder. How did it go? What did you guys… do? He won't tell me anything. He just stormed up stairs and called Feliciano. I tried listening to the other end of the landline, but it was just Feli describing the different kinds of pastas. I don't know how Ludwig puts up with him. Anyhow, his face was red when he walked in. Ludwig's, not Feli's. Feli isn't here, thank goodness. Whatever. So call me when you can, I want to know about your-"

At that, Gilbert's voicemail cut off. It didn't matter; Francis had heard all he needed to hear. He called Antonio first.

"Hey there, Antonio. I heard your voicemail. How's it hangin'?"

"I am well, amigo. You sound dejected… are you okay?"

Francis had always trusted Antonio with his secrets and matters pertaining to his true love. Gilbert and Francis joked, but they didn't have such heart to heart conversations.

"You know how I had been planning to ask out Ludwig? Well, I saw him at the park, so I sat down with him and I asked him out. It did not turn out so well… he rejected me. He is about to ask out Feli. He said, 'Anyhow, I thought you and Arthur had a thing?' Whatever. I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious that Arthur turned me down, too… I mean, he yelled at me that he would never go out with me after I made some sort of suggestive comment. It was in front of everyone! I went home and cried for weeks!"

"I remember that. That was the rudest thing I had ever seen from him. Well, a nice lady will help you take your mind off of it, that's all. We will plan to be at the bar at… uh… 7:30 on Friday night, si?

"Sure, mon ami. You always make me feel better. Thank you. I will text Gilbert; I need to talk to him anyways. I will tell him. Talk to you later, Antonio!"

"Adios, big guy. Hope you feel better, Francis."

With that, Francis sent Gilbert sent a text telling him the pertinent details.

To: Gilbert

From: Francis

Hello, mon ami. First things first: I just saw your brother at the park and I was flirting with him. I embarrassed him, but that was the intent. ;) So Antonio and I will be at the bar at 7:30 Friday. You should come.

To: Francis

From: Gilbert

Yeah, I'll be there. Aww, is that all that went on? I was hoping that you guys… did it. That would be so funny, since he just asked Feli out. See you then if not before, mien Freund!

After setting his phone down, Francis walked into his living room. He was about to turn on the TV when three other nations popped from behind his couch, yelling "Boo!"

Francis' sons and his former lover all came out from behind the furniture: Alfred, Matthew, and Arthur.

"We've been waiting here for over an hour," Arthur said, "for you to get home and come into the living room. What took you so long?"

Before Francis could answer, Alfred piped up.

"We heard your whole conversation with Antonio. Dad started crying when you told him about him yelling at ya. He blabbed about how he didn't mean it like that, and almost gave us away. I'm surprised that you didn't hear him."

"Alfred, you bloody git, you weren't supposed to tell him that!" Arthur smacked Alfred upside the head, and when he looked at Francis, he blushed.

"I…" Arthur stammered, "I didn't mean it the way you took it. I was just tired of you bugging me while we were at meetings. I mean, I don't like to have to cross my legs the entire time because of your… suggestive comments. I am sorry. I have felt terrible about the incident this whole time."

Upon hearing this, Francis' face turned into a grin. "So you don't mind? I always thought you hated me."

This time, Matthew spoke up. "No one could hate you, Papa. You are the most loving of all countries."

A group hug ensued. They all sat down in a circle on the floor, and had the best time playing Apples to Apples. About an hour later, it turned out that Alfred had won.

"Yeah! The Hero always wins!" This went on for about another hour.

Too soon, the children had to go to their respective homes. After they left, Francis turned on the TV and Arthur disappeared upstairs. When he came back down, he was dressed in nothing but a skimpy little nurse's outfit.

"Love, are you feeling bad? Why don't you come upstairs and I can check your vitals?"

Francis, immediately picking up on the sensual nature of such a suggestion coming from Arthur, sauntered to him after turning off the TV.

"If you do that, mon amour, I will be glad to return the favor."

At this, Arthur grabbed Francis' hand and led him upstairs…..