1. "Dirty Little Secret" - All-American Rejects
The two men may have looked happy, but that was on the surface.
Sure, for Lithuania, the happiness went all the way through. For Poland, however, it was a different story.
Liet, you should so totally kiss me right now.
Toris, you're, like, the coolest person ever!
So I decided to tell you that I love you.
No matter what pretty words spilled from his lips, he knew that one day he would wind up hurting Toris or somehow splitting the two apart forever.
Just like in the past, with different people, in different situations.
It hurt him to know this, but he pasted a smile on his face and basked in Lithuania's love while it lasted.
2. "On My Own" - Three Days Grace
Prussia stood.
Prussia stood alone.
Prussia stood alone under the tall tree of his childhood days.
Prussia stood alone under the tall tree of his childhood days, crying.
What was left in the world?
He'd lost his love, he'd lost his land, he'd lost his people, and he would soon lose his name.
Prussia had lost himself in the blink of an eye, and now there was no choice but to move forward.
He knew, though, that if he moved forward and left behind his entire world, he would be moving forward on his own.
3. "Nine In the Afternoon" - Panic At the Disco
"Don't you ever wish we could just go back to the very beginning?"
"…What prompted this?"
"Oh, nothing…but, come to think about it…if we went back to the beginning, we might change something and we wouldn't be where we are today, right?"
Arthur blinked, nonplussed. "And where exactly are we today?"
"…forget it," Alfred mumbled.
"No, I want to hear this."
"…I was listening to the radio…" America looked almost guilty. "And this song came on, and it was talking about going back to the start of things and lovers and all this other stuff, but I wasn't really listening closely because I was trying to get home on time, and then I realized that what if we went back to the beginning and we changed something and we weren't lovers anymo-"
"Hold it-lovers?"
"Yeah!"
"Since when were we lovers?" Arthur scoffed.
Alfred's face fell, and he looked down, the slightest blush on his face.
Arthur smiled and ruffled the man's (really just an overgrown boy) hair. "You know I'm just kidding," he said with a peck to Alfred's cheek, which only served to make him blush even deeper.
4. "Brother In Conflict" - Voxtrot
Every time he glanced at his brother, he saw red.
The stupid, fat-headed American seemed to think he was so great.
Well, Canada would show him. He'd show him how wrong he was.
"How could you do this?"
America kneeled in front of his younger brother, helpless and injured. The flaming catastrophe that was once the White House stood behind him, lighting up the night with a blaze of fire.
"You don't get it, do you?" Canada hissed between his teeth. "I'm sick of you and your bragging, your 'higher-than-thou' attitude. People don't even know who I am any more because of you!"
"But Matthew…" Alfred gasped. "I thought…"
"Well, there's a new one."
Alfred didn't even notice the insult. If he did, he ignored it. "I always thought you'd be my brother in conflict, not my brother against me in conflict."
This seemed to surprise Canada. "Alfred…you don't get it."
The kneeling man looked up at his brother. "What don't I get?"
"I…I'm sick of being in your shadow! I hate how you separated from England, I hate how you're making me invisible, I hate how you're so popular…I have a voice too, you know! But because of you, no one hears it!"
And with that, he turned away.
America be damned. He'd find a way to make himself known, even if he had to burn a million other buildings to do it.
5. "Loose Ends" - Imogen Heap
"I can't believe we're over," Hungary hiccuped.
Belgium nodded, just as tipsy as the newly single brunette beside her. "You know, he doesn't deserve you."
"I mean, I thought we loved each other…don't people in love act like it? I can't help but think that we didn't…and then I wonder where it all went wrong…"
A solitary tear slipped down Hungary's cheek. She didn't bother wiping it away.
Belgium took another long sip from her beer. "Eliza, honey, he just wasn't right for you." She said this with a meaningful air that was someone lost in the way she was slurring her words. "You're alive, and he's not."
"Well, he's not dead."
"You know what I mean."
Hungary sighed. "I mean, this could be what I need…but I don't know…maybe we could work things out again?"
"No. You need to give it up and walk away. There's nothing left for you with him. You've divorced, split, gone for good. Nothing to salvage at all. Don't even try it."
"…I guess you're right, Clara…"
Still, Hungary couldn't help but doubt her best friend's words, and wonder if Roderich would ever let her back in his arms.
6. "The Chain" - Ingrid Michaelson
Oh, how he hated leaving his grandsons alone…poor little Veneziano was nearly defenseless, and Romano was no better off.
But his bones were aching for a fight, and he had business to attend to. So Ancient Rome bent down to his grandsons, and said "I have to leave for a little while. I promise I'll be back, okay?"
"But…are you sure?" Veneziano asked in his high little voice.
Romano looked angry. "Dammit, Grandpa! You said you wouldn't leave for a long time! You promised! Now you're leaving again…I don't believe you!" He huffed and turned away.
Damn. He could nearly feel the guilt trip coming on.
He simply ruffled their hair, and told them again, "I promise I'll come back soon. Please be good, okay?"
Veneziano whimpered. Romano mumbled something incoherent.
He had nearly made it out the door when he felt a tug on his cape/cloak. Looking down, he saw his youngest grandson standing there, staring up at him with tears in his eyes.
"Grandpa Rome…are you going to keep your promise?"
Rome sighed. "I'll do my best. Oh, and Feliciano? Keep the door locked tight until I get back, okay? Don't unlock it until I come back, okay?"
The little boy nodded. "I will, Grandpa Rome…"
He smiled. "Good boy. I have to go now. I love you, and tell Romano I love him too."
With that said, he turned around without so much as a second glance and walked right into the last battle of his life.
7. "Starting Now" - Ingrid Michaelson
Austria sat on his piano bench, at a loss for words. His fingers didn't move over the ebony and ivory keys like they usually did. He wasn't making music or any sounds of any sort.
All he wanted was to scrub his heart with bleach, get rid of the horrible feeling in his chest that he got when he signed those papers earlier in the day.
She hadn't even showed any emotion.
He still loved Hungary, but there was no point. She had left, and his house was so empty. He didn't feel the same any more.
He wished he could forget all about her.
He wished he could rid his house of the reminders of her-the frying pans in the kitchen, the flowers in the vase on the coffee table, all the little personal touches she's managed to put on everything in the house.
He wished that they had never gotten married.
At least if they'd never gotten married they wouldn't have gotten divorced and there wouldn't be a gaping hole in his heart.
Their house-my house, he reminded himself-felt so empty without her bright personality. It was dark.
Just like his heart.
His fingers hovered over the keys for a moment, waiting to play.
He shut the lid.
8. "LoveGame (Chew Fu Ghettohouse Fix) feat. Marilyn Manson" - Lady Gaga
"Let's have some fun, this beat is sick, I wanna take a ride on your disco stick."
Gilbert looked at his boyfriend out of the corner of his eye, a smile slowly creeping onto his face. "Hey, Mattie…"
"What?"
"Wanna take a ride on MY disco stick?"
Why am I not surprised? Matthew asked himself. He caught a quick flurry of movement and glanced up at Gilbert, finding himself very surprised by what his albino lover was currently doing.
Which was using the thin support beam between his living room and kitchen as a stripper pole.
"I wanna kiss you," he mouthed, "but if I do then I might miss you, babe…" He flipped upside-down, twirling around and wrapping his long legs around the makeshift pole.
…Matthew had to admit, the man had skills.
"G-Gilbert? What the fuck are you doing?"
There was no pause in his "show" as he responded. "What does it look like I'm doing?"
"It looks like you're trying to be a hooker."
This time he paused for a second, looking thoughtful. "Hm. I guess I'm doing it right then."
With a grin that could be described as either seductive or downright evil, he slid down and landed on the floor. Walking slowly towards the blonde Canadian, he mouthed along with the second verse as well.
"I'm on a mission, and it involves some heavy touching ya~"
Canada didn't know whether to be turned on or creeped out by how good at this Prussia was…he was leaning towards creeped out.
Until the man took off his shirt, that is.
"You've indicated your interest, I'm educated in sex, yes, and now I want it bad, want it bad, a love game, a love game…"
Oh god, he was going to kill Gilbert. The albino was taking off Matthew's own button-down shirt now.
"Hold me and love me, just wanna touch you for a minute…"
Gilbert grinned and trailed his hands seductively down Matthew's torso and dangerously close to his belt…
"Maybe three seconds is enough for my heart to quit it…"
"Hey, Mattie, I need a favor! Can you get me-"
Everyone froze as America entered the room without knocking. Canada could see his brother's eyes dart from the shirt on the floor, to the other shirt on the floor, to Gilbert pretty much straddling and/or groping Matthew.
Prussia pretty much summed everything up in two whispered words.
"Oh fuck."
9. "Bang The Doldrums" - Fall Out Boy
"Sorry! …Oh…hello, Roderich."
Austria looked up from picking up his books. "Elizaveta?"
"Um…yes?" Ugh. I'm probably the ONE person who would literally run into her ex-husband at the library.
Austria stood up slowly, carefully stacking his books as if he was avoiding her gaze. "So…how are you?" he asked stiffly.
She smiled slightly, trying to look somewhat normal and as if she hadn't spent the umpteenth night crying over their divorce again. "Oh, I'm doing fine. You?"
His face remained impassive as he answered. "I'm fine."
"That's good to hear."
A few moments of awkward silence passed between them, until Hungary said, "Well, I should go…"
She had just turned around to walk out the door when he called her back. "Eliza!"
She turned again. He blushed and glanced away. "I…I've been thinking…"
Please dear god tell me he's been thinking about the same things I've been thin-
"…and...Ireallydon'tthinkthatdivorcewasagoodidea."
If Hungary were especially religious, she would have been thanking some sort of higher order. Despite that, all she could get out was, "Huh?"
"Do you…do you want to go get a coffee and…um…talk things over?" The words seemed awkward but sincere.
Hungary felt her face break into the first true smile she'd worn in the past ten months. "Absolutely."
10. "I'll Make a Man Out of You" - Mulan Soundtrack
"Count off!"
"One~!"
"Two."
"I have something to say to the two of you…mainly Italy, really."
"Vee~ Germany, when do we get lunch?"
Germany sighed. "That's exactly what I need to talk to you about. Italy, you never come to training on time, you're always distracted, you never do what you're told-you don't do anything! How in the world do you expect to win against England and America and the rest of the Allies?"
Italy pondered this for a moment. "Well, I have you to protect me!"
"And what if you don't?"
Italy was silent. Japan considered answering, but decided against it.
"What if you're captured, all on your own, and I can't save you? How do you expect to get free? We don't have much time left to prepare, and you have absolutely no chance of defending yourself!"
Germany didn't notice that Italy was wandering off to play with a stray cat.
"You need to train, Italy! You're useless in battle! You don't know how to use a grenade, your troops move extremely slowly unless you're running away, you're weak-you're absolutely pathetic!"
At this point, Germany stopped in his speech and realized his small audience was pretty much gone.
"Hey-ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING? ITALY!"
A/N: I'm not dead, I promise! I'm trying to regain my muse…but it's not working…so I figured I'd at least make sure what little skills I have don't go down the drain while I'm not writing. :P
1. I have no idea why I thought of Poland and Lithuania…or why Poland is so OOC…it just happened, okay?
2. I honestly had no idea what to do for the majority of the song…I started writing in the second chorus. XD
3. Ohgodwhatisthis. Noooooo clue what my brain came up with. At least it's a happy song.
4. Aaaand now another not-happy song…I write too much angst!Canada. I should really stop.
5. Love the song, but it's yet another sad one. :P Clara was the first name that popped off the top of my head for Belgium, I doubt it works at all. I'm already writing something for "Appeal to Reason" about Hungary and Austria's divorce, so I guess this is kind of like a sequel to that.
6. I've already written a story for this! XD I don't know, I wanted to write something about Chibitalia/romano and Ancient Rome…
7. Basically Austria's version of song 5. I liked the idea of doing a companion ficlet.
8. ASDFGHJKL; THIS IS THE CLOSEST TO SMUT I'VE EVER GOTTEN, OH DEAR GOD. XD The "Chew Fu Ghettohouse Fix" is about 5:20 long or something, so I had more time to write, but I used the regular "LoveGame" in the story.
…you know, I might develop this later… 8D
9. And now it becomes a three-part ficlet story! XD I was inspired by the line(s?) "Best friends, ex-friends to the end, better off as lovers but not the other way around…"
10. FFFFFFFFFFF 8D A perfect ending, no?