AN/ HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the one and only Artificial Starlight! I really hope you enjoy this that I got up at 6 am to write~!

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The hardest part of people like Canada and Russia dating would have to be the fact that it forced two very different levels of crazy to all come together in one big crazy semblance of a family. Between Belarus' knife-crazed personality, and America's hamburger-crazed one, it made attempted get-togethers rather difficult.

The same could be said for friends. After all, friends are the family you choose for yourself. Canada, despite his usual invisibility, had a good group of steadfast friends, who were more than willing to hang out or bail him out should the need arise.

Russia, on the other hand, didn't have many (any) people close enough to consider friends. So meeting Matthew's came as what one may consider to be a cultural shock.

It didn't help that they were immensely protective of the blond.

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"How many people was that, Matvey?" Ivan gasped, eyes watering. It still felt like there was a piece of cinnamon roll caught in his throat from when he had choked just moments before.

Canada, who had been watching him with concern, looked thoughtful again. "Um… I forgot. Let's see… Willhem, Belle, and Alfons. Gilbert said he'd come if you're not there, but that wasn't really an option. He'll probably show up later anyway –are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine." He lied, waving a hand for him to continue.

"Mathias, Freyr, Andreas, Tino, Berwald, Steven, Alexis, Katyusha, if she's not busy, and I think that's… oh! Lovino may stop by too. So that's… twelve?"

If Ivan had been foolish enough to continue eating, he would've choked again. It wasn't any easier to hear the second time. "I thought no one notices you." He accused sourly.

"Usually, but when they do see me, I get along really well with pretty much everyone. Besides, it's a movie night, it'll be fun! We'll have to get lots of snacks though. I found a pretty cool looking veggie pizza recipe the other day, maybe I could make one of those…"

As Matthew continued rambling on now about if he had everything he needed for the pizzas, Ivan resisted the urge to slam his head on the table repeatedly. Of everyone on the list, he only knew about four or five of them. And was only close to one; his sister. How on Earth was he supposed to survive a night of all of them crowded around the big TV in the basement, watching movies?

But the Canadian just looked so excited for the plans, that he just didn't have the heart to say he'd just turn in early. So he conceded defeat with a sigh, and asked, "So what're we watching?"

"We're doing a Lord of the Rings Marathon! It was Alexis' idea."

He raised a thin eyebrow. "A what?"

Canada looked appalled. "You've never heard of it?" His eyes widened when the Russian shook his head. "Well then you haven't lived! Well that just makes tonight even more special!"

He wasn't convinced, but by the way he kept on muttering about it, he figured it was something big at least.

Now if only there were less people coming, then maybe he could handle it.

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For the rest of the day, Matthew was hard at work, either in the kitchen, making all kinds of treats, or in the basement, making sure he still had enough room for everyone to sit comfortably. Ivan was left with the difficult task of calming down a hyper Kumajirou. Somehow, the bear had gotten into some extra maple syrup, and was currently running wild in the living room.

However, a sugar high is quickly followed by the crash, and within only a few minutes, Kumajirou had fallen asleep on top of the curtain rod, and Russia was left without anything to do.

"Matvey, this is not a meeting. Do you really need that much food? You could just order pizzas, I'm sure no one would be offended."

"Are you kidding? Did you not hear the guest list? Steven and Mathias are crazy when it comes to food. They could eat a pizza each! And I'm not going to blow a hundred dollars on pizzas."

Smirking slightly, Ivan snaked his arms around the Canadian's waist, and rested his head on his shoulder. "So you're going to blow two hundred dollars worth of groceries making them food?"

He could hear the growing smile that crept onto his face as he answered, "Exactly."

They stood there like that in the comfortable silence for a while, before Matthew spoke again. "Now make yourself useful and cut up some tomatoes, would you? Diced, if you can."

"Da." He frowned, but moved to comply anyway. "You know, your friends are lucky to have you. Not many people would go to this much trouble for a movie night."

"…Oui."

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It was just as noisy as he'd expected. A dozen of Matthew's friends, and some were the rowdiest nations alive. The Nordics could attest to that, being around Mathias for all hours of the day. He just hoped that he could fall asleep on the big couch with the Canadian before anyone got too crazy.

But apparently everyone else had other ideas.

"No way are you two allowed to sit together for this." Steven had declared as everyone began making themselves comfortable.

"Aw come on Aussie! Let 'em have their fun, why don't you?" Alexis argued, ruffling her brother's hair.

Fun? Ivan was confused.

"I don't see any harm in them sitting together." Tino agreed.

"No way!" Mathias added. "They'll end up making out throughout the entire thing! It's gross!"

"Not to mention it would bring shame to the 'Lord of the Rings' name." Belle murmured thoughtfully, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

A sudden silence fell over the group for an instant, again, confusing the Russian, especially when all heads snapped to him, looking at him strangely.

"Time to move Ivan!" The Finn declared, leading the charge to move him over to the loveseat.

Hadn't he just been arguing for him? Either way, once he and Matthew were far apart, the food was produced, and someone hit play.

For a while, there were no sounds except the movie, and the sounds of people trying to eat without making too much noise. Occasionally, Lovino would move from his spot in the rocking chair on the farthest wall to get food, before hurrying back.

But the silence quickly melted into comfortable conversation, quietly so that anyone who just wanted to watch, still could.

Ivan was more intrigued by watching everyone else than the movie. Most of these people couldn't get along with each other for any reason. There was no way a movie was enough to make them get along. But Norway and Denmark hadn't gotten into an argument yet. Lovino hadn't yelled at anyone for being stupid. Most importantly, Gilbert hadn't said anything about his huge ego.

He took the first opportunity to leave, when a bowl of chips emptied, he snatching it up, and went back upstairs. The atmosphere was terrifying down there.

"Is something wrong Ivan? You're not mad that we moved you, are you?" He turned to see Finland standing at the top of the stairs to the basement, watching him curiously.

"Нет, it's just a little strange to see everyone… like that."

"We do it for Matti. He hates to see everyone argue, and besides, we can get along really well. Most of the time it's just easier not to. By the way…" He suddenly got a very dark look in his normally bright eyes. "If you hurt him, I'm not going to ask you to find out what we'll do."

Then he was all smiles again, returning to the party downstairs, leaving Ivan reliving memories of the Winter War with a shudder.

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As it turned out, everyone had something to say to the Russian about Matthew. Even Alfons had tossed him an 'I'm watching you' signal as he left, before jogging to catch up with his siblings.

Once the last guest left, (Gilbert, of course) at about three am, the two remaining sat on the couch in the basement, exhausted.

"Your friends were quite protective of you tonight, Matvey." Russia murmured sleepily.

"Oh yeah? They do that sometimes." He was already curling up to Ivan's side, ready to sleep right there. "Why? Were you intimidated?"

"Da, very." He was only half-joking, really.

"Well…" He broke off mid-thought with a wide yawn. "That's what friends are for, I suppose."

"Sure." Just as they were about to fall asleep, he added, "I'm never doing that again though."

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Thanks for reading~!

Holy crap on a cracker! I didn't think I'd get this written in time, but it's done! –Laughs maniacally-

Hope you enjoyed it!