Love. A word Natalia had never had truly known. Ever since the day she was born, she had worshiped her older brother, Ivan. She had stalked him, devoted every second of her life to being with him. Natalia had always wanted to get married to him. But her brother didn't love her as she did. He totally rejected her. Ivan was absolutely terrified of his younger sister. Natalia knew that he didn't love her and never would, but she never ever gave up. Until Ivan finally had enough. Ever since then, she'd been living alone. Everyone she knew was scared of her. No one gave her a chance. All because of Ivan. He told everyone about his experiences with her, and they assumed, "If she scares a Russian, she must be terrible." And that was it. No one asked her side. And frankly, no one cared. She was that one person everyone avoided. But she got used to it after many years. Her older sister still acknowledged her, but she would always end up running away, crying. Natalia accepted her life as this. But finally, he came along.

…

Sunday

Natalia sat down beside a tree. Its long, thick branches extended out, blocking the dimmed sun from shining on her. It was the middle of October, and Natalia had decided to walk through the park. It wasn't like she had anything else to do. A normal day for her was quite uneventful. Wake up, shower, eat, work out, sharped a few knives, watch TV, attend a meeting if there was one, go home, and sleep. She looked down at her phone. No notifications. The latest activity was only a call from an unknown caller who accidentally dialed the wrong number.

A crisp, cold wind blew against her pink cheeks. Natalia hadn't brought a coat with her; she was used to the weather. Even though New York was very different from her home. She had a small apartment in the city, since she came to America often for the UN meetings. Yekaterina had offered her to stay at her apartment, but she refused. It wasn't like she needed a psycho living with her, after all of those years growing up together.

Natalia sighed, closing her eyes and leaning her head back on the tree's trunk. That's when she heard a loud voice coming from behind her.

"Hey Natty!"

Natalia quickly spun her head around, seeing Alfred. He was tall and had large arms. His golden hair shined even in the small bit of sunlight that was there. He had his bomber jacket on, a striped button up shirt under it, and a pair of blue jeans.

"Alfred?" She was quite confused. Natalia was certain he knew that she was not the most pleasant person to be around and she knew that he could very well be at some dinner party or a date. He was number one, Mr. Popular.

"How are ya?" Alfred gave her a bright smile, his white teeth practically sparkling as he sat beside her.

This is probably a dare or something… she thought to herself. There's no way he actually wants to talk to me... "I'm fine, thank you." she said quietly. "I'm just trying to get used to New York."

"Do you like it so far?"

"Yes, it's amazing. We have nothing like this in Belarus."

"What about the weather?"

"Well, it's pretty cold…"

Without another word, Alfred slipped off his bomber jacket, draping it on her shoulders. Natalia froze, her eyes wide as she locked eyes with him. Those beautiful sky blue eyes. Her cheeks turned a bright red as she faced him.

"Umm, thank you..." Natalia was unsure how to react to his friendliness. What is this? What is he doing? Selling timeshare or something?

Alfred laughed lightly, leaning back against the tree, just as she was doing. "No problem, Natty."

"Why do you call me that?" Natalia kept her eyes locked on him as he relaxed, closing his eyes.

"Natty? I don't know. I thought it was a cute nickname for you. Would you prefer to be called Natalia?"

"No, it's fine." Her cheeks were a dark red by now. C-cute? What the hell does he want? Maybe he wants to conquer my country! I don't stand a chance! I have to get out of here now!

Natalia took a deep breath before standing up and handing Alfred his jacket back.

"Where ya goin' Nat?" He looked up at her, confused.

"I'm going to head home. Thank you for letting me borrow your jacket. I'll see you at the next meeting." Natalia nodded at him before turning her back on him and walking away quickly.

…

Monday

"Hello sister!" Yekaterina smiled shyly at her younger sister. It was just after the meeting ended and everyone was flooding out of the room. Natalia watched as the different countries passed by her as she stayed in her chair. She liked to stay a little later after the meeting to gather her notes and avoid the traffic to get out of the room.

"Oh? Hello." Natalia turned around to see her older sister standing behind her.

Yekaterina nodded at her. "How have you been?"

"I've been good. And you?"

"Great! So, I was wondering if you wanted to go out to dinner with me, sister."

"Sure, sounds nice." Natalia smiled back at her sister. If you can handle it without running away, crying.

"Well it's five; do you think we should go now?" Yekaterina looked at a pocket watch Vash had given to her for watching Lilli once.

"Da, that would be wise. Let me get my things together really quick."

Natalia took her papers and binder, slipping it into her bag before standing up. She slid the bag onto her shoulder as they walked out together.

…

The restaurant was packed. A loud gather of murmurs surrounded the sisters.

The waitress sighed, holding menus in her hand. "We could like, sit you down with other people if you don't want to wait an hour."

As Natalia was about to decline the waitress's offer, Yekaterina cut in, enthusiastically accepting.

Natalia had to restrain herself from giving her sister a cold glare, for it would probably send Yekaterina running, breasts bouncing with each step.

She just sighed and nodded, following the waitress to their table. However, when they got to their table, she saw none other than Alfred Jones, sitting across from his brother Matthew. Natalia froze as Alfred looked up from his menu and looked at her again with his bright blue eyes. "Oh, hi Natty!"

Matthew slowly turned his head and saw her. His face turned even paler than it already was as he began to shake, scared to death of the Belarusian woman.

"Mattvey!" Yekaterina exclaimed as she saw the small Canadian man.

"Oh, hello Yekaterina." Matthew said in his whisper voice.

Alfred smiled at Natalia and tapped the seat next to him with his palm. Her sister noticed his gesture and lightly nudged Natalia with her elbow.

Natalia rolled her eyes, embarrassed as she sat down next to the American man. He looked over at her and winked, making her blush lightly. She sat up in her chair, staring straight across the table at her sister. Yekaterina was making light conversation with Matthew, with a small smile.

Natalia sighed, accepting it was just her and Alfred.

"Do you want to share an entrée?" Alfred asked with that bright smile of his.

Natalia looked over at him. "Are you sure? It might not be enough for both of us…"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I know you have a pretty big appetite. Don't you think you should eat your own so you can have a full meal? I wouldn't want to deprive you of a good dinner."

"Well, when you put it that way…" Alfred sighed and looked back down at his menu.

Natalia also looked at her menu. She wasn't actually picking what she was going to order, she was thinking intently, planning. He's trying to weaken me. Get close to me and then wait for the right moment to strike. I will not allow this to happen. I'll just stay as cold as snow. Just like I always have.

"So have you decided what to order?" A young and perky female voice asked the group.

Natalia looked up and saw the waitress. Unfortunately she had not decided what to order and was unprepared for answering the woman's question, so she looked quickly at the menu, attempting to pick a random meal.

Alfred noticed her panic and stepped in. "We will share the steak please." The waitress smiled and nodded as she wrote it down on her pad. Natalia glared at Alfred, specifically remembering her telling him she didn't want to share. He smirked and winked at her again. Natalia looked away from him, rejecting his gesture and rested her head in her palm. While Yekaterina and Matthew ordered their meals, Natalia felt Alfred poke her shoulder. She looked back at him, but he was unusually concerned. "Hey, Natty?..."

"Ya?" She was a bit worried. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. Natalia just wanted to put up a giant barrier between the two of them.

"Did you not want to share with me…? I was only trying to help you. You were panicking." The expression on his face resembled a hurt puppy. Natalia couldn't help but to feel guilty.

"No it's fine! We can share!" She smiled lightly at him.

His face instantly brightened, his frown replaced by his large smile. "Great!"

` W-wait… I just got tricked… Damn it! Natalia slightly glared at Alfred as he was talking to his brother.

A few minutes later, the waitress came back with their orders. Matthew ordered a plate of pancakes with maple syrup. Yekaterina ordered a burger, curious of what American food was like. Then the waitress set a plate down between Natalia and Alfred, holding a large, juicy steak. The waitress smiled at Alfred flirtatiously before walking back to the kitchen.

Alfred ignored the woman's attempt and looked at Natalia. "I'll cut it for you!"

"That won't be necessary."

"Come on! Please? I want to, Natty."

"I can cut it on my own!"

"What's wrong with me cutting it?"

"Look, I don't need your help!"

"Please let me do it…" Then Alfred did it again. The puppy eyes. They stared deep into her soul, knowing away at her heart until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Alright! Fine… Cut the damn steak…" She rolled her eyes and sighed, relieved as he looked down at the steak and began to cut it. Natalia closed her eyes, waiting, when she felt his finger poke her arm, again. Alfred held a fork up to her mouth, steak stabbed at the end. "Open up, Natty!"

Natalia raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to be fed!"

"Aww, why not?"

"I'm a grown adult! I can feed myself! We went over this!"

Meanwhile, Yekaterina and Matthew were watching intently at their siblings bicker.

"But I want to feed you!"

"I'm not a baby!" Natalia, getting irritated, grabbed the fork from his hand and ate the slice of meat. "See? Look at that! Isn't that a miracle?" She said with heavy sarcasm.

Alfred sighed sadly, picking at his plate of food with his fork. "I just wanted to help, Natty…" He murmured quietly.

I'm not falling for his fake innocence act again. It's all an act. Natalia continued to eat her meal in silence. Alfred wasn't talking either. That was strange for him, since he was a loud-mouth. Yekaterina sensed the tension and decided to lighten it.

"So sister, how is the steak?"

"Oh, it's fine. And your hamburger?"

"It's great! But to think… a poor cow died in the making of it…"

Alfred perked up at the mention of his American food. "But think; are vegetables as delicious as that cow?"

Yekaterina looked down at her burger. "I guess not."

"Bingo." Alfred laughed brightly, but quickly went back to eating the steak silently.

Natalia leaned back in her chair and sighed. "I'm stuffed."

Alfred looked over at her, smiling softly. "So the steak must've been good?"

"Yes delicious."

"I'm glad you liked it." He pushed his empty plate away and looked across the table, both Yekaterina and Matthew still eating. Alfred turned back to Natalia. "Can I drive you home?" He said, giving her that same bright smile.

I kind of feel bad about earlier. Maybe I should let him do this one thing. It won't kill me. Natalia nodded at him, smiling back at Alfred.

Even though it seemed almost impossible, his smile grew bigger and brighter than she had ever seen it before.