A/N- Howdy! Blake Bishop here for chapter two! I don't really have much to say other than thank you to all of you who read/reviewed/whatever y'all did. Let's see...Important note! This chapter happens about two weeks after the first one, so don't let that confuse you. Now prepared to be subjected to fluffishness and hinted love triangles all over. = w=

Chapter Two

Alfred groaned. He wasn't completely certain whether he hated Ivan or liked him. Sometimes Ivan could be fun to be around, and other times Alfred just wanted to punch the Russian in the face. The American sighed, slouching across his desk as the teacher rambled on about some complicated math equation that meant nothing to Alfred, and tried to figure out the answer to the question that had been bothering him for two weeks now: Do I hate him, or do I think of him as a friend?

Well, for one thing, Ivan had a strange and twisted sense of humor that usually disturbed Alfred to the point of just edging around him and leaving the room, but sometimes his idea of a joke was actually kind of funny. However, a drunk Ivan was not a pleasant Ivan, and Alfred just slept out in the hallway those days, not in the mood to be molested or whatever it was that Ivan did when he as drunk. All Alfred knew was that Ivan was grouchy, his accent was thick, and the air got colder.

He sighed, his head lolling to the side as he stared absently at the blackboard. Lately Ivan seemed to have taken up permanent residence in his head, and while he normally would have found it disturbing that a man was constantly on his mind, he considered this an exception. After all, Ivan could murder him in his sleep. And enjoy it.

Another sigh passed his lips, and he let his head fall to the other side, staring now at the door. Maybe he was just over-reacting…

Class ended and, just as absently as he had been staring, he began to gather up his things to escape to lunch. Lunch was his favorite class, though he wasn't sure if it actually counted as a class, but it was part of school, so he assumed it was. As he ran out the door, he slowed to a walk when he overheard a couple students, Feliks and the weird Danish guy with the tiny hat, talking quietly to each other. He edged a little closer to them, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Did you, like, hear about that ghost on the second floor?" Feliks smiled lazily at the look of dismay that crossed the Dane's face.

A chill ran up Alfred's spine and he shivered, looking around wildly. His next class was on the second floor…

"Yeah, the boy that killed himself? I heard about that…he's like the male version of Bloody Mary, right?" Was the reply, only it wasn't as enthusiastic as Feliks would have liked, as the cross-dresser gave the taller blonde a dirty look.

Now Alfred was feeling sick. If it weren't for the fact that his roommate wasn't as forgiving as Kiku had been, he would have been running to fetch him in hopes of not being alone on the second floor. Of course, walking away sounded good…but he had to know the details. I think I'm a psychological masochist. He thought bitterly, edging closer still. The usual thing was all he got: stand in front of the mirror with a lit candle, chant the boy's name, and he'd appear to kill you.

As a twist, Feliks added while studying a perfectly manicured nail, "But I, like, totally heard that if you're, like, in the hallway near the bathroom alone, you can hear him crying. And if you hear him, then he'll follow you until you go to sleep and haunt you for, like, ever or something. Creepy, huh?"

It wasn't scary to the normal person, but Alfred…well, Alfred was already half-way to the classroom that Ivan was probably in (all he had to do was look for the one with the students coming out of it that looked like they were on the verge of tears). He peeked into the room, trembling, and asked meekly, "Ivan? Are you in here? I, uh, just…erm…wanted to see if you…needed…protection or, or something…on the second floor…after lunch?" He was a horrible liar when he was scared, as all he did was tremble and stutter, blue eyes filled with tears and fear. He wasn't afraid of ghosts! But…if he had to be alone anywhere near the haunted bathroom, he would probably burst into tears.

[---]

Ivan smiled cheerfully, although most of the people in his class (including the teacher) were obviously uncomfortable. It made the Russian happy. People acting constantly on edge and scared around him was something that Ivan was used to, something he enjoyed dearly. The only person he knew that seemed immune to Ivan's very presence (other than his lovesick sister) was Alfred. Although, there were times that the American showed obvious discomfort. Like whenever Ivan made a dead baby joke or got piss drunk or talked about how lovely his day had been after not-stalking Toris. Though, it didn't really surprise the Russian.

Most people didn't appreciate jokes about deceased infants or really cared to hear a play-by-play on how someone else had done school work and even Toris would leave the room when Ivan was drunk. Only the brunet would go all the way to his Polish friend's room while Alfred would just sleep in the hallway. The Russian had to wonder why the blond didn't just go sleep in another friend's room. He just couldn't imagine that someone as sunny as Alfred didn't have any friends who wouldn't mind sleeping in the same room as him. Because that just seemed...weird. In a way that would make Ivan feel kind of sad if that happened to be the case.

Ivan's previously cheerful smile slowly turned into a slight frown and he cursed himself. That damn Alfred! Here Ivan was, trying to be a good student and listen to the teacher nervously give him complements in hopes of avoiding any of his future Russian rage, and Alfred just waltzes into his thoughts! How annoying... Stupid Alfred with his upbeat personality and crummy fast food and Americaness.

Before Ivan knew it, his good mood had all but denigrated and the room had magically dropped several degrees. And not even the joys of the crying adolescents around him could cheer Ivan up. Luckily for the students (and the teacher), class finally ended. A good portion of them bolted out of the room as fast as humanly possible (along with the teacher) while several others walked slowly, as if Ivan would randomly attack them if they made any sudden movements. Which considering the vibes he was giving out, it wouldn't be too far fetched of an idea.

The Russian started to pack up his things when he heard an all too familiar voice and any of his previous anger towards the American disappeared. He turned around and stared at Alfred trying to understand what exactly he was seeing. Alfred looked like he was about to cry. Ivan's stomach dropped and he suddenly felt anger flare through his chest. Who would dare make Alfred cry? Only Ivan was allowed to do that!

Ivan held back the urge to go punch someone in the face and smiled with false innocence. "Why would I need protection? And why would I need protection at such a specific time and place?" The Russian laughed childishly, although he was growing suspicious of whatever was going on after lunch. If it required him to go and beat someone senseless to defend Alfred, he wouldn't mind in the least. After all, the American was his roommate and no one was just going to go around a pick on Alfred. That was his job.

Alfred gave him a dirty look, trying to keep from whimpering. He didn't want to admit to being afraid of a stupid ghost story…otherwise, Ivan might just lock him in the bathroom just to terrify him. He tapped the floor with the toe of his shoe, looking away. "I mean, well, uh, you might have a bunch of enemies or something. A-as a hero, I can't let you get hurt or anything…"

Even he knew that his excuse was horrible, and he was even more transparent as he edged to hide partially behind the door. He jumped and let out a loud yelp of surprise when someone grabbed his shoulders, and he ran into the classroom in tears. He hid behind Ivan and wailed, "Don't let it get me! I don't wanna be haunted for the rest of my life!"

Gilbert couldn't believe that Alfred hadn't heard him approaching, as the albino had made no attempt to quiet his footsteps, but either way, the sight of Alfred – the most troublesome do-gooder that he knew – cowering and sobbing certainly made his day. He was laughing so hard that tears came to his own eyes as he gasped out around his laughter, "Oh shit, Alfred! I can't believe you! Seriously! Letting a little GHOST story scare you?!"

Alfred looked past Ivan's arm, glaring at Gilbert and sniffling. "Shut up, you ass!"

Gilbert snickered, leaning against Antonio's shoulder while the Spaniard gave Alfred and Ivan his most apologetic smile. "Can't believe our local 'hero' is afraid of ghosts…"

The American tensed, blushing with embarrassment. "I-I'm not scared of ghosts!" He instantly regretted those words, as Gilbert got a downright evil look in his crimson eyes as a devilish smile crossed his face. Uh-oh. Alfred didn't like that look, not at all. He tightened his grip on Ivan's arm, wishing he could just un-hear the ghost story from earlier…than none of this would have happened. And, despite Ivan's intimidating presence, Gilbert showed no intention of letting it go.

"Then prove it. Stay the night in the school. Go ahead an' take a friend!" Gilbert smirked and turned away, waving at Alfred from over his shoulder. "That is, if you even have one."

Alfred emitted a quiet whimpering noise, but tried looking as brave as he could considering he was using Ivan's desk for support now. Weakly, he yelled after Gilbert and Antonio, "Y-yeah, well…uh, I can stay here! No problem! I don't need to drag anyone else into it with me!"

Ivan mentally rolled his eyes but continued to smile at Alfred. Obviously Ivan had enemies, but he somehow doubted that Alfred even really knew about that, what with the blonde's slightly oblivious nature. Not only that, Alfred was acting weird. Before Ivan could comment on his observations, the American made a loud noise and shouted something about being haunted. And then hid behind Ivan, which made the Russian question if he was loosing his touch or if Alfred was just one of those special cases and wasn't effected by his aura like almost everyone else was.

Then he heard it. He heard the voice that dragged the Russian from his idle thoughts and made him want to cause harm to whatever was unfortunate enough to be within ten feet of him. Gilbert. Ivan fought to keep his face from betraying any of his inner emotions, most of which were emotions that told him he should go beat up the albino. For some reason, Ivan detested Gilbert (which was putting it lightly). Probably because Gilbert had all of traits he hated about Alfred, but ten times worse and with none of the positive traits to balance it out. Plus he could be a douche, which was proven by fact that Gilbert was picking on Alfred for no good reason.

Though, listening to their conversation, Ivan was actually surprised. Alfred is afraid of ghosts? The Russian supposed it was almost cute, in a weird kind of way. Except Ivan's new discovery was ruined simply because Gilbert was there and being an ass by harassing Alfred. Ivan was the only one in the world who was allowed to pick on and scare Alfred, and Gilbert doing it angered him deeply.

Ivan waited until he was sure Gilbert was out of earshot and he gave the American a serious look. "You shouldn't let him bait you like that. It only encourages similar behavior in the future," he halfheartedly scolded, then sighed. Ivan noted that, strangely, Alfred crying wasn't nearly as enjoyable as he thought it'd be. It was downright heartbreaking. The Russian awkwardly patted Alfred's shoulder in best display of caring he could muster. "You don't have to go you know. You could just tell Gilbert to piss off," he said gently.

Alfred rubbed at his eyes and tried too look as brave as he could, only succeeding in shaking a bit more, this time from suppressed anger. He hated Gilbert! Well, maybe not "hate," but it was close enough to count, especially since now Ivan knew about Alfred's not-so-manly fear. He moved away from Ivan when his shoulder was patted, and looked away. "No! I've gotta do this, or else he'll just bug me for the rest of the month." He grinned at Ivan, cheeks flushed from his crying earlier. He hated to admit it, but when Ivan had tried to comfort him, it had felt…nice. Not, "big brother" or "best friend" nice, but the kind that made his stomach twist pleasantly and throat tighten.

"But to hear you say something like that…I musta looked really pathetic, huh?" He tried to ignore the butterflies dancing gaily in his stomach.

He put his hands in his pockets, kicking a desk lightly as he added, blushing, "You'll keep it a secret, right? The…the ghost thing. You won't tell anyone, will ya?" Alfred glanced at the Russian hopefully. He didn't want anyone else finding out about it, as he had more enemies than friends due to his nosy and pushy nature. It was bad enough that Ivan had found out, but at least the Russian wasn't picking on him about it, which was a relief.

He waited only a second to look Ivan in the eye after requesting his phobia be kept secret, a pleading look on his face. "I hate to ask ya this, but do you think you could stay with me tonight? I don't wanna be here all alone in a haunted building! Especially when there's a murdering ghost on the second floor!" It was a lot of work to keep from sobbing right there. Instead, he did his best to keep his expression as serious as possible…while giving Ivan the puppy eyes that he was usually bad at. However, the tears would probably help, not that he even knew that he was about ready to start sobbing again.

Ivan mentally snorted and decided that Alfred had to have looked ridiculously pathetic. Why else would I feel so concerned for him? But Ivan had to admit, Alfred being all embarrassed over his secret fear was slightly cute. And Ivan was pleased that he was apparently one of the few that knew one of Alfred's weaknesses, which meant perhaps he could use it against the American some day. You never know when you'll need to bend someone's will to fit your own personal wants and/or needs, after all.

Then, Ivan was assaulted by perhaps the most unfair attack he'd ever have used against him (save for the literal "hitting below the belt" attack). The look Alfred gave him could probably be considered cheating, with the eyes and the tears and the face. It made Ivan feel all...weird. He bit his lip and turned away. "Well, I suppose I could stay with you. I wouldn't want you to freak out and fall down the stairs or something," he informed the wall he was looking at. He faced Alfred and quickly added, "Because then I wouldn't have the honor of pushing you down myself."

Ivan smiled in his creepy childish smile, hoping that the American would buy the ruse. After all, he couldn't have Alfred realize that he was actually worried about his personal health and well-being. The Russian shifted his weight and dropped his usual act, deciding that his true concerns had successfully been hidden by his remark. "So where will we stay at?" Ivan asked with a slight smile.

Alfred smiled happily when Ivan said that he would go, and blatantly ignored the creepiness of the last part of the statement. Hell, Ivan could have told him right then and there that he ate the heads off of live bats and he wouldn't have cared as long as it meant he didn't have to be alone. He gave the Russian a bear hug, lifting him off the floor as he yelled, cheek pressed against Ivan's chest, "You're the greatest guy in the world!"

He released Ivan and smiled happily, obviously no longer afraid. He gave the Russian a thoughtful look, as though he hade just realized something. He patted Ivan's chest. "Hey…you're pretty buff…I thought you were fat, but…hm? Stay…?" He blushed a bit with embarrassment and quickly removed his hands from Ivan's chest. Alfred look to the side, cheeks red, as he mumbled absently, "Well, I think maybe we shouldn't…uh, y-y-you know, stay still too long…not that I'm SCARED or anything that the ghosts…could, uh, track us down and haunt us. But maybe the, uh, gym?"

Yes, he knew that the gym was very cliché, as everyone that stayed in the school hid there, but he had a good reason! One, it was wide and open so that he could tell if someone (or something) were to try and sneak up on them. And two, it was large enough where, should he and Ivan disagree for some reason or another, they could sulk on opposite ends and they wouldn't technically be alone. Albert smiled, looking quite pleased with himself. He glanced at the clock on the wall and whistled. "We better get going, or we'll miss lunch! C'mon!" He grabbed Ivan's hand, half-dragging his roommate out the door. One did not deny Alfred food, or else the boy would be deadweight for the rest of the day.

As it was, he was already making a mental checklist of everything they would need. After all, a hero was always prepared.

Ivan felt a weird twist in his gut and he choked slightly on the air. He knew he really shouldn't be surprised that Alfred hugged him, after all Americans were supposed to be over the top with their affections and this was Alfred, but Ivan still managed to be surprised. Maybe because he'd just threatened to push him down stairs and he was still being hugged? That was probably it.

Alfred let go and Ivan went from being an odd mix of both relieved and disappointed to being offended. The Russian made a face at the American's words. How could anyone think he was fat? Sure, he might have always worn heavy clothes and he was pretty big, but that didn't mean he was fat or anything. Alfred suggested they stay in the gym and Ivan gave a slight hum in agreement, not really caring where they'd stay. Then, the younger blond pulled the compliant Russian to the cafeteria. Not that he was really hungry or anything. American food generally sucked, so he could go a while without the urge to eat it.

When they reached the building, Ivan spotted someone who instantly made his face light up in childish joy. Toris is here! He thought happily and he let go of Alfred's hand. "You go and eat, da? I will stay out here and visit an...old friend of mine," he said cheerfully and gestured to the currently happy and unsuspecting brunet. Aw, look how happy and unsuspecting he is. I have to fix that!

Without waiting for a response, Ivan practically skipped over to the Lithuanian. "Toris!" He exclaimed and gave the brunet an affectionate (and unwanted) hug. Toris squeaked and started to tremble ever so slightly.

"I-I-Ivan! W-what are you doing here?" Toris asked, trying to force a polite smile on his face. Ivan smiled.

"I came here with my roommate, but I saw you and had to say hello," he explained with a slightly disturbing giggle.

Toris laughed along awkwardly. His poor, poor roommate, Toris thought with slight pity. He could relate.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence that mostly involved Ivan staring creepily at him, Toris decided to break it, "I-I guess I'll have to your new roommate sometime?" He tried.

The Russian seemed to contemplate the idea. "Hm, well I'm sure you might get along. After all, you're so friendly towards everyone and he is too. ...You might actually become good friends." Ivan said, soundly less enthusiastic than he meant to.

Alfred wasn't sure why he felt jealousy swell up in his chest when he saw Ivan hug Toris. He didn't really have a problem with Toris, as they had been good friends for a few months before Alfred had to move to California for a couple years, but right then, he felt very…unhero-like. And very unhappy. And like his heart was breaking.

He put a hand to his chest, a puzzled look on his face. He wasn't used to these feelings, and he was even more upset when he realized he didn't like them being that close. Not that Toris even looked happy, but Ivan did, and that was enough. Shaking his head, Alfred turned away, kicking at the ground. Maybe I'm just lonely. Yeah, that's it. I don't, you know, like guys…like that.

Alfred shook his head and hurried to the cafeteria, trying hard not to think about the growing rock that was settling in his stomach. Surprisingly, he only ate one cheeseburger, and was relatively quiet as he looked around the room, waiting impatiently for Ivan to get bored with bothering Toris and come and eat. It wasn't healthy, after all, to go without lunch.

To keep himself occupied, he counted people. Then the groups of people, then the dating couples, and finally, depressed by the fact that even Matthew was chatting with the weird Cuban guy that was always confusing him for Alfred, started counting the ceiling tiles.

Yup. He was perfectly happy being the only one that had no one to talk to. Aside from Arthur, and the brit was probably still pissed about the joke Alfred had made by accident. You compare someone's eyebrows to a hamster and you're branded for life. He thought with a grumble, slumping across the table and staring at the doorway hopefully. Of course, it hadn't helped his already rocky friendship with his older brother when Gilbert took the joke to the next level and threw a toy hamster at Arthur's face…and the toy had super glue on it. Yeah, he was certain Arthur still blamed Alfred for that one.

"…I'm seriously lame." He mumbled, putting his face against the table and lifted his head, only to let it drop against the plastic surface repeatedly with resounding "thuds." He made a startled sound when he felt someone lean against his back, and growled when he heard the annoying voice of Gilbert. Gilbert snickered, crossing his arms over his chest and looked over his shoulder at Alfred, who was giving him his best death glare. It wasn't anywhere near as intimidating as Berwald's though, so the affect was limited.

"I'm glad you admit you're lame." Gilbert chirped happily.

Alfred snorted, looking ahead of him instead of back at the grinning albino. "Go away." It wasn't often that he was grumpy, so not many people knew how to handle a pissy Alfred. Sadly, Gilbert was quite used to that tone of voice, and continued, confident he could run away fast enough considering the fact that he was leaning and Alfred was sitting.

"Nien." Was the only response the blonde got. Gilbert stretched his arms over his head and yawned, leaning further against Alfred's back. "So, lookin' forward to tonight, Al?"

"One, don't call me 'Al,' because we're not friends." Alfred ignored the noise of fake hurt that Gilbert emitted. "Two, of course I'm looking forward to it. It's just one more way I can prove your albino-ass wrong."

"Not albino!" Gilbert protested, grinding his knuckles against Alfred's head and only getting a whine of irritation. The albino – because, no matter how he protested, he was an albino – turned to face Alfred's back, leaning over him and grinning teasingly. "'Sides. I have more details for your little sleepover later." Alfred tensed. More details meant more trouble, and more trouble meant a higher risk of being caught – by a ghost, that is. Gilbert lowered his voice to a whisper, holding up a finger to indicate each new detail, which were actually more like a series of rules. "One, you can't just sit in one place. Gotta move around, an' Antonio, Francis, an' I are gonna know. Security cameras are awesome, huh? Just like me." He held up a second finger. "Two, you have to stay inside for the entire night. If you don't…" He looked thoughtful. "You've gotta, I dunno, praise me and stuff."

Alfred grumbled. He really hated these "rules" already, but only because he had fully intended on just hiding in the gym and not budging. And with as scared as he was of ghosts, not leaving the building was bound to be hard. "O-okay…anything else…?" Alfred inwardly cursed himself for letting his fear reach his voice.

Gilbert smiled. "Of course! Only two more, though. I'm not a rule-hog like West. Three, that's four…" he, after his moment of embarrassment for miscounting his own fingers, held up the correct number. "Three! You have to do 'Bloody Mary.' In the bathroom. ALONE." Alfred tensed and almost started crying right there. He didn't want his eyes getting clawed out by some ghost! He started to shake his head, but paused when Gilbert continued. "And lastly, if you fail to do any of the above, you've gotta…hm…" He scrunched up his face in thought.

Obviously, whatever he had planned was either forgotten in his joy of tormenting Alfred or he hadn't thought about it. Antonio, who was standing behind Gilbert, figured it was the latter as he munched boredly on a tomato and contemplated how to go about asking Lovino out. Again. Fifth time was the charm, after all.

The German grinned and snapped his fingers. He draped an arm around Alfred's shoulders and said in a whisper, "You've gotta kiss Ivan. With feelin'."

Alfred's face turned as red as the tomato Antonio was now choking on due to shock, and he stared at Gilbert as if he were insane. Well…more insane than usual. At least this time he wasn't dragging him around during a thunderstorm while both carried metal rods – for fun. "W-w-what?"

Gilbert grinned. "Whaddoya mean, what? I saw you earlier. You looked like you wanted to beat the hell out of someone when he hugged Toris, and now you're sulking. So, you can either listen to all the rules I set up for you and not make out with Ivan and risk losing your teeth, or I can tell the whole damn school about…your parents." The last part was whispered, and Alfred almost turned green. In fact, he was pretty sure his lunch was trying to rebel at that point. At Alfred's horrified and sick expression, Gilbert took that as his cue to back away and hope that he didn't get barfed on.

Thankfully, Alfred's lunch remained in his stomach but the urge was still there. He stared at Gilbert in horror. In his shock, he failed to notice the look of remorse that crossed the albino's face for a split second before being replaced by a cocky grin. Taking Alfred's silence as a "yes, I'll follow the rules," he turned and motioned for Antonio to follow him as he headed back to their corner table, far away from the shaking Alfred.

Antonio nudged Gilbert a bit. "Ah…amigo, I think that was a little…unnecessary?"

Gilbert snarled and dropped into his seat beside Francis, stabbing at the tray of food he had abandoned in favor of tormenting Alfred. Instead of feeling better though, he just felt worse than he did earlier. "Shut up…just, shut up. Damn him and his…weird…cuteness." He shoved a fork full of wurst into his mouth and chewed, practically radiating waves of frustration and irritation. Antonio shook his head slowly, unable to believe the number of flashbacks he was having from grade school.

"Only grade-schoolers treat their crushes like this…"

"I said shut up! And I don't have a freakin' crush on the hero dork! It'd be like dating pancake boy's evil twin! Now shut up, or I'm eating your food too!" Gilbert waved his fork menacingly at Antonio, then shot Francis a dirty look when the blonde smiled at him teasingly. "And you…say nothing. At all. Ever. Or I'll beat you with your Jacob Black stand-up." Francis' smile fell and his mouth snapped shut. Like hell he was going to let Gilbert break his things, especially when said object was a very expensive stand-up.

[---]

Ivan loomed over Toris while the brunet nervously chatted with the Russian, but Ivan's mind wasn't really on the conversation. He thought of how cute Toris could be. The brunet would tremble and stutter but never fight against Ivan, even if the Russian did something to cause him discomfort, like hugging him. Ivan idly wondered how Alfred would react to such a thing. He'd probably punch me in the face, he thought with mirth.

Not that Ivan would ever try showing affection to the American. After all, everyone he had shown affection to would attempt to get as far away from him as possible. Just like Raivis and Toris. They were the only two that the Russian had liked enough to actually hug and they had basically run away from him as fast as possible. Ivan could just imagine how badly Alfred would react if he tried anything. The American wasn't nearly as meek as the other two, and Ivan guessed that Alfred would deck him then leave. And Ivan really didn't want to loose another roommate, especially not one as ...unique as Alfred.

A jingle went off and Toris jumped in surprise. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a phone. "It's Feliks," he explained and flipped the phone open. Ivan hummed and stared off blankly into space while Toris talked to the Pole. Ivan didn't really have much of an opinion of Feliks, other than that he'd make a very pretty girl if he wanted to. Toris said a quick goodbye into the phone and looked at Ivan with poorly hidden relief. "Ah, Feliks is having a problem back at our room, so I-I have to go. I guess I'll s-see you around?" Toris said, though he sounded like that was the exact opposite of what he wanted.

Ivan smiled childishly. "Of course friend Toris! See you later, da?" The Lithuanian nodded and walked away quickly, trying not to break into a run. Ivan watched him go then sighed. Guess I better join Alfred. The Russian headed into the cafeteria and scanned it for the younger blond. He spotted him, but instantly narrowed his eyes when he noticed a certain albino German talking to him. He watched as Gilbert walked away and he headed up to Alfred.

"Privyet, Alfred," he greeted, then noticed that the American didn't look well. Ivan wasn't sure if he should blame Gilbert or the natural bio hazard of Alfred's American "food". The Russian cocked his head to the side and gave Alfred a slightly concerned frown. "You don't look well. Are you okay? ...Because if you're sick, I don't want to catch whatever you have," he explained, not wanting to sound like he cared. Which he totally didn't. He just didn't want to get swine flu or something. Yeah...

"Y-yeah…I'm…huh? Oh, yeah, uh…I'm cool…" Alfred mumbled turning away from the direction Gilbert had gone in and staring at the remains of his now-cold French fries. His stomach rumbled unpleasantly, but at least he was calming down now that Ivan was around.

"Now that Ivan was around" was…a confusing idea. It was impossible. Ivan didn't bring comfort, he brought nightmares of mass-murder and horrid onslaughts of dead baby jokes! And vodka, but Alfred didn't mind that part too much since he too had a habit of occasionally knocking back drinks…but no where near as often as Ivan.

He gave Ivan a weak and awkward smile as he stood shakily, his complexion slowly returning to normal now that he no longer felt like vomiting. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just, damn, I think they used some new oil or somethin' for those fries…" He laughed a bit and patted Ivan's shoulder as he grabbed up his tray and still-full can of coke. "Heh! With that expression, you look worried about me!" He dumped the food into a trashcan and tossed the tray on top of it, looking mildly irritated. Like Ivan really cared.

Alfred gave Ivan a thumbs up. "Lets finish school and pack up our stuff for the night, 'kay? I'm voting we get some snacks, drinks, and sweets! Maybe I'll even bring my TV and DVD player…yeah, we should be able to watch a movie or two before we start exploring for this dumb g-g-ghost…yup…" He shuddered. He really hated ghosts, and he hated the fact that Gilbert was making him do that whole "Bloody Mary" thing…alone! What sane person did that stuff alone? In a quieter and only slightly meeker voice, he added, "Uh…t-t-thanks for at least pretending to be worried." Blushing and flustered beyond belief, he hurried off in a panic.

Shit! What the hell's wrong with me? He pretends to be all worried – and, uh, epic fails on that part. What kind of person pretends to be worried then says they don't want you near them? – and I get all flustered! He thought, ignoring the fact that he was running to his second floor classroom alone despite his obvious worries earlier. This is some Commie mind-game, isn't it? I bet those Russians have Jedi mind powers or something!

Ivan was actually relieved that it was just the food making Alfred sick. Though, when he really thought about it, that wasn't a very comforting thought at all. Just another reason to never touch American food. The Russian frowned slightly, not happy that his ruse had apparently been seen through. Well, at least he doesn't seem to be too disturbed that I...sorta care. Ivan decided that this was a good thing.

The Russian listened to Alfred's plan and smiled, not really paying much attention to the words as he was the person saying them. Other than the whole ghost aspect of their night, Alfred almost seemed sort of excited for later. How cute. ...And Ivan did not just think that.

He gave Alfred a surprised look. Pretending? Ivan watched the American run away and wasn't quite sure what to feel. So the reason why he wasn't upset was because he thought I was pretending? But then he runs off like Toris, except with more blushing. Ivan decided that the blushing bit was quite cute, but he was still confused as hell. He wasn't sure if he had scared Alfred off or if he had offended the blond or what. Ivan sighed and gave the ground an annoyed look as if he wanted it to answer him or face the consequences.

When the ground didn't reply, Ivan turned around and headed for his next class. Maybe he could figure out what just happened instead of learning something.

-------TBC

Ichigo's A/N – Um…don't ask why Feliks was hanging out with Denmark. It's a convenient plot device? –lame excuse-