The next day, you find out exactly what Ludwig's brother is like.

"Hey! Bro, I'm home!" an obnoxious voice calls throughout the house. (brother's name) runs into the foyer, trying to see the mysterious man. You, of course, follow him. "Whoa, West! Who's the kid? He's touching to awesome me without asking! So not awesome!" He attempts in vain to shake of the child now attached to his leg.

"Shut up, Gilbert," Ludwig says, pinching between his eyes. "You've been here five seconds and I already have a headache."

"Why'd he call you West?" you ask. There's complete silence.

Gilbert laughs, breaking the spell. "Bro, you haven't told her? That's so un-awesome!" You notice this guy is quite fond of the word "awesome".

"No, bruder, I haven't. How do you find a way to explain something like that?" Ludwig asks.

You're starting to get confused. "Tell me what? What do you need to explain?"

Gilbert cracks up again. "Come on, West, tell her. I wanna see this!"

You tilt your head to the side in confusion as Ludwig sighs. "Okay, _, I wasn't planning on telling you yet, but… I'm actually… Germany," he finishes.

You stare at him blankly, with a look that says clearly: "Waaaaaaa…?"

"I'm the personification of Germany, living in America because he's an idiot, and this is my brother, Prussia." Gilbert sends him a look. "I'm sorry. My brother, the awesome Prussia."

You shouldn't believe him. You don't believe him. But then you remember something, something your dad showed you a long time ago…

"See, _?" he said, pointing to the computer screen. "This is Hetalia. The characters are all personifications of countries. If they existed, I think you'd like Germany. He's got a serious personality that would complement yours perfectly."

"Dad, please stop trying to set me up with fictional characters," you mumbled, trying to go back to reading your book.

"But sweetie, it's true!" he exclaims. You roll your eyes.

"I believe you," you tell him, blushing lightly as you remember your dad's exact words.

He stares at you in shock. "R-really? That was unexpected. I thought you would be running away the second I told you."

You shake your head. "My dad told me about you all once. I blew it off then, but you know, there's always a chance I guess," you explain.

"Aw!" Gilbert, a.k.a. Prussia, whines, "I was expecting her to scream or something! This was totally a waste of my awesome time!"

"You can't own time," you say smoothly, "and if you could I doubt you could make it awesome."

"I could! I'm the awesome Prussia!" he protests.

"Awesomeness isn't contagious," you retort.

"Well anything that belongs to me is awesome!"

"Again, you can't own time."

"I can! I'm just that awesome."

"'Awesome' is a relative term. Do other people think you're awesome?"

"Of course!"

"Really? Who?"

"Antonio, Francis, my friends..."

"Friends are required to say you're awesome."

"No they aren't!"

"Really? So would you be friends with them if they didn't think you were awesome?"

"Everyone thinks I'm awesome."

"I don't. And that didn't answer my question."

"My friends have to think I'm awesome. That's part of being friends."

"Do you think your friends are awesome?"

"Sometimes…"

"Then are you really their friend?"

"… sometimes… But that doesn't mean anything! I'm still awesome!"

"Again, awesomeness is relative. Who are you awesome compared to?"

"Everyone!"

"Really? You're more awesome than the smartest people alive who made the world you live in possible?"

"Yes."

"The people who gave you a life, no matter how sad it is?"

"My life is not sad!"

Where do you live when you aren't here?"

"At school. In a dorm."

"Is that awesome?"

"Yes!"

"Then you're admitting that everyone who lives in a dorm is just as awesome as you?"

"NO! Yes! Maybe…"

"I rest my case."

"Hold on just a second! I'm way more awesome than my roommate! He goes back to his mommy every weekend!"

"You go back to your brother every weekend. What's the difference?"

"Um, uh…" You shoot him a look that says "There is no way you can win this argument, so just give up".

He shuts his mouth, and goes to sulk in the living room. You smile smugly, and turn to talk to Ludwig, finding him staring at you slack-jawed. "W-what?" you ask, suddenly nervous. What if that wasn't the right thing to do?

But then he starts to laugh. As in really laugh. He almost doubles over, gasping for air, and clapping loudly. "That… was amazing!" he exclaims, regaining some of his composure. "In all his life, no one has ever been able to get my bruder to admit to himself he wasn't the best thing to ever hit the Earth… and you just did it in two minutes!"

You blush, and wonder why you're so happy to hear him proud of you. "It was nothing… I used to… I used to banter around like that with my dad… he always beat me at first, but eventually I got really good at it, and…" You try not to cry, remembering how you lost your words when he died, and your heart with your mother. You don't think you'll ever be able to love again after that.

He looks at you, gaze turning serious. "Do you want to talk about it or… something?" he asks, rubbing his arm nervously. You hesitate, then nod. He turns to (brother's name). "Do you want to go watch TV with Gilbert? I'm sure he could use your company right now." He nods, and runs off to go play with his new "friend".

Ludwig leads you over to the bench in the foyer. "I hate myself," you whisper, "I'm not worthy to be called his sister."

"What happened?" he asks, obviously not sure of how to comfort you.

"I-I… I left him. I left my brother when they died," you admit, bursting into tears.

"What?" he asks unbelievingly.

"Not physically, but mentally. I was just… gone. I lost my words, and my will to live. For almost a year, my neighbor had to take care of him while I went through the motions; going to school, coming home, eating, sleeping. That's all I did. He didn't have me when he needed me most. But still, when I managed to pull myself out, he was there, ready to give me a hug and forgive me for everything. I don't deserve him."

"Wait…" he says, "you pulled yourself out of depression? How?" Ludwig asks.

"I saw him one day, on my way home from school. To be honest, until then I had forgotten my brother even existed. But the moment I noticed him staring at me through a window, I knew I needed to get better. So I practiced smiling; over and over again until the smiles felt almost real. Then I was ready to see him."

"So you got yourself completely out just like that?"

You shake your head. "Not completely. No matter what happens, I can only feel a kind of passive happiness or nostalgia. Nothing stronger. The only time I really feel anything is when I'm in pain or sad for some reason. It's so bad I'm almost sure if I didn't have to set a good example for my brother I'd be cutting by now. I can't seem to pull my heart out of depression, no matter how hard I try."

As you start to sob, shaking with sadness, he immediately pulls you into a hug. You hardly notice, except for that you're much warmer all of a sudden. You don't know how long the two of you stay like that for, but eventually your tears subside and, after cooling down, you join Gilbert and (brother's name) watching some little kid cartoon that Gilbert enjoys more than your brother.

As everyone laughs at his childlike enthusiasm, you actually start to feel at home in the house. Maybe living here could turn out even better than you'd hoped…

The last week of school is finally here, and you're relieved that means not having to do any real work.

Unfortunately, Ludwi- er, Mr. Beilschmidt doesn't seem to have gotten the memo, working the kids harder than other under the pretense that they'll "probably not get out of bed all summer, so they might as well work out now!"

You smile, happy, for once, that your leg is hurt. Now that he knows about your eating problem, he doesn't want to make you run anyway, but this is the perfect excuse.

So, while all the kids who laughed at you before run mile after mile after mile, you sit in the corner, sketchbook out, drawing picture after picture after picture. Once school lets out and there's no one to get suspicious, you plan to draw a portrait of Ludwig, but for now you'll have to satisfy yourself with other things, like birds and flowers.

Things go on like this for the rest of the week, until finally it's graduation day! As you don your cap and gown, you feel tears threatening to spill over. As excited as you are to be able to not have things be so awkward between you and Ludwig, this school was probably the only thing that kept you from death when you had nothing to live for. You're slightly reluctant to leave it.

You notice Gilbert and (brother's name) sitting in the rows of chairs, and wave subtly. Gilbert got off of school yesterday for a few weeks, so he was thankfully able to chaperone your little brother here. The two of you have actually developed a pretty decent relationship after the "awesomeness" conversation, although you get along with Ludwig much better

Finally, the speeches, ceremonies, etc. are finished, and you get to throw your caps in the air. Smiling, you realize that it's officially time to start the next chapter of your life, whatever that means.

As much as it hurts to think about, you know you can't live with Ludwig forever. The two of you are already so close, even after only knowing each other, really knowing each other, a week. You can't even imagine life without him anymore.

But now isn't the time to deal with this. You already decided you weren't going to attend the after-party the school had planned, and that Ludwig would pick you up near your old house, like he's been doing each day this week. Every day, you take more and more of your meager possessions over to his place, and tonight, with the help of Gilbert's van, you'll finally be finished.

You wave to him as he turns around the corner. He waves back with a smile. You offer up a grin of your own. It's fake, but at least it's there. You think that'll be what you'll have to settle for the rest of your life.

"Hi," you mumble, climbing into the passenger seat.

"Where's (brother's name)?" he asks.

"He went with Gilbert," you explain.

He frowns. "So you were standing out there alone? It's getting late…"

"I'm fine, right?" you point out.

He nods. "Just try to be careful. I don't want to lose you." He blushes and looks away.

You find yourself blushing, too, although you don't know why.

Germany's POV

I can't believe I said that! Who am I trying to become, Feliciano? But it's still true nonetheless…

It's completely silent in the car. I sneak glances over at _, but her face is almost unreadable. Except… is she a little red? Could she be mad at me for being too protective?

"U-um," I mutter, breaking the silence. She looks over at me, (e/c) eyes widening curiously. "Y-you aren't mad at me, right?" Why am I asking this?

"No!" she immediately assures me. "I'm definitely not mad. It's just… well, I don't really know what I'm feeling. Surprisingly, though, it doesn't feel bad…"

I raise my eyebrows. "Could you be…"

She cuts me off with a swift shake of her head. "No. It's not strong enough to fix my…problem. But it feels like it has potential, if something could just set it off." I can tell she's struggling to understand the feeling herself, and that she wants to be able to place it badly. She looks so adorable, lips pursed, eyes narrow in deep thought, that I almost want to… no! I need to get a leash on these feelings! Why do I feel this way anyway?

"L-Ludwig?" she asks sheepishly, and I realize I've been scowling. My eyes soften at her worried expression.

"Oh, sorry. I'm just... trying to do the same thing as you, I guess. I don't know what I'm feeling right now, either," I explain.

"Well you know you can always talk to me about it," she says softly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I stiffen on the contact, and she removes it, looking severely… disappointed? We both say nothing until we reach my house, where she immediately runs up to her room. That's when I remember. The graduation present! I run after her, and catch the door just before it closed. "Hold on just a second! I've got something for you first," I say, pulling to door open.

"W-what…?' she asks, and I notice she looks like she's about to cry.

"Graduation. I got you a present," I repeat.

"You didn't have to-" she protests, but I cut her off with a finger on her mouth. Her eyes cross as she tries to look at it, and it makes her look even cuter.

"I know I didn't have to. I did anyway. Now let me lead you downstairs, or I'm going to have to drag you," I say lightly, grabbing her arm and pulling her downstairs.

When we reach the kitchen, I sit her down at the table, call over our brothers, who were sitting in the living room playing a video game on the fancy new console America sent me. That idiot knew I wouldn't use the thing!

Once everyone's seated, I pull out a giant package from behind the fridge, followed by a smaller one for (brother's name). He instantly grabs it and starts pulling off the paper, but she just kind of stares at hers for a minute, before gingerly pulling off the tape and opening it. "This is…" she gasps, staring at the items in front of her.

"Countries get better salaries than teachers," I explain.

She puts her hand over her mouth and tears start to fall. "I'm going to… art school?"

"Only during the day. I'll watch (brother's name) while you're gone, since America finally had me quit that stupid teacher's job I took when I lost a bet."

"You had to become a teacher because of a bet?" she asks, "That must have sucked."

I nod. "It wasn't fun. But anyway, the school is actually in downtown (town name), which is only a few miles from here. You can still live at my house while you attend."

She nods, then does something really unexpected: jumps out of her seat and gives me a big hug. "W-w-w-what are you doing?" I ask, sounding just like Kiku. My face is even red.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," she mumbles, before letting go. She stares at the application form, sitting on top of a pile of new art supplies from the supply list, and smiles. It's a small smile, but I can tell right away it's real.

Your POV

When Ludwig stiffened up at your touch, you thought he didn't want your help. For some reason, the very thought made you so sad you could hardly bear it. But when he pulled you back downstairs and gave you all that amazing stuff… you was happy. Actually happy, for once in your life.

After present-opening, you ate cake, and (brother's name) went to go play with the new toy cars Ludwig got him. The kid's being spoiled now, not that you can't say he deserves it.

Gilbert went with him, leaving Ludwig and you alone at the table. "Thank you so much," you repeat, wiping away the stray tears. "I-I never thought I'd get to… I'd actually completely forgotten about my dream, what with having to take care of (brother's name) so much… but… thank you."

"It's really no problem," he insists, leaning over and wiping away a tear you missed. "It's just nice to… see you… happy." He blushes and looks away.

"Why do you care so much about my happiness?" you find yourself saying, "We only met a week ago."

"I-I…" he seems to be struggling with how to respond. Finally, he decides on something you don't understand. "Ich liebe dich, _. That's why." You don't know what he means, but then you realize you distinctly remember your grandmother, who was German, saying something like that to you as a child…

"Grandma!" you yell, sprinting into the house, which smells of freshly baked cookies and perfume.

"Hello, my little _! How nice to see you!" she exclaims joyfully, pulling you into a hug.

"I love you grandma," you say, happy to see her again.

"Ich liebe dich auch," she responds softly, planting a kiss on your head. You smile innocently up at her, never realizing that one day her, and your smiles would one day disappear.

Your eyes widen as you realize what Ludwig just told you. "R-really?" you ask.

He seems surprised you understood, but looks down. "Yes…"

In that instant, you suddenly feel something, rising from the center of your being. It threatens to overflow. You realize this is all the happiness you'd lost when they died, come back twice as strong. "I-ich liebe dich auch," you whisper, using your grandmother's words. He lifts his head back up, even more surprised that you responded the way you did, and smiles larger than you've ever seen him smile before.

Germany's POV

I could hardly believe my ears. Seconds after realizing my true feelings toward _, I found out she felt the same! And what's more, the moment I turned to face her, she looked at me with a giant smile gracing her features, causing me to immediately mimic her expression.

We begin inching towards each other, drawn by some invisible force, but just before our lips touch, a large howl from the living room sends us flying apart, blushing crimson. "S-sounds like Gilbert just got beat by a four-year-old," she laughs.

Epilogue

You play with the white material your dress is made of while you wait for her to arrive. Finally, the door opens and in walks Elizaveta. "Hi!" she exclaims, and gives you a hug.

"Hey!" you respond happily. You two were introduced a few months after you went to live at Ludwig's place, and immediately hit it off. Now here she is, participating in the biggest event of your life.

The summer breeze rustles your loose, (h/c) hair, making it flow out ever so slightly. Your (e/c) eyes sparkle in the sunlight, while the beautiful flower petals, white with little lines of pink, float lazily in the breeze. In place of your father, (brother's name), now six, is walking you down the aisle to be "given away".

That's right, today, in the summer break between you sophomore and junior years of art school, you're finally getting married to Ludwig. He proposed to you on your birthday, which was only a few months ago, and you immediately said yes.

Many of the countries you've met are in attendance, and you notice them briefly as you walk out onto the aisle, but the moment your eyes lock with his, you lose track of everyone else. It takes all your strength to resist just running down and giving him a giant kiss, but you manage to resist.

You hardly hear the preacher, or your own voice repeating those glorious words. The only words you hear are his: "I do."

So... this was my first attempt. If you don't understand anything, please don't hesitate to ask! Thank you, Love-Peace-Anime, but your story is better! (Anybody else who's reading this, go check out "Just Visiting Hetalia". One of the BESTEST "country x reader" stories I've seen!

Okay, well, this story (specifically the epilogue, brings a certain phrase to mind: IT'S SO FLUFFY!

And with this, I complete my two-shot. Goodbye! *salutes and jumps over edge of cliff- but LIVES!*