(A/N): And the plot thickens... :) Hope you guys like it. I officially decided how it's going to end last night.

Warnings: More minor character death and hook ups.


Roderiech moaned into Antonio's mouth as the Spaniard pulled him into his lap. They were back in Salzburg and no one else was around. But for once they both had things on their minds other than each other.

Antonio, per Isabel's instructions, had not called Roderiech 'Bello' even once, but the Austrian took no notice of it. His thoughts turned to Gilbert and Elizabeta. Were they doing the same thing that he and Antonio were?

"Anton…" He moaned.

"Rodrrrrigo…" Antonio purred, pulling him in closer.

Roderiech heard a faint but distinct noise and tensed—a car door slamming. Antonio pulled back, looking up at him with concern.

"Roderiech?"

"Shhh!" Roderiech hissed in response, pushing himself out of his lap, "Hide!"

Antonio stumbled to his feet but didn't move, "¿Qué?"

"Hide!" Roderiech commanded, "Sophie's back!" He mentally cursed himself for his stupidity.

Antonio looked confused, "Your sister?" His eyes widened with realization, "Dios mío! This is Sophie's house, isn't it?!"

Roderiech huffed in annoyance, "Technically… But she's never here."

Antonio groaned, still not moving, "Rodrigo! You're as bad as Isabel!"

Roderiech scowled and grabbed ahold of the aggravated man, shoving him into the coat closet. He thought he could hear Antonio rolling his eyes through the door, but ignored him. Roderiech ran to the bathroom to fix his hair in a mirror and got back just in time to see Sophie's startled look.

"Roderiech!" She squeaked in surprise, before smoothing her expression, "Was…?"

He stepped forward, trying to think quickly, "Sophie!" Roderiech embraced his sister in his usual cold way.

She stiffened at the touch and hissed testily, "What are you doing?"

He stepped back awkwardly, "I am sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

Sophie rolled her eyes, "Nein, Roderiech. I meant what are you doing here? In my home?"

"In your home… Oh, Ich.." Roderiech shook his head; he wasn't ever this flustered. He took a deep breath.

"I didn't know you'd be home. I thought you'd be in Zurich for the month." Well… It wasn't a lie.

She frowned, "I was. It's been a month."

Roderiech's scowl became less pronounced, "The elapse of time has never stopped you before, schwester. And you don't like to leave your boyfriend."

Sophie smiled and set her bag down on her coffee table, "Ja, well I ran out of clean clothes." She sat down in a chair, gesturing for him to do the same.

He gave her a small smile and took a seat in the chair opposite her, one eye on the coat closet door, "How is Basch?"

"Gut." She chuckled, "Lili is doing well too. She misses me so much when I'm gone. She tried to get me to stay 'forever' this time by hiding my passport in her dresser. It only took me about a minute to convince her to give it back." She sighed, "Every time I see her she gets a little more grown up. You wouldn't think nations would grow that much but… she does. And Basch…" She trailed off, getting a distant look in her eye.

Roderiech was always concerned about his sister but rarely knew what to say to her. Whenever he opened his mouth it seemed to just upset her even more. But she and Basch had been dating for almost ten years now and Roderiech had been mulling the idea over for some time.

"I could buy your house."

She blinked and stared at him like he was insane and in her defense, he probably was, "Was?!"

He groaned, "Nein! That's not what I meant!" His head fell in his hands, "Sophie… I'm Austria."

Sophie rolled her eyes again, "Ja. Danke(1). I never knew."

Roderiech ran his hands through his hair in a tired way before looking up, "Nein… You are Austria too, but you don't have to be here." He sighed, unsure of how to phrase it, though he'd tried to many times, "Nations have to live in their countries, but you don't have to."

She blinked at him, "Roderiech… What are you talking about?"

He shook his head, "I mean that you should go. You should move in with them, you're hardly here anyway."

Sophie looked at him with concern, "But what about you, Bruder? I can't leave you."

"I'm fine, Sophie. I can do it by myself and besides," He chuckled, "Switzerland is close."

She bit her lip, "Ich-Ich… I don't know."

"You don't know because you don't want to move or you don't know because you don't know what Basch would think?" Roderiech asked her.

Sophie looked up at him with mortified eyes.

He groaned internally. He did it again.

"I'm sorry, Sophie."

"It's fine."

"Nein. Es tut mir leid(2)." He stood up and grasped her hands, "I didn't mean it like that. I never do."

She nodded, looking away.

Roderiech bit his lip, trying to think. Antonio was still in the closet. The Spaniard was probably laughing at the irony seeing as they had both been out of the closet for years, although Antonio had always been more conservative than hi m.

"Listen, Sophie." She glanced up at him.

"I need your help."

Sophie huffed, "Was ist das(3)?"

"I sort of brought someone here. I didn't think you'd be home."

Her eyes widened, "Ich… Oh! Gilbert?"

Roderiech gave her a relieved smile and started to nod, finally seeing a way out.

"Hell no! Not that Prussian!" Antonio burst out of the closet, "I don't care if you lie to her, but I am not Gilbert!"

Sophie stood up, "Antonio?!"

He smiled warmly, "Sophia!" He pulled her into a hug, kissing her on each cheek in the Spanish costume, "So nice to see you again."

Sophie glared past him at her brother, "What is he doing here?"

"He's just here to—"

Antonio pulled away from her and interrupted Roderiech, "I'm just here to sleep with your brother in your spare room."

Roderiech sucked in a shocked breath, "Antonio!"

He looked back over his shoulder at the furious Austrian, "What? It doesn't mean anything. It's just a hook up."

Roderiech's lips trembled and he squeezed his eyes closed, "Very well then. I think it's time for you to leave." He walked Antonio to the door and forced him out, not that the taller man was giving him much trouble.

Antonio winked at him, "See you soon, Rodrigo."

Roderiech slammed the door. He hesitated, thinking hard and trying not to be overrun by the emotions he was kept under lock and key. A pause. Then he returned to the living room, not looking at his sister's expression. He knew what it would be. Disgust, annoyance, disapproval, and angry. He didn't want to see it.

In a split second his phone was in his hand and he had dialed the number.

"Bruder… Who are you calling?"

Roderiech forced himself to look up at her. But she wasn't angry. She looked at him in confusion and pity. That was worse than he could have imagined.

"My boyfriend."

X~X~X

(1) Thank you (German)

(2) I'm sorry (German)

(3) What is it? (German)


Antonio sat in the closet with his knees tucked up to his chest and felt like a child eavesdropping on his parents' conversation. Sophie and Roderiech were talking quietly and Antonio pouted. He shifted uncomfortably in the dim light. His leg brushed something that was leaning up against the wall of the closet and it fell lightly on him.

He frowned and picked it up carefully. It was a picture, but the glass was cracked. It had been put away instead of being fixed, probably because Sophie was so rarely here. It was a family. But not one in the conventionally sense. One built of close friends. In the back were Ludwig and his sister Louise along with Basch and Vera. In the front were Gilbert, Maria, Roderiech, and Sophie. Sitting on a stool was Elizabeta with her baby brother Daniel resting on one knee and Lili resting on the other.

His breath quickened. The picture must have been taken before World War II. He hadn't seen those two faces in a long time.

The baby, only two at the time, giggled up at his sister while Eliza tried extremely hard to keep a straight face, even though Antonio knew she would have loved nothing more than to giggle back at him and play peek-a-boo. Maria smirked at the camera, a keen glint in her red eyes. Her hand rested on her brother's shoulder, no doubt gripping it tightly to try to extract a grimace from Gilbert.

Both of them. Prussia and Hungary had been inducted into the Soviet Union after World War II. Ivan had taken Daniel and Maria, the two he perceived as weaker. This had forced Gilbert and Eliza to cooperate with everything he demanded of them.

It had been absolute hell for the two and not even once were they allowed to talk to their siblings. Only once did they even hear news of their wellbeing. And it was the news they dreaded.

Even before the Soviet Union was dissolved, Daniel and Maria were killed. Natalya had told them that her brother had brutally murdered them in some insane episode. Daniel, only five, had been protected by Maria, but she could only do so much. They funerals were held together and the friends and family stood by and watched as their loved ones were lowered into the ground.

Gilbert had been shocked and absolutely numb after his twin's death. He had drunk himself to rock bottom within six months and mutter constantly, "She's not dead. She's not dead." It taken months, but Roderiech had managed to pull him out of his downward spiral.

Eliza had locked herself in her room. She mourned her baby brother by shedding gallons of tears each day. The kid she had treated and raised as son had been taken from her and she couldn't go on.

Again Roderiech had saved her. He had given her a home again, after she refused to go back to Budapest. But she still made frequent trips back in order to maintain it as a place of residence. She was the only Hungary left. And Gilbert was the only Prussia left.

Antonio gazed at the picture, running his fingers over the two faces he would never see alive again. He looked up at the sound of Roderiech's voice. Bello. His heart broke. How could he do this? Not just to Roderiech, but to Gilbert. Eliza. Lovino. Sophie. Isabel.

The names and faces of the people he was hurting spun around in his mind like some torturous cyclone. He bit his lip, closing his eyes. What was he doing? His eyes flew open as remembered Isabel's words.

"Does Roderiech hate Prussia, your amigo, as much as he loves you?"

His amigo, his friend. His Hermana had been right. Antonio gulped, thinking hard. There was only one thing he could do. And he hated to do it.

He burst out of the closet with the full intention of breaking his Bello's heart.

X~X~X

Antonio banged on his door three hard times until his head fell against it with a thunk. Isabel opened it and he had to catch himself before he fell in. She smirked at him in way that made him shudder.

"You get some, Tonio?"

He ground his teeth and pushed past her, "My best friend, Isabel!" He yelled, stomping into his home, "My amigo!"

Isabel shook her head, closing the door, and followed him, "The Austrian? He's your best friend?"

"No!" Antonio yelled, running to his kitchen, "Gilbert!"

She blinked, "You're sleeping with Gilbert too?"

"No! Just Bello." He sighed, "Well… Just Lovino now."

She huffed, "You told him you loved him, didn't you?"

Antonio looked up at her.

Isabel's breath hitched, "Hermano… What did you do?"

"I left him."

She sighed, "Estúpido. You couldn't do it?"

He shook his head, "No…"

Isabel rolled her eyes and muttered an insult in Spanish before walking away. Antonio sat down on a barstool in his kitchen. Better. It was better this way. Roderiech had never really loved him, it was his fault. He had messed with Roderiech's mind. Better. Better with Gilbert.

He sighed and looked at his kitchen table. His blood boiled as a screamed ripped through his throat.

"ISABELLA! WHAT DID YOU DO THE MY TOMATES?!"

X~X~X

Gilbert adjusted his hoodie so the strings didn't bunch around his neck anymore and gave Roderiech a sidelong glance, "So… How is Sophie?"

"Gut." Roderiech muttered, not looking up from the sheet music he was studying, "She's moving in with Basch." He frowned to himself, "I think."

Gilbert nodded, lounging on the couch in his usual way, but he seemed tenser, "Cool. Cool… So… Is that why you were in Salzburg?"

"Ja." Roderiech lied easily. "I wanted to visit her."

Gilbert nodded again, shifting uncomfortably.

Roderiech looked up, "Is there something wrong?"

Gilbert shook his head quickly, "Nein! Nothing."

Roderiech looked back down at his Sonata and cleared his throat, "Eliza will be back in a week. She only went away to Budapest for business."

The albino sighed in relief and let his body relax before it stiffened again, "Was? Nein! I'm not worried about her! She's…" He looked away, "She's just a house guest."

Roderiech looked up in annoyance, "I'm a much better liar than you ever were. You've been after Elizabeta ever since you learned her actual sex."

Gilbert looked at him, "Roddy…"

"My name is Bel— " He swallowed, "My name is Roderiech!"

Gilbert swallowed, "Roderiech… You don't know what you're saying."

Roderiech scowled, "I do, Gilbert."

"Nein." He shook his head, "You're just stressed. You've been spending way too much time on your music. And you're practically drowning in paperwork—"

Roderiech stiffened and stood up.

Gilbert's eyes widened, "Nein! I'm sorry, Roderiech! It's just an expression!"

He walked out of the room. He couldn't do it anymore; it was too much. He stopped just outside the door way, clutching the sheet music in his hand tightly. But he couldn't be alone. Gilbert called his name. His full name.

Roderiech turned on his heel and walked back into the room. He stared at Gilbert. Red eyes poured into his.

"Bitte, Roderiech… Es tut mir leid. Ich liebe di—."

Roderiech placed his fingers on the albino's lips, "Halt den Mund.(4)" He pushed him down on the couch and kissed him. Gilbert hesitated for just a moment before he kissed him back. It was the same as before fro Roderiech. He only had one word on his mind. Anton.

It was all teeth and rough. Gilbert flipped Roderiech over and climbed on top of him, all but ripping his closes off. No love was left between them, only hate. But hate makes the world go round.

X~X~X

(4) Shut up. (German)


(A/N): I cannot thank you guys enough for reading. I really means a lot to me!