Chapter three and a half

"Fuck it" the American said as he half walked, half dragged himself to the eating area on the first floor. He ordered a coffee and sat down, sighing and trying to wake up a little. He never woke up this early, but he dreamed about when he was little, that hit his heart, man. He couldn't take it and he woke up with teary eyes, but had refused to cry.

He sighed again, looking around and taking a sip of his coffee. He wasn't usually grumpy, it was actually very rare to see him grumpy, but his morning had sucked major shit (XD). Then, Ivan began to walk over with a creepy smile on his face, and he darted, leaving his coffee and his grogginess behind as he ran back to his room. He was not going to become one with Ivan, that fucking creep.

He had nothing to do and the meeting wasn't until afternoon. It was seven in the morning, so he had about four to five hours to kill, and now that he was fully awake, he was bored. He walked over and sat in his chair, opening his laptop. He opened up 'Google' and was about to type something in, when he heard a sneeze come from his bathroom and his head whipped to the bathroom door. He got up, preparing to fight, and opened the door, throwing his fist back, about to punch. He stopped when he saw it was Eliaveta. He dropped his fist and stared.

"What are you doing in my bathroom...?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was Rodrich's room and I was going to scare him when he came back in...hm...now this explains the messiness and lacking of a piano..." She lied.

"Oh, well his room is all away across the hall, how did you get them mixed up? Eh, whatever, this isn't his room, but if you want, you can stay a while. I'm bored as hell." He said.

"That seems fun!" She said, happy that she had an excuse to talk to one of them.

"Awesome!" He said, shutting his laptop and sitting on the bed, patting the area next to him.

She sat down. "So what do you want to do?" She asked.

"I'dunno. We could play a game." He suggested.

"Sure, what kind of game?" She asked.

He thought for a minute before answering "How about Truth or Dare?" He asked with a mischievous smile.

Her eyes lit up, it was perfect. "Sure!" She said a little too quickly.

"Woah, someone seems excited." He said, laughing and smiling in contentment.

"So, you want to go first?" He asked.

"Sure. Um...truth or dare?"

He smiled. "Dare"

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "I dare you to have the next meeting at a beach!" She said.

"Wow, that dare is more fun than it is torture, but sure. Why not? I have an indoor pool on the first floor, anyway."

"Oh waw, okay, you ask."

"Truth or dare"

"Truth" She said, not taking the risk, Americans were not nice when it came to dares- she learned that the hard way.

He thought hard. "Hm...Hey" He said, smirking. "Have you ever done something behind Rodrich's back?" He asked.

"Well...yeah." She admitted.

"Can I ask what?" He asked, seeming unphased.

She giggled. "Not unless you tell me something that you've done behind Arthur's back." She said playfully.

He thought before smiling. "'kay. Why not? Hm...something I've done behind Arthur's back..." He thought, tapping his chin with one finger.

She waited for a minute, his sudden outburst making her jump.

"AH HA! I once took his journal when I was little to see what he was always writing about. I was five, so I honestly had no idea what half of the words meant, so I gave up. I never told him I looked, but I was too young, so he probably wouldn't mind, if he did, I could always just use the puppy dog face on him. He was such a sucker when it came to that. I think he still has the journal...He use to carry it around everywhere...but that's probably because he thought if I found it, I'd be too young to understand...he was right, but now he never has it with him..." He said, seeming to drift off into his own thoughts.

She waited a while before she finally waved her hand in front of his face, getting him to snap back into reality. "Hey, we were in the middle of a game, remember? You are getting all spacy on me." She complained.

"Oh, sorry." He said, rubbing the back of his neck and giving her a sheepish smile.

"It's fine" She said, smirking. She knew what she was going to do now.

"Anyways, I think I should tell you something I've done behind Rodrich's back." She reminded him.

He perked up and waited for her to tell.

"I studied spy techniques and weaponary, so I know a lot more about the stuff than I let him know" She said with a proud smirk.

The American whistled. "You're tough, girl. Okay, your turn."

"Truth or dare" She said, eagerly awaiting his response.

He smirked and pretended to think about it for a long while. "Truth"

He could of sworn that her grin was literally ear to ear and he got a little scared. Eliaveta probably wasn't the person you'd want to choose 'truth' for. She was clever and evil dispite her innocent appearance.

"Okay." She said, giggling. "What's your real sexuality?"

"Whoah woah woah!" He said, putting his hands up and leaning away, his eyes wide. "Getting a little personal."

"You still have to answer truthfully." She said pointedly.

He sighed. She was right, but he was actually starting to question if his sexuality was what he always thought it was. It was starting to freak him out-he had nothing against peoples' sexuality-he just felt more comfortable telling people he liked girls.

"I...um...I...well..." He stumbled and tried to find the right words.

"Well...?" She said after a minute, raising an eyebrow, but she knew the answer. She tried to hold down her smile, just barely able to hide it.

"I...I don't know..." He said, sounding defeated.

"You don't know? What's making you question it?" She asked, even though she knew.

"I...it's...It's wrong...just bros..." He said mostly to himself.

"What do you mean 'just bros'?" She asked.

"I'm not sure...Arthur and I have been talking more and all and it doesn't feel like when I was younger. It's a different feeling from out past friendship and I'm starting to get confused, I guess..." He said, sounding nervous and uncomfortable.

"Well that's okay, so you're gay?" She said, sounding strangely unphased.

He just looked at her, blinking in shock. "What? No! I mean, I don't have a problem with gays, but I am straight!"

"Hm...okay..." She said, but she knew what Alfred was thinking about. He was starting to like Arthur more than a friend. She was starting to think that nature was doing the job all on its own, but that wasn't going to stop her from having some fun with it. "I guess it's your turn then."

"Okay. Truth or dare?" He said, relieved they had finally gotten off the topic.

"Truth"

"Do you like Gilbert?"

"Wh-what? That's silly, I'm married to Rodrich!" She said nervously.

"That doesn't mean you can't secretly like someone else~"He pointed out.

"Fine, I suppose I DO like him a little, but I won't ever divorce Rodrich-he is so sweet and loving." She said.

"Awwwh, that sounded so sappy." He said, sounding annoyed, but smiling.

"Oh please, you can be sappy."She defended.

"What? Since when have I ever been sappy?"

She smiled and shook her head slightly. "Never mind. Truth or dare?"

They continued to play for about two hours, but they didn't really dare anything embarrassing or ask anything personal, just friendly truth or dare until the meeting was about to start.

"Oh, the meeting will be starting soon!" She suddenly said as Alfred attempted to balance a soda on his nose, and failing.

"We should get going." He said. "...right after I put on some shoes..." He added, putting down the soda and grabbing his shoes, shoving his feet into them.

"Okay, lets go!" He said, opening the door and closing it once they were both out.

"Oh, I think I forgot something in my room! She said. "You go on without me, I won't be long."

"Okay, later." He said, waving as she set off down the corridor and into her room.

...

Once she was in her room, she looked through her peep hole to see if the Brit was still in there, which he wasn't. He never was late to a meeting and there was only ten minutes until it started so she needed to work quick. She grabbed a credit card and a screwdriver just in case the door was locked.

After three minutes, she cracked open the door to see the American was not in the corridor anymore and closed the door, walking to the door next to hers and turned the knob. Locked. She took out the credit card and unlocked it.

She walked in and shut the door behind her and looked around. The room was extremely clean. 'Hm...where could it be...?' She thought, tapping her chin with her finger as she searched of all of he possible places: Under the bed, in a drawer, in a desk, inside a pillow case. Nothing. She sat on the bed, defeated, just looking around until she saw a miniature bookshelf and she perked up. Why didn't she think of it before? The Brit loved reading!

She go up and walked over to the shelf, carefully looking at the book spines until she came across a blank one, black in color. She pulled it out carefully, remembering to see where it was placed to make sure she'd put it back in the right spot.

She tooka seat on the bed and put the journal in her lap. "Should I?" She whispered to herself. She furrowed her brow and tilted her head, staring at the blank cover. She pondered whether she should snoop or not, but then she smiled. She got up off the bed and walked out of the room. Then she took the screwdriver and turned it in the doorknob to lock it. She had read about how to unlock and lock doors without a key a few months ago and had already almost perfected the skill.

She walked back into her room and started to rummage through a chest under her bed. Once she found what she was looking for, she sat on her bed and began her work.

...

Everyone had gotten settled down in their chairs and were unusually quiet and calm. Everyone would usually be at each other's throats by now, but everyone sat in their seats waiting patiently for the meeting to begin.

"Dudes, did someone die?!" Alfred suddenly asked, startling everyone."...what?" He asked, rubbing his neck. The Brit next to him sighed.

"America, sit down. You really have no idea how to read the atmosphere, do you?" He said.

The American did what he was told and then the meeting was started by the German (like always) because it seemed they were going to get nowhere if he didn't do anything.

The meeting was very awkward, no one had ever seen the Brit cry- but Alfred seemed unphased by it. He had seen it happen before and had known exactly how to handle it. Most of the countries admired their special bond that Alfred and Arthur didn't even seem to be aware of. Even Vash and Lili (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) didn't have that close of a bond. There was something special about their relationship and the others both admired and envied.

Arthur kept catching others peeking at the two of them and started to turn a little pink. He was still embarrassed and the others' gazes weren't helping. Alfred seemed completely oblivious, as always. He tried to find an excuse to talk to him because he was about to fall asleep, but kept his posture perfect and seemed to be paying full attention. The American seemed to be spaced out so he nudged him.

The American looked at him with surprise. "Huh?" He said.

"Stop spacing out and pay attention." He whispered, trying to sound annoyed.

"Whoops, sorry. Hey, you okay? You're looking a little red. You hot?" He said, sounding concerned.

"No, no, I'm fine." He assured.

"...okay..." He said unsurely. "Anyway, how do you feel about beaches?" He asked causually.

"What? Why do you want to know?" He asked, furrowing his brow in confusion.

"Just wondering, you seemed to like them when I was younger. We use to always go to the beach, man! We'd go on those speedboats and build these awesome sand castles." He said.

"And?" He said, sounding annoyed, but he was smiling because he loved those memories.

"Wouldn't you want to do that again?" He asked, his puppy dog eyes showing.

"Well, it would be really fun." He said, smile widening.

The American grinned at him. "We should do that soon." and he leaned over to whisper very quietly. "Just to warn you, Eliaveta dared me to have a meeting at the beach tomorrow, so be prepared, and don't tell anyone. It's suppose to be a surprise...and I was thinking that we could have our own little beach party by ourselves some time this week, just like we use to." He whispered, sitting back up and smiling at the Brit, whose smile reached his eyes. This made the American smile more, he looked so happy.

"Vould you two like to share vhat you're discussing vith the rest of us?" The German said, sounding irritated.

"Nah, I think we're good." The American said cheerily. The Brit couldn't help but laugh his arse off. He was rolling on the floor laughing and the American started to laugh because it was so funny. Everyone was looking at them weird. They looked crazy, but they didn't care. They laughed a little longer until they finally gained back their composure. They were silent for a second...and then burst out laughing again.

"P-please aha ex ahaha excuse us for a ahahaha second" Arthur managed to say in between his laughter as they both walked out, clutching their stomachs as they continued to laugh their asses off.

They walked into the hallway and collapsed in another fit of laughter. Why they thought it was so funny, they did not know, but it took them at least two more minutes to stop laughing. They rested themselves on the wall as they panted and held their stomachs (which now hurt like hell) from laughing so much.

"Why...must you...always be such a...smartarse?" The Brit asked, laughing lightly, still panting.

"What? You always called me a 'DUMBass', so the smartass thing is pretty new, actually," He said with a grin. The Brit just rolled his eyes.

"You somehow manage to be both because you were also a dumbarse for saying that to an annoyed German," He said.

"Worth it!" He said cheerily. The Brit just rolled his eyes and chuckled.

"I haven't laughed that hard in ages. I feel like I just did a hundred crunches!"

"That's because you, sir, are a weakling that needs to start joining me at the gym."

"You work out?"

"Maybe..."

The Brit smirked. "Liar. You don't go to the gym."

"Well, so what? You need to work out."

"Look who's talking." The Brit shot back.

"Hey! What's that suppose to mean?!"

"Oh, nothing." He said in an amused tone.

The American huffed and crossed his arms like a child. The Brit just chuckled. "It doesn't matter. We could both use some time in the gym. You for burning fat, and me for building strength. How about we go some time?" He suggested.

"Sure, that'd be awesome. Wanna go get some ice cream?" He asked.

"That would be nice, maybe it will ease my stomach cramps-which I blame you for. I am not a big fan of ice cream, though..."

"Hey, it was your fault for laughing. Hm...lets see how much ice cream I could get you to eat, I'm sure you'll like it, though. You just have to give it a try!" He said enthusiastically, getting off the floor and offering the Brit his hand, which he accepted.

"Wait, wouldn't we be skipping a meeting?" The Brit said, stopping in his tracks. They had walked half way down the hallway and the Brit's comment went ignored. The American just grabbed his wrist and walked a little faster, the Brit tripping and stumbling behind him. The American grinned as he pushed him into the elevator and pressed the '1' button, despite the Brit's protests to go back.

"You already agreed."

The Brit tried to look annoyed as he turned away from the American. He huffed and crossed his arms, but he had a smile on his face. He loved skipping and breaking rules- a little bit of his rebellious side that stubbornly stayed with him.

"Fine, only this one time." He said, trying to sound irritated. The American just laughed.

"Lighten up, dude."

The elevator door opened before the Brit could reply and he was dragged out of the building and down the street by the American until they came to a stop inside an ice cream shop.

"One triple chocolate scoop and one..." He looked at Arthur and back at the employee. "and one regular vanilla scoop."

"Will that be all?" The employee asked.

"Yeah, thanks dude."

As they waited for their ice cream, Alfred turned to Arthur. "You like vanilla, right? You sometimes had some tea that smelt like vanilla."

"Yes, I like vanilla. It's a very soothing flavor," He said.

"Good."He said as he took the two cones the employee gave him and paid him.

They walked out of the shop and he handed Arthur his.

"Thank you."

"No problem, bro!" He said cheerily, practically attacking his ice cream. The Brit gently licked at his (pffft AHAHAHA!) he wasn't use to having ice cream-especially in a cone, and he didn't want it to fall off.

"So what da ya wanna do now?" The American asked.

"I don't know...we could go to a clothing shop and dress up in ridiculous clothes." He suggested, not really meaning it.

"That would be awesome!" He said.

"Oh no...what have I done..." He said half serious, half jokingly.

"C'mon, lets go!" He said, grabbing the Brit's arm and dragging him into a clothing shop.

"Alfred! We need to at least finish eating! Well...you already have, how do you eat so fast...?"

"I just do. Hurry up! You take forever to eat!"

Sighing, the Brit quickly finished the rest of his ice cream. "Okay, now what?" He asked, looking around.

"Hey! Try this on!" The American said, already searching through a rack of clothing. He was holding out a small stack of clothes and pushed it into the Brit's chest, forcing him to grab them. He was then pushed into a dressing room.

He put the clothes down on the small bench and undressed, leaving only his boxers. Then he grabbed the first item of clothing- some blue and red checkered pants, which were rather tight. Then he put on a dress shirt and a tie that matched his pants. Then he put on the last thing- a black vest. He felt like he was a punk again and it felt good. When he stepped out, he could have sworn Alfred's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Damn, Arthur! You were born to be a punk or something!" He said after recovering from shock.

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Are you just going to stand there and stare or actually try something on?" He said, crossing his arms.

"Wow, put you in a different outfit and it gives you a different personality. Awesome!" He said.

They tried some outfits on until they were both tired and they walked back to the building, where they went to their rooms and did their own things.

xXx

"Finally, it's finished!" the Hungarian said with a happy sigh.

She held up the now pink journal with the word 'Diary' printed on the front in curly, lacy writing. She made it so that she could take off the cover with no danage or evidence left behind. She made sure to hide the name of the owner by covering the front page with something only Eliaveta would know about. Then she snickered. 'This is so fun...but so evil!'