I dedicate this chapter to Impeccably Bizarre, who posted "My heart is breaking, too! I can't bare to see Matt and Gilbert torn apart after Where Must Shall Be! This fic is fantastic so far, though. You manage to crack my heart a little but more every chapter (and don't worry, that was a compliment). Poor Matt and Gilbert :( I wonder how Ludwig is coping...", which gave inspiration on how to tell this chapter's events.

~Awesome Maple

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, but it owns us.

Chapter 4

A little over one year later…

"Gil?" Matt woke up slowly and was confused not to see his husband at his side sleeping by him.

"Gil?" Matt sat up fully, putting on his glasses and running a hand through his thinning hair. He didn't hear any reply.

Worried, he stood and checked the bathroom—nothing.

"Gil?" Matt called out again, only to meet rays of sunshine streaming into the bathroom window and into the hallway. No answer.

Matt was truly worried now, running around the house and calling out, "Gil? Gilbert?"

Panicking, Matt checked the front door and to his horror, it was wide open. How could he have not noticed the cool breeze coming in from outside? Crap, Matt thought, taking deep breaths to calm down and thinking of the calmest course of action.

"Okay," Matt spoke out loud, "I should call Ludwig and get dressed, and then I should call the police department to search for Gil if we don't find him. Okay, you can do this Matt," he nodded to himself and picked up the home phone.

Feliciana was humming the Italian national anthem and watching a cooking movie when the phone rang. Sighing happily, she picked it up, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Pronto?"

"Feli? It's Matt," Feliciana gasped mentally. This couldn't be good.

"What's wrong?"

"Gilbert's missing," the Italian woman nearly dropped the phone from the shock before knocking rather violently on the bathroom door.

"What?" Ludwig called from inside, turning off the shower.

"Your fratello is missing!" Feliciana stayed calm.

"What?" Ludwig opened the door; still half-naked and his mouth wide open from the shock, and grabbed the phone without further ado.

"Matt?"

"Luddy, Gil is missing. I don't know where he went," Ludwig muttered a few German curses and he got dressed as quickly as possible.

"Is there anything that can give you a hint?" Ludwig asked hopefully, balancing the sleek black home phone between his ear and his shoulder as he tugged the last sock on.

"He left through the front door and left fully dressed—his pyjamas are folded and away as normal, and he's wearing his clothes. Also—wait," Matt suddenly stopped, and then resumed, "Somebody's calling. I have to see who it is. I'll call back in one hundred and twenty seconds tops, okay? Okay."

Click.

Ludwig hastily brushed his hair and threw on the rest of his clothes, pacing in his room as his wife looked at him nervously.

"What's wrong?" She asked sweetly, ready for Ludwig's rant. He always loved talking to her—she understood him. She listened. She listened well.

"Gilbert left fully clothed, normally," Ludwig pronounced clearly, letting his thoughts be made auditory, "and Matt's calling back in two minutes." Ludwig sat on the edge of their white-sheeted bed. His wife rubbed his back soothingly and he blinked rapidly, fighting back tears. Gilbert was only 59 years old. How could this happen to him?

It was just so hard to see his older brother degrading like that. Visiting Gilbert and seeing his smile falter occasionally and ask a question he'd asked less than two hours ago wore his patience thin every time. Sometimes five minutes ago he'd asked the question. Gilbert's personality was still there, but he could see him slipping.

He admired Matt's strength in taking care of Gilbert. He was so patient and kind—he was so good for his brother. It was emotionally draining to go and visit Gilbert twice a week, so he had no idea how Matt dealt with him 24/7.

Suddenly the phone rang in his hand, startling him. He hastily answered it.

"He's safe, Ludwig," Matt told him, "he thought he had work today so he went all the way to the station."

"Where is he now?" Ludwig frowned.

"He's on his way back home. God I was so worried…" Ludwig could hear Matt's voice quiver.

"Maybe you should upgrade your locking system," Ludwig bit his lip, and he could imagine Matt nodding his head. He tried to be rational. It was part of Ludwig's personality to immediately think of effective solutions.

"I'll think about it. Gil's here—do you want to come over this evening for dinner?"

"Sure," Ludwig bit Matt farewell and hung up, splaying himself over the bed.

"Why is this so hard?" Ludwig asked himself, and Feliciana ran her delicate fingers through his greying hair before tying her own in a tight bun. Ludwig looked at his wife, marvelling that despite the fact she was 55, she was still gorgeous. Sure, they'd gotten a little plump over the years, as most mothers and fathers, and eventually grandparents do, but they stayed fit, and Feli often got compliments for still looking like she was 40.

He loved Feliciana, and felt so lucky to have her. She was such a wonderful woman, mother, grandmother, and wife…

Ludwig sighed and gave her a peck on the lips before they headed out, hand in hand, to the kitchen to start their day.

"I'm sorry," Gilbert apologized for the tenth time that day, wandering from the living room to the kitchen where Matt was cooking for that evening. He'd decided to make onion soup, which took literally four hours to make, but it was worth it.

"It's fine," Matt didn't turn around to see Gilbert walk up to him and wrap his arms around Matt's waist. He was so irritated and exhausted. It had drained so much out of him to be constantly worried for Gilbert's safety.

"No it's not," Gilbert frowned, and kissed Matt's cheek. Suddenly, he had a bright idea that he was sure would make things better. He slowly trailed his fingers across Matt's chest, and down to his stomach and slowly going lower.

"S-stop Gil," Matt closed his eyes for a moment as Gilbert traced his hip bones, "I'm cooking." His eyes snapped open and he focused on stirring the soup.

Matt suddenly felt Gilbert's warm lips press against his neck and give him a small nip.

"Stop it!" He tried to be angry, but giggled as his husband nipped his neck again, the pale, albino hands going lower and lower still.

"You sure about that?" Gilbert murmured, and Matt slapped a roving hand away as Gilbert started to distract him. He felt Gilbert nip his ear.

"Jesus!" Matt gave him a more violent slap on the hand, "Give me a sec!"

Gilbert circled his strong arms around Matt's waist again, bringing his hips into contact with Matt's behind, transporting Matt thirty years ago when they were still young and had been just married. He revelled in the feeling as Gilbert pressed his lips to the side of Matt's neck again, just under his ear.

"Let me… Let me turn off the unit," Matt's voice came out huskily, and Gilbert grinned before starting to grind his hips into Matt, which solicited a small moan. Matt quickly turned off the unit and put down the spoon on the counter, spinning around and kissing Gilbert feverishly, frantically. The spark from years ago was ignited full force and they made their way to the bedroom, leaving a trail of clothes from the kitchen to the hall to the bedroom.

Although they were nearly sixty, they were part of the older crowd that enjoyed their over-aged sex play, and Gilbert and Matt spent a good hour or two getting intimate again, enjoying each other with this blast to the past.

Gilbert lay next to his old husband, trying to regain his breath and grinning.

"That…" Matt ran a wrinkled hand through his greying hair, "That was fun." He remained spread out like a starfish on the bed face down. He closed his eyes for a moment, wanting to take a rest before having to get up and finish cooking.

Gilbert simply winked and gave him a little slap with their riding crop—hey, Francis gave interesting presents—to which Matt yelped and sat up, ready to tackle him, when the doorbell rang.

"Shoot!" Matt sprinted out of bed and grabbed his clothes in the hall and got dressed quickly, shouting an "I'm coming!" as the doorbell rang yet again. He smoothed his hair out and put his 'Kiss the Cook' apron back on and turned on the unit to make it seem more believable. Gilbert was laughing loudly from the bedroom.

He ran a hand through his hair again and opened the door, only to be greeted by nobody. Breathing a sigh of relief, he saw that it was just the newspaper and letters, so he grabbed them out of the mailbox and locked the door, ready to cook.

"Gil?" Matt asked, "It was only the mail. Do you mind setting up the table?"

"Yeah sure," Gilbert waltzed back in, fully clothed.

"Can you set up for four people? Your brother and Feli are coming over for dinner," Matt informed his forgetful husband, and Gilbert gladly complied.

An hour or so later, Gilbert had watched a hockey match on the television and shuffled back into the room, only to see four places on the table.

"Matt…?"

"Hmm?" Matt didn't turn around. He kept flipping the meat and stirring the soup.

"Why are there four places set up on the table?"

A sigh was heard, which was then followed by, "Ludwig and Feli are coming over in fifteen minutes."

"Oh," Gilbert cast his eyes downwards, "right." He stood awkwardly, unsure what to do, so he opted to watch Matt finish off the meal.

Dong ding!

"Gilbert please answer the door," Matt asked politely, still not turning around. He had to hide the pained expression, because Gilbert would surely question it, and then Matt would break down into tears. As he heard Ludwig and Feliciana shuffle in, he practiced smiling before turning around once he'd turned off the unit.

"Hey Luddy," Matt gave Ludwig a big hug, and gave a big hug to Feliciana as well, who asked him in a hushed voice if he was okay, to which he nodded, then shook his head, then shrugged his shoulders. He blinked away tears as Gilbert asked why they had decided to drop in on them and how it was such a nice surprise that they had arrived.

Dinner was tense and awkward, as Gilbert obliviously talked on and on and repeated at least a dozen times the same story about Ludwig when he was younger, unaware that he'd told them the event just five minutes beforehand.

Ludwig made eye contact with Matt and gave him a look of sympathy, which was returned with a grateful smile.

At least Matt knew he had somebody he could talk to.

And he would need it in the months and years to come.

TO BE CONTINUED...

This chapter is quite longer than the others, exceeding my 1,800 word count limit I was aiming for. I distinctly remember my Nonna calling us that my Nonno left in the middle of the night and they had to search for him. That was terrifying. Note: she lives in Italy and I live in Canada.

6ish chapters to go!

~Awesome Maple