Hi! It's applechan53! So, I know I left the last chapter on a cliff hanger. I feel so evil! :D

GYAH! I looked back on the other chapters, and realized I forgot to say this: I do not own Hetalia. Please forgive me, Hidekaz Himeruya!

Well, anyway, I recently started watching dubbed Hetalia with my sister and one of my friends... the experience is completely different (I watched subbed before). That, and it's so awesome to see that they love it as much as I do! Also, I was looking up some H-word in a dictionary the other day, when I saw "Hong Kong" and was like, "I have to read this!" And it said that Hong Kong was a British colony. I, (slightly) being a fan of the history side of Hetalia, knew that wasn't true, and looked at the Copyright date: 1994. That explained it, since Hong Kong was a British colony for about 150 years until 1997. My friends laughed at me when I pointed out the outdated information. I'm a teenage failure...

Also, I'm sorry this is being put up so late at night (kind of) since I was invited to a party today. Literally today. My friend told me about it in school and I ended up going to a waterpark! XD

Last non-important thing: did anyone else get snow today! It was SNOWING. In APRIL! I want to strangle somebody!

Well, here's the next chapter...

A loud knock on the door wakes the two sleeping countries. Alfred, even though he's not good at waking up, is still better at it than little Arthur, who falls back asleep almost instantly. So, the task falls on him to get the door.

"Hello?" he asks groggily, eyes half open. Upon seeing the boy standing in the doorway, however, his eyes fly open, growing wider than usual. The teen has pale skin, fiery red hair that seems to stick up in tufts, and piercing green eyes.

"Have ya seen my brother anywhere?" he asks, looking angry.

"Um… who?" Alfred asks.

"Arthur's his name. You seen him or not?" the boy asks impatiently.

"Who're you?" Alfred asks.

"Name's Allistor. Allistor Kirkland. Now, have ya seen him or not?" Suddenly, Alfred remembers something Francis told him about Arthur:

"He has brothers, you know. Real ones. But they all hate him with a passion unbeknownst to even me. If they got within a gun's firing distance of him, they'd shoot immediately and without hesitation. Even when they're far away in other places, each one takes the time to write a hate letter every day. It's actually gotten pretty pathetic by now to me, but to Arthur it still hurts; I can tell."

Alfred looks at the, now extremely annoyed, boy sitting on his porch, and feels a sudden surge of anger. "He's not here," he lies, and tries to shut the door, but Allistor pushes it open again and walks inside.

"Hey, li'l brother," Allistor says, making the words sound like an insult. Alfred turns to see a stricken-looking Arthur paralyzed with fear as his brother gives him a "friendly" punch in the arm.

"Hi, Allistor," Arthur mumbles, clutching his bruised arm.

"Wha'd I tell ya 'bout addressing me?" the red-haired boy asks threateningly.

"Sorry, onii-sama!" Arthur yells, snapping to attention like a terrified drill sergeant.

Alfred can no longer bear to watch. "Hey, you can't just march in here and start messing with him! State your business and get out."

Allistor looks at the man angrily, but decides it would be best not to argue. "I'm here to… uh…" He blushes and looks down, rubbing his foot on the floor. Alfred is shocked. The boy's bravado wore off in a second!. "Just never mind!" he yells, running out the door.

For a few seconds, Alfred stares out the door where Allistor had been just a little bit ago, then turns toward Arthur. With a start, he finds the child starting to cry. Reaching down, he picks him up and tries to comfort him. "Shhh, shhh, it's okay. He's gone now. It's gonna be okay," he whispers, rubbing the frightened boy's back and rocking him a little.

"Allistor represents Scotland," Arthur explains quietly into the larger country's ear, "He's always like that with me; all my brothers are. Actually, he was really nice today. He only hit me once."

Alfred feels his heart breaking. "Well I can't promise you'll never have to see him again, but I'll make sure nothing else happens while I'm here."

Arthur clutches Alfred's shirt tightly. His breathing gets softer and more even. "Thanks… onii-chan," he mumbles just before he drifts off. Alfred stops rocking the child in shock. Did he just say…?

Severely shaken by the comment, he puts Arthur to bed and tucks him in. There are still tears on the poor kid's face.

oOo

The next morning, Arthur seems to be in a slightly better mood. He sits at the table, eating his breakfast, with a little smile on his face. Of course, what kid could resist smiling at Fruit Loops? Especially since Alfred decides that chocolate milk was much better on cereal than white, and made sure to put a little extra in the suffering boy's bowl.

An even more important occurrence, however, is that the child has taken to calling Alfred "onii-chan". Every time he hears it, Alfred is filled with happiness, but is also a little sad, since he knows he doesn't deserve the title after what he said to his England.

Around 12, there's a knock on the door. Arthur stiffens up and starts shaking, but it turns out to be just Francis. "Hello," he says, walking in like he owns the place. "I came to check on Arthur. He is well, I presume?"

Alfred nods, shutting the door, "He's mostly fine, anyway. Got a little scared yesterday, but nothing I couldn't handle."

Francis snorts. "What could scare that one?"

"Well…" Alfred hesitates. What will Francis say about Allistor coming over? "His brother came to visit, and…"

The Frenchman's only expression is horror. "Which brother?" he asks worriedly.

"Allistor… he has more than one brother?" Alfred asks.

The question is ignored. "Allistor came here?" Francis yells, grabbing the taller country by the shoulders. "Why would that piece of trash show his face again after the horrible things he did! I swear I will murder him!"

Just then, there's another knock on the door, and the two freeze, turning to stare at it. Alfred slowly sidesteps around Francis and turns the doorknob. "What?" he asks.

"I wanna see my brother," a familiar voice demands. Speak of the devil.

"We don't wan' any," Alfred replies coldly, adopting the overused American term. The door gets slammed on the redhead's face.

Unfortunately, being a stubborn brat, Allistor continuously pounds on the door for another minute or two until Alfred abruptly opens it, sending the kid tumbling inside. "Why are you here?" he asks angrily through his teeth.

The boy looks honestly stumped at the question. "I, um, I…" he flushes red as one of Antonio's tomatoes. "I came to, uh… apologize," he mumbles, so quietly that the other two almost didn't hear. Francis, who was just about to throw his hands around the boy's throat from behind, stops and stares in shock.