A/N: Mein Gott, it's been way too long. I've missed this story, so please don't kill me! D:

Anyway, sorry this is shorter than the last few chapters ;; darn school.


Roderich felt as if he was drowning on land. His mouth opened, but no words came out. He tried to remember the exact words the Italian had said. No matter how many times his mind replayed the words, he couldn't believe it. No, he refused to believe it. Because there was no way, in heaven or in hell, that Gilbert Beilschmidt could ever

"Ve, Roderich? Are you okay?"

Feliciano's concerned voice broke Roderich's trance, and he forced a shaky smile on his lips. "I'm fine," he said softly, and he edged past the Italian and up the long, narrow staircase. His mind was racing as he turned down one of the hallways. Why should he listen to Feliciano? After all, it was obvious that Gilbert hated him. Right?

Biting his lip, Roderich realized that along with all the other traits he had acquired as a nation in the past centuries, oblivion was by far the worst.

What was so bad about it anyway?

A tiny corner of his mind nagged at him incessantly, and Roderich sighed in defeat. There really was nothing bad about it, after all. It was just a silly little crush, right? And the worst case scenario would be Gilbert's constant presence, and endless annoyance until he moved on.

He suddenly felt his heart twist. When Gilbert moved on to someone else…who would that be? Elizaveta, perhaps? Roderich tried to picture his life without Gilbert, who gave him something to do, someone who antagonized him, annoyed him, and tormented him.

Oddly enough, he couldn't imagine a thing.

He groaned to himself. Since when was the Prussian essential to his life? If it wasn't bad enough already, Gilbert's all-too-frequent visits actually gave him something to anticipate. It was the only break in his routine life where anything could happen. Knowing the silver-haired Prussian, it could literally be anything.

Something else entered his mind. According to Francis and Antonio on Gilbert's blog, Gilbert had been in love for quite some time. A sudden jolt went through Roderich's body.

The all-too-frequent visits.

The pictures.

The harassment.

Mein Gott.

His amethyst eyes widened, and he froze with his hand on Gilbert's bedroom doorknob.

"You didn't write his name down."

Gilbert Beilschmidt was in love with him.

It was as if he had been slapped in the face. Everything seemed to fall perfectly into place; the denial had been shoved aside.

But what was even more shocking than that was the sudden conclusion Roderich had come to in his own heart.

It was so pathetically sappy and cliché, but he was in love with Gilbert, too.

The thought that would have repulsed him earlier was only a weight on his heart, dragging him down. He needed to tell Gilbert, once and for all. His hand was still frozen on the doorknob. It was now or never.

Roderich decided that now was the time.

Without knocking, he gently turned the knob (which was thankfully unlocked) and opened the door into Gilbert's room. He was instantly greeted with dozens of posters (most of Gilbert himself, posing with several of his birds), a floor nearly covered in clothes and whatnot, and a Prussian sprawled on a king-size bed, with his iPod blaring some kind of heavy metal in his ears.

Roderich sighed and cautiously meandered his way through the mess that was Gilbert's bedroom. Now, his bedroom at home, it was perfectly spotless. It was quite ironic that he would be in…love…with someone who was the complete opposite?

Maybe opposites did attract after all?

Roderich sat down on the side of the rumpled bedspread (printed with the Prussian flag, of course) and picked up Gilbert's iPod. The song title rolled across the screen:

"My Song That Is Written By Me, For Me. Artist: Awesome Me."

The brunette groaned. He pressed the 'Pause' button, and Gilbert's head instantly shot up from the pillows.

"Hey, what the…oh. Hey, Specs."

His tone was uninterested, yet Roderich could sense a hint of sadness. When Gilbert reached for his iPod, Roderich unplugged the earphones and slipped the device in his pocket.

"Gilbert, we need to talk."

The Prussian scoffed and rolled his eyes. "No shit, Sherlock."

Roderich bit his lip. "Look, can I just talk to you seriously for five minutes, at least?" His tone was growing slightly irritated.

Gilbert sat up and pulled his earphones out. "Yeah, Roddy. Lay it on me."

Roderich stared at Gilbert. He saw crimson eyes empty of emotion and prepared to suffer a hard blow. It was the same expression he'd worn when he'd found out about the dissolution of Prussia.

"How long have you been in love with me?"

The words were blurted without the Austrian thinking. His eyes widened once the silence hit, and his heart pounded. Had he been wrong all along? Was Feli just lying? Was there really someone else…?

Gilbert finally let out a half-hearted laugh. "I don't know, Roddy. Maybe since I met you, which was only about…oh…three hundred years?"

Roderich raised his eyes to lock on Gilbert's. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course I mean it," Gilbert said, breaking the gaze. "Why the hell would I be saying this to you if it wasn't true?"

Roderich shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'm just a pansy-ass aristocrat who's been in denial for the past three centuries, and I just need to lighten up and finally believe that the person I love is actually in love with me."

Gilbert blinked once, and suddenly, the shine was back in his eyes. He rose from the bed and leaned closer to Roderich.

The scarlet eyes were once again boring into his soul, and this time, the Austrian didn't care if he could read his thoughts. He smiled back, just as cunning as Gilbert's smile was.

"You're my pansy-ass aristocrat," Gilbert said in a low voice, and then he was kissing him at last.

At this point, Roderich didn't care if anyone was witnessing this. His fingers were grasping at the front of the Prussian's shirt, never to let go.

They pulled away, and Gilbert was grinning deviously. "Hey, does this mean I'm allowed to have a key to your house now?"

Roderich pouted. "You never seemed to have trouble getting in without one."

"True, true…does this mean I get to stay in your room now?"

"Shut up."

It was passing seven-thirty now, and the topics for small-talk were running thin. Scratch that, there were none left. The three occupants of the dinner table sat silently, glancing at the two empty chairs in between bites of their dinner.

"Ve~ Doitsu, where are they?" Feliciano asked, pointing. "Don't they want pasta?"

Ludwig glanced at the worried Italian. "Yes, of course they do…they're just…erm…"

"Very busy," Elizaveta interjected, the beginnings of a devious smile on her face. Ludwig didn't bother to ask.

All of a sudden, two figures appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, West! Sorry I'm late, but pansy-ass and I had some important matters to…discuss." He turned to Roderich and winked, instantly causing the Austrian to facepalm.

Ludwig winced, Elizaveta grinned, and Feliciano clapped.

"Yay! Now we can all be together and eat~!" the Italian sang, jumping up and skipping to the kitchen.

Gilbert and Roderich silently took their seats. Ludwig raised an eyebrow at his brother.

"An hour, bruder? What on earth took you both an hour?"

"Making up."

"Making out."

Dead silence.

Roderich glared at Gilbert, who just shrugged. "What? It's true."

Ludwig massaged his temple with his fingers. "Bruder, I'm happy for you, but I don't need to know what you two get up to…"

"W…wait," Roderich protested weakly, "there really isn't anything…"

"It was awesome," Gilbert interrupted proudly, leaning back in his chair. "But then again, did you expect anything less, Roddy?" He shot him a triumphant glare.

The Austrian slumped in his chair. Why, why on earth couldn't Gilbert have at least some modesty?

As the two German brothers argued on and on, Roderich wished more and more that he was out of that room and back in Gilbert's room with the Prussian's arms around his waist…

…He did not just think that.

Meanwhile, Elizaveta had left quietly to hurry upstairs. Entering Gilbert's room, she wrinkled her nose at the mess, and reached up into the corner of the walls to where a tiny video camera was perched. She pressed a button, and a tiny memory card popped out. Slipping it into her pocket, she grinned to herself.

There really were benefits to being one of the only female nations.


A/N: Woo! One more chapter/omake, and I'll be done :3