Chapter 10

"… what you don't understand! No, I just can't, sir. I'm sorry." Prussia yells through the phone, brows furrowed, fists clenched. "Yes, I'm aware that I'm only hurting myself by doing this, but what's the point?"

He was about to continue to yell at his boss, but Canada walked into the living room, rubbing his eyes sleepily, awoken by the noise Prussia was making.

"Gil, what's wrong?" Canada mutters sleepily, and Prussia told his boss to hold on a minute and put his phone aside.

"Matt, sorry for waking you up. You can go back to sleep, it's only ten." Prussia says, a nervous chuckle escaping his lips. He hadn't planned to wake the Canadian this way; it was his birthday, for God's sake.

But Canada could make out the nervousness in that laugh, and he certainly knew Prussia was trying to hide something. And when he heard "I'm aware I'm only hurting myself by doing this", he knew he had to change the Prussian's mind, "Gil, whatever you have to do, just do it."

Canada said this no matter how much he wanted to say otherwise, no matter how much he wanted to say "No, don't leave me" or "Stay with me", he knew he couldn't make Prussia hurt his health.

Prussia's expression softens, "Matt, I don't have to. I can't leave you on your birthday, I was planning for so long."

Canada frowns, and though his legs felt weak and his lips were trembling, he took the phone from Prussia and says, "Don't worry, Prussia will be there."

"Who's this?" A deep, composed voice asks on the other line.

"Canada." Canada answers, his throat dry.

"Please, you have to help –"

Prussia quickly took the phone back from the Canadian and hung up the call, frowning though worry noticeable on his face.

"Gil, what's this all about? Why do you need help?" Canada asks, concerned.

Prussia didn't answer, so Canada continued to pry, "Prussia, you do know you can come to me for help, right? My country is steady, I can –"

"Don't worry about it, it's nothing The Awesome Me can't handle," Prussia says confidently, and when Canada continued to have that worried look on his face he beamed a smile and ruffled Canada's hair, "Nothing my Canadian Birdie has to worry over."

And right after those words slipped his mouth, he immediately regretted it. His ears turned red out of embarrassment, Canadian Birdie? How much lamer can I get?

However, Canada giggles, though his cheeks were stained red, "Alright, well, if I do find out it was a serious meeting I will drag you over there myself, got it, Gil?"

Prussia steps closer to Canada, and says confidently, "Oh, will you now? How do you plan on doing that?"

Canada instinctively steps back, as did Prussia, until Canada's back hit the wall and Prussia leaned in, grinning at the Canadian's red cheeks. He stared at Canada's sensual, full lips, his round nose, rosy cheeks, beady, captivating violet eyes, and from how close he was standing he could feel Canada's nervous, accelerated breath. His mind was filled with anxiousness and the desire to make the Canadian his, but he frowned when he remembered that feeling wasn't mutual, and he was probably just making him uncomfortable.

Canada wondered if Prussia could hear his heart hammering, his fast breathing, if he could tell how much he longed for him. He knew he should just let go of these feelings before he went and made the Prussian uncomfortable, but no matter how much he tried he couldn't shake the feeling off. He noticed the frown on Prussia's face, and wondered if he was making him uncomfortable. He wanted nothing but to hug him, kiss him, everything.

And yet they both held each other back, staring at each other with longing; until the smell of burnt food reaches their noses.

Prussia widens his eyes, and when Canada tries to look over Prussia's shoulder to see if there was anything cooking in the kitchen, Prussia leans to the side as if to block his view.

Canada looks up at him questionably, and saw that Prussia's cheeks were dusted pink.

"Gil, what –"

"Nothing! Just, go back and get some more sleep!" Prussia says desperately, pushing Canada back towards their room. "The Awesome Me has this under control!"

Canada stops abruptly, causing Prussia to bump into him and lose his balance for a short moment. By that time, Canada had already wandered into the kitchen and found some pancakes cooking on the stove. He scrunched his nose at the burning smell, and turned the stove off.

Prussia chuckles nervously, "I, uh…"

Truth to be told, he had never cooked anything except maybe some waffles, some breakfast loaf, and some German pancakes, so trying to make Canadian pancakes was a first for him.

"Sorry, I wanted to surprise you with breakfast in bed but, uh, I've never made Canadian pancakes so, see how that worked out…" Prussia trails off, cheeks red out of embarrassment.

However, Canada smiles, and Prussia was glad he wasn't one to laugh at embarrassing things like this. "Well, how about I help you make them, eh?"

Canada winked at him, winked, and Prussia stopped and stared. Is he flirting with me?

Canada was blushing a bit, regretting that he had said that and actually winked. No, he was never really bad at flirting, but he just never did so with anyone. And now he thought he had made the Prussian uncomfortable, as he had made him blush a few times today.

"Um, ja, but uh…" Prussia trails off, scratching his head and then regaining his composure again. "The Awesome Me still has this in control, I don't need help!"

Canada scoffs and smirks, "Right. Well, then, I'll be waiting."

He began to walk away until Prussia grabbed his hand. Canada looks back, smiling at Prussia's embarrassed expression, "I guess Awesome me might, uh…"

Canada continues to smile, "Gil, you have to learn that it's okay to ask for help. Even the greatest of people can't do everything on their own."

Prussia nods, though averting his eyes. Prussia knew what he was referring to when he said that, he knew Canada wanted to help him with his country. But with time slipping away from his hands faster and faster, he knew what was coming was inevitable so he would rather spend what time was left enhancing someone else's life instead of wasting it trying to help himself.

But at the same time… He felt he shouldn't even get close to the Canadian, because in the end, he would leave him alone, sad, and empty. He didn't want to hurt him. And yet, he didn't want to leave him, though he didn't deserve him, he wasn't worth the pain he would cause the Canadian when he was gone.

He couldn't remember the last time he had asked for help, and in all honesty he knew he needed help to keep his country from collapsing; he most certainly didn't have it under control. Yet he didn't want to seem weak, or less awesome, nor did he want to burden anyone with his problems. He just couldn't ask for help.

Canada knew it was a big step for him, but he wanted to be able to help him. Not just when it came to cooking, but also when it came to helping him deal with his government and such. Canada knew there was something wrong with him; from the hangovers, to the blood coughing, to his boss's call for help, they were all pointing to a collapsing country. And Canada was scared for the Prussian, but he decided to use the logical and sensitive approach towards gaining his trust and letting him know that he can ask for help.

"Well, uh, Awesome Me doesn't know whether there's still any ingredients left…" Prussia mutters, scratching his cheek.

Canada raises an eyebrow, and when he looked at the trash can he saw a heaping pile of burnt pancakes, empty flour bags, eggless egg containers, and more.

Prussia slid in front of the trash can, and stammers, "Time is only an illusion! I mean, books are! I mean –"

Canada chuckles, "It's fine. I'm sure I have some left,"

He reaches down towards the lower cabinet where he kept some extra ingredients in case America came over and used all of them, and Prussia couldn't help but stare at him when he bent down. He blushed a bit, and suddenly remembered that inappropriate dream he had had featuring he and the Canadian, and his blush turned darker and he turned around and hid his face before Canada could see.

"Alright! See! I have some ingredients for at least one more batch of –" Canada trails off when he saw Prussia turned around, face in his hands. "Gil?"

"What? Oh, uh, I had something in my eye. Sorry," Prussia stammers, cheeks red. Dammit, why do I have to remember stuff like that in times like these?

"Right…" Canada says, raising an eyebrow. "Anyway, come here, I'll teach you how to make them."

Prussia walks over to him a bit reluctantly, getting his head out of the gutter. Canada reaches for a medium-sized bowl and put in a cup of flour and a tablespoon of baking powder, using the whisk to combine them and then starting to mix the product with a cup of milk and three egg yolks. Prussia was watching intently, and Canada handed him the whisk.

However, Prussia's hands started to shake out of nervousness of embarrassing himself in front of the Canadian, and when he began to mix he did so too quickly and some of the mixed ingredients went flying and landed partially on Canada, but mostly on the Prussian. He turned red once again, averting his eyes until Canada laughed.

"No, silly, like this," Canada says, snaking his arms around Prussia's waist and helping him use the whisk correctly by adjusting his hand movements with his own hands. Prussia's hands began to sweat, and he hoped Canada didn't notice. He was so over the rail embarrassed that he continued to sweat and shift his weight from side to side. He felt Canada's breathing on his neck, his body so close to his, his arms wrapped around his waist, and Prussia could feel Canada's heart beating quickly against his back.

It was no secret Prussia's heart was hammering in his chest as well, but he thought he was the only one who was nervous and embarrassed, only because he liked Canada. Why was Canada so nervous? Prussia guessed it was only nervousness out of not wanting to do anything wrong in front of a friend. He internally sighed.

Oh, how wrong he was. Canada was so nervous, being so close to the one he loved. He saw how Prussia's hands shook, and wondered why he was so nervous.

Canada assumed he was making Prussia uncomfortable again (which was very much not the case), so he retreated his arms and reached for a large glass cup. He placed three egg whites into the glass, and told Prussia to beat them until stiff peaks formed.

Prussia reluctantly began to beat the egg whites, until it wasn't just for the recipe, but for those thoughts lingering in his head, Canada does like Seychelles. And Seychelles probably likes him back. He won't even notice I'm gone. What did I do to deserve such a tragic fate, why do I have to leave Canada behind? It's… not… fair!

"Whoa, there, Gil!" Canada says, grabbing hold of his arm about to beat the egg whites to a pulp and stopping him. He chuckles, "I think that's enough. Kudos for getting into the spirit, though…"

Prussia chuckles nervously, muttering an apology. Canada folds a third off the beat egg whites into the mix, and then quickly folded in the rest until no streaks were left. He poured the batter onto two lightly oiled frying pans, and gave one to Prussia.

Prussia watched Canada intently, trying to follow his every move as to not completely ruin the pancakes.

Canada smiles, "And lastly, they need to be made with love, otherwise they'll never turn out right."

He almost leaned in closer to the Prussian to kiss him, but refrained from doing so when he realized Prussia didn't like him that way. So he awkwardly reached for a napkin on the other side since he had already leaned in.

Prussia's eyes widened, as he had thought Canada was going to kiss him. After the wink, he didn't know what to think anymore. He had turned a bit red when he realized he was only reaching for a napkin, and mentally called himself an idiot.

When they finished with the pancakes, they placed two for each of them on separate plates, and ate together at the dining table.

"So, uh, I had planned on surprising you with pancakes, but, uh, that didn't work out…'' Prussia starts, scratching his head. "But, happy birthday, Matt! You have no idea how much you mean to The Awesome Me."

His cheeks turned red when he realized he had actually said it, as he was never planning on telling him how he felt. But looking at his happy, eating face, the words just slipped out of his mouth. "I mean, no, uh, you're pretty awesome. That's what I meant."

Canada smiles, "Thanks, Gil. No one ever really remembers my birthday anymore and done anything like this for me, so I just really have to thank you." He leaned in and hugged the blushing Prussian. "But I really have to wonder why someone like you is spending time with me, eh?"

Prussia retreats from the hug, frowning, "I already told you! I…"

I love you!

But he didn't let those words escape his mouth. He thought Canada already knew he liked him that way, and that by saying that he would make him uncomfortable.

"… I think you're awesome." Prussia muttered, sighing internally. Yes, he did think he was awesome, but it was much more than that! And it exasperated him that he couldn't just kiss Canada right then and there.

Canada almost thought Prussia was going to tell him he felt the same way, that he liked him too, that they could belong to each other, but then he realized he just couldn't get what he wanted. "… Right."

Prussia took a bite of the pancakes, and widened his eyes, "T… They're not too eggy! They're awesome!" He exclaims, mouth gaping after chewing.

Canada chuckles, "I just don't understand how you could've messed up so many times."

Prussia, embarrassed, stammers, "A-Awesome me did that on purpose! To… To experiment! Yeah, experiment!"

Canada grins, "Right, well, whatever you say. But don't think that whole "experiment" thing will work when I beat your butt in hockey."

"What? Hey! No one beats The Awesome Me in anything!" Prussia says, holding up his fork.

"Oh, yeah? That so?" Canada retorts, holding up his fork as well.

"You wanna go, you little Canadian Birdie?" Prussia asked playfully, grinning wildly and completely disregarding the fact that he had called Canada that nickname again.

"Try me!" Canada answers, grinning just as widely.

They both stood up, completely forgetting about the food. Prussia lunges forward, and they clank their forks together as if they were swords. Canada attacks at full-force (not really), smacking Prussia's fork out of his hand. He places his fork at the brink of Prussia's chest, grinning as he lowered Prussia onto the floor with a mere fork. Of course, Prussia was just playing along, but he had underestimated the Canadian so that when he knocked his fork out of his hand it caught him much by surprise.

"You were saying?" Canada says, grinning.

Prussia regains his composure and smirks, "Don't get too cocky, Mattie, that was just a fluke." He took Canada's fork from his hand and threw it aside, grabbing his collar with the full intention of kissing him until he realized what in the world he was doing and just switched their positions.

"I just let you do that." Canada says. Prussia smiles, and offers Canada his hand. He accepts, and he pulls him up easily. "I haven't had any action like that since the time I burned down Alfred's White House in the War of 1812."

Canada continues to chuckle, and Prussia somewhat shivered. That kind of shiver you get around the nation known as Russia, who can suggest killing people with a smile still planted on his face. "Oh? Is the modest, soft-spoken Canadian Birdie boasting for once?" Prussia asks playfully, chuckling when he saw Canada's cheeks heat up.

"No! I wasn't! I was just… Nevermind!" He stammers, crossing his arms and pouting.

Prussia chuckles, thinking, Cute.

Suddenly, the door to Canada's apartment bursts open, and in came an obnoxious American, with several other individuals behind him. "Let's get this party started, yo! I brought Mickey D's and everything!"

Canada stares at the door in absolute horror, regretting the day he had decided to give America a spare key to his apartment. He stood frozen as his brother and eight other individuals walked into his apartment, some carrying gifts.

"Surprise!" Prussia says beside him, putting off a confetti thrower. And when Canada looks over at him he's smiling softly at him, which quickly turns into a grin.

And as America starts the music after setting down his huge radio, and France and Italy set down food on the counter, and Spain and Germany start putting up balloons, streamers, and a banner that read "Happy Birthday, Matthew", Canada almost burst into tears. He blinked away his tears and looked from Prussia to the party, and then back to Prussia and without thinking he lunged at Prussia and hugged him, knocking him over.

"Thank you so much, Gil!" Canada says, repeating the phrase over and over into the Prussian's ear. He had almost let the phrase "I love you" slip his mouth, but refrained from doing so, despite how much he wanted to say it.

"Whoa! Matthew and Prussia are getting it on, yo!" America says playfully, and cackles in laughter at how the two both turned a bit red.

"S… Sorry about that, Gil." Canada apologizes for his, what he thought, was an overreaction. He started to get up until Prussia started to get up too and put his arms behind his back as if to tell Canada to get on.

Canada raises an eyebrow, "Gil, no."

Prussia grins, "Gil, yes. Or do you want to stand around in your pajamas?"

Canada's eyes widened, and when he looks down to see what he was wearing, thinking please don't be wearing pajamas, please don't be wearing pajamas, he found himself in a long-sleeve maple leaf pajama shirt and pants that reached his knees. He blushed a crimson red when he realized all of the nations in his apartment had, no, are seeing him in his pajamas on a party that's intended for him, and he quickly got on Prussia's back.

Prussia chuckles, saying "Hold on tight!" as he runs down the hallway and into Canada's room, holding Canada's thighs on his back while Canada hung on desperately onto him, arms around his neck.

Canada sighs once they're in his room, and says, "You idiot, you! Why couldn't you tell me to get changed, eh? That was so embarrassing!"

"Then you'd know something was up and it wouldn't be much of a surprise anymore, now would it?" Prussia says, grinning.

"Well, whatever." Canada pouts, turning towards his closet and looking frantically for something to put on, not wanting to keep everyone out there waiting. "I don't think I have anything suited for this occasion either! And it's probably not good manners to retreat to your room during a party, either…"

"Matt, it's fine. Just pick out something casual." Prussia suggests, looking through Canada's drawers. He grinned, holding out boxers with America's flag on it, "Really, Matt?"

"What is – Hey, give that back!" Canada yells exasperatedly, trying to snatch the American boxers from Prussia but to no avail, as Prussia was inevitably taller even if Canada jumped. "America gave me those almost a hundred years ago, when he used to remember my birthday!"

"And what? Even though you'd never wear it, you can't bring yourself to throw a present away, no matter how ridiculous it is?" Prussia asks, teasing. "That's so cute, little Canadian Birdie!"

Canada blushes a deep red out of embarrassment once again, finally snatching them out of Prussia's hands and quickly stuffing them in a drawer.

"Hey, don't be like that, at least fold them!" Prussia says, though Canada didn't know whether he was teasing or not as he proceeded to reopen the drawer and fold the boxers. He wasn't.

Canada sighs, once again turning back to his closet to choose what to wear.

"Now I have to get you one of those, except with my flag on it," Prussia continues to tease into Canada's ear, and Canada jumped out of his skin and yelps, "N-No, you don't!"

Prussia chuckles, and Canada sighed once more, picking out a sweater. "Should I wear this, Gil?"

Prussia shook his head, placing the sweater back on the clothes hanger, "You're in your own house, no need to wear a sweater." Prussia says, filing through all of his shirts then pulling out a white button-up shirt with a red bow tie attached, and then chose a somewhat casual gray-white pants with a belt. He tosses it over to the surprised Canadian, grinning at his expression.

"Well, what're you waiting for?" Prussia encourages, grinning.

"The bow tie, too?" Canada asks, blushing a bit.

"Yeah, of course. Specially picked out by The Awesome Me, you should be honored. I wouldn't mind if you worshipped me." Prussia boasts, but this time, he wasn't doing it to just keep in character and make sure no one suspected anything was wrong. He was actually smiling for real, laughing, fighting, boasting, and he realized it was because of the unsuspecting Canadian.

Canada giggles at the statement, "Yeah, right, Gil." He took another glance at the outfit, "But, Gil, I bought these stuff when I was a wee child. At the time, I thought I'd grow up to be popular and cool and with a schedule packed with parties, but look how that dream turned out." He laughs a bit, and then wonders why he had told Prussia that. He had never told anyone of the dream he had when he first became a nation, no one except his brother.

He expected Prussia to laugh, but instead of that he smiled, "Yeah, but look at you. You've become such a peaceful, understanding nation that usually says no to violence. I think we all used to be that way, but most nations have become tainted with war and hard times that most forget how to be peaceful, or how to say no to violence. I'm proof of that." Prussia says in all seriousness. "So, no, you may not have many relations with other nations, but I still think you're a beautiful, awesome nation, and you should, too, ja?"

It wasn't until he finished his speech that Prussia realized he had called Canada beautiful, and it was the truth, but he was still a little embarrassed to put down his walls to say something of such seriousness.

Canada only stares in awe, his heart beating quickly in his chest at hearing Prussia say something like that to him. He was about to thank the Prussian before he got all teary-eyed again, until Prussia put his walls back up and starts to goof off, "And the little Canadian birdie wishes that he could be like the cool kids, because – "

Canada blushes a deep red and punches Prussia's shoulder to stop him from saying that in a sing-song voice, saying, "Quit it, Gil." And, in all honesty, Prussia's singing wasn't very good for the ears either.

Prussia chuckles, and Canada says, "… But, thank you. It means a lot."

Canada smiles softly at the Prussian, who blushes and says, "Yeah, well, awesome me didn't do anything."

After Canada changed outfits, he prepares himself to walk back into his living room that was filled with gathered nations, food, drinks, music, and decorations.

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Heh, I actually got a bit too excited and ended up already writing chapter eleven! It'll be up next week, but oh boy how much fun it was to write! I'm so excited to publish it! :D Oh, and, at least you learned how to make fluffy Canadian pancakes now XD For the one who suggested Prussia and Canada go to Paris for Canada's birthday, sorry, but the ride to Paris is like eight hours and by then most of his birthday would've been gone! Don't worry, they are going to the city of love, soon! *wink* And, also, this chapter marks the halfway point of this story! Well, as always, please leave a review if you enjoyed, have an idea, or want to leave constructive criticism! Please stay tuned! ^^