N/A: Hello everyone. I am back with this story again after so long of not having the inspiration to do it ^^; I am sorry it took me so long but I think I just needed time to figure things out with my life and what not. I am still in college, so my updates might not be frequent, but hopefully they will be more frequent than they have been as of later.

Thank you all for hanging in there while I figured out what to do with this story. I really do want to finish it but I think I just needed to remind myself where this story was going (had to reread everything from the beginning). I hope you enjoy this chapter and hope you will read & review when you are finished! Thanks for being so paitent! 3

Chapter 10:

Her mind was not here, he could tell. The far-off look in her eyes was endearing, but he also knew that it wasn't what it should have been. Sadiq could tell that Katyusha was unfocused that day though, surprisingly, she was doing a good job with the work she was assigned that day. The staircase had been swept, dusted, and thoroughly cleaned. The kitchen had been completely cleaned as well (Sakura having the day off) and all the laundry had been hung out to dry on the clothes lines.

She's doing everything right, but she doesn't even seem like she knows that herself, he commented in thought as he continued to watch the Ukrainian woman clean the chandler. He wanted to talk to her, but he figured it might not be the best idea at the moment. He wouldn't want her to get scared and end up falling or breaking anything. He continued to watch until she had gotten off the ladder, softly sighing.

"Katyusha," Sadiq then said, making her squeak a bit in surprise. She looked over before sighing in relief when she saw who it was.

"Oh. Hello Sadiq," she softly greeted him with a small, forced smile. "Wh-What can I do for you?"

"Just a bit worried," he replied as he walked over to her, looking down at her. "You seem rather distracted." Katyusha shook her head with a slightly bigger smile that was still forced.

"I'm alright. Just thinking is all."

"Are you sure?"

Katyusha nodded in reply as she took the ladder down and placed it back in the closet. She knew she was distracted but she was trying her hardest to keep herself busy to not think about anything. She didn't want anyone to think that she was hung up over what Ms. Bonnefoy had said. She didn't want to get fired and the fact that she would have no other place to go made her want to stay more.

This place had become her home after nearly four months being here and she was glad she was here. She wanted to do better with her work so she could stay for as long as she could. Of course, not knowing where her family was made things a bit harder on her. After the incident a while ago, it made her start thinking about her life and her family. She hoped neither of them had been killed in some way and really just hoped that they were alright.

"Katyusha, you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" Sadiq said after a few minutes of silence, making her look at him.

"Thank you, but it's not really something I like talking about," Katyusha replied as she looked down, slightly tugging at the sides of her skirt. "I'm sorry."

Sadiq shook his head, giving a small smile. "It's fine. Just try not to zone out too much. Don't want anyone to get hurt or anything to break, okay?"

Katyusha smiled a bit sincerely about this, nodding. "I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." She excused herself before walking out of the room, heading off to check on Matthew to make sure he was doing better.

0-0-0

Matthew softly sighed as he sat on the small sitting area near his window, looking out at the garden. He was a bit spaced out but mainly because of the fact that he was thinking about his discovery of his feelings for Katyusha. He never realized that he would fall in love with someone. He more of expected to just let his mother choose a woman to marry and then get married, not entirely caring if they loved each other at first. He would have been fine falling in love with her later.

However, now, he was longing to kiss and hold her and touch her, wanting to make her all his and not care if someone found out. He wasn't like that though. He wanted to make his mother proud of him, wanted to be someone that was of great success and who could please the people. Of course, his mind then wandered to the thought of this happening with Katyusha by his side, dressed in a beautiful dress.

No! Don't think like that! He commanded himself as he shook his head, his cheeks a bit red. He sighed before jumping as he heard the knock on the door. He took a few deep breaths before he sat up straighter, looking over at said door.

"C-Come in," he softly said, mentally kicking himself for not being able to properly speak without stuttering. The door slowly opened and Katyusha walked in, making him smile and blush a bit more. He couldn't help but think that she looked cute in her uniform. "What is it, Katyusha?"

"I was just coming to check up on you," Katyusha commented with a small smile. She closed the door behind her. "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing fine. Thank you."

"That's good."

They stood then were silent, saying nothing as they sat and stood there, looking away from each other. The two said nothing and both could feel the tense that was building up in the air. Neither knew what it was though, but that was something they decided not to try and address. After a moment, Katyusha bowed to Matthew.

"I-I'll go now," she commented before turning. Matthew just nodded and waved before she closed the door behind her, letting out a small sigh as he looked back out the window. He had seen a lot of beautiful women in his life, but Katyusha was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. Even if other people didn't agree with him, he thought she was. Of course, he could see the way Sadiq would look at her most days and he knew the Turk thought the same about her. He knew he wouldn't be able to compete. The two knew each other better than him and the two were of the same class, so it made sense.

He let out another sigh before jumping as the door to his room slammed opened, revealing his brother. Matthew blinked and readjusted his glasses back onto his face.

"Mattie… we need to talk," Alfred stated seriously as he closed the door once inside the room. He then walked over to his brother, hovering over him with a rather serious look. Matthew nervously swallowed at this.

"A-About what?" he asked, hoping his brother didn't figure out what he had been thinking the last few days and whom it was about.

"Mattie… I think you know what I mean…"

Matthew looked rather confused all of a sudden when his brother had such a serious look on his face, even more so than before. "Alfred… I really don't know what you mean…"

"I mean the fact that you're not even a little excited for your birthday coming up!" Alfred stated as he grabbed his brother's shoulders, which actually made Matthew chuckle a bit. He hadn't been expecting that response at all, especially not from his brother of all things. Alfred, of course, was a bit frazzled and confused by this. "Wh-What? Why are you laughing!?"

"Sorry. I just thought you were going to say something more serious with that look on your face. Wasn't expecting you to be so upset with the fact that I'm not excited for my birthday coming up," Matthew replied. He had honestly not been paying attention to the days as of late, so he hadn't even realized his birthday was coming up. When he actually did look at the calendar after his brother said that, he saw that it was already June 25th.

Alfred pouted like a child at this. "Hey! I'm being completely serious here! Especially since Mama and Papa can't make it to our birthdays this year." Matthew looked up at him, even more confused than before.

"What? They can't?"

Alfred sighed and looked down. "No… I actually just got off the phone with them and they're stuck having to go out of the country for something. They didn't really tell me what but that they couldn't make it. Said they would be sending up presents though."

"I see. That's okay with me."

"Wh-What!?"

"I've never been much of one to throw parties… frankly they make me uncomfortable."

Alfred sighed, shaking his head. "Geez… this is why you'll always be so anti-social for the rest of your life…"

"Just because I don't like somethings doesn't mean I'm anti-social, Al!" Matthew retorted rather strongly, which was a bit of a surprise to Alfred since his brother had always been so soft spoken. Matthew sighed and looked away. "Just leave me alone, okay?"

"Ah… Mattie… I-I didn't mea-" Alfred began but Matthew just cut him off by pushing him out the door. The young man stood there for a long time after the door was shut in his face and he heard the bolt of the lock. He hadn't thought Matthew would take that so seriously. He had always said that and Matthew just shrugged it off.

…I wonder if he finally got tired of me saying that. That was the only conclusion that Alfred could think of for the situation that just happened. He stood there for a moment before he headed down the hall to his room. He probably pushed Matthew too far this time, especially after he was sick and probably thinking about other things. What things, he would never know but he was sure there were there. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

0-0-0

"Huh?" Katyusha asked as she looked up at Matthew who had come down from his room after several hours. Katyusha had been outside with Cit, making sure he was cleaned up and had everything he needed.

"I want you to accompany me to town," Matthew repeated once again as he looked down at her. He was still a bit irritated, but he tried not to show it in front of her. He wouldn't like her thinking he was mad or anything.

"If that's what you want. I'll just run inside and put some other clothes on then." Matthew nodded before Katyusha curtsied and headed inside to change after putting Cit back into his stall. Matthew watched her before sighing, looking up at the horse.

"Am I being obvious?" he asked him, though wasn't expecting said horse to snort as though it knew what Matthew was talking about. Matthew snorted a bit. "I thought so…" he gently patted Cit's muzzle, softly thanking him before heading back inside himself. Maybe this time in town would do him some good. He wanted to calm down, but he was a little uncomfortable going by himself. He looked down. Maybe his brother was right. Maybe he was just too anti-social for anything. Matthew shook his head before walking inside. Yes. A nice walk would do him some good.