Chapter Ten

It was raining by the time Ivan reached his hotel.

The skies were gray and thunder rumbled overhead, but it wasn't much of a surprise. He had always heard about how rainy it always was in England, but the first few days he had been then there had been sunny and warm. He had enjoyed them while they had lasted.

He pushed the door to his room open, heart heavy as he hung his coat amongst the other coats hanging off the rack nailed to the wall. The room was occupied by him and Natalya, as she had insisted on staying back with him. She lay sprawled across the bed, scrolling through a book, only glancing up when she heard the door creak open.
"Вітаю Brother."

She smiled and brushed her silver hair over her shoulders as she sat up, gently laying her book down. Ivan watched her cautiously, still hovering near the door.
"What's the matter?"

Natalya frowned, sliding her feet off the bed as she peered at Ivan with a concerned expression. Ivan forced a faint smile and went to sit beside her, keeping his distance. "Nothing. Just a bad day I suppose." He replied. Natalya's frown only extended and she shook her head, muttering something underneath her breath. "That's a lie. There's obviously something wrong with you. Did somebody hurt you?"

Ivan quickly shook his head, noticing her clenched fist. "No. I told you, I'm just having a bad day…" He lied. Natalya smiled lightly and laid a hand on Ivan's shoulder. "Well...Then I'm sure it will get better. Have you seen England around? You two seem to be on good terms." She added cheerfully.

Ivan groaned. He didn't want to talk anymore about Arthur.

Arthur felt guilty, and he wasn't exactly sure why.

His own home felt unwelcoming and he would've prefered to stay out in the rain. However, after standing just outside on his porch, Alfred had poked his head out the door and called him in. With much hesitancy, Arthur slowly followed into the house, pulling of his soaking wet shoes.

"Man, I have no idea what you're doing out there, it's pouring out there."

A white, fluffy, towel landed on Arthur's head as Alfred watched him dry off his hair.
"Where were you anyway?"

Without answering the question asked, Arthur passed the now soggy towel back to Alfred. Obviously, Alfred wasn't going to take silence for an answer. Without arguing, Alfred stared Arthur down until the British man felt uncomfortable enough to speak. "Out, shopping." Arthur nodded towards the bag in his hands, now setting it down upon the floor. "Well what's your problem then? You look miserable." Alfred added. Arthur shook his head, not particularly wanting to talk about the extremely awkward meeting with Ivan. "I, uh, I saw Ivan." Arthur mumbled, watching Alfred's eyes narrow.
"Russia? Why's he still here?"

Arthur shrugged, nervously picking at his nails. "I dunno…He said his flight back home was canceled, so he decided to stay a week. We talked a little bit." Arthur explained. "About what?" Alfred tilted his head, frowning with a strangely worried glint in his eye. "Just a bit of the party, and such…"

At his answer, Alfred's expression only tightened, and Arthur could see his fists clenched at his sides.

"I really am sorry. About the whole situation." Alfred sheepishly scratched the back of his head, glancing down at his shoes so he didn't have to look directly at Arthur.

"Oh no! I mean, yeah, it was...unfortunate, but me and Ivan were speaking of something...else." Arthur didn't specify the kissing part, and he doubted he or Ivan ever would. Alfred didn't ask any questions, simply looked relieved and let his body loosen up. "I see, well, I hope you guys had a...fun, time? Do you wanna eat something? I'm kinda hungry, and I can whip something before I leave. Unless, you want me to leave now." Alfred's sentence was slightly rushed, and he stumbled over a few words as he spoke. Arthur gave way to a small smile and nodded his head, "Of course you can stay. I got some bread, and eggs, so we can have toast and scrambled eggs." Arthur offered. Alfred grinned and nodded in agreement, picking up the grocery bag from the floor. "Yeah, that sounds good! Just, let me cook this time, okay?"

Arthur rolled his eyes and pushed aside Alfred as he strolled into the kitchen. "I hope that wasn't meant to be offensive!" Arthur called back. He heard Alfred laugh from behind him, a pleasant sound after such a tense conversation.

"I was just thinking...We could visit that candy shop that Irunya swung by before she left. It sells all kinds of stuff."

Ivan wasn't very interested in wandering the streets of England at the moment, actually more interested in flipping through random channels on the hotel TV. So far, he had found a Spanish soap opera without subtitles, a detective show, and a cooking show that bored him quite a lot. After taking a nap, Natalya was already planning out a new adventure for them. Ivan was exhausted, his eyelids weighing him down. He wanted nothing more than to sleep, but Natalya wouldn't have any of it. She tugged on her coat, frowning at herself in the mirror before she hauled Ivan up by his arm.

"I'm sick of you sulking, and obviously you're not going to tell me why, but since we're here, I want to explore! With you, brother." Natalya smiled brightly up at Ivan, and he managed to force a weak, lopsided, smile back at her. "Of course...Sister, let's go now and get it over with." Ivan heard Natalya scoff, but she was satisfied enough with his answer. "Good, cheer up, and let's go explore London!"

A/N: I'm so, so, sorry for the late chapter ;-; I had no inspiration(as always) and school is always a bit of trouble. I love all of my followers and thanks for sticking with me! Anyway, I updated Chapter 1-7(?), and editing them was painful. Let's just say that I cringed. Several million times. But they're all good now! And I'm hoping to edit more this weekend/week.

I made a bunch of accounts, Pinterest, Wattpad, where I might occasionally post random crap, so feel free to check those out; Accounts are linked on my profile.

If you guys have any suggestions for edits or new stories, go ahead and tell me. Thanks, and have a great day/night!