"Mademoiselle, the straps please!"

Gaul!Francis's slightly whining voice broke through my dream like normal and I went into the routine of helping him get out. It had been about a week since he had been here, but I still didn't trust him enough to let him sleep freely. Whether it was some sort of sleeping disorder or just a nightly habit, I didn't want the kid leaving at night.

We both got up and slipped into the usual schedule: I'd find Arthur trying to cook, get Ivan to stop him, stop Ivan from killing him, go with Alfred to get breakfast with the others, cram all the food into the back seats, eat breakfast with everyone out in the driveway because we couldn't get it all inside, stop a food fight between Alfred and Arthur, make Gaul!Francis help me clean the mess, keep Alfred and Ivan from killing each other, keep Arthur and Gaul!Francis from killing each other, sit all of them down to give a speech about not killing each other, and afterwards it varied from Alfred dragging everyone with him into the pool, running from Ivan when he was sadistic, hitting Gaul!Francis for flirting, and trying to get a peek at what Arthur was drawing on the blackboard in the living room.

All in all is was the most exhausting day in my life.

Between all of this I was able to print out everyone's boarding pass. You might be wondering how I got passes for the countries, and how I did was that I called my mom and told her I wanted my four friends to come with me. I was lucky enough to catch her drunk and she agreed, mumbling about how much fun she was having on the phone while putting in the information and money for the tickets. Our flight left at 10 am and arrived in Las Vegas at 10 pm. A nine hour flight with the units?

Challenge accepted.

"Really, I don't see how this is good for my health," I muttered under my breath as I watched the sun set from outside. The different blends and colors always took my breath away, and I remember sneaking out as a kid to come and look at it for just a minute before being found and scolded by my mother. I smiled at the fond memories and heard footsteps come close to me. Turning around, I saw with surprise it was Arthur.

"Arthur! Er…hi," I greeted him nervously, waving a bit.

"Good day to you too," He chuckled, eating up the embarrassment coming off me.

I blushed and looked away, cursing myself for being a fangirl. The feelings I had for him weren't even real; I only liked him because of his looks and accent.

Arthur stood next to me, and I saw that he was also gazing at the sunset. "It really is beautiful, isn't it?" He said with eyes filled with wonder. "Even though it's as hot as hell down here it's still magnificent."

"This is your first time in Florida?" I inquired, arching an eyebrow. He nodded.

"Yes, I've been in the United States but mostly in the north, and I'm normally sent into Europe or Canada, sometimes even Japan." He explained matter-of-factly.

I could only nod and keep my eyes on the sun. Minutes passed between us without words, our minds filled too much with other things to talk. Funny, I would've probably given anything to stand next to Arthur's side and watch the sunset, but now that I was…it didn't seem any different than with anyone else. I didn't feel bliss, I didn't have the urge to throw my arms around him and kiss him (I didn't have the courage to anyway), and I didn't feel my heart skip unless I looked at him.

Arthur to me was really only an attractive friend.

I wondered when that had changed but then heard him ask, "Do you think it'll be as pretty as here?"

"Las Vegas?"

"Yes."

I sighed, scratching my head, "I don't know…the lights will be pretty, but we won't be able to see any type of nature except the man-made things and the desert."

"Well maybe I'll make friends with the high-rollers instead then."

I laughed at that. "Yeah, they'd love to be friends with someone as sophisticated as you."

He smiled at me. "Exactly."

I smiled back, letting the friendly moment slip in. It was interrupted by my cell phone vibrating. I excused myself and went onto the pool deck, pulling it out and hitting 'talk'.

"Hello?"

"Don't go to Las Vegas, it's a trap."

I stopped, frowning, and replied, "How did you get this number?"

"Don't trust anyone, not even your units."

The voice was digital so I had no idea who it was or even their gender. "Who are you?"

They didn't reply and I looked at the screen, scowling when I saw they had hung up. I looked at the number and saw it had the digits 702. The number sounded familiar but I just couldn't name it…

Oh well. The call was disturbing, and I kept thinking about how the person knew I was going to Las Vegas and that I had Hetalia units. If they knew that much there must have been some truth to their words, but I had already packed and gotten the tickets so it was too late to back down now.

"Dumb prank call, I guess…" I mused, putting my phone back in my pocket. I looked up and saw that inside Alfred and Ivan were fighting again. I sighed and stepped inside, carefully staying out of hitting or killing distance.

"Come back here and face me like the killer you are, you Commie!" Alfred shouted at the top of his lungs, running after Ivan as Ivan easily dodged him.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that I won't lower myself to play this little foolish game of yours," Ivan replied casually, smiling his signature smile. Alfred growled and launched himself at him like a tiger, and Ivan grabbed his arm and flipped him over. Alfred hit the floor but brought Ivan down with him with a pull on his boot, and an 'oof' was heard from him as he went down. The two wrestled each other, and when Alfred broke away to catch his breath I stepped in-between them and slammed a fist on both their heads.

"Ow!" They both said in unison.

I glared at both of them and said, "Knock it off numbskulls, or else I'll get Arthur to make you some of his food!"

Alfred shuddered and Ivan's sinister smile dropped.

Ivan got up calmly, glancing once at the American but not lunging at him. He looked at me and said, "Alright, I'll stop for now, da?"

I nodded. "Okay, good-"

"But first let me do this." I was suddenly grabbed from behind and turned around to face Ivan, and caught a glimpse of mischief in his purple eyes before he smacked his lips onto mine. I widened mine in surprise and pushed him away. I slapped him as hard as I could across the face.

"What the hell, Ivan?" I screamed, "That was my first kiss!"

Ivan put his hand on his face, covering the place where I slapped him which had turned red. "Sorry, I just wanted to get back at Alfred. See how angry he is?"

I looked to see how Alfred took it and saw with shock that his eyes were blazing and he was gritting his teeth.

"Ivan…you…" He began to walk towards him, looking angrier than ever. Truthfully I wanted Alfred to beat the jerk's ass in, but that would cause more trouble than it was worth so I stopped him.

"Alfred, don't," I warned, staring at him with composed eyes. He blinked at me in disbelief but halted, glaring daggers at Ivan than turning ominously towards me.

"So the guy forces you to kiss him and you don't even let me touch him?" He growled, "I can't believe this! I'm starting to think that you like him!"

"I don't!" I replied, getting mad. "The only person I like is-" I stopped myself, realizing with horror I was about to say 'you'. Alfred looked at me, confused, but then huffed irately and stomped into Arthur's room, leaving the curious Ivan with me.

Ivan stared at me for a moment before saying, "Were you about to say-"

"Drop it, Ivan." I cut in, not wanting 'like' and 'Alfred' to be said in the same sentence. "Just drop it."

"Okay," He nodded, understanding.

"I'm gonna go in my room so don't bother me." Ivan nodded and looked pitifully at me, his eyes saying 'sorry you fell in love with the idiot'. I coldly ignored them and walked quickly into my room, kicking Gaul!Francis out for some time alone.

'Time alone' turned into internet time and I found myself forgetting my problems as I looked at funny pictures and videos. A picture of Alfred suddenly came up and I slammed the laptop down, breathing heavily as my heart raced. Baka, baka, baka…

No, I would not let this affect the current situation. Why? 1: I was too young to even like him, 2: He already had a girlfriend, and 3: He obviously didn't feel the same way. Now that I had the obvious pointed out I relaxed, letting the feelings slip away. It was much harder to not feel it, but I would do what I could.

"Hey Erica, dinner's ready and if you don't come and get it the fatass will eat it all!" Arthur's voice called, and I smirked at the mention of Alfred's nickname.

"Coming!" I called back, turning off the computer real quick and leaving my room.

The dinner was pasta and Alfred and Arthur had thrown some of the sauce across the table like paint, and even though I knew I'd have to clean it I still laughed as it was thrown. Alfred had recovered from his 'episode' and was back to his happy-go-lucky self, which might've been good for me but was bad for an irritated Arthur and sadistic Ivan. Gaul!Francis laughed along with me at their shenanigans and after I slapped him away from feeling up my leg we got along the rest of the night.

Snuggling into my bed I wondered how I could possibly handle the units in Las Vegas.

"I'll figure out something," I answered myself out loud.

"Figure out what?" Gaul!Francis looked up at me through the darkness, awakened by me talking out loud.

"How to handle you all at Las Vegas." I replied simply.

"I think you'll do fine, mademoiselle," He said back, and I smiled at the reassurance.

"Thanks Francis."

I could imagine him winking at me as he replied, "No problem, master."

The next morning was the opposite of what I thought it would be: calm and organized. The countries had already put their bags near the front door when I got up and were eating breakfast like normal. I was baffled that nothing went wrong from there and Christie arrived on time like expected, causing me to be the only one who was paranoid. The paranoia came from the threat that Christie, who wasn't very smart but wasn't stupid, would find out that my 'father's relatives' were actually sex-toy clones and her 'boyfriend' was among them. She spent most of the drive to the airport, however, singing along to songs on the radio and saying the most embarrassing things about me.

"Oh, and one time when Erica was little she was so excited to see me she peed her pants!" She laughed out loud and the units followed suit, leading me to slump down into the back seat of the car in utter embarrassment.

Oh well, it was better than her finding out.

When we arrived at the airport I spent most of my time stopping Gaul!Francis from molesting strangers and Ivan from hurting them. I could only pray that Alfred didn't try anything stupid, and my prayer was answered with Christie sticking to him all the time. And by all the time I mean that once we got to the terminal she pulled him into the family restroom and, well…you get the idea. Arthur left to get a drink at one of the airport restaurants and I sat in-between the duo of doom, or a horny teenager Francis and a psychotic adult Ivan.

"I'm bored, can I go talk with those boys over there with the hoods?" Ivan declared, motioning to the guys standing near the boy's bathroom. On closer inspection I saw they were all wearing red bandanas. Didn't that mean something-?

"No, I don't think that's a good idea…" I answered, "at all."

"Why?"

"They just don't seem very friendly," I lied, having a weird feeling in my stomach that it was a lot more than that. "Just wait, we only have to wait thirty more minutes for the plane to get here."

Ivan didn't seem convinced but nodded. "Okay, I guess I'll just join Arthur for a drink then. Good-bye!"

He got up, the creepy smile still on his face as he walked towards where Arthur was. In some ways I wanted to follow him to make sure he wouldn't get into trouble, but then who would watch over Gaul!Francis? Certainly not Alfred, who was busy screwing his new girlfriend in the family bathroom…wait, where was Gaul!Francis?

I looked around and saw with dismay that the blonde boy was gone, and I had no idea where he went. Panicking, I got up and started to dart back and forth through the terminal, my eyes skimming the rows of seats and stores for him. But no matter where I looked I couldn't find him.

"Dear God, I've lost him…" I huffed, doubling-over to catch my breath. I wasn't fond of him but he was just a kid, damn it! And if anything happened to him…no, I couldn't think about that.

Suddenly a loud scream from a woman came from the women's bathroom and I looked up to see someone run out, trying to put on her pants as she did so. A second later a boy was thrown out into the open and I identified the pervert as Gaul!Francis. A bunch of girls followed after him and he tried crawling away but was picked up by a rather muscular one, who quickly balled up a fist to punch him.

I dashed over to where the girl was and stopped her arm. "Wait, that's my brother!"

She raised an eyebrow at me and spat, "You let your brother come into a girl's bathroom?"

I stood there, frozen, thinking of the perfect lie so Gaul!Francis wouldn't be beaten to a pulp and be locked up by airport security.

"He's retarded, he doesn't know any better." I explained hurriedly, making a desperate glance at Gaul!Francis to play along. He frowned at me but seemed to understand quickly.

"Me not go into bathroom?" He asked innocently, trying his hardest to imitate an American accent. It failed miserably but made the words more believable.

By this time the brawny girl had put him down. I shook my head at him and grabbed his hand, wiggling my finger in front of his face. "No Freddy, you go to the bathroom with the man on it, okay?"

He seemed pissed off I was treating him like a retard but replied, "Okay sis."

The girl before us looked slightly embarrassed as she said, "Sorry about that, I didn't know…"

"No, no, it's fine! Just don't tell anyone about it, please?"

"Sure, no problem." The girls behind her scattered shortly after that and the many pairs of eyes on us from behind turned away. Gaul!Francis retreated his hand from mine and glared at me.

"Did you really have to make me sound retarded?" He said angrily.

"It's better than you getting an ass-whooping, right?" I retorted, glaring at him in return. We looked icily at each other for a while but eventually broke off.

"I'm sorry." Gaul!Francis mumbled below his breath, so softly I almost didn't hear it. I couldn't help but smile.

"Apology accepted." I simply replied, still smiling down at the twelve-year-old.

"Attention! Flight ### is now ready for boarding, I repeat: Flight ### is now ready for boarding!"

"That's our flight, yes?" Gaul!Francis glanced at our gate, which was now full of people pushing to get inside the plane first.

"Oui, oui," I answered in my best French-accent, which sounded more Italian than French. Gaul!Francis scoffed and went over to our things. He picked up his bags and stood next to Alfred and Christie, who had appeared sometime ago. Ivan joined them, a drunken Briton in his arms. He handed Alfred Arthur like he was one of the bags.

"I believe this is yours, da?"

Christie looked confused but I laughed as Arthur muttered gibberish in his drunken sleep, lying limp in Alfred's strong arms. Gaul!Francis smirked and told Alfred while we were walking into the gate that he had a permanent marker in his carry-on and that they could draw faces on him later. Because of this future scheme I had to sit next to Alfred and Arthur in the middle seat, Alfred on my left and Arthur snoozing on my right. Christie, Gaul!Francis, and Ivan sat behind us.

The device for the pilot's speaker buzzed on and the pilot, a male, announced, "We'll be heading on a straight flight to Las Vegas, a nine hour flight in all, and we hope that in these hours you enjoy your flight and try to get a little shut-eye before gambling and spending the night in Glitter City." Whoops and hollers were heard and Alfred's was among them, almost breaking my eardrums.

"Las Vegas, here we come!" He hollered, getting some fist-pumps and high-fives from the other aisle sitters. I facepalmed and tried to relax in my seat, shrugging off the sleeping Briton from my shoulder while doing so.

I decided to follow Arthur's example and once it was permitted to put on my mp3 player to listen to some music to sleep. I didn't notice the red-bandana-wearing-guys from before sitting only a row across from us.