WELCOME TO THE FINAL CHAPTER! I don't want to give away any spoilers so I'll give my usual speel at the end.

EDIT: I AM SO SORRY TO ANYONE WHO READ THIS CHAPTER BEFORE THIS NOTE. THE WEBSITE GLITCHED AND IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO READ THE CHAPTER BECAUSE IT ADDED THE HTML FOR SOME REASON.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Canada looked up at his brother and forced a smile onto his face.

"I'm fine, Al. You've asked about fifty times already."

"I know, I'm just looking out for my baby brother. Doing what I haven't for a long time."

Matthew frowned at America. He hated hearing his sibling beat himself up over this.
After he had woken up Canada had felt better than he had ever felt before; it was as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Despite this he was still weak. He may have been a nation but when it came to being injured by another country it meant that he would be affected just like any other human would be. It had been a long time since he had had to deal with a stab wound and those things hurt like a bitch. Now he was recovered and America volunteered to drive him home from New York to Ottawa. England and France had to be getting home so they bid him a tearful farewell. It had been hard work getting his papa to release him from the embrace. France's parting words had been "Je voudrais vous ramener chez vous si je pouvais"

Then, something odd happened. As Alfred started up the car and began to drive away from the building that held such horrible memories Matthew had spotted Prussia run outside. The way he looked around seemed desperate. The last thing Canada remembered seeing was the Prussian staring intently at him through the tinted windows. There was unmistakable regret in his pink eyes and the raw emotion burnt through him.

The rest of the car ride was spent in silence and the occasional worried questions and fussing from America. It wasn't awkward though; it was actually a very comforting silence. Canada had always loved the peace and quiet so it was very rare for him to feel uncomfortable during the moments of calm.
When the red Ford stopped in front of Canada's flat, America sat sullenly in the front seat. Now was the time for Canada to actually feel discomfort. This was strange for his normally energetic, confident brother; so the two men just sat there for a good 20 minutes.
Eventually the stillness was broken by America when he asked in a quavering voice, "Do you…Do you want me to go in with you?"
"No thanks, Al. I think I'll be okay." Kumajirou probably hadn't eaten the sofa. The intelligent bear new where his food was and if he ever needed anything then the land lord would have picked him up.

"You really should get your own place Mattie. Like, a huge, awesome house, like mine." America said with a small laugh. His brother smiled at him before glancing down at his nervously clasped hands. His grin melted off his face again. "Are you…Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? Help you unpack or anything? I actually stopped by here yesterday to check up on Kuma and…"

"Alfred." Canada interrupted his brother, "I can look after myself. Things are going to get better. I just… I need some me time. I haven't had a lot of that for a very long time."
Matthew opened the door of the car and stepped out. He walked around and popped open the trunk to take his duffel bag out. Alfred climbed out of his side too. He leant his back against the Ford and stuck his hands in his pockets looking slightly dejected. Canada walked over to him and looked at him with a knowing smirk.

"Stop trying to guilt trip me, bro. You know that only works with England."

"America raised his eyes to stare sadly at him. Matthew laughed and elbowed his side. "I told you. It's just England who falls for it. Maybe Japan."

Suddenly America threw his arms around his brother and held him tightly. "I'm going to visit every weekend." Canada heard him mumble into his shirt. Matthew managed to free one of his arms and wrapped it around Alfred's back. After another minute the two brothers let go and Canada walked up the side of the building where the door to his flat was. He took a deep breath and took out his keys.

Canada didn't really know what he expected to find inside. The thing that did come as a surprise was the crashing sound of a polar bear bounding from his bedroom to barrel into him. The force knocked the breath out of him and he found himself on the ground with a huge ball of fur nuzzling into his face. "You okay?" Matthew heard a squeaky voice ask.
He hugged Kumajirou and answered, "I am now, buddy."

When Canada stood up he could tell something was off. It had occurred to him before that this whole ordeal was too easy; it ended too quickly. Now the idea had returned. He had left this very home about 2 weeks ago as a total wreck. Perhaps Al had fixed all of that when he checked up on Kuma yesterday. Vague, pain filled memories allowed him to recall stumbling around with the high screeching in his head caused by the other him. Before that moment though, he had no memory of what happened. There were days, maybe months of time missing in his head.

In the end he put it down to the fact that he was still tired. This kind of thing doesn't just blow over in a day. Canada hadn't even unpacked his bag when he fell into bed with one of his best friends in the world (that also happened to be a polar bear).

When he awoke the next morning he felt odd. The sensation of something being off in his home was still not settling well in his gut. He groggily pulled his head up to check what the glowing red numbers on his clock said. When his tired eyes managed to decipher the symbols he figured out why he felt wrong. It was 3:00 in the fucking morning. What the hell, man?
With some effort Matthew managed to push himself up into a sitting position. Once he accomplished that feat he was left staring into the darkness. It was that time of the night- or morning rather- that allowed doubts to creep into his mind.

What if there was something wrong? What if he had never gotten better?

The swirling onslaught of fear was about to consume him when a certain flashing in the corner of the room caught his eye. Canada heaved himself up and stumbled, blindly to his bag. On top of it was his cell phone which was flashing. When he turned it on he saw the numerous voice mails. He had nothing better to do so he decided to listen to them.

Most were boring messages from concerned members of his parliament that he reminded himself to call later in the day when it was about the time for sane people to be awake. Then, he got to Prussia's. Before putting the phone to his ear Canada had to take a moment to think.
Was this the reason Gil had looked so distraught yesterday? What could he have said? Matthew couldn't remember the last time that they had talked and was beginning to feel slightly nervous. Never the less, he listened intently.

"Hey, uh, Matt! How are you? Well... not... not good I guess. God... You are amazing. You are truly a piece of work. I just... Matthew Williams-birdie- you-you are the strongest man I know. I'm not joking. You stand as tall as that awesome CN Tower or whatever. I just want you to know... I'm here. I miss you. All the other guys here? They aren't my biggest fans. I mean, Spain and France are pretty awesome, but you're just ... How can I put this into words? You're bright. You shine. You make me feel okay. Verdammt, Birdie I-"

That couldn't be it. No…there…there had to be the next part. Matthew frantically searched through his phone but couldn't find the next part of the voice mail. There were tears in his eyes. Those were some of the nicest things he had ever been told.

Canada wasn't sure what possessed him in that moment but he punched in Prussia's phone number. When he reached the voice mail he didn't know what to expect; certainly not this.

"Hey! Birdie! You're listening to my voice mail greeting right now! It's…uh…really long. I've been messing with some tech stuff and it let me do this. You are probably the only person who actually calls me so that's why I made this just for you! I dropped by your place the other day and I gotta tell you, it's a mess. I saw you driving yourself home and I was a little surprised…Have you looked at yourself? You're still kind of a mess too. You should have let me drive you but you took off before I could go to your car! Anyways…Get better soon Birdie!"

That was strange.

A little too strange.

Canada hadn't driven himself home. America had. His own brother was there the entire time…Wasn't he?

It would have been impossible to miss Al…

Those doubts were back now. They were ravaging his mind. Hadn't he thought that something was off? He had, hadn't he? He just kept blaming it on other things. Where was Kumajirou? He usually slept until noon. Had his friend even been in the flat at all?

"Have you looked at yourself?"

The words echoed through his mind. They haunted him because he hadn't looked at himself. Mirrors showed reflections and seeing the possibility of him being back made his stomach churn. Al had cleaned up the place though, right? But now that Canada thought about it… he didn't remember Alfred ever leaving his side. Also Kuma wouldn't have reacted the way he had if Al explained the situation to him.

The phone fell from Matthew's grasp onto the floor. His hands were shaking too hard to hold onto anything. He attempted to stand up and eventually managed to pull himself though the darkness to the washroom. His legs felt as though they would give out from underneath him at any given moment.

He needed a light.

He had to see.

He had to make sure it was him.

He had to make sure that he was himself.

Canada's trembling hands found the switch and the lights flickered on. The walls were stained with reddish brown streaks. There was a strange rotting smell that filled his nose.

The mirror was smashed and barely there.

Matthew pretty much fell out of the washroom and slammed the door behind him.

His bedroom was still drenched in darkness that bled into everything, maybe it was a certain dark madness that accidentally bled into his mind.
This couldn't be happening.
He was better. He was okay. He just needed time.

Turning around, Canada slowly re-opened the door. He breathed laboured breaths.
It was fine. The room was clean.
He would be okay.

Canada didn't remember falling asleep but evidently he had.

On the floor.

He felt like something had happened last night. It was like a dream and its details were being dangled just out of his consciousness's grasp. With a groan he pushed himself up off of the ground and walked into the hall and stared at the mirror.

His reflection was smiling.

Matthew didn't feel as though he were smiling.

He felt sad.

Canada blinked, his reflection looked mad now. He gasped in surprise. He took a step back but slipped on the wet floor. As he fell he asked himself why the floor was wet. When he landed in the pool of sticky red liquid he had his answer. There was blood everywhere. Its strong metallic stench filled his nostrils making Canada gag. When his head hit the floor it was like a dam broke.

He remembered last night; in the bathroom. The darkness. The everything. He noticed the feeling of something being off vanish.

The colours that hadn't seemed vibrant at all became dull and dark. He could see the grime on the walls. The reddish hand prints. That strange rotting smell returned and his entire being shook. He didn't have his glasses on so when he tried to move his hand was pierced by what felt like broken glass. With a trembling hand Matthew managed to pick up the large shard of whatever he had cut himself on. Blood poured freely from the wound and Canada's eyes widened when he saw what it really was. The mirror he had looked into moments before was now in pieces.

This was too much.

It was all fake.

Had he driven himself home?

Was Al and everyone else worried?

'Probably not, I bet they already forgot about me.' He thought.

Then it was over. He was standing in front of the mirror again. Canada turned in frantic circles to look around. The flat was spotless.

Too spotless.

Unconciously, Matthew balled his right hand into a fist. There was only a ghost of a feeling where he hadn't really cut it on that mirror that hadn't really broken.
He slammed his fist into the mirror. Now there was a cut. Now there were many cuts.
The broken shards fell to the ground along with Canada's body.

He was scared.

He didn't know what to do.

It didn't really matter anymore what was real or not. According to his mind it didn't matter if the other him was gone. He would always be there in every photo, in every reflection. In his very own home.

Canada knew that he wasn't there but he could hear the taunting melody of his voice. His entire life lay in pieces like a broken mirror.

He mumbled quietly to himself amidst the horrorifying realization, "Al was right. I need to get my own place..."

I am so sorry for that ending. It was what I've been planning for a while and I know some of you asked for the happy ending but it just wasn't what I envisioned. I WILL BE WRITING AN ALTERNATE ENDING THOUGH SO DON'T WORRY.
First off I would like to thank everyone who ever gave this story a chance! When I originally posted it I never thought it would get this response! I only expeted it to get about 5 reviews or so. I love all of the kind words you guys gave me and some great constructive criticism! I hope to hear from some of you again on y other stories and good luck with your own writing!