Toris got up and hurried to the door. He was concerned about what the Germans would want, but he knew from the knock that it was them. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, so he had to take a moment to collect himself. When he was completely calm, he opened the door.

Lieutenant Beilschmidt stood there. "Good afternoon, Toris," he said, nodding to him. "I understand that you have a new living arrangement. I hear there is a Raivis Galante living here now?"

The Lithuanian froze for a moment. How had they found out about Raivis so quickly? "Yes," he softly said. "My cousin has started living with us. He is asleep right now. Is there a problem, Lieutenant?"

"No problems at the moment," Lieutenant Beilschmidt stated. "But from now on, we request that you report all living arrangement changes to our office in city hall."

Toris nodded. "We can do that," he told him. "I apologize for not reporting it, sir. He has been so tired, and I think he is unwell at the moment."

"Well I hope his health improves," Lieutenant Beilschmidt said, smiling a half-smile. "I bid you a good day, Toris Laurinaitis. I will report the changes for you."

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Toris gratefully said. "I appreciate you stopping by to let me know. Please have a nice day." He then closed the door. His mind began to spin. Was he suddenly friends with the people who were supposed to be his enemies?

.

Feliks sighed as he watched Toris pace in their bedroom once more. "Toris, honey, you do this every time you talk to them," he softly said. "What is it this time?"

"Am I becoming friends with them?" Toris asked, troubled. He wrung his hands as he turned to face Feliks. "Sara, this is insane! Am I really being friendly with those bastards?!" His nerves were on edge. What was he doing, being all friendly with Lieutenant Beilschmidt, the enemy of the Jews?!

"And if you are?" Feliks asked, perching himself on the end of the bed and smoothing out his skirts with his hands. He then folded his hands in his lap and just sat there, watching Toris. Part of him hated seeing him so distressed, yet at the same time he thought Toris was just overreacting. "Toris, darling, you really need to calm down. Always remember that this, too, shall pass. It may not be simple and fun, but it will. And when it does, everything will be so much better for you, I promise. It's like that God you've spoken of before. Do you really think He would hang you out to dry?"

"After I've denied him like I have, I believe that He would," Toris answered bitterly, turning to face Feliks. "And what would you know about God anyway?!"

Feliks flinched, startled. "I don't know anything but what you've told me about God on the few occasions that we've talked about Him," he finally answered. "But I believe that a God who would love His people enough to send His own child to die for them would forgive a man for saying something he didn't mean!" He stood and got toe-to-toe with Toris. "And don't talk down to me like I'm lesser than you! Don't you dare think for one moment that I am below you! Just because I have to dress and act and sound like a woman doesn't mean that I actually am!" Before he could stop himself, his hand flew out and struck Toris's cheek as tears filled his eyes. "I'm a fucking man, Toris!" He ran off toward the stairs to the roof and slammed the door to the roof after him.

Toris stood there, stunned. He didn't even feel the slap, but he felt Feliks's words like a stab to the heart. His legs wanted to take off after Feliks, but his body wouldn't let him. All he wanted to do was to tell Feliks he was sorry and hold him and kiss him and beg for forgiveness. He just didn't know how to do that when Feliks was so upset with him.

"Fuck!" Toris yelled, slamming his hands down on Feliks's vanity, which let out a groan from having his weight put on it. Tears of frustration burned his eyes. Why did he have to get so angry like that? Why couldn't he control his temper?

.

Feliks sat on the roof, hugging his knees to his chest. The wind blew his long, blond hair every whichway, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be alone, or at least wanted Toris to apologize, whichever would take the pain away first. His heart was aching for Toris, but his mind was telling his heart to shut up.

There was nothing he wanted to do more than to just run back to Toris and kiss him and tell him he was sorry for hitting him, but the actual truth was...He wasn't sorry for hitting him. In his opinion, he thought Toris needed to be slapped to show that his arrogance was starting to get in the way of their relationship. He needed to be reminded that Feliks was also a boy. Toris needed to remember that Feliks was no less of a person.

The Polish boy let out a deep sigh and buried his face in his knees. He couldn't stop his tears from trailing down his cheeks. All he wanted was for his boyfriend to say sorry and acknowledge that Feliks was just as much a man as he was. That was all he wanted to hear.

Feliks's mind began to wander. Did Toris really think of him as less of a person? Was that why he dubbed Feliks a woman? Was that why Feliks became Sara to Toris? The only time Toris ever said Feliks's real name was when they were having sex at night, and it was whispered quietly when no one else could hear. Just one more time, Feliks wanted to openly be called by his real name again by the man he loved. Just one more time was all he wanted.

He quickly turned his head as Toris walked through the door and up onto the room. His heart began pounding in his chest. What was Toris doing up here so soon? Had he already seen the error of his ways? Did he already want to come and apologize?

"Can we talk?" Toris asked, sitting next to Feliks. He said nothing more than that, waiting for a response. His lips were tightly shut as far as Feliks could tell from where he sat. Toris was very serious when it came to things like this.

"What would you like to discuss?" Feliks asked him, refusing to look at him. He stared at the rooftop instead. His eyes threatened to flood over with tears once more if he looked at Toris.

"You were right to hit me," Toris told him. "I was wrong for speaking to you the way that I did. You are every bit as much of a man as I am, Feliks."

Feliks felt his heart stutter in his chest. He didn't even have to ask for Toris to say his true name, he had done it on his own. His cheeks turned a bright shade of red as he glanced over at Toris, who was focused on the sunset before them.

"I was wrong to take out my frustration on you, Feliks," Toris said. "And I'm sorry. You are not truly Sara. You are really Feliks, and sometimes I feel as if I forget that, and I'm sorry."

Feliks was truly touched. He was at a loss for words, so instead he turned to Toris and softly kissed him. "I love you," he softly told him, pulling away. "Toris, you mean the world to me. It just hurts sometimes when you talk down to me. Please try to always remember that I am a man, just like you are."

"I will," Toris said with a nod. "And if I ever forget again, make sure to hit me."

"Oh, I will," Feliks laughed. His gaze followed Toris's to the beautiful sunset as he leaned his head on Toris's shoulder. "But for now, let's enjoy this beautiful sunset before us. After all, no two sunsets are the same."

Toris had to admit that he had never seen a sunset more beautiful, but whether it was because he was watching it with Feliks or because of nature he would never truly know.

.

That night as they prepared for bed, Feliks smiled at Toris and crawled over him with a smile. "I love you," he softly told him. "I want us to always be together."

"We always will," Toris told him. "What makes you think we won't?" He smiled at Feliks and tucked his blond hair behind his ear. "Are you being doubtful, my love?"

Feliks sat down and straddled Toris's hips. "It's not that I'm being doubtful, but what if we were to fight more like we did today, but we never made up?"

"Let me tell you something," Toris told him. "My parents fought all the time when I was younger, but I knew they loved each other. Just like I love you." He sat up and pecked Feliks's lips. "The thing is, not all relationships are perfect. You have to fight sometimes or it's not a healthy relationship."

"I suppose you're right," Feliks answered timidly. "But it hurts to fight, Toris." He frowned. "I hate fighting with you. You have no idea how much it bothered me."

"It bothered me too," Toris answered. "I just guess that I need to start minding myself and the things that I say. I know that you'll probably get mad at me and that I'll probably get mad at you at times, but you know what? That stuff will happen. But it means that we love each other. I love you, Feliks Łukasiewicz. I doubt I'll ever stop loving you either."

Feliks teared up a little. That was the second time Toris had openly called him by his real name that day. "I know I'll never stop loving you,Toris Laurinaitis." He leaned forward and kissed his boyfriend with all the love he had inside of him.

Toris kissed Feliks back with just as much passion and love. He was so in love that he couldn't take it. He couldn't take how wonderful and forgiving Feliks was. Feliks was too good for him, and he knew that. Yet Feliks had chosen him, and he was thankful for that. He would make sure to never take that for granted again.

.

March 1942, Warsaw, Poland

The morning started off like any other morning. Toris went to wake up Raivis while Feliks prepared breakfast. They all gathered at the table to eat, and things went well. There were no problems between them as they all ate, because they had all been living together for nearly three years. Things seemed perfect for them.

There was suddenly a pounding on the door that they hadn't heard in over a year. It only meant one thing. The Germans were there. Toris was the one who still dealt with them, even though Raivis and Feliks had both become fluent in English by that point.

Toris got up from the table. "I'm going to go see what they want," he said.

Feliks jumped up. "How about you let me get it?" he suggested. "They shouldn't be too hard to deal with, right? I mean, Toris deals with them all the time." He walked to the front room to answer the door.

There was the sound of Feliks opening the door and then tense conversation. It was so bad that the tension could be felt from the kitchen. Toris and Raivis both held their breaths for fear of their worst nightmares coming true.

"This isn't good!" Feliks shouted from the front room, forgetting to pitch his voice. "Toris, they figured all of us out! They know!"

"How much do they know?" Raivis asked Toris, an edge of fear in his voice.

Before Toris could answer, Lieutenant Beilschmidt entered the kitchen with Feliks, accompanied by a young-looking soldier with auburn hair and two other soldiers with blond hair and blue eyes. He gritted his teeth and glared at Toris.

"Don't think the three of you will escape," he snarled at Toris. "We figured all of you out, you disgusting Jew." He then turned to Feliks. "And you. You're the worst of them, pretending to be a woman for two years…"

Toris gulped. It was all of his nightmares come to life. He was going to die right then and there, or he was going to get captured and die. He closed his eyes and began to pray for the first time in a long time. He prayed to the God that he thought would never provide for him again, begging for an escape that would allow at least Raivis to live.

"The back door, Toris! Run! Take Raivis and go!" Feliks yelled. "Go!" The soldiers grabbed him by his arms and began bending them in ways that they shouldn't be bent. "Toris, run! Take Raivis and run! Don't worry about me!" There was a loud crack as one of his arms snapped and Feliks cried out in pain. "Run, Toris!"

Raivis looked as if he were going to vomit as Feliks was dragged from the room and toward the front door. His gaze was fixed on the man with the auburn hair, who looked as if he were going to vomit as well.

"Major Vargas, we need to get the two Jews," Lieutenant Beilschmidt commanded. "You get the smaller one. Laurinaitis is mine," he growled.

Toris gulped and turned toward Raivis. He grabbed his younger cousin's arm and dragged him through the house toward the back door. "Raivis, run like you life depends on it, because it really does right now!" Toris shouted at him in Lithuanian. "We can't let those men catch us, okay?!" He threw open the back door. "Just run with me, and we'll be okay!"

The two ran down the street, forgetting everything except getting out of there. And luckily, they found the American military coming through, armed and prepared to fight if any Germans came near them on their way. Toris quickly explained their situation to one of their young captains. Williams was his name, and he quickly found a way to help them and smuggle them to Russia.

Sure, Russia wasn't the first choice of a place for Toris to go, but he couldn't exactly stay in Poland. Lieutenant Beilschmidt would find him and end him for sure, so Toris and Raivis put on American military uniforms and climbed into their truck to head to Russia with them.

And as they journeyed, Toris just sat there and prayed silently to God. He apologized for ever denying him and begged for forgiveness for the first half of his first night. For the other half of the night, he prayed and prayed for Feliks's safety. All he wanted was for Feliks to be safe and not to die. He just wanted Feliks to return to him.

.

During one of the stops, Captain Williams pulled Toris aside. He had a kind look in his blue eyes. "Last night you told me about a man named Feliks," he began. "He was taken away by the Germans, you said."

Toris felt a painful stab in his heart like a fresh wound. "Yeah," he choked out. The scene from the day before played over in his head like a vivid nightmare that he couldn't wake up from.

"I'm sorry to hear that it happened," Captain Williams told him, frowning. His eyes remained kind and comforting, though. "Our military is trying our best to save those who have been captured by those bastards. I hope that we can save your Feliks."

Toris hadn't expected such kindness from a stranger. He smiled with gratitude. "Thank you, Captain Williams," he said, nodding to him. "I appreciate your kind words."

Matthew smiled a half smile. "I understand how hard it is to have to be strong for a younger member of your family, Toris," he softly said. "I have a younger brother that I always felt I had to be strong for. I feel as if I can relate at least a little bit."

"How old are you, Captain Williams?" Toris curiously asked him.

"I'm nineteen years old," he answered.

"You're the same age as me!" Toris answered, shocked. His jaw dropped slightly. He couldn't believe that someone like Captain Williams could be the same age as him yet be so mature like that. It made Toris admire him even more than he did before.

"Really?" Captain Williams asked. "I would have figured you were older than me. You are much taller, that's for sure. Both you and my brother are taller." He smiled to himself. "Oh well. It's to be expected, I guess."

"Expected?" Toris asked.

"I was blessed with a higher rank than my brother, so I guess he gets the height," Captain Williams joked with a shrug.

"You speak of your brother a lot," Toris observed. "Is he here, Captain Williams?"

The captain sadly shook his head. "No, he's in England. Alfred doesn't cooperate well with many people, so it's best that he stays behind until they find a unit leader who will make him cooperate." He sighed. "I miss him a lot already, though. We're very close."

"I can tell," Toris said with a smile. "You two must be close like Raivis and me."

"You and Raivis seem like brothers," Captain Williams observed.

"I think of him as one," the Lithuanian boy said, "but he's just my cousin. But sometimes I feel as if we're closer."

"He's still your blood either way," Captain Williams told him. "And that's pretty damn important, Toris. Just remember that much."

Toris nodded. "I will. Thank you, Captain Williams."

"Just call me Matt," he said, smiling. "You're not one of my men, so casual names are okay."

"Okay, Matt," Toris said with a small smile. "Thanks."

.

Toris couldn't sleep in the moving military car, but Raivis slept soundly on Toris's shouder as the car jostled them around on the bumpy road. He didn't mind being awake as long as Raivis was able to sleep. He could only hope that Raivis wasn't having nightmares of what had happened to Feliks just over a day before…

The Lithuanian boy watched as Raivis's facial features seemed distressed for a moment in his sleep but then seemed to relax soon after. It worried him as he wondered what his younger cousin was dreaming about. He could only hope that it wasn't about Feliks or those wicked Germans. After all, no one would want to dream of the things they had witnessed those awful Germans doing to people like them for the past three years. They were the kinds of things people only saw in their worst nightmares.

"Worried about him?" Matt asked Toris, nudging him slightly.

"Yeah," Toris sighed. "Raivis doesn't sleep well anyway, so after what happened to Feliks, I can only imagine the kind of shit he'd be dreaming about..." He sighed and frowned, looking down at Raivis's face. "If only I could have protected him from the evil in this world."

"No one can be protected from all evil," Matt softly said. "But I can understand what you mean. We all have to experience it at some point in our lives or we can never truly say that we lived, you know?"

"I guess you're right," Toris sighed. "I just wish that Raivis didn't have to experience such graphic evil. He's so nervous all the time anyway. Before we even came to Poland, he would always tremble, and I'm almost certain he'll start trembling like that again in Russia. It's just so sad that he was almost cured of it just to be struck again…"

"Yeah, that is rather sad," Matt agreed with a nod. "But he'll come out of this stronger, I know he will. Things will turn out better for him in the long run. You just have to believe that part of it."

"I just hope you're right, Matt," Toris sighed. "If not, he's fucked…"

.

Toris couldn't wait to get to the base when they got to Russia, but he was starving as well. He decided to join everyone for lunch first at a nice restaurant, and as he was going in, he noticed a waitress that didn't catch the eye of every man like her coworker did.

The waitress that Toris noticed was flat-chested, unlike her busty coworker, with long, blonde hair and a completely serious expression. Her eyes were blue and she seemed to have dull shine to them, but he thought they were beautiful.

His mind immediately went to Feliks and he cursed himself for thinking she was beautiful. How could he be so insensitive when Feliks had sacrificed himself so bravely for Toris and Raivis only days ago? Toris could barely stand how he had noticed her almost immediately upon walking in. He wanted to slap himself the way Feliks used to slap him whenever he got out of line. It made him sick to think that he even thought this waitress was beautiful.

"Toris, your order?" Matt asked, raising an eyebrow to Toris.

The Lithuanian quickly ordered and then went back to getting lost in his own thoughts, yet his gaze remained on that waitress. They had to be about roughly the same age. Or at least somewhere around there. She looked younger than her coworker, that was for sure.

When it was time to leave, Toris pulled their waitress aside and asked for the other waitress's name.

"Oh, her?" his waitress asked with a smile. "Her name is Natalia Arlovskaya. Not many men ask about her, so I'm sure you are quite the special man, sir. Please come again soon."

Toris didn't know how to take her answer, so he quickly went to join the other men he had gone there with. He did like her name, though. Natalia Arlovskaya, a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.