A/N: Reasonable amounts of research was attempted, so try not to grill me about it. Document Manager took some words out for some reason, so I'm sorry if some sentences look incomplete. I hope it's not. XD
'Inspirational' songs (YEAH BABY!): Of Mice and Men—George and Lennie, Owl City—Fireflies, Utada—Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence, SHINee—Replay
Annnnd…character ages revealed! Aloisa, Adrian, Alec, and Mikhail are all sophomores. Felicita, Angelina, and Evangeline are freshmen; Ethan Cole is about 28 or so.
And okay, I lied about not going back from time period to time period, but this is a flashback. It doesn't count as much. LOL!
Next chapter title: 'Idle Night,' last part of the Idle Chapters. [SPOILER] Adrian/Alec goodness is stuffed in the next chapter like fillings in a dumpling! Yummy! :D
I want to especially thank Atemu'sLotus for her BEAUTIFUL FANART of Chapter 5, the Russia and America scene! I swear I started to laugh and half-cry when I saw it, I was so surprised! It's absolutely gorgeous! It's exactly how I imagined them to look like (look at their rings! Look at it! So cute!) You're the ultimate best, dear! Everyone, please go look at it, it's amazing! THANK YOU SO MUCH! -starts to bawl again- You and all my reviewers have totally motivated me! I am truly touched…Q.Q Thank you all again and forever for staying with this story and all your kind reviews! 3
h t t p :/ unacalley101. deviantart. com/ art/ Back-To-School-Night- 182222223? q= &qo= (remove spaces) And listen to this while you look at it. IT'S AN AWESOME COMBO! XD h t t p :/ www. youtube .com/ watch?v= uL0W9Yc0-8I
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Tuesday, 10:13, Room 434…
The first thing Adrian saw when he woke up was Alec's sleeping face. They were both on the bed, sheets tangled together; Alec head was nestled in the crook of his neck, and his arm was hovering protectively over him. He could feel him inhale and exhale, and that was about when he noticed that Alec was wearing his oversized t-shirt again.
His mind raced to the night before: he remembered eating what he thought was hotel food, but it turned out to be Evangeline's cooking, drinking Evangeline's nasty-looking-but-tasted-oh-so-good-juice soda thing (like…6 cups), going back and falling onto the bed like a log, and…what was the other thing before that?
Monday night, Room 435…
Felicita pulled Adrian aside when Evangeline and Aloisa were doing the dishes, and Alec and Mikhail were chatting about D.C. and whatnot. Evangeline was throwing comments at the boys from time to time, so the background noise level was pretty high.
Felicita dragged him to their room and pushed him down on the bed, giving him a blank expression.
Her eyes were searching. "Do you love him?"
Adrian was taken by surprise. "I-I..."
Felicita had a calculating look on, so Adrian summoned up his voice and said, "Of course I do."
"Have you told him yet?" She put both hands on her waist, questioning.
"No…but I plan to."
"Well, you better do it fast. I was listening to Evangeline talk with Aloisa a moment ago. She said, 'Alec acts strong and likes to be the center of attention, but even the center of attention gets rejected, but Alec pretends to recover the moment the other refuses. What Mother and Father don't know is that he holds it in until he sinks into this depressed state and starts to blubber into his pillow at night.'"
Felicita paused, letting Adrian register the news before continuing, "'God, I remember this one time, I think it was the year before, when this guy James Stanton who he'd been secretly going out with for almost 2 years—what? Oh, Alec is a sophomore. So anyways, James decided to break it off with him 'cause he's going to college in some George Washington University in D.C. That was the worst; I imagine he's still not over that. I just wish he'll never get hurt like that again.'"
Felicita regarded him emotionlessly. "What I think…is that Alec is more insecure that he looks. I might not have known him for a long time, but I see him glance at you once in a while when you're not looking, just to make sure you're still smiling. He's being wary after that episode with James, I guess."
Adrian gaped a little in surprise as Felicita went on. "Alec is a nice guy, I just hope this whole 'lovers' thing isn't just a whim of yours."
"It's not, it's really Aloisa—"
"But didn't you notice that Aloisa had stopped taking out her camera or pushing you towards each other whenever she sees you two? I think she realized that this is what you two need to work out by yourselves. Do you get this?"
Adrian nodded, and Felicita smiled gently. "George Washington University is awful close to our hotel, you might even meet this James. And you have that Ethan Cole to worry about. I think you should keep him close by."
Adrian flared a little at the mention of Ethan Cole, but Felicita's worried eyes calmed him down. She really did care about Alec. "Thank you, Felicita. I'll remember that."
That was what she'd told him the night before, he completely remembered now. Adrian moved a stand of hair that had fallen on Alec's face. There was no sign of any depression or evidence that he had been emotionally damaged before; Alec's expression was relaxed and free of worries.
He didn't know why he did this, even when he pondered about it later on, but for now he just barely pressed his lips to Alec's forehead. Then he slipped quietly out of bed, deciding that he would take Alec on that date today.
Tuesday, 10:32, Room 435…
Aloisa reached blindly for the hotel phone, which had started to ring like crazy. Wait, she didn't have a bedside table on her side; she sleepily climbed on top of Mikhail, who groaned under Aloisa's weight on his back. Evangeline and Felicita were bustling in the kitchen, whipping up something that smelled wonderful. She groped for the handle and lifted it up to her ear.
"Hello?" she said irritably. Who the hell would call this room anyways?
"Good morning!" answered a bright, cheery voice. "It's Elizaveta, from yesterday? I looked up your name and checked a bunch of hotels. My, that took a while…I hope I didn't wake you up!"
"Uh, o-of course not!" Aloisa jumped off of Mikhail; she didn't realize that she was still kneeling on his back. "So what's up, Elizaveta?"
"I just wanted to confirm that we're meeting at the coffee shop. In fact, I'm here right now eating breakfast! Their sandwiches are really good…Roderich went to some piano store, actually, I'm not sure, but he'll call if he needs anything…but is that time right, Nancy?"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, that's fine."
"Well then, let's meet at twelve o' clock and get lunch at the mall. Is your husband coming with you?"
"I guess so—"
"That's wonderful! See you at twelve!" The woman hung up, her voice still ringing in Aloisa's head.
"Breakfast is ready!" Felicita yelled and appeared out of the kitchen with a piece of French toast in her mouth. Mikhail moaned in pain and rolled out of bed, hitting the carpet with a heavy thud. "I'm going to go call Alec and Adri—"
Felicita stared at Mikhail and chomped on her bread. "What's the matter with him?"
Aloisa shrugged. "Bad dream, probably."
Café, 12:06…
"Hi! Over here!" Elizaveta gestured the group over, her hand holding a small tea cookie. She was at the counter drinking tea out of a flowered porcelain cup.
Everyone was harried and had hastily gotten out of bed and swallowed their breakfast (Evangeline-style, which tasted marvelous, of course) after Elizaveta's phone call. Today Alec's highlight was purple, but that was only because the blue dye dried up and Adrian and him had to run to a drug store and randomly find a dye spray can. Elizaveta looked at the two of them interestedly.
"Hey boys! I'm assuming that you are Brad and this adorable darling here is Collin, am I right?" She winked. "Nice to meet you, I'm Elizaveta." When they shook her hand, Alec thought that he imagined the woman was holding their hands for a little too long.
"And these must be your daughters, Nancy!" She turned to Evangeline and Felicita, who flinched as Elizaveta removed her fake glasses. "What beautiful green eyes! You know, I've seen only one other person with this emerald green. Who was he again…? I think that would be my friend's sister's husband! If I got that right, that is…"
Her gaze shifted to Mikhail, who'd been trying to inch away from the woman. "Mr. Harlen! What a pleasure to meet you! You'll be coming with us today, right? Of course, that's great! Let's go to the mall before it gets any more crowded. You know how D.C. is!"
Elizaveta tugged on Aloisa and Mikhail with both her arms, smiling maniacally. Aloisa shouted back to her 'kids,' "I'll call you guys later!"
Felicita and Evangeline glanced at the barista, who'd been peeking at them from the corner of her eyes. Felicita felt embarrassed for that; she probably remembered Aloisa from before. The two slid on the booths and ordered cookies and tea.
This was his chance, it was really more like a take it or leave it situation now. "Alec," he muttered smoothly, putting his arm around Alec and steered him out of the coffee shop, "why don't we go to Seaton Park again and take a long walk?"
Alec gave him a funny look. "Uh, sure…?"
Crap, wrong move. Not cool. James Stanton probably used this one on him before. He was getting increasingly nervous with every block they passed. Alec walked silently and refused to curl up to Adrian like he usually did.
"Alec—"
"That's George Washington University," Alec said in monotone. Adrian looked up at the building; there were students hanging out on the courtyard and discussing with each other. Couples kissed under the shade of trees; it was basically like their high school, except with adults.
…James decided to break it off with him 'cause he's going to college in some George Washington University in D.C… I think you should keep him close by…
Adrian ruffled Alec's hair, getting Alec's attention for a moment. He returned his gaze to Adrian. "Oh, I'm sorry. I must've gotten kind of distracted…"
Adrian leaned closer. "Want to talk about it?"
Alec sighed. "My last boyfriend went to this school. I think he's still here. He was the only one I've ever really loved. Oh, forget it. It's all in the past anyways."
But what about me? "Alright, Alec."
But Alec seemed to feel a little better letting that off his chest, for he exhaled and reclined back onto Adrian. They sauntered to Seaton Park, Alec starting to smile as Adrian's arm began to feel familiar.
Café, 1:34…
Felicita munched on her sandwich, she and Evangeline still in the café, eating lunch. Their sandwiches were good, but Felicita thought that she preferred Evangeline's cooking over this. Evangeline herself held a cup of steaming Earl Grey, reading a magazine she'd gotten from the rack in the back of the shop.
God, they had the entire day to do nothing. At least the others were preoccupied. They could just stay in this coffee shop until the sun burned out. This was so unfair….and boring…and Felicita wanted some more of Evangeline's soda mix…
Just then, a little Asian girl in ribbons and frills came into the shop. She had no parents with her, but she wasn't daunted, for she attempted to scale the bar booth and sit next to Felicita. Her two brown curls (that was somehow was connected at the bottom) flounced up and down as she struggled to get to the top of the high chair.
"Uh…lemme help you with that." Felicita easily lifted the girl up and sat her down. The little girl readjusted her hair and patted her pink dress to make sure that it was still in place.
"Thank you very much, Miss."
Wow. She had nice manners. "U-uh, no problem. Where are your parents?"
The little girl was in thought as she put one finger to her lips. "I think I lost them in the mall. It's okay, they'll find me."
Felicita stared at her; normally a kid would start crying by now, especially one as young as her, but she displayed incredible determination that her parents would show up. "So…what's your name? I'm Felicita." She didn't bother to use her fake name; this was only a little girl, anyways.
"My name is Yukiko Karpusi, Felicita-san."
Evangeline noticed the girl. "Hey there, Yukiko, I'm Evangeline. So what do your mommy and daddy look like?"
The girl was in thought again before she answered. "My Mommy has shoulder length black hair in a bun, and she is wearing a dress the color of sakura flowers in the spring."
Now both girls were semi-shocked. They'd expected a more kid-oriented answer, and instead they got one that could've come from a seventy year old man. Was this Yukiko a prodigy child on TV or something? "And your Daddy?"
"Oh, that one is easy. When you see a lot of kitties, you will know it's him. Kitties are their best friends, you know, and they follow him even if they are not their owner. And look, I suppose that is my μπαμπάς."
"Excuse me?"
Yukiko covered her mouth with one hand. "Oops, it slipped, I apologize. I meant to say 'daddy.'"
Woah. This girl was deep, no doubt. "No, it's alright, but is that your daddy there?"
There, outside the coffee shop, were an army of cats patting the store window. A Caucasian man in a white T-shirt with Yukiko's weird curl and an Asian woman in a light pink skirt hurriedly opened the door at the same moment the cats dispersed. The woman sighed in obvious relief as the man swept Yukiko off of the booth.
"Daddy, put me down!" Yukiko laughed. Evangeline and Felicita couldn't help staring; this man was built like a Greek god, not even supermodel Ethan Cole could top that.
The woman approached them and gave them a slight bow. "Thank you very much, girls. I hope my daughter has not been a nuisance to you." The girls couldn't help but to incline their heads. It felt like the right thing to do.
"She wasn't, she was very well behaved. In fact, she's the most behaved kid I've ever seen."
The woman smiled gently. "Well, that's wonderful. I'm sorry I can't give you girls anything to—"
The girls shook their heads embarrassedly, refusing whatever gifts they were going to receive, but all the woman took out of her purse were two business cards. One was light green around the borders, bearing the name: Kiku Honda; the other was a simple card outlined with brown lines printed with the name: Heracles Karpusi. There was nothing else on the card, no phone number, no address.
"I'm afraid this isn't much, but if you are in any sort of, oh, let's say, international trouble, I expect that this will come in very useful."
"Um, thank you.
Kiku turned and said something to her husband rapidly in Japanese. He replied to her simply in Greek and the woman nodded.
Kiku leaned towards the girls in a small voice, "May we know your names, Miss…?"
Yukiko jumped off of her dad and pointed. "That's Evangeline-san, and that's Felicita-san!"
Oh. My. Shit. Now three people knew. Aloisa is sure to rip their guts out later. But Kiku only nodded again, apparently not recognizing their names. "Thank you, Miss Evangeline and Miss Felicita. I hope we will meet again."
With one last bow, she and her family strolled out of the café, the cats immediately gathering around them from out of nowhere. Evangeline plunked her forehead down on the bar. "We. Are. Screwed."
"Tell me about it."
"We. Are. Screwed."
"I know." With that said, Felicita plopped her head down like Evangeline on the table.
Macy's Downtown-Metro Center, 4:29…
"…oh my, this is really cute, I think I'll take it. Miss! How much is this dress?"
Elizaveta, as it turned out, was a shopaholic. Once she saw something that was adorable, she took it. Aloisa and Mikhail were weighed down with their own bags from several designer stores, but Elizaveta had armloads of Gucci, Coach, Longchamp, Calvin Klein…Aloisa lost count after that.
"Isn't this spending too much money?" Aloisa asked as they waited for the BCBG storekeeper lady to come back. Elizaveta shrugged; her shopping bags could've filled the entire store floor.
"Roderich never really lets me spend any money when he's around, even if it's not his money. He's really cheap like that, so I better grab the chance while I got it."
"But these are all designer labels…all yours are completely well over ten thousand dollars—"
Elizaveta made a 'psh' sound. "That's little money. In fact, when I go shopping, I say to myself, 'My money is the country's money, and the country's money is mine." So there."
"But—"
"Don't worry, Nancy!" Elizaveta winked. "I got it all covered. Besides, I do make some money off of that manga editing department I work in with Kiku Honda, my most favorite-est mangaka! Heard of him?"
"I don't think I've—"
"That's only because he edits the mangas and provide each and every mangaka with ideas and suggestions, what a dear. He is an expert with the yaoi section, if you know what I mean."
Aloisa brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah, and maybe next time I can take you to meet him and we can dra—"
"I'm sorry, Miss Héderváry! There is only one left, and another person has already asked for it." The lady came back hurriedly, her face flushed and a look of horror plastered on her face.
Elizaveta frowned. "Well, where is she?"
The storekeeper stumbled over her words. "A-ah, she is with her brother over there. But I suggest you not go…"
"I've no reason not to," she declared. Elizaveta marched over to where the lady had pointed. "Come on, Nancy! I'm not giving up this dress so easily!"
"Elizaveta, but the other person had—"
"No buts! I might never see this kind of dress when I go back to Hungary. I'm not letting some silly girl—oh!" Elizaveta abruptly stopped, Aloisa bumping into her back.
"What's wrong?" Mikhail said.
Aloisa moved aside and saw a petit blond girl with a blue ribbon wearing the pink dress that Elizaveta had wanted. Her brother, who was giving them a threatening expression, immediately directed his gun (which he pulled out of his pocket) to Elizaveta until a wave of recognition washed over him.
Aloisa and Mikhail both jumped ten feet away from the man when they saw the weapon, but Elizaveta only laughed warmly and lowered the gun with one finger before greeting him happily.
"Vash, how wonderful to see you after so long! But how did you get that gun pass security? Oh, never mind, I don't need to know. And Lili!" All her former rage forgotten about the pink dress, she proceeded to compliment this Lili about it. "That dress looks beautiful on you! I was going to buy it, but now I just can't take it away after I've seen how it looks on you!"
Lili blushed and her soft green eyes looked upon Elizaveta's face eagerly. "Thank you, Miss Héderváry, it's great to see you, too! I didn't know if I looked okay in it, since Big Brother wouldn't tell me."
Vash made an embarrassed sound at the back of his throat. "I think it looks good…"
Lili's eyes shown. "Really? Then I think I will take it! Thank you, Big Brother and Miss Héderváry!"
"Aw, it's nothing. Guys, what are you doing? Come over here!"
Aloisa and Mikhail waved hesitantly at Vash from where they were standing, eyeing his right hand that was still holding the gun.
"Elizaveta, I think I need to use the restroom."
"Me, too," Mikhail added lamely.
"Oh, okay. I'll meet you back here then…"
The two of them didn't care if they seemed rude. They were not going to put their lives on the line getting any closer to Vash, even if Elizaveta wasn't afraid. Sure, Ivan was intimidating, but it was more in the I'm-going-to-torture-you-forever way than Vash's I'm-going-to-kill-you-now kind of thing. They dashed away madly; for all they knew, Vash could be targeting them for sport behind their backs as they ran.