OH WOW TWENTY CHAPTERS XD

"Uggghh..." I groaned when the alarm went off, wrenching me from my beautiful slumber. "Nooot faaair..."

"I know, I know," Matthew sighed as he killed the clock's persistent wailing with the push of a button. "How's your arm? Any better yet?"

I rolled onto my back and held it up in the air, flexing the muscles for any signs of pain. Nothing. Unwrapping the bandages, I grinned in delight at the sight of my smooth and whole skin.

"All better~!" I reported happily.

"No way!" Mattie said, slipping on his glasses so he could see across the room. "It's already better? That's great!"

I sat up and yawned. "Now there's no doubt I'm a country, right? I mean, humans don't heal that fast." It felt weird saying "humans" like I wasn't one when I'd thought I was one all these years.

"That's right. I think there's enough evidence now to say you are definitely a country."

"Woo~" I cheered softly, pumping a fist into the air and making him smile at my weirdness. He got up and took his clothes into the bathroom, and I heard the shower start up.

'Another day, la-di-da~'

I groaned, my head supported by one hand as I looked down at my math homework tiredly. I was back in my room, sitting at the desk on my side. "This su~cks. I need help." My chair rolled backwards as I stood and left the room, going up to the third floor and knocking on room 304.

"Hai, coming!" Japan called before he reached the door. "Oh, herro Marcolm-san. How are you?"

"Hi, Japan-sama. I'm fine, I suppose. Um, I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if you would help me with this math assignment." It felt so weird asking people for help, I'd almost never done it before!

"Oh, may I see it?" I gave him the paper and he scanned it. "Gomen, Marcolm. I am not in this crass, I am not sure how to do this. Or at reast, I have forgotten."

"Oh," I said, a little crestfallen. "That's okay, I'll go ask someone else, then."

He apologized again but I told him it was fine and we parted ways. 'I must've interrupted him while he was working on a project.'

Going down the stairs, I heard a lilting French accent and hurried toward it. Maybe France could help me!

"Oui, but for a price, mon cher. Ohhonhonhon~" he purred in reply.

I raised an eyebrow questioningly. "A price? Like what?"

"Well~" Just then Romano popped up, wearing a slight scowl like usual.

"Just-a say no, Malcolm. And don't ask Espana either, you'll-a just get the same answer," he advised, and France pouted.

"You're no fun, mon ami."

"Shut up, wine bastard," Romano shot back. "Oh, and no I won't help you, Malcolm."

I crossed my arms over my suppressed chest. "Why not?"

"Because," he answered simply and walked away with one hand supporting a tomato, which he munched on.

I began walking around aimlessly, eventually strolling outside with my paper tucked under one arm. The sky was blue and clear but the air was frigid, the chill of late November having settled in fully.

'I hope America's having a good time with the states' I thought randomly. He'd gone down to DC yesterday to spend Thanksgiving with them all.

"Yikes, fifty siblings to deal with. That's gotta be tough," I said to myself, wandering down a path I didn't travel often. I ticked off on my fingers who I could rule out. "Japan, France, Romano and Spain. I could ask England, but I haven't seen him yet today. Maybe Germany, or Italy-" I suddenly had a flashback of Italy telling me something he lived by.

"2 plus 2 equals pastaaaa~!"

"No, not Italy," I said, shaking my head.

That's when it hit me: the smell. Not just any smell, mind you; it was the warm, mouth-watering, tantalizing scent of fresh, delicious, Italian pasta. Using my nose to find the source of this wonderful dish, I began walking faster down the path I was already on. I entered a building and followed the hallway to my left. Just behind this door...

I shoved it open and was met with the sight of hundreds, no thousands of books in shelves and on carts waiting to be returned to their original places. The library. I'd only been here once with Canada but we didn't stay and I hadb't found time to come back and browse. All these books enticed me greatly as I ran my hand over their spines that sat together closely on a shelf. My nose called to me again and I searched for the pasta, looking all around me and going through aisles.

"Italy, if you see zhese lines around part of zhe equation zhen no matter vhat happens inside of zhem, zhey have to be positive. Do you see?"

"Vee~ I'm-a not sure, but I think so," Italy replied, and by then I had turned the right corner and spotted two of my friends seated at a table near the back of the library. In front of Italy was what had led me there: a heaping plate of long noodles in red sauce.

"Hi Italy. Hi Germany," I called, softly because of where we were.

Germany looked up as Italy turned in his seat, and the former cracked a small smile while the latter broke out into a huge grin and jumped up. The happy Italian ran to me and hugged me in greeting.

"Ciao, Malcolm! How are you?" he asked, pulling back a little.

"Good, I guess. I can't seem to do this right, though," I replied, holding up my math worksheet between the two of us.

He took it from me and looked it over with a serious expression, but he smiled again very quickly. "Doitsu is helping me with-a the same worksheet!" Italy turned to the blond German. "Can Malcolm come and get some help, Doitsu?" (A/N: Doitsu is Japanese for Germany. And Gomen is sorry, too. Probably shoulda mentioned that earlier, heheh. Oh well, too lazy to go back and change that! Continuing~)

"Ja, I don't mind," Germany said, and I smiled gratefully at him as I slid into the seat across from him, Italy on my right and at the foot of the table. "Must you call me zhat? Ever since Japan told you my name in Japanese, you've been calling me Doitsu."

"Si~! It's a pretty word,"Italy insisted, twirling a fork in his pasta and bringing the bundle to his mouth. "Yummm..."

"Are you even allowed to eat in the library?" I asked, and he nodded with his ever-present grin.

"Si, if you're careful," he answered, and I bobbed my head in understanding.

"So, vhat's zhe problem you are having?" Germany asked.

"Well..."

"This wasn't such a bad day," I mused to myself as I clambered up the stairs half an hour after I'd found Italy and Germany in the library. 'Now I know how to do these typesof problems!'

I found the door unlocked when I got to room 216. 'I could've sworn I locked it before...' Going in, I was met with the sight of Canada lying sprawled out on his bed, his glasses on the nightstand and his tie off. His eyes were closed, and he looked very tired. I went in and put my books on the desk, pulling out of the closet a surprise I'd kept hidden since yesterday.

"Hey Mattie~" I sang, holding the case behind my back as I approached his bedside. He cracked open one eye and smiled softly.

"Hi, Malcolm."

"We're safe now, you can call me Melina," I said looking at the closed door just to make sure. "Where were you today? I didn't see you at all after third period. And no, not because you're slightly invisible to some people."

He laughed once. "I had to take care of an issue all day and I just got back. It was irritating, so I'm a little tired."

"Aaaww! But I have a surprise for you!" I protested. "You can't go to sleep yet!"

This caught his interest. "A surprise? For me?"

I nodded. "Uh-huh. I mean, I know you've probably seen this a million times before but I thought "What the hey" and found it. I've got a movie for us to watch."

"Which movie?"

Instead of answering by showing him the case or telling him, I popped the disk in the player while shielding it with my body. 'Muwahahahahaha~' I turned on the TV and waited for the disk to load, watching Canada's reaction.

"You're killing me with the suspension! Please just tell me?"

"Nope!"

His eyes lit up when the main menu came onscreen. "Anne of Green Gables? How did you know I love this movie?"

I grinned. "I actually just guessed. I winged it."

He stood up and hugged me then. "Thank you, this is exactly what I needed to unwind."

I hugged back lightly. "You're welcome. I'm glad I made the right choice."

Yes, I cut it off shortly. I'll continue where I left off in the next chapter, soooo YOU KNOW THE DRILL MUST I SAY IT EVERY CHAPTER!? Naw JK LOVE YOU GUYS!