Author's Note:
Hi, it's Witchdoctr. I've been kind of depressed recently. Mostly because my creative fuel for this story kind of went plop! when my enthusiasm for Hetalia died down a bit. I've been getting into other *gasp* FFN interests, like Pokemon. Recently I spent maybe three hours writing a Pokemon fic and no one seemed to like it. I guess it's because the fanbase for PKMN stories is too vast for a single story to get much attention on the first few days. I only have twenty views, can you imagine it? I guess having a story that people actually like gets to your head. I remember when I was first writing, my stories got like fourteen views a MONTH. It was a lot more depressing back then because I had less to do back then and was constantly checking my email...
Oh wait, what am I doing? I'm sorry.
Mostly for screwing around with you by pretending that this was an Author's Note and NOT AN UPDATE, because guess what?
This is an update. And this Author's Note is completely pointless.
Anyway, one last thing before I get to my update:
tino vainamoinen lover: Thank you so much for your review. It really kicked me into writing again. I wasn't planning on working on it, but then I saw your review and I felt terrible. Thank you so much!
Everyone, it's because of their review that I've updated, so you guys should thank him/her.
Okay, done prattling.
Hilarity and Heartbreak shall ensue!
For a good minute, everyone just stared at each other amidst the wreckage of what had once been the Kirkland/Bonnefoy residence but now resembled the touchdown site of a hurricane. A hurricane called Hurricane Natalya. Some of it was Alfred's fault, but since she started it, his name for the event would be Hurricane Natalya since she initiated said destruction. He only hoped his dads wouldn't kill him... too hard.
"Um... awkward?" Matthew said meekly. Gilbert nodded, his mouth slightly ajar. His fingers went limp and he let the Russian girl slide from his grip. She swayed slightly, leaning against the wall and staring at the newcomer.
Alfred nodded his head in frantic agreement. Then he groaned. He was starting to feel a little light-headed. He hoped he wasn't going to bleed out and die. That would really suck. Plus it would really ruin his day.
He swayed a little, stars starting to swirl dangerously across his pupils.
"Oh my god!" Matthew squeaked as he saw his brother's eyelids shut. He darted forward but wasn't fast enough to prevent the teenager from crashing to the ground. He kneeled down beside his brother, nervously checking his pulse. "Alfred? Alfred!" he shook him a little, relieved to see his eyes slip back open. "'M fine," he murmured. "Just feel kind of funny. Think I-I bang-bang my knee..."
"What?" Matthew asked.
"I'm-Imma tired," he groaned.
"What did you do to him?" Gilbert asked, somewhere between amused and bemused. His words seemed to set off a spark in Natalya. With a little cry of happiness and maybe a little of insanity, she bolted at Ivan who barely had a millisecond to react in any way other than his eyes widening slightly and planted a kiss on his lips.
Gilbert's eyes filled with mirth and his lips twitched into a disbelieving grin. Instantly, he covered his mouth with both hands. If you looked at him you would think it was because he was shocked or stunned but in reality he was trying to contain his laughter. Incest. Best thing in the world, he thought. It wasn't the fact that he liked to imagine Alfred and Matthew kissing (which he had, in his most explicit, wild fantasies). It was the fact that this meant Ivan had just lost a point.
Ivan felt bile gurgling in the back of his throat. He grimaced and tried to pull himself back, but his sister doggedly persisted, pressing herself closer to him instead. She pushed him against the door, effectively slamming it shut. He broke the kiss, shaking his head like he was trying to shoo away a fly. "Get off!" Ivan yelled, angry enough to roughly shove her off and away from him. She looked hurt; there was a trembly spark in her eye that he knew could mean outrage or the desire to start sobbing hysterically, but he couldn't look at her. His eyes were on Matthew's.
Matthew wanted to look him in the eyes, he really did, but for some reason when Ivan's sought his, begging and pleading for forgiveness, he couldn't. He licked his lips and shook his head a little.
"I'd say that was sexy, but neither of you is really hot, so I'd appreciate it if you guys took it somewhere else," Gilbert snarked.
"Gross. You're-g-guh-ross!" Alfred laughed. "Hahaha, I'm bleeding from the neck!"
"What?" Matthew exclaimed, alarmed.
"Hmm-mmm," Alfred said conversationally.
"I'll get the First-Aid kit!" Matthew stood up and headed for the kitchen.
Ivan started to follow him, but Natalya seized his arm, her eyes wide and pitiful. "Please, Ivan, why can't you love me the way I do?" she pleaded.
"Because we're siblings. I can't love you the way you want me to and honestly, you shouldn't love me... that way," he finished lamely. "Let go of me. I'm sorry if I hurt you, but I need to talk to my boyfriend right now." He added the last four words knowing they would hurt her. He knew they would. He had intended for them to sting. But knowing that he was trying to hurt her didn't make seeing tears building up in her eyes any easier to see. He pursed his lips and swallowed before following Matthew into the kitchen.
"Rejected!" Gilbert cawed.
"Dude, not cool," Alfred said, coming back to his senses. Damn, when had the girl gotten such good hits in? He felt like he'd been hit by a car.
"No, what's not cool is coming into someone's home and trying to kill them because they're obsessively in love with their flesh-and-blood brother," Gilbert retorted. Alfred wanted to spring up and punch him, like he might've if he had been in normal condition. But he was aching too much. Instead, he ignored Gilbert, choosing to worriedly stare at Natalya. The girl was standing in the same place, not moving, not twitching or even shaking. She just stood there, staring at the empty place her brother had filled. Alfred felt his secretly tender heart go out to her. She just looked like she needed a hug. The reason she looked so crushed as incestuously wrong, but regardless of how wrong the reason, it still must've really hurt.
"Matvey."
Ivan waited, but Matthew didn't look up. The Canadian was rifling through drawers, pulling them open and shutting them closed just as quickly. He seemed absorbed in his work, but Ivan could see a slight tension in his shoulders.
"Matvey, I'm sorry."
The blond nodded, still not meeting his eyes. He kneeled, pulling the cabinet doors under the sink open. After peering inside for a moment or two, he frowned and shut them.
"Matvey, will you please talk to me? Why are you angry?"
"Gee, Ivan!"
Ivan flinched, something he rarely did when his sister wasn't the cause.
In the other room, Gilbert grinned like the Cheshire Cat. Alfred smiled a little. Attaboy, Mattie!
Matthew stood up so quickly he almost clipped his head on Ivan's nose. Ivan found an irate Canadian almost face-to-face. Normally, Matthew would be a lot smaller, more hunched over and cowed, but now he glared at his boyfriend, jutting out his thin neck and tilting his face aggressively forward, making up for the vast height difference. Ivan actually leaned back a little, more than a little nonplussed.
"I do not appreciate having to be in mortal danger for you to finally visit me!"
Ivan blinked.
"What? That's what you're upset about?"
"I'm upset that you hide in your house from your sister, yeah. But I'm not just upset with you. I am pissed with you," Matthew clarified. "Let's start somewhere, shall we? You threw me out of your house with some crazy explanation and didn't bother to call me or contact me in any way. Then when you finally do, it's when your insane sister is trying to kill my brother!"
"Matvey, this isn't my fault!" Ivan protested. "Natalya, I thought- I thought it was best not to... get you involved..."
"Oh really? Your sister is in love with you and you don't think your boyfriend should get involved?" Matthew asked irately. "Damnit, Ivan! I don't blame you for having a disturbed sister! I blame you for leaving me in the dark when I'm involved! She came here because she's clearly... in need of help. Instead of just running and hiding, I'd really appreciate it if you tried to fix the situation instead-"
"Fix it? I don't think you're being fair! You don't know what I've done to try and help her! But it's impossible. She's just-I just can't... deal with both of you at the same time-" Ivan froze as the words came out of his mouth. Matthew's face instantly flashed.
"Wait, I didn't mean it like-"
"Ivan," Matthew said, his voice oddly controlled. "I get that you're scared. And seeing Alfred beaten to the pulp in there, I don't blame you. I might be unfair to be angry with you, but it's what I'm feeling right now. I am upset because you blocked me out of your life completely and put me in the dark for something that apparently I am involved in. But mostly... mostly I'm upset that you-you didn't even try to contact me. Like the moment things get bad you forget about me."
Ivan felt his heart drop as he heard the last few words. Well fuck. That was what it really came down to. Feeling shut out. Forgotten. Again.
"Mat-"
"Don't speak!" Matthew said sharply. "I really just-I really-I know that's a stupid reason to be scared. I know it's immature and stupid, but it's what I'm feeling right now and I-I just need you to leave me alone, okay? I just need to calm down and-" he sighed, shaking his head. "-I don't know, just simmer down. I'm not... angry with you. I'm just frustrated." He turned around, his arms planted on the countertop. He was still scowling, but it was more of a grimace than a scowl now. Ivan wanted to defend himself, to say something, but he felt his tongue would betray him, so he just nodded. Then he held his hands outspread, face pitiful.
Matthew looked at him hard for a moment, then gave in. Slightly reluctant, he took a few steps forward and gave him the hug he wanted. Ivan wrapped his arms around him, trying not too push it but unable to prevent himself from seeking more intimacy. Matthew rubbed his back lightly, then retreated. "I guess the First-Aid kit is in the bathroom," he said.
"Guys?" Alfred called plaintively. "It's nice that you guys are talking and venting your feelings and all that heart-to-heart stuff, but I kind of think I'm going to bleed out or pass out and I kind of don't wanna do that, so could you save it for another time?"
Matthew began to leave but not before glancing at Ivan one last time. "We'll talk later," he said.
"Thank God! I thought you were never going to say that!" Alfred shouted.
"Stop being such a whiner! If a First-Aid kit is all you need, then I doubt you're in need of urgent medical care," Gilbert said, rolling his eyes at the theatrics. But then again, if he was hurt and Matthew was leaned over him, dabbing at his wounds and looking as sweetly worried as he did when fussing over Alfred, then maybe he'd be melodramatic too.
Alfred wasn't really thinking about the cuts or the bruises or the feeling of being hit repeatedly with a blunt object. He was thinking about how Natalya had snuck out of his house without anyone but him noticing.
I don't really like how I ended this one. But I'm glad I got the motivation to update, thanks to Tino Vainamoinen Lover for reviewing. Thanks to everyone for reviewing and I'm sorry, again, for not updating as soon as I could've. I had this half-finished bout ten days ago but just couldn't get it finished until now. See you next time.