Long wait excuse: I went on vacation.

Thank you to WbgSA19, WindowsXP2005 (cool username), and Blyssful Spirit for reviewing.

Lithuania sat at his desk, after hours of paperwork. He hadn't been able to focus, especially after that event. How could he have been so careless? America was his friend, and in a way, savior! But was it really my fault? I was trying to defend him! But I also didn't know he was there… But was it still right to say what I said? Will he forgive me? Maybe he hates me now… Ugh. He had done it again, getting so anxious and depressed to the point of a stomach ache.

"Liet! Hello?" Poland walked through the door and came up to Lithuania's desk. The Polish man had been here for a few hours, trying to figure out what was wrong with his friend.

"Ah...Hello Poland." Lithuania didn't look up.

"Like still down in the dumps?"

"I suppose…"

"Why don't you talk to me about it? You know that you can like talk to me about anything." That's definitely not true, thought Lithuania.

"I don't want to, okay?"

"Hmph, fine. Anyway here." Poland held out a bottle of nausea pills, which were gratefully accepted by Lithuania.

"How did you-"

"I had a feeling. Like it's never a good idea to leave you alone when you're all depressed and such!"

"Oh, well, thank you."

"Anyway, I have to like, leave. I have a meeting tomorrow with that totally creepy Belarus. See-"

"Wait! I need to ask you a question!" Lithuania stood up and interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"What… What would you do if you were to say… Accidentally hurt, not physically, someone else and now they hate you?"

"Well...I wish I knew what this was about, but I'll like, try to answer. I would apologize, unless they deserved it, and explain myself. Maybe in a phone call or message?"

"Ah. Thank you."

"No problem! See you later!" Poland walked out of the room and into the Vilnius air.

"Apologize? I mean I figured that… Poland said maybe in call or message… I should try to call America... Hopefully he'll answer." Lithuania stopped pacing back and forth and grabbed his phone off of the desk, dialing America's number.

Come on… Please pick up!

"Hello!"

"Mr. America!?"

"You have reached the hero, Alfred F. Jones! Unfortunately I'm not available-" Click. Lithuania ended the call. He should have known America wouldn't answer.

Well what now? Lithuania went back to pacing.

Ring. Ring-Lithuania snatched the phone off the desk, not even bothering to check the caller.

"Hello!? Amer-"

"Liet! Tell Belarus to like, stop prank calling me! It's creepy!"

"Oh...Poland. Why can't you tell her?"

"Because I don't want to die!"

"Okay, okay… I'll talk to her later about it."

"Thank you Liet! You're the best!"

"Goodbye Poland." Lithuania ended the call and went back to his pacing. I could write a message like Poland said, but I'm not good at text messages and he might still ignore that…

"I know! I could write a letter! He won't know who it's from at first if I don't write a return address on it." Lithuania sat at his desk and pulled out some paper and an envelope. Then he started on the letter.

Dear Mr. America,

I understand that you're really angry at me right now. In fact you probably hate me, but please read my letter all the way through. I completely understand why you are angry, and want to explain and apologize.

When you heard me saying those things I was trying to defend you, but I guess I wasn't saying what I needed to say. I shouldn't have said those things about you, as I think you are a wonderful person and will be forever grateful for what you have done for me.

Mr. Britain was quite in the wrong with what he said, and I didn't agree with any of it. In fact, I'm not exactly sure how we got on that topic, we were supposed to be discussing trade deals and economics. I should have stopped him sooner. I apologize for that.

Like I said, you have every right to be angry with me. I am really sorry for what I said, and I hope you can forgive me. You are a great person, you are caring and kind, no matter what the others say, and I am eternally grateful for what you did for me back then.

Once again, I am truly sorry, and I hope we can be friends again.

Sincerely,

The Republic of Lithuania

Lithuania wrote America's address on the envelope and found a stamp. He put the letter in and sealed it shut, then checked the time. 5:23pm. He still had time! He grabbed his coat and went off to the post office, to mail his apology.

After that, all he could do was wait.

Iceland finished lunch at a painstakingly slow rate, but to Finland, all that mattered was that he ate. Iceland felt a little nauseous after though, he just wasn't used to eating that much, he hadn't eaten that much since his dinner with America, and that had been a rarity.

How could you have been so obvious!? You're surely going to gain weight now! It's not like Finland will let you exercise it off. Which was only partly true, as he wasn't allowed to leave the house on his own. So he had resorted to doing things like push-ups and sit-ups before bed.

Iceland's thoughts continued with him as he walked to the site of the new treehouse. Sweden was already there, installing supports and tabs into the trees. Although the treehouse would be on three trees this time, the trees were pretty close to each other so it wasn't very big.

Sweden put Iceland to the job of handing him materials and holding them, so it wasn't very exciting. Fortunately, by the end of the day, they had the supports up which meant they would work on the actual treehouse the next day.

Unfortunately they hadn't made it home soon enough to stop Finland from making dinner. He had made some sort of… Well Sweden nor Iceland weren't exactly sure what it was. They weren't even sure if it was edible.

"Aren't you guys going to eat?" Finland asked, already half way through his plate.

"Well…"

"Hm...had a late sn'ck."

"Swe! Anyway, Iceland you need to eat." Iceland noticed that he had not been handed a napkin, so there was no good way out of this. Finland continued to eat, and finished his meal. All while Sweden and Iceland's plates were barely touched.

"Ice, I told you to eat, and you're not going to leave this table till you do," Finland said firmly, not leaving his spot. Sweden caught on this, figuring Finland wouldn't leave till Iceland ate.

"Y'u can go, I'll watch 'm."

"Are you sure?" Sweden nodded. Only then did Finland then get up from the table and off to who knows where. This entire exchange made Iceland flush red with embarrassment, as he was not a child!

But Sweden surprised him, by taking his own plate and Iceland's still full plate to the garbage. Am I really going to get out this easily? Iceland was confused.

"Don't think you're gettin' out of eatin'." Dang it. Sweden left the room and came back with both coats. Throwing one to Iceland, Sweden put his own, as Iceland got the memo to put it on.

The duo grabbed their boots and scarfs, as well as Iceland's hat, and made their way out of the house and to the car.

Buckling his seatbelt, Iceland asked,

"Bror, what are we doing?"

"Gettin' dinner."

"Ah. As well as Fin can bake cookies at Christmas, it amazes me how bad his cooking is."

"It's a Christm's miracle." Iceland chuckled at the Swede's attempt at a joke.

The two eventually made it to their destination, a MAX.

It was odd, for some reason the minute Iceland got out of the car, he felt exhausted, like he could fall asleep any minute. He wasn't sure why, maybe it was the lack of sleep.

Telling Sweden to order 'whatever,' Iceland found a table and sat down. The restaurant was mostly empty, as it was after dinner hour. Iceland rested his head in his arms on the table, maybe he could just shut his eyes for a few minutes...

When the Swede had finished getting their food, Iceland was out like a light. Waking up the teen, he set the food down and handed it to the other. Iceland had a small meal, as Sweden knew he wouldn't eat much anyway. Though, Iceland seemed so tired that he really didn't feel like arguing over the food, and ate about half of the meal. Sweden prodded him to eat a little more, which Iceland resisted, but eventually gave into.

By the time they were back in the car, Iceland was out cold.

Iceland woke up the next day, still in his clothes from the day before. He saw that his coat, hat, and boots had been left on a chair in the corner of the room. He figured Sweden must have brought him in after dinner. Which meant…

"Damnit, I didn't exercise yesterday… And after that meal too…" Iceland mumbled to himself in his native language. Iceland got up out of bed, and glanced at the time, noticing it was still early. 7:53am to be exact. Figuring he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, Iceland walked downstairs, and found that the lower floor was empty, so Iceland went back up to the second floor, and peaked into Finland's room. It was there he found the Finn still asleep. Quietly walking down the hall, the teen then peaked into Sweden's room, where he once again found the Swede still fast asleep.

This was his chance.

Iceland quickly, but quietly, ran down to grab his running shoes, and tied them on. Grabbing a hoodie as well as a pair of gloves and a hat, Iceland got ready for a run. Sure, the weather was not ideal, but he wasn't going to pass up this chance, especially after last night's meal.

Iceland creaked the front door open, only to hear a soft 'bark!' behind him. Turning around quickly, he found the small white puppy staring right at him, with a leash in her mouth.

"Bark!"

"Shhh! We can't wake them up, okay? Here you can come along but you must be quiet!" Iceland whispered to the dog, while putting the leash on her collar. But Iceland couldn't help but feel worried about being caught.

The two finally left the house and started on a jog. Hanatamago, seemed quite happy finally being able to get a good run in, since Finland and Sweden normally only walked. The two jogged a good three miles, or 4.8 kilometers, before returning to the house.

Iceland creeped the door open, looking for any of the other house members. Seeing the coast was clear, Iceland took the leash off Hanatamago, who went straight for her water bowl. Creeping closer to the kitchen, Iceland heard a voice.

"Oh, good morning Hanatamago! Where have you been this morning?" Finland walked over to the puppy and petted her head.

"Don'tcha think we ought to wake up Ice?" Finland turned and asked, sipping his second cup of coffee. Sweden merely nodded.

At the sound of Finland deciding to come find him, Iceland quietly hightailed it up to his room, throwing his outer winter layers off, and diving for the shower, the most unsuspicious place he could think to be in this situation. Besides he needed one anyway.

Iceland got in and turned the heat on high, which gave an effect that was like being in a hot tub, but all the steam argued that it was a sauna (something Finland would sure be happy about).

"Ice? Breakfast is ready when you're done!" Finland knocked on the door.

"Okay!" Iceland yelled back, satisfied that Finland seemed to not know about his morning run.

He got out after a while and threw some clothes on, running a hand through his always messy hair (something Finland found annoying, Iceland didn't know why, it wasn't like he was Finland's kid). He headed towards the kitchen where Sweden was putting some dishes away, and Finland was on his fourth cup of coffee. Reluctantly sitting down next to Finland, a plate was set in front of him, consisting of two eggs and a piece of toast.

They're trying to make you gain… You don't want to go back to the loser you were before, right?

Iceland froze. What was that voice? Looking around at the other two in the room, it certainly wasn't them.

Norway won't ever care about or respect you if you don't get better.

"I mean you're not wrong…"

"What was that Ice? I didn't hear you," said Finland.

"Oh! It was nothing. Just talking… to myself."

"Um, okay."

Go ahead and eat, it won't matter later.

What does that mean!? Iceland really didn't know. It concerned him, but he followed the voices instructions anyway. It was odd, the voice had a sound of a sickly sweet, idiosyncratic teen, one that felt mischievous, but you just couldn't say no to.

With each bite the food became less and less appetizing, almost nauseating. Iceland had to stop after eating three quarters of the meal. Man, his stomach hurt.

"Ice, you okay?" Asked Finland. Iceland shook his head, then stood up abruptly, and hightailed it to the restroom. Leaning over the bowl, anything he had eaten that morning was gone. He hated this feeling of being sick, everything leaving his stomach… Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing, was this what the voice was talking about? Iceland couldn't help but wonder.

Finland came quickly, giving comfort to the teen. When the heaving was over, Iceland laid back into Finland's arms, tired. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Finland helped Iceland clean up.

Iceland started to walk up to his bedroom, figuring it was over, no more eating for a little while. It was not.

Sweden and Finland finally realized that they had a job, to get Iceland to eat. Hence why 3 minutes later, the duo entered the room with some water and a plate of fruit. Iceland groaned at the sight.

"Listen, I know you don't want to, but you need to eat," Finland said, sitting on the bed next to Iceland.

You don't have to listen to him, you're not a child.

"No thanks, I'm not a child."

"I don't care. You need to eat." Sweden gave Iceland a glare, a bit how a dad looks when saying 'listen to your mother.'

"You're not leaving until you do."

"Fine then, be that way," Iceland said in an annoyed tone.

"Watch the attitude please."

Lord, you sound just like Norway, thought Iceland.

Iceland ate the fruit slowly, glaring at Finland. Finland only could sigh, really wishing Norway was there.

Iceland handed the plate back to Finland, who then started to walk out the room, but not without saying,

"I know you hate this Ice, but it's for your well-being," Finland's voice dropped.

"Because if you keep this up, you will eventually end up in the Hospital." And with that, Finland left. Sweden on the other hand didn't give the time for the Icelander to think, and threw him his coat, as the two were to go back out.

Nothing much happened after, as there was just the continuation of the build. No conversation was made, but with two quiet Nordics, what was there to expect?

The base was built, as well as a few frames for the walls (Sweden always felt that he needed to stay up to work late in his workshop anyway). It was slow, but worth it.

The two continued with the almost daily routine, coming back to stop Finland from making lunch, Sweden then making lunch, Iceland putting up a fight about eating said lunch, Finland defusing said fight, and finally the duo went back to work. Finland never understood what they were doing out there, but figured it was better not to pry with Sweden.

Once again it was a silent build, but the walls were almost done. I won't repeat the process again, but it was similar to earlier.

Iceland walked to his room, feeling terrible about himself, as usual. Laying on the bed, he wished he could just remove his stomach. It was a strange thought, but it would help him have a bantam body.

Part way through his silent self-pity party, Finland walked through the door and handed him the phone, one of those that were stuck to the wall, but without a cord.

"For you, it's Norway." Finland left without another word.

"Hallo?" Iceland spoke into the phone.

"Hallo. How have you been?" Norway answered in his native tongue.

"Fine. You?"

"As well as I can be dealing with Korea and China." Iceland let out a small laugh at the joke.

"Why did you call anyway?"

"Is it illegal to want to speak to my little brother?"

"Don't call me that, I'm not a child."

"Still a child."

"Am not!" Iceland spoke childishly.

"Still are, and will be, a child. Anyway, I wanted to tell you that we decided that it would just be easier for me and that idiotic Dane to come a week early for Christmas." That's right, Christmas is two weeks from now!

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"I can give you many reasons."

"I know the Dane can be quite annoying-"

"Never mind. Is that all you have to say?"

"No." Iceland internally groaned.

"Then what else is there?"

"I wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

"I told you I'm fine."

"Seriously, how are you doing?"

"I'm fine!"

"Really, 'cause that's not how Fin made it sound…" The line went silent. Iceland didn't have a response.

"...He exaggerates."

"Really? I heard you fainted one morning, pretended to eat several times, talked back to Fin, and was sick this morning. Hardly sounds like you're doing 'fine.'"

"...um." If this was literally anyone else on the phone than Norway, Iceland would have had the right of mind to hang up there and then, but it was Norway, who could easily ground him even longer.

"...You know, I just worry about you. You're my little brother, I am supposed to protect you. If I had it my way, I would be there, not just Fin and Sverige."

"So you could protect what is yours?"

"What?"

"I know I'm just another toy of yours, so you can stop lying to me."

"That's not-"

"It's because I'm not good enough, right?" Iceland choked out.

"What? Ice-"

"I'm nothing but another thing you can claim, right? I'm not good enough to be seen as an equal, right? I'm trying to be better, you know, and I don't need your so-called 'help'!"

"...Don't you ever, say that again," Norway paused, voice serious.

"I will see you Saturday. Remember, you're my little brother, and it's my job to take care of you. Don't forget that."

Click!

And with that, the call was over.

aaaaaaahhhhh

i hatttee thiissss chaappptteerrrrrr

Notes:

-One of the ways Belarus enjoys spending her free time according to her diary, is silently prank calling Poland. She also enjoys 'playing around' with the Baltics.

-Lithuania can and has depressed himself to the point of a stomachache.

-MAX is apparently a upscale fast food burger place in Sweden.

-According to Hanatamago, Finland can't cook.

-Fun Fact: Estonia is based off of Himaruya himself, hence calling him the "coolest creation in the series." Also in Omochi Omochi 2, he has a frame that says 'I 3 IKEA' hanging over his bed.

Thank you for reading.

-TapiocaTundra