N/A : sorry for the short chapter, I had to completely change the first part. I honestly tried (repetitively) to write a decent sex scene, but I just hated everything I wrote and had to delete it again and again. So instead, I wrote this morning-after scene. I hope you'll like it.

Neither Ivan or Alfred could remember how they had made it back to the bed.

The following hours had been spent learning the other's body all over again, forgetting everything around them altogether. They blissfully got lost in pleasure, moans and renewed confessions of their love until they fall asleep in each other's arms, sweaty, happier than they had been for a long time, and completely unwilling to move.

-o-oOo-o-

Ivan woke up first, to find himself a bit disoriented by his surroundings and the living furnace he could feel beside him. It took a second for his memory to kick in and fill in the blanks, but when it did, the Russian nation turned his head toward the source of warmth. Alfred was lying on his back, his head turned in Ivan's direction and an arm on his torso. His breathing was even and he looked completely at peace.

A fond smile, albeit a tad incredulous, bloomed on Ivan's face. Somehow, he still had a hard time realising Alfred returned his feelings. Not that he could really doubt the American nation's sincerity after his confession and his rather passionate attitude during their lovemaking, but it still seemed a bit surreal, especially in the dim light of the shelter.

"Can hear you thinking" Alfred muttered in a sleepy voice. "Too early for that" he added without opening his eyes, and turned to trap Ivan in a tight hug.

"Goodmorning to you too" Russia chuckled.

Alfred groaned, but it sounded more fond than annoyed, and when Ivan wrapped his arms around his body, the young nation sighed blissfully.

"Better ?" Ivan asked, and started to gently rub Alfred's back.

"Perfect. 'S too warm in here" America complained, and nuzzled his head in Ivan's neck.

It was absolutely adorable, but Ivan didn't mentioned it out loud. Instead, a small smirk made his way on his face, and he lowered his head to whisper in his lover's ear.

"I remember someone turning the temperature up last night."

It took a second, then Alfred groaned in shame and the tips of his ears turned pink, probably with the rest of his face, but he kept the latter hidden in Russia's neck. Ivan chuckled again, and let the young nation try to hide his embarrassment. Not that it was working, but it was very endearing to see him fail.

At some point, however, Ivan felt the familiar doubts invading his mind. Despite everything, what if all of this was still a lie ? What if Alfred was pushing himself to act until the morning after, only to look at him with icy contempt and smug hatred a second later ? What if he just wanted to give Ivan a taste of the fairytale happy ending he craved, only to take it back right away ?

The Russian nation only realised how tense he had become when two blue orbs dived into his lilac ones. Apparently, his distress had been obvious enough to fully awake the young nation.

"Hey, what's wrong ?" Alfred asked softly, and cupped Ivan's face in his left hand.

"Nothing" Ivan replied, forcing a smile and shaking his head. "Just... thoughts."

"Like hell I'm gonna believe that. Spit it."

Ivan frowned, then sighed in defeat. Miscommunication had already cost them enough. If, by any chance, this wasn't a convoluted plot to torture him, then it was probably better to verbalize those fears now.

"I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop" Ivan answered honestly. "A part of me is still convinced you're forcing yourself to make me miserable."

Alfred relaxed immediately, and disentangled himself slightly to let his head rest on his pillow rather than Ivan's chest, his hand still on Ivan's face. The Russian didn't enjoy losing the comfortable warmth on his torso, but this new position made looking at each other easier.

"Same here" Alfred eventually sighed. "Guess we both did a number on our ability to trust."

Ivan didn't answer, but he knew his expression was enough to convey his agreement. It would take them time before they'd be able to completely trust each other to not fuck up their feelings again. At least, as nations, time was something they had at their disposal.

"I'll take my chances nonetheless" Ivan stated softly. "But I'll understand if you don't wa-"

Before he could say the rest, a hand covered his mouth, and Ivan's eyes widened in surprise. Beside him, Alfred looked both pissed and extremely determined.

"Don't you dare finish this sentence" the blond threatened. "I made my decision last night, and you know it as well as I do. I..." Alfred stopped, closed his eyes for a deep breathe, and opened them again. This time, the determination was mixed with a completely different emotion. "I love you, Ivan. Whatever we are, I'm in."

Russia had a sinking feeling that there should be a limit to the number of heart attacks one person could inflict on another. He ignored the way his heart threatened to burst out of his ribcage, and pushed Alfred's hand out of his mouth.

"You're gonna be the death of me" Ivan muttered, and moved to kiss his lover, morning breath be damned.

He felt Alfred's laugh against his lips, and smiled despite himself. In retaliation, Ivan grabbed his ass, eliciting a gasp, and turned their kiss into a flithiest one. There were better ways to occupy the morning than dwelling on depressive thoughts, and according to Alfred's reactions, he seemed to be pretty on board with this way to spend the next hours.

-o-oOo-o-

Matthew was nervous.

Scratch that, the word wasn't strong enough. The Canadian nation was downright terrified.

Which is why he was standing in front of what looked like a massive vault door at the end of the maze under the White House, in the late afternoon, and had been doing so for the past fifteen minutes.

According to his plan and knowledge of both nations, twenty-four hours trapped into a shelter should have been enough time for his brother and his friend to talk things through. At least, he thought so. Both of them could be incredibly stubborn, after all. However, the two nations were already reaching their limits the previous day. Given both of their tempers, if one of them started shouting and pouring his feelings out, the other would follow quickly.

Theoretically, that is what should have happened. But doubts and fears didn't care much for theory and logic, and this time was no exception. Matthew was afraid that his plan, as well-intentioned as it was, might have cost him Alfred's trust, Ivan's friendship, and all hope of happiness for the two of them for the next decades. And even if things hadn't gone as south as they could, there were still countless ways in which the powerful nations would end up heartbroken or unable to move on.

Matthew slapped himself inwardly to stop the dreadful thoughts that kept coming back, and breathed deeply to calm himself down. Wondering about ifs and buts about his and Alice's plan would lead him nowhere, not now that they had gone through with it. There was only one way to be sure of what had happened since he had left Alfred and Ivan trapped inside, and that way was opening the door.

The Canadian nation entered the temporary code Alfred's president had given him, and pushed the vault door wide open, just in case. He didn't want to find himself trapped with Alfred and Ivan for god knows how long after yesterday's event. Still, he stopped himself again in front of the second door, and tried to hear if someone was screaming on the other side. As far as he could tell, that wasn't the case. Matthew could hear people talking on the other side, but nothing too loud, which had to be a good sign.

Canada inhaled deeply one last time to work up the courage to enter, and once he deemed himself mentally prepared, he pushed the second door as silently as he could.

As Francis and Arthur's child, Alfred's twin brother, and Gilbert's boyfriend, Matthew was pretty much used to scenes that didn't make sense, or concepts like sane insanity and impossible made real.

Yet, he was not prepared to see Alfred and Ivan cuddling on a bed, in front of - if Matthew wasn't mistaken - Revenge of the Sith, and dividing their attention between the movie and an argument about said movie.

"... and he's putting the entire galaxy under the Sith's rules, how is that bringing balance to the Force ?" Alfred exclaimed.

"The galaxy was under the indirect ruling of the Jedis for centuries" Ivan snorted. "Now, you got two Siths left, two Jedis left, two neutral entities with Anakin and Padme's babies, and the balance of power has switched to compensate for the Jedis' order. That's what I call technical balance" he countered.

"Still, that's not balance because in the end, he- Matthew !?"

Both heads turned toward the Canadian nation, ignoring the fight on Mustafar to look at the gaping expression of their brother and friend. Matthew blinked a couple of times, still frozen with a hand on the doorknob, but his brain refused to cooperate and his first words didn't come out exactly how he intended to.

"What the fuck."

It wasn't even a question at this point. A statement, maybe. But then, Alfred blushed fiercely and Ivan's gaze fell to the sheets, even though none of them made a move to get away from the other. A wide grin stretched Matthew's face when he understood what this meant.

"Oh my god, you finally did it !"

Alfred mumbled something about intrusive brothers, but eventually got out of the bed to hug his twin. Matthew noticed during those few seconds that both Alfred and Ivan were wearing sweatpants and t-shirts instead of the previous day's attire. However, the Canadian nation purposefully avoided looking at the sheets' state. If his first impression was correct, Matthew had a feeling he didn't want to know where the stains came from.

"Thanks bro" Alfred whispered against him, while Matthew hugged his twin back. "For everything."

"Everything ?" Matthew asked in surprise. He was sure his brother would have had a hard time forgiving him the trap, even if things had ended up well between him and Ivan. The Russian nation stood up as well when Alfred gave Matthew space, and he had a small smile on his lips.

"You told me what I needed to know at the time, without betraying Alfred's trust" Ivan explained, and Alfred nodded. "Thank you, Matve."

"Oh" Matthew sighed in relief. "You're welcome. I mean, it wasn't my story to tell" he added awkwardly. "So, you two are... ?"

"Yeah" Alfred answered, and his hand reached for Ivan's, who took it happily. "We're together now."

"Was about time you opened your eyes" Matthew chuckled. "I was starting to get desperate."

Somehow, that statement made Alfred narrow his eyes at his twin, and Matthew stopped laughing almost immediately. He knew that look.

"My dear, trusted and beloved brother" Alfred asked sweetly, but his eyes shone with a dangerous gleam. "Surely you wouldn't have locked Ivan and I on purpose yesterday, would you ?"

Matthew sent him his brightest, most innocent smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Oh, by the way, world meeting next week, in Berlin. Someone convinced Ludwig there was a need for one, apparently."

"Matthew..." Alfred growled threateningly.

"Gotta go, see you next week !" Canada said joyfully, then started running. "Congratulations again !" he half-screamed once he passed the vault door.

"MATTHEW YOU FUCKING TRAITOR COME BACK RIGHT HERE !" Alfred shouted, not loudly enough to cover Ivan's laugh.

The Canadian nation chuckled all the way back to the exit, ecstatic about the way things had turned out. Sure, Alfred was maybe a little miffed at him right now, but it wouldn't last. At least, it shouldn't. Probably. One week was theoretically enough to give his twin time to cool down, especially if Ivan and him plotted some grand way to reveal their relationship to the other nations. That would keep them busy for the days to come, and distract them from any type of revenge against him.

Worst case scenario, Matthew would use his puppy eyes and his cute sad voice to ask his brother if he was really angry. Knowing Alfred, he would cave rapidly and forgive him, especially when Canada's actions had resulted on him and Ivan finally getting together.

Matthew made a quick stop by the Oval Office to let Alfred's president know their plan had worked beyond their hopes, then jumped to his own home, a wide grin on his lips.

Sometimes, it was good being a devil in disguise.