YOU FOOLS! YOU THOUGHT I HAD LEFT FOR ANOTHER YEAR, BUT YOU WERE WRONG! I AM NOW HYPER FIXATED ON THIS STORY AGAIN, AND I AM TIRED OF WAITING FOR THE GOD DAMNED END. WE WILL SEE ROMANCE DAMN ITTTTTTT! *Jumps out a window* Okay, I'm a little less hyper now. But still, we do need to get a move on here, we're all going to be old people if i don't get this romance going. ANYWHO, DID YOU KNOW THAT SOME SNAILS HIBERNATE? IT'S TRUE! THAT'S WHY THE SNAIL THAT BRINGS ME MY PLOT IS ALWAYS LATE. OKAY, WEIRDNESS OVER, BYYYYYEEEEEE! *Jumps out a window again.*
After Ivan had left the green house, he had decided to wait for Alfred on a bench near the exit of the park. He had a feeling that Alfred wouldn't want to stay after his little chat, and he had wanted somewhere private to think about what he and Canada had discussed. Of all things he hadn't thought he would think about again today, it was the Cuban missile crisis. It had been years since he had allowed himself to even briefly remember it, and just like every other time it had been brought up, it put him in a rather bad mood.
The last time another country had dared to bring it up, it had been during a meeting around six years ago. He forgot why they had brought it up, but it had caused the rest of the nations to send that particular nation death glares for the rest of the meeting and America and Russia had given off a death aura for the rest of the month. Needless to say, no one ever brought it up unless they had too. Well, it wasn't an unexpected reaction all things considered. After all, it had been the closest thing to almost cause the end of the world in the last hundred years, so it was understandable that people didn't like to speak about it.
Frowning, Ivan wondered just how much Alfred remembered about that day. While he had thought Alfred wouldn't remember much, he had mentioned not drinking as much after the event a few days ago. That and he was always in a bad mood after it was mentioned, so he suspected Alfred just pretended not to know much so people wouldn't bring it up. It wasn't like Ivan had ever asked Alfred, as the two of them had never talked about it again after that day.
For a moment, he considered bringing it up to the younger nation. After all, it had been some time since it had happened, and it was one of the few things they had never cleared the air about. The subject had always hung in the air around them, like an elephant in the room that they never seemed to address. He considered the idea for a while, weighing the pros and cons. It wasn't a bad idea. If they were getting along better, it was worth addressing. After all, it just seemed like a day where they both were addressing heavy topics, so why not this as well? Might as well.
He was so busy considering his options that he didn't hear a pair of footsteps approaching him through the snow. It was only when he felt Alfred poke the back of his head that he looked up and saw a red eyed Alfred standing behind him.
"What are you thinking about?" Alfred asked, his voice a little hoarse. Ivan got the impression that the younger nation had been crying, not that that surprised him. He decided not to bring it up.
"The past." Ivan admitted.
"That's a dangerous thing to do." Alfred said with a tired smile.
"Pheraps." Ivan admitted. "Did you want to sit down for a moment?"
"Yeah, sure." Alfred walked around the bench and seemed to collapse onto the metal bench.
"How did the talk go?"
"Better than I thought, but it still sucked." Alfred said, closing his eyes and dropping his head onto the taller nation's shoulder. "It worked out in the end."
"Did you yell at him?"
"Yep."
"Feel better?"
"Yep."
"Are you two friends again?"
"Yeah, but it's going to be awhile before we're back to where we used to be." Alfred admitted. "He confessed, you know. About liking me, not about the pictures I mean."
Something in Ivan's heart seemed to grow dark at the news. Suppressing a scowl, Ivan tried not to react. "And how did you react?" Ivan asked a little too casually. Alfred didn't seem to notice Ivan's annoyance as he shrugged.
"Honesetly, I appreciated the honesty. Unfortunately, I rejected him. I just don't feel that way about him."
Ivan's heart seemed to unclench at the news, and something like relief seemed to wash over him. "I am not very sorry to hear that." Ivan confessed, feeling a little smug at the news.
"I'm sure you aren't." Alfred said with an amused hum. "Is it me, or do you like to see Kiku suffer?"
"Banish the thought." Ivan said, suppressing a smug smile.
"I don't even have to look at you to see that smug look you're wearing."
"I assure you, I have no such look on my face."
"You are such a liar." Alfred snorted.
"I am not. Look, I am not even smiling."
"Uh-huh."
"I am not!"
"I believe you." Alfred said with a lazy wave of his hand, still not bothering to open his eyes. "Anyways, enough about me. What were you thinking of earlier? You had a weird look on your face."
Ivan paused for a moment. "It is…not something I like to think about." Ivan admitted.
"Did you want to talk about it?"
"Do you?" Ivan asked. He felt Alfred go still for a moment. Alfred finally opened his eyes and glanced up at Ivan with a frown, and the older nation looked back at him with a steady look.
"I don't know. Is it about something cold?" Alfred asked hesitantly.
"I would say so."
"How cold is cold here?"
"Around absolute zero."
"I see. What about it?" Alfred asked, his frown deeping.
"I was curious. How much of that day do you remember?"
Alfred didn't reply for almost five minutes. He wasn't ignoring Ivan per say, but he did seem to consider his next words very carefully. Ivan couldn't tell what Alfred was thinking at the moment, but he didn't look like he wanted to snap at him, so he considered it a good sign.
"Why? What made you want to know?" Alfred finally asked. "I thought we both agreed never to bring it up again."
"We never actually said it." Ivan pointed out.
"It was kinda obvious it was an unspoken agreement." Alfred huffed. "Come on, spill. I know you wouldn't bring this up out of nowhere."
"It was when I was in the green house earlier. I was thinking about what you said earlier in the week about you drinking a lot during the cold war, so I was wondering how much you drank that day, or if you even remembered much about it." Ivan explained. Technically, he wasn't lying.
Alfred hummed suspiciously, studying Ivan's face for a moment for any hints of untruthfulness, and while he didn't seem to find anything, he still didn't look too happy about it. With a huff, he sat up and crossed his arms, looking away from Ivan. Ivan felt a little sad at the cold feeling on his shoulder, but decided to ignore that for now.
"I also thought it might help us get along better." Ivan decided to confess. "We never addressed the whole situation after that. It might help us…clear the air so to speak. It has been a standing issue between us for some time."
"Well, it's not the worst idea. I guess that makes a little sense." Alfed admitted, shifting in his seat uncomfortably for a moment before he let out a long sigh. "To be honest with you, I remember everything. I actually tried to make sure that I didn't remember anything when I got drunk off my ass, but it only gave me a killer headache." Alfred tried to joke, but the joke only fell flat and made the air between them even more awkward.
"So…yeah." Alfred said with an uncomfortable shrug. "There you go."
"Everything?" Ivan asked awkwardly.
"Everything."
"The-"
"Yup."
"And the-" Ivan made his hand mimic a gun shooting him.
"Unfortunately."
"Even-"
"What part of the word 'everything' are you not getting?" Alfred asked grumpily, cutting off Ivan. "I remember being an absolute embarrassment and that's all you need to know."
"I did not think of you being embarrassing at the time." Ivan admitted with a frown. "I remember you being a bastard when you tried to shoot my face, and a scared man when you gave up, but not an embarrassment."
"I don't know, breaking down at a moment like that with an enemy is pretty fucking pathetic." Alfred said bitterly, refusing to look at Ivan with a scowl on his face.
"It was not pathetic to feel scared at the time."
"Right, like asking your enemy not to leave so you didn't die alone isn't pathetic." Alfred growled.
"I did not think so." Ivan admitted. "I was also alone and scared at the time. I was grateful that you were willing to reach out to me, even if it was because you were desperate. I did not want to die alone either. It was a small comfort to be able to spend some time with someone who actually understood the situation, and even gave me enough respect to at least call a truce when they knew nothing could be changed in the moment. I think we tend to forget, but it is like you said to me some weeks ago, we are human as well. And at the end, you treated me as such. Isn't that anything but pathetic?"
Alfred didn't say anything in return, instead making a point of looking away from Ivan so he couldn't see his face. Every muscle of his body was tense, like he was menally screaming at Ivan to go away.
Ivan decided to not say anything more until Alfred had calmed down a little. It seemed like Alfred was at the end of his patience about the whole topic, and he felt that if he pushed anymore Alfred would actually punch him. It wouldn't be the first time Alfred had hit him, and he didn't feel like repeating it if he didn't have too.
They sat in silence for quite some time after that, neither one of them making a move. It wasn't until it had stopped snowing that Alfred decided to let out a very, very tired sounding sigh and relaxed a little.
"Look, I don't know what you're trying to accomplish here. Do you want an apology or something? Because I'm going to be honest, I don't really feel sorry for trying to trick you or shoot you, even if it was kinda a cheap shot."
Ivan went to roll his eyes, but paused when he caught a glimpse of Alfred's face, which had turned to face him slightly when he spoke to Ivan. Alfred's expression wasn't one of frustration or annoyance like he thought it would be, but that of…shame? He still wasn't looking at him, but he seemed to be nervously biting his lip and avoiding his gaze. Alfred didn't seem to realize that Ivan could see his face again, and Ivan realized that this was Alfred showing his true emotions about the whole situation without realizing it. He got a feeling that this wasn't about shooting him either, and Alfred was trying to deflect from the real issue again. He quickly turned away, trying not to let the younger nation know what he saw.
"Really?" Ivan asked, trying to sound neutral. "Not even a tiny bit?"
"Nope." Alfred replied. "Not one bit."
"You didn't even wait to shoot me, you just went for the head shot." Ivan said. Glancing over, he saw Alfred relaxing slightly.
"Too be fair, it was kind of stupid of you to just to fling open the door like that.''
"Maybe, but I was expecting for you to at least offer me a greeting before you killed me."
"I didn't have any one liners ready, so sue me." Alfred huffed.
"And yet, once the gun went away you were able to talk with me." Ivan pointed out, making Alfred tense up again.
"Can we just drop the goddamn conversation already?" Alfred snapped, finally turning to face Ivan with a scowl.
"I would, but you keep trying to deflect." Ivan said with an unimpressed frown. "Why do you keep trying to say you were pathetic when you weren't?"
Alfred glared at Ivan. "Are you not listening or something? Maybe because the whole situation was embarrassing for me? Maybe because it's pathetic for a grown ass man to cry about a situation out of his control?"
"When else is it appropriate to cry then, if not at the end of the world?" Ivan snapped back. "Not to mention, were you pathetic when you cried when Japan left? Was I pathetic when I cried about us becoming friends? Tell me, what makes crying then more pathetic?"
"Because I'm not supposed to break down because of nation stuff!" Alfred shouted, throwing his hands up in anger. "I can't! If I break down, who the fuck is going to help me!? No one, that's who! Sure, when it comes to personal stuff I can get help, but when the chips are down and I have to get shit done, I CAN'T AFFORD to shut down like that! Because I can't rely on other nations to always back me up! If you're the only one in the room who's able to fight, you can't just go screaming because the pressure gets to you, and when the situation was at its worst, I folded like goddamn tissue paper! That's why it's fucking pathetic."
Alfred glowered at Ivan as he finished, then made an aggravated sound as he stood up and stormed off towards a nearby tree. As soon as he reached the tree, he punched it hard once in the middle of the trunk, causing it to shake violently and all its snow fell off onto the ground. Alfred stood there for a moment, covered in snow and twigs, before he flopped down onto the ground and put his head on his knees, and ran his hands through his hair in frustration.
For a moment, Ivan wasn't sure what to do. He felt slightly guilty about pushing Alfred too hard, and maybe forcing him to admit something he didn't want too. At the same time, he remembered what Canada had said earlier about America not wanting to seem weak in front of others, but he hadn't realized it was to this extent. Hesitating for a moment, he slowly got up and walked over to Alfred, who continued to sit there, not even bothering to look up at Ivan.
"Fuck off, i'm done talking today." Alfred said emotionlessly.
"Then you do not have too." Ivan said, sitting down next to Alfred. They sat there in silence for a few minutes, with only the occasional cracking of a twig breaking the tense silence as random small animals moved around in the trees above them.
"I was not lying when I said that I was scared too." Ivan finally said. Alfred didn't respond, but Ivan kept talking. "I had just gotten the news that we might have only a day left before…before the bombs were to be launched. I was told that there was nothing I could do to help. I did not take the news well. I was at home when I got the news, and my first reaction was to rage at my family. I snapped. At first, I yelled and blamed everyone around me, but eventually I just broke down into tears and locked myself in the office. By the time you called me, I was just numb to it all. When I left, my sisters…"
Ivan faltered a little at this, but he took a deep breath and kept going. "...my sisters were sitting in a room hugging each other and crying. As soon as I saw it, I ran away. Whether it was because I could not stand the thought of them dying, or I could not take the guilt of being the cause of it I do not know, but I ran away." Ivan looked up at the sky with a blank expression. "That is what is truly pathetic. When my sister's needed me the most, I ran."
Ivan looked over at Alfred again, who still hadn't moved by this point. "Alfred, when the end of the world was at our doorstep, I doubt anyone, nation or person was going to stay strong through it. I very much doubt anyone is going to judge you for lashing out, or acting like any sane person would. I very much doubt anyone cared if you were acting as a nation or a person, because at the time being a nation wouldn't have helped at all."
They fell back into silence after that. Ivan looked back up at the sky again, not sure what else to do.
"It fucking sucks being us, doesn't it?" Alfred finally asked.
Ivan was so startled by Alfred's blunt question, that he couldn't help but start to laugh. As he did so, he saw Alfred turn his head to look at him, but he seemed to be holding back a bit of
laughter as well. Then he started to laugh as well, until they were both laughing hysterically. Alfred eventually flopped back onto the ground, clutching his sides as he tried to control his laughter, and Ivan was doubled over wheezing. At some point, they both were sprawled out on the ground, weakly giggling about everything.
"You know what? Fuck emotions, i'm done." Alfred said, weakly throwing snow onto Ivan's face.
"I agree." Ivan said, weakly smacking Alfred's arm in retaliation. They both weakly smacked each other's hands until they gave up on that too, and they both decided that moving was too much effort.
"Let's agree to never talk about this again. Officially this time." Alfred said, finally reaching over to shake Ivan's hand.
"Never again." Ivan agreed, and with a quick shake they both just laid there again.
"Hey, by the way, have you seen my glasses? I forgot to get them back from you."
In response, Ivan threw snow in Alfred's face.
_LINEBREAK_
France had been in the kitchen peeling some apples for an apple pie when he heard the door open and gently close again. At first, he didn't pay it any mind, but when he didn't hear footsteps coming any further into the hotel room he paused. Usually Japan would be taking off his shoes and heading towards the closet to hang up his coat by now. Glancing over his shoulder, he waited for the other nation to walk by the kitchen doorway. When he still didn't hear any movement he frowned and put down his cooking materials.
Rubbing his hands on his apron, he slowly walked to the doorway of the room and glanced down the hall towards the door, where he saw Japan. Japan was just standing there, leaning against the back of the door and looking blankly at the ground with an empty expression. France quickly picked up on the fact that Japan's eyes were red, and his expression softened slightly. Ah, so he must have finally talked to America.
"Kiku?" France called softly, but Japan didn't respond, choosing to keep staring at the floor, seemingly lost in thought. France hummed for a moment thoughtfully, before he went back into the kitchen. Quickly taking off his apron, he started to clean up all the cooking materials he had so carefully laid out earlier. They could wait for now. After he was done, he went into his room and grabbed his coat. By the time he had made it back over to the door, Japan had started to notice his presence, giving him a puzzled frown when France blocked his way into the room.
"Mon ami," France said with a bittersweet smile, gently turning Japan around and opening the door again, "I do not think you need to spend the night here alone with your thoughts. Tonight is a night to mourn your broken heart, and to celebrate what has been found again, no? Perhaps I could treat you to some of my favorite bars tonight, and make the pain a little duller? It is, as they say, the least I could do for you as a friend."
Japan hesitated for a moment, glancing at the door with an unreadable expression, before a sad smile replaced it and he nodded.
"That would not be a bad idea." Japan admitted, and France gave him a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder.
"I dare say it is one of my best." France assured, and with that they set off into the night, with the door quietly snapping shut behind them.
_LINEBREAK_
The next day, both Alfred and Ivan decided that leaving the apartment would be too much work, so they decided to just bum around the apartment for the day. Ivan wasn't sure if it was because they had finally talked out their emotions the other day, or if it was because Alfred was feeling a little vulnerable after showing too much of his emotional side the previous day, but Alfred kept trying to snuggle up with him throughout the day to get hugs. It started out with Alfred hovering around him in the kitchen, but had slowly progressed to Alfred leaning on him on the couch while they watched a show, then sharing a blanket with him because he was cold, to him just flopping onto his lap and snuggling up on him during a movie. At this point, Ivan was basically holding Alfred like a teddy bear as he sat on his lap and held the popcorn bowl.
Not that Ivan minded per say, but he did find the change in attitude from resisting hugs to wordlessly demanding them to be a little amusing. Of course, he was careful not to mention the change of attitude to Alfred, as he figured that would only cause the younger nation to go back to avoiding him again. And if Ivan wanted to hug Alfred as well…well, nobody needed to know.
In fact, Ivan was in such a good mood that when he heard a knock on the door, he didn't even mind the interruption. He even volunteered to answer the door. He didn't even mind when he opened the door and saw that old fucking lady who he didn't like smugly looking up at him like she won the lottery.
"Ah, hello Mrs. Babushka! How may I help you?" Ivan asked cheerfully. He heard Alfred choke on a piece of popcorn behind him as he tried not to laugh.
"Mrs. Graves." The old lady corrected automatically, not realizing that Ivan was making fun of her.
"Yes, yes. What can I do for you?" Ivan asked.
"I just wanted to let you two know that you may not be in this building for much longer." She said smugly.
"Is that so?" Ivan asked, not looking very impressed. "Do tell, how did you pull off such an accomplishment? As far as I am aware, the landlord of this building has not told us to leave. Nor do you have the power to make us leave."
"Why, I spoke to a very nice young officer about how you two seem to be running a suspicious operation in this apartment. He seemed very interested to hear about it, and told me that he would look into the matter. So, I think it's safe to say that your days here are numbered." She said, giving Ivan a look of triumph like she had just single handedly solved a crime or something.
"Is that so?" Ivan asked with a snort of laughter, making Mrs. Graves give him a dirty look. "If that is true, tell them to bring a warrant. Hopefully you are not arrested for wasting police resources when they find nothing. Good day." With that, Ivan slammed the door in her face for the second time.
He made sure to casually lock the door as the woman started to screech at them through the door about throwing them out and she would make sure to go back to the police about them. Feeling quite pleased with himself, Ivan turned around and saw Alfred giving him an exasperated look.
"Really?" Alfred asked in bemusement as Ivan flopped back down on the couch. "Are you actually trying to make her target us?
"People like her are not worth acknowledging." Ivan said with a shrug, snagging the popcorn bowl from Alfred, who still didn't look very impressed.
"Dude, seriously, she's probably going to go downstairs and bother Greg again with her nonsense. Don't you feel bad for him at least?"
"Ah, I forgot she would do that." Ivan said cheerfully as he lied through his teeth. He couldn't help but feel like this day was only getting better for him.
"You don't look very sorry." Alfred remarked, snagging the popcorn bowl back with a huff.
"Do you think she really spoke to an officer about us?" Ivan asked as he unpaused the movie.
"Probably, but it's not like they're actually going to do anything about anything she says." Alfred said with a shrug, leaning back onto Ivan, much to the taller nation's delight. "If the police actually listened to half the crap she said they'd have to make a whole other department just to handle her. I wouldn't worry about it, the officer was probably just humoring her."
"Then that is that." Ivan said happily. Compared to the previous day, Ivan found himself in a much better mood. Hopefully now that most of their problems were over, they could both enjoy some peace and quiet now.
_LINEBREAK_
The lackey sighed in frustration as he ducked into a nearby alleyway. As he walked, he grabbed a nearby backpack he had left there earlier. Glancing around for any witnesses, he quickly opened the bag and pulled out a large plain red coat which he put on as he walked. He quickly took off his fake police hat and coat and stuffed it into the bag, so by the time he reached the other side of the alleyway he blended into the crowd as he walked away from the apartment building behind him.
Jesus fucking christ, did he ever need a pay raise. Not only had he spent the last three hours staking out the building for residents to talk to, he had spent at least 45 minutes listening to an old bat of a woman complaining to him about everything from how terrible the parking meters were to how police sirens kept waking her up at night. Police sirens. In god damn New York city. Being too loud. The only thing stopping him from putting a hit on the woman had been the convenient information she had dropped about that Jones guy. Lucky for him, and he meant that in the loosest way possible, she turned out to be the guy's next door neighbor. When she had mentioned him about thirty minutes into her rant, he had clung onto the topic for dear life, and she had been more than happy to spill the beans.
So, it turned out that the guy had appeared mysteriously a few years ago with no background, and had been having all sorts of strange meetings with official looking men every couple of weeks or so. Not only that, but it seemed he had ties with the Russian government as well. He wasn't sure what that meant, but nothing good as far as he was concerned. He pulled out his phone, and he quickly started to text his boss the info.
Not looking where he was going, he didn't notice that he had walked into an emptier part of the street. He didn't notice the shadow that had been following him for the last few blocks. He didn't notice the hand that appeared out of an alleyway as he turned a corner. He never saw who pulled him into the alleyway with a violent jerk, causing his phone to clatter to the ground and break. Nor did he see the face of his attacker when he saw stars when a single well placed attack made contact with the back of his head. The last thing he did see was a bag being placed over his head and a gloved hand grabbing his phone as he blacked out.
Damn it, he needed a pay raise.
A/N: AAAANNNNDDD with that ladies and gentlemen, Part two of this story has come to a close. Whew, that took awhile, but finally we're getting to the home stretch. Finally, Ukraine and Ivan hung out, baby stories were shared, the final building blocks for Alfred and ivan to start falling in love are placed, their pasts have been addressed slightly, Japan and China's part of the story has come to an end, Japan and America are friends again, the cold war has finally been addressed, Canada can finally stop giving out advice, plus everything else i forgot about because this story is too damn long, AND NOW WE CAN GET TO THE GOD DAMN ROMANCE PART OF THE STORY. Oh, ya know, JUST 150+ THOUSAND WORDS INTO THIS GODDAMN STORY. FOR FUCKS SAKE, THE ICE CAPS MOVE FASTER THAN THIS STORIES'S ROMANCE PLOT. I'M NEVER WRITING ROMANCE AGAIN AFTER THIS, DO YOU HEAR ME?! THE PLOT POINTS ALONE ARE ENOUGH TO KILL ME. SPEAKING OF WHICH, THERE WILL BE. NO. MORE. NEW. PLOT. POINTS. I MEAN IT. IF I WANT TO END THIS STORY I CANNOT AFFORD IT. WHY THE FUCK DID I CHOOSE 30 DAYSSSSSS?! WHY DIDN'T I PICK 15 DAYS?! WHY DID I ADD THE MAFIA?! Why didn't I leave them as a one off joke? Why did all my one off jokes become plot points? Why am I like this?! ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Okay, tune in next time. Bye! :)