Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, all rights go to its creators.

A/N: Hello! I've noticed that I've never really written a pairing twice across any of my stories. But I got this cute little idea for Belarus and England so here they are again. This rare pair has grown on me.

Summary: They were here in her bed somehow and she was straddling Arthur. Her hands were around Arthur's throat. She squeezed and squeezed as she watched the light fade from his parisiolite eyes. He'd struggled at first but then succumbed to the sweet release of death.

And with that she woke up.

She stared at her reflection.

Get a hold of yourself! It was just a dumb dream. You like him, why would you want to kill him?

Natalia wonders if her apathy about death could mean that she has the capacity to kill.

Part 1: The Star-Crossed Lovers

Chapter 1: A Passing Thought

Natalia Braginski had seen dozens of dead bodies everyday, it was her job. She studied to become a mortician and had been doing it for 2 years now. She was not squeamish about the dead and had been fascinated by death ever since her mother rode over a deer once while on the highway; she was about 4 years old.

She remembered the terror in its eyes as it crossed in front of the technically speeding Sudan. The lights shone bright as her mother honked, but the deer did not move nor did she slow down, and soon it was knocked down. Natalia, in the car with her older brother Ivan and other sister Kat, had felt the bumps as they rolled over the deer.

"Mom!" She remembered Ivan had yelled and she could remember hearing Kat's sniffles, probably from the onset of tears.

Natalia had unhooked her seatbelt and looked over the back of the seat to see the deer lying in the street, it's blood spilling onto the road. Natalia had not felt bad about the deer at the time; it had come out of nowhere; it deserved to get hit.

Natalia grew up in this town, Cliffdover, ironically where her mother was driving to the night they ran over that deer, from the airport in New York. Her mother was determined to make a life here instead of back in Russia with her father.

She recognized most of the faces of the patrons in mourning and of the deceased. She didn't care much, she wasn't heartless but those people, dead or alive, made little impact in her life. Her small circle of siblings, mother, and coworkers were left untouched so, she had nothing to be sad about.

They were almost a turning wheel of blank slates, in her life for a moment and then gone the next. And because of that she almost missed him, another unremarkable face.

"Natalia I want you to show this man to the back. He says he's trying to write a story and needs to be in the presence of one of our bodies." Her boss, Vladimir Popescu said.

Natalia had encountered these types of people often. Using an encyclopedia wouldn't do, they had to see a real dead body, whether it be for some sick fantasy, or an art project. They were drifters because being a part of this town would draw too much attention to how strange they were.

She pursed her lips, "Alright. Follow me." She said as she turned from the man and took him down one of the many corridors to the station where they filled the bodies with embalming fluid. She stood by the body of an elderly man, his veins stuck with needles as tubes filled with fluid replaced what would be blood.

"Why didn't I just go to a morgue?" He asked, and she made eye contact with his jaded prasiolite green eyes. She shifted her gaze back to the man on the table, there was no need to remember more of this man's face; he would be gone soon.

"They don't polish them up like you all do, and I want a beautiful description of death, not an ugly one." He answered the question she didn't ask and wasn't thinking about.

He took out a notepad and a pencil. Then he started writing, gaze flickering to the elderly man and back to the pad repeatedly.

His lashes were silken, long, and golden blond. His fingers were long and nimble as they gripped the pencil, and dragged it across the pad. His hair was unruly, almost as manic as he was, the look of a man who had little sleep. Natalia gripped her wrist in her hand and cracked the joint there. The sound had echoed quite loudly but had stopped her mental notes of the man's appearance. The man regarded her briefly, stopping his writing momentarily. She met his eyes briefly again, such a striking green that she would remember them in her dreams, but that was all she would allow.

A short time later the man pocketed his notepad again. "Thank you. That's all I needed. I hope you won't be dressing me in here any time soon. Cheers." And then she showed him out the way he came. He thanked her boss and was out the door again.

"He didn't try to touch the body, did he? I know sometimes—"

"No." She said.

000000000

"We just got a shipment of about 50 of these books, I talked to the author and agreed to let him sell his books here. We're kind of niche, so I always say support our locals." Tolys set a stack of books onto a table at the front of the store. A sign said that it was a new release.

"He looked exhausted, I wonder when he had time to write it." He turned to her, an almost thoughtful look on his face.

Natalia picked up a book, the cover blood red Whispers Behind You by Arthur Kirkland. It looked like something she didn't want to read.

"Take a copy as a gift." He said, giving her a wink.

Natalia nodded.

Tolys Laurinaitis owned the Turn A Phrase bookstore and would always give her a book, usually a crime novel because she mentioned to him once that she liked them. They grew up together, she knew she was his "Girl Next Door" but she was indifferent and really only wanted free books. Was it wrong? Possibly. But she didn't really care.

"What a cheesy name. But you know what they say aboot covers. So I'll give it a try eh, the poor guy probably needs it." Mathiew, Tolys's employee said, having come up to them from behind the counter.

"S-so how's your sister?" Mathiew asked, he always asked this when she came.

Why don't you just ask for her number?

Natalia opened the book to the first page that had the title, copyright and all that stuff on it and scribbled 11 digits onto it before ripping it out and giving it to him.

"Ask her yourself." She hissed, "I'm not a damn phone operator."

"I-I was just…" He said before looking at the landline she'd given him. Katyusha Braginski lived and worked on a small farm that she owned just outside of Cliffdover. She often sold in markets in the business district of downtown Srafbridge, a city that was a good distance from Cliffdover.

"I'll call her." Mathiew said, still looking at the strip of paper, cheeks pastel pink. He wore round frames on his nose, and his hair was a wavy dirty blond. His eyes were violet, like her brother Ivan's. He was often polite but never really stood out or spoke out either.

Kat had just turned 30 and Mathiew Williams was still in college, Hetalia International University at Sraftbridge in the United States. Natalia did not see it going anywhere, and honestly was annoyed with his bashful attitude. Kat would rip the bandaid off soon enough after one phone call, with her "Oh you're so sweet! Like my little brother, always worried about me. How are you doing at your little job? Are you still in school?"

There was then a little jingle of the bell above the door of the store signalling someone had arrived. Natalia then met the prasiolite eyes of the man who'd stopped into the funeral home to observe one of the bodies.

"I'm still on to do a book signing, right?" He asked, shifting his gaze to Tolys.

"Yep, I set this stack of books here for you, and when they run out just let me know. I've got more in the back." Tolys said patting the stack of books on the table.

"Brilliant." He said, approaching the trio. He eyed the copy in her hand.

Against her better judgement she handed it to him.

A small quirk of his lips as he took the copy before opening it up. He pulled a pen out of his pocket.

"I should thank you for your beautiful craftsmanship. To whom do I owe the pleasure?"

0000000

It was an almost ungodly hour. She had a craving for chocolate and had just run out. She heard the familiar chime of the doors of Kicking Ticker as they slid open to let her in. She went to the "candy "aisle of the store. She grabbed two bags of miniature chocolates that she could pop into her mouth. She walked back towards the front of the store and up to the register. She placed her bags of chocolate onto the conveyor belt.

The cashier was not looking at her, his hair wheat blond and unkempt, long lashes focused on scanning her items. Then prasiolite eyes met hers, a look of recognition on his features. He was the author of the new book on display in Tolys's store. Arthur's thin, pale pink lips were slightly parted.

"Natalia?" Arthur asked as though she had no right to be out here. This was her town; he was just a drifter. She was going to make that clear.

"I should be asking you, what you are doing here. Aren't you an author?"

"Not everyone can be Stephen King. I'm working to make ends meet. Am I allowed to call myself a starving artist?" He said pursing his lips, bagging up her chocolate and handing it to her. He then told her the cost.

Natalia dug into her pocket and produced a few dollar bills before she handed them to him.

"Are you walking home alone? I don't think that's safe." He said dropping it into the cash register, his eyebrows were furrowed, as bushy as they were.

"I walked here so I will be fine. Plus, I don't know you." She said, receiving her change.

"Right. Well take care." He said.

Arthur didn't even ask if she'd read his book. She could feel her cheeks warm with blush as she walked out of the store.

Not that I would have told him I finished it anyway.

"You don't live far do you?" She stopped as he was now a pace or so behind her. His apron was left in the store.

"I will be fine."

"I don't have to walk you all the way to your house. It just doesn't sit right with me for you to be out walking alone at this time of night."

Would she let this man walk her home? She could call Tolys to walk her home to ease the man's fears. Although, she couldn't feel any feelings of ill will from him though and was intrigued.

"Fine, my house is about two blocks from here. You walk me to the corner and that's all."

"Alright." Then she could hear him approaching, and he came up beside her, on the side closer to the street.

They walked in relative silence, the street ahead barren.

"The book signing fell quite flat." He said seemingly out of nowhere.

Natalia glanced at him, his gaze still straight ahead. His nose slender and pointed, skin pale and glowing softly in the moonlight.

After a stretch of silence, they were approaching the corner.

He stopped as she'd told him to. She stood with him for a moment. "Are you leaving town because it sold poorly?"

"No, I've been here for about a year and I like it. It's quiet here, a great atmosphere for writing."

"I will see you around then, Arthur." Natalia said as she swiftly turned from him and walked down the street to her home.

"Get home safe! Have a good evening!" He called after her, as she approached the steps of her porch. She looked back at his prasiolite eyes, and she gave him a nod before going into her home.

000000000

Natalia walked into the Kicking Ticker on the evening shift again and glanced at the cashier, his gaze downward at a book in his hands. She hurriedly walked down an aisle to get out of his sight.

She hadn't seen Arthur since he'd walked her home and that was almost two weeks ago. Figures he wouldn't be frequenting the funeral home all that often. She didn't see him in the afternoon when she shopped for her groceries, apparently his shifts were only at night.

She stood out of eyeshot, gaze on his pastel pink lips, slightly parted and mouthing the words to whatever book he was reading. She watched as his slender fingers gripped the page to turn it. The light sound of the paper echoing through the store.

"Hey Natalia, are you looking for something?"

Natalia jumped in her own skin as she turned to meet the gaze of the young honey eyed auburn haired man.

He smiled at her, too bright for this time of night. He was Lovino's younger brother, Feliciano and was wearing an apron and a name tag. He was working here while he was attending culinary school. She quickly glanced over his head at the aisle sign. Apparently she was in the aisle for hair care.

"No I found what I was looking for." She said picking up a box of something. Probably hair dye.

"Oh, ok! Let me know if you need some help!" He said before walking away to attend to something else in the store. Natalia noticed that she'd picked up men's black beard dye and put it back with a frown.

She grabbed another bag of chocolate because honestly she couldn't think of anything else and she wanted to talk to Arthur again.

She placed her bag into the conveyor belt, he did not take his eyes off of the book, as he scanned the single bag across and bagged it up. Natalia pursed her lips, "Isn't it vain to read your own work?" She truthfully didn't glance at the book to see if he'd written it. But she was just a bit annoyed he didn't look at her.

He raised an eyebrow before looking up at her with those prasiolite eyes of his. "I wish I'd written this. I'm just doing a bit of research for my next book."

"Do you only work at night?" She asked as he handed her the bag.

"Sometimes I pick up a few hours in the morning. Why? Were you looking for me?" He asked, and she felt her heart beat rapidly in her chest.

"I don't usually see you around. I know mostly everyone in this town. I was just curious." She said handing him a dollar bill.

"It's usually quiet on this shift. Gives me a lot of time to think and plan for my stories." He said as he gave her change for the chocolate. "You're not going home alone again this late are you?"

She looked at him and blinked. She turned and walked towards the door. She stopped at the entrance and glanced back at him.

"If I am?" She watched as he blinked and turned his head in another direction.

"Feliciano, cover for me for a moment!" He said.

Feliciano appeared from the back of the store where the freezers were located. An eyebrow raised, he looked between the two of them, before a small smile broke out on his lips.

"Alright Arthur I gotcha covered!" He said with a wink. "Have fun!" The cheery Italian American waved at them.

Arthur rolled his eyes.

Is it hard for him to believe that I am doing this on purpose?

"There is no civility anymore is there?" Arthur muttered before walking towards her, leaving his apron behind the cash register.

Natalia stepped out into the cool night air again, Arthur was now beside her.

"Did you always know you wanted to work with the dead?" He asked, as they started walking. She looked over at him, meeting his eyes.

"The dead never bothered me like it had others so yes." She said. The question was asked to her alot, and she expected him to react in one of two ways: astonishment or disgust. Just when I was starting to become interested in him.

He nodded, "Death doesn't bother me much either. I'd always found it interesting that although living things persevered to be alive, death was inevitable."

Natalia blinked at how calm and rational he was. "Yes." She said, her heart beat increasing, her face feeling warm by a few degrees despite the temperature. They walked in silence, now approaching the corner.

"Thank you for walking with me." She said once they were at the corner.

"It is my duty as a gentleman to walk a lady home, no need to thank me. I'll see you around." He said and she gave him a nod before walking to her home again.

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Natalia awoke abruptly, breathing heavily. She looked around in the darkness of her room, just spotting the dim fluorescent light of her alarm clock. It was 3:00 am.

She'd had a terrible dream.

They were here in her bed somehow and she was straddling Arthur. Her hands were around Arthur's throat, she'd squeezed and squeezed as she watched the light fade from his parisiolite eyes. He'd struggled at first but then succumbed to the sweet release of death.

And with that she woke up.

Natalia had never had a dream about killing someone before. She was frightened at what this could mean. She hopped out of bed. Going to the sink in the bathroom, she splashed her face with water before slapping her cheeks.

She stared at her reflection. Get a hold of yourself! It was just a dumb dream. You like him, why would you want to kill him?

Natalia nodded before going back to bed.

The next morning Natalia stood in front of a mirror and pressed her black pleated skirt down. She smoothed her dirty blonde eyebrows and fastened her black bow. She had previously laced up her leather platform boots.

Taking out black lipstick she applied it onto her lips.

Stepping out the door she headed out for work.

"Natalia wait!" Tolys called out to her. Sometimes he'd like to walk with her on his way to the bookstore. They were neighbors after all.

Natalia stopped and soon Tolys was next to her and then they started walking together.

"So did you finish Mr. Kirkland's book? I was finding it tough to get through."

"I finished it a few weeks ago." She said, to which Tolys blanched.

"Y-you did!?"

She gave him a nod.

"It made me feel uncomfortable. Something about it didn't sit right with me."

Natalia shrugged, "You were always a little bitch Tolys."

"I-I l- that has nothing to do with it! I scare easily but the book didn't scare me!" He said, a frown on his face. Natalia kept walking, looking over to see the now sullen look on his face.

"Do you know when Kat's coming to town again? Mathiew has been asking me about her." He changed the subject.

Natalia sighed, "How the fuck should I know? Why doesn't he just fucking call her and ask?"

"You know, he's shy. Give the kid a break." Tolys let out a chuckle.

She and Kat never really got along. Kat got along with Ivan more, so Natalia never really went out of her way to keep in contact with her. Sometimes Kat would call her to check up on her occasionally, or to notify her that she'd be in town.

I'm not going to help that whiny brat.

Natalia rolled her eyes. "Did you know Arthur works at the grocery store down the street?"

"He does? I'd never met him before he asked about the book signing, but I'd seen him around occasionally." Tolys said.

At that moment they walked past the Kicking Ticker on the route to their respective jobs. Natalia spared a glance through the window to see a mop of unruly golden locks. She stopped and pressed her face against the window.

Natalia blinked, seeing the blond reshelving some items. He wasn't facing the window.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

"Bella, are you going to buy something or stain my glass window with those luscious lips of yours?"

Natalia jumped a bit startled at seeing Lovino Vargas, the manager of the store right on the other side of the glass. His brown eyebrows furrowed, and his pink rose colored lips pursed.

Natalia felt a grip on her arm, "Sorry Lovino, we'll be on our way." Tolys said before pulling her away from the window.

Natalia kept looking, if only to see a glimpse of his eyes, but at her current angle it wasn't possible to see the author anymore. Lovino had one of his eyebrows raised before he left the window.

"What did you see? A deal on some apples?" Tolys asked, an eyebrow raised.

Natalia did not answer. She was now calculating how early she would have to get up to have time to stop in on her way to work.

"Oh here's my stop." Tolys said as they were now in front of Turn A Phrase. "Have fun dressing up the deceased." He gave her a wave after he let go of her arm.

Natalia nodded, "Yes." She muttered walking away and towards the bus stop. It was a 15 minute commute to Popescu's Funeral home.

She waited for the bus that would usually come in about 5 minutes. When it arrived she dropped in her quarters, gave the bus driver a nod and took a seat by the window.

She closed her eyes and leaned her cheek against the glass of the window. When was the last time I got this worked up over a person?

Natalia wouldn't call herself love obsessed. She didn't go searching for it, it barely happened at all. But she had a tendency to obsess over a person once she felt something for them. Maybe it was high school?

A blond haired girl with big doe eyes the color of green emeralds. Her voice was soft and she often smiled sweetly at anyone she talked to. Natalia would often follow her around, and upon noticing her, the girl offered that they become friends. But it didn't last long because the girl soon moved away with her brother to Switzerland. Natalia could not remember the girl's name, and she'd only been at Natalia's school for two years.

Natalia shrugged. It didn't matter now.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Criticism welcome.

I used a fantasy town name generator to get the names of the town and the city it is adjacent to. I'm also trying a different word to describe England's eyes. I've seen emeralds used so often for him, I wanted to spice it up lol.

Just for reference here is everyone's ages, who has appeared/ was mentioned:

(Natalia) Belarus 24

(Vladimir) Romania 43

(Ivan) Russia 26

(Kat) Ukraine 30

(Mathiew) Canada 20

(Tolys) Lithuania 25

(Arthur) England 29

(Lovino) Romano 32

(Feliciano) Italy 26