Arthur told the honest truth to Alfred as to why he needed to borrow so much money on the following work day. As expected, the manager was neither shocked nor angry, and that was what made the Brit feel even worse than he already had.

"Iggy, you can only go up from here." Alfred promised as he put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder.

Arthur averted his gaze, his emerald eyes dulled with sadness. "I just won't feel right unless I am punished in some way."

Alfred cocked his head to the right. "A punishment, like spanking?"

"What?! No, ya sick freak!" The green – eyed blond cleared his throat. "I meant like making me work longer hours or on my days off, until I can make up for the money that you gave to me, especially after I lied to you about my friend being in trouble, when that 'friend' really was just me after all."

The American man shook his head, and this sadly did not surprise Arthur either. "Arthur, I would rather see your tired eyes and just – fucked hair coming into work everyday than to find out on the news that you have been stabbed to death by your former drug lord and left bleeding out on the streets to die. I have already watched one friend suffer a tragic death when I was a boy, and I don't want to lose another one."

"Well, I'll pay you back one way or another, that's a promise." Arthur said as he blinked falling tears from his eyes and hugged his eccentric little friend. "Don't worry, nothing is going to happen to me."

Alfred gently nuzzled his face into Arthur's shoulder and sighed. "Promise?"

"I promise. You crazy little bastard." Said the other man with a smile.

As he worked harder than he ever had in his life that week, Arthur made a total of six – hundred dollars. He kept his promise to Alfred to work doubles and to take on extra assignments. Working extra hard was not all that bad, though, since the two friends and Francis passed the time by playing the occasional practical joke on an unsuspecting victim. Of course, the victim at the receiving end of these pranks had almost always been Arthur.

"Arthur, don't give Ivan the money, please." Francis begged one day as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend from behind. "I know you are doing this for the sake of the lives of your friends and myself, but I can't allow you to be blackmailed like this. I love you, and I am going to help you avoid this man at all costs."

"I'll come, too!" Chimed in Gilbert. Apparently, everyone's main hobby seemed to be secretly listening to Arthur's and Francis' intimate conversations, but they did have good intentions to help deep down. "So, when are we going to kill Natalia?"

"No one is killing anyone!" Arthur replied.

Everyone paused suddenly as Antonio suddenly appeared through the office doors.

"Antonio? What is he doing here?" Asked the Frenchman.

Gilbert shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe he's making a surprise visit to see Lovino and take him out to lunch or something like that."

"Well, let's follow him…without making it too obvious." Proposed the green – eyed Brit.

The group of friends noted that Antonio appeared rather somber or anxious. Perhaps he had a nerve – wrenching secret to tell his Italian fiancé and the only way to get it off his mind was to tell him face – to – face at the office.

"You're crushing my head." The albino whispered as the trio found a closed door to hide behind.

The Englishman grumbled and pounded his fist on the whining man's head. "I am not! You're just a baby."

Francis, however, decided to hush both of them by slamming both of their heads together, deciding to end the petty argument once and for all.

"It's too quiet in there." Gilbert sighed after waiting a few minutes after Antonio closed the door to Lovino's office. By this time, the Italian and the Spaniard were either having loud sex, arguing, or crying. However, this time, the room was silent.

"Pretend you forgot something." Arthur suggested as he tugged on his boyfriend's curls.

"And just what might that 'something' be? Genius?" He said with his tongue stuck out.

The trio tried to think of something intelligent to say, when suddenly, their silence was broken by an intruder.

"Hi dudes! Who are we stalking this time?!" Alfred shouted. The American clearly did not understand the concept of stalking.

"Oh! Perfect timing, boss!" Francis greeted with a smirk on his face. "Arthur, open the door."

With a wink, the Brit did as he was told. "My pleasure."

As the other man opened the door to the Southern Italian's office, Francis took the perfect opportunity to shove a poor unsuspecting Alfred into the room, but, they clearly interrupted a very private moment as Antonio seemed to be preoccupied with comforting his fiancé.

Since Lovino was usually an expert at hiding his vulnerabilities, catching him off guard at a time like this caused the other gentlemen to feel a pang of guilt.

Since Francis had known Antonio since high school, and Gilbert was afraid of Lovino, although he pretended not to be, the Frenchman took initiative to approach his close friend. "Antonio… mon amie, I am terribly sorry if we are intruding, but…what is the matter? Can we help?"

"Fratello?! Fratello!" Feliciano shouted from across the hall. "So sorry, so sorry." He apologized as he nearly knocked over everyone else on the office floor. "Fratello, I just got the news this morning. I am so sorry I am late. Ludwig and I slept in, and our cab never came so we had to call for a new one." He sighed. "I know! I will make you some pasta. Pasta with tomato sauce always cheered you up when you were small. I'll be back soon!"

At that moment, everyone paused as they noticed Lovino's shoulders sag up and down rapidly like he had been crying. But this was Lovi. He was a strong, proud man who never cried. Was he laughing? However, he was crying as his sobs now filled the quiet room. "That stupid bastard!" He shouted as he angrily pounded his fists into Antonio's chest.

The Spaniard was not angry at his lover and they did not seem to be in an argument. Instead, he sadly gazed down at Lovino with sympathy and rubbed his back gently, even though the Southern Italian continued to throw hard punches.

"Why did he have to die at a time like this?!" Lovino shouted with agony. "I never got the chance to tell him how he ruined everything, how stupid he was and how much I hated him!"

"Fratello…" Feli continued, his voice breaking up with agony. "I am so sorry that Grandpa Marcus died."