Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

A/n1: I got a little update on the Hetalia Awards!^^ If you go check out chapter 12 of "The Hetalia Awards 2015", you can see my response on being nominated for four categories. It's pretty funny to read and see, and since I'm talking about how you guys are the reason I got nominated in the first place, you should go and read it, if you want!

A/n2:I'm going on a date today. Yup, for the first time in… well, at least a year (and before that, multiple YEARS), I'm going to do something fun with a guy I might like more than I think I do.
At first when he asked me out, I didn't really feel too sure about it. He wanted to go out in T., a city I've never been before (I think). I asked him why he wanted to go to T., and he said 'well, I know you like books and comics, and there's a special bookstore in T. that sells pretty rare stuff!' and I was like
OH.
YOU SEEM TO GET ME.
YOU REALLY SEEM TO GET ME.
And so I agreed to go out with him.
Now, I've known this guy for quite some years. People have shipped me with him for years, too (and I've discovered that being shipped with somebody actually is REALLY annoying). I'm now willing to give it a try, but I can't help but feel a bit uneasy.
I like him a lot, and I think about him a lot, but do I like him on THAT level?
We'll see, I guess…

A/n3: I work as an intern at a high school – you know, a teacher-in-training. I also am in charge of the homework-class, in which kids that have difficulties keeping up with the rest make their homework and study in an attempt to get better grades. Anyway, a little while ago, this kid asked me if I could test him on English (you know, I ask him how to write/pronounce a Dutch word in English and he does it).
The kid was good, but I noticed he almost never told me the LITERAL translation – the translation as it was written down in the book. I know from experience that teachers tend to get bitchy on you if you have the sheer guts to translate 'cute' as 'schattig' (which means, well, cute in Dutch), when the book tells you 'cute' should be translated as 'geinig' (which actually means funny in Dutch AND IS TOTALLY NOT CUTE, MR. STEVENS, IT'S NOT and why didn't I protest back then, gaaaaaah).
I never learned for English tests, because I thought my English was good enough to do tests without studying (I was a huge gamer) – and therefore I got lower scores, because I didn't translate words exactly the way as they were written down in the damn book.
And now, this kid was doing the exact same thing. So I asked him.
Me: 'Hey N., you actually didn't study for this test at all, did you? You just know them by heart.'
N.: '…um…'
Me: 'You're a gamer, aren't you?'
N.: *shocked* 'How'd you know?'
Me: 'BecAUSE SO AM I'
N.: 'NO WAY!'
Me: 'Yes way! I played, like, tons of games, and I still do! That's what makes you so good at English! But you see, you should—'
N.: *not listening* 'HAVE YOU PLAYED ANIMAL CROSSING AND ZELDA?'
Me: *instantly manipulated* 'YOU BET I HAVE, OH GOD, I NEED NEW LEAF AND MAJORA'S MASK ON THE 3DS SO BADLY'
N.: 'I HAVE THEM'
Me: 'YOU LITTLE PEST GIVE THEM TO ME'
(this actually isn't a dramatic version – the conversation really went like this, I'm so proud)
And we kept chatting about games until it was time for him to go.
Yayyyyy, I can do teaching.

~~ And Three Makes Five ~~

Chapter 93:

When I am a dad, Dad
I'm gonna be a good dad
Did the best you could, Dad
Always understood, Dad
Tell me I was right, Dad
Opened up my eyes, Dad
Glad to call you my dad
Thank you for my life, Dad
Yellowcard
(Life of a Salesman)

I really like sleeping.

Especially when I don't need to get up the very next morning. I swear, if that's the case, I can sleep for hours, not waking up until every last little bit of my internal battery is fully loaded and ready to face yet another wonderful day.

I also love sleeping when I do have to get up early in the morning but at least have a beautiful person sleeping by my side, also having to get up early because I have to get up early. It's nice to sleep with somebody else and it's also great waking up and discovering you're still being together with that person. It's better than coffee. Hell, it's even better than sex sometimes.

I don't like sleeping when I have to get up early and am alone.

Or when I can sleep in but still am alone.

Actually, I just don't sleep very well when my heart's still in tatters from a lost love.

So it's pretty normal that I slept for, like, three hours when I finally decided to just give up and get out of bed already.

I sat on the side of the bed and thought. It had been a bit more than a week a two days now. Just a little bit more than a week and two days. The fact that I still kept count was both unnerving as it was pathetic, dammit.

How long was I going to be like this? Because it irritated the fuck out of me. This numb, cold feeling whenever I thought about her. It could most of the time only get shooed away by thinking of that other her, and masturbating away until both unsettling feelings were gone, drifted off like foul clouds.

It was really exhausting.

But feeling lonely was more terrible than feeling exhausted.

Also, I smelled cake.

Why the hell did I smell ca—

…

…

NOT AGAIN.

NOT FUCKING AGAIN.

Oh she's going to get it now. Right now. I'll go tell that bitch exactly how I feel about her creepy shit, I'll fucking rub it in her face!

I jumped from my bed, almost crashed my face into the door on the way out, threw open the door to the kitchen – one of the few pro's of living in a small-ass apartment – and then stood there, in the door opening, breathing in and out heavily as I looked around the…

…completely empty kitchen.

Also, no cake. Not in the oven, not on the countertop and not on the kitchen table, either.

And I checked the space underneath the kitchen table – guess what?

The cake was still a lie.

But what the fuck – what the hell? Why did I think I smelled cake when I haven't smelled cake in, like, well, a week? How come I thought, that I knew for sure that I—

Because you miss her, you dork. You fucking miss her. You should go contact her if you think about her that much.

Hahahahaha – NO, voice in my head, I DON'T like that crazily fashionable Italian girl that, to remind you, theoretically RAPED me, used my kitchen and ingredients without MY say-so, and even had the fucking guts to steal a fantastic HORRIBLE kiss from me.

She was NOT on my mind.

She was NOT.

She's just a chick I not-physically used these days to get off.

You even miss her goddamn CAKES, you ASSHOLE – and she only baked you one! ONE!

Well that cake sucked BALLS!

You ate it! ALL of it!

I was in the dumps and hungry! God! People do crazy stuff when they are in the dumps and hungry!

You didn't wash the plate for days!

I'M A LAZY BUM, OKAY?!

Call her.

No.

Invite her to your fathers' party.

NO.

It's not too late, you know! She might still be in Spain, maybe to keep her mom company – her mom's invited too, you know?

HA! I don't HAVE to invite her if she's coming with her mom anyway.

Not that I would invite her if she wasn't, because I'm not interested in her at all, nope, not at all. I'm done with girls – hell, I'm done with love and relationships in general. Screw all that, I'll just stay single for the rest of my life and brag about my sexual escapades to my boring siblings with their stupid happy families and loving partners who wants that well I sure as fuck didn't want that.

Don't fucking insult happy singles, you bastard. You're not one of them.

Ohhhh, and neither are you, are you now, voice in my head? OH, BURN!~

…

…

Nothing. Guess I offended him.

Well.

Now that I had even pissed off the voice in my head, I was officially the loneliest person in the country.

Adored by many, loved by few, enraged by cake – that's the life a guy like me has to lead.

…

Oh what the fuck was I even jabbing about…

Ugh. I suppose it was a very good and healthy thing I was going to meet up with Luisa and Matteo later.

0\o0/

We had agreed to meet each other somewhere in the middle of a well-known shopping mall in Barcelona. There were tons and tons of little shops there that I simply loved visiting whenever I needed more clothes or just felt like checking out awesome fashion, and so, when I made Teo, Lulu and their partners promise me that I could dress them up for Papa Lovi and Papa Toni's party, I already had thought of this place.

Lots of shops!

All about clothes!

A gazillion different styles!

And I knew all of them!

As I made my way through the busy crowds of people – in malls like these, it always was crawling with people craving for fashion – I was already ferociously brainstorming to come up with cool concepts for my siblings and their partners. Because one: I needed to figure out what would work for a doory scarecrow-person like Luisa, and two: thinking of clothes prevents me from thinking or her and/or her. Total win-win situation, I fucking knew it, clothes make everything better!

Then I saw a flash of blond – a tall flash of blond. In other words, a very long person, and in other other words, Seb. My sister's tall and skinny boyfriend that had exactly three facial expressions, plus one bonus expression if you had managed to unlock all the final bosses and collected 100 coins in the underwater-level.

He made a great landmark, so with my eyes glued on Seb's blunt appearance, I managed to get to the group of people that was patiently waiting for me.

'Alejo!' Luisa nagged right away when she saw me approaching them. 'About fucking time you showed up!'

See? Very patiently.

Anyway, as soon as I had joined Luisa, Seb, Raquel and Matteo, I plastered a big smile on my face and waved excitedly at them.

'Yo! Thanks for the wait, people, I had some trouble coming out of bed this morning!'

Matteo was the first to immediately wave back at me. 'Hi Allie!~ Long time no see, big brother!~'

I smirked at him. 'We talk to each other every day, you dweeb – that's what phones are for. Don't act like it's been ages!'

Matteo frowned. 'It's still a long time since the last time I saw you…'

'Two days.'

'It's still a long time since the last time I saw you…'

Oh well. I grinned and rolled my eyes. 'Yeah yeah, I like seeing you again, too. Too bad you wear that awful getup!'

'You mean my overalls?' Matteo looked down to what was stuck on his body. He was wearing fucking ugly shit and if somebody gave him a matching hat with a M on it, I swear he could easily pass as a derpy version of Super Mario – only with even less fashion sense than him, and my god, that was saying something.

'That shit has to go,' I said, glaring at the overalls. 'As soon as possible. You keep wearing the clothes you buy today – I'm not going to walk around with you looking like a fictional plumber any longer than needed.'

Matteo pouted. 'Raquel said it makes me look handsome.'

'Did she?' I looked to the – wow, did she get taller or something? – girl standing next to Matteo. She instantly tensed up, but didn't try to crawl behind her boyfriend and tried to keep her back straight.

Good god, Raquel looked like a damn twig. Blue pants and a boring brown shirt with yellow stars and moons on it – was she, like, eight or something? That girl was supposed to be the eldest of all of us, and look at her, wearing something that would have only suited Mia!

And what the hell was up with that headband – pastel blue? For real?

'Okay, for starters,' I told her, 'that headband has to go—'

'No,' Raquel fired back.

'No?' I repeated.

'No.' Raquel trembled a bit, but folded her arms and furrowed her brows demonstratively. 'I-I want to look girly. Matteo made me look girlier. And so, the headband stays.'

You need a lot more than a crappy headband in order to look girly, I wanted to gloat at her – but I reminded myself that this was supposed to be a fun activity, yay, family-and-friends-time, and so, it was not a moment to unleash all my frustrations on an innocent person like Raquel, no matter how uninspired she looked.

So I decided to lock on my dear younger sister instead, who, to my surprise, actually didn't look all that bad. She wore a simple black dress with black leggings, and that actually made her look very good.

No wait – it weren't the clothes that made her look attractive and cool – it was the way her facial skin was fucking radiating with health! A bit blushy, but not too blushy, and it had been a long time since her skin had been smooth like that.

…

'Alright,' I said, turning to face Seb. 'Out with it. What the hell did you do with her this morning – she looks like a goddess!'

'Let's just say she stilled my hunger,' Seb automatically answered, giving me a dry thumbs-up – and then was smacked with Luisa's purse, while the owner of said purse started screaming he should shut the fucking fuck up already about eating.

And of course, I knew more than enough and shivered a bit, before quickly scanning Seb as well.

Thing is, Seb actually was pretty fashionable. Of the four of them, he was the most fashionable. The casual look worked really well on him, but I guess, since he was a young and relatively successful businessman, he kind of had to have a feeling for style. I mean, people wouldn't want to hire him otherwise.

'Could we do this quickly?' Matteo suddenly asked. 'I don't want to rush you, but I had to drop Mia off at the daycare and I promised her we'd be back and ready to go before any of the other guests would arrive at the basilica. I really don't like breaking promises I made with her – she gets scary! – so…'

'Yes, and I want to rehearse what I have practiced to speech tonight,' Luisa added, with a worrisome frown in her forehead as he took out some worn-out papers. 'You have no idea how troublesome writing all of this down for me was – having to say them out loud will possibly be the fucking end of me, unless I practice some more…'

'You'll do fine,' Seb smiled at her, and took her hand.

'Yeah, Lulu, you'll be fine – you're good at writing and words,' Teo agreed, laughing nervously, 'but I wonder about me and Allie's speeches! I mean, I haven't read a decent book in years and I just don't think the stuff I've written down expresses what I feel good enough…'

Raquel – now I saw it, she was walking on fucking high heels, like a clownish slits woman – sought for support by grabbing Matteo's shoulders and shook her head. 'Matteo, I was with you when you wrote your speech, and I can already tell you that it was wonderful when you read it out loud for me. You… um. You brought me to tears. S-so. Don't worry, okay?'

'O-okay!' Teo beamed a thankful smile at his wobbly girlfriend – then he looked at me.

'How about your speech, Allie? Is it good?'

'Phah!' I violently snorted. 'Is it "good", he asks!'

FUCK.

'Are you kidding me, Teo? My speech is the burning best of all. You know that.'

TOTALLY FORGOTTEN.

'Ohh!' Matteo said, since he was a naïve moron. 'So it's that great, huh?'

'Absolutely,' I lied, while feeling something like an ICEBERG crashing down in my stomach.

'You make me curious!~' Matteo happily remarked.

'Me, too,' Luisa added, giving me a grin and a menacing 'pssshhh you don't fool me you jerk you don't have shit' –look.

But that was okay. It was okay – I'll just improvise. That shouldn't be too difficult, I've been improvising through my whole life already, so no sweat, I could pull this off.

…

But yes. I should have spend more time thinking of nice things to say about my fathers instead of jerking off and feeling generally pissed off about things and people. This was yet another very good life lesson.

'Right, so, Alejo,' Seb then started, 'shall we go already? I can't wait to have nice clothes all over me. Fabulous.'

We all looked (up) at him in silence.

'What?' He frowned. 'I like looking fabulous. Don't judge.'

'You'll be looking fabulous in my bed,' I said with a wink – and was kicked against the ankles a split-second later by Luisa, huffing to get a move on already.

And so, we went to the shop that was #1 on my list, and that was specialized in not only very payable, but also incredibly mind-boggling perfect clothing:

Mano Izquierda.

'This shop,' I automatically started telling the others, twirling around and folding my hands like a teacher on a tour, 'this shop is HUGE. It's insanely popular in this region and it's got several sections, for several kinds of people. It keeps your age in the back of its mind: are you 15 to 20 years old? You should check that part of the shop. You are 21 to 25 years old? That way, please! Also, don't try to check the 21-25 section even if you're 26 – yes, I'm looking at you, Raquel – because you won't find anything suitable for your age in that section. Am I clear?'

Raquel nodded, having no idea what to say.

'What the flying fuck's up with the shop's name?' Luisa wanted to know.

'Your face,' I maturely answered – and then just pushed the four of them in the direction of the shop, because I was strong like that.

0\o0/

As I predicted, finding suitable clothes for Matteo and Seb was about as easy as finding suitable clothes for me: they were both very good-looking men, especially Matteo – see what I did there, heh, I sure see what I did there – and that way, we would have more time finding decent clothes for Luisa and Raquel (who both dressed like people on the run for zombies or something).

While Luisa, Raquel and I were waiting for the guys to get changed into yet another very spiffy getup, I looked around the shop. I was looking around really carefully, even, because I had a gut feeling something was going on… I just couldn't put my finger on it.

'What's the matter?' Luisa asked me when she caught me staring at a certain guy a bit too long.

I could have replied with another haughty 'your face', just for the hell of it, but instead, I decided to act like the oldest brother and tell her what was on my mind.

'I'm not sure,' I said, 'but I think… well… don't you think that… we might run into people that will visit the party tonight?'

'What do you mean?' Raquel – who had totally listened in on us – asked.

I nodded to a couple of other men and women walking around the shop, all around our age, all looking drop-dead gorgeous and all giving off a very strange… vibe.

'I don't know, it's just that… look, Papa Lovi and Papa Toni didn't say anybody they invited cancelled. We might as well expect a lot of people showing up, meaning that all the nation kids will come as well. But they probably are all staying at hotels and stuff, since it's kind of weird to come over to Spain for a single night and instantly fly back to their own countries afterwards. So… I think we might… meet some—'

'Oh, look at that, look at that, look at that!' we suddenly heard somebody squeal. We all turned to look where the noise came from and saw a relatively tall, blonde young woman with a catlike smile and a plain, blue dress throwing herself on a rack with very expensive but also very cool-looking tuxedos.

'THIS,' she gasped, grabbing a light-green (LIGHT FUCKING GREEN) suit, 'this is IT. Yes. This is what he'll be wearing and he'll fucking LOVE IT.'

Another girl around the same age appeared now, looking very embarrassed, very scary and also very cute.

'Ma, please, cut it off – people are staring!'

'Oh let them stare, sweetie – they always stare at your dad, he's used to it by now,' the other girl said, smiling at the tuxedo.

'She's talking about you, Bel.' an intimidating, large and pale-faced man then said, standing next to the creepy-looking girl and looking just as uncomfortable as said girl. 'You might… um. Might tone it down a little.'

But the blonde woman ignored him and kept on squealing about clothes and colors.

'Those three,' I started.

'Yes,' Luisa nodded.

'Those three.' I started again. 'They're like us.'

'The scary-looking girl is, yes,' Luisa agreed.

'She's with her parents.'

'Oh god.' Luisa clasped her hands together. 'I never met any other personification other than… than...'

'Who do you think they are?'

'Belgium and Russia.'

We all looked at Raquel, who instantly got big, red blushes on her face.

'It-it's just… I-I had to study about them, too, you know,' she stuttered, 'I-I didn't only occupy myself with… spying on your dads… I also learned about the other countries, who they are, who their kids are, and what's special about them.'

Luisa raised her eyebrows. 'That's… kind of impressive!'

'My mother trained me well.' Raquel smiled grimly.

'What are they doing here?' I wanted to know – and before I knew it, I ditched both Luisa and Raquel, walking to the girl, now watching her parents discussing what her dad should wear tonight.

'Hey,' I greeted the girl – who gave me this scared-baby-whale-look, 'I'm Alejo.'

Thankfully, the girl seemed to instantly lose the frightened stance a little bit and hesitantly shook hands with me.

'I'm Anya.'

'Nice name. Very West-Russian.'

'Um… thanks?'

'Those people – correct me if I'm wrong, but is it correct I heard you calling them your parents?'

The girl got a really long face and pulled back her hand. 'Look, if you're only talking to me to mock me, just get lost already. You… ugh. Never mind, okay?'

'They're Belgium and Russia, aren't they?' I patiently continued, looking at the two countries now intensely observing a yellow tuxedo on a mannequin.

The girl was baffled. 'H-how do you…'

'Oh, the daughter of one of those PPSS-people told me.' I pointed at Raquel, who tried to hide herself behind Luisa, who just was too small and too confused to really help her out. 'Her mom ratted out my dads – South Italy and Spain, in case you were wondering – and now she's dating my brother. The girl, I mean – not her mom. That would just be weird.'

Anya's jaw dropped. 'You're… you're one of South Italy and Spain's kids?'

'Luisa's standing over there,' I said, now pointing at my sister, 'and my brother's changing in the fitting-room right there.'

'Amazing…' Anya put her hands in front of her mouth. 'T-this is the first time I met people like me… o-oh my…'

I smiled. 'You can come and say hi, if you want to.'

'Yes! But of course, she could also stay clear of a trashy little guy like you and stick around her parents,' a light-hearted voice suddenly rang next to the girl – and I have to admit, I almost felt scared when I saw Russia glaring at me the minute I looked up at him.

…

Okay that was a lie, I was scared fucking shitless.

'Please don't kill me,' I pleaded with thankfully a steady voice.

Russia made a long face – kind of like his daughter had done earlier. 'Why do people constantly think I want to kill them? It's so unfriendly!'

'Now, now!~' Belgium came our way as well now, followed by an extremely well-dressed employee of the shop. 'It's okay, Mr. Russia. Just don't threaten unknown boys that like our little Anya – it's good for her to know she makes people yearn for her!~'

She then put her hands on Anya's shoulders, and the poor girl got even more embarrassed. 'M-ma, come on… this isn't just a boy, this is… u-um…'

Belgium blinked and took a better look at me. 'What? Who is he, then? Who…'

She stopped talking when she finally saw – really saw.

'My,' she softly said, mimicking her daughter's movements earlier by covering her mouth, 'those faces, those eyes, that… that… everything…'

It seemed that in the meantime, Luisa and Matteo had joined me as well. I didn't know where they had left Raquel and Seb, but I guess that wasn't important right now.

'You're Lovino and Antonie's kids!' Belgium got a bit teary eyed. 'Oh my! Oh my oh my! I finally meet you! Oh! Just look at the three of you – you are beautiful!~'

Luisa, Matteo and I smiled coyly at the slightly older woman – in human years, at least.

'H-hi, miss… miss Belgium…'

'Oh no! No! I will have NONE of that!' Belgiums face got cosmetically serious as she suddenly hugged me and my siblings in turns. 'It's Aunt Femke! Auntie Fem-Fem! I was your Italian papa's Best Woman at his marriage, did you know that? I was so happy he asked me!~ I thought he didn't like me all that much, because of… um… but he actually loved me! And now I meet his three twerpy kids and they're all grown up and you look so pretty and isn't that just wonderful!~'

'I can't breathe,' Matteo gasped, trying to get himself and the sharp, black tux he wore out of Belgium's grasp and… um… breast-area.

'Tell me everything! Or at least a lot!' Belgium (eventually) let go of (a limp) Matteo and beamed the three of us a stunning smile. 'How have you been? How did you find your parents back? Did they freak out like I did? Please – tell me! Tell me all you know!~'

STDvdW

Sometimes, it's better to just keep your distance and let other things happen without you.

A wise quote, by… by… I don't know who said it. But I still like it a lot and I believe it's indeed true it's better to sometimes just keep your nose out of certain things.

Like, when Matteo and I came out of the fitting-rooms, Luisa and Alejo were gone, and then Matteo suddenly was gone as well, and now, only Raquel and me were still in the… fitting-room-area. We sat on the white little chairs and watched the three siblings getting hugged by a blonde girl. The three of them looked really surprised, but in a good way, and it was nice to see Luisa's eyes shine like that. It only added to her natural beauty.

Raquel, who had been quiet all this time, just like me (we hadn't had that much conversation yet, at least, not without the others), at a certain moment turned to me with a faint smile on her face.

'That's… that's your aunt and uncle, you know? That's Belgium, your father's younger sister. And that big, broad man next to her is Russia. The girl with the unsettling purple soul-wrapping eyes is your cousin. Shouldn't you go… greet them, too? You're a nation kid as well, after all. And you're related to them.'

'What about you,' I countered. 'If I even wanted to go over to them and greet them, you'd stay here all by yourself.'

Raquel shrugged at that. 'I'm not a child of a country. I should wait here and not get involved too much.'

'You're dating a child of a country - two countries, even. You're more involved than you think you are.'

She averted her eyes. 'Well maybe I just don't want to meet them. Not yet. Matteo and his siblings may have forgiven me for having a connection with the PPSS—'

'Your mother had that.'

'… for my mother's connection with the PPSS,' Raquel corrected with a fake chuckle, 'but who says they'll be just as forgiving? I don't feel like hearing all kinds of meaningless and empty words when all I can see is the sheer rage in their eyes when they look at me.'

'Raquel—'

'From the outside, I kind of look like my mother. I always have looked like my mother. I will look more like her as I grow older, reminding the people I care about that the PPSS was real. But I actually don't mind that.'

Raquel pursed her lips together and pulled up her knees, so she could wrap her arms around them.

'I-I don't mind looking like her.'

I didn't know what kind of things I could tell Raquel right now that she didn't know already. You only miss your mom because she was all you had – that was too harsh. It's wrong to miss your mom because she was evil all along – that was uncalled for.

'That's my reason,' I therefore said.

She looked up, quickly wiping some tears from her cheeks. 'W-what is?'

'I miss her, too.' I stared into the direction where my aunt was having a lively chat with Luisa about her baby. 'I haven't met her yet. I really want to meet her. But I can't. Pa Nederland told me to have patience, and I have. But till that moment's there, I don't want to talk to any other female personification.'

Raquel seemed confused and looked back and forth from me to Belgium.

'If… if she means that much to you, you should just get off the chair and go meet your aunt, you know?'

'Aww. You don't get it.' I smiled at Raquel, who get this adorable frown in her face that told me that Matteo and I probably shared the same tastes in feisty women. 'The spy doesn't get it. That's so cute.'

'What? What is cute?' Raquel wanted to know.

But I shook my head and headed back to the fitting room.

'I'm taking this tuxedo. Warn me when the others are coming back, alright?'

0\o0/

As we talked and shared thoughts and experiences with Belgium, Russia and Anya, we found out that the entire mall apparently was flooded with personifications and their children!

'Oh yes, certainly,' Belgium chirped, 'Hungary and Austria are strolling past this shop right now, and their son's trying to chat up Emile, Prussia and Canada's son (and the two of them have apparently been spotted just about a pet shop, Prussia lost his bird or something) and I also have seen France already! I haven't seen his daughter yet, though.'

'Good,' I said with a hollow voice.

Belgium eyes me worriedly, but ultimately forgot about my troubled expression when the employee told her that Russia needed her help since he couldn't seem to decide between a grey suit and a brown one.

'Coming!' The blonde woman flashed me and Matteo and Luisa a final smile. 'We'll talk more tonight, okay? Bye now, cuties!'

And she strutted off.

'So that was Belgium…' Luisa mused, as soon as it was just the three of us again. 'She's nice!'

'I think Mr. Russia was very nice as well!' Matteo said. 'Although he has really cold hands. Did you shook hands with him? Man, I thought they would fall right off. He should drink something warm later, that'll make him feel much warmer.'

'I don't know what's creepier: you liking Russia or you wanting to warm him up,' I grinned.

'Oh!' Luisa suddenly gasped. 'Wait a second, now I get why she wanted us to call her Auntie Fem-Fem – she's Seb's aunt! Goddammit, and that asshole just keeps lollygagging at the fitting-room… I'll go tell that dork right now, maybe he can still meet up with her!'

Matteo smiled and looked down at his – really handsome-looking – black suit. 'I guess I should return to Raquel as well. I haven't showed her my suit yet and it was pretty rash of me to leave her behind like that.'

'Yeah,' I nodded, 'that was really mean. Leaving a girl with trust-issues and a low self-esteem behind like that. Pretty brutal.'

'Y-you… I… u-um…' Matteo then shut up, lost the grin and got as white as a sheet. Then, he almost tripped over his own feet as he turned around and raced back to where Raquel and Seb were, already on the verge of crying and getting crushed by his own guilt, as he threw himself into the arms of a very puzzled-looking Raquel.

'I'm sorry! I'm so sorry – I'm so, so very sorry please don't get angsty on meeee!'

'What – um – why – p-please don't cry – god, what did that Alejo tell you this time!'

I snickered. Suckers.

'That was mean.'

I jumped a bit – the hell, who was standing beside me all of a sudden? But I calmed down when I saw that Anya, Belgiums daughter, had come stand with me.

She gave me a grin. 'Pestering your brother and his girlfriend like that – shame on you! You shouldn't do that!'

'It's their own fault, they should stop rubbing their happiness in my face all the time,' I huffed. 'It gets on my nerves, especially when I'm not seeing anybody myself.'

Look at how subtle I was here. Oh man. Smooth as fuck.

Anya, however, didn't seem to get the message (yet). She looked around the area dreamily, folding her hands on her back and sighing.

'I'm grateful Miss Tosca helped us all out like this.'

'Miss Tosca?' I immediately was feeling myself heating up and cooling down, at the same time, at high speed.

'Yes!' Anya beamed a big smile at me. 'Miss Tosca was the one that made it all happen, you know? She connected us nation kids with our parents. She informed us. She encouraged us. She even let us know that her mother was more than happy to use the money she earned by writing that book of hers to bring us all to Spain and put us in posh hotels. In fact, it was Miss Tosca that said we should all go out and go shopping, while waiting for your fathers' anniversary party to start. To, you know, get some new clothes, buy some make-up… maybe even find a date for the party…'

'She's a mastermind.' I stared at a wall. 'A chess master.'

'Hmm?' Anya said.

'Is there anything she fucking can't do, dammit? Doesn't she have, I don't know, flaws, like any other normal person? She's so perfect, dammit, I can't stand it.'

'You know her?'

Yes.

'No,' I said, loudly said, and groaned, turning to Anya. 'But anyway, you were saying…?'

'W-well…' Anya, instantly springing into shy-modest-girl-mode, fumbled with the too big bag hanging on her arm, pulling on the zipper. 'You… just said you weren't seeing anybody right now, right?'

I looked at her. Anya wasn't ugly. She wasn't unpleasant or unkind, and she wasn't perfect.

'No,' I said.

'Neither am I.' Anya gulped and giggled. 'A-and… w-well… y-you're a pretty boy, and… I'd like to bring a pretty guy to your dads' party tonight, so… um… would you… um… would you like to… go to the party with me?'

Well, she had spit it out, alright.

I tried to give off the typical air of a cool, down-to-earth guy as I loosely put my hands in my pockets and smiled aloofly at her.

'Hell, why not. Okay. I'll go to the party with you.'

'Really?' Anya responded happily – but I couldn't see how happily she responded, because two big, brown eyes had appeared just behind her. Brown eyes that looked heart-broken for a blink-and-you-miss-it moment, before instantly reverting back into a professional, perfect expression.

'Anya, I have the dress you wanted. They still had it in your size in the back of the shop.'

Anya gasped and took the pink dress the employee was holding. 'Yay! Oh, thanks, miss Tosca, this means the world to me! I'll go see if it fits right now!'

'Sure,' she said with a smile.

'See? Isn't she great?' Anya looked at me. 'She even works here! I mean, wow – you were right! There isn't anything she can't do!'

'Buh,' I said.

'Stay there, Alejo – you should tell me if this dress is right for me or not! Okay?'

'Yeah, yeah… s-sure…'

While Anya ran over to where the others still were – I guess Raquel didn't like the suit for Matteo or something – I kept standing in front of Venetia, feeling paralyzed and awfully exposed.

'So, you… work here.' I swallowed and tried to sound cool. 'My sister can't find work anywhere, but you, an Italian person that doesn't even live here, can just… swoop in and find work. Just like that.'

'I'm younger than Luisa. And I have experience in working in a shop that sells clothes. Also, I'm just a temporary employee. I'm going back to Italy after tonight,' she explained.

'Why?' I heard myself say – and I wanted to kick myself.

'Because there's nothing left for me to do in Spain.' She looked at me, but her expression didn't tell me anything. 'If I return to Italy, I can become a doctor. I have all the degrees and knowledge to become one, and ever since bringing back all of the nation kids, I've discovered that helping people in need is a lot of fun. So I found my purpose in life. I'm going back.'

'You could also stay.' Really, what the – what the ever-loving crap was I even saying? 'I bet they also need young and ambitious doctors in Spain, so…'

'No.'

'Fine.' I huffed and looked away.

'So you're planning to take Anya to the wedding anniversary?'

I cringed, but why, really – her voice didn't sound resentful or angry. Then again, maybe that was the reason I cringed.

'Y-yes, but I—'

'An admirable decision,' Venetia nodded. 'Anya doesn't have a very good opinion of herself. She could use a guy that tells her she does matter.'

'What about you?' I asked her, because I didn't want to hear her. 'What are you… will you come to the party?'

'Yes.'

I felt a bit relieved. 'Yes? That's—'

'One of the nation kids invited me to go as their date.'

She might as well could have stomped me in the stomach.

'They… they did, huh…'

'Yes. Now, excuse me. I need to help Mr. Russia and Miss Belgium out.'

I didn't say a word, I just wordlessly watched her walk away from me. She looked confident, pretty and short as usual – but I thought I saw her rapidly rub her face, as if she was annoyed by something that could have escaped from her eyes.

Stop her.

Stop her!

FUCKING STOP HER ALREADY, MY GOD!

But I let her go.

o\00/

I think two hours had passed in total when Seb, Matteo, Raquel, Alejo and I got out of the strangely named shop, all having successfully spent money on fantastic clothes that made us look like the most gorgeous people on the planet, which we totally were, of course.

We were all very happy with our choice of clothing, really, and there was a really upbeat, good atmosphere in our group as we walked through the mall. Matteo, having exclaimed that the treat was on him when we stopped by a little cart that sold icecream, was the happiest of all, since Raquel had indeed looked stunning in her long, princess dress. Seb also smiled all this time, because according to him, I looked "criminal" in my dress.

'Which is good,' he had assured me right afterwards. 'In this case, it is.'

It had to be said that Seb, Matteo and Alejo all looked very good in their freshly-bought clothes as well. Not that either one of them had to do much for that: the three of them were extremely handsome, after all. Of course they looked great – hell, I bet Alejo even looked great in a garbage bag.

Talking about Alejo – he currently was very down for some reason.

'What's the matter? Did something happen?' I asked him, after receiving the icecream Matteo handed over to me.

'Anya asked me out,' he replied monotonously, 'and I said yes. I'll take the chocolate one, Teo.'

That was all I got out of him, though.

…

Dammit. I should have picked the chocolate one, too.