Germany knew something wasn't right the moment he set foot in the house. The way Austria acted, how he could barely stutter some words… There had to be something that went really bad. He aimed for the basement concerned – he had the feeling that this time it wasn't his brother's fault… How he had been acting lately was more than unusual, Germany didn't think he had ever seen his brother so sad before… And although he still wasn't one hundred percent sure, he slowly started to get the idea of what was going on…
Germany stopped in front of the door and listened if he heard anything. When there was complete silence, he decided to skip the polite part and just simply opened the door. He saw Prussia lying on his bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling and his ears plugged in, rock music thumping to his ear, knowing him.
"Brother!" Germany called out, not wanting to scare the Prussian, but he seemingly didn't hear him. "Brother!" he repeated, louder, but there still wasn't any reaction.
Germany sighed, walked over to the bed and stopped next to his brother's head. Prussia's eyes jumped to him surprised, then quickly turned away again as he sat up on his bed and took off the earphones.
"Yeah, West? What do you want?" he asked silently, his eyes directed downwards.
Oh, there was many thing Germany wanted. He wanted to ask what was going on, why Austria was so upset, why he saw his brother look so heartbroken for the third time in a week, and why he couldn't leave the two of them alone for even a second. He should have been mad… Still, he found no anger in himself, only deep concern for his brother.
"Are you alright?" he asked finally. He knew the answer already, he could tell that his brother wasn't alright just by looking but this was the only question he felt appropriate.
"Sure…" Prussia tried to force a smirk but his lips just didn't want to obey him. He sighed and shook his head, facing away from his little brother. "No, West, I'm not alright. Nothing is alright" he whispered silently and closed his eyes.
Germany bit his lower lip. If Prussia admitted that there was something wrong, it had to be horrible. He sat down to the bed next to his brother and reached out with his arm, gently touching Prussia's shoulder. The albino shivered, glanced shortly at Germany, then hugged his brother tightly and squeezed his eyes shut. It surprised the younger but he didn't say anything, just returned the hug. Prussia buried his face to his brother's shoulder as he fought back his tears and gathered some strength to speak.
"I was an idiot, West…" he started silently, his voice weak and trembling, but he was trying hard not to lose it in front of his brother. "I told him I loved him and he rejected me… I don't even know what I was expecting… why I was hoping…" he whispered, squeezed his eyes shut, and didn't let go of his brother.
Germany was surprised to hear that. He assumed that Austria and Prussia couldn't exactly hate each other, because despite arguing so much, they still spent a lot of time together voluntarily, but he would never have figured his brother felt that way for the aristocrat.
"So that was why you didn't want to see Austria…" he mumbled, more to himself than to his brother.
"N-no, that was because we slept together… I only confessed today…" Prussia corrected silently and bit his lower lip, closing his eyes in embarrassment. He felt Germany froze at his words and there was a few moments of silence.
Thoughts were rushing through his mind and the strange events of the past days slowly put themselves into place. Why his brother was so disappointed that morning and why he was wearing the clothes from the day before. Why Austria practically begged him to let him stay so he could speak with Prussia… This, maybe he shouldn't have allowed.
"I… I'll be fine though…" the older nation pulled back from the hug eventually and rubbed his eyes. He wasn't crying but he had to put a lot of effort into keeping it that way. "I just need some time to get over it. Guess we won't be bothering you with our fighting for a while" he tried to joke, forcing a smile, but had to look away and bite down on his lower lip hard to hold back the forceful tears.
"If you need anything, bruder… Just tell me, please! I don't know what I could do now…" Germany said softly but helplessly.
"It's okay. I'll tell you if I need your help" Prussia nodded, an honest smile finding its way to his lips at his brother's sweetness. He just couldn't help but be fond of his little brother and it felt good to know that he really could count on him in anything.
Austria was sitting at his piano but he was just looking at the keys. He tried playing but his mind kept abandoning the music and always went back to Prussia and what had happened the day before. He was confused ever since he had spoken to him. His thoughts were a complete mess and he could not focus on anything. He sighed as he once again tried to play something but he hit a wrong key, flinched at the sound and stopped.
"What's troubling you?" he suddenly heard a voice and when he turned around, he saw Hungary standing at the doorway. "I can see that you are not completely yourself…" she said as she walked closer to him. "You have only ever stopped a piece halfway through or made a mistake when there was something bothering you…"
"You know me too well" the man sighed and gave her a weak smile.
"Maybe I can help you?" Hungary offered and put her hand on the other's shoulder.
"That is very nice of you but…" Austria started but stopped for a moment and bit his lower lip. "I do not think it would be appropriate to speak about it to you… as you are my ex-wife."
Hungary smiled at that. So it was love matter that was bugging him so much.
"Oh, come on, don't be ridiculous, Austria! We have had our divorce so long ago! It doesn't matter now" she said shaking her head and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Come, let's go to the living room. We sit down and you tell me everything about who she is and what your problem is."
Austria sighed, shook his head and stood up from the piano, giving in to the woman.
"Alright, let's go then" he nodded, starting to walk out of the room.
Once they were sitting on the couch, Austria was awkwardly staring at his hands that were resting in his lap and didn't know where to start. His own foolishness was what they were about to discuss… And his love. Towards Prussia. And he should speak about to Hungary.
The woman saw his uneasiness and put her hand on his arm gently, giving him a soft smile.
"It is quite alright. You know that you can tell me everything and I'll try my best to help you."
"I know" he smiled back faintly. "It's just… It's not easy to speak about it… Because now I am the one to blame, I was the one who ruined everything" he whispered and fel the weight of all his mistakes.
"I am sure there's a way out of that too… I do think you can make it up to her… whoever she is" Hungary smiled at him encouragingly.
"First of all… It's not a 'she'… More like a 'he'…" Austria mumbled as he looked up at her.
"Oh" Hungary looked back at him and her eyes lit up a bit, although he saw that she tried to hold herself back from showing her enthusiasm. "Then who is he?"
"Ah, well, you know him…" Austria started and looked away from her, starting to play with the hem of his shirt's sleeves and blushed deeply. Just the thought of what he was going to tell her… Oh dear god. "It's… It's Prussia" he said finally and closed his eyes.
There was only silence after his confession and when he dared to look up, he saw Hungary staring at him in a mix of shock, disbelief and amusement. She opened her mouth but closed it without saying a thing and shook her head. She looked away, then back to Austria, a smile finding its way to her features in the meanwhile.
"And when did you plan on telling me this? I just… I feel like I've been blind to not notice it.. But still you should have told me sooner!" Hungary scolded him playfully. "How long have you been together? And what's the trouble now?"
"You… you misunderstand it" Austria started to explain and shook his head, although he was rather surprised at Hungary's reaction. He thought that the woman might be a bit more shocked or something worse… It was quite reassuring to know that she wasn't against it. "We haven't been dating. That… is part of the trouble."
"Oh… What happened then?" Hungary asked, turning completely serious and worry was clearly audible in her voice as she spoke.
"Last time when I was over, we fought as usual" Austria started but paused. He didn't know how to word it appropriately. It was pretty embarrassing to tell her this one part. But Hungary gave his arm a comforting squeeze and he just sighed and went on. "Things… haven't gone as usual… And it was because of me that we ended up spending the night together…" Austria was pretty sure he heard Hungary squeak but when he looked at her, she seemed completely serious. "In the morning though…" he continued. "I woke up first and left quickly before he could notice…"
"You did what?" Hungary looked at him, shock and anger clear on her face. "What were you thinking? And you are the one going about lecturing others about manners! No wonder Prussia is hurt now!" she gave him a scolding glance.
"It's not the end… I went back…" Austria mumbled, but casted his eyes down in shame. He knew that Hungary was right and he really did deserve it.
"Ah, thank god!" Hungary sighed in relief and waited for the Austrian to continue.
"A few days later I…"
"Days? You waited days?" The woman interrupted the other and looked at him strictly. "Austria, you know that I love you, but you are a complete idiot…" she shook her head. She couldn't believe that this was Austria, the kind, shy and calm Austria who always thought through everything before acting.
"I know that I made a mistake. I know and I feel awful. Especially after I spoke to Prussia yesterday" Austria stared again and looked at Hungary. "I didn't even know what I wanted to say. I thought I'd just start and see where I'll end up. I just couldn't predict what would happen, how it would go… But you know him… He wouldn't let me speak. When he confessed to me, I was helpless - I couldn't stutter a word…"
"He confessed? Prussia confessed and you messed up?" she sighed and looked at him sadly. "But how?"
"I don't know, I guess I just got scared…" Austria said, biting on his lower lip, and turned his head towards Hungary. "We have a history that is… not easy, you know that. How could have I known what I should do? It was so sudden, so complicated… Do you think I destroyed everything we had?"
"No, I wouldn't say so… But you certainly didn't make it easy…" Hungary said and rubbed the back of her neck, thinking about the situation. "What you did… Well, it could have been worse, I guess. If you just went there and explained everything to him, I think he would understand…" she suggested. "I mean, he's the nervous type too, even if he wouldn't admit it if his life depended on it."
"I don't know if I could do that… What if he didn't want to listen? Maybe I should give it some time…" Austria mumbled, unsure of the right step.
"No, that's a horrible idea" Hungary said in a definite voice and when Austria looked up surprised, she explained what she meant. "If you let it settle between you, if you let it stay there, it will distance you. You have to act now if you don't want it to ruin you… I think Prussia will forgive you" she smiled at the Austrian and pulled him to a hug.
The man returned it and nodded but didn't say anything. He thought through Hungary's words and found that it was logical… But how was he supposed to be able to go back and speak with Prussia after all this? After he had hurt him so deeply? And Germany… he was already so protective of him the day before… They were so close, he must know everything about what happened. It had occurred to him when Germany hadn't wanted him to talk with Prussia… Austria sighed again as he pulled away from Hungary.
"I'm afraid speaking with him is not going to be easy as Germany guards him as if he were the elder of them… I am positive he won't be happily letting me talk to Prussia…" Austria said as he looked down at his lap once again and guiltily started pulling the end of his sleeves.
"Well, that is possible… But if he knows everything, just tell him what you feel and what you want to tell Prussia. I'm sure you can reason with him" Hungary assured him and gently put her hands over his to stop him from ruining his shirt. "Come on, it'll all be alright! Tomorrow you'll go over, make everything clear and everyone will be happy!" she said as she gave him a warm smile.
"I hope you are right…" Austria sighed but tried to return her smile.