Austria pressed the bell quickly before he could change his mind and flee. He was fidgeting nervously as he waited for the door to open. The only thing he hoped that it won't be Germany who would open the door… He knew he was being naïve though, it was always Germany who let him in, Prussia having never heard the bell as he was almost always "busy" with something.

"Good morning, Austria" the German greeted him politely but coldly as he opened the door but did not step aside as usual to invite him in.

"Good morning to you, too" Austria said and attempted to smile at him but had the feeling he failed miserably. "Germany, I… I'd need to speak to your brother…" he added silently.

"No. He doesn't want to see you" Germany answered instantly, and looked at the Austrian strictly, trying to convince him to leave.

"Look, I… I understand that, but I have to speak with him about… about what happened" Austria tried to reason with Germany, hoping that he could make him understand.

"No, I think you have done enough of that last time" the younger of the two stated. "It would be the best if you left now" he said, not too gently - it was more of a command -, then moved to already close the door.

"No, wait!" Austria protested almost desperately and reached to stop the door. "Please, Germany, I know I made a mistake, I know I hurt him! I know! But you can not believe how utterly sorry I am and how much I have regretted what I said! I behaved horribly and there's no excuse for that, but please, just let me have a chance to explain myself to him!"

"That's all very nice, Austria, but…" Germany started, voice slightly raised in irritation.

"Let him in, West" Prussia's voice interrupted him and as he turned around to look at his brother, Austria could see him standing in the door of the living room. "He's so enthusiastic, I guess we couldn't get rid of him any other way" he laughed weakly and although he spoke to his brother, he was looking at Austria.

"But brother, I…" Germany started, confused.

"It'll be alright" Prussia smiled softly, reassuringly at him. "Please, leave us now, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Germany frowned, concerned about his brother.

"I'm a big boy, West!" Prussia laughed and nodded and while Germany was still worried, he did as he was asked, going out to the garden to leave them alone.

"Come in!" Prussia turned to Austria, his smile already disappeared, and went back to the living room. Austria nodded and silently followed the albino to the room. Prussia stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face the aristocrat, arms crossed in front of his chest. Austria stopped too, leaving a comfortable distance between them.

"So, what was that that you wanted to explain to me so badly? This outburst just now wasn't something ordinary, coming from you" Prussia asked keeping his eyes away from Austria, and his expression was serious, no trace of the smile he'd offered to his brother earlier.

"Well, yes, but… What happened the day before yesterday… I want to apologize for my reaction to your confession. I just… wasn't ready for that, I'd say, and it shocked me quite a bit" Austria started, averting his gaze from Prussia but he still didn't miss as he flinched at his words. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well, apology accepted" Prussia nodded but there was no real forgiveness, no real change in his voice. "If that was all what you wanted…"

"No, no, I'm not finished!" Austria shook his head quickly, causing Prussia to arch his brows in surprise. He knew he was talking quite a bit but he felt that was only fair after what had happened. "Last time I… did not exactly answer you, and you pointed it out to me too. But now that I have thought everything through… I am sorry about that conversation we had but I was so… afraid, you just surprised me and it was too much at once. I needed some time to clear my head…"

"I really hope you are getting somewhere with that…" Prussia mumbled, starting to lose his patience, but tried to keep his strict face.

"I am, yes, I am" Austria hurried to assure him. "I would love to answer you now, if you allowed me" he noticed that Prussia took in a sharp breath at his words but nodded to sign him that he should go on. And so he did, with a shy smile. "I love you too. And I hope, I'm not too late."

Prussia was speechless after that. All those feelings, all those thoughts that had been haunting him for the past few days, this pain he thought he would never erase… and Austria just came here and told him this! He closed his eyes as he tried to stay calm and answer coolly.

"And what do you expect me to say to that?" he asked silently, not opening his eyes, only when there wasn't any answer to that. He saw that Austria had a slightly desperate expression and sighed. "Look, I really don't know what you thought when you came here to tell me this. Two days ago, when I was telling you the same, you just didn't want to answer me and it came off like you just wanted that one night but that's what it is! But now… now you tell me you love me too! Don't you feel the contradiction?" Prussia said and tried really hard not to start shouting, but it was difficult with that much frustration that he felt.

"You just made me face such a serious question! I just… maybe I just got scared!" Austria admitted, trying to defend himself. "It was so… sudden!"

"After we had sex, I don't see how it is sudden!" Prussia cried, and now he was shouting, he just couldn't force himself to stay calm anymore.

"Because I thought it was just a one-night-stand!"

"Well, maybe if you didn't disappear in the morning, there wouldn't have been such a… misunderstanding!" he crossed his arms angrily and looked right at the Austrian. "It doesn't excuse it that you didn't answer me!"

"We were arguing, much like right now! And you just threw this at me! What did you expect? We are not teenagers, Prussia, we can't act in the heat of the moment!" Austria said, his cheeks red from slight anger and embarrassment.

"No, we aren't teenagers anymore, that's right. But it wasn't the heat of the moment! It was days later and it doesn't matter if we were in an argument!" Prussia retorted as he shook his head. "I mean, do we ever do anything else?"

"Do you see? That's exactly why I didn't know what I was supposed to do!" Austria looked at him, suddenly more vehemently. "I had to think that through! To see if what there was… if it was really something that was worth it!"

"If you had to think about it, maybe it isn't worthy after all!" Prussia answered, his voice unexpectedly calm and silent as he averted his gaze from the Austrian. "Just… let's forget it. It'll be for the best…" he sighed and already started turning away to leave the room.

"No, Prussia, wait!" Austria hurried and blocked his way, forcing him to listen to him. "If we both have these feelings and if we both mean it, we shouldn't just 'forget it'! You can not possibly mean it after all these things! Would you honestly be able to go back to the way we were before all at once?" he asked, his voice becoming gentler with every word, and saw Prussia frowning at that, looking away from him.

"Shit, Specs, you really have your way with your words… No wonder all those marriages…" Prussia muttered and didn't look up at Austria but the aristocrat took it as a good sign that he called him in that stupid nickname.

"Well, I do hope I am doing well now, too…" Austria smiled slightly and stepped closer carefully, leaning forward to kiss him gently, putting his hands on Prussia's chest. He was afraid of Prussia rejecting him at first, but his worries disappeared as soon as he felt arms circling around him. After a light, tender kiss, Prussia pulled away and leaned their foreheads together.

"You know… This doesn't mean I'm not mad at you for leaving me alone and so" he whispered, keeping his eyes closed.

"I understand that. But I would love to correct my mistake" Austria smiled and cupped Prussia's face gently with one hand.

"Huh, you better!" the albino smirked, and pressed a quick kiss on Austria's lips. He looked at the Austrian's eyes and they both started to laugh.