Sorry I'm late guys, I was at a friend's house.

Thank you to peterpennykirkland, 0-0whut0-0 and Silvinukas for following and ShowMeTheStarsIn221B and PurpleMousefurGomez for favoriting, you guys all rock!

Thanks to all of my beloved reviewers for reviewing, you guys rock too!

To DeathbladeMeister, okay, I'll write the other RoBul fic when this one ends, promise. And yes, it is a bit of a coincidence they didn't know of each other, isn't it? It's revealed in this chapter why Dimitri never suspected Nickolas. Nickolas never suspected Dimitri, why would he, Dimitri's a girl ;) And just because they didn't know each other doesn't mean there are no overlaps in their lives ;)

Oh dear, I think I've said too much again! :)

To PChesh, no, I wont write the other idea until this fic is finished so it wont interfere and it will probably have some humour, I seem to be incapable of writing completely serious fics. Glad you liked this chapter. And yes, it is very obvious which user you are.

LostUmbreon, woah! Calm down, we're all friends here, and no, the butler dude doesn't think that at all. You're about to find out why…

…Said too much again.

AnimeLover in Heaven; Yeah, unfortunately this isn't a Disney (what does this look like, Austria's Musical?) but I'm sure everything will work out, eventually.

ZanyAnimeGirl; yay for royal couples :)

ShowMeTheStarsIn221B; yay! You liked the plot twist, I was worried everyone was going to be sitting there rolling their eyes and going 'seriously?' As for the other fic, I'm thinking that Romania will be Vlad's illegitimate son who was raised alongside his other kids but no one outside the castle knows who he is.

Gilbird the Awesome: I'm happy you like the idea, I've heard of the author you mentioned but I can't say I've ever read the series or knew what it was really about. I bought my best friend the first book for her birthday a year ago but she's never mentioned it, was it any good?

Karebear16; another who likes the idea! I will definitely write it! And yeah, Dimitri's face…*laughs*

To BananaManiaBubblegum, yeah, glad you liked it and I'm perfectly aware that Bulgaria is a republic and does not actually have a ruling family. Remember what I said about Romania at the end of Chapter 1? That it does not have a royal family but this is slightly AU etc? Apply that to Bulgaria. Remember how I said 'modern AU' in the summary? This is why.

R & R guys, I own nothing, enjoy!

And for anyone who's interested in The Problem with attaining Fame, I'm going to update it once more in a couple of hours, or at least some time tomorrow, because it's been so long! After today it will now be updated every Thursday now that My Love Lies is finished, yay!

Anyway enjoy!

Too long author's note AHHH *dies*

Chapter 11: The Problem

To say Dimitri was angry would be a massive understatement. That lying manipulative trust-killing, back-stabbing bastard, he seethed quietly, bare feet padding back and forth as he waited for the object of his ire to pick up the damn phone already!

No, Dimitri was not angry at Nickolas, why would he be? Nickolas's secret wasn't any worse than his, actually Dimitri's secret was worse; at least Nickolas wasn't pretending to be a girl.

No, it wasn't Nickolas he was angry at.

"Hallo?" Said a voice on the other end of the line.

"Bout damn time, you are in trouble!" Dimitri snapped, "listen here asshole, while I understand you keeping Nickolas's secret, the next time I ask a direct question I would appreciate it if you found another answer than lying to my face if its not to much trouble!" He yelled, "I thought we were friends!"

There was silence on the other end of the line for a while and then, "I take it you'd like me to put Roderich on the phone?" Vash said after a while.

Dimitri's cheeks turned the colour of his ruby coat, "Vash!? Why are you answering Roderich's phone?" He demanded, he knew he hadn't called the wrong person; he didn't even have Vash's number.

Vash shrugged even though he knew the other blond couldn't see him, "Roderich is busy, I'm just watching his phone, he's expecting a call, not you, someone else. I'm glad I agreed to this, I get to talk to all sorts of interesting people," he said drily and Dimitri's blush deepened even further.

"Could you please just put Roderich on," Dimitri begged.

Vash rolled his green eyes, "fine."

There was a shuffling sound and the murmur of a quick conversation in German and then another questioning 'Hallo?' This time it was definitely Roderich.

Dimitri didn't even say anything, he just waited.

Roderich correctly interpreted his friend's silence and sighed, shutting his violet eyes, "so you know?"

His bland tone annoyed Dimitri even further, "why Roderich? We're friends aren't we?" He demanded.

Roderich shrugged, "Dimitri we are the best of friends, but I had to lie to you, how would you like it if I told Nickolas your secret?" He asked.

Dimitri growled, "I understand you had to keep things from me, you didn't have to lie to me," his voice cracked slightly, "God, I thought you were the only person I could fully trust."

Roderich winced, he understood that it wasn't the lie that was bothering the blond, it was the fact that it was him who had done the lying.

Both Nickolas and Dimitri had known that the other person was hiding a huge secret, it wasn't hard to figure out, what with Dimitri's secretive lifestyle and Nickolas not even being able to return to his apartment. And they both knew Roderich knew both secrets, he was the best friend of both, again, not exactly rocket science.

Since neither of them wanted to invade the other person's privacy neither had asked each other or Roderich about said secrets, trusting they'd find out in time, but Dimitri had gotten suspicious, once.

"Hey Roderich?" He'd asked, "this might seem like a weird thing to say but…" he hesitated and rubbed the back of his neck, "I dunno, I heard something about Bulgaria's runaway Prince, a nineteen year old guy named Nickolas." It was actually what had given Dimitri his own idea to run away in the first place. "And I was wondering, I know it sound stupid but…Is my nineteen year old runaway roommate that Nickolas?"

Roderich hesitated for a split second, he didn't want to lie to Dimitri, the Romanian Prince had enough trust issues as it was, but what was he supposed to say? He couldn't confirm the blond's suspicions, this was Nickolas's secret to tell, not his, and if he said 'ask Nickolas about it' it would be obvious he was trying to avoid saying 'yes.'

So Roderich looked Dimitri in the eye and did the only thing he could think to do, he lied.

"No," he said, "it's not him."

And Dimitri had believed him beyond a shadow of a doubt, because he knew that Roderich would never lie to him.

"I'm sorry," the Austrian male apologized, one of the few genuine apologies he'd ever given in his life, "but I couldn't tell you the truth."

"I'm not asking you to tell me the truth; I'm just asking you not to lie to me!" Dimitri yelled.

"Well what would you have done if our positions were switched?" asked Roderich, sighing exasperatedly.

That shut Dimitri up, because the truth was he would've said, "talk to Nickolas about it," and Roderich was exactly right, that did sound like he was trying to avoid saying 'yes.'

Now it was Dimitri's turn to sigh, "just please don't do that again," he said.

"I won't," Roderich promised, hoping that promise wouldn't become a lie itself.

Dimitri heard footsteps coming down the hall, "got to go, talk to you later," he said.

"Alright, goodbye," replied Roderich and the two hung up. Just then there was a knock on the door, putting on his girl persona Dimitri bounced over to the door and threw it wide.

"Nickolas," his smile faltered ever so slightly before he pulled it back into place, "hi, what are you doing here?" I was just talking about you… no way he was saying that.

"Uh," the Bulgarian Prince averted eye contact and rubbed the back of his head with his free hand, blushing slightly, though they'd spent the whole day, last night and most of yesterday in the same house they hadn't seen much of each other since they'd entered the house belonging to the Bulgarian royal family.

Nickolas had been whisked off to speak with his not-too-pleased parents while Dimitri had been shown to his room and then left to wander the huge house as he pleased, all of his meals had been delivered to his room by a charming blonde servant girl who reminded him a little of Anna and he'd spent the majority of the day periodically calling Roderich until the brunet had finally answered.

Since he hadn't seen her since yesterday Nickolas had no idea how Mina had taken his little reveal, or the comment he had thrown in before it 'I really like you.' But whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't this. Mina didn't look like it bothered her at all, she was completely calm and at ease, that or she was a really good actress. Ah, if only Nickolas knew…

"What's up Nicky?" Asked Mina, prompting his return to reality, he shook himself.

"Dinner is almost ready, we're all eating together tonight, I was hoping you'd join me, my mother invited a couple of family friends and some boring old politicians to 'celebrate' my 'return.' I really want you to be there, and my parents really want to meet you." Nickolas said that last part reluctantly, as though it was being forced out of him.

His dark eyes regarded the blond uncertainly, "so will you please come with me? I understand if you don't want to though," he added quickly, "this might all be a little weird for you. Or a lot weird for you. And it's mostly going to be talks about politics all night so if you want to stay here there'll be a meal delivered to your room and you can do whatever you want so you don't have to come or anything," he said hastily, tripping over his words slightly, it was freakin adorable in Dimitri's opinion. He smiled and wrapped his hands around Nickolas's arm.

"If you're going, I'm going," he said simply. Nickolas's heart warmed.

"Okay, let's go."

"So this is Nickolas's friend?" A tall woman with hazel eyes and her son's dark hair swept towards Dimitri and took his chin in a long-nailed hand and tilted it upwards, staring into Dimitri's unusual eyes, "how…cute." Somehow Dimitri didn't think that was meant as a compliment.

"Mother let her go please," Nickolas said steadily, a solid presence by Dimitri's side.

Dimitri almost snorted, if he thinks she's bad he should meet my mother, or worse, Magda, then he'd learn something about overbearing and bitchy. But he didn't snort because snorting wasn't ladylike.

A hand fell on Dimitri's mother's shoulder "oh leave the girl alone Krasimira, she's not a bad catch." A slightly smaller man with reddish-brown hair and his son's dark eyes came up behind his wife, smiling at Dimitri and his son.

"If getting a girl like this one is what he was doing then," he shrugged, "there are worse reasons for a teenage boy to run away." He reached out and ruffled first Nickolas's brown hair and then Dimitri's blond.

Nickolas looked horrified, absolutely I-want-the-ground-to-open-and-swallow-me-up mortified but through a supreme effort and sheer force of will he pulled himself together and spoke steadily.

"Mother, father, this is Wihelmina, my roommate and…good friend," Was it just Dimitri or did Nickolas's voice hesitate on those last two words? "Mina this is my mother, Queen Krasimira my and father, King Sergei," he indicated first the woman, then the man before glaring at his father, "and I am not a teenager, I turned twenty last month in case you forgot."

What? He didn't tell me his birthday was last month. Asshole! Dimitri didn't say anything to Nickolas out loud but curtsied slightly to his mother and father, "a pleasure to meet you your Majesties."

Nickolas's father laughed and shook Dimitri's hand enthusiastically, "just call me Uncle, pleasure to meet you sweetie, how long have you known Nickolas?"

Nickolas and Dimitri glanced at each other, they hadn't exactly been keeping track.

"A few months?" Dimitri tried, luckily his parents seemed to accept that.

Sergei swept a hand forwards, placing the other on the small of his son's back, "come on in, we're just about to start dinner," he led them down the hall towards the dining hall, his wife beside him.

"Well you're parents don't seem that bad," whispered Dimitri to Nickolas as they followed the elder couple.

"Stay away from my mother, she's a mean, vicious harpy," said Nickolas flatly, though he did keep his voice low. "And yeah, my father's great, if you're straight. The reason he was so bloody happy to see you and me is because I ran away after telling them I was bi and returned with a girl. He thinks I've come crawling back," his fists clenched slightly. "And they're not so bad now but it's still early, we haven't even sat down."

Dimitri nodded, "that's true. And I guess your father's like mine." Dimitri's father wasn't great, he had never been great, but he was a damn sight nicer to people that he believed to be straight than people he knew weren't, people like Nickolas, people like his own son.

Nickolas glanced at Dimitri, "you know, I've never even heard you mention your parents before, what are they like?"

Dimitri thought about the mother who had probably forgotten she'd ever had a son and the father who would no longer love him now that he knew about his sexuality.

"…my parents could have been worse," he said truthfully after a while and the four of them entered the dining room.

Well this isn't so bad, thought Dimitri, grinning. He was seated between Nickolas and the wife of a politician who said her name was Silviya Isaev and looked kind of familiar, though Dimitri couldn't place her.

Silviya, who was apparently Nickolas's Godmother, wasn't so bad, she was a friend of Krasimira's from when they were little girls and had met her second husband, her current one, through her best friend and her husband.

Dimitri wasn't sure how a woman who seemed so nice could be friends with Nickolas's mother but hey, he wasn't sure how a guy like Roderich could be friends with a girl like Elizabeta either.

When Silviya heard that 'Mina' was from Romania she perked up, "really?" She said, "I used to live in Romania, for almost twenty years, but when my ex-husband and I got divorced I moved back to Bulgaria and met Toma, now my ex lives in Bucharest with my daughter, she'd be about your age, but I haven't seen her in over ten years."

The woman sighed and brushed back a strand of her wheat-coloured hair, then perked up again, "but she's moving to Bulgaria now, her plane should be getting here in a few hours, I have to go pick her up from the airport after dinner."

"That's nice," said Dimitri sincerely, Silviya talked so fast that the Romanian Prince, who's Bulgarian was still a little sketchy, was having a difficult time keeping up. But he was happy for her, a part of him still wished he could have a close relationship with his mother.

"Apparently Kras wants her to marry Nickolas," Silviya said proudly.

"What?!" Demanded Dimitri.

Nickolas chocked on his wine, "what!?" He echoed, apparently this was news to him too.

It'd better be or I'm going to beat him senseless, hypocritical or not, thought Dimitri.

Silviya patted Dimitri's hand, "don't worry dear, now that you're here I'm certain she'll give up on that idea."

"I'm not so sure," muttered Nickolas into his wine glass. Dimitri hoped Silviya was right and Nickolas was wrong, he so didn't need any more complications right now, neither of them did.

"And Mina is not my girlfriend," added loudly, blushing a deep red.

Silviya just raised an eyebrow and gave Nickolas a smirk that said you can't fool me kiddo, "of course she isn't hon," she said soothingly, winking at Dimitri who disguised his laughter as a cough.

Just then the butler, whose name Dimitri thought was Steve, escorted another person into the room, "oh dear, am I late?" A horribly familiar voice asked. Dimitri froze his fork halfway to his mouth.

Oh God please no…

"Oh honey, you're here, I wasn't expecting your plane to get in for a few more hours yet!" Silviya said, rising to greet her daughter.

Dimitri's head jerked up and his eyes locked with Magda Funar's, both sets of eyes widened.

"Oh my God!" Magda rushed across the room, Dimitri's heart stopped beating.

This is it, it's all over, he inwardly braced himself for the inevitable explosion.

"You are so cute!" Magda squealed, cupping Dimitri's face in her hands and smooshing his cheeks together, "you look just like my ex-fiancé, it's so weird! What's your name?!"

"M-Mina," Dimitri stammered, not having a hard time keeping his voice high-pitched at all, he was practically having a heart attack on the spot.

"Wow, you look just like Dimitri, Mina. It's so nice to meet you, you're so unbelievably cute!" Magda squealed, and then Nickolas pulled her off of Dimitri, frowning in concern at 'Mina' who looked like she had seen a ghost. Then again, she had just been assaulted, he supposed.

"Sorry, I don't know any Dimitri's," said the blond Prince, not daring to believe his luck; did she really not think it was him?

Magda turned to the brunet who had pulled her away from her ex-fiancé and pulled him into a hug, "Nicky! It's so good to see you, I haven't seen you since you were about this high," Magda held her hand at about mid-thigh to indicate the height Nickolas was when she'd last seen him.

Despite the danger of his situation Dimitri couldn't help but scowl slightly, he was the only one who got to call Nickolas that thank-you-very-much!

Nickolas gave Magda a slight one-armed hug and pulled away, "right back at you Magda, it's been a while," he said, composed as ever, a direct contrast to the energetic female and Dimitri whose hands were still shaking in fear.

"Did you hear? Your mother wants us to get married, won't that be fun?" Asked Magda.

"Sorry, my heart belongs to someone else," said Nickolas, blushing ever so slightly and deliberately avoiding looking at Dimitri.

To his surprise, Magda looked solemn and placed a hand on her chest, "yeah, me too. My heart still belongs to my ex-fiancé, even though he left me."

Her eyes were serious and for the first time since he'd left, Dimitri actually felt a twinge of guilt. He quickly brushed the feeling away, the Magda he knew didn't have a heart to belong to anyone.

Magda said hello to her own Godparents, Nickolas's mother and father, and sat by her own mother, she didn't speak to Dimitri or Nickolas any further, for which the blond was eternally grateful.

He decided this was it, even though Magda hadn't recognized him –she obviously couldn't care about him that much- that had been way too close, he had to tell Nickolas his secret before someone else did, that was the worst way for Nickolas to find out. Dimitri was going to tell him and get it over with. But first he was so calling Roderich.

When the dinner group broke up Dimitri walked slowly back to the rooms he had been given alone, dreading telling Nickolas, reached his room and shut the door quietly behind him.

Then Magda Funar gave him a second heart-attack in the same night.

"Dimitri!" She snapped, stepping out of the shadows of the blond's room where she had been lying in wait for him, "what are you doing here?!"

End the chapter on at a non-critical point? Where's the fun in that? CALM DOWN, WE'RE ALL FRIENDS HERE! DON'T SHOOT! *hides*

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to write the next chapter of The Problem with attaining Fame, Austria's Musical, If I Die Young and maybe even What makes a Family, please excuse me.

…whose bright idea was it to write so many fics at once?

Oh yeah; mine. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed, leave me a review.

See you next week!

P.S: I feel obligated to warn you, this fic only has a maximum of four more chapters to go until it's the end, we're nearly there! *Sniff*