Many thanks to Dora-nichov Russian Werewolf, YaoiPhox and KnightTopaz for following and favoriting, you guys are epic!

To all my wonderful reviewers, thank you for reviewing!

To the previously mentioned Dora-nichov Russian Werewolf, thank you for reviewing and…er…thank you? I'm not sure what a Balkan story is but thanks anyway!

ZanyAnimeGirl, I think recent events have proven that Dimitri can't run fast enough to escape Magda.

DeathbladeMeister, okay, okay my Prussia-awesome friend, I am writing. And don't think I didn't recognize you from that chapter of Austria's Musical.

AnimeLover in heaven, no, she is not that stupid. And yeah, I'm thinking two more chapters after this one, that way it'll be the same length as MLL but I dunno if I'll be able to wrap it up in 2 more after this one.

Karebear16, yeah, she is a good actor.

KnightTopaz, I like that scenario, I like it very much.

Enjoy and leave me a review guys, I own nothing!

Chapter 12: The Princess

Dimitri gave a very girly and high-pitched scream, "Magda! What on Earth are you doing here?" He squealed. Instantly he flushed crimson.

He had nearly been caught out a few times in the past because his voice went back to it's normal pitch when he got emotional in any way, and that included surprised. So Dimitri had concentrated and concentrated on it until he responded in a girly voice instinctively. Unfortunately for cases like this, instinctively meant instinctively. As in all the time.

Dimitri blushed and cleared his throat, making his voice go back to its regular pitch; unfortunately he couldn't do the same for his heart rate which had shot through the roof.

"Magda, what the fuck?" He hissed, clenching his teeth so hard he thought his elongated fang might snap clean off.

Magda glared right back, "I should be asking you the same thing, run away much?"

Dimitri turned scarlet again but refused to feel bad in any way for running away, "it's called self-preservation sweetheart," he snapped sarcastically, "and since I have some of it I knew I had to get the hell away from you."

Magda was the only person who Dimitri would ever dream of being this rude and hostile to, except for maybe Elizabeta, and Dimitri knew which one of the two women he preferred; it wasn't the one standing in front of him.

"So what, you're hooking up with Nickolas by pretending to be a girl?" Magda demanded, "great plan."

"It was, until you showed up. And I'm not 'hooking up' with anyone," said Dimitri, annoyed by her assumptions.

"Does he know?" Magda asked bluntly, this conversation was a little weird for Dimitri, he was expecting screams of rage and "how could you leave me?!" Not anything close to resembling a proper conversation.

"Of course he knows," said Dimitri. He normally hated lying but he'd been doing it a lot lately and was kind of used to it, there was no way he was letting Magda hold the fact that he hadn't told Nickolas over his head, no way in Hell.

Bullshit he knows, thought Magda but she just pouted, "fine, just so long as he does." Then she turned and flounced out of the room without another word.

Dimitri stared after her, what the crap just happened? He wondered dumbly, he'd been so sure that that conversation would be the end of his world, that Magda's shouting about how he, her male, Romanian Prince, fiancé left her would bring the house down upon them. And worse, that Nickolas would hear.

He shook himself and walked out the door, he needed to find Nickolas and tell him, now. Dimitri didn't know how the older male would take the news, especially this suddenly, but he knew it would be a whole lot better coming from him than it would coming from Magda.

He reached the door he had been told was Nickolas's and knocked, heart still hammering.

The door opened a crack and Dimitri saw Nickolas's brown eye through the gap, without saying a word Nickolas walked back into his room, letting the door swing open.

Hesitantly Dimitri entered, he saw Nickolas sitting on the side of his bed, he was slumped over, elbows on his thighs, head down, lost in thought.

Cautiously Dimitri moved forwards and sat on the edge of the bed beside the Bulgarian Prince. Nickolas's dark eyes flicked to him from under his bangs and the older of the two blinked languidly.

"Sorry about all this," Nickolas muttered, "I just…sorry. I'm sorry I got you into this."

Forgetting his own issues in the face of the other Prince's sorrow Dimitri bumped Nickolas's shoulder with his own, "hey, what's wrong? Things aren't going that bad!"

Actually to Dimitri things couldn't get much worse but 'Mina' wasn't supposed to have a female fiancée might end up revealing her secret and having her dragged back to her royal family.

"My parents are just trying to make me marry Magda to get back at me for leaving. This has nothing to do with you but," he gripped his fringe in his slender hands, "I'm scared they, my mother, might try to hurt you just to get to me."

"Huh?" Asked Dimitri, sure Nickolas's mother hadn't appeared to be the greatest mother in the world but he'd seen no signs that she would actually try to have him harmed.

Even my mother wouldn't go that far, thought Dimitri, troubled.

Nickolas freed his hair from one of his hands and, reaching over, seized one of Dimitri's hands between his own, Nickolas's hand was shaking.

"I know," he said haltingly, "I know it sounds stupid. It is stupid, it's stupid and dramatic but God," he squeezed Dimitri's hand so tightly the blond thought his bones were going to crack.

"You don't know her like I know her," he said brown eyes blazing. Dimitri hadn't even known brown eyes could blaze.

Dimitri said nothing, prompting Nickolas to keep talking, "all my life she's given me almost anything I wanted, so long as I did what she told me to. The second I stepped out of line," his hand tightened over Dimitri's, "then whatever it was I cared about most got...taken away."

His mouth tightened, "but I'm not a child any more, toys and petty things aren't what's important to me right now."

Dimitri swore he heard the bones in his hand begin to creak; Krasimira must've said something that really upset Nickolas.

"Nickolas," he said firmly, "I'm not going anywhere."

Nickolas gave a hollow laugh, "that's sort of the point Mina; you don't exactly get a choice. You 'going somewhere' is the least of my fears in this case."

Dimitri opened his mouth to say something but Nickolas turned to him and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, burying his face in the crook of Dimitri's neck.

"Sorry," he muttered again, "I'd almost forgotten...how much I hate this place. Do you mind?" He asked softly, "I'd...just like...to stay like this." His eyelids began to flutter shut.

"Huh?" Dimitri's heart began to race. "But I have to tell you..." He trailed off, Nickolas was already asleep.

Dimitri leaned backwards until his back hit the bed, Nickolas; wrapped around him, fell backwards against the blankets too.

Dimitri twisted the arm closest to Nickolas up towards him until it touched the Bulgarian's soft brown hair, Nickolas didn't even stir.

Unable to turn in any way due to Nickolas's hold on him he reached his other arm across his body and gripped the fabric of Nickolas's shirt gently in his hands. Dimitri wasn't sure when Nickolas had become so important to him, there hadn't been a particular moment, it had crept up on him and taken him unawares. And now Nickolas was someone important to him. Someone he couldn't bare to lose.

Someone he loved.

It had been such a long day Dimitri felt his own eyelids begin to drift shut. He wasn't going to wake Nickolas up to tell him the momentous news now, not when the other male was obviously so exhausted and in need of comfort.

Dimitri held Nickolas closer, I'll tell him in the morning, was his last comforting thought before he joined Nickolas in the best nights sleep he'd had in a long time.

When Dimitri awoke the next morning he was alone, he sat up groggily and looked around, rubbing his eyes.

Just then Nickolas walked back into the room carrying a plate full of food, he looked much better, the dark circles were gone from underneath his eyes and he actually smiled at 'Mina' when he saw that 'she' was awake.

"Oh good, you're up," he said with a slight smile that actually reached his eyes, it was amazing what a good nights sleep could do for a person.

Dimitri, remembering what he had to tell Nickolas did not smile back. His heart began to hammer furiously and some of his fear must've shown on his face.

Nickolas set the tray down, "listen, about last night..." he hesitated, he wanted to tell Mina that while he might've seemed a bit overly dramatic she really did need to be careful around his mother but at the same time he wanted to apologize for scaring her, the poor thing looked absolutely terrified.

"Uh," Dimitri cleared his throat, "actually Nickolas last night was fine, don't worry about it, I understand, I really do. But," he took a deep, shaky breath, this was it, "I have something to tell you."

Nickolas looked curious, was this thing she had to tell him possibly the huge secret that he'd been dying to find out?

"Sure, after all the crazy I've pulled you into over the last few days I don't think anything you can say will equal what I've said and done.

Dimitri gave a trembling laugh, "actually Nickolas my crazy is worse."

"Oh?" The Bulgarian Prince raised an eyebrow and sat down on the bed beside Dimitri, "okay, let's hear it then."

"Uh," said Dimitri again, this was hard, where did he start? "W-well, I."

Nickolas placed his hand gently over the Romanian Prince's and squeezed lightly and reassuringly, "Mina, no matter what you have to say you aren't going to upset me or make me mad. And you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Dimitri laughed hollowly, "Actually Nickolas I do have to tell you. I should've told you the moment I found out who you really were, and I definitely should've told you last night. And as for getting mad, upset or hating me," his hand trembled under Nickolas's, "you can't promise that."

Nickolas wanted to argue and say that yes he damn well could, he was in control of his own emotions but something made him keep silent. Maybe it was Mina's comment about telling him the 'moment she found out who he really was.' What on Earth did this have to do with him being the crown Prince of Bulgaria?

Nickolas said nothing; Dimitri continued anyway, "look, for as long as I've known you I've known that you had a huge secret. I assume you felt the same thing about me?"

Nickolas nodded, "I've always known you were hiding something. I just never knew what."

Dimitri nodded, "well you were right. I always have been hiding something. I'm sorry and before I tell you anything just let me say that I never wanted to lie to you or anyone else. But I had to. I really did."

Nickolas nodded slowly, Mina sounded like she was begging him to believe her, and he did. He knew she was a good person and didn't like to lie if she could avoid it. But he had a bad feeling about this.

"Do you remember…the Romanian Prince who ran away shortly after you did?" Asked Dimitri, breathing deeply to avoid panicking. He felt like he was going to throw up. Oh my God he's going to hate me, he thought. But there was no backing out now.

Nickolas thought about it for a second and then nodded, "yeah, he was Magda's fiancé, Dimitri or something wasn't it? What's he got to do with this?"

Dimitri hung his head, keeping his eyes downcast, away from Nickolas's. He swallowed, his throat wasn't working very well, deciding to just get it over with he said simply, in his own voice, two small words.

"I'm him."

Nickolas opened his mouth, he was about to say something like 'very funny Mina but in case you haven't noticed Prince Dimitri is a guy.'

Then he stopped as his companion raised tortured red eyes and those eyes met his own. Suddenly it all came crashing down on Nickolas.

The hesitation when he'd asked 'Mina' where 'she' was from, 'she'd' hesitated almost as long as he had… Because 'Mina' wasn't from Cluj-Napoca, 'she' was from Bucharest.

'Her' voice's sudden switch into a deeper pitch when 'she' thought no one was listening or when she was caught off guard in some way.

'Her' absolute hatred of and concern of being intimately touched, even in a simple hug.

Roderich and even Elizabeta's uncharacteristic overprotective attitude.

'Mina' being absolutely okay and understanding with finding out Nickolas had a huge secret he was keeping from 'her' and that he was royalty.

'Her' horror at seeing Magda.

He remembered the description of Prince Dimitri he had read about when he'd read that the younger Prince had gone missing.

'5'6.5, nineteen, chin length blond hair and unusual red eyes.'

And Nickolas had thought, huh that sounds a lot like Mina. But they hadn't mentioned any overly long canine teeth, which he assumed would be a distinguishing feature you would mention in a description of someone so Nickolas just shrugged and assumed red-eyed blondes weren't that uncommon in Romania. Besides, even if Prince Dimitri did have an overly long vampire-like canine tooth he couldn't be connected to Mina in any way. Boy-girl twins could not be identical and Dimitri couldn't be Mina.

Because Mina was a girl.

"Are you freaking kidding me?!" The words burst from Nickolas before he could stop them. Looking at this from a third-person perspective, Nickolas wasn't entirely sure why he was so angry about this.

But he wasn't looking at this from a third-person perspective, he was looking at this from the perspective of the distrusting Bulgarian boy who had been hurt over and over again and finally allowed this 'girl' into his heart only to find out that 'she' wasn't who 'she' said she was.

Just like everyone else in his life.

He was looking at this from the perspective of the young man who had just found out the girl he had thought he was falling in love with was actually a guy. The Prince of the country that neighboured his to be exact, the boy whose fiancée Nickolas's parents wanted him to marry.

Well shit.

I so hoped you were different. I so hoped I could believe in you, that I could trust the things you said. He thought with a sigh, this just went to show he'd been right all along, he couldn't trust anyone. The first person he had truly begun to care about in a romantic fashion was someone else entirely and the man he had thought was his best friend…

Nickolas's mouth tightened, he understood why Roderich hadn't told him, he really did. But how could the Austrian who Nickolas called his best friend sit there and watch him fall in love with 'Mina' knowing full well who 'she' was and do nothing to even warn him that falling in love with 'Mina' was the most crapsack idea he'd ever had in his life!

Nickolas wasn't aware he'd done it but he twitched slightly, the first movement he'd made since his outburst, Dimitri, who'd been to frightened to answer him leaned across the gap between them and grabbed one of Nickolas's hands in a vice-tight grip.

"Nickolas listen to me, my name and my gender might have been a lie," okay, considerably more than that had been a lie but Dimitri ploughed on regardless. "But nothing important was, nothing that meant anything. I'm still just a nineteen year old kid who wants to stay in America and finish University there because I don't want to go back home, you of all people have to understand that. Gilbert, Antonio, Francis, Vash, Lovino, Toris, Feliks and, yeah, even Elizabeta are all still the greatest friends I could ever have asked for, Roderich is still my best friend in the whole world and you…I still…I…" He trailed off, I love you. Dimitri's lips could form the words but for some reason he couldn't make his throat produce the noise necessary to say them out loud. And Nickolas wasn't looking at him anyway; he couldn't see the words Dimitri was trying to say.

Abruptly Nickolas laughed mockingly and flung Dimitri's hand off of his, "how am I supposed to believe that? How am I supposed to believe any of that?! Jesus Christ Dimitri, you have a fucking fiancée."

"I didn't ask for her any more than you did," the other Prince said quietly. "I'm gay Nickolas, I'm completely gay. And my parents would have…currently do…hate me for it more than you're parents hate you for being bi and running away combined. They hate me Nickolas but if they knew where I was they'd drag me back there and make me marry her anyway. She seemed alright at dinner but I know Magda Funar. She. Is. Evil. If it weren't for Roderich I'd still be stuck inside that place, a prisoner in my own home dying inside every day just like I was before! But instead Roderich helped me get to America! I met you and the others and it, you, are the most amazing and wonderful thing that has ever happened to me, that hasn't changed. I'm running from as much as you are, almost exactly what you are but I'm not brave like you are, I can't go back and face my parents. I had to stay hidden. Nickolas," Dimitri took a deep breath, "my name and gender might be different, my past might be different, but I am still the same person you always knew I still love you-"

Dimitri was finally able to get the words out but was cut off when Nickolas suddenly leaned forwards and crushed their lips together.

Dimitri's eyes widened and Nickolas used the opportunity to deepen the kiss, sliding one hand into the blond Prince's hair and resting the other on the small of his back, pulling him closer.

After a second Nickolas let go and Dimitri almost fell backwards, he was stopped from doing so when Nickolas took Dimitri's face in both of his hands and rested their foreheads together, the brunet Prince's dark eyes were tortured.

"I don't care," he whispered quietly, "I still love you, I can't help it."

Dimitri gaped like a fish as Nickolas swiftly and wordlessly got up and left the room, snagging his mobile phone on his way out and shutting the door softly behind him.

Dimitri stared wordlessly at the door before slumping forwards into the same position he had found Nickolas in the night before, elbows digging into his thighs, head in his hands, fingers gripping his hair.

"Well fuck."

Outside in the hall Nickolas called Roderich the moment he put some distance between himself and Min-Dimitri, he exited the house and made his way into the dark back garden as he waited for his violet-eyed friend to pick up.

Nickolas stopped behind a large tree as the phone clicked and a worried sounding Roderich picked up "Nickolas?"

All anger vanished from the Bulgarian Prince's body, leaving him drained, "Roderich I…" That was all he got out before he, the usually stoic Prince Nickolas Raev began to cry.

Wow. That was really long! That makes up for me being late again, right? I would rather take a few extra days to make sure these chapters are worth reading than rush them to get them up on time and have them be crap.

I had so many things to say but now I've forgotten them. Oh well. Leave a review guys, hope you enjoyed.

See ya next week!