So I'm still at the cottage as I start this chapter… it's only Monday and I'm here until Friday XD

I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia.

...

When Ivan walked into Madeline's room a few days after their little "adventure", he did not expect someone else to be there with her… at least, not someone who wasn't a doctor or nurse. But there he was, a short little man wearing a green vest to match his emerald green eyes, and above those eyes some very bushy… almost caterpillar-sized eyebrows that matched his spiky blond hair. This stranger stood above Madeline as she sat at her desk reading a book. His expression was firm, and even if he looked pretty young… the way he dressed and stood made him look like he had the personality of a fifty year old woman.

The Russian knocked lightly at the door. Both Madeline and the stranger turned. Madeline smiled at him as always, but the man nearly jumped back ten feet.

"Hi, Ivan." The small Canadian girl waved. He waved back, but his gaze was still at Mr. Eyebrows. Madeline noticed this and giggled.

"This is Mr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland. You know about him, right?" she asked. It was Ivan's turn to jump. THIS was Dr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland's husband? That just didn't make sense inside his head… maybe he was expecting someone more… manly? Tall? Handsome? Bad-ass? This man just wasn't her type… or at least didn't seem her type… but hey, love works in strange ways.

"He's tutoring me right now." Madeline explained. "He comes at least once or twice a week during his spare time and teaches me a bunch of things, and he also gives me homework and books. Usually he's here while you're at school… but he's staying late today."

Ivan nodded as the man looked him over top to bottom with a sceptical eye. "So… is this that… Ivan lad you were talking about?" he asked in a very heavy British accent. Another odd thing, considering the British and the French never really got along as far as Ivan knew… and yet this man was still apparently married to Dr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland.

"Da, Ivan Braginski." He introduced. The Brit scowled.

"You look like you could break Madeline like a twig just by touching her." He mumbled sceptically. Ivan held back on his anger and merely smiled.

"Kolkolkol."

"AWSOME IS HERE AGAIN!" Ivan flinched. Oh, great…

The "Bad Touch Trio" entered and really, Ivan just wanted to leave at this point. All that needed to happen was to add Alfred and his head would explode from the amount of annoying pests in the room.

"Francis, I do not approve of this boy." The British man announced.

"Oh Arthur, mon cher, he is just a boy. What harm could he possibly do?" Francis sighed to her husband.

"Your hubby's got a point, Franny!" Gilbert growled, "The guy's dangerous!"

"I agree." Arthur nodded. "Having two people of the opposite sex in a room alone at this age just isn't safe! I just may have to ask Uni to come here and spy on them." Arthur pouted.

"You mean your pet unicorn, Arthur? And just what good will that do?" Francis frowned.

"Well fine! I guess Tinker Bell will take care of it if you don't have any faith in Uni!"

"Arthur, fairies aren't real…"

"Stupid frog, of course they are!"

"Arthur, really. You are too stressed, mon lapin… it is causing you to see illusions and think you are Harry Potter…"

"I do not think that!"

"Oui, I think you do."

"Just because I happen to know magic Francis…"

"You do not know magic, cher. You whisper curses to people you don't like, and you scare the neighbours away."

"And it works!"

"Non, it doesn't."

"Guys, s-stop fighting please!" Madeline insisted. The couple huffed and turned away their heads from each other. Madeline sighed and walked over to Arthur.

"Thank you for worrying about me, but Ivan is harmless, I promise." She insisted. The Englishman's expression lightened.

"Very well then Madeline, just be careful. I won't try to interrupt… for now. Just remember… you're a pure little girl and you're staying a pure little girl." His gaze met Ivan's fiercely.

"Phht, always giving in to women, Arthur!" Gilbert rolled his eyes. The man turned to the albino with his rough eyebrows pulled down into another scowl, mouth flipping into a frown. The red-eyed doctor smirked at the action and took Antonio by the arm, pulling him out of the white room.

"I guess I'm going to have to think of my own awesome strategy to get this Russian guy out of here." He called. Antonio merely laughed lightly as he was dragged away. He didn't seem to care what anyone did around here…

"That's mon cher, trusting petite Madeline." Francis giggled, pulling her arms around him. The awkward part was that the French woman was slightly taller that the man she tightly squeezed as he blushed and tried to squirm his way out like a child who was embarrassed of being held by their over-bearing mother.

"I never said I liked him." Arthur insisted as he pulled away. Madeline frowned.

"Well… he's a lot nicer than that Alfred person we met while we were in town… I couldn't believe he just came right up to us and called me all those mean names!" she pouted. Ivan knew that Madeline had not yet forgotten that incident and really didn't like the fact this Alfred boy had made fun of her for no apperent reason. Then, Ivan noticed that Francis and Arthur were frozen at that very sentence.

"It wouldn't… happen… to be Alfred F. Jones, would it?" Arthur asked nervously, hands shaking and playing with his vest. Ivan realised yes that was Alfred's full name, and nodded to the elder man. Arthur and Francis sighed in union.

"You know him?" Madeline asked. They both nodded sadly.

"He's my little brother who lives with Francis and I…we have different last names because he took on my mother's name while I took on my father's… and since my parents moved away from England right before he was born he isn't exactly British like the rest of the family, either. I myself was a teen when he was born so I moved to this little town with my uncle… never was a big fan of America… but he was such a sweetheart when he was little as far as I can remember." He sighed sadly.

"You two are not alike at all." Ivan commented, and Arthur nodded in agreement.

"Nor are we close. The only reason he lives here is because our parents passed away in an accident many years ago, but that child and I just don't get along at all." He mumbled. Madeline gasped.

"I'm really sorry Mr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland! I didn't mean to say bad things about him or make you have to bring that up!" Madeline apologised frantically. She almost had tears in her eyes, so Arthur smiled lightly and patted her head, almost like a small bird or puppy.

"No need to worry, lassie. The situation isn't as awful as it sounds. At least he seems happy." He assured her. She nodded, but didn't smile back.

Meanwhile, Ivan was realising something… maybe he and Alfred weren't that different after all? Home lives seemed similar but…

Hey fat-ass!

Commie bastard!

Weirdo!

Creep!

Freak!

Ivan shook his head quietly to himself. Alfred wasn't someone who deserved pity from him… they were nothing alike. Alfred at least was liked easily by everyone around him, unlike Ivan himself. He would not show mercy to that stupid boy just because his home life may not be the best.

"I have things to do now, sorry I can't stay. I just wanted to drop in and see how you were all doing, but it seems I've stayed a bit too long. Au Revior!" Francis waved gracefully and strutted out of the room in those huge high-heels of hers.

"I'd better get going now, too. It would be best to go home and get things cleaned up before the old frog cooks dinner… apparently my food just isn't good enough for her." Arthur creased his thick eyebrows again and walked over to the desk, gathering his things up in a book bag that… for some odd reason had a unicorn on it… not only that, but it was prancing around on some sort of… rainbow?

"Is there something wrong with my book bag?" Arthur venomously cut in as he caught Ivan's "What the hell…" gaze. Ivan was too disturbed to say anything and just shook his head. Maybe this man did have enough immaturity to be related to Alfred and married to Dr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland, after all. The older man looked over to Madeline, gave a polite smile and nod, then slipped his mouth right near Ivan's ear and quickly whispered, "Cause trouble and unhappiness will find its way to you." His voice sounded like satan's and the quick sentence was whispered almost like… a curse… but just as quickly as he said it he pulled back and smiled once more.

"Well, I'll be off." Arthur gave a small wave to Madeline before exiting the room, striding with his back straight and head high just as any gentleman would. Madeline hadn't even seemed to notice anything unusual and politely waved back.

When he was gone, Madeline walked over to her desk and began to arrange books and papers that were left lying around. "Sorry about that, eh. He's like a polite version of Gilbert I guess… he doesn't get along with a lot of people. Mr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland really is nice, though."

"I see… well… I suppose there are not many people who I get along with, either." Ivan agreed. Madeline suddenly turned to him with a slightly worried expression.

"Um… do you… get along with me very well?" she asked, pulling the desk chair towards her body nervously. He paused, then shrugged and looked away with a tint of red on his pale cheeks.

"If I didn't like you, I would simply tell you that." He answered. She let out a heavy breath of air at the answer, beginning to pull the chair over to the window.

"I was just making sure…"

"Da." He took a seat across from where she placed her chair. "So, is Mr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland someone who you are close with?"

"I suppose… he's a bit reserved and shy… but he's kind of like a big brother to me, eh? At least a big brother who I don't see very much… He's my tutor since Dr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland convinced him to be when I couldn't go to school… but he always worries over things like my posture and grammar, and he taught me how to do knitting and needle work, too." Madeline explained, pointing behind her back to her sewing kit and wool.

"A bit odd that a man showed you…" Ivan mumbled.

"You think?" Madeline tilted her head. He thought for a while. He didn't hear much about men sewing or knitting but… he supposed that it wasn't technically something that had to be titled as a man or woman's job. He actually knew how to knit himself, not that he did it often but hey, it could be handy someday.

"I suppose it isn't that bad, actually." Ivan decided. The Canadian before him smiled and nodded in agreement.

It took about a minute of silence before Madeline spoke up again. "This might be a strange question but… what's kolkolkol? I hear you do it sometimes when you make that fake smile… it's a bit scary…"

"I do it when I am angry or annoyed with someone, but I suppose it's good for scaring people away, too." Ivan answered simply.

"…Why?"

"I'm not exactly sure myself."

"Oh." She stared at him blankly, and then finally spoke up after a bit more time once again. "I don't see why you would want to smile just to scare people… I like your real smile much better."

"Bad habit, I suppose. I don't like people who are scared so easily…" he mumbled. Madeline frowned, staying silent for yet another moment and seeming to be thinking things over.

"…but if you scare them on purpose then it's really your own fault." She finally spoke up. Ivan's anger perked up and before he knew it, he opened his mouth without realising he was going to yell.

"They had a chance and they don't get another! Not until they actually try to get along with me instead of asking all these things that I can't do without them at least trying to understand me!" Ivan snapped. Madeline flinched and he immediately felt a tinge of guilt, anger fading as fast as it came.

"I'm sorry…" he mumbled, staring down at his lap.

"I-It's okay, eh? Maybe this is just what you're used to but… I really do think you can make more friends than just me if you didn't give up so easily. I know it's hard since everyone thinks you look scary and it makes you mad… but you're just acting the same way everyone expects you to…" she stammered. He sighed and leaned his elbow against the chair arm, holding his head in his palm with a tired expression.

"Change is harder than it looks… and convincing people that I've changed is even harder. I am the way I am… they made me this way, it's what they deserve…" he mumbled. Madeline frowned at him for a while, feeling bad that there wasn't much she could do for the boy as he stared distantly out the window towards the sky.

"Well… maybe it'll just take some time… but I really do believe that you'll make more friends…" she told him with determined eyes. He looked over to her blankly.

"And what about you?"

"Eh? What about me?"

"Don't you want more friends other than me?"

Madeline paused at this question, thinking it over. Did she? It would be nice but…

"You're all I need… I'm really happy to just have you." She told him. And it was the absolute truth.

"Then what if you're all I need?" he asked. Madeline paused once again.

"Well… I think our situations are a bit different…"

"Not really." He cut in. She jumped, and he sat up straight. "Neither of us fit into society. We both don't understand the world very well because we've been isolated for so long, and we both are separated from those around us by some sort of wall that can't be broken down. You are unhealthy and can't go outside, so the world doesn't even know you exist. I look scary and can't control my anger well, so the world is well aware of my presence but avoids it purposely. Are we not in similar situations?"

Madeline wasn't sure what to make of this explanation, so she stared at the boy in front of her for a while before frowning. "For now… it can just be the two of us then." She whispered.

"Just the two of us is all I need." Ivan said quietly, his face now showing a bit of emotion. Madeline knew it was a lie, for Ivan really was in a different situation than her. He had so many people close to him that could potentially love and care for him… she didn't. It frustrated her… because really, she didn't understand Ivan as much as she wanted to. She didn't understand how one could be so stubborn… to not just say his feelings rather than expect people to know everything he felt. He had so much given to him… and yet he refused to take it.

"Let's talk about something else, Madeline." Ivan whispered. She looked up and realised tears were blurring her vision, and from the tone of his voice Ivan was worried. She blinked the burning salty droplets back into her eyes, and it created soreness in her head as she didn't allow them to escape. A large, course hand reached over and placed itself on her soft blond hair, stroking it gently and barely touching before pulling away.

Madeline pulled on another smile and stood up. She was feeling good today and had her new best friend by her side. There was no way was she going to be sad as long as he was there…

Little did most know she was just as stubborn as him when it came to talking about feelings and letting herself believe someone would always remain by her side, because deep in her heart Madeline was not the same person as she was on the outside. She really was a hypocrite… or maybe just too modest.

…

"These are my books and notes… I'm probably not quite as far in my studies as you are…" Madeline showed Ivan her desk now that they were both in a better mood. Ivan looked at the many books and papers stacked up and nodded.

"From what I see so far you're a bit behind me, but I do believe you have a good reason." He said. She blushed.

"Well, I still think I could try harder… but I always like to learn as much as I possibly can."

"You're far for someone who's stuck in bed a lot, don't be hard on yourself." Ivan said. She played with her pigtails sheepishly, and then looked over to him.

"How well do you do in school? Do you find it hard?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Nyet, it's not hard at all… I get good enough grades… I don't see a need to slack off, anyways." He explained.

"I'm sure you do very well!" Madeline giggled.

"You do need to be smart to hack computers… a different kind of smart…" he smiled and whispered darkly.

"Hack? I think I've heard of that before…"

"It's nothing, merely a hobby." Ivan said quickly.

"I see… sorry I don't know much about it." Madeline said, feeling unsure of herself. She had a feeling it wasn't just a 'hobby', though… considering that smile on Ivan's face was so amused and almost… evil.

"Don't apologise, there are things I don't know much about, either. Perhaps you could answer some of them for me…" he assured the girl.

"Oh? Like what?" she tilted her head curiously.

"The design on Mr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland's book bag… why is it a unicorn?"

"Oh… well there are multiple answers to that." Madeline smiled brightly. Ivan raised an eyebrow, amused and still smiling.

"Are there?"

"Yes… Mr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland says that it's because it's a unique design portraying something that he loves and believes in… but Dr. Bonnefoy-Kirkland says it's because he's a silly petit lapin… and Doctor Gil and Doctor Toni say it's because he's a nutcase…"

…

So it appears so far I'm giving you guys two updates when I get back… let's see if I can pull off three :D

Short chapter is short. The very random "Ivan hacks computers" thing is because that's just a common Russian stereotype, I find. In fact, my year book says that one of the top three most common homework incompletion excuses at my school is "The Russians hacked my computer".

So Artie's finally decided to show up, and we now know more about Alfred, too… but there's still a lot to learn about everyone *evil grin*