"Natalia, we need to talk."

Natalia looked up from the TV to her brother. "About what?" she asked with a vacant expression. She really wasn't paying him much attention, focusing more on the TV at the current moment. This caused Ivan to shut it off, earning him an annoyed glare from his little sister.

"Yakaterina and I were thinking, and we've decided that we'd both like to continue our studies." he said, his face full of concern and a little bit of something else. Fear, perhaps?

"Good for you, I guess," Natalia responded dully. "Can I turn the TV back on, now?"

Ivan sighed heavily. "No, that's not all." Natalia raised an eyebrow skeptically. "We want to continue our studies...back home. Yakaterina and I want to go back to Russia."

Immediately Natalia's mind came to a screeching halt. Going back home to Russia? Her immediate knee-jerk reaction was joy, as she'd been waiting to go back home ever since they moved to America. But then again, something stopped her from being happy about this news. She was starting to finally feel at home here, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to give up that happiness. "Oh," was all she managed to say.

Ivan sighed again. "I understand that you may not want to go back at the moment, so your sister and I talked, and we thought that maybe, if you want, you can stay here by yourself and we would leave."

Once again, Natalia was taken aback. "St-stay here without you two?" she choked out. Ivan nodded.

"You let us know when you make a decision," he said before turning and leaving the room.

Natalia stared ahead and thought, concentrating on the black, powerless screen of the TV. Did she want to leave and go back to her home country? Or did she want to stay here where she'd just started to make a life for herself? One option dictated her leaving her brother and sister, who'd been her sole support system for her entire life, but other had her leaving Alfred, who was the reason for her current happiness.

Natalia didn't think she liked either option.

Natalia stared at the clock on the wall near her desk, not really paying attention to anything around her, instead lost in her thoughts. She still hadn't told her brother and sister her decision, and she needed to fast. She also needed to make a decision, for that matter.

"Yo, Nat, is anyone home? Earth to Natalia!"

Natalia snapped out of her gaze, startled. "Huh?" she asked. Alfred, who was standing in front of the desk holding a box under his arm, shook his head.

"I've been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes! Do you think you can give me a hand with these?" He motioned to the boxes at his feet, which were identical to the one currently under his arm.

"Wouldn't it have been quicker if you had made several trips instead of spending five minutes trying to get my attention?" she grumbled, stooping to pick up one of the boxes.

"Penny for your thoughts?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Not for sale," she responded. Alfred pouted, but dropped the subject, something that Natalia appreciated. After several trips, all the boxes had been moved to the storage room, and Natalia was able to rest again at her desk.

"Hey, I'm going to go on a coffee-run, do you want anything?" Alfred asked once she had sat down.

She nodded. "Caramel cappuccino with cream."

Alfred put on the bomber jacket that he was so fond of and shot her a smile. "Be back soon!" he shouted back at her. Natalia offered him a slight smile, and he brightened noticeably as he walked out the door.

Once he left, Natalia put her head in her hands and sighed heavily. Why was this being so difficult?! She wished she could just freeze time and never have to come up with an answer. She was happy with the way things where now, why did they have to change?

Natalia was locking the door to the shop, with her back turned to the street. Alfred stood behind her, waiting to walk her home, just like he did every night she worked. Natalia grimaced inwardly at this thought. She didn't deserve him. Here he was, loyal and doting as he always was, and she was trying to decide whether or not to leave him. This gave her a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and she felt like a horrible person.

"Oi! Alfred!"

Natalia snapped out of her self-pity-fest and turned around to the voice. It had come from a boy with straw-blonde hair and green eyes that were accented by prominent eyebrows.

Alfred turned around also, and smiled at the boy. "Oh, hey, Artie, what's up?"

The boy walked up to Alfred. "I was hoping to run into you. You borrowed my Doctor Who DVDs, remember?"

Alfred nodded. "Yeah, dude, I remember! What about them?"

"Well, I was hoping to watch them with Kiku tonight, but then I remembered that you still have them. I was hoping I could run by your place and grab them real quickly."

"Yeah, sure you can, dude!" He then motioned to Natalia. "I've just got to run Natalia home, first."

Natalia looked up at Alfred. "I'm sure I can be a little late, we can run by your place before dropping me off," she said. The boy looked like he was in a hurry, and from the sound of it he had someone who was waiting on him, too.

Alfred shrugged. "Okay. By the way," he motioned to the boy, "Natalia, this is my buddy, Arthur, and Arthur," he now motioned to Natalia, "this is my girlfriend, Natalia."

Arthur extended his hand, and Natalia reluctantly took it. "Hello, Natalia, how are you tonight?" he asked while shaking her hand.

"I'm fine, thank you." Natalia released his hand and returned it to her side, only to decide to cross her arms over her chest a moment later.

Arthur nodded. "Good." He then paused to chuckle lightly. "You have to forgive me, but I'm a little surprised that you're real. When Alfred told me that he had a stunningly beautiful girlfriend, I half thought him to be joking." He smirked at Natalia. "Nice to know you're not imaginary."

Natalia blushed lightly. Had Alfred really called her "stunningly beautiful?" "Thank you, I guess..." she said, diverting her gaze from both boys. Suddenly the black flats she was wearing on her feet were incredibly interesting. "Shouldn't we head over to Alfred's place, now?"

"Yes, I really am in a hurry, and as much as I'd like to chat, I have to get back, soon. Kiku's waiting on me." Arthur said, looking to Alfred. Alfred shrugged.

"Alright, let's go, then."

Soon all three of them were at Alfred's house, waiting for him to unlock the door to let them in. However, it seemed like it may be a while, at the rate he was going. He was fumbling with his keys, and he kept dropping them on accident, too.

"Alright, so that's not the right key, and that's not the right key, so that means- oh, shit! Not again!"

Arthur's patience was obviously running thinner than paper, and eventually he snapped. "Do you need help or anything?" he asked Alfred forcefully.

Alfred shook his head. "Nah, I'm fine! I just can't remember which key opens the house is all. Plus I keep dropping them because my hands are super cold!"

Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to contain himself. "That's because you have no gloves on, you imbecile!"

"I'll get it," Natalia interjected, stepping in front of the boys and snatching the keys out if Alfred's hands. "I'll just try every key until I get the one that fits." Two minutes later the group of three had finally entered the house.

"Alright, I'll go grab the DVDs." Alfred told Arthur. "They're in the living room with all of my DVDs. Or...actually, they might be in the REC room...you know, looking back, I think they could be in my room..." Alfred looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging. "Oh well, I'll get them. Just hold up a sec. Talk to Nat in the meantime, or something." And with that he left Natalia and Arthur standing at the foyer awkwardly.

After about thirty seconds of silence, Arthur spoke up. "So, how are things?" he asked awkwardly, glancing from Natalia, to his shoes, to the door, and back to Natalia again.

"Things are...fine. Stressful, but fine." she responded just as awkwardly.

"Oh, that's good," Arthur commented. "Erm, the 'fine' bit, not the stress." He then took a deep breath and looked Natalia in the eye. "You know, I must say that you've done wonders on Alfred. His attitude has improved so much since he's met you."

Natalia raised an eyebrow at this comment. "What on earth do you mean? He's been like this for as long as I've known him." Arthur blinked, surprised.

"You mean, you don't know?" he asked confusedly.

"Know what?" Natalia asked, her eyes narrowing. Was Alfred hiding something from her?

Arthur sighed and hung his head slightly. "About a year ago, Alfred's parents died in a car accident. He was inconsolable, and for about a month he locked himself in his room and wouldn't talk to anyone. His brother and I eventually got him out, but he wasn't the same cheery person he used to be. In fact, he was downright depressed. I didn't think he'd ever start acting like his old self again, but I suppose you've been some sort of a light in his life." Arthur looked up and Natalia and smiled slightly. "So for that I thank you. Whatever you're doing, keep doing it, because I haven't seen him this happy since the accident."

"...Oh," was all Natalia could say. She wasn't sure how she should respond to the information she'd just been given. She'd never heard of Alfred's parent's deaths, nor about his period of depression afterwards. She also had no idea that she had made such an impact on him. "I...I didn't know."

"I FOUND THEM!" Alfred shouted, coming into view. He was waving a DVD box-set in the air above his head. "They were next to the fish tank!"

Arthur frowned at his friend. "And what on earth were they doing there?! I though you said you'd take care of them!"

Alfred ruffled Arthur's hair, much to the latter's annoyance. "Dude, chill out! I said by the fish tank, not in it!"

Arthur grumbled some swears as he snatched his DVDs out of Alfred's hands. "Whatever. I'll see you two some other time. Until then, goodbye."

"Bye Artie!" Alfred called out to his friend as he left. Once the door shut, he turned to Natalia. "Well, I guess we should get you home, now. Your brother might just kill me since you'll be late."

"He wouldn't kill you," she said, but she nodded in agreement anyways. Alfred opened the door and put his arm around her shoulders. Suddenly, Natalia felt the need to say something. "Um, Alfred?"

Alfred looked down at Natalia and smiled. "What, Nat?"

Natalia wanted to tell him that she was sorry for his parents' deaths, tell him that he meant a lot to her, too, and that she never wanted him to be sad again. However, she couldn't find the words, so instead she said, "It's cold out, you should wear a coat."

The next morning Natalia had come to the book store early and alone. Alfred had been apprehensive about letting Natalia walk by herself, as well as Ivan, but she had eventually convinced both boys that she was fine, and that Alfred was still going to walk her home like normal. Right now, though, she had work to do.

She was pouring over a number of "for sale" and "for rent" adds from the newspaper. She had decided to stay, because after her talk with Arthur, Natalia had realized that Alfred needed her there for him. She couldn't just leave him when she was what had made him act like his old self again!

So here she was, sitting on a comfy chair in the corner of the store and practically buried in newspapers. So far she'd had no luck finding a place to live at that was both satisfactory for living in and affordable. Every time she thought she saw a house or apartment that was livable in, the price was outrageous, and every time she saw a place that was cheap enough for her price range, it was a dump. Her brother had promised to give her some money to help her move, but frankly Natalia didn't want to have to use any charity money, even if it was from her own brother.

Natalia was so invested in her search that she didn't notice someone enter the store and walk up to her.

"Hey, Nat! What're you doing?"

Natalia nearly jumped out of her skin, surprised that Alfred had been able to sneak up on her like that. He was usually too loud to do that.

"Alfred, don't sneak up on me like that!" she exclaimed, throwing her Sharpie marker at her boyfriend's head.

"Ow!" he exclaimed at the marker hit its target. "Okay, I'm sorry! Seriously, though, what are you doing?"

Natalia's throat suddenly felt very tight. She wasn't sure why, but she felt very apprehensive about yelling Alfred that she was moving. Even if she was staying in the same city.

"Um, well, I...I'm..." She took a deep breath and pulled herself together. What on earth was she afraid of? "I'm looking for a new place to move to. My brother and sister are moving back to Russia, but I'm staying here, and since our apartment is too expensive to afford in just my salary, I need to find a new one."

Alfred looked surprised. "Your brother and sister are going back to Russia?" he asked. Natalia nodded.

"Yes, to continue their studies in a place they are more comfortable in," she answered. Alfred now looked pensive.

"Why are you staying, then?" he asked.

Natalia's breath caught in her throat. Ah, yes, this question was why she's been afraid. She wasn't sure how to respond to it. "Uh, I'm staying because...because I've just started to feel at home here," she finally spit out. Oh well, it was better than nothing.

"Oh, is that so?" Alfred asked. Natalia could sweat that the boy looked slightly disappointed. Had he wanted Natalia to say she was staying for him? "How's the search going?" He peered over Natalia's shoulder at the many newspapers that were scattered about.

Natalia took a deep breath, glad that they'd changed the subject. "Horrible! I can't find a single place that is affordable that isn't a rat's nest!" She put her chin in her right palm and rested her arm on the arm of the chair. "I'm starting to think I will need to use my brother's money, after all!"

Alfred looked at Natalia sympathetically. He hated seeing her distressed like this. "You know, I have an idea about where you can stay..." he said.

Natalia perked up slightly. "Where?" she asked.

Alfred cast his eyes down, and his face was getting hotter by the second. "Y-you don't have to agree, of course, but..." he looked up sheepishly. "Would you consider maybe moving in with me? I mean, I have plenty of room, and a spare bedroom you can use and everything. Plus, then you wouldn't need to use your own money on a new place."

Natalia just stared at Alfred, unsure of what to say. They'd only been dating for two months or so, was it really proper for her to move in with him? Then again, did she have very much of a choice? She couldn't afford any of the apartments she had looked at in the paper.

"You don't have if you don't want to! In fact, thinking back now, that was a stupid idea, just forget it! I don't know what I was thinking of, we've only been dating for about two months, I mean-"

"Okay."

Alfred stopped talking immediately and stared at Natalia. "What?"

Natalia shrugged. "I said okay. I'll

Move in with you."

Alfred smiled a bit, but his face was mostly a mask of pure shock. "R-really?"

Natalia rolled her eyes and balled up the newspaper she been holding, just to throw it at Alfred. "Yes, really. You should know by now that I don't joke often."

Alfred laughed at batted away the newspaper wad. "Awesome!"

Natalia then smirked devilishly, though. "Yes, I'll move in with you...but YOU have to be the one to tell my brother."

Alfred immediately stopped smiling, his grin replaced by a look of pure terror. Oh shit.

Bonus points to whoever can spot the subliminal AsaKiku. I honestly don't even ship AsaKiku (it's one of those ships I'm neutral on), but I wasn't sure who to ship Arthur with, since it obviously wasn't going to be my first choice for him (Alfred), and I dislike FrUK. Since I see a fair amount of AsaKiku on my Tumblr, I decided to go with Kiku. Because reasons.

Also, I greatly apologize for the wait, but I had major writer's block for this chapter! I honestly just finished it this morning. Because of this, I don't think I'll have the Christmas episode up by actual Christmas. Sorry. :(