And so begins the chorus of "oohs" and "ah's" of chapter 4! This chapter plot was originally supposed to be I think chapter 3, maybe even 2, but 3 ended being longer than I expected. So, I just moved it to this one! Yes, I know I promised Prussia, so you all are getting Prussia (I have so much respect for him after watching more episodes of World Series…just sayin'.). Enjoy and R&R!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia

For the rest of the time being, I hadn't seen Feliciano very much. Our two classes that finished off the day turned out to be completely different from each other; I had photography and then marching band, and he had orchestra and then cooking

I missed those sweet brown eyes the entire hour and half of photography. I longed for them; longed for them to lighten up my attitude again; to pull on my once-strong heartstrings and let them just blend into a spiraling mixture with mine. So beautiful, yet so serene. And I still couldn't figure out why I had completely convinced my mind to think that way.

I had pretty much dozed off the entire time that hour and a half photography of lasted. I was a little sluggish from just eating, and some idiot named Wang Yao pulled us into a lecture that ended up taking up the entire hour about the basics of a camera. During that time, I finally allowed my mind to wander to Feliciano without threatening to kill it.

I dreamed about those eyes, that gorgeous smile; the way his auburn hair bounced so rhythmically when he walked; and the way the tip of his nose always turned pink when he was nervous or worried. How we had walked down the hall together so many times that day, with him clutching onto my hand like a lost child every second; so close to me that I could actually feel the warmth of his breath trickling down my face. If only I could close that gap…

No no; maybe I was taking things too fast. It seemed repetitive convincing myself that I wasn't in love with him over and over again all throughout the day. I knew I didn't like guys; I knew I wasn't in denial; and I most certainly knew I would never love such a boy as that irritatingly sweet Italian. Yet…maybe I really was falling in love with him; even if we had only just met…

Ludwig, you think like that again and you'll die a harsh, painful death when I kill you in your sleep.

I walked to marching band class alone that passing period. The cooking room was all the way on the other side of the school, and being the Nervous Nelly he was, Feliciano wanted to be anything but late.

Honestly, it seemed a little lonely without him next to me. The halls were quiet and calm, and both my hands and face weren't on fire anymore and had finally stopped perspiring humiliation. But at the same time…I kind of wanted him there with me…I kind of wanted him holding my hand and pulling me along…

I. Hate. You…

I slowly stepped into the band room, watching as players of all kinds put their instruments together. I saw that same Austrian boy I had seen earlier at lunch; Roderich was it? He was pacing the room, flipping through papers, and I figured him to be one of the drum majors. Gilbert was also there, for we both played the trumpet, and I took a seat next to him as he ranted on about how awesome he was.

"Hey West; how's it going?" He asked, setting his trumpet in his lap.

I opened the case of my instrument, putting it together instead of looking at my brother.

"My day has been ok; a few ups and downs here and there."

"Yeah, well probably not as awesome as my day!" Gilbert said boldly, flicking his snowy hair off to the side.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at his arrogance, putting the mouthpiece into my trumpet and holding it up to tune it. My brother stayed silent for a moment, tapping his finger on his leg, with his crimson eyes curious.

"So West; who was that little Italian dude you were with earlier? You know, the one with that hair curl on the side of his head. Yeah, my friend Lovino was talking about him earlier today at lunch." He stated, shooting a curious look at me.

I knew exactly who was talking about. The thought of Feliciano's pretty brown eyes suddenly came flooding back into my mind, and my face went warm at the thought of him. I cracked a slight smile, still not looking at my brother, but instead looking at my reflection from the instrument in my hand. My cheeks were as rosy as they had been before.

"Oh, him. That's Feliciano; I met him today and he led me around the school. We're…just friends…" I replied, trying my best to hide the obvious blush on my face from Gilbert.

He nodded. "Yeah, that guy. He was in my calculus class a few hours ago; he seemed to talk about you a lot. It was "Ludwig this" and "Ludwig that". I think he kind of likes you.

My heart skipped a beat, and the blush on my face suddenly cranked up. Feliciano…was talking about…me? A-And he…liked me? No no, that just couldn't be true, right? I mean, why would he, of all people, have feelings for me? Why was I so concerned with this? Maybe…I was just misleading it. Maybe it was only as a friend…

Gilbert looked down at me, a devious grin spreading across his face. "Say West, when I brought up his name, I noticed your face go red. Is there…something going on between the two of you?" He asked slyly, observing my face.

I turned away. "Glibert, what are you talking about? There's nothing going on between the two of us! We're just friends!" I claimed, shaking away the thought that maybe that could be changed.

Gilbert only laughed, banging his fist obnoxiously on the stand and snorting violently. "I can't believe it; you're so in denial!" He shouted, letting out fits of laughter.

I shot my head back up at him, the pink on my face getting darker and warmer. "I am not in denial! I do not love Feliciano!"

"You're totally in denial! It's written all of your face; look at how flushed it is! You love that hyper little Italian dude!"

A couple of people around us gave us some concerned glances. Elizabeta, on the other hand, who played the flute, only giggled; giving me that same sly smile she had before.

I shook my head. "What is wrong with you, Gilbert? I do not love him; we're just friends! I would never love somebody like him, ever! Especially not another guy! Seriously, Gilbert, stop imagining things and start getting your head back into reality, sheesh."

My brother shrugged, flipping his hair once more. "Suit yourself. But I saw the way you were looking at his eyes; you were totally into them! Don't worry though, I think he loves you too; he seemed pretty happy when he kept blabbing on about you all of calculus. I think that's why Lovino hates you so much; because he's convinced you've fallen in love with each other. Well that explains why he was so mad about it at lunch…"

I rolled my eyes, drowning out all of Gilbert's words, and focusing on playing my instrument. But that threat made its way to the back of my mind again; the one Lovino had stated in health class earlier. I guess if I wanted to stay around Feliciano a little longer, it would probably be best if I told him what happened…

I decided not to ride home with Gilbert after school ended that day. I wasn't in much of a mood to listen to him constantly taunt me about "being in denial", when I clearly wasn't. And I wanted to talk to Feliciano about Lovino's threat to me.

The Vargas's' house wasn't too far away from Hetalia High, so the two of us just decided to walk home together. Besides, it was one of the few days in August where neither of us had completely melted from the heat, and it was completely gorgeous outside. Although my home was quite a walks away from the school, I figured it wouldn't kill if it took me a little longer to get home.

I walked in silence next to the Italian teen for half the time we had walked together, thinking over exactly what I was going to tell him. How was I supposed to say it; I had never been in this position before! He seemed quite sensitive from what I had observed, so I wasn't too fond of the idea of hurting his feelings.

Feliciano, on the other hand, ranted on about the rest of his day, including Holy Roman Empire. For some reason, it sort of got to me that he kept talking about that guy. His name sounded so familiar to me; and I just couldn't figure out where I had heard it before! After all, the constant blabbing on about him suddenly seemed to get…annoying? No no; I couldn't say something as harsh as that to such a sensitive soul, but all I knew was that it was certainly getting on my nerves.

Even after all that blabbing, though, I still couldn't seem to figure out my words on how I was going to admit what his brother had said to me. It was so simple, yet so far away. And being somewhat of a hypocrite, not having anything else to talk about, I asked Feliciano about that little friend of his.

"Hey Feliciano, tell me more about this "Holy Roman Empire" guy; I'm kind of curious to know what he was like." I said, turning to face him.

And by that, I mean I wanted to know what he was like so I could live up to that. Why did I want to live up to that?

Feliciano turned to me, his amber eyes once again sparkling in the summer sun. From walking so much already, my cheeks had already turned the slightest bit of pink, so the blush wasn't as difficult to hide as before.

"Ve~, you want to know about Holy Rome? Well, he was very sweet; a little scary and obsessive at times, but I still loved him nonetheless! When he moved away, I gave him my favorite push broom to remember me by, and he gave me a kiss in return. The place he moved to…I don't even remember where it was, but I do remember it being torn into war. I never saw him again after that day…and I'm pretty sure he's dead…" He explained, sighing as liquid formed in his eyes. A single tear trickled down his cheek, and he closed his eyes, "I really loved him so much…"

As he wiped away the tear that fell down his face, I spoke up. "I'm sure he's ok, Feliciano, he just might not remember you very well." I said softly, in an attempt to comfort him.

Feliciano sniffled, shifting his eyes towards the ground. He didn't speak.

As the silence grew longer, I felt it was time for me to admit something as well. "F-Feliciano…there's s-something I need to tell you…" I said quietly.

The Italian turned to me, tipping his head to the side as if he wanted me to go on.

I let out a hard sigh before speaking, knowing once it was said, it couldn't be unsaid. "T-Today in health class, I-I was sitting by your brother, Lovino, like Mr. Rome told me to. H-He apparently really didn't like me, and threatened that if I didn't stay away from you, he would pound my face into dust…" I admitted, my face turning red with embarrassment.

"Ve~, b-but why would he something like that?" Feliciano asked.

I shrugged. "I don't know, but my brother, Gilbert said that it was because…" I paused, stalling on letting the next words out. After what had happened at lunch, it was almost impossible to imagine what his reaction would be. "Because he doesn't…want us to be together. Y-You know, a-as a couple. Or so Gilbert says…"

The teen stayed silent for a moment, shifting his eyes toward the ground again. "Oh…well, I don't like my brother being so mean to you. Ve~, why would somebody say something like that to Ludwig? Oh well, Lovino may be my brother, but he doesn't know anything. He got held back; that's why he was in our class today. He's supposed to be a senior…"

"So was my brother…" I mumbled.

Feliciano pressed his hand against my face, turning my head to face him, amber and cerulean finally meeting. A cold chill ran down my spine, and my face flushed at his warm touch.

"Don't let Lovino be mean to you, ok?" He said, he expression turning serious.

I nodded, unable to find my words again as my stomach became clogged in my throat. My heart pounded violently in my ears like a drum, and I could barely even hear myself think because of it.

He smiled. "Good! Ve~, my house is right over there, come on!" He said, intertwining our hands for the countless time that day, and leading me to his driveway.

Every time he did so, it seemed to catch me off guard, and the warm touch of his soft hand sent that same warmth smacking against my already red face.

All of our surroundings disappeared as we stopped at the end of his driveway. Everything else seemed to be a blur, and as I could see and focus on was him. It was just the two of us; standing there in the sunlight with his hands gripping onto mine. It felt a though they were shaking, and I could feel the small perspiration that had begun form on them.

I looked into the hypnotizing pools of chocolate that were the Italian's eyes, taking in all of their beautiful features. They danced across mine, letting out a sweet hue of gleaming brown everywhere around us. Once again, I found myself drowning in those pools of brown; falling far into the abyss that I could never escape. My entire body felt as if it were about it give out, and every bit of my stone heart had suddenly turned into a gooey mess. I couldn't help but realize that they were that beautiful, shining freely in the sunlight.

We were so close; almost as close as we had been when he had rested his head on my shoulder while looking at my schedule earlier that day.

I could close that gap so easily if I wanted to… I thought, still gazing into his eyes with my lip quivering slightly at the thought. But why would I ever want to do something like that…?

Feliciano shifted his eyes to the ground again, chuckling softly as pink tinted his cheeks. "Ve~, it was fun meeting you today, Ludwig, I can't wait to talk to you again tomorrow!" He said shyly, cracking a soft smile.

I smiled as well. "It was nice to meet you too, Feliciano. Today was…fun…"

We stood in silence for a few more seconds, our hands still intertwined with each other. Both of us had our eyes to the concrete, but I could tell from the corner of my eyes that he was blushing just as hard as I was.

"Well, um…I'll see you tomorrow, Ludwig."

With that, he reached up to stand on his toes, planting a gentle kiss on both of my cheeks. My face turned dark crimson, burning viciously against my face. My heart throbbed in my reddened ear, and all sound had been completely drowned out by the pounding. It screamed for more, thirsty for me to do the same, and reach out to press his lips against mine. Yet I just couldn't bring myself to do so, for I was still in a pretty good amount of shock.

As he pulled away, Feliciano's face immediately went flushed, and he turned away to hide the embarrassment.

"Ve~ s-sorry, i-it's kind of a tradition in my family that when you meet a new friend, you kiss them on both cheeks when you say goodbye. Well, heh heh, bye." He explained, retreating towards his house.

I could only stand in shock, my mouth agape as I watched his auburn hair bounce as he ran.

"Oh, and before I forget, Ludwig, your eyes look every pretty in the sun." He admitted before waving and walking inside.

I still stood frozen to the ground even after he had left. Blush spread rapidly against my face, and it felt as his the heat would melt off my skin. At that moment, standing on Feliciano's driveway, even if it was the first day we had met, I realized that maybe all that convincing had done me no good. I was almost 99.9% sure I was falling in love with that little Italian…

LONG CHAPTER IS LONG! Ah Germany, he's totally not in denial (*coughsarcasticcough*)! And I finally added some kind of kiss in this story; I've been DYING to add one since I started! This chapter didn't take long at all to type, and because it's freezing cold outside and I have no homework, I actually had time to type this thing up! It didn't turn out as well as I wanted it too, but I don't care. Next, I have to finish up chapter 2 of Apocalypse of an Empire before my reviewers kill me. Also, I actually have no idea if that really is an Italian tradition, because I'm not Italian, but either way, I'm making it a Vargas tradition! By the way, for all those who want to know, yes, my birthday was extremely legit. Now, if you want to be awesome like Prussia, reviews are always welcome!