Eeeee! I finally finished this one. I don't really had much to say, except that the beginning was kinda hard to write, but it just flowed as I sat down and wrote. Also, I have finals next week. Which sucks. :( So, don't be surprised if I don't post anything.

This chapter is also pretty darned long. It's over 5,000+!

Also, THANK YOU EVERYONE for all of the nice reviews and favs and alerts! Let's get the review count to over 15! No...20! :D

A big thank you to my friend Nadiya for the translation of "sunflower" into Russian. (It's podsolnuh, Подсолнух. But you'll see that later!)

Some warnings for this chapter: Some language, implied sex, LietPol, EstLat, and RoChu fluff, USUK drama, aaaaand I think that's it.

Chapter 5

The psyche hospital had an empty feeling to it. The walls were white, all white. Arthur could hear his and Alfred's footsteps on the cold floor, as they came out of the office.

"Whoo-hoo!" exclaimed Alfred, pumping his fist in the air. "Artie, we did it! We did it, man!"

"Shhh!" shushed Arthur. "Alfred, do you have any idea how much your voice echoes around here?"

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Geez, can't a guy be excited about a sale?" he said. "Artie, this sale is huge! Imagine if they decided to switch to us for all of their paper needs!"

"Pipe down!" Arthur hissed. "Don't you go talking about something like that in here! Just wait until we get to the car!"

Alfred laughed. "Fine, fine! I'll wait."

They walked for a few more paces.

"Hey, Alfred, what about—Alfred?"

Arthur thought that he was walking beside him the entire time. But when he turned around to speak to him, the blond was gone.

"Alfred?" he asked. "Alfred!" He ran down the hall, looking this way and that for his business associate. With Alfred's child-like mentality, who knows what might've happened by now, especially since they were in a psyche hospital of all places (the business part of a psyche hospital, but a psyche hospital nonetheless!). He could've gotten himself hurt, or worse, done something to lose the sale. Like, that one time where he tripped his would-be future client into a water fountain and thought it was a joke.

"Alfred? Oh God, where'd you go—"

A straitjacket was slipped over his chest, and someone was tightening the straps up in the back.

"AHHHHHH!"

"Gotcha! Hahahaha!"

Arthur tried to whirl around, but the jacket held fast, and he tripped over his own feet, falling into the arms of—

"ALFRED!"

The blond beamed as he held Arthur in his arms, even though Arthur squirmed with all his might.

"Ha! It's like we're in those really cheesy romance movies from the 40s or something," chuckled Alfred. "Now, how about if you give me a kiss?" He pursed his lips.

Arthur have him a look of horror. "EW! No! No! Get away from me, you wanker! You wouldn't even—"

"Uhh, young men?"

To Arthur's relief, a nurse—not much older than both of them—walked down the hallway with a look of disapproval on his face. Alfred released Arthur; Arthur wretched himself away from the damned straitjacket.

The nurse held out his hand. "Give that to me," he said exasperatedly.

Arthur handed the straitjacket to him, a blush of embarrassment creeping in his face. "S-sorry," he mumbled.

The nurse sighed. "The straitjacket is not a toy. Can you guys walk to the exit, or do I have to escort you there?"

"Oh, no problem. We can find it on our own." Alfred's face still had the ghost of a grin on it, as much as he tried to look serious.

The nurse narrowed his eyes at them but continued walking down the hall.

"You git!" hissed Arthur when they had walked out of the waiting room. "Just what were you thinking?"

"Pff, I was just having a little bit of fun!" said Alfred. "Besides, it's not like I was hurting anyone or anything."

"You were acting like a complete and utter child, and you humiliated me and the company! We could've lost the account, you know—"

"But we didn't, Artie. God, you could be such a prude sometimes. But I still love you!" He put his arm over his shoulder.

Arthur slapped him away. "What are you doing?"

"What? I thought we were bfs!" Alfred opened the car door and sat inside. "I mean, come on, dude! After all—"

"We are not together, Alfred!" exclaimed Arthur, slamming the door. "How many times have I told you that we're—"

"Oh! Oh, what am I? Just a fling?" snapped Alfred, putting his petal on the gas and zooming out of the parking lot. "Artie, we've done it, like—"

"I don't need a reminder!"

"And you call me sometimes when you get lonely and—"

"Al!"

Alfred sighed.

"Artie, you know, we've been on-again off-again for such a long time," he said. "I...I just want this to go somewhere you know. I don't want it to be just a 'friends with benefits' thing. I want a relationship."

Arthur stared unreadably out the window. Ever since that last Christmas party when he and Alfred had gotten drunk and...done some things in his office, Alfred had pushed for a relationship between the two of them for the longest time. Arthur had a bizarre feeling that Alfred had liked him for a long time before that—the constant sales-calls, the awkward conversations, the promotion.

And being honest, Arthur did, in fact, have feelings for Alfred. He didn't know when they started, but they were feelings alright.

"Alfred, I do want a relationship. But the thing is, we're just too different. I'm mature and rational, like an adult. And you are...spontaneous and...naïve like a child."

"Naïve?" sputtered Alfred. "I am not naïve! And besides, we could always work these differences out! I know plenty of relationships that have."

"We're just too different! Honestly, have you even—"

"You won't even try!" Alfred exclaimed. "Who's being the mature one now?"

Arthur huffed. "See! Alfred, you could be such a child. There's no way I would even want to date you!" he snapped.

Alfred's blue eyes widened.

"Imma...?" Alfred shook his head, staring straight at the road. That had to hurt; his eyes started to shine with tears.

And that struck at Arthur's heart. He felt his stomach drop in shame. Oh God, oh God, why did he say that? Why? Whywhywhywhy?

"Al," he said. "Al, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Alfred said nothing.

"Al? I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

Still nothing.

"Al..." Arthur whispered. He looked out the window, dreading what was left of the lonely car ride.

"Yao Yao! Look look!"

Ivan sprinted over to a pen where a litter of puppies were playing and falling on top of each other. He put his hands over the pen's fence and giggled as the puppies licked him.

"They're so cute, da?"

Yao set down the baking tray on his seat and went over to the Russian. He...actually wasn't all that bad, even if his smile was a little creepy.

For an animal shelter, Briards and Buddies was incredibly clean and didn't smell at all. All of the dogs were in big, spacious kennels, and there was even a small area filled with toys where all of the dogs could play together. The main office had the litter of puppies playing in a corner and a cat stalking the reception desk.

Ivan picked up a puppy—a floppy-eared yellow corgi that was chewing on his wrist—and held it up to Yao.

"I would like to call her Podsolnuh, because her fur reminds me of a sunflower. Isn't she cute, Yao Yao?"

The puppy sneezed in Yao's face.

"Aiyah! Now I have dog germs on my face!" Yao rubbed his face with the back of his sleeve.

Ivan giggled. "That was funny."

Yao shot a glare at him.

"Sirs, Miss Coleman is ready for you," said the receptionist, who had a smile on her face as well.

Yao continued to glare at Ivan as he picked up the baking tray and walked inside. He turned around when he realized that Ivan wasn't following him.

"Ivan...?"

"Sir, you can't bring the puppy inside the office."

And Ivan had the most depressed and saddest frown on his face.

"But she's just so cute!"

Everyone laughed. Well, almost everyone. Lovino sat there, glaring at Antonio.

"Well, you are most certainly the most hilarious salesman ever to walk through here, Mr. Carriedo," said Mr. Chandler, the business administrator at the country club.

"Gracias, Mr. Chandler," said Antonio.

"Yeah, he's hilarious," Lovino muttered. "Ow!"

Antonio stepped on his foot, a smile still on his face.

"Mr. Chandler, we understand if you want to stick with Office Depot," Antonio continued. "But just in case you guys want a change—" He pulled out a business card from his wallet. "—here's my card. I hope to do business with you soon."

Mr. Chandler looked at the card for a few moments.

"You know what? Forget Office Depot—they have the golf course in Newton anyways." He pocketed Antonio's card and shook both of their hands. "It was great fun talking to you guys."

"You too, Mr. Chandler," said Antonio. Lovino smiled and nodded, wincing slightly at the pain in his foot.

"So, will you fax me my contract?" Mr. Chandler asked, getting up and opening the door for them.

"Yes, and we could work out all of the details over the phone or e-mail, if you like," said Antonio. "Thanks again, Mr. Chandler."

"No, thank you. I'll definitely call you tomorrow. Bye."

"Bye, Mr. Chandler."

As the door closed behind them, Antonio let out a "Yes!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. So...he wasn't the one to make the sale. He looked at the walls, which were full of portraits of the past country club presidents or chairman or other rich important people. He could feel Antonio grinning at him.

"...What?" Lovino asked, a blush starting to creep into his face.

"You know what I'm thinking, don't you, Lovito?" Antonio said.

Lovino tried not to look at him. "You made the sale."

"Yes?"

"So that means..."

"You know what it means."

"Shut up, or I'll steal a golf cart and run you over."

Antonio chuckled.

As they walked in the parking lot, Antonio came up from behind Lovino and swooped him into his arms. Lovino punched his chest.

"Put me down, you son of a—"

Antonio kissed him to shut him up. As much as Lovino hated it, he clutched his shirt, slipping his tongue into his mouth.

Antonio put Lovino's in the passenger's seat, and then they drove away.

"While our paper prices might be a bit higher than all of the other chains, we make it up with our superior customer service," Ludwig said. "In fact, I do believe that we have a salesman who has never lost one client, even if he is...rather unorthodox."

The lawyer's office was even darker than his waiting room, with giant books on the shelves and various certificates and degrees hanging on the walls. Mr. Bryant was a middle-aged, intimidating-looking lawyer. But not as intimidating as Ludwig. No one was as intimidating as Ludwig. Except for maybe that other salesman at the Albany branch. He was Swedish or something...

Mr. Bryant leaned back in his chair. "That may be true, Mr...?"

"Beilschmidt."

"Mr. Beilschmidt. That may be true, but frankly, Office Depot has much better deals and their pricing seems to fit our business."

Ludwig blinked. A tough one...

Francis smiled. "But are you sure you are really happy with Office Depot?" he purred, suddenly sounding husky. "While Office Depot may have good...pricing, each of our employees treat their clients like families. I, for one, treat my clients...even closer than family." As Francis spoke, his voice softened and turned almost seductive-like.

Ludwig shot him a warning glance. "Francis."

Mr. Bryant—to Ludwig's shock—leaned forward. "Really, Mr. Bonnefoy?" he whispered. "Even closer?"

"Oui. In my opinion, the bond between client and salesman is very important." Francis flipped his hair and winked.

Ludwig just sat there, wondering how the hell the meeting took this turn...

"I do believe I have seen you before, Mr. Bryant. Do you go into the city very often?"

Mr. Bryant blushed. "Occasionally," he said. He leaned back, hoping to hide his expression in shadow. "I think I've seen you too."

Francis' smile turned into a wolf-like grin. "Ah! I remember. You were at Lonely Lobos, weren't you?"

Lonely Lobos? Ludwig had heard the name. Nearly everyone in the office knew the name. It was a gay singles bar in Boston.

Mr. Bryant turned beet-red. "Ahhh, I-I might've been there," he said. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

Francis smirked.

"In that case, how would you like to sign with us?" he asked. "I can guarantee you won't regret it."

Ludwig put his hands on his face. This was the most bizarre thing he had ever witnessed.

"Of c-course we could do p-prom invitations," said Toris. "W-we can do anything i-involving paper."

Both Toris and Feliks were sitting in the office, across the desk from the business managers of the school. Feliks had buried his face in the back of the chair and still clutched the wolf to his chest. He didn't even say a word when he walked into the room, didn't even try to help Toris, and Toris was stuttering as much as Raivis.

"You said, you're a new salesman at Herozone, Mr. Lorinaitis?" asked Mrs. Gonziano.

"Y-yes, I am!" he exclaimed, trying to sound happy. "Th-that means I-I don't have a l-lot of clients, s-so I could focus and p-personalize my time w-with every one of them!" He sounded so stupid...

"Hmm, what about your prices? The only reason we stuck with Office Depot was because of their prices. Can you offer the same price?"

"W-well, o-our prices m-may b-be a b-b-it h-higher than Office D-Depot," he said. He wiped some sweat on his forehead with the back of his arm. "B-but w-we have good cu-customer service!" He smiled weakly.

"I've heard about Herozone's customer relations," Mr. Rodriguez remarked.

"They're the best in the...East..." said Toris. Oh, why didn't East fit as well as West?

Mrs. Gonziano snorted. "I hope that you're customer service is good to make up for your prices."

"It's awesome!" Toris yelled, flinching when he heard the loudness of his voice.

Mr. Rodriguez sighed. "Well, it—"

"OH MY GOD, this is, like, so sad!"

Feliks threw the stuffed wolf behind him and sat up straight, fire burning in his eyes. He...actually looked quite frightening...

"Look, Toris is just a newbie, so he doesn't really know much."

"Hey!"

"But, if you sign with Herozone, I guarantee that you will be treated with the utmost respect and care," Feliks continued fiercely. "In the four years that I've worked with Herozone, I have not lost one customer. Not one. Why? Because I like to talk with my clients more about their lives and less about work. People like someone who they could just talk to with no strings attached, and they do not like to be treated like they're just an object to get business from."

Everyone just stared at Feliks. Feliks smirked knowingly and crossed his legs.

"W-well..." said Mrs. Gonziano. "I-I suppose, if you put it that way...we can sign with you."

Feliks looked sideways at Toris. "You totally owe me one." He giggled.

Raivis and Eduard did not look at each other in the car ride back. Not since what happened at that real estate group...

"Well...at least we got the account," Raivis began, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, only because I promised them tech support if anything bad happens with their computers. And I gave them twenty percent off for the first six months." Eduard sighed. "Raivis...whhhhhhy?"

"Why, what?" Raivis asked, even though he knew what Eduard would say.

"Why does everyone think that we're together? Seriously, the woman at the real estate company thought that we were cute together! I mean, can't two guys hang out without people thinking that they're gay?"

Raivis blushed a little. "They should. But, we hang around a lot. No wonder everything thinks that we are."

"Raivis, we're not!"

"I know. But I'm just saying. We don't talk with a lot of people in the office aside from each other. People just assume things like that."

Eduard shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Maybe, we should stop hanging around each other, if you don't want people thinking that we're dating."

"No!" Eduard exclaimed. "I like talking to you. You're a great friend, Raivis."

Raivis' blush deepened.

"You're a good friend too."

"Do I look like a man who would leave his customers laying around to die in the dust? No," Ivan said brightly.

Miss Coleman smiled. "You seem like a kind man, Mr. Braginsky. And you too, Mr. Wang."

Yao nodded, the baking tray resting on his lap. "Thank you."

"Also! We have a lot of unused paper in our company, but unfortunately, we haven't quite caught on with the 'going green' philosophy like most of America. This means, we, sadly, have to throw away a ton of paper. If you need, we could gladly donate some of the paper to the rescue. I'm sure the dogs would love to use it for potty training."

"Oh! I had no idea that you had that much extra paper. We would love to use it!" Miss Coleman's little terrier let out a quick bark and went up to Yao, sitting down and staring at the tray.

"Hush, Skippy! Don't beg!"

"That's such a cute dog!" said Yao. "Would he be interested in some food I made?" He pulled back the foil on the baking tray, and the room filled with the aroma of sweet bread and pork. Small little dumpling laid in neat rows and smelled delicious. "I'm sure that the ingredients are safe for dogs."

"Yao Yao, what is that?" Ivan asked, his mouth starting to water.

"Cha siu bao," Yao replied. "Pork dumplings."

"Ooooh! Those look fresh!" Miss Coleman said. "I'm sure Skippy would love one."

Yao gave the dog one of the dumplings, and the dog went over to his bed and laid down, chewing on it.

"Yao Yao, can I have one too?"

"And me too, if it isn't much trouble..."

"Of course." He gave both of them a dumpling.

"These are fantastic!" Ivan exclaimed, his mouth still stuffed with half of his dumpling. "Can I have some more?"

"Yes!"

"Can I have another, too?"

"Of course!"

While Miss Coleman was chewing on her fourth dumpling, Yao asked, "So, how about that sale?"

"Mmmf—what sale? Oh!" Miss Coleman swallowed. "Yeah, that. I'm totally gonna have the shelter sign with you guys!"

Ivan and Yao looked at each other and smiled.

Lovino rolled over in the bed and looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was a complete mess, there were red marks all over his neck and chest (thanks to the bastard), and his cheeks were flushed. He was wrapped in bed sheets.

Antonio swung an arm around his waist, pulling the Italian closer to him. "Hmm...that was good..." he whispered in his ear.

Lovino smiled slightly. "I-I guess," he said, blushing slightly. "I'm going to have to do something about these hickeys before we go back to work."

Antonio's eyes widened. "What?"

"The hickeys. You gave me a lot of them. Ass."

Antonio shook his head. "No, no, not that. Lovi, what time is it?"

Lovino looked at the bedside clock. "It's two..."

"Oh shit! We have to get back to work!"

"Oh my God, you're right!"

Lovino rolled out of bed and onto the floor. "Ow! Crap!"

Antonio threw his clothes at him. "Come on! We have to get back to work before anyone notices that we're gone!"

It was quite a refreshing March day so Feliks decided for them to eat their ice cream outside on the store's patio, watching all of the people walk by them. Feliks licked his strawberry ice cream and looked at Toris. Toris bit through his chocolate-covered waffle cone and looked back at Feliks.

"Hey, Feliks?" he said.

"Hmm?" Feliks continued licking.

"Thanks for...all this." Toris gestured to the entire ice cream shop. "You know, it really helped me."

Feliks grinned. "No prob. You still totally owe me one, you know that right?"

Toris sighed. "Yes, I do."

Feliks giggled. "But you also know, that I'm, like, paying for this, right?"

Toris blinked. "Feliks, I couldn't do that! I'll pay—"

"Nope!" Feliks scooped up a small spoonful of his ice cream and flung it at Toris' cheek.

"Hey! Feliks, what was that for?"

"So that you know that I'm paying for this." Feliks took another spoonful and ate it. "Toris, you have sooo much chocolate on your mouth." He laughed.

Toris blushed. "Wh—? I do?" he said, oblivious to the chocolate smeared all over his mouth and cheeks.

"Yeah. You look like a five-year-old. Here." Feliks grabbed a few napkins from the little dispenser and began to wipe Toris' face. Toris' blush deepened.

"Umm, Feliks?"

"Yeah, what?" Feliks continued to rub the chocolate off his face.

"Ahh, never mind."

After a few minutes, Feliks removed his napkin, some red appearing on his cheeks. "There! It still looks a little brown, but most people won't notice."

Toris mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that, Toris?"

"Umm, thanks, Feliks..."

"No problem, Toris."

Alfred had not said a word to Arthur since they had gotten into the car. Arthur had stared out the window the entire time, muttering apologies to Alfred.

"You two are back," Natalia said, as they came in. "How did it go?"

"Good," grunted Alfred. And then he went and shut himself into his office, closing the blinds.

Natalia looked at Arthur. "Did anything happen on the sales-call? Alfred is normally not this sad."

Arthur shrugged. "Some things happened. That was it."

"Were you involved in any way?"

Arthur glared at her. "Natalia, it's personal."

"I was merely asking."

Arthur sat down and put his head on his desk, unaware that half the office was looking at him.

A few minutes afterwards, Lovino and Antonio rushed in an incredibly hurried state.

"A-are we late?" Lovino demanded, tying his tie back.

Arthur raised his head. "No, you're the second group here."

Antonio cocked his head to the side. "Arthur, are you okay? You look sick."

Did he look sick? He didn't even know, or cared. He only cared that he hurt Alfred, and he knew that he couldn't take back what he said. He had just hurt the only person he cared about...

"I'm fine," Arthur muttered.

"No, you're not," said Antonio. "I can tell."

"It's not your business," Arthur growled.

Antonio shrugged.

A burst of bubbly laughter reached Arthur's ears. Toris and Feliks walked in, looking at each other with bright eyes. Those two weren't together yet, but give them enough time...

Feliks pulled Toris' arm towards his desk. "Toris, come on!"

"Feliks, why're you dragging me?"

"Because, like, I've decided to give you a nickname! Let's go look for one!"

"...On the computer?"

"Totally!"

Arthur chuckled.

Ivan and Yao came in. Ivan was holding the baking tray while Yao ran behind him.

"Give those back, Ivan! I don't want—AHHH!"

Yao and Ivan were suddenly overrun by Yong Soo, Elizabeta, Katyusha, Feliciano, and Feliks (forgetting about his nickname search) grabbing at the baking tray and pushing Yao and Ivan.

"Me! Me! I want some."

"But I got here first!"

"Like, shove off! I want that one!"

"Dumplings were invented in Korea, but Chinese ones are great too!"

Ivan set the baking tray down on the reception's desk (able to avoid all of the clambering hands due to his height) and ran for his life.

"Now you see why I didn't want to give those out?" Yao said, putting his hands on his hips and glaring at Ivan. "It's utter chaos when I bring food in here."

"S-sorry, Yao! But they were just so good, and I thought that sharing them would be good for everyone."

Yao rolled his eyes. Soon, the crowd had gotten at least one bun and went back to their desks.

"Are those the baked bao buns?" asked Francis, peering into the abandoned tray. "Damn, there aren't any left!"

"We would have gotten here faster if you hadn't decided to have a little 'chat' with Mr. Bryant afterwards!" Ludwig said.

"The customer is important too, Ludwig!"

Alfred finally unlocked his office and looked outside. "Hey, is everyone back yet?" he asked. His eyes were rather puffy and red.

"Yes." Arthur stood up. "Alfred—"

"Looks like it!" Alfred smiled. "O-okay, salespeople! Conference room, 'k?" He ran inside.

Once everyone was seated inside, Alfred said, "Sooo! Can you all tell me how everyone did? Ahhh, Luddy, Francis, how about you?"

"We made the sale," Ludwig said stiffly, his eye twitching slighty.

"It went magnificent!" Francis added, looking very smug.

"That's great, guys! Anyone else want to go next?" Alfred looked around the room. "Or I'll pick someone!"

"Yao Yao's and mine went well," said Ivan, chewing on a dumpling.

"Awesome! Aaaand—"

"T-toris—mmmrf—like, was—mmmph—really good for his first call!" Feliks said, swallowing finally. Toris gave Feliks an incredulous glance.

"Antonio made the sale," Lovino said, trying very hard not to look at him. Antonio beamed.

"And you all know how my sale went," Alfred said.

Everyone gave each other concerned looks and muttered to each other. As cocky as Alfred could be, he normally acknowledged his sales partner.

"Today was a success, guys! You're all so amazing! I love you all! Tomorrow, I'm buying you all pizza! This meeting is OVEERRRRR!"

Everyone cheered and whooped and gave each other high-fives. Arthur stood up.

"Al, I need to talk to you—"

Eduard and Raivis stood in the doorway to the conference room, looking absolutely mortified.

"They forgot about us again," muttered Raivis.

"Oh, come on!"

Oooooh. Dramaz! :D Read and review, peoples, read and review!