Here is chapter three! This time, Canada is awake. What will happen?

MONDAY

Canada awoke at his usual time. Confused he looked around his room.

'Was it just a dream?' he wondered. He walked over to his desk, seeing no note. The knife was also gone, but were any of them actually there? He stepped into his bathroom and stared at his reflection, dark circles rimming his eyes.

'Of course it was just a dream, they don't care enough to do that,' he thought bitterly. He splashed some cold water on his face, trying to ignore the sickening way his stomach churned.

Walking down the hallway, he was caught off guard to hear hushed voices from downstairs. Mulling it over, he went back to his room and retrieved his favorite hockey stick. Matthew clutched it to his chest as he edged down the stairs. Two figures sat on his couch, talking quietly. He was too far away to make out what they were talking about, or see who it was that was in his home.

He decided to move closer, hoping his invisibility would come in handy for once. Canada crept up on his two unsuspecting victims, until he was right behind the couch. By now the two had stopped talking, and we're just sitting there. Matthew raised his stick and brought it crashing down on a white head. The "intruder" howled in pain turning around to face him.

"Mien Gott birdie, what the hell was that for?" Prussia asked, rubbing the back of his sore head with narrowed eyes.

"Damn bro, when did you get here?" America piped up. Canada looked at them confused.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, lowering his stick to stare at the two nations.

"Keeping my promise, bro. You deserve better." Alfred replied. He took notice of the Prussian beside him, still rubbing his head. "You want some ice or something for that? That looked like it hurt."

"It did hurt," Prussia muttered through gritted teeth.

Now Canada was even more confused. "Promise?" he asked.

Alfred and Gilbert exchanged a glance. "He doesn't remember?" Gilbert mumbled, earning a shrug from the other.

'Oh' he realized. 'It wasn't a dream.' Matthew thought as he slumped onto the couch between the two of them.

"I remember," he replied wearily. A strained silence descended, as the other two struggled with what to say. Canada took no notice of their discomfort, opting to stare listlessly at the wall. A loud rap at the door came as a welcome relief. Opening it, Canada saw Russia and Cuba standing there.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT YOU STUPID AMERICAN!" Cuba shouted.

"Maple!" he squeaked, shutting the door. Prussia and America came in hearing all the noise.

"Who was that?" America asked, staring curiously at the door.

"It was no one! Nobody was there!" Canada chuckled nervously as he backed against the door, blocking them from opening it. Just then, someone started to pound on the door.

"Canada? Open up, I'm sorry!" a voice said from the other side.

"Let them in Mattie, they came to see you." America reasoned, walking towards the trembling Canadian. The door shuddered as a particularly heavy object crashed into it.

"Maple! No Al, don't open the door!" he protested, as Alfred picked him up easily and moved him aside. "Put me down! Don't let them in!"

Prussia opened the door at the same time as Cuba tried to break it down. He tumbled to the ground in a heap, while Russia smiled and waved.

"Hello matvey, we came to visit, da?" he said, stepping over the Cuban on the ground and closing the door behind him.

"er.. Hi R-Russia." Matthew said nervously, being set down. Cuba got up and dusted himself off and turned to look at the disgruntled Canadian.

"I did it again, didn't I?" he muttered, rubbing the back of his head.

"Yeah," Matthew responded. He fixed his gaze firmly at the carpet. Even when his so-called friends were trying to help him out, they still confused his identity. Matthew felt his spirits slip a few notches further.

"We are going to have fun, da?" Russia asked. Then he turned to Prussia and America. "You will be going now?"

"Ha, no way am I leaving you alone with my brother, commie!" America stepped forward towards the menacing Russian.

"Al, he hasn't been a communist for-" Matthew said quietly before his brother cut in.

"Once a commie, always a commie!" Alfred glared at Ivan. Prussia and Cuba had wandered into his living room away from Cold War 2.0, and were now looking at the decor.

"I'm going to go make something to eat, do you want something?" he asked. Nobody answered him.

Matthew sighed and looked at the people gathered in his home. They seemed to have forgotten about him. Again. He decided to just leave; today didn't look like a good one.

He cooked breakfast for himself and his bear. His thoughts raged about in his mind, in an endless swirl. He sat at his small table and gave Kumajiro some cooked fish. He moved his food around the plate, not really feeling hungry anymore. Sighing, he fed them to his bear, which looked at him for a bit before eating them.

He washed the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. All he wanted to do was sit in his room and brood. He heard Cuba yelling something in the next room. He made no move to investigate; he didn't really care right now. As he started to leave, somebody rushed at him, knocking him to the floor.

"Mattie! Don't sneak out like that bro! You had us worried sick!" the American cried, pulling his brother up off the floor. Matthew rolled his eyes and untangled himself from his brother.

"I just went to make breakfast, I told you that..." he trailed off, as his brother looked away guiltily.

"If you had been listening instead of arguing you would have known that." Cuba growled, glaring at Alfred.

"So what's the plan for today? It better be good, I'm not going to sit around all day," Prussia cut in, dispelling another argument.

"You pick Mattie, we'll do whatever you want." His southern neighbor smiled, wrapping an arm around him.

Matthew flinched a bit, not used to the contact. "It doesn't matter, really." he mumbled, trying to free himself from his brother's grasp.

"Hmm, how about we play hockey? You love hockey! We can use the rink out back." Alfred suggested, flashing him a boyish grin. Matthew sighed, before nodding. He had no motivation to even play his favourite sport but he allowed himself to be lead away from the kitchen and outside, just wanting the day to end.

-–-

Alfred led the group to his brother's old shed. Inside, was a little rink that his brother had made by hand. He watched as the other three countries look around in bewilderment.

"Heh, amazing right? He really outdid himself this time," he said, beaming at his brother.

Matthew looked at him and gave a small smile, but this wasn't genuine. He was going to make sure his brother was happy again. They suited up, borrowing some spare equipment Matthew had laying around. Soon they realized that they had an odd number of players.

"I'll sit out, I don't mind watching." Canada volunteered, starting to take off his gear.

"Oh no, you're going to play." America said quickly, stopping him.

"I will, I'm too awesome to play," Prussia suggested.

"Ok then! Me and Mattie against you two." Alfred said, dragging his brother off to the rink.

They played until half point, where they all agreed to have a little break, and then continue the game.

"That damn commie," Alfred growled leaning against the wall. "That was last shot was definitely a penalty! He's probably cheating." He slumped down a little, not noticing the hard object planted firmly in his back. He watched as the other countries started to get back to onto the ice.

"I'll show him, he's going down!" he declared, pushing hard off the wall. He stalked off, not noticing the temperature slowly rising.

And there it is! Oh Alfred *shakes head* you know this can't be good. Also, I forgot something in my chapter two. Germany isn't there! He will be replacing Lithuania in the schedule. Sorry Germany!