This is the second chapter of the story.

WARNING: Drama, angst, USxUK moment.

Chapter 2: Something's Wrong

Toris knew he had to do something when he saw the shard of glass.

Without hesitation, he pushed Alfred out of the way, knowing he would be safe.

But as soon as he did, a sharp pain shot up his arm, and he fell...

"Toris! You're bleeding!" yelled Alfred. The horrified American tried to stay calm as he helped him stand.

Arthur quickly tore the sleeve on his right arm and wrapped it around Toris's wound.

"W-what were you thinking? You could have been killed for God's sake!"

"Shut up, Arthur! Don't make it worse than it should be!"

"How did this happen?"

"It's probably some gangsters from across the street. The sooner we get to Central Park, the better off we'll be."

Toris, unwilling to speak, just nodded. He now knew that something was definitely wrong. Someone had been stalking them. And by the way he had attacked them, he seemed to want to murder someone really bad.

20 minutes passed before they got to Central Park. They were all walking at a slower pace than usual, due to their worry for their friend. The incident had taken a huge toll on the brunette; he stared at the ground as he walked, didn't talk at all, and freaked out whenever he heard a rustling sound.

Alfred was the most worried of all. He had remembered something similar that happened recently. His thoughts shifted to what happened three days ago...

-Flashback-

"Alfred, I think there's someone following us."

"Ah, chill, Toris, the hero's here! No one's gonna mess with us!"

"But every time I look behind me, there's always this shadow..."

"Don't worry, Ivan's not here. You're just seeing things."

"It's not Iva...AAAHHHHHH!"

Alfred gasped as Toris suddenly grabbed his arm and ran. Alfred could barely run at the same pace, and he didn't know where they were going. Minutes seemed like hours until Alfred finally realized where they were going: the house of the Soviet Union. As soon as they entered the house, Toris let go of him and rushed up the stairs.

From the living room, Alfred could hear the brunette's frightened yells.

"W-what's wrong w-with Toris?" The younger Baltic brothers, Raivis and Eduard, had stormed in as soon as they heard them come in.

In the end, they had to call Feliks to coax him out of his room.

"Liet, you can, like, come out of the closet now..."

"FELIKS! Th-there was this guy...he had a knife...he looked like he was gonna murder someone!"

"Like, you worry wayyy too much, Liet."

The other nations could only watch as Feliks held the crying Lithuanian in his arms.

Alfred:*thinks*"Yep, he's definitely got paranoia..."

-End Flashback-

"Al! We're heerree!" Alfred smiled as Feliciano said those words.

Central Park. Once you're there, all your thoughts will instantly vanish into the beautiful foliage.

Everyone hoped to forget about the accident.

-12:00 P.M.-

"Are you done with those bloody burgers? How many of them did you buy, anyway?"

"Ummmmmmm, I don't know...five?"

"If you keep eating so much of those things, you'd probably won't be able to go as far as your front door."

"Fiiinnnee, I'll just get started on the soda."

"What is it with you and junk food?"

"It's really good! You should try it sometimes!"

"What? You want me to end up like YOU? Not a chance, you git!"

"Arthur, could you please leave Al alone? Maybe he just likes them too much..."

Both blondes stopped arguing when they heard the voice. "Why don't we just, I don't know, go to the zoo or something?"

"Yayyy! I wanna see some cute animals!"

Ignoring Feliciano, Alfred said, "Toris, stop trying to act like the hero here. That's MY job. And why did you have to protect me from that piece of flying glass? I told you, I can handle whatever comes at me!"

Toris closed his eyes, obviously struck by his words.

"Oh..that was a bit harsh...I'm sorry..."

"I-it's alright. *sigh* I protected you...because you're my friend. I just couldn't let this happen to you. You weren't prepared to defend yourself, so if I didn't do what i did, you would have been badly hurt, or worse..."

"T-Toris..." Alfred didn't know what to say.

"Harold, when are you coming home?"

Harold, who had been writing in a notebook, stared at his sister in irritation. He thought she wasn't coming back.

"I don't know. Whenever I feel like it." Under his breath, he added, "Like I even want to go."

"I heard that."

"Eh, whatever. I'm just gonna stay here. It's bad enough that we have to live with our crazy aunt."

"Fine. Just tell me if you need anything." *thinks* "My brother seriously needs a hobby."

She left, her long red hair trailing behind her.

"Thank God." He said as he scribbled into his notebook again.

Freedom, Day 366.

"Today was the same as every other day I had since I came home. I woke up early, ate breakfast, went to buy hardware, get bugged by Karey, and all that other stuff.

However, today will be the first day, in years, that I saw...him.

He was there, walking with this stupid smile on his face. It made me want to beat the living hell out of him. He was wearing those crazily expensive leather clothes while forgetting about me altogether...

I even tried to get his attention, but I ended up failing. Stupid former best friend."

He had just finished writing when he looked out the window, and thinking he saw a familiar face there.

- 3:00 P.M.-

"That was so much fun! And thanks for taking us to that fancy restaurant, fratello!" *It means big brother in Italian*

"Thanks for appreciating my present, Feli. I knew what I was doing, of course."

"For once, I'll agree with you, Francis."

Toris smiled. At least everyone was getting along now. They had gone to the Central Park zoo, played a bit of soccer, and gone to a really nice restaurant. The best part was, no one thought of arguing when they hung out, and when they did, they quickly settled the dispute.

"That day was totally awesome! But we all gotta go home now." Alfred sounded quite disappointed.

"That sure was! Come on Francis, let's go home and make dinner!"

As Feliciano and Francis walked off, Arthur turned to Alfred.

"Um, take care Alfred."

"Until next time, Arthur."

They hugged each other, as Toris secretly took a picture with his cellphone...

"Taxi!" Arthur called out. As he got in, he waved at Alfred.

Alfred waved back, looking at him lovingly. Then he turned to Toris.

"Hey, you gonna be alright, Tor? Do you want me to walk with you?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself."

"Okay. When I get home, I'll call you."

And with that, he merrily walked home.

Toris watched as he faded into the distance. Then he turned to walk back to his own home.

As he walked, he wondered what his brothers would think if they found out about his arm. Would they freak out, or just worry for a while and stop?

As he considered that, his eyes fell on the broken down house next to him. He heard yelling, which was clearly audible.

Curious, he went closer to investigate. Putting his ear to the wall, he froze as he heard what the man was saying:

"He's the one who did it."

"It's all his fault!"

"I'll get him someday."

"He's gonna get beat up."

"... Alfred F. Jones!"

At the last phrase, Toris pulled himself from the wall, breathing heavily. Now full of disbelief and outrage, he ran from the building.

As he ran, he mentally shouted, "I GOTTA TELL ALFRED!"

He was stopped in his tracks when he ran into something.

He looked up and gasped. A well-built man with dark hair and gray eyes was staring at him, and he was definitely not pleased.

"Excuse me kid, what are you doing on my property?"

Toris didn't answer, silenced by the fear that ran through his blood.

"Finally! I'm back!"

Alfred had just gotten home and was now relaxing on the couch. He decided to text someone, and as he took out his phone, he remembered.

He was going to call Toris.

He selected the number in his contact list, and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey, it's me, Toris. I'm not here right now, so please leave a message."

Alfred was left a bit confused. He did tell Toris that he was going to call, right?

He tried a few more times, but without success.

After the 20th time, he grew worried.

After call #49, he went back to his contact list.

Arthur was enjoying a cup of tea when the phone rang.

"Good afternoon, Arthur Kirkland speaking."

"QUICK! GET OVER HERE! SOMETHING'S GONE TERRIBLY WRONG!"

That's all I have to offer for this chapter.

Anyways, rate and review.

Until next time,

Blue Cotinga Girl