Alfred tensed as he was embraced so readily, so desperately, so easily by his stern father. It filled him with such warmth. His happiness, though, left him as he heard his father's words and he felt his heart ache considerably. Shit, he really had screwed up this time.

The minute he saw his Dad crying, his strong, strict Dad, he couldn't help it. He cried too. And without another thought he wrapped his arms just as tightly around his Dad and did what he should have done three days before.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry. Are you ok? Does it hurt? I was so scared, and worried and I love you Dad. I love you so much. And I'm sorry!" He whispered insistently, knowing it was too little too late. Still, he hoped it would make a difference. Shit, shit, shit how could he have just left? Why didn't he come back sooner! Shit, he was horrible.

Arthur didn't answer him yet, instead, he hugged him even tighter, bringing him closer to his chest. He just wanted to make sure he was really there. He just wanted to hold his baby again. He didn't want to ever let go. He did, though, intend to respond but fate apparently didn't agree with him and his lost son was suddenly ripped away from him.

Alfred let out a surprised yelp as he was wrenched away by a surprisingly strong little girl. He furiously wiped at his eyes. He'd almost forgotten about the entourage he'd brought with him! Shit. They didn't need to see him and his dad having some emotional bonding! That was a little embarrassing...whatever.

Arthur, though, glared at the girl. He just got his son back, no way was he letting him go so soon. And who the hell was she anyway? In fact, who the bloody hell were these people? In fact, he was just about to ask when, once again, the girl stole his son's attention.

"Big Brother! Where is Big Brother!" She demanded angrily, pulling Alfred down by his collar with her small clenched fists. She was quite the intimidating pre-teen. "You said he vas here!"

Alfred gave her a nervous smile, "H-He is. Please let go will ya, Nat? I'll get him right now!" He assured quickly, trying to pry her hands off his shirt. Shit, she was gonna tear it! And this was like his third favorite shirt too!

Natalia glared at him but released him all the same. Only because he said he'd get Big Brother. Alfred breathed a sigh of relief, ready to enter his house and find Ivan. His boyfriend...a sudden wave of anxiety washed over him at the thought. He hadn't even talked to the big guy since forever! Especially after what he did...

"Alfred...what's going on?" Arthur asked, eyeing his son suspiciously. Alfred grinned at him sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, a nervous habit of his.

"..I'll explain everything later! Let me just get Ivan real quick!" He replied quickly, adding a nervous chuckle at the end before hurrying past his father and into the house. Arthur huffed but he wasn't angry. He was so relieved, so thankful, so happy. His baby was safe and home. He blinked when the girl, obviously fed up, pushed her way past him as well. How rude.

An older lady approached him much more timidly. He reddened at the sight of her bre—face. She bit her lip, trying to collect her words, became distressed, then gave up and simply hurried inside as well. It was perplexing at best. And then the third lady simply pushed past him without a glance, rapidly pressing buttons on her phone.

What a bunch of bloody arses. Arthur grimaced, sighing to himself before closing the door. He wanted to sit Alfred down and talk to him, and hold him, and revel in his presence. Oh! He needed to phone Francis! The man had no idea! With that in mind he left the strange group meandering in the hall to hurry toward the phone.

Alfred for his part hurried into the house, fidgeting a little because he hadn't spoken to his boyfriend since the incident. He wondered if Ivan would be pissed or would break up with him or both. But he couldn't! He'd found his sisters!

He was beginning to wonder why Ivan hadn't searched him out (because surely he'd heard him by now?) but he found his answer soon enough. He stepped into the family room, finding Ivan reading some book. Though, on closer inspection, it didn't seem like he was actually reading it. His violet eyes were glazed, staring at the wall without actually seeing anything. Alfred knew he was lost in his own little world from experience. He sighed, coming closer and smiling down at the big guy.

He really had missed him, he seemed almost like a little kid still. A frightened little kid with no one to turn to. He wanted to stroke the soft pale blond hair softly for a moment but then he remembered he was on a time crunch. Instead, he poked the Russian's nose.

The body below tensed, violet eyes jerking to look up at him.

"Hey big guy! Look I got som-"

Ivan fell off the couch with a shout. Alfred almost wanted to burst out laughing until he saw his boyfriend's face. He was shocked, eyes wide and mouth open, and he was shaking. He seemed to back away a little, apparently a little frightened.

"...Alfred?" Ivan asked in disbelief, because it couldn't be true. No. He was hallucinating or imagining or something. He'd just been imagining his father and suddenly Alfred was here. No his mind was playing tricks on him again, forever tormenting him. Why couldn't he just be left alone?

"Yep it's me! Don't worry man, I'm back and I'm here to stay!" Alfred said cheerfully, holding his hand out to help the tall student up and hopefully break him out of his little world. Ivan stared at the hand and took it hesitantly. The minute he felt the others strong, real grip he knew it was true. Alfred was back. Alfred didn't hate him. Alfred still cared for him.

Without another thought Ivan pulled the American down to his level with a quick, powerful tug. Alfred yelped in surprise, falling forward and landing on top of the Russian. Before he could even blink he was being bear hugged. He relaxed into the embrace, laughing lightly at the desperation of the action.

"Alfred...Мой дорогой Alfred." He whispered into the bright blond hair. Alfred blushed a little, not really understanding what he was saying but recognizing doro-something as meaning 'dear'. He pulled away a little from the crushing hug to kiss Ivan on the lips quickly. Oh god how he had missed doing that!

"Don't worry. Everything's gonna be ok now." He assured softly, smiling reassuringly all the while. Ivan stared at him unconvinced and refused to let him go. In fact, they probably would have staid like that together for hours if they weren't rudely separated.

Alfred felt a sense of deja vu as he was violently yanked away from his boyfriend and practically tossed away. He hit the floor with a groan. Shit that girl was strong. Natalia (who he assumed correctly to be the perpetrator) stood over Ivan with wide, disbelieving eyes—much like Ivan's own a few moments earlier.

Alfred held his breath as the two siblings stared at each other in shock and said nothing. He waited and yet they did not dare move or speak or anything. "Er...Ivan...I found your sisters." Alfred broke the awkward silence bluntly as per usual and waited for the response.

Ivan continued to stare at the ghost, sitting up ever so slightly. Finally, finally his mouth seemed to work and he tried to form words. "Natalia...Natalia is it you?" He whispered as if saying it louder might shatter this weird, wonderful dream.

Natalia stared at him and the usual scowl melted from her face, replaced with a trembling frown. Her eyes watered and she flung herself onto her lost brother, clinging to him desperately as if they'd separate them once more if she even thought of letting go. "Большой Брат! Иван, как я скучал по тебе! Никогда не оставляйте меня!" (Big Brother! Ivan how I've missed you! Never leave me again!)

Ivan tensed at the hug before relaxing in his little sister's embrace and holding her close. He whispered comforting words into her ear in Russian. It was completely lost on Alfred what he said but it didn't really matter.

He felt odd and out of place as the pair quickly began speaking hurried Russian together, most likely in order to catch up. Nibbling on his bottom lip, he quickly got up off the ground to leave the room. He didn't want to intrude on their little reunion. He winced, shit, falling to the ground was not the greatest thing for one's tail bone. He left the room without a word and entered the kitchen.

Arthur was making tea, staring at the two other intruders in his home meandering about his kitchen. They hadn't introduced themselves or explained their presence and their rude behavior was getting on his frazzled nerves. The only time they had spoken was when the vibrant blond (who was in fact male) asked for his address to give to his friend a few seconds prior.

When Alfred entered, Arthur straightened up and tried to resist the urge to hug his son to death once more. Later, he reminded himself. His renewed presence made him open his cell and attempt calling Francis once more. For some reason the man wasn't answering and it was pissing him off to no end. He needed to know their son was safe and sound! Damn, Frenchman

"Kat? Why are you still here and not with Ivan?" Alfred asked suddenly, staring at the fidgeting woman who was close to tears already. Shouldn't she have run in and hugged Ivan as well?

She wrung her hands together, looking at the ground and trembled slightly. Then, she looked over at Feliks, prodded his shoulder and gave him a pleading look. With an annoyed sigh, the man put his cell away mid text, and looked at her.

Katyusha gave him a grateful smile before speaking in hurried Russian. The man nodded as she finished and glanced over at Alfred. "She's like nervous about seein' him and stuff. Like, she left him for like 4 years or something and he could totally resent her guts by now." He translated halfheartedly.

Alfred blinked, "That's not true! He loves her! He's kept that scarf and he's always talkin' about her! She's gotta go see him!" The American insisted.

The Polish man translated once more and Katyusha began to cry. The man sighed, rubbing the distraught women's back and whispering a few words to her in her native tongue. Alfred felt a little uncomfortable. He wasn't really sure what to do with them all. Luckily, someone else acted before him.

Ivan poked his head into the kitchen, Natalia clutching him at his side.

" I heard cry—"

Katyusha lifter her head and stared at her baby brother. Her little baby brother. Her little baby brother who was now taller than she was. And she sobbed harder, unsure how to approach him. She wanted to hold him but her legs refused to obey her mind and she remained rooted to the spot.

"K-Katyusha..." Ivan whispered, eyes wide as his hands shot up to touch his worn and aging scarf.

And suddenly it didn't matter if Katyusha couldn't move from where she stood because Ivan had took the initiative and hugged her.

Alfred grinned at the reunited trio, feeling a warmth spread throughout his chest. He wasn't gonna fucking cry though. Nope. Not him. He was a man. Men don't cry because of feelings.

He tensed when he felt a hand clasp his shoulder and give him a squeeze. He turned around to see his father smiling at him softly.

"So was this what you were up too for so long?" Arthur asked quietly so as not to disturb the reunion—or at least that's what he assumed it was.

Alfred smiled sheepishly, "Sort of...I'm sorry Dad...for everything."

Arthur looked at him, smiled and squeezed his shoulder once more. "I'm proud of you." He said softly, with such an intense loving look in his emerald eyes.

And Alfred did cry because the statement was so out of the blue, and it seemed so honest, and fuck he craved those words every day and it was all just too much.

And Alfred clung to his father for the second time that day.

Toris paced nervously, back and forth in the airport lobby as he impatiently waited for Feliks' text. Where could they have gone? How could they have just disappeared with some stranger? How could they be so irresponsible?

He'd have to call the police! File a missing person's report! Something! He couldn't simply just stand here, pacing until he received another message from Feliks. If he ever did since his blond friend was being unusually silent. It was so unnerving!

He fidgeted in his worry, his eyes darting about the airport for the foreign trio in a vain attempt to locate them. Though he knew they were no longer in the building. However, he did spot a uniformed man. Airport security! Maybe they had seen them? Or something? It was a hope!

He glanced at his bags deciding not to risk them being confiscated if he left them unattended and dragged them over with him. He prodded the taller, more muscular man and waited nervously for him to stop speaking on his walkie talkie.

"Can I help you?" The man asked, looking down at him as he put the device in its holster.

"Er...Yes. I seem to have lost my friends..."

"Go to the main desk. They'll make an announcement for them to meet you there." The man replied quickly, annoyed at the simple request. He was much too busy for such trivial matters.

"N-No, you see...Uh, well, they aren't here anymore. My friend texted me that they got into the car with some strangers! They're foreigners and I'm worried and my friend hasn't texted me back nor told me any actual information on this stranger and I was hoping that maybe one of the security guards had seen them?" Toris asked in a hurried spill of language, the words bumping and melting against each other in his nervousness.

The security guard raised an eyebrow, lifting up his walkie talkie thing once more and speaking into the device. He paused a moment to ask for a description of his friends which Toris dutifully gave as best as possible.

There was a crackle on the device and a response, "Yeah, there was a bit of a commotion with a trio who sounds like that. Some young man, probably around 17 or 18 came up to them. They seemed to recognize him after a while and they all followed him out."

"Wh-What did he look like?" Toris asked quickly.
"Blond, tallish kid. He had glasses, couldn't get details from where I stood."

"Oh...Oh thank God." Toris breathed out, feeling relief well into him. The description was bad best but for some reason, he just knew it was him. The guard gave him a look and so the Lithuanian decided to hurriedly explain, "That sounds like a close friend of mine. I can just call him and confirm it and it should be ok."

He pulled out his phone as he spoke, ready to call when he felt it vibrate already. He looked down, seeing he had received a text from no other than Feliks. Well thank God!

He opened the message up and stared at the address. His suspicions had been confirmed.

"Err, thank you again! Everything's alright!" He thanked the man before scurrying off, dragging his baggage behind him with difficulty.

Francis sighed, tiredly trekking home after his long search for his son. He hadn't found him. Again. He was getting too old for these long searches on foot but he had little choice, Alfred had taken the other car and it was Matthieu's turn to search by vehicle.

If only his cell hadn't died mid search, then he could have called Matthieu to come pick him up. He groaned, wondering if he even wanted to go home so soon. Home meant a cloud of depression being pressed upon his very soul. It meant a devastated, angry Arthur, a quiet yet explosive Matthieu and a would be murderer.

He sighed once more, slowing down his steps. He'd taken a bus into the city and searched the area as thoroughly as he could for all the morning and most of the afternoon. Still, he had found nothing. The bus had returned him to the outskirts of his neighborhood and now he had quite the walk to partake in to reach home.

He tensed as a relatively silent afternoon was broken by the roar of a speeding vehicle. His once injured leg quivered underneath him and he quickly moved farther away from the road in a sudden panic. The car whizzed by and he cursed at them in colorful French. Really, this was a neighborhood with children around. They should be slower, who knows who they could hurt! He remembered the one time Alfred had almost been run over while playing in the street. If Arthur hadn't grabbed him at the nick of time who knew what could have occurred.

He blinked when the car suddenly stopped a few yards away from him and started to back up. Francis' heart accelerated slightly. Mon Dieu, had they heard him curse? Had they understood? Were they going to hurt him? In plain daylight no less! Non, they couldn't do that in such a nice neighborhood as this...right?

The car stopped beside him once more and the door burst open. Relief pooled in Francis' stomach as he recognized his son practically fall out of the vehicle and run toward him. He felt a bit stupid for not recognizing his own car but no matter.

His anxiety resurfaced once more at Matthew's desperation to reach him. "Matthieu? Qu'est qu'il y a?" (What is the matter?) He asked softly, worriedly.

"Papa! Papa he's coming back! He's coming back! He called me! He might be home already! We gotta hurry!" Matthew informed quickly, grabbing his father's hand before he could truly digest the information and dragged him toward the car.

Francis soon realized the meaning of the message and jumped into the vehicle. Forgetting his prior concerns, he urged his son to speed the rest of the way home in a hurry. Matthew didn't need to be told twice as he gripped the steering wheel tightly and recounted the odd conversation he had earlier with his brother.

Oh Dieu did Francis hope that Alfred was finally home safe and sound.

"Perhaps we should leave them be?" Arthur asked, glancing at the family reunion occurring in his kitchen. Alfred smiled and nodded after a moment. He had wanted to stick around and eaves drop but they were all speaking Russian so it was really no use. He'd have to interrogate Ivan about it later.

Arthur pushed his son toward the door to the family room and the two continued on their way until they sat themselves down on the couch. Alfred fidgeted in his seat, his father was giving out that 'we need to talk' aura around him. Oh shit. He was in trouble.

"Alfred...I.." Arthur faltered, "I understand why you left. I was harsh and demanding and unreasonable. But...why did it take so long, for you to come back? Or to even...to even talk to us?"

Alfred looked away, chewing at his lip. He could see the bruises on his father's neck and the guilt ate at him from the inside out. Still, he wanted to defend himself at least somewhat, "I...I was only gone like three days..." He tried.

"It didn't feel that way. For any of us."

Alfred felt even worse. "I had to...I had to fix everything and be a hero! I had to save Ivan! And I've figured everything out!"

"Save Ivan from what?"
Alfred fell silent, looking away, "Nothing. Never mind."

Arthur furrowed his thick brows, "Don't lie to me, boy."

Alfred remained quiet, feeling his father's stare grow in intensity. Shit, shit, shit he was so screwed! Luckily for him, they heard the door slam open and it distracted his Dad from mauling him for information.

"Who could—" Arthur muttered when his question was quickly answered as a young teenager barreled in the room.

"Al!" Matthew shouted, grabbing his brother and hugging him tightly. Alfred blinked but quickly reciprocated the hug, grinning from ear to ear. Of course that soon stopped the minute they pulled apart.

"You fucking idiot!" The usually soft spoken twin snapped, slapping him for good measure. Alfred blinked, though the slap was relatively weak it was still shocking.

"What? What did I do?" He defended quickly, cupping his face. He glared at his brother, dude needed to chill. He was home wasn't he?

"What did you do? What did you do! YOU LEFT. Do you have any idea how worried we were? How can you be so damn selfish all the time! Papa and Dad were at each others throats because of you! And worst! You left us with that—that murd—" Matthew's rant was short lived as Alfred covered his mouth quickly.

"Shut up, bro!" He warned, gritting his teeth and hoping his father hadn't caught that. Mathew continued to send him a glare, prying the hand away from his face. He was about to continue too when Francis finally made his presence known.

"Alfred."

Alfred blinked, looking up at his French father. He wondered if he was still mad at him, still disappointed in him.

"Papa...I...I'm sorry I..."

"Ne parle plus." (Don't say anything else) Francis smiled softly, coming closer and gathering him into his arms. Alfred visibly relaxed into the embrace. "I'm just happy you are home."

And Alfred was happy to be home as well. And he'd fixed everything too! Finally he could have a nice relaxing life. Ivan had his family, he had his own. Everything was gonna be ok.

"Al. You need to tell them. Right now."

Of course his twin just had to ruin everything.

Arthur and Francis looked at each other before staring sternly at their son, "Tell us what, Alfred?" Arthur asked slowly, suspiciously.

Shit. His twin just had to ruin everything.

I feel like I start every AN with an apology.

AND THIS ONE IS NO DIFFERENT.

I know i'm horrible. I am very sorry but I'm just so fricken busy.

Anyway, i hope you enjoy this chapter. It probs sucks. AND IT'S SO SHORT WHYYYYY *cries*

Anyways, chapters will become more frequent once second semester rolls in, I promise!

Thank you for all your lovely reviews and I hope to see you again soon!

MY LOVE FOR YOU GUYS IS UNDYING.