Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, which is good, because if I wrote it, nobody would know what it was or think that it was good.

"Heeeeyyyy!" Alfred bear-hugged the little boy standing outside the window, and although Arthur couldn't see Peter, he could tell it was him by the sound of his voice muffled by Alfred's shirt and some gagging noises.

"Alfred, sod off! You're choking him!" Arthur grabbed the American's shoulders and hoisted him off of the suffocating child. Alfred laughed and backed off as Arthur turned to see his little brother. He was eleven years old, the youngest in the family, but he had the same mother and father as Arthur, and they had grown up together, so Arthur felt attached to him differently than the rest of his brothers. He had shaggy blond hair similar to Arthurs (he also boasted similar thick eyebrows), blue eyes, and a large smile. He also wore this outfit that their mother thought was absolutely adorable on him.

It was a sailor shirt with a blue collar and a blue necktie that adorned white horizontal stripes, a matching blue cap, high white socks, and black Mary Janes. This outfit was bought by their mother when Peter decided he wanted to be a sailor when he grew up, and seeing as their father was a sailor, they accepted this future with open arms, and it is now his favorite outfit, even after their father was divorced from the family. He was holding the handle of a blue suitcase.

"Hello, Arthur," he said in a small yet loud childish voice. The British accent added a hint of cuteness – he sounded adorable, like a little happy puppy. Arthur got down on one knee and hugged his little brother.

"It's good to see you, Peter. How was mum?"

They released the embrace as Peter shrugged. "She was good, I guess. Work has been a little rough on her, you know?" He always liked to talk like an adult, because it made him feel important. He always felt left out, because everyone else in his family was older than him, and he was forgotten during graduation ceremonies, weddings, college acceptances, and other things like that.

"Well, that's too bad. I'm going to have to give her a ring later, then." Arthur stepped aside so Matthew could see him as well. Matthew and Peter hugged, exchanging a 'hello', but Mattie wasn't too talkative, and Peter began to work with it. Mattie backed off and grabbed Kumajirou from the counter.

Then Mr. Jones stepped in. "Hey, kiddo! How've you been?" he ruffled his hair through his hat, and Peter laughed, attempting to swat him off and straighten it.

"Good. I suppose you've all been the same?"

"Better than good, dude!" said Alfred. "We've made a new friend!"

Arthur rolled his eyes, wishing he could somehow tape his half-brother's mouth shut. He looked down to see Peter a little confused. Obviously, this didn't seem very important to him, so Arthur explained, "Yes, and we'd like you to meet her."

"Her?" Peter raised a thick eyebrow. "Is it a dog?"

Alfred and Mr. Jones barked in laugher (no pun intended). Arthur shook his head. "Come on, then! We can't have all of you standing around all day, lazy bums!"

Peter simply stuck his tongue out, but followed Arthur inside, with Matthew, Alfred, and Mr. Jones walking into the kitchen, the door clicking shut behind them.

"Peter, I'd like you to meet Victorea," Arthur gestured to the quiet girl sitting at the counter, watching Peter with a sort of curiosity. Peter was staring back at her with the same expression, letting go of his suitcase so it was freestanding. They simply stared at each other for a moment, and Arthur began to feel uncomfortable. It was strange, just seeing two people watch each other.

Peter then broke the silence, saying, "I like her."

Everyone broke out in laughter. They knew he didn't mean it as if he had a crush on her, but he was considered a good judge of character. They laughed because she didn't even get the chance to say hello yet.

Victorea raised an eyebrow, smiling nonetheless. "I suppose no hello is in order, seeing as I've already won your approval."

Peter beamed at this. That made him sound important – having someone need his authorization. He walked over to her and looked at her again for a moment. Victorea suddenly looked uncomfortable, having someone standing a mere foot away from her, examining her.

"Do you tell stories?" He asked suddenly. It took a moment for Victorea to process what he said, seeing as it was so random.

"Uhh…Well I've written lots before, but I've never told them out loud."

"Well that's okay too. Arthur is good at telling stories; he can just read one of yours. Where are you from?"

Victorea seemed to register this question a bit faster. "Oklahoma."

Peter nodded. "And what is your favorite color?"

"Yellow."

"Did you ever have any pets?"

"Nope, but I'd love a horse someday."

"Where do you live now? I've never seen you before."

"It's kinda off in the middle of nowhere, and I'm new here anyway."

"Okay…" Peter appeared finished with his random questions, and Victorea laughed.

"What is going on here? Am I being interrogated? I don't understand."

Laughter rung in the room. Peter smiled at her brightly. "I just like knowing these things about people. I can tell who they are and what they're like when I ask these. You're very pretty, by the way."

Alfred whistled at this, and Victorea giggled a bit, self-conscious, muttering a quiet 'thanks.' Then she pretended to scrutinize him, before pinching his cheek lightly. "You're pretty, too."

More laughter. Peter waved his hand in front of him, saying, "Oh please, you don't need to tell me something I already know."

Alfred and Mr. Jones almost died of laughter at this. Of course they could laugh at just about anything, so it really didn't matter.

"Yup," Peter turned to Arthur. "I like her. Now whose girlfriend is she? Is it Alfred's?"

Alfred puckered his lips at Victorea, making kissing noises. Arthur shook his head, unsmiling at this point. He wasn't liking Alfred being that disrespectful to her. "No, she's nobody's girlfriend."

Alfred, however, reached over and hugged Victorea, saying, "Oh yes she is! She's Arthur's girl!"

Victorea looked uncomfortable when being hugged in this manner, but was giggling nonetheless. Arthur reddened deeply, but said nothing, in case it would upset her.

He would kill Alfred later.

"Is she really?" Peter looked wide-eyed between the two, mistaking the embarrassment of the two.

"No, she is not. Alfred is just being a git," Arthur said as calmly as he could. It made his voice as cold as ice, however, and Alfred decided to back off of Victorea, who was really not returning the hug anyway – save for a hand on his arm.

Peter noticed some tension, his eyes darting between the two brothers in confusion, but he chose –wisely – to ignore it and continue on. "So what are we doing today?"

Arthur was glad that his brother asked that question. He didn't want to strangle Alfred in front of Victorea. "We're going out to town for a bit, because Victorea really hasn't seen anything."

"Really?" Peter was excited. "Can we go to the park?"

"Course, dude! And we've got a birthday present for you!" Alfred said, running into the hallway.

Victorea looked surprised. "Is this your birthday?"

Peter shook his head. "No, my birthday was September 2nd." Victorea raised her eyebrows at him, so he continued, "Alfred likes to get me gifts when I come over."

"He must have gotten it early then," Arthur inquired. "He's not usually one to get something early."

"Early?" Peter asked.

"We thought you were coming next weekend. He must have prepared something early for you." Matthew said. Peter got excited now.

"TAADDAAAA!" Alfred cheered, handing him a box wrapped in blue and white paper – a perfect fit for the boy.

Peter thanked him quickly, ripping off the wrapping in only a few milliseconds. Underneath was a box that contained a small sailboat and a remote control.

Peter grabbed the box and hugged it. "This is awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Alfred laughed. "No problem, dude! We should go to the park and try it out!"

"Yes!" Peter grabbed it and was already out the door before the others had time to blink.

Mr. Jones laughed. "Well I suppose I will be seeing you. Be home for dinner, though. Arthur," he reached onto the counter, grabbed a wallet, and handed him some cash, "here's some money for a snack somewhere. Have fun!"

"We will, Pa!" Alfred was running out the door as well, Arthur pocketing the money and Victorea and Mattie grinning and shaking their heads. The other three who were not already out the door made their way out to the sidewalk, with Alfred and Peter tapping their feet impatiently for them. Victorea did not notice when Alfred put on his bomber jacket, but there it was.

"So for downtown trips, like to the park," Mattie explained to Victorea, "We walk. It saves gas money, and the trip is never boring with Alfred."

Victorea nodded. "I can imagine. Is he always this full of energy?"

Arthur answered, "This is on his good days. You should see him on the Fourth of July, or the last day of school."

So they began their walk, with Victorea gazing at the quaint houses and lush summer scenery. Their house was on a dead end street, and they walked the opposite direction, and down a rather large hill. The cars drove by pretty fast, but there was a small stream of water that trickled down next to the sidewalk, and dropped a bit into a small waterfall, and to either side of the road was forest. It eventually gave way to a town hall and some houses, where the hill began to flatten out. They walked for a while, taking a few turns Victorea would try to remember for later on.

The entire time they walked, Alfred and Peter chatted with one another, ahead of everyone else. Matthew was behind them, hugging Kumajirou, just listening in to what they were talking about (something about the difference between an eagle and a seagull), and Arthur and Victorea in the rear, with Victorea gazing around at the lavish trees and blue sky and Arthur watching her from the corner of his eyes with a faint smile playing on his lips. She seemed so happy outside.

"So what is this park like?" Victorea asked Arthur suddenly. Arthur took a moment to process what she had said. Her eyes had stunned him a moment when she looked at him to ask the question, and he needed to regain his mental processes.

"Oh, it's really nice. It has lots of nice trees, and a cobblestone walkway with lots of flowers, and Lake Champlain is sort of in there, and we go swimming there a lot. Sometimes Alfred and Father go fishing, too."

"Wow," Victorea smiled, "that sounds nice. And another question?"

"Sure, love."

"Alfred calls Mr. Jones 'pa', and you call him 'father'?"

"Yes, and Matthew calls him 'dad'."

"I'm amazed he hasn't gotten confused yet," she said with a laugh that reminded Arthur of bells.

"Well he's pretty good with it," said Arthur, shrugging a bit.

"So…" Victorea looked uncomfortable. "Why did your mother…If it's not too personal a question," she added hastily. "Why did your mother…divorce all those men?"

Arthur would, under normal circumstances, have gotten angry at anyone who said this. It made his mother sound like a player and a cheater, but he couldn't seem to get mad at Victorea. "Well," he sighed. "I'm not sure. I think that she is searching for that one person, the one who is perfect and will make her happy for the rest of her life. And I think that each person she married did not possess qualities she wanted." Victorea listened intently to his words. "For example, the first person she married was Irish, and he was fun and friendly all of the time. However, she had learned afterwards that he was a heavy drinker and a bit strange with superstitions. The second time was with a man from Scotland, and while he was a great man to be with at a party, he would be aggressive and drink. The third time was with a man from Wales. He was cheerful and not much of a drinker – which was something mum had begun looking for – but he was lazy.

"Eventually she married my father, and had Peter and myself. Our father was a great storyteller and was very kind, but he kind of…I don't know. He seemed to hide it a lot under aggressiveness. He would rarely smile anymore, and when he did, it looked somewhat mean. He wasn't always like that, but I can't tell you when he became cold. That was something that must have happened when Peter was born. He just…Became mean." Arthur paused. Victorea smiled empathetically at him, and that gave him the drive to continue. "Well, after him it was Alfred and Matthew's father. You already know that he is fun and kind, but he was a bit…Unfaithful. He tended to whistle at other women, right in front of mum. He would flirt a lot, too."

"Something Alfred now has, huh?" Victorea raised an eyebrow, smirking. Arthur stifled a laugh, hoping Alfred, Matthew, and Peter didn't hear anything.

"Yeah, actually."

Victorea giggled, but as she looked ahead, her smile flattened out. She thought for a moment, then said, "I suppose nowadays a perfect family is hard to come by."

Arthur became solemn as well. "Well, our families aren't perfect, but they're still better than others."

"Way to be positive," Victorea chuckled. But that died quickly when she added, "I wish I could say the same."

Arthur raised his thick eyebrows in concern. But he smiled and said, "Do you remember earlier when you said I can tell you anything?" She nodded. "You can tell me anything, too."

Victorea smiled gratefully at him. "I appreciate it, Arthur, but I don't think now is the right time, anyway. Besides," She turned her head away so he couldn't see his face, instead looking at the houses on the opposite side of the street, "I don't think you would want to hear it, anyway."

Arthur thought about this. He didn't understand what she meant. He assumed it meant that he wouldn't want her to talk about her feelings, that it was something he said just to make her feel better, and didn't actually expect her to do it. He reached out and patted her shoulder. "Of course I would."

She looked back at him, and he realized she was sad enough to be driven to almost tears, her eyes moist. "No, not like that," she said with a sad smile.

"Wohoooo! We're here!" Alfred cheered, and Arthur sighed.

"Well, that's our cue, love. If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to," he said with a smile, mimicking her words from earlier. "But I want you to know that I will always be here for you. You're a part of the family now, remember?"

Victorea smiled back, looking comforted. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it, love."

….

Arthur couldn't help but peek over at Victorea as she smiled at the scene before them. It was as Arthur described. The park was a large clearing in the woods with a single cobblestone path that led from the road to the lake, and there were flowers of all kinds, tall grasses, and a few swings here and there. The pathway ended as the grass gave way to sand, and the crystal clear lake shone in the sunlight in front of them, with purplish mountains ahead of them – which was Vermont, if Victorea guessed correctly.

"This place is beautiful," she said almost breathlessly. The sun was high in the sky, and there were only a few puffy clouds here and there, and the light breeze kept the five cool in the eighty degree weather. "Do you come here a lot?"

"Yes," Mattie said quietly. Victorea and Arthur jumped, not knowing where he came from. "We come here as often as we can, even to study or draw or read. Of course, that isn't what Alfred does here."

The trio looked over to see Alfred and Peter attempting to open the box, with Alfred using his teeth and Peter pulling with his hands.

Victorea laughed at them. "Should we help them?"

Arthur snickered. "No, let's leave them. I'm finding this very entertaining."

"Me too," Mattie agreed. "Why don't we go sit by the lake?"

Victorea bounced up and down a little on her toes, squeaking a 'yes', and running to a spot at the water's edge that was shaded by a weeping willow tree. Matthew and Arthur looked at one another, a bit surprised at this random behavior.

Victorea sat down happily. Arthur watched as Mattie joined her, feeling happy himself. She was truly beautiful, as if the outdoors fit her like a glove. He walked closer, beginning to hear their conversation that they had already started. "So when did you get Kumajirou?"

The three continued their conversation for quite some time, with Alfred and Peter taking turns playing with the remote controlled sailboat. Their conversation drifted from Kumajirou to Mattie's hometown to Arthur's hometown, Victorea didn't talk about hers because nobody wanted to ask (even if Arthur was still curious), and that eventually somehow ended up as to who likes eggnog and why.

"It's really good, I think," Mattie smiled. "We only have it on Christmas, but it's still my favorite."

Arthur gagged next to him. "Absolutely not; that stuff is putrid."

The Canadian chuckled at him. "Don't mind him, Tia. He only really likes tea."

"Git! I do not!" Arthur huffed. "And since when did you start calling her 'Tia'?"

Matthew suddenly looked slightly bashful. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even realize I said it. It just kinda…slipped."

Victorea smiled at him. "It's alright. I like the name. At least people don't always spell it wrong like they do with my real name."

Matthew smiled at her. "Thanks."

Victorea shrugged. Arthur shook his head, but smiled nonetheless. Matthew opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by his twin brother – a common occurrence, actually. "Artiiiiiiiiie! I'm starving!" He whined, flopping next to Arthur in a heap. Arthur flinched away in disgust.

"Don't touch me, bloody-!"

"But I'm gonna die! I gotta eat something!" he pouted, his dramatic pleas muffled by grass.

Victorea raised an eyebrow in amusement as Peter flopped down similarly next to her. "Me too…" Victorea patted his head lovingly, pretending to comfort him. Matthew chuckled at the mock gesture, but Arthur looked a bit deeper. He saw something almost maternal gleam in her eyes. Matthew probably just either didn't notice or didn't think to look deeper, but she really looked like a mother soothing an upset child.

"Well why don't we go out and get something then?" Arthur stood up, but Alfred was already halfway to the walkway out before his British brother could even brush off his clothes. Matthew and Victorea laughed. "Well then," Arthur huffed. "Where should we go?"

"Oh! Can we go to Rome's Café?" Peter asked, sitting up and close to Victorea, and she stopped petting him.

"Sure, that's a good idea. It's been a long time since we saw Grandpa, don't you think so, Arthur?" Matthew asked quietly.

Arthur nodded slowly. Victorea was puzzled. "Your grandfather has a Roman restaurant?"

All of the four of them got up (Alfred was impatiently hopping up and down on the sidewalk at the end of the park). They walked in a line, Peter next to Victorea, Victorea next to Arthur, and Arthur next to Matthew. Arthur chuckled. "Well, he's really not our grandfather. Everyone just calls him that. And his restaurant isn't really Roman, but he is from Rome, and he would always tell stories to everyone about his home, so people like to call him 'Grandpa Rome'."

Victorea laughed. "And he's okay with the name?"

Matthew nodded, hugging Kumajirou tightly so its legs and arms dangled a little. "Yes, he loves the name. He's a very nice man. I'm sure he'd love to meet you."

Peter laughed. "I don't know if we can leave as soon as Father asked us to, though. He has never told Tia any of his stories."

Arthur made a 'whoopdie-fucking-do' face. "Lovely. We'll be there until three o'clock in the morning, then."

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm so sorry this is late – I had my stitches removed and I went to work at my Aunt and Uncle's farm for a while (the best place EVA), so I was real busy. I will try to get in another chappie or two before my trip to Disney World coming up in nine days.

Also note, I do not actually swear in real life. I like to say other things, but in this I wanted to add a bit of emphasis/humor (I know it failed I sorry ;-;), and that is one of the reasons it is rated T. I think.

I'm not hearing anything from you guys and it's making me sad ;-;. I want to know what you guys think about this, I've had, like, 200-something people read this and only one comment. I want to know what you guys would like for my 'Lazy Day' chapters. I have a few ideas, but I would like it if you could give me a scenario with any of the characters. It could be just Italy walking along the sidewalk, alone with his thoughts (which would actually be mostly about pasta), or it could be a couple pairing, or anything. It doesn't even have to be a character that was introduced yet. Like, if you wanted a bit of awesomeness, I could do a chapter about Prussia or something. But I REALLY want to hear from you! PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE.

~Dreampainter