Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, blah blah blah…Enjoy :)

Chapter 13

"Arthur and Tia, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Alfred sang, earning a laugh from everyone except the two mentioned.

Simultaneously, as if the two of them had been prodded with hot iron, they jumped away from each other, blushing furiously. Arthur threw a glare at his American half-brother that would have melted glass, but he remained unfazed as he continued his song. Victorea bopped his head lightly with the palm of her hand. "Shut up," she mumbled, giggling as he stuck his tongue out at her.

"Cake now?" Peter asked Victorea eagerly. "Please?"

Victorea blinked at him a moment, pretending to think. "Well, I don't know…"

"Pleeeeease?" Peter grabbed her shirt and pulled ever so slightly.

To everyone's surprise, Victorea squeaked and jumped away from the confused child. It took her a moment to realize what happened, but she immediately shook off whatever the hell that was and nodded. "Sure."

Forgetting that ever happened, Peter and Alfred cheered and jumped to the table, already grabbing their silverware and waiting impatiently. Arthur reminded himself to slap Peter later. While everyone else went to the table, Victorea stayed a moment, staring at the wall, lost in thought. Arthur silently walked over to her. "Uh, Victorea? Are you alright?"

She blinked at him, then laughed. It made him blush. God, that laugh… "Yeah, I'm alright. Come on!" she jumped over to the table, with as much eagerness as Alfred and Peter had before her. Arthur smiled and rolled his eyes, joining the rest.

Mr. Jones took out a lighter and lit the candles on the cake that was still sitting on the counter, the boyish joy on his face glowing with as much radiance as Alfred's. Matthew looked like he wanted to smack his twin upside the head.

Everyone began to sing 'Happy Birthday,' and Victorea blushed a deep shade of red and covered her face, giggling. She had no idea what to do with herself. The song wavered as they laughed a little at her actions, but continued happily, only breaking again as some people called her 'Tia' and others called her 'Victorea.' She finally revealed her face when the song was ended and everyone was cheering for her to expose…Tears? She looked so happy, but liquid began to form in her eyes that he could tell she was trying her hardest to fight back. Seeing as he was next to her (the others purposely left the seat open for him, of course), he reached over and patted her shoulder. She glanced over at him and nodded, the smile on her face brighter than the sun in July, making his face red as well. He smiled back, assured that they were tears of joy, as Mr. Jones set the cake down on the table.

"Make a wish, kiddo," Mr. Jones said, sounding much quieter after the shouting of the song. Victorea looked at the cake and scrunched her face up in thought. Arthur couldn't help but smile for what might have been the millionth time that day. She just looks so adorable… A small, sad smile replaced her previous expression, and she closed her eyes and muttered something under her breath, too quiet to hear. Whatever she was wishing for, she was wishing hard. She blew the candles out gently, and everyone cheered for her again.

"What did you-a wish for, bella?" Feliciano asked happily.

She laughed and shook her head furiously. "Nu-uh! I can't tell you! It won't come true if I tell!"

But as they ate the cake, Arthur couldn't help but wonder what she wished for.

…

"Thank y'all so much," Victorea hugged each one of the guests goodbye. "I had so much fun!"

Each one returned the sentiment in their own language before leaving. Once they were gone, Victorea went right to her gifts and laughed. "I have no idea how I'm going to bring all this stuff back!"

As she conversed with Mr. Jones and Peter about what to do with all of the miscellaneous items strewn out around the couch, Arthur was too fixated on her bubbling form to realize that two particular twins had made their way to either side of him, trapping him.

"Dude," Alfred whispered loudly, making Arthur jump right into Matthew, whom he didn't even notice was there. Matthew only grunted and took the blow, letting his brother speak again. "Nice job with the gift."

Arthur huffed under his breath, trying not to look pleased with himself. "Oh, belt up. I don't see why you're complimenting me now of all times." His voice sounded much harsher in a whisper.

Matthew chuckled. "I thought she was going to kiss you, she looked that happy!" He whispered.

The Brit froze where he stood, blushing furiously. Alfred tried to bite back a laugh. "Oh, come on, dude! Ask her out! It's her birthday, after all!"

"What?!" Arthur tried his hardest to refrain from actually yelling. He could tell that the other three began to notice their side conversation, but they chose to ignore it for the time being. "I've only known her for a bloody week! Not to mention I don't –"

"Oh, yeah you do," Alfred winked and nudged him with his elbow. "You liiiiiiike her, man!" While Arthur had come to terms with it, he was not going to allow the others to think so. Unfortunately for him, it was plainly obvious. Arthur scoffed at him and crossed his arms tightly, too flustered to say anything else, much to his displeasure.

"I think she likes you, too," Matthew whispered. Arthur froze again, listening intently. "It makes sense. I'd ask her out if I were you."

"I do not like her," Arthur hissed.

"Yeah you do ~" Alfred sang quietly.

"No, I do not!" Arthur was trying desperately to keep his voice low.

"Of course you do~"

"Belt up! I can't fall for someone in just a week!"

"Says who?" Matthew shrugged nonchalantly. "You did. She did. Makes sense."

"It would be much more romantic that way ~" Alfred pretended to swoon. "Come on, you know you want to."

"I. Do. Not." Arthur mumbled. "I do not feel that way towards her, and…And she does not feel that way towards me. End of discussion." Arthur stormed off, too spitting mad for any more words. He failed to notice the glance of sympathetic understanding between the twins at the last statement.

She doesn't feel the same way, so who cares? I haven't known her long enough! But… He stole one last glance at her, only to notice she was watching him as well, confused as to why he was leaving to his room in such a huff. He blushed and turned back around to his room, closing the door behind him and sitting down on his bed, tucking his knees up to his chin and wrapping his arms around his shins. Why would she like someone like me…

He doesn't know how long he was in there, but after a while, he realized that he was shutting himself away while it was her 16th birthday. He decided that he would be happy with her today; he could wallow in his own pity any other day. He opened the door and was startled when he heard something…Something beautiful.

He turned his head to see the other boys of the house peeking into the music room, spying on something. He immediately noticed Victorea was not with them. Alfred saw him and ushered him in, a huge smile on his face. As Arthur inched closer, however, he began to recognize the sound. A piano? It must have been from a CD…It sounded beautiful. Who wrote this?

He peeked his head around the door and felt his eyes widen. It was her?!

Victorea had seated herself at the piano, and was playing with such beauty (in both the song and in her appearance in Arthur's eyes) that it would have made Beethoven weep. Her fingers seemed to caress the keys on the piano instead of tap them, and the notes were pure and rich and flowed into one another like soft waves on a beach. He felt himself become…Infatuated with the scene. It was almost too much for him to bear. The beauty of the girl before him seemed to pour out of each note she played, overwhelming his eyes and ears in a lovestruck bliss.

He was so hazed by the scene that he didn't notice the other four trying not to laugh at him.

Victorea immediately turned her head at the sound, her music slamming to a halt, and she stood up hastily, blushing, looking like someone who had been caught doing something they shouldn't have been doing. The standstill of sound smacked Arthur like a wall, and he blinked in confusion for a moment as Victorea stuttered, "Ah, I'm…I'm r-really sorry, I just…"

Mr. Jones laughed his hearty laugh, walking in the room and patting her head roughly. She seemed confused. "Tia, why didn't you tell me you did this kind of stuff? I've got a whole room for music! Don't be so shy! Play us a song, huh?"

Alfred and Peter jumped in and cheered. "Yeah! A song! I want to hear a song, too!"

Matthew chuckled at Arthur, who still seemed like he was battling the haze of waking up early. "Arthur?"

"Wha?" Arthur blinked at Matthew. Matthew sniggered, but said nothing more. He carried his stuffed polar bear into the room with him and stood beside Mr. Jones, who was laughing at Alfred and Peter. Victorea still looked confused.

Arthur walked in eventually. "Love, didn't you say you played more than just the piano?"

Victorea smiled at him, making his stomach twist. "Yeah, I play the guitar and pan flute, too."

"Didn't you say Chinese flute?" Matthew asked.

Victorea blinked, then giggled. "Oh, right. I play that, too. I just started learning it."

"Duude!" Alfred laughed. "Play one!"

Victorea looked at him a moment, lost in thought. Arthur noticed she did that quite a lot, like she required all of her energy to think, and she would stop whatever she was doing to stare at something random as if attempting to recall something. Suddenly, she snapped her fingers and ran to her bag, which was placed delicately at the foot of the cot she slept on. She pulled out something that Arthur had seen on her more than once.

"Is that your necklace?" Alfred asked, puzzled. Arthur studied it a moment as she held it up. He always saw it on her, and always wondered exactly what it was. It looked like one of those cases that you can place around your neck in amusement parks to keep your wallet or phone in to prevent it from getting wet. It had a long black strap and a yellow, plastic, rectangular case that rested a little below her breasts (not that Arthur was looking or anything). It sometimes jangled a little – plastic against plastic – whenever she moved suddenly. And she almost always had it on her, save for today, for some reason.

"What's that for?" Peter asked, curious.

"This," Victorea set it gently over her head so it hung down her neck as it always had, "is very special to me. It was my mothers, you know."

"What is it?" Alfred asked as she sat down at the piano.

Victorea opened the top of the case with a pop, and pulled out…A small tape recorder. "My mom would always sing to me, and she used this to play the music, and left out the words so she could sing them herself. I have some of her music on here, and I made some of my own for some of the songs I play on my instruments," she explained. "Here, I'll show you."

She tapped a few buttons here and there, and the five males of the house crowded around the piano to listen. She finally pressed the PLAY button, and tapped her foot three times before beginning. The recorder played a small, happy tune with a violin and a xylophone, and she smiled as she played a beat so happy that everyone couldn't help but smile and dance along. Even uptight Arthur smiled and tapped his foot to the beat, laughing as Alfred swung Peter around the room in his moment of delight.

Arthur stole a glance at Victorea, and smiled at the sight. She was tapping her foot to the beat, smiling and swaying slightly, her eyes closed as she played the piano masterfully. He decided that he would ask questions later. For right now…

He just wanted to enjoy the music.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Okay, to start off, about her recorder necklace, I edited the previous chapters to include that, but like I said, for some reason, whenever I try to edit any of my chapters, they don't upload correctly and nothing happens, so I'm really sorry that that's just new info being thrown out at you ;-; I also picture the song "All of Me" by John Shmidt when she plays the piano for the first time – look it up! It's a really good song, and I think it's the one she played when the boys were snooping on her.

Second, thanks to Pineapplebombgirl for being so supportive! I wouldn't have even continued the story had she not been here to help! Thanks! ~

And lastly, I know it's kinda short, but I really have no idea what I'm doing anymore, so I'm going back to plotting the storyline, because I've found a bunch of issues with the original storyline. But I will try and update again soon! Thank you all who've stuck with me this far!

~Dreampainter