...

~(WMD)~

So sorry this took so long to update. I spent a few days correcting the formatting of my other stories. You were totally right Amy! That was an odd way of writing. lol I just wish someone would have told me 100k words ago T.T

I'm still new to writing fanfics, so there are bound to be mistakes~

Anyways! This chapter is more of a setup chapter so I'm sorry if it's a little boring. This also turned out to be really long. I'm still wondering if I should make this story episode-like or just flow through it - which would take forever. What do you think?

'Thoughts' "Speech"

~(TS)~ = Time Skip

-(SC)- = Scene Change

Warnings for - Unorthodoxed Greetings, Cheeze Teasers, and Silky Intruders

xXx xXx xXx

The Ebb and Flow of Worries

"Alfred, get your cat off the dashboard. That's highly dangerous." Arthur instructed as he slowed the car and made a right turn.

"Sorry, Artie." Alfred laughed as he reached over and lifted his fluffy cat and set him back on his lap. "I think Hero's just excited. He probably already knows where we're going."

"Why didn't you just put him in a cat carrier? He'd be less of a nuisance that way." Arthur replied as he gave the squirming cat a side glance and frowned. The furry creature had spent most of the ride standing in Alfred's lap with his paws on the dashboard or window for a better view. It was really quite ridiculous.

"Dude, you try and put Hero in a cat carrier and see what happens. I'm not risking it again." Alfred shrugged. "Besides, he's not really used to riding in cars. This is probably entertaining for him."

Arthur didn't bother responding to that as he focused on his driving. He wasn't very happy about the idea of dropping Alfred off at his brother's house and then leaving them alone without proper supervision. This whole situation made him nervous. It seems last month's clever trick of sending Matthew back home had only been a temporary solution.

He let out a weak sigh and glanced over at his ex-colony. The teen was looking out the window, clearly daydreaming again. Ever since Matthew had gone home a month ago, Alfred has been completely unfocused. Arthur thought it may have been due to him still having a touch of his cold, but he seemed perfectly healthy now and he was still acting like he was only half here. 'I wonder…'

"I say, Alfred. What has been on your mind lately?" Arthur asked with sincere interest. The Englishman lifted a large eyebrow when the teen flinched by the sudden sharp tone he had accidentally spoken in, then looked over and gave him a sheepish smile with a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Huh?" Alfred replied on impulse as he searched for the right words. "Oh, I've been thinking about the upcoming World Conference, of course." The teen finally said, ending his statement with an unusual laugh.

Arthur frowned in response. 'Well, that was a lie.' And it obviously was. After years of knowing the American personification, it was actually quite easy for Arthur to catch on quickly when the teen was lying about something. That is, unless he was prepared to lie beforehand, then he could be quite believable indeed. But this, this was a lie and it only made Arthur even more suspicious of what had been preoccupying his ex-colony's mind for the past month.

The Englishman's attention was brought back from his thoughts as they neared Matthew's house. "What the bloody hell happened here?"

Alfred snapped out of his own thoughts and looked as well. He frowned when he noticed a dark blue car parked under the large maple tree in his brother's front yard. The old fence that usually framed the yard was now in pieces and the grass was torn up by tire marks. "I don't know…" Alfred finally replied. "But it doesn't look good."

When Arthur finally parked the car in Matthew's driveway, Alfred opened his door and got out. He was quickly followed by Hero, who dashed past him and disappeared around the house. That might have worried Alfred if he didn't know exactly where his cat was heading. Which was, no doubt the kitty door in the back. This was probably the most exercise Hero had gotten all day.

Arthur got out as well and eyed the beat up car under the tree a little ways away from them. "Doesn't that car look familiar?" He asked as he decided to walk over and investigate.

Alfred didn't reply as he reached into the backseat and pulled out his navy blue travel bag. He wasn't really that worried about the car. What he was worried about however, was his brother's mood. 'Mattie's probably pissed right now…' Alfred sighed depressively. 'That sucks.' He was really looking forward to spending some time with Matthew. But it would be no fun if his brother was upset.

Alfred opened the front door and walked in quietly. It was different from his usual excited arrival. He didn't want to make the Canadian's mood any worse. After carefully setting his travel bag down by the coat rack, he was greeted by a happy familiar voice, though it wasn't his brother's. Alfred looked up curiously to see who it was, but before anything else, he caught sight of Matthew. The Canadian locked his violet eyes with him as well.

Relief washed over Alfred at the sight. 'Mattie's not mad right now…' He couldn't resist giving his twin a bright smile as his worries subsided almost instantly. 'That's awesome!' He mentally cheered.

-(SC)-

"Doesn't this car belong to Romano?" Arthur pondered aloud as he peeked through the window. Tomatoes were scattered throughout the front seat and a few were even located on the dashboard. He gave the scene a deadpanned look. "That answers that…" Arthur said as he took a step back to evaluate the damage. In truth, he was just wasting time so he didn't have to go inside immediately.

After checking, he found that the car had many scratches and dents but most of them appeared to not actually be from this particular accident. Three of the tires were also flat. Scratch that, all of the tires were flat, the Englishman concluded after squatting down to check the last one. Something red caught his eye from underneath the car.

"Is that... a mailbox?"

Arthur's attention was instantly pulled away from the vehicle when he heard a loud yelp, followed by a startled cry from Alfred a second later. He turned his head just in time to witness the American and a familiar smaller man, crash painfully to the sidewalk just outside the front door.

"Alfie!" Whisper-shouted a familiar voice from just inside the house.

"Feli, you idiota!" Followed directly after by another familiar voice.

"Are you two alright?" Arthur asked as he quickly made his way over to the two countries sprawled out on the sidewalk. "That looked like a nasty fall."

"I'm just peachy…" Alfred breathed out sarcastically from underneath Feliciano, a painful expression was just barely evident as he gave Arthur a weak smile.

"Ai-ahhh…" Feliciano whined as he pushed himself up. He then sat back on the sidewalk to look at his knee.

"Ah! Look what you did, stupid America!" Lovino raged as he rushed over to his brother, who was now holding his knee and rocking back and forth muttering something under his breath.

"What did I do?" Alfred retorted as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. He then put a hand to the back of his head and closed his eyes, feeling a tiny bit dizzy.

Matthew, who had come outside as well, made his way over to his own brother and knelt down next to him. "Are you ok, Alfie?" He asked quietly in concern as he took his brother's hand away to check his head. Arthur had also knelt down next to the American to check him for other injuries.

"We should get that bandaged." The Englishman said as he eyed Alfred's scraped elbow.

"What?" Alfred asked as he lifted his arm to see for himself. "No, it's fine." He dismissed on impulse as he pulled his arm out of reach.

"You're getting it bandaged, Al." Matthew said with finality as he stood up. He then held out a hand to his brother. Alfred sighed but accepted Matthew's help and got back onto his feet. He didn't really want to argue right now. It just wasn't worth it.

-(SC)-

Hero, who had hopped back onto the dining table after everyone had left, was now enjoying the rest of the cheese on the plate. His ears perked when he heard a quiet mew from down below. The fluffy Ragamuffin abandoned the cheese momentarily to walk over to the corner of the table and peer down. Bright violet eyes stared up at him, as Maple stood up and put his front paws on the table leg. He wasn't allowed on the dining table.

Hero mewed back happily at Maple, then disappeared from sight. Maple's ears perked curiously as he resisted the urge to jump up onto the table himself. A moment later, his friend reappeared with a slice of cheese in his mouth.

Maple eyed the cheese eagerly and purred in anticipation. Hero swished his tail a few times as he watched the other cat try to stretch out to him as far as he could while keeping his back paws on the floor. It was quite entertaining. After about 30 seconds, Hero finally crouched down then released the slice of cheese from his mouth. It landed directly onto Maple's face, startling the fluffy Ragamuffin.

Kumajiro, who had been watching the two cats with an alarming lack of interest, switched his attention back over to the front door. His favorite person had his moments of clumsiness for sure, but the amount of clumsiness he had just witnessed from their guest, was on a different level entirely. He actually felt a sliver of sympathy for his owner's doppelganger. Only a sliver though. Kumajiro still remembered the cookie incident a month ago. Bad memory aside, he always remembered snack tragedies.

~(TS)~

"That was totally epic, Feli! I've never been greeted at the door quite like that before." Alfred laughed loudly as he sat in one the chairs at the dining table. He had collected Kumajiro from the floor when they had entered the house and now the small bear was sitting on his lap staring grumpily at his owner, who was busy doing something in the kitchen.

Arthur was trying his hardest to ignore the teen's obnoxious laughter as he stood beside him, wrapping a bandage around his injured elbow, now that the wound was clean. Alfred hadn't put up that much of a fight this time, which was pleasing but still a bit odd at the same time.

"Veee~ I'm sorry about that, Alfred. I just wanted to give you a hug, but that area rug came out of nowhere!" Feliciano replied with a laugh of his own. "I didn't see it at all~"

"I don't have an area rug…" Matthew informed as he walked out of the kitchen with an icepack.

"You don't?" Feliciano asked as he looked over to the front door. A frown slowly formed when he saw that it was just bare hardwood.

"You probably just tripped over your own feet again." Lovino said as he tried to apply a band-aid to his brother's knee. "Would you stop moving!" He snapped. Feliciano turned his frown to his twin but stopped moving as directed. He could have sworn he really did trip over something.

Kumajiro sulked as he looked over at all of the unexpected guests. The small bear wasn't really impressed with the crowed of people that had happened upon them in such a short amount of time. Especially since he had only been expecting one person, and that one person was definitely enough.

Matthew walked past the two Italians and came over to his own brother. "Are you sure you're alright, Al?" He asked as he gently put the icepack to the back of his twin's head.

"Yea, I'm fine. It wasn't really that bad." Alfred reassured as he raised his hand to hold the pack in place himself. "I just wasn't expecting to get tackled at the door when I arrived. That's all." He finished with a more subdued laugh.

"And here I thought you were always on your guard." Arthur teased as he made the final wrap on Alfred's bandage. He really wanted to tell the teen, that perhaps he should have been paying more attention, but he decided not to add insult to injury this time.

"I didn't think I needed to be on my guard, here." Alfred retorted with a pout. Matthew gave his brother a small smile as he mentally laughed at the American's defensive response. Though it did leave him feeling a bit pleased that Alfred would actually admit to not being on his guard while at his house.

The Canadian silently turned his gaze over to Arthur and frowned. An obvious question had been floating around them for awhile now. He just wasn't quite sure how to word it so that it didn't come off as sounding rude.

"By the way." Matthew began as he picked his next words carefully, so as to not offend the Englishman. "What brings you here, Arthur? You almost never come to visit."

Arthur frowned at that accusation. He visits, …it just hasn't been for awhile. "Alfred gave me a ring and told me he needed a ride…" He finally said after pushing his previous thoughts aside. "The wanker had his bike stolen." He added with a hint of amusement, though he was still a little irked.

The Canadian's eyebrows rose slightly. "Seriously? Someone stole your bike?"

"Yea, just yesterday." Alfred informed depressively. "They took her right out of the driveway."

Matthew chewed on his lower lip as he contemplated his next question. "Did… you leave your keys in the storage compartment again…?" Alfred instantly shot him a hard look. That was all the answer Matthew needed. "Al, I warned you it would get stolen if you kept doing that." The Canadian sighed, though he did actually feel sorry for Alfred. He knew how much work his twin had spent on that motorcycle. The American had even rebuilt it from scrap about three times.

"Yea, I know." Alfred grumbled. "Guess I'll have to get a new one, it won't be the same though…" The American looked really down about this, making his brother feel even more sympathetic.

"Maybe it'll turn up, you never know." Matthew replied, trying to sound optimistic, in hopes that it might lighten the mood.

"Whoever took it has probably already scrapped it and sold the parts for profit." Arthur said, completely reversing the effect of the Canadian's encouraging words.

"Don't say that!" Alfred exclaimed as he turned and gaped at the Englishman, whereas his brother quickly shot a disapproving glare.

"You should really get a proper mode of transportation, like a car. I was always afraid you were going to break your neck on that stupid thing. You're far too reckless!" Arthur finished while crossing his arms, standing his ground on the issue. He really had been worried. On more than one occasion he had found himself holding his breath as the teen attempted one of his tricks. Nonetheless, guilt slowly started to build inside Arthur as Alfred stared back at him with his signature kicked puppy look.

"Don't worry, Alfred~" Feliciano said with a smile as he walked over to the American. He then leaned over slightly so that he was face level with him. "Someone probably just barrowed it. They'll bring it back to you." He reassured with confidence as he pat the other on the shoulder.

"Like hell they will…" Lovino muttered quietly from a little ways away as he glared at the proximity between the two. He didn't like it. But he had to admit it wasn't as bad as watching his brother cosying up to the damn German all the time. The southern Italian didn't know, but he wasn't the only one annoyed by this.

"I'd really like to believe that, Feli." Alfred replied with a forced smile. He didn't put too much faith in that theory however. There's no way someone would just bring back his bike. He knew that.

"If I might ask," Arthur began as he uncrossed his arms. "what are both of you doing here of all places? Shouldn't you be getting ready for tomorrow?" He asked while sitting down in the chair next to Alfred's.

Feliciano looked over at Arthur then leaned back and smiled. The Italian then began a full in depth explanation as of why he and his brother had come to the Canadian's house, complete with his signature expressive hand motions and irrelevant side notes.

10 minutes later...

"No way, you guys are really going to be staying with Mattie?" Alfred asked once Feliciano finished his story. He hadn't been expecting this and it certainly changed his plans.

Arthur inwardly smirked. To him, this was indeed a fortunate turn of events. 'Looks like I don't have to be quite as concerned now. They aren't what I would call proper supervision, but those two will definitely provide sufficient distraction. At least for awhile.'

"Si! We've never stayed at Matteo's before." Feliciano stated. "Since we'll be here for awhile, I bet we can experience the life of a Canadian first hand!"

"I never agreed to that!" Lovino snapped.

"Aw. Come on, Lovi." Feliciano said as he walked back over to his brother. "It'll be fun~" The northern Italian claimed as he waved his arms to express just how fun it would be.

Lovino rolled his eyes and stepped back from his twin. He then walked around Feliciano and made his way towards the door.

Feliciano frowned. "Where are you going, Lovino?"

"I'ma going to get our stuff!" Lovino shot back in annoyance as he flung open the frontdoor and walked out. After a short pause, Feliciano's frown turned upsidedown and he followed after his brother.

"I'll help you~" The northern Italian called as he too exited the house.

The other countries, who had been watching the scene in silence were caught off guard when a familiar ringtone started playing a moment after the two left.

Alfred and Matthew both directed their attention to Arthur.

Without saying a word, the Englishman casually took out his phone. After checking the caller ID, he let out a small sigh and put the phone to his ear. "Dreadfully sorry, chaps. Excuse me for a moment." He apologized as he stood up from the chair, then walked off into the living room.

Arthur ignored the feeling of being watched as he answered his call. "This is Kirkland." After a few seconds, he nodded in satisfaction. "I see. I'll be right over." With that said he ended his call and tucked his phone away.

"You're leaving already, Artie?!" Alfred exclaimed, disappointment written across his face. Arthur turned and looked over to the American. That response was so familiar. It reminded him of all the times Alfred had put up a big fuss whenever he had told him that he was going back to his homeland so many years ago. Arthur sighed and dismissed the nostalgic feeling.

"Yes, I am. I need to pay the movers for their service." Arthur informed as he headed back over to the twins. "By the way, Alfred. Eavesdropping is very rude. I thought I taught you better than that." He scolded as he set a hand on the American's shoulder.

"Eh, it was kind of hard not to, I mean you were right over there." He pointed a thumb to the living room and shrugged. That only earned him a glare from the Brit.

"What did you mean by 'the movers'?" Matthew asked quietly.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you." Arthur started as he turned to look at the Canadian standing a few feet away from them. "I'll be staying at our old house. I'm sure you know the one."

Matthew's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. "Y-you're really going to be staying there?"

"Well, I'm not moving there permanently of course. Just for the duration of this extended meeting." Arthur elaborated.

"But it's such a big house…" Matthew reminded. He was a little worried of Arthur staying there all alone. It was an old house after all. What if he fell through the floor? Or got lost in the middle of the night trying to find the bathroom? He might even disappear entirely! Matthew unconsciously began chewing on his bottom lip in worry.

"Oh come now. Don't give me that look." Arthur said as if he could read the Canadian's mind. "I'm not hapless like your brother. Besides, it will be much better than being stuck in a hotel room for a month. And less expensive too, if I might add."

A frown slowly formed on Alfred's face as he listened in on their conversation. "You have a house here, Artie?" He finally asked. He honestly didn't know what house they were talking about. It seemed important for some reason but he didn't know why, and his brother was acting as if it were common knowledge. Though, they were in Canada, so it wasn't like it was unreasonable for him to be unaware of something like Canadian real estate. Even so, Alfred couldn't shake the odd nagging feeling that he should somehow know about this.

The other two turned their attention to him. Matthew only frowned whereas Arthur gave the American a look of incredulity.

"Well of course I do." Arthur replied. "I hadn't really thought about it for awhile, mind you, but considering the length of this meeting, I decided to dig around for the papers to the old house." The Englishman was met with a clueless look from the American.

"It's an old house?" Alfred asked. He then gave Arthur a worried look as a thought occurred to him. "What if that place is haunted? You probably shouldn't go there by yourself, Artie." He warned seriously. "It might be dangerous."

Arthur tsked. "It's not haunted, you wanker. Besides, you do know what house I'm talking about, don't you?"

"Should I?" Alfred asked doubtfully.

"I should say so, you and Matthew spent years in that house." Arthur stated. He was beginning to feel annoyed by the confused look on his ex-colony's face.

"When was that?" Alfred questioned as he tried to think back to when that might have been.

Arthur shot an exasperated look over to Matthew, but the depressive look on the other's face gave him pause. The Englishman slowly looked back to Alfred with a serious expression. "..You really don't remember?" Matthew inwardly cringed at the change of atmosphere.

"Uh, …I think I'll go help the Italy's with their stuff..." Alfred replied, effectively dropping the subject as he stood up from his chair. He took the icepack and placed it on the table. After that, he carefully set Kumajiro down in his place. The small bear looked up to the American with a tiny bit of worry.

Alfred then turned back to Arthur with his usual happy expression in place, as if he had taken whatever was bothering him and had pushed it to the back of his mind. "Drive carefully, Artie. If you don't show up to the meeting tomorrow, I'll totally come and rescue you from that scary house. You can count on me!" He declared, giving the Brit his signature 'Hero' smile. Though it seemed a bit forced this time.

Arthur didn't quite know how to respond to the sudden change in Alfred's mood. He quirked an eyebrow as the American waved from the doorway then disappeared to go and assist the Italian's.

"What was that about?" Arthur finally asked as he turned to Matthew for the answers. He became even more confused when the Canadian's depressive look was cleared and he gave him a pleasant smile and shrugged.

"Maybe he just forgot, eh?" Matthew suggested. He didn't really want to alert Arthur of how much that actually bothered him as well. Besides, Alfred had told him a few years ago to stop bringing up the past. Because of that, Matthew didn't want him to be barraged with a bunch questions on the subject. That would only make the American upset, and it would be no fun for anyone if his brother was unhappy the whole time.

"Well, anyways..." Arthur began, deciding to drop the subject for now. "I think I'll be off now. If you need anything just give me a ring."

"I will." Matthew nodded then gave the Brit a small smile. "Thank you for bringing Al here, Arthur. I know you didn't have to, so I really appreciate it."

"It was no trouble at all. I was actually surprised he didn't call you first." Arthur shrugged. "But then I remembered you were hosting. He probably didn't want you to go out of your way."

"By the way, Matthew." Arthur added as he turned to give the Canadian a final look before he left. "You look exhausted, you should try to get to bed early tonight. We wouldn't want the host country sleeping through the very first meeting, now would we?"

Matthew shook his head and smiled. "I'll try to get some sleep." He said as the Englishman headed for the door. "Please drive carefully, Arthur." Without looking back Arthur raised his hand and waved casually back to the teen before leaving the house.

Matthew let his smile turn slightly passive aggressive. "Seriously? How did he forget that I was the one hosting…?" He asked aloud, as his eye twitched in frustration.

"I'm hungry!" Kumajiro informed as he looked over to his favorite person, now that he had him all to himself again. Matthew groaned and hung his head.

~(TS)~

'I wonder what that was all about…' Arthur brooded after he had paid the movers and entered his old house. 'I know I always tease him about his forgetfulness, but his memory can't be that bad, can it? Besides, I wasn't even serious most of the time.' His worries were interrupted by a quiet meow. Arthur looked over to the luggage that had been transported into the large living room for him. There, sitting atop of heavy looking trunk, sat his orange and white Scottish Fold.

"Who let you out of the cat carrier?" Arthur asked as he walked over to his cat and picked him up. Muffin simply stared back with his usual unimpressed expression. As if to answer his question, Arthur felt something rub up against his leg. He jumped slightly then looked down to investigate. Blue eyes stared back up at him. 'Hero?' He wondered in confusion as he studied the cat. It was about as big as Hero but this cat didn't have the iconic dark mane that the two Raggamuffins shared, and it was platinum white instead of an off white color; it's hair was also much longer and silkier looking.

Arthur's eyes slowly narrowed as he finally recognized the silky creature. "Please don't tell me…" He muttered as he set his own cat back down on the heavy trunk then knelt down beside the flirtatious newcomer. He hesitated for a moment then reached out and checked the animal for a collar. He did in fact find one located underneath all the hair. On the silver tag a single word was engraved.

"Francois"

Arthur's eye twitched. "Bloody hell." He growled as he stood back up. A loud clatter from the second story alerted the Englishman of what he was already fearing.

Arthur grit his teeth in anger. "If you broke anything, you'll be getting a sound thrashing, frog!" He yelled as he quickly left the large living room to confront his unwelcome frenemy.

xXx xXx xXx

~(WMD)~

Are those really their names? Or did I just make them up?

I don't really know. But I've always called them that for some reason.

Can anyone tell me the names of some of the other cats? I'm not going to use all of them. I just feel that it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that some of the countries brought their pets with them, since they would be gone for so long. If nobody knows their names, that's ok. I can just name them myself if I have to.

BTW, if I'm still formatting incorrectly. It's cool. I think it looks pretty ok now, so please don't be too critical. K?

xXx

This chapter was a little slow. But I needed to get zee ball rolling somehow!

The next chapter is going to focus on Arthur~

I just love his angry face XD

Review if you like~