Sorry, not much happens in this chapter, but it's kinda important, and squishy. Sorry if Ivan isn't really... Ivan. He will be sadistic and cruel if he actually gets into a serious conversation with someone other than Al...

Enjoy, and yes, Alfred disturbed Maria and Matthew during something ver uhh... important...

Chapter 2;

When night fell, Alfred slowly peered out of the closet. He didn't really want to see Ivan, he was probably still mad, but that wasn't it really. He just didn't know how to put what he felt into words.

Oh yeah, hi love, sorry about earlier, it's just that well, you know Arthur? My kind of adopted brother? No… You know England, right? Well, when I was a kid, he might of raped me, so sorry to put a damper on everything!

No. That would not do.

He glanced across his bedroom, and when he saw Ivan dead asleep, sprawled across the bad, he breathed a silent sigh of relief.

He retrieved his glassed from the bedside table and quickly kissed Ivan's forehead before slipping out and into the kitchen. From there, he padded into the hallway, wincing when his weight shifted the floorboards enough to make them creak.

He managed to make it to the front door and outside without alerting Ivan, to his relief, and stopped for a long minute in the cool night air. Where was he going to go at this time of night?

The answer probably should've been really obvious, but naturally, his brain skipped over his twin brother. He wandered down the street, in and out of the pools of yellow light where the street lamps lit the sidewalk.

He stopped in one such pool of light and turned to look at the house he was standing outside of. He almost laughed.

'Well that's gotta be a bloody sign if anything.' He muttered to himself, pushing the whitewash gate open. As he walked down the brick path, he was vaguely aware of the knee-high stalks with two large leaves at the top of the stems that were lining the path.

He stopped and crouched at a certain plant. It was the one closest to the front porch and was slightly smaller than the rest. He smiled at it fondly, remembering how he had pushed the little black seed into the earth only last month. Plants grew so quickly.

He gazed at the immature sunflower for a moment longer before turning to the porch, reaching under the wooden boards for the spare key to Ivan's house.

When he put the key in the lock and turned it, he was met with unexpected resistance. Frowning at his own stupidity, he returned the key and opened the door. Of course it was already unlocked. Maria and Natalya still lived here, even if Ivan was at his house.

He crept inside and nearly jumped out of his skin when a knife thudded into the doorframe, millimetres from his head.

'Holy shit!' he exclaimed.

'Oh.' A quiet voice filled the void that his voice had left. Alfred froze. He knew that voice, and it was probably not the best time to run into Natalya. 'It's only you.' Natalya strode over and yanked the chef's knife from the wooden frame, balancing the blade on the tip of her finger. 'How is brother? I hope you are taking care of him.' She observed him through her pale eyes, which reminded him so much of her brother's.

'Oh, yes!' Alfred squeaked, hoping that Natalya wouldn't find reason to stick that knife in his throat. It wouldn't kill him, but it'd hurt like a bitch. 'He's fine! Ahh, y'know I kinda need to talk to Maria so if you'll excuse me…' He skimmed around her and her dress, (what was she? Ivan's maid?), and that knife, before taking the stairs three at a time.

'I wouldn't go into Maria's room if I were you.' Natalya called, Alfred paid no heed to her words, or maybe he just didn't hear them.

He fortunately had the sense to knock and wait for an answer.

'Uhh, coming!' Maria called. Alfred hardly noticed how her voice was slightly strained. He was too preoccupied with what he'd talk to her about.

When she opened the door, it was easy to say that she was in a state of disarray. 'Alfred!' She squeaked. 'To what do I owe the uhh… pleasure?' She didn't use English so often, and so had to think of the correct word to use.

'Can I come in?' He asked softly. Maria, who was considering refusing on the grounds that she was only clad in a thin white sheet, saw that he seemed rather upset, and that his eyes were still puffy around the edges.

'Sure,' she smiled at the man who all too resembled her boyfriend, 'come in. Just uhh, give me a minute to clothe myself.'

She shut the door behind him and scurried off to the adjourning bathroom, catching her overalls on one of her feet.

'Oh shit.' Someone murmured from the general direction of the bed. Alfred turned to see who had spoken and nearly had a heart attack.

'Shit, Mattie, don't do tha… are you naked?'

Matthew straightened up, sitting cross-legged, clutching a pillow in his lap. 'I might just be… on the other hand, why the hell are you here?'

Alfred bit his lip, so hard that he could taste the metallic tang of blood on his tongue. Slowly, his will caved as he remembered everything that bought him to this and he launched himself at Matthew, flinging his arms around his twin's waist.

'Can't… breathe!' Matthew wheezed, trying to pry Alfred's hands loose.

'I'm so sorry,' Alfred whispered, pressing his face into Matthew's neck.

'Slow down!' Matthew exclaimed, wriggling away from his twin. 'I need clothes!'

'Uhh yeah…'

Five minutes later, Alfred was sitting in the kitchen, a cup of tea in his hands. He sipped at it anyway; he was thinking too much to complain. Something nudged at his legs. Probably Kumajiro.

'So go from the beginning,' Matthew sighed, 'talking at fifty words a second doesn't help.'

'I…' Alfred swallowed. If he didn't let his words slur together then he'd stop talking, and he had to admit, he needed to talk. He knew that his aversion to sex would eventually drive him and Ivan apart. It was unavoidable, but he just couldn't help it. He froze up, panicked, every time it went that way.

'I'm being stupid.' He finally said.

'Totally,' Matthew agreed.

'It's completely irrational, Ivan isn't Arthur!'

'No he isn't,' Maria placed her hands on Alfred's shoulders, 'Ivan is still young, he could not understand what has happened.'

'He cares for you very much,' a wintery voice added, 'you are very lucky to have him.' Alfred looked up from his tea, looked up at Natalya. Slowly, his face reddened. Natalya didn't often say such things. Humbled, he thanked her.

'You have to explain to him!' Matthew urged. 'He has a right to know!'

'I can't!' Alfred exploded, his hands crashing onto the table violently. 'He'll kill England! England can't die or everyone goes under!'

Maria chuckled, sounding oddly like her brother. 'He may be cruel sometimes, even if he doesn't realise it, but he's not an idiot.' She sat next to Matthew, placing her hand over his, giving it a gentle squeeze. 'His situation's precarious enough as it is, isn't it? And don't give me any of that bull shit about how he's perfectly fine. I can feel it. Look at yourself for a change. I know he nearly died just recently, and that you saved him, I can see the fatigue in your face.' She spoke slowly, stumbling over some words, but got through her speech.

At this reminder, Alfred dissolved into tears once again. He didn't want to think about losing Ivan again. Those three days before the platinum-blonde nation's fever broke had been so frightening with Ivan hovering so close to death.

Matthew looked at his twin in shock. Normally he was so strong. What had happened to him? And those tears. They weren't the tears of the frightened and broken child that Matthew and Maria had kept alive all those years ago, these were the tears of a terrified and demolished nation. The tears of an adult.

And that was what scared Matthew the most.

Whilst what Alfred had said about Arthur going under was true and all, if England as he knew it died, then there would still be many countries, himself included, who would continue to thrive and grow. However if Alfred, America, the sole remaining superpower, gave up and died…

He shuddered.

All hell would break loose. Anyone could see that Alfred was what was keeping the world afloat. If he gave up, everyone would lose hope, Ivan would lose it entirely and there'd be an enormous power struggle and whilst Wang-Yao had backed down recently, Matthew could feel that he was getting stronger and stronger with each passing day, the only thing keeping him in check was Kiku.

'You don't have to tell him now, Alfred.' Matthew found himself saying. 'If you want, I can talk to Arthur, make him apologise.'

Alfred shook his head, rubbing his eyes under his glasses. 'I don't need that. I need what he took from me.' Alfred bit his lip. He needed Arthur humiliated as badly as he was.

'Come on then.' Maria said when Alfred yawned. 'I think we should all go to bed, da?'

Alfred nodded obediently and allowed Matthew to lead him upstairs, to Ivan's bedroom. If Ivan was going to sleep in his bed, then he might as well use Ivan's bed. Well, that was the rationalisation.

Ivan didn't expect Alfred to be in bed with him when he woke up, but that didn't stop him from being disappointed about it. He decided to check the spare rooms for Alfred, just in case he had hidden in there, and when he saw neither hide nor hair of the American, he gave up with a sigh and headed to Alfred's bathroom to have a shower.

Whilst Alfred's shower warmed up, he took the opportunity to have a poke around in the bathroom, out of sheer curiosity of course. People hid odd things in a bathroom.

However, he was sorely disappointed, only finding a stack of towels some toiletries such as soap and a toothbrush. Nothing interesting but a necklace. He had one identical to it. It was just old memorabilia, a symbol of their pact as the Allied Nations.

By that time the shower was warm, and he gratefully shed his clothes and stooped under the warm water, allowing it to wash away the last dregs of his illness.

He took some time to consider where Alfred might have gone. He was not so forgetful, and considered that he might be at Matthew's house, but then he also remembered that Matthew was at his own house doing God knows what with his sister. He shuddered. He didn't need to think about that.

Maybe Francis' house? No, he'd run a risk of getting molested over there, and if anyone knew how averse to that Alfred was, then it was Ivan.

He was probably at Arthur's house then. He swore. Arthur lived so far away!

'You what?' Arthur snapped when Ivan explained the situation. 'How the fuck do you lose that bloody idiot?' Ivan kind of wanted to punch Arthur it the face right about… now. Arthur was not a morning person.

Grimly, he put on his old mask, a supposed cheerful smile that scared people more than it comforted them, and found it satisfying to see Arthur turn pale. Very, very pale. 'I was just wondering if Alfred was here.' He repeated, but in a slower, more cheerful voice. This seemed to terrify Arthur beyond belief. 'He went… out last night to sort out something and I am very worried about him.'

''Course you'd be worried.' Arthur grumbled, backing away. 'You're fucking him, aren't you…' Ivan could've swore he heard an added 'lucky bastard' in there as well. Resisting the urge to knock the Brit to the floor, and turned away and strode briskly down the path. As he walked, allowing his legs to take him wherever they wished, he thought about what Arthur had said, or rather, hadn't said.

Why did Arthur sound sad, regretful and even angry? What had he done that he was remorseful about?

And damn, Ivan really needed a drink. He might actually have some blood in his alcohol stream.

Ivan decided to give no more thought to the matter of Arthur's behaviour for two reasons. One, he had too little information right now, and two; he was standing face to face with a very familiar door.

'I give up.' He grumbled, letting himself in. He was immediately accosted by Natalya, but that was kind of expected.

'Good to see you home, brother.' She smiled up at him. 'Good to see that you are safe. Also, you wouldn't want to marry me, would you?' Before Ivan had a chance to reply, she sighed, 'I didn't expect you to say yes.' She turned and made for the kitchen. 'By the way, your boyfriend's asleep in your bed.'

At these words, Ivan perked up somewhat. What he really needed was not a drink, but someone to cuddle up to.

He passed Toris on the stairs, the brunette dropping the book he was holding, but he disregarded this and slid to a stop at his bedroom door.

Quietly, he slipped inside and made for the bed, seeing that Natalya hadn't been lying and there was indeed a certain blonde on his bed.

He sat on the edge of the mattress, simply observing Alfred. He was wearing what looked like Matthew's jumper, and a pair of cotton boxers, and had himself wrapped around Ivan's pillow, squeezing it so tightly that Ivan was surprised that it hadn't burst open yet.

And then Ivan realised that Alfred wasn't actually asleep.

Alfred's body was wracked with sobs, violent and piercing. Ivan winced. It was his fault that Alfred was like this. He bit his lip, not really knowing what to do. How do you comfort a person when you're not really sure what the problem is?

He sat like that for a while, as if suspended between times. Nothing changed, the clock kept ticking on the wall, and Alfred kept sobbing. Eventually, something had to change. Everything changes eventually.

Alfred sniffed and Ivan felt him move and then felt shaky arms around his waist. 'You're not mad, are you?' He asked, his voice as unstable as his arms.

'Nyet.' Ivan assured him, stroking the soft blonde hair. 'I promise, I'll wait for as long as you need to.'

Review please! I don't like asking for it, but it seems to be the only way that people will review it D= I hope you like it, and sorry, next chapter is going to be awful and I feel like shit for what I'm going to do, but I have to otherwise nothing can happen because Alfred won't tell Ivan, and Matthew doesn't have good cause to tell Ivan =( I'm so sorry!