A/N: Okay I'm back mein lieblings! Now I know you'll want to read the chapter after how the last one ended so I'll get right to it.

Disclaimer: *cries* I am not worthy of owning these characters. HimaPapa is god.

Chapter XXVIII

Gilbert's POV

Upon seeing Ivan enter the room, I feel my whole body tense up in anger. A growl-like sound rips itself from my throat, and I glare at him with pure hatred.

"What the hell do you think you're doing here?" I demand, furious that he has the audacity to come here after what he's done, but feeling at least a little curious as to why he's here.

Ivan looks nervously to Alfred, who steps between him and me.

"Easy, guys. He doesn't want any trouble, I promise. Ivan has something he has to say, and you and Mattie need to hear it. I wouldn't have brought him here if I didn't think so. Just let him explain, okay?" he says.

"How the hell can you defend one of the people who pushed your own brother into trying to take his own life?!" I all but yell at him.

"Gilbert, calm down. I know that you don't want to, but just let him explain. Trust me: I wanted to bash his brains in, too, but I listened to him, and believe me when I say that you need to hear what he has to say. So hear him out, just this once," Alfred replies.

I frown and glance at Birdie. He's frozen at my side, fear clearly visible in his eyes. I grab his hand, hoping to calm him a bit. He seems to snap out of his stupor and looks at me.

"Well…do you want to hear him out?" I ask. I don't really want to listen, but if Birdie does, then I will, too.

He nods. "Y-yeah. He should get a chance to try and explain himself."

I sigh and look at Ivan, "Fine, but if you're making this up, I will not hesitate to hurt you."

Ivan seems to relax and says, "I promise that it's all true. It's a bit of a long story, one that started when I met Alfred and Matvey. I met them when we were very young; six, I think. I'm not lying when I say that I very much wanted to be their friend. However, the night after I met them, I received a phone call. I didn't know who it was from, I didn't know the voice, but it ordered me to bully Matvey. I didn't want to, so I refused at first, but the voice told me that if I didn't do as it said that my sisters would be put in harm's way. My sisters are both extremely important to me, as they're all the family I have left. I just couldn't let them be put in danger, even if I had to be cruel to someone else. I didn't want to, but I had to protect them.

When we started high school, a name and face was finally put to the voice that had ordered me around for so many years. I had no idea that I had pushed you to the point of cutting until Carlos informed me of his plan a few weeks ago. I wanted nothing to do with it, believe me. Just knowing what I have done, and what I pushed you to do, makes me utterly disgusted at myself. I hate myself for being too weak to refuse Carlos. You have every right to hate me forever, Matvey. I will understand if you do. I already hate myself. I'm just a horrible monster and a weakling. But please, if you could possibly find it in your heart to ever forgive me, I want to say that I am so sorry for everything that I have ever done to hurt you. The mere thought of what I've done sickens me to the point where I just want to die. I'm so sorry, Matvey," he finishes. I stare at him, utterly shocked. Ivan has tears in his eyes, a sight I never thought was possible. The person before me isn't the cold-hearted monster that my mind has made him out to be up until now. He's just a kid, like me. One who's scared and just wanted to protect his family.

Looking over at Birdie, I see no emotion on his face. I do, however, see a softness in his eyes that another might miss. A silence fills the room as we wait with baited breath to see how he will respond. Turning my gaze back to Ivan, I see eyes full of a regret and self-hatred so deep that I feel my heart go out to the Russian boy in pity.

"I forgive you," Birdie says after several minutes of heavy silence, his quiet voice loud in the stillness of the room.

Ivan's head snaps up, his face showing a mixture of shock and hope.

"R-really?" He stutters in disbelief.

Birdie nods in reply, a small smile placing itself on his lips as he responds. "I know better than anyone what Carlos is capable of. I know how it feels to be trapped and cornered into doing horrible things in order to protect those who are dear to me. It wouldn't be fair for me to hate you for something that wasn't within your control."

A smile of pure relief stretches itself across Ivan's face. In all my life, I don't think I've ever seen a person so filled with happiness from simply being forgiven. Then again, sometimes to be forgiven for what you've done is the greatest prize of all.

Ivan beams at Matthew and says, "Oh thank you. Thank you so much, Matvey. I …I don't know how I can possibly thank you enough."

He steps forward, as if to hug Mattie, but stops when Birdie raises his hand.

" Just a moment, Ivan. Yes, I do forgive you, but it will take me time to heal fully from all that has been done," he explains. Ivan's smile falters a bit before Birdie continues.

"However, maybe if we were to start over on a clean slate, we might be able to be friends. Just like you wanted to be when we were young."

Ivan nods his head as his smile returns with new light. "Дa, I think I would like that. I think I would like that very much."

He holds out his hand to shake. Birdie takes it, returning the smile with his own small one, saying, "It's nice to meet you, Ivan. My name is Matthew."

"The pleasure is all mine, Matvey," Ivan responds, an almost giddy smile on his face, like a kid on Christmas morning.

Actually, Mattie, Ivan and I have some other news that we need to share with you," Alfred adds in.

"Дa, that we do," Ivan adds, taking a step back from Birdie to stand next to Alfred,. I'm surprised when the tall Russian teen puts his arm around the American's waist, causing a faint blush to form on the latter's face.

"Well, um…Ivan and I are kind of… dating," Al announces nervously, fiddling with his fingers and chewing on his lip.

Birdie deadpans from shock. "What…I thought that you hated Ivan."

"I know, and I can explain. I had no idea about him bullying you when we started going out. When I learned about that, I tried to break it off immediately. That's when Ivan told me the truth about what happened. And, well…I never really hated him. I eventually developed a crush on him, I guess, and after we started going out, it became a kind of a cover since we didn't want people to know about us going out just yet," Al explains. I find myself unable to suppress a small chuckle at how frazzled and embarrassed the normally confident teen is. That's one thing that he and Birdie definitely have in common. When they get nervous, they tend to fumble with their words and act all flustered and adorable, though Birdie is way cuter in my opinion. Then again, I am a bit biased.

"And how long, exactly, has this been going on?" Birdie inquires.

"Um…I think we started going out about a month before school ended last year," Al answers, fiddling nervously as Birdie stares at them with the look of a protective sibling.

Focusing his gaze on Ivan he questions him, "Ivan, do you care about my brother?"

"Дa, very much."

"Do you swear to treat him with respect and kindness?"

"Дa, I will."

"Do you promise to never force yourself on him or pressure him into something that he doesn't want?"

"Of course, I would never force my sunflower into doing something that he didn't want to do," Ivan answers without a moment's hesitation. A blush blooms further on Al's face at the nickname, going to the tips of his ears.

"Do you promise to never hurt him?"

"Never! Just the thought of him hurting kills me inside. I have done all I can to keep him safe."

"Hold up, what do you mean, done all you can to keep me safe, Ivan?" Alfred cuts in, looking at the Russian boy, a frown on his lips. Said Russian teen goes quiet, staring down at his feet to avoid his boyfriends questioning gaze.

"Please tell me what you meant, Ivan," Alfred begs him.

Ivan sighs and answers, "I didn't want to tell you, because I knew you would worry."

"I don't care, just tell me." Al demands.

"After we started dating…I tried to tell Carlos that I didn't want to hurt Matvey anymore. He…he threatened me again, though. He said that if I didn't continue to bully Matvey, that…that wouldn't hurt my sisters, but you instead. I simply couldn't stand the thought of you being hurt. I'm so sorry, Alfred." Ivan explains quietly, hanging his head in shame.

Birdie sighs and speaks up, "Don't feel bad, Ivan,. That's what Carlos does. It's what he's always done, and what he's best at. He figures out what's most important to you, and he uses it to bend you to his will until you're a marionette under his control."

"Still, I hate being so weak that I can't stand against him," Ivan grumbles.

"You're not weak, Ivan. You were merely doing what you thought you had to in order to protect the one that you love. That's not weakness at all. It's loyalty to protecting the one you hold dear. There's nothing wrong with that," Birdie assures him.

"Are you sure, Matvey? Because it certainly doesn't feel like it," Ivan asks, looking similar to a kicked puppy as he sits heavily on the couch under the window.

"Of course he is, Ivan! You were only doing what you needed to do to protect me. I'm just pissed that Carlos used me in order to make you do his dirty work. That bastard makes me sick. He better be thrown in jail for life after all the hell he's put you and Mattie through," Alfred cuts in.

A small smile plays across Ivan's lips and he pulls Alfred into a hug, nuzzling his neck a bit.

"Thank you, sunflower. I'm just glad that Carlos is finally going to be brought to justice for his horrible crimes. He is a terrible man and should be locked away for the rest of his days," he says.

"You're not alone there," I add, "I'm going to make sure that he is punished."

"Well, you shall have whatever support I can give. I will assist you in any way that I am able," he replies seriously.

"Actually, I think I might know a way you can help, Ivan. Mattie, we should call that cop that came in to question you and Gil so that Ivan can tell him his side of the story. I'm afraid that with only your and Gil's sides of the story, Ivan might get punished because of what Carlos forced him to do," Al pipes up. He grasps his boyfriends hand tightly, now sitting in his lap, fear is showing through the tenseness of his body and the way he presses again Ivan.

"You're right, Al. I want to make sure that no charges are brought against Ivan, since he had no choice in what he did. Matthias gave me his number so that I could reach him in emergencies. I'm going to go call him now," Birdie says before quickly hurrying out of the room.

While we wait for him to return, we watch whatever's on the tv, NCIS having ended. What's currently on is apparently some show called Say Yes to the Dress. Since we're too lazy to change the channel, we end up watching that until Matthias arrives.

End of chapter XXVIII

A/N: well what do you think of my little twist. It took me a while to figure out how to do this cause I wanted to somehow make Ivan not a bad guy. So yeah buig twist. Only three more chapters and then the epilogue and this story will be all done. I'm very excited for it. Not really sure what else to say.

As always a word from my amazing Beta Sakura414:

All I have to say is that I'm really, really sorry! This has been sitting in my inbox for ages, and I totally forgot about it until Wolf-chan reminded me a couple days ago. XD

Review please and tell me what you think! I love hearing from you guys.

Until next time mein leiblings.

Wolf-Chan out.