A/N: ...Enjoy! :'D
Miss Lillian - Leich...(google) Liechtenstein
Mr. Vargas (Roma) - Ancient/Grandpa Rome
Mattie's mommie is a woman... not many in Hetalia now... Same with Eric's mommie... - both OCs

To be one hundred percent, dead straight honest, Ludwig felt like he could kill some shrimps.

First, when the children were being dropped off, Alfred had poked fun about Arthur's eyebrows until said Briton decided to speak up and call him fat. Alfred sat in a corner of the classroom, crying for the ten minutes afterward.

Then Feliciano came flittering down the hall in all his oblivious, Italian glory. "You forgot your lunch, Bear!" he had said, giving a quick peck to his cheek. The children made kissy faces.

After that, they were quiet, but suspiciously so. Ludwig took roll and noticed that Eric Kirkland – Arthur's cousin – and Matthew Williams were missing.

"Alfred, where's your brother?" Ludwig scanned the class again, in case he just over-looked the shy blonde.

"I dunno," he said and went back to playing with Katrina.

Next door, Berwald was setting his children up with a snack. Ludwig asked for him to keep an eye and ear out for his children while he went to go look for the two missing ones.

About then, he began to worry. Eric could be somewhat of a bully to Matthew – but then again, so was almost everyone else.

Ludwig was on his way to the front office when he heard something hit the hall wall, but when he turned around there was nothing out of place or anyone there. Then another knock came. He saw a door shutter.

The small plaque next to it read STORAGE ROOM. Maybe a stack of boxes fell over? Then a whimper came from behind the wooden door. Ludwig swung it open to find Eric pinning Matthew on the floor. The smaller blonde trying to squirm his way out.

"M-Mr. Beilschmidt!"

Eric bolted up off of Matthew, eyes like dinner plates. "Mr. Beilschmidt! W-What-what're you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that question, Eric. What were you doing to Matthew?" He helped Matthew off the floor, taking them out of the closet and standing them against the wall. The German squatted down to their height.

Matthew was shaking, afraid that he would be reprimanded for being out of the classroom and causing trouble while Eric was glancing fearfully from Matthew to Ludwig.

"I-I…" The Aussie sent a glare at the German and glanced away. "I wanted to tell Matthew I like him." His nose and cheeks became a deep red as he began fidgeting.

Ludwig nearly fell out of his stance. Great, now he would have to deal with telling Eric's parents that he was causing trouble and that he can't lock himself in closets with other children. And he would have to deal with Matthew's parents yelling at him again.

"Either way, you can't be pinning people down like that. Matthew is terrified right now." He motioned to the shaking boy for emphasis. Eric blushed again and mumbled something. "What? You need to talk louder."

"I'm sorry," Eric spat. He then tried to run off but Ludwig grabbed his arm before that could happen.

"We aren't done here. I still have to take you two to the office." Eric scuffed at the floor while Matthew paled. He hated going to the office. Of course it was never for him getting into trouble – he only ever ended up in the office to explain what which ever kid that had bullied him did.

Miss Lillian was sitting in her spot behind the front desk, answering calls, opening the second door for school guests, everything the usual school receptionist did. She was a very nice and pretty lady. Matthew liked her a lot. She was always very nice to him whenever he had to explain a case to the principal, Mr. Vargas.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Beilschmidt, Matthew, Eric." She smiled up from her seat to the large man and then down at the two children. Her short bob cut was shining in the harsh light.

Ludwig nodded to her. "Is Roma in his office?" She nodded back.

"He's having lunch right now. Do you need to talk to him?" She already knew the answer, but it was a habit she had to ask whatever someone needed.

"Yes. Is he okay for a quick talk?" She nodded again and waved shyly as they passed by the desk into the small maze of halls that led to each office of the front office staff.

The walls and ceiling were painted a not-so pretty green that reminded the group of three of seasickness. Pictures of Disney characters – mostly Mickey – hung on the walls creating a kid friendly environment. This didn't help Eric or Matthew's nerves.

Mr. Vargas's door was open, so Ludwig knocked on the wall beside it. The old, Italian man looked up from his lunch. "Ludwig! What brings you here? Don't you have a class right now?"

"Hello, Mr. Vargas. And yes, I do have a class, but I'm having Mr. Oxenstierna keep an eye on them while we get this situation sorted out." He ushered the two children into the office and then closed the door. "I found Eric Kirkland pinning Matthew here onto the floor in the Storage Closet near the Kindergarten Hall."

Mr. Vargas packed up his lunch and pushed it aside, putting on his professional face. "Is that so?" He looked down at Eric, scrutinizing him. "Eric, son, could you tell us your story?"

Eric pursed his lips and huffed. "I like Matthew, okay? Gosh." He crossed his arms and turned away from the others. "I wanted to tell him, but he kept asking why we were in the closet so I got mad."

The Italian leaned back in his seat. "Matthew. Tell me your side now." Matthew nodded shyly.

"E-Eric said he wanted to tell me something and he took me to the closet. He wouldn't tell me why so I got scared, and then he pushed me on the ground… I know he didn't mean it, though." Matthew looked at Eric through his bangs. "He really was trying to tell me he liked me. I think he was just confused."

Ludwig sighed. Every single time he had sat in on Matthew telling his side of a story, he always made it seem like it was his own fault and to make sure the attacker got off easier. He needed to make it a point to get his parents to teach him to stand up for himself. Speaking of which...

"Even if he was confused, this is considered an attack on you, Matthew. We will have to call both your parents and have them come down today." Matthew paled again and Eric scoffed.

Miss Lillian was the one to make the calls. She kept a sweet smile on even when Eric and Matthew's mothers – both housewives – began screaming into the mouth piece. Eric and Matthew had been sat into chairs to wait for their mothers to come and talk to the principal and Ludwig had gone back to his class.

Matthew was fidgeting nervously, alternating with playing with his hair to twisting his hands to counting the threads in the carpet. Eric was calmer. He just wanted to get on with everything (maybe even find a better situation to tell Matthew).

When Miss Lillian got off the phone with the shrill voiced woman that was Matthew's (and Alfred's) mother, she looked over at the two boys. "They said they would be here as soon as possible," she said then went back to sorting out attendance sheets.

Miss Lillian hummed and whistled a quiet, cheerful toon under her breath while she placed the attendance sheets into alphabetical order and marked on her computer who was absent for the day. The phone rang once and she greeted whoever was on the other line with a soft and happy voice.

The clock behind her chirped twice. Both boys looked to the clock and it had both hands at the third bird from the top. Both of their mothers stalked in a few seconds after. The two boys straightened up, suddenly very afraid for their lives. Who knew what their mother would do to them?

"Hi," Matthew's mother began. "I was called to come down to talk about an incident that happened with my son, Matthew Williams?"

Miss Lillian smiled and nodded. "Yes. And you must be Mrs. Kirkland, ma'am," she said to the woman beside her. The woman nodded. "Your boys are sitting right over there, waiting for you. But, first…" Miss Lillian pressed a small button under her desk to unlock the second door. The two women went through and turned left into the office and back to her desk. "Mr. Vargas wanted to talk to you both before bringing the boys in to speak all together. His room is down the hall and the last door on the left." The two women thanked her and before they left down the hall, glanced disappointedly at their sons. Matthew and Eric both looked down to their feet.

From the time their mothers got to the school to the end of their privet talk with Mr. Vargas, the boys felt like they had waited a lifetime. The clock behind Miss Lillian seemed to be spinning backwards. When the soft-spoken receptionist told them Mr. Vargas wanted them back in his office, they were stumbling over their feet with nervousness. The door creaked open, seeming to be deafeningly loud when it was just a small squeak.

Matthew looked up at his mother, nervously wringing his small hands. Eric glanced to his mother with a small worried frown. Their mothers said nothing.

Mr. Vargas cleared his throat. "I talked with your mothers, boys, and they decided that Eric would be better punished at home. Matthew, your mother is beginning to worry about your safety here."

Matthew paled for the third time that day. "I-I'm n-nothing to worry about, Mama," he said quietly.

Mr. Vargas continued like he hadn't heard the comment. "She says that if you are bullied even one more time, she will have you taken out of school to be home-schooled."

Matthew looked at his mother. "I-I'm not in any trouble, Mama. Y-You don't have to take me out of school… What about Alfred?"

"He would be home-schooled too, honey. I am just tired of having to come to the school and hear that another kid has hurt you." She glanced at Mrs. Kirkland. "Even if it was just an accident." Matthew nodded sullenly.

Mrs. Kirkland looked sternly at her son. "Firstly, I want you to know I am very disappointed that you would get angry and express it by hurting someone. That is not how we've discussed things. You do not act on impulse anger." Eric nodded, not meeting his mother's gaze. "Secondly, I want you to apologize to Matthew for this. Heart-felt."

Eric looked at Matthew. Both boys blushed. "I-I'm… sorry, Matthew, for pushing you down and pinning you. I-I didn't mean it…" Matthew gave Eric a small smiled and nodded.

"I kn-know you didn't mean it. I forgive you." Eric smiled widely. He turned back to his mother.

"You're still in trouble, mister. I know this isn't the first time you've pushed someone down." The smile faltered. "You will be cleaning the house when we get home including your messy room." Eric nodded, smile completely gone.

Matthew tugged shyly at Mrs. Kirkland's sleeve. "P-Please don't punish Eric too much. H-He didn't mean any of the things he's done."

Mrs. Kirkland smiled warmly at the small blonde and giggled softly. "I'll make sure his punishment isn't too rough, okay?" Matthew nodded happily.

Mr. Vargas stood up. "So I think this situation is resolved. "Thank you again for coming on such short notice, ladies. I appreciate it very much." He shook each woman's hand before opening his door. The glanced at the clock. School would be out in less than five minutes. "You are more than welcome to sign the boys out now, if you wish. We have just under five minutes left. I see no reason to send to them to class now."

"Thank you, Mr. Vargas for calling. It was no problem." Mrs. Williams shook his hand and smiled. She picked Matthew up and placed him on her hip. The small boy held onto her neck, hugging her.

The group followed Mr. Vargas down the hall and back to the front of the main office. Miss Lillian was reading a list of items to a speaker for the intercom system. When she was done, the pre-scheduled bell rang and students and teachers began bustling around, trying to leave in an orderly (yet rather chaotic) fashion.

The mothers held their boys' hands as they walked together to their respective cars, talking.

"Eric really is very enamored about your little Matthew. At home he's all he talks about. We should set up play-dates for them." Mrs. Kirkland said.

"That would be nice. Matthew really needs to interact with more than just his brother. He's so shy."

Behind them, the boys were having their own conversation.

"I-I really do like you, Matthew." Eric stuttered. They both were blushing again. "My big sister said that when you like someone, you're supposed to tell them and then go on a date together. Then if the person you like likes you back, you get married… Do you like me, Matthew?"

Matthew smiled shyly. "I-I guess I do." Eric's smiled grew.

"So does that mean we'll get married?" Matthew nodded.

"I-I think so."