Dear Reader:

This Monday I will be leaving again for about a week.

I hope you all are satisfied with this chapter!
I know it's a bit... awkward, but I had to be realistic.

Thanks again to Turtle for being my beta.

Please leave me reviews so I know that you read this and so that I know what you are thinking-is it good, bad, needs fixing, jogs any emotions? Let me know!

~+~ The pioneer with a heart for people and a thousand stories to tell ~+~

Chapter 16

Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.

~Ann Landers

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When Lithuania arrived at Poland's, he was feeling dirty, dejected, and depressed. He entered the door, and Poland immediately knew there was something wrong with his best friend.

"What is it, Liet?" Poland asked as Lithuania sat on the couch.

"Poland..." Lithuania sighed as he began to tell his tale, "I... I... As you know, I am not allowed to... you know... sleep with Belarus and... well... for a long time I didn't mind, but... lately... I... well..." He paused for a moment and rubbed his hands throuh his shoulder-length brown hair, barely able to continue with, "I want to...sleep...with...her..."

At this point, Poland sat down across from his friend, silently waiting for the rest of the story as Lithuania continued, "The other day, on a hill we... I... what I mean is... I realized how much I wanted to... get as close to her as I possibly could, and... I was kissing her and... things were moving along, and then I remembered that I was not supposed to... go any farther, so I left and went to bed... but ever since then I knew... I knew I... I wanted more than... than just a kiss, so... in order to make sure that I wouldn't... violate the contract I... I stopped kissing her the same way, and... she noticed."

As he heard the story, Poland became surprised, intrigued, and confused. He simply had to hear more, hence he leaned forward, resting his chin on one hand as Lithuania faltered, "Well... today she asked me why I didn't kiss her the same way, and... and..."

"And..." Poland pushed him on, determined to hear what happened next in the epic saga Lithuania was telling him.

"And..." Lithuania blurted out, "I asked her if she wanted to sleep with me."

"And..." Poland repeated, literally on the edge of his seat at this moment.

"She... said nothing..." Lithuania sighed.

"Nothing?" Poland exclaimed, "Nothing?"

"Nothing..." Lithuania repeated with another sigh.

"And... like...then what happened?" Poland requested more information in his best friend's soap-opera-like life.

"Well..." Lithuania divulged after taking a deep breath, "She asked me, 'what if I said yes,' and I basically told her that I want her to love me and... I left... to talk to you."

"That's it?" Poland demanded, straightening up in his chair.

"Yes, that's it," Lithuania sighed again, resting his head on his hands.

After hearing the story, Poland wasn't quite sure what to think. Normally, his friend didn't speak to him of this type of subject. Now, however, it seemed to trouble him deeply, and Poland had no idea until today, which made him frustrated, considering they were best friends-shouldn't Lithuania have told him about this sooner? Then again, it did just happen... Overall, Poland was truly unsure of what to do or say.

"What should I do?" Lithuania asked, hoping that his best friend did know what to do.

Of course, Poland didn't, and he sputtered, "I-I-I, I mean, like, what do you mean?"

"Poland, I have a problem: I want Belarus, but I can't have her!" Lithuania expounded.

"I don't know what to tell you!" Poland objected, "Like, I'm just the best friend, not the psychiatrist! Speaking of which, like, it seems that ever since you got married, you only come to me when you have a problem! Like, is that all I am to you now, just somebody to dump your problems onto? Seriously? Man... this is so not my thing, Liet."

"I'm sorry, Poland," Lithuania apologized, "But since only I am allowed to drive Belarus anywhere, I can't really visit you all the time like I used to, and plus... I don't have anyone else that I feel comfortable telling stuff like this to-I need your help!" With that, he took a shaky breath and blurted out, " I love a woman that I am afraid to touch because I can't get too close to her even though I want to get close! It makes me feel dirty, and guilty... and confused... I don't know what to think of myself anymore!"

When Lithuania uttered that, silence fell on the house for several moments as Poland cast about for an answer. At length, he pointed out, "Liet, she is your wife! It's perfectly natural! If this was a normal marriage, like, it would have happened at this point; stop beating yourself up over it."

"This is not a normal marriage," Lithuania countered frantically, "I am not supposed to want her like this!"

"The contract says you can do it if she wants to, and there's nothing about wanting to do it... I mean... WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY, LIET?" Poland rejoined, frustrated with himself for not having something better to say while further upset with his best friend who put him into this awkard position in the first place

"...I don't know," Lithuania whispered as he hung his head between his shoulders while locking his fingertips and resting his hands on the back of his neck in hopelessnes. Tears started to fall down his face, for at this point he didn't know what to do other than cry. The woman he loved didn't love him the same way, and it shattered his heart. If she was at least attracted to him it would not be as agonizing... but she didn't even comply with him. That she was not attracted to him was a fact that ate a huge hole in Lithuania's heart, and destroyed what little of his self-esteem he may have had left. After more than eight months of doing his best to win her heart, she still did not love him like he loved her. Indeed, at this point, he was so depressed, so heartbroken, that he didn't know what else to do but cry.

Seeing his friend's tears, Poland quickly thought of something, and piped up, "Woah, don't cry! Don't you, like, have a few months left before she gets to divorce you if she wants?"

At that, Lithuania looked up, wiped his eyes and sobbed, "Well... yes..."

"Well, hey, if you can get this far, surely, like, you can still win her-and she didn't say, 'no,' so, you know, maybe that means that deep down she does love you-and, like, in a few months it'll come out!" Poland continued.

"Yes.. yes!" Lithuania lilted, regaining his hope, "I... I do still have time! Yes, I can still win her heart! Thanks, Poland!"

With that, Lithuania quickly left, determined to do his best to win his wife's heart. He entered the house feeling depressed, dirty and useless, but he left feeling renewed, hopeful, and... not so bad after all.