Thinking. That's exactly what Eva Kučerová was doing a week later in her hotel room.

Should I go or not? she wondered. What the hell, I might at least try.

Having put on the first dress she found, she went to do her makeup. As she saw herself in the mirror, she froze. I wore this dress the last time I was with... She couldn't bring herself to pronounce his name, even in her mind.

The weight of memories came crushing her. I'm not going there. I can't possibly do that. She slid back into her jeans and shirt and lied down on her bed, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the evening.

A moment later, she took note of heavy footsteps coming from the outside. A loud knock followed. She opened the door to see a tall man with spiked hair known as Danemark standing in front of her, his eyes gleaming. It was clear he had already had a few shots.

"Yes?"

"Al keeps whining about you not coming to his party and Gil is too busy annoying the crap out of Roderich to do anything, so I came to escort you." He grinned.

"How thoughtful. Alas, that won't be possible," she replied. But before she could close the door again, his giant boot blocked it. In a flash, he threw her over his shoulder and ran down the hallway, yelling something about the long gone era of kidnapping women and how he still had it. Once they got to the bar, he put her down and disappeared.

The brunette looked around the crowd just to see Francis leave with a girl by each side. Good for him. She noticed Seychelles sitting nearby and thought about talking to her, when, suddenly, she heard someone say her name.

"Eva?"

It was Lithuania.

"Hi," she ventured, their last conversation still fresh in her mind.

"It's… it's good to see you. I… I didn't expect you to be here." He sounded taken aback, but in pleasant way.

I don't get you, Toris, she felt like shouting. You don't love me, still, you act like you do. I'm sorry but I can't handle this.

"Well, I am," she replied. "I hope that's not a problem because I'm not leaving anytime soon. Now if you'll excuse me…"

She turned around to leave.

"I heard what happened between you two," he admitted. "I'm sorry. If you need someone to talk to…"

I can't deal with this. Not now, not ever. I just can't.

She glared daggers at him.

Forgive me, Toris Laurinaitis.

"You're the last person in this whole world I want to talk to," she said, carefully pronouncing every word. "And next time you want to talk to me, just… fucking don't," she growled before disappearing into the crowd, leaving the young man standing there, broken.

Not sure where to, Eva kept moving on until she bumped into somebody.

"Hola chica!" the Spaniard beamed. "Having a good time?" Despite being equals now, Eva could still remember Antonio from the Habsburg era. Back then, he was Mr. Spain to her, a mysterious man with sun-kissed skin who would often come visit her superior Mr. Austria. Once everyone had gone to sleep, he would sit outside and play tantalizing love songs on his guitar. She made sure to keep her window open on such nights.

Usually, his sole presence and the memories rushing back would cheer her up, but at that moment, it just wasn't enough.

"Err... I'm not quite sure how to do this kind of thing," she confessed.

"Do what?" he inquired.

"Well... party."

Toni laughed in the most carefree and bubbly way.

"You realize there is a very simple solution to most of the known world problems?"

"And what would that be?" she asked skeptically. Hope he's not about to say 'siesta'.

"SANGRIA!" he laughed, drawing a pitcher and a few glasses out of nowhere.

Seems legit, Eva shrugged.

The first three didn't do much; she was a Slav, after all.

The forth one made her go around, talking and laughing with others.

The sixth one convinced her she could dance.

As she was swaying to 'Ring My Bell', she noticed Alfred and winked at him. I'm getting into those pants tonight, both of them thought.

He waved at her, went over to the bar and brought two jell-o shots. They toasted and drank up. As they started to dance, he put his hands on her hips, drawing her closer.

"Happy birthday," she said, giving him a seductive look.

"WHAT?" Al shouted and leaned in closer.

She took advantage of that and gave him a rough kiss. A second later, she felt his tongue caressing hers. He tasted just like the shot, filling her with the same fuzzy sensation. Their palms quickly started to roam over each other's body. His movements were tender, yet electrifying.

"Let's take this somewhere else," he whispered invitingly in her ear before starting to nibble on her neck. She turned into patty in his hands.

Than the jell-o shot kicked in and the world around Eva became a blurry mess of faces, music, lights, some other arms fighting with Al's over her, an unknown room, someone forcing her on the bed, undressing her... And a total blackout.

Eva woke up, incredibly thirsty, her head ready to explode. She opened her eyes to see a Greek god sleeping by her side.

Oh, crap, was all she could think of. Calm down, Eva. Herakles is always so heavy-lidded. Maybe you two just had a nap.

Of course, that must be it. Why else would I be sleeping in my underwear, huh?

Wait, actually, no. I'm naked and so is he.

Having woken up as well, he gave her a sleepy look.

"What happened?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"You, like, don't remember?" He raised an eyebrow. Slowly.

"I'm sorry. I don't," she admitted.

"Oh. Never mind. EU put me on auction because of my debts. You bought me for one night," he explained before dozing off again.

Okay... I'll just... Go to my room and pretend nothing happened. She turned around to get out of the bed and almost jumped with fright as a pair of big cold blue eyes met hers.

"W-who are you?" she stuttered.

" 'm Sweden." the other fellow mumbled matter-of-factly. "And furniture is not the only thing that got put together in this room last night."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.

This sucks. But don't panic, girl. He's so taciturn, whatever happened, he won't probably tell anyone. And everybody will be too scared to ask.

It's not so bad, she thought, I can live with this. Two men in one night... I'm sure that kind of things happens. At least I did not-

"Morning babe, up already?" Alfred came out of the shower, drying his hair, naked.

Eva started to yell in panic.

She woke up again. It took her a moment to realize it was all just a dream and she finally stopped screaming.

The room she was in was unknown but at least, she was all alone in the bed. She lifted the blanket to see she was wearing underwear (Talk about a relief!) and a yellow-red-green T-shirt.

"Litva?" she muttered questioningly.

"Morning."

She raised her head and faced the serious and worn-out Baltic. The room went still.

"Please tell me we didn't…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"Do I look like a drunken brat rapist?" he asked coldly.

"No," she admitted, lowering her gaze.

Another oppressing silence followed. She finally found the courage to break it.

"Would you please tell me how…"

"...you ended up here?" His features were now portraying no expression at all.

"Yes. Please."

"You got drunk and tried to get into my room thinking it was yours. I didn't know which one was yours so I let you sleep in the bed."

"Oh... Where did you sleep?" she wondered.

"The couch. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to draw myself a bath. My neck and back still hurt."

"Let me help." She went over to him and started to gently massage his muscles. For a while, he feared he was about to surrender to her touch, but eventually, he somehow managed to move away.

"You should go, Eva," he said, looking aside.

She got dressed and left without a word.

The Night Before

"Admit it. You actually enjoy chasing after chicks that torture you," teased Eduard as he sipped on his beer.

"She's not like that." Toris shook his head. The brunet was troubled like never before. He felt the girl's words weren't coming from the heart, but they hurt all the same.

"I know the real her. Eva's loving and kind. It's just that... things have been difficult to her recently. She's feeling miserable, that's all."

"Well, she doesn't seem so miserable to me," his friend remarked, watching the dance floor over Toris's shoulder.

The Lithuanian followed his gaze and his jaw dropped.

'If I were that drunk, I'm sure I'll make some bad choices with troublesome consequences,' her voice echoed in his mind with the words she once told him.

No, you moron, she doesn't want you around. So let her do what she likes.

He kept telling himself that, yet somehow, he just couldn't let it go.

Alfred is a good guy, but he loves women. All of them. Eva is all-or-nothing and fragile as a flower. That can't end well.

Drop it, Toris. She basically told you to fuck off.

But there was something about the way she said it…

He didn't know what to think or do anymore. He closed his eyes and suddenly, the music flooded his mind.

'And the river you cruise

S'not be the best way to go

Not the best way to go anymore

And what do you do?

What do you do?

In the middle of nothing, so scared and alone?

The young man stood up, determined.

Turn around and swim, my darling

Let my love guide you back to shore

I'll be there standing, smiling, waiting

Arms open wide, forever yours.'

"And if you're too drunk to swim, I'll drag you to the shore, Eva," he muttered to himself as he ran towards the dance floor.

"Wait!" Ed shouted after him. "If America kills you, can I keep your laptop?!"

-END OF CHAPTER 2-

"Litva" = Slovak word for "Lithuania"