_AftertheworldMeeing_
"Well, you fucked up." China huffed, sitting down next to Japan as the rest of the nations left the room, whispering excitably. The meeting, predictably, had gone nowhere after America and Russia had stormed out. Germany had made a valiant effort to keep it going for the first few hours, but eventually he had given into the pressure, and had decided that it would be better for everyone to meet again after the holidays after everything had died down. After throwing his hands up and admitting defeat, he had stormed out of the room as well, muttering darkly about childish behavior.
"That is one way to say it." Japan said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. China felt no sympathy for the younger nation.
"No, like seriously, you fucked up." China snorted, glaring at Japan, pointing at the door. "You know America's going to kick your ass for this."
"I know that." Japan sighed.
"He probably hates you now."
"I know."
"He's never going to want to talk to you ever again."
"China, with all due respect-" Japan grumbled, throwing the older nation a look of irritation, but China held up his hand with a scowl, cutting him off.
"No, you don't get respect. What you did crossed several lines, and just lost you one of your close friends. Rightfully so, might I add. What the hell did you think you were trying to accomplish with that stunt?"
"It is none of your business." Japan snapped.
China narrowed his eyes at Japan. "Stop acting like a child. I didn't raise your sorry ass just so you can act like a spoiled brat who doesn't want to be told off." When Japan continued to scowl at him, China sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "Does this have something to do with your crush on America?"
Japan's whole body froze, and his eye widened in horror. China just gave him a knowing look and shook his head in amusement. After a few moments, Japan let out a defeated laugh, and all the fight left his body. Japan stared down at his feet with a solemn expression, shaking his head sadly. "Am I really that obvious?"
"Yeah, and it's sad." China said, his expression softening at the sight of the younger nation's distress. "Of course, America's never noticed because he's an oblivious bastard, but everyone else can see it from a mile away."
Japan let out a shaky sigh, and rested his head on top of his arms on the table. "I guess it is too late to tell him how I feel." Japan muttered bitterly.
"What are you talking about?" China scoffed.
"He's dating Russia now." Japan spat.
"Actually, I kind of doubt that." China said with a small huff of amusement. "Russia and America are kind of famous for not being interested in other people that way. If anything, they just might be starting to get along better. I mean, even that's unlikely, but that's probably closer to the truth. The evidence of them dating is kind of flimsy at best, and after thinking about for a few minutes, there are too many holes in that theory. However, it's probably safe to say that they are getting on better terms."
Japan lifted his head off the table and looked at China with a small look of hope.
"However," China continued with a stern look, making Japan wilt again, "I doubt America would be interested in dating you right now, or even being near you for the next decade."
"I…did not mean to cause America any distress." Japan confessed, swallowing hard, and looking down into his lap to avoid China's gaze. "I only went with France because I was…jealous." Japan muttered, looking ashamed of himself.
"No shit." China said, rolling his eyes. "Why didn't you just tell him how you felt before turning to France of all people?"
"I-" Japan sputtered desperately, his face going red. "I…um…was too embarrassed."
"Kiku, what is the point of being around him for so long if you can't even tell him how you feel?" China asked with a tired sigh.
"I didn't want to risk our friendship." Japan said, looking miserable.
"I guess that worked out great. Oh wait." China said, tapping his chin. "I guess you don't have to worry about that anymore, seeing as he hates you now."
Japan looked like he was about to cry, and feeling a bit of pity for him, China sighed again. "You need to apologize and explain to him why you acted like you did."
"I CAN NOT!"Japan yelled desperately. "What if he hates me even more for telling him I like him?!"
China just gave Japan a bland look. "I'm too fucking old for this shit." He muttered, standing up. "Well," He said, "I can't force you too, but you don't have much of a choice, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you don't apologize and explain yourself to him, he'll think you did it just because and leave him wondering why you were such a bad friend and an asshole to him. And if you do tell him your reasons, there's still a chance he won't forgive you, and he'll reject you outright and stop being your friend for awhile. Or, and this is the most likely outcome, he'll still reject you, but you'll have your friend back. And don't look so miserable." China snapped, seeing Japans face fall. "You made your bed, now lye in it." And with that, China walked out of the room, leaving a very quiet Japan behind him. 'Hopefully,' he thought to himself, 'the other nations weren't stupid enough to believe the rumors for much longer.'
_IntheLobby_
"I say they'll come clean and come out of the closet in two weeks!" Prussia said with a smirk, holding up ten bucks.
"I say three weeks." Hungary said with a wicked smile, slamming down a hundred dollar bill on the table where Switzerland was writing down everyone's bets.
"Oooh, confident aren't you?" Prussia said.
"I'm rarely wrong about these things." Hungary boasted.
"I bet thirty bucks they'll be caught kissing somewhere before Christmas!"Mexico yelled from across the room.
"I say forty bucks they get caught doing the devils tango before Christmas!" Someone shouted.
"I bet fifty they break up in ten days!"
"A hundred dollars on them getting married in secret by next year!"
"Please, one at a time, one at a time!" Switzerland shouted over the crowd with a scowl. "I can only write so fast you know."
"Why are you all so calm about this!?" England asked angrily, crossing his arms and glaring at the room. "I thought you all were terrified about the thought of them dating not even an hour ago?"
"Well, if they aren't, there's nothing to worry about, but if they are we have a new betting pool!" Italy said happily.
"YOU LOT SHOULD'T BE BETTING AT ALL." England shouted, his face bright red, and steam almost coming out of his ears.
"Ah, liven up, you stale peanut." Cuba huffed, throwing England an irritated look. "It's not like you can do anything about it. Especially not with that broken sword." He added, pointing at the bent sword hanging from England's hip.
"I WILL NOT! THIS IS GOING TO GO HORRIBLY WRONG, I JUST KNOW IT!"
"How much you willing to bet on that?" Spain asked eagerly.
Before England could strangle the Spanish man, Canada grabbed him. "England, please." Canada said, trying to steer the fuming nation out the doors. "You're already sick and you need to rest. Plus, you've already punched France. There's nothing more you can do here."
"Where is France?!" England snapped. "I haven't finished with him yet."
"I think he already left." Canada said with a tired sigh. "Look, if you go back to the hotel for tonight, I'll go over to Alfred's place and have a talk with him.
"I'm going too!" England insisted. But as he said that, he started to cough violently, which just made Canada more determined.
"You will not." He said firmly. "The only thing you're going to do is make things worse. I can't believe you openly threatened Russia! What on earth were you thinking?"
"America is an idiot. It's clear that something strange is going on between them, but he doesn't seem to notice that he's changed." England grumbled, yanking himself free of the younger nation's grip and turned to face Canada with a stern frown. "Tell me, when was the last time Russia and America have gotten along so well?"
"It's been awhile, I admit." Canada said with a shrug. "Look, just go to your hotel room and cool off for a bit, alright? I know for a fact Al would have never dated anyone without asking for my advice first. That, and if he ever realized he liked someone like that, his poor puritan mind might explode. And besides," Canada added with a slight snicker, "I think if Russia ever tried to flirt with him, he'd probably faint."
"Does he ask for your advice a lot?" England asked with a frown.
"Not always, but when it comes to personal stuff he does. I am his twin you know." Canada said with a soft smile. "Surprisingly, he seems to value my opinion on how to get along with others. Maybe it's because the majority of the world likes me." Canada paused for a second. "Or maybe he just likes to bother me with his problems."
"He never come and asks me for advice." England said, looking annoyed.
"Well, maybe if you stopped yelling and stop throwing him out of your house every time he comes to visit, he might be more willing to come to you." Canada said with a huff, crossing his arms.
"Well if he stopped acting like such an idiot I wouldn't have to yell at him all the time." England grumbled, glancing back at the other nations behind him, who were still gossiping. Switzerland had started collecting money around the room now.
Canada didn't say anything, just rolling his eyes at the older nation.
"Is there something you want to say?!" England snapped, glaring at Canada, but Canada just gave England an unimpressed look. "There is, actually. When are you and Al going to stop acting like sulky teenagers and start acting like adults with each other?"
"I am not acting like a sulky teenager." England hissed.
"You are." Canada snapped, causing England to start a bit. Canada never spoke to him like that. "Don't think I'm stupid. I've seen how you treat him. Like he's still your little brother, like he needs protecting, like he needs you," Canada said with a growl, poking England's chest with his finger, "to make decisions for him."
"I don't-"
"Oh please, that's EXACTLY what you did today when you came in waving that stupid sword around and telling Al he was off his rocker." Canada leaned towards England, a scowl on his face. "Did it even occur to you, for even one fucking second, that maybe, just maybe, Al was telling the truth back there about not dating Russia? Or did you just jump onto the band wagon because you think Al is stupid and can't do anything right? Because he's poor, defenseless, little America who needs his big brother to protect him like in the old days?"
"Now see here-"England said weakly, his face slowly going pale.
"No! I'm tired of this. Yeah, Al can be kind of thoughtless sometimes, and sure, maybe he's a little annoying at times, but he's far from stupid. And for once, I'd like to see someone treat him like he's an actual person, and not just some nuisance or problem. Al is a fucking adult. He is the world's superpower, he can take care himself, and the reason he won't talk to you much these days is because you can't get your head out of your ass for two seconds and acknowledge that."
England was gapping, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Canada let out a sigh, and slowly let the anger bleed out of him. "Look, if Russia was bothering him, or trying to do something to him, I doubt Al would just let him. If anything America would have tried to punch his lights out. Just for once, respect America's choices." He looked at England, a look of disappointment on his face. "Just go to your hotel, England. Maybe after you cool off you can actually approach America like an adult for once."
Canada turned around, and started to walk out of the room. Before he reached the doors, he paused, and turned around. "Oh, and Arthur?"
"Yes?" England asked warily, looking much meeker than he had before.
"If he had been dating Russia, I would have supported it, because at least Russia gives him some bit of respect. He's only ever seen him as someone to not only fear, but as an equal on the playing field. Which is a lot more than I can say about you. Goodnight." And with that Canada stormed out of the room.
_Alfred'sandRussia'sPOV_
"Feeling better?" Ivan asked as he spooned out some ice cream out of his bowl and plopped it into his mouth. They were currently in a dairy queen, and after they had ordered enough ice cream to put them into diabetic shock, they had sat down in a corner where they would be hidden out of sight. Ivan had ordered a large plain vanilla cup, while Alfred had gotten some sort of chocolate abomination. Ivan wasn't sure how they did it, but it looked like all of the worlds chocolate had been stuffed into a large Styrofoam cup. It looked like it would poison him with one bite.
Alfred just shrugged his shoulders glumly. He had barely touched his ice cream, instead opting to watch it melt instead.
Ivan sighed, and put his spoon down. "This is a very disturbing sight. I did not think I would live to see the day you turned down ice cream."
"I'm not really hungry." Alfred mumbled.
"Are you still upset about Japan?" Ivan asked with a slight scowl. Ivan didn't have a very high opinion of Japan on the best of days, and after the stunt he had pulled his opinion had only gotten lower. His hands were itching to beat the life out of him with his pipe. "Because if you are, I could give him give a few love taps with my pipe. Or I could call the mafia to get a hit out on him. They still owe me a few favors. They might even kill France for free if I ask them politely."
A bark of laughter left Alfred, but he shook his head. "No, don't do that. We don't need the rest of the world knowing we know the mafia."
"So the love taps are still an option?" Ivan asked hopefully. Alfred gave Ivan an exasperated look.
"Is violence your go to answer for everything?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at the taller nation.
"Well, it has worked well for me in the past." Ivan said with a smile.
"You're a weirdo, you know that?"
"I do not hear you saying that it is off the table."
Alfred gave Ivan a tired smile. "Would it be bad of me to say that I might look the other way if you did do that?"
"Not at all. You have been betrayed by someone close to you. It is only natural that you would be angry at them. What concerns me," Ivan said, fixing Alfred with a look that Alfred couldn't read, "is that instead of being mad at him, you blamed yourself for his actions."
"Well, people do tend to blame me when things go wrong. I guess I picked up on it after awhile." Alfred said with a shrug.
"What you need to do is crush your enemies until they stop blaming you." Ivan said with a wide smile. "It works wonders for getting your frustrations out."
"Dude, seriously, stop telling me violence is the answer. It's concerning." Alfred said with a small chuckle. "Besides," America said with a shrug, "when I go after people I don't like, I usually don't go to violence. I go after their lives, their jobs, their sense of security, and then send a bunch of law suits at them."
"Ah yes, the famous American pass time." Ivan said with a chuckle. "Suing everyone and everything."
"Everyone needs a hobby." Alfred joked.
"So, are you going to sue France and Japan for invading our privacy?" Ivan asked. Alfred's good mood quickly faded as his shoulders slumped again, and he stared down at his ice cream silently again.
"Oh please." Ivan sighed, picking up his spoon with a sigh. "You really cannot still be upset about Japan."
"Actually, I've been wondering why he would follow me at all." Alfred admitted, finally picking up his own spoon and sticking it into his half melted ice cream with a small frown. "I can't figure out his reasoning. I mean, France wanted to know if we were dating, but Japan wouldn't have been following France just because he was worried we were dating. And I can't figure out what I did to piss him off, so he couldn't have been angry at me. So why would he do that?"
Ivan couldn't help stare at Alfred in disbelief. He had know Alfred hadn't been interested in dating, but he couldn't be that dense. How long had he been around Japan? Japan hadn't been that good at hiding his feelings.
"Maybe he was worried about me?" Alfred wondered out loud, a thoughtful look on his face as he started to eat his dessert. "I mean, I know he doesn't like you very much, and he is my friend. I mean, unless he decided to just fuck with me, which I don't think he would do, he could have just wanted to make sure you weren't up to anything.
"Oh, he defiantly would want to fuck with you." Ivan said with a snort of laughter.
"Huh? Why would he do that?" Alfred asked, looking at Ivan in confusion.
"Because he sees you as a VERY good friend." Ivan said with a large smile.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Alfred asked, getting frustrated at Ivan. "What does being a good friend have to do with fucking with me?"
Ivan burst into hysterical laughter. Alfred glowered at him as he struggled to not pass out from the lack of oxygen.
"What on earth has gotten into you?" Alfred asked with a scowl as Ivan tried to not fall out of his seat.
"Oh, you really are dense." Ivan snickered after getting himself together again, and pulling himself back into his seat again.
"You know, I don't think you're taking this very seriously." Alfred said with a glare, but Ivan saw a bit of hurt in Alfred's eyes. Feeling a little bad for laughing, Ivan sighed and looked Alfred straight his the eyes.
"Japan wants to fuck you." He said seriously.
Alfred froze, and Ivan swore he could see his brain blue screening. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, and then he made a very strange strangled noise as his face started to pale.
"Uh, Alfred?" Ivan said, starting to get worried.
Alfred took a deep breath. The he looked at Ivan, his body so tense it was like he was one second from either punching him or fleeing the restaurant. "Ivan, I swear, if you are fucking with me, I'm going to kick your ass."
"I'm not the one who's trying to fuck you. That would be Japan." Ivan scoffed. "Have you really not noticed?"
"How the hell," Alfred sputtered, his voice growing higher with each word, "would I notice my best friend trying to fuck me!?"
"Well, he always hangs out with you, he gets very jealous if you hang out with any other nations that may hit on you, he always talks about you, he always shows you his new robots and video games to you first, he's always in a better mood after he talks with you, he looks at your butt when you leave meetings-"
"He does what?!" Alfred squeaked, his face turning bright red.
"Every time." Ivan confirmed. "I am surprised you have not caught him doing it before. To be fair, you do wear your jeans way too tight. It must have been driving him insane."
Alfred's face went even brighter red at that. He started to sputter in protest. "But…but…Japan's never told me he liked me like that! If he liked me, why wouldn't he just tell me?!"
"I couldn't tell you." Ivan said with a shrug. "But I'm not surprised he followed us. I mean, think about it. He hears that his best friend and secret crush is now rooming with his worst enemy, and then a rumor comes out the two of us are dating. Then to top it off, he sees us go on a 'date'," Ivan said with a roll of his eyes, making air quotations with his hands, "and sees us having a good time. His worst fears have been confirmed, and his heart is broken."
The more Ivan spoke, the paler Alfred's face became.
"Then, he goes to the world meeting, and what does he see? You finding out he betrayed your trust, and your friendship breaking apart. Then you defend me, and then tell the rest of the world to not call me a communist. After that, you storm out of the room, not even bothering to look back at him. I wouldn't be surprised if he broke down crying after you left." Ivan couldn't help but feel a little smug as he said that last part. Served Japan right, after he had stalked them like that.
"I…I…" Alfred said weakly, staring at Ivan with a completely lost expression, searching Ivan's face for any trace of a lie. Apparently, he didn't find one, as he put his head in hands and didn't say anything for a minute. Ivan didn't say anything, letting the younger nation try and absorb the news. When Alfred lifted his hands out of his hands, he looked completely and utterly defeated and broken.
"I never knew. All this time, and I never even noticed." Alfred said quietly.
"Would you have dated him if you knew?" Ivan asked, feeling bad for the shorter nation.
Alfred didn't answer right away, looking down at the table with a blank expression. Then with a bitter sigh, he shook his head. "No. No, for as much as I like Japan as a friend, I never saw him that way. I couldn't have. Because I…" but Alfred words trailed off, and he just shook his head. "He was nothing more than my best friend. But now I don't know what to think. What if he only hung out with me because he loved me? What if when I tell him I'm not interested, he stops talking to me?"
"Then he is more of a fool than I originally thought." Ivan said with a scowl. "If he decides that he would walk away from your friendship, I say that it is only his loss. If he was only ever using you, you should not be sorry to see him go."
"But I don't want to see him go. He's my best friend." Alfred said miserably. "I really like him as my best friend."
"It is his fault for not being honest with you in the first place." Ivan said with a huff. "If he had just told you how he felt, you would not have gotten hurt.
Alfred didn't say anything, then he looked up at Ivan, and Ivan was surprised to see anger flaring up behind Alfred's eyes. "You know, this is why I don't deal with all this love bullshit." He said with a bitter laugh. It didn't sound like any of his laughs he had ever had before. It sounded angry, sad, and scared all at once. "Because love only messes shit up."
"In this case, it did." Ivan corrected. "Love doesn't always hurt people."
"It does for me!" Alfred yelled, slamming his fists onto the table. The ice cream toppled over, and Alfred's fists left indents on the metal table. Ivan stared at Alfred in shock, and Alfred, realizing he might said too much and gone too far, sighed. He looked down at his ice cream, which had started to drip off the table. "Well, so much for that." He muttered.
Ivan didn't know what to do as Alfred started to clean up the mess he made. Clearly Alfred had let slip something he didn't actually want to talk about, and he had been acting strange with some of the conversations they'd been having lately.
Just as Alfred had finished cleaning the spilled ice cream, Ivan made a decision. But before he could say anything, the door of the restaurant flew open, and Canada walked in. He scanned the room, and when he spotted them, he let out a sigh of relief.
"Al, I've been looking for you everywhere." He said running over to their table. Alfred gave his twin a look of disbelief.
"Mattie, don't take this the wrong way because I really am happy to see you, but how the hell did you find us? Because I thought I made it kind of clear that I didn't want anyone following me." Alfred asked, squinting suspiciously up at his brother.
"Please." Canada scoffed, folding his arms. "How long have I known you? I know when you're upset that you binge eat ice cream and sulk. I've been looking all around the area for ice cream shops, and here I am."
"Please don't tell me you brought England with you." Alfred said, looking around in a panic. "Because I really don't want him causing a scene public. I mean, if he stabbed Ivan here there would probably be a shit storms the likes we've never seen before."
"No, he's not here." Canada said, suddenly looking sheepish. He put his arms behind his back and tapped his foot nervously. "I might have…let's see… how do I put this?"
"Mattie?" Alfred asked, giving his brother a confused frown.
"I basically told him to grow the fuck up, and to stop trying to protect you like when we were little, because you can take care of yourself. Then I told him to stay at the hotel until he could talk to you like an adult."Canada said, giving his brother an uneasy smile and a slight shrug.
Alfred was, for what felt like the hundredth time that day, shocked. "No way." He said without thinking. "Did you really?"
"Yep. I left him gaping like a fish." Canada said with a huff of laughter, sitting down next to Ivan.
"Did you give France a piece of your mind as well?" Alfred asked eagerly, the first genuine smile Ivan had seen all day growing on his face. Ivan was rather relived to see it. It suited him better than anger.
"Well, no." Canada said with a sudden frown. "He's disappeared. No one has any idea where he went, and we suspect that he's gone into hiding until this whole thing has blown over."
"Shame." Alfred said, looking disappointed, but not surprised.
"I shall enjoy hunting him." Ivan said, a dark smile growing on his face.
"Can I join you?" Alfred asked. "It's been awhile since I've gone hunting."
"I would not say no to the company." Ivan said with a slight smirk.
"Um, Al…" Canada said, getting Alfred's attention. "Are you ok? You ran out of the meeting acting really angry. I was worried."
Alfred considered lying and saying he was fine, but he didn't feel like lying to his brother. "No, not really." Alfred admitted, looking back down at the table with a grimace. "Apparently, Japan had a crush on me since forever and I never noticed, the world thinks I'm insane and dating Ivan, Ivan's sister wants to use my face as a knife sharpener, and I'm probably going to get a call any minute from my boss chewing me out for throwing the meeting into chaos again."
"So, to summarize, you're fucked." Canada said with a pitying look. Then his eye widened. "Wait, since when have you noticed Japan crushing on you?"
Alfred threw his hands up in defeat. "Ok, did everyone BUT me know about Japan's crush on me?!"
"Yes." Ivan confirmed. When Canada's eyebrow rose, Ivan explained. "I told him about Japan and why he did what he did a few minutes before you got here."
"Ah, ok. That explains how he knows." Canada said with a sigh.
"And just what are we going to do about your sister, now that I think about it?" Alfred asked, turning to face Ivan again. "Any ideas about how I can protect myself from her? And by the way, why are my doors in danger from her?"
"You have seen the Shining?" Ivan asked, pushing his ice cream away from himself with a grimace.
"Yes, and I don't like that you just asked me that."
"You know the scene where he breaks the door down with an ax? She can do that with her bare hands."
"Well shit." Alfred said. "Any way to stop her?"
Ivan gave him a flat look, and Alfred's face fell. "Well, that settles that." Alfred said with a clap of his hands. "Plan B everyone. We're going to the mid west to hide in a corn field until this whole thing smoothes over. I know a lovely one in Utah."
"What is it with you and corn fields?!" Canada asked in exasperation.
"I take it this is not the first time he has done this?" Ivan asked, and Canada rolled his eyes.
"No, it's not. Do you know how fucking long it takes to find him when he does that? Last time it took three months, and the only reason we found him is because he got bored and called me to pick him up."
"Told you it works." Alfred said with a smirk, and it took everything Ivan had not to roll his eyes.
"Al, if you run off now, people are going to really think you've lost your marbles." Canada said with a frown, and Alfred deflated. "I'm pretty sure that half of the other nations really think Russia's either brainwashed you or has some kind dirt on you. No offence." Canada added, giving Russia a sympathetic glance. Ivan just shrugged.
"What are the others doing?" Alfred asked with a frown.
"Well, they started up a new betting pool."
"Ooh, that's exciting." Alfred said, perking up again. "Tell me, has anyone bet on us getting married yet?"
"A few." Canada admitted. "But I heard from Cuba that some of the nations are trying to find you and save you from Russia."
Alfred gave his brother a disbelieving stare. "You're joking, right? I mean, who the hell gives enough of a shit other than you and England to stage a rescue mission?"
"I heard Finland was worried about you. I think he and Sweden are looking for you to check and make sure you're ok. I think they have a soft spot for you, seeing as they did help you a little when you were baby nation. Sweden keeps looking disappointed for some reason, and Finland keeps fretting."
Alfred let out a small chuckle at that. He liked Finland, and was often amused at the fact that Finland had a bad habit of pinching his cheeks and claiming that they had very similar faces. Finland also claimed that since he found him first, he was part of his family. Alfred didn't really know if he joking or not about that, but he appreciated the gesture. On the other hand, Sweden usually just commented that he was happy Alfred was tall now. Alfred had no idea what to think about that comment, so he just agreed with Sweden, which seemed to make the man happy.
"Prussia is convinced that you've lost your mind, and is on a one man manhunt to find you and drag you to the president to sort you out. A lot of other nations are looking for you and Russia for answers, China wants to talk to you for some reason, Germany is demanding everyone meet again sometime during the new year and needs your notes from the last meeting seeing as you stormed out, and few nations, namely the Italian brothers, seem to think that the further they are away from this shit show, the better." Canada explained.
"And what about you?" Ivan asked, looking down at the northern twin. "Are you attempting to save your brother from me?"
Canada snorted. "Please, Al is the last person I need to rescue."
"Thank you!" Alfred said.
"But, just a warning. Any funny business and I'll use your head like a hockey puck." Canada said coolly, looking straight into Ivan's eyes without flinching.
"I don't intend to do anything funny." Ivan assured him.
Canada relaxed and smiled. "That's all I ask." He said pleasantly.
"Why would China want to talk to me?" Alfred asked in confusion.
"I have no idea, but I saw him talking to Japan before I left the meeting."
At the mention of Japan, Alfred's face darkened again. He lowered his eyes to look at the indents on the table he had left, and then down at his lap. Canada spotted the indents in the metal as well, and his face softened. "You don't have to face him right away, you know." He said quietly.
"He's… not looking for me, is he?" Alfred asked hesitantly, not looking up from his lap.
"At the moment, I don't think so." Canada said. "I think he's going to give you some space before he talks to you again.
"That's good." Alfred said, relaxing slightly.
"Look, why don't we go back to your place Al?" Canada asked. "I'll go buy us some more ice cream, and we can watch a movie and get your mind off today. I'm sure Hero is wondering where the can opener went."
Alfred laughed, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready to forget that today ever happened."
As Ivan watched Canada go up to the counter, he couldn't help but feel himself become exhausted. It had been hours since they had left Alfred's apartment, and after all the excitement all he wanted to do was pet Milashka and go to sleep. And hopefully, in the next few days, everything would die down and they could get on with their lives. Hopefully.
*SOMEWHEREINRUSSIA*
Boris Petrov had been having a rather dull day. Not that much ever happened in the safe house, seeing as it was supposed to be hidden from everyone in the mafia except for him, the boss, and a few select people. Not that the boss ever called him, seeing as he was too busy running that stupid restaurant in New York for some reason. Not like he would tell him why. At least he was paid well to guard this place.
Sighing, he had started to head over to the T.V. in the other room to see if he keep himself entertained, when he heard three loud knocks at the door. There was a pause, then there was a soft knock followed by a medium knock. That was the code for allies of the organization. Narrowing his eyes, he grabbed his gun off the table and quietly made his way to the front door. Looking out the peep hole, his eyes widened, and quickly putting the gun on his belt he opened the door. When he opened the door, the cold air blew into the room, making the man shiver, but he kept his eyes on the woman on his doorstep.
"I did not expect you of all people to be here. What do you need?" He asked in a trembling voice.
Belarus smirked at the man. "I am here to call in a favor."
A/N: Guess who's back! And oh dear, nothing is going like I originally thought it would. It's like all the characters have their own agendas or something. Well, sorry to leave things on a cliff hanger, but this is a good place to stop. What will Japan do now? Will England finally get his head out of his ass? When the hell will Russia and America start dating? Will I stop making plot points? Find out next time! Thanks for reading!