Sorry it's later than expected, but here's my newest story. I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 1

"No!" Alfred exclaimed. "Please, don't do this to me!"

Despite Alfred's desperate pleas, the car continued to slow down, its momentum abandoning it. The car had just… stopped. And the headlights had died a long time ago.

"Al, pull up on the side of the road," Matthew instructed. "We don't want to be in the middle of the road if there's another car coming."

"Matt, when was the last time that you saw another car?" Jason asked from his position in the backseat.

Matthew sighed. Jason had a point. They hadn't seen another car in what must have been ten minutes, at least. If only they had stayed in the last town, but Alfred had insisted 'one more town'. That had to have been well over an hour ago. And about half an hour ago, the rain started. And then the car started to stop.

It wasn't the gas. Matthew had seen the gauge before it died. It still had half a tank left. It just decided to stop. And it was too late in the evening. Even if there was a mechanic nearby, they wouldn't be able to contact them.

At least Alfred listened to the advice and pulled up on the side of the road, so that if another car passed by, they wouldn't be in the direct path.

Alfred continued trying to restart the car, and Matthew pulled out his phone. As designated navigator, he had his map app open. As he checked the screen, something at the top caught his attention.

"There's no signal," he said.

"Are you kidding me?" Jason snapped. "Can this day get any worse?"

"Why did you have to say it?" Alfred demanded. "Now something worse is going to happen. Don't you watch movies?"

"Well, this isn't a movie, so what does it matter?"

"You just jinxed us!"

Matthew sighed. While his brothers continued to argue, Matthew examined the map, following the path. If they had been able to hold out another ten minutes, then they would have arrived in a town. The universe was mocking them.

He tapped the screen, allowing the map to return to their current location. He was just about to exit the app when he noticed something. Just ahead of them was a path, and when Matthew followed it, the words 'Vargas Manor' appeared. Matthew blinked, before he looked around. It wasn't entirely night yet, but the rain made vision difficult. But he could see a dirt path.

It wasn't too far. It would only take them about ten minutes of walking, and if they ran, then they would be able to cut that time in half, in theory.

"Al, Jay," Matthew said, "there's a dirt road just ahead of us. It leads to a place called Vargas Manor. With any luck, it's a guesthouse or something. It would be better than staying in the car the whole night."

"And if it isn't a guesthouse or something?" Jason asked.

"Then we need to hope that there are people there, and that they'd be willing to help us."

"And if they aren't?"

"Listen, do you want to stay in this metal box all night?"

As though offering support, the thunder droned. Jason looked outside, before he sighed.

"How far away is this place?" Jason asked.

"It's about a ten-minute walk," Matthew replied. "If we run, we should cut that time by a few minutes, at least."

"The lightning's still a while away," Alfred said. "Hopefully, this won't be a total waste."

They each grabbed their backpacks, filled with their essentials, and they leapt out of the car, slammed the doors shut, and started running along the path. After about a dozen steps, they entered a canopy of trees, which managed to shield them from the rain.

It was a mostly straight path, with no deviations, and they managed to arrive in front of a large gate in less than ten minutes. The three of them took a moment to catch their breath. Alfred was the most athletic out of the three, so he managed to recover first. Matthew leaned against the gate, and yelped when the gate swung open.

"Oh, good," Alfred said. "It's open. Come on."

Beyond the gate was a large courtyard with a fountain in the middle. And beyond the fountain was a large house. The lightning illuminated the sky, and for a brief moment, the house was clearly visible. Matthew shuddered. Suddenly, he wasn't so sure about this.

"It's pretty creepy," Alfred said. "There better not be any ghosts."

If there was one thing that Alfred was afraid of, it would be ghosts, even though Matthew had told him many times that there was nothing to be afraid of. And Matthew had to agree, this house looked as though it would play host to at least a few ghosts. He already knew that Alfred would make this night extremely difficult.

They jogged over to the door. Matthew shuddered when he saw the knocker. It was shaped like a silver wolf, glaring at them. Alfred didn't seem to be particularly bothered by the knocker, for he grabbed it and knocked a few times. Matthew tensed, his senses screaming at him. Those knocks were very loud.

"Al, don't break it!" Matthew hissed.

"Huh?" Alfred asked, but before Matthew could clarify, the door swung open.

Green eyes glared at them, and it would have been terrifying if not for the ridiculously thick pair of eyebrows above the eyes.

"What is it?" the man demanded.

"Dude, it's pouring," Alfred said.

"Thank you for stating the obvious. Now, what are you doing here? How did you even manage to open the gate?"

"It just swung open. Listen, could we please come in?"

"No. Now, if you don't mind…"

"Wait," Matthew said, just as the man had started to close the door. He thankfully paused as Matthew stepped forward. "We're really sorry for intruding. Our car broke down, and we noticed this place on the map. We know that it's much, but could we please stay tonight? I promise, we'll call a mechanic in the morning, but we have nowhere else to go now."

The man continued to observe Matthew, before he inclined his head towards the interior of the house. His jaw clenched and unclenched, and when he turned back to them, his features had softened, and he stepped back. He placed his hand on his chest and bowed.

"My name is Arthur Kirkland," he said. "I am the butler of the Vargas family. Please, come in. I will take you to the dining room, where you can sit in front of the fireplace, and I will see if I can arrange for someone to bring you some food. Please, follow me."

The three brothers exchanged a look, before they scrambled inside. Arthur closed the door and started to lead the way along the dark halls. Alfred leaned closer to Matthew.

"That was good," Alfred whispered. "We should get you to negotiate more often."

Matthew didn't react. He instead took the moment to examine as much of the house as he could. They had entered the front hall, where a grand staircase led up to the upper floor. The people living there must have been very wealthy, and he wondered if they would feel comfortable having two young adults and a teenager in their home.

Matthew paused at a portrait. It was a man with three teenagers that looked a lot like each other. They must have been brothers. Each of them had a curl on the side of his head, with one of them going towards the right, while the other two had their curls going leftwards, one rounder than the other. Matthew focused on the brother with the round curl going leftwards. He had warm amber eyes, and Matthew couldn't help but smile when he saw them.

"How did you get here?"

Matthew jumped and turned around. It was the person whose eyes he had been staring at, though he looked perhaps a year or two older than in the portrait.

"S-sorry!" Matthew stammered, taking a step back and raising his hands. "Our car broke down, and we were just hoping to spend the night here until we can get a mechanic. We're sorry about the intrusion."

The young man cocked his head to the side, and despite the situation, Matthew felt himself calm down. The other's eyes were really warm. And when he smiled, Matthew felt himself relax even more.

"Ve, that's alright," the young man said. "It couldn't be helped. We haven't had guests in a long time. But… you said 'we'?"

Matthew turned around, but the others were already gone. Had he really been distracted for that long?

"Um, Arthur said that he's going to take us to the dining room, to sit in front of the fireplace," Matthew said.

"Oh, I can take you there!" the young man said. He took Matthew's hand, and started to pull him along. "My name's Feliciano, by the way."

"I-I'm Matthew."

Feliciano's hand tightened around Matthew's, but it wasn't uncomfortable. It was the opposite, in fact. And Feliciano's warmth was especially welcome right now. The chill from the rain was starting to set in.

"He must have gotten sidetracked or something," Jason's muffled voice said.

"We should go find him," Alfred said.

Feliciano pushed the door open, and Alfred and Jason turned to them. Arthur's eyes widened when he saw Matthew and Feliciano.

"Here we are," Feliciano said. "And it looks like we found your friends, too."

"They're my brothers, actually," Matthew said. "But thank you."

"Master Feliciano," Arthur said. "I… thank you for finding our missing guest. I hope he hasn't caused any trouble."

"Nope," Feliciano said. "He was just looking at the family portrait. So, are you going to get someone to light the fireplace, and to get them some dinner? And then, I suppose you're going to tell my father about this."

"O-of course." Arthur inclined his head. "I will send someone momentarily. In the meantime, gentlemen, have a seat."

Arthur couldn't get out of the room fast enough. Feliciano released Matthew's hand, and he walked up to his brothers.

"Dude, where did you go?" Arthur asked.

"Sorry," Matthew apologised. "I got distracted by this portrait. It… Um, I don't know…"

"So, who's your… friend?" Jason asked.

"This is Feliciano. He's one of the sons of the owner of the house. I think?"

"No, that's right," Feliciano said. "My father is the owner of this house."

"Oh, then, I guess… thanks for having us," Jason said, blushing slightly.

Jason might have been a bit on the rude side on occasion, but he knew to humble himself when someone was granting him a kindness. Especially if the kindness was offered despite rudeness on his part, such as now.

Another door opened, and a man of Asian descent entered. He faltered a little, his eyes landing on Feliciano, before he went to the fireplace. Feliciano beamed and gestured to the table.

"You three can have a seat," he said. "Wow, you're soaked. Make sure to be in front of the fireplace."

"Thank you," Matthew said. "You're being very kind."

"Well, I might have an ulterior motive. We don't get a lot of guests here, and I'm curious about you."

The fireplace came to life, and the young man straightened.

"Kiku, could you get our guests something warm to eat?" Feliciano said. "And… do you drink wine?"

"Jason's underage," Matthew said. "And after last July, Alfred is not allowed to have any alcohol."

"Dude, are you still mad about it?" Alfred whined. "I said I was sorry."

"'Sorry' isn't going to fix it. Do you have any idea how hard it was to play in those clothes?"

"Alright," Feliciano said. "Kiku, bring them something warm to eat and not wine. In the meantime, what exactly happened?"

…

"You let strangers in this house?" Romulus Vargas demanded. "What were you thinking?"

Arthur sighed. He knew that his employer wouldn't be happy about it.

"Once you see them, you would understand," Arthur said. "There's also something else you should know. I left them with Feliciano."

"What?" Romulus snapped. "Feliciano is with them? How can you be so reckless?"

"Go to them, and you'll understand." Arthur's gaze flickered to the young man sitting to the side. "For better or worse, this is going to be an interesting night."

"That's never a good thing."

…

Feliciano was laughing at the story of why Alfred was no longer allowed to drink. Matthew glared slightly at his brother, who ignored him while he was laughing along.

"That was funny," Feliciano said. "So, do you have any other stories?"

"Sure," Alfred said. "So, this one time…"

Before he could continue, one of the doors slammed open. Matthew jumped, and his eyes whipped to the person standing at the door. It was the man he'd seen in the family portrait. Matthew had been distracted by Feliciano, so he didn't really notice how… intimidating this man was. Matthew's body tensed, and when the man's eyes flickered to him, he found himself shrinking back.

"Father," Feliciano said, "we have guests. Their car broke down, and they're abandoned here."

"Arthur told me," Feliciano's father said. He didn't look particularly angry, but his aura still scared Matthew. "My name is Romulus Vargas. So, what exactly are your plans?"

Alfred glanced at Matthew, but his throat had closed. He couldn't get a single word out. And so, Alfred turned his attention to Romulus.

"We're going to call a mechanic in the morning," Alfred said. "I don't think the issue is something that we'll be able to fix ourselves. We're going to hitch a ride to the nearest town with the mechanics. We'll get out of your hair as soon as we can."

"I see…" Romulus said.

"They're going to rob us."

From behind Romulus, one of Feliciano's brothers emerged. He had a firm glare on his face, but he faltered a bit when he looked in their direction.

"Don't be like that, Lovino," Feliciano said. "They need somewhere to stay. Do you think they should have stayed in their car, in this weather?"

"Yes," Lovino said. "It would have been better for everyone if they just stayed away. How did they even find this place?"

"We managed to stop next to the path," Alfred said. "What's your problem?"

"Lovino has a hard time trusting people," Feliciano said. "You know, it's not a very attractive quality."

"Shut up!" Lovino snapped. "You never know if someone's capable of mass murder. And these three look like thieves."

"Enough," Romulus interrupted. "Feliciano, Lovino is right. We have no reason to allow them to stay."

Thunder cracked, and Jason's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" he demanded. "Don't you hear what's going on outside? Do you want us to drown or get hit by lightning?"

"It would be preferrable, yes," Lovino said.

"Why you…"

"We can't let them go out in this weather," Feliciano said.

Romulus sighed.

"I agree," he said. "We can't exactly let them go out in this weather. Fine. You three can stay. But you need to stay in your rooms, and don't attract any attention to yourselves."

Romulus turned around and left the room. Lovino looked after his father before he glared at his brother.

"This is all your fault," Lovino hissed.

Lovino spun around and followed his father. As soon as both of them were gone, Matthew could breathe easily again.

"What's their problem?" Alfred huffed.

"I know they're not the most welcoming," Feliciano said. "Lucky for you, they can't really say no to me. So, it was lucky that I found you first. If I wasn't here, then they might have chased you out."

"No offence, but I think I'm starting to understand why you don't get a lot of guests," Alfred spat, before he turned to Matthew. "Are you okay? You just… froze up."

"Y-yeah," Matthew said. "Sorry. I… I don't know what happened. I just…"

The door across from the one Romulus and Lovino disappeared through opened, and Kiku pushed in a cart filled with bowls of soup and a breadbasket. Matthew's stomach growled at the sight. He didn't realise exactly how hungry he actually was.

Kiku placed the bowls of soup in front of the three brothers, and neither Alfred nor Jason hesitated to down the soup. Matthew took a roll from the breadbasket and thanked Kiku.

"If you need anything else, just call for me," Kiku said. He glanced towards Alfred and Jason. "Perhaps it would be easier if I just brought the rest of the soup."

Matthew winced.

"That might be a good idea," he said. "Sorry about it."

"Well, Yao will be happy to know that his food is appreciated," Kiku said. He bowed again. "I will return shortly."

Matthew watched as Kiku left, and he was about to start eating his own bowl of soup when he noticed Feliciano, still sitting across from him and watching him.

"Um… a-aren't you going to eat too?" Matthew asked.

"No, we ate earlier," Feliciano said. "You don't have to worry about me."

While Matthew liked Feliciano, he wasn't very comfortable with the other watching him eat. Luckily, Feliciano chose that moment to stand up.

"I'll see you later, hopefully," Feliciano said. "I just need to check on a few things first. Enjoy your soup."

Feliciano left, and Matthew shivered. Did the room just grow colder, despite the fireplace?

…

Lovino followed Romulus, who returned to his study. The man went to the desk and buried his head in his hands.

"You saw it too, right?" Romulus asked.

"Si," Lovino said. "And it's only a matter of time before everyone knows. It can't be a coincidence."

The two tensed when the clock chimed, before relaxing again when it stopped after seven chimes. Lovino dreaded the moment it chimed again.

"Those three should have stayed out in the rain," Lovino said. "It would have been a lot safer than being here."

In case it's not clear, Jason is Molossia. Seborga will appear in the next chapter.