Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Branada: Assumptions

Matthew took out his laptop as he waited for the class to start. He was studying Human Resources, and Economics was one of the classes he had to take. Still, the lecturer made it fun. The previous week, they had a lesson regarding utility. The lecturer asked a volunteer to drink out of a can of condensed milk, and after each gulp, he had to say how much he wanted to drink, with each gulp making the desire fade. The lesson was that the more utility, the more desirable something was, but the higher the availability of something with a low utility, the less desirable it was.

The only thought that occurred to him during that lesson was that his brother wouldn't see the utility of the sweet treat fade. On the contrary, Alfred probably would have asked for a second can. Now, if they had used maple syrup, then Matthew would be in the same boat.

The sound of giggling brought his attention to a group of girls, and among them was Roberto, a Brazilian boy that had taken pity on the lonely Canadian and decided that they would be friends in this class. Roberto was not only a nice person, but very attractive. His tanned skin and green eyes formed a stunning contrast, and his face was framed by wild brown hair.

Some of the girls that Roberto was flirting with were also pretty, but Matthew didn't know them. He wondered if any of them were like his last girlfriend, who turned out to be pretty abusive. That was why he wanted to get to know a person first before he tried to pursue them. Unfortunately for him, the guy he wanted to pursue wouldn't be interested in him.

Roberto finally disengaged himself from the girls and sat down next to Matthew. He turned that dazzling smile to him.

"And how are you today, Matteo?" Roberto asked.

"I can't complain," Matthew said. "And I can guess that it's going well with you. So, did any of those girls catch your eye?"

"Not really. I mean, they're pretty and nice, but none of them really seem to attract me, you know? This sucks. I don't want to stay single forever."

"I don't think you will. I mean, you're a nice and good-looking guy. You're bound to get a girlfriend."

Roberto stared at him for a moment before he grinned.

"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say that you were flirting with me," Roberto said.

"You never know," Matthew said, shrugging with a small smile on his face. "But I'm telling it as it is."

"…Hey, I've been curious for a while. What kind of person are you interested in? Guy or girl?"

"Both. But I'd like to know that we have good chemistry, and that we can be comfortable around each other without needing to do anything romantic. I want someone who loves me, and who's not just in lust with me."

Roberto stared at him for a few seconds before he shrugged.

"I guess you have a point," he said. "By the way, are you going to that party on Thursday?"

"What party?" Matthew asked.

"Sirius has an open party at the clubhouse on Thursday. It starts at seven. You should definitely come. You might meet someone."

Sirius was one of the university's hostels, and was actually the one that Roberto belonged to. They had a bit of a reputation for wild parties. These weren't usually Matthew's cup of tea, but if there was a chance that he would find Roberto there, then it was worth a shot.

"Okay," Matthew said. "I'll see you there?"

Roberto smiled and nodded. Their conversation, unfortunately, had to come to an end. The lesson was about to begin. Matthew wondered if he could convince Alfred to accompany him. None of his friends were really party people.

…

Matthew wasn't too surprised that he somehow found himself against a wall as he watched Alfred engaged in some sort of drinking contest with a bunch of guys that Matthew didn't know. Alfred had completely forgotten that he was supposed to avoid this very thing.

Matthew's eyes scanned the crowd for Roberto, and he found him near the bar with a group of his friends. His cheeks were flushed, and Matthew wondered if he'd had much to drink yet. He wanted to go to Roberto, but he was intimidated by the thought of going to a drunk Roberto surrounded by equally drunk friends. He would much rather avoid being ignored, or worse, have his crush pretend as though he didn't know him, and to be mocked by them.

"Matthew?"

He turned at the sound of the voice. He didn't expect to see any other familiar faces in the crowd, much less his childhood friend.

"Kat!" he said, smiling. "Funny running into you here."

"Yes, well, I came here with a friend, but…" Katyusha turned away. Matthew followed her gaze and saw a guy and a girl devouring each other. He felt his face heat up and turned back to Katyusha when she spoke again. "So, did you come here with Alfred?"

"Yeah, but… I actually came here because a friend asked me to come, but he's a bit preoccupied with his other friends. We only have one class together, so…"

Katyusha smiled.

"You like him, don't you?" she asked.

"Is it that obvious?" he countered.

"You're not the type to be at a place like this otherwise."

Their conversation was interrupted when a guy, pretty large and pretty drunk, threw his arm around Katyusha's shoulder. She tensed as his eyes focused on her chest.

"Hey babe," the guy slurred. "Why are you talking to this nobody? Why don't you hang out with me? I promise that I can show you a good time."

"Excuse me," Matthew said, glaring at the guy. He usually avoided conflict, but he was very protective of Katyusha. "But your attention is not wanted. And unless you want to find out why I got a hockey scholarship, I suggest you step away."

The guy looked Matthew up and down for a moment, decided that he wasn't lying, and moved away from Katyusha. She visibly relaxed and turned a grateful smile to Matthew.

"Thank you," she said.

Matthew glanced over towards Roberto's direction. He was still with his friends, and probably hadn't seen Matthew at all. He then turned his attention back to Katyusha.

"Would you like me to take you home?" Matthew asked.

Katyusha nodded.

"I hope it's no problem for you," she said.

"Of course not," Matthew assured her. "Come on."

…

Roberto had indeed noticed Matthew, and he saw Matthew leaving with a girl that he did not come with. Roberto watched them go, and immediately he felt a wave of jealousy and despair. A part of him knew that he wouldn't have felt that way if he had been sober, and would have remembered the conversation that he'd had with Matthew, where the Canadian said that he cared more about someone's personality. But he wasn't sober, so he only saw Matthew leaving with a pretty girl, and he rushed out to stop them.

He caught up to them in the parking lot, and he saw Matthew's arm around the girl's waist, gently guiding her. Tears pricked at Roberto's eyes as he ran up to them.

"Matteo!" he called out.

Matthew and the girl turned around, and around that same time, Roberto stumbled, landing on his knees. He remained that way for a few seconds.

"Please Matteo, don't leave with her," Roberto said. "I'm sorry, I should have said this earlier… I think I like you. I thought I was only into girls, but I think I'm genuinely in love with you." He looked up to see Matthew in front of him, his large eyes opened wide, but it didn't look as though he was disgusted with him, and he decided to continue. "Please, Matteo, give me a chance. Don't leave."

Roberto then pushed himself up and planted a kiss on Matthew's mouth. It was clumsier than his usual kisses, but Matthew's lips were soft and tasted sweet, and Roberto didn't care. He pulled away, looking with watery eyes at Matthew.

Matthew cleared his throat, before he looked over towards the girl. Roberto noticed that she didn't look angry or offended, and actually appeared amused. Even in his drunk mind, he could tell that something wasn't right.

"Um, Roberto," Matthew said. "Allow me to introduce my childhood friend, Katyusha. She's like a sister to me."

It took Roberto a while to understand what Matthew was saying, and when he did, he felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

"Why don't I take you home too, and we can talk tomorrow, when you're sober?" Matthew asked.

"…Sim," Roberto said. "That sounds like an idea."

…

"And that was the start of our relationship," Matthew said.

Twenty years later, their adopted son had asked them how they'd gotten together, and Matthew and Roberto had told him the story. The fourteen-year-old looked between the two, eyes wide.

"So… You two got together because Pai thought Papa was going to get together with Aunt Kat?" Eric asked.

"Pretty much," Roberto said. "You know, you could have stopped me before I made a total fool of myself."

"But it was so sweet," Matthew said, smiling.

The prompt is: 'College AU. Canada (who plays for both teams romantically) has a crush on Brazil—who he shares an economics class with, which is the only thing he knows about him as they're in different circles—but he thinks Brazil is straight, considering he flirts with numerous women. So he simply quietly pines from afar. A while later, as he's leaving a party with Ukraine, a very drunk Brazil spots them, thinks they're heading back to hookup, becomes emotional and gets on his knees and begs Canada not to go with Ukraine, telling him that he (Canada) is the reason he's figured out he also bats for both teams and that he has a huge crush on him and then smacks a huge kiss on Canada's mouth. Flash forward 20 years later and we see their kids laughing as Canada finishes the story of how he and Brazil met.'

Eric is Aerican Empire, who was recently introduced in the manga. While trying to think of who to make their kid, I remembered that there's now a Canadian micronation in the mix. He's named after the emperor/founder of the micronation.

My university had hostels with names that followed no theme. Villagers, Bellatrix, Excelsior, Veritas… And I was thinking of them while coming up with a name for the hostel holding the party. My university had campus hostels and town hostels, with the difference being that the campus hostels provide accommodation, while the town hostels don't (though, there are student complexes associated with certain town hostels). At my university, they were the ones usually responsible for different social events. And one tended to hear stories about the house committee (in other words, the leaders of the hostel) getting drunk and the property damage that came with it. There was a story from before my first year where a hostel's committee got drunk and crashed a car into the wall of another hostel, and in my first year, nine out of the ten committee members of a hostel got suspended because of a fire extinguisher that was emptied in the hallway.

The utility lesson is one I remember from my own first-year economics class, and is probably the only thing I really remember from that class. Just goes to show what a powerful impact a good example can have.