Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

ChuBela: Drowning Sorrow

Yao groaned as he stopped at the back of the line. It was pretty late, and only one till of the grocery store remained open. There appeared to be four other people in front of him. He just wanted to go home and go to bed after a long day at work, but he managed to finish the coffee, milk and bread that morning. These were things that he used every day, so he needed to get them.

His gaze trailed off, landing on the basket of the person in front of him. He blinked as he slowly registered what he was seeing. There were three tubs of ice-cream, and not the cheap kind. All three of these ice-creams were pretty expensive, reserved for a special occasion. The only other thing in the basket was a bottle of alcohol, and based on the lack of colour, he supposed that it was vodka.

He looked up towards her. Her shoulders hitched for a brief moment, and it was clear that she was trying to hold back tears. Yao had younger siblings, and their parents had been busy working most of the time, so he took care of them, which included comforting them when they were hurt or sad or scared. And those instincts didn't just disappear.

"Excuse me, miss?" Yao asked. "Are you okay?"

She turned around, and when he saw the red-rimmed eyes, he knew that she wasn't okay. He also realised that he recognised her.

"What does it matter to you?" she demanded.

"Well, you know how it is, Natalia," Yao said. "I can't help but be worried when I see someone hurting."

Natalia tensed.

"How do you know my name?" she demanded.

"We went to school together," Yao said. "We were in the same homeroom. Your brother used to bully me."

Natalia winced.

"Oh," she said. "Sorry about that. Um…" She looked towards her basket and shrugged. "My boyfriend dumped me after I found out he was cheating on me with three other girls."

"Bastard," Yao said, to which Natalia chuckled. "Clearly, he was a slimeball. You shouldn't waste your tears on him. He's clearly not worth it."

"He's not the first. What's wrong with me that I always seem to attract the worst guys?"

Yao swallowed. He remembered Natalia at school. She was pretty awkward. He didn't doubt that some guys would take advantage of someone like her.

"Would you like to grab dinner?" Yao asked.

"What?" Natalia asked.

He held up his free hand.

"Not as a date or anything," Yao clarified. He didn't want to take advantage of her when she was like this. "But you look like you need to vent to a friend."

Natalia stared at him for a long time.

"Dinner might be nice," she said. "But… let's make it this weekend instead. And… you're right. I need a friend right now."

Yao nodded. It might have been wise to give her time to cool down. But he was genuine about wanting to be there as a friend for her.

The prompt is: 'I'm behind you in line at the grocery store and all you have in your cart are three pints of really overpriced ice-cream and a bottle of vodka. Are you okay do you need a hug?'