Argh-thor's Note:

Incidently, I hate the holiday on the 14th of Feb. Well, two years ago I declared it St Valentine's Massacre Day Anniversary and bought water guns for my friends to use, I wrote a speech on the commercialism of Valentine's Day and if asked, my friends would say that one day if they turn on the news during a protest for V day in front of Hallmark, I would be the first one there. So more or less, I'm a total Gilbert .

Unfortunately, I'm what they called a cynic romanticist. If it ever happened to me, I'll be Matthew, thrilled to death.

The story was originally a one shot, but for today, it will be a three-parter. Cause I'm bored that way, and I like to drag out your agony more often.

Rating: T

Summary/ Prompts: Matthew and Gilbert are two different individuals. But can these two different individuals be able to maintain a relationship when they both have different views?

Disclaimer: Don't own Hetalia. Dun own anything, for that matter. I just write weird stuff. And occasionally sweet stuff.

Opposites Do Stick Together, After All

If anyone were to look at the different couples on the street, many would often go," Aw..." or coo at how cute they look together.

Take Germany and Italy, for example. At the last meeting, when both countries had shown up holding hands, the meeting had broken up halfway to shout congratulations and cheer for the new happy couple. At least, that was until France had declared his amour for every other country and had proceeded to grope the butts of those nearby to him.

That had ended rather badly (for France that is, everyone else was just happy to see something fun happening) when he made the mistake of groping Liechtenstein. The blush on her face and the unmistakable clink of a rifle from nearby Switzerland caused an uproar when everyone tried (or in England's case, pretended to try) to break the two up and get Vash away from his rifle. In any case, this did not stop the happy couple from giving each other fond glances and ( in Italy's case ) sweet looks, whether from across the table when Germany was giving a presentation, or when Italy fed pasta to an embarrassed Germany during lunch , or even when Germany was directing the ambulance to get France to the hospital. And everybody noticed and approved the apparent love between the two happy countries, especially as many had known about their love for each other for a very long while.

In other cases though, if you were to put Germany's brother, the ex-nation Prussia and the much overshadowed twin brother of America ,Canada ; and told the other countries that they were having a relationship with each other, most would have reacted by going into shock. In the real world, things like this just simply did not happen.

Firstly, the couple were, by first glance just too different. Prussia, or as he was known to fans, friends and family, Gilbert was a loud mouthed egoist who had a rather narcissistic view of the world and himself. Countries which had a long history could remember times of yore when Prussia would come out, wearing full battle regalia and brandishing a sword and announcing his decision to invade and seize a certain country's vital regions. His stubborn egoistic pride and tendency to annoy the people around him made it impossible for people not to forget him. In short, if Gilbert were a normal person, he would have been top hooligan of a famous gang by now.

In contrast, Canada, or Matthew as he was known to friends and family, was a shy, quiet individual who never spoke up or went unnoticed by everybody. In fact if one were to walk up to Matthew's face, they would still have no idea what the nation looked like. Countries who have witnessed times of their childhood could relate many tales regarding the more mischievous America but couldn't place Canada in any time of their history. Even the ones who raised him, England and France couldn't remember him half the time and often mixed him up with America.

So, the two actually getting together would have become tabloid worthy. Unfortunately, there laid the problem.

*

"We can't tell anyone?" said Matthew as he buttoned up his shirt-Gilbert's shirt .He looked across the room to see a half naked Gilbert lounging against the wall next to the window. The smooth pale skin of Gilbert's chest played nicely against the sunlight, in contrast to the coarse texture of dark blue jeans. He looked like a marble Roman statue that someone played a trick on by dressing him up in jeans. A very handsome Roman statue, Matthew silently added.

Getting off the wall, Gilbert looked at Matthew in the eye and said, "Yeah. Elizaveta is going to go apeshit when she finds out about this and I hate it when people start nosing into things that shouldn't be nosed into." He went across the room to put his arms around Matthew, burying his nose into the blonde's hair and breathing in the scent. "Sometimes, I feel like you're the only one that understands me, kid."

Matthew raised both his hands to hold on to Gilbert's own, relaxing into the warmth behind him. While it was great that Gilbert loved him and the feeling was mutual, somehow he just couldn't shake off that nagging feeling of unsatisfaction.

*

"And that concludes today's meeting!" shouted America as he gathered up his papers and threw them up in the air. "Have a great weekend, guys!"

Every other nation released the breath they had been holding for the last few minutes .Some stretched out their tired muscles while others stood up and began talking to others. Canada was standing up and gathering his papers into his briefcase when suddenly an arm had placed itself across his shoulder.

"So, little bro! How's it hanging?" Alfred grinned as he grabbed his younger brother into a hug and ruffled his hair. Matthew spluttered and struggled to remain upright and prevent his brother from causing more damage. Alfred just laughed.

Matthew managed to get out of his brother's grip and adjusted himself. Somehow during the struggle his glasses became askew and had fallen off his nose. Francis, who was passing by while arguing with Arthur, picked them up and placed them back onto the younger country's nose. While blushing and thanking his father nation, Matthew did not notice gleaming red eyes narrowing and focusing on Matthew and Francis.

" Mon cher Mathieu, I believe that these glasses do so poorly for your looks....you should take them off more often , show off those eyes... t'as d'beaux yeux tu sais..." Murmured the anthromorphic personification of France as he placed a hand on Matthew's cheek.

Arthur snatched France's hand off Matthew's cheek. " Please, Francis. You practically raised Matthew. Stop trying to act as though you want to get into his pants. "

"Why angleterre, surely you are not jealous?"

Ignoring the Frenchman, Arthur turned to the twins and asked them, "In any case, I was going to find you lads anyway. Next week Yao's celebrating his New Year in his house and he's going to have a party. He asked us if you boys wanted to come along next Saturday and Sunday, and since I saw Matthew there, I though I'll ask him as well. So you two coming?"

Matthew blanched and blushed at the same time, giving his skin a weird pinkish effect. Next Saturday, Gilbert had invited him over to his house for dinner; he couldn't possibly make it then.

"See, West's getting suspicious, cause I spend all my time here." Said Gilbert a few weeks back, lounging on Matthew's sofa while drinking a can of beer. "I tell him that I come here because there's an awesome area that has my name in it, and you make the best pancakes and stuff. He wants you to come over for dinner so that he can thank you for "entertaining me" all the time." He smirked while drinking up the rest of the beer, placing it on the table next to him. "He sure doesn't know what kind of entertainment I get up here." Chuckling softly under his breath, he turns over to look at Matthew, sitting on the floor with his knees tucked up under his head. Matthew sighed as he turned to face Gilbert.

"Gil, I've been thinking..."mumbled Matthew as he placed his face closer to Gilbert's own. " I mean, I know how much you value your privacy and all, but wouldn't your brother and other people get suspicious about us? You've been coming to my place since April of last year, and we've been dating since July...Wouldn't your friends and your family wonder about why you keep coming here all the time?"

Gilbert snorted." Please. West spends every waking moment of his life with paperwork, and his free moments with Italia–chan and cleaning the house. Austria has this concert coming up in March, so he's training up for it, and Psycho Bitch would beat me up if I bothered her and Austria all the time. Frankly, the fact that I keep disappearing is a good arrangement for both of us. She doesn't get mad, and I get to spend more time with you without getting beaten up. If it weren't for the fact that I grew up with her, I would have sworn she was a bionic woman made to kill people."

Trying to ignore the image of an angry bionic woman a la Terminator in his mind, Matthew continued," I mean, Gilbert ,I think we should just tell everybody about ...you know...us."

Gilbert, who was at the time reaching out for another can of beer, spluttered and dropped the canon the floor.' What?! No ! I mean-that-what?!"

Now that he had confessed about his feelings, the outpouring began." I mean, it's not a good thing that I have to keep lying to people about what I'm doing and stuff, and I hate it when people get mad at me about cancelling on them cause I can't give them a good excuse about what I'm doing that would make me cancel my plans with them and stuff. "

Gilbert looked at him in the eye and asked," People actually call you out for stuff?"

"Gilbert! I'm serious here!" shouted Matthew as he slapped Gilbert in the arm while Gilbert laughed. Suddenly, he grabbed Matthew and both of them tumbled to the floor, squirming and laughing while they tussled and fought to be on top of each other. Matthew relaxed in Gilbert's warmth and comfort, breathing in his scent as Gilbert tightened his grip on the Canadian.

"We'll tell them." was the reply.

That was unexpected. Matthew tried to turn behind to look at him. "Really?"

Gilbert smirked, "If it means that much to you, kid. We'll tell them. Before the dinner, I'll tell them."

Now, Matthew turned behind him to give him a hug, nearly crushing the air out of the Prussian." Oh, thank you, Gilbert! You have no idea what that means to me!"

" Kese! Of course I do! I am that awesome!" Gilbert said while sitting up. "As long as we don't have to do any of that nonsense for Valentine's day."

Matthew, while trying to sit up, suddenly felt as though the air in his lungs had escaped and he felt as though he should still be on the floor again." Wha-what do you mean?" Did Gilbert just say what he thought he just did? Matthew was fervently praying for a no.

However, the nightmare just kept happening.

" Yeah. That whole business is just bogus! Have you seen how the holiday has gotten? Firstly, it all started with the Hallmark cards, then there was the whole competition about getting bigger and bigger flower bouquets between girls and stuff. And the worse are those corporations out there. Have you seen how much they mark up the price for stuff the day before Valentine's day? It's a conspiracy, I swear. Damn them."Gilbert said, laughing. "Stupid corporations. Anyway, Valentine's day's a stupid holiday. The only time it actually got kinda cool was when Alfred had that St Valentine's Massacre with that Al Capone guy .Best day ever. After that, everybody just started buying more stuff and it just got more stupid. So yeah, Valentine's day is the stupidest day of Feb."

Matthew just felt even more worse than he had earlier.

"So , can you make it?" asked Arthur again, not noticing the younger blonde's reaction and turning to Alfred.

"Well, I don't mind! I love Chinese food! Especially that Moo Goo Guy Pan stuff! That is fabulous!" shouted Alfred , pumping his fists in the air. Arthur rolled his eyes at the younger nations antics while across from them, China's personification, who heard the shout, sobbed at the idea of Moo Goo Guy Pan being considered as authentic Chinese food.

"Sorry, Arthur, I don't think I can make it Saturday...." said Matthew shyly. " I've got plans..."

Now all three nations were staring at Matthew, Arthur with utter shock in his eyes and Francis looking so dismayed that he fainted from the sadness. Alfred however just looked confused.

Matthew's face mirrored the confusion as he stared back at them. " Did I say something wrong? What's the matter?" as he glanced at Arthur, then the fainting Francis, and lastly to Alfred.

"You?" " Plans?" " Mon dieu!" That last one was from Francis.

"With whom?" all three shouted simultaneously.

Matthew could only chuckle nervously as he realised that he was in for an uncomfortable few minutes.

*

Matthew walked out of the Conference building , slightly dejected and exhausted.

While it took a while to get his family to get off his back about his own personal life, somehow he felt a bit distressed at the idea that his family automatically assumed that he had no life outside of his house and his family. Wasn't that a whole lot rude? Sometimes it was times like these that he wished he still had some chocolate chip cookies with him.

A shadow came up behind him and grabbed him from behind, covering his eyes. Before Matthew could employ his self defence technique ( hey, hockey does have its benefits, giving you great arm strength) he heard a quiet , "Kese" and relaxed. "Prussia, let go of me. I know it's you."

The hands were released from his eyes and Matthew regained his vision. Turning around, Matthew looked at Gilbert, who was grinning maniacally. "I wasn't so sure what time you were coming out, you know, kid. So I've been waiting out here for awhile."

"You mean you've been ambushing every single nation that just came out, eh?" said Matthew, already visioning the scene and the disturbance Gilbert would have caused attacking the other countries from behind and covering their eyes. Looking him over, he saw that despite Gilbert's slightly dishelved appearance, with his pale hair entangled with leaves and twigs, he was still handsome, with dancing red eyes and a roguish smirk on his face.

"Yeah well. I drew the line at Switzerland and Liechtenstein when they came out. " Gilbert grinned, kicking a pebble in his path. Matthew chuckled, the ex-nation had most probably learnt from Francis's lesson, after all. Both of them started walking down the path together, being careful to not to walk too close to each other as they would have back at Canada.

"So how did you feel the discussion went, Prussia?" said Matthew, being careful to address Gilbert in his formal name in public. It felt weird, as Matthew had often referred to the older man as either Gilbert or Gil and once when he was in a teasing mode, Gilbo Baggins. Yet, he knew Gilbert's desire to keep up appearances until the "time was right". Which was, as what Gilbert had said, "Next Saturday."

" Kesesese! Awesome, as usual! Germany has never been any less pumped than it is today." Gilbert smirked and pumped his fist out in a victory pose. Matthew rolled his eyes in fond exasperation.

"So, West wants you to come over at around five-ish Saturday evening. " said Gilbert as they neared a local deli to grab lunch. Matthew looked up at him questioningly and Gilbert cleared up," Okay, he actually wants you to reach there, at 1700hrs sharp, with a ten minute barrier for you to get lost or take your time or something like that. Dinner would start promptly at 1730hrs ."

" I thought so." Sometimes it was better to ask from Germany himself instead of getting stuff relayed from his less focused on the details brother, but then again, it was part of the reason why Matthew loved him anyway.

Walking into the deli, Matthew saw that there was a large array of pasta, sausage meats , salads and other food items, which was quite a good idea for lunch. However, his eye was drawn towards the pink and red decorations hanging around and above him, including the giant paper cupid pinned on the corkboard above the deli counter.

Gilbert followed his gaze, though evidently misunderstanding the look and snorted, " Yeah, I know, damn holiday. It only comes once every year but everybody acts as though it should be a holiday event celebrated for a whole month. What a waste."

Matthew, who actually wanted to shout, "No, please don't say that! Valentine's day is the best day ever! " said instead, in a neutral voice ," It can't be that bad, can it? There would be more commercialization now, but it's all for the spirit of the holiday."

Gilbert made a noise that spoke of his disbelief. "Yeah, right! It's not just now! Back in the great days, during Old Fritz's time, wait, even before Fritz's time, do you know how many ladies there were that went crazy during February? All that talk about whether the flowers given were bigger, the whole trinket giving....do you know Fritz had to give a few flower arrangements and a ruby necklace just so that he can placate that niece of Roderich's boss? Seriously! I tried to get him out of it, but he was too nice about the entire situation....thank god, they never married...Marriage is stupid , anyway....if he had married her, I would have to see Roderich every day....cheh!"

Matthew, who saw the situation get worse and worse, decided to just focus on the matter before hand. "Well, there's all of that , yeah , but Valentine's Day...it's more romantic for others to celebrate on this day, don't you think?"

"Well, whatever. " Gilbert replied , bending down to have a closer look at the sausages on display. " Sucks to be them. At least you're not like that. That's something to be thankful for. Hey, this is not even real wurst! What the hell are they selling?!"

At that point, Matthew bit back a scream of frustration and wished that bionic terminator Eliza would just come and shoot him out of his misery.

*

"t'as d'beaux yeux tu sais" – You have beautiful eyes, you know.

Argh-thor's Note : Yayzies! I wrote this for the Valentine Day Exchange on LJ, and when the green light was cleared I instantly jumped a hedge, ducked a frisbee and two giant dogs when they came and attacked me, to send you dear readers this. It's a long one shot, but I happen to love writing it. So may I just say.....HAPPY ( LATE ) VALENTINE'S DAY!

Review!! Or I'll make Bionic Terminator Eliza come after you! ( mwhaahhahhaahhahahahahhaha!!!)