Happy New Year. Warning! Bring tissues. Even my eyes watered up a bit at the end.

Questions, comments and answers:

AmeKooriOkami: Your cosplay group sounds amazing. I'm lazy at trying to cosplay and it's a little difficult to find an entire cosplaying group, but I do know two Italy's, a Russia, two Canada's, a Germany, an England, and a Switzerland. I honestly don't know whom I'm most like, so it's difficult to choose.

Fangirl429: Aww! You're sweet. I hope I didn't get you in trouble for doing something "productive" though…

JiNgLeBeLls912: ;_; My writing? Amazing? Thanks, but I still have a long way to go to be as good as other writers…

Louise-Maria: Ludwig deserves everything! And if he did say no to his brother, then we would not have Germacest. My friend was so against it when I introduced the concept, but then the shipping begun.

Romanadvoratrelunder AKA Fred: I am then very worried for your health…I would love to meet a Prussia role-player one day. In actual Prussia-cosplay-costume.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed or put this in their favorites or on their alert list!

Where we last left off:

"It can't be any more wrong than how you trail after Arthur! You still love him! I can see it in your eyes! He's over you! Both of you broke up! He loves Alfred! It's over!"

"It's not over! If…if…if I could only make him remember again-…wrong…if that accident hadn't have happened…"

"Is there even a name for someone who has feelings for their bird? Aerosexual? Avessexual?"

"'She's too oblivious to know what I'm talking about if I tried to ask her straightforward…'"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hey, Kiku?"

"Yes, Joley-chan?"

"If my knowledge of pop culture serves me right, I believe someone has declared war on me," Joley acknowledged, fingering a scarlet envelope in her hands.

We were in the library. It was a rainy, slightly chilly, October afternoon. Matthew and Alfred had left, Arthur had a meeting with his sewing club, and Lovino was helping with the decorations for the Halloween Ball in three days.

I gingerly took the envelope from Joley's hands, inspecting it from all sides. It was small, enough for someone to easily slip into someone's locker or bag. I gently opened the envelope and lifted out the little card from the inside. On it, there was a riddle.

Numbers of people can come, in twos, in threes, and ones

In costumes and masks,

Couples come, romance in the air,

Princesses and their princes,

If you accompany me to the ball this Friday,

I will be your shining knight in armor to your highness

Your secret admirer, P.B.

"I believe you are at war with this P.B., Joley-chan," I told Joley.

"I knew it!" Joley whispered loudly, hitting her fist against her open palm. "I put just jam on my sandwich earlier, but not peanut butter, so it's trying to get me back!" Suddenly, Joley stood up, determination on her face. "I'm now banning peanut butter from now on until this mysterious note is solved!"

"And we will find the sender of this mysterious note as well," I noted, turning the little scarlet envelope in my hands.

"I also found this in my locker too," Joley added, pulling out a small bouquet of blue flowers out of her bag sniffing its scent. "But I want to keep these…"

"Be careful Joley-chan," I warned her, gently prying the flowers from her grip. "They could be poisonous and if you smell them, you could faint or pass out." Joley frowned and slowly nodded. I took the flowers and put them on the other side of the table. I looked down at my watch then outside the window. It was getting dark. "I'll leave now, Joley-chan."

Joley nodded. "I have some more homework to work on, so I'll be here for a while."

"Okay. Joley, be careful. If someone declaring war on you, I would watch your back," I warned the brunette girl as I gathered my stuff.

"I'll be sure to. Sort of. Thanks Kiku." Joley smiled. I nodded and left, my bag slung around my shoulders.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Joley yawned and looked around at the table scattered with her papers and books. "Maybe I'll take a quick little nap before packing up and going," she said to herself, resting her head on her arms and drifting off to sleep.

Ring Ring Ring

The librarian looked around the library to see whose phone was disrupting the peace and quiet. Seeing no one react to the ringing, she looked down at her phone who was the culprit.

"Hello? Really? Now? I'll be right there then. See you." The librarian squealed with happiness. She finally had a date with that cutie from her seniors' bingo club. She quickly packed up her stuff, turned off all the lights, and left the library, all nicely locked up for the night. As she drove away in her car, the librarian had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach; as if she had forgotten about something. "Must be indigestion," she shrugged off, heading off to her date.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

I was unable to find Joley the entire day and was unable to ask her to the dance. Did someone already ask her? Was she not into dances? Or better question, did she get kidnapped? With her kind of naïvetés, she would probably get into a random stranger's car with a smile. With these thoughts, I left my dorm and headed to the library to do some nightly reading. A quick walk later in the cool October air, I cracked open the window I knew that was loose and quickly and quietly snuck into the dark library.

As I walked down the aisles, a single glowing light caught my attention. The librarian would never leave any light on when she left. Curiosity getting the better of me, I walked towards the light.

"This feels like a strange fairytale," I muttered to myself. Turning the corner, I found Joley fast asleep, her homework scattered around her, the flowers I got her right beside her. "Yup. It's déjà vu all over again."

I walked closer to Joley and took one of the flowers and put it behind the brunette's ear, her instantly cuddling into my touch. Her eyes slowly fluttered open and I retracted my hand, instantly grabbing one of her books, flipping to a random page and taking a seat next to Joley.

"Gilbert? W-w-what are you doing here?" Joley asked, looking around at the library. "What time is it?"

"Well, it's just a bit past midnight," I answered looking down at my phone, "and isn't it obvious? I am reading."

Joley smiled and rubbed her face. "Wait. Past midnight? I should have gotten home hours ago. My parents must be so worried." Joley frantically begun to gather up her stuff, shoving it into her bag. "They'll probably-"

"Hello? Devin? Hey, it's Gilbert. Yeah, Joley's with me. No, we were doing a project at the library and lost track of time, but Mattie and I also invited her to a sleepover in his dorm. Yes. She'll be there with Kiku, and uh, Elizaveta, another friend. Thanks. Goodnight."

"Was that-"

"You're dad? Yeah."

Joley looked at me for a second before throwing her arms around me in a tight embrace. "You're a lifesaver," she breathed before grabbing her stuff and running out of the library. "See you tomorrow!"

"See you," I yelled after her. "Wait. Tomorrow's Saturday." I realized then chuckled at her oddness. I looked back down at the table to see Joley had left her bouquet on the table.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Wow. What a night. After a long and exhausting date with annoying but hot twins, I was ready to go back to my room and collapse. Ready to fall asleep in my warn and comfortable mattress-

"Oof!"

"Heeheehee!"

"Oh, sorry- Joley?" I asked, realizing that I had bumped into my next door neighbor who smelled like, wait. Was that alcohol? "Joley? Are you, drunk?" I leaned into the girl and sniffed, my nose filling with the strong scent of vodka.

"No, silly Toni the tiger," Joley giggled, lightly slapping my face. "I was walking to Mattie's dorm and I was getting pretty thirsty sooo I passed by this guy and he asked me if I wanted a drink. I said sure, and he handed me this bottle," Joley offered the bottle, the remnants clear and water like. Sniffing the inside of the bottle, it was definitely the strong alcoholic drink I knew only one person to consume. I sighed and helped Joley up.

"Poor chica bonita. Tricked. Come on. Let's get you-"

"Uh…Toni? I don't feel so good…" Joley moaned before she upchucked her previous meal all over my shoes and the ground.

"Ummm…well…let's go find Mattie, okay?"

"Ugh…"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"What."

"Hey, Mattie!"

"Don't hey Mattie me. What do you want? Do you know what time it is?"

"Well, I was just calling to tell you that I'm coming over!"

"…No."

"Yes! Well, actually, Joley should be on her way there-"

Knock knock knock

"Mattie? Por favor! Joley doesn't smell that good right now and neither are my shoes!"

"Wha?"

"Toni's there? Oh hell no. I'll be there in five."

"Wait, no-"

Click.

Knock knock knock

"Mattie? Open the door, please!"

I sighed and rubbed my face as I shuffled over to the door and unlocked it, revealing to see Joley half awake, leaning on a tired Antonio whose shoes were covered with something rancid.

"Whoo! I'm an airplane!" Joley whooped before passing out completely on top of Antonio who struggled to keep her upright.

"She's drunk?" I whispered loudly, ushering Antonio into my dorm as he gently laid Joley on my couch.

"She was drunk. Now she's sleeping," Antonio sighed as he took off his shoes. "Yuck."

"Hold on, I'll get you a towel," I offered. "So tell me. How did she get drunk and how did you find her?"

"I was coming from a date and I accidentally bumped into her. She said she was walking, got thirsty and some guy gave her what she thought was a water bottle, but was actually vodka," Antonio explained as I handed him a towel. "Gracias. Then I asked her how she got drunk and she threw up on my shoes."

"You don't think…"

"I…don't think so. If he was, why would he target her?"

Knock knock knock

I nodded and opened to door to Gilbert. "Hey."

"Hey," I answered back. Gilbert looked around the room until his eyes landed on a certain unconscious girl lying on the couch.

"What happened?" He asked, walking over to inspect Joley, who now had a bit of drool coming out of her mouth.

Antonio retold the tale to Gilbert whose eyebrows furrowed down in thought.

"Well, I better be getting back to mi casa. See you guys," Antonio nodded, leaving Gilbert and I alone in my dorm with a sleeping Joley.

"Been a while like this, eh?" Gilbert asked me, looking out of the window he managed to get near.

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Listen, Mattie. About that night-" Gilbert partially turned towards me.

"I don't want to talk about what happened. It's all in the past, Gil." I replied, turning away.

"Heh. It's been a while since you've called me Gil, Matthew." I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Been a while since you've called me Matthew, Gilbert." I ruefully smiled.

"You know I still-"

"Love me?" I asked, bitterly. "You never loved me," I scoffed, rolling my eyes.

"That's a lie." Gilbert whispered.

"No it's not-" I started, but I felt an arm grab my elbow and spin me around, my violet eyes locking with scarlet.

"It's a lie!" Gilbert growled loudly. "I never meant to hurt you. But you slept with him! Him of all people! How do you think that made me feel? My best friend!"

"And sleeping with my brother's current boyfriend made you feel better? Huh? Did it?" I yelled back, tears welling up in my eyes. "You knew how Alfred felt about Arthur! You knew how Francis felt about Arthur! Yet you slept with him! How do you think it felt to see your brother hurt, so badly?"

"I was angry! Upset! Drunk off my ass! I wasn't thinking clearly!" Gilbert argued back.

"You're never thinking and you're always drunk off your ass!" I yelled, getting into Gilbert's face. "That's how you almost killed Feliciano!" Once those words left my mouth, I instantly regretted it, seeing how Gilbert's face instantly fell.

"You know, it hurts, sometimes. To see Ludwig and Feliciano together. To know that after one mistake I made, I almost took away one of the most precious things in my life and the most precious thing in his life," Gilbert croaked, voice cracking.

"Gilbert, I'm so sorry-" I began, Gilbert waving away my apology.

"It's not your fault. It's mine. Always mine," Gilbert sighed, walking quickly to the door. "But tell me this one thing. Did you love me?"

"..."

"Matthew."

"…Yes," I whispered, turning away as I heard the door open then quietly close. "I always have. Even now."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

;_;

VOTING STATUS:

Now with a message from our leader:

It is I! The awesome one! I'm beating Franc-y pants and Mr. Tomato! I know you would all vote for me because I am awesome! With much love, Gilbert (Prussia). PS: I am awesome! ~Prussia

Hola! It's me! Antonio! You miss me amigas? I'm also beating Francis! But I'm tied with Gilbert no matter what he says that he's beating me. Gracias! Adios! ~Spain

Why does no one vote for moi? ~France

Vote in the poll on my page or in the reviews for who you want to win.

As you can tell, this chapter was supposed to be up a day or two after Halloween, but, as you can tell by reading this on New Year's Day, it was not finished in time. Sorry.