It's Not Over (RusAme Story)

Chapter 36- Christmas Party 2.0

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

~America's POV~

"He's here," Japan whispered in my ear.

My heart gave a loud thump, instantaneously knowing exactly who she was talking about. I breathed in deeply and steeled myself before turning to find Russia standing across the room, his slate eyes focused on mine. I forced my nerves to still and pretended to be surprised that he was here.

He stood across the room, looking like some character from one of my favorite books. His dark suit hugged him in all the right places and it took all I had to not stare. His ash-blonde curls were slicked back, revealing the sharp structure of his face and defined jawline. His emerald tie was the only pop of color in his monochromatic attire, and the vivid green of it made me realize that we were in opposing colors.

I glanced down at my red velvet dress and then back at him in his perfectly pressed suit and tie.

He looked like a model.

He looked at me, his expression more see-through than normal and for some reason, it felt like we were the only two people in the room even though the others were staring at us.

All the memories of the past weeks flooded through me, crashing through my barriers and it took everything I had not to fall apart at the way he was looking at me. His eyes were clouded with emotions I couldn't label, for once not as stone-cold as I had seen before, but when he realized that other people were looking at us, his expression became impassive again, cutting him off from me like before.

His detachment brought me back to the rink and the memory of his rejection resurfaced like a slap to the face, but I ignored it and used it to darken my own expression, trying to convince myself that I didn't care about him anymore.

I had cared, but I wouldn't make that mistake again.

I shot him a dark look, my intent clear: stay away from me. I turned back to the conversation I had previously been involved in and willed myself to not look back at him. I knew he was staring at me, but I didn't care. I wanted him to hurt for what he had done to me, and I was going to get revenge. He made me look like a fool, made me weak, made me cry. Heck, he was probably even proud of himself.

I dug my freshly painted nails into my palms and forced myself to pay attention to the conversation.

"America?" Someone interrupted.

I prayed that it wasn't who I thought it was and turned to find a boy with familiar brown eyes. "Philippines?" I questioned.

"Yep," he beamed and I nearly melted into a puddle at his adorable smile. His soft eyes crinkled at the corner and small dimples formed in his round cheeks. "Thanks for the chips by the way," he giggled, reminding me of when we had met in the store, and his laugh alone made me smile.

I spun to catch Japan's gaze. "How?" I questioned and she shrugged knowingly. "I saw him at school and figured he was the one you said that you met at the store." She turned to give him a warm hug. "We're best friends now!"

"Yep," Phil laughed. "Now what was that about America mentioning me?"

"Oh my gosh!" I exclaimed, immediately blushing in embarrassment. I shot Ukraine a warning look. "I'm sorry, she's exaggerating," I turned back to Phil, laughing.

"Oh okay," he said, but his sunny disposition dimmed slightly.

I instantly felt guilty and tried to make him happier again. "Hey, do you want to come grab a cookie with me?" I asked. "I've heard they're amazing and I'm dying to eat one!"