Damaged - A Hetalia AU (ON HOLD)

Chapter 9: A Phone Call Away

(A\N: I'm so sorry I've been gone from this work for a month! With the end of the school year approaching, it's been very stressful for me. My schedule has been heavily taken up, but here's another chapter.)

Lilli still didn't understand what was going on.

Vash had never distanced himself from the family like this before. In fact, almost everyone seemed distant. The only time now that the family ever got together was at dinner time, and usually, then, it was only her, Ludwig, Gilbert and Feliciano.

Elizaveta was usually never very irritable, but she was as of recent. Ludwig explained to Lilli that she was grieving and that they all were. He explained the five stages of grief to her but reminded her that everyone grieves differently.

Was this what she was experiencing? Was this what Vash was experiencing? It all seemed like hell to her. She couldn't stop herself from crying herself to sleep some nights. She missed Roderich. She missed seeing Vash every day.

Why couldn't she have a normal family like everyone else?

She felt jealous when she saw a happy family walking down the street from the window. Why could they be perfect and not hers? Lilli wanted to be a normal teenager. She wanted to have friends, to have a normal family, to be happy...

Why couldn't she have it?

Sitting there, staring out the window, Lilli stared out at the trees, which blew in the gentle breeze. Her silence was interrupted by her phone ringing. Lilli picked it up, and without looking at who it was, she answered it, putting it up to her ear. "Hello?" She greeted.

"Good morning, Lilli!" Emma exclaimed. She was at her quaint apartment, doing a few chores that she'd been meaning to do. "Oh, hello, Emma! Is there anything you'd need?" Lilli asked as she moved her body to be resting against the backboard of her bed.

"Well..." Emma began. "I was trying to call Vash this morning, but he wasn't picking up my calls. And he never does that, unless it's someone he has something against. And I'm honestly concerned about him..." Emma's voice had an obvious tone of worry in it, as she thought of why Vash might not be answering her calls.

Lilli frowned softly. "I'm so sorry, but I haven't spoken to him ever since Roderich passed away." She said, a sad tone in her voice from mentioning Roderich. She could feel tears well up in her eyes as she thought of him.

Emma could hear Lilli sniffle."Is everything okay, Lilli?" She questioned worryingly. Lilli searched for the words to reply to her, but couldn't. Lilli began to silently cry, thinking of Roderich. Why did this have to happen? Maybe if they hadn't gone out on that drive, none of this would have happened.

"Lilli," Emma whispered. She didn't want to raise her voice, only use a calm tone to try and comfort her. "Lilli, breathe with me, okay? It'll help." Emma assured. Lilli tried to calm herself down a bit before she tried her best to sync her breathing with Emma's.

"There," Emma said, in a gentle, calming voice that calmed Lilli's mind. "Now, how about we discuss it a little if it's okay with you?" She suggested. Emma was sitting by her apartment's massive window, on a couch that sat in front of it. Emma loved to sit there and relax after a long day.

"We can," Lilli replied, as she sat cross-legged on the bed. "Okay. Now, how have you been feeling recently?" Emma questioned, as she looked around the apartment she was in. "Sad. And also slightly irritable at times. I accidentally raised my voice at Gilbert the other day, and it's been bugging me ever since. I've never done that."