Two Can Keep A Secret

Chapter 37: An Epiphany

Ivan can't believe this.

How could he have been so careless?

He knew.

He knew his sister would pull something like this.

And now his lover is bleeding out, right before his very eyes.

God, how did it come to this?

Alfred's eyes are closing. No, no no no they should not be doing that. The red is everywhere. There's blood on his hands.

It's 1991 all over again.

Except this time, Alfred's nearing death, and he's still standing.

This can't be happening.

Ivan refuses to accept it.

Yet Alfreds eyes close, his hand goes limp.

"Alfred?"

No answer. Ivans head feels like it's filled with static. His hand shakes as he reaches out to cup Alfred's face, blood staining his tan skin.

"Sunflower?"

Nothing.

An agonized, heart wrenching scream is heard.

Who's screaming like that? It's quite annoying.

His throat is starting to hurt. How come?

Oh.

It's him. He's the one screaming.

It occurs to him that this has never happened before. He's never felt such emotion for a man, let alone anyone in his life.

He loves Alfred.

He loves him so goddamn much.

And his sister took him from him.

His sister.

Pure, undulterd rage is all he feels. Slowly, he sets Alfred's head down on the floor, making sure not to bump anything. He slowly rises from the floor, his hand clenching.

Ivan can feel Alfred's blood drip from his hand. He starts to shake. A dark aura starts emitting from him, yet his face is blank. An iciness overtakes the room.

He turns to the chaos that now reigns in the corner of the room, his cold glare zeroing in on one person.

His head clears, and he can hear the shouting of the other nations. Narrowing his eyes, he spots Canada being held back by France and England, though they seem to be on the verge of letting him go if their angered faces are anything to go by. Ivan spots tears running down Canada's face, mirroring his own.

But unlike Canada, Ivan isn't being held back.

He walks past them, ignoring their yells. He can deal with them later. Right now, his focus is on Belarus. Currently, she's being held back by Ukraine. Except she has the smuggest of grins on her face, as of she had just won the Olympics. Ukraine looks strained, like she is one step away from strangling her sister with the tight grip she has on her arms.

Everyone notices as Ivan steps forward.

Ivan locks eyes with his sister, and Ukraine nods, releasing Belarus. She steps away, and turns her head. She knew what was coming.

"Brother! I finally got rid of that American scum! Now we can be together without him getting in the way! Aren't you happy?"

Belarus's thrilled voice rings through his thoughts, silencing the room. Ivan didn't know exactly what came over him at that moment, but one minute he was standing in front of his crazed sister and the next he was withdrawing his hand from a punch that sent her flying.