Hetachains (Rewritten Hetalia Reader Insert)

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two

Awake From Hibernation

In the days after Carla left, I lost the will to do anything. My motivation to live life seemingly disappeared with the swirling portal.

The pain of her absence started small. A gnawing feeling in my chest as my socks dragged across the floor, rough wood catching the fabric and cementing me to my spot until I tugged free and trudged forward. The freezing cold that followed me underneath the comforter. Not even the smiling dinosaurs elicited an emotion.

I was a blank slate. A numb figure tracing a path from the bathroom to the bedroom and back to the safety of the bed. Underneath the covers, there was safety. A barrier between myself and the crushing realizations that waited outside. But, even with prehistoric animals protecting me, the memories crept back.

An hour awake brough faint flashes of a cruel smile and a familiar face.

Two hours gave clear movements as Carla turned and walked away.

Three hours is when it started to piece together. Playing through my head like a movie made to torture my every sense.

And at four hours...

I never made it to four.

I walked the line between consciousness and sleep so closely that I couldn't tell the difference. Dreams formed while I stared at the wall. Conversation floated through the house and into my mind in the center of REM*. What felt like a day could have been an hour. I relied on my mind to tell me when to sleep, falling back into the darkness moments before Carla's face became too clear. her words too sharp.

But there were still moments when i could forget. Short bursts of clarity in the world of blur. In more ways than one, I could see the world clearly.

The door opened with a creak. A soft noise that would have been smothered had the room not been dead silent. I shoved the blankets tighter around my head before any light could sneak past my defense.

"hey, _____. It's five o clock again which means it's pasta time!" An empty chuckle died in the room, "Just kidding. I love my cousins- brothers- whatever we are, but if feliciano makes pasta or some pasta adjacent meal one more time, I might just pull my hair out. Tonight;s meal is courtesy of Alfred, and no, it's not a hamburger, surprisingly. He made jambalaya* which certainly made Francis and Antonio excited so it's got to be half decent." the clink of a bowl against the night stand filled the space where words were missing as the speaker settled into a chair. Though I stayed beneath the blankets, I could distinguish Vlad's teasb comments from a mile away. He'd been one of the few who visited me each day. Antonio had been here last night with stories about Lovino and Matthew was in a few days ago, sharing a comfortable silence while giving me a stuffed bear. (Gilbert had later taken the bear after claiming it was a trophy from war but I know he just wanted the bear and was too stubborn to ask.)

Their visits usually went the same way. they came in with food, gave me the food, and tried to coax me out of my bed. Seeing as I was still stuck in my own personal hell, their pep talks didn't exactly work. I stayed behind my walls, listening to their updates and stories while wondering if they'd found a way home yet. The seasons had not reached out since Obsigno. I wasn't sure they even would again. They'd gotten what they wanted. Carla had gone with them. It only made sense for the countries to leave before anything else could happen. They must be looking for the best way to return to their world and their lives.

And where would that leave me? Alone in a cabin with only cartoon dinosaurs to keep me company.

"Well, in any case, I don't think Gilbert is going to try to talk to a bear again anytime soon. Granted, the reach of his stupidity still surprises me." Vladimir laughed at his comment but the noise lacked it's actual humor. The hollow noise echoing in his own chest before bouncing off the walls of the room. The silence that followed was...well, super fucking silent.