I feel tired, but I can't sleep. That sounds weird, but it's true. I take off my boots and coat and try to make myself at home, but that's kind of impossible when I'm in a strange place. I've never been very good in unfamiliar places. When I left Germany's house to go and strike out on my own, I spent the first three nights not sleeping at all, because it was weird to be without Germany and Prussia.

I cringe at the thought of them. God knows what they think of me now. I just hope nobody's bothered to go round to my place to try and talk to me. Because then I'll have to explain why I wasn't there, and I don't think Ludwig would be amused to find out that I have been knocked out by Russia and then spent the night at his house. He'd probably declare war on him, and that would not end well for anyone. No, I think I'll just pretend that this night never happened. That might be the wisest decision.

I sit down on the bed and hug my knees to my chest, waiting for morning to come so I can leave. It occurs to me that I could sneak out the window or something, but it's still dark, and anyway, Russia could still be awake. And if he caught me trying to escape, not only would I probably get a beating from his pipe, it'd probably make him feel bad.

I sigh. Why do I care about Russia? I barely know him, he's terrifying, and he's just attacked me with a lead pipe. All of the above reasons suggest that I should either dislike him or be scared of him, perhaps both. Yet I actually seem to care about his feelings. Why?

My head still hurts from earlier, and although I can't sleep, it's like a fog has descended on me, clouding my thoughts and vision. I lie down and close my eyes, trying to ignore the pain, but I can't. The slightly nauseated feeling has come back, too. Basically I feel terrible, which is probably why I can't sleep. Not to mention the fact that the person next door to me is snoring. Not loudly or anything, it's actually quite quiet, but my brain appears to be going haywire. I rub my eyes and try to ignore everything around me, but that's an impossible task.

So this is how I spend my night, trapped in a disoriented haze, watching the hours tick by on my watch. I'm so fed up with it all. I'm fed up with this house, Ludwig and Gilbert, the fact that everyone thinks I'm weak, running my own place, everything. Finally, at about half six, I snap out of it. I need to talk to someone who is slightly saner than I am right now.

So I sneak out of my room and find a phone. I first of all try to call Hungary, but she's not picking up. So then I try Ukraine, but she doesn't pick up, either. I try Poland, but there's no answer. I think about it, and then try to call Italy. God knows what I'm thinking, Italy's terrified of Russia and he wouldn't be any help, anyway. Plus he'd probably tell Ludwig. But he's all I've got right now.

The phone rings a few times, and then eventually someone picks up. "What the hell is-a it, you bastard?"

Oh. Damn. This isn't Italy, this is Romano, his older brother, and while he'd probably give (slightly) better advice, he hates my guts. That said, he hates pretty much everyone.

"Seriously? What's-a with the heavy breathing and the silence-a down the phone, you fucking bastard? Leave us alone."

"Romano, it's me!" I squeak, as loud as I dare.

"Deitich? What the hell-a are you-"

"Listen to me, I need help!"

"I gathered that, you're at Russia's house, for fuck's sake. What-a are you even doing there?"

So I explain the whole thing to him. Romano definitely wouldn't be my first choice, in fact, he'd probably be my last choice, but it's not like I even have a choice. He listens without interrupting, which is incredibly unusual for him, but this isn't the time to question that. When I'm done, he breathes heavily down the phone and then says, "You are a complete-a idiot."

"I know. Don't remind me," I groan.

"No, you're-a not even an idiot, you're.... I don't-a even know. What the fuck were you thinking? Honestly, I want to know."

I sigh. "Honestly? I have no idea."

"That figures. Just like-a your brothers," he mutters darkly. I decide to ignore him.

"So what now?"

"How am I supposed to know-a? I don't know-a Russia. I stay out of the way-a of that psycho for a reason."

"So why am I even taking to you?!?"

"I don't know! You're-a the one who rang-a me in the first place! Although, of course, you wanted Feli, which isn't surprising." He starts to mutter things under his breath. I don't really want to know what he's saying, actually.

"Look, I'm sorry for bothering you. Just..." I bite my lip. "Don't tell Italy, please. Or Germany."

"Why the fuck would I tell-a that potato bastard?"

"I don't know..."

"Whatever, then. Bye." He hangs up.

"Bye," I say, miserably. I still don't know what to do. What would Germany do? Even as the thought enters my head, I know it's ridiculous. Ludwig would never be in this situation. Unlike me, he's sensible enough to avoid this sort of thing.

I decide to go back to the room I was "sleeping" in. There was no point in wandering around this place aimlessly. Anyway, if I ran into Russia... I don't particularly want to talk to him right now.

When I get back to my room, I pause outside the door. I can hear noises coming from the room next to the one I'm in. I stop still, my hand on the doorknob of my door. "Hello?" I call out.

The door opens and someone peeks out. I can only see one of their eyes, wide and blue, but I can tell it's a guy. This must be one of the Baltics.

"Um... Hi?" I whisper. The eye blinks at me.

"H-hello....." he stutters back, looking terrified. Cautiously, he pulls open the door, to reveal himself, a small, slight man with light hair and blue eyes. He's not alone. With him are two other guys, one blond with glasses, the other with longer dark hair.

"Um.... Who are you?" I ask. They all cringe slightly and look at each other.

"I'm Latvia..." says the first one.

"I'm Lithuania," says the dark haired one.

"I'm Estonia."

"Oh... Well, it's nice to meet you."

"Who are you?" asks Lithuania.

"I'm um, I'm Deitich. I'm staying here for the night."

Their eyes widen. "You know Mr Russia?" whispers Latvia.

"Well.... Not really."

With a sigh, I explain my situation to them, and they listen intently. When I'm done, they stare at me for a while, and then Estonia whispers," You're very brave."

"Well..." I smile slightly. "I wouldn't say that. So you're the Baltic States, right?"

They nod. "Yes," they say.

"You like it here?"

The second I say that, all three of them jump slightly and look around, and then Lithuania whispers, "N-no.... Not really. R-Russia is scary..."

I bite my lip. Poor guys.

"Anyway, have you been here all night?"

I nod. "Most of it."

"Would you like something to eat?" Estonia asks.

I almost faint with relief. Truth to be told, I'm starving, but I didn't want to tell Russia last night, so I didn't. "Yes, please."

"Ok." Lithuania takes me down the hallway and leads me to the kitchen. He starts getting things out of cupboards and making food.

"Oh, no, you don't have to go to all that trouble...." I start, but he shakes his head.

"It's fine."

"Ok, then," I say cautiously.

"So, you're a friend of Mr Russia?" he asks, stirring something in a pot.

"Well.... I wouldn't say that. I don't really know, to be honest. He just kind of knocked me out and then invited me to stay."

"And is your family ok with that?" I pause, cringing slightly, and he goes pink. "Sorry, I didn't mean......"

"No it's ok," I say. I think about it. "They don't really know," I admit.

"Your brothers are Germany and Prussia, right?" I nod. "They don't like Mr Russia much. Although, not many people do these days."

"Yeah, why is that?" I ask.

Lithuania grimaces. "Fear, mostly. Also, I think his past is too bloody for anyone to forgive him. The Soviet Union collapsed a while back, and I was in that.... I didn't stay, none of us did. But most of us are still in his pocket." He frowns at me slightly. "I still don't understand how England got to you first. You're right on Mr Russia's border, by all logic you should have been part of the Union too."

I shrug. "My brothers kept a hold of me. And when I surrendered to England..... I suppose since at the time, England was so powerful, Russia probably didn't think it was a good idea."

He nods. "I suppose that makes sense. Anyway-"

"Oh, you're awake already, good," says a voice behind me.

Lithuania stops dead and stutters, "M-Mr R-Russia! I...."

I turn around to see Russia standing in the doorway, smiling. Latvia and Estonia are behind him, trembling. Lithuania starts shaking uncontrollably. I swallow and then smile at him nervously.

"Hi," I say. Russia looks at Lithuania and then back at me.

"Are you feeding her?"

"Y-yes Mr R-Russia....." Lithuania whispers. Russia beams at him.

"Great! Deitich, could I talk to you for a moment?" He gestures into the corridor. I nod. He leads me out into the corridor.

"What is it?" I ask.

Russia smiles. "I just wanted to ask if you'd slept ok."

I nod, even though it's not true; I didn't sleep at all. "Ja, thanks."

"Are you sure? Because you look tired."

I go pink. He's perceptive, I'll give him that. "I slept a bit, I guess."

He nods. "Makes sense." He looks around and sighs. "Big house, and you're not used to it. It used to be beautiful..... Before....." He bites his lip.

I don't really know what to say. It must've been terrible, really, to witness all he's witnessed, and then not even to have much at the end of it. I mean, he's got a lot, he's a huge country, with good military and whatever, but that's not enough. Without even meaning to, I feel kinda bad for him.

"I bet it was," I whisper, looking at the floor.

He smiles down at me and shakes himself. "Anyway, you want some ding to eat? Because the Baltics do make some good food."

"Yes, thank you very much," I say politely. We go into the kitchen, where the Baltics are whispering nervously to each other. Lithuania jumps when he sees us.

"I-I'm n-nearly done...." he starts, but Russia waves him off.

"You go. I'd like to be on my own with Deitich." He gives him what is probably supposed to be a gentle shove out the room, but it ends up with Lithuania stumbling away and the others following him, looking terrified. Russia doesn't appear to notice,and instead puts food on plates and sits opposite me in the dining room.

Lithuania's made some kind of soup. I have no idea what it's made of, but it tastes good. Russia seems pretty happy, too. He reaches into his coat (he appears to have half the world in there) and pulls out a bottle of vodka. At least, I'm assuming it's vodka, anyway, because this is Russia we're talking about.

"You want some vodka?" he asks. I'm about to say no, but then I think, what harm can it do? So I take the bottle from him and sip. It's like drinking liquid fire, and I nearly spit it out.

Russia starts making strange noises, and then I realise that he's laughing at me. I manage to gulp back the alcohol, gasping. I put the bottle down.

"How do you drink that?" I ask. He laughs.

"I drink it all time!"

"Yeah, but that's like fire!" He just laughs even more.

"I like it."

I think a about this. "Fine, then." I grab the bottle and take another sip. This one is less offensive, probably because I now know what's coming. I give it back to him and he drinks it like it's water. "How do you do that, though?"

He shrugs. "I technically invented it."

"Well, that makes sense," I mutter. He grins at me, and suddenly I feel a weird feeling in my stomach. This isn't fear, this is something else. I don't know what it is, but I like it.