Eight Mortal Secrets [Hetalia Drabbles] (Completed, to be Edited)

XIII. Jealousy

The room was tense and silent. On one end of the dim room, Feliks sat comfortably, leaned back with his left leg sitting on top of his right knee, his arms crossed. Despite the relaxed stance he took, his stark green eyes were dull with irritation, his lips pulled into a frown. At the other end of the room, Alfred sat in another chair sitting up so that he leaned forward, his elbows perched on his knees and his cheek leaned again his knuckles. His bright blue eyes seemed void of emotion behind his glasses. Between the two glaring countries was Matthew, who glanced nervously between the two. Canada was meant to be there as a mediator, but he still brought Hope with him, in case things got out of hand and he needed a larger voice to settle an argument. Hope sat next to him, squeezing his hand reassuringly.

"So," Matthew began, trying to keep his voice from shaking. It wasn't necessarily the people in the room that made him nervous and shy- it was the frustration radiating through the air. It made him anxious, like if he said one wrong word, his brother or Poland might explode and he didn't want to be a catalyst, "I think we should start by explaining why we're upset with one another, eh? Who wants to go first?"

"I would be liking to go first." Poland said, his voice deeper than usual. Alfred's eyes narrowed slightly as Felik's stood, dusting off his pants before he re-folded his arms, placing the majority of his weight on one side of his body, causing his hip to jut out. "I am upset at America because he was like, trying to kill me."

Hope frowned. "Feliks, I don't think Alfred was-"

"Oh no, I was ready to kill him." Alfred interrupted, his glare unwavering.

"I do not understand why. I mean, I do, but at the same time, it confuses me." Poland explained, before flicking his head slightly to move his blonde hair out of his eyes.

"That's because you're Polish." America smirked. "You can't understand the meaning of a stop sign."

A fire seemed to light behind Feliks's eyes. "I can too! It means stop, as in, like, stop your damn vehicle before you run some idiot over!" He snapped, placing his hands on his hips and leaning forward slightly. "And I don't think my dear Shelby would like you calling Polish people stupid. She's very proud of her Polish heritage, you know." He stated, seeming very satisfied in that fact.

"Don't talk about Shelby like she's yours, 'cause she ain't, dude." Alfred said lowly.

"But she's not yours, is she?" Poland challenged.

"You guys, this isn't going to be resolved if you keep yelling at each other." Matthew managed to say. Feliks and Alfred both looked at Canada, before they slowly settled back down, America's muscles relaxing and Poland retaking his seat.

"You know, as a neutral third party, I think it's safe to say that both you are just jealous of each other." Hope stated. The countries glared at each other, but didn't bother denying it. "Alfred, Feliks spoke last time, how about you go now."

"Well, Shelby's always talking about being Polish. She loves everything about the culture, the history. Sometimes, when I mention that she's other things, like Irish and English, she gets... sad, like she doesn't wanna be or something." Alfred explained. "She told me one time that she wished she had her grandmother's maiden name. And when she started hanging out with Feliks... Well, I thought that might be it for us. He's literally the embodiment of everything she loves, you know? When Feliks said he slept with her... I don't even know, dude, it's like my mind completely blanked. I didn't even try to reason with myself that it wasn't true. I straight up snapped."

The room settled, before Poland spoke. "You know, America has a lot of issues." He stated, flicking his hair back with his hand. "The world holds the United States to really high standards, you know, because you used to set them. And despite the fact that you have flaws and there is a lot of unrest right now in all corners of your society... She is still patriotic."

Alfred glanced up in surprise. "She is?"

Feliks offered a small smile. "Like, duh. There's lots of stuff she doesn't like. Lots of stuff she wants to change. But the fact that she, like, wants to change and improve America should show you just how much she loves it. Because she knows how great it could be."

Alfred smiled slightly. "And I'm sorry I teased you about sleeping with Shelby." Feliks continued, his eyes falling to the ground. "That was very much uncalled for. Shelby is like my little sister. I just wanted to mess around with you two and it totally blew up in my face. Truth is, she..." Poland trailed off. "Never mind, she would kill me if I were to spill it."

Matthew raised a brow. "Spill what?"

Suddenly all eyes were on Feliks and his heart fluttered in panic. "Okay, okay! I'll tell you, stop twisting my leg!" He exclaimed in exasperation, even though it had hardly taken any persuasion. "The truth is, America, Shelby really likes you. In a different way than then she likes me. Shelby and me are like, super close twin sisters or something, but she's totally in love with you. No joke."

Alfred's expression changed from that of curiosity to a huge, sparkling grin. "Seriously?"

Hope smiled. "Al, I thought you knew she liked you."

"Well, I knew Shelbs liked me, but I haven't heard anything from her about it since... It happened, I guess. The topic just sorta dropped off the face of the earth."

"Well, you didn't hear anything from me. Shelby would kill me if she found out I told you all." Poland stated.

"Feliks... Shelby can't kill you, you're immortal." Matthew reminded him.

"Canada, she is a very determined, angry person." Feliks shivered. Once he settled down, however, he stood, clasping his hands behind his back as he walked forward and stopped in front of Alfred. "You need to, like, go see Shelby. She won't admit it to me, but I can tell that she totally misses you. Like a lot. She's not the same without you. You and your little cowlick have wedged yourselves right into Shelby's heart."

America nodded, determination in his eyes as he clasped a firm hand on Poland's shoulders. "Will do, dude. No hard feelings, right?"

Feliks flashed a smirk. "Totally- it is like water under the bridge."