A Game of Chess

Chapter 12: Questions

"Toris, are you okay? You look terrible, no offense." He said, getting a clear look of him. Calling his look terrible was kind a better word would've been more like horrendous.

Toris slowly got up with the help of the baltic group, wincing as he did. "Yes, Mr. America, I'll just head back to my room for now." He muttered quickly. If he had spoken more with a North American accent, he could've mistaken him as Matthew. His every single movement looked like a pain to carry out to him, it made Alfred look at him in utter disbelief.

"Since when the hell did you ever call me 'Mr. America'? C'mon man, we're the bestest buddies!" He said jokingly, slightly offended. "I'll walk you back, we can finally catch up. It's been so long since we've talked!" Alfred cheerfully stuck his arm out, offering it to Toris. Before he could say anything more, someone interrupted again.

"Thank you Alfred, but I'm afraid that won't be necessary." Ivan said, placing a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't visible, but there was this ominous feeling of rage surrounding him. However he kept a smile on, softly inching Alfred closer to him. "I'm sure Toris here just needs a little rest for today." He shot a look at Toris, giving him a menacing glare. He froze up, immediately nodding and walking away. Ivan looked back at Alfred, trying to sully that disappointed demeanor. "And didn't you want to discuss something in private with me?" He said sweetly.

The American gave him a hard stare as he realized that Toris had already left, his figure limping down the hall. That uncertain feeling was there again, laying in the depths of his stomach. Time was running out, he needed to choose quickly. After a moment, he took a deep breath and turned back to Ivan, removing his hand. It was kinda weird that Ivan kept it on him for so long.

"I'm sure that we can always talk about that later, doing it during a meeting probably isn't the most appropriate choice anyways." He said, flashing him a grin before running after Toris. Ivan glared at the disappearing figures, hatred emitting from his surrounding area. The two remaining baltic members glanced at him, their heads hanging low and trembling in fear. They screwed up.

Alfred ran, keeping an eye on him. There was something in his soul, burning in a deep passion. It wasn't romantic, but yet he was so desperate to catch up to him. Something felt off, why would he react to him like this after all these years? Did he do something wrong?

"Toris!" He yelled. Whatever it was, he was sure he could clear it up, no problem there. His blood pumped faster throughout his body, growing ever more concerned. The man in front of him had also started to run, despite his injuries he had shown back there. Was he faking it, trying to get out of meeting with him? Alfred incredulously widened his eyes in a feeling of betrayal before focusing back onto Toris's fading body even more. This only motivated him to run faster. Now he wasn't upset. He just felt pissed.

He knew that if someone was injured, he should give them space. But why was he being openly avoided, after not meeting in so long? Chasing him down like this, trying to catch up to him while he runs away from him like in fear, felt so disheartening.

"Toris!" He yelled again, placing more assertion into his voice. He needed some form of explanation at least.

The Lithuanian never slowed his pace, he never once flinched at the sound of his strained voice. He never even looked back to look at him. Alfred felt an arrow go through his chest as he ran, feeling the pain seep in. The more they ran, the more distraught and hopeless he felt. He was so excited to finally meet him again, he even planned out a whole list of things he wanted to talk about. The pounding sound of Toris running across the marble floor echoed through his head, stomach churning around.

Finally, he stopped at one of the hotel doors, quickly unlocking and opening it wide open. He glanced back, seeing the American catching up and looked back at the doorknob, violently trying to jerk the key out. In the moment they locked eyes, Alfred realized that he actually was scared. Though it didn't last very long, he could see the bright glimmer of desperation to get away.