Another week went by with problems and Third Reich stayed at home. Austria loved Reich more and more, meanwhile Reich was very confused by the feelings he had towards Soviet Union.

Reich was lying on his sofa and almost fell asleep if someone didn't ring the doorbell. Kira stood up immediately and ran to the door, barking.

Reich moved slowly and stood up. He went to the front door and opened it, but didn't let his dog past.

Austria stood in front of him in a lemon yellow dress that was probably made of silk. Third Reich was captured by their look for a short time.

"Hello Third Reich! I wanted to invite you for a little walk and a visit to a restaurant.", she told him shyly.

When Reich had himself under control again, he blushed a little.

"G-Gladly!", he stuttered, "I have to put on something else and get Kira's leash. You can of course come in if you want."

Third Reich opened the door wider and let her in. Kira came over to her immediately and licked her hand, which made her giggle.

Third Reich closed the door and went upstairs.

Austria sat down on one of the chairs in Reich's dining room. She stroked the dog while she waited.

When changing, Reich felt as if he had nothing to match Austria's dress. He was looking for something in the right color or something that looked somehow wealthier than his ordinary jacket. He didn't find anything as he didn't have a lot of clothes anyway. Whereupon he went downstairs.

"Are you ready?", Austria asked when she saw him go downstairs. He answered her question: "Not quite yet." He ran into the basement and went into one of the rooms before looking there, these clothes were for the most part too small for him or were so broken that they could hardly be put on again or were so old that it would cause him trouble, because he should have burned those clothes.

"There must be something somewhere!", he complained. At some point it occurred to him that he would take some gold with him so that he could buy a jacket.

Then he went to Austria and asked her: "Do you mind if we stop at a fashion store?" She then asked him: "Why that?"

He explained: "You look so beautiful and the dress fits you so well that I'm looking for something that doesn't make me look too strange. I mean that if I were to wear a simple Jake, for example, I-"

He was interrupted by Austria, who said: "Just put on what is coziest for you. You don't have to wear something expensive because of me. I want you to look the way you want. You don't have to match my dress with your clothes. I just want you to wear what you like. "

Third Reich was quite relieved by this. "Well, I'll be right back then.", he says and goes upstairs.

Austria just wanted to spend more time with him, but in no way wanted to make sure that he would buy something expensive that didn't suit him.

He came back shortly afterwards and looked only slightly finer than usual. Austria liked it much better than having to see Reich in a suit or a jacket.

Third Reich took his dog's leash, but before that his guest said: "You look a lot better this way than in a suit." "Thank you very much!" He said.

They went into a forest together. Reich and Austria talked about funny events in their past. Reich already didn't know most of his past anymore, he couldn't even say about the things that he knew how they were located.

Shortly afterwards they went to a small restaurant and sat down. Kira lay down and the two of them continued to talk.

Reich even wanted to let her in on his family problems, but then decided against it. To him, his family problems are secret as just thinking about them sparked his self loathing.

They quickly got the menu and picked something.

Only two tables away from them sat Soviet, who sat at the table with Afghanistan and Russia.

Afghanistan was an old friend of his. Russia hadn't lived with the other Countryhumans for some time and was only here to visit some friends.

When Soviet Union saw Reich, he hardly got his eyes off of him. He would like to go to him and invite him, but then he saw Austria and disappointment spread through him and worsened his mood. He watched Third Reich the whole time, but did not get any closer to him.

In his eyes, Reich got on better with Austria than with him.

However, Third Reich did not notice that USSR was here. He chose the food and his drink. Then he put the card on the table. Shortly afterwards they both ordered.

When they were done they went out with Kira. Soviet Union said goodbye to its friends and followed behind Reich and Austria.

When they were in the forest, Reich let his dog off the leash and let her run around. Austria looked almost exclusively at Reich.

"I love the forest.", Third Reich said and sucked in the forest air. "Me too.", she said. Reich replied: "I'm already looking forward to being able to collect mushrooms in autumn. Maybe we can go mushroom picking together with Soviet Union."

When Reich wanted to do something, he often wanted to do it with his friends. Friendship was the most important thing for him right now and he wanted to make sure that he didn't lose his friends.

At some point Austria dared to ask: "Have you ever been in love with someone?" Third Reich thought for a long time, but said: "I don't think so. I don't even know how something like that feels. Even if I would like to know."

"I could tell you something about it.", said Austria. Third Reich said: "I'd love to hear it!"

"When you're in love, you feel good around them and every part in one tingles, especially your stomach and head. You can't get them out of your head and you almost always want to hug or kiss them.

You find it so difficult that you let them tell when they made a mistake. You often imagine spending the rest of their life with them. You want that person to be fine. You love every physical contact with them.", she says.

Third Reich thought about it and suspected that he had already fallen in love with someone, but had suppressed his feelings for him, so he said: "Yes, I fell in love with someone."

Austria hoped that he had fallen in love with her and asked: "Can you tell me who it is?"

"Um... To be honest, I want to keep it to myself because I'm still unsure.", he said. He actually didn't want to tell that person, for certain reasons and also because he had gotten off the feelings for him pretty well.

"How is she like?" Asked Austria, who wanted to get more information from him.

"H-She is really nice when you get to know her better. I had problems with her for a long time, but now the problems between us are gone.", he said and lied at some points.

Austria stopped and looked Reich in the face. She thought now or never. Third Reich stopped also. Soviet Union wondered, but continued to approach them.

"Third Reich, I love you", comes from Austria.

He didn't think anyone would ever fall in love with him and now he hears it and can't believe it. He wasn't in love with her, but he didn't want to break her heart and he wanted to finally love someone in a romantic way, so he smiled, came closer and kissed her.

He feels that he doesn't like it, but he saw it as his only chance. Maybe after a while he could fall in love with her, he thought to himself, during the gentle kiss.

Austria enjoys Reich's kiss. She closed her eyes and was incredibly happy.

Soviet Union stopped. He had his mouth slightly open. He stared at them and didn't move a bit. Tears formed in his eyes and slowly ran down his cheek as he felt like a knife was being stabbed through his heart.

He barely had a grip on his body and his knees went so weak that they didn't have enough strength to stand and he went down on his knees. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he knew that this situation had broken something inside him. He felt teaching and his world seemed to him as if it were splintered. He felt empty.

Reich took his lips off Austria's. Both looked at each other smiling and Austria put her arms around his neck before kissing him.

Kira seemed happy on the one hand, but confused on the other. She went to Soviet, who tried not to look conspicuous and to hold back his crying. The dog walked up to him.

"Kira better go back to Third Reich.", says the Countryhuman, who slowly stands up again and walks in the opposite direction.

Reich didn't even notice him, but Austria saw that someone was running away.

Arm in arm, Reich and Austria walked through the forest before saying goodbye and going home.

Shortly before Reich was back home, he heard: "Third Reich!" He turned around and looked at USSR, who came to him. "Hello Soviet Union!", Reich calls out to his friend.

When Soviet got to him, Reich could see that Soviet's eyes were redder than usual and wondered if he was allergic to anything or had been crying.

"I saw that you kissed Austria.", says Soviet Union. Reich was immediately afraid that he would tell others.

Third Reich asked him: "Soviet Union, please don't tell anyone... please!" Soviet looked Reich in the eyes and saw that it would be wrong to take that away from him. "Don't worry, I'll won't tell anyone.", he assured him.

"Thank you very much, Soviet Union!", Third Reich thanked him and hugged him.

However, the hug made things worse for Soviet. He did his best not to break into tears again. He hugged Reich a little stronger, but still tried to keep himself under control.

After the long hug, Soviet asked: "Do you really love each other?" Reich was honest with him: "She said that she was in love with me. I just don't want to break her heart and I think my love for her will only develop over time."

"Thanks for answering.", came from Soviet Union, "I have to go home. See you the day after tomorrow." "See you then Soviet Union and have a good evening!", said Third Reich.

When USSR got home, he went to his bedroom and lay down on his bed before crying again. I really wanted to tell Britain about both of them through his frustration, grief and anger, but he didn't want to do that to Reich.