Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia (but one day I might invade Prussia's vital regions.)

A/N: I haven't written fanfiction for years, so I apologise if this is terrible. PruHun, with some Gerita, Spamano and FrUK on the side. Look out for My Fair Lady references (my brain was fucked when I wrote this.)

Elizaveta Héderváry felt like a meringue. Layer upon layer of creamy silk and chiffon enclosed her, puffing out at the bottom; her feet were enclosed in dainty white heels; her long brown hair was pinned back and covered by a cloud of lace. Overall, she was hot and bothered underneath the wedding dress, and she felt the prickle of sweat on the back of her neck. Maybe it was just nerves. She felt very young all of a sudden, like a child playing dress-up in her mother's room. Today didn't feel real. It hadn't felt real from the second she woke up and realised, today I am marrying Roderich Edelstein.

Throughout all the preparations and rehearsals and fittings, no one had asked her if she was scared. Everyone had congratulated her, and bought her useless things, like napkins and spoons and curtain hooks, and put on her on diets, but no one had asked her how she felt. Why was she so scared? This was what she wanted. She loved Roderich more than anything; she'd loved him since high school. (He claimed he'd loved her since middle school.) She knew him better than anyone; he knew her like the back of his hand. He was gentle, kind, refined as much as she was feisty, fiery, wild. They completed each other. I love you, Roderich.

So, what was this terror floating around in her chest, somewhere in her lungs?

Lili and Katyusha told her again and again how beautiful she looked, how radiant. Elizaveta didn't feel beautiful or radiant. Everything was moving too fast. She had the urge to scrub all the makeup off her face and began to move to the bathroom, but then the Rolls arrived to take her to the church and her bridesmaids, dressed in pale pink, grabbed her arms and took her to the car. Normally, she would have been happy to see Lili so excited, but she felt numb. "You look pale," said Katyusha, and Elizaveta shook her head and forced a smile, and Katyusha gave her a hug and told her it was just pre-wedding jitters. No one asked me what I want, she thought frantically. Even when Roderich proposed, I was barely able to say yes before he booked the church. And was this what she wanted? Elizaveta was twenty-two. She had a whole life ahead of her. Did she want to get married today?

The car pulled up to the church, a pretty little building with lovely trees shading it, and Lili and Katyusha helped her out, beaming with excitement. Elizaveta tried to swallow, but she felt ill. I want this, she thought. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. The girls, holding their bouquets, began to walk in. From outside, she could see everyone stand up. The rustles of excitement. It's time. She walked up the steps, her little shoes clicking on the stone. Everyone turned and cooed with excitement, and she saw Roderich in his suit, looking so handsome and smiling like an idiot. He was so happy. Everyone was so happy, but her.

And in that split second, as Roderich gave her a little, lovestruck smile, she turned and ran.

Out of the church and down the path she ran, shaded by those lovely green trees. Her veil flew around into her face; she ripped it off and kept running. She heard shouts behind her. Her eyes blurred with unshed tears. She was throwing everything away. Down the nearest street, onto the pavement. The shoes made her feet burn. Every crack in the pavement was a crack further away from her wedding. Her dress billowed out behind her and the tears began to spill, ruining the makeup that had taken an hour to put on.

"Elizaveta!"

The cry echoed from behind her; Elizaveta ran faster. She didn't care if it was her mother or Katyusha or even Roderich, for God's sake. She wanted to get out of here. She heard cars honking their horns, rude comments shouted from the windows. The tears fell faster. Run, Elizaveta! She thought of Roderich, with that one kink in his hair and his morning coffee and the way he played Chopin and his sweet kisses the morning after. She turned another corner, into a park. The cakes he baked her on Valentine's Day, his insistence that he pay for the Wi-Fi, his violet eyes, that night they slow danced in the snow. You'd really give all that up?

And as she ran through the park, over sweet green grass and little spring flowers, she felt her shoe catch on one of many petticoats, and before she could do anything to stop herself, she was tumbling head over heels down a hill.

"Elizaveta!"

She struggled to get up, but upon seeing her pursuer, relaxed. It was Feliciano, one of her few friends to attend the wedding. "Elizaveta, what's going on?"

His eyes were full of concern for her, and she let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

"Feli," she said, slowly (for it felt ever so strange hearing the words come out of her own mouth), "I can't marry Roderich."

"But why?"

"I'm twenty-two. Feli, I'm too young! I want to travel and get a good job, and fail at things. I'm not ready for kids and being married. I love Roderich," and here she broke down, because it was agonisingly true, "b-but I can't marry him. Not yet. He's been with me since high school, I've never done anything by myself, for myself - God, I'm just not ready!" She couldn't stop crying, for why on earth would Roderich want to be with her now? She'd left him just standing there at the altar.

"Elizaveta."

"God, I'm sorry... Roderich, I'm so sorry... I've ruined everything, oh God..."

"Elizaveta." Feliciano sounded strangely insistent. His voice was calm, firm. "Do you want to go to Spain?"

Of all the things she had been expecting, it wasn't that.

"What?"

"I've got tickets to Spain. Luddy's already there with his brother, and Lovi's visiting his boyfriend - well, there's a whole bunch of us going there and catching up for a few weeks and I bought a ticket for Kiku but he's got the flu, so do you want to come?"

She stared at him.

"Spain?"

"Ve!"

"A-away from all this?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"And I could just take a break..." this was a stupid, terrible idea, "I could get away from Roderich until things die down, and maybe he'll want me back, but I can't face things right now..." excuses, excuses, she was just running away from her problems, "oh Feli, I'll pay you back, I promise..." Good God, this was tempting.

"There's just one thing, Elizaveta..." Feli murmured awkwardly, twisting his hand into his jacket pocket. "You haven't got much time to make a decision."

"How long have I got? A few days?"

"Maybe... more like fifteen minutes?"

Elizaveta's eyes widened.

"The plane leaves in two and a half hours and I'm leaving really soon now," he said sheepishly.

"Feli..." she said, shocked. "I won't have time to get anything... Roderich will kill me... You're seriously asking me to run away to Spain with you?"

"Elizaveta, we don't have much time!" he said worriedly.

It was do or die.

"Yes," she said. "I'll come."

Elizaveta, Lili and Katyusha had gotten ready at the hotel, so it was easy to drop back in and change out of her dress, and grab her shoulder bag. Her clothes were decent enough, a green jumper and white, 50's-style skirt. She and Feliciano sped in his Fiat to the airport, with the Italian singing and her face pressed against the window. The cool glass kept her from thinking clearly. What was Roderich doing now? She'd turned her phone to silent, so she didn't have to see his calls, and the calls from her parents and friends and relatives and everyone who'd been at the damn wedding. They must all hate her now. She didn't entirely know whether she hated herself or not.

Feliciano checked his suitcase in while Elizaveta bought them coffees that were far too expensive, and they rushed around, looking for gate 52 until finally Feliciano found it and shouted across the building in excited Italian until she recognised his high-pitched accent and sprinted over to join him, only to discover they were on the verge of missing the plane, and were forced to walk through an aisle of glaring passengers, both of them blushing apologetically. They sat down at the back, hot and sweaty. Elizaveta was trapped between Feliciano and a portly, middle-aged man who kept sneezing. She edged closer to Feliciano. The captain announced that the conditions were perfect for flying, and they were instructed to fasten their seatbelts, and then, suddenly, they were in the air and it seemed like Elizaveta had run out of the church just seconds ago.

She wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but she slipped past dreams quickly and slept properly for the first time in weeks. Her head lolled against Feliciano's shoulder, and he barely even noticed, due to his daydreams about Ludwig Beilschmidt (which would have made even Francis blush). The plane cruised through the atmosphere as various passengers slept and complained and navigated their way to the bathroom, and Elizaveta slept peacefully through it all.

Feliciano woke her up. The majority of passengers were leaving the plane. Slowly, numbly, she grabbed her shoulder bag and moved out of her seat, eyes blinking rapidly. You ditched Roderich at the altar and ran away to Spain. Was this some kind of dream? Nothing felt real.

"Are we meeting anyone?" she asked Feliciano, rubbing her eyes.

"Ve, Luddy's picking us up!"

Well, that was a relief. Feliciano's German boyfriend wouldn't ask too many questions. Didn't he have a brother who was friends with Antonio? She hadn't seen that crowd in years. She'd pretty much left their group when she started dating Roderich. She tried to think of Ludwig's brother. They'd been friends when they were little, used to beat each other up in her front yard... She couldn't remember much beyond that.

Elizaveta, with the traces of bridal makeup on her cheeks and Feliciano carrying a suitcase about two-thirds his size, limped out of the airport just as it started to pour. Brilliant. "The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plane," she muttered, and Feliciano's eyes widened.

"Ve! I loved that movie!" He broke into song, just as a maroon car pulled up and Ludwig Beilschmidt stepped out. He wasn't much different than Elizaveta remembered: tall, blond, muscled, with a pained look on his face as he listened to his boyfriend sing "I Could Have Danced All Night.' He turned around, carrying Feliciano's suitcase, and his eyes widened.

"Elizaveta? But-but I thought..." He glanced at Feliciano, lost for words.

"I'm not marrying Roderich," she gently informed him.

"And it's none of my business," he said, sweeping away his curiosity. "I'm sorry, I was just expecting Kiku... but it's great to see you properly again, Elizaveta. It's been a while."

"Kiku's got the flu," said Feliciano, and Ludwig turned around with a sweet, bashful smile, as if seeing his boyfriend properly for the first time - and picked him up and kissed him fully on the mouth.

Elizaveta smiled, but inside she felt a little pang of sadness, especially when she thought of Roderich, standing there, looking gorgeous and prissy and shy in his Ascot, and the fact that she'd just left him there like an idiot, run away like a coward and left him standing there in front of a crowd of people, shocked and confused. She wondered what had happened. They would have cancelled the reception, all that time and money and effort, and Roderich would be home alone now as dusk fell, wondering where she was. Was he worried about her? No, he'd be angry. Anyone in their right mind would be angry.

Alone and unsure and feeling ever so vulnerable, Elizaveta slipped into the back of the car, and gave a start as she realised there was someone in the passenger seat.

"Lizzy? Mein Gott, it's you! Why do you look so unawesomely sad? Well, I suppose no one could ever look as awesome as me, but you look really, really depressing. Oh well. Remember me? I used to think you were a guy! Kesesese! I thought mein bruder's hot boy toy was going to bring the Japanese dude, but he brought you, which is awesome! Hey, aren't you supposed to be marrying that Edelstein prick today?"

Elizaveta groaned. Gilbert Beilschmidt. How could she ever forget him?