Berwald nodded at Tino, trying his absolute best not to scare him, like always. He knew he wouldn't succeed, though.

Tino felt shudders running his spine as Berwald nodded at him, but he forced his lips to tug up toa small smile anyways. "A-Ah, hey Su-san! How are you?"

"G'd. You?" He could tell Tino was scared, but he was happy that he could at least muster a smile. His face obviously didn't show his joy, him not being that good with facial expressions.

"I'm great, thank you!" He squeaked, biting on his lip right after. Tino didn't want to show Berwald that the taller man got him.. well, a little scared. He knew that the other always meant good for him, and the Finn was ashamed of his own behavior, but he simply couldn't help it either.

"W'lc'ome." He said a little too quickly. Berwald awkwardly pushed his glasses up, his go-to for awkward moments, due to him not actually being able to show his awkwardness. As he watched Tino bite his lip, he knew his fear was just like everyday: lots of it.

"Uh, so.. What have you been doing today?" Tino asked, his purple eyes flickering at Berwald's eyes for a brief moment, before somewhere else again. He wondered where did his fear even come from... Perhaps it was because he really didn't know what Berwald was thinking. What did he think about Tino, or about everything altogether.

Berwald thought for a moment, thinking about what he had done today. Of course, he couldn't tell Tino he mostly thought about him, so he needed to think of something else. When suddenly, it hit him. "I was wr'tin' one of m' stories."

Tino blinked in curiosity, his tensed up body relaxing without himself even noticing. "I didn't know you write", he admitted, an excited smile spreading on his face. "What kind of stories do you write?"

"Anythin', r'lly. 'ngst, murd'r..." He paused, as if he really wanted to say his favorite kind to write. Before he could think too much, he finished, "R'm'nce..."

"Ooh!" Tino's eyes admittedly shined a little. "Could I read one, someday?" He asked, his gaze now glued to Berwald's. "Of course, you don't have to show me if you don't, I'm just really interested!" He rambled as he tried to explain himself.

Berwald ended the rambling by nodding. nodded, a faint smile creeping onto his face. "Def'n'tely."

Tino's eyes widened slightly as he saw the smile on Berwald's face, and his own smile only widened. "Great!"

"I'm nearin' the end of 'ne... do y' w'nt to read 't?" He asked monotonously, although he was trying not to sound so much like a robot of some sort.

"Yeah, absolutely!" Tino gave him a nod, now his fear completely forgotten - he had gotten in such a good mood, he didn't even think about the fear anymore.

Berwald could tell Tino wasn't scared anymore, which made his own faint smile increase a small amount. A question soon came to his head, and he had to swallow his own fear in order to spit it out.

"W'ld... W'ld you l'ke t' c'me over 'nd read 't?" He inquired, a hint of nervousness audible in his voice.

Tino found it unusual to recognize such feelings as nervousness from Berwald's voice, and he tilted his head. "That's probably the best way to do it, yeah", the Finn smiled widely. For the past years that they had been together as friends and neighbor countries, Tino wondered if he had really gone over to him that many times, in the end.

The other nodded, pushing his glasses up again. He wondered if Tino had figured out what that meant, hoping he hadn't. If he had, he would know just how nervous and awkward he was around the small, adorable Finn- and then maybe figure out exactly why he was so nervous all the time.

The Swede looked over his shoulder, in the direction of his house. "Ok'y. Let's go th'n."

"Mhm, let's go!" Tino cheered, tugging on Berwald's hand as he began to make his way to the taller man's place, before his ears and cheeks heated up awfully much. He realized what he had just done, but knew that letting go of Berwald's hand would be even more awkward and impolite, so he gave his hand a careful squeeze and continued to walk, blushing bright red.

Berwald's face lit up red as well, but this was a good kind of red. A happy red; a my-crush-just-took-my-hand sort of red. He lightly squeezed the smaller Finn's hand back, careful not to startle him, and began to walk too. His smile wasn't what you could call 'big,'-compared to Tino's usual grin- but for the Swede, it was record-breaking.

Tino didn't dare to glance over his shoulder at Berwald, but could feel weird sort of happiness as his hand was squeezed back - it caused butterflies to fly wildly around in the pit of his stomach and his heart beat faster, and he had zero idea why. He remembered that he had felt these same kind of things earlier too, but only with Berwald. Swallowing softly, he tried to ignore it all while walking.

Berwald continued to walk, not realizing that his face was still a deep red. As he looked ahead, he couldn't help but notice the way Tino's little hat bounced slightly which each step he took, which he thought was really cute. Along with the bouncing hat, Berwald absolutely loved the way Tino walked:bouncily. He never tell exactly why everything he did was so bouncy, but he didn't care as long as it didn't change.

Tino bit on his bottom lip again, seeing the house before them, and they'd soon be there. The Finn liked Berwald's home a lot - it had its own, sweet atmosphere and scent to it, and Tino felt always so comfortable in. Now that the thought about it, it kind of fitted Berwald himself, too. Sweet. The Swede was sweet, kind, caring.. Even when others didn't see it. Although Tino was sometimes scared of him, he knew it better than anyone else that Berwald was good from his heart.

Berwald saw the house as well, and felt a wave of joy and sadness. The joy being that Tino would be at his house, seeing one of his stories; the sadness being that once they arrived, Tino wouldn't feel a need to hold his hand anymore. The hand-holding was one of his favorite things about Tino. He wasn't sure if it was friendship, or the same thing he felt, but he didn't think about it too much.

Tino supposed that it'd be all awkward if he kept holding on Berwald's hand even when they had arrived, so he carefully let go of it. He didn't want to make him uncomfortable in any way, after all. "Aah, here we already are!" He sighed happily to fill in to the silence, waiting for Berwald to open up the door, before he stepped inside.

Berwald nodded, opening the door and holding it open for Tino. His hand was still warm from Tino's, and he relished the feeling. Tino took off his shoes, setting them neatly next to some others there were, before stepping

further inside. Berwald did the same, walking towards a stack of stapled papers on a table. He flipped through them quickly, pulling out a thick packet of lined paper. It was a romance-straight, to lower suspicion. He flipped through the packet, as if making sure it was the right one. Tino silently followed Berwald, peeking behind him at all those papers on his table. He sure hadn't been kidding about writing stories, and there were multiple of them! The Finn found himself wondering about how he had never known about this before during his long life, but decided that better late than never.

Berwald turned around, sure of what story it was, and held it out to Tino. " 's really l'ng, s' if you d'n't w'nt t' read 't all, you d'n't h've t'." He offered, not wanting to force the writing onto him. (It's really long ,so if you don't want to read it all, you don't have to.)

"No no, I really want to!" Tino assured, taking the papers in his hands, before he searched for a nice place to make himself comfortable, plopping finally on Berwald's couch on his stomach. He quietly began to read. The Swede smiled to himself, walking over to sit next to Tino. When he sat down, he felt the same feelings he did when the Finn took his hand: lovesickness. He kept wondering when he'd be able to build up the courage to confess, and when he's be able to decided if Tino was straight or not.

Tino swung his legs back and forth, fully concentrated on the story and the plot, biting on his smile at some things the characters said. It was altogether so sweet, Tino loved to read it so much. Flipping through the pages took some time as he read it all, but in the end he got it finished, and he raised his gaze at Berwald. "Wow," was all he managed to say at first, "you're really good at this, Su-san! I loved it!"

Berwald smiled again, nodding. "Th'nk you, T'no.." Whenever he showed this type of thing to others, they said the same thing, but for some odd reason when Tino said it, it sounded ten times better.

Tino nodded, smiling brightly. "It's amazing how you've managed to come up with all those ideas! I could never." he laughed, handing the papers back to Berwald. "It was so romantic, too..! I was almost jealous of the main character sometimes!" he chuckled.

The word rung in his head. Jealous? Why would he be jealous? Berwald continued to tell himself the same thing: it didn't mean anything. Nothing meant anything love-wise with Tino. It hurt to admit it, but it would hurt worse to know he was lying to himself. He finally nodded, still very faintly smiling.

Tino chuckled, rolling to lay on his back instead on the couch. "Hmmh.." The Finn let out a thoughtful hum, glancing at Berwald. "What do you feel when you're writing stories like that?" He asked out of pure curiosity.

"I f'l... h'ppy. 't rem'nds me of..." He paused suddenly. Had he almost finished with 'you'? He needed to finish, or else Tino might get suspicious. "S'me'ne."

"Someone?" Tino tilted his head, although he felt his stomach drop a little. So Berwald had someone special for him, who he thought about while writing those beautiful sentences and plots? "Do you have a lover?" Tino asked, realizing too late his words and blushing awfully deeply. "I mean- you don't have to answer, I didn't think about it-"

Berwald might as well answer, now that the question had popped up. He nodded slightly, looking Tino right in the eyes. "I d'."

"You.. you do?" Tino asked, and he found it really hard to cover up the sadly surprised tone. "Oh, well, that's great! Who are they, do I know them?" He asked, smiling faintly, in order to look happy and to hide his slight disappointment.

"You pr'b'bly know him better than me.." He answered, making sure to add the 'he' in there.

Tino blinked - it was a male person, and someone that he knew well. "Uh.. Emil?" He asked carefully, not really sure who would he know better than what Berwald did.

Berwald shook his head. "You kn'w h'm b'tt'r th'n 'nyone on th's E'rth." (You know them better than anyone on this Earth)

Tino was genuinely confused, and a bit desperate too, because if Berwald had a lover that Tino knew that well, it'd hurt him even more. "I don't have any ideas about it anymore.." He admitted quietly.

"H'nt?"

Tino pursed his lips a little and gave him a nod.

"H' wears 'n ad'r'ble wh'te h't."

Tino frowned in thought, going through people he knew with hats, especially white ones. At the same time he moved on the couch for a better position, and his hat slid over his eyes, and only when he was moving it back he realized. He owned a white hat himself. His surprised gaze got back to Berwald's.

Berwald nodded, confirming the other's thoughts.

Tino's thoughts were screaming this and that, about how Berwald had even called them lover and all that, but his cheeks got only a faded shade of pink.

"I.. I-I.." he stuttered up a bit, and he had to change his confession in Finnish to be able to say it out loud. "Minä.. rakastan sinua, myös.." (I love you too)

Surprisingly, Berwald knew exactly what it meant. "Wait... R'lly?" He asked, his face flushed red. Again, this was his own happy red.

Tino turned his head to the side in deep embarrassment, giving him a slight nod, as he slowly curled up a little on the couch, avoiding the gaze of the Swede. "Mhm.."

Berwald didn't know how else to react, so he decided to do what he's always wanted to do: hug him. Not a friend-hug, but an I-love-you hug. Berwald brought Tino's eyes to meet his own, almost instantly hugging him.

Tino's eyes widened a little again, but this time he smiled gently, allowing his body to melt into the warm hug he received from Berwald. He buried his face into the crook the other's neck, shyly nuzzling there. Berwald continued to hug him, not wanting to ever let go. This is what he'd wanted ever since the start, and now he's gotten it. To him, nothing could ever be more perfect in the world. Tino closed his eyes in the moment, breathing in Berwald's scent, the one that was safe and sweet. In Berwald's arms he felt comfortable and safe, like at home - and it truly was his home. Tino decided to try out something, as he reached higher to press his lips gently against the other's cheek, before nuzzling it softly. Berwald's face grew into a new shade of red, burning hotly. He pulled Tino even closer gently, not wanting to scare him- even though there was a low probability of that.

Light giggles escaped Tino's lips at Berwald's reddened face, since the man looked unbelievably adorable to him. "You're so cute..." he mumbled contentedly.

"I w'ld bet all o' m' m'ney that you're c'ter." Berwald countered, only half-joking. (I would bet all of my money that you're cuter)

Tino gave a flustered giggle, shaking his head a little. "I'm not", he argued, as he slowly moved to sit on Berwald's lap while facing him.

"M'ybe you n'd m' gl'sses th'n!" He said, taking his glasses off and placing them onto Tino's face.

Tino laughed, adjusting the glasses well on his face, having to squint a little. "Can you even see me without glasses?" He asked.

"I c'n see th't you're st'll ad'r'ble." He answered, not even squinting.

The Finn blushed, smiling awkwardly as he returned the glasses back to Berwald, rubbing hisnose against his. When suddenly, Tino felt the need to say something. "Hey, Su-San, guess what."

"Hm?"

"I love you."

...

Do you have diabetes yet? Because YEESH that was adorable!