Antonio Fernández Carriedo - Spain
Gabriel Fernández Carriedo - Portugal
Siem van Huyzen* - the Netherlands
Olivia Peters* - Belgium
Noah Müller* - Luxembourg


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Antonio Fernández-Carriedo didn't know whether to hate or love his family. Sure, his father was a good man and his stepmother was the sweetest lady he'd ever laid eyes on, but his brothers and sister…? No, they were the most cruel creatures Antonio had ever met in his life.

Noah was probably the most normal out of the four siblings Antonio had, but perhaps that was because Noah was just eight years old. He was a calm and clever kid for his age, loved dogs and even owned a puppy named Pelutze since his birthday in December. There was only one little problem: Antonio was frightened for dogs and Pelutze had decided that he hated him. Thus, Antonio was forced to avoid the dog as well as its owner.

Then came the only sister, book and movie obsessed Olivia. She was a lovely girl, really, but she was what you could call a 'fangirl'. And not just a fangirl, a fangirl of the wrong age. You know how twelve and thirteen year-old's always let it get to their head, same thing with Olivia. She read every Marvel comic, watched every Disney film, and was currently marathoning Doctor Who. She loved to quote every single sentence from films, books, shows, even theatre plays. She was truly a lovely girl, with her green eyes, wavy hair and pink ribbons, but she was also good at bugging you.

Next up was Siem, the eldest of Antonio's stepsiblings. Siem van Huyzen, a very tall and stereotype Dutch boy. He was about 6'1" and was still growing steady, he was probably going to hit the 6'6" soon and he was very good at making you feel miserable. Siem was silent, but blunt and sometimes a little too honest.

Gabriel, Antonio's real brother, was outright horrible. He was a very handsome boy, that was what all the girls(and some boys) though and Antonio had to agree with them. Not only had Gabriel a evenly toned skin, but also those dark, jade green eyes and a beauty spot under his right eye. He was quite tall for Spanish terms and also pretty muscular. Unfortunately, his personality was less pretty. Gabriel loved to bully his baby brother and bug him with the awkward things Antonio had done when he was younger. Of course, that was all perfectly fine, because that's what older brothers do. But Gabriel was also master at complaining and annoying the living shit out of everybody.


Antonio gazed around him while he cupped his own cheeks in a poor attempt to keep them warm. It was January, the most depressing month of them all. And it was cold, so damn cold. But for once he wouldn't mind the cold, because this place had something very, very beautiful and something warm to it.

He was in Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, visiting his step-family. The sides of the so called 'grachten' or canals in English, were covered in a thick blanket of pure white, crispy snow. The canals were frozen and the ice was thick enough to stand on, thus the entire country took out and went skating. It was somewhat ridiculous how an entire country was so obsessed with ice, but right now he was witnessing a truly colourful and cheerful scene

"Yer not freezing yet?" a hoarse voice spoke behind him, "I thought you'd be dead by now."

Antonio gazed up to find a tall blond standing next to him, Siem. He was wearing a navy peacoat, a fuzzy red scarf and a funny coloured hat. His blonde hair was tamed down for once and covered the vertical scar above his right eye.

"N-no..." he shivered, "...but I'm not far from dying though."

"Yer a wimp." Siem stated, "There's a Koek & Zopie not so far away from here. They sell hot chocolate and cookies over there. And if you're really cold, we can get you some soup too."

Antonio sneezed, "Y-yeah, that seems like a very good idea." he held his own body close and shivered again. How could the people from Northern countries stand this weather?! He got up from his spot on the side of the canal and followed the blond.

"You guys are crazy." he stated, "This entire country is nuts. Why would you go out on the ice when it's freezing so hard?"

Siem looked down at him, "Cause we're not wimps like ya and Gabe," he said, "or like the rest of that damned school."

"The Scandinavian guys know how to handle their cold too, you know." Antonio mumbled, "...and Roderich knows how to snowboard, or used to, I think."

"You're confusing Roderich with Elliot, asshead." Siem said, "The world would be ending if Roderich would actually do something sport-related."

The Spaniard grinned. "True." he agreed, "But at least we don't sprinkle chocolate over our bread and we're not terrifying on a bike either."

Because that was true. A few days ago, he had tried to keep up with Siem on the bike when they were supposed to do the groceries for supper that day. Heck, it had been a frightening experience. The bus almost ran over a young teenager who had been on the phone, a pregnant woman decided it was a good idea to cross the road on the moment the tram came rushing at the corner and Siem was competing with the car that drove next to him- while the road had been slippery as hell. And the latter had been cursing.

"As if the Spanish aren't weird." Siem said, "Your calendar is fifty percent vacation, twenty percent siesta and thirty percent actually working."

He laughed, "It is true we have long holidays, but that's in most Southern countries." Antonio said, "It's way too dangerous working when it's that hot."

Siem said nothing and kept on walking. The summers could be hot too in the Netherlands, but that often came unexpected (Nobody really expects good weather in the Netherlands.). So they often had to deal with people having a heat stroke, simply because they weren't used to it.

"Hey, hey, Siem!" Antonio chirped and the latter looked up with a questioning gaze, "Are you going to learn me skate?" he asked, "I've seen Olivia and Noah passing already and-"

"I thought you were cold?"

"Yeah well, not after hot chocolate!"

"I guess I can teach you…" Siem' voice trailed off and Antonio cheered, "...but together with Gabriel, saves me time."

Antonio abruptly shut his mouth and grimaced. He was not a great fan of his real brother. Siem, who happened to be his step-brother, and Gabriel had the habit of teasing Antonio whenever they could and they weren't the only one. Back at school, Rose Kirkland often joined the two with her snappy comments about his hair.

"R-right."

They said nothing until they reached the small, but overcrowded stall and Antonio felt extremely short. He was about 5'5 foot right now, but most men were at least three feet taller and most women had the same height as him, some even taller.

"Do you want soup or hot chocolate?" Siem asked and he peered over the shoulders of the folk in the front of him.

"What kind of soup?" Antonio asked curiously and he had to tip-toe to see the same things as Siem could while standing flat on his feet. Honestly, it made him feel a bit miserable.

"It's called 'snert' here, but actually it's just pea soup." he pointed at the kettle standing besides the vender. It was green, filled with pieces of sausages and well, it was… thick. Let's just say it didn't look very appealing to the eye. It looked more like puke.

"I'm fine with just chocolate." the Spaniard muttered and he stepped aside. Siem nodded and walked up to the counter.

"Twee warme chocomel**," he ordered in his native tongue, asking for two hot chocolate,, "en twee van die koeken." he pointed to a plate filled with cookies, so Antonio guessed he was also ordering two cookies. The man behind the counter nodded and started with the order.

Antonio found it funny, everything about this place. Although they were in the big city, people actually were nice to each other, which wasn't the case with the biking adventure. With the extreme cold, the whole place had become fuzzy and warm.

"Here you go." he was shaken up from his thoughts when Siem approached him, "Don't space out, will you."

Shakingly, Antonio took over one of the cardboard cups from his step-brother. As soon as he touched the cup, heat spread from his fingers through his entire body, all the way to his numb toes.

"Thanks..." he muttered and Siem shrugged.

And so they stood there for a while, sipping their hot chocolate and nibbling their cookies, enjoying (Well in Antonio's case at least.) the scene around them.

"Oh!" a voice exclaimed nearby, "Daar zijn Antonio en Siem!" it was a childish voice and with a jolt, Antonio recognized the voice from his youngest step-brother, "En ze hebben warme chocomel!"

A second voice joined the first, "Misschien kunnen we ook wat krijgen, maar eerst wil ik Antonio zien schaatsen!" that was, without a doubt, Oliva. The only girl of the family, and perhaps also the smartest person.

"¡Hola!" Antonio chirped, "Wanna have some chocolate too?"

Olivia and Noah appeared, both wearing a smug face.

"Maybe later." Olivia said, switching to English instead, "But I wanna see you skate too, Tonio!"

Noah nodded and hugged himself, he was shivering from the cold, "Ja! I want a match!"

"If it's a match, I'm totally in." Siem smirked besides him. He threw the empty cup away in the nearest trash bin, "So what do you say?"


"I think, my dear Siem, that this was a very bad idea."

Antonio, Olivia, and Noah giggled. Gabriel was clinging onto Siem for his dear life while trying not to fall on the ice. Maybe he should have gone for the same skates as Siem instead of those hockey skates.

"I think you're doing great actually." the sarcasm dripped from Siem's words, "Now, if you let me go, I can grab you a chair."

Antonio couldn't hold his laughter anymore. He was bad at skating, but at least he could get himself moving without falling much, Gabriel on the contrary, was an upright disaster. God, his brother even needed a chair! Only kids used a chair! Wait, even kids didn't need a chair. Noah was just eight and he could perfectly handle himself on the pair nordic skates.

"Here ya go." Siem declared and he shoved Gabriel on a chair, "We'll see how you handle yourself while I try to learn that brother of yours how to skate. I doubt he'll need me though, unlike you, he's rather talented."

He felt praised, probably because he was. Antonio had feared that Siem and Gabriel would tease him, but it turned out quite the opposite. Instead of him, Gabriel was now the victim. It was only fair.

"You look pathetic." Antonio smirked and he slowly moved closer to his brother, "¡Que tenga suerte!" he turned around and skated away towards Olivia. Behind him, he still heard his brother scream in Portuguese.

"Vai se foder!"

Gabriel always had quite an obsession with Portugal, after all, he was born there so he claimed himself to be Portuguese while he was actually Spanish. Eventually, he learned how to speak Portuguese fluently. Well, he was part Portuguese. Their real mother was originally from Portugal.

"What's Gabe screaming at you?" Noah asked and he stopped just besides Antonio, "Is he angry at you?"

He hummed, "Perhaps a little, because I teased him."

Noah nodded, flipped his hair, and skated back to his brother while Antonio proceed moving to Olivia. He wasn't going fast, but he was going steady. Or at least he-

"Uwaah!" with a loud thud, he ended with his butt on the ice and behind him, he heard Gabriel crying of laughter, "Shuddup, you're sitting in a goddamn chair!" Antonio breathed and his brother immediately shut up. He felt his cheeks glowing of shame. There was a Dutch phrase for this, wasn't there? 'God straft onmiddelijk'. God punishes immediately, aka karma.

"Are you alright Tonio?" Oliva came at him, face in a worried frown, "Maybe we should get you off the ice before you break something."

He shook his head, "Nah, I'm fine." he crawled up, "It's gonna be a bruise, but nothing bad. I suck, but not as bad as Gabriel." and he pointed to the latter behind him.

"Hey!" he shouted back, "I heard that!"

Olivia giggled, "Well, I think we should all get off the ice. It's getting late, and I'm freezing." she turned around to Siem and Noah, "Shall we go back?"

The two brother nodded and skated back to the edge, Siem grabbed Gabriel on his chair in the process and pushed him all the way. It was a funny scene, somewhat sweet.


"Home sweeeeet home!" Noah swung open the backdoor of the house and stepped inside. They were immediately greeted with a bark and a lick of Pelutze, Noah's new puppy.

"Pelutze! How was your day? I hope you didn't make a mess." the child cooed, "Come on, I'm gonna put on some other clothes." he pulled of his boots and hopped to his room on the first story, Pelutze following him closely from behind.

"Don't forget to hang your clothes over the heater!" Olivia shouted behind him, then she turned around to the rest, "Tea?"

A couple of minutes later, they found themselves sitting on the couch, near to the comfy warm fireplace, with a steaming cup of tea in their hands. Noah and his dog still weren't here, but Olivia was already getting them. The child probably got distracted halfway through dressing up.

"I'm never doing this again." Gabriel muttered and he winced,"You can't push me. I'm not going on the ice ever again. All those kids were laughing at me!"

Siem smirked, "You looked quite pathetic."

"Yeah, Tonio said the same." he scowled.

"But it was fun, wasn't it?" Noah chirped as he walked into the living room followed by Olivia. He was wearing the fuzziest and warmest sweater Antonio had seen in his life, "This was the best birthday*** party I've had so far!"

Siem smiled warmly at his younger sibling and pulled the child on his lap, "It sure was, little guy." he said, "Did you like nordics I gave you? I hope they fit well."

The child hummed in response and he took a mug from his sister, "They were great! My feet don't hurt. They're just cold."

"Ah," Gabriel sat right up in the armchair again, "But that's when my present comes handy, don't you think?"

Noah nodded and swung his feet, showing off the thick woolen socks he had gotten from Gabriel. Olivia sat down next to her two brothers, "I'm glad they have those anti-slippery thingies." she said, "Otherwise he would have fallen twenty times already."

The child giggled and took a sip from his drink, "Ellie was really angry at me the last time I was running through the corridor." he informed.

"You reckless animal!" Gabriel joked.

Antonio was silent for a while, which was very rare, but he didn't quite bother him right now. This was an endearing scene. The room was filled with giggles and chatters as time carried on. He had never looked at his 'family' the way he had done now. This was home, Antonio realized. It was fuzzy, it was warm and these guys were his family, though not by blood related except for Gabriel. Their past was fucked up and it had been an upright disaster, but they still acted like they were a true family and had never hated each other at all. He was glad to be a part of it. It was a mess, it was fucked up, but it was home.


END


*Surnames: The Benelux siblings have a very messed-up relation. Each of them have different moms and a single father. However, dad was a douchebag and left each wife. The children have each taken the surname of their mother and Siem's mother, Ellie, is now married to the father of Gabriel and Antonio .

**Translations; Dutch:
Twee warme chocomel en twee van die koeken. - Two hot chocolate and two of those cookies.
Daar zijn Antonio en Siem! - There are Antonio and Siem!
En ze hebben warme chocomel! - And they have hot chocolate!
Misschien kunnen wij ook wat krijgen. - Maybe we can get some too.
Maar eerst wil ik Antonio zien schaatsen. - But first I want to see Antonio skate.
Zullen we teruggaan? - Shall we go back?
We zijn thuis! - We're home!

Spanish:
¡Hola! - Hello!
¡Que tenga suerte! - Good luck!

Portuguese:
Vai se foder! - Fuck you!

***Birthday/History lesson: Noah, as the personification of Luxembourg, has his birthday on the first of January since that was the date the EU was founded. I could have chosen for the 19th of April, but that would mean he'd have the same birthday as Belgium. Other dates he could have his birthday on are either the eleventh of May or the 23rd of November. I have no idea why I didn't choose those, I guess I rather see Luxembourg as a capricorn zodiac.
My headcanon birthday for the Netherlands is the 30th of April and for Belgium I have figured it would be 19th of April. Why the 30th for the Netherlands while it's not the date our country declared independence from Spain? Because the 30th was the original holiday "Queen's Day", the day every single person in the Netherlands is united, Dutch or not, we all celebrate it. Currently, it's called "King's day" and is celebrated on the 27th of April. But I don't like that.
The 19th for Belgium seems obvious. She had been a part from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1815 and in the first treaty of London, the 19th of April 1819, Belgium gained her independence from the Netherlands. Though the borders weren't stable until the treaty of Maastricht that took place in 1843.