A normal day in the ordinary life of Lukas Bodevik, also known as Norway, usually consists of a few constant things. One of those things being his annoying, loud friend Matthias Kohler, who, try as he might, always messes things up. Like today, for example. It was freezing, the wind blowing hard against the windows, a muted howling sound filling the house. It was moderately quiet, and that's the way Lukas liked it. Sitting in the library, nose buried in a good book, sipping GOOD coffee, as in not that shit Matthias makes. It was almost nice. Except for that one odd variable not in Lukas' favor. His boyfriend. "Noooorge!" Matthias practically screamed, hurtling through the large doors of the library and making the books rattle on their shelves in fear. Lukas dropped his book in favor of covering his ears, which were DEFINTELY blown. "What the hell do you want, Denmark?" the boy growled, pissed both because of the others volume and the fact that he'd lost his page. "Norge! Have you looked outside recently?" Matthias asked excitedly. Seeing the questioning look from his friend his face lit up and he pulled the other towards the large, shaded window in the room. Pulling back the cloth, he gestured with a flowing look, as if displaying something magnificent. "What am I supposed to be looking at, exactly?" Unfazed by Lukas' comment, Denmark's smile widened. "IT'S SNOWING!" Norway deadpanned, turned, and strode meaningfully back toward his comfortable chair, making it very obvious that he meant to STAY there. "Aw Norge, you're no fun!" the Dane said with a huff, sitting down in the chair across from him and crossing his arms. Lukas, already engrossed in his book, just nodded. After a few moments of just sitting there in complete silence, Denmark threw up his arms, yelled something about bookworms, and stormed out of the room in mock frustration. Lukas counted down silently. "3... 2... 1-" "I mean you're just so uptight! 'What's so great about snow?'. I'll tell you what! It's SNOW! It's awesome and white and fluffy and goddammit, are you listening to me?!" Norway looked up from his book briefly. "Hm?" "Rrg!" Matthias turned on his heel, still ranting, and exited the room. Norway sighed. And it had been such a nice day! All wasted. He closed his book, which he'd evidently just finished, and got to his feet. That's when he felt the first pain. Deep in his chest, there was a sharp, peircing pain like being shot through the lung with an icicle. Lukas clutched his chest, trying to take a breath but unable to because of the pain. The pain only grew worse as he held his breath, so he released it, only to find it hurt worse without any. He shut his mouth and eyes and tried, through all the pain, to take a breath. He managed to fill half his lungs before the pain peaked to a point where he wanted to scream. Instead he sunk back into the chair, gasping quickly to get the breath he needed. After a while the pain subsided, leaving Lukas tired and gasping for breath. Matthias walked back in, pacing and still ranting on about snow when he saw Lukas. "Hey, Norge. You okay?" he asked, coming over to the flustered Norwegian. Lukas scrambled to recover his lost breath and then glared steadily at him. "Yes. Fine." he replied curtly, folding his arms. Matthias looked at him for a moment more, shrugged, then sat down across from Lukas once more. "Wow..." Denmark sighed, gazing with wonder out the large window. Norway couldn't help but stare at him, seeing that beautiful look on his face made Lukas almost want to smile. Instead he frowned, his hand clenching over his heart as it fluttered irregularly in his chest. What had that been...? "...Norge! Hey, you listening?" Matthias' voice seeped through the others thoughts and his head snapped up, hand dropping. Matthias looked at him strangely before starting. "I was saying that the snow's going to get pretty deep. There's a blizzard warning." "Oh," was all Lukas said. "Do ya think the power'll go out?" Denmark asked, almost excited. "Probably..." at this point Norway was starting to feel something sting in his chest and his lungs contracted. It became harder to breathe, and he found himself clutching the sides of his chair. Matthias, of course, hadn't noticed anything and continued talking about the weather. "Hey Norge! Wanna go sledding?" he asked, finally turning to the other nation. Lukas' face was pale, and his eyes were wide with fear. His hands were grasping onto the chairs arms like it was life itself, and large cracks started to appear in the wood. Matthias stood, realizing too late that something was wrong. "Lukas, what's wrong?" he asked, kneeling by the other. Lukas' eyes were now shut tight and his breath came in labored, uneven gasps. Matthias, receiving no answer, decided to pick the now shivering Norway up and take him to the kitchen. Matthias sat him down on the counter, grabbed the phone, and started to dial. "Hello?" "Hey, Finland! Can you put Sve on?" Denmark asked frantically. He heard the phone being passed over. "'Lo?" "Sweden! I need your help. Norge is having some kind of heart attack or something and-" the phone got knocked out of his hand by Norway, who, after taking a deep breath, said. "Sweden? It's me. I'm completely fine so don't listen to a thing Matthias says unless I call you. Alright?" "'Kay. As l'ng as you're f'ne." The swede replied, then hung up. Norway sighed, slamming the phone back on it's stand, and glared at Matthias. "What were you thinking?" Lukas asked with fake calm in his voice. Matthias just stared. "Lukas. Are you okay?" he asked, still a little scared. Norway deadpanned. "Of course I am, now let me go." Denmark realized he'd been holding the Norwegian and quickly stepped away, his face going red. Though him and Norway both had obvious crushes on each other, Norway was too nervous to make the first move and Denmark didn't want to be rejected. So they basically just stared at each other most of the time. "Are you sure you're-" "Positive." "Maybe you should lie down-" "I said I'm fine!" Matthias sighed, knowing he'd never win this. Somehow they'd both made it back to the library, and Denmark sat down heavily into his seat. Norway looked around for a moment, sighed, then left, muttering something about using the bathroom. Though worried, the Dane made no comment, too stressed by the latters' condition to care. He was also a bit worried about the snow. It was practically up to the window sill at this point. Fortunately, Ice was staying over at Kong Hong's place and Sweden was "vacationing" in Finland with his "wife". That left him with Norge, which was a promising prospect. That's why he'd been so happy. Meanwhile, Norway reached the bathroom. He looked around to make sure Matthias hadn't followed him, then closed and locked the door before sinking down to the floor. At this point he was literally gasping, keeping a firm hand over his side. Red had started to seep through his clenched fingers, and he started to panic, bringing his shirt up. It looked almost as if he'd cut himself on something, very deep and very long, trailing all the way from his navel to the bottom of his rib cage. Then, with a sickening pain like being gutted, another long cut made it's way down from his collar bone on his right side, crossing the first cut, and stopped only at his belt. This cut was far deeper, and it immediately started to bleed, spreading red over his chest like paint. He began to grow dizzy and he heard a sharp crack come from his ribs when he tried to stand. Norway crumpled to the ground, blood running down the corner of his mouth as he tried-and failed-to breath. It was obvious to him at this point: his country was being attacked. A loud crash came echoing down the hall, breaking Denmark from his thoughts. He stood abruptly, causing his chair to screech back behind him and nearly fall, then rushed out the still wide doors. He reached the bathroom in seconds where it had taken Lukas minutes, and pounded on the door. "Lukas, open up! Are you okay?" he screamed, hearing a loud groan from the other side. "I'm fine you idiot! Go away!" a muffled voice said. Matthias stopped, wondering if it had just been his imagination. "Norge. Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure!" the man said. He heard the sound of water running and waited patiently for the other to come out. A few seconds later he did, looking if anything the same then when he left. Matthias let out the breath he'd been holding and smiled. "What was that all about!" Norway said. "Can't I use the bathroom in peace?" "Sorry. I thought I heard something." the Dane responded, still smirking. Norway took one look at him, glared to hide his blush, and stormed off back to the library. Matthias followed behind like an obedient puppy, still grinning as always. About halfway there Norway stopped. "Nor, you 'Kay?" Matthias asked. "Yes," was the breathless response. "I'm fine. Just having a hard time... catching my breath is all." Denmark, though concerned, just nodded as Lukas moved on. Once in the library, he made quick to sit down, almost sighing as leaned back in his chair. The cracks that had formed almost looked good on that chair... thought Matthias as he sat down in his. Lukas began to re-read his novel while the Dane just stared, both fascinated and concerned. Lukas was unnerved by him, but just kept pretending to read through the pain, keeping a straight face. The pain was getting worse and Lukas feared he'd pass out soon. "I-I'm kind of tired. I think I'll go to bed." he said, closing his book with a snap. Matthias nodded, checking his watch. It read 9 PM. "I guess it's getting late." he said, standing and following Norway out. "Do you want me to escort you?" "No, I'm sure I can make it alone," Norway replied, very annoyed. Matthias nodded rather sadly and then took off in the other direction towards his bedroom. "Shit..." Lukas whispered once he'd made it to his own room. His shirt had been completely soaked through with red at this point, hidden behind his jacket. He had new two cuts now, both deeper than the next. He was beginning to feel dizzy as he undressed himself, wrapping the thick bandages around his torso. They were immediately red, and he cursed again, wrapping it tighter. He could barely breathe as it was, so now he was taking short, tiny breaths through his mouth almost every second. The pain was unbearable, making his vision cloud as he stood. His body was burning up, despite the blizzard raging outside, and he rushed unsteadily over to his dresser to look in the mirror. He looked horrible; his eyes sunken, skin the color of parchment. His eyes were bright with fever and his bandages gripped his body like a vice, strangling the breath out of him. He staggered back to his bed, not bothering to turn off the lights. He fell onto to bed, huddling into a small ball underneath the covers, and let sleep claim him, too tired to care if he'd ever wake up. Sinking down, down into his mind, through the earth as if he'd just keep falling until he came out on the other side, or the next universe, or a different one altogether. He just kept falling and going down, as his condition worsened. And, the worst part. It was only the beginning.