"What a beautiful night." Austria sighed, taking a sip of his tea. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes, and let the cool night air blow through his hair. He opened his eyes again and looked up at the beautiful night sky, which was dotted with millions of little white stars. "I love sitting out here." he thought to himself.
Austria was sitting on the stairs that led from the front porch to the path leading out to the sidewalk. He set his tea cup down beside him and checked the watch that was on his wrist.
"10:30." he muttered to himself. "I should probably go to bed pretty soon."
He closed his eyes again, and let the crisp wind blow his hair around gently. Suddenly, in the distance, he could hear a faint sound…almost like…
"…Is that…crying?" Austria thought with confusion. He opened his eyes and looked around. No one. "Must be my imagination…" he concluded, shutting his eyes again.
The crying eventually faded away, but that noise was replaced by footsteps. Austria didn't let it bother him, and he tried to focus on the calming wind blowing around him. The noises stopped, and Austria smiled at the relief that it was quiet once more.
"…H-hey…Austria…" a voice suddenly stuttered.
Frantically, Austria opened his eyes and looked around. Standing on the sidewalk in front of his house was Prussia. He had on the usual ripped jeans, red shirt, and white hoodie, but he didn't look at ease like he usually did.
"…What are you doing here?" Austria asked with slight annoyance. He wasn't too fond of Prussia, especially ever since Prussia started calling him a prick.
Prussia rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I, um…I was just, you know…in the neighborhood, and-"
"-You live 20 minutes away. That's not 'in the neighborhood'." Austria snapped.
"Whatever." Prussia said. "I was wondering if I could, uh…I don't know…stay here for the night…"
"No." Austria said bluntly. He picked up his tea cup and stood up. "Why would you even bother asking me? I don't want you here."
"Hey, the awesome Prussia doesn't have anywhere else to go." Prussia retorted, slightly agitated.
"Why can't you just go to France's house, or Spain's, or even Italy's?"
"I…I…I don't know…" Prussia mumbled.
Austria rolled his eyes and backed up to his front door. "Find somewhere else to go." he snapped. He went inside and slammed the front door as hard as he could.
Austria walked into the kitchen and up to the sink, and turned on the hot water. He began washing his tea cup, making sure every last drop of tea was gone. When he finished, he dried it off and put it away. He thought back to Prussia standing alone in the dark and sighed with annoyance.
"…Dammit…" he thought to himself. As quietly as he could, he snuck back to the front of the house and peered out the front door window.
Prussia sat on the top step, leaning his head on the left railing. He had his iPhone in his hand and had the phone pressed up to his ear. Austria pressed his ear to the door so he could hear what Prussia was doing.
"Mein Gott…can I at least come back for the night?" Prussia asked.
There was a pause as he listened to what the other person on the line had to say.
"He just doesn't realize how awesome I am, then…right?"
A pause.
"…I know, West." Prussia sighed. "But I can't find anywhere to go…no one let me stay with them."
Another short pause.
"I can just sleep outside." Prussia said, trying to sound positive. "I don't need a roof to sleep under, and it's not that cold anyways…"
Austria pulled away from the door and instead leaned on the wall. "…I've never seen Prussia desperate for anything except attention…" Austria thought to himself. "No…no, he's probably just joking around. Prussia would never act weak and needy like that…unless…" Austria put his ear back up to the door.
"Don't worry about me, West…my awesomeness will keep me safe…alright?…You better go now, I don't want you to get yelled at, too…well…I'll see you tomorrow, if I can come home…ich liebe dich."
Prussia sighed and hung up the phone. He slid it into his pocket and rubbed his eyes. "…I can't sleep here…" he said. "…Austria will get mad…I should probably…I…I don't know…"
Austria backed up from the door again, and pushed up his glasses in shock. "He…he called me 'Austria'…" Austria thought with awe.
Knowing he would regret his decision, Austria sighed and opened his front door again. Prussia looked back at Austria with fearful eyes.
"I-I'll leave now…" Prussia said, starting to get up.
"No." Austria said.
Prussia stared at him with shock and sat back down. Austria shut the door behind him and sat down next to Prussia.
Austria sighed and looked over at Prussia. He leaned a little closer to Prussia, and realized that Prussia's face was red and blotchy. Austria also noticed that Prussia's eye looked dark and more squinty than usual. "…Are you alright?…" he asked.
Prussia scooted an inch away from Austria. "Yeah, yeah…I'm fine…" he said, staring down at his feet.
Austria backed up and continued to look at Prussia. "…What happened?"
Prussia glanced up at Austria, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. "I think he's just jealous of how awesome I am." Prussia said, looking back down at the ground. He reached down and picked up a pebble, turning it around in his hands. "I got into a fight…one thing led to another, and now…now I'm here…"
"Why did you show up at MY door?" Austria asked.
"Well…France was having a little…rendez-vous…Spain was with Romano, Italy was already asleep, Hungary hates me...and I didn't want to go to Canada's house because…well, if I annoyed him, he would just pretend everything was fine…I didn't want to bother them…"
"…So you decided to bother me?" Austria said.
Prussia looked up at Austria and smiled. "You weren't busy with anything."
"I could have been!" Austria shot back.
Prussia chuckled and looked back down at the ground. "You're always so uptight, Prick." he grinned.
Normally, a comment like that would have given Prussia a death glare. But something about him seemed…different to Austria. Tonight, when Prussia called him a Prick…all Austria could feel was remorse.
"So…you need someplace to stay?" Austria said.
"…Your house would be more awesome if I was here…" Prussia replied.
Austria sighed, and Prussia smiled at his annoyed friend. Austria stood up, and Prussia did as well. Austria opened the front door and looked back at Prussia. "I'm only letting you stay because it's cold outside."
"Sure." Prussia smiled, going inside the house.
Austria went inside and shut the door behind him. Prussia was already halfway up the stairs and heading towards Austria's room. Austria quickly went through the downstairs level of his house and turned off all of the lights, and then he climbed up the stairs and went into his room. When Austria got there, Prussia was already sprawled out on the right side of the bed and staring up at the ceiling. He had taken off his clothes and left only his Prussian flag boxers on, and his clothes lay on the floor next to the bed.
"Can I use an extra phone charger? Mein phone is going to die soon." Prussia said.
Austria rolled his eyes and walked over to his desk, and he rummaged through the drawer. When he found it, he tossed it at Prussia and walked over to his hamper.
"Thanks, Austria." Prussia said, plugging his phone into the wall.
"Hey, why are you calling me Austria?" Austria asked Prussia as he took off his jacket and removed his jabot. He tossed them into the hamper and began unbuttoning his shirt.
"Well…it's the least I could do…because you're letting he stay here." Prussia answered. He frowned and rubbed the eye that was slightly swollen.
Austria took off his shirt and threw that into the laundry, and he also slid off his pants and put those away as well. His boxers were also the design of his country's flag. Austria grabbed the remote that controlled his lights and set it on his nightstand, and he also set his glasses down, too.
"Thank you, Prussia. I appreciate that." Austria said, sitting down on the bed. He looked over at Prussia, who was still rubbing his irritated eye. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yeah…yeah, I'm awesome…" Prussia grumbled, still rubbing his eye with frustration. Austria suddenly grabbed Prussia's wrist, and Prussia looked at Austria with shock.
"Let me see that." he said, scooting closer to Prussia.
Austria pulled Prussia's hand away from his face and looked at his eye. Prussia's left eye was now black and purple, and it was very swollen and irritated.
"How did I not see that before?!" Austria exclaimed. "Prussia, you have a black eye!"
Prussia yanked his hand away from Austria and turned away from him, facing the wall instead. "I know, Prick…" he mumbled.
"Well, why didn't you tell me?! It looks bad!" Austria said with worry. "You should put ice on it or something, it's swollen as hell!"
"I'm fine! Don't flip out over it!" Prussia snapped.
"Prussia…how did you get that?"
"…Doesn't matter…" Prussia mumbled, his voice barely audible.
Austria put his hand on Prussia's shoulder, and rolled Prussia back to face him. "Prussia. Tell me…right now...where did you get that?" Austria said sternly.
Prussia stared at Austria for a few moments before he sat up and faced Austria. Without warning, Prussia suddenly collapsed into Austria's lap and began sniffling.
"You P-Prick…you're going to make me c-c-cry…a-awesome people don't c-cry…" Prussia choked.
Austria's eyes widened and he awkwardly patted Prussia's head. "I-it's alright, Prussia…don't worry…"
"I…I got into a f-f-fight…w-with Germania…" Prussia sniffed. He looked back up at Austria, and tears were streaming down his face. "I p-pushed Germania…and c-called him…a usel-ess c-country…s-so he p-p-punched me…and k-kicked me out…"
Prussia fell back into Austria's lap and sobbed loudly. Austria watched Prussia choke on his tears, and he couldn't help tearing up himself. Austria stroked Prussia's white hair and tried to calm him down.
"Sshhh, it's okay…it's alright, Prussia…" Austria whispered over and over. "You're okay now…don't cry…it's alright…"
"I'm s-s-sorry…I'm sorry…I d-didn't want to b-b-bother you…but I had n-nowhere else…to g-g-go…" Prussia cried. "M-Mein Gott…c-crying is for b-b-babies…"
"Nonono, it's alright." Austria whispered. " Don't worry, Prussia, it's fine…please don't cry…everything's alright, Prussia…"
This went on for about half an hour or so. Prussia had calmed down enough so he wasn't choking, but Austria continued to stroke his hair and whisper to him. Eventually, Prussia's breathing had returned to normal and he stopped sniffling.
"Are you alright now, Prussia?" Austria asked softly. He pushed Prussia's hair out of his eyes and noticed that they were closed. Austria put his ear closer to Prussia and realized that he was snoring quietly.
Austria smiled and gently lifted Prussia up out of his lap. He moved his friend over and rested Prussia's head on the pillow, and then pulled the blankets out from underneath him. Austria put the blanket over Prussia and was going to go to bed himself, but he couldn't help staring at his friend. He stared at the black eye that had now become more black then purple.
"Poor Prussia…" Austria thought to himself. "I've never seen him cry so hard…and he never admits to having any weakness…but…he's actually…really sweet."
Prussia moaned and his eyelids flickered, and he rolled over onto his back.
"…Poor guy…wandering in the dark for hours, going from house to house, asking to stay for the night…having to try to hide a black eye…god…"
Austria pulled back the covers and crawled underneath the blanket. He reached over to the nightstand and used the remote to switch off the lights. The moonlight seeped in through the window next to Prussia, and the room was illuminated with beautiful, soft moonlight.
Austria lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling quietly, taking in everything that had happened. Suddenly, Austria heard mumbling and groaning. He looked over at Prussia, whose eyes were clenched shut and muffled words emitted from his lips. Prussia turned on his back and in his sleep, furiously rubbed his irritated eye. Austria leaned over and gently pulled Prussia's arm away, laying it back down by his side.
After Prussia had settled down, Austria turned on his side to look at his friend. Prussia had stopped groaning and rubbing his eye, and he now lay peacefully like he had before. Austria sighed and slowly let his eyes fall shut.
"Good night, Prussia…" Austria mumbled sleepily.
"Austria…Austria, hey…" a voice whispered. Austria felt a warm hand fall on his shoulder, and they pushed him a little.
Austria's eyelids slwoly flickered open, and saw Prussia staring at him from above. Austria glanced over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, and the numbers, "9:00" were shining in bright red. Austria rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses.
"H-hey…" Austria mumbled. He sat up, causing Prussia to scoot back a little. Austria yawned and stretched his arms, and then looked to Prussia. Prussia was standing beside the bed with all his clothes back on and a piece of toast in his hand. His eye looked slightly better than it had last night.
"I'm leaving now. Thought I would say bye or somethin'." Prussia said.
"Wait…you're leaving?" Austria said, trying to hide his disappointment.
"Yeah. I stayed here long enough." Prussia grinned, taking a bite of his toast. "I got some sleep, some food, and more battery life in my phone. That's all I needed."
"A-are you going home?"
Prussia chuckled and ran his hand through his messy white hair. "I'm not too sure yet." he said with a smile. "I'll figure out what to do."
They were silent for a moment when unexpectedly, Prussia set his toast down on the nightstand and pulled Austria in for a hug.
"I, uh…I'm not too good at saying it, but, uh…t-thanks for letting me stay…"
Austria blushed. "Y-you're welcome, Prussia…"
Prussia backed up and picked up his toast again. "Don't tell anyone the Awesome Prussia cried or I'm gonna kick your ass, Prick."
Austria frowned and sighed loudly. "There's the Prussia I'm used to." he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
Prussia smiled warmly. "But you love me for it." he said. Prussia walked over to the bedroom door and opened it up. He walked into the hallway and turned back around to look at Austria one last time. "See ya later, Austria." he grinned.
Austria smiled back and ran his hand through his hair. "Bye, Prussia."
And with a grin and a wink, Prussia shut the bedroom door and made his way downstairs. He walked out the front door and shut it behind him, and then began his journey home. As he reached the sidewalk, he stopped and looked up at Austria's bedroom window.
"Thanks, Austria…" Prussia said with a smile. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and began walking down the path. "You're pretty awesome, Prick."