Hello! I'm taking over for Celtic, for now I'll be uploading the chapters they have already written but then I will upload my own chapters!
JUNE 18, 2014
Tino stares at the computer. His heart beats fast as he waits for the Skype call that they'd planned earlier. Again, he checks his hair, and makes sure his shirt doesn't have any stains and isn't wrinkled all weird. This is the first time he's going to be able to talk to his friends in person.
Tino met them on Tumblr, where they had bonded over their multiple shared fandoms, and after two years of talking, they all exchanged Skype and they're going to talk for the first time. Now, Tino knows what each of them looks like, or at least he has an idea, from each of them posting the occasional selfie, but he can't imagine what they might sound like. (Well, Mathias posts more than just the occasional selfie…)
This is exciting; Tino waits for the call, grinning but sweating nervously. He keeps telling himself that Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden (those are their nicknames; they couldn't go around flaunting their real names) are his friends, but he can't help being nervous.
Suddenly, his screen lights up, with a call from Berwald Oxenstierna, and Tino knows that this is it. He accepts the call, and sees a face that he somewhat recognizes. He has short blonde hair and glasses, and looks very serious.
Tino's heart soars, trying not to sweat this too much. Meanwhile, he smiles excitedly and waves. "Hi there!" he says enthusiastically, making sure his door is closed. Berwald cracks a small smile and puts up a hand in greeting. Then, they add Denmark: Mathias Køler , and he appears on the screen with a broad grin. Tino grins, heart beating faster, trying to think of something to say.
"YOOOOOOOO!" Mathias says, waving frantically. Tino waves back and says, "Hey Denmark!"
"Finland!" Mathias beams and says, "And Sweden, as well!"
Sweden, who is the best at writing in English out of the five of them, can't stop himself from smiling as he waves to his friends. "I can't believe I get to meet all of you!" Tino gushes. "I mean, uh, I knew you were real and everything, but still…"
"I can't believe school's almost out! Are you as excited as I am!?" Denmark asks, beaming. Tino and Berwald nod just as Emil Stelision joins the call. "ICELAND!" Denmark tries and fails to keep his voice down.
Emil says, "Hello, hello."
"We were just talking about the excitement of summer," Denmark says, his voice not quite matching with his lips on Tino's computer due to lag.
"Ah, yes, summer. The summer of my senior year, nonetheless," Iceland says, leaning back. Tino grins, "My family wants to make plans to do some traveling." Then he gasps, "What if they agreed to take me to one of your countries!? We could meet in person!"
Den- Mathias, Tino figures he should try and get used to calling them by their names, holds a drink up to his mouth and puts his feet up on the table next to his computer. "My family's made zero plans. Why don't I just drive to your house and pick you up?!" he asks jokingly. Tino can't help but think how wonderful that would be.
See, Tino has some friends here at home, but he's often ignored by them. He feels like, somehow, his Internet friends are closer to him than his real friends. His parents don't really believe it, but Tino knows it's true. Any time he was sad or alone, Tino could rant to them and they'd understand. They were accepting and affectionate, and Denm- Mathias had always asked if he should drive to Tino's house in Finland and beat someone up.
Traveling around with his friends from Tumblr sounds like the best summer ever to Tino, but it just couldn't happen, could it!?
"I would never trust you with my address," remarks a new voice, as Norway, Lukas Bondevik, joins the call.
"NORWAY OH GOD YOU SOUND SO…" Mathias starts. He thinks of the right word as Tino watches, grinning.
"So much more deep-voiced than I thought," he finishes. When Tino glances at the others, he thinks Berwald may've frozen on them.
"Hey guys," Tino says, "I think we may've lost Sweden."
The attractive, manly-looking boy speaks up for the first time since they started the conversation, "No, 'm here." His voice is so deep it throws Tino off guard with a fluttering feeling that he's never felt before. He easily supposes this is just because of the happiness of meeting his friends.
"Woah!" Denmark says with a smile, "You guys sound so different than how I imagined it's crazy!"
Tino laughs.
"Well," Icel- Emil says, "The upcoming summer is an exciting one. We won't ever have to go to high school again!"
"It's crazy," Tino sighs to himself. He tries to look at all the faces smiling back at him and not just Berwald's, but Tino wants to memorize his features for some reason.
"I'm gonna go pick up Finland and save him from his awful friends," Mathias says with a toothy grin.
"What about the rest of us?" Norway- er, uh, Lukas asks, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Emil adds, Berwald nodding silently. Finland can't help but feel intimidated, though he knows that these are the same people he's been talking to for two whole years before this moment!
"We'll drop by and get you guys, too."
"That would honestly be the best summer ever," Tino sighs, thinking about it. "I would love to meet you guys in person and spend time with you."
The others agree, lagging on Tino's computer.
"So it's decided!" Denmark says, holding up his drink and leaning back in his chair. "I'll come pick you up! Iceland'll have to book a flight, though…" he blinks, trying to figure it out. Unfortunately, his tipsy mind isn't helping him.
"I would have to book a flight," Emil says thoughtfully. "My family would want to come too, probably, but I could get rid of them."
"How about you, Swedes?" Denmark asks, "You in?"
"I've got no plans," Berwald says. Tino suddenly feels his temperature rising and tries not to sweat.
"I'm gonna go ask my parents for the car right now!"
Tino blinks, "Wait, you're serious!?" Wait until Tino tells his parents he's going to go on a road trip with someone: a four someones, really, that he met on the Internet. That'll make them almost as unhappy as Tino did when he came out of the closet as pansexual. They didn't understand it, they still barely do.
He confessed to his Internet friends that night, and got about a million virtual hugs and Denmark offering to drive over and punch his parents, but declined the offer. That was the same night Sweden told them he was gay, which resulted in another round of virtual hugs, and made Tino feel so much better inside.
"What, you're not?" Denmark leans back, obviously trying to balance on two legs of the chair.
"You're going to fall, idiot," Norway, or Lukas, sighs.
"Relax, I'm fine!" Mathias says, putting his hands behind his head to prove his point.
"Lukas is right," Emil says, "You're going to fall on your back."
"Looks like he's tipsy in more than one way," Tino remarks, and the others laugh. He watches Berwald, how he only gives a slight laugh but how nice his smile is. His friends here at home, if you want to call them friends, never laughed at his jokes, mostly because they never paid enough attention to Tino to hear them.
Mathias laughs at the comment so hard that he falls over, and Lukas just facepalms (but it lags on Tino's computer so he doesn't get the full effect) and Emil laughs along with Tino.
Denmark soon reappears on the camera and says, "Come on, though! Our countries are literally right next to each other! Well, they're close."
"I will ask my parents to book a flight as soon as we sign off," Emil says. Tino tries to contain his excitement, but it doesn't work very well. The only people to understand, his real best friends, and he might get to spend the whole summer with them! Tino tries not to get his hopes up, but he does anyways.
"This is a little farfetched," Lukas points out, "Are you sure your up for all the planning?" He raises an eyebrow at Denmark, "And are we sure we trust him to drive us?"
"I'm a good driver!" Mathias protests, "And nothing is too farfetched if you're really determined! And I'm really determined to meet you all! And I'm also really determined to have a chat with some of those people you're all talking about…"
Tino can't help but smile like an idiot. He feels comfortable now, and he's glad.
"Don't worry about that," he says, "First we have to get transportation, then we have to plan out meeting places, then we have to convince our parents… Mine don't believe Internet friendship is real, they think everyone on the Internet is a pedophile."
"We'll have to change that," Lukas says, and Mathias nods.
"Good luck," Tino sighs.
The conversation immediately changes to the new Super Smash Brothers game, that's coming out in October, and the guys end up talking into the late hours of the night. Tino is ignored by his "friends" so often he forgot what it was actually like to talk in a conversation and be listened to. the feeling makes his heart soar with happiness.
Around eleven, Mathias passes out, and soon after, the guys hear the faint voice of Norway's mother calling him to go to bed. Iceland signs off after a large yawn, leaving Tino, who doesn't feel tired at all and wishes he could talk to the others for the rest of his life, and Berwald, who hasn't talked a lot but doesn't seem to be too tired.
After a little while longer of conversing with Berwald about the previous conversation they all had together, the two of them are left in a silence. Finland can't help but study the face in front of him. It's intimidating, but endearing. Tino's heart flutters a little in a way he can't put a name to as he says, "Well, good night, Sweden."
Berwald smiles back at him and says, "Good night, Tino." And hangs up.