It was hot. Not just hot, but so hot that if you sat down for too long, you'd melt and stick to whatever object you sat on. With an impressive 34,6 degrees Celsius it was one of the hottest days recorded in Denmark, getting quite close to the record of 36,4 degrees Celsius.

Walking down the streets of Copenhagen were two boys seemingly impossible to ever be friends. With the smaller Norwegian boy constantly complaining about the Dane being way too load and annoying. The Dane, however, would just laugh and shrug it off. They had been to the statue of the Mermaid. Lukas just couldn't stop thinking about how he would have loved to be friends with her and how his friends, the fairies, would have loved to know such a mythical figure. Sure, Mathias had taken Lukas to Denmark before, but never had they been in his capital. While Mathias bragged about how amazing his country was and how lucky he was to have such amazing people to share a country with, Lukas never stopped wondering what it was about this particular Danish guy that made his heart go on overdrive and made his brain go all fuzzy.

They walked past a snack bar, where they happened to sell ice cream. The moment the Dane had laid his eyes on that little heaven on earth, he felt like he was going to float off of the ground, into the air and never come back down of happiness. As weird as that feeling might have been - and it was - it just felt like it. Pure happiness. Though he could never be happier than every time he could spend time with his best friend Lukas.

Lukas would never tell him, it would be too embarrassing. Luckily for a certain Norwegian boy it was hot that day, otherwise his blush would not have looked natural anymore. Suddenly the Dane stopped in front of Lukas and laid both hands on his shoulders.
''What do you say, Norge?'' he almost yelled excitedly, while wiggling his eyebrows, causing some bystanders to glance at the two of them.

The Norwegian of the two, however, wasn't as amused. But then again, when was he?
Two blue eyes stared back at him, their owner shifting from one foot to another as if he was not comfortable with Mathias touching him. He sighed. ''I say it's fucking hot... And you're way too loud.''

Mathias lips formed a pout, he himself trying not to laugh. The little stare contest they had didn't last too long due to Mathias deciding he was most likely to melt if he stayed out a little longer. Laughing, he put his arm around his childhood friend and guided him inside of the snack bar, where he bought two vanilla ice creams. Handing one of the already melting cones of ice cream to his best friend, their hands touched for a minute, causing Lukas to look away while blushing madly.
He mentally slapped himself and kept repeating he ''didn't like the Dane and never would'' over and over in his head, with no success. Although he refused to admit it, he knew he was head over heals in love with this way too loud, smelly, annoying, over-confident, selfish, reckless, dumb, retarded piece of scum that dared to call himself a country.

They said down on a rock somewhere randomly placed in a little kind-of-park. The ''park'' itself was smaller than half a football field, decorated with a couple of trees and some bushes and flowers every now and then. They watched the people walk past them while they silently ate their sugary little heaven.

How it happened he never knew, but somewhere, somehow Mathias had lost feeling in his hands. Or at least.. That's what Lukas thought when he felt Mathias' slightly sweaty hand one his, while the Dane casually leaned backwards. Cheeks turning crimson, Lukas watched Mathias from the corner of his eye, while acting like he didn't even notice his best friends hand on his. Just when Lukas began to think the Dane didn't even notice it himself, he felt Mathias' fingers curl up until he casually held Lukas' hand in his, acting like he still didn't notice it was his best friend's hand and not that of some girl he was out with.

Oh, how jealous Lukas could get every time he saw his secret crush with yet another girl. He couldn't really describe the feeling, though he was 100% sure if that was what it felt like to have your heart broken, he'd lock himself up in his room and would not come out of it for a few decades. To be honest, he felt alone, like the Dane just wanted to show him how many friends he had, just to point out that Lukas wasn't as popular as him.

It was then that he noticed the scarlet colored cheeks of said person. He turned his head slightly, just to make sure it was not the heat that got him hallucinating. His mind didn't seem to fool him this time. Mathias turned away a bit, blushing so madly Lukas thought he could faint any minute.

He pulled his hand away and stared at his red All Stars, which, all of a sudden, were the most interesting things on the planet. He felt like he was on fire, and all that because of this annoying Danish guy. Not knowing what to do, Lukas pulled his knees to his chest and continued to eat his ice cream, while trying not to stare at his best friend after their awkward interaction.

There was a long silence. Every second that passed made Lukas' heart heavier and heavier. Just when he felt like he was about to pass out just from the stress, Mathias spoke up.

''You okay, Norge?'' The innocence in his cheerful voice seemed to made his head spin and all his limbs go numb. Why this guy? What is it that about this specific guy that made the other male feel so insecure about how he looked and what he did. What was it about this boy that made the butterflies in his stomach go wild, trying to break free, but never have the permission to do so.

He responded with a quick nod and finished up his ice cream, trying to focus on his tongue, which had almost gone completely numb just because of the cold.

Mathias just couldn't figure out what was wrong with childhood friend today. Normally he would've slapped Mathias every time he made a move like that. Maybe it was because then it was just to fool around, but now even Mathias didn't know what just happened. Scratching his head nervously, he smiled at Lukas, who seemed to be drowning in his own sweat. Not that the Dane himself wasn't.. He just wondered if he could get Lukas as far as he wanted...

After more awkward moments of silence, Lukas had come up with the idea to visit the beach. Mathias agreed happily and jumped off of the rock, offering his friend his hand to help him get off the rock too. The shorter male scoffed and slapped Mathias' hand away. Mathias bit his lip nervously and felt like a spark of insecurity had just lit his whole body on fire. Trying to ignore the feeling, he grabbed Lukas' arm and almost dragged his friend to his bright red Honda, causing Lukas to clumsily stumble while trying to keep up with the blue eyed Dane.

Opening the doors of the almost scarlet red car, an overwhelming heat left the car, as if they yearned for some kind of freedom from the car.

Sighing, Lukas got into the car and let himself fall in the passengers seat. The other door opened and a now crimson red Mathias, who was mumbling curses like it was his last day, let himself fall in the driver's seat. Attempting to smile at his best friend, he started the car and turned the air conditioning to the maximum capacity. Lukas, who was watching the gorgeous Dane from the corner of his eye, allowed himself to attempt a smile. Mathias, who grinned at his - as he'd call it - genius action of turning on the air conditioner. Lukas rolled his eyes, his smile returning to his usual poker face.

The heat in the car was almost unbearable. Lukas felt like he could turn into a pool of water any second now. He glanced at Mathias, who tried his best to ignore the heat, which caused his gelled hair to stick to his forehead a bit.

The Dane, who felt like kicking out all the windows of his bright red car, sighed, while trying to pay attention to the road.

The boy in the passengers seat finally decided to speak up, throwing yet another complaint at the Dane's head.
''You couldn't have bought a car with better air conditioning, could you?'' he groaned as he threw his head back, annoyed by the sweat sticking to his body and clothes.

The taller male let out a chuckle, amused by his best friend's complaints about his stupid car. It was these kinds of things that made Mathias' inner flame go wild, feeling like the happiest person in the world whenever he was around his best friend.
Feeling slightly ashamed, Lukas looked away and stared outside the window, watching tourists and college kids pass by on the sidewalk. Oh, how he'd love to just tell him...

''Hey Norge! You comin' or what?!''

Taking a second to look up from his novel The Ice Palace by a Norwegian writer Tarjei Vesaas he felt like his hard stopped the second he looked at his best friend, who happened to be shirtless. Lucky him...
Recovering himself, Lukas spoke up. 'Eh? What?' he managed to get the words out of his throat and tried to focus his attention on something else than this incredibly well toned Dane. Great job, Lukas... He mentally slapped himself a few times and shook his head, as if the image of Mathias' muscular torso would leave his head like that.

Chuckling at the adorably stupid action of his friend, Mathias pulled Lukas' novel out of his hands and put it back in his backpack. Getting behind him, he put his arms underneath the Norse arms, getting him off of the sand and on his feet.

''Come play volleyball with us,'' he suggested with a confident smirk displayed on his face. Lukas doubted saying yes was the best option, but considering the Dane would never stop teasing him about how weak he was if he didn't play with him, he agreed. Mathias dragged him across the beach to the place he and a few other guys had just played a match against each other's team. With a somewhat cheeky smile, Mathias introduced Lukas to his new friends and gave him the ball.
Lukas' serve was perfect, returned by a beautiful return of the other team. This was going to take a while...
Panting, Lukas, Mathias and four of the other guys they had played with sat down at a nearby bar, almost dehydrated. They ordered a few beers and talked about their match for a little while.

One of the guys seemed to be interested in the shorter of the two nations. He asked Lukas something in Danish, causing Lukas to send Mathias a helpless look of confusion and feeling slightly ashamed of not knowing what to say around the others.

Sending Lukas a comforting smile, Mathias put his hand on Lukas' knee underneath the table, causing Lukas' muscles to tense at the feeling of Mathias actually touching him, even if it was with somewhat sweaty hands.
''He asked what city you're from,'' Mathias explained and give Lukas his signature smirk. Forming an ''o'' with his mouth, Lukas turned his attention back and answered the guy's question.

''Norway,'' he said, looking a bit bored, if not annoyed. He took a sip of his drink and took his time to secretly stare at his best friend, who seemed to be having the time of his life with his new friends. Lukas felt Mathias hand disappear from his knee and was slightly disappointed by the empty feeling he got without his best friend's hand trying to comfort him just by something as simple as touching him.
The other guy, who sat next to the one who asked him the question in the first place, cocked his head to the side. 'Norway, huh. Didn't see that one coming.' The four friends chuckled with each other, causing Lukas to feel slightly uncomfortable around the others. Fiddling with his thumbs, which he held in his lap, he tried to focus his attention on anything but the uneasy feeling he got with the boys. Especially the one sitting next to him, who got a little too close for his liking.

After a while, Lukas felt like he was completely forgotten. Mathias and his new friends were talking in their own native language, causing Lukas to feel left out. Excusing himself, he got up from the table and walked outside to catch some fresh air. The sun had just disappeared from his vision, making the world around him much less cheerful. Crossing his arms, Lukas silently walked closer to the sea, unseen but still heard by the sounds of water crashing on the shore. He held his bright red All Stars in his hand, while he took a few steps into the water. For a minute he just stood there, eyes closed and just enjoy the feeling of the wind piercing his clothes and the sand between his toes, listening to the sounds of crashing waves and smelling the salty water, engulfing his legs until the height of his knee. A small smile appeared on his face. It was small things like this that could free the blonde of all his worries. It was small things like this that turned his world upside down, making him feel like the happiest person on earth. Almost. There was on thing missing. The feeling of his best friend by his side, maybe even more than a best friend. A lover.

The sound of footsteps coming closer pulled him out of his daydream. Expecting it to be Mathias, he kept his mouth shut and waited for his cheerful friend to speak up.

He didn't.

The familiar figure of Mathias appeared next to him. They stood in silence, watching the black mass that they called the sea.
For once, Lukas was the one to break the silence.

''Wanna go eat somewhere?'' he asked, almost whispering as if scared to ruin the moment - which he already did - .
The other nodded and quickly signaled the other to follow him. Lukas quickly put his shoes back on and started follow his best friend to another area of the beach. After a few minutes of walking down the beach in silence they entered a restaurant. There were lots of families, laughing as they told each other stories, the waiters moving through the restaurant like snakes.
The two were led to their table by an older waitress, smiling at the two boys as if they were her sons.

They both ordered drinks and sat in silence as they looked around them for a bit. Lukas noticed the IKEA furniture and couldn't help but think about how proud Berwald must have been if he was here.
After a while he felt Mathias' eyes on him as if he tried to burn holes in his skin. Refusing to look at him, Lukas began to examine the tableware.

The waitress came back to bring their drinks and take their order.

It had been rather silent for at least half an hour before Mathias finally found something to talk about.
''What did you like the most?'' he asked his friend, who thought about it for a while, but couldn't decide on a good answer. He wanted to say it 'didn't matter as long as he was with Mathias' but couldn't bring himself to actually confess.

''The Mermaid was rather beautiful.. I've heard some things about the story and found it was really interesting...'' He wandered off, trying to avoid Mathias' eyes, but failing to do so..

Damn those blue orbs of his...

Deciding not to act like a coward, Lukas chose to look him right in the eye. For a second they just stared at each other, resulting in Mathias losing the battle as he turned away, blushing.

After a while of awkward talk, Lukas had finally started to loosen a bit and managed to act like himself again.
They were walking on the beach, both of them trying to get closer to the other. Occasionally their hands touched, causing their cheeks to turn crimson red and look away from each other.

They sat down on a rock after walking for 5 minutes.
The silence only stayed for merely a few seconds, but Mathias managed to find something to talk about.

''I'm really glad you came with me to Copenhagen. I really appreciate it, Nordge.''
He flashed a smile. Lukas could have sworn he'd never seen his friend smile so bright as he did now. He got a funny feeling somewhere in his stomach and shifted from left to right a bit awkwardly as he tried to hide his reddened face.

''Norge.''
He felt his chin get lifted by the other and had no time to respond before Mathias leaned in.
Letting a little yelp escape his throat, he felt how their lips collided in a gentle manner, causing Lukas to feel like he was melting under Mathias' tender touches.

Mathias pulled away, too quickly for the other's liking, who let out a soft, almost inaudible whine at the loss of contact.
''Jeg elsker dig, Lukas.''
Just those four words made Lukas feel like he could do anything, as long as Mathias was there at his side. Before he could even process his own actions, Lukas had wrapped his arms around the older male, trying not to burst into tears of pure happiness.

''Jeg elsker deg også. Så mye,'' he managed to say, running his slender fingers through the other's hair while he muttered something Mathias couldn't understand in his native language.
The only thing he had to understand was that Lukas loved him, just as much as Mathias loved him.