A/N: (PLEASE READ) This is, decidedly, a SuFin fanfic with various pairings as well, though fairly minor. I would like to point out before you start reading that because Sweden is a main character, I have decided to remove all the slurs in his words. This is solely because the slurs are a tad hard to write and reading them might also be a problem to a few.
Hetalia © Hidekaz Himaruya
With that I begin.
The moon was high in the sky and clouds obscured it from view. Weak rays penetrated from behind the clouds and cast faint hues across the city. The numerous stars alike were also hidden from view by the dark clouds that promised rain.
22-year-old Finland stood waiting on the sidewalk. He was just waiting for his best friend and colleague, Norway, who had gone to the convenient store across the road. Norway and Finland shared an apartment; it was mainly because bills were easier managed when two people were paying for it. Norway had a younger brother who had just hit 16. Down with flu at the moment, Iceland had been whining for some sort of magazine to past the time. Norway had thus decided to go get some magazines since the convenient store was (conveniently, might I add) just across the road.
The wind picked up speed and ruffled Finland's hair, his golden strands flying in all directions. The temperature had dropped to a freezing temperature of 16 degrees outside and Finland wrapped his jacket around him tightly.
ooOoo
"I swear that monster of a Boss is messing with us! No one else had to stay back to finish up extra reports other than us!" Denmark whined.
"Mhmm…" Sweden replied half-heartedly, his mind elsewhere.
"At this rate, I'm going to be eating take outs for the rest of my life." Denmark huffed.
Both men had been friends since the age of 9. They played together, studied together, reached puberty together, got in trouble together, traveled to the big city together, got a job together, the list simply goes on and on. Simply put, they always did things together. Except live together of course. Denmark had always joked that he would not like to be seen as being intimate with Sweden. It just would not do for a man with such an image to uphold. After all, they were the best of friends and that was all they'd ever be.
As they turned down the street, Sweden saw a girl standing on the sidewalk further down. With shoulder length hair the colour of chrome yellow, the small stature constantly tugged at the stray strands that were whipped around in the cutting wind. Her violet eyes were fixed on the convenient store across the road, her gaze unwavering as if trying to conjure something from thin air.
Across the road, the automatic doors of the convenient store slid open and a man with platinum blond hair stepped out. He was clutching a small paper bag to his chest, the paper bag was filled with numerous magazines, some were even stacked precariously atop one another. Concentrating on the magazines, the man took a wobbly step forward, slammed into a passerby and accidentally dropped the whole set of magazines.
Sweden's attention was jarred back to the girl as he heard her utter a soft cry which sounded much like an "ah".
"Norway!" she cried, her voice in a hysterical high pitch.
Without thinking, she dashed across the road to help this "Norway".
ooOoo
Finland ran across the road. His eyes were set on Norway who began to pick up the scattered magazines. However midway across the road, a pair of bright headlights trailed on to him, and Finland felt his body freeze in momentous terror.
ooOoo
Sweden didn't know what spurred him into action, but before he knew it, he was hurtling after the female. The girl's eyes were wide with terror; her expression was that of a deer in headlights. Somewhere in the background, he could hear a shout. But the words made no sense to him. His heart pounded in his ears as he grabbed the girl's arm and pulled her away just in time as the car drove past, the driver beeping his horn after them in anger. The loud blares echoed off the surrounding buildings and rang loudly in Sweden's ears.
Once safe on the other side, both stood to catch their breath.
"Are you okay?" Sweden mumbled, his words coming in short gasps as he took large gulps of air.
"Uh… uh yeah. I guess."
The girl squeaked her reply. Her eyes were glazed with fear and her raw emotions reflected off them.
Before either could say anything else, a familiar and overly cheerful voice called out from across the street.
" SVE! HEY! SVE! THE NEXT TRAIN DEPARTS IN 5 MINUTES, IF WE MISS IT, WE'LL BE WALKING HOME TONIGHT, AND I'M NOT WALKING HOME. LETS GOOOO!" the Dane hollered.
Sweden rolled his eyes. Trust Denmark to ruin every moment in his life.
" I don't think he's heard a word I said! Hungary, do something!" Denmark complained.
Hungary giggled, her eyes trailing onto Sweden
"Sve! You've been out of it since you saved that guy from the car accident! You didn't suffer a concussion did you?" Denmark exclaimed, worry clouding his azure eyes.
"What guy?" Sweden replied puzzled, " I saved a girl…"
"That was a girl? Wow, she really pulled off as a guy. I really thought she was a guy…"
After a short pause, as Denmark speculated the fact that he had mistaken a girl for a guy, Hungary broke into a fit of laughter. Her whole body trembled as she tried to control her laughter. Hungary never thought that Sweden was capable of such emotion with his face so stern and unsmiling.
"Oh. I see what's happening," Hungary chimed, her emerald eyes twinkling suspiciously.
"You do?" Denmark gasped, " tell me!"
"What Sve is suffering from is love at first sight," Hungary declared, " it's ok, don't have to be shy! That's how it was with me and Austria."
Sweden's face was beetroot red by now; he himself couldn't put a finger to this emotion. Fact was, he's never felt it before. Initially he was worried; he had thought that he had contracted some kind of transmittable disease of eternal happiness from the happy-go-lucky Dane. Hungary's statement reassured him that he wasn't turning into another mischievous and foolishly happy Denmark.
"So you're saying, Sve has been mooning over a girl he doesn't know?" Denmark said, his lips pursed and eyebrows knitted together in deep contemplation.
"I'm not." Sweden said, asserting himself.
"m'kay," Denmark said, dropping the subject immediately then turning to Hungary, " how long d'ya think the boss will keep me here tonight? They're showing this really intriguing documentary on the makings of donuts. I can't miss that!"
With that, Sweden allowed himself to drift back into his own conscience, his mind capturing every detail of the girl's face. What he wanted to know now, was her name.
Norway flipped through the 100 paged documents. He gritted his teeth. His boss was a jerk, sometimes Norway believed that his boss's crude demands were the sole reason why his Boss's eyebrows grew to a shocking size and were twice as hairy as normal.
"Fin, could you pass me the highlighter?" Norway muttered, pointing with his index finger to an uncapped blue highlighter that lay strewn on the tabletop.
When Finland had failed to respond to this, Norway peered over the top of his folder. Finland had been moaning and groaning for the past three days since his near death incident. Other than being really noisy, Finland had also been very restless, spinning around in his swivel chair. At home, Finland would flick the television channels one after the other, claiming that none of them showed any program of interest. Then he'd go disturb the sick Iceland, who was none other than Norway's younger brother.
"Fin," Norway sighed, "you've been at it for days. Relax."
"But I didn't thank him properly!" Finland wailed, tears springing to his eyes, "What's he going to think of me? He probably thinks I'm an ungrateful bastard who doesn't even feel gratitude when someone saves his life!"
Norway flinched. The tears, always the tears. Shaking his head, Norway reached for the highlighter, stretching past Finland's workspace to grab it. Suddenly, Finland took hold of Norway's wrist, and Norway blinked in surprise.
"Norrrr! What am I going to do!" Finland wailed, shaking Norway's hand vigorously.
"Fin! Calm down! You probably won't see him again. He probably didn't notice you forgot to thank him either." Norway said, as he eased his wrist out of Finland's death grip and made a reach for the highlighter again. But Finland would have none of it as he grabbed at Norway's hand and started shaking it.
So close yet so far, Norway mused inwardly as he looked at the highlighter in dismay.
"What are your plans for today?" Sweden asked Denmark, an air of indifference rang in his voice, as if the question was asked just for the sake of asking. They were walking back to the office after their lunch break and Sweden walked alongside the Dane.
"Since our dear Boss decided to let us off early today, I think I'll go catch that documentary on donuts today!" Denmark laughed, flashing Sweden his signature grin.
"And drinking beer while you're at it?"
"Sve! I do control my alcohol intake you know! I don't guzzle beer everyday! I don't want to die of liver cirrhosis or what have you not." Denmark pouted, " Why? Was there something you wanted to do?"
"I thought… well…"
"Go on!"
"Take a trip to the convenient store."
"What?" Denmark stared at Sweden with wide-eyed disbelief, " no joke? What's there to do? Have you never gone to a convenient store bef-. Oh. Ohhhh. You're hoping she'd be there again, right?"
A sly grin broke out across Denmark's face.
"Sure I'll go with ya!" Denmark laughed.
Sweden blinked. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.
"Never mind. I said nothing." Sweden mumbled as his face heated up, he then increased his walking pace so that Denmark had to run to close the gap. With that, both men made their return trip to the office.