"Marco!" Feliciano yelled and splashed around blindly in the water.
"Polo!" Alfred laughed and pushed Matthew in front of him.
"Hey!" Matthew gasped and fell over in the water, Feli grabbing his arm.
"I got you!" He giggled and quickly swam away like a true Italian in retreat.
Matthew sighed and closed his eyes. "Marco," he said and waded through the water. There wasn't any response. "Marco," he repeated. Again, no answer. How had he let Alfred convince him to play Marco Polo? He would have been just fine sitting on one of the deck chairs alone.
"Wait, who's it?" Arthur spoke up.
"I am," he whispered sadly.
"Matthew!" Feli chirped.
"Polo!" Gilbert yelled.
Matthew turned toward his voice and waded over. "Marco."
"Polo!" Gilbert cackled, but his voice more to the right now. He changed his direction, reaching out, and touched someone.
"You're it," he said softly, opening his eyes in relief. But he didn't see Gilbert there, he saw Francis.
"Moi? Oh, I didn't even see you coming, Matthieu," Francis said and laughed, closing his eyes.
"Big surprise," he mumbled and waded away. All he wanted was out of the water where he could just watch.
Francis started calling out and in a matter of seconds, tagged Feli.
Matthew was climbing out of the pool when he felt something grab his arm. He looked back and saw Gilbert, smiling, his wet hair plastered to his face.
"Birdie, where are you going?"
"Um, I'm just going to sit down."
"Stay in the pool, aren't you having fun?"
"Not really," he muttered but Gilbert pulled him back in anyways.
"Then I'm going to make sure you do," he announced, but before he could continue, a pleading Feli could be heard all the way on the other side of the pool.
"Please, please, please!"
"No," Ludwig said and crossed his arms.
"But I want you to play!" he whined, tugging on his arm.
"I'm here, isn't that enough?"
"I tagged you, so it's your turn," Feli told him and the German sighed.
"Fine, I'll play your little game."
"Yay! Now close your eyes," Feli instructed and swam away.
Ludwig closed his eyes with another sigh and swam toward the middle. "Marco."
"Polo!" A bunch of people yelled, but he could hear his brother over the rest, which is consequently where Ludwig headed.
"Can I get out now?" Matthew sighed, looking up at Gilbert.
"No, I told you we're going to have fun," he smiled. "Whether you like it or not."
"Now you sound like Alfred," he said.
"That really offends me, Birdie. I'm not stupid enough to sound like him."
"He's not stupid," he defended his brother.
Gilbert glanced over in the direction he could only assume his brother was in. "Uh huh, sure."
Matthew looked over and saw Alfred holding a small basketball, aiming at a net placed near the edge of the pool that was probably meant for kids. Arthur was standing there looking unimpressed. He threw it, hitting the backboard, and it ricocheted back at Arthur, hitting him square in the chest.
"I'm sorry Iggy, I don't have my glasses on!" he laughed loudly and Arthur glared at him, using a few swear words.
"Okay he's not the brightest light bulb in the bunch, but he's not stupid," he sighed. If Gilbert wasn't talking to him, he would have been dragged over by Alfred and the ball would have hit him. He was thankful for that and decided he would do what Gilbert wanted.
"I beg to differ," Gilbert rolled his eyes then looked at him excitedly. "You said you wanted to just get out out, right?"
"Yeah," he nodded, having a bad feeling about this.
"Then how about we go on the water slide!?" he grinned.
"The water slide?" he said and looked up at the two very tall slides. One was open, meant for a person, and the other was closed, meant for a tube.
"Ja, we could grab a double tube and go down together. Doesn't that sound like fun?"
"I guess," he answered, less than thrilled, to say the least.
"Let's go!" he grinned and jumped out of the pool excitedly. He followed more slowly, shivering slightly at the cool breeze. Gilbert grabbed a tube from under the slide stairs then walked up the stairs, Matthew next to him. Now they just had to wait in the line of maybe ten people. He looked down and could see pretty much nothing but blurry shapes and colors. He was practically blind without his glasses and couldn't even see his brother anymore. He didn't know if he should be relieved or worried about not being able to find him.
He carefully moved up a step as the line moved. "Birdie," Gilbert said and he looked at him. At least he could see him clearly. He smirked and pushed some of his hair back. "I like those shorts you have on."
He looked down at his swim shorts. They were red and white with a small maple leaf on the side, and bigger one on the back.
"Thanks," he smiled slightly and looked at Gilbert's. They were black and white with the Prussian bird on the back, "I like yours too."
"Danke, I had them special made," he said and moved up another step. "But it was worth it because they're awesome."
He nodded and looked up. Only a few more people left. He got a tight feeling in his chest. The last time Alfred had dragged him onto a water slide, he nearly drowned him at the bottom. He didn't think Gilbert would "accidentally" do that, but it still worried him.
"Maybe this isn't a good idea," he mumbled to himself, but somehow Gilbert heard.
"Do you want to go back down, Birdie? Are you scared?"
"N- No," Matthew stuttered and bit his lip. What was he scared of? Gilbert was different than Alfred, he actually paid attention to him. "I'm fine."
"Don't worry, the awesome me will protect you," Gilbert grinned and moved up another few steps.
Matthew stepped up and stayed silent, trying not to think of how daunting the slide looked. Water was dripping from the rivets and he tried to ignore it. In a minute, he'd be going down into the dark tunnel on a piece of inflated plastic. He'd almost rather be ignored at Marco Polo and be hit in the face by Alfred.
But it was stupid and pointless for him to worry about this. He could do it.
They reached the top and Gilbert set the double tube down. "I'll go first," he said and sat in the front. Matthew quietly sat behind him, taking a deep breath. The water gushed beneath his feet and all he saw was a pit of blackness.
He wasn't even given a warning before the lifeguard nudged the tube and it slipped down into the slide. He gasped, the speed pushing the air out of his lungs. He wrapped his arms around Gilbert for dear life and closed his eyes. Gilbert laughed and whooped and hollered, apparently having the time of his life. Matthew screamed at a sudden dip, holding on tighter.
"It's okay, Birdie!" he laughed. He really didn't think anything was okay right then.
The slide finally ended and they splashed into the exit, Gilbert still laughing. Matthew opened his eyes and released his grip, breathing out in relief that he was alive. Gilbert hopped out and pulled the tube toward the stairs. Matthew shakily got out at the stairs and walked out of the water, thankful to be on land once again.
Gilbert set the tube down and smiled at him. "Want to go again?"
Matthew stared at him and shook his head. He may have gone and lived, but he really just wanted to sit down.
"Okay," Gilbert said and pushed the tube over with the others. Matthew walked over to the chairs and grabbed his towel, drying himself off. "Was that a little too much fun for you?" Gilbert asked as he walked up.
"No, it just surprised me a little," he said, wrapping the towel around his waist.
"I told you that you didn't have to go if you didn't want to," Gilbert said, sensing his partial lie.
"It was fine. I didn't almost drown," he shrugged and sat down on the chair, putting his glasses on.
"I guess that's good. But no fun?"
"Not really," he answered and closed his eyes, facing the warm summer sun.
"I could still make it fun," Gilbert said, his voice closer now.
"Do I have to get up?" he asked, feeling content enough to maybe take a nap.
"Not unless you want to," Gilbert said, his warm breath on his cheek.
"What-" he was cut off by Gilbert kissing him, placing a hand on the back of his head. If this was the fun he was talking about then he was all for it. He blushed hard and kissed him back.
Gilbert pulled back for air and grinned, placing his hands on either side of him. "Was that fun enough for you?" Matthew nodded, still blushing and smiling. "Awesome," he said and pushed the chair next to him so that the chairs were touching. He laid back on it and looked at him. "Maybe we can have more fun later."
"Oh, um, yeah," he said and looked away before he could get him too flustered.
He saw his brother swimming toward them, always the mood killer, with Arthur in pursuit.
"I tagged you, you bloody idiot!" Arthur yelled.
"No you didn't!" Alfred laughed and pulled himself out of the pool, running over to him. "Mattie, Iggy says he tagged me but he didn't."
"I did. You said polo and I got you," Arthur huffed, still in the water, "and my name is Arthur." Alfred just waved his comment off.
"I can't help, I didn't see it," Matthew told him.
"Thanks a lot," Alfred said sarcastically and jogged back over to the edge. "You're it," he laughed and poked Arthur's head, jumping back in.
"That's unfair!" Arthur yelled and started after him.
He rolled his eyes and looked back over at Gilbert, who was already looking at him. "He sure is a dim light bulb," he grinned.
Matthew couldn't help but laugh. This wasn't such a bad day after all.
Hey everyone! This is the first fic I've posted on here, so I would greatly appreciate it if any of you would review! Even if it's constructive criticism. I was originally going to post a multi- fic but all this school and such has left me no time to write. But I should get it up soon.. Anyways I wanted to get something on here before my birthday, which happens to be tomorrow, and decided to post this. Yay for procrastination! I hope you enjoyed my story and I think I've rambled on long enough! Bye!
Also, I do not own Hetalia