Life was so damn cruel.

All you wanted was to be able to figure out how to easily reach the top damn shelf. Even if it were just once, you still would've been able to.

Once.

Just.

Bloody.

ONCE.

That's all you wanted to do! You were in your twenties, and yet, you still couldn't reach the top shelf. It was quite unfair, really, that you had to struggle so damn much just for a jar of mashed nuts so you could finish making that birthday cake for a certain someone.

You grunted a little as you stretched further and further, standing on your tip-toes, causing your entire body to begin to ache from the stress. Biting your lip, you found you were close to reaching the jar you needed.

...however...

That's how it seemed, anyway, from where you were standing. But you were actually still a shelf away from reaching it. "Oh, goddamn it," you grumbled, giving up. Although that specific day was too hot to bake, it was for a certain someone you loved; that certain someone just so happened to be your best friend.

Kristine Oxenstierna.

She was your best friend since your other friend, Tina, introduced you. Frankly, you used to be shy; very, very, very painfully shy. At first you were too nervous not to stutter when meeting the woman. It's not like she was really scary or anything; she was actually pretty nice, even if she was a bit quiet. But...you just couldn't help yourself. You used to be scared of a lot of people...especially Anya, and maybe Tina when she was angry.

But Kristine never made you scared. For that, you loved her...probably more than she would love you, or so you assumed, due to the fact that she was so close to Tina.

You could just imagine her; Her long, silky, straight locks of blonde hair, an almost mystical air about her, only growing more intense when she was with Nora, her sister, her beautiful cerulean eyes that seemed to glow whether the sun was out or not, and smooth-looking, almost flawless skin, those soft-looking, luscious-

STOP. NOW.
You have to focus! You can't always day-dream about her! You must make this cake just right!

You attempted again, to reach for the ever-so-desired jar, until seemingly out of nowhere, a hand reached out and grabbed it for you. "...What just happened?"

"Here,"

You whirled around, and saw your Swedish friend. Unsure what to do, you sheepishly accepted the jar, thanking her modestly, before rushing to hide the batter.

"What are you doing, (Name)?" she asked, following you as you rushed to hide the batter, so she didn't find out about the surprise. "N-Nothing at all!" you laughed nervously. "Er...I don't mean to sound rude, but what are you doing here? I thought you were hanging out with your sisters...?"

She shook her head, closing those beautiful pools of blue as she did. "Nej, I decided to hang out with you today," she responded, staring down at you. "E-Eh!?" you blushed darkly, causing Kristine to raise an eyebrow. "Why so blushy?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"N-No reason! Um...do you think you could wait in the living room or something?" you asked softly, unable to meet her gaze. "Nej," she answered playfully. "What are you doing?" she asked once more. "I-I told you, nothing,"

Her hand came to your head, and ruffled your hair. "Stop being so cute,"

You blushed harder, if possible. "I-I'm not cute!"

Long arms wrapped around you. "Yes, you are,"

"K-Kristine...?" you asked, exasperatedly, confused as to why she was hugging you, when she was usually so distant. Was she drunk or something...? Wait, no, she didn't smell of alcohol...

"Hm?"

"...N-Nevermind," you whispered, just relishing in the fact that she was actually hugging you. You wrapped your arms around her as well, burying your face in her silken hair, which happened to faintly smell of cherries. "(Name)?"

You didn't respond for a while, and Kristine could feel her stomach churn ever so slightly in anxiety. Then she spotted the batter.

"...Were you...making me a cake...?" she asked slowly, pulling slightly away from the hug. You looked down, and nodded. "...yes. B-But it was meant to be a surprise!"

A soft smile met Kristine's lips. "You didn't have to do this, (Name),"

"B-But I wanted to! I mean...you're my best friend...so I wanted to do something nice for you..."

The word 'friend' hurt both you and your beloved deeply; you yearned for something more, much more, than just friendship. "I promise, it's fine,"

"So you don't want the cake?" you gave her the puppy eyes.

"I never said that," Kristine pulled you close again. "Your baking always tastes good. But you work hard enough as it is," she gave you a knowing look, since she knew that sometimes, you went entire nights without sleeping just to get work done. "Don't worry about making anything for me,"

You blushed darkly. It was her birthday, why was she being so nice to you?

And suddenly, you felt confident; like nothing could take you down. So, you decided to tell her why. "But I like making stuff for you. I want to show you that I appreciate you, that I really care..." you gulped as you got more nervous. "...a-and, I love you a lot, so I thought that maybe, if I made stuff for you, and tried hard enough, you would love me, too...?"

Kristine tensed up against you, and pulled back a bit. "K-Kristine...?" you stuttered, meeting her gaze as your heart began to race even further.

"Are you joking?"

You could feel your heart break. "W-Well...no, I-"

"You seriously love me?"

"Yes, I-"

"When were you planning on telling me this?"

"What's with you today? You're so talkative!"

"Only with you, (Name)..."

You looked up at her. "...Do you feel the same?"

"Of course."

It was sealed with a kiss, once you had told her how you felt. You couldn't of been more happy with her.

Maybe being short wasn't so bad, after all.

~extended ending~

Marie snickered as she sat in the nearest tree, watching you and your new lover through binoculars. "I'm glad it worked out for the two of them! Looks like the queen or northern Europe has prevailed again~!"

"Oh, quiet, you," Nora scolded as she snatched the binoculars with nimble fingers.

"I'm glad Kristine finally got with (Name)~! They make such a cute couple~!" Tina cooed, holding her camera close to her chest. "Perhaps Daniel will enjoy these pictures!"

Emillia just chewed on her licorice. "They're going to find you all out, you know,"

"Then why did you come with us?" Marie asked, unintentionally being rude. "It will be fun to watch Kristine kick your sorry ass,"

"Speaking of which, I'm fairly sure they know of our presence..." Nora murmured, draping the binoculars around her neck, and jumping from the branch. "HOLY SHIT-" Marie ended up falling from the branch that she was perched on, only to have Tina fall on top of her.

Muttering an apology, Tina jumped to her feet and ran off, leaving Marie behind.

The Swedish female towered above her, a frightening aura surrounding her as she stared down at her sister. Marie laughed nervously, "H-Hey, Kris! Er...I just came by to see how you were doing! I see that you and (Name) are-?" she was cut off when Kristine picked her up by the back of her shirt.

Let's just say, Marie had lots and lots of bruises afterwards.

Disclaimer; I do not own Hetalia, nor do I own you. That's Fem!Sweden't Job.

Er...I wrote this a while ago, but the day I wrote this, I was just really...not very poetic xD

However, most of my other writing is poetic, so don't worry!