A/N: Just another one-shot managed to type up within a few hours. I am just on roll lately! When it comes to writing, anyways.
Though the wedding wasn't for anyone he knew too well, he was still looking forward to helping one of his parent's friends, Katyusha, organize her special day. The first month of summer had been quite boring for him, so ironically enough, Alfred was more than willing to welcome a bit of work into his life. He'd lost all of his friends during sophomore year over some dispute he didn't even understand the context of until it was too late. Even if he thought that the reason as to why his friends rejected him to be very stupid (he wasn't exactly the greatest at understanding what was and wasn't socially acceptable, so he didn't understand what the harm was in talking to one of his friend's girlfriend in private everyday at the time, but he was sort of beginning to understand that now), that still didn't mean his friends didn't find it a valid reason to kick him out of their friend group. He was lucky that he'd even managed to escape the situation without ending up in a fight. Never had he expected a group of guys to be so dramatic over some girl; society had never told him that some guys could be this way. At the same time, society seemed to have the tendency to generalize certain groups, so perhaps it shouldn't have come to him as much of a shock.
Since he'd lost his friends so abruptly over something he didn't even realize at the time was a huge mistake, he had lost interest in quite a few activities he used to do with his buddies (most of them required a group of people to enjoy anyways, and Alfred had nobody, except for his shy brother, who hardly ever left his room to hang out with). That was the reason why he was more accepting towards the idea of working more often. He might as well if there was nothing else for him to do.
Aside from the upcoming wedding and the frequent visits he and his family were going to have at Katyusha's and her fiance's house, he was sort of excited to hear that his parent's friend, despite being in her mid-twenties, happened to have a younger brother that lived with her, who happened to be his age. His name was Vanya, but he was apparently okay with just being called Ivan instead. Alfred's parents had always described the young Russian as being a bit strange. According to them, he was unable to socialize as a normal human being his age should. Apparently the things he said and the topics he brought up were sometimes questionable. Not only that, but he also seemed to shift from being more social, to becoming awkwardly shy. The list of rather harsh (in his mind) judgments that his parents had to make about Ivan was probably be enough to fill five pages, maybe even ten, as they would never shut up about how strange he was and how Alfred should be careful around him, but he thought that his parents were being harsh towards the poor teenager. They'd even gone as far as to say that he might have a mental illness. Sure, he'd never met the Russian yet, and he knew that his parents didn't exactly hate him, but he had some doubt over his parent's word. It wouldn't have been the first time they were overly judgmental about someone, and he knew that it probably wouldn't be the last time either.
When they did arrive at Katyusha's house, Alfred was excited to find that she lived in the woods. He was sure that there was going to be a lot to do outside, because of this. Maybe there would even be a beach nearby for him to swim at. He was delighted by the thought of swimming at the beach after helping out his parent's friend for a bit, though this time he hadn't thought of packing any swimming trunks with him if that happened to be the case (he was going to be staying there for three days during his first visit).
It was when he had left the car and was about to leave the guest's room after setting his luggage in it (he was a bit disappointed to find that he was going to have to share a room with his brother; arguments were bound to spring from that arrangement) that he saw the Russian teenager his parents had been talking about. They'd stared at each other for a few moments while he stood at the doorway. Alfred's parents had been right about Ivan being tall. The guy wasn't even fully grown, and he was at least six feet tall (he considered that tall, for someone who was only sixteen). If he'd thought that his father's light blonde hair was pale, he'd been wrong. He was sure that if he compared the Russian's hair to his father's that his father's hair would appear to be a regular shade of blonde, instead of being quite fair. Ivan's hair was very pale, and the fact that it was also grayish made it seem as if it would've been mistaken for white, if he'd been colorblind and hadn't noticed the blonde in it. He wouldn't say that it was light enough to be considered platinum, but he'd never seen hair so light that looked natural.
Before Alfred had any time to say hi to the other teenager, after spending some time to get over his shock, Ivan seemed to suddenly be glaring at him; clearly unimpressed with the American's appearance (it must have been something about how he looked at that moment, there was no way that the Russian could've known enough about his personality to hate him for that). Then, when Ivan seemed to have thought that he made his point about Alfred not being welcome in his presence, he turned away from him so that he could quickly walk down the hallway.
Vexation clawed at Alfred's chest, making his heart race due to the adrenaline. How dare the Russian assume he was not worthy enough to be in his presence!? He hadn't done anything to warrant the cold shoulder he received! The American balled his hands into fists; teeth clenched as he thought viciously, My parents were right about you, Ivan. You are just some socially awkward reject! You really think that you're so much better than me, don't you? I bet that you aren't ever going to have any friends, and will end up being a screw up later on in life. I hope that nothing good ever happens to you! I hope you end up being miserable!
Alfred knew that he was probably overreacting to the rejection, but he was never too great at controlling his anger when his ego was involved.
July had flown by, now that Alfred had more to do in his life (and a new enemy to keep and eye on, while trying to become allies with at the same time). Sure enough, there did happen to be a beach near by Ivan's house, and it was right next to some high ledge that he thought was great for if someone wanted to star gaze next to the water, or just observe the seemingly endless lake. It seemed to be pretty deep around where the ledge front of the ledge was, but at the same time, it made sense. The ledge was much further out than the beach.
Other than that, things didn't seem to be going to great in his relationship with Ivan. He'd tried being more friendly to the Russian, despite being irritated with how cold he had acted when they first met, but the other teenager still didn't seem to want to be around him. There was even one time that he'd asked Ivan what the was doing when he found him stroking some random flower outside, and the Russian only gave him a look of shock; as if he didn't want to be caught doing what he was doing, before running off. It was then that Alfred began to realize that perhaps Ivan wasn't acting cold because he thought he was superior to him, but because he was probably feeling insecure. The fact that the American had wished ill will upon the poor Russian, once he realized this, made him feel terrible. Even if there was no way the other teenager could find out about what had been in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, with Ivan, he couldn't help but grow more and more furious with the American. Didn't Alfred understand that he'd been tricked many times in the social world, and that he wasn't dumb enough to fall for his trap? To him, he thought that it was obvious that everything about the American spelt 'danger'. For one, he was handsome, and probably had no problem fitting in and being accepted by the world because of that. Secondly, he was a social butterfly. Not once had he made his sensitive older sister cry, but instead, he was able to make her laugh quite often. Even his sister's fiance seemed to be quite fond of him, and that guy always appeared to be bored whenever he tried to speak to him. There was no doubt about it, Ivan was jealous of the charisma. Even if he'd thought that Alfred was a threat before, he now understood that he had more power than he initially thought he had; clearly, the American had the power to completely change his life. After interacting with Alfred, no one he knew would ever see Ivan in the same light again. It was already bad enough that even his older sister, who was oblivious to everything he did right and only seemed to care about him enough to care for his well-being when their parents died. He didn't need to be forgotten as well.
Ivan knew that he was going to have to do something about Alfred before things were out of hand. How he was going to put the American in his place, he wasn't sure. He knew it was wrong, and he did feel a bit terrible for wanting to do this, but at the same time, he was so sick of being despised.
Ivan decided to walk over to the ledge next to the beach, where he would often think things over, or at least, before that insufferable American came along. He knew that the trees around him, the fresh air, and the gentle splashing of waves would help inspire him. While indoors, he wasn't too creative, but there was something about nature that always gave him the best ideas for his problems; even if some of those ideas didn't work, since he didn't believe there was any solutions to some of his problems to begin with. Yes, it was contradicting, but there was no shame in having some pride in a well thought out, creative idea. There was also no harm in trying out any plot that formed in his mind in order to humiliate Alfred. What did he have to lose?
He closed his eyes for a bit, letting the gentle breeze brush his face as he began to brainstorm. He didn't really care for the fact that he was teetering near the edge at that moment, or for the fact that he couldn't swim, and would probably drown if he fell off of the ledge. It'd never happened before when he decided to dangerously sway near the edge on a windy day, why would his luck give out then?
"Hey, Ivan. What are you doing now? Are you trying to enjoy the breeze, or something?"
Ivan flinched when he heard the loud voice of that arrogant American. He tried to swing his head around, in order to face Alfred, but as soon as he moved his foot in order to do so, he the small patch of land that he set his foot on gave out. Before he could react, he had lost his balance, and ended up slipping off of the ledge completely. He'd tried to reach for a root or a piece of grass before it was too late, but unfortunately, he hadn't been able to react quick enough. All thoughts seemed to be absent from his mind as he watch the spot he'd once been standing on become farther and farther away. The one second in which he'd fallen almost seemed to have been an eternity for him at the moment, but when he found that he was surrounded by water, and that the only thing he was able to see, aside from the dark greenish-blue that surrounded him, was a light on the surface where the sun hit the water. Every noise around him was muffled; making him feel isolated in the cold, unfamiliar world he was now in.
Panicked surged through him as his head was already beginning to hurt from not breathing any air for what seemed to be five seconds. He must have accidentally breathed in some water. He hadn't had any time to hold his breath, and he'd never learned how to keep water out of his lungs while under water without pinching his nose. Ivan frantically flailed his limbs through the seemingly thick substance that surrounded him. All in an attempt to break the surface and breath some air. It was rather difficult, since he had no experience in doing this, but he was eventually able to manage. Although, when his head did break the surface, he only had time to cough up some water and take in a few gasps of air as his violently slapped the water with his arms in a futile attempt to stay up before sinking under again.
Alfred looked down into the water to see if Ivan was okay. He hadn't been too worried about the Russian at first, as he assumed that he knew how to swim, but after watching him try and fail to keep his head above the water for a few seconds, he immediately realized that his assumption was definitely not true. Not wanting to risk having Ivan breath in too much water and passing out, he plunged into the water without any preparations, as there was no time for that.
Even if it was difficult to see in the somewhat murky water, he had no problem locating Ivan. As soon as he spotted the person he was trying to rescue, he swam towards his, and grabbed him once he was close enough so that he arrange the Russian so that he had an arm around his shoulders. This way, he would be easy to carry while Alfred swam, and would be able to keep his head above the water. The American was relieved with the fact that Ivan had decided not to be dead weight while he swam back to shore. Even while he was gagging and coughing up water, he was still willing to kick in order to stay afloat while clinging onto Alfred.
When they finally reached the shore, Alfred noticed that Ivan seemed to be a mess. Not only was he soaked, and now had a bunch of sand clinging to him, but shock was written all over his face. However, it wasn't long before that blank stare was replaced with that of a face the looked strained; as if he was trying his best to not start crying. Despite being soaked, and knowing that it wouldn't be pleasant to hold another person who was wet and covered with sand in some places, he decided to hug Ivan anyways as he told him in a soft voice, "It's okay. You're safe now."
Ivan wrapped his arms around Alfred as if he was a life line, and not too long after doing that, began to sob into his shoulder. They stayed that way for what seemed to be an eternity, holding each other tightly as Alfred spoke soothing words of reassurance to Ivan. By the time the crying finally stopped, the American asked, "Why don't we go dry off and get changed now?"
The Russian complied, following the American on shaky legs, due to the fact that he was still a bit frighten and felt cold. Even if he knew that his pride was probably doing to be damaged because of the occurrence, he couldn't help the warmth that began to grow in his stomach while he walked with Alfred back to the house. One thing was for sure though. He was never going to act cold around the American ever again. Instead, he vowed to show him nothing but a great amount of friendliness in the future.