"Whoa, Austria! Look at the size of that Ferris wheel!"
Austria hid a small grin at the sound of utter excitement in Hungary's voice. He would never be able to match her outward enthusiasm for everything, but that wouldn't stop him from enjoying her outbursts.
"Oh my gosh and the midway! It's huge! Austria this is going to be the best day ever!"
Austria gripped the steering wheel tighter to hide the shake in his hands. He was hoping with all of his heart that this would indeed be the best day ever: The day that he finally kissed Hungary.
He had everything planned out perfectly, like a well orchestrated piece of music. First, they would walk past all the livestock in for contest so Hungary could pet the rabbits and poke the cows. Then they would head up the midway and Austria would win a huge bear for her. They would put the massive prize in the car, then head back to fill up on funnel cakes, ice cream, and hot dogs. He would take Hungary on some of the smaller rides, but Austria would wait until the end of the day for the piece de resistance. When the crowds began to thin and the lights along the midway and on the rides all lit, he would lead Hungary by the hand to the Ferris wheel. They would get in a car and sit so closely together. Then, the Ferris wheel would begin moving, stopping every few seconds to let others on, and when they reached the top, Austria would look into Hungary's eyes, tell her how amazing she was, and lean in for the most incredible kiss in the world.
Perfect. As he pulled into the lot and took his keys from ignition, Austria squared his shoulders and prepared himself to make sure that nothing, absolutely nothing, went wrong.
—
"Oh, wow, that looks really bad…" Hungary whispered as she sat beside Austria on a hay bale.
Austria tried to smile reassuringly through a grimace as he clutched his wrist and held his profusely bleeding left hand away from his clothes. He couldn't stand the thought of staining his designer washed jeans.
"It's not awful. I mean really, it was just a little rabbit. The thing caught me off guard is all," Austria explained, trying to maintain his cool. On the inside, however, he was filled to bursting with utter embarrassment. Of all the stupid ways to show what a loser he was in front of the most important person in the world to him, he had to go and get mauled by a rabbit. One of the tiniest rabbits at the fair, to boot.
Hungary chuckled and rummaged through her purse. "Don't worry, tough guy, I've got you covered."
Austria raised a single eyebrow as Hungary pulled out a small but well equipped first aid kit from her purse. Hungary noticed the look and rolled her eyes.
"Come on Austria, you know I spent a lot of time with Italy when he was growing up. He was always stepping from one disaster into another. I've learned to come prepared."
Austria nodded and opened his mouth to respond, but found himself unable to speak when Hungary's strong but delicate hand gripped his wrist.
As Hungary deftly went about cleaning up, disinfecting, and bandaging Austria's surprisingly severe rabbit bite, Austria found himself incredibly distracted by just her hands. They were beautiful, despite several small scars that belied the true difficulties of her past. Her long, dexterous fingers made quick work of covering up the wound, yet Austria found that even such brief contact between them left him breathless.
Once she had finished patching him up, Hungary looked up at Austria. When he noticed the questioning look that skated across her features, Austria was quick to check and change his expression. He berated himself for slipping and acting like such a fool around Hungary, but he just found that he really couldn't help himself. Hungary just had an incredible hold on his heart, even though for now she seemed to have no clue.
Austria coughed uncomfortably to dispel the drawn out silence, and suggested that the two of them check out the games along the midway.
Hungary let out an excited screech and jumped up, all awkwardness long forgotten. "Ooh, yes please! I've seen people walking around with the most wonderful prizes!"
Hungary reached down and grabbed Austria's uninjured hand and pulled him along toward the midway. Though Austria, as usual, tried his best to maintain a cool exterior, his insides were melting. He considered himself to be the luckiest man alive just to be allowed to spend time with such an extraordinary girl.
—
Hungary lifted one of her hands and did her best to pass her laugh off as a cough. Austria did his best to pretend not to notice. He had been standing in front of this pathetic "Knock 'em Down!" game for over five minutes and had already gone through fifteen tries. All he had managed to do so far is knock the top can from its position on the pyramid.
Austria could not believe how pathetic he was. All he had to do was knock down the entire pyramid of cans in one pitch and the giant teddy bear in the back of the booth was his. Well, his to give to Hungary and win her heart, obviously. But so far all he'd managed to do was win a bunch of consolation candy. He asked the man running the booth for one more round of balls to toss at the tin pyramid.
He looked surreptitiously over his shoulder and noticed that Hungary, incredibly, had not lost interest and was still watching him.
Probably cause you're such an entertaining loser show, he said to himself. He wound up and threw the first ball as hard as he could.
With a metallic clang, the top can and one of the cans beneath it flew off the pedestal. His heart rate picked up. So far he had done better on his first throw than he had in any other try. He pulled his arm back once more and let another ball fly. Another clatter and all but three cans were on the ground. Austria almost laughed in disbelief. He had one ball left. He closed his eyes, steadied his breathing, and tossed the ball once in the air. Squaring his shoulders, he set himself up, then pitched the ball one last time.
Every single can flew to the ground.
Hungary jumped for joy and threw her arms around Austria as he stood, dumbstruck, staring at the cleared pedestal. "You did it!" She cried, "I knew you could do it!"
Though his heart was racing from his long-awaited victory, Austria knew that such a simple game couldn't result in so many butterflies appearing in his stomach. Hungary's arms were wrapped tightly around his chest. She just said that she had believed in him. Even when she pulled away, Hungary's sweet scent still lingered all around him.
"Hey, buddy, you in there?" The booth keeper asked loudly, waving his hand in front of Austria's face. "You get a bottom shelf prize. Which would 'dja like?"
Austria shook his head as he fell out of his reverie.
Get it together, he scolded himself, asking the man for a small, white teddy bear from the bottom shelf.
As the man reached over the bar to hand the small bear to Austria, he turned to Hungary and smiled. "And you, ma'am? Would you like to have a try?"
"Yes, please, if you wouldn't mind," Hungary said sweetly, stepping up to the counter.
Austria stepped aside to give Hungary space, and watched in awe as with one toss from Hungary every single tin can went flying off the pedestal.
Hungary grinned self assuredly, doing a little happy dance and a simple hair toss as she asked the man to bring her a giant bear.
"But… How… You…" Austria was speechless as Hungary turned and offered the giant bear to him.
"Please, Austria, you know how much time I spent with Prussia when I was younger. We threw rocks at I don't even know how many things and the loser always had to do something ridiculous like eat dirt or touch bird poop. I picked up accuracy very quickly."
Austria shuffled his feet, embarrassed. There was no way someone like him deserved to be with someone as talented as Hungary. She was perfect at everything that she did, and what was he good at?
"Here, I want you to have this," Hungary said, once more pushing the bear toward Austria.
"What?"
"I want you to keep it."
"I thought you just wanted me to hold it!" Austria cried out in surprise, "Don't you want it? You won it your first try!"
Hungary smiled, and Austria thought for just a moment that he saw the hint of a blush on her cheeks. He quickly dismissed that idea though. Hungary had no reason to blush around him. "I'm sure I want you to have it," she said softly.
Austria shifted his weight awkwardly. "Okay, well, it's not as impressive by any stretch of the imagination, but…" Austria pulled the little bear he had won out and offered it to Hungary.
Hungary took the bear and held it close to her heart, giving it a tight squeeze. "Thank you so much," she whispered, "He's so cute!" Hungary reached out her hand and squeezed Austria's arm. "You're too kind."
Austria's stomach did a back-flip while his heart tried to hammer free of his chest. It took him a moment to untangle his tongue enough to suggest that they take the bears back to the car so they could grab something to eat and not worry about getting them sticky. As they walked toward the parking lot, Austria wondered if Hungary knew the effect she had on him. He watched her petting the bear's head and talking to it and thought for a minute that perhaps she knew exactly what she made him feel.
—
As Austria watched Hungary eat her outrageously pink cotton candy, all he could think about was how sugary her lips would be at the top of the Ferris wheel.
"Hey! Austria? Are you okay?" Hungary asked, pressing her hand to Austria's forehead.
Austria's heart kicked into overdrive at Hungary's concerned touch. "Yes, of course I'm fine, why?" he asked.
"You looked kind of out of it, and I was wondering if we could ride the Scrambler now," Hungary explained, pointing out a garishly painted ride across the field.
"Of course," Austria said with a smile, trying to play off rubbing the sweat from his palms as simply trying to put his hands in his pockets. The sun was falling and the temperature dropping but he still felt so hot under Hungary's gaze. He felt every moment like he was going to mess something up. Heck, he had already messed up plenty of things so far today, but he was going to try his hardest to make sure the rest of the day went smoothly. He still had a chance to make it the best day ever.
The line to the Scrambler was relatively short as people were beginning to leave the fair, so before he knew it Austria and Hungary were strapped into one of the cars on the questionably-put-together ride. Hungary was practically bouncing with excitement as the operator walked over to the control panel to start the ride. All Austria could focus on was how Hungary's eyes sparkled when she was happy.
I want to see her happy like this all the time, he thought, I want to see her happy like this when she looks at me.
With a loud metallic screech, the ride began to move.
—
"Do you want me to grab you a water?" Hungary asked, rubbing Austria's back as they sat on a bench a few feet away from the Scrambler.
Austria was too nauseous to be embarrassed. "No, no, I'll be alright. I just need to sit for a while until everything stops spinning."
Hungary nodded, but continued to rub Austria's back. He couldn't say he minded the contact.
"Sorry, Hungary, I don't mean to be rude but… Have you always had three heads?" Austria said, peeking up at the girl.
Just like that Hungary was doubled over laughing, and just the sound of her happiness made Austria feel infinitely better.
"Austria, you're so wacky," Hungary said, ruffling the young man's hair.
Austria's heart sang, and he near fell over from sheer joy. He was so happy that Hungary was enjoying herself, especially that she was enjoying herself around him.
"Really, though, I am feeling much better," Austria said, sitting up. He looked around him and noticed that the sun was just setting, casting a beautiful glow on the heavy cloud cover. All around him, he saw lights from game booths at the midway, rides in the field, and even the Ferris wheel beginning to click on.
It was time.
"Hey, Hungary," he said quietly, "Would you like to ride the Ferris wheel now? I'm starting to get tired and I wanted to save the best ride for last."
Hungary smiled sweetly. "I would love that."
—
Although the line at the Scrambler had been short, it seemed as though everyone wanted to hop on the Ferris wheel before the fair closed down for the night. Austria shifted uncomfortably as he noticed that the majority of the people waiting in line were young couples who seemed to be practically glued together. Did Hungary know what he had planned? Would she be angry if he told her how she felt? Maybe she just liked him in a friendly way. There hadn't really been anything romantic that went on between them today, so it was impossible to tell how she felt.
Before Austria could indulge in a mini, internal panic attack, it was his turn and Hungary's to board the Ferris wheel. The man opening car doors was short and very old, and he gave the two a knowing smile as he ushered them onto the ride. He winked at Austria and chuckled. Austria prayed Hungary hadn't noticed.
As he seated himself beside Hungary on the open car, Austria steeled his nerves. He ignored his racing heart, clenched his shaking hands into fists, and breathed deeply through his nose.
This was it.
Slowly, the Ferris wheel groaned as it began moving to let on the next passengers.
As they rose, Austria watched Hungary take in the beautiful sights around them. And it was beautiful. The whole fair was lit up in twinkling lights in the twilight. The air smelled of sweet funnel cakes and warm animals. A cool breeze blew away the heat of the day, and everything felt right in the world. While Hungary looked around in wonder, Austria couldn't keep his eyes off of her.
Her hair fell around her shoulders in soft, beautiful waves. Her face was alight with joy and contentment. Her eyes sparkled in the lights from the Ferris wheel, and her skin glowed from spending the day in the sun. Hungary thought of all the amazing things he loved about her, and decided he was ready.
"Hungary?" He said tentatively.
The girl turned to face him, a warm smile softening her gorgeous features.
And suddenly, Austria was speechless.
"I- Uh- I um… I mean… It was… Today-"
Hungary chuckled. "Today was amazing, Austria, thank you for bringing me to the fair. I haven't had such a wonderful day in ages."
Just like that, Austria's brain clicked back into gear. He couldn't stop himself once he started talking.
"I'm really happy that you enjoyed yourself. I wanted to make today perfect for you, but I guess I pretty much messed up royally. I wanted you to have a lot of time to pet all the rabbits and cows and horses, but you had to stop and fix my hand after I was mauled by the tiniest rabbit on earth. And then, I really wanted to win a big teddy bear for you, but all I could get you was the smallest one at the booth. And on top of that it took me sixteen tries. And then I got sick on the Scrambler so we couldn't go on more rides until now. But now everything is perfect and you look so beautiful and we're at the top of the Ferris wheel and I just wanted to tell you that you are the most amazing person on this whole planet and I am the luckiest man alive to have been able to share this day, no matter how pathetic I was, with you."
Austria sucked in a breath as he finished his lengthy monologue. He felt like a complete idiot. That was not at all what he had wanted to say, and now Hungary probably thought he was an idiot. Or pathetic. Or a creep. Or most likely, all of the above.
"I'm sorry," He said, turning away when Hungary seemed unlikely to respond.
"No, it's okay," Hungary said gently, placing her hand on Austria's shoulder. As he turned back to face her, she said, "I feel the same way."
Austria, despite being incredibly relieved, felt his heart pound like he was falling. Slowly, he began to lean in toward Hungary. It was time. He was going to kiss her. Now or never. The perfect end to a perfect day.
Hungary too began to lean in, looking back and forth through her long eyelashes between Austria's eyes and his lips.
Just as Austria closed his eyes before brushing his lips against Hungary's, the heavens split and rain came crashing down around them.
Austria and Hungary both jumped back in shock as the chilled rain splashed down on them.
"You have got to be kidding me!" Austria yelled up at the sky.
Hungary laughed with her whole body, then threw her arms around Austria.
"Oh, come here!" she cried out, then pressed her warm, soft lips to Austria's.
Austria smiled into the kiss. Oh yeah. Best. Day. Ever.
—
Hey guys! Thanks for reading this bit. I hope if any of you have been having bad days, this made you feel a little better.
You can find this story on Tumblr and AO3 as well, same title, same username. As always, I am open to requests and critiques.
Have a wonderful day!