Hi, people!
This is my first story published on this site, so please go easy on my.
Just some extra information: My first language is not English but Dutch and I'm only 14 years old. There will probably be some errors in my grammar, but I tried my best not to make them/fix them..
Anyways, I hope you enjoy the story I wrote for you guys!
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.
It had been snowing for almost a week now. The outside world had been covered under a thick layer of white mass that wasn't about to disappear within a time range of a few weeks. The temperature kept dropping from just below freezing until minus fifteen degrees Celsius. People tried to stay inside as much as possible, keeping themselves and their family warm with hot chocolate and sitting near the fireplace. But a certain Canadian had other plans.
Shivering slightly, he pulled his white scarf closer to his face and sniffed it. It smelled like pancakes with maple syrup and maple forests in general. He smiled to himself when the house he had been searching for appeared before him.
He knocked on the door, waiting for only mere seconds before someone opened it and let him in.
''Mattie, dude! You're finally here!'' An excited American wrapped him in his inviting arms. Matthew, or Mattie, as his brother liked to call him, smiled when he felt the warmth surrounding him again. ''Just in time, too. The game is about to start.''
They sat down on the leather couch, both ready as ever. Alfred handed him a cola and Matthew took it happily, feeling almost dehydrated
- Ze awesome time skip -
''NO! NO, YOU IDIOT!''
Alfred was currently rolling on the floor in anger. The buzzer sounded, announcing the end of the match, accompanied by Matthew's yells of happiness. Canada had won the final ice hockey match from America, and God was he glad!
-0o0-
''See you tonight, Lovino!''
The Spaniard watched his best friend walk down the path leading to their house, where the little Italian was greeted by two of the Spaniard's best friends Gilbert and Francis. Lovino ignored them, but couldn't escape the whole hair-ruffling-thing they always did. It had almost become tradition.
Laughing, the Prussian and Frenchman stepped into his house, both greeting them in their own ways. The two men, already familiar with their best friend's home, took off their coats and walked straight to the living room, followed by the grinning Spaniard.
''Beer?'' Antonio asked, smiling politely. The two males turned around to send him a dry look, as if to say: 'That was the most stupid question you could have asked..'. It was.. Especially the Prussian never turned down a beer. Antonio grinned and strode over to the kitchen, returning with three Heineken in his hands.
It was silent for a second, as the three men took a sip of their beers, resulting in Francis breaking it eventually.
''So, what are you going to do tonight?'' he asked as he leaned back and crossed his arms with a smirk on his face.
Gilbert was the first to answer. ''West invited us all for dinner. Even Basch and his little sister are coming over! It's gonna be awesome! I guess...''
Antonio had to agree with Gil, with Ludwig as your brother, you never knew if he'd let a little prank slide or just throw you out of his house. ''And I was thinking about going over to Mattie's later..''
Francis grinned and put down his beer on the table. ''Gil, you have to tell him how you feel. I could give you some ''advice'' if you want. After all, I am the country of l'amour.'' The way he said advice didn't even need to be accompanied by the gesture he always made when he meant to put it in between quotation marks. He gave Gilbert his signature wink and made a kissy-face, laughing when he saw the albino's eyes widen slightly. A satisfied smirk flashed across his face for a second, before he was hit with a pillow to his face by his Prussian friend. Antonio burst into laughing after seeing his northern friend's expression, his eyes wide and mouth hanging open just the tiniest bit.
''Well, Lovino and I are having an unexpected rendezvous with Belgium and Netherlands,'' he explained. The other two went silent when the heard the latter being mentioned by their friend.
They sent Antonio, who was innocently scratching the back of his head, a weird look.
''Netherlands? You're kidding? That guy is gonna kill you, mon ami... Trust me.. Remember that time I went after his sister? He's still not over it..''
Antonio just smiled, hoping his soft personality could calm down the dangerous nation, but still unsure if he'd make it through the night.
-0o0-
Arthur Kirkland was pulled out of his Flying Mint Bunny-dream by the smell of smoke coming from cigarettes and a guilty-sounding grin. He recognized the sound as his brother's voice. Opening his eyes, he looked up to find Alistair sitting on his bed.
''Morning, little brother,'' he said, smirking, and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the bedside table, pouring a glass for himself. He looked over at his brother.
''You want some?'' he asked and literally threw the liquor down his throat.
The blonde shook his head, scowling at his brother in disgust.
''I don't drink in the morning, you know that.''
How his brother managed to do it? He didn't know. All he knew was that he, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was not a fan of drinking in the morning. He'd tried it once and for some reason ended up at Yao's house, wrapped up in the silk curtains and covered in cereal. It wasn't a day he liked to think about. Yao had never treated him like he did before after that day, and Arthur couldn't help but wonder what had happened between the two of them. All he knew was that his body really couldn't handly any liquor in the morning. Not that it could any other time of the day, but he'd never admit that.
Alistair laughed and ruffled his hair. ''You should really find some friends, lad. Even now you look a wee bit... How should I put it?'' He pretended to be thinking, getting his pleasure from his little brother's annoyed expression. He scratched his chin a little over-exaggerated, seeming to be deep in his own world. All of a sudden the word seemed to just ''pop up'' in his head. He smirked and spoke. ''Lonely.''
Arthur turned away from his brother. ''Shut up, you bloody git. I'm the United bloody Kingdom and I don't need friends or affection, especially from you!'' He glared at his brother, but the older of the two wouldn't budge.
''I'm not expecting to go out tonight and I don't feel the need to either. I like being by myself.''
Alistair let out a forced laugh and made his way over to the door. ''I know, lad.''
He always pretended like he didn't care, but he was actually very fond of his little brother. After all, he had raised him. He'd never tell anyone, but his life would be boring without the stubborn blonde by his side.
-0o0-
Northern Europe had been covered under a thick mass of pearl-white snow. The outside world was rather quiet, if you didn't count the two males having a snowball-fight who were there to ruin it.
''Oh come on Sverige, you of all people could do better!'' Followed by a taller nation, Mathias Køhler, also known as Denmark, dove behind his shield built of snow with Berwald Oxenstierna, the country of Sweden, hot on his tail. Laughing in an almost hysterical way, he bombarded the Swede with snowballs.
Berwald said nothing, but seemed to be enjoying himself too, as he began aiming his own pile of snowballs at his friend's face, hitting his goal numerous times.
He strode across the battlefield of snow and ice, tackling Mathias and forcing him to lie face-first in the freshly fallen snow, tickling his sides because he knew Mathias couldn't handle that.
It took the taller male mere seconds to make Mathias scream like a little girl. Even the ever-so-serious nation allowed himself to smile.
''Försiktig med att arrogans,'' he said, a little smirk flashing across his face. They smiled at out other, both trying to catch their breath.
A guilty glint flashed in Mathias' eyes and before Berwald could ever process the look he was given, an enormous snowball was dropped on his head, leaving his hair, clothes and shirt stuffed with the cold mass.
-0o0-
Sometimes there were days in which Kiku Honda just couldn't get any rest. Some days it was because of the artistic Italian trying to get his attention, some day it was because of his German friend taking them both to go training. Now, the three of them were at the latter's house, peacefully drinking tea.
''Ludwig-san, isn't it nice to have your family all together again?'' the little Japanese man asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. His German friend had told them his plans for tonight, but he seemed a bit tense about it, if not nervous.
Ludwig nodded and set down his cup. ''It would be, if my idiotic brother was a little less reckless.''
He still remembered the time they celebrated Christmas like this 48 years ago. It had ended sooner than expected because of Gilbert who thought it would be fun to prank Roderich.
Elizabeta wasn't a fan of what he did to the man she loved most and decided that it wouldn't hurt Gilbert to get punished with the frying pan. Basch, scared his little sister might get hurt, left immediately.
Their Italian friend shot him a surprised look. ''But isn't it great to be with your family? Just think about how quick it could all be over.'' He seemed to get completely lost in his words. ''Everyday is a gift, right? And maybe we should focus on all the good things in live instead of the bad.''
The other two sent him a surprised look. Sure, Feliciano had his moments but most of them ended with some idiotic - and sometimes even perverted - line that made the people around them forget his wise words.
''That was..'' Ludwig seemed to be looking for the right words to say, not sure if he'd embarrass or flatter his friend with them. ''Surprisingly deep?'' It was more of a question than a statement, but Feliciano was too far gone staring at some random bird outside to notice.
-0o0-
As the two siblings sat down on the grass, a little ray of sunlight found it's way from behind the clouds.
A little girl, Erika, and her older brother, Basch, sat down on the red and white checkered blanket, which they used for these occasions.
They set their picnic basket in between the two of them. Erika slowly opened the basket to reveal the freshly made sandwiches that were lying in it. A smell of freshly baked bread freed itself from it's prison, as if it had been there for years. With a bright smile plastered on her face, Erika handed her brother one of the sandwiches.
Giving his sister his ever so slightly visible smile, Basch took a bite, staring into his sister's hopeful eyes. Those green orbs of her, filled with joy. Even on days Basch thought it couldn't get any worse, she was always there to cheer her brother up with her never fading happiness. She truly was one of the best people to be around for the rest of your life. And although her cooking could use a little improvement, she always tried her best to make her brother happy. Even though they were not related by blood, she has never held closer to someone than the Swiss.
''Do you like it, big brother?'' the smaller girl asked. She tilted her head to the side, causing he hear to cover the side of her pale face.
Basch smiled and reached out his hand to keep the stray lock of hair at bay behind her ear. ''Delicious.''
Her smile was so bright that it could probably blind whole Europe with it and even Basch couldn't keep himself from smiling.
-0o0-
The Estonian paced through the room of his Nordic friend, muttering something in his own language to himself. Probably curses, the Finn thought. He couldn't tell, though. Despite being the Estonian's best friend, his knowledge of the Estonian language reached as far as saying ''Tere''.
''Eduard, calm down. It's Christmas. I know Ivan can be cruel, but not on a special day like this. That's not him.''
The Finn tried his best to give his friend a little hope, but his attempt was in vain. He stood straight and strode over to his blonde friend, grabbing his shoulders, forcing him to look him in the eyes.
There was nothing but worry to be found in Eduard's turquoise eyes. ''What if you're wrong? You know how he is... I'm...'' he let his head drop and stared at his shoes, ''I'm scared, Tino..'' A frown creeped over the other's face. ''Every day Toris manages to calm him down the slightest.. But Ivan isn't dumb. He won't fall for Toris' tricks forever, you know that.''
Tino smiled, giving his shoulders a small squeeze. ''Remember the battle I had with Ivan?'' Eduard nodded, still refusing to look Tino in the eye. ''Well, I won.. Didn't I? Look at me, Eduard.'' He made a gesture to himself with his hands, trying to convince the other that even someone a small as himself could win from the powerful Russian Federation.
Eduard looked up, smiling fondly. Tino could have sworn he saw a spark of hope in his eyes. For a second he thought his eyes had failed him, until the Estonian pulled him in for a hug.
''Maybe I don't need a miracle.. Just a good friend.''
-0o0-
As Lars put his pipe back in his coat, his younger sister, Bella, ran in. She had been as excited as she was today ever since Antonio had asked her to have dinner at his place for Christmas. He would never admit it, but Lars was flattered the great Reino de España had invited him. Antonio had often tried to approach him in a nothing but friendly matter, but his kindness never paid off.
Lars was often found to be very bitter. Even his own sister couldn't find his heart in the maze of his stubborn personality sometimes, but she tried. Even if he didn't want her help, she'd be there for him, because she knew that, when push came to shove, he would do the same for her. His reputation wasn't the best, but sometimes it's better to be alone than have people slow you down.
He had never quite forgiven Antonio for what he had done. After all, if he hadn't come in between the two of them, they had never gone to war. But that was a long time ago and Lars wasn't the unreasonable person people saw him for. He had feelings, believe it or not, he just wasn't very good at showing them. Not even himself.
''What do you think, brother. A black or a red dress?'' In front of him stood Bella, with two dresses in both of her hands. There was a black dress with a lot of lace to decorate it with it's patterns and a very elegant red dress made of shiny fabric. She held both the dresses in front of her body, looking at her brother with one of the brightest smiles he had seen in a while.
Lars managed to sent his sister a small smile, trying to show her how fond he was of her. ''Whatever you like best, Bel. It's both fine.'' He had sounded emotionless, if not almost heartless. Frowning slightly, he looked up to his sister, hoping she'd understand he was just struggling with his emotions.
That was it for now.. I hope you enjoyed it! [I am really sorry if it's that bad..]
This was not my first attempt at writing in English (I will upload my first too), but I feel like this one wasn't as good as my other ones...
Anyways, I hope I'll see you guys in the next one!
(/^.^)/
MERRY CHRISTMAS!