Huzzah! Reviews and alerts! That makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside! I didn't think it'd do so well! I'm also sorry about the POV shifts getting weird. They were originally much more obvious. Ah, fanfiction. Oh well, it seems you all had no problem picking up what I was putting down and this time it worked out much better! Thank you all and I hope you enjoy part two!***
After freeing his arm, giving it a through washing along with the ring (after placing a stopper in the drain of course) Finland helped Sealand pack and saw him off to the airport. He now sat with a basket of clean laundry that needed to be folded. He decided that some chores would be a good way to keep himself busy yet give his mind the freedom to explore new proposal ideas. He thought about placing the ring in Sweden's glasses' case to discover when they went to bed that night but was too impatient to wait for bedtime to propose. He had already turned down the idea of using rose petals to create a path towards the bedroom when one of Sweden's shirts sent him a spark of inspiration. He could leave the basket of folded laundry in the corner of their room, with Sweden's shirt on top with the box sitting in the pocket. Then when Sweden went to put the shirt away, the box would fall from the pocket, prompting Sweden to open it. 'That's when I drop to one knee and ask him to marry me!' Finland hugged the shirt happily, thanking it for its idea. He grabbed the laundry basket and ran it upstairs, placing it in the corner of the room. Again he took out the ring box and placed it inside the shirt's breast pocket. He frowned. 'What if Sweden doesn't notice it there? Or what if it doesn't fall out when he puts it away? Then I'll have to wait until he puts it on to propose and who knows how long that could take!' Finland pulled the box out and set it neatly on top of the shirt. The velvety black material stuck out against the white shirt. 'There's no mistaking it now!' Finland let out a little hum and flitted out of the room to finish his other chores. He managed to half-air guitar, half-sweep his way through the kitchen and was starting on the dining room when Hanatamago shot past him, something black in her mouth. "Oh no, Hana! Don't tell me you brought in another dead bird!" He set aside his broom and music player to chase after the troublesome dog. As he approached, a feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach. The object in Hanatamago's mouth was a very strange shaped bird. It was oddly squarish and had very short fuzzy feathers. In fact, it seemed a bit familiar… Finland's mind shifted through various and hopeless explanations for what he wanted it to be but knew none of them were possible. Hanatamago had always enjoyed playing in his just cleaned laundry, especially when it was fresh and warm from the dryer. There was simply no way his massive amounts of denial could transform what she held in her mouth. "Hanatamago! No! Bad girl! Give me that box back!" He drove after the little dog, who quickly bee lined it behind the couch. Finland let out a frustrated yell and went after her.
Sweden paused in the flower shop, wondering which would be the perfect gift for Finland. Roses were too obvious a choice. Everyone used those and Sweden had no desire to be like everyone else in his proposal. He wanted it to be personal, tailored to fit Finland perfectly and to reflect their unique love story. He passed by some cheerful daisies and elegant lilies to the counter. He knew exactly what he wanted and none of these flowers were it. "I got a spec'l request for ya".
Some rearranged furniture, a squeak toy and three dog treats later, Finland finally managed to get back his ring. There was no way, simply no way he would be putting it down anywhere else today. 'This is ridiculous! It's as if the universe doesn't want me to marry Sweden!' He thought while shoving the couch back in place. But that could not be right. No way could the universe not want him to be with Sweden. After all they had been through, Finland could not imagine Sweden not becoming a permanent part of his life. Sure they were not a perfect couple, no one could claim that, but surely they were meant to be together. Finland's bottom lip gave a quiver and the world gained a watery edge to it. 'Huh, I should go to a doctor. There's seems to be something wrong with my eyes today,' Finland thought as he wiped the moisture in them away.
Sweden unlocked the front door and barley managed to pull it open before he had his arms full of Finland. "Sweden! I'm so glad you're back! You won't believe the day I had! It was so stressful!" Finland pulled back from Sweden to look at him and Sweden nodded for him to continue. "So many awful things happened to me today!"
"Like wha'?"
Finland blushed and seemed to shuffle around his words. "Oh! Er, um, you know what, it really wasn't so bad a day after all!" He rushed on. "I helped Sealand pack for his stay with England, did some laundry, swept up, played with Hanatamago, you know the usual. Nothing out of the ordinary here! Nope, not today. Just doing what I usually do!" He let out an all too nervous laugh that Sweden felt reflected those inexperienced murderers on TV who try too hard to hide what they did but only blow their own cover in the end. Finland was incredibly ruffled about something and trying very hard to hide it.
Sweden nodded towards his flowers, which lay on the ground, forgotten when Finland threw himself at him. "Got ya those".
Finland gasped, "they're just gorgeous Sweden! We just have to get them in a vase right now!"
Finland grabbed up the flowers and whisked them into the house leaving Sweden behind in a daze. That was not how he had planned to propose to Finland. Finland was supposed to approach him inside the house, at the door, not through it. Then he was supposed to pause to admire the flowers so that Sweden could propose. Sweden shrugged. He supposed that the kitchen was just as good as the entryway for a proposal. Sweden was not a location snob. Really, any room in the house was as legitimate as the next for proposing. ''Cept maybe the bathroom. Wouldn't propose there,' he thought and followed Finland into the house.
He shrugged out of his coat and shucked his shoes, entering the kitchen just in time to see Finland placing the flowers onto the table. His back was turned to Sweden as he admired the flowers.
"They're beautiful, Sve, simply beautiful," he said, running his finger along the petal of a lily-of-the-valley. "That's my country's flower."
"I know. Tha's why I got 'em for ya".
"You know, I was trying to plan the perfect moment for this, but I just couldn't. My plans kept getting thwarted, nothing I did was working. So I figure that now is as good a time as any. I might as well ask before something else goes wrong".
Sweden frowned. It was not unusual for him to not understand what it was Finland babbled on about sometimes. It was hard to keep up with him at the rate he went and with some of the ideas he espoused. This time though, Sweden did not even have a clue where to start to understand the man. Finland slowly turned from the flowers, his hand reaching into his pocket.
"You mean a lot to me, you know that right? You've done so much for me, I can't imagine you not being there. I want to know that you'll be with my everyday of my life from now on".
As Finland spoke he sank to one knee and pulled out a little black box. He opened it and a gold band shone from within. Sweden was dumbstruck. His proposal plans definitely were not working out. Finland saw Sweden's lack of a response and interpreted it as hesitation. "It's okay if you need time to think about it! I don't want to force you into something if it's not what you want! After all that's what a relationship is about, you know. Give and take. Understanding! Ha! Understanding what the other wants!"
He began to stand and the less Sweden reacted the more flustered and embarrassed Finland became. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I thought we were on the same page! I wanted this and I thought you wanted this and it's been such a crazy day and you won't even believe what I've done to try and make this moment prefect! We can redo it if you want! If you want something better I can plan out something else, it's just all my other plans didn't work and I just wanted to do it before anything else happened and I'm sorry that it's not perfect, I just-"
Finland's ramblings were cut shot as Sweden pressed his lips to his. Finland relaxed into the kiss, letting his tension and anxiety melt away. Sweden slowly pulled away and allowed a smile to warm his face. "Is this 'nswer enough?" he asked and pulled out his own ring box to show Finland. Finland gasped. "You too? When did you get that?"
"Jus' today. Been wantin' ta ask for a lon' time. Seems ya beat me to it."
Finland blushed. "Sorry to ruin your plans".
"S'lright. Sounds like your's didn' go so well either."
"You want to hear about it?"
"S're. Put this on first tho'". Sweden took Finland's hand and slid the ring on, then allowed Finland to repeat the action.
Finland smiled up warmly at Sweden, then leaned in for another kiss.
***Sorry if the ending seemed a tad rushed. My brain just failed on me when I got to it and I wasn't completely satisfied no matter what I did with it. And sorry if it seemed extremely cheesy. I pretty much let it write itself and that's what came out. Ah well, hopefully you all liked it. I was planning on adding Sweden's national flower to the bouquet as well but fun fact of the day; there isn't one. A lot of websites say it is Linnea Borealis but that's unofficially. Each of Sweden's provinces however does have a flower of its own. That sounds fun!