A/N: By now, you must all think I'm a crazy liar, saying I'll only post about once a week. Well, here's the fourth update this week. I neglected to post yesterday due to my mother being… well, my mother. I still have no ownership over Hetalia, and still no ownership of the songs used in this chapter or any brand names. Warning for the chapter: There is still language, and some awkward parts. (I think I'll put a warning at the beginning of all the chapters, just so you know what to expect.) Thanks for reading!

"Come on, Ivan! You should teach me to dance." Alfred was sitting on the couch he'd slept on last night, staring at Ivan, his voice whiney. He tended to be bored on his day off. "Teach you to dance? I have not danced for a long time, Alfred. I cannot teach you to dance." Ivan sat next to him, one leg crossed over the other. His hair was still a disaster, his scarf wrapped lazily around his neck, draping to the floor and brushing the carpet. "Come on! Pleeeease?" Ivan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Nyet. I can teach you other things, but certainly not dancing. Not now, anyways."

Alfred cocked his head to the side. "Other things? Like what? Could you teach me to bake stuff? I mean, you obviously survive somehow." Alfred looked at Ivan intently, not blinking. "Ah, bake what, exactly? I can cook basic meals, but nothing extravagant." Alfred grinned. "Could you teach me to make cookies?" Alfred was not a baker or cook in the slightest. He wanted to learn to make something sweet, though. Having the ability to satisfy his sweet tooth himself was something that sounded very pleasant in his mind. "Cookies? Really?" Ivan paused a moment, looking at Alfred to see if he was bluffing. When he showed no sign of a lie, Ivan exhaled. "Da, I suppose so."

Alfred jumped off the couch and pumped his fist in the air. "Sweet! Literarily." He laughed and jumped up and down excitedly. "Can we start now? Please? I want to do something!" Ivan smiled as he stood. "First, I think we should get cleaned up a bit. Your hair could use a comb through." Ivan ran his hand through Alfred's hair, grinning before ruffling it playfully. Alfred smiled, gently pushing Ivan's hand away. "Hey, you just made it worse, you know." Ivan nodded. "Oh, I know. I did that on purpose, Alfred." Alfred glared at his friend playfully. "Pfft, fine. Ruin my gorgeous looks." Ivan's smile faltered slightly as he attempted not to laugh, trying to keep it serious.

"I am very sorry, Alfred. I did not know you were so gorgeous. But I see it now! Da, I have completely killed it." Alfred mock punched Ivan's shoulder. "See what you've done? Now no one will love me, Ivan! You've set me up to live my life all alone! I'll be the crazy old cat man who lives on the corner and owns like, a million-bajillion cats!" Ivan frowned slightly, trying to put up a good act. "I am so sorry, Alfred! I have ruined everything. How could I ever make it up to you?" Alfred smirked, looking up into Ivan's eyes. "Well, there are a few ways. One involves that couch over there." Alfred jerked his head to the couch, eyes gleaming suggestively. "Ah, are there any other ways?" They both let out a little laugh. "Well, I suppose you could just teach me to make cookies. I guess that'd suffice."

Ivan pretended to wipe the sweat from his brow. "Oh, phew! Thank goodness I can make it up to you." Ivan hugged Alfred as part of their act, but as Alfred wrapped his arms around him to reciprocate the awkward affection, Ivan's heart rate shot up. Ivan inhaled slightly, catching a whiff of light cologne, the smell intoxicating him. Ivan personally preferred not to wear anything of the sort, but he found that it was extremely attractive. Alfred, on the other hand, got a direct smell of his favorite scent ever: cinnamon. Alfred nuzzled into Ivan's chest, taking a wonderfully deep breath, letting his eyes close.

The two stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying the sensation of being hugged by someone. Alfred looked up to Ivan after a bit, smiling. "Cookies?" They stayed in their embrace as they spoke, looking at each other casually as though they weren't hugging in the middle of Ivan's living room. "What kind did you want to make? I might not have the stuff to make it." Alfred thought a moment, resting his head on Ivan's chest. "Hmm. What about white chocolate chip cranberry cookies?" Those were his favorite. "Sure. We'll have to go to the store, though. I don't have that stuff just laying around my house, you know." Alfred shrugged. "That's fine with me. We should go soon, then. I want to get started right away." Despite Alfred's words, neither of them moved for a moment, a comfortable silence falling around them.

Ivan finally pulled back from Alfred a bit, both sets of arms loosening. "Well, let's get ready to go, then. Remember to brush your hair." Ivan smiled as they returned to that, turning around and walking to his room. He pushed the door part-way closed behind him, grabbing a new shirt out of the closet, as well as all the other things he needed to be wearing in order to be in public. Ivan took his scarf off cautiously, folding it and setting it on the bed as he slid his pants off, going through the motions of getting dressed. After his bottom half was dressed, he pulled his shirt off, stretching in the meanwhile. As he reached for his new shirt, a loud thud came from the living room, followed promptly by a string of curses. Ivan forgot the shirt, opening the door and walking quickly out to the living room.

"What happened?" There appeared to be nothing broken, but Alfred was hopping on one foot. "Augh, fuck! Fucking bitch! Why the hell were you even there you fucking dumb ass couch! Ugh!" Alfred wheeled around at the sound of Ivan's voice, ceasing his hopping and instead looking at Ivan, eyes looking over his torso quickly as he attempted to recover. "U-uh, just stubbed my toe. No biggie." Ivan blinked. "You alright?" Alfred nodded, eyes traveling over Ivan's shirtless, muscular chest. Not only was this the first time he'd seen Ivan shirtless, but it was also the first time he'd seen him without his scarf wrapped around his neck. Ivan suddenly became extremely self-conscious, crossing an arm over his body to grab his opposite elbow. "Ah, good." He stood there awkwardly before, turning and walking quickly back to his room, taking his shirt and pulling it on quickly.

Ivan returned to the living room, face flushed pleasantly pink. Alfred noticed and patted Ivan's cheek. "Oh, how cute." He stuck his tongue out at Ivan, smiling some before heading to the bathroom to change. He shut the door behind him, changing as he did every morning. After he'd done that, he looked to the mirror, looking at his hair which had been mused about by Ivan. He grinned a bit, the thought giving him little flutters in his gut for some reason. Alfred turned the faucet on, running his hand under the cold water before running it gently through his hair, not even bothering with the little cowlick that stuck up in the front of his hair. He'd grown to love that annoying, pain-in-the-ass strand of hair. Having done that, Alfred returned to the living room where Ivan was standing, cautiously wrapping the scarf around his neck. It was still pretty damn cold out, though it wasn't snowing and had warmed up significantly from Friday.

Ivan looked to Alfred, then out the window. "Ready to go, then?" Alfred nodded and Ivan grabbed his key, and his card, shoving both in his wallet, and shoving that in his back pocket. He nodded towards the door and opened it, gesturing for Alfred to go first. They walked out, Ivan turning to lock the door and realizing he had to dig his wallet out to get to his key. He sighed; should have seen that one coming. He locked the door and they were on their way. Alfred and Ivan were both were glad that Ivan lived so close to everything. The grocery store was actually only a five minute walk from his place. Alfred dug his phone out of his pocket, looking up a list of ingredients they would need, practically bouncing down the street, half from the cold temperatures, and half from being so excited.

They reached the grocery store and Alfred grabbed a cart. "Hey Ivan! If I sit in here, will you push me?" It was a childish thing, indeed, but today Alfred just felt like being a child. Ivan raised his eyebrows as if to ask if he were serious, then grinned ever so slightly. "Da, I suppose so. Just make sure not to move around too much." Alfred smiled from ear to ear, jumping into the cart quickly and sitting cross legged, looking at Ivan expectantly. Ivan grinned at Alfred, thinking how cute it was that he wanted to sit in the cart. He didn't realize it'd be so damn difficult to steer.

Alfred listed the things off, talking to Ivan about anything and everything as they walked to the area of the store where said item was kept. This continued on for seven items, then Alfred told him that was all they needed from the store; Ivan had the rest at home. Since they were there, however, Ivan decided to grab some more coffee grounds and more bread. As they finished, they walked – or in Alfred's case, rode – to the check stand, putting everything on the conveyer belt. Ivan pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, pulling out a twenty and a five, handing it to the lady. She looked at Alfred with raised eyebrows, but then put the money in the register and gave Ivan his change back. He thanked her, then proceeded to exit the store, making Alfred get out of the cart. They split the bags between themselves, walking home.

"God, it's so cold out today!" Alfred shivered some, teeth chattering. Ivan looked over to him, then transferred all his groceries to one hand, tugging his scarf off and wrapping it around Alfred with the other hand. Alfred blushed, looking down at the scarf ends hanging torpidly off his shoulders. "T-thanks." His voice was quiet, still smiling as they continued down the sidewalk to Ivan's house. Ivan transferred the groceries to one hand, getting his card from his wallet and opening the door on his first try. They walked in, the warmth of the building making Alfred's glasses steam up as they had in the floral shop. They managed to get up the stairs and into Ivan's apartment, closing and locking the door behind him.

Alfred set his groceries down on the kitchen counter, followed by Ivan's groceries. They shed their coats and returned to the door, hanging them on the coat rack. Alfred slowly removed the scarf, looping it back around Ivan's neck. He rubbed his neck, looking at the ground. "Thanks for letting me use that." Ivan smiled and patted Alfred's hair. "Da, of course. It was very chilly out." Ivan rolled up his sleeves, then walked to the kitchen. "Come on, then. We had better get a start on these cookies, Alfred."

Ivan heard a squeal of delight come from behind him and the pattering of sock-clad feet against the hardwood floor behind him. "Yeah! Let's do this!" Alfred mimicked Ivan, rolling his sleeves up. "Oh, wait. We need some music." Alfred returned to the living room, getting his iPod and its dock, plugging them in in the far corner out of their way. He hit shuffle, and suddenly the room was filled with Moves Like Jagger. Alfred loved Maroon 5. Alfred attempted to dance back to Ivan, absolutely failing.

Ivan laughed and pulled the flour out of a pantry above the sink, getting measuring cups from a drawer next to the stove. He preheated the oven to 350, looking to Alfred. "Alright, first thing's first. Preheat your oven so that it's ready to go when the mix is done." Alfred nodded enthusiastically. "Next, make sure you follow directions very closely, alright? " When Alfred gave another nod of understanding, Ivan pulled a bowl out from the same pantry as the flour, setting it on the counter.

"Alright, so when you measure flour, you scoop it into the measuring cup using a spoon. That makes it so that it does not get compacted and you get too much flour." Ivan fiddled with another drawer, pulling a spoon out for Alfred. "Now, open the flour and put two cups into the bowl." Alfred nodded, taking the spoon hesitantly from Ivan. He stabbed the spoon down into the white powder, attempting to pull the spoon up cautiously, but instead flinging flour about the room, polluting the air with floating particles that made both of them sneeze a few times. Ivan looked at an embarrassed Alfred, who was practically coated from waist up with flour. Ivan looked down to see that he had also gotten quite a lot of flour on his clothing, as well.

"Right. Ah, try again, be more careful and do not lift so much at one time, da?" Alfred nodded, becoming determined. He pulled up again, but still had too much. Flour was shot up into the air in Ivan's direction, falling in his hair and all over his shirt. "Ah." Ivan chuckled and took the spoon from Alfred. "Try it like this." Ivan got the spoon filled with flour, then lifted gently, some of the flour avalanching off the side before Ivan moved the spoon to fall over the measuring cup, flour settling at the bottom. "Try it again, Alfred."

Once again, Alfred took the spoon in hand. As he concentrated, his tongue peeked out from the corner of his mouth, becoming coated in flour. Ivan grinned, watching as Alfred finally got the flour filled spoon to rise into the air without disturbing the powder. He cautiously moved it over to the measuring cup and let it fall. As soon as all of it was out of the spoon, Alfred grinned and set the spoon on the counter, putting both fists up in the air is if to declare himself victorious. Ivan chuckled and watched as Alfred did it again and again, then poured the contents of the measuring cup into the mixing bowl.

Ivan patted Alfred on the back, smiling at him. "Great!" Alfred looked at Ivan's face, which was now covered in flour. Alfred grinned and caressed Ivan's cheek, dusting some flour off. "Ah, not really. I really made a mess." They both looked at the ground, seeing their footprints in the white on the ground. Ivan laughed heartily, smiling at Alfred. "It's alright, you managed to get it in the end." They both smiled at the other, Ivan obviously slightly amused and proud, and Alfred just plain ecstatic he was able to pick flour up in a spoon.

"So next, we need to add the milk and olive oil." Ivan went about his kitchen, pulling this from there, setting everything down on the counter next to the flour filled bowl. "So, take this liquid measuring cup," Ivan took it from the cupboard above their heads. "And fill it until it's half a cup full, alright?" Alfred nodded, taking the milk from Ivan. He could definitely do this part, for sure. It was just like pouring milk in cereal, right? He screwed the lid off of the milk, setting it down and pouring the milk into the cup until it hit the mark Ivan had told him to hit. He set the milk down and looked over to Ivan, who nodded some and smiled in approval. "Now, measure the olive oil. We need a third of a cup." Alfred took the tiny white cap off the olive oil, pouring it in and accidentally getting a little over a third of a cup. "That's alright, it doesn't really have to be exact. This will just make the cookies a tiny bit softer." They went through the list of things, mixing them together as they followed the recipe on Alfred's phone. Finally, they had the mixture ready. Ivan took another spoon from the drawer, handing it to Alfred. "Now, the trick to this is to make sure you don't make the balls too big. They'll collide together if you do that, so be really cautious, okay?" Alfred nodded yet again, taking the spoon from Ivan. He smiled sweetly at him, then looked down at the cookie dough.

He stuck the spoon in the dough and tugged up roughly, pulling out a decent sized chunk, which had stalactites on the bottom. Alfred looked at it, then at Ivan. "Is that too big?" When Ivan nodded slightly, he sighed, hitting the spoon against the side of the bowl to make it fall off so that he could start over. He took the spoon and sipped it down into the dough again, pulling up to have a well-rounded teaspoon. "That is perfect, Alfred." Ivan nodded to him, getting out a cookie sheet he'd had laying around since he'd moved in. He got the Pam out from the pantry, lightly spraying the pam onto the pan. He then set it down in front of Alfred. "Alright, so just drop the dough onto here. You can scoop it off with your finger, if you need too." Alfred flicked his wrist slightly, getting the dough to come off with ease.

They continued this process until half the dough was gone and the sheet was full of unbaked cookies. "Now, we need to put them in the oven, then set a timer." Alfred knew how to do that. He opened the oven door, sliding the sheet in, then closed the door, hitting a few buttons on the oven to get it to start a timer. Ivan smiled, somewhat surprised Alfred knew how to do that. "Done!" Alfred smiled at Ivan, then shivered. "It is a little cold in here, da? How about some hot chocolate?" Alfred smiled and nodded. Ivan nodded and smiled, moving to his pantry to get the hot chocolate mix. He put a pot of water on the stove, turning the burner on to boil the water.

Once the water was boiling, Ivan pulled the pot off the boiler and poured water in two mugs. He mixed in the brown powder. Handing one of the mugs to Alfred, Ivan went to the fridge, grabbing the whipped cream from the bottom shelf, bringing it back to Alfred. He put some in his cup, the cream sitting on top of the deliciously warm drink. Alfred held out his cup, watching at Ivan put the whipped cream on top of his drink. He grinned then went to take a sip, the whip cream getting all over his nose. Alfred appeared not to notice, but Ivan saw and grinned. He tapped his first finger against Alfred's nose, taking the cream and sucking it gently off his finger.

Alfred blushed, smiling very slightly as he watched Ivan lick the whipped cream off his finger. He sipped more of his drink, getting more on his nose on purpose to see what Ivan did. Ivan raised his eyebrows and took a sip of his drink, as well. He felt the cream stick to his nose as he pulled back from the cup, licking his lips. Alfred took his turn to laugh softly, taking a step towards Ivan, who shot him a look as if to say, "What are you looking at?" Though, it was a playful glance. Alfred reached out to Ivan at the same time Ivan reached to him, running his thumb over Ivan's nose and licking it as Ivan did.

By that point, both of them were blushing, grinning at each other before taking another sip. "You know, with how much you get on your nose you might as well just put some on there straight from the can." Alfred laughed and took the can from the counter. "Like this?" He quickly squirted some on Ivan nose, who blushed more and laughed, taking the can from him and getting some on Alfred. The two went back and forth, getting each other with the cream and wiping it off themselves, flicking it on the other person with a laugh. Ivan ran to hide behind the pantry, only to be followed by Alfred, who sprayed the back of his neck with the cold whipped cream. Ivan shivered, slowly putting his hands up as if to surrender. They were almost out of whipped cream, anyways. Alfred took a small step forward, placing a hand on Ivan's shoulder before going up on his toes, gently licking the back of Ivan's neck to remove the whipped cream.

Ivan gasped, blushing a pretty shade of pink. One of his surrendering hands was placed on the door of the pantry to stabilize himself. Alfred grinned a bit, stepping back and setting the can on the counter. "Truce?" Ivan blinked and turned to look at Alfred. "Ah, d-da. Truce." He smiled at Alfred, still blushing before going to get them towels.

Once the cookies had come out of the oven and cooled, Alfred decided to try one. He picked it up, frowning a bit as most of the cookie broke off from the piece he was holding. Nonetheless, Alfred took the bite of cookie into his mouth and chewed, getting crumbs on the corner of his mouth. He had to admit, for his first try, this tasted fucking delicious. "Ivan, you gotta try this! It's awesome!" Alfred turned to Ivan and smiled. Ivan nodded, then picked up part of the cookie that had fallen from Alfred's fingers, popping it in his mouth, brushing a thumb casually against the corner of Alfred's mouth to remove the crumbs that were there.

"Not too bad, Alfred. Good job." Alfred smiled from ear to ear, eyes shining. "Really? You think so?" Ivan nodded, ruffling Alfred's hair as he swallowed, flour falling out of his hair. "Vsevyshniy, we are a serious mess. We should go clean up. You can shower first, if you like." Alfred nodded and ran to the living room to grab some clothes before heading to the bathroom, starting the shower.

Ivan stood in the kitchen, looking around before rubbing the back of his neck where Alfred had licked. He shivered, eyes closing for a second. He stayed like that a moment before deciding he should clean the kitchen while Alfred was showering. Listening to the music on Alfred's iPod still, he got the Swiffer mop out of the cupboard in the laundry room, bringing it out to clean the floor. Once he'd done that, he took a Lysol wipe and cleaned the counters. When that was finished as well, he cleared some of the dirty dishes they'd neglected to put in the sink for the remaining cooking time.

He washed the bowls, measuring cups, and spoons, putting them away. Alfred was still in the shower. Looking at the clock and noticing it'd been twenty minutes, he frowned and pulled out some Tupperware from a pantry, hips moving from side to side with the music. He set the box on the counter, scooping the cookies up and placing them into the Tupperware. He then proceeded to put the rest of the cookie dough on the newly cleaned and Pam'd sheet, sticking them in the oven and setting the timer once more. It'd been half an hour by now, and Alfred still wasn't out. Ivan decided he'd go and check on Alfred.

He walked to the bathroom, raising a hand to knock on the door when he heard Alfred singing. Ivan pulled his hand back, pressing his ear to the door to listen. "Chocolate Rain! Some stay dry and other feel the pain! Chocolate rain! A baby born will die before the sin! Chocolate Rain… Uh…" Ivan smiled as Alfred forgot the rest of the words, switching to a new song. "America, fuck yeah! Coming again to save the mother fucking day now! America, fuck yeah! Freedom is the only way now! America, fuck yeah!" Alfred paused, obviously forgetting the words once more. He started yet another song. "I'm bringing sexy back, YEAH! Them other boys don't know how to act, YEAH! I think it's special, what's behind your back. So turn around and I'll make up the slack, YEAH! Take it to the bridge!" Ivan couldn't help but giggle as Alfred practically yelled the next part of the song. "Girly babe! You see these shackles baby I'm your slave!" Alfred suddenly opened the door in mid song to find Ivan standing there, laughing. He paused and blushed, then grinned seductively. "I'll let you whip me if I misbehave! It's just that no one makes me feel this way!" Alfred caressed Ivan's cheek, winking at him. Ivan blushed and laughed.

"Did you already put the second batch of cookies in?" Ivan nodded at Alfred's question, getting a nod in return from the inquirer. "Cool beans. You can shower, then, and I'll watch the cookies." Ivan nodded and headed to his room, grabbing some clothes and heading back to the very steamy bathroom, still grinning from Alfred's singing. He started the water, getting undressed after he pulled the tab up to start the water. He liked having the bathtub/shower combo, it came in handy for when he needed to rewind. Now, though, he let the water run over him as he grabbed the shampoo, slicking it over his hands and washing his hair.

Alfred danced about in the kitchen to his music, not singing this time. He grinned, seeing the timer still had eleven minutes left on it. He began to wonder how Ivan had gotten so good at dancing. Actually, he wanted to ask him. Right now. He walked to the bathroom, knocking on the door. "Ivan, can I come in? I want to ask you something." Ivan sent him a muffled "sure," and Alfred opened the door cautiously. He looked at the mirror was so steamy that he couldn't see anything in it. He turned to look at the shower curtain, seeing Ivan's silhouette. His eyes traveled about it, blushing and looking away as Ivan turned a bit, his silhouette showing that he was pretty well endowed.

"What is it, Alfred?" He ran the conditioner through his hair. Alfred turned and looked away. "I-I was going to ask h-how you got so good at dancing." His blush was still tinting his cheeks. "Let's save the story for another time, alright?" Alfred nodded before realizing Ivan couldn't see that. "Sure." There was a moment of silence in which Alfred was content to stare at the floor. "Alfred?" "Yes?" "The cookies are still in the oven." Alfred blinked. "Oh yeah. I'll go check on those." Alfred left the bathroom as Ivan turned the water off, hearing the timer go off. Alfred grabbed the oven mitts, pulling the sheet out and setting it on the stove. He put the mitts away, iPod still playing softly in the corner.

-ooo-

"Goodnight, Alfred." Ivan smiled sweetly at Alfred, waving. "Yeah, night. Sleep well." Alfred smiled back at him before looking up at the ceiling. He sighed softly, feeling the tiredness run through his body as he closed his eyes. He laid there a while, unable to find sleep. He rolled over to check his phone, seeing nothing there. He sighed and laid on his back again. He waited more for time to pass, for sleep to find him, yet it didn't. Alfred picked up his phone, getting on YouTube to watch his favorite gamer play some horror game. Man, he loved those things. He grabbed earphones from his bag and popped them in, staring at the screen as the gamer did his intro. Alfred, settled in, watching for a bit before accidentally falling asleep, phone falling onto his stomach as he slept, body relaxing. He snuggled into the blankets, earphones staying in his ears.

"DEAR GOD, NO! PLEASE NO!" Alfred jolted upright, breath catching in his throat as the scream jump started his heart, pounding roughly in his chest. He looked around, the room too dark to see anything. Alfred looked down to see his iPod still on, the gamer crying out as he was killed by the monster. Alfred took a few deep breaths, shutting off the electronic and laying down again.

Alfred fell into a restless sleep, rolling about on the couch. He was soon awake again, the nightmare forcing him out of his sleep brutally. Alfred had never had a scarier dream in his life, though he couldn't remember exactly what it was. While he racked his brain for what had scared him so badly, he shuddered, body shaking in fear. He lay there, grasping the blankets tightly in his fist. Then, suddenly from down the hall he heard footsteps, the floor boards creaking in protest. Alfred's eyes welled up with tears, scared shitless. A dark figure appeared from the hallway, movements slow and groggy.

"Please, don't hurt me!" Alfred his under his blanket as the figure jumped back, obviously startled by the sudden outburst. "A-Alfred? What's wrong?" Alfred poked his head out from the blanket, looking at a worried Ivan. "Just a n-nightmare." He felt like a total sissy saying it, but it was true, and he knew Ivan wouldn't laugh. "You can sleep with me tonight, if it'll make you feel better." Alfred made a small sound that was similar to "yes please." Ivan just nodded and walked to the kitchen. It sounded as though he was getting a glass of water, then returned to the living room. Ivan reached out to take Alfred's hand, taking him from the couch and leading him to his bedroom. He drank some of the water, then got back into bed, Alfred taking the other side and curling up next to Ivan, still shaking a bit. Ivan stroked the blond's hair until he was asleep, Ivan smiling and finding his own dreams once more.

Translations:

Da—Yes

Nyet—No

Vsevyshniy—God

Note: As I was writing this chapter, I tended to miss the "r" in pantry, causing it to become panty. If, by chance, I missed one of those terrible mistakes, please tell me. I'll die and thank you immensely.