Chapter 4: Surprise
Tino heard a knock at his door. After he stood and grabbed his cane, he walked to the door and slowly opened it.
"Hello?" The small Fin called out. No answer came. He took a small step forward and extended his arms. His foot ran into something on the floor. Stooping he grabbed the object and ran his hands up and down it's long, thin body. It felt slightly rough and soon his hand came to a widening part. He lightly ran his hand over something soft. It felt like petals of some kind of flower. It was a big flower. His other hand resumed sliding down the other end.
It came across a peice of paper. Cursious, Tino pulled of the small card and opened it. He wasn't expecting to read any markings, but he also wasn't expecting the note to be in brail. His fingers ran over the raised dots and read the message.
'Come back to me, my sunflower.
Love,
Ivan'
Tino dropped the note in horror. Quickly, he stepped back into his apartment and closed the door. Sinking to the floor, he wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face.
"How did he find me?"
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Berwald waited anxiously for the day to be over, but as fate would have it, it dragged on longer than he would have ever thought possible. Sitting in a chair, he tried to pass the time by reading or watching TV. All that was on TV was a couple of spanish soap operas and infomercials displaying cleaning supplies and snuggies. The Swede sighed and stood from the chair. He decided to grab something small to eat to satisfy his craving. What he craved, however, wasn't food, but the attention of the Fin on the third floor.
After getting the food he headed back to his chair when someone knocked at the door. Berwald set down the meal and walked towards the door, a little confused. Since when had anyone willingly come to him to talk? Maybe they had the wrong room. That was it! They had the wrong room, and Berwald would just have to tell them where to go.
When he opened the door, however, it wasn't a lost person who had the wrong apartment number, it was Tino. Berwald stared at him in shock.
"T'no? Wh't 're y' doin' here?"
Tino was trembling all over and had obviously been crying for a while. "M-May I s-stay here for t-tonight?"
Berwald simply stood there, unable to figure out why the Fin would want to spend the night with him. Shaking himself free from the thoughts, he asked, "Why?"
"I-Ivan found out where I l-live. He gave m-me a sunflower and a card s-saying that h-he wanted me back..." Tino trailed off and began to cry again.
"D'n't cry. Y' c'n stay if y' w'nt."
Tino felt extremely tried all of a sudden, and fell foward. Berwald was quick and caught the small man by his arms and helped him inside. He laid his guest on the couch and grabbed some blankets to give him. When he was about to leave the room, Tino realized this and panicked.
"Wait, Berwald. Please don't leave me."
Berwald's heart sunk at the sound of his friend's desperate plea, so he sat next to him and pulled him close. "Y' 'kay?"
Tino's arms slid around the Swede's waist and pulled him closer. A smile grace his lips. "I'm better."
Berwald blushed and looked away from the Fin. He couldn't keep his gaze away for long, though. Looking back he realized how cute Tino was. One side of the tall Swede's mouth curved up ever so slightly. He didn't deserve this attention, this love, from one so nice. Tino was soon asleep in Berwalds arms who also found himself drifting off. That is, until it hit him. Sunflower?
The Swede jolted awake, and remembered the tall Russian who walked down the hall holding a sunflower. He slapped his forehead. How could he have not noticed this before? How could he not've know. Looking back at Tino, he swore to himself to always protect the small man. And with that, he fell asleep with the Fin next to him.
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Tino woke up to the smell of something cooking. Something that smelled delicious. Sitting up, he reached out for his walker, but found that it was missing. He stood and extended his arms, waving them around to avoid running in to anything. That was easier said than done. He kept bumping into various items, such as the table and a couple of shelves. He realized that he wasn't in his apartment. At that, he began to panic.
"H-Hello?" Tino called out nervously.
Berwald came out of the kitchen. "G'mornin', T'no."
Tino's eyes widened and then he remembered that he came over to Berwald's last night. He chuckled. "Good morning, Berwald."
"I m'de s'me breakf'st... If y' w'nt s'me."
"Yes, I'll take something to eat."
Berwald placed a Swedish dish in front of the small man, and Tino dug in.
"This is delicious, Berwald!" Tino said in between bites.
The Swede blushed at the compliment and sat down with his own meal. "Th'nks."
Tino smiled and turned back to his meal. Berwald decided that this was the best day in his entire life.
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So, just to let you know, you guys haven't seen the last of Ivan... That was your warning, but don't worry. Everything turns out happy in the end. I promise. Anyway, don't forget to review~!