Here's Chapter 7! I'm sorry I didn't get this out earlier, my family ended up taking a trip to Chicago for Thanksgiving, and I never had any time to work on it. Not much is really happening in this chapter, but I promise we'll get to the good stuff eventually! I put out a poll on deviantART, and my watchers picked that they wanted some of the romance to start in this chapter. Well, you'll just have to see what I've done with it. ;) Enjoy and R&R! :D

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Axis Powers: Hetalia, or the characters.


That morning, I had been woken up to the scent of sweet apples burning and the sound of something boiling in a pot over the fire. There was no arm slung around me; no Mathias in sight, and I could only make out where he was by the faint whisper of the direction his voice was coming from. Emil was already awake as well, and as I pressed my palm to my cheek it seemed as though the heat of my face and finally flared down.

My eyes fluttered open, and as I looked around groggily I noticed my brother sitting next to the runaway, giggling happily as Mathias playfully poked his belly. I rubbed my eyes, yawning, with a puff of blonde hair falling over my eyes as I managed to get to my feet.

"I swear I'll beat you unconscious if you lay a finger on my brother." I told him, glaring as blue eyes went cold.

Mathias only laughed. "Calm down, Norge, we were just playing a game! Besides, I wouldn't hurt the little guy even if I had to!"

Emil turned to me, his smile returning, and he wobbled his way over to me and hugged my legs. "Good morning, Lukey!" He chirped, and I smiled as I leaned down to hug him back.

"Good morning to you too, Emil. Did you sleep well?" I asked, kissing him on the forehead and ruffling his hair.

He nodded. "Yes I did!" With that, he retreated back over to our host, jumping into a pile of pillows as he giggled madly, and curled up in them with Mr. Puffin right by his side.

I couldn't help but chuckle at that; for a child in such a situation to be so optimistic and innocent. It made me feel…happy…

Yet that happiness had suddenly faded in disgust as I looked into the pot to see was Mathias was boiling. The smell had become horrid, and I cringed my nose as I took a whiff of it. Were those…apples…boiling in butter?

"Mathias…what exactly are you making?" I asked him, taking another good look at the odd meal he was cooking.

The Dane turned to me, before smirking and smearing a slab of butter onto a slice of bread. "That? It's a little creation of fried apples and butter…on a sandwich! I call it, the 'Mathias Manwich of Awesome'! Try it, it's really good!"

I gagged as he held it in front of my face, butter overflowing from the sandwich as it dripped to the ground, and I pushed the nasty thing out of my face. "I'd…rather not…" was the most subtle way I could put it, and I turned away as he tried to persuade me.

"Come on Norge, it tastes amazing! It's either that or you go hungry for the rest of the day; cooking something else would mean I'd have to go get some more butter from the market to boil. So what do you say?" He said, wiggling the sandwich in front of me as I pushed it away once more.

As I turned to him to deny his persuasion, I noticed that same goofy, wanting smile plastered to his face, with his blue eyes shining and every feature on his face glowing it seemed. I glared, attempting to get away from his pleads, but as I stared even harder at him, I found myself growing soft and giving in.

"I hate you…" I muttered, snatching the sandwich from him, and took a good hard look at it. It looked repulsing; like he had just thrown it together that morning. This, most likely, was probably the case considering the only other food we had were a couple of bananas and half a muffin from the night before. Swallowing hard, I took a small bite, chewing slowly as it slid down my throat and the thought of poison had suddenly rushed to my mind.

A mixture of creaminess and sweetness had taken over my senses, and just before I could spit the rest out, I swallowed. Surprisingly, though, as weird as the combination was, it actually wasn't too disgusting… "It's…not that bad…" I mumbled, taking another bite to tame my hungry belly.

He beamed with satisfaction and delight at my words. "See, I told it's amazing! Why else would it have 'awesome' in its name? Now, when you're finished, Emil and I decided that we should go down to the creek; just to get out and stuff. The temperature is supposed to be ten degrees Celcius today; that's the warmest it's ever been! Come on, we really need to get out and stuff. It'll be fun." Mathias offered, still smiling as I finished chewing my breakfast.

I shook my head vigorously before speaking. "No, Mathias! Emil could get even more sick than already he is; it's not healthy for him! We should just stay in here where it's warm and do something else…" I crossed my arms and averted my eyes from him, yet the look on Emil's face looked completely heartbroken. It wasn't like I was trying to do it on purpose; I was just doing it for his safety.

The Dane stayed silent, before sighing and speaking up. "Lukas, you've gotta stop being so protective with him. You said it was from the smoke, not the temperature. We'll be fine; I promise. Hell, I've been out here for two years and I've rarely ever gotten sick! If we're cooped up in here I'll day we'll all just stir crazy; it's best we get out. It'll be better for him." He walked closer to me, putting a persuading hand on my shoulder, and his sudden cold touch caused me to want to push him away again.

Yet I didn't; I only stood there in silence as chills ran down my spine, and I didn't even dare to look at him as I knew his features would only tempt me even more. Nonetheless, though, I sighed and gave in.

"Alright…I'll do it…But I don't want to stay out there for too long; not only for Emil's sake my but for my own. Now…let's just go and get this over with."

The Dane smiled. "Man, you're so easy! It's my flawlessly gorgeous eyes, now isn't it? Oh, aren't you a sucker for some good ol' shiny blue ones! You've got a pretty good pair if I say so myself~." He said, his beaming smile placing a façade over his blushing mug.

For what seemed like the more times than it should have been, I elbowed him in the stomach, watching as he fell to the ground and I glared at him. "Will you quit flirting with me, already? It got old eight hours ago!" I yelled, my cheeks stained red as I watched him chuckle and cough at my dismay.

"Who said it's flirting? It's also something called being "nice". You're so cold and hostile towards me; why is that?" He asked, getting to his feet.

I only continued to glare, then averted my eyes to the floor and exited the cave, Emil following right behind me. I pause before answering his question, and at that I heard the faint sigh the escaped from his mouth. "…Because I don't like you. Now let's just get out instead of wasting our time…"

And with that, we were gone.


As the morning passed, Mathias and I had spent it watching Emil and he jumped and played in the snow. I smiled at him, wishing I could be that age again where there were no worries or troubles to think about. Where everything was normal; and conflict was something I'd be completely oblivious to. When my parents would still be alive…

I tried not to think about that day too much to prevent showing any emotion in front of Mathias. To him, I was some cold, reluctant Norwegian teenager with no home and only a brother for support that and suddenly been brought into his life. Only about half of it was true, but I wanted to keep it that way. If he realized just how much I desperately wanted things to be normal again, I'd never be left alone about it…

I had to wonder, though, how he had still managed to be so optimistic even with me around. He seemed just as happy even without me, yet I didn't understand how it was even possible in these conditions. His constant flirting…or kindness as he called it, the smile that never left his face, and those damned eyes that always brought me back to faltering…It was all connected to this happy aura that surrounded him. And for some reason, I hated it…

As I continued to keep a good eye out for my brother, and he waved and smiled at me, I found myself falling into a daydream. I placed my hand on my chin, then placed my elbow on my knee, and gently closed my eyes. I dreamed of my brother, and of my family. But most of all, I dreamed of Kya.

Oh Kya…how I missed her so much. It was hard to believe with how "cold and hostile" I was to have such feeling for her, but nonetheless, it hurt thinking about it; about how I'd possibly never see her again. I almost hated myself for choosing to leave, but mine and Emil's sake was much more important than any girl that came into my life would ever be.

Continuing to dream, I found myself sighing even more and more, and Mathias smirking even harder as he sat by my side.

"Got a girl on your mind, Lukas?" He asked, smirking deviously as his comment, and my eyes snapped open as I turned to him.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, a faint shade of pink dusting across my cheeks.

The runaway only chuckled. "Oh come on, Norge, you don't need to hide it. It's blindingly obvious you're in love! Pfft, and isn't it ironic that you were the one who said you'd never fall in love?" He paused. "What does she look like; is she nice?"

I paused for a moment as well, before sighing and shifting my eyes to the floor. "Well…she's kind, and sweet, and pretty…" I smiled as the girl crossed my mind again, pink turning to scarlet before I remembered Mathias was still there. "Wait, why do you care anyway?" I smacked him as he burst into a fit of laughter, and I just couldn't figure out why.

He continued to laugh, and my face only grew bright, and I kicked him on the side in an attempt to get him to shut up.

Mathias wiped his eyes, holding onto his stomach as he laughed even harder, and he eventually sat up right again. "Man Norge, you're so in love it's funny! What's her name; I might know her, ha ha ha!" He continued to laugh, and I shot a dark glare at his obliviousness.

"That's none of your business. Besides, you're from Denmark, and you've been living in isolation for two years straight! I doubt you know any girl besides Elizabeta…"

The Dane shrugged. "That may be true, but it's not like I really care or anything. I don't want a girlfriend right now; I'm perfectly fine one my own. Well…at least it got better when you showed up!" He told me, nudging me lightly on the side as he laughed, and I kicked him even harder as I got to my feet.

"See, that's exactly what I mean, you're flirting with me! Cut it out; it's not funny!" I yelled, the bridge of my nose turning pink. Yet with the effect of the temperature already playing its part on making my cheeks go rosy, there wasn't much to worry about.

"What? It's a lot of fun messing with you! You get pissed even if I tell you you're hair looks good…which it does," I cringed at that comment, yet he still continued. "My point is, you just gotta go with the flow and accept it as a compliment. See let's try it: Lukas, I think you look nice today." He seemed to add and emphasis at 'nice', and I clenched my teeth as horrid possibilities began to ran through my head. There couldn't…no, there was no possible way that could even be true!

My eyes closed shut, and my teeth lay bared to prevent from anything slipping out. "Not gonna say it…"

"Come on, Norge, just say it! Just thank me!"

"I'm not going to say it, Mathias…"

"Say it, Lukas~."

"I'm not going to say it, Mathias."

With that, he got to his feet as well, walking towards me until I suddenly felt my chin being tipped up and my eyes snapped open.

"Norge~, thank me~. Or must I have to persuade you otherwise~?" He sang, a devious smirk creeping across his faces as I backed away from him. "Do it…"

"THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, JUST DON'T. TOUCH. ME." I yelled, finding myself nearly screaming in horror as if the runaway were about to murder me, and as I stumbled back he fell to the ground in fits of laughter. Embarrassed blush spread across my cheeks at my dismay, and I furrowed my brow as a scowl began to form. "Stop laughing at me; it's not funny, dumbass!"

"It's plenty funny, Norge; All I've got to do to make do something is act like I'm going to kiss you or something! You're so easy!"

Continuing to glare, I kicked a patch of snow in his face, not even remembering to worry about Emil anymore. This was between Mathias and me only. "I'm not you're little toy, Mathias; stop tricking me!" He only continued to laugh harder. "What's so funny?"

"It's you, Lukas!"

I went quiet at that moment, my face still stained red, and my expression grew curious. "W-What?"

The Dane got to his feet, sighing and continuing to chuckle, and he ruffled my hair playfully as I kicked him away. "Your reaction; you always have reactions to things. It's sort of strange, though, thinking about how dull and apathetic you tend to be. You're original, Norge, and that's what I like about you." He explained, and he smiled as my mind went blank and words began to fumble.

I couldn't find anything to respond to that. My mouth just lay agape, stubborn blush coated over my chilled face, and I sat in silence as the air went dull. My ears had felt as if they were about to burst into flames and the only thing I could respond with was a mere stutter. His words…they shocked me for some reason.

"I-…you idiot!" I yelled, getting to my feet and pushing him back as I faltered, shifting my eyes to the ground to avoid anymore embarrassment.

Yet that didn't cut it, as Mathias seemed to get and even bigger kick out of that, and he began to laugh again. "See, that's exactly what I mean! Try to be a little more carefree and you'll find yourself not caring about what other people say." He paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head before averting his eyes as well. "You wanna go shoot a couple arrows? We could probably get a hit if there aren't too many animals hibernating already."

I turned to him, still in disbelief, with the blush never fading to my annoyance. I cocked and eyebrow, crossing my arms as I turned to look at Emil. He seemed content messing around in the snow, bundled up from what I had given him to use for warmth.

"We still have Emil to worry about, you know."I told him, reminding the Dane that we still had my little brother to look after as well. It wasn't as if I were just going to get up and leave him, that wasn't how it worked with us! I wanted him to be with me this entire time to prevent from anything bad from happening if he were to ever get out of my sight. He was only four, yet that thought had almost turned hypocritical as for several minutes I had only worried about Mathias's comments…

Mathias brushed it off, picking up the bows and arrows he taken with him, and started in the opposite direction. "Well, we can bring him with us! C'mon, it'll be fun!" With that, he was gone.

I sighed, apparently having to give in without even having my say, and I called Emil to follow me. "Emil, we're walking down this way, come on." I said, and he stopped and smiled before stumbling to catch up with me.

Mathias was right when he said the temperature has most certainly warmed up, as my breath had only come out in little puffs, and the air brushing against my face was nice and cool. A blue hue lay open in the sky, and snow has stopped falling that morning as it was completely clear. The light beamed off of the snow on the trees, glistening with a sparkling touch in them, and I observed our setting as the Dane led us away from the river and deeper into the forest. Emil trailed right behind me, grabbing hold of my hand as he skipped with Mr. Puffin held in his open one.

I wasn't completely aware of where Mathias was taking us, but with him being out there for two years and actually managing, there had to at least be a small archery course he had made. Yet as we made our way through, apparently that thought had been oddly correct.

The ring of trees and snow I had seen before when Emil and I first met him has a small target painted onto a tree, yet I had never seen it before. We had to have just missed it as we came in, as it looked fairly old with the paint of the third ring slowly chipping off.

Looking around a little more, Mathias turned to me, slinging the bow around his shoulder as he smiled. "Alright, this is the place. We're pretty close to the cave, so I think it'll be ok if Emil-."

"Emil is staying here with me." I told him, cutting him off as I grew more irritated with his lack of protection for my brother.

He continued. "Well, it'll probably be more safe if he went back to the cave and wasn't around all these sharp arrows, but I guess you're idea is probably better!"

I sighed, rolling me eyes at him as I knew exactly what the teen was planning. I leaned down to Emil's level, giving him a rare, gentle smile as I spoke. "Emil, go back to the cave, alright? We'll be there in a little while, but if anything or anybody comes in there, just yell for us, ok? And do not pick up Mathias axe under any circumstances, alright?"

He nodded nervously, making his way back to the cave, which lay in slightly in sight from the angle I was standing at. I turned to Mathias, glaring, and took a step forward towards him. "You did this for a reason, didn't you?"

The Dane beamed, nodding slowly as he set his bow to the ground. "Of course I did; I didn't want Emil to get hurt!"

It wasn't hard to see right through that lie, and I pushed him back a little bit and continued to scowl. "No, you did this to get him out of our sight; you wanted to be alone with me!" I yelled, my cheeks turning red as I realized the significance of the comment. "Oh God…"

"What is it now; when will you stop being so paranoid about everything, Norge?"

"I'm not being paranoid! I just…I've known you for a day…a-and you're acting as if…" I stopped, my face glowing even more red as moments passed by, and the thought had processed through my mind.

Mathias raised an eyebrow at my sudden silence. "As if what?"

I continued to stay silent, the burning blush on my face spreading all the way to the bridge of my nose. How could I just nonchalantly say that to him? Yet without even thinking, and as my entire face had burst into flames, I blurted out the rest of the words I'd held back. "A-As if you're in love with me!"

The Dane went completely still at that, a hazy fog of silence surrounding us, and I watched as a fair amount of bright crimson had made its way to his cheeks. "…Oh…"

I sighed, turning to him was the blush never fading, and I caught what looked like a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

It can't be true…could it?

"Look Mathias, I'm perfectly fine with doing a little archery, as long as it doesn't consist of you having your hands all over me."

Mathias continued to stay quiet, almost saddened it seemed, and he shifted his eyes to the snow on the ground as he reached for his bow. He mumbled something quietly under his breath, something I couldn't quite make-out, yet my eyebrow remained cocked as I crossed my arms.

After several more moments of silence, he sighed, nodding. "We should probably get started before it starts getting too cold out here. Blizzards are known to come out of nowhere in the middle of the day. You, uh, wanna shoot first?" He asked me, scratching the back of his head with his eyes still averted. The runaway's lips curled into a soft smile, and I nodded lightly as he handed me the bow. "You know how to do this, right?"

I observed the object, turning it gently in my hands, and shook my head. "No, but I've seen my grandfather use one before he died. That was several years ago, though."

His smile only grew wider. "Great; that means I get to show you!" Without missing a beat, and before I could even process that comment through my mind, I found Mathias standing directly behind me. He took my hands in his own, the chilled touch sending a sharp chill running down my spine, and a faint shade of red had made its way onto the tip of my nose and cheeks.

"Alright, first, you gotta put your hand just below the rest. You're right-handed, right?" I nodded. "Good! Ok, so hold the bow with your left hand there to hold it steady." The Dane used my hands to place them in the correct place, and I felt my face heating up even more as he grew closer. "Alright, now, nock the arrow and put it on its rest. You know, where the little plastic thing is that holds it steady? …Good! Now, attach the back of the arrow to the string, and pull it back."

I did as I was told, pulling back the string as I turned to him. "This right?"

He observed me for a moment, squinting his eyes and he shook his head. "Nope, you've gotta put it in between in your index and middle finger. Here, let me show you!" With that, he took my fingers and placed them between the arrow, then rested his head on the nook of my shoulder and I felt my body shaking.

"What are you doing?" I asked the Dane, feeling the steady beat of my heart rapidly speed up, and I could feel the throbbing of it block out most of my hearing and control.

Mathias turned to me, smiling as he looked up, and the glimmer in his eyes was all too strong for me to handle.

"I'm getting a better view so I can see where you'll be shooting; I'll move back in a minute."

I nodded, pulling back the string again as I licked my lips, squinting my eyes to catch aim of wear I was shooting on the target. I felt Mathias take a step back, and with that I released, squeezing my eyes shut and bracing for impact. Then, when all fell silent, I watched as the arrow flew into the first ring, and the Dane's jaw fell to the floor. "Norge…you got a bullseye!" He cried, his expression of shock soon turning to joy, and he patted my back as praise. "Well done; even I couldn't have gotten one on my first try! Heh, you must be a natural and didn't even know it!"

I could only nod at that, murmuring a small "thanks", and I readied another arrow for shooting.

"Do it again; this time I want to see how well you do with distractions!" He beamed, a huge grin plastered to his face.

I cocked an eyebrow. "So that's why you wanted Emil gone..." I said sarcastically, the comment apparently not transferring through Mathias's mind correctly as he continued to go on.

"You're gonna need distractions if you want to get really good, Norge! Nothing is ever going to be in complete tranquility, you know."

Sighing, I raised my bow up, concentrating on the target in front of me as I braced for the impact of Mathias's "distraction". Just as I released, though, that's when he decided to grab hold of my shoulders.

"LUUUUKKKKAAAASSS~, ARE YOU DISTRACTED YET~?" He yelled, cackling wildly as I jumped from the sudden scare, and my arrow ended up flying straight into the heart of a snowy pine tree.

I turned to the Dane, glaring, smacking his shoulder as he continued to laugh. Did this guy ever stop laughing? "Damn it, Mathias; go get the arrow!"

"I ain't getting it, you shoot it, you get it!"

"Yes, but they're your arrows, not mine. And I'm not your babysitter; it's not my problem you made me lose my balance! Jeez, to think I'm a year younger than you and you act like you're the younger one…"

He smirked. "But you were the one who shot it, so technically it is your problem now." His smile only grew wider and even more devious at that comment, and that's when I knew he'd already come up with some kind of twisted plan to do something obscene… "Norge, go get the arrow."

"No."

"Do it."

I crossed my arms once more. "No."

That smile grew wider. "Ok, I'll make a deal with you. You get the arrow, and I'll give you a reward~."

"You're acting like a child, Mathias!"

"Come on~, Norge~. I really want to give you this surprise! Trust me, you'll love it!" He whined, pleading me with those big blue eyes, and I continued to scowl at his childishness.

"Bribery doesn't work on me. Besides, there are plenty more arrows to go around, we won't run out for a while." I paused, and then started towards the cave. "We should go back now; it's cold and I'm worried about Emil. We can always come back and get it later."

The air lay still, and the only sound that came from under me was the crunching snow as I trudged my way through it. Mathias stayed where he was, silent, and although I couldn't see him I could still imagine that smile burned into the back of my mind.

Thus, he then spoke up. "Hey, Lukas, can I still give you that surprise?" He asked, and I turned back around to see exactly what I had expected.

"It depends on what it is."

"Just…come here; I have it with me!"

I sighed, nonetheless giving in, and I made my way back towards him "I swear if you-"

"Close your eyes, Norge." He ordered, cutting me off.

My expression turned bewildered. "Why?"

"Just do it. And hold out your hands, too."

Confused, I did as he said, nervously shutting my eyes as my thoughts began to spin, anxiously awaiting the supposed gift he had planned to give me. Yet as I counted the subtle breaths that had escaped from his mouth, all went silent. And instead of finding an object in my open hands, I felt a pair of moist lips meet my left cheek.

And he kissed me.

My eyes snapped open, vicious, hot crimson spreading rapidly from the bridge of my nose all the way to my ears, and all I could even manage to do was punch him dead in the mouth with embarrassment.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Did we not already discuss that I've only known you for a day? What were you thinking, idiot?" I yelled, watching as blood poured out from his nose and colored the white snow a deep shade of red.

Yet instead of getting angry or turning shocked, the Dane began to laugh again, and at his howls I only grew even angrier. "Answer me!"

"Man, that was totally worth the bloody nose! Your reaction was priceless! Ha ha, I've never seen somebody get so angry over one stupid kiss!" He said, howling with laughter as he began to get to his feet, yet only plopped back into the snow laughing harder.

A scowl grew onto my face, and the blush never seemed to fade down. "It wouldn't be so bad if we weren't both guys!"

"That's that best part; it makes it all the more awkward! And I'm the master at making things completely awkward for people!" Calming down, he got to his feet, picking up the rest of the bows as he made his way past me, and began walking in the opposite direction of the cave. "I'm going to go buy-."

"Steal." I corrected.

Mathias rolled his eyes, smiling at me. "I'm going to go get a couple more things from the market. Make yourself at home!"

And with that, he has disappeared across the horizon.

I continued to glare as I watched his silhouette fade, and I pressed my fingers against my heated cheek. The kiss still lingered, and I felt myself growing even more disgusted at the thought of his daring move.

Damn you, Mathias; idiot Dane thinking he'll make me give in. Well I'll never give in…my heart belongs to Kya…

I never spoke of it to Emil as I entered the cave.


LONG CHAPTER IS EXTREMELY LONG. But, then again, all of these chapters will be really long!

...You know...I REALLY want to make a video of me actually trying the "Mathias Manwich of Awesome"...because I've never actually tried in and came up with the idea at complete random...

So~…Mathias and Lukas's love-hate relationship is finally starting to take place, but it's going to be a while until any real romance will start. This chapter turned out COMPLETELY different from anything I'd planned, but I'm happy with the way it turned out. I haven't done archery since June, so I only used what I remembered from it. I apologize if any of that information is wrong! ^^;

Thank you all so, so much for the reviews and faves; I really appreciate them! I haven't had time to reply back to any of my reviews, but I hope I'll be able to get to that this time! So~, please continue to review, and chapter eight will be out even sooner! :D