A/N: I forgot to mention that, Carlos Hernandez is Cuba, whewps :I
" Alfred, wake up!" Alfred was startled awake by his brother's voice above him. " Wha- Mattie, what's wrong?" He asked, rubbing his eyes. " You overslept, Arthur has already called twice. You need to get up, get ready and we need to go!" Matthew said, and Alfred groaned. " I can't go that fast in the morning." He got up anyway, heading to the bathroom to get ready. Matthew tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for Alfred to get done, and when he walked out of the bathroom, he sighed in relief. " Alright, let's go."
" Whoa Mattie, why are you in such a hurry?" Alfred asked, and Matthew shrugged as he walked out the door. " I guess I'm just excited? I don't know, I feel like we shouldn't keep anyone waiting any longer." He said, nearly tripping on the stairs. Alfred rolled his eyes and smirked. " You sure it isn't just because you wanna see Gilbert in nothing but swimming shorts?" He asked, and Matthew sputtered, his face turning red. " I-It's not that! And I'll bet you can't wait to see Ivan nearly naked, either!" At this, Alfred's face both drained in color and heated up. " W-what, I don't know what you're talking about, dude..." He said, getting into the passengers seat of the car.
" Yeah, right. Alfred, you have a crush on the guy, just admit it. You hardly ever shut up about him these days and you have all the symptoms of a love-struck school girl." Matthew said, starting the car and driving off to Arthur's house. Alfred didn't know what to say. Did he really talk about Ivan that much? " Mattie... I don't know. Maybe it's just that we're really close friends, and you're reading the signals wrong or something. I'm almost positive this couldn't be a crush." He said, and Matthew shook his head. " No, I'm almost positive it is a crush. He's the only one you want to hang out with anymore, Arthur and Francis are starting to think you don't like them anymore. And you saw how Feliciano looked at lunch the other day. He looked sad because he thought he'd annoyed you, so you didn't want to be his friend anymore."
Alfred shut his eyes tightly. ' I can't have a crush on a guy. I like boobs. I like boobs, a nice thin body, not too scrawny but not too muscled either, with prominent abs and one of those v-lines leading down to- whoa holy shit.' Alfred jerked his head up and yelled, " Mattie, I think I'm turning gay!" Matthew jumped, then sighed. " Alfred, you don't just turn gay. You're probably just curious. Ivan is the first guy you've liked." He said, and Alfred shook his head. " No Mattie, Ivan is the first person I've thought about like this, period. It's not just sexual fantasies anymore."
Matthew gave Alfred a weird look. " So you admit, you've been thinking about Ivan sexually..?" He asked, and Alfred groaned. " N-no, I meant... " He sighed heavily. " Yes, okay. But don't you dare tell anyone or so help me I'll-" " Yeah yeah, I know. So, what are you going to do about this?" Matthew interrupted, and Alfred frowned. " Do about what?" " You're crush? Are you going to ask Ivan out, or what?" Alfred bit his lip. What if Ivan was straight? Or what if he was gay, but he didn't like Alfred that way? In that case, if he asked him out, they would probably be too awkward to be friends. " No... I don't want to risk our friendship." He said quietly, and Matthew gave him a sympathetic look. " Alfred, I'm sure if it doesn't work out the way you want it to, you can always explain it to him and-" " No, Mattie. Just drop it."
The rest of the ride to Arthur's house was silent. Once they got there, Alfred immediately cheered up. " Hey Artie, it's been a while since we could hang out! How've you- what the hell?!" Alfred stopped in the middle of Arthur's doorway, taking in the scene before him. Arthur came around the corner and glared at Alfred. " Be quiet you idiot, they're still asleep." He said, and Alfred blinked. " Why are they here?" He asked, Matthew joining him and raising an eyebrow. He looked down at the couch, where Francis and Roderich were asleep, cuddling closely. " They came over last night, and Roderich fell asleep. Francis didn't want to wake him up so I agreed that they could stay the night as long as they were out of my house by the time I got home." Arthur explained quietly.
" So... what are they?" Alfred asked, and Arthur looked at him quizzically. " What do you mean?" " I mean, are they dating?" Alfred said, and Arthur nodded. " Yes... I didn't think it was such a good idea at first, but Roderich does seem happier in some ways. Francis promised me he wouldn't try anything until Roderich asked for it..." He said, shivering. " Just the thought of it is disgusting. But anyway, are we going?" Matthew nodded. " Yes, we have to go by Ludwig's house to get Gilbert, and then we're going by Ivan's house so they can follow us there." The three of them loaded into the car, then drove off.
" We'd better enjoy our peace and quiet while we still can..." Arthur grumbled, and Matthew rolled his eyes. " Gilbert isn't that bad, at least he's fun to be around." He said, and Alfred nearly choked on his own saliva. " Ooooooooh! I think that was a burn, Arthur!" He howled, laughing. Matthew smiled at his brothers idiocy. Arthur just mumbled something and stared out the window. When they arrived at Ludwig's house, Gilbert was waiting outside on the porch. " What the hell took you guys so long? It's almost nine, you told me to be ready and waiting at eight thirty!" He said, hopping in the backseat next to Arthur. " Sorry Gil, Alfred overslept. And you know how he is in the mornings." Matthew said, and drove off to Ivan's house. " Yeah well, he should have set his alarm clock or something. Alfred, you're pretty dumb sometimes." Gilbert said, and Alfred glared. " I hate alarms, they always make me crankier int he mornings. Besides, I broke my alarm clock." He said, and Matthew gasped.
" You broke it!? Alfred, that alarm clock was almost twenty five dollars! It was the most expensive one I could find!" He said, and Alfred pouted. " But I didn't mean to! I jerked it out of the wall and the cord kinda snapped in half." Matthew sighed and shook his head. " Well you aren't getting another one." He said, and Alfred secretly thanked the heavens. He hated alarms. " So Alfred, I heard you were orgasming over that surfing competition that's coming up." Gilbert said, and Matthew smiled. " Oh yeah! Remember what we talked about last night, Alfred? Well, I did some online searching and came up with an estimated total of how much everything would cost." He said, handing Alfred a piece of paper with the numbers written on it. Alfred made a choking noise. " Fucking $1,578 dollars!? I can't come up with that in such short time!" He said, and Matthew nodded. "Yes, so it looks like you won't be going to see the competition live this year. Oh, and that doesn't include the gas for a 16 hour drive."
Gilbert and Arthur laughed in the back. " You seriously thought you could make enough money to drive to Half Moon Bay, stay there three days, then come back?" Arthur asked, and Alfred frowned. " Hey, I didn't realize it'd be this much money!" He said, as Matthew pulled up at Ivan's house. " I'll be right back, guys." Alfred said, getting out of the car and running up to the front door. Katyusha answered when he knocked. " Oh, Alfred, you're finally here! I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us. Come on in, Natalia and Ivan are getting ready." She said, and Alfred smiled and walked in. " So, have you guys ever been to a water park or anything? I mean, I know it's cold in Russia and all, so I don't think they have water parks there. Or do they?" Alfred asked, truly curious. Katyusha shrugged. " I really don't know. I've never heard of any water parks there. Amusement parks with water rides, yes, but the water is kept fairly warm, so I don't think it's the same. And we've never been to a water park." She replied, just as Natalia and Ivan came into the living room.
" Oh, Alfred, you're here. It took you long enough." Natalia said, adjusting a strap under her shirt. " Well, Mattie didn't wake me up in time, and..." Alfred trailed off when his eyes landed on Ivan. He was wearing a pair of dark blue swim shorts and brown flip flops, and he wasn't wearing a shirt. Alfred tried not to stare, but it was hard not to. Ivan's body was... beautiful, for lack of a better word. He was just the right size, not too skinny, but not so muscled that he looked gross. His abs weren't too large, but they were still noticeable. His chest was pale and smooth looking, so much that Alfred's hands twitched from the urge to touch it. He had a perfect v-line, with a trail of pale silvery hair leading down into those shorts. His oogling was interrupted by a white t-shirt. " Thank you, Ivan. I told you you have to wear a shirt until we get there." Natalia was saying, and Alfred blinked.
" Oh, um, what did you say?" He asked, and Natalia gave him a weird look. " I just told Ivan to put a shirt on for the third time this morning. Weren't you paying attention?" She said, and Alfred shook his head. " Nah, I was paying attention, I just didn't understand you that well. I just woke up a little while ago, I guess my brain hasn't caught up yet. So, are you guys ready?" Alfred asked, and the three all nodded their heads. " Alright then, lets go!"
~~~page break~~~
Two hours later, the two cars pulled up the water park. Gilbert and Alfred jumped out immediately, cheering that they were finally on ground again. " If you can't handle riding in a car for two hours, why do you think you could drive one for eight?" Arthur asked, and Alfred shrugged, then ran back to Katyusha's car. " C'mon you guys!" He said, pulling Natalia out of the car, then Ivan. Natalia rolled her eyes. " Alfred, you're acting like a little kid." She said. " I haven't been to this park since I was a little kid, I think I'm entitled to be excited." Alfred said, and Katyusha laughed. " Natalia, let him be happy." She said, and the seven of them headed up to the gates. " Ivan, have you ever been to any place like this?" Alfred asked, and Ivan shook his head. " No, never. It looks fun!" He said, and Alfred smiled. His accent was cute. Wait huh? ' Not right now, Alfred. Now is a time to relax and have fun.'
Once they were inside, Gilbert and Matthew ran off, and Alfred pulled Ivan to an ice cream stand, since it was already almost 90 degrees out. Arthur, Katyusha and Natalia stood there awkwardly, until Arthur decided that he should just have fun and led them away. They went to find a slide that looked fun enough to start their day out. Alfred and Ivan got their ice cream then walked around a while. " So, I know we haven't done anything yet, but do you like this place?" Alfred asked, and Ivan nodded. " Yes!" He said, and Alfred smiled. " Good! Ooh, that was my favorite ride when I was little!" Alfred said, pointing to a tall water slide that wasn't too far away. " You wanna do it?" Alfred asked, his eyes shining. Ivan smiled. " Of course!" The two ran for it, finishing their ice cream just as they reached it. The line wasn't too long, since it was only eleven thirty, so they didn't have to wait too long. Alfred went down first, his childhood flooding back, making him laugh happily.
" C'mon, Ivan!" He called up the slide, swimming away from the end and nearly bumping into a couple kids. Ivan hesitated for a split second before sliding down, making a hue splash when he reached the pool below. When he came back up, Alfred laughed. It was the first time seeing Ivan's hair wet, and it was just long enough that it covered his eyes, blinding him. " Ivan, you think you should cut your hair?" Alfred said, both getting out of the pool. Ivan shook his head. " No, I like it this length." He said, laughing. The two ran off to another, taller slide, then another, and another, until they were panting heavily and in need of a break. Alfred pulled his phone from his bag, checking the time. " Wow, it's almost one. I'm hungry, I didn't eat breakfast. Wanna get something to eat?" He asked, and Ivan nodded.
They headed to the nearest restaurant shack and got some burgers, then sat down on a nearby bench to eat. " This is a really big water park, maybe you wanna get a map and decide where to go next?" Alfred said in between bites, and Ivan shook his head. " No, it's okay, you can decide. I'm having fun just being here, so it doesn't matter where we went next." Alfred raised an eyebrow. " It's 'go'." " What?" The blonde sighed. " It's ' so it doesn't matter where we go next', not 'went'. That's okay, I knew you still needed practice, I just felt like it'd be good to correct you." He said, and Ivan nodded. " Right, sorry." " It's okay, dude! So lets go have some fun!" Alfred said, finishing his burger and pulling Ivan up, dragging him off.
~~~page break~~~
It was nearly five o'clock by the time everyone met up at the entrance gates. " Whew, that was so fun!" Gilbert said, stretching. " I know, right! Today was amazing!" Alfred said, grinning like a maniac. Then he gasped. " Oh but wait! There's one more thing I want Ivan to do before we leave!" Ivan looked at Alfred questioningly. " What would that be?" Alfred gestured to a sign that said ' Turbo Blaster'. " I want you to do on that." He said, and Ivan looked hesitant. " I don't know... that looks pretty... scary." He said, and Alfred rolled his eyes. " Ah, c'mon, it's not scary. You just climb in that log thingy, and a blast of air sends you down that tube and into the pool below! It's just a really fast water slide." He explained, and Ivan sighed. " If you really want me to, I guess I could." " Awesome!"
With that, Alfred pulled Ivan off, calling back to the others to wait at the gate for them. When they arrived at the slide/tube, Ivan gulped. It was really high, higher than anything else he'd ridden that day. " I'm not so sure, Alfred..." " It'll be fun, trust me. Go on." Alfred said, giving Ivan a push toward the gate. " W-what, you aren't coming?" Ivan asked, and Alfred shook his head. " Nah, I don't think it's that fun anymore. I used to ride it all the time, so it's not that great now. But I know you'll love it, because it's your first time!" He said, and Ivan hesitated, then nodded and walked up the ladder. Alfred watched as Ivan climbed to the top, then as the lifeguard instructed him to lay down flat and relax, then put his hand on his hip and watched as Ivan was shot down the tube. It took a second for Ivan's head to emerge from the pool, as it was ten feet deep to ensure nobody would bash their heads. When he came up, there was a huge smile on his face. " That was amazing!" He called, and Alfred laughed and went to help him out.
" I told you you'd love it!" He said, grabbing Ivan's hand and pulling. " I was scared at first, but that was... just, great!" Ivan said, shaking his hair from in front of his eyes. Alfred was about to say something when they both slipped, falling onto the tiles beside of the pool. Alfred groaned as his head cracked against the ground, then his eyes shot open when he realized the... position they were in. Ivan was on top of Alfred, his hands on either side of his head, and sitting on his hips. Ivan was saying something, but everything was still muffled from the impact, and his vision was slightly blurred. Alfred could feel his face heating up, and when he tried to speak, nothing came out. Finally, Ivan got off of Alfred and pulled him up, holding onto his shoulders as the slightly shorter teen regained his balance.
" Alfred, are you okay? Say something!" Ivan said, and Alfred blinked, looking at Ivan. His face was still really hot, and his vision was still a bit blurry, but he could finally hear. " I... I'm okay." He said, and Ivan sighed in relief. " Thank god, I thought you had lost it." He said, and Alfred rubbed his eyes, willing the blurriness away. " Lets just get back to the others." He said, and Ivan gave him a weird look. " Are you sure you're okay, Alfred? Your face is really red, and your voice sounds different..." He said, placing a hand on the side of Alfred's head. Alfred resisted the urge to lean into the touch and nodded. " Y-yeah, I'm okay. I just wasn't expecting that, is all. I'll be fine, lets go. The others are probably wondering what's taking so long." He said,and the two walked back to the gates.
" Hey, what took ya? We were about to leave!" Gilbert called, and Matthew looked at his brother worriedly. " Alfred, you don't look so hot. What happened?" He asked, and Alfred shrugged. " Eh, we slipped and I hit my head, no big deal." He said, and Arthur frowned. " Are you sure? You might have a concussion if you hit your head hard enough." " I said I'm fine, guys! Can we just go? I'm really tired, I wanna go to sleep." Alfred said, and rubbed his eyes again. " No. You aren't going to sleep if there's a chance you have a concussion." Natalia said, crossing her arms. " And besides, it's only five in the afternoon, you aren't going to sleep this early." Matthew said, and Alfred groaned. " But I'm tired!" Ivan grabbed Alfred's arm. " Alfred... I think you should try and stay awake until tonight. You can come to our house, and we can do something, like watch a movie." He said, and Alfred looked around, trying to hide the blush that had just intensified. " I guess I could... if it's okay with Natalia and Katyusha."
" Of course it is." Katyusha said, her voice sounding worried. Matthew nodded. " Go with them, I'll see you later tonight." He said, his eyes sparkling. Alfred knew what his brother was thinking, and he'd call him out on it when he got home later, but right now he could care less. " Alright. Lets go then." Alfred said, and everyone headed out of the gates and to their cars. Alfred sat in the back with Ivan, and Natalia and Katyusha turned the radio to something fast, in order to keep Alfred from getting more tired. " When we get home, Natalia, will you help me bring up the box of movies in the basement? We'll need something to keep Alfred busy." Katyusha said, and Natalia nodded. " I'm sorry to trouble you guys." Alfred said, and Katyusha shook her head. " Don't you say that, Alfred, you know it's no trouble!" She said, and Natalia nodded, agreeing. " You're always welcome at our house." Ivan said, smiling. Alfred smiled back. " Alright... thank you guys."
Once they got back, Alfred was feeling a bit less tired. It must have been the impact of his head hitting the ground that made him feel sluggish, along with the long day he had. " We're going to go get those movies, Ivan, you and Alfred go ahead inside and get something to drink." Katyusha said, handing a key to Ivan. Ivan led Alfred onto the porch, unlocking the door, then they went inside. " I'll get you some cola, is that alright?" Ivan asked, and Alfred nodded. " Yeah, that's fine. Thanks." He said, and Ivan disappeared into the kitchen. Katyusha and Natalia came through the door carrying a large Tupperware box and sat it on the floor in front of the TV. " Here you go, you and Ivan can watch some of these." Katyusha said. " What about you guys?" Alfred asked, and Natalia sighed. " Katyusha forgot that we had hardly any food in the cabinets, so we're going grocery shopping. We figured that by the time we get back, you'll be hungry, so you can have dinner here, with us." She said, and Alfred frowned. " But-" " Don't you 'but' me, you're eating with us, and that's final." Natalia said, and walked out of the room before Alfred could say anything.
" It's alright, Alfred, we'd love for you to eat with us. But right now, we have to go, so we'll see you later." Katyusha said, and followed her sister out. Ivan walked into the living room and handed Alfred a glass of soda, and Alfred thanked him. " My sisters are weird sometimes, I'm sorry about their leaving." Ivan said, and Alfred shook his head. " Nah, it's fine. So, you want to watch a movie now?" He asked, and Ivan nodded, pulling the box toward them and sitting on the couch beside of Alfred. " What would you like to watch? We have a lot of movies in English, and some in foreign languages, too." He asked, digging through the movies. " Something in English, I don't feel like trying to translate any different languages." Alfred replied. " And something funny. Maybe if I get laughing, I won't feel like sleeping."
Ivan nodded, searching through the different movies. After a while, he found one that he hadn't seen, and Alfred agreed, relaxing as Ivan popped it into the DVD player.
~~~page break~~~
Halfway through the movie, Alfred stopped paying attention. He was contemplating his feeling about Ivan. ' I guess it really is a crush... but I don't want him to find out, because he might not want to be my friend anymore...' Alfred sighed lightly. He really didn't know what to do. " Hey Ivan... I'm bored of the movie. Why don't we just talk?" Ivan raised an eyebrow. " Talk about what?" Alfred shrugged. " I don't know, just, ourselves. I mean, the only thing I know about you is your name and where you came from. It's weird not knowing more." Ivan nodded, " I guess you're right. I'd like to know more about you, too. So, where would you like to start?"
" How about, our family?" Alfred suggested, and Ivan nodded. " Alright. Well, my mother and father are still in Russia, and I have a few cousins there, too. I only say a few because I never really got to know any of my family that wasn't immediate. I'm the middle child, Natalia the youngest and Katyusha the oldest. When Katyusha was eight, she moved to Ukraine with our aunt, because she wanted to live with her and her daughter, Svena. Natalia and I have always relied on each other, because our parents both worked, and were hardly ever home when we were. It wasn't such a bad thing, because we knew it couldn't be helped. After Natalia heard that Katyusha was moving here to America, I jumped at the chance for a different life. I was tired of not making my own decisions, and so was Natalia. So she called Katyusha and asked her to take us with her, and here we are." Ivan said.
Alfred blinked. That was a slightly different story than he had expected. " Whoa... I'm sorry about your parents..." He said, and Ivan smiled. " No need to be sorry, Alfred. We talk every now and then, and they're happy that we have a nice life here. So what about you?" He said, and Alfred took a deep breath. " Well... my mom is in San Diego. She shares an apartment with her sister, and works at the nursing home where my grandma stays. My dad... he died when I was around five." Alfred paused. " I'm sorry..." Ivan said, but Alfred waved him off. " Nah, it's okay. Uhm... he was a surfer, that's why I want to be one, too. Follow in his footsteps and all. Anyway, he was in a competition once and, there's this place where there's a bunch of really sharp coral and stuff, and he... crashed there. He was impaled... a lot." Alfred felt his chest tighten. He hadn't talked about his dad in years.
Ivan put a hand on Alfred's shoulder. " You don't have to continue, Alfred..." He said, but Alfred shook his head. " I'm fine... yeah. And then there's Mattie, and we have a cousin in Arizona named Enrique, he's pretty cool. When we were younger, he used to come down every summer and we'd always get in trouble with the police for vandalizing the empty buildings on the other end of town." Alfred said, smiling. Ivan smiled and took his hand off of his shoulder. " So you were a little troublemaker, hm." He said, and Alfred laughed. " Yeah, me and Enrique were the ones who always got in trouble, Mattie was too much of a baby to ever actually do anything."
Ivan laughed with him, then they continued telling each other the ins and outs of their lives, until Katyusha and Natalia got home. They helped them carry in the bags of groceries, then Alfred offered to help put them up, but Natalia kicked him out of the kitchen until they were done. " I'm sorry about her, she can be... weird." Ivan apologized, and Alfred laughed. " Ah, it's okay." He said, and Katyusha smiled. " Well, I have dinner on the stove, and it should be done in about twenty minutes, so lets sit down and wait!" She said, and the four of them sat in the living room and talked until it was done. After a bunch of scrambling and yelling, on Natalia's part, the four of them settled down at the kitchen table. " I still feel like I'm mooching you guys off." Alfred said, taking a bite of his food. " But, this is really good, Katyusha." Katyusha smiled. " Thank you. And you aren't mooching us off, you're welcome here. Now hush and eat before it gets cold."
After they were done eating, Alfred demanded that he do the dishes. " No! Alfred, you're our guest, and you're going to sit back and relax!" Natalia growled, and Alfred glared at her. " Damned it, no! I'm not going to 'sit back and relax' and let you guys take care of me like I'm a baby! I wanna help so I don't feel like I'm taking advantage of you guys!" He said, and Natalia looked like she was about to scratch his eyes out. " I'll help Alfred with the dishes, Natalia, just stop being rude to him." Ivan interrupted, standing between them. " But-" " No buts, Alfred. You want to do something, all right. But you aren't allowed to do it alone." Ivan said, and Natalia 'humphed' and walked away. Ivan smiled at Alfred and pulled him to the sink. They started on the dishes, and after a few minutes and an almost-bubble fight, they were finished.
" Wow, now I really am pooped." Alfred said, leaning against the counter. Ivan shook his head, laughing. " Alfred, you're always tired. Well, if you want, you can stay the night here." He said, and Alfred glared at him. " No way! I've already caused you guys enough trouble, I'm not about to ask if I can stay the night!" " You don't have to ask, I already called your brother and told him you wouldn't be home tonight." Natalia interrupted, standing in the doorway, holding Alfred's cellphone. Alfred scoffed, his mouth hanging open in disbelief. " N... Natalia! I don't want to-" " I don't care!" Natalia said, tossing Alfred his phone, then walking away. Ivan held back a laugh at the look on Alfred's face. " So, do you want to go to sleep now, or do you want to watch another movie first?" He asked, and Alfred sighed.
" I guess we can watch another movie first..."
~~~page break~~~
After the movie went off, Ivan stretched the best he could without waking Alfred up. He had fallen asleep near the ending, so he was still not completely asleep, and he looked too cute to wake up. Ivan looked down at the teen's sleeping face, his head laying on his shoulder, and smiled. He really was adorable. Ivan brushed a piece of hair out of his face, then shifted him into his lap, standing up carefully so he wouldn't shake him too much. Katyusha and Natalia had went to bed after dinner, so they were already fast asleep. Ivan turned the TV off and walked down the hallway to his room, placing Alfred on one side with his back facing Ivan, and covered him up. Ivan changed into his pajamas instead of sleeping in just boxers like he usually did, then slipped under the covers with his back to Alfred. He fell asleep a few minutes later.
A/N: Holy shit this chapter is gigantic. But it was needed. Hooray for RusAme development! I was beginning to think that I had gone completely off-track with this thing, but I've got the rest of the events planned out, and they focus on Ivan and Alfred's growing relationship. Enrique can either be a random filler character, or he can be Mexico, whichever one you guys want.
Reviews:
Karen F- You spotted the thing! :D *hugs and gives cookies*
Seven of Clubs- They actually get out in June, I just mentioned that it was 'close' to the end of the year for them. Or did I? Ugh, remembering things is hard.
SilverEnderwolf- Yush! I'm sorry I didn't put that in the AN last chapter, I kinda forgot :P But yes, it's Cuba :D
TheMoostachedHero- *gets all flustered* Bah 3 No kissing the author! And yes, you spotted the thing too, so you can have a hug and cookies as well~ *hugs and gives cookies*