Chapter 25: Learn or die

America woke up to the sound of tweeting birds. He wanted to throw a pillow at the damn things for disturbing his slumber.

A swift glance at the alarm clock told him it was already past eleven. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach. The American didn't want to get up today. It would just be another day of suppressing his feelings, and of Russia being too damn cute for his own good. America was starting to think it would be better to just go watch the damn sunflowers and send him home already. Having him here was heaven, but not being able to do anything was the worst kind of torture. He felt like Tantalus (Greece had once told Japan the myth, and then Japan had told America); unable to reach that which he so desperately desired as it was practically shoved into his face the entire time. It occurred to him that Russia hadn't mentioned the sunflowers yet, but maybe he was just waiting for the American to bring it up himself.

The blond had never been a patient man. But now he had no other choice than to restrain himself.

The nation whined as he dragged himself out of the bed and headed towards the bathroom. He took a long and steaming hot shower, preparing himself for a new day. Throwing on a blue hoody and some worn-out jeans, he made his way downstairs. Today the nation just wanted to be lazy and hang around.

Russia was already up. He was seated at the table, doing some paperwork while drinking coffee.

He smiled once he saw his host entering the room.

"Dobroe utro Alfred."

"Mornin' Ivan," America replied grumpily. "Any coffee left?"

Russia nodded and gestured to the coffee machine. America thankfully filled a mug and lifted himself onto the counter. He studied the other while he worked. Today the violet-eyed nation was wearing a grey turtleneck that did a beautiful job at accenting his biceps, and a black jacket. America decided on the spot that Russia looked very good in black. Alluring even.

"So where do you wanna go today?" the American asked, before taking another sip of his coffee. Black of course. He always drank his coffee like that.

The Russian briefly looked up before returning his attention to the papers in front of him.

"I do not know Fedya. Why don't you do the choosing today?"

America jumped off the counter and lazily strolled over to his (new) laptop. Of course he was already familiar with Chicago, but he wasn't in the mood to think a lot today. The young nation checked his mail while he was at it, and then went to the page of his most-used search engine.

"Top ten things to do in Chicago," he read out loud.

His eyes fell upon the first thing on the list.

"Hey Vanya," he called out.

"Hmm?" Russia answered, eyes never leaving the papers.

"How about we go to Navy Pier today?"

"Whatever you like Alfred."

The other's indifference was starting to get on his nerves. America pouted. He hated being ignored like this. He logged off his laptop and walked back over to the Russian. He tried to read over the tall nation's shoulder, but his view was blocked.

"I am working little one." Russia wasn't intent on letting their private lives blend in with politics.

America huffed and backed away. He stubbornly ate a cookie whilst making the most noise possible. The sunny blond occasionally glanced back at the other, but Russia didn't seem that fazed at all by the sounds.

America tried a different approach to get his attention. He let himself fall on the ground with a loud thud, and started stalking over to the table like a cat eyeing a possible prey. Russia still wasn't looking. So he decided to get bold, and crept under the table. He curled himself up at the Russian's feet, waited a few seconds, and then rubbed his body against Russia's legs, exactly like a feline would do.

"What are you doing?" the older nation sighed.

"I'm studying the ways of the cat~" America purred.

Russia narrowed his eyes in warning. "You are acting like a child."

"You're no fun!" America pouted.

"Go entertain yourself. I will play with you when I am done."

Now America was pissed. He scrambled off the floor and stomped to his bedroom. Russia was treating him like a child that had misbehaved. That was definitely not how America wanted to be looked at by the nation. America flopped onto his bed with an exasperated moan. He was in a bad mood today. That didn't happen very often.

He heard a splashing sound. He got up and looked out the window. A real cat had fallen into his pool and was now scurrying away.

'That's it!' he thought.

The nation immediately took off his clothes and shot on a pair of swimming trunks. He raced down the stairs and into the garden, gaining a confused look from the Russian. Once outside he cannonball dived straight into the swimming pool. The water was a bit chilly, but the young nation quickly got used to the temperature. He swum a few laps before diving under and then shooting back up. He shook his head to get the water out of his eyes and let himself float on his back. Swimming always lifted his spirits.

After an hour of splashing about in the water, Russia finally decided to join him outside.

"What are you doing?" he asked. His tall figure was leaning against the doorframe, and his eyebrow was cocked in the sexiest of ways.

"Swimming of course," America replied before diving under again.

Russia walked over to the edge of the pool and sat down in the grass. America swam towards him.

"Why don't ya come in?" he asked. "The water's great!"

Russia shook his head. "I am fine up here."

"Aaw, come on big guy! It'll be fun!"

"Nyet."

There was a certain undertone to his voice that America couldn't place. He thought about it for a moment, and then his eyes went comically wide with amazement.

"Ivan, do you mean you can't swim?"

The Russian furrowed his brows angrily, but his cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"It's true!" America gasped.

"Do not laugh at me," the other hissed.

"I'm not laughing!" America said, putting his hands up as if pleading for his innocence. "It's just that I never would've expected it."

"Where do you think I would need to swim?" the Russian asked in a cynical tone. Sure he could bring himself to safety were he in danger, but he couldn't do any more than trying not to sink.

"Want me to teach you?"

Russia huffed at him. "Nyet. I do not have swimwear, and I do not need to know how to swim."

"But it's fun!" America whined.

"Nyet," Russia repeated, and he began standing up.

But right at that moment, the cat from earlier ran past him. Russia was startled, and lost his balance. His eyes went huge with shock as he tumbled over, straight into the pool. It was a bit ironic after he'd just said no.

The American instantly swam over to where the nation had entered the water. He dived under, grabbed him by his waist, and pulled him back up. Once at the surface, he helped keep the Russian balanced so he could take in some air. His clothes were soaked and his hair was sticking to his forehead. It almost looked shiny in this lighting. His eyes were still the size of pancakes, and he was clinging helplessly to the American. The pool was too deep for even Russia to stand in.

"Bring me back to the grass!" he demanded, voice a pitch higher due to him being so distressed.

But America had better plans for him.

"No can do Vanya."

The Russian narrowed his eyes, but it was less intimidating with him being so taken by surprise.

"You're already in the water, might as well try getting yourself out huh?"

The Slavic nation pursed his lips in disapproval. "That is a very dirty trick."

"Hey, I'm not the one who pushed you in! I just want to help you! Knowing how to swim can always come in handy."

Russia hung his head in defeat. He knew he wasn't getting out of here by threatening the American, not now that he was so dependent on him.

"If I drown my country will declare war on yours."

"Sure big guy. But first-"

Russia yelped in surprise as America pushed him onto his stomach. He placed his hands under Russia's belly so that he was now floating parallel with the water.

"You just have to know how to move your arms and legs. It's a little harder with clothes on-"

"I am not taking my clothes off," the Russian growled.

"But they'll only pull you down!"

"…Fine."

America pushed Russia back into a vertical position and kept him steady while the other delicately pulled the wet clothes off of his body. America was very pleased with the sight he was now being provided with. Russia only kept his boxers and scarf on, refusing to get rid of the gift of his sister. America really wondered why he was this attached to the thing, but now was not the time to be asking that. He pulled the nation back into the horizontal position and was now touching the bare skin of his belly.

Russia was already blushing fiercely at him being almost naked, but the American touching his skin didn't help things in the slightest.

America calmly instructed him on how to move his limbs. He tried not to get distracted by the sight of Russia's pale and sturdy body lying mere inches away from him, and the feeling of touching it. Learning Russia how to swim was his first priority now.

Eventually, the taller nation managed to get into the right rhythm of moving his limbs. America carefully let go of him, and instead of immediately sinking, he slowly but steadily made his way to the side of the pool. Once there he glanced back, a victorious smile setting his face alight.

"See? I knew you could do it!" America shouted, giving him a thumbs-up.

The American quickly gathered Russia's clothes and brought them to the side as well while the other climbed out of the pool. America looked up just as he got a very good angle on Russia's ass. He gulped and kept swimming. The blond placed the wet clothes on the ground and pushed his body firmly against the side of the swimming pool.

Russia glanced back at him. "Are you coming out as well?"

America shook his head, laughing shakily. "Nah, I'm staying in a little bit longer. You go on ahead."

Russia nodded. He scooped up his clothes and hastily made his way inside, dying to clothe himself.

America waited until he heard the sound of footsteps going up the stairs before leaving the safety of the concrete. He wasn't waiting for a repeat of the embarrassing situation in Florence. It was already bad enough that he couldn't control his body, but Russia didn't need to know that at all.

With a huff of irritation he set to getting himself off. Sometimes it really sucked being stuck in the body of a nineteen-year old bag of hormones.

'Thanks a lot you stupid bastard,' he thought bitterly, cursing the Russian for being so oblivious to his body's sensuality.

xoxox

The two nations were visiting Navy Pier. America had pulled up his hood and put on a pair of sunglasses as a form of disguise. They had already taken a boat ride around the river, spent some time in the maze, played some mini golf (at which Russia was surprisingly good) and had both eaten a pretzel.

America was feeling more than a little depressed. He had been in love before, but never like this. Never had he wanted to kiss the other so badly but wasn't allowed to at the same time. It was beyond aggravating.

"I want to go in the Ferris Wheel."

America looked up to see where the Russian was pointing at.

He furrowed his brow. "I dunno…"

Russia gazed at him with adorable pleading eyes. "Why not? It seems like fun."

America simply couldn't say no to that look. He had always thought he was the master of the puppy eyes, but Russia wasn't too bad at it himself.

They bought two tickets and waited in line to get in. The sun was already starting to set. America tried to ignore the nagging voice at the back of his mind that wanted to tell him Ferris Wheels were things couples tended to do.

They got into a gondola and waited for the attraction to start up. Russia was looking around excitedly like a child.

'It's as if he's never been to an amusement park before…' the young nation thought.

The wheel started spinning and their gondola was lifted off the ground.

"Feast your eyes on this!" America said, gesturing at the view. And Russia did just that.

The wheel kept going higher and higher, until-

It came to an abrupt stop.

"What happened?" Russia inquired, glancing down at the ground.

"Technical difficulties I guess," America grumbled, while taking off his sunglasses. "We'll just have to wait until they start us back up again. But it's better being stuck in a Ferris Wheel than upside-down in a roller coaster."

Russia agreed, even if he had no idea what being stuck upside-down in a roller coaster felt like.

A chilly breeze made America shiver. Russia immediately took off his coat and laid it around his shoulders.

"R-really, you don't have to…" America mumbled shyly, his face heating up.

He suddenly realized they were sitting very close to each other. He tried to scoot over to the side of the gondola, but there wasn't any room left. The blond crossed his arms to keep them from touching the Russian. He would just have to sit this one out.

Russia was gazing at the river beneath them. The orange sun had set the water ablaze and made it glitter like never before. He was about to make a comment on it when his eyes fell upon the American next to him.

The nation's eyes looked bluer with the night's sky as his background. His face was coloured a cute red, and the way the younger nation had curled himself up in his coat was simply adorable. And something else, something indescribable.

Russia's heart sped up as he was overtaken by the irresistible urge to bend over and kiss him. The nation was too captured by the moment to give his actions any thought.

"Alfred."

America turned his head to see Russia's face right next to his. His heart skipped a beat. Those violet eyes looked mesmerizing, especially up close. And they just kept getting closer-

Russia kissed him. America went numb under the unexpected touch. He blinked dumbly, not really knowing what to do. His lips felt really soft and warm and perfect-

Before America could react the moment was over. Russia had retracted and was being his usual smiling self.

"Wh-what was that?" America asked, voice tiny and trembling.

"Friends give each other kisses, right?" the Russian asked.

America felt his hope deflate instantly.

Friends.

Russia had kissed him because that's what friends do.

"R-right…" he answered, looking at the bottom of the gondola.

The tall nation only wanted to be friends. He had known that all along, but the kiss had taken him off guard long enough for him to get his hopes up. Hope that was crushed directly afterwards.

America felt like he could cry. But he didn't.

Heroes don't cry.

xoxox

Russia looked at the sleeping figure of his American friend. He hadn't said a word since they'd gotten out of the Ferris Wheel. Russia was worried for him, but also for himself. He did not understand why he had wanted to kiss America. This was already the second time that had happened. It wasn't really the kiss itself Russia had any problems with, it was the aching of his heart that accompanied it.

Tomorrow he was going to do research. He had to find out what these feelings meant.

Tomorrow.