A/N: Fun fact – this next part is heavily based on where my a cappella group goes on retreat each year. Except I've only been there in the autumn/winter. But I can just imagine how lovely it'd be in the summer.

Axis Powers Hetalia belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya.

Antonio looked over his shoulder for the twentieth time, grinning proudly. They'd gone through the working part of the farm, something that Lovina had been wholly unimpressed with. She'd just grumpily followed him, hardly saying a word until they went back to the house for lunch. He didn't really blame her; it wasn't exactly the most entertaining work. Though privately, introducing her to the real-life Señor Toro was definitely a highlight of his day – especially when she had screamed and clung to him for life.

His Lovi was just too cute when she got scared!

Now, Antonio was leading her down through the field of tall grass towards the woods, where he was sure her interest would be piqued, even if it was just by the tiniest increment. He knew this place like the back of his hand, so constantly turning around to watch Lovina was easy enough. She walked at a much slower pace, one hand idly fanning through the long stems. The sun was bright and over their heads, washing everything in a gentle golden light. He could almost feel the beams of light warming up her skin.

Ahhh…she was so beautiful…

"Hey! Watch where you're going, dumbass!"

Antonio, whose feet were walking backwards on autopilot, promptly tripped and staggered back as the field of grass abruptly ended. Lovina huffed and shoved the stalks aside.

"You're amazing, you know that? And I mean it because you still amaze me with your stupidity…"

He wasn't listening, gazing up at the sturdy tree trunks that had sprung up thickly front of them.

"This is it, Lovi! My favourite part of this place. You'll love it too, I promise."

"Yeah, and that's the fifth time you've said that today."

One step into the woods plunged them into a completely different world. Instead of stifling heat and dusty fields, coolness descended upon them thankfully as the two wandered beneath the branches' shadows. The trail was well trodden and wide enough for the both of them to walk side by side, so Lovina no longer felt the need to hurry along.

Antonio was more than happy to assist her as the winding path turned steep, curling downwards. At times, it became very narrow, causing them both to scramble over rocks and hopping off crevices. It was the last thing Lovina had expected to do, but Antonio was always before her, smiling cheerfully and ready to hold out an arm to support her.

When the trail finally began to level out, Lovina sensed a breeze wafting her way from the right. Glancing to the side, she was surprised to realize that a river was merrily trickling past them.

"Lovi! Over here!"

She peered around the brush to see Antonio waving at her from the bank, smoothed out by plenty of previous hikers before them. A rickety wooden fence kept the sturdy log raft tied to the side, and Antonio nudged it gently with his foot.

"Let me find a good pole, and we can go across the river! And maybe we'll go swimming another day."

"Um." She hadn't even brought her bathing suit with her. "How about no."

"Aww, Lovi!"

He let her sit in the middle of the raft as it floated down the water. Lovina stared up at the canopy of leaves as Antonio rambled.

"Yeah, I know I said it a million times before, but this really is my favourite place. You should see all the colours in autumn. The snow piles up to your knees in the winter, but sometimes we come down here at midnight with only flashlights, and it looks like glitter is falling from the sky, like magic..."

She started when the raft bumped up against the opposite shore, not realizing that she'd closed her eyes during the short journey. Antonio tied it up to another fence awaiting them, and helped her onto dry land. Lovina looked up to see a small wooden cabin in front of her, surrounded by a small moat of river water.

"That's the sauna! I guess you don't wanna go in there now, though, because it's way too hot." Antonio's grip on her hand tightened ever so slightly. "But...if you come back later this year, we can go. The river will be frozen and covered in snow, but there's a longer path we can take."

He looked at her, almost pleadingly. "It doesn't have to be just me and you! We can invite other people too, like Feli, and Ludwig, or whoever else you want -"

Lovina heaved out a loud sigh, shutting him up right away. "I'm tired. You made me hike like a thousand miles, bastard."

Antonio beamed at her proudly, as if holding back a secret. "Ahh, don't worry, I've got the perfect thing, then!"

And then he had snatched up her hand and was dragging her down yet another dirt path at top speed, even as she shouted at him to slow the fuck down. Racing around the sauna shack, they abruptly stopped at the clearing behind it.

"Wait here! Don't go away!"

"Where the hell would I go, idiot?"

But he'd disappeared. Lovina eyed her surroundings warily. She wasn't typically one for spending time in the wilderness, and earlier, the noises of birds and other creatures had been rather startling. It didn't help that Antonio apparently loved all sorts of animals and kept on pointing out things she really, really didn't have to know - such as snake holes and raccoon tracks. Creepy crawlies and annoying chubby rodents? No. Thank. You.

And as for the turtles, she wasn't even going to get started on the damn turtles. How the hell did one river have so many turtles? And why did they keep on coming up to her? It was ridiculous. Lovina wasn't an animal-hater, but she was perfectly fine keeping them nameless and in their rightful habitat. She made that clear to Antonio.

Speaking of which, where had that moron gone to, anyway? Lovina rubbed her palms against her shorts. What was taking him so long? She didn't know her way back, so if he'd ran off and forgotten about her, the ass, there was going to be hell to pay.

Antonio finally emerged from the building with a mess of canvas and sticks in his arms.

"Hey, Lovi! Miss me?"

She flushed pink, caught off guard by the random query. "Wha...shut up!"

He smirked and began to set up a hammock. Lovina scowled at the ground. Cheeky bastard.

"There, it's done." Antonio plopped down and set it swinging. He patted the spot next to him. "Come on!"

Lovina wasn't going to reject an invitation to sit when her feet and back were killing her, so she acquiesced. As soon as she'd settled in, though, Antonio reached over, grabbed her ankles and swung her legs around so she was lying down.

"HEY!" She tried to squirm up into a sitting position, but the hammock just wobbled precariously. "The hell you think you're doing!"

"You're tired! Relax! And this is what makes hammocks fun," Antonio replied, stretching out next to her, grinning that stupid smile.

Lovina rolled over, away from him. It was so warm. Too warm to be lying close to somebody else. But Antonio had a long history of being terrible at taking a hint, so obviously he just snuggled up and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mmm. I'm so happy you came to visit me."

"There wasn't anything better to do."

"Yeah, I know! You always get so excited for summertime, and then everyone leaves so there's nobody to hang out with..."

Lovina twisted around to face him, frowning slightly. "God, are you still moping over Francis and Gillian?"

Antonio averted his eyes, opting to stare up at the blue sky instead. "N-no..."

"Don't lie," she ordered him. "You're awful at it."

He pouted. "I just wish they didn't decide to go away behind my back."

"They didn't really do it behind your back, didn't they? They told you themselves."

"Apparently they'd planned it like, four months before they told me."

"Oh." Lovina paused. Well, this was awkward. What was she supposed to say in response? Consolation and reassurance was usually his job, damnit!

Antonio's view of the sky was suddenly obstructed when Lovina reached over, pinning him down into an abrupt kiss. He was initially surprised, but didn't object at all - though just when he was really getting into it, Lovina pulled away.

"Shut up. Stop thinking about it. It's annoying and neither of us can do anything about it," she told him stiffly before rolling back over to her original position.

Antonio grinned. "Yeah, and anyway, I can be here with you!"

He saw her ribs rise and fall quickly when she let out a short bark of a laugh. "Damn right."

She probably didn't mean to have him hear it, but Antonio couldn't help feeling elated when Lovina let out the tiniest of contented sighs, settling more comfortably into his arms. Still smiling, he closed his eyes and pressed his face into her hair, both of them succumbing to the warm throes of sleep.

A/N: Hammocks are so incredibly fun, right up there with trampolines and slip'n'slides.

Looks like the habit of updating every weekend has been ingrained into me now...but I guess that's a good thing? C: