I'm in a cottage right now... but it's not exactly what you would call "roughing it". I played pool, ping pong, and air hockey XD THERE'S SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF COFFEE TOO!

I do not own Axis Powers Hetalia.

...

Ivan was working through the whole evening and a good portion of the night, when finally he finished his creation. By then the Russian boy was exhausted, body heavy and eyes ready to close for good, but when he took a good look at his work he smiled in satisfaction. He had done something useful for someone else, and it felt… nice. Ivan wondered how Madeline would react… but he hoped she liked it after all his effort. He was thankful that there was enough 'junk' and tools thrown away in here so he could complete it without having to go out and buy something.

Believe it or not, Ivan was good with fixing things up and using tools. Sure, he was a rich kid who didn't necessarily have to get his hands dirty or even know how, but he wasn't one to buy brand new things he didn't need. He was a cheap rich kid, and when something broke he would try his best to fix it. That was how General Winter taught him to live, and it made him good with handy work over the years.

Ivan nodded to himself as he checked everything over. He pushed on parts that would be getting a lot of pressure and seated himself on others. Afterwards, he slowly snuck out into the dark and took a test ride down the now empty street, relying on street lights and pedalling as quickly as he could to see how much the bike could stand. It was hard when he really hadn't ridden a bike for years, but after a while the teen got the hang of it. When he realised nothing was breaking, Ivan walking it back in and lightly placed it against a wall. It was as perfect as it could get, and not unsafe in the least as far as he could tell. The tires were fine, the breaks were fine… nothing left to fix. So now, it was time to rest for the coming day tomorrow.

He was anxious.

…

Just as expected, Saturday was as beautiful as it could get during this time of year. It was warm and sunny… not exactly hot but still better than most autumn days. He ate breakfast alone and waited until everyone left the house. No one was ever home on Saturdays… not that they were home very much during any other day of the week but… it was a bit worse without school to occupy him.

Ivan waited until noon to leave, locking and turning off everything just as he was expected to, and then setting the alarm for the house. He entered the garage and grabbed the bike, and after the garage was also locked he hopped onto the bike and cautiously began to ride. It wasn't the best bicycle because of its age and neglect, but he had fixed it well enough so that it rode rather smoothly. It wasn't very fast, but it didn't need to be… that wasn't the purpose. It needed to be strong, not fast.

As Ivan rode down the streets, he got a few weird looks due the strange appearance of his mode of transportation. It partially annoyed and it partially didn't. Everyone in town thought he was crazy by now, and this contraption would merely make them think it even further.

The trip to the hospital was quicker than usual, much to his delight. He parked it outside and headed for Madeline's room. Hopefully, she was feeling well. As soon as Ivan opened the door he saw her sitting there on her bed, eating her lunch. The blond girl looked up and smiled, taking a bite of her sandwich. She was fully dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt, hair still in the same pig tails and light make-up showing on her face beneath her glasses.

"Can you go outside today?" he asked quickly. She tilted her head and nodded a bit. "What about further into town… I mean… if you didn't necessarily have to walk there? Would that be okay?" he questioned her. At this, her eyes widened. The word "town" just seemed to be out of the dictionary for this girl.

"I-I suppose… but… how would we manage that?" she asked, confusion written all over her face. Ivan's expression lightened.

"I will show you, da? Just finish your lunch, dress warmly, and then we'll go outside." He explained. She nodded and began to eat once again, taking time with each bite so she wouldn't get sick… but at the same time feeling the need to rush and see what Ivan had brought. Once Madeline completed her meal, the girl stood and got her maple leaf jacket and shoes on, then placed her little hat on her head and turned to the much larger teen.

"Okay… I'm ready… we can go now." She told him.

"Do you need to tell anyone you're leaving?" Ivan questioned her. She paused, and then nodded once more.

"I guess I should, eh?" she smiled gently. Madeline exited into the hall and looked around for her doctor, but didn't see the woman anywhere. She and Ivan wondered around for a while before they ran into the blond lady, to which Madeline waved her over.

"What can I do to help you two?" the woman asked as she walked over.

"If Madeline didn't have to walk very much, could she come into town with me for the day?" Ivan asked. Francis paused, eyes widening ever so slightly, then she thought to herself for a while. The woman looked over Madeline and felt her forehead, then nodded.

"I suppose if there was something she could ride so she wouldn't have to walk that far, it would be perfectly safe." She shrugged. "Although… it would be nice if you gave me your cellphone number so I could call you, Ivan. Just to be safe. Do you have a cellphone with you?"

Ivan took it out to show her, and Francis wrote down the number he recited on her clipboard. She nodded.

"Alright, go ahead. But be careful and come right back if anything goes wrong." She ordered. Obviously, she was nervous for the well-being of Madeline. Perhaps she could be mature and sensible when she really had to, Ivan decided.

After that was settled, Ivan and Madeline were finally able to go outside the door to where the bicycle was. When he led her to the place it was parked, her eyes widened a bit as she took in its appearance. The metal was brown and rusty, but had a bit of chipped-off red paint. Other than that it's shape looked mostly like a regular bike's would… except built on at the back was another little seat that was wider and had a little back ledge on it to separate it from the bike seat with handle bars underneath as well flatter ones on the sides of the back wheel.

"I know it's strange …but … it was all I could come up with. You see, you can sit back-to-back with me on that seat behind the one I'll sit in, and your feet will fit on the flat bars on the wheel while you can hold onto the bars under the seat. It is all perfectly safe; I tested everything out many times." Ivan explained, feeling rather unsure of his idea now that he was performing the action of showing it to Madeline rather than just himself.

"You… you built all this?" she gasped. He blushed.

"W-Well… I only added the seat and the bars… I had the parts and tools and was able to figure out how to add them onto an old bicycle that I was able to actually fit on with extra room, amazingly. It was good luck. I fixed up the bicycle, as well, since it's a bit old." He explained. "You don't need to act so amazed… it was simple, really." He insisted. That was actually a lie, not that it mattered now.

"Since you worked so hard I suppose I'll try it… although I've never been on a bicycle before…" Madeline seemed a bit worried about riding.

"Do not worry; you don't have to do anything. Just sit and see if you're comfortable first. You need to make sure you fit properly and that you feel alright with this, otherwise you'll never enjoy your ride, da?" Ivan walked over and sat himself on the bike so he secure it and stand it up straight. Madeline nodded nervously and sat down just the way Ivan told her to. The seat was actually quite comfortable and cushiony, and the little ledge at the back supported her a bit while the rest of her back was leaned up against Ivan, to which they both felt a bit embarrassed. The bars weren't hard to reach and fit well, but there was still a sense of insecurity in the pit of her stomach.

"Are you alright?" Ivan asked.

"Y-Yes…"

"Are you sure? Because I'm going to start riding a bit slowly now, da?"

"A-Alright." And with that, Ivan began to pedal at a steady speed. The bicycle moved forward with a loud squeak and off they went.

"Are you alright still?" he asked once more. Madeline was actually feeling a bit safer now that they were moving.

"Yes, I'm okay." She answered more confidently. Ivan himself felt even more embarrassed with such an oddly built contraption to ride now that Madeline was there with him, but it wasn't like he could drive a car… legally. So, it seemed like they were stuck with this for the next few years as long as Madeline couldn't walk a far distance.

"Where are we going?" the Canadian girl behind him suddenly asked.

"I'm not so sure… perhaps we just call it an adventure." Ivan shrugged. They were still on the hospital street, but coming near a corner.

"Well… how about your favourite place?" she asked. Ivan hummed.

"Well… it is not very nice at this time of year but I suppose we could go if you like." He said. She smiled.

"I don't mind what it looks like… I'm just excited to see anything."

…

The ride to get to the place wasn't eventful; the roads to get there were pretty empty. Even so, Madeline was rather amazed by anything different than what she usually saw. Even when the roads became almost abandoned and they came up to a forest of some sort, she smiled and looked around frantically. As they approached the forest even more, Madeline wasn't sure where exactly Ivan was taking her but was excited, anyways.

This wasn't a place many people knew about, the roads nearby weren't travelled that often and this whole area was basically isolated from everything else. Ivan had found it by chance. He eventually came to a dirt path (he made it himself) and stopped the bike completely.

"It's just a short walk through the trees." Ivan told Madeline, "I'm sure you can do it."

She nodded with a smile, feeling a bit proud that someone wasn't asking her weather she could handle things or not or simply thinking she was too weak. Madeline got off the bike and followed Ivan as he pulled the transportation along beside him on the little path.

He was right, the forest looked big but soon enough the girl could see a clearing up ahead as the trees lessened and lessened. Soon enough, they arrived to their destination. Madeline knew this once Ivan stopped and said, "Here it is." She looked around with a smile that soon enough fell. It was a large field that was walled in with all the tress… but rather than grass there were large dead flowers lying on the ground helplessly, yellow petals turning gray and stems rotting in the ground.

"It kind of makes me sad…the flowers look so… dead…" the girl admitted. Ivan nodded.

"That's why I never come here during this time of year. It's where I spend my time on sunny summer days… and that's it. They're sunflowers, but they die when it gets cold." He mumbled. Madeline felt even sadder to hear that. Ivan seemed to like sunflowers; he had given her some when they first met, after all.

He seemed to notice her worried and sad expression, so the Russian boy brought up a smirk.

"They come back in the summer, though. They are beautiful in the summer. I suppose… they don't like the cold so they need to sleep." He explained. Madeline seemed satisfied with this.

"I understand how that feels… I hope to see it in the summer then." She smiled. He nodded.

"Da, we will. But for now we should take a break and have some water." He explained. She followed him to one of the larger trees and he grabbed two bottles from his coat pocket, handing one to her.

"You coat sure holds a lot of things, eh." Madeline commented. He nodded and he gulped down his water. She repeated the action until they were both done.

"So do a lot of people come here?" Madeline asked.

"Nyet, it's so far from everything else I doubt anyone but me has come here. The rest of town is so busy and nobody even takes the roads near here." He explained. "Even I just found it by chance when I got lost when I first came here."

"Well… thank you for showing it to me."

"Da."

…

It was still not long after noon when Ivan and Madeline left the field, so he figured he'd show her something a bit more exciting and take her downtown where all the shops and stores were. Once again she admired the view as they rode, and this time as they got closer to the busier part of Heta there was a bit more to look at.

Once they got to the main street, Ivan found a place to park his bike and locked it (not that anyone would really want to steal it, but you never know). He looked to Madeline… and she looked like a five-year-old at the entrance of Disney Land. Her eyes were wide and she seemed to be itching to see everything there was to see, no matter how boring it was. She was almost jumping up and down with the way her thin legs where bouncing.

"Come on, let's go." He called, walking up beside her. She smiled brightly and side-by-side they began to explore. Every little detail seemed to fascinate the Canadian girl, and Ivan merely stood beside her as she took everything in. Now, the only problem was those who recognised Ivan (and a lot of people did one way or another) were confused as to her this young girl standing next to him was. He could tell by the looks on their faces they were confused, but what was specifically going on inside their minds as an idea was something he would never know. But no, this would not bother him. Ivan was here to have fun and only fun, not pay any attention toward those stares. Except… he wasn't so much worried for himself as he was for Madeline. Would being with him give her a bad reputation… even though no one really knew who she was? It was called a bad first impression, wasn't it?

Ivan looked at Madeline and realised… she really didn't seem to care. Everything about this street from a dog to a different looking car just seemed to make her day. He supposed he should just go along with it. Worrying over something that didn't even bother the person he was worrying about shouldn't really matter, at least not in this situation. And so, everything else was simply blocked out.

They began to walk into different stores: The book store, the clothing shops, and the pet shops. The puppies were probably her favourite part, as it would be for almost any teenage girl. Clothes weren't a big interest although she did look at some books, some of them being romance and others more informative. Soon, they came to a sport's shop, and the both of them admired the hockey gear for a while. It caused another fight, but merely a playful one.

It was all so amazing for Madeline to see something other than a hospital room for once. Perhaps she could have left before along with a doctor or something, but she just didn't want to trouble them is all. Ivan was actually working hard to do this without being asked and seemingly having fun with her, so she didn't really have to feel bad about it. She probably would have tried to stop him if she had known in the first place he would do this, but now that he had actually gone to the trouble she would be hurting his feelings not to do this. As long as he had fun with her, this was all fine.

It was getting into the later afternoon, and by now the teens had seen everything they had wanted to. Well… Ivan had seen it all before… but it almost all seemed so new when he looked at it with someone who saw such amazing potential in objects so simple. It almost made him… appreciate things more, perhaps. Madeline was becoming quite tired though, so it would be best to go back. They had walked slowly and taken a lot of breaks, but it was merely too much in one day for now. She and Ivan began to walk towards the direction where he parked the bike, both in a happy mood.

Of course, something just had to go wrong. And that something happened to be Alfred F. Jones appearing out of nowhere and approaching them. Natalia and Toris followed, both seeming to want to just pass by but Alfred stopped in front of the Russian and Canadian anyways, smirking at little Madeline as she stared at the boy, confused. Two Asian boys were also with the crew, and they stood behind Alfred along with Toris and Natalia.

"Who's she? Your girlfriend?" he laughed. Ivan didn't notice Natalia flinch at that, nor did he see his sister glare daggers into the blond. Madeline did, however, and wondered why so much hatred was being directed towards her. She still heard what Alfred said, though, and knew she had to speak up about it.

"Girlfriend? What do you mean by that?" she asked in the usual innocent tone. Alfred burst out laughing, taking it a different way than she was trying to imply. Madeline was aware of the difference between a friend who was a girl and a girlfriend… but she defiantly wasn't Ivan's girlfriend, was she?

"Oh I get it! She's a handicap! Is that the only types of people who will go near you, Ivan?" he laughed. Ivan balled his fists. He wouldn't smile and tease this time, not when it involved someone else who didn't deserve it.

"Leave, Alfred." He whispered. The American boy instantly knew he hit a soft spot with the taller teen, and his smile grew.

"She's kind of plain-looking." He smirked, reaching over and snatching her glasses. She gasped and reached for them, but he giggled and held them away from her.

"U-Um… I need those to see, eh?" she stammered, and what she said was evident by the way she squinting her eyes.

"Aw, do you?" Alfred asked in a baby voice. She nodded, still reaching out for them.

"Give them back to her." Ivan stated. Alfred shrugged.

"She looks better without 'em. But even without 'em… she's all skinny and pale." He giggled.

"You wear glasses too, da? If they make her look bad you look ten times worse." He hissed. Alfred glared.

"Well at least mine actually fit me… these things are huge and fall right off her scrawny little face." He shot back. Madeline stepped back and touched her face, cheeks turning a bit red. Alfred noticed this and smiled again. "Aw she's embarrassed!" he giggled again.

"A-Alfred… you're taking this too far, stop it." Toris suddenly spoke up. He looked worried and even a bit mad… and anger plus Toris was not a common mixture. Alfred was surprised and looked back. Toris continued, "She didn't do anything."

"Yes she did…" Alfred whispered with his eyes suddenly dark. Toris paused.

"What did she do?" he asked. Alfred opened his mouth, but stopped.

"Let's just go." He growled, shoving the glasses in Ivan's hand and turning on his heel to walk away. Toris and the two Asian boys walked away, one looking rather apologetic and bowing a bit. Natalia gave one last heated glare to Madeline and followed the boys, hooking onto Alfred's arm. When they were out of sight, Ivan sighed and slipped on Madeline's glasses to her face. She had been in a bit of a daze and jumped a bit, then looked at him.

"Don't listen to a word he says, none of it is true." He stated.

"Who was he?" she asked.

"Alfred Jones. A pest." He answered. "Now, let's get you back. You look exhausted."

"I suppose I'll ignore what he said but… I don't understand why that girl behind Alfred was looking so mad when he called me your… girlfriend?" she asked. "I know what it means from a romance novel I read but I'm not your girlfriend… why did she…"

"Natalia?" Ivan interupted.

"I don't know… she just looked mad." She mumbled. Ivan raised an eyebrow.

"She is my younger sister… but she has never exactly cared much about my life ever since she became friends with all those… idiots." He huffed.

"The one with brown hair was a bit nice. So was the one who bowed at us before he left, he looked apologetic." Madeline said.

"I'm not sure who the Asian was but… the one with brown hair is Toris. My older sister is married to his older brother so we live together. I don't like him either, though." He mumbled.

"Well it sure looks like they care about you, eh. Maybe… none of you are cooperating with each other?" she suggested. He shook his head. He did not care about any of them right now… well… maybe he cared about Natalia a bit but… she defiantly wasn't feeling the same. No one cared about him and Madeline was just being silly.

"Let's go back, da?" the Russian mumbled darkly.

"…you aren't upset are you?" Madeline asked in a quiet voice. Ivan paused. Even if this trip had a bad end, it was still good right? He took a deep breath, trying to block out the negative feelings, and nodded.

"Nyet, we're going to do this again… this adventure thing…" Madeline smiled in relief at that.

"I would like that… but maybe without that Alfred boy…"

"Da, defiantly without that Alfred boy."

…

Alfred's such a dick and Ivan's so stubborn XD Hope you enjoyed~