It was Monday and Finland dragged himself out of bed. Still heavy with rejection – he didn't know it would hurt so badly – he plodded his way to the kitchen. Norway had been extremely displeased with Iceland's late return but decided to leave the case to rest to prevent Finland's feelings from going haywire again. Norway had settled for a cold shoulder.

Fixing up breakfast, Finland took a seat at the centre table as he picked at the scrambled eggs and toast. He didn't feel hungry. Finland sniffed. He didn't want to die because of a simple rejection! He's going to eat this unappetizing, grey, and bland looking breakfast of toast and eggs. He shook his head; he was just putting himself off his meal.

At that moment, Norway plopped in. Fixing his black tie, Norway's fingers slipped carefully over the material, creating a loop before pulling the knot tightly into the place.

"G'morning," Finland chirped with pseudo attitude.

Looking up, Norway cocked an eyebrow.

"How're you feeling today?" Norway probed gently. It had surprised him how much weight Finland had lost in just a time phase of two days. The Finn looked almost hollowed out, and it was probably due to the fact that Finland refused to eat much during meal times.

Rejection was a scary thing.

"Oh, the usual." Finland said monotonously; he couldn't really keep up the falsity; it was too troublesome and tiresome. Finland had always been one to wear his heart on his sleeve. Pretending wasn't his forte.

Looking at the remaining bits of his eggs and half eaten toast, Finland felt slightly nauseated. He really wasn't in the mood for eating.


Sweden walked into the building of the Little Hero and stepped into the lift. Sweden's cell phone buzzed in his pocket as he clocked in his arrival with his own ID card. Sweden walked into the office and watched as his other colleagues warmed up to the day. After placing his briefcase at his workspace, Sweden pulled out his phone and checked it. A message. From Denmark. Not very special. Sweden opened the message and read the text.

"Gonna b late. Overslept. Heh. Cover 4 me."

Tsk. How typical of him.

ooOoo

Sweden had just brewed himself some coffee at the little machine out back, at the little corner for people to take a break. Though some people stayed there for eons, claiming that they were working. He pulled out his laptop and switched it on; it was time he started on the progress report.

Sweden's workplace was neat, the folders and tutorial books were neatly lined up against the segregator walls and he had installed a neat rack at the side to put in sheets of papers and conference notes bound together by black butterfly clips. The segregator wall also had a pin board neatly hung up with blu-tack, and on the board, important meeting dates and notes left by other colleagues were pinned up with colourful thumbtacks.

Sweden also had a thing for cute ornaments. His table was lined with little handmade wooden animals that he had bought at a street bazaar once, and he had stabilized them with more blu-tack. His stationary holders also radiated an aura of innocence as cute illustrations of sheeps dotted the holders.

Denmark's workspace was just behind Sweden's, and Denmark's was as cluttered as it will ever be. True, the papers were neatly stacked, though in no absolute order, so when the Dane was in a rush and was looking for something, the papers flew all over the place. Notebooks were all left on the table in a haphazard manner, and some weren't even closed. The stationary was strewn all over the table, pens were uncapped and highlighters left to bleed on some papers.

They were practically two worlds apart.

"Hiya Sve!"

Sweden jumped. Turning around, he was startled to find the emerald-eyed Hungary staring at him intently.

" Morning, Hungary." Sweden replied, slightly puzzled. Was he meant to pass her something?

"So…?" Hungary hinted.

"Uh…" Sweden was speechless. Maybe Denmark told her about Fin and me! Silently cursing the Dane, Sweden quickly added, "It's not what you think…"

"It's not?" Hungary frowned.

"Uhm, no."

"Oh. Well, in that case, I think I just wasted a good hundred bucks."

"You actually betted on me?"

"What? No! Sve, what are you talking about? I'm talking about my hair! I've just got it styled like Austria's new girlfriend. D'you think he'll pay some attention to me now?" Hungary batted her pretty green orbs at Sweden, hoping he'd agree.

"If he didn't notice the change, I don't think Austria would."

Hungary turned around to greet the newcomer.

"Denmark you jerk!" Hungary pouted.

"Good morning to you too," Denmark laughed. "I was running late so I drove today. Be prepared to be stunned by my totally beautiful car. Seems like our boss is even later than I am though."

"Maybe you ought to just leave him already," Sweden prompted Hungary quietly. Truth be told, he didn't really care what Hungary did, but he did care for the Prussian who was silently hurting.

"Oh no, not you too!" Hungary whined.

Just then, Mr. Jones waltzed into the office and it was trigger enough to get everyone to start work.

ooOoo

Sweden had just returned from lunch break alone ( because Denmark hadn't even started on his progress report and had decided to use lunch hour to catch up) when Hungary and Prussia had launched themselves into a verbal fight.

As Sweden entered the office floor, he noticed the weary, heavy and extremely dreary atmosphere that clung to the air. As he made his way to his workspace, Sweden noticed Denmark still working away at his progress report.

Sweden dragged his swivel chair to Denmark and sat down.

"Brought ya some bread from the bakery." Sweden said.

"Hmm?" Denmark said, throwing Sweden a sideways glance. " That's thoughtful of you. Thanks."

"What happened here?"

"Prussia and Hungary were having a go at each other. Though it's only quiet now because someone sent Spain to suss them out."

"Was it that bad?"

"Trust me, it's like all of hell just broke lose in here. Hungary was raging, dude. She was shrilling and screaming and crying."

"And what about Austria?"

"Gone for lunch like about almost everyone else?"

At that moment, more screams erupted from the little relaxation corner.

"Get the fuck out of here Spain. This is not your place!"

A bit of murmuring could be heard before Spain slumped out from round the corner. Looking slightly rumpled and defeated, Spain walked over to his table before slumping down in his chair.

"We're going to help them." Sweden decided.

"Woah, what? You do not want to get in that mess, Sve. Seriously!" Denmark stared with wide eyes at Sweden. The way Denmark had looked at him made him feel as if he had suggested that both of them go skydiving without the ropes tied to their waists.

"You're coming with me."

"Hey! Wha-"

With that, Sweden tugged at Denmark until he managed to drag the shorter man over to Prussia and Hungary.

Hungary looked distraught, her eyes were swollen and puffy and tears streamed down in endless rivulets. Prussia, on the other hand, looked stumped, utterly, completely stumped. His ruby eyes diverged from Hungary's green ones, the colour clash were somewhat endearing. Red and green, just like the colours of Christmas, worked well together.

Suddenly Sweden felt a need to bring them together.

"I'm sorry, okay? It's just that…" Prussia trailed off pathetically as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh never mind, what's the point. I'll just go already."

Prussia slipped past Denmark and Sweden and disappeared around the corner.

"Hungary…?" Sweden spoke up.

"Why me? What did I do to deserve this?" Hungary wailed, as fresh tears sprung to her eyes.

"You know, Prussia likes you a lot… It hurts him to see you so down. Why don't you give him a chance? I think everyone should be given a chance at love…"

ooOoo

"Sentimental, weren't you?" Denmark smirked. "Come on, I'll give you a lift today. So you can admire the handicraft of my beautiful, wonderful car."

They had just handed in their progress reports; Denmark had peppered his report with a lot of lies and junk to lengthen his terribly short report. ("We haven't made any progress at all! What should I put in my report?")

As they got into the car, Denmark revved up the engine and made a move to switch on the radio before Sweden stopped him. Denmark's taste for music was a whole universe away from what Sweden liked.

"Anyway, about what you said," Denmark said distractedly as he pulled his car out of the parking lot. "You said 'everyone should be given a chance at love'. What about Finland?"

Sweden bit his lower lip. "About Finland and I, well…"

"Save it Sve, I heard the whole thing from Norway's lil' brother. Ran into him somewhere." Denmark made a vague gesture with his hand as he drove out the car park.

"What should I do?"

"Tell him of course!" Denmark laughed. Digging into his back pocket, Denmark whipped out his cell phone and tossed it to Sweden. "Finland's number. Take it."

Sweden smiled slightly. Sometimes he loved Denmark so much he could just hug him to death.


It was 7pm. He had tried to get started at 6pm. Sweden stared at his mobile phone. 1 whole hour, trying to come up with the perfect text message to explain everything. But all he had in his phone was a blank screen, screaming at him to throw in some words.

How about " Hello Finland"? Sweden thought dismally. No, that wouldn't do. It was too formal. How about 'Hey Finland'? That was too informal. Or what about what Den always use – "Yo!"? Hah, who was he kidding, that was too out of character for him.

Sweden glared at his phone.

"Hi Finland."

Sweden deleted it again after second thoughts. It sounded too shrewd.

"How are you Finland?"

Sweden deleted that too. What, it wasn't like he hadn't seen the Finn since the Middle Ages; he hadn't even lived that long.

"How's it going, Finland?"

Sweden groaned; this was going to take forever. He deleted the sentence and tried to start over again.

ooOoo

It was 7.30pm when Sweden had finally sent out the text. Jittery from nervousness and sleepy with exhaustion, Sweden sat in his living room as he waited for Finland to reply. He even decided to disturb his Danish friend while he waited.


Finland had only just finished clearing up his office – more like studio since he and Norway were in charge of media – at 7.30pm. Norway had gone to the gents before they would make the final round up check and head for home.

As Finland looked out of his office, he could see Japan slouched over his computer. It has been said that Japan was tasked with the important duty of submitting a progress report to Mr. Kirkland about the joint project with the Little Hero company. Turns out they hadn't started much and Japan hadn't had anything to churn out for the report.

Seeing that everything was all set to go, Finland sat down and whilst waiting for Norway, decided to check his phone.

His heart had probably caught in his throat as he read the text. Fireworks exploded in his heart as he read the text. His smiled himself silly as he read it twice over, then a third time, then a fourth and he kept at it until Norway came.

In the end, Sweden had gone for "Hey Finland".

"Hey Finland, this is Sweden. I'm sorry about the other day. It wasn't intentional; I'm not good at expressing myself you see. Well, you caught me by surprise, and I panicked. I didn't know what to do, and due to my sad inability to speak convincingly, I didn't know what to say. Since Denmark had kindly excused himself from the scene, I felt my confidence disappear with him. I'm sorry if I hurt you, I really am. But please, if you could find it in your heart to give me a second chance, I'd appreciate that. Because as afraid as I am to admit it… I really like you too…"

Yes, Finland felt as if he could explode. It was a good kind of explosion though.


"Haven't you got anything better to do? Zzz…"

Sweden snorted at Denmark's reply. It was funny to see that Denmark didn't appreciate irritating disturbance when the Dane had so often done just that to Sweden.

It was 7.45pm when Finland's reply came.

"Heh heh. Of course I'd forgive u (: Cya tmr."

Sweden had never felt so triumphant in a long time.


The next day Sweden was filled with intoxicating happiness. He was full of energy and he was about to burst from all the joy and excitation that had swelled inside him. If this was what love did to you, then Sweden was enjoying every moment of it. He got out of bed ten whole minutes (that's a lot you know!) earlier than usual, he had hummed a happy tune as he stirred up some coffee and prepared some cereal for himself.

People would have been scared shitless if they had seen Sweden in the state he was in. It was, to say the least, terrifying to see Sweden as he was. A large smile had spread across his face as he remembered the short conversation that he had with Finland over the phone last night. It was a sort of pointless conversation; talking about things that didn't mattered like dinner, or what they were doing. But it was fun. It was one of those silly pointless things that lovers did together, but it made them happy anyway so who cares?

Sweden felt so happy he could have just danced around all day, prancing from room to room. Yes, prancing.

Grabbing his phone, he decided to spread the joy to Denmark by disturbing his friend again. He had gone crazy on the phone as he told Denmark everything; Denmark had been thrilled for Sweden but that one sharing hadn't been enough to expel all the happiness in his soul.

He typed like he had never typed before.

"Morning Den. Taxi? I'll pay today. Take advantage of my happiness, why don't ya."

The reply was almost instantaneous.

"God, Sve, it's like only 8am. Wth? Go get some sleep. We don't need to c them until 10. I don't care if u're dying to see Finland. Heck, he might still be asleep now."

Sweden snorted.

"Why are you up so early then?"

"I'm not. Your damn text woke me up. I'm sensitive k? Text in half an hour later. I'll take you up on your offer."

Sweden shrugged, he was too happy to be care about Denmark's snappy replies. In fact, he couldn't care about anything in the world. He was too, extremely happy. Enough said.

ooOoo

At work, both had been fizzy with joy, although Sweden was still able to keep his composure. Finland, on the other hand, had been talking at practically a million words an hour. He couldn't stop even if he wanted to.


Norway had been happy to see the perk. Though Finland still hardly ate, it seemed that Finland had gotten over his depressed and moody days. It was good. It was a positive change for the Finn. When Finland had spewed all the good news the day before, Norway couldn't help but feel relieved for Finland.

Finland had been buzzing since, thinking of the world of possibilities he could be doing. Not in the perverse sense though. Maybe love wasn't such a bad thing.

Norway glanced at Finland and watched as the younger male talked animatedly to his stoic companion. They were practically official now, although it hadn't been said before between the two.

It was lunch hour now and they had gone back to the eatery where Finland had first invited Sweden and Denmark. Allowing Finland and Sweden to bask in their newfound relationship, Norway and Denmark had courteously agreed that both Sweden and Finland could both make an order first.

Norway glanced at Denmark, who was watching the pair disappear with profound joy. Denmark didn't seem jealous, just genuinely happy for his friend. Norway turned his gaze to Finland and Sweden and watched the small of their backs before the swarm of people blocked them both out.


Sweden had tagged after Finland who was grinning and laughing nonstop for the past few hours since they had met. It had been hard to work when his mind kept wandering to little Finland. Now he had to take the next daring move.

He had talked to Denmark in the cab; had asked Denmark what he should do. Denmark had laughed at him.

"Dude, Sve, I've never been in a relationship before man." Denmark had pointed out. "You've got to figure this part out on your own."

But Sweden had figured it out anyway. He was going to invite Finland out on a date. His mind was filled with possibilities; a posh dinner at some restaurant, a trip to the amusement park and an end to the night by the big apple tree near the funfair grounds – it was perfect for star gazing and to watch the luminous firework displays later at about 11pm. He had it all planned. All he had to do now was ask Finland out.

As they lined up at one of the food stores, Finland cocked his head sideways at Sweden. The queue was short and the stocky lady manning the stall was chatting up conversations with her customers as she waited for the food to cook. Sweden wasn't even aware of what they had lined up for. Some noodle of the sort as he examined the menu.

"Are you okay?" Finland inquired, his eyebrows knitted together in a worrisome gaze, " you haven't said anything for the past few minutes. I know I've been rambling, but do feel free to cut in when you feel like it."

Sweden blinked. Right, of course. Now was his time.

"Uhm hey Finland."

"Yeah? Oh, you can stop calling me Finland any time you know. It's too formal. Fin is good, I mean everybody calls me Fin and I like it that way. I don't remember who first called me that but-"

"Fin."

"Oops. What's wrong?"

"W-Would you consider hanging out with me? You know, get to know each other… And stuff…"

"Oh! When?"

"I dunno. After work? On the weekend?"

"Weekend sounds good!" Finland's eyes glittered. Maybe it was the lighting, or his imagination, but boy those eyes were beautiful.

"Is that a yes?" Sweden prompted.

"You know I wouldn't say no."

Things were going great for Sweden; no one could deny it.


Denmark huffed. The air was chilly at this time of the day. It was Thursday evening. Two days ago, Denmark had received a text from Iceland. "Thursday, 8pm, by Crosswood Street. At the long walkway. Can't miss it, don't be late!" It had read. Denmark had smiled at that. It was pretty obvious that Iceland enjoyed what he did, and the fact that Norway didn't support his brother in this, well that was just sad.

It was 7.58pm, and a considerable crowd had gathered. Denmark had brought a small bag with a little camcorder in it, a laptop, a floppy disk, and other junk, which he had grabbed and stuffed down his bag. He was going to record Iceland's performance and he was going to save it. For memory keeps.

Squeezing his way through the crowd, Denmark managed to settle himself somewhat near the front. Whipping out his camcorder, he began adjusting the settings when he spotted Iceland and Hong Kong. Iceland had been clad in some ripped denim jeans (a seemingly favourite of the youngster) and a black singlet, black leather gloves exposing his fingertips, a red bandana draped across his forehead and black sneakers. It was the perfect image of a street hoodlum.

Hong Kong came as a shock to Denmark. He had the startling resemblance to Japan from I2. Hong Kong too was wearing matching clothing to Iceland. The clothes items only differed in colour. Hong Kong's bandana was a deep shade of Prussian blue and his singlet was a startling white, the sneakers were a crimson red.

As Hong Kong made his way to the little stereo at the side of the street, Denmark finished the adjustments on his camcorder.

Loud, blaring music filled the area and the onlookers began clapping to the beat. A smile played across Iceland's lips. This was where he felt at home.

The music pulsed and the performance began. Denmark lifted the camcorder to eye level.

"Lights, camera, action…"

beep!


A/N: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, I FELT SO HIGH TYPING OUT THE PART WHERE FIN AND SVE WERE TEXTING. AND I STIL AM, HAHAHAHAHAHA. It's like freaking 3.56AM here, and I should be sleeping. I also have my chemistry practical test on Monday so whoops. Haha! Well, this chapter was churned out in the middle of the night, so I apologise for the rush through. I don't have time to proof-read this, but do bear with me. I'm half dead at this ungodly hour. Also, you probably won't hear from me until December because my major exams are coming and stuff then I'm going to have a load of fun in Japan before the release of my results The next chapter though, will be a lot of the development of Denmark and Norway's relationship (:

PS. For those who don't know, wth= what the hell :T I don't think anyone would be outdated with this but you know, just in case ;)

To my lovely readers:

HimekoUchia: YOU ARE THE MOST FAITHFUL READER I HAVE EVER MET, :') THANK YOU. I love your reviews and your ideas. I'm also pretty curious, are you Asian? Because I am, I only speak English, Chinese and Japanese and I barely passed my Chinese major exam this year ^^; Also, see, Sweden can also fix up a broken relationship xD Though I've never been in one before so I wouldn't know what it'll be like. And I'm sorry to hear that you have naughty siblings, I'm the younger sibling so I don't know how bad I annoy my sister. But on the other hand, my sister could be a real life female version of Sweden, only she's got this annoying Prussia side. Hah! And yes, Denmark will only get sweeterrr~ ;) Also, I'm actually rushing all these chapters because all the ideas are fresh in my head. If they rot after my major exams, I might lose the inspiration to continue this story and it won't be updated until I die. X_X

Guest: Here's the next chapter. I hope the relationship has been rectified enough? U_U