Chapter 7
Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
~Robert Heinlein
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For some reason, the winter of Belarus and Lithuania's marriage was unbelievably frigid. Perhaps it occurred because of Belarus' frozen heart, perhaps it was something in the pattern of the wind, perhaps it was simply a cold winter. Whatever the reason, that winter was incredibly cold, which made many people grumble or hide indoors.
Late at night, after Lithuania and Belarus gazed at the sunrise together for the first time, Winter's icy claws scraped across Lithuania's house, which froze the windows and cooled the house, despite the actively burning fires and the raging heater. Lithuania awoke into this cold night, for although he was bundled up snugly, his nose was cold. Quickly, he buried his face in his thick quilt, and attempted to go back to sleep. Indeed, the temperature in his bedroom was lower than usual at this time of year, especially since the windows were frosted.
As he closed his eyes and struggled to go back to sleep, Lithuania felt something tremble. Immediately, his eyes flew open. Did he really feel something, or was it his imagination? He felt another tremble, and realized that there was something moving in the bed. He turned his head and noticed Belarus lightly shivering with the cold. Since her tough heart didn't want to share a blanket with Lithuania, she selected her own. Lithuania attempted to warn her that the blanket she picked was the thinner one, but she refused to listen, and now her shivers made the bed tremble, which caught Lithuania's attention.
Although he knew that Belarus brought this upon herself, Lithuania still cared for her. Hence, he quietly, slowly, draped part of his blanket over her and wrapped his arm around her, snuggling close to her to warm her. Believing that Belarus was asleep, Lithuania rested his head beside hers, and fell asleep. However, Belarus was fully awake. She tried to sleep, but stayed awake because her own shivers woke her up repeatedly. Miserably, she stared at the clock on the wall, waiting for the night to end. Then, while she was cursing herself for not heading Lithuania's warning about the blanket, she felt his arm wrap around her, and his blanket fall on her, which stopped her shivers. Indeed, he truly cared for her.
Warming up in Lithuania's embrace, Belarus recalled how she had treated her 'husband' ever since the day she agreed to marry him. Over the past months, she ignored, abused, cursed, and pushed him aside in her life. At nighttime, she reminded him to stay on HIS SIDE of the bed, and during the morning, she secretly hoped that he wouldn't touch her, and when she did, she tensed at his tender touches. Indeed, she had learned to tolerate him, and was getting used to living with him, but she still disliked him. Now that he was keeping her warm even though she didn't deserve it, which made no sense to her, she felt guilty for all she did to him.
In the stillness of the night, Belarus decided that… perhaps, she should try to be a better wife to Lithuania, especially since he was nothing but kind to her. Indeed, no matter what she did, what she said, what she refused from him, he was always going after her in love. This night was the perfect example: her cold made his heart ache for her, and he willingly warmed her, because he wanted her to be happy no matter what she did to him, and always loved him. Hence, she decided to be better to him in return. After all, the marriage was only for a few more months, so why not at least TRY to make them TOLERABLE, right? At least, that's what she thought. That frosty winter night, Belarus decided to change, but the next week's events would truly decide how she would treat him for the rest of the year.
Dear Reader,
I hope that you enjoy my story!
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Furthermore, I would like to gladly thank my buddy, The Scheming Turtle, for being my Beta-reader, and I would also like to thank everyone for all the wonderful reviews and love quotes.
PioneeringAuthor, the pioneer with a heart for people and a thousand stories to tell {+}