Nyotalia College AU

Alice-Nyo! England

Marianne-Nyo! France

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia, it belongs to Himaruya Hidekaz.

"Alice?", Marianne asked her girlfriend.

"What is it?", the English major was curled up on the armchair in their shared dorm. She'd been rereading Wuthering Heights and taking sips from her beloved Earl Grey when Marianne came back from classes.

"Can we go on a date?"

"I don't see why not. It hasn't been "Just the two of us" outside in a while", Alice smiled, "did you make any plans yet or where's this coming from all of a sudden?"

"Nothing set in stone, dear, but I saw the ice rink is open again and I thought we could go skating together." Marianne frowned when she realized Alice wasn't keen on the idea. They'd been together for nearly two years now and Alice was expressive.

"Marianne, I'm sure that's a lovely thing to do, but there's a problem."

"Do you not like it? We can always do something else." The Frenchwoman was a bit disappointed. She'd looked forward to skating again, she hadn't done so since high school. Also, the thought of skating hand in hand with Alice on ice and getting a warm hot chocolate afterwards plus cuddles (or more) was adorable.

"No, that's not it, I just", Alice blushed, "I can't skate."

"You're twenty-three and don't know how to ice skate?" Marianne failed to keep her disbelief out of her voice.

"No. I've always wanted to learn, but I never had the time I guess." Oh. Wait a second, fantastic and romantic date plan developing in brain-

"I can teach you!" It would be perfect. Helping Alice learn (which offered the chance to have more dates at the ice rink in the near or distant future), holding her while she was taking her first wobbly "steps" on skates and so on… it was going to be so cute!

"Are you sure? Don't you think it might be difficult to learn now? I don't want to keep you from having fun either." But Alice sounded interested at least.

"It's obviously going to be harder than if you were younger, but you'll be fine. I promise it'll be funny enough teaching you. I haven't gone in a few years either, I'd take it slow either way." This was working… then a brilliant thought popped into Marianne's mind.

"We can even stop by your favourite bookstore afterwards. You know, the one that makes great tea and hot chocolate too."

"When were you thinking we should go?" Score! Marianne was a mistress of persuasion techniques.

Alice was going to regret this, she was sure. Marianne, however, had a beautiful smile that made her eyes light up when they arrived at the ice rink two days later. Right, that was part of the reason she had agreed. It obviously made her girlfriend happy, and Marianne had tried her best to compromise, too. The evening part of the date (cuddling with tea for Alice and hot chocolate for Marianne in Alice's favourite bookstore) better be worth the bruises she was bound to get from falling on her behind.

She was waiting for Marianne to buy their tickets and their allowance to lend skates. Marianne came back, helping her choose skates her size. Alice struggled even more than initially expected when putting them on, while the Frenchwoman made it seem effortless, as if it were a pair of sneakers. This was going to be hell.

Walking on the blade to the rink itself wasn't as horrible as she had anticipated, but the moment Alice had actually dreaded came with stepping on the ice. Even though her girlfriend was right behind her and giving Alice enough leeway so she could catch her, five scary steps and she went straight from vertical to horizontal. Ow.

"Are you okay, Alice?", on a different occasion, Alice would've found Marianne fretting annoying. Right now, she was glad for the hand and kiss pressed to her lips.

"I'll live."

"Alright, maybe I went the wrong way about it. See, don't step, glide. As if it's a V.", Marianne performed the motions as slow as possible, while Alice watched carefully. "Do you want to try again?" The Frenchwoman skated one or two quick rounds, getting back into the movement and fluid enough to pass by Alice slowly. The Englishwoman had held onto the wall in the meantime, taking the hand her girlfriend offered.

"Look, I'll hold you now. We'll go really slow, too. Do you trust me?"

"Yes." She let go of the wall, allowing Marianne to take the lead. Alice nearly stumbled when Marianne was too fast for her, although they were dawdling compared to some speeders on the opposite end. Alice felt a bit of shame when she realized she was the only beginner, and most of the children raced past her.

She quickly got over it though, and tried her best to keep up. They made it half-a-round when Alice fell again, but much softer and better caught than before.

"Look!", Marianne beamed. "You made it this far! That's really good for your first time."

"Thanks." It wasn't so bad, really. Alice could gladly overlook the fall, bruises and cold when she saw her girlfriend's pleased and proud face. "Do I get a kiss? I deserve it for this improvement."

Marianne didn't even respond, her mouth was occupied with other things. Yes, Alice could get used to this.

Two hours later, they were ice cold and exhausted. Alice had fallen more times than she decided to count, but it had been more fun than she thought. They brought back their skates and left for the bookstore as Marianne had promised.

With a cup of her favourite Earl Grey tea she hadn't made herself in hand and a promising book, Alice cuddled up to her French girlfriend. Marianne, as always, nursed a mug of hot chocolate. She'd put the book she picked on the table, in favour of hugging Alice.

"Did you have fun?" Marianne was quiet, placing a kiss to Alice's forehead after the question.

"It wasn't so bad." Alice would much rather be right where they were, though.

"So you'd go ice skating again?"

"Not until next year", Alice saw her girlfriend open up her mouth, "and by that I mean next December. But it went better than I guessed."

"That's the best I could have hoped for, I suppose." Marianne laughed a bit, and Alice joined in.

"You know, I think we should go home. It's dark out." Alice picked up her book, and saw the Frenchwoman nod and do the same.

They paid for their new additions to the mini library they owned (also categorized like one, courtesy of Alice) and went home.

The rest of the evening was spent reading, cuddling, and going to bed earlier than usual due to exhaustion. Neither of them would have it any other way, though.