Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

LuxBela: From Bad to Good

Natalia flinched as she heard the sound of laughter behind her. It was cruel and cold. She recognised the voices, and her cheeks flushed as she recalled what had happened earlier. They were there to continue what they started.

There was a large puddle in front of her, and Natalia paused as she tried to determine the best way to get past it. She lingered too long, and before she knew it, some of the girls behind her pushed her, and she slammed into the muddy water. She coughed as some of the water ended up in her mouth, and she glared up at the cackling banshees.

"You should watch where you're going," the first girl said.

"I think she wanted a bath," the second girl said. "Since this is probably the cleanest water she's seen in a long time."

"You know, I think you're right," the third girl said. "She probably wanted to get ready before she went on a date with her boyfriend. Oh, wait, she doesn't have one. I mean, what kind of guy would be crazy enough to even want to touch her, let alone kiss her?"

The three cackled. Natalia could feel herself growing even hotter as she tried to stand up.

"Wait, did we break up?" a boy asked behind Natalia. "Why didn't you tell me?"

She turned around to see Henri Weber, one of the more popular boys in school. He held out his hand to Natalia, and she hesitated a moment before she took his hand. He pulled her up and placed a kiss on her cheek. She felt her face heat up even more, but not out of anger this time. What was going on?

"Come on," Henri said. "I'll walk you home."

Henri laced their fingers together as he started walking. She chanced a glance back towards the three harpies to see them gaping at them, and she quickly turned to look at Henri.

"Why did you do that?" she muttered.

"I didn't like what they were doing to you," he replied. "So, if you'd like, we can pretend to date for a while, unless you want to go on an actual date with me."

"…What?"

"Well, I've been meaning to ask you out for a while now. You're interesting, and I'd like to get to know you better. But this was not the way I thought of doing it. So… How do you feel about a movie on Friday night, and would you like dinner before or after the movie?"

Was he serious? Was he mocking her? When Natalia looked up at Henri, she saw only sincerity. She didn't know what to say, and so she only nodded. Henri smiled.

"Great!" he said. "So… Friday at five? Shall we meet at the cinema, or do you want to get something to eat first?"

"C-cinema is fine," Natalia stuttered.

How did this happen?

I was looking through memes and ended up on wholesome posts, and one of those stories inspired this story. Can't say where exactly it was, since I was going through Google Images, and I went down the rabbit hole.

Also, I've posted the first chapter of Thicker than Water yesterday. I ended up reaching ten chapters sooner than I thought. Well, I already had six chapters, so it was four chapters that came quickly. And if you're curious, the next story I'm going to try to focus on is Mystery of Vargas Manor. So hopefully I'll have enough chapters of that one just as quickly.