Tears of a sunflower

Chapter 21

You both went out to his car, a bright red Convertible. The top was up thankfully since it had rained for hours the night before. He opened the passenger door for you and you climbed in. The door shut softly and he walked over to the driver side and got in. He was about to start the car but then his face showed a look of remembrance.

“Oh, wait. I have to blindfold you for this. You and I both know this area very well and I don’t want you to recognize the route.”

 “Ok, I understand.” He pulled out a purple bandana with his mochi on it and tied it around your eyes. It was completely dark but the bandana smelled awesome, which was kinda weird but whatever. It was a combo of cologne, vodka, and (F/F). It was a strange combination but one that you were quite enjoying.

Russia drove for a few minutes in silence until he turned on the radio. It was a punk station that you both enjoyed and to your embarrassment it was ‘Bruises and Bitemarks’. You could feel your face heating up at the lyrics and the memories of the party. Before long Ivan joined the radio in singing and you did too. It was quite awkward but you didn’t really care. After the song ended you smiled and could feel Russia doing the same.

You continued driving for another 15 minutes until you felt the car park. “Close your eyes please, I want to take the blindfold off but you can’t see yet.”

You did as he asked and felt the bandana being lifted off your face, taking the delectable smell with it. Ivan opened his door and got out, shutting it with a click. You kept your eyes closed but fought the temptation to peek. You heard your own door open as Ivan lifted you out and shut the door with his hip.

He carried you bridal style through the automatic doors of the building you knew nothing about. You opened your eyes a crack and saw Lithuania and Italy, as well as France. Italy poked Russia and pointed at you, leading him to notice you were peeking. He covered your eyes with his hand, still holding you up.

Before long the whispering ceased and you began walking again. Russia opened a door and walked through. It was freezing as Ivan set you down gently and took his hand off your eyes. “Ok, now you can open your eyes now.”

You did just that and gasped. “Ivan, how did you know I’ve always wanted to go ice skating?”

“Eliza told me. This is good, Da?”

“Yeah, except for one thing, I don’t know how to skate at all.”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ve been skating for years and can teach you.”

He was smiling and was looking for approval from you. You grinned at him while you shivered from the cold. He noticed this and starting taking off his long coat, handing it to you to put on. It was a little large but you didn’t mind, it was warm and comfy. 

“Thank you Vanya, this is wonderful. I hope you won’t get cold.”

“Don’t worry; I am used to colder temperatures back at home. This is not even chilly to me.” He assured you, making you smile. You both put on the skates that he had gotten earlier, likely from Liet, Feli, or Francis. Yours fit perfectly and were even your favorite color with hearts on the toes.

 You wobbled over to the ice with Russia right behind you. The second your skate touched the ice you started shaking from being off balance. Ivan held you up so you wouldn’t fall and started pushing you forward ever so gently. “Start slow, it takes time to get used to the ice under your feet.”

“Ok, just don’t let go please. Im still pretty scared of falling.”

“I won’t until you’re ready, I promise. Just move your feet side to side and push forward a little. I’ll help you stay up.”

“Thank you for this, I have a feeling that you have more planned for today as well.”

With that you starting skating forward, Ivan’s hand on your back for reassurance. Before long you were skating around like you had been doing it for years, the long coat flowing behind you like a cape. Ivan was skating next to you, both because he wanted to and because you were still a little wobbly. You started picking up speed, almost crashing several times. Finally reality caught up with your fairy like gait and you fell. Hard. Your shoulder took the brunt of the pain, your knees following. You slid for a good ten feet on the ice, freezing your ass in the skinny jeans you had on.

Russia practically flew over to your landing spot, spraying some ice shavings on you when he stopped. “(F/N) are you ok? Im sorry for getting ice on you when I stopped. Did you break anything, you fell pretty hard?”

Your eyes were clouded with tears, making it difficult to see clearly. You tried to respond but all you could do was whimper. Noticing your inability to speak, Russia picked you up carefully and skated off of the ice. He sat you down on a bench and checked you over for broken bones. You had finally regained the ability to function and wiped your eyes.

“Hey, Vanya, thank you. Im fine, don’t worry. My shoulder is a bit bruised and my knees are a bit sore and my ass is cold but that’s it. It just bothered me that you saw me screw up when I was doing so well. That’s why I was upset, my pride just cracked a bit.”

“You looked wonderful out there, so light and beautiful. Im not surprised you fell since this is your first time skating and all. I think you should rest for a little while. After that ill help you get back out. You would like me to stay, Da?”

“No, I want you to show me what you can do on the ice. You grew up skating and I want to see how cool you can look out there.”

“Ok, I will show you what I can do. I don’t think it’s very cool looking but ok.”

With that he skated off, going around the rink a few times before jumping, spinning midair twice before landing perfectly. He did a figure eight, leaning backwards and grinning at you. You grinned back as he started spinning very quickly in place, still leaning backwards, scarf almost touching the ice. He slowed to a stop and skated back to where you were sitting. “Damn Vanya, you’re awesome. I doubt I’ll ever be able to do something like that. You were spinning so fast and leaning backwards, it was so cool.”

 “You really think so? I really enjoyed spinning like that. I think one day you will be able to do that if you practice. Would you like to skate again?”

“Da.” You said, smirking at the fact that you had used his own language. He smiled down at you as he pulled you towards the ice. After only a minute of skating again the music from the speakers ended and it was announced that it was now couples skate.

Ivan glanced nervously at you as you blushed and said “Why not, I want to try doubles skating and we look enough like a couple to pass muster. Let’s stay here and skate.”

Ivan’s face split into a huge smile and he pulled you towards the center. “Just follow my lead.” You both lazily skated in time to the slow song, Russia sometimes having you go backwards. You spun a few times and then clung onto Russia for a moment, still moving a bit.

Twice you had leaned in to kiss him but then remembered your plan and pulled back. He had looked strangely disappointed when you moved away and this gave you a glimmer of hope that maybe he liked you back. When the song ended you were both blushing bright red as you went to sit down.

Several people had walked over to compliment yours and Ivan’s skating skill and called you a cute couple. Rather than spend the time explaining the whole strange situation to them, you said thank you and began to take off your skates, Russia doing the same. He went over to return the skates, leaving you on the bench with your nervous thoughts. You had a feeling Ivan was planning on taking you for food soon and that’s when your plan was going into action.

You were still fearful of rejection but knew that now was the time to admit your crush. After about ten minutes of thinking Ivan walked back to where you were sitting, no longer wearing skates. You handed him back his jacket and pulled on your shoes. He walked you back to the car, still not saying anything about where you were going.

Yayyy, new chapter! Be sure to check out my authors note i posted, it has some updates and thank you's. ill try and post in two or three days, but i make no promises. Have a nice day, Ciao- Sachiko<3