A Waltz in the Dark (Norway + OC Hetalia fanfiction)

Chapter 31

    Friday was absolutely chaotic. But Norway was prepared. He hadn’t planned out a lecture for that day because he knew none of the students would be listening, but he had planned out what he would yell if things got out of hand. However, Norway found that he was completely relaxed, even though the last day of the semester was usually the one he dreaded the most.
    During the first class, the history class, he walked out from behind his desk and walked up to where Mary sat. She raised an eyebrow, her lips twitching.
    “So, what is it that you will take away from this class, Miss Shepherd?” he asked her, and all the students were surprisingly quiet. Mary looked surprised.
    “When you go home and people ask you what you learned here, what will you tell them?” he was sincerely curious. It was obvious Mary already knew a lot about Nordic history, and he was wondering if he had actually taught her anything new.
    “Well,” she said, folding her hands together, “I’d tell them that I learned more about the Viking Age, because my Professor specialized in it and included details that I didn’t know. And then perhaps I’d go into a long description of all the details I thought were cool because history fascinates me so much.” Mary smiled.
    Lukas smiled back.
    “Vhat details did you think were cool?”
    And so ensued a lively conversation about different aspects of the Viking Age— they discussed runes and different theories about historical mysteries. It was fun to hear what she had to say, and if anyone had been listening, they would’ve learned something. Because the majority of her theories weren’t far off from the truth.
    But the students laughed and chattered and threw paper airplanes, proving to Norway what he had known all along.
    They were all idiots.

*

   
    The day came to a close, and Norway was relieved. He wouldn’t have to go back to the University until next semester, and then there wouldn’t be any American students.
    Well, except one.
    One lovely, clever American student.
    But there was a little over a month before the second semester would begin, and he had Christmas to look forward to, so he put it in the back of his mind. It would be a new experience for him, celebrating Christmas in another country— it had been decades since he’d left Northern Europe for longer than a few days, and that was usually only for World Meetings.
    He was excited.
    Traveling would be fun while it lasted, but he was mostly excited that he’d get to spend the holiday season with Mary.
    He smiled to himself as he finished packing and then checked the time. He had offered to drive Mary to the airport. Their flight left at midnight, and it was nearly eleven, so he grabbed his bags, adjusted his barrette, and then took one last look around his apartment, hoping he hadn’t forgotten anything.
    And then he turned and exited, locking the door behind him.
   

*

    Soon he and Mary were boarding the plane. Norway had made sure they got seats together, so they sat down side-by-side and buckled up. Mary turned toward him.
    “You nervous?” she asked with a heart-warming smile.
    “Of flying?”
    “No,” she giggled, “I mean about meeting my parents.”
    “Oh.” He was quiet for a minute. “Should I be?”
    “I guess not, but… I don’t know, these are my parents that you’re about to meet…” she raised an eyebrow and Lukas was tempted to smirk.
    Two middle-aged mortals who’s offspring he was interested in? He’d faced worse.
    “I’m sure they’re vonderful,” he said, leaning his head back.
    “And I’m sure you’re wonderful.”

*

    The flight was nearly twenty-two hours long with two stops. Norway forced himself to sleep for most of the trip, because he knew being awake would make the flight suspiciously shorter. He didn’t want to cause issues, especially not with time and especially not with mortals. So he slept.
    They still landed in Eugene two hours earlier than expected, though, and it was a reminder that there was a reason why all the countries had private jets.
    Mary texted her father to tell him they were there early, and then they waited. It was almost 8 PM and it was dark, but Norway still peered out the large windows, trying to catch a glimpse of Oregon. He had heard it was really green because Oregon herself liked to boast about it. He couldn’t see much, only what the artificial lights allowed, but he knew he’d have plenty of opportunities to see the land since he was staying there for two weeks. So he turned away from the windows. Mary sat in the chairs right behind him, surfing her phone and yawning. Their bags were piled around her, except for the chair on her left. He went and sat next to her and she looked up at him and smiled, sleepily. She had slept for the last few hours of the flight, too.
    “He should be here…” she yawned, “… any minute now.”
    Norway nodded, looking around the busy airport.
    “Vhat does he look like?” he asked.
    “Oh, trust me, you’ll know him when you see him,” she said with a short laugh.
    “Mary!”
    Mary and Norway looked over their shoulders simultaneously.
    Walking toward them with long strides was a tall man with white hair and a gray beard. Mary’s father. She was right— it was obvious.
    The height gave it away, if nothing else.
    “Dad!” Mary exclaimed, jumping up and running toward him. The man, who was an entire head taller than Mary, smiled and squished her in a bear hug. Mary hugged him back tightly.
    “I missed you!” Mary exclaimed as they parted.
    “I missed you, too!” and then he raised his eyes to look at Norway.
    Norway walked up to him, feeling suddenly small and meek.
    Vait, now I’m nervous? How did Mary know?
    “And you must be Professor Bondevik,” he said warmly, though his light green eyes studied him intensely. He held his hand out, and Norway took it. His grip was strong.
    “Lukas, this is my dad, Austin Shepherd,” she said.
    “It’s good to meet you, Mister Shepherd,” Norway said with a nod.
    “It’s nice to meet you, too. I wish I could say I’ve heard a lot about you, but my daughter didn’t communicate as much as she promised to,” Mr. Shepherd looked at Mary with raised eyebrows.
    “Sorry, I got distracted,” she mumbled, beginning to pick up her bags.
    “I should say so,” her dad said, looking at Norway.
    Norway ignored the comment and grabbed his suitcase and duffelbag. Mr. Shepherd helped Mary with her things and soon they were heading out to the parking lot. They piled all of their things in the back of a blue jeep and then hopped in. Mary offered the front seat to Norway, but he refused and climbed into the back before she could argue.
    They drove silently away from the airport, and Norway was relieved when Mary and her father quietly began to talk amongst themselves. Norway wasn’t sure what to say, so he was content to listen. Mary enthusiastically told her dad all about Norway and kept sighing with happiness, sometimes unable to properly express herself because she was so excited.
    Norway’s elation was indescribable.
    It was nearly 9 by the time they were pulling into her neighborhood. Norway stared out of the window. It was a homey place. Christmas lights and decorations were on almost every house, making it easier to see. They pulled into the driveway of a white, two-story house lined with multi-color lights, parking next to a big, green, twelve-passenger van.
    “Here we are,” Mary said in a whisper, a large smile on her face. She and her dad jumped out of the car. Norway took his time climbing out, wondering how the rest of her family would react. Her dad seemed protective yet curious, but that was to be expected, right? But Mary also said she had a lot of siblings, how—?
    “MAAAARYYYY!!”
    The front door flew open, shedding golden light onto the shady porch. Out ran a tall figure. Mary dropped her suitcases onto the ground and ran up to the man.
    “ISAAAAAAC!!” she screamed as they hugged. The man, called Isaac, apparently, wrapped his arms around her shoulders and hugged her tightly, a big smile on his face. He had shaggy, dirty blond hair, a round face, and long legs, just like Mary and her dad. He was obviously the only brother Mary had told him about.
    Isaac let go of Mary.
    “How are you? It’s been forever!” he exclaimed, grabbing one of her bags.
    “I’m good! So good!” she replied, walking toward the front door. And then Isaac noticed Norway.
    “Hey, aren’t you going to introduce me?” he said, stopping and turning to face Norway, holding out his hand and smiling. Norway took it and shook, solemnly. Isaac wasn’t deterred.
    “Oh yeah, sorry,” Mary exclaimed, rushing back toward them. “Lukas, this is my little brother, Isaac.”
    “Little only in age,” Isaac mumbled, shoving her in the shoulder. Mary stood up on her tiptoes. When she did that, they appeared to be the same height. Isaac shoved her again, forcing her down. Mary laughed.
    “And Isaac, this is Professor Lukas Bondevik,” she finished. Norway nodded to him again.
    “Mom told me that you said he was your,” Isaac leaned in and said the last word in a whisper, “Boyfriend.”
    Mary leaned in toward him and also began to whisper, “Yes, he is.”
    “Why didn’t you just call him that then?” Isaac whispered with a mischievous smile.
    “Why are we whispering?” Mary changed the topic.    “I don’t know!” Isaac said raising his voice to a shout, “My sister has a boyfriend!”
    Norway’s heart began to pound as the exclamation echoed down the quiet street. He could feel himself start to blush and was thankful it was nighttime so they couldn’t see.
    “Isaac!!” Mary reprimanded.
    Her brother laughed and ran toward the house. Mary rushed after him. Their dad had already taken Norway’s duffelbag inside, so Norway was left alone in the dark with his suitcase. He slowly walked toward the front door, hesitation in each step. He breathed in the cold, city air, wondering if spending the holidays with a mortal family was a good idea after all.
    “Hey.”
    He looked up to see Mary standing in the doorway. She smiled at him.
    “You coming?”
    He nodded.
    He went inside and Mary slammed the door shut behind him. There was a large doorway to his left that lead into the living room, a stairway directly in front of him, and a hallway to his right, leading to the kitchen and some other rooms, it looked like. He set down his suitcase and took off his shoes. Mary took his coat, gesturing toward the living room. Norway smelled gingerbread and eggnog and relaxed a little when he saw the decorated Christmas tree in the corner of their living room. He walked further into the house, and saw the rest of her family waiting in the living room. Mr. Shepherd and Isaac stood on the far end of the room talking, but quieted when he came in. Sitting on the couch in the living room was a young girl and a woman. The woman stood up and smiled at him. Norway couldn’t help but stare.
    She looked like an older, shorter version of Mary. She had the same blue eyes, round face and nose, and curly blond hair.
    “Hi! Welcome!” she exclaimed, “You must be Professor Bondevik.”
    “You can call me Lukas, Misses Shepherd,” he said, bowing his head to her.
    “Yes, Lukas, this is my mom,” Mary said as she entered the living room, “Kay Shepherd.”
    Lukas held out his hand and she took it.
    “And this is my little sister, Evangeline,” Mary said, sitting down next to the girl. She couldn’t have been older than ten years old and had dirty-blond hair and large, deep blue eyes. The girl glanced up from her iPod and took out an earbud.
    “Hi,” she said with a quick smile. And then she was looking down at her iPod again.
    “My sister Katheryn is married and lives a little over an hour away,” Mary exclaimed, “But she’ll probably visit soon. I can’t wait for you to meet her.” Her smile was bright. “She’s my best friend.”
    “I can’t vait to meet her, too,” Norway said, taking a deep breath and letting the homey atmosphere soften his anxieties.
    “Here, let me show you where you’ll be,” Mary said, grabbing his hand and pulling him back toward the hall. He grabbed his bags and followed her up the stairs. Mary turned to the right and walked down the carpeted hall. She gestured to two rooms they went past.
    “This is Isaac’s bedroom and that’s my parent’s,” she said, pointing to each one as she passed, “And this is the guest bedroom,” she pushed open the door at the very end of the hall. There was a neatly made twin-sized bed near the wall and a dresser with a mirror on the opposite wall. There was a desk with a chair near the foot of the bed, but other than that and a few miscellaneous decorations, the room was empty.
    “This will be your room,” she said, looking at him with a smile. He walked further into the room.
    “It’s very nice,” he said, looking back at her.
    “Feel free to come hole up in here if things ever get too loud or exhausting,” she said with a knowing look. Norway almost smirked.
    “Takk.”
    “So, how is everything?”
    Mary’s parents were soon standing in the doorway.
    “Good, thank you,” Norway said, nodding to them, “And thank you for allowing me to come stay at your home.”
    “Of course!” Mrs. Shepherd said, “We’re glad to have you.” But as she glanced from Mary back to him, he couldn’t help but wonder if she meant it.
    “We’d like to know a little bit more about you, though, Mr. Bondevik, and how you two met,” Mr. Shepherd cut in.
    “Yes, I think Mary mentioned that you two were interested in each other?” Mrs. Shepherd said.
    “Mom,” Mary said stiffly, “I already explained to you clearly that we are together.”
    Norway looked at her, admiration filling him. She had just outright claimed him as hers.
    His heart began to pound.
    “Yes, well, it’s different over text,” Mrs. Shepherd said, “I want to hear how it happened and I want to know more about you, Lukas.”
    “Why don’t we head downstairs?” Mr. Shepherd suggested. Mrs. Shepherd agreed that that was a good idea and they left the doorway. Mary and Norway followed. He kept glancing at her, but Mary stared straight ahead, looking deep in thought.
    They walked down the stairs and into the living room together. Norway was prepared to sit next to Mary and agree with everything she said, but when they sat down on the love seat adjoining the couch where her parents sat at an angle, they looked and spoke directly to him.
    “So, tell us, Lukas,” Mrs. Shepherd began, “How did you first meet Mary? When did you start going out?”
    Oh Lord.