An Irregular Heartbeat // Countryhumans AU

Day Six

Russia woke up to the incessant crinkling of paper. He groaned, not wanting to wake up, but finding that he was too awake to fall back asleep. Tired and slightly agitated from being woken up, Russia sat up to see America on his own bed, messing with maps and papers.

"What are you doing?" Russia asked. America jumped, startled, and proceeded to fall off of his bed in the direction away from Russia, sending the papers that were in his hands flying on top of him. Russia chuckled at the reaction.

America's head popped out from behind the bed, "Oh, morning, Russia. I'm just planning out what we're gonna do today!" America said, quickly picking up the map and papers he had dropped

Russia raised an eyebrow, "Why do we have to do that? We have a whole summer to waste."

"Exactly!" America said, bursting with excitement, "We have to make the most of it!" America showed Russia the map of Lydia, "We have to do everything fun!"

Russia gave America an are-you-serious look, getting up from his comfy spot on the bed to gently lower the map, "Why don't we just have fun with it? No planning, just doing whatever we feel like doing whenever we feel like doing it." He smiled, gently grabbing the map and folding it up.

America immediately became confused, "No... planning?"

"Precisely."

America looked down at the map, feeling himself fidget. He had always planned for stuff... planned things out so he could take his medication on time, planning things out so he could do the things he wanted to do without there being any complications... But Russia was right, wasn't he? He didn't need to plan anymore. He, as the idiot he was, forgot to bring his medication so he didn't have to plan for that, and he wasn't couped up in a hospital where every moment of his life had to be monitored.

Maybe... Maybe America should change that. Maybe he shouldn't plan and just have fun, like what Russia said.

America looked up at Russia, "So... what do you want to do?"

Russia smiled, "I saw a really cool beach yesterday, do you want to go to it and swim?"

America gulped. He hadn't told Russia he couldn't swim yet, had he? But, before he could object, America looked at Russia's happy face. No plans, right? Well, he certainly didn't think he would swim today, or ever, but...

Plans be damned.

--x--

America had led them to the same beach he was a few days ago, with the giant rocks hugging the boardwalk walls and the soft, expanive, pale-yellow sand that lay at the beachside. When Russia had realized America didn't have swim trunks, he dragged them both to a clothes shop and got America some.

Now, they were here, the waves scaring America to no end. Russia, looking pretty excited, was already wading into the water while America sat there, terrified. But he must've been pretty good at hiding that fact because Russia yelled for America to join him in the water.

America gulped and, before he could think about how bad of an idea this is, starting wading into the water. America was starting to feel pretty confident about his abilities to wade in the water when the seafloor below him dropped.

Any normal person with beginner swimming abilities would've been able to swim backwards, back to where their feet could touch; but, I must remind you that, one, America is not a normal person and, two, America has zero swimming capabilities.

Which is a pretty dangerous combination when you're swimming in the ocean

The minute his head ducked under the salty water, America felt fear consume him. America panicked and closed his mouth and eyes in fear, desperately flailing his limbs to get above the surface of the water. But, with his eyes closed, he didn't know where up was anymore. Theoretically, he could've stayed still and waited for gravity to drag him down so that he knew where down was, but America, in his terrified state, was flinging his limbs around too much to let gravity properly take its course. Not to mention, America started spinning around in the water. To try and get a grasp of what was happening around him, America hesitantly opened his eyes, only for him to immediately close them shut again due to the painful saltiness of the water.