Chapter 11

 (Germany's POV) 

     Germany woke up slightly later than usual today. He reached over to his nightstand and felt around for his glasses. Once he found him, he looked over at his clock and almost fell out of bed. Israel said that he needed to meet him early today. It sounded important, and Germany didn't want to be late. He took a light, blue and yellow striped sweater and sweatpants. As he went to the bathroom, he saw that the hand print mark was still visible. His mind flashed back to the last night. Germany had forgotten to sweep the floor.

" Useless!" Reich had screamed at him. "Why can't your dumb ass do anything right?"

     Germany winced at the thought. He sighed to himself and got ready for the day. After he had brushed his teeth and done his hair, he headed downstairs. His father must've left already, because there was no trace of him, with the exception of an empty beer bottle. He grabbed his things and headed out the door.

     When Germany made it to Israel 's house, the door was already open. Israel was standing at the door. He must've just opened it.

"Oh hey! I'm so glad you could get here early! I wanted to talk to you about something!"

"Okay?" Germany said. Israel ran towards his friend, and they began to slowly walk to school.

"So, there's this event coming up, and I want you to come!"

"You mean the dance? You know how much I don't like social events."

     Germany had never been fond of parties or large gatherings. They made him nervous. He remembered having a breakdown at an assembly when he was still at his private school. Everyone had called him a baby, but it was just that he didn't like the amount of people there.

" Yeah, I know. But I wanted you to come! I thought it would be fun! Besides, Russia is going to be there!"

     Though Germany tried not to show it, this peaked his interest. Maybe if he knew he was with someone he knew rather well, it would help him relax a little.

"Are you going?" Germany asked.

" Yeah! I'm gonna ask Belgium if she wants to go with me!"

"Yeah, you totally should!"

" Japan will be there too! I think she's bringing her girlfriend."

     Germany wondered what Japan's girlfriend looked like. He hadn't known that she wasn't straight. 

" Are you asking anyone?" Israel asked Germany with a wink.

"I don't know, " Germany said sarcastically. " Maybe Russia will ask me to go with him!"

Israel was silent for a moment. Then he chuckled.

" So, are you coming?"

" Well, as long as my father doesn't mind too much...sure."

"Cool!"

     Germany and Israel reached the school. Germany could hear yelling coming from somewhere. He picked up his walking pace. He wanted to see what was going on. As he got , he began to recognize the voices. It was Russia and Japan.

     At first, Germany was afraid they were arguing at each other. But as he got closer, he knew this wasn't the case.

"Get off of him!" Japan yelled.

    When Germany got to where they were, he saw that Russia was trying to push off some country, who was clinging to his waist. Japan was pulling at the country in an attempt to separate them. Germany thought he recognized the country..

" Germany, help!" Japan called out to him.

     Germany came over, and with strength he didn't know he had, he ripped the country off of Russia.

"Leave him alone, will you? He clearly doesn't want you on him-"

     Germany stopped abruptly. The country had turned to face him. Images from last week flashes through his head.

The stripes.

The stars.

The wicked smile.

     Germany felt his legs getting weak. He fell onto his knees, covering his face with his hands. His entire body was shaking. Who was this country, and why did he scare him so much? Germany heard the country mutter something before walking away. He felt someone rubbing his arms.

"Germany, what happened? Are you okay?" Israel said.

" Y-yeah, I-I think so.."

     Russia and Japan had walked over too. Russia had gotten down on one knee and was looking at him. He looked concerned but grateful at the same time.

" Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?" He asked.

"N-no, but something about him scares me..Who is that?"

Germany saw Russia sigh.

"My ex. I broke up with him because he was seeing someone else, but..he won't leave me alone."

"Oh..that's kinda creepy."

" Yeah."

     Germany let Russia pull him back up. Suddenly, he felt himself being pulled towards him. Russia had engulfed him in a bear hug. Germany had only even been hugged by Israel, and he didn't hug him like Russia did.

"Thank you for that." Russia whispered.

     Germany, slightly flustered, hugged him back. He got this warm and fuzzy feeling while Russia was hugging him. It reminded him of the drawing of the cat he had made. Germany decided he was going to give it to Russia. Germany and Russia let go of each other after a few seconds.

" So, you know the dance is tomorrow...I was wondering if you were planning on going?" Russia asked him.

"Uhm..yeah, as long as my dad will let me."

"Cool! I'm gonna be there..you wanna meet up?"

"Y-yeah, sure!"

" Sounds great!"

     Russia and Germany walked into the school building together. Something felt different to Germany, though. He felt more...safe. Almost as if as long as Russia was there with him, everything would be okay. Germany wondered why he felt this way now, but hadn't felt it before. He looked back and saw that Israel and Japan were following them. Israel had a cheeky smile on his face. He looked down and realized that Russia had been holding his hand. Germany blushed when he finally realized. Russia must have seen him, because he stopped walking and looked at him.

"Sorry..was I making you uncomfortable?" He asked, starting to let go of the German's hand. Germany stopped him.

"No, wait! I-it's not making me uncomfortable. I..actually kind of like it.."

     Russia smiled at Germany. Holding Russia 's hand again, Germany led Russia down the hallway.

"Where is your locker?" Germany asked. He had never really known where Russia's locker was. Russia led him further down the hallway from where his locker was. It wasn't far from where Germany's was, but there was a significant distance between them. By the time Russia had shown him his locker, it was time to get to class.

"So..see you at lunch?" Russia said before he left.

"Yeah!" Germany replied with a smile. They slowly let go of each other's hands and went their separate ways to class.

     Israel was waiting on Germany. He had a sneaky smile on his face.

"Don't think I didn't see and hear that entire thing in the hallway!" He said.

"Whatever!" Germany said before laughing.

°∆°∆°∆

     Germany met Russia at his locker. He smiled at him but seemed slightly tense. Germany wasn't sure why. They walked together down the hallways, hand-in-hand. As they passed by the restrooms, Germany felt Russia's grip on his hand tighten. It didn't hurt, but Germany felt a pang of guilt. He knew why Russia was to tense. He didn't want Russia to worry about him.

     Russia and Germany climbed up the ladder to the roof. As Germany climbed , the last step, the ladder slipped. Germany and grabbed onto the roof. Russia grabbed Germany's hand and pulled him back up.

"Are you alright?" He asked him.

"Yeah!" Germany said, brushing himself off.

"Have you ever been to a dance before?" Russia said to Germany.

"No. I went to a private school for most of my life, and the closest thing we had to a dance was a "festival" for when we went from grade to grade."

"Hm. It's a lot of fun as long as you avoid the drama and drunk countries."

     Germany laughed. He imagined a group of wasted countries walking around, running into walls, and doing stupid things that only drunk people would do.

"You're not gonna get super drunk, are you?" Germany asked playfully.

"Nah. My alcohol tolerance is too high to get drunk on what the school serves."

Germany giggled at this. The only thing he had ever drank was beer he had snuck from his father's stash while he was away. It was good, but he didn't do it too often.

°∆°∆°∆

"Do whatever the heck you want. I don't give a good god damn." Reich said before leaving the house for a "meeting".

     Germany knew how ignorant his father was. He wouldn't have cared if Germany went out into the street and got hit by a truck. However, this was his all clear.

He would be going to the dance.

(Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Holds/ italics will be added in tomorrow, so try not to be too annoyed! )

Story word count: 1,482 words