Week 14: Matthew/Hendrik

Despite the many happenings around him, at the moment, Matthew’s gaze was fixed on the rows upon rows of tulips. There were over three hundred thousand in this park alone, he knew, and much, much more all throughout the city. He smiled softly, and, though he was hardly a poet, mused to himself of how few things matched their beauty.

Yet as beautiful as these flowers were, that wasn’t the reason why he loved them so much. Why he had for over sixty years, now, and why his capital city had become notorious for this annual, little-turned-big festival.

After a while, Matthew shifted his eyes from the rows upon rows to glance about hopefully. If he was lucky, he would be meeting up with the reason why in a little bit.

(After nearly twenty-four hours of procrastination and an attempt at re-typing this word for word, voilà~ *passes out in the corner of fail*)

Hendrik smiled softly as he walked through the thousands of tulips, he loved this time of the year when they were in bloom but being in Canada made the tulips so much more beautiful. He looked down at the bouquet of tulips he carried in his arms, he had made the bouquet himself choosing to use cream and red colour tulips.

He loved coming to Canada for the festival because that meant he could see the one person that meant the most to him, for over sixty years now he had sent this kind and wonderful nation his national flower in thanks for everything he had done for him but he had wondered if the Canadian knew that the flowers were just more then just thanks but an expression of the feelings he carried for the Canadian since he had first laid eyes on him in the 1600's.

He caught sight of the Canadian among the flowers glancing around and smiled, he silently approached the other man from behind and wrapped an arm around the man's waist and holding the bouquet in front of the Canadian as he gave the man a half hug " did i keep u waiting weinig konijn? "

Matthew was startled for a moment, but he took one look at the bouquet in front of him and knew that it could only be one person. Though to be fair, the man’s endearing accent and the nickname he used also made it quite obvious.

“Hendrik!” He exclaimed with such enthusiasm that it was almost possible to hear the smile in his voice. Matthew took a moment to take in the sight of the flowers in front of him. He could’ve sworn his heart skipped a beat when he noticed that Hendrik had thoughtfully used his colors and—oh, how he loved this man.

“I haven’t been waiting long, don’t worry.” He sighed quietly, realizing the irony in his own statement. But no matter; he’d wait for him for centuries if need be. Matthew then wriggled out of the hug so he could face the Dutchman and give him one of his own, taking great care not to crush his gift of tulips as he did so. “I’m so glad you could make it!”

He smiled when he heard the Canadian call out his name, he could almost hear the smile in the younger man's voice.

" goed I had hoped u weren't waiting aan long " he smiled as the other man wiggled out of his grasp so he could turn around. Hendrik smiled softly as the Canadian hugged him, He had picked up on the younger man taking great care of not crushing his flowers and slightly moved to make it easier on Matthew.

" I wouldn't have miss dit for the world weinig konijn " he hated it when he had to miss the festival but he had made sure he came to this one.

Matthew held onto Hendrik a little longer than usual, but considering the occasion, he figured that it would be fitting. When he finally did break away from the hug, he smiled warmly at the other.

“So how’ve you been? Not too busy, I hope? And did you get here okay? No delays or anything? If—“ Matthew stopped, realizing that he was bombarding the Dutchman with questions and he chuckled in half-embarrassment and half-amusement at his own childishly eager behavior.

He blushed slightly laughed again, more quietly this time as he stared at the ground as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. “I’ll let you talk now, I’m sorry.”

Hendrik smiled when the Canadian held onto him slightly longer then usual, but mentally pouted when the other man broke the hug but his face didn't betray what he was feeling.

He chuckled softly just loving the sound of Matthew's voice as the Canadian rambled on but making sure he listened to every word the Canadian said " ah well I am very well weinig konijn dank u for asking " he smiled again " nr niet aan busy aan come and see u weinig konijn and mijn flight was perfect niet a delay aan be had " he gave the Canadian a gentle pat on the head to reassure him.

He placed his thumb and index finger on the young man's chin and lifed his face up to look at him in the eyes " niets aan be sorry about weinig konijn I like hearing u talk " he smiled at his young friend.

“Really? Well, if you say so.” Matthew met Hendrik’s eyes and returned his smile soon after. Though he never strove to be the center of attention, Matthew always appreciated it when others took notice of him and took the time to listen. And Hendrik never let him down in that sense.

“And I’m glad everything went perfectly. Is there anything you want to do first? Unless…” he said, something occurring to him at just that moment.

“Wait a minute, when did your flight arrive? Are you tired? Because if you are, you can always rest first,” Matthew told him, his concern for the other making him unable to realize how much he was acting more like a doting parent than anything else despite being much younger.

He loved looking into the Canadian's eyes and smiled again when the younger man returned his smile. He didn't understand how at the world meetings or in general how this wonderful and beautiful nation always went unheard and unseen by everyone else, he rather liked that it was almost as if he had Canada all to himself and he didn't have to share.

Hendrik laughed " mijn flight arrived dit ochtend weinig konijn but do niet trouble zelf weinig konijn I am fine " he patted the younger nation on the head being mindful of the Canadian's curl, " I would rather like aan walk through the flowers dat would be much more fun ja? " he got a almost sly smile on his face " unless u wanted aan do iets other dan rest weinig konijn? " he chuckled wiggling his eyebrows as he joked to the other nation.

Matthew’s eyes widened for a moment before it could register in his mind that Hendrik was kidding. And when he tried to say respond jokingly, he found that the most that he could manage was some sort of awkward and unsure laughter.

This was bad; Matthew really needed to get his act together before he said something he didn’t mean, or rather, something he meant but didn’t intend to say out loud.

“If you’re sure you’re fine, then alright, let’s walk for a bit. The tulips really are gorgeous this year.”

He just chuckled when he saw Matthew's eye's widen he knew that the other man wasn't sure if he was joking or not. He smiled and let the Canadian's chin go dropping his hand to rest it at his side.

Hendrik nodded " ja I am fine a walk wounds lovely weinig konijn " he smiled at the Canadian again " ja very gorgeous...shall we? " he debated wither or not to hold his arm out but mentally shrugged and did it anyways if the other man didn't take his arm he wouldn't mind at all.

Matthew smiled, taking Hendrik’s arm while holding the bouquet in his free hand, taking the same amount of care as before. As they walked, the need Matthew had felt to talk dispersed and he was now content with the comfortable silence.

He really didn’t know what overcame him that made him want to tell Hendrik something that really should have been said quite some time ago. Something that he failed to muster up the courage to say time and time again.

“Hendrik?” Matthew panicked, changing his mind at the last minute. No, he decided, it wasn’t worth the risk of messing everything up. Matthew inwardly sighed; why did he think that this time would be any different? He quickly came up with something to say in its place.

“I’ve always been wondering but haven’t had the time to ask or find out for myself…what does ‘weinig konijn’ mean, anyway?”

(If this looks long, it's totally an optical illusion. Yup yup. >>)

He smiled down at the shorter nation as the Canadian took his arm, as they walked he enjoyed the comfortable silence as they walked among the flowers admiring the beautiful job the gardeners had done.

He wondered if he should tell the Canadian what he should have said to the other man years but debated with himself when the other man started speaking " hm? " he watched the different expressions quickly flash across the Canadian's face before the other man asked his question. "ah het means 'little rabbit' in mijn moedertaal..ah mother tongue " he smiled down at the other man " when I first saw u I thought u were as cute as a little bunny so I started calling u dat " he chuckled softly " and I like rabbits "

“And so then the name just stuck?” Matthew smiled. He had had a feeling that it was something like that, but it was nice to know for sure. Though no matter what it meant, he’d like the nickname; he’d never heard Hendrik call anyone else by that name, so it made him feel like it was something just between the two of them.

He laughed quietly. “Good to know that you think that I’m cu—thought! Thought! I meant ‘thought’,” he said, his face turning a bright red that mimicked the tulips they passed. He sighed; there was no way to undo this damage, was there?

“I really did mean ‘thought’…” Matthew trailed off into an embarrassed silence once he realized that he was only making it worse for himself.

He nodded to his young friend " ja het did " he smiled knowing the younger man knew that he didn't call anyone else anything but their names, he was curious to know if Matthew knew that the Canadian was the only one he ever gave a endearing name to.

He smiled as the other man turned red from the embarrassment " thought? but weinig konijn I do dink u are cute " a light blush dusted across his cheeks as he admitted that, so he distracted himself with the tulips.

“Y-you do?” Matthew blinked in surprise, and turned to face Hendrik to read his expression, not wanting to misinterpret what the other nation meant and end up making a fool out of himself.

The Dutchman was looking away with a slight smile and…was he blushing? Surely Matthew was only seeing things. But no, the longer he looked, the more he was certain that that’s what it was.

“Really? I’m glad,” he said, giving Hendrik’s arm a light squeeze in the hopes that he’d be able to get the older man to look at him.

" ah ja I do" he felt the Canadian squeeze his arm and turned to look at the other man the blush still on his face. He still had the smile on his face " goed because I really do weinig konijn dink dat "

Smiling down at the Canadian he patted the other man's arm that was wrapped around his. His hand twitched slightly wanting to run his fingers through the other man's hair but resisted and droped down to his side.

Matthew smiled at the other nation once he turned to look at him, noticing curiously how Hendrik seemed to hesitate, moving his hand forward then stopping. And somehow, that barely noticeable action made Matthew want to make a second attempt at saying what he’d kept to himself for a long time.

“Um, Hendrik?” Matthew started again, immediately getting the same panicked feeling as he did before, but he went on anyway. “There’s another thing…you see, I…I…” He took a deep breath, but unfortunately it did nothing to help him finish the sentence.

The most he got out of his efforts was being able to quickly and quietly mumble the three small words he’d been meaning to say, followed by a miniature coughing fit. He sighed, doubting that the Dutchman heard him, let alone understood what he had said just then.

Hendrik looked at Matthew again when the other nation started to speak again " ja? " he seen the panicked look flash across the other's face before the Canadian continued before the other trailed off and didn't finish.

He had to strain his ears because he could barely make out what the Canadian said but picked out what sounded like 'you' but he was not very sure, he stared at the other man for a moment then dared to ask " wat was dat weinig konijn? I niet understand wat u said " he held his breath and wasn't sure if he should dare to think what the other man said what he thought he said.

Matthew sighed; so Hendrik hadn’t heard him after all. Now he had the choice of either repeating himself or taking the easy way out and coming up with something else to say. When he was about to do the latter, he paused.

Just how long was he planning on prolonging it for? Deciding that he should just get it over with now, Matthew took a deep breath to try to settle his nerves. “Hendrik, I…I love you.”

There was a moment’s pause, just long enough for Matthew to start panicking. “I mean, this was completely out of the blue and I understand if you don’t feel the same way and if it makes you uncomfortable just forget what I said and…” Matthew had never felt more vulnerable than he did at this very moment.

Hendrik could feel his breath hitch in his chest when the Canadian said those words, at first he didn't believe what his brain was telling him, but he broke out into a smile his heart pounding in his chest in joy that the other man felt the same way as he did.

" nr u don't know how much dat means aan me weinig konijn " he stopped walking so he could turn and face Matthew, he leaned forward slightly " ik houd eveneens van u " he smiled down at the shorter man bringing his hand up to rest it on the Canadian's cheek.

Matthew felt a wave of relief wash over him, happiness replacing the nervousness and fear of the moments prior. "So you do, too…” Matthew restated mainly for his own sake, as though it took more than once for Hendrik’s words to sink in.

“In that case, maybe I should have told you earlier,” he said, chuckling as he marveled over how good it felt to have that weight off of his shoulders. Smiling, he touched the hand Hendrik had against his face, just as some strong emotion took over. Within seconds he found himself leaning forward and up to meet Hendrik’s lips with his own.

Hendrik nodded " ja i do weinig konijn " he blushed slightly " perhaps I should have said aan u before..." he debated telling the Canadian about just how long he loved the other man then decided to just tell him.

But before he could say anything his eyes widened slightly as the other man placed his hand on top of his own and moved forward to meet his lips. He closed his eyes as he kissed the Canadian and brought his other arm to wrap it around the shorter man's waist to pull him closer, while he started to move his thumb gently on Matthew's cheek.

He gladly let himself be pulled closer and wrapped his arms around Hendrik’s shoulders. A thought crossed his mind and, very slowly and reluctantly, he broke of the kiss before burying his face in the Dutchman’s shoulder.

“This isn’t just a dream, right?” he asked. Because Matthew had had dreams similar to this moment countless of times; half of the time, it was similar to right now, but the other half of the time he’d been rejected. And honestly, having woken up from both of those dreams, Matthew didn’t know which one was worse.

But no, he decided, it couldn’t be; the nation before him was all too real. He lifted his head and smiled, their faces only a few inches apart.

He could have pouted when the Canadian broke the kiss but he didn't, when the other man buried his face in his shoulder he brought his hand up from his cheek to rest on the back of his head.

"I hope niet weinig konijn... " he smiled running his fingers through the other man's hair " I've wanted aan do dat since the 1600's.. " he hoped he wasn't dreaming all of this he didn't think his poor heart could take that.

He rested his forehead on the Canadian's forehead when the other man looked up at him and returned the smile.

“I—wait…” He did say 1600’s right? Matthew bit his bottom lip worriedly as he did the quick mental math. “Four hundred years,” he said in disbelief, his voice almost a whisper, “You’ve been waiting for four centuries and I never knew?”

And all this time, Matthew had been thinking that he’d been waiting long. He kissed the older nation for a second time; it was much shorter this time, but it held more meaning. Matthew then smiled again, the expression being some strange combination of both joy and sadness. “Then for both of our sakes, let’s hope this is real.”

He began to wonder if there was something he could do to make up for those centuries, if such a thing even existed.