Title: Unwrapping the Eye Candy (3/?)
Author/Artist: blackwingsblueeyes. !NAME CHANGED: iTrippedandfellforyou
Character(s)/Pairing(s): DenmarkxFinland. some SwedenxFinland. (maybe eventual PrussiaxHungary, NorwayxSweden, and/or IcelandxSealand?)
Genre: Romance/Friendship.
Rating: T
Warnings: Drugs and stereotyping.
Summary: AU. Love at first sight is a load of bull. Finland knows that. He is not in love with that boy from the park. He can't be in love with that boy. He won't let himself be in love with that boy.

But something about the boy's smile has caught his interest.

A/N: Hey, guys! I hope everyone's having a good summer so far! :D

Enjoy!

Chapter Three: Gullible is Written On the Ceiling

It probably wasn't necessary to take so long putting on a shirt.

But really, first you have to pick the shirt you want, then you have to brush out the wrinkles, then scrunch it up and put your head through, then your arms, then...

It wasn't like Finland was nervous to go back in there. Pfft, no.

There was a mirror hanging on the wall, but the ashy-blond didn't look inside. He didn't need to. He wasn't self-conscious, he didn't care what he looked like. Really, it didn't matter.

But what if his hair was messed up? His bangs had a tendency to sweep too much to one side, and he needed to fix that so he took a quick peak in the looking glass. Bright violet eyes stared back at him, so wide and nervous-looking that it made him bite his lip.

Why do I look so frightened?

His eyebrows sunk and set his eyes hard again. He had no reason to be nervous. Just twenty minutes ago, he'd been perfectly comfortable with Norway.

What had caused this shaky feeling he had now? ...Finland wasn't going to answer that.

Feeling slightly light-headed, the boy headed back to the kitchen. Denmark and Norway were sitting across from each other at the table, not talking. Finland had the feeling they'd been talking about him, and they had gotten silent because he'd walked in.

Finland was paranoid.

"So, have you guys eaten?" Denmark asked, looking at Norway. Finland stared straight at him, but Denmark didn't look his way.

"No," Norway replied. "You hungry?" He looked towards the kitchen, then over at Finland. "We have cinnamon bread."

The ashy-blonde shook his head. "No, thanks."

There were more empty seats at the table, but Finland sat down on the barstool again instead. He twirled in the seat absentmindedly.

"Good morning, bedhead~" sing-songed Denmark as a curly-haired zombie slumped into the room, yawning. The boy's tired eyes focused on Finland, and automatically, Finland stood up. He smiled, already recognizing who this was.

"Iceland, you remember Finland?" Norway started, coming to stand by them.

"Yeah, nice to see you." The white-haired boy smiled cooly.

Finland returned the smile, holding out his hand to shake. He was nudged by Norway, and stumbling a little, he gave Iceland a quick hug. The younger boy was cold, and Finland held onto him, because it reminded him of home.

Iceland gave him a pat on the back and then went to scrounge for something to eat. Still nervous, the violet-eyed boy sat back down and looked towards the table. Denmark was still sitting there, distracted by his cell phone.

It struck Finland that he'd given everyone else a hug but Denmark. But that was okay, it wasn't a big deal.

His fingers texted with ridiculous speed, then Denmark pocketed his phone. "What should we do today?"

With no ideas, Finland and Norway shrugged at the same time and then smiled at each other.

The boy sitting at the table cracked a lazy grin and looked to Norway for a suggestion. "C'mon, we can't do nothing. That's boring."

Norway ran a hand through his hair, which messed up the clip he had on his bangs. Finland was going to say something, but Norway was a step ahead of him and took the clip off completely.

"We could go fishing."

The silence that followed Norway's suggestion showed a lot of enthusiasm.

Finland grimaced, and since he didn't have any better ideas, he agreed, "Yeah! We should invite Sweden."

God, his voice sounded so high and dorky. This was what happened when he got nervous, but why was he nervous?

Iceland peaked back into the room, his expression matching Norway's frown. They all looked at Denmark. The grin was gone from the spiky-haired boy's expression.

Ah, gosh, I've said something wrong.

Denmark pulled his phone back out. "Sweden's working today," he shot down that plan nonchalantly.

The ashy-blond's feet tapped and his fingers drummed on his thigh. He didn't know what to say now. He'd obviously done something wrong to have set this angry atmosphere now. Okay, so obviously Denmark didn't like talking about Sweden. Finland would have to remember that.

In order to escape the awkward silence, Iceland and Norway headed to the garage to get the rods and tackle box. Denmark was already lost in his little texting world.

And Finland just sat there, thinking.

He supposed he could've pulled his phone out and done some texting of his own, but he really didn't feel like having a conversation with anyone right now.

His elbow rested on the bar with his chin on his hand, and he snuck glances at his spiky-haired friend. Gosh, Denmark was the boy from the park. That was crazy. For less than a day, Finland had had a superficial crush on one of his oldest friends.

Blushing, blond eyelashes dusted his cheekbones as he looked down at the bar. He'd forget those thoughts he'd had about that piece of eye candy now. It was okay to have a crush on a stranger, but once that stranger turns into a friend, then things get complicated and it's time to abandon ship.

Denmark coughed.

Oh right. There was also the small fact that Denmark was a druggie. That itself was enough to make Finland want to run away screaming like a drama queen.

Denmark didn't seem like a bad guy, though. Finland had a mental picture of a drug addict, and the clean-shaven, clear blue-eyed boy didn't fit it. What was that old saying? Don't judge a book by its cover. Maybe Denmark had an attractive cover, but Finland wondered just how torn up the pages inside were.

The object of Finland's thoughts was still playing with his phone, and the ashy-blond wondered who he was texting. And what they were talking about. It would be amazing if they were talking about him, but Finland knew that was a ridiculously narcissistic thought.

Iceland came back into the room, startling the sitting boys. "Hey, you wanna come with us to buy bait?"

"Umm..."

"Let's all go," Denmark yawned, leaning back in his chair and stretching his arms behind his head.

"No, you need to stay and get the rod's ready, Denmark." Norway peaked in the doorway. "But you can come if you want, Finland."

"Umm..."

Denmark pulled little tufts of his hair, spiking it more. "But Norgeeeee," he whined. "I don't wanna be alone."

Finland laughed at the dramatic pouting face Denmark was making.

The giggle brought the spiky-haired boy's attention to Finland, and he said, "Stay with me, please" in that same over-dramatic way, folding his hands together in front of him and leaning forward.

Tongue-tied, Finland laughed again. "Ah, sure. I will."

~.~

"I would help you out, but I have no idea what you're doing."

Denmark looked up at him from his spot on the floor, blue eyes sparked with laughter. "That's okay."

Finland spun on the bar stool and blamed his light-headedness on the motion. It was most certainly not Denmark's laugh that made him feel so weird.

Trained fingers threaded the fishing line through the rod, teeth bit the string, and Denmark tugged with his mouth to snap it. The observer blushed, embarrassed that he found that simple action kind of sexy.

It's not that he found Denmark hot or anything. Nah, he couldn't.

And anyway, Finland didn't even know anything about this guy.

The smaller boy was still blushing when Denmark looked up at him and asked if he liked to fish.

"N-not really." Dammit, I stuttered.

Denmark chuckled lightly, and his ocean eyes bubbled as he leaned in closer. "I don't like it either." He scrunched his nose. "But Norge does," he added, shrugging. There was an indulgent smile lifting his lips, and Finland caught the brief pink that warmed the other's cheeks.

Finland frowned.

That blush bothered him.

~.~

"Is it a blade of grass?"

"No."

"How many questions do I have left?"

"None, that was twenty questions." Finland smiled down at his opponent, having just won the game.

"Aww, shit. What was it?" Denmark's bottom lip stuck out dramatically.

"A pine cone."

Wide blue eyes stared at him for a moment, and then Denmark fell back laughing. "Dude," he choked out. "You're supposed to use the first thing that comes to your mind."

Finland's cheek's colored. "Pine cone was the first thing that came to mind."

Denmark lifted his head so he could look Finland in the eye from where he was laying back. "So, when I told you to think of anything, anything in the world, the first thing that came to mind was 'pine cone'?"

"Umm... yeah, pretty much." Finland laughed, not the polite or awkward kind, the genuine happy kind. It had been a while since he'd laughed like this.

"Hey, stop that," Denmark said lightly, sitting up Indian-style. His fingers unconsciously played with his bare feet.

"Stop what?" Finland stared at him, laughter still in his voice.

"Covering your mouth when you laugh. I can't see your smile."

It was odd, but Finland hadn't realized he did that until Denmark pointed it out. "Oh," he said, and forced his hand down. He smiled teasingly at Denmark, a silly movie star grin.

Denmark fell over laughing again.

~.~

The sound of Norway's car pulling into the driveway didn't relieve Finland as much as it should have. He had gotten quite comfortable chillin' with the druggie.

He had to keep reminding himself not to get so carefree. It was hard not to, though. Denmark was easy to laugh with, and he was fun to tease.

The cause of Finland's internal conflict stood up now. After brushing off imaginary dust, he came closer to Finland. Way closer. Too much closer. He invaded Finland's personal bubble.

"Hey, Fin," he breathed, slouching a little to be eye level with the boy on the high bar stool. "Do you seriously wanna go fishing?"

Finland leaned back in the seat. "Um, I don't know. Do you?"

Denmark followed him, leaning closer and stealing the will to breathe from Finland's chest. Why was he so close? It seemed so random, like a stupid dramatic soap opera. "It's up to you. We can stay here and do something else if you want."

The tall boy's arm bumped Finland's knee, and the ashy-blond tried not to freak out. He was very aware of Denmark's eyes on his, but he couldn't meet them.

He thought about what Denmark had just suggested. "But Norway and Iceland went to the trouble of getting bait. I've gotta go."

Finland smiled, meeting the other's eyes for a split second, and then violet eyes darted away. He hoped he didn't have a weird expression on, sometimes his smiles looked awkward.

Denmark sighed, dramatically leaning a hand on the bar behind Finland. "You don't wanna go. I can tell." This was true. Finland didn't. "They'll understand. They'll just go without us."

"Umm... okay."

The answering smile from Denmark made the decision worth it. It was weirdly nice to feel like someone wanted to hang out with him.

"Awesomesauce. I'll go tell 'em." Denmark backed off and staggered through the doorway. About two seconds after he'd disappeared, his head peaked back in. "We'll play games while they're gone."

Dear God, did Denmark just wink?

~.~

Sorry if it's confusing. I haven't been getting much sleep lately, and my thoughts are kinda jumbled and whatnot(: Thank you for reading! :D