So. If you're an HRE = Germany person, maybe this is chronologically after the other one. I myself haven't the foggiest idea, because I got these two ideas separately and then decided to put them together. Italy's gender in the first one isn't definite - notice how I didn't use pronouns? (Except with HRE. HRE thinks Italy's a girl.) Anyway. Enjoy!

WARNINGS:
~human names used
~genswap!Italy

Ludwig looked down into the blue waters below, trying to avoid the eyes of everyone else present at the pool. Why had he agreed to this? Why had he allowed himself to be dragged to such a public location, clad only in a bathing suit and these stupid water wings? Only small children wore the floaties that now hugged his biceps, and yet here he was, drifting across the pool in an inner tube as if he couldn't swim. What on earth had come over him?

Ludwig felt a dainty hand tug on his foot beneath him. Then a head popped up in front of him, long auburn hair swinging back and soaking him. Then the small woman flashed him a wide grin and latched onto the front of his inner tube. She hung there, her face just inches from his, and gave him a breathless "Hi."

This was why. Feliciana had all but begged him to take her to the pool. And then had insisted he wear this ridiculous uniform. She was wearing matching water wings, of course, but on her they looked simply adorable.

For a moment, Ludwig studied her dripping face. Her eyes were bright with excitement despite the fact that she was clearly freezing, her lips having long since turned blue. Looking at them, Ludwig couldn't help but think of one way he might be able to warm them.

He shook his head to clear away such thoughts about his best friend, and finally grunted a reply. "Hello, Feliciana."

Her face lit up even more. "Ludwig! Guess what PERFECT idea I just got! Ludwig! Ludwig, can you give me a tour of the pool?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Please please please?" She wrapped her legs around his waist. "All you'd have to do is pull me around in the inner tube and tell me where we are..."

Ludwig flushed at her casual intimacy. "Ah... Alright."

"Yay! Thank you Ludwig!"

Ludwig pretended he wasn't blushing as he lifted the tube up and dropped it over her head. He hooked an arm around it, which Feliciana promptly clung to, and began a one-armed swim around the pool.

"So... Um... This is the diving board... People usually use it to, um, dive..." Ludwig turned to look at her, feeling slightly ridiculous. She was staring at him with a faraway look in her eyes. "Feliciana?"

She stared at him a second longer, then started as if just realizing that he was talking to her. "Yeah?"

"What... Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Oh... No reason," she said. "I was just looking at your hair."

"Oh. Why?"

"Why do you grease it back every day?"

"Well..." This was hard to explain. Ludwig had slicked his hair back every day for as long as he could remember. Why? "It keeps it out of my face."

"Is that all?"

Ludwig thought back to his younger days, when he'd done his hair with a purpose and not just out of habit. "Because... It looks better this way. I look better this way."

"No you don't." She ran her fingers through his bangs, splayed haphazardly across his forehead, pool water having long since rinsed the hair gel that usually smoothed them back. Her eyes took that faraway look again. "I like this much better," she murmured absently.

Ludwig took her hand and brought it down to his face so he could kiss her knuckles. Feliciana blushed and averted her eyes, but held onto his hand as he swam her across the pool. He pulled her around gently for a while, but this time held his narration. A silence fell between them, until Feliciana finally said, "Ludwig, er... You can have the inner tube back now."

Wordlessly, Ludwig lifted the tube off of her head and flipped over his own. Feliciana smiled shyly for a moment, then dove under the water, her legs kicking up above the surface behind her. Her legs... Ludwig's cheeks reddened a bit. He should not be thinking so of Feliciana, she was his friend-

He was interrupted quite suddenly by the girl in question, who suddenly reappeared above the water, right in front of him.

Really, right in front of him.

Feliciana had swum up through the inner tube - into the inner tube - and with a giggle, she flopped against him and flung her arms around his neck in a loose hug. Ludwig's face heated up even more as he realized that in this tight space, every part of Feliciana's body was pressed up against him, even-

Oh. Oh, no, that was not okay. What could he do, he couldn't let her feel that he was now-

Ludwig had to do something before his problem got any worse. He stared resolutely over Feliciana's shoulder and slowly, hesitantly, lifted her up higher against him, then reached down and wrapped her legs around him. He glanced down into her eyes, those beautiful amber eyes, staring back up at him, but quickly looked away, too flustered to make eye contact or even judge accurately the expression on her face. Embarrassed, he looked down...

...only to realize that looking down was a very, very bad idea.

His face could not possibly get redder, he thought, turning his head to the side as quickly as he could. He wanted to melt into some kind of liquid, dissolve into the water, and get sucked into the pool filter. He was VERY grateful that he'd adjusted Feliciana's position before he'd accidentally looked down her bathing suit.

He suddenly saw her mouth drop in his peripheral vision, but right now he was trying his best to ignore everything about her, and so he didn't respond. That wouldn't work, though, if she spoke to him...

"O-oh, Ludwig... Um, are you...?"

He turned to her at last, to see her, now leaning back a bit, looking... down...

She knew. Dammit, she knew!

"Oh, mein Gott." He squeezed his eyes shut and tried as hard as he could to mold himself into he plastic of the inner tube, the tube which really wasn't meant for two people, and now he could see why. "Feli, I... I'm so sorry..."

Small hands slid onto his cheeks, forcing his face to turn towards her. He opened his eyes as Feliciana giggled. "Ludwig... You should see your face. It's..."

Bright red?

Suddenly she leaned closer, and whispered, "very cute..."

Ludwig could only stare, blinking, as her lips - her small, purple, beautiful lips - suddenly pressed sweetly against his.

Ludwig wasted no time, kissing Feliciana back slowly, urgently. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up higher against him, then brought a hand to her cheek. He broke the kiss slowly, and pressed his forehead to hers, running a thumb across her lower lip. He closed his eyes and smiled. He'd been dreaming of this for... far, far too long. It was easy to tune out the rest of the swimmers as Feli - his Feli - leaned into him, pressing her face into the crook of his neck, tangling her hands in his hair. He felt his arms tighten around her waist. The only thing that could possibly ruin this moment was-

Gilbert. With an obnoxious cry of "GIR-AWESOME-O!" Gilbert had flung himself into the pool, his cannonball soaking everybody within a ten-foot radius of him. He resurfaced, shaking water out of his hair and grinning at the pair in the inner tube. "Hey-y, looks like Luddy's finally gonna get some, eh, eh?" He splashed his brother teasingly.

"Gilbert!" Ludwig spat. He twisted around, pulling Feliciana behind him protectively, as he had so many times before, but this time he could pull her closer to him - so that she would be warm, of course.

"Why are you even still here? It's obvious you guys both want to be... somewhere else." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Ludwig turned to Feliciana. "Do you want to go..." How could he say back to my house? How could he put her in that position? "...somewhere else?"

She bit her lip, then nodded. "I'm k-kinda c-c-cold right now," she said, and indeed, she had been shivering ever since Gilbert had once again drenched her with the semi-freezing pool water.

"Hold on." Feliciana squeezed her arms and legs around him, and he reluctantly released her, lifting the tube over their heads and carrying her up the stairs. Then he set her down and wrapped his towel around her, gathered up their things, and led her towards the gate, shooting one last glare at his brother. Gilbert missed it, however, as he seemed to be trying to coax a small yellow bird into coming closer to the pool to play.

The pair walked in silence for a while, Feliciana leaning into Ludwig's side for warmth, Ludwig wrapping his arm around her to help. After a few moments, Ludwig noticed that Feliciana was hissing beside him, and looked to see that she was wincing, taking smaller, quicker steps, aiming to land on shadows wherever possible. Without a word he pulled their beach bag onto his shoulder, then bent down and scooped her up bridal style, resolving next time to pack an extra pair of flip flops just in case she decided to go barefoot again.

Feliciana squealed in surprise. "Oh!" He could see her hands, imprisoned in the towel, coming towards his chest as if to steady herself. She giggled, realizing she was safe. Then she looked at him. "Thank you." One hand wormed its way free, coming to rest on his cheek as she looked into his eyes meaningfully.

Ludwig suddenly found it hard to breathe. "Any time."

Feliciana's hand returned to the warmth of her towel, and she sighed, leaning her head back into his shoulder. The rest of the short walk passed in silence, both of them enjoying the feeling of strong arms wrapped around a small body, and imagining a future that suddenly looked very, very different.

They reached Ludwig's front door, open to let summer breezes blow through the screen. Ludwig managed to get the door open with one hand and was about to step through before Feliciana burst out, "Wait!"

Ludwig paused and looked down at her, and she giggled. "You're not supposed to do that until we're married, silly." But then her smile died, and as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back, Ludwig could swear she was... daydreaming...

Ludwig stared down at the beautiful girl in his arms. One day, he would ask her to marry him. For now, though... For now he simply set her down on the ground, pulling her in for one last, gentle kiss. He held the door open for her, and said reluctantly, "After you change I can drive you home."

She giggled. "But I only live two blocks away!" For now...

"But you didn't even bring shoes," he said, leading her to the bathroom. "Now change." He shoved her clothes into her arms and closed the door on her protestant "But Ludwig~!"

For now, he would drive her the two blocks to her house.

But maybe... Maybe one day, she would be home already.

Ludwig smiled. She would look very good in white.

I am such a fangirl, that last part made me squeal. Pathetic? Very much so, yes.

Don't you love bully!Prussia? Somehow he did the meanie cannonball thing in both of these chapters. Huh. Rest assured, I have written another piece with lovestruck!Prussia as well. Don't know what to do with it yet, though...

Ahhh, the UST in here was so... randomly appearing... I swear it wasn't supposed to turn out like this, it just... did. (Not that I'm complaining.) It all started with this image I randomly got of Germany sitting in an inner tube with water wing floaties on and looking expasperatedly at a very excited Italy. Oh my SOUL I love this fandom.