It was a crisp autumn day in the countryside surrounding Lithuania's house. Said country had been sitting in his favourite chair, curled up in his favourite blanket, reading his favourite book. When he finished reading, he went to get himself a cup of hot cocoa and headed back to his chair, content in staring through the window and into the blue clear sky. On this day it was dotted with puffs of cloud, and cut off near the ground by the magnitude colourful trees in his front yard. Some might consider his lack of action to be boring, but Lithuania had always been a lover of peace and quiet; alone time was something he cherished. After all, back in the days of the Soviet Union, he had been one of Russia's lackeys, a job that afforded him not a moment's silence for many years. The other Baltics and he were constantly running around, trying to cater to Russia's every whim. Lithuania had a lot of lost time to make up for. So here he was, making up for said lost time, and perfectly happy doing so by just doing nothing.

"HEY! Liet! Are you home?!"

Just like that, Lithuania's alone time was over. He knew right away who was on the other side of his front door, knocking so hard that the whole house shook.

"Come in Poland, it's not locked." He called, rolling his eyes. He heard the front door fly open and then slam shut, a flurry of footsteps pounding down the hallway towards his living room.

"Liet, I just had, like, the greatest idea ever!" Poland burst into the room, having not even bothered to take his coat or shoes off. Toris just stared at his long-time friend, mesmerised.

To say that Feliks was handsome was incredibly accurate. In fact, right then, Lithuania felt it might me somewhat of an understatement. The feminine nation's golden hair was windblown, pulled back from his smooth, slightly pale face. His green eyes glinted with the spark of inspiration and excitement, and his cheeks were flushed from the chilly outdoor air. Lithuania blushed; he'd been developing these strange feelings towards Poland in the previous months- or perhaps the feelings had always been there and he was only just beginning to notice them. Either way, it doesn't matter, he thought. They're just stupid fantasies. But Lithuania knew the truth, and he dreaded it- he'd read enough novels to know that he was falling in love. He also knew that Poland would never return those feelings.

"What's your great idea, Poland?" Lithuania asked. He was very careful not to call Feliks by his human name, at least not to his face. It might make Poland suspicious of Lithuania's feelings towards him, ruining their friendship.

"You. Me. Camping. This weekend." Poland said, smiling.

"Wha- no." Lithuania objected. "I hate camping."

"Come on Liet, it'll be like, totally FUN!" Feliks persisted, a pleading grin plastered on his face.

"Absolutely not."

"Why?" Poland demanded, leaning close to Lithuania, looking him right in the eyes. This threw Lithuania off guard, making his heart race and his breathing go all weird (he desperately hoped the other man wouldn't notice).

"We- well, I- because-" because being around you is too dangerous, not to mention painful. I like you too much, Pol. I think I might love you. And I don't want to do something we'll both regret. I don't want to lose you. Not again. Not like this.

"Because, like I said, I hate camping." Lithuania finally managed.

"Pft. That's a totally lame excuse you know. Camping is so totally awesome! Besides, it's like, the last weekend before it's supposed to get really cold!" Feliks pointed out. "If I don't go this weekend, I won't get to go again until spring! And it's no fun to go alone!"

"Well, why do we have to go camping for a whole weekend? Why can't we just go hiking for an afternoon or-"

"Oh please, Liet. That's totally boring." Poland insisted. "Camping would be great! Telling ghost stories, roasting marshmallows, cuddling around the campfire." He batted his long eyelashes. "It's like, totally romantic."

"R-romantic?" Lithuania cried, blushing redder than the leaves falling outside the window. "Wha-what are you-"

"Relax Liet, I was only teasing!" Feliks chirped, laughing as his friend returned to normal.

"I-" Lithuania stuttered. "I- oh fine." He sighed, defeated. "I'll go."

"YAY!" Poland hugged Lithuania tightly, squeezing the breath out of him. "You're the best, Liet!"

Lithuania muttered something unintelligible under his breath as the blond skipped off, babbling about getting ready for the 'totally awesome' trip. Lithuania sat there for a while, not impressed with himself for being talked into this so easily.

Romantic, huh? He thought. No, he said he was just teasing. Could it be that he knows how I feel about him and is just using this trip to mock me? I mean, he could never actually have serious intentions of being romantic with me, right? We've been friends forever, and we're both guys. He could pick anyone, so it wouldn't be me.

But I love him, a voice inside him said. Though I don't know if that really means anything.

The weather was grand. It had been sunny all day, right into the afternoon. It was about 4:30 PM when they began their drive into the forested foothills of the mountains near Poland's house. Feliks had said he knew the perfect place. Apparently it was in a clearing just north of the main forest road- the perfect place for bonfires and stargazing. It took them two hours to drive there- winding through the ups and downs and hairpin turns of the bumpy gravel road. After that came the hike- that took a considerable amount of time thanks to Poland's lack of directional senses and clumsiness when it came to fallen tree branches. Eventually they made it, and by eight o'clock, the tent was pitched, the food was stored and the fire was burning under the dark night sky.

"Ugh. I hate work." Poland griped, sprawling out on a blanket next to the campfire.

"Yet it was your idea to go camping, something that requires a lot of work." Lithuania pointed out, sitting across the flames from Feliks and stoking them with a long stick. He glanced up every now and then at the lounging country- Poland was dazzling in the light of the fire. His hair was glowing, making a halo effect around his head. His eyes sparkled as the fire danced in them. And the way he seemed to be completely at home out here in the wilderness was something that surprised and intrigued the Lithuanian greatly- it was just one more thing to love about Feliks.

"Why are you staring at me Liet?" Poland asked, snapping Lithuania out of his trance.

"Hm? Ah, no reason, I guess I was just staring into space and ended up looking at you."

There was a moment of furtive silence between them- things- unspoken words- were passing between the two pairs of eyes locked on each other. And then the moment ended, and Poland went back to his usual cheery self, leaving Lithuania to wonder if it wasn't just an act, that flamboyant facade, that colourful mask.

"Tell me a scary story, Liet!" Feliks said.

"I don't know that any of my stories are really that scary. The only stories I know are ones that are merely very tragic." Lithuania replied, thinking of the very situation he was in right then.

"Well then tell me a tragedy."

"There's a man I once knew, back in the days of the Soviet Union. He had no family and was forced to work a series of humiliating menial jobs just to survive. And this man, he was in love. He was in love with the only person who ever cared about him, his very best friend. He worked hard so that someday he could leave the Soviet Union and get to see his best friend, whom he'd been separated from. He just wanted to be reunited with his love."

"Aw, that's totally cute!" Poland cocked his head to the side, grinning. "Wait, I don't get it, why is this s tragedy. Oh! He didn't die before he got to see-"

"No. Fortunately he didn't. He had a few close calls, but eventually the Soviet Union fell apart and he was allowed to go home, back to where he hoped his best friend, the only person her ever truly loved, the one he cared for more than anything, would be waiting for him."

"Were they reunited?"

"Yes, but then the man realised that even though his best friend had missed him during their separation, the feelings of such love were not mutual. I don't see this man anymore, but from what I have heard of him, he has lived with this silent one sided love for many years since the end of the cold war- the one thing that kept him going, gave him the will to live, was something he now has to keep inside of him."

"Oh, Liet, that's such a sad story." Poland nearly cried, tears almost welling up in his emerald eyes. "I mean, it's so totally awful! How could his best friend not love him back?"

"I think that was when he realised that his love would never be returned, he said nothing of it so as to keep the friendship."

"Why did you tell me this? It's so sad, you like, totally ruined the night Liet!" Feliks sobbed.

"But- but you were the one who wanted to-"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter." Poland sniffled, wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry Liet; it's not your fault I cry so easily."

"No, I'm sorry." Lithuania apologised profusely. "I didn't mean to make you cry, I should have known when to stop. It's not-" he paused- "I never want to see you cry."

"Thanks, Liet." Feliks smiled. "It's freezing out here, let's go in the tent."

"Yeah, okay." The Lithuanian agreed, helping his friend get to his feet. Poland went towards the tent while Lithuania put out the remaining flames and grabbed the blankets they'd been sitting on. Feliks watched his brown-haired friend from a distance- he knew full well who that story had been about- and the truth was, the reason it had made him cry was because he did love Lithuania- but Lithuania couldn't see it. Feliks closed his eyes, thinking hard- he would have to show Lithuania how wrong he really was.

A few hours later, both of the nations were asleep, peacefully dreaming about whatever crossed their subconscious minds. Well, Lithuania was anyway. He loved sleeping- it was another one of those times that he could have quiet space, just to himself. It was for this reason that whenever he was woken up in the middle of the night, he became more like an angry bear than a person. And of course as luck would have it, Poland had decided to wake the Lithuanian up.

"Liet-" he hissed, tugging on the chocolate brown locks. "Liet, I'm cold and I can't sleep!" Lithuania merely grumbled, swatted Poland's hand away and kept snoring.

"Liet help me! I think there's something trying to get into the tent!" Feliks shrieked, scratching the wall of said tent with his foot to make scary noises. And this time, it worked- a little too well. Lithuania launched out of his sleeping bag like a bullet from a gun, flashlight in hand, shining it everywhere to see just exactly what was trying to get in. there was nothing. He turned and glared fiercely at Poland, who shrugged, grinning cutely.

"I'm cold." He said.

"And just what am I supposed to do about it?" Lithuania grumbled, slowly and reluctantly coming to. He put the flashlight down in between them so that its light filled the small space.

"I don't know…." Feliks mumbled. "Let's sleep together!"

"WHAT?" Lithuania's face went beet red, and he dove back into his sleeping bag to hide this fact. "I am tired, and I am going to continue sleeping in my SLEEPING bag. Which is what they're called. If they were meant for cuddling or whatever, they wouldn't be called SLEEPING bags." He was basically ranting in his still semi conscious state, but it gave Poland an idea.

"Okay then, these are no longer sleeping bags. From now on, I dub these CUDDLE TUBES!" He stated triumphantly. Lithuania was just about to roll his eyes and this classic display of Poland's whimsy, when the other nation deftly unzipped his sleeping bag, jumped in and zipped it back up, latching his arms around Lithuania's waist with remarkable strength.

"Wha- Poland just what are you- you-" Lithuania gasped, getting way too flustered. He rolled over so that he was facing the blond, who was now nuzzling into his shoulder. Lithuania's heart raced at the sight of the other so close to him, at the feeling of his arms holding him with such abandon- he could feel Poland breathing against him, his chest rising and falling, despite the thick sweaters they both wore. In that moment, they were so close, so together, Lithuania snapped, doing what he'd been secretly wanting to do for a very long time.

Feliks gasped as Lithuania's cold lips met his in a sudden and passionate kiss. Though he couldn't deny how good it felt, he still hadn't expected Lithuania to be the one who kissed him first. Poland tentatively reached out and wove his fingers through Lithuania's hair- as soon as he did, Lithuania realised what he was doing and pulled back, squirming away from Poland (as much as he could in the limited space of the sleeping bag), blushing and stuttering profusely.

"Oh my God, Poland, I- I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that, I- I really am sorry, I-"

"Liet, it's not your fault." Poland put his finger to Lithuania's lips. Lithuania froze at the touch, but listened as Poland continued. "Listen Liet. I know that the story you told earlier was about you. I know how you feel, but you're wrong. You think that- no, you're like, dead sure that there's no way I could feel the same way about you as you do about me. But you're like, totally wrong." He paused for a long moment, blushing as he tried to get the words out.

"I love you Liet."

"Poland-" Lithuania started to say.

"Toris." Poland said, making Lithuania's heart stopped. No one, no one called him that, ever. He'd never even liked his human name all that much- but in Poland's voice, it sounded like a beautiful song, a lovely tune. It was perfect.

"Call me Feliks." Poland whispered.

"Feliks." Lithuania breathed, closing the (very small) distance between them in one swift movement. Their mouths collided once again, and Lithuania couldn't have been happier as Feliks once again pushed his perfect fingers through his hair, pulling his face closer (as if it could be). Lithuania responded by wrapping his arms around Poland and holding him tightly. This kiss was something that both had wanted for a long time, but neither of them ever though would actually happen. It was a heavenly moment that they only could have dreamed of. It was flawless in every single way, shape and form. And neither wanted it to end. Eventually though, they broke apart, breathing heavily and resting their foreheads against each other's. Poland's fingers were still in Lithuania's hair, and Lithuania still had his arms tightly around Poland.

"Feliks." He panted. "I love you."

"You totally do." Feliks giggled. "I love you too."

"Are you cold anymore?" Lithuania asked.

"No." Poland whispered. "So are you glad you came camping with me or what?"

"Actually, yes." Lithuania replied slyly, his hands pressing into Poland's back.

"Liet-" Poland started to say, but he was being kissed again, and so he lost his words.

And when the two friends returned from their camping trip, they were lovers too.