(Two and a half week after the last meeting)

The distant sound of his alarm clock woke him in the morning. America groaned as he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes and enjoying the birds tweeting outside his window. He opened the one side curtain he had in the room, the sunlight filling up the messy blue white and red bedroom (he had fun painting it himself- of course after asking for permission from Matthew). He sat there for a while, enjoying the warmth on his skin. He glanced at the clock that read 7 am.

At least he had gotten some decent sleep... without any nightmares. The tired nation dragged himself out of bed, washing up his face. He hesitated as he stopped in front of the kitchen. Was he hungry? Did he want to eat?

Hell yesh.

With that, he went into the kitchen and prepared the necessary things for cooking pancakes. He paused once he finished mixing everything and a small nostalgic smile crawled unto his face.

"Teach me your ways, Mattie!" Alfred yelled with sparkling eyes, clearly eager to learn the Canadian's cooking skills.

Matthew shot his head up, smiling slightly at his brother. "Sure. I can teach you how to cook pancakes, Al."

"Yeeesssss!" He practically squealed, bouncing towards the other as he watched the Canadian move around. He took out some ingredients, untencils, etc.

Once he's done, he faced the American with a small smirk. "Now all you have to do is follow my lead, Al."

Alfred ended up making too many pancakes. Apparently, he lost track of time. He frowned, "What am I going to do with all of th-"

"Cooking without me already?" America jumped at the sudden voice. "Thank you, Al."

Ok. He almost forgot about being in a different world where he doesn't exist (which is so not cool btw) and also living with his brother who doesn't know a single thing about all these parallel shenanigans. Alfred swirled around and smiled sheepishly, "Hey dude." He waved with a smile.

"Good morning to you too." Matthew smiled and served a tower of pancakes for himself and Kumajirou. He spread the maple syrup, sliced one of them and ate it. Alfred squirmed and looking hopefully at the Canadian. Finally, Canada's eyes brightened as a smile stretched his face. "Oh, you're actually good at cooking pancakes. It's almost like the ones I always cooked." He chirped, taking another bite.

Alfred chuckled and ate his own pancakes. "Well... I had a brother who always cooked pancakes for me whenever I went at his home. I asked him to teach me and I got used to it." He smiled, almost lost in his thoughts.

"...He must have been a great brother." Matthew said, noticing Alfred's wistful look on his face.

Alfred's smile widened with a chuckle, "Yeah...he was."

For a moment, a comfortable silence fill in the room as they ate their pancakes. Matthew ate another one before saying, "Is he here yet?"

Alfred's smile widened even more (if such thing was even possible). "It's Russia we're talking about here, Mattie. 'Course he is." With that, he finished his meal, washed the dishes and skipped into the garden.

ꕥ-✿-ꕥ

America hummed a song in his head as he watered the sunflowers seedlings with enthusiasm. Matthew considered him as a friend (maybe even a brother) and it took a week before the Canadian openly chatted with him without a hint of suspicion and caution, it made him happy yet sad at the same time.

If it took a week for the Canadian to trust him then... does that mean that it'll take more than a week for the others to do so?

It worried him but the fact that Russia seems to act like his Russian back to his world begged to differ his thoughts. He smiled widely when the said nation came to his vision. It is kind of strange that Russia acts so friendly to him in this world while the others are very much wary of his presence every meeting.

Before Canada trusted him as much as now, Russia was the only one, besides the Canadian, to chat with him everyday.

Yes, everyday.

America is more than happy to invite the big guy inside his- I mean, Canada's house. The first time he suddenly appeared at the doorstep uninvited startled him. Even Canada told him that Russia doesn't come often other than twice or thrice a month. Sometimes even Belarus and Ukraine comes by together with the big nation (Belarus is still quite bitter with him but Ukraine is as friendly as he remembered) Nevertheless, he's still happy.

"Heya big guy! Oh!" He called out happily as he went to take a sunflower that he bought yesterday and stretched out his hand to the Russian. "Another sunflower for you, dude."

Russia smiled and took it with care and love, "Thank you, Fredka."

America beamed, "Your welcome!"

It is always like this. Alfred buys a sunflower in the evening. Then in the morning he hums a song (and also water the seeds in a week coz he knows sunflowers doesn't need everyday watering) as he awaits the arrival of the Russian, then offer the sunflower to the big guy who's eyes lits up everytime he recieves one.

It's their daily routine.

After watering the seeds, they wondered around the garden that they made together the past two weeks. Russia wiped the sweats off of Alfred's face with a cloth as the American giggled chidishly.

"They're still pretty cute." Alfred murmured, crouching down and slightly patting one of the little seedlings.

Russia smiled thoughtfully, "It really is." He said as he did the same with the American. "How many days does it take for them to grow though?"

Alfred looked at Ivan with surprise. He did not expect that, the Ivan he knew knows that already. Russia saw this and chuckled, "I have seen sunflowers before but...I did not have a chance to make one myself." He said solemly, "They always die early because I did not know how to care for them but..."

"We can watch them grow together then."

Ivan glanced at Alfred with a small smile. "You already told me that two weeks ago and I'm thankful for that."

ꕥ-✿-ꕥ

"The weather's very nice, isn't it?"

Alfred almost choked on the coke he anxiously yet slowly sipped on during the seemingly uncomfortable silence. "H-Huh?" Ivan giggled at the flustered American as Alfred tried to remember what he just said. "O-Oh! Yeah. Pretty cool and awesome." He quickly splurted out.

Russia nodded again, smiling his usual grin, "It's almost as beautiful as you."

Alfred's eyes widened, his face completely red in another level. He slightly opened and closed his lips, gaping at the Russian in front of him.

Did he just...? Alfred's heart skipped a beat just thinking about it.

"You're not flirting with me... are you?"

"I don't know. Am I?" Russia's small smile widened a bit and America made an audible gulp. Alfred looked away when the big space not too far from them looks very interesting at that exact moment.

"I missed the flowers they used to garden here..."

Alfred raised an eyebrow as he took a loud sip of his coke. "Really? Here?"

Russia smiled and nodded his head. "There used to be red roses there." The man explained before frowning a bit. "Although I prefer yellow much more than I do red nowadays."

"Really? What kind of yellow?" Alfred questioned.

"Sunflowers." Alfred smiled at that. 'Yeah. Ivan still adores sunflowers.'

"Are you a gardener then?"

"No, but I like flowers. Pretty ones don't grow where I live." The man smiled wider again. He tilted his head. "Why do you ask?"

"Well... You just look so happy when you mentioned it."

"...I do." He confirmed.

America's own million-watt smile widened, "We can garden our own, then!" Then he sheepishly ate one of his burgers, fluttering his eyes towards the Russian. "Well...only if you would like to...?" Alfred's blue orbs shine under the sun as he awaits for his reply.

Ivan chuckled as their clothes flutter through the wind, "I would love to, Alfred."

ꕥ-✿-ꕥ

'The purpose of making a garden of sunflowers was supposed to make you feel comfortable with me sooo score.' Alfred thought with a smile. "No problem, big guy."

"And thank you for the sunflower, Alfred." Ivan said as he pecked his lips on a yellow petal. "I always love it, especially when it came from you."

"U-Uh... your welcome, I guess." Alfred blushed, suddenly feeling hot all over his face.

"Mmm..." He nodded unconsciously, "I knew they always wither after a while once they are cut off from the ground but..." Russia shuffled closer towards him and leaned the sunflower just beside Alfred's bewildered (flushed) face. The Russian smiled, "Even so, I'm glad there's one of them that will last far longer than a year."

At that, Alfred tilted his head slightly. "What do you mean? Cut flowers generally die out in less than a week." Russia paused as he stared at those blue orbs once again.

For a moment, Ivan felt that tug of his icy heart... only to chuckle with a shake of his head as he stood up and offered a hand to the American who took it without a thought.

"Ah podsolnukh, you are so dense sometimes."