You were lonely. You’d never admit it, of course, but it was like a 1000 ton feeling that just bore onto your back. You were just one girl, in a city full of thousands, and no matter how much you tried to ignore that feeling of insignificance, you just could never shake it off. You lived in a small, quaint little house. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was good enough for you and it fit your daily needs. It was small, white with brown tiles as its roof. You smiled as you peeked out the window that faced towards your front yard, hiding behind the curtains you put up there.

What exactly made you smile was the family that lived directly across yours. They had just moved in not too long ago and were a welcome addition to the neighborhood. The house was always noisy, it seemed, and there was no end of excitement. The house, which was previously abandoned and run down, was fixed up in no time and plenty of flowers (most noticeably tulips) were planted in the front yard, making the house seem much better.

You went back to the kitchen to fetch some tea and when you came back, were happy to see that the family was out. They were all blondes of various shades, but they all seemed to be very unique. One had very messy, upswept hair, and you could tell that he was obviously the boss of the group since he seemed to be the one who gave orders. There was also one with a puffin on his shoulders, which you thought was very curious, and another who seemed very happy and kind and always wore barrettes in his hair. But there was one that seemed to intrigue you the most. He would always seem to be at the outer edges of the group, and had a very serious air about him. You’d never seen him smile… and he was…

He was…!

HE WAS LOOKING RIGHT AT YOU. STARING AT THEM. LIKE A CREEP!

Alarm bells rang in your head and you set your tea cup quickly onto the table and closed the curtains. You felt your face get all war, as you remembered his deep blue eyes. Those eyes… that seemed to look straight through you.

You didn’t bother to look outside again for the rest of the day. You tried to concentrate on the various tasks you were occupying yourself with, but you couldn’t seem to get him out of your thoughts. He seemed to look at me with understanding. With concern, as if he understood what you were feeling. But then again, he didn’t seem nearly as lonely as you did.

It was night time now and you were curled up in your favorite chair, reading your favorite book by candle night. You looked up at the time and decided it was time for dinner. Then you heard an unexpected noise- one you had not heard in a long time: knocking.

knock, knock, knock

Your heart was beating wildly as you walked up to your front door and peeked through the peep hole. You gasped and immediately felt your face warm up again when you realized who it was. With a big gulp, you opened up the door just slightly ajar and peeked through timidly. “Y-yes..? May I help you..?” you nearly whispered.

“SUGAR. M’WIFE NEEDS SUGAR.” You heard a deep, quiet voice reply. You opened the door a bit wider to see that it was him.

“Good grief, Berwald! That’s not why we came!” the man with barrettes in his hair gave him an exasperated look and then smiled as he turned to look at you. “Good evening, neighbor… we just came by to introduce ourselves, actually. I’m Tino and he’s Berwald,” he said in a kindly voice. “B-but I’m not his wife, he seems to insist on calling me that it’s-“ he stuttered.

“Your name?” was all Berwald said.

“Oh.. I-I’m (y/n),” you stuttered as well.

“Oh, (y/n)… that’s quite a beautiful name…” Tino said as he smiled and nodded. “Oh! Uhm, were also wanted to invite you over for dinner. You see, we’ve also invited some others
along and you’d be able to meet our brothers!”

They both looked at you expectantly, one smiling, and the other with his same solemn look.

Suddenly, you felt very overwhelmed and conflicted. You so wished you could go with them, but then- but then! “No, I’m sorry. Maybe another time…” you said quietly and slowly began to close the door. But then he stopped you.

You looked up in surprise to see that Berwald was the one who stopped you.  “I’m hungry…” was all he said and he began to walk into your house.

“Berwald!” Tino said in a shocked voice. But he ignored him and walked towards your kitchen, turning on lights as he walked along.

Surprised, all you could do was just follow him mutely. When you reached the kitchen, you saw that he was looking through your fridge.

“What would you like to eat?” he said in that quiet voice of his.

I-I’m not hungry, and I wish he’d get out of my house you thought silently to yourself.

“Yes, you are hungry, and no, I can’t leave you here alone,” he said, answering your thoughts as he washed some vegetables.

Surprised, you looked at him. How did he…? And I am perfectly fine by myself. you thought once more.

“No, you aren’t. I saw you looking out at us this morning. From your window,” he said as he began to cut up some vegetables. He turned to look at you with his deep blue eyes. “Why don’t you set the table. For six.”

You quietly shuffled over to your cabinets and began taking out plates. Why Six?

The kitchen began to smell heavenly. You neatly set the table and sat in the corner.  You were wondering why you were letting this all happen. Yes, you were definitely wondering when…

“Hai!” “Hallo!” “Hej!” you spun around to see that the whole family was now in your house. They all smiled and some even gave you friendly hugs. And the next thing you knew, they were all at the table, and you were a part of their group. You didn’t speak all that much, but they seemed fine with it. They cracked jokes with you and even teased you a bit. They called you “lillesøster” and “pikkusisko” which they told you meant little sister and asked if you liked tulips and chocolate.

Then suddenly, you felt tears running down your eyes, but you were smiling. You didn’t feel lonely anymore. And they got up and laughed and patted your back when they saw you were crying. The little puffin even gave you a tissue.

But in the midst of all this change, and all these newfound friends… all you saw was him.

His big strong hand was over yours and those deep blue eyes were looking straight into yours and you knew he was saying…

“I understand you…”

And you nodded, took his hand and nodded. And you smiled. A big, toothy smile.




.....And you know what?





He smiled back. <3