"Aaagh! Sit down already, America!" England shouted.

"I am the hero!!!" America shouted, giving a thumbs up.

Almost everyone in the World Conference room groaned, facepalmed, or just set there looking at him like he was an idiot...you didn't though. You actually giggled and smiled. Alfred was one of your closest friends and you had been friends with him since before you could even remember.

Looking at him being a loudmouth, trying to talk and eat at the same time, and smiling like an idiot, brought back so many childhood memories for you…

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback:

"Come on ______! It's only a little bit farther!" A small ten year old Alfred said enthusiastically as he held your hand and tugged you along.

"Alfie, where are we going?" you asked, blinking a few times.

"I told you that it's a surprise!" he laughed, still pulling you forward.

You just smiled at him. He was so silly and adventurous…

"Britain is going to be very angry that we ran off without telling him." You said, with a combination of amusement and worry.

"He'll get over it!" America said rolling his eyes. "There it is!" he said, jumping up and down and racing ahead.

You smiled and followed him with laughter, until you saw where he was headed.

"Alfie…what are we doing here?" you asked worriedly.

"It's a cave! Come on! We're going to go inside and explore it!" he said, pulling out a flashlight and turning it on.

You bit your lip and looked shyly at him. "Alfie…I…I don't want to."

"Huh? Why not?" he asked, hopping down of the rock he had climbed onto and walking over to you.

"Because…I'm scared of the dark." You said feeling stupid.

America smiled at you and rubbed the top of your head. "______, you don't have to be scared, I'm here for you."

You smiled but still seemed a bit unsure.

"You can hold onto my hand the whole time." he said taking your hand.

"Ok…I'll try." You giggled.

Entering the cave you were scared at first and clung to Alfred's arm for dear life, but soon enough you were actually so happy that you had gone with. It was so cool!

Then you gasped.

"What's wrong _____?" Alfred asked you.

You pointed to a ledge of on the far right wall of the cave.

"Look at that pretty rock!" you said.

Alfred looked at it and smiled too. It was a beautiful purple colored rock…like a geode almost, except a cave rock instead.

"Hey, wait here and hold the flashlight for me!" he said, running up to the wall.

"A-Alfie! What are you doing?" you said, rushing up after him.

"I'm gonna go get it for you!" he laughed, beginning to scale the wall.

You bit your lip. "Alfie, it's too high up! Come down! You're scaring me!"

He almost fell several times which made you continually cry out but at long last he came down and handed you the stone.

"Alfie…you didn't have to….oh it's so pretty…" you sighed, running your fingers along the smooth surface of the rock's inside.

"Just like you _______!" Alfred said, leaning forward to press his lips to your forehead.

"Alfie…" you said in a tiny voice.

He smiled and took your hand once more. "Come on, let's go home now."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had been your hero then and he still was now…over the years your feelings for him had changed more and more until your affection for him as a friend had turned into something much more. You were now in love with Alfred F. Jones.

You sighed; you would never tell him that though…and besides, even if you did he wouldn't love you back. He never acted like he was in love with you, at least from what you could tell, so just figured he didn't love you the way you loved him. You decided long ago that it was better to stay friends with Alfred and not have him love you, than try to start a romance with him and lose everything you had together.

"__________." A British accent said, getting your attention.

"Huh? Um, what is it Arthur?" you asked.

"The meeting is over. You've just been sitting there staring into space." He explained.

You looked around to see that everyone was gone. Damn. Had you really been that out of it?

"Thanks Arthur." You said with a smile, standing up to leave.

"Wait _____!" he shouted suddenly, catching your wrist.

You turned around in surprise. Arthur was rarely this straightforward….

"Um…is something wrong?" you asked, blinking a few times.

"Well not really. I would just like to ask if—"

"Hey _____!" America called, rushing into the room.

"Alfred, where did you go?" you asked, breaking eye contact with England to look at your crush.

"Oh, I had to take a leak majorly bad." America laughed, causing you to laugh along with him.

"Very funny America." England said sarcastically. "That's rude and unnecessary and on top of that comment of yours, you've also interrupted my conversation with _________."

America raised a brow and shrugged. "Whatever Britain." He said, standing by, allowing you to face England once more.

"So ______, back to where we were. I wanted to ask you…..well…I would like it if you would accompany me on a night out…together. Just the two of us." He said, looking at you intently.

Your eyes widened, along with Alfred's.

"You mean like a…date?" you asked, blinking a few times.

"Well, I suppose if that's the term you would like to use, then yes. A date." He said grinning at you confidently.

Your eyes widened. Wow….when was the last time you had been asked on a date? And to be asked by Arthur Kirkland no less!

"Well….I….um. I—"

"She can't." America interrupted suddenly, surprising both you and Arthur.

"Why not?" Arthur asked irritably.

"She already made plans with ME for tonight." America said, taking your hand.

Arthur smirked and held your other hand tightly. "Oh really? Well then how about tomorrow night, _______?"

"I—" you began.

"We're doing something tomorrow too." America said, tugging your arm even harder.

'What is he talking about? We didn't have anything planned for today or tomorrow…' you thought to yourself.

Now Arthur was becoming irritated. "America, ______ is a full grown woman. How about letting her speak for herself?"

America seemed to be caught off guard by England's statement, as if he were hoping he wouldn't say something like that.

"Now then, _______ would you like to go on a date with me some time?" Arthur asked again.

You bit your lip. You already knew that you didn't want to date Arthur but with Alfred standing right behind you and Arthur holding your hand…it was awkward and tense. You decided to say the first thing that came out.

"I…I'll think about it." You said finally. Shit…you already regretted saying that, but you were never good at just saying no flat out.

England smiled at you. "Well alright then. Thank you ______. I look forward to your answer. Have a good evening." He said before walking away.

There was an awkward silence for a while until you finally broke it. "Um…so…Alfred…"

You looked at him; his face was difficult to read. From what you could gather he looked confused, disappointed, and even embarrassed.

"Um…guess you kinda want to go out with Britain huh?" America chuckled a bit, but his eyes looked sad.

"Um Alfred, why did you say we had plans when we didn't have any?"  you asked.

America didn't say anything and looked at you with his mouth open slightly. A speechless America? This was NOT something you were accustom to.

"I guess….well I dunno…um…I thought that maybe…" he struggled to say, his eyes darting all over the place. "I thought that you would like some help getting out of a date with Britain! Yeah! Th-that's what I was trying to do."

"Oh…ok." You said, feeling inwardly disappointed. You thought that maybe, just maybe, Alfred had been jealous.

Another pause. "Alfred, is there someone that you like?" you asked, looking at him closely.

He seemed taken slightly aback by the question as he blinked a few times and laughed. "Well...I…um…you see…I…I.."

You were in shock. You had never seen Alfred act this way before…he had practically lost his ability to speak!

"Alfred, are you alright? You're acting strange." You said worriedly.

"A-aaah…I have to go home now! Tony and I were gonna watch a scary movie! Bye!" he rushed, taking off before you could give him a response.

You stood there feeling completely out of place. What the hell was that all about?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day you lay in bed with dark circles under your eyes. You were exhausted. You hadn't slept a wink last night…all you could think about was Alfred's bizarre behavior yesterday. Ugh he was saturating every part of your brain right now…Alfred…he was always so sweet and goofy…


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Flashback:

"There's not many apples left huh Alfred?" you said, now thirteen years old.

"Yeah, I guess we should have gone picking earlier before all the people got the good ones." He said with some disappointment.

You started to walk over to another tree to see if you could find a decent apple when you heard America shout.

"Look _____! I found one!" he said, pointing up at the very top of the tree.

You looked up and saw it. It was your favorite kind of apple and a ripe, shiny, perfect one at that…but it was at the very tip top of a unusually tall tree.

"It's a shame it's so up high huh, Alfred?" you said with your eyes closed.

No answer…

"Alfred?" you said, opening your eyes.

What greeted your eyes made you gasp with shock. Alfred was scaling the tree!

"Alfred! Come back down! It's too dangerous!" you said, rushing to the base of the tree.

"Haha! It's too late to come back down now! I'm going to get that apple! It's your favorite and my _______ deserves the best!" he laughed, still climbing the tree.

To your amazement and absolutely overwhelming anxiety, he made it to the top of the tree and plucked the apple.

"See? It was a piece of cake!" he chuckled. "Nothing is too dangerous for me! I'm the hero!"

You sighed in relief as Alfred finally began to make his way down the tree. But your terror came back tenfold when you heard a branch snap, with Alfred falling to the ground with a thud shortly after.

"Alfred!" you screamed, running forward.

You could hear him shouting in pain and trying to hold back tears as he sat up, holding his right arm that was now twisted in an abnormal angle; he had obviously broken it.

"Oh god, Alfred…" you said, putting your hands over your mouth. "C-come on. We have to get you to a doctor." You said, looking at him desperately.

Then the strangest thing happened. Despite his pained eyes, Alfred managed to crack a grin and laugh.

"What?" you asked with a shaky voice.

He smiled and pulled his left arm out from behind his back to reveal the prize he had worked for.

"I still have the apple for you…and not a bruise on it." He said. "Anything for my _______."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


'I'm so in love with him…' you thought rolling over and reaching for the phone on your bedside table.

You dialed you favorite number….

"Hello! This is the hero!" America's enthusiastic voice greeted.

Just hearing his voice warmed your heart.

"Hey, Al!" you said smiling brightly.

"Um…_____....h-hey…how's it going?" he said, sounding awkward.

'Not again…' you thought.

"Hey, I was just checking up on you! I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today." You beamed.

"Really? You're not doing anything?" he said, sounding better already. "Well then—"


"Huh? Oh hang on Alfred; I'm getting a beep from another call. Can I put you on hold for a sec?" you asked kindly.

"Sure!" he said instantly.

You smiled…sweet Alfred…

Pressing a button on your phone, you connected to the other line. "Hello?" you asked.

"______, it's Arthur. Are you doing well today?" the Brit asked.

"Oh, Arthur….um…I'm ok. Yourself?" you asked, trying to sound polite. This was actually very awkward for you and you wanted to keep it short.

"I'm well thank you. So ______, I suppose I'll get straight to the point. Our date; would you care to schedule one?" he asked.

You bit your lip…it was now or never. It wasn't fair to England to string him along.

"Arthur…I'm sorry but I can't accept." You said softly.

"But…why not?" he asked, obviously frustrated.

"Arthur, don't be offended by my answer but right now I don't feel like I owe you the reason as to why I'm saying no. I like you as a good friend but I really want to keep it that way…" you said, being as polite as you could.

There was pause…

"It's that bloody America isn't it?" England said finally with venom filling his British accent.

"Arthur, you can't just jump to conclusions like this." You said.

Another pause…..

"You're right _______...I'm sorry…I don't know what I was thinking when I said that. I'm going to let you go now. I suppose I'll see you around some time." he said, sounding a bit better.

You smiled. "Thank you Arthur…" and then you pressed back to the other line, praying that Alfred was still there.

"Alfred?" you said worriedly.

"_______! Hey what's going on?!" he said cheerfully.

You laughed. "I'm so sorry for the wait!" you apologized.

"It's ok _______. I could have waited forever!" he laughed.

"So, Aflie" you said sweetly, calling him by his childhood nickname. "Want to get some ice cream with me?"

"Ice cream?! Dude I'm totally there!" he shouted.

And that's just what you did. You went out and had a great time with Alfred….you had no idea that those times were going to come to an end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been almost three weeks since you had last seen Alfred. This was beyond abnormal considering you usually saw each other like three times a week. You kept calling him and each time he would give you the same responses: "I'm fine." "Yeah..." "Uh huh…" "Well, I can't today…I'm busy." "I'm just tired is all." "I'm sorry I can't talk right now." "You don't need to come over." "I'll see you at the next conference."

You were getting so worried about him. You kept trying to respect his personal space but you were getting more and more nervous. This was NOT the Alfred you knew. And you had tried to call him several times for the past three days with no answer.

"That's it! I'm going over!" you decided out loud, immediately leaving for your best friend's house.

When you finally arrived, your heart was heavily weighed down with anxiety…what would you be faced with when you saw him. You finally managed to summon up your courage to knock on the door though, and when it was finally answered you were greeted by Tony.

Tony never said much but he did talk to you some.

"Tony, long time no see." You said trying to stay polite even though all you really wanted to do was see Alfred. "Is Alfred home."

Tony simply nodded and pointed to Alfred's room.

"Thanks." You said, rushing past Tony and heading to America's room.

You stopped and gently knocked at the door. No answer….

You weren't sure what to do, so you just walked in…you were totally unprepared for what you saw.

America was lying in bed under his covers breathing heavily with his face flushed and face scrunched in obvious discomfort. You noted an emesis basin by the side of his bed; he had obviously been throwing up.

"Alfred…" you said, just loud enough to get his attention.

Slowly his eyes cracked open to look at you.

"________....what are you doing here?" he said weakly.

"I was worried sick about you." You said, sitting down next to him on the bed. "Alfred…what happened to you?"

His face turned to one of embarrassment and worry.

"Alfred F. Jones, tell me what's going on right now." You said sharply.

He looked at you. "You never told me…." He said.

"Told you what?" you asked, feeling utterly confused.

"About Arthur…you never told me you were sleeping with him." He said, glancing off to the side.

"What?!" you cried in outrage. "Alfred! Who the hell told you that?!"

He looked at you. "Britain…he said you've been seeing each other for six months or so and have been having sex for three months. He said that's why you acted so awkward at the meeting…because you were trying to hide things. I didn't believe him at first but then he showed me a picture of you kissing his cheek….I wonder why you didn't tell me."

You were infuriated. "Alfred Jones. Open your eyes all the way and look at me RIGHT NOW." You growled.

Though he was exhausted, America obeyed you and opened his eyes.

"What he told you was complete bullshit! He lied to you! That fucking picture he showed you was stupid! I lost a dare and had to take a picture with him kissing his cheek because he wanted it for kicks! And for goodness sake! Why the hell are you so sick over it?! What are you doing lying in bed like this?! Why are you—"

"Because I'm in love with you _____!!!!" America shouted, cutting you off.

You froze. "What….?"

"I'm in love with you….it's been that way since we were little kids. And to find out that I lost you to Britain…it killed me. And I was so angry at myself for not telling you how I felt sooner. It made me…so sick to think about how I had lost you! I don't want…I don't want to ever lose you _____!" he shouted, suddenly sitting up and yanking you into his strong arms.

"Alfred…..you're not going to lose me ever…never ever. I'm always going to be with you. Don't you remember our pinky promise when we were five?"

He pulled away to look at you with a smile. "Of course. I would never forget…we promised to always stay together."

You cupped his cheeks and looked at him with nothing but pure love. "I have always held that in my heart, Alfred, and I have never thought for one moment in my life about breaking that promise…because my heart belongs to you. I'm in love with you!"

America couldn't hold it in. He pulled you close immediately and smashed his lips against yours with all the longing, love, devotion, and adoration he had for you in his heart and soul…and you did the same in your kiss.

Soon your hands made their way into his hair and meshed into those soft golden locks, bringing him even closer to you. After a while of fitting your lips together, you began to lick at his lower lip. He chuckled against your lips and pulled back.

"Sorry _____. I don't think you really want to be kissing me like that right now. My mouth isn't going to taste all that great right now." He said, motioning with his eyes to his emesis basin.

You laughed and wrapped your arms around his neck. "Good point." You said rubbing your nose against his affectionately.

He smiled at you and began to rub your back.

"Don't get so intimate with me Alfred…if you turn me on right now I'm going to have no choice but to kiss you like crazy." You said, kissing his lips quickly.

He laughed. "I was just being affectionate. You're the one with your mind in the gutter."

You punched his arm lightly and smirked at him….then your eyes softened and you rested your head against his heart. "I can hear your heart beating…I…I like it…" you whispered, closing your eyes.

"________....." America whispered.

Before he even knew it, you had fallen asleep against Alfred. He smiled softly and laid back down against the bed with you snuggled up to him on top.

He kissed the top of your head and wrapped his strong arms around you. "My _________....I'll never let you go…I love you so much…" he breathed, finally slipping out of consciousness himself.

Just moments after he drifted away, you shifted in your sleep and smiled. "I love you too…Alfred…"