"Back again already ____________?" an older woman at the front desk said with a smile.

"Yeah." You said with a somewhat sheepish smile.

"You've come here every day for that boy." She commented.

You smiled at the elderly woman one last time before making your way to Alfred's room.

It was true what she said; you had visited Alfred every single day during the week and a half after the accident. You just loved him so much…you never wanted to leave him.

Finally you reached the all too familiar room and knocked on the door. "I'm coming in." you called before taking a step inside.

You wondered if Alfred was asleep…

"Miss _____________!" Alfred cried happily, sitting up in bed with the most excited of expressions.

Nope; definitely not asleep.

"Hey you." You said with a laugh. "I got you a little something speciaaaal." You teased, grinning.

"What is it?! What is it?!" America said with enthusiasm.

"Oh I don't know…how about a package of your favorite cookies?" you said, holding out said gift.

Alfred cheered and reached out his hands. "Thank you Miss _____________!" he said taking the sweet treats from you and practically ripping open the package to eat them. "The food here is so gross!" America complained, shoving two cookies into his mouth.

"Al, slow down; I don't want you choking." You said with some worry.

America pouted a bit and puffed his cheeks but did as you said. "Do I get to go home today Miss _____________? I'm getting soooooo booooored!" your former love complained.

"Well I don't know…we'll have to ask the doctors." You said slowly, hating to disappoint the blonde.

Almost as if on cue, the doctor who had primarily been working with Al walked in and smiled a bit. You felt very fortunate; you had a friendly doctor.

"Hello Alfred. ___________." He said nodding to you. "How are you feeling today?"

"Good! So can I go home? Can I? Can I?" America asked, practically jumping up in down in bed.

The doctor smiled. "Somebody's excited to leave; and to answer your question, yes, today you get to go home."

America cheered. "Yay! I get to go home! I'm gonna eat so much good food and play and go outside and do fun stuff!" America said, running on with childish energy….then he froze. "Wait…who am I going home with?" he asked, looking to you.

"Well…we were all thinking that you could go home with Matthew." You said finally, trying to give him a comforting look.

"No!" America cried, grabbing your arm.

You made a small sound of surprise and looked to him. "Al?"

"You're my favorite, Miss ______________! I wanna go home with you!" the blonde whined out.

"Al…"

"Please! Please! I'll be so good that you won't even know I'm there!" the blonde begged with equally pleading eyes.

"…hmm….w-well…I suppose there's nothing wrong with you staying with me…" you finally said.

"Woohoo! I'm going home with Miss ______________! Thank you so much!" the blonde beamed, hugging you.

You smiled and stroked his hair. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard, and on top of that you would be able to keep a close eye on Alfred. Yes…you were happy to have Al coming home with you after all….


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

"Well here we are, Al." you said, pulling into the driveway.

"Wow…you have a really nice house, Miss ____________!" Alfred said with wonder.

You smiled and parked the car, planning to get out go to the other side to help Alfred.

"Yay! Finally home!" Alfred said, practically jumping from the vehicle.

"Alfred!" you said, taking his arm. "Please, don't do too much. You're not ready for that yet…" you said firmly.

Alfred pouted again. "Ok…"

You smiled and patted his shoulder. "How about we go inside? I'll show you your room, you can have a nice shower, and I'll make you something good to eat."

Having said that, Alfred perked up and was suddenly enthusiastic again as you guided him into your home.

Your first stop was his room and the entire way there Alfred beamed and looked absolutely giddy to be somewhere other than the hospital.

"Here's where you'll be staying, Alfred." You said, trying to sound as welcoming as you could. "Do you think this will be ok?"  

Alfred's blue orbs widened along with his smile until it looked like his face might break. "It's awesome, Miss _______________!" America shouted, running to the bed and jumping onto it face-first before rolling around on it. "This is so much better than the hospital!"

You couldn't help but laugh a bit. "I'm glad you like it. My room is right across the hall if you ever need anything. Now, how does a shower sound to you? I'll have dinner ready by the time you come out."

You smiled once again as you guided the American to the bathroom, listening to him babble on and on excitedly on the way there.

"Alright" you said. "There are fresh towels right here for when you get out. I'll be cooking while you're in here."

"Ok!" America said before closing the door to take his shower.

You shook your head. This was certainly new to you but maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Now though…what would Alfred want to eat? You supposed that almost anything would be better than the hospital food so you decided to stick with something simple like a basic pasta dish.

You gathered together all of your ingredients and were about to start when you heard a rather intense shriek come from the bathroom.

"Alfred!" you cried, racing to the bathroom and flinging open the door.

The first thing you were greeted with was America clinging a towel to his lower regions, standing outside the shower looking rather uncomfortable.

Despite the fact that you were seeing the man you loved naked, you managed to focus. "Wh-what happened?" you asked.

He shivered a bit. "I-I tried to turn it colder but I made it really hot instead and then I slipped on a bar of soap…"

You looked at him sympathetically and wondered what to do next. You blushed at your next thought. Oh my….well…why not give it a try?

"Alfred, wait here for a minute." You said, rubbing his arm before racing off.

After rummaging through some drawers you found what you were looking for. Ah yes, Alfred had left a pair of swim trunks at your house after you went to the pool and never remembered to bring them home. After finding those you hastily changed into your own swimsuit and rushed back to the bathroom.

"Alfred, why don't you put this on?" you said offering the swim trunks. "Let's take our shower together this once ok?"

America blinked a few times before taking the trunks from you as you turned around until he was decent.

"Ok, I'm all changed." America said, tugging your arm.

You smiled at him and went over to the shower, turning the water down to the proper temperature and picking up the bar of soap.

"Alright then Al." you said hopping in the shower, followed by the blonde shortly after.

Alfred immediately went under the water, having become chilly from standing outside. "Mmmmmnnngh…that's really nice." America sighed.

You blushed. 'No! Go away bad thoughts!' you growled in your mind.

"U-uh…I'll scrub your back if you want." You said hesitantly.

"Ok! And I'll do you!" the blonde replied.

I'll do you….uuuugh!!!! Damn your adult mind!

You lathered a bath sponge for a bit before placing it against Alfred's back and starting to slowly make circles over his back.

You desperately tried to keep the dirty thoughts out of your mind as he let out sighs and little moans of enjoyment, while complimenting you in between them. Focusing on your work didn't help either as you took note of every single toned muscle underneath his gorgeous smooth skin…

"Ok…all done." You said after a bit, allowing the blonde to wash his back off.

You gulped when he turned around to rinse his back off, revealing his equally toned torso and strong arms…his eyes were closed and his lips slightly parted with his blonde hair slicked against his face from the water. You had to stop these feelings; he was no longer the America you knew.

"Your turn!" America laughed, spinning you around.

You squeaked a bit at the sudden contact but relaxed as he began to scrub your back as well. You sighed; it was rather relaxing…

After a while longer, you both finished your shower and changed into your regular clothes. You had enjoyed taking a shower with Alfred but at the same time it was a relief to be out of such an awkward situation.

"Well, I'm going to get cooking now. How does spaghetti sound?" you asked with a smile.

"That sounds great!" America laughed, practically glomping you.

You chuckled and pushed him off. "Ok, you can watch TV until I'm done."

You were shocked when America pouted. "But I wanna help you!" he complained, tugging your arm.

You thought about it the prospect a bit. You realized that you needed to be much more careful with America now that he possessed the mind of a child. After all, you couldn't even let him take a shower on his own.

"Not this time, Alfred." You said, patting his shoulder. "Maybe some other time."

America pouted a little more before plopping onto the couch and turning on the TV and watching some random cartoon.

'That should keep him busy for a while.' You thought, heading to the kitchen.

You turned on the front burner of your stove and pet a pot of water on it before heading over to the counter to work on the tomato sauce. While you worked you couldn't help but think.

'What will happen with America….? How long will he be like this? Will he ever change back?...this is all my fault….if I had just been more patient, Alfred would be—'

"OW!"

The sudden sharp cry pulled you out of your thoughts as you directed your attention to the source of the sound. Looking over at the stove you saw America with his index finger in his mouth and tiny tears in his eyes. Shit…he had obviously tried to touch the burner.

"Alfred!" you scolded, taking him by the hand and bringing him over to the sink, running his finger under cold water. You sighed. "That's why I said no helping this time…you have to listen to me when I tell you these things…"

America nodded, looking slightly ashamed as you put some ointment on his finger and bandaged it up. "There, does that feel better?" you asked.

"Can you kiss it?" Alfred asked with bubbly eyes.

Your own eyes softened. How could you say no?

"Ok." You said with a tiny smile, pecking a little kiss against his finger. "Now it'll get better."

America laughed a bit before sitting down at the kitchen table, waiting for you to finish cooking.

After you finished up and served, you listened to America chatting most of the time during dinner. You barely said a word and simply nodded and ate, watching the "child" rant about random topics.

After Alfred finished up his food, he grinned at you.

You giggled. "You have some sauce on your cheeks."

Alfred blushed in embarrassment and quickly tried to rub away the sauce but some still remained.

"Here…" you said softly, taking the napkin and cleaning it off for him. "All gone."

He smiled and laughed just a little.

"Ok, I suppose we should get ready for bed now. I have some clothes for you to sleep in." you said, taking his hand and guiding him back to his room.

Over the time you two dated, Alfred had stayed over at your house several times, so naturally a lot of his stuff was still around your house.

Digging in the dresser drawers for a bit you finally found what you were looking for.

"Aha, here we go." You said with a triumphant smile as you handed the Superman shirt and black sleep pants to Alfred. "Think you can sleep in these?" you asked, wanting to make sure Alfred was as comfortable as possible.

He nodded cheerfully and took them from you. You stood outside of his room for a bit, waiting for him to tell you, you could come back in. When you got the signal, you gave him a soft and somewhat sleepy smile; it had been a long day.

"Alright, remember that my room is right across from yours." You reminded Alfred as he hopped into bed.

"Thank you, Miss ____________." Alfred beamed before yawning.

You smiled and willed yourself to give him a small peck on the forehead. "Goodnight Alfred." You whispered, heading to the door and turning out the lights.

"Wait!" Alfred cried.

You flicked the lights back on and turned around. "What's wrong?"

"C-can you at least leave the lamp on? I don't wanna be all alone in the dark…" Alfred explained, pulling the covers up to his nose.

You gave him a reassuring smile. "Of course."

After doing as Alfred desired and bidding him another goodnight, you headed to your own room and dressed yourself for bed.

Crawling into bed you finally took a deep breath and exhaled somewhat shakily. It had been such a long day…and you still couldn't rid yourself of the guilt of having contributed to Alfred's current state.

'I need to rest.' You thought. 'Alfred will need me tomorrow too…'

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

"Miss ______________? Miss ______________?" a voice whispered.

"Nnngh…" you groaned before opening your eyes to see Alfred shaking your shoulder. "Alfred…what is it? Is something wrong?" you asked, getting up to look at him.

"I have to go to the bathroom…" he said shyly.

You blinked a few times. "Don't you know how to go on your own?"

"I do but the hallway is dark and scary and I don't wanna walk down there by myself!" Alfred bawled.

You looked at him sadly though you felt inwardly awkward. "Ok, I'll take you." You said sleepily, taking his hand and guiding him down the hall to the bathroom. "I'll wait out here for you ok?"

After getting a quick ok from Alfred, he raced into the bathroom and took care of his business. It seriously felt incredibly awkward doing something like this; never in your life did you think you would be taking care of Alfred the way you were now.

"All done." He said walking out and taking your hand once again. "I can go back to bed now."

"Ok." You replied, guiding him to his room and making sure he got comfortable in bed. "I'm going to go back to bed now. Sleep well Alfred."

After getting a darling goodnight from the blonde, you headed back to bed and got comfortable once again. It took a while for you to get sleepy again but after about an hour your eyelids began to fall…you were almost asleep…

"M-Miss _____________?"

So much for sleep; you woke up again and looked up to see a teary-eyed Alfred.

"What's wrong, Al? Did you have a bad dream?" you asked, sitting up in bed once more, cupping the blonde's cheek.

"N-no…there's a storm outside and the lightning and thunder scares me." He whimpered. "Can I sleep with you?"

You couldn't stop yourself from blushing at his innocent question…damn it! Stupid adult brain!

"Well…." You began uncertainly.

Sure Alfred had the mind of a child but he still had the body of an adult and you would be lying if you said that you weren't sexually attracted to him during your relationship.

"Please…" Alfred pleaded, eyes watering even more.

You took a deep breath. "Ok…you can stay in here."

Alfred's face noticeably brightened, making you feel better about allowing him to sleep next to you. Alfred let out a childish laugh and crawled into bed, cuddling you closely. You blushed as he nuzzled his face into your neck and pressed his body close to yours.

"Thank you for letting me stay, Miss ______________..." America said cutely.

"You're welcome…a-and you can just call me _______________...." you replied, trying not to sound too shaky.

"Ok…." Alfred whispered, closing his eyes.

…………………………..

"_______________?" Alfred breathed.

"Hm?" you asked sleepily.

"I love you…" he whispered gently, nuzzling your neck more.

Your eyes widened and filled with tears. You couldn't speak…

After a long pause you finally spoke up.

"A-Alfred…"

No answer. Looking to him you realized why; he was fast asleep with a darling smile on his face.

You gingerly pecked a kiss to his cheek and allowed a single tear to fall from your eye. "I love you too Alfred…I love you too…"