"England... England, do you have any tips for sleeping?"
"Yes, of course." England looked at him. "Don't continue talking to me. Put down the phone and close your eyes."
"But... B-But I can't," America whined.
"Why not? America, I have things to do. I'm sorry. I can't FaceTime you for much longer." Actually, he could, he just didn't want to.
"I can't stop thinking."
"Think happy thoughts."
"Do you have any idea how hard that is to do?" America seethed. "Please, I... N-Nevermind." His voice was sluggish, lagging slightly, and America wasn't acting the way he normally did.
"What time is it for you?"
"Almost two in the morning. I haven't slept at all. Not since yesterday."
"Why not?" England asked again.
"I can't. I just... I can't stop thinking."
"Why do you think that I can help you with this?"
"I didn't want to bug anyone else, but I figured that I could call you. I always used to talk to you." England's heart cracked just a little bit.
"Why, though? Why did you have to call me? And why can't you just go to sleep like any normal person?"
America looked hurt. "I'm trying. It's just—,"
"No, you're not trying."
America blinked. "I am!" he insisted, his voice shaking a little bit.
England felt bad, so he changed the topic.
(I don't know how to do transitions, so here you go. I'm sorry.)
After awhile of just talking, America said, "You know what sounds really great?"
"What?"
"A concussion. I would do anything to just be passed out right now."
"Ouch. A concussion would hurt. Don't do that," England frowned.
"I don't care. England, I just want to sleep."
"Why can't you, again? Why can't you just stop thinking?"
"I can't stop thinking of something that happened last Thursday, okay?"
"Last Thursday? America, what happened?" England's expression changed from one of annoyance to one of concern.
"It's not important."
"Clearly it is, if it's keeping you up."
"It doesn't matter."
"America, please tell me what happened. You know you can tell me, right?"
"I know," America mumbled unconvincingly. "But it's not important, England. I promise."
"America, this is ridiculous," England said, but the normal bite in his voice was gone. His voice softened even more.
"I know. I-I can't get over it, though."
"Were you able to sleep at all before?"
"Yeah. It's just tonight," America said quietly.
England didn't know what to do. This was definitely unusual. He'd never known America to be so easily upset— or maybe the situation was much worse than America let on. He didn't want to think of what that might mean. "America, I... What's wrong? Why aren't you letting yourself sleep?"
America looked like he was about to cry. Oh no. Please don't make that face. Please don't cry. I don't want to see you cry. "I.. Just... Just some of my citizens being mean to me, is all. It's not that important, see?"
England sighed. "America, I..." he refused to answer the question. "You know, I don't like seeing you this way. What time is it now?"
America looked up, and then sighed. "It's... It's 3:45. I-I'm so sorry, I know you don't want to deal with th-this. I'm sorry for bothering you. I'll... I'll be fine. I'm sorry—,"
"America," England said, interrupting him. "It's okay. Just close your eyes. You don't have to be sad anymore, alright? You can sleep. It's alright. Everything will seem better in the morning."
"I'm sorry," America repeated. "England, I-I can't. Everytime I think about it..."
"America, you need to try, alright?"
"I'm sorry. I'm wasting your time. I know you probably have better things to do."
"America, you're not wasting my time. Of course I don't want to see you like this, but that's not because you're bothering me. You need to sleep, America. Sleep is good for you."
"Well, we don't really need to sleep, do we? I mean, we're... We're countries. We're okay."
England shook his head. "America, I know it'll be hard to think in the dark, with nothing to distract you, but you look tired. You'll fall asleep if you try, I promise."
"No. I'm not... England..." America whined. He was barely keeping his eyes open.
"Everything will seem better when you wake up, okay?"
"But it happened a week ago. How is my perspective supposed to change by the day?"
"It'll be better, America. I promise."
"I wish you were here."
"Please trust me," England said. "Just close your eyes. Everything will be alright in the morning. You don't have to be sad anymore. Just sleep."
"Okay, England. Goodnight."
"Goodnight, America. Sleep well." America hanged up. England sat there for a bit, before realizing he had talked to America for a good two hours.
He just hoped the younger nation would be alright. He hadn't caught himself being this concerned for America in such a long time.
(I don't know how to do transitions, so here you go. I'm sorry.)
England watched America carefully at the next World Meeting.
America was trembling slightly. He seemed disinterested in his own presentation, which was extremely unlike him— usually America would leap at the chance to voice his opinion. He had dark circles underneath his eyes.
England sighed and looked away.
Based off of something that happened to me a few days ago. Anyway, a review would be lovely. Stay safe, everybody! Go drink some water.