Prologue
Arthur's Point of View
Arthur was awoken by the sound of his phone ringing. Grumbling angrily, the Briton threw off the covers and sat up. 'Who the bloody hell would be here this late at night?' he thought bitterly as he felt his way blindly through the dark, stumbling awkwardly until he found the lightswitch on his lamp. Blinking against the sudden light, Arthur glanced at his watch. 3:30am.
"Bloody git," he growled, finding his phone, and answering it. "Do you have any idea what bloody time it is? I-" He started, but then paused as he heard Alfred's voice on the other side of the phone.
"Dude, Arthur! What's up?"
Arthur felt his eye twitch. "What's up? It's 3:30 in the bloody morning you git!"
"Oh ha, sorry about that! I forgot about the different timezones!" He laughed his classic American laugh, making Arthur let out another growl of annoyance.
"What could possibly have been so important? You never call me…" Arthur trailed off swallowing the sudden loneliness that had risen in his throat.
"Oh, right! I wanted to invite you to a birthday dinner!"
Arthur blinked, puzzled. "It's not your birthday,"
"No, it's your birthday silly!" the American laughed again. "I want to take you out to dinner! Don't tell me you forgot about your own birthday!"
"N-no, of course I didn't, bloody git!" Arthur stuttered, feeling embarrassed. He had forgotten about his brithday. "Y-you don't have to take me out to dinner. It's fine-"
"But I want to!" Alfred interrupted. "No one should be alone on their birthday!" he continued, making Arthur blush even more. Why did Alfred have to be so bloody cute? He had to admit, he did really miss the perky American; though he'd never admit it.
"I-in that case; thank you. I'd really appreciate it," The words fell out of Arthur's mouth before he could stop them. He blushed once again as the American chuckled.
"I'll meet you there in London tomorrow!"
"Right, right. Sounds good," Arthur had never thought that Alfred would have been to kind or responsible enough to remember Arthur's birthday. He was still having a hard time to process it. Alfred abruptly hung up before Arthur could say goodbye. Arthur placed the cell phone back onto the bedside table.
Letting out a sigh, he fell back onto his pillow, hands behind his head. "Oh Alfred…" Arthur couldn't help but feel a slight tingle of happiness in his stomach as he thought lovingly of his friend. Though he'd never say it out loud to anyone, he did feel quite affectionate towards the other. Yeah they argued a lot, and yelled at each other a lot, Arthur couldn't help but challenge him. It was… his way of showing affection.
He let a tired smile spread across his lips, as his eyelids gently fell down to his cheeks. Arthur turned over so he was laying on his side and wrapped his arms around his waist. Allowing himself to get swept away by his thoughts, Arthur felt himself slowly drift into a deep sleep. Eagerly awaiting tomorrow, his last thoughts before falling into the blackness was of Alfred.
-Time skip brought to you by Flying Mint Bunny-
Arthur fixed the tie on his suit. He hadn't dressed too fancy, staying in his formal military suit only because he had forgotten to do the laundry. He cringed, remembering the heap of dirty clothing in the washer.
"There. What do you think?" He asked the fairy who was sitting on his shoulder.
"You look great, sir! I'm sure it'll be a great day for you!" squeaked in a small, high-pitched voice.
Arthur studied himself in the mirror, right before he heard the doorbell ring. He turned to face the door, dusting off his outfit one more time and picking up the fairy to set her down on his desk. Arthur felt the nerves in his stomach grow, but as the doorbell rang again he mustered up the strength to call toward the door.
"I'll be with you in a moment!" He called, then turned back to the desk. "That's him I suppose. I'll be back in a few hours I assume,"
"Okay, have fun!" responded, waving as he turned away and opened the door.
"Ah, there you are, dude!" Alfred's baby blue eyes brightened.
"Sorry, I was just finishing something up," Arthur responded, giving a smile in return. How he had missed Alfred.
"It's totally cool, dude! Oh, by the way, who were you talking to?" Alfred asked, trying to look over the other's shoulder noisily to see who was in his house.
"Just my fairy friend," Arthur replied with a shrug.
"I don't see anyone," Alfred said bluntly, before focusing his attention back to Arthur. "You ready to go?" He asked excitedly.
"Indeed," Arthur nodded, following the American to his fancy car and opening the door to claim shotgun. Alfred had hopped in on the other side, and turned the keys, starting up the engine. As they pulled out of Arthur's driveway, he couldn't help but be so curious as to ask him something.
"If I may… What place did you have in mind?" Arthur asked, resting an elbow on the car door.
"So, I was think of a place that I just know you'd love. We do have to make a quick stop before we get there though, I hope you don't mind dude!" Alfred responded, smiling brightly.
"Uh, okay then," Arthur was slightly confused. Surely the American didn't know the area well enough to find directions to a restaurant. However, after a short drive, he pulled into the parking lot of a hotel.
"Okay, would you mind coming in with me, Iggy?" Alfred smiled brightly. Arthur hated that nickname, and rolled his eyes. He didn't want to be rude, however, so he unbuckled and opened the door.
"Let's go," He said, sighing, as he followed the American int the building and stepped into the elevator next to Alfred. "I assume we're going to your room then?"
"You guessed it, dude!" He laughed, covering the smirk that Arthur only barely caught a glimpse of. Arthur was about to say something, when they heard the 'ding' of the elevator coming to a stop. The doors opened with a swoosh, and Arthur felt the American's hand grab his wrist tightly and drag him down the long hallway.
"Bloody git! What are you doing?!" The Brit cursed as he was forcefully dragged along until they got to Alfred's room.
As he let go of the other's wrist, Alfred struggled with the keys until he found the right one and shoved it into the lock as the Brit was rubbing his wrists gingerly, trying to mask the pain. After a moment, Alfred pushed open the door to reveal a dark room. Alfred walked in, and Arthur soon followed.
"Damn it Alfred, couldn't you at least turn on the lights?" Arthur said, after a long pause where neither of them moved.
"Sure thing!" He laughed, and the lights were suddenly flicked on. What happened next almost have the Englishman a heart attack. The Axis and the remaining Allies plus many other countries all jumped out and yelled, "Happy birthday!" in unison.
"GAH!" Arthur cried, shock making react before he knew what he was doing. He shut his eyes tightly and clung onto the tall American next to him, hanging on for dear life.
"Whoa, dude…" Alfred said in astonishment at Arthur's reaction. Arthur was now blushing madly. His face turning so many shades of red it put Antonio's tomatoes to shame. Flustered, the Englishman let go of Alfred, clearing this throat and straightening his suite. He picked up his head again to study the faces around him.
Everyone was smiling at him, except Francis, who had a perverted smile on his face. 'Damn it, why did I do that! I'm such a bloody idiot!' He thought angrily at himself. More enraged than ever, Arthur said finally, "A-Alfred what is this?" He turned accusingly to the other, demanding a response.
"It's your Birthday party, silly!" America threw his hands up in the air. "Surprise!" Everyone else chimed in in a chorus of greetings. "Now, let's party!"
A chorus of cheers erupted from the gathered Nations and someone turned on the music and poured beers. This was going to be one long night… thought Arthur.
Several hours later, all the nations had gathered around in a circle playing Truth or Dare, but with a twist. If you refused the dare, or choose truth, then you had to take two shots. Arthur didn't like this idea, being the light weight that he is, but agreed after he was out voted.
"Okay France. It's your turn!" Feliciano's voice chimed above the gathered chatter.
"Honhonhon~ Let me see here," Francis looked around the room, and Arthur felt his heart stop as the other's eyes landed on him.
"Arthur! Truth or dare, Angleterre[1]," He said.
Arthur had already taken quite a few shots, and was already getting tipsy. He knew he couldn't take another, or it was game over. He had to work tomorrow, and he was not going to like waking up in the morning with a hangover.
"Dare," Arthur said casually.
Francis laughed again, and glanced over to where Alfred was sitting next to him. "Angleterre, I dare you to kiss Alfred!" He said suddenly.
Arthur gasped, taken aback by this dare. He knew he couldn't afford to take another shot, but he turned to Alfred blushing.
The watching nations were all coaxing him on, while Francis was still laughing. He growled in humiliation, and just wanted to get it over with. Without another moment of thought, Arthur turned to Alfred and tackled him suddenly, knocking the bigger one over as he crashed his lips onto Alfred's.
[1] French for "England" or "Englishman"