Warning: USUK

Chapter One Characters:

-America/ Alfred F. Jones

-England/ Arthur Kirkland

~It Doesn't Have to Be~

January 10th, 1946. It was the day of the first General Assembly; a conference for the peace seeking states of the world to gather together and discuss issues of the times and look toward securing the future. That was the day, in London, that one such solution was purposed and accepted in vigor between the two leaders of Great Britain and the United States of America: the 'special relationship' between them should be solidified and their union made resolute before the world.

The announcement would be made before the first ever meeting of the United Nations that coming October, which was the reason Britain's Prime Minister had cleared Arthur's schedule and booked a flight for him to New York not even a week after the assembly's conclusion.

His orders? Get busy.

All of this had lead to the current awkward situation. Arthur was sitting with his arms and legs crossed on a couch in a high-rise luxury apartment overlooking Long Island. His expression was tight and mute while…his companion sitting parallel to him looked ready to have a bladder-rupturing episode.

The two had been in this tense state since Alfred had retrieved Arthur from the airport earlier that afternoon. The only real change had been on the drive to the apartment, which had been a jittery one-sided conversation on Alfred's part until Arthur told him that if he heard about the Detroit Lions and their so-called "football" one more time he was changing his national animal and beating Alfred to death with the first discarded effigy he found.

Needless to say, this did not set the mood for what they were supposed to be doing.

His complexion flushed, his leg bouncing up and down like it was trying to run away from him, and his hands constantly going from tightly linked together to grabbing at every article of clothing he wore, Alfred finally broke the silence – and sadly his voice.

"Do you –" he squawked, stopping to clear his throat so he didn't sound so much like a pubescent school boy pleading with his balls to drop so he could ask the school cheerleading captain out on a date. "D-do you want…something to eat?"

Arthur's expression never changed and he didn't move. "No, thank you. I'm feeling a tad nauseous for that."

"Oh!" Alfred piped up, trying to draw strength from the possibility of a task. "I have some antacid for that!"

Arthur just stared at him and after a while, Alfred seemed to get the point and deflated back into nervous misery.

"Um. Do you…want help unpacking?"

"No." He said flatly then sighed and decided to stop being too much of a prick; after all, this wasn't Alfred's fault. "No, thank you."

The American gave a bit of a smile, but still looked like he'd eaten something equivocal to a gastrointestinal explosive device and kept squirming all over his seat.

Oh, for God's sake.

"I'm rather tired so, if we could just make this quick – "

"Right!" Alfred suddenly cut him off (a little too loudly, Arthur might add) and bounced off the couch like one of the springs had shot up his ass. "You've had a long flight and are probably ready to drop dead – "

More than Alfred knew.

"So, I'll just go take a shower and you can do…uh….whatever it is…you…do before bed."

Again, all Arthur could do was give him a look, as Alfred seemed to flush cherry red from head to toe (Arthur thought Nantucket might have glinted crimson) and darted off to the bathroom.

By the time Alfred returned from the longest shower in history, Arthur had already tucked himself into the only bed in the room and completely obscured himself with the comforter. He could sense Alfred approaching the bed with uncertainty (eventually dashing out of the room for a self-pep talk before returning) before working up the courage to crawl beneath the covers and inelegantly scoot just an arm's length away from him.

Arthur kept his back to Alfred, as the man frustratingly continued to wrestle with indecision. When Arthur could take it no more, he rolled over and yanked a very startled Alfred to him.

"If you're going to do it, then do it. Acting like a virgin husband on his wedding night is only dragging this ridiculous burden out and irritating me," he hissed and stared the wide-eyed blond down. "Get this over with or get out."

Alfred looked cornered and began trembling. Perhaps it should have invoked some kind of sympathy but Arthur just didn't have the patience for it. It wasn't until Alfred swallowed and finally spoke that he felt something other than insurmountable annoyance.

"But that's what I am right now. I've never done this before and I never wanted it to happen this way…"

The moment seemed paused for Arthur as the words sunk in, making his hard expression soften a little in lieu of this most certainly impossible information. Arthur had known Alfred nearly the man's entire life and knew when he was lying; but, much to his distress, he couldn't find any falsehood now. There wasn't a single tell to be had and the raw anguish on Alfred's face was undeniable.

Alfred was telling the truth.

"You've never once done this…with anyone?"

Alfred flushed and looked down, "I know it's something most of you older guys see as 'just business' but…I see it as something special." Knowing Arthur was likely going to judge him on it, Alfred seemed to find the will to defend himself and bit out. "I don't care how human that sounds, it's what I wanted and still do."

In the silence that followed, Alfred cautiously lifted his eyes and found Arthur still appearing confounded in the wake of this revelation. As this was likely to be his only opportunity to get it off his chest, Alfred dropped all of his characteristic self-assuredness and pleaded, "This doesn't have to be tonight, right? …Please?"

Arthur still couldn't find his words and woodenly nodded, watching Alfred's face light up with gratitude as he thanked and hugged him tightly. The younger continued holding him until, eventually, he fell asleep with his limbs tangled in his companion's.

Rest did not come so easily for Arthur, who remained awake and staring at the crown of golden hair brushing his face. From the moment his Prime Minister tasked him with consummating the special relationship until Alfred's confession, Arthur hadn't realized that he had been bitterly treating this as just another business venture. He had only taken into account his own ire over being bartered like some courtesan to an infuriating idiot like Alfred Jones, and not that Alfred would be feeling incredible distress of his own. This hadn't been the first time Arthur had been charged with solidifying an alliance by these means…but Alfred…

He found himself squeezing Alfred a little tighter and resting his cheek atop the other's head. They had time to do this right and would, regardless of the pressure they would both be enduring from the top. This was suppose to be a special relationship after all…and he was determined that, for both of their sakes, it would be.

Notes from the Author:

;v;/ Hello all and welcome back to my archives. I have been in a horrid writing rut again and tried getting some momentum going by writing another drabble for the 365 Days of USUK project. After the positive feedback from readers of the project, I decided that I may expand on this story in time. I hope you all have enjoyed and see potential with it! Thank you all for reading and all my best, darlin's~

Sincerely,

General Kitty Girl