The Life of the Party

The night was started with a few simple invitations. A few simple pieces of paper that told where it would be set, when to arrive, what to wear and who was invited. Even if it was pretty obvious if you even got the invite in the first place you were most likely able to come.

The fancy invitations were sent to many of the nations, if not all of them. The occasion was celebrated by everyone. It was the special day, the holiday of love. Valentine's Day. Almost the entire world celebrated it. The party didn't have an official host, but it was set at the world meeting center on America's land. So everyone sort of assumed that Alfred set the whole thing up.

The celebration would be a success. That was for sure. Everyone would have a partner and they would dance across the floor and enjoy the night with that other. Due to Japan's holiday, a poll was put up to ask if the dance would be "Girl's Choice". Or the "Uke's Choice" as he called it a few times, then went on to explain that it was due to the lack of female nations. I still don't know what it means but it means the same thing, I learned that.

Well, almost everyone would have a partner. I guess the majority of countries had a partner to spend time with, so they assumed that was everyone… Like usual, I was completely left out of the survey. I was forgotten and pushed to the side like I didn't exist at all.

But it's okay. I'm used to it by now.

You're even wondering who I am by now, aren't you? Well, I'm Matthew Williams. You probably still don't know why I am, do you? Well… If that's too hard my country name is Canada.

My brother is Alfred. That's why I look a lot like him, and I get bullied by his enemies sometimes too. I don't really mind though, it's just the way that things work around here. Plus I could never want as much spotlight as my brother got. I will never know how he deals with that, I think. It's really amazing to watch as he puts on speeches or dances for the entire whole world to see and doesn't even get scared a bit.

But, then again, this was Alfred we're talking about. As amazing as that was, it was a burden. If I was in his spot for a day I would have had a few good words to say to his government and I would have at least tried to pay off the debt that he was swimming in a small bit. Instead of trying to use his money on these stupid and fool plans that he makes up he should focus on the debt following him around like a shadow. No wonder that there are so many countries that hate him, he never pays anyone back!

Ugh, I could go on forever about this. I am sorry I shouldn't be throwing these at you like this. I should be talking about the Valentine's Day party.

So, the party is, you guessed it, on Valentine's Day. It's during the night time. Probably because it'll take an entire day to get the giant building to look good enough for a formal party like this. America never really had fancy buildings, so that would take some work. If they let me host this party I wouldn't have to spend a day making the buildings look nice. I would just hang a few roses up and it would take an hour at most to make the building even more beautiful than it was already.

I would set up a playlist for the party using all languages for everyone that came. I would actually regard my guests, like Alfred never did. I am certain that Alfred would just use his only language, English. I even have a long playlist of all the most beautiful songs in all the languages I could find saved on my phone. From Arabian to Zulu.

I also would include all of the cultures of the world into the decorating. I would have all the flowers of the countries strung up together then hung on the walls. I would try to make everyone feel like the party was partly dedicated to them, I would make everyone at the party happy. Everyone would feel noticed and like there were people out there who took them like they were just as important as themselves. That everyone was important and needed.

Then maybe if I was hosting this party there wouldn't be people who were demoted to just watching everyone else as they danced around and talked and had the fun that everyone at a party should always have.

But, not everyone did. Because I was here, watching everyone instead of being able to participate in the party myself. I was here to be forgotten and left out of the party, again. This is why I didn't come to my brother's parties. They just made me feel even more forgotten.

At least once when Italy hosted a party somebody actually said 'Hi" to me. It was Australia, he greeted me in his native language. I had to look up what it meant later but I was ecstatic when he noticed me.

Absolute proof that my brother hosts bad parties! Stupid Alfred, never thinking about anyone else than himself-!

So, here I was. I was walking around a few minutes ago but I just gave up by now. If they didn't notice me when I was almost purposely running into them then they definitely won't see me now. There were lots of people dancing around on the floor or sitting down next to their partners. Maybe I would be noticed if I had a partner. Too bad I don't…

Oh, look, it was the man of the hour. The life of the party. The hero that will save the day for some poor damsel in distress. Heh, what a joke. There he was dancing and spinning around- Uh. I don't even know who he was dancing with, I couldn't get a good luck at them. But they didn't seem to enjoy it all that much. They even fell down. Alfred was far too reckless and didn't know how to calm down if his life depended on it.

Okay, I'm done with this. I'm going to get some fresh air.

So I got up and dusted off the back of my dress pants. Chances are that that idiot didn't even clean this place well in the first place. Don't want to walk around with a patch of dust outlining where I was just sitting down. But, then again, who would even notice in the first place? Best to get it off anyway, then I had that satisfaction.

So now that my rear wasn't harboring dirt I was ready to get out of here. Why was I even here, anyway? I did get an invitation, but they didn't fill in the blank for my name. They just sent me the unfilled card. Who even knows if they meant to send it or not? Could have just meant to send it to Alfred because he needed an extra for god knows what. Probably.

So I just walked right through the crowd, it's not like anyone would care. I only ran into two people. Neither of them "saw" me. And by "saw'" I meant acknowledged. Nobody bothered to say anything or even look my way, casual.

I kept walking until I reached the doors. I opened them with more force than usual. I stepped out and then slammed them behind me, I was pretty happy with the loud slamming noise that came from them. Even is probably nobody noticed. I was proud of that.

I stomped through the halls until I could find the big door with the "EXIT" sign put up over it. Of course I marched out of that heavy door and out to the freshness of outside. It was not only refreshing to be out of that perfume infested room and to the fresh air of the night but it was also refreshing to finally be where I couldn't have to try all my time to get someone to notice me, again. This is why I lived alone.

The sky above was really pretty tonight. You could clearly see all of the stars up there. I would much rather be with the stars and alone than with everyone in that room back there. Except Australia, maybe. He was a cool guy.

I walked further from the place and off the sidewalk, down some streets where there were once patches of grass. I could see that there was a tiny little puddle or two of slush in some places on the streets, from melting snow. What a wimp, that Alfred. He complained and panicked over just a few centimeters at the most while I could count my snow in meters most years! We should switch houses for a day, just so he knows what it's like, to be in the cold.

So I kept going further away from the building, I ended up finding a little alley about a block or two away from it, actually. It was dark and damp and felt like one of those places in movies where you would see someone get mugged or killed in one of Alfred's movies. Pretty nice place, actually. It was next to some type of bakery –wow, I didn't know that he still had food places other than just hid food like product, Fast-Food places!- so it didn't smell like a wet place with dumpsters. It smelled kind of like fresh bread. And of beer, a lot of beer.

Wait, what?

Why does it smell like beer, why on each would it? It didn't smell like Alfred's gross beer either, it smelled way stronger. Like beer from… what country was it?

Ah, German beer, this was the distinct smell of German beer.

I stepped backwards a few times to look around and see if I could find where it was coming from, but it only got weaker, that smell. I didn't see any bars nearby. I also don't think an American drunk could be the cause of the smell, they would've passed out by now. There also weren't any people passed out nearby, so that wasn't it either.

I followed my senses and they lead me back to the same alley I was just in. I couldn't find anything anywhere. But then I went in further, until there was nothing but a wall staring back at me. Then I looked down.

There it was. Well- there he was. Like I had known, he reeked pretty badly of some strong beer. He was in a tuxedo. It looked like it had a few tears and rips in it though. It also had small wetness stains dotting the outfit. He was sitting with his knees curled up to his chest. His head was hidden against him knees and he was dead silent. He had a fist curled up for one of his hands.

I crouched down in front of him, I still didn't know who this was. He could be a human, or so help me if he was a nation… But that was silly, all of them were at the party. Nobody would be out here and not enjoying the party, right? Except for me of course, I was the exception.

So after another second of two he still didn't see me. I was blocking out the only light that was spilling into the dark alley. So I think that he might not be okay. Maybe he passed out, he did smell of beer. Or he could have just fallen asleep and always smelled like that. There were people like that, right?

I moved a hand to reach over his knees and try to shake his shoulder, if he was conscious then that would get his attention. But then I flinched slightly as I felt something wet smudge onto my forearm. I pulled my hand back and turned it over to look at it. It was dark. I couldn't see it in the current light, and I was really confused on what it was. I also learned that there wasn't a very big chance that the man was awake.

I gentle unwrapped his arms from his knees and pulled them back down. I could see the tux much better now. I saw that the jacket of the dress wasn't on his shoulder, it wasn't on at all on his right side. The white dress shirt underneath wasn't buttoned as well. His entire tux looked wrinkled and as if he didn't even care about it. He looked like an absolute mess.

It was after I unwrapped his arms that I saw that the fisted hand was holding something, I could see that there was a green stem on it. I carefully undid his fingers, even though he was gripping it really hard while he wasn't even awake. I noticed then that I got a lot more of the dark wet stuff on my hands after that, so his hand was where that was coming from.

I pulled his fingers back to find that he had his entire hand and some of his arm painted in it. I could also see now what he was holding. A single rose, it had lost half of its petals as well. The rose was almost as dark as the liquid all over my and his hand. I still needed to find out what that was.

The rose, I tried to pick it up out of his hand, but I pricked my finger on it. It seemed… sharp. Roses… Oh, they have spikes on their stems. Natural rose bushes grow with thorns on them. I know what it was that the dark wetness was now, it was blood from him gripping the spikes of the rose so hard.

I wonder what was so important about that single rose that he would allow to loose so much blood for it.

I had enough with suspense about now, I wiped away the drying blood on my tuxedo –it's not like I would ever use it again, anyway- and grabbed the sides of his cheeks. They actually felt really soft for someone that looked like he did, out-fit wise. I lifted his head up and found his eyes closed and his mouth slightly opened. I felt a little bit of wetness under his lip. Eww, he was drooling in his sleep.

He had a soft and almost innocent looking face like this. I didn't even recognize him for a few seconds. He looked so cute and almost as if he had never been in a war or a battle in his entire life. But then again, his eyes were closed. But none the less, I knew who this was. This was the Kingdom of Prussia, or what was once the leader of the Realm of the Tectonic Knights. I had only seen him twice.

The first was at a bar party that France had dragged me to after a successful meeting. He was drinking like he wasn't going to live another day when we got there. We also met Germany, both of the Italy brothers, and Spain there. I could never forget his laugh and the look of satisfaction on his face after seeing that France had come to join them by coincidence. Blaming it on the "Awesome ways that the world works". I even use that phrase sometimes because I thought it was a fun way to say it.

The second was at a world meeting. It was a really weird way to see him I have heard and France even told me that it was probably Ludwig dressed up as his brother so that he could keep the meeting in order still. The time happened on a day that Germany had gotten some government issues, resulting in him turning sick. Prussia had come to the meeting on his behalf and promised to do well. Even though his younger brother didn't believe it. He actually did a very good job. He kept everyone in order just as Germany would have.

Then he cracked an eye opened and looked up at me. In the darkness I could see a low glow that his in them and that showed off the reddish color to them, which just scared me. I yelped a little bit –don't judge. Judging is bad- and removed my hands. I saw that his mouth formed a little smile, even though he still looked drowsy and about to fall over any second.

I looked at his face again and raised an eyebrow. He looked like he was trying to figure out things more than I was a minute ago. He stared back at me and let a cocky smile take over his face. "Hallo!" He had a really thick accent. I would say that it sounded like he was coughing up something if I was a rude person who judged people just like that. But I was raised batter than that.

"Hello…" Okay, I don't get much time to talk with other people in everyday conversations, if I messed this up with this guy then I would personally like to have more practice. But I don't so deal, you pesky audience.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing in a scary alley like this?" Okay, that was all him who turned this conversation down that road, not me. I did nothing wrong.

"P-pretty little thing? No way, and I'll go where I want to, thank you very much!" I huffed and put my hands on my hips, I see people like Hungary and Belarus do that all the time. Whenever they did it, it would scare them so bad I think I saw one of the Italy brothers pee his pants when Belarus did it they were so scared. I hope that I would make this guy pee his pants, I didn't really like him so far.

He just laughed though. As annoyed as I should be at that, I couldn't help but want to smile. The only person I've ever made laugh was Alfred, and that was when he was making fun of me. I knew I could do better if I tried. I had yet to figure out if he was making fun of me yet.

"You look pretty cute, Birdie." Yes, I had confirmed he was making fun of me. And where did that name come from, anyway?

"Birdie? What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, your hair is really blonde. It looks soft too. It reminds me of Gilbird's little feathers~" He laughed. Gilbird? I have heard that before.

"Gilbird… That's your pet bird… right?" He nodded. "Then you must be Gilbert, aren't you?"

"Right on the money, Birdie."

"Gilbert… Beilmidsched?"

"Beilschmidt. It's Beilschmidt"

"Ah, so close."

"Good try Birdie, try again anytime. I'll be here all week." He said with a joking wink.

"Hehe, I may just have to take that into consideration." I said and I stood up once again, reaching out my already bloodied hand out to him, to help pick him up off the cold stone underneath us.

His smile seemed to falter and he looked at me like he had no clue what I was doing. I gave him a semi-frown to let him know I wasn't one to be fooled. "C'mon. The party is a block away from here."

"I am not going back to that party" He said with a tone that seemed like he was still figuring himself out. Seeing how his voice was lower than somebody like his should be.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not, and so sorry to burst your bubble, but you can't make me either, Birdie."

"Yes I can!" That sounded like a challenge. Was that a challenge? Was he challenging me? I think that was a challenge!

"Try to."

"Gladly!" I scowled and grabbed his pale arm, trying to pull –more like rip! - Him off of the ground. Everyone starts somewhere and I think I would start by getting him off the ground, that jerk-!

"Keep trying, I'm sure you can lift me~"

"Shut up! You know that you could help. If you could find the kindness in your huge heart to, that is." A challenge accomplished with another challenge, seemed fair to me.

"Hey, but what help would it do if I helped you out doing something I dared you to do in the first place?"

"It would get you off of the cold ground, that's what I'd do."

"What's in it for me?"

"You'd prove to me that you're no the cold and heartless man I think you are."

"Hmm. I might just have to get up for that reason."

"Finally…" I sighed and was able to stop trying to either get him up or pull off his arm, whatever happened first.

"On one condition."

"Oh come on, that isn't fair!"

"Oh get over it." He said like a demanding father, or older sibling. "I'll go back to that un-awesome party if you promise me you'll have a dance with me, Birdie." He didn't even say it as a question, he was ordering me. Was that how you were supposed to flirt? Wait. Did that mean he was flirting with me!?

"W-What makes you t-think that I would dance with y-you?" I could feel the dark red that took over my cheeks. It wasn't crimson like the blood that came out of the deep cuts on the albino's palms, It also wasn't like the red of the dull and dying rose and it wasn't a shiny ruby like his unfamiliar eyes. But it was somewhere in-between those three.

"Because or else I will just stay here…"

"Well I think that's a bigger loss for you than for me, to be honest."

"Well, then I would probably go back to sleep. I might get that Hypo-what-I-a and freeze to death. Or I might get kidnapped and beaten to death. Or I could maybe die from blood lo-"

What were we even talking about anymore? I didn't really like it. "Okay, first, it's Hypothermia. And it's only a mid-40 at the least. It isn't cold out here at all. That isn't even close to how cold you would need it to be to lower your body temperature. And then second, you're heavy, I don't think anyone would-"

"H-hey!"

"-kidnap you. Plus you're a nation. People know not to mess with those. Or it could help it that you're an albino and nobody wants to mess with you either. I mean, you would pretty much have to be blind to not see somebody carrying around an albino."

I think he finally gave up and just kind of looked at me now, like he knew that I was going to continue and that he was waiting for me to. Which I was going to, actually.

"Thirdly, your cuts aren't that bad to have any effect like blood loss on you. But I would like it if I could patch those up, if you would let me. Please? I don't like seeing my friends bleed." Wait, did I really just refer to this man as my friend? I guess it just came out with my sentence. I outstretched my hand out to him again, the left hand. So that he could grab it with his right, his left was dotted with places that the rose thorns pierced. I might have to ask him about that, I was still very curious.

He seemed to be as surprised as me about the words that I said. He did reach up and grab my hand though. Carefully, he pulled himself to his feet. Which I think might have been sore or asleep because he stomped a few times until he could balance correctly.

"Better?" I asked with a faint smile forming on my lips, I could feel that it was there.

"Ja." Hehe, that's where the German accent came in handy, I guess. "I feel great! Thanks for askin', Birdie~" I think he was being serious, not sarcastic or something. But not like the strict or seems-like-you're-walking-around-with-a-stick-up-your-butt type of serious either. A joking, yet not sarcastic or distrust full serious. I don't even think that there was a word for it, really.

I'll just say that's kind of how I see Gilbert. A serious person who isn't serious in almost any way except when needed, otherwise he's just a goofball who enjoys jokes and drinking with his two lifelong "Besties". Sounds right to describe the personification of the Tectonic Knights.

"That's great to know. So, c'mon. Let's get back to that party."

"Alright"