One Difference
He honestly never planned it, even considered it—it just happened. That is what Alfred insisted at least, but Arthur was not hearing any of it. How could he when he was staring a centuries old secret in the face? In fact, that secret was staring straight back at him looking even more shocked than he was. Alfred tried again to rouse the British nation cemented in his stance and stare, but to no avail. Arthur was long swept away by the storm terrorizing his mind. The only complete sentence in his brain was, "How did this happen?"
It had started off as a simple day, really. There had been the usual unproductive world meeting planned in Washington D.C. Arthur had already flown in two days in advance and was staying at a hotel just to make sure he was prepared and not jetlagged for the meeting. Everything had been going strangely well for a change, which probably should have been his first clue that something terrible was going to happen. He had managed to book a hotel that none of the other nations were sharing, and it was closer to the meeting place even! He could sleep in, still get there earlier than anyone else, and he would not have to see that nasty frog at his hotel. Things had even been going well with Alfred in the days before the meeting. Though Arthur was pained to admit that he cared for them, it was no secret to anyone that the man could be annoying. Not that Arthur would ever try to change him of course, but when he visited him he was actually working with enough papers scattered around his desk to make even Arthur shiver. That was actually why he wanted to stay in a hotel in the first place. The sight of the normally carefree nation working, intensively even, made him feel unusually prideful, and he wanted to do his best as well. That was not the end of it though, because despite his workload Alfred made time to speak with Arthur like he always did. They may have not been in the same house face-to-face, but they both idly chatted enough to seem like it.
Even the day of the meeting had progressed smoothly. He had woken up slightly before his set alarm, which some people may have despised, but it gave him a moment to collect himself so he would not have to be rudely awakened by the noisy machine. Arthur had felt particularly rested that day because he had done himself the small favor of taking the previous evening off and allowing himself to visit a proper restaurant with Alfred, which was not McDonalds and the American did not even grumble once about it, and promptly went to sleep upon returning to the hotel. Speaking of the hotel, it had a splendid room service breakfast he merely had to fill out a card and hang it on the door for which allowed him to choose his meal and the time it was served which was already waiting on him by the time he was dressed. By the time he was finished and out the door he had enough time to walk to the meeting place and still be the first person there, or at least he had thought.
Although Arthur liked to be there first for the few minutes alone he would have to prepare himself for the upcoming day, he could not honestly say that he hated the fact that Alfred was there before him. In fact, he felt that swelling pride over again when the nation had explained how hard he had worked because he had something important to say today. More often than not, Arthur had always assumed that Alfred thought of these meetings as merely games except for very rare occasions, like this one apparently, and he probably did. It made him more than slightly curious to see his presentation, which he had said he had wanted to be last. Arthur was curious about that, too, but with the way things were going he did not want to start an argument, especially with his time to prepare himself before the others arrived was dwindling. So that was what he did, and once finished, he seated himself and waited. He did not have to wait very long either before the others started to file in according to walking speeds. A few quirked an eyebrow at Alfred's early appearance, but they were all used to the two English-speaking nations breaking the walking speed order, though Alfred was usually one of the last to come in.
Once everyone was actually seated, Alfred, as the host, called the meeting to order and then the presentations began. The meeting progressed rather smoothly that day, or at least as smoothly as it could. Naturally there was still drama between all the nations, but it seemed to be kept to simple snapping and snubbing today. It actually surprised Arthur so much that he looked for Francis, thinking he was absent. Although the French man was very much present, his usual attitude was not. The only clue as to why was the trashcan that had somehow made it to his chair's side and the mountain of tissues within and dispersed around it. At the mere sit of his more than likely feverish rival he could not help but smirk before turning his attention back to the presentations. It was finally time for the one he had been waiting for, Alfred's. Said man was already standing by the podium with a million dollar smile plastered on his face. That was when things started to go downhill.
Right as he opened his mouth to speak his cell phone went off. Now, Arthur was not particularly keeping track of Alfred and his phone habits, but he had heard the phone's ring of the Star Spangled Banner enough to know that whatever ringtone it was playing right now was not his usual one. That also proved to be a bit of a feat, because on the first note that sounded Alfred's hand had practically dived for the device. If that had not been odd, the fact that his azure eyes had gone wide for a split second was. Before anyone could say anything to him he broke out into that grin again.
"Sorry guys, it will be just a moment." he assured, "Go on without me."
Arthur could not help but roll his emerald eyes at that. Had he really forgotten that his presentation was the only one they were waiting on? When a thought hit him a second later he could only blink in response. Alfred may have very well forgotten, if that phone call shocked him enough. But, then again, Arthur could simply be reading too much into things. In fact, this was not the first and certainly not the last time he would do that. It especially bothered him that no matter how he assured himself that he could not dismiss how odd that single phone call was, or should he really say the ringtone? It was not like Alfred had not gotten a call in the middle of a meeting before. Arthur had as well, all of the nations had he would bet. So it really only left the ringtone that unsettled him. Well, that and Alfred's strange behavior... which may have not been really all that strange if Arthur really thought about it. Back to square one. As an internal debate raged in Arthur's head over whether or not it was really all that weird for Alfred's phone to play another ringtone, the man in question had stepped back inside the room. Arthur was so absorbed in his thoughts that he did not even notice until he heard the American's voice.
"Hey, I am really sorry," he began, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile, "But a bit of an emergency came up at the office. I really have to go. I will present next time."
Without waiting for any kind of recognition, let alone approval, Alfred was out the door in a flash. That left a very confused Arthur convinced that something strange was going on. In fact, he would have liked nothing more than to have followed him out, but Ludwig took control of the meeting before anyone could do much of anything. It seemed as though despite only needing to finish Alfred's presentation for the meeting to close, Ludwig had brought some of his work for the next meeting just in case they had a spare moment. He justified what turned out to be a national question and answer session with the fact that they would be short on time to do it next meeting with the inclusion of Alfred's late presentation. It made Arthur's eye twitch, waiting there in his seat as the clock ticked away. Oh, how he hoped that he was not asked a question. He would have probably bitten Ludwig's head off with all the anxiety pooling in his stomach as his mind warred with itself. True, being called away from a meeting was not all that weird in of itself. Emergencies did happen that required a nation's presence. The only thing that was not right with this case had to do with Alfred's presentation. He had watched the man work on it himself and then request to speak last when he normally always wanted to go first. If this presentation was that important, what on earth was so pressing that he had to leave before it? The answer to that both scared and taunted Arthur as he sat in silence.
His luck from that morning still had not run out at this point because he got by without having to answer any of the questions. He still felt that he had to wait an agonizingly long time before Ludwig finally called off the meeting and dismissed them. Arthur was the first out the door the moment the words left the German's mouth. He had not paid much attention to the other countries, but it seemed no one expected anything to be wrong with Alfred. It made him wonder if he was reading too much into things again and that grated on his mind the entire trip. Said trip was supposed to be to his hotel where he had planned to agonize over his phone over whether or not he would just call Alfred. However, the moment he surfaced from his thoughts his hand was hovering dangerously close to the doorbell of very white Virginian home. The realization of where he was and what he was about to do caused him to start and he almost fell over. Why on earth was he here? Had Alfred not said there was an emergency in the office? So he had to be at work, not home. Of course, no matter what he told himself, he could not make himself leave the door. It had him trembling with frustration at being paralyzed in place. Just why could he not move? Nothing seemed off about the house. It was the same one Alfred built himself in his early nationhood.
His thoughts were broken by a noise inside the house. At first Arthur thought he was hallucinating before he heard it again and cocked a large eyebrow. It was very soft, but he could tell it was shuffling of some sort. Now why on earth would there be noise coming from Alfred's house if he was supposed to be at work? Irritation suddenly flooded Arthur. Had it all been a lie? The fool had probably bought a new game or something and was congratulating himself on his acting as Arthur stood there. Even as he internally fumed, in the back of his mind this new explanation did not sit well with him. Even if Alfred had been acting, why the odd behavior, and even more pressing, why would he leave before a presentation he put so much effort into right before he was about to get it over with? He did not really take time to consider this though since the answer to all of his questions was apparently waiting in the house in front of him. Not missing a beat, he searched for the spare key he knew was around the front door and, finding it in record time, he proceeded to let himself in.
"Okay, you git, what was that emergency about—"
Arthur's jaw dropped at the sight before him, the words dying on his tongue. Standing on the bottom step of the staircase stood a shell shocked Alfred. However, this was not the Alfred he had seen from the meeting. He was lean and muscular, still quite tall, but if one word really had to describe him it was youthful. The last time Arthur had seen him like this was right after the revolution. In fact, it looked like the boy that walked away from him walked straight into the future considering the young man was dressed in a very modern white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Arthur simply could not believe what he was seeing.
"Alfred?" he questioned, softly.
The boy in front of him stared at Arthur with equally wide eyes, "Big brother."