"I am not coming to your stupid party!"

"Artie… They're not mine, they're Matthew's."

"….Whose?"

"Canada's."

"And who is that?"

"My boyfriend…"

"Oh…! That guy with a polar bear?"

"Yep. But any way, old man, you are coming. See ya in my house around 9pm. Oh, and it's a masquerade party!"

There was a click as the American hung up the phone.

"Well… Great…," murmured the irritated Brit. No there was no escape. He had to go.

Letting a deep sigh escape his stiff lips, Arthur made his way to his attic. After about an hour of searching, he finally found his old pirate suit, it would be okay to wear in masquerade. Then a mask. Arthur was sure that he had one, and soon enough he found his golden mask.

After pulling the clothes on, the Brit looked at the mirror, frowning. "Dammit… Everyone will recognize me because of… these," he growled, pointing at the two bushes on his face that were his eyebrows.

"Don't worry, England! We can make your hair a little bit longer to cover them up!" said a voice above him. Arthur smiled as he lifted his head to see Flying Mint Bunny and few of his fairy friends.

"That would really help! Thank you."

One of the fairies waved her magic wand and Arthur's hair grew few centimeter, just enough to cover the eyebrows.

"You're looking really good!" Flying Mint Bunny said, making the fairies giggle.

"W-Well thank you," Arthur said, a little smile appearing on his face as he looked at the outfit. He was sure that one certain Frenchman couldn't be looking any better!

"Maybe I'll even get some girl to dance with me!" he said with a grin.

Smirking smugly to himself, Arthur said good byes to his friends and left the house.


"Artie, dude! You came! Almost everyone is here already, make yourself at home!" Alfred greeted the Brit with a large grin on his face. Matthew was standing next to him and smiled at Arthur shyly.

"…How did you recognize me?"

"I have seen your pirate suit before! You showed it to me when I was a kiddo. Anyway, go have fun!"

Arthur nodded and stepped inside, heading to the huge room where the others were.

The room was filled with people, loud music, snacks and alcohol. So there was only one thing that Arthur liked; alcohol.

"I wonder if he has any rum…," he muttered to himself as he headed towards the table where the drinks were. Just when he was about to grab a mug and pour some liquid to it, something caught his eyes. Or actually someone.

In the middle of the dance floor, there was a man. His hair was beautiful; long, shiny, curly and blond. It got to be a wig, thought Arthur, it is too perfect too be real hair. The man's whole face was covered with a silver mask, not even his lips were exposed.

So he can't speak to the others…? That's actually quite good way to not be recognized…

The man was wearing a rococo jacket and a button up shirt which first five buttons were open, revealing an amazingly well built chest. He was wearing tight pants and letter boots. And holy god, that man was sexy.

After five minutes, Arthur found himself still staring at the man and he had to force himself to turn away before no one could notice. Too late.

"Like what you see? No one knows who he is, but I bet that every girl and gay here has a crush on him!" Alfred said with a laugh.

"You should hurry up if you're even trying to get him!"

"So you're saying that I'm gay?" Arthur raised his eyebrow, crossing his arms. The American laughed again.

"Oh come on! I saw how you were staring at him!"

Arthur stayed quiet, glaring at the other one, who kept laughing at him. Alfred turned his head to look at the man, grin appearing on his face.

"He's actually quite sexy, Arthur. If you're not trying anything, maybe I should…." (A/N: Alfred is just teasing, he wouldn't ever cheat on his little Matthew :3)

"Bug off!" the Brit snapped quickly.

"I knew that you want him!" After that, Alfred grabbed Arthur's wrist and pulled him to the dance floor, stopping in front of the mysterious man.

"Hey. This guy over here wants to dance with you," Alfred said like it was the most normal thing to say, and left Arthur stand there with deep blush on his face.

The only thing about the man's face that Arthur was able to see was the man's eyes. Those sapphire like pools of blue were shining and Arthur hoped that the man was smiling.

Arthur opened his mouth to say something, but the man pressed a finger on his lips, silencing him. Before the Brit could protest or react in any way, the man's arms were around his waist. The music changed into a slow song.

Not thinking what he was doing or who was seeing, Arthur placed his hands on the man's shoulders and leaned a bit closer, wanting badly to feel that amazing body against his.

The man seemed to get the hint and he pulled Arthur closer so he was leaning against his chest, a little pleased sigh escaping the Brit's lips.

At the middle of the song, Arthur suddenly felt that the other one of those arms around his waist moved upper and upper, then resting on his cheek. Well, Arthur really didn't mind that, but when the hand reached up to move his bangs to reveal his eyebrows, he knew that he was caught.

The man didn't say anything, but Arthur was sure that he had recognized him. The Brit stared at the other man with widened eyes, wanting to run away, but the man's nearness was too addicting.

Then the man leaned closer whispering into his ear. "Don't worry, Arthur. I recognized you in the moment you came here. I was just making sure that it really is you."

The voice was deep and low and a bit familiar. But the mask muffled the words so much, that Arthur couldn't really recognize the voice.

Sighing, he relaxed into the man's arms again, leaning his head against the slightly taller one's shoulder. He breathed the man's scent, his eyes fluttering closed. That scent was familiar; shampoo, a bit of roses, cologne and a little bit of… wine?

Being close to that man made Arthur's heart beat faster and his thoughts weren't clear, so that was maybe the reason why he couldn't connect the scent to anyone.

Too soon the song was over, but to the Brit's surprise, the man didn't let go of him.

What happened next happened so quickly, that Arthur didn't have time to react at all. First there was hand place on his mask, covering his eyes. Then there was that quiet sound of someone taking off his mask and then there were lips on his. Soft, talented and warm lips.

The kiss was short but it was still the best one Arthur had never had and his mouth stayed slightly open as the other one pulled away. When the hand was taken off from Arthur's eyes, the man had his mask back on.

"That was a cruel trick you know! You should tell me who you are since you kissed me!" Arthur said, frowning slightly and crossing his arms.

He wasn't really angry at all; he just tried to make the man tell who he was.

The man shook his head, kind of wistful look in his eyes. He seemed to be sad. But why…?

Arthur was just about to ask, when the man turned around and ran away from the Brit.

He wanted to go after the man. He wanted to know who on the earth was so perfect, but he couldn't. He just stood there still until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Was it nice to dance with him?" asked a cheerful voice with American accent.

"…Yeah. Kind of," Arthur murmured his answer, shaking Alfred's hand off.

"Great! So I heard from Kiku that someone kissed someone! Did you see who it was? If it was my Matthew I'm so gonna-"

Alfred was cut off by Arthur.

"Do not worry, Alfred. It was me. The man kissed me and I have no idea who he is."

There was a long silent.

"Oh… Well… I'll tell you if I get any information about him!"

And as quickly as the American had appeared, he disappeared somewhere. Arthur sighed deeply. He needed to get his thoughts clear.

I can't have a crush on a man that I just met! Well, he seemed familiar in many ways, but still! I don't know who he is! Arthur thought as he went to the balcony, leaning his elbows against the railing. Whoever it was, he was probably just playing around with me. Who could possibly want to kiss someone as grumpy as me?!

It was good thing that he was alone because he wasn't able to hold his tears. He threw his mask somewhere, letting the tears drop freely. He was meant to be alone. The man was just playing around.

Arthur didn't hear through his sobs that someone entered the balcony. He didn't notice anything before two strong arms wrapped around him from behind him. He felt someone nuzzling his neck and he smelled the same scent as before; it was the man he had been dancing with.

"Arthur… I didn't mean to make you cry, forgive me." The words were spoken softly and there wasn't a mask muffling them. Even though the Brit was sobbing quite loudly, he could hear the French accent in the voice.

"F-Francis…?"

"Oui, it's me... I'm sorry, I understand very well if you hate me because of this night…"

Francis. That bloody frog… It was then when Arthur realized that he had actually had feelings for the taller blond for a long time. He had just been too stubborn to admit it even to himself.

He wanted to believe the French's words. He wanted to turn around and capture those perfect lips into another sweet kiss, but something stopped him; disbelief.

"I-Isn't it enough that you tease me every time you get an opportunity?! Now you had to play with my feelings!"

There was a sigh and Arthur felt lips against his cheek, the arms around him tightening. The Brit found himself leaning against the other body.

"Mon amour… I am not playing with your feelings… I've wanted to say this for centuries; I love you. You're the reason why I have gathered enough strength to go through the revolutions, you are the reason why I woke up every morning, you are the inspiration of my art…" There was a little pause. "You are the man who stole my heart when we were just little kids, playing in the woods."

Arthur's eyes widened slightly and the sobbing stopped, although there were still few tears of joy rolling down his blushed cheeks. He turned around to wrap his arms around Francis' neck.

"Y-You idiot…! You should have told me earlier."

"You made it quite hard since you said so many times that you hated me…"

Arthur wore a guilty expression and so Francis quickly flashed a smile at him.

There was no need for more words and the two of them leaned in for a kiss, arms tightly around each other, never wanting to let go.