I was inspired to write this because of my younger sister who studies in Manchester

I wondered how this would have been reacted to in the Hetalia universe

feels alert and platonic USUK

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DarkPheonix666

America paced back and forth across the meeting room quietly a large frown on his face. He had been doing so for the past hour or so and nobody dared interrupt him. Something wasn't right, he could feel it in his guts. Eating away at him like a bad itch that wouldn't go away. He couldn't remember the last time he had been so worried.

England was late, later than usual considering he was a man of perfect timing most meetings. The meeting was supposed to start soon but England hadn't shown up. Not a phone call, not a text, nothing. Just going straight to answer phone. No warning as to why he wasn't here or why he didn't attend.

America had made sure to be a good host and even prepare food for the guests. Making sure everything was in order so he could impress his ex-guardian to show he had matured. To show that he had learned a thing or two from his past nagging on how to be a good host when holding these things to discuss the world politics.

But England hadn't shown up, when he first arrived and England wasn't around he thought he would just be in the bathroom. But as the other countries began to appear still no England. This caused America to worry, just what on earth had happened to England. He had no way of contacting him as off of his contacts went straight to voicemail as soon as he called.

Hell, even France was worried which was saying something here. Though the two nations argued a lot they had a deep bond that not many could understand. They had known each other a long time and knew each other better than anyone. France could read England like a book and knew all of his personality traits.

Everyone knew that England hated being late for anything. He found it to be bad manners and would show up early just to be on time. He would even scold America for not being on time for anything, even if it wasn't a meeting. But today he hadn't shown up at all.

Trying to remain calm America went over the possible solutions he could think of. Maybe his flight was delayed, or he was caught in traffic. Those sorts of things could be an issue in his country. Suddenly his phone began ringing and he answered it without hesitation. Fear and relief washing over him as he heard the ring tone.

England had quite the nerve making him worry like this. It wasn't cool to play a prank on a hero like this. God, he swore the Brit acted more like a villain which is why he cast his actors in such roles all the time. "Hello? England? What's the deal? you had me worried!" America barked anxiously.

"Isnae England laddie. It's me" Scotland replied sternly. God this was the hardest call he had ever had to make, but he would be staying beside England until he recovered. Though they didn't always get along. England was his husband. The fact that despite his severe injury he was ok, was a relief to Scotland. What could have happened made him feel sick.

This caused America to only panic further, the fact that Scotland was calling instead of England. He could tell something wasn't right by Scotland's tone. It was very rare that Scotland spoke so seriously, usually he was just moody. But when he got in a serious mood, you know something wasn't good.

Scotland sighed heavily, of all the nations this would affect the most it would be America. Before calling him he had taken a few shots of alcohol to prepare himself for this talk. After all, England had raised the boy as his own and to this day they still had a deep bond even after all these centuries.

"What?! Where's England? Why isn't he here?" America pestered anxiously. He didn't like this, he didn't like this at all. He could tell there was something Scotland wasn't telling him. He wanted to speak to England right now, where they both in on this? This joke wasn't funny anymore, this was going too far.

"England winna be gan tae meetings for a while" Scotland replied reluctantly. He would be able to help where he could with paperwork, but as far as meetings he wouldn't be going either. He needed to stay beside England and help care for him. Till then, Ireland would have to take over or one of his assistants. England was in no state to attend, nor would he be for a while.

Words could not convey how scared and sick he had felt after learning of the attacks. He had felt such anger and sadness he hadn't felt in a long time. Knowing England was alive despite the damage brought him so much relief he had cried. Now Scotland wasn't one to cry, but this had truly shaken him more than one could imagine.

When he arrived at England's home he broke down by his bed and clung to him for dear life. He hadn't cried that hard in so long and it took a lot to make Scotland cry. Knowing that England had been so badly hurt brought out a fear in him he never thought he was capable of feeling. Never did he want to go through something like this again.

That was the last straw for America. Knowing that England wasn't and would not be attending meetings for a while proved something wasn't right. Just what the hell was going on. "Is England ok? Damn it Alistair tell me what's going on?!" America demanded. Was he mad at him? Was he sick? God, he didn't know, but every part of him was screaming with panic.

Scotland closed his eyes and breathed heavily. No more biting the bullet and dodging the question. Now he had to tell America the truth that would undoubtedly hurt him. "England wis bombed. One o his cities wis attacked" he explained in a pained manner. All those innocent lives lost, so many injured youths and for what? Nothing.

America froze, his whole body going into shock as the words rang through his mind. Did he just hear that right? Was this a joke? England, he had been bombed? But…. why hadn't he known about this? He was the hero, he was supposed to save the day and protect people. But… England had been hurt, his country had been attacked. But he… he hadn't been able to save him.

He felt a sickening sense coming over his body. He felt dizzy, his chest felt like it was being squeezed. God, the felt like he was going to pass out from the shock going through him. Almost at once he could feel himself shaking like a leaf but tried his damned hardest not to lose his cool.

Scotland sighed in a pained manner, he had expected this reaction. When he first found out he had acted the exact same way. But England needed them now more than ever. "Manchester wis attacked. A believe it wis one o yer musicians whit was performing" Scotland replied coldly. All those kids who just went to have fun, were now traumatized.

That didn't help America's already fragile state at all. Ariana Grande one of his musicians was touring in Britain, it had been her concert where the attack first happened. He couldn't help but feel responsible in some way for what had happened. If that concert had been cancelled this wouldn't have happened, there wouldn't be any victims.

He took a deep breath feeling sick about what he was about to ask, "How old and how many?" he whispered weakly. Part of him didn't want to know, but he had to know how bad the damage had been. He was carrying a weight on his shoulders on his heart and chest knowing that it was someone from his country England's citizens had been seeing.

Scotland felt his heart feel like it was being squeezed. This was one of the questions he had been anticipating and yet never wanted to face. All of them had been so young, still babies in a sense. Not quite living life yet and so innocent, a truly great loss. All just wanting to have a good time and now traumatized or deceased.

"Bairns mostly. A o them. Teenagers an some adults. 23 deaths and 119 casualties" Scotland replied in a pained manner. Unnecessary and cruel plots that had scarred people for life and taken the lives of innocent youths. What had been the point of all this? Aside from inflicting fear into the hearts of the people.

America felt like he was reeling. Young kids had been killed in cold blood and left others without friends or family members. Those who had survived would be undoubtedly scarred. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt this way since the attacks on his own country 15 years ago on the world trade center.

England had internal shock from the attack, and for good reasons. He had been told when it happened he suddenly started screaming in pain and gripping his chest. Tears spilling from his eyes. Unresponsive and simply falling to his knees at first screaming before curling up on the floor as he felt the attacks happen within him.

Feeling the pain and fear of his citizens, but also the damage that had been done to his nation. Seeing what they saw and feeling what they felt, as his country was attacked. Later he had passed out from the shock and hadn't moved since. Waking every so often to burst into screams before eventually being put back to sleep with some medicine.

His mind filled with the images of the explosion, the panic, the damage, the screams and the tears. Feeling the emotions of his people as they experienced this horrific situation. England was not only internally injured but psychologically shocked. Because of this he was now bedridden until he recovered from the damage he had received from the attack.

What made it worse was that there had been more attacks in other parts of his country. The fact that anyone had tried to hurt England at all infuriated Scotland. There had been a shooting at the London Bridge, now bomb scares were showing up in one of his cities too. Leeds, located in one of his lower provinces of West Yorkshire.

Police were taking caution and even the military. The whole country was on red alert and it sure as hell didn't help that it had happened so close to the elections either. It really couldn't have happened at a worse time and would now put many conflicting thoughts into the heads of others. The whole situation was just a mess.

America was horrified, his mind was blank and he couldn't find his voice. I mean how the hell was anyone supposed to react to such a thing? Knowing the man who raised him had been attacked. The worst part was that he never knew. He had no idea this had happened to England. He was racked with guilt knowing he hadn't been able to protect England from this.

He could feel tears stinging his eyes and threatening to fall. Even though he was the hero and the heroes never cried. He couldn't control the storm of emotions inside of him. He could only imagine how the likes of Scotland, Ireland and Wales were holding up in this whole situation if he was in this state.

The fact that England's people, innocent citizens had been harmed by assassins made him feel sick. Religious nuts or extremists and decided to attack England and caused this much fear and loss. He felt so bad inside, the guilt eating away at him. Gnawing his insides like a dog would a bone. There was no way in hell he could carry on the meeting knowing all this.

All he cared about right now, was England. He needed to see him no matter what, he had to be by his side through this. There was no way in hell he would abandon him during this time knowing he had been hurt. Screw the meeting, he had to get over the pond to see that England was ok after all of this.

Scotland could already tell from intuition that America was in shock and beginning to panic. But blaming himself would not help anyone and it was by no means anyone's fault. "England will be a'right laddie. He's in shock bit dinnae blame yerself. Naebody saw this coming" he reassured America in a soothing manner. This was hard on all of them, but they had to stay strong.

Right now, England needed rest and to recover from the damage his nation had sustained. But he would stand by him now more than ever till he was back on his feet again. He would not allow anyone to hurt England more than they already had. He would use his strength to act as England's shield in this dark time of loss and ugliness.

America breathed a sigh of relief and felt himself calm from his panic induced state. Though the Scottish nation was indeed scary, he was truly wise due to being one of the oldest nations. He knew just what to say and how to take control despite he himself being in an emotional mess due to his husband being bedridden.

"Scotland I…just…thank you. Look after him and…please. Please keep me updated" America said gratefully his tone pleading. He had to know that England would be ok. Scotland hummed and agreed. He knew his husband meant as much to America as he did him. The boy had been raised as England's son/younger brother after all.

By now everyone knew about what had happened to England. It was all over the news and everyone was feeling a wave of emotions about the attack on the British nation. America simply sat blank faced and expressionless, resting his head on his hands as he stared at the TV screen and occasionally averting his gaze to people's mobiles or computers.

Like himself, France was an emotional wreck and trying to soothe the other nations. But it was clear to see he was in as much a fragile state as America had been. But he did well to keep calm and try not to act irrationally, but he had gone out of the room earlier to call Scotland and have his own emotional breakdown. They had heard the sobs from outside.

Everyone was sending their prayers and wishing their luck and support to England. Hoping he would pull through and showing their empathy towards his citizens affected. Even the Italy brothers who didn't always get along with England had been worried about him. Hoping that England would pull through ok.

America had already started planning his trip to see England. Looking for flights that were the fastest and the cheapest. Desperate to go check on his ex-ward to see if he was ok. He didn't want this to happen to England again. He didn't want him to suffer any more pain. As a nation, he needed to take action for one of his internal relationships being attacked.

France was also planning to pay a visit to England. He had a brief romance with England, but before that they had been childhood friends and known each other a very long time. Next to Scotland, he had known England the longest out of any of them. He had to go to see him and make sure the younger nation was ok and that he would recover soon.

The world started putting up black ribbons on their social media, including google. Showing their support to England for the attack that had taken place on his nation. Though you wouldn't expect it, many were seriously worried about him. Many nations cared for him more than you would expect despite having their issues with him.

America's current world leader Trump gave a speech on the Manchester attacks. As did the ex-president Obama. The world had been torn as to what to say about his speech on the event. But they had tuned in and listened giving their own opinions on what each of the men had to say about this situation.

But what worried everyone was that more of England's lower countries were now being affected. There had been a shooting at the London bridge with more casualties and now a city called Leeds was on alert due to scares. America couldn't believe how fast it had spread and how much damage these guys were doing. It angered him so much.

But both America and Scotland knew this would not beat England. Somehow it was instinct to them, intuitively telling them he would pull through. This dark situation would bring his citizens together in this time. His people would unite and come together to support each other.

After all, you poke a snake long enough and it would bite back. Tragedy brought people together more than you would think. Though he teased England he knew he was strong. He would not let this beat him, but that didn't stop his worry. Because while he was small, he was united and always would be.