It had been a while since UK had visited his good friend America, in fact, the country couldn't recall seeing his young companion since their falling out nearly a century ago. The landscape had defiantly changed since he'd last been there. What was once a 'savage' land now seemed to be acceptably civilized. All thanks to me, thought the European.
The weather seemed much more kind at the turn of the season as compared to his homeland. The heat was slowly fading into the crisp taste of autumn, and was a few shades warmer than what he was expecting. His meeting with America wasn't scheduled to take place for another hour and a half, so UK took his time strolling through the little town; taking in the sights as much as he was measuring up his friend's progress since he last set eyes on him. In his overall judgment, the young country was doing surprisingly well on his own.
The streets were well made and the stores seemed to radiate the contentment of the customers. The fashions were a bit behind those of his people, but that was to be expected of someone so far across the ocean. With that sort of distance it was a miracle that they even managed to keep up with popular culture at all. Something that struck UK as odd was that almost every citizen he passed had greeted him in some way: a simple hello in passing, asking him how he was enjoying himself, questions of what brought him to the States, and even a few flirtatious winks from some of the young bloodless girls who were quickly scolded by the matron accompanying them. Yes, the States certainly had developed their own sense of customs.
As the time of the appointment drew near the country made his way to where America's old house had been. He could remember with great fondness the time that he spent with the young country building the house for his friend. It has taken a good while to get it properly built, but the pride of looking at the completed building had made it all worth it. He could remember every detail of that day.
The wind was calm, and the daisies had just begun to bloom. Spring had only just begun and the clouds hovered menacing above the two men with an ever present threat of rain. UK's sleeves had been rolled up and his necktie removed for the hard labor. America didn't share his friend's sentiment of modesty. He had removed his shirt completely and sweat drenched his hair and beaded on his bare skin.
During the project America had been quick to demonstrate his strength as only a boy in his youth could. Trying to impress and out do UK in all that he did. No, he couldn't be considered a boy anymore, but UK couldn't help but think of his companion as a boy. After all, this was a time when America was still smaller than him, but only just. He had grown a lot during the years it took to build the house. It was almost as if he was watching the young nation grow as the house did.
America wiped his arm across his forehead then looked back at U, a huge grin on that boyish face. "We finally did it," he said excitedly. "Now we finally have a place to live." The air caught in UK's throat, for only a second did he allow himself to imagine what it would be like to live together with the young country, to wake up and face each new challenge as it came, knowing that there was someone standing beside him. It was a heartbreaking few seconds.
"I'm afraid that this house was built for you to live in," the European said delicately. "I have to return home and take care of my people."
The American looked at him with a blank look. UK sighed, he knew the young man to be a slight dense, but hadn't expected to have to explain to him what he had meant. "I'm returning home, I only came to help build this house for you," he said.
America's smile began to slowly fade as understanding of the situation began to dawn on him. He had gotten used to the other country's presence and looked up to him like a brother. There was no end to his excitement when England had asked him if he would like to build a house together.
The sudden change in America's mood was a bit surprising to the older nation, and for some reason. "America, I have to head back but that means that you are to keep this house in order. You have to keep the storehouse stocked and the house clean and presentable till I next come to visit," he said with a slight bit of a command behind it.
America's face lit up with joy and, before the other country had time to react, pulled UK into a bear hug. "Oh thank you. I promise that it'll be so clean that it sparkles, I'll clean it every day and water the garden every five hours," he said. UK could feel blood pooling in his cheeks; he could barely understand what his young companion had said.
"Very good, but try not to drown the garden," he said.
The house looked almost exactly as it had the day it was finished; the white paint bright and unmarred by any form of damage, a large porch shading a seating area, and the lawn was very well kept. But of course there had also been some changes and modifications done over the years; the most obvious one being the sheer size of the house. For whatever reason, America had added a story or two to the original shape and had added a few rooms to the first floor. An American flag was flown off of one of the porch columns, and roses were growing in the garden instead of daisies. There was also, of course, the addition of new technologies such as lights to be seen.
UK was slightly taken aback by the tidiness of it all. After all, this was much too neat and organized for the US he knew. Perhaps some of my good habits rubbed off on him, the European thought. But he knew the chances of that being true. He finished up his observations in about a moment or two and then went up to knock on the door.
His eyes wandered about as he waited patiently for the door to be answered. The sitting area had new furniture and was as bright a white as the house; America had even added a porch swing to the area. UK smiled as he noticed a glass and plate left forgotten on the table with the crumbs of what must have been the last hamburger US had eaten. That was more like the US he remembered. The goofball had even forgotten to turn off his outside lights.
After a good few minutes of waiting, ringing the knocking twice, and not even hearing the slightest whisper inside the house UK tried the door. Not surprisingly it had been left unlocked. England smiled despite himself, what would have happened if it had not been him at the door? The intruder would have most likely been invited to eat a hamburger and listen to tales of how heroic America is. However this presented the country with a dilemma. He could either wait outside, like a proper guest and wait for America to be a good host and invite him in, or he could enter and see what America was up to, perhaps even scold him for not coming to the door.
After a couple moments of debate he decided the second option to be the best course of action and entered. The house was clean as the lawn outside. Everything had been dusted and mopped, so much so that it sparkles, thought UK. There were pictures decorating something every few feet. Most of them were trivial competitions that he had won, a few pictures with friends. UK saw himself in a few of the pictures.
When he first entered the sitting area UK didn't see America, he was more or less enraptured by the furnishings. This room had been the one that had been noticeably been cleaned with more passion than anything else he had seen so far. There was a tea set on the table and nothing seemed even a fraction out of place. UK rounded the couch to get a better look at the tea set when his heart nearly stopped at the sight of a sleeping America on the couch.
His hair was unkempt and his clothes wrinkled; a slight bit of drool trailing down his chin. His head was propped oddly against the armrest and an arm hung off the couch. The other arm was folded across his chest; a rag had slipped out of his hand and was threatening to fall to the floor. Heat spread across UK's cheeks as he watched the rise and fall that dictated the young man's breathing.
"You really are an odd bloke if you put so much effort into tidying up just because I was coming to visit," he said softly. He took the rag, being careful not to touch the sleeping man, lest he wake. Then he picked up the tea set, because if America had spent so much energy preparing it seemed only fair if he helped the country out.
America's kitchen had not seen the same attention or care that the entry hall and sitting room had received. Dirty plates were stacked in the sink and certain foods had been left on the counter. There were plenty of glasses that hadn't been emptied, and had an assortment of liquids inside of avoided the mess as much as he could and filled the kettle for the tea. He was even so thoughtful as to set out the biscuits on the serving plate.
UK returned to the sitting room as the water began to boil. America was still sprawled out on the couch. He looks so peaceful, UK thought, there isn't even a hint of his annoying habits. He really should have woken the young country up, but UK didn't have the heart to disturb him. So instead he found a novel written by Mark Twain, and made himself comfortable.
"England?" America asked in a groggy tone. He pushed himself to a sitting position and was rubbing his eyes. "What are you doing here?"
"You invited me here remember?" UK said. America just stared at the older country, blank look on his face. Then the realization hit him.
"I'm not ready yet!" US yelled. The young nation shot to his feet and skittered about the room, in obvious panic. Then his eyes landed on UK. "You can't be here yet!" He grabbed the other nation by the arm and dragged him to the front entrance and shoved him out the door.
England blinked in surprise, not even sure as to what had just happened. He looked down at the book in his hand and then at the door that had just been slammed in his face. Then there came a loud crash from inside the house and the pathetic reassurance that nothing had happened rang out from inside the house.
"Well that was unexpected," UK said hesitantly. After a few minutes of hearing the mishaps of America's last minute 'cleaning' England just knocked on the door. If he knew America, then the poor sap would just brainlessly open the door.
"Oh hello England, what brings you here?" America asked, carefully keeping the door as closed as possible. "I'm kind of busy so could you come back later?" However UK wasn't listening so much to the Yank.
"America, is that a glove on your head?" he asked.
"Well if that's all you came for; I'm really busy, so, bye." Then he promptly shut the door again. UK's eyes twitched and his fist clenched in irritation. But the patience of England is vast, so he controlled his anger and knocked on the door again.
"I'm sorry, but I'm really busy at the moment," America said when he answered the door and nearly shut it immediately after.
"Why are you so busy? Today's a holiday," England said flatly. The door stopped and America seemed confused. "You did know about the holiday right?"
"Of course I did," America laughed in an unconvincing tone. "What was the name of the holiday?"
"Labor day," England said, saying the first thing that came to mind. "You've been working so hard that you deserve a day off." America's face lit up to the realization that he didn't have to work for the rest of the day; which was probably for the better if the earlier commotion was any indication. "So are you going to invite me in or not?"
"Oh yeah," the young country said, "come on in." The two returned to the sitting room, and America went into the kitchen to get refreshments. England just sat back down in the chair he had before being so rudely displaced. America returned a moment later with the boiling kettle, the plate of biscuits, and an extra place of Oreo cookies.
"So how has your labor day been going?" America asked making just idle talk.
"It was delightful, except the part where you threw me out of your home," UK said.
"That's good," America said, either ignoring or unable to understand the second part of what the other country had said. "I had the most glorious of naps. I dreamed that you and I became a team and we beat the crap out of France." He then took a bite out of one of the biscuits.
"Uh, this is horrible. No idea why I bought this. I'm going to go get rid of this real quick," America said as he took the plate and returned to the kitchen.
Sometimes I just wish he would sleep forever, England thought, he's so much less annoying.
The rest of the day passed in a very much similar fashion, and little to UK's knowledge America actually believed him about the holiday. Every year on the first Monday in September America refused to do any form of work. After all, he worked so hard, he deserved at least one day of rest.
FIN
Disclaimer: I do not own either characters nor the show APH. In another note; UK was not the actual person to create Labor Day there have been many debates and many people believe that the original creator was either Peter J. McGuire or Matthew Maguire. I was inspired by the holiday to create a UKxUS story and was also inspired by my friend's drawing, which can be found at .com/gallery/#/d2xycvh. Please check out her artwork. Thank you.