AN: And here it is. The first chapter of the continuation sequel thing. I'm working on a cover. I'm not sure when it will be done, but I have spring break in about a week and I'm hoping to get things done during that.

This is kind of a re-introduction chapter... I don't know. I just didn't add any memories in this one. There will probably be some in the next chapter. I also included an actual speech this time, which is weird for me. I just thought Alfred's speech actually needed to be written this time. I hope I did alright with it. Anyway, please enjoy!

Someone was shaking my shoulder

Why were they shaking my shoulder…? …And why was it always the shoulder…? It couldn't be time to get up…

I groaned and rolled over, stuffing the pillow over my face. Just let me sleep, damn it. Please…

"Alfred."

"Don' wanna g't up, Mattie…"

"We have a meeting today Al." Though Matt had started out annoyed, his voice softened. If it had been anyone else I would have gone right back to sleep, but he understood. "I know you want to keep dreaming, but we need to go."

"What if I don't wanna go?"

"Then I'll drag you out of bed." He didn't sound like he was joking… and I knew from experience that he wasn't.

"…alright…" I sat up and opened my eyes. Matthew didn't look very happy. It wasn't because I wasn't getting up either. He looked like all he wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep.

He hadn't left yet… That meant that he probably didn't want to go to the meeting without me. And I really didn't mean that in an egotistical sort of way. I knew he hated being late.

If he left without me 1) Carlos would probably mistake him for me again. 2) If everyone mistook him for me then things would go to hell. 3) People would most likely be asking about last time and he would be on his own to answer them.

"When's the meeting?" I asked, my mouth sloppily trying to form sentences more words, still trying to clear the sleepiness from my mind. Sadly, the peace flowed out with it.

He didn't have to look at the clock. "We need to be there in thirty."

"Where is it again…?"

Matthew smiled, shaking his head. "It's at my place." Then, his eyes widened slightly and he looked at me, blinking a few times in surprise. "You didn't…"

My eyes widened as well and I shook my head furiously. It hurt me to see how hurt he looked. "No, Matt. I'm just tired and I honestly don't pay attention most of the time when they tell us where these things are." He didn't look convinced. "Matt." I stood up, wobbling slightly as the last of the haziness jetted out. "I didn't forget you, okay? I promise. I'm really sorry that I phrased it like…" I couldn't think of how I could have phrased it differently.

At my lack of words however, he relaxed. "Okay…" He averted his eyes to the floor, a small nervous smile trying to make its way onto his face. "Sorry… I just… overreacted."

I shook my head. "No, you had every right to freak out." I wanted to slap everyone who had ever forgotten him. I couldn't see how they kept doing it. Matt was awesome. "But I won't forget you, ever, okay?"

He nodded, looking back up at me, his smile becoming less strained. "Okay."

After a few moments the seriousness that had overtaken us dribbled out. Matt's slightly joking mood returned and I felt a bit better. I had to watch my words more…

I moved to my dresser and started pulling things out. I tried… kind of… to find something nice, or at least something that Arthur wouldn't make fun of me for. Learned that the hard way when I wore a superhero shirt under my jacket…

I ended up grabbing a white dress shirt and slacks. I really didn't care for the tie. Suddenly, something smacked into my back and fell onto the floor near my feet.

Turning, I looked down. My bomber jacket was on the floor, the white fifty staring up at me. I smiled and picked it up. "Thanks, I always need something thrown at me in the morning." It did look like Matt's mood had lifted now. He just really needed someone to tell him they wouldn't forget him.

Matthew shrugged, smirking slightly. "Should have been quicker." He turned to head out the door. I saw that our notes and bags were by the door already.

I scoffed. "You didn't even give me a warning." I grabbed a shirt that was possibly dirty from the floor and hurled it at him, only for him to whip around at the last moment and catch it. It wasn't in a sloppy way. It was more like he knew exactly where it would be.

"Hockey reflexes, brother."

I shook my head and ran past him, hitting him in the arm before I turned my head and grinned. "Football!"

He laughed. We really couldn't be this way with anyone else. We showed sides to each other that no one else knew about.

"How much time now?"

Matthew looked at his watch, eyes narrowing in thought. "Twenty. Give or take a few minutes."

I nodded and opened the door. I felt so much better than I had the past few days, like we could get away with just about anything. "We can make it."

We got there just in time to burst through the doors at the hour.

The G8 were meeting today. I wasn't sure if they thought we weren't coming or just planned to go on without us, but they looked ready to start.

"There you are you git." Arthur called, looking annoyed.

Yeah, yeah. We weren't late this time, Arthur. Though… the thought did strike me that he might have been worried with how we had reacted last… week? Yeah, week. Maybe week and half.

Matthew motioned to two empty seats next to each other. More importantly, they were away from anyone that had seen us acting up last time. It was only prolonging the inevitable, but it was a start.

We sat down and Ludwig turned towards us from the podium, his eyes bearing into ours. "Can we begin?"

We nodded, not wanting to give any explanation as to why we had been late.

The meeting went by slowly, the clock ticking like its gears were covered in molasses. The speeches dragged on, all about one problem or another as well as ways to fix it.

Finally, it was my turn. I stood and walked to the podium with my papers. Matt gave me a small thumb's up on the way.

"This will be great." Someone whispered sarcastically. I couldn't tell whose voice it was, but I knew what they were expecting.

Oh look, stupid America's going up there to make a speech. Let's get out our phones and record it. Okay… they didn't record it that often. Ludwig, or Arthur, usually told me to quit with the nonsense. Or a fight would break out.

I opened my mouth to speak, but it fell closed again. I looked over my papers, which, if anyone ever bothered to take a look at them, were completely different from what I actually said during my speeches. They were filled with good ideas, or things that I at least hoped were good ideas. When I spoke at these things I tried to give them things to laugh about, something to brighten up their days, even if that meant that thing was me.

Show them more of yourself… that was what she had said.

Okay, Gaho…. I'll try. I took a deep breath. Matthew smiled at me and nodded, like he knew exactly what I was going to do. And he did.

I looked out at the nations, many so much older than myself. The words came out slowly at first. I wasn't sure what to address and almost not sure how to do it seriously anymore. General problems seemed like a good starter. "I know things have been tough." Isn't that the truth? "They've been getting worse the past few years and it keeps going downhill, but I think that we can fix it." This was when they thought all the nonsensical ideas would start. "We have the ability, the methods, the time. We want our citizens to live in the best world possible right?" He could see their expressions start to change. The surprise and confusion about what I was actually doing was showing. Most of them didn't even try to hide it. I think Kiku was the only one who managed.

"We want them to have equal opportunities and jobs and be able to raise their families in a good place. Why don't we talk to our bosses? High unemployment rate: we can give them more job opportunities. We can bring more chances. Starving kids-" Or just people in general. "-We can do more food drives. Soup kitchen and things like that. We can get food out there and stop wasting it. And we need to work on pollution. We can try and cut down on smog the factories produce and the exhaust cars put out. Healthcare-" I hesitated. This would sound hypocritical as of late… But it did need to be said. I meant it too.

"-we should have more healthcare that's free. People shouldn't have to pay if they need a checkup or get something done when it's hurting them. We can give kids better schooling too and if they don't have any than we can get it to them ASAP." I paused and no one said anything. "If we have the time then we should spend it trying to fix things rather than fighting with one another."

The room was completely silent. As I looked out at them, trying to figure out what they were thinking, my voice caught in my throat. As much as I hated to admit it, I was scared.

Did they hate it? Would they start yelling at me at how stupid I had sounded or how horrible the ideas were? They always seemed to do that… It was my fault, but… still.

Would they ridicule me for trying to contribute after hiding for so long?

Matthew motioned, just enough for me to catch, and I turned my attention to him instead of the others. He was grinning. That alone made me feel a million times better.

'That was amazing, Al. You did great.'

He was proud of me. I smiled and nodded, slowly stepping off the podium. I was ready for it, or I suppose as ready as I'd ever be. If they were going to yell at me then go ahead. Their eyes were following me, like… I guess shocked birds would be a good example.

Then, suddenly, there was a noise. Someone was clapping.

My head turned, eyes wide, and I saw Feliciano. The Italian was grinning as well, though it didn't give off the same feeling it usually did. This grin was excited and happy in a different manner. "Molto bene, Alfred."

I smiled back at him. I was never really for sure before this, but he did know and now he was glad I had stopped hiding, or pretending, even if it was just for the moment. After all, we were atmosphere searching partners. "Thanks." I sat next to Matthew and as soon as my butt hit the chair he stood and started walking to the podium. He used the new silence as his entrance. He was always really good at that and I kind of admired it.

When he was situated, he looked out at them. "And on my brother's note, let me continue." For a moment I saw his face shift. It was just slight, not as bad as when he was at world meetings, but I still caught it. He was nervous.

Matt's voice was always quiet. Or at least here it was. Unless he got angry. Okay, so about half the time it was quiet. He was never really sure when he was talking at the right volume because no one ever seemed to hear him. Sometimes he could be shouting at the top of his voice and no one would turn to look.

There were a few times that it was funny, though. Not for the other nations, but for Matt. It would be on days when everyone was generally oblivious. He would shout random things from the top of his lungs, like 'Paper! Monkey! Trees!', sometimes maybe five inches from someone, and they would be only tune in when we were laughing our asses off. Or at times they would lose it when they heard how loud his voice could get and fall out of their chairs.

I caught his eye, smiling. 'You're doing great bro. We can hear you fine.' I knew he was nervous about generally talking in front of them too. It usually depended what the topic was for who was the better public speaker, but he was usually fine once he got going. 'I know your ideas are great. Just tell 'em to me.'

He nodded slightly and after a few words it went along without a hitch.

Oh, there would definitely be questions when this was over…

"Alright, you're dismissed."

I felt a wave of relief flow across the room. The meeting was finally over. Thank god.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at my papers. My brain started to wander off. I really just wanted to go home. Go home without paperwork or some shit and not be busy for like… a day. That would be really nice. Oh, and Matt could spend the night. Well, he was already spending the night but… whatever. It worked.

"Al."

I jumped slightly, my head turning a bit too quickly. "What?" He sounded worried.

Matthew looked behind me. I glanced in that direction and saw that Francis, Arthur and Yao had almost reached us. Well, fuck.

'What are we gonna do?' I asked hurriedly.

'I don't know! What do they want to hear?'

'That we're okay, I guess. I mean, I don't know what Yao wants to know, but-"

'Alfred.'

'Right, uh… we could say that we um… we… we… I don't know. We played horror games all night. That's not hard to believe, right?'

'Well… no, I guess not. But what about the language shift?'

'Oh… shit, I forgot about that. Um… weeeee….'

'We…. We kinda forgot how to speak English? That's the truth and they do it sometimes.'

It was true. It happened more than one would think. If one of us was zoning off and someone shot us back into reality we would momentarily forget to speak whatever language we were currently using and revert to our native one… Or something similar.

The three had reached us now. At least we had been able to come up with a cover story in those couple of seconds, no matter how crappy.

Arthur looked us over, his voice shifting when he said, "Well, it's good to see both of you here." He sounded almost awkward and he actually looked… genuinely glad to see us. It was weird that he wasn't being sarcastic or angry.

Francis nodded enthusiastically. He looked happy that Arthur hadn't switched into his default mode and scolded us. "Oui, how are you two doing?"

"Fine." Matthew stated simply. I knew that he didn't want to lie to them if he didn't have to and we both didn't want to give an explanation.

The Frenchman's face shifted slightly, a skeptical expression starting to form with a now worried one. "Are you sure?"

When we both nodded, Yao was the one who became annoyed. He sighed, glancing at the two Europeans. "Please, ask ."

Arthur's eyes narrowed. "I was getting to that."

They waited a few moments and the Brit still hadn't said anything. Yao shook his head slightly and took the initiative.

"What happened last time?"

"We stayed up too late playing video games." I answered, not hesitating. Did they think they were talking to the same five year olds that had stolen the last cookie and shared it? Nope, not anymore. Now they had cover stories and no crumbs on their faces.

"And?" Francis prodded.

"They were horror games." Matthew continued, as if that was all they needed to know. He shrugged nonchalantly, acting like the way we had reacted had been normal.

Arthur's eyebrows furrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. "How does that explain your change in language?"

We glanced at each other before Matthew spoke again. It was more likely that they would believe him than me. Probably… "We were surprised. And it's not like you don't do that."

Their disbelieving faces didn't change.

"Would you like me to demonstrate?" When they didn't answer he stood and looked around the room. There weren't many nations left from the meeting, but the stragglers would have to do. Matthew walked to a nearby bookcase, picked out a large book that was easily five hundred pages, and raised it to eye level. He held it away from his body and, after briefly looking like he was apologizing to the poor thing, threw it on the ground as hard as he could manage.

The reactions were varied as a loud 'bang!' echoed through the nearly silent room. A few nation's heads shot up. Several jumped or made a little noise. The Italies were the loudest.

The twins jumped, one a bit higher than the other. Both of them yelled different things.

"Che cazzo?!"

"Ah, mi dispiace!"

The two whipped around and stared at Matthew, their eyes wide. Matt bent down and slowly picked up the book, looking embarrassed. "Sorry." He whispered.

I was glad the reactions hadn't been more violent. It wasn't too hard to imagine one of them pulling a weapon because the book falling had sounded like gunshot.

After a few moments the Italy brothers returned to what they were doing, although Lovino looked a little angry about it. When the book was put back, Matt returned and smiled. I could tell it was strained. He just wanted to get out of here, too. "See?"

The three couldn't deny that we'd made a point. Eventually, they nodded. Or Arthur and Francis did. Yao was just… standing there. The Chinese man looked like he was leaving it up to the two standing next to him.

"Alright… You pass." Arthur muttered.

We nodded in return and gathered our things. It wasn't like what was going on was any of their business. I understood that they were concerned, but if they went any further than this… Let's just hope they wouldn't.

'Good plan.' I remarked, stuffing my papers into my bag.

'Thanks. I didn't want to scare the living hell out the Italies, though.' He replied, sounding slightly guilty.

'yeah… but we shouldn't have to do it again.'

The two of us walked out before anyone could come in about the shouts or our previous guardians and Yao decided that our answers hadn't satisfied them. If they asked again we wouldn't know how to answer and I really doubted that they would listen to the same story twice.

AN: Thank you for reading! Please tell me what you think.

Translations:

Che cazzo(Italian)- What the fuck?

Mi dispiace(Italian)-I'm sorry