Surprise, Surprise
"America, what are we doing here?"
America looked towards his former brother and now secret crush. England was very irritated, and with good reason too. He had been home in his beloved UK and making good progress on his stacks of paperwork when all of the sudden America showed up, told him that he was going to kidnap him (in a totally heroic sort of way of course!) and then proceeded to do so. By the time England fully recovered his senses he found himself staring at the towering cliffs and peaks of Yosemite National Park [1], in America, nowhere near home. America chuckled, which only made England more annoyed,
"We're rock climbing duh!" England gave him a look that clearly said "you've got to be kidding me" Alfred scratched the back of his head sheepishly,
"Well Tony was visiting home and I was really bored! This seemed like a good idea at the time. So I thought…why not?"
"…Thus you decided to bother me even though I have work?"
"When you put it that way…"
"I'm going home," England turned on his heel with every intention of returning home only to be dragged back by a whining America,
"You can't do that! If you leave then I'll be bored again and shoot the wall or something!"[2] England struggled against the taller man's grip,
"I never wanted to be here! I have things I have to be doing at home! Couldn't you have just called your brother or something?" America increased his grip on the shorter man and shouted over England's indignant cries,
"Dude, lighten up! I wanted to spend time with you! Is that so wrong?" England stopped struggling as his face flushed a bright red at America's words; he wanted to spend time with me?
"F-Fine, I'll go rock climbing with you, but know that I'm just doing it so you stop bothering me!" America let out a loud whoop, in the process letting the Englishman go so suddenly he stumbled and fell,
"Git! Be careful won't you?" England picked himself up and dusted off his clothes, wondering when he changed into appropriate clothing for exercise. America was still too busing cheering to notice the comment. England sighed, he had a bad feeling about this.
When the American nation finally calmed down, he grabbed the equipment and headed towards the route they would be climbing. The blue-eyed blonde began setting up before realizing something; did England even know how to rock-climb? He looked over to the older nation who was untangling ropes,
"Hey iggy,"
"Don't call me that," England curtly replied without looking up,
"Fine, Mr. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland," a large eyebrow twitched in irritation, "do you know how to rock climb?" America asked in an almost comically serious voice. England raised his head from the ropes and looked at his former colony with surprised eyes,
"Well, er I-," he stammered when he saw America's serious expression, who knew it would look so good on the boy; America took his half-answer as a no,
"Don't worry then! I'll teach you!" a brilliant smile etched itself upon the American's face and England found himself unable to say anything, Well if it makes him happy… England decided to just go along with it. God knows why he loved the boy this much. The two went back to sorting the equipment as America bubbled with giddiness at the prospect of teaching something to England. He would be totally heroic and stuff! Ahh, he could see it now, England losing his footing and Alfred catching him by the waist while swinging down to the ground suavely then England would be so grateful for the heroic rescue he would gently lean up to kiss the amazing American and then…
America shook his head; that was not the direction his thoughts should go. Meanwhile England was staring at the ropes, clips, and harnesses intently,
"Hey, America," he asked hesitantly trying to sound convincing,
"What's up?"
"How do these things work?" America mentally slapped himself. He had yet to explain how to use the basic equipment to England. How did he forget something so important? England almost rolled his eyes when he saw the younger nation's expression. If he were an actual student he would have been dead by now.
"Well, you see, you put the harness on like this then clip the rope on with this clip, uhh I think you tied the knot wrong, lemme see that," As America undid the knot and tied it properly into a figure-eight knot England stood there staring at him with an implacable look, "…and um the rest of the rope goes through here…. And we're done!" England snapped out of his thoughts and took the rope and clip back and attached it to the harness.
"So what now," asked England,
"Well," America racked his brains, "Do you know how to belay?"
"Beg pardon?" came the confused reply. England hoped it sounded convincing,
"Well I'm going to be leader of course so you're going to be my second," another confused look, "that means I climb up first and then you go up, belaying is used to prevent falling," America stood behind England and placed his hands on top of England's,
"W-What are you doing?" asked England jumping at the sudden closeness. America blushed,
"Relax! I'm showing you how to belay. See, all you do is feed the rope through the hole in this end of the carabineer[3] and pull it out from the other side to give me more rope, keep your hands in front while you feed the rope and pull your right hand back to pull the rope taut if I slip or something," England was only half listening. He was getting flustered as he felt the American's breath tickle his ear and his larger hands guide his own along the ropes. America was also getting progressively more embarrassed at their proximity. He couldn't help but notice how England's body seemed to fit so well in his arms and how nice it felt to be this close,
"I think I got the hang of it America, we can get started now," England blurted out quickly trying to lessen the awkwardness of the situation. America nodded and quickly let the blushing man go whilst trying to hide his own,
"So uhh, I'll be going up while you belay me and I'll be putting nuts [4]," he held up a long wand-like instrument with a metal attachment at the end, "in the cracks for protection against falls. When I get to one of the ledges then I'll belay you while you climb and remove the nuts," England nodded with a slight scowl on his face now,
"Let's get this over with then," America grinned, this was going to be awesome!
He approached the rock and looked for hand and foot holds,
"Going up old man!"
"Just go git," muttered the Brit behind him. America made his way up the rocky wall and stuffed in a nut every so often, his hands and feet feeling along the surface of the rock for cracks and bumps to use. England watched from below absentmindedly feeding the rope through. He could see America's concentrated expression and the muscles ripple in his legs and probably would have seen the ones in his arms do the same if it weren't for the jacket that was in the way. The green eyed man soaked in the picture of America's calculated and determined movements greedily. Halfway to the ledge America looked down to check on England and noticed the shorter man staring at him intently almost hungrily. The unexpected expression startled him and he almost lost his footing as he placed his foot just a little too high nearly missing the crack,
"Are you all right?" shouted England from below worriedly,
"Y-yeah, just fine!" he shouted back,
By the time he got to the ledge a hundred feet up he was starting to sweat. It had been a long time since he had done this. The dirty-blond set up an anchor[5] and then motioned for England to start climbing. England looked at the wall of limestone not entirely sure of what to do. After all he had to be a convincing actor for this to work. The sandy-blond slowly made his way up being careful to fumble every now and then all the while being shouted encouragements and instructions at from America. When England reached the ledge America slapped him in the back in congratulations almost hard enough to make him fall over. England scowled,
"What part of be careful don't you understand?" but there wasn't any venom in his voice. He genuinely enjoyed the praise. After all this would probably be the only time America would praise him. His face glowed with pleasure which only served to propel America's torrents of "That was awesome!" and "dude you'll be almost as good as me soon!" when he saw England's usually frowning face looking so…happy. The two rested in content silence and then began the routine over again steadily making their way to the top. Each time they stopped at a ledge England would remember to grumble a bit about how troublesome this all was (though it seemed to lack bite by the third ledge) and each time America would give him grin and thumbs up in encouragement. Eventually the two made their way to the very top.
America clambered over the edge and stood up. The view was absolutely beautiful. No matter how many times America came here the view never disappointed. Being here with England only made it better. He set down his jacket and went to see what England thought of the landscape. The man in question was right now sitting with his legs dangling over the edge gazing into the distance with a whimsical look. Green eyes were soft and a content smile graced his lips. With the afternoon sun bathing everything in a golden light America thought that the man looked much more magnificent than the scenery,
"What are you staring at?" asked the Englishman when he finally noticed his companion's staring,
"Uhh, nothing," America turned away pretending to look at some other part of Yosemite. England smirked. The boy was so cute sometimes even if his actions made no sense. England went back to looking out towards the horizon the scenery making him just the tiniest bit melancholy. If this were a cheesy teenage romance then one of them would probably be confessing just about now. England chuckled darkly, that was one thing that would never happen. America was far too…free; England had long since lost the right to have him. After all, the revolution made that perfectly clear. So he would have to make do with the friendship they had now. It was the most he could possibly get.
"Sooo, you wanna go down now?" England twisted back to face the taller nation and smiled,
"Sure," America went to get the ropes ready as England got up. If he could only freeze time at this moment, just the two of them happy and surrounded by the beauty of the lush trees and silver-gray rocks. But that was far too much to ask for.
America managed to get the ropes secured and was now sitting on the edge of the cliff,
"Wanna go first?" he asked gesturing to the distance below, "It would probably be easier since I can help you from up here," England remembered he was supposed to be acting oblivious,
"Oh, uh, sure then, what do I do?"
"Well abseiling[6] from the rock is basically the same as from a plane or a wall and I think I've seen you do that during World War II," England nodded numbly remembering some of the missions in the past where he had dropped from hundreds of feet while strapped to nothing but a rope and harness. He sat down next to America and then climbed down so his head was level with the flat cliff,
"I'm going down now America," the American gave a thumb's up,
"go ahead iggy!" England scowled at the name and America grinned at how cute England was when flustered. The older nation made his way down smoothly, using his legs to kick the rock every now and then to aid his descent. A few minutes after he touched down America was also back at ground level,
"Wasn't that fun England?" America was definitely pleased with himself. He was sure that there was no way England did not enjoy himself,
"I guess it was rather enjoyable," muttered England reluctantly but secretly very happy with the trip. The two gathered everything together and was about to go back to the car when America suddenly remembered something,
"I left my jacket on the top of the cliff!" England facepalmed,
"How could you forget your jacket?"
"Hey it's not like I did it on purpose!" the two looked at the sky and the sun was just barely peeking above the horizon. America's heart plummeted, there was no way he could make it up and back down before it got dark, and he wasn't confident in his abilities enough to try to scale the wall in the dark. England, seeing America's crestfallen expression decided that the jig was up. He sighed,
"America, give me a rope," the American looked confused,
"Huh?" England rolled his eyes,
"Just give it here," America handed a long coil of rope to England who stuffed it into his knapsack and walked confidently back to the cliff.
"England what are you doing?" America's voice wavered. England wasn't trying to climb without equipment was he? The dude was only a beginner! England felt along the surface with his palms for some hand and foot holds,
"Shut up and watch me," He firmly gripped the rock and began to climb. Very soon he was already up to the first ledge. America watched from below. He was stunned; England was very good at rock climbing. He could see the man's lithe body twist and stretch to reach for holds and occasionally he would do a precarious jump from one spot to another when he couldn't reach. America could only look in awe as the wall that had seemed to challenge the smaller man so much an hour earlier now looked like child's play. Harder areas that would have been iffy even with ropes and a harness were bypassed with minimal effort. England twisted and bent his body in seemingly impossible ways to gain better leverage in his ascent. When the man made it to the top four hundred feet off the ground only twenty minutes had passed. It took another five minutes for England to descend down using the rope holding America's precious bomber jacket in tow.
"Here's your jacket back," said the man nervously as he handed the jacket back to the stunned American who stared at it before hesitantly speaking,
"England, why didn't you tell me you were so good at rock climbing?" England gulped, he had anticipated this but still had no idea how to answer,
"Er, well I guess I just forgot to mention it," England snuck a quick glance at America and saw that America was not satisfied with that answer, if anything he looked hurt,
"Tell me the truth Arthur," England's eyes widened. When was the last time America had called him by his human name? He sighed,
"Fine, it was because…" he quickly muttered something and turned away,
"What did you say?" America was sure he didn't hear that right,
"I said that I didn't say anything because you looked so happy when you thought I couldn't and I didn't want to upset you!" the Englishman practically yelled. England was fidgeting and his face was so red it almost glowed. America could feel his own blush creep up his neck,
"Y-you really mean that? But why would you do that? I didn't think you cared that much!" England was shocked, how could America think he didn't care?
"Of course I care about you! How couldn't I? I love you, you git!" the words escaped his lips before he could stop himself. England felt terribly embarrassed and wished a hole would swallow him whole right now. What would America think of him now? The friendship he had worked so hard to build was crumbling right before him. He turned on his heel with every intention to run and somehow escape having to face America but a strong hand grasped his wrist and held him back,
"Wait, don't run!" Alfred was holding onto his wrist and looking at him with a determined expression and dark flush coloring his cheeks, "Running away is totally unfair!" England looked at the American nation with surprised eyes,
"Why shouldn't I run?" he rasped throat feeling very dry all of the sudden,
"Cause then I wouldn't be able to tell you that I love you too!" England could feel his brain short-circuit, what? America loves me too?
"You're joking," he breathed out not willing to believe the words he had wanted to hear for so long,
"I'm not!" shouted America desperately, "I really do love you, and I have for a really long time!" he pulled the smaller man into his arms, "I know I hurt you before during the revolution. I don't regret gaining my freedom but I do wish I didn't make you go through that pain," he stroked Arthur's hair, "I couldn't have you treating me like a brother or else I wouldn't be able to do something like this," with that he tilted England's face up gently and pressed a soft kiss on his lips, England flung his arms around America and deepened the kiss trying to convince himself that he really was kissing America and it was not a dream.
When the two broke apart for air America remembered a question he had for England,
"By the way how did you get so good at rock climbing and without equipment at that," England smirked at the younger nation,
"Have you heard of the White Cliffs of Dover?[7]" Alfred racked his brains trying to recall them,
"Isn't that song or something?" England gave him a look, really?
"I meant the actual cliffs you wanker," Alfred vaguely remembered something about them while being taught English history as a colony,
"Weren't they supposed to be almost impossible to scale or something?" England smiled, so America did retain something from his lessons,
"Back then yes, they were quite difficult to scale" a nostalgic look etched itself upon the English nation's face,
"Wait, you mean you did?" Alfred said shocked, England wore a look of triumph,
"After the Bastard[8] did it I had no choice but to figure out how he did it, but now with planes and all that there doesn't seem to be the need for it anymore," he looked almost disappointed as he said it. Alfred laughed.
"Well I'm glad you learned to rock climb that well!" England looked at him confusedly,
"Aren't you disappointed that you aren't better than me at this?" America thought a bit,
"Honestly, yeah I am but seeing you rock climb so well makes up for it,"
"O-oh?" England nearly squeaked out. America leant close to the man's face and whispered,
"You have no idea how hot you looked up there," England stood stone still before responding breathily,
"I think you looked quite smashing yourself," the two stood only millimeters apart eyes locked on one another,
"So," America whispered without breaking eye contact, "Will we be doing this again tomorrow?"
"I quite believe so" responded England without missing a beat, "but for now," England's hand crept towards America's, "maybe we should find a place to stay for tonight?"
"Hmm, and maybe you can show me just how flexible you are," England turned a light shade of pink at the words. He broke eye contact and started walking towards America's car leaving the other to watch him go. He suddenly turned around cheeks still dusted with pink and a playful look in his eyes,
"Maybe I will," he responded then turned away and walked quickly to the car highly embarrassed. After processing the words America cheered and ran after his new lover. He knew rock climbing had been a good idea.
And here it is, my mediocre writting ablities. I have no idea how rock climbing popped up in my head. Firstly, I apologize for the (numerous) innacurracies that probably occured. I also took a few liberties, like this course does not exist in real life. If you find something wrong please tell me so I can correct it. My knowledge of the sport and of Yosemite is extremely limited. You probably shouldn't take a beginner on such a course in the first place since I was aiming for a medium- hard course. And now a whole bunch of footnotes.
1. Yosemite National Park is located in California in the U.S.A. It's well known for its limestone rocks and is a pretty popular site for rock climbing.
2. Did you catch the Sherlock Holmes reference? XD
3. An attachment to the belaying device. Google it, it'll make more sense than my explanation.
4. Exactly as America said. The rope gets looped through it so if you do fall you don't fall all the way down supposedly.
5. pretty self-explanatory, made of nuts and other equipment as a secure anchor to the rock.
6. Also known as rappling. It's a way of descending from a height with ropes. Think spy movies where they lower somone from the ceiling on a rope.
7. Cliffs made with chalk on the southern parts of the British isles along the narrowest part of the English Channel. They acted as a natural barrier against attacks. Since they are made of chalk they are eroding and very hard to scale without the right knowledge and equipment.
8. King William the Conqueror, also known as King William the Bastard as he was called by the people of England at the time due to his illegitimate birth. He was French and he was one of the only (if not they only) person to conquer England without going around the Cliffs of Dover.
Hope you enjoyed it! Reviews are great!