I had honestly never seen England genuinely smile. He had always smiled when he was proud of some remark he made at me or when he thought he had a genius plan to curse someone. But he had never really smiled to show he was happy. He didn't smile, he didn't laugh, he didn't do anything to show that he was happy. I don't know if he was ever happy at all.
"England! Come on, we're gonna be late to the carnival!" I yell up the stairs at my boyfriend. We have been dating for about one and a half years. It started with him getting flustered after I hugged him and he ignored me for about three weeks. He finally decided to talk to me and ended up confessing that he loved me. Then he kinda got mad at me because I tackled him after that since I was so happy.
"Calm down, you bloody git! We won't be late!" England comes down the stairs in a dark red shirt and his flag bandana around his neck. His jeans are dark and clean.
"Well, somebody is looking sexy today." I grin and wrap an arm around his shoulder.
He quickly shoves me away. "I will gladly go change!"
"No! Please don't! We have to get going anyways!" I grab his hand and, before he can protest, drag him out to the car. I sit down in the driver's seat and start the car. England sits in the passenger's seat next to me, crossing his arms.
I pull out of the driveway and start towards the carnival. "I wanted to get there early so we can beat the lines, they can get really long!" I say. England just grumbles an acknowledgement to the fact that I said something. "Why are you wearing that anyways?"
His face becomes slightly pink. "I-I figured… I'd try to… f-fit in today…" He looks away from me.
"Why would you do that?"
"Because I stick out horribly in my normal attire in this obnoxious country of yours!" He snaps.
"It doesn't matter! You'd look good either way! Is that why you took so long to get ready?"
"…I couldn't find my bandana."
"Oh, that makes sense! It looks good on you! You should wear it more often."
He doesn't say anything. He simply looks out the window, muttering "bloody git" under his breath. I ignore the remark and pull into the half full parking lot of the carnival. I quickly find a parking spot and get out of the car. England follows and looks at the carnival. "This is revolting." He says.
"It's awesome! Dude, we're gonna have such a good time!"
"This does not look like a 'good time'." He says, shaking the cotton candy he just stepped in off of his shoe.
"Cheer up a little bit! It'll be fun!" We stand in line to get our tickets.
"Fun? Unhealthy, expensive food and crowds of filthy people does not seem like fun." He huffs and crosses his arms.
We reach the front of the line and I pay for our tickets. We walk through the gates and I look around excitedly. "Where should we go first? We could go on that ride over there, or maybe that one! What about the games over there? That one looks fun!"
"I could be at home reading right now…" England mutters.
"But that wouldn't be fun! Come on, this ride has a short line!" I grab his hand and run over to the ride. We stand in the short line, my hand still intertwined with his. A small kid in front of us turns and looks at us, then at our hands. He turns to his friend and whispers something. They both start giggling and staring at us. England notices and shakes my hand away.
I lean over to him. "What was that for?"
"People are looking at us…" he says quietly.
"So what?"
"So I don't like it, you git. Don't hold my hand."
"Aww, but Iggy!" I whine.
"Don't call me that! What I say is final!" he snaps. I decide not to argue with him since other people are starting to look now. We eventually make it onto the ride. It's a smaller seat so we're squashed together, not that I mind or anything. I take the opportunity to hold onto England's hand again. When he starts to protest, I say, "Nobody can see our hands, don't worry." He just silently grumbles and looks away.
The ride starts to turn slowly and picks up speed. It whips us around, slamming England into my side. I laugh. "Woohoo! Isn't this fun, Iggy?" I yell over the wind.
He just glares at me. "Did I not just tell you not to call me that?" He grunts as he crashes into my side again. I just laugh and wrap an arm around his shoulder so he stops moving so much. He wriggles in my grip. "Stop that, people will judge us again."
"I don't care! I'm gonna show off who I'm with. Besides, you looked uncomfortable, jerking around like that." When he doesn't protest, I smile and hold him closer.
The ride soon slows down and comes to a stop. The doors automatically unlock and England pushes it open, squirming out from under my arm. We walk away from the ride. "Wasn't that fun?" I ask.
"No, it made me sick." He grumbles. "I need something to settle my stomach."
"Then let's go find something to eat, then! There are tons of stands around here."
"I think it's just going to upset my stomach even more…" He groans.
"No it won't! The food here is good! We can get a hot dog!"
"No! I refuse to eat one of those bloody awful things!"
"Then… what about some chili fries?"
"Do you want to kill me, you git?"
"Ooh, look! Soft pretzels!" I grab him by the hand again and drag him to a stand nearby. There isn't a line so I quickly get us a soft pretzel and two cokes. We make our way over to a picnic table, England grumbling the whole time.
I tear a piece of the pretzel and take a bite. "Mmm… This is good!" I take a drink of my coke and glance at England, who won't even look at the pretzel. "C'mon, eat something! It's good!"
"I won't eat any trash that comes from your country. It is disgusting and greasy and—mmph!" I cut him off and shove a piece of the pretzel into his open mouth. He gags on it for a moment before reluctantly chewing it. He slowly swallows it. "…not that bad, I suppose…" He mutters. We sit there for a while longer, finishing off the pretzel and our drinks.
I throw away the trash and we continue walking. "What do you want to go on next?" I ask.
"Nothing, all of these rides will give me a headache."
"Come on, you have to have at least a little fun while we're here!"
"This is not fun." He states simply.
"Well, try to have fun. What if we go on that ride?" I point to something that looks fairly fast and dizzying.
"Most definitely not!"
"Ok… How about that one?" I show him one that is slightly slower and calmer.
"No." He huffs. "Why don't you let me choose?"
"Ok! What do you want to go on?"
He looks around thoughtfully and decides. "Let's go on the Ferris Wheel."
"Aww, but that's so boring…" I whine.
"It's calm and won't make me want to vomit."
"Nah, let's go over here!" I pull him to a different ride and quickly usher him on, listening to his complaining and grumbling.
The rest of the day continued on like that. I would find some crazy fun ride for us to go on and he would complain the whole time and call me a git. Though he didn't get sick, he threatened to puke on me. I just laughed at him and we went onto the next ride. We eventually made our way to the games and I won a small plush unicorn from a balloon pop. Since he had gone to the bathroom while I was playing the game, I surprised him with it as a present. His only reaction was his face turning a deep shade of red and him taking my hand in his and standing close to me. It was the only reaction I needed to know he liked it.
Throughout the day, he became more used me holding his hand. It did earn a few stared from some people walking by and the occasional "homo" whispered. I didn't care though. I would stand on top of one of the stands and scream "This is my boyfriend, deal with it!" if I had to. England would probably kill me though… I could tell he was slightly uncomfortable with the stares and comments but he didn't say anything.
The sun slowly began to set in the horizon. As it fades, England says, "We should get going, it's getting late."
"No, there's one last thing I wanna do!" I say excitedly. I had been waiting for this all day.
"What on earth could you possibly want to do? We've gone on every bloody ride and played every damned game here."
"Trust me, you'll like this one!" I lead him through the crowd. All of the lights on the stands are lit and the rides are flashing with colorful lights. The stars and moon twinkle in the sky over the laughter and screaming. I smile, knowing he'll have to like this.
"Where the bloody hell are we going?"
"You'll see in a second!" We eventually arrive to the final ride I wanted to go on with him. I had been planning this from the start. I didn't want to upset him earlier when he wanted to go on but I wouldn't let him, but it just showed me this would make him even happier, if it's even possible for him to be happy.
"The Ferris Wheel? I thought you didn't like this…" England gazes up to the top of the giant wheel.
"I know you do though." That's all I say before leading him to one of the cars. I hold my hand out and help him into the car. He glances at me, his face slightly red. I sit down opposite him.
"What's gotten into you, git? You're being… gentleman-like."
"I'm just trying to be a good boyfriend!" I say as the wheel begins to turn. England looks out at the carnival as we get higher and higher into the air. The people and rides below us start to look like little ants. The lights give off a glow in the dark night.
I don't pay attention to any of that though. The only thing I'm looking at is England. From his messy blond hair and his bushy eyebrows that he's self-conscious about and those bright emerald green eyes to his slim but muscular figure and his crossed legs and the way he rests his chin on the palm of his hand. My eyes widen for a moment though as I notice something. A small smile across his lips. It's small but it's definitely there. It's a genuine smile. It's honestly the most beautiful thing I've seen in the longest time.
He glances over at me and sees me staring. "What are you looking at?"
"You." I say simply.
"Well, stop that. It's weird."
"I can't help it, you're just too perfect not to look at."
His face turns bright red. "How can you say such a thing? It's embarrassing… and ridiculous…"
"It's not ridiculous! You are perfect! Everything about you. There is not a single thing I would change about you." I smile.
"You mean that…?"
"Of course I do! Well, wait… maybe one thing…"
He looks a bit worried. "Such as?"
"Only the fact that I never get to see that beautiful smile of yours."
He looks down and then back out at the world below. The wheel has stopped with us at the very top. "Why would it even matter if I smile…?" He whispers.
"Why? Because I want to know that you're happy, that's why. I can never tell if you're truly happy or if you're pissed off or whatever… I love that smile of yours and I really wish I could see it more."
He quickly glances at me and down at the floor of the car. "I… I didn't think you cared…"
"That's ridiculous! Of course I care, I love you." I smile.
He just continues to look down at the floor. "Do you really mean it…?"
"Of course! Look at me…" I say but he continues to look down. "Arthur, look at me…"
He looks up at me, his green eyes meeting my blue. "You haven't called me that in forever…" he mutters.
"That's because I need you to know this. I'm serious, I love you… I love you more than you can ever imagine. Don't ever think otherwise."
Without saying a word, he stands up and sits down next to me. He rests his head on my chest and snuggles close. "I love you too, Alfred…" he says with a smile. I give him a small kiss on the forehead and wrap my arm around him. He tilts his head up towards mine. I lean down and softly kiss those smiling lips.
That beautiful, perfect smile. I've never seen anything so amazing before in my life. In that moment, while I was holding him close, our lips connected, I realized there was nowhere better to be than with Arthur. Everything was just perfect. I never wanted to move from that place. Unfortunately, the need to breathe overcame both of us and we pulled away.
"I love you… so much, you stupid git…" he mutters, the smile still across his face.
"Are you happy?" I ask quietly.
"Yes, so very happy… I'm always happy when I'm with you, Alfred… Always…"
