"What do you need such a long password for?"
Kiki quickly flipped her phone face down and hid it under her leg. Alfred couldn't help but think that she was keeping something secret from him.
"I-it's nothing," she stammered. She hid her soft pink blush away from Alfred's view. She didn't want him to guess her little secret. "Have you got a movie picked out?" she asked, trying to distract him without making it too obvious.
"Uh...yeah! I've got The Avengers, The Dark Knight, and Spider-Man. What do you want to watch?"
"Whatever you want to watch is fine."
Alfred couldn't get a reading from Kiki. He wished she could have been a bit more decisive. He was nervous enough as it was. They had only been dating for a little bit, and the only places they had gone out to were restaurants. So, he was pretty surprised when Kiki had suggested a movie night instead.
Maybe she didn't like fast food as much as he did. He tried to pick out really popular super hero flicks, but she didn't seem to care too much for them either. Maybe they didn't have as much in common as he initially thought.
He looked at each DVD case. He couldn't choose. It wasn't fair. This was like choosing a favorite child. No one should have to do this. He gave a pleading look to Kiki. She fidgeted on his couch, unaware that Alfred wanted her to rescue him.
"Where's the bathroom?" she asked.
"Oh, down the hall and to the left," Alfred said. His eyebrows knit together as he went back to trying to decide.
Just then, Alfred's phone began to ring. A catchy electronic noise that sounded sort of familiar to Kiki. She couldn't quite remember where she remembered it from. Alfred quickly reached into his pocket to silence his embarrassing ringtone. He thought he had remembered to put it on vibrate before Kiki came over.
"Did you have to call now? It's kind of a bad time," Alfred said into the receiver.
Kiki hurried off to the bathroom to give Alfred a bit more privacy with his phone call. She let out a huff of breath once she closed the door behind her. She hoped Alfred couldn't tell that she was really nervous. This was her first time being alone with a guy in his apartment. Alfred shared his small apartment with his brother, Matthew, but he wasn't there.
Kiki pulled out her phone again. A few hours ago she had received an email that someone had anonymously reviewed her story, and she couldn't wait to read it. She smiled a bit to herself. They had really liked it. She couldn't help but be happy that the little musings in her head brought such happiness to others.
But now wasn't the time for that. She was supposed to be on a date with Alfred. She looked at herself in the mirror and fiddled a bit with her hair. She didn't know Alfred that well, but she really hoped that he liked her. Kiki wondered if she should have worn something prettier. Or perhaps put more makeup on. She didn't like to wear makeup. It usually irritated her skin. But if Alfred liked that sort of thing...
She built up the courage to go out in the hallway again. She could hear Alfred's raised voice from the living room.
"Yeah, she's with me now," she heard Alfred say. "No, she doesn't know."
Kiki wondered if Alfred was talking about her.
"I wasn't planning on telling her either. I don't want to ruin the thing we have," Alfred continued.
Kiki needed to focus on breathing in and out. She seemed to be stuck on sharp, quick inhales. Kiki didn't want to believe what she was hearing. She wanted to think she was taking things way out of proportion. Why would Alfred be going out with someone else? That didn't make sense. Her friends had always told Kiki that Alfred was a nice boy.
"Right, I'll be carful. You don't need to worry. I love you. Bye!" Alfred hung up the phone.
Kiki panicked. She couldn't let Alfred see her like this. What was she going to do? She practically ran back down the hallway and took the door on the right. Maybe she could make Alfred believe she was still in the bathroom while she tried to figure things out.
Kiki closed her eyes and slid down the closed door at her back. So Alfred was keeping a secret. It didn't necessarily have to be the one Kiki suspected. Everyone kept secrets. She had a few of her own. She'd just have to go out there and act like she never heard anything. Like there was nothing wrong. Because there was nothing wrong. This was all in her head.
Kiki opened her eyes and almost fell under another panic attack. This wasn't the bathroom. From the looks of it, it was a guys room. Various hoodies and shorts were strewn haphazardly all over the place. Judging by the posters of superheroes on the walls, Kiki assumed it was Alfred's room.
Kiki wondered how she could have made this mistake. She soon realized that she should have taken a left. What if Alfred caught her? She didn't want him to think she was snooping around in his room.
"Kiki, where are you? Are you okay?" Alfred stood out in the hall. He wondered what was taking so long. He practically hit himself for saying anything. How was he supposed to know how long girls needed the bathroom for? Now he just made things even more awkward between them.
Kiki scrambled away from the door. "Oh, um, I'm in here. I'm alright."
Alfred didn't expect to hear Kiki's voice coming from his room. "What are you doing in there?"
"I was just, uh, looking to see what other movies you had." Kiki looked around. "Ah, I think I see some in the closet."
Kiki wasn't quite sure why she lied about the looking for movies. Alfred wasn't quite sure why she lied either. Everyone makes mistakes. It's perfectly understandable to open the wrong door in a place you're unfamiliar with. Alfred, however, had more pressing matters at hand.
"My closet? No, wait! Kiki, that's not...!"
Alfred flung open the door to his room, but found he was too late. Kiki had already opened the door to Alfred's closet. He was too late to protect his secret.
Kiki was stunned to say the least. She had never expected this. The view of all the bright colors stuffed into a closet was rather startling. She was frozen stiff. Alfred walked into his room and closed the door to his closet, clearly embarrassed.
They stayed for a while like that. Kiki sitting on the floor and Alfred blocking the door to his closet. Alfred didn't really know how to explain. He just prayed that Kiki would be able to understand. But first, he'd have to swallow his nerves and actually say something.
"So," Kiki broke the awkward silence for him. She had a meek smile on her face. "You like Hetalia, too?"
His eyes went wide. Alfred thought he had never seen anyone more beautiful in his entire life. Her face was simple, yet pretty. Her dark hair shone in the weak light of his bedroom. Even in her t-shirt and jeans, nothing else could look better in his mind.
"Yeah...YES! I'm practically obsessed with it. Did you hear when my mom called? My ringtone is Hamburger Street!" Alfred said enthusiastically. He could now be open with her about his fandom.
Kiki was relieved. She knew she had heard that tune somewhere. So that was who Alfred had been talking to. She was glad that it hadn't been some other girl. Or boy for that matter.
Kiki had never seen Alfred this happy before. He squatted down in front of her so they were practically eye level. His blue eyes practically sparkled behind his glasses. Kiki already knew Alfred had a wonderful smile. That's part of the reason she wanted to date him in the first place. She was practically breathless from this one.
Still, she managed to speak, "I know what you mean. I actually write a lot of fanfiction for Hetalia."
"Really? I love to read that stuff! Are there any that I might have read?"
It was like Alfred had turned into a giant puppy in 2.9 seconds. Kiki was also pretty excited, but in a more reserved manner than Alfred. She listed off some of her more popular works.
"Oh. My. God. I loved that one!" Alfred interrupted. "Especially at the part where America took Japan and..." Alfred couldn't go on.
Kiki couldn't believe it. Alfred, the boy she had a crush on for a while now, had read her lemons. He had read her deepest, most intimate fantasies acted out by two personified countries. She could feel her face flaming.
Alfred's face was turning red as well. He couldn't believe he just admitted that. He told the girl that he had a crush on for months that he liked to read basically gay country smut.
"It's not what you think!" they stammered out at the same time.
Another awkward silence, but the couple had begun to grow quite fond of them. They began to realize that a lot of the feelings that they had kept hidden for so long were more similar than they could have ever imagined.
It was Alfred's turn to speak first. "I don't read them for the...you know. And I'm not gay either! Not that there would be anything wrong with that...I just...I just like the way you really seem to connect with the characters. How you really seem to convey and personify their feelings. I think the way you portray love...is really accurate." What Alfred didn't add was the fact that whenever he read her stories, he was always reminded of way he felt for Kiki.
"And you should know, I'm not some sort of sex addict or anything." Kiki had even a hard time saying the words out loud, but she needed Alfred to understand. Alfred had never thought that about her in the slightest. not even when he had anonymously reviewed her stories.
"I've never even come close. To any of what I write." What Kiki didn't say was that the feelings that Alfred had thought to be so accurate had all stemmed from the way she felt about him.
If Alfred was some sort of Casanova, he would have said, "Well, we're going to have to fix that" and taken her right on the spot. But that wasn't him. Instead he just looked at Kiki like she was the most amazing girl in the world.
"So, um, you ship Ameripan, too?" Kiki said.
"Of course! Even though America and Japan are so different, I can't help but think they were made for each other," Alfred answered. There was an undertone in his voice that suggested a deeper meaning behind his words.
Kiki looked back at him. It seemed like Alfred desperately wanted to ask something. Like he was on the verge of falling off a cliff. He was leaning over the edge and leaning closer to Kiki. Surprisingly, Kiki didn't mind this as much as she thought she would. She usually had a problem with people touching her or getting in her personal bubble. But with Alfred, Kiki didn't think she'd mind touching him if just for a little bit.
Having found the answer, Alfred completed the distance between his and Kiki's lips. The kiss was short, and sweet, and innocent. But to Kiki, this was something much more intimate and amazing than she could ever imagine. Alfred was positively grinning when they broke apart. Kiki blushed slightly, but didn't dare look away.
"Do you want to watch Paint it White?" Alfred said. That was in one of the DVD cases Kiki had seen from his closet along with all of the seasons of Hetalia.
Kiki was confused at first. Then she remembered she was actually here to watch a movie and not just stare at Alfred. She nodded her head.
"Great," Alfred said, ecstatic they had a movie to agree on. "Dub or Sub?"
Kiki got up from the floor, and Alfred stood next to her. Nervous from anticipation, she took his hand. She didn't think she'd ever get used to this thrill. Neither did Alfred. She smiled up to him and replied, "Both!"