Alfred F. Jones, also known as the United States of America, heard about a very intriguing website and decided to check it out. It was called "Dear Blank Please Blank." (AKA DBPB) This was the first entry he saw:
Dear America,
Please stop texting me just because you're bored.
Sincerely, I have work to do.
"Well, that's totally unawesome. I'll have to reply" Alfred said as he clicked the submit your own button.
Arthur Kirkland, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, was checking his email when he received an update from DBPB. It was a new entry and his eyes widened when he read what it said:
Dear Britain,
Please stop correcting my grammar. I ain't gonna fix it.
Sincerely, Independent of English class.
"Oh, this is war, Alfred." He said. He signed in and started to type his response.
Alfred took his first bite of a hamburger when he read the next update:
Dear America,
Please stop selling those disgusting heart attacks on a bun that you call a hamburger.
Sincerely, grossed out.
"Hey! Not cool, Arthur!" Alfred yelled as he began typing his next entry.
Arthur opened the email he received and spit out the tea he had happened to be drinking (it's called a 'spit-take' in America, I believe)
Dear Britain,
Please, for the sake of everything that is good, stop cooking.
Sincerely, heart attacks are better than your food.
He growled in response but couldn't immediately respond as they had a meeting.
As the meeting began. Alfred stared at Arthur who seemed to be frowning. 'He must have read my entry' Alfred thought as he continued spouting nonsense. 'I wonder what he's going to say. Oh! I need to invite him to my birthday party!'
"Okay so that's all for today! We'll meet tomorrow to finish, k? Of course it's ok cuz I'm the hero!"
"Jeez, America, could you get even more annoying?" Arthur said as he rubbed his forehead. 'You could do better than that' Arthur thought thinking of Alfred's potential. He knew exactly what he was going to write as he sat down at his computer.
As soon as Alfred opened his email, he immediately found the email he had been looking forward to all day.
Dear America,
Please stop acting like a complete git in meetings.
Sincerely, I know you're smarter than that.
He stopped after reading it. 'He actually believes in me? I've always thought he thought I was stupid but I guess not. Aw! I forgot to invite him! I'll see him tomorrow, though, it'll be right before my b-day so I can't forget!'
He sighed as he leant back and closed his eyes. He saw Arthur's instead. The next time he opened his eyes, he was crying. "Man, I'm totally messed up now." He then went to type the next thing.
Arthur heard the 'ping' that accompanied a new email and he immediately stopped the paperwork he had been working on to check the response. He was shocked to say the least when he read what Alfred had said:
Dear Britain,
Please stop acting like you're strong because you're not.
Sincerely, You don't own the seas anymore.
'I guess my mask is crumbling if ALFRED, the densest person I know, can see through it.' It's true, though. At every single meeting, when Alfred takes over, he remembers every meeting he used to be in charge of and how insignificant he is now. His crown had essentially been taken from him as soon as he lost all of his colonies.
"But, I can't let you have the satisfaction of knowing you're right." Arthur said as he typed the next thing and pressed enter.
Alfred looked up from Mario Kart to see that he had received a new email. 'Yay! Something from Arthur! When have I gotten so excited from getting a message from him?'
Dear America,
Please stop acting like you know everything.
Sincerely, you don't.
"Haha very funny, Arthur." Alfred said but not in a joking way. He hated how Arthur always told him off for not being as smart as Arthur. "I already know you're smarter than me…" He then typed his next response.
Arthur felt a pang in his heart when he read the next message from DBPB:
Dear Britain,
Please stop making me feel insignificant.
Sincerely, Hurt.
He didn't mean to hurt him from his last email. He just needed to be alone. He couldn't let Alfred in his heart and break it again. He glanced at the clock and noticed that it was 9 o'clock. He had a meeting tomorrow so he needed to be well rested.
"I'll respond tomorrow, after the meeting."
The next day, after Alfred closed the meeting, he ran up to Arthur.
"Hey, Artie!"
"My name is England. Now bugger off."
"Aww! Come on! I just wanted to invite you to my birthday party!"
The room tensed up immediately. Arthur slowly turned around and grabbed Alfred's collar.
"And why," Arthur hissed barely an inch away from Alfred's face, "would you think that I would want to go to something like that?"
"Dude, I thought you weren't the kind to hold grudges for this long. If you didn't want to go you just had to tell me!"
"It's YOUR FAULT I hold grudges. After YOU left, all of my other colonies rebelled and now look where I am! COMPLEATELY ALONE AND WEAK." Arthur paused for a moment to breathe. "I NEVER want to be reminded of that." He whispered before running out of the conference room.
He slammed his room shut and fell on his bed and cried. He didn't care if anyone heard him he just needed to let it all out. Once he had slightly calmed down, he decided to tell America exactly how he felt.
America had just sat in his room on his bed thinking about what England had said to him. 'It's YOUR fault!'. He heard the ping of his email but didn't immediately get up. After a few moments, he went to the computer and read exactly what he had expected:
Dear America,
Please stop breaking my heart by reminding me of what happened in 1776.
Sincerely, Trying not to cry.
"Damn." America said ruffling his hair. The last thing he wanted to do was make Arthur cry. He wanted to be there to comfort him but he knew he would be pushed away if he tried. So he just told him.
Arthur sniffed as he saw Alfred's response:
Dear Britain,
Please stop trying to act tough all the time.
Sincerely, I know you want to cry.
"The thing is, Alfred, I need to act tough or I will tell you my feelings and be vulnerable. If my heart breaks anymore, I won't be able to heal."
He typed as he thought to himself, 'Plus, you know that I'm weak…'
America read the last entry from Arthur before he went to bed.
Dear America,
Please stop trying to take advantage of me while I'm weak.
Sincerely, I don't want your sympathy.
"Still persistent." Alfred said smiling. "That's why I love you." He said before his eyes widened and he covered his mouth.
'I actually said it? I-I didn't even think that way! But I guess my heart said it before my brain knew it so it must be true…'
"I'll figure this out." Alfred said before turning out the lights.
'America is acting like an idiot as usual' England said as he was thinking during the meeting barely thinking about what Alfred was actually saying. 'But, online he has been slightly romantic. Maybe it's not even him. Though I doubt it could be anyone else. I would be heartbroken if it was…'
When the meeting was done he went up to America 'I need to apologize'
"Uh… Alfred?" Arthur said as he saw America look up. 'He has shadows under his eyes. He must have stayed up late last night. I wonder why I didn't notice before.'
"Yeah? What's up England?"
Arthur was taken aback. He never called him England. Usually Artie or, if he was lucky, Arthur.
"I just wanted to apologize for my behavior yesterday. It was uncalled for." Arthur saw Alfred's eyes widen.
"No. Really. I should be the one apologizing. I was really dense. I should have been more thoughtful of your feelings."
"It really was me overreacting. I would also like to inform you that I will be coming to your um party." Arthur said turning his head away slightly and feeling his face heat up.
"That's awesome, Arthur! I can't wait! See you tomorrow, then, k? You don't need to bring a present!"
'I probably will anyways, though.' Arthur thought to himself. 'I need to tell you.'
Alfred went home and smiled as he went to his computer. He needed to clear something up with Arthur first.
When Arthur got home, he found he was out of breathe (no, he did not run home because he was excited to read Alfred's update!- git…). He ran upstairs and checked his email. He smiled as he read the following entry:
Dear Britain,
Please know that I only act like an idiot to get your attention.
Sincerely, Acknowledge me.
"I do acknowledge you, Alfred. More than you know…" And that was true. His heart was so unpredictable. He had only just realized he was in love with Alfred and he was confused by his actions verses his words. What is he signaling?
America looked up from decorating his house for the party tomorrow to see that he had received an update:
Dear America,
Please stop toying with my emotions. One minute you admire me the next you hate me and then go back to spouting things like you want me to notice you!
Sincerely, Thoroughly confused.
As soon as he saw this he immediately responded without hesitation. He cannot let this by.
Arthur had already fallen asleep and had too much paperwork before the party (he had fallen behind because of this stupid website) so he did not get to see Alfred's response. Before he realized it, it was time to go.
He arrived at the party and it was utter chaos. France was ALREADY drunk and trying to grope Alfred's brother (was it Marty or Mickey?). Even Alfred seemed a bit tipsy which was EXTRMELY unusual for him.
"Hey –hic- Arthur! –hic- We were just –hic- talking 'bou choo –hic-"
"I pray you weren't saying anything dreadful about me."
"Nuh-uh. I wuz only sayin' how much I luuurv you!" Arthur swore the world stopped.
"E-excuse me?"
"Yep! I luurv you Arthur Kirkland! From your British accent to yer fuzzy eyebrows. Plus those conversashuns online prove that you lurv me too –hic-" Alfred said as he put on one of his goofiest smiled which brought Arthur back to earth.
"Y-you don't mean that because you're drunk. Why are you spewing all of this false things to others no less!" Arthur said turning red with rage but Alfred took it another way.
"Hah! Yer blooshing so you mus' like me too!" Alfred said.
"I'M MAD YOU IDIOT! I WOULDN'T MIND IF YOU TOLD ME FIRST BUT YOU DECIDE TO TELL THE WHOLE WORLD ABOUT EVERYTHING AND NOW I-I" Arthur started.
"You… wa-"
"I HATE YOU ALFRED F. JONES!" Arthur screamed as he ran. He went onto DBPB to see if he could be comforted. But this was what he saw:
Dear Britain,
Please understand that I mean every word I ever say ever… but not because I'm the hero.
Sincerely, Sincere Hero.
"D-damn you, bloody American…" Arthur said as tears began to cascade down his face. Once they started, he couldn't stop them. He wrote in reply:
Dear America,
Please tell this to me to my face or I cannot believe you.
Sincerely, Doubtful
A few hours of crying later, England walked to his computer to turn it off when he saw the next reply:
Dear Britain,
Please meet me in the park, then.
Sincerely, Can't wait.
"Wha?" Arthur said. But he threw on his coat anyways and ran out the door. He needed to know…
When he got to the park, he looked around and saw Alfred sitting near the fountain.
"You drunkard. How come you called me out here?"
"I wasn't drunk, Arthur." Alfred said not looking at Arthur in the eye.
"What?" Arthur was flabbergasted. "You were totally smashed! There's no way you could have sobered up that fast!"
"I didn't have one drink, Arthur." Alfred said looking Arthur in the eye this time. "I was telling the truth."
"Why, then?"
"Because I'm just as scared as you are! I don't want to have my heart broken and I don't want to break your heart ever!"
"So you thought pretending to be drunk would help?"
"Yes. Because everyone knows you lose your inhibitions and everyone else probably won't remember anything from last night. I didn't lie… I could never lie to you…"
"You lied by-"
"I know but you would have done it too! You've lied so many times, Arthur…"
"Name one time…"
"You said you would come back soon."
"What?"
"Whenever you left me alone in that big house you always said you would come back soon. I wouldn't see you for months and months. I know you were 'busy' or whatever but you could have mailed me or something. I was always excited when I would see you but then I would cry when you would leave." He then proceeded to put his head in his hands. Arthur just stared gaping at him before sitting next to him.
"Alfred… I'm sorry."
"Me too. I- I should've told you another way. I should've tried being more hero-like…"
"Heroes aren't infallible, Alfred." Arthur said hugging his larger figure from the side and putting his head on Alfred's shoulder.
"But, they should be." Alfred said. "They're supposed to be."
"Then, you're not a hero." Arthur said and saw Alfred's gaze move up to meet his own in a very shocked way. "Because I love you for every thing right and wrong with you. I can only hope you'll love me for my faults as well." He then decided to look away but was turned back very suddenly and felt Alfred kissing him.
His eyes widened but he didn't pull away. He then decided to kiss back. They were kissing and when they pulled away they stared into seas and emeralds and just sat in the abandoned park waiting for the sun to come up.
A FEW MONTHS LATER…..
Alfred quickly checked DBPB after a while to see, on a mere whim, if anything had changed, he smiled as he saw something from Arthur:
Dear America,
I love you.
Sincerely, Arthur.
He quickly typed a response before dashing out the door to get Arthur for the meeting.
Arthur saw that he had received a new email and checked it before Alfred came. He saw his response to his DBPB entry just as someone knocked on his door.
Dear Britain,
I love you too.
Sincerely, Alfred.