Warning! This short little fanfiction contains yaoi, or boyxboy love. If you don't like it, then why are you here?

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia…. Sadly…
Genre: Fluffy Romance
Anime: Axis Powers Hetalia
Pairing: USUK (Alfred Jones/America and Arthur Kirkland/England)

You're hot, hot like the kitchen stove. I want to get closer to you, to feel your skin against my own. My mother warns me to stay away, but, as always, curiosity gets the better of me. Every time I touch you, the scorching surface burns me. The thing is, I'm the kid who doesn't learn from my mistakes, and I'll keep trying, again and again.

Alfred isn't stupid.

Most people think he's slow and oblivious, but this isn't true. He usually knows what's going on, even if it seems like he's not paying attention. The reason he lets them believe he doesn't listen is because people are usually less careful about what they say in his presence. They don't guard their words, they don't whisper in each others' ears. Alfred won't understand what they're talking about. Alfred's an idiot, so why should they go through the trouble of being secretive?

However, what they do isn't entirely unwise, even if their reasoning is incorrect. He never tells anyone about what he hears. He doesn't feel comfortable giving away secrets that aren't his to give. It makes him feel horribly guilty, like some sort of lying scum not worthy of any respect at all. Not that he gets much respect anyway. No, most people he knows don't really think a lot of him at all.

But right now, he wants to change that. He wants to be valued, not by everyone, though. Just him. Just this blond-haired, green-eyed teenager, standing with his back pressed up against the locker, regarding him warily.

"Get off me, you git," says Arthur, trying to slip out underneath Alfred's arms which are placed on either side of the Brit, holding him in place. "I said bugger off! It's time for class already…"

It's true. The bell had wrung a few minutes ago, and the halls are deserted, save for the two of them. But Alfred makes no move to release Arthur. Instead, he leans closer, reducing the distance between them to no more than a couple inches.

"Is that really what you want?" Alfred asks in a gentle whisper. He stares into the trapped teen's eyes, getting lost in those emerald orbs and allowing himself to become ensnared as well.

"I…"

The Brit can't finish his statement. They're both caught, caught in a web where they are equally vulnerable to each other, adopting the rolls of predator as well as prey. Neither can move away, nor can they move closer; both are frozen by their proximity and the intensity of each others' gazes. Their breath hangs in the air, suspended by the same net that holds them in place.

Finally, Alfred breaks the spell, closing the gap that separates them by pressing his lips against Arthurs in a passionate kiss. Now that they are no longer motionless, it's as if time itself has stopped instead, holding this single moment in its fist, trying to make it last an eternity.

Alfred can feel the Brit's lips moving against his own, feel his hot breath down his face, the sheer desire that radiates from his body. His own need is just as strong. The kiss deepens, so intense that he and Arthur are not two separate people, but one complete being, one heartbeat, one essence. When he gasps for a breath, Arthur does as well, and when he wraps his arms around the smaller teen's back, Arthur responds by tangling his fingers into his hair and pulling his head closer, forcing their lips together even harder than before.

If only they could stay like this forever, then Alfred would never complain again. Moments like these are, in his mind, the reason mankind exists. To live these moments, to experience them firsthand, that's true paradise. He no longer cares how other people see him. Let them think he's ignorant; let them think he's stupid. As long as he can have Arthur, he doesn't mind.

As long as he has Arthur, he will be happy.

Maybe one day I would have learn not to touch the hot stovetop. Maybe I would have learned that the only thing waiting for me there was pain. But instead, I discovered something new, something that ended the constant cycle of want and hurt. If I reached high enough, reached just above the counter, I could make the burner turn off.