Bunnies For Your Amusement (Hetalia)
Author: Ashynarr
Summary: A bunch of cute and/or serious story ideas featuring my favorite Hetalia bros – America and Canada! May or may not be pairings depending on story. I guarantee all of these are, if not unique ideas, unique takes on ideas, so come check them out!
Disclaimer: Hetalia's not mine.
Warning: Random Shit, Bros Being Bros, blatant AmeCan, like it's the focus sort of mostly
Bunny: Pride and Prejudice
~When the Commonwealth gets a bit too overprotective of one of their own, they break something special between the boys and have to scramble to fix it all before both of them hate them forever.
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Alfred laughed softly as he pressed a kiss to the corner of Matthew's mouth, half-leading half-stumbling backwards as they made their way from the car to Matthew's front door. Matthew returned the gesture with his own grin, lingering a bit longer before pulling away.
"I had a lot of fun tonight," The Canadian told his boyfriend, the two having stopped at the doorway briefly so that he could pull out his keys.
"Well, obviously," The American teased back, though he straightened up at bit in pride. "I did plan it, after all."
"You also planned that date to that one cafe in Japan that ended up a disaster when you mispronounced your order."
Alfred's cheeked reddened perceptible even in the dim light of the evening. "It was an honest mistake, and you all forgave me eventually! Besides, I remember you were the one who planned our trip up north only to get us snowed in for two weeks because you forgot to check the weather first."
Matthew groaned but conceded the point, shaking his head at the embarrassing memory. "Let's just agree that we're both dumb dorks who forget things occasionally, alright?"
"I can live with that," Alfred agreed, pressing another lingering kiss to Matthew's lips before pulling back with a grin. "Now how's about we get inside before our ears fall off from the cold so we can get settled in for the night, eh?"
"Hey, what did I say about the tic?" The northern Nation grumbled, though he stepped forward to unlock the door only to pause with a frown. "...I swear I locked the door when we left."
"Maybe it just wasn't locked all the way?" Alfred frowned as well, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Can you-"
"It's not one of mine," Matthew replied to the question, shaking his head. "And it's definitely not yours either."
"It's probably nothing, then," The southern Nation conceded, though he still looked ready to defend his boyfriend if the situation called for it. "Besides, Nanuq would keep out baddies, right?"
"Yeah, definitely," Matthew sighed thankfully as he opened the door, knowing his lazy bear did not tolerate strangers in the house unless his owner introduced them first. "Next time I'll just double check before we leave."
The lights abruptly cut on as they were kicking off their shoes, causing both of them to wince as their eyes watered from the visual assault. By the time they'd blinked away the tears they realized they were blocked from further entry into the house by most of the Commonwealth, lead by Arthur and - Francis?
"What're you guys doing here?" Alfred asked, glancing around to the displeased expressions of their peers. "Did something happen while we were out?"
"You could say that," Arthur agreed tersely, glancing between them. "Let's have a little chat, shall we?"
Never let it be said that Alfred could not read the atmosphere when it really counted, like now; the tension was thick enough to carve with a knife, and it set him on edge as well, hoping some disaster hadn't hit Europe in the past few hours. Sure he would have sensed something that big through his people's concern, right? And why had all these guys been hiding their presences in the first place, anyway?
By the time they were all settled into all the available seats in the living room, America was just starting to nudge into place, straightening his back where Alfred wanted to waver just a bit under the stern looks from his pseudo-parents.
"Did Ginny curse everyone's tea again?" Alfred tried to joke away some of the tension, though it didn't seem to help. "I mean, the moustaches were pretty funny, not gonna lie…"
"No, this is not about your states," Francis replied, leaning forward to look the younger Nation in the eye. "This is about you and your brother."
"Me and Mattie?" Alfred blinked, glancing over to the Canadian who seemed to have shrunk into himself a bit now, drawing a frown from him. "What about us?"
"You two have been dating for months, and you never bothered to tell us?" Bruce looked a bit hurt at that.
"Well, it really wasn't anyone's business, was it?" The American shrugged. "We're independent Nations, last I checked, and neither of us are huge on PDA stuff during official business."
"Be that as it may," Arthur grit out. "It still concerns the rest of the Commonwealth, as he is still a member and thus liable to it."
"I thought that was more a formality?" Alfred glancing to his neighbor, who shrugged but didn't deny either way. "And, again, we're independent Nations capable of making our own decisions."
"Alfred, look," Angelique sat forward, giving as friendly a smile as she could manage. "You're a good friend and a great ally, but we all know you're sort of… not the greatest when it comes to romance."
The American's eyebrows shot up in disbelief. Sure, he wasn't always the best at picking up subtleties, but he knew the most important part of any relationship was actually talking, not whatever passionate nonsense was getting put into his latest movies. And just because he didn't have a huge history of dating didn't mean he was struggling with this one, especially since it was Mattie, the person he knew better than anyone besides his own citizens.
"I thought we were getting on just fine," Alfred started, only to get cut off by Francis.
"I know you two get on fine, but Matthew… he requires a special touch, one that I'm afraid you just lack. I only want the best for him, and as things stand now, I can't trust you are it."
"Francis, please," Matthew spoke up for the first time, raising his head to give an exhausted look. "Can we just not have this fight?"
"No, please go on," America replied, leveling at flat look at the others, causing them all to flinch back before regathering themselves.
"It's by no means a death toll to your… relations," Arthur cut in, their gazes meeting at an impasse. "As long as you're willing to do a few things to prove you're serious about him, at least…"
America stared at them all for a long minute, causing the other once-colonies to start shifting in their seats, glancing anywheres but at the world superpower. Even Francis was struggling to keep himself firm by the time the young Nation finally found words again, his fingers having torn into the fabric of the couch as he reigned in his temper as best he could.
"I have nothing to prove to you," He hissed, the words seething off his tongue. "I did not fight for my independence from you twice just to be told who I could and could not date, and I am not going to run myself through hoops just to satisfy some arbitrary goals you seem to think are necessary to 'prove myself'. Matthew and I have a healthy, satisfying relationship, and that should be more than enough for you all."
"Please, Alfred," Matthew quietly butted in, matching the sour glare with an exhausted look of his own. "It's late, and none of us are thinking straight. Can we just talk in the morning once everyone's cooled down and had a chance to think?"
"No, I think not," Arthur pressed, matching America's glare again. "Not until he agrees to our terms."
Alfred ignored them, turning to Matthew with a softer frown. "Matt, you can't seriously be letting these guys dictate our own freaking relationship here! We're both grown adults, and they can't actually do anything if we refuse."
"I can't afford alienating them, Al," Matthew shook his head minutely. "I don't need the stress on top of everything else…"
The American pressed his lips together, looking around the room at each of the Nations in terms while he thought, eventually sighing in defeat.
"Your decision?" Francis pressed.
"I don't seem to have a choice, do I?" Alfred asked to no one in particular, closing his eyes for a long moment before opening them again. "If you guys can't just get over your issues about this… then until Matt's willing to stand up for himself, I'm gonna have to break it off."
Matthew shot straight up at that, shock and betrayal in his expression while everyone else rocked back. "Al-"
"I love you, Matt," He interrupted, swallowing back his emotions. "But I am not putting myself through the wringer for these guys, because they are not in charge of us or our relations, and until they get that I can't watch you let yourself be pushed around by them. I'm sorry, but I can't support this relationship on my own."
With that he stood and left, waiting to get into the car before letting the first tears fall. He didn't want to think about how, even as he pulled out of the driveway, Matthew never came running after him.
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AN: Hey, if you can guess the next romantic trope that irritates me, you get a cookie! What's that? You say it's the overprotective families who force the significant other through absurd and demeaning tasks just to 'prove their love' trope? Ding ding you get a prize!
But in all seriousness, it's absurd at the best of times and disturbing at the worst – after all, can you imagine living with people so controlling that you can't even choose who you want to date without everyone breathing down your neck and ruining anything nice you could have had? I mean, yeah I feel for Matt too, but in scenarios like this I do see him often bend to the whims of the majority despite his own opinion, while Alfred... well, he's an independent person regardless of even global opinion.
The simplest route for this is for a) Matthew to actually take a risk and chew out all of them for ruining his relationship, b) for these guys to actually realize they fucked up and do something about it, and c) meanwhile Alfred is getting comforted by friends who aren't going to blame him for not running gauntlets.
(Because to be honest, the other trope that irritates me is how Alfred always ends up being 'in the wrong' when something strains the relationship so he always has to be the one to apologize and fix it while his partner is the innocent babe who just got so hurt by the other's words even though they probably started it in the first place. This fuckin' fandom sometimes...)
