California was standing at the bus stop next to Oregon. When the bus pulled up, she smiled devilishly and stepped on,

"Hold on! Our bus is the next one!"

Cali looked over her shoulder,

"I think you mean your bus is the next one."

Oregon frowned,

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I'm leaving you for Texas. Come on, did you actually think I would date you when I have the strongest, most handsome state wrapped around my finger?"

Cali giggled as tears began to well up in Oregon's eyes,

"But Cali I-"

Suddenly, Texas walks up from behind Oregon and pushes him roughly aside,

"Move it, you nobody!"

Oregon could only lay there and Texas grabbed California by the hips, and kissed her roughly and deeply, leaning her back,

"California? I thought that-"

"Thought what? That I actually cared about you? No, I just wanted to see the look on your face when I told you how much better Texas is than you."

She laughed, then wrapped her arms around Texas's neck once more. As they continued to kiss passionately, Oregon got to his feet and ran. Ran the opposite direction of the bus. It began to rain and he fell flat on his face, sobbing into the concrete, as he feels his heart breaking.


Oregon wakes up with a start.

Oh thank god it was a dream.

Cali turns over in her sleep and flops her arms around his waist, nuzzling her nose into his back.

Oregon lays back down, Cali shifting her legs to intertwine with his. He turns around and rests his head on top of her's, letting a small smile to creep across his face.

She, while still asleep, began muttering in Spanish,

"Estoy enamorado de ti."

Oregon did not know much Spanish at all, so he made a mental note to ask someone later. He traced the light scar on her bare back with his forefinger. He took advantage of her serenity to take in every part of her. The smell of her hair was comforting to his racing heart and he reminded himself that that was a dream, not reality.

He ran his hands up and down her curvy hips, feeling every bump and patch of skin she had to offer. The way her long eyelashes fluttered every time he touched her made his heart race. Oregon wanted nothing more than to hold this girl in his arms forever, forget all his responsibilities, and just spend eternity in bliss.

Cali, who was still sleeping, mind you, put a single hand on his back, the other one pressed onto his exposed chest. She smiled, kissing the bottom of his neck, and then began to snore softly again, entering a deeper sleep.


When Cali woke up, she blinked a few times, stretching her arms, and untangling her legs from his. Oregon leans back as California wiggles her toes, trying to get some feeling back in them,

"What time is it?"

Oregon looked across the room at the clock in California's room,

"10:13"

Cali's eyes grow wide and she throws the blankets off her self, jumping out of bed,

"Damn! I totally forgot I had to get up today!"

Oregon laughed as she scrambled to put an outfit on,

"What's the occasion?"

"I'm meeting with Texas and Yorkie today. Jerry is gonna kill me!"

Oregon stops laughing,

"You're going to see Texas?"

Cali pulls her top on over her head,

"Yeah, why?"

Oregon pulls the blankets back up over his legs,

"Nothing. It's nothing."

Cali takes a moment to look at Oregon quizzically,

"No really, what is it? I meet with those two wackos on a regular basis."

Oregon frowns at this,

"I just had a nightmare last night."

"Did Yorkie finally figure out who dented his Avengers action figures in it? I'm pretty sure he would kill me if that ever happened."

Oregon smiled weakly at this,

"No, it was you and Texas, and you guys..."

He trailed off, staring at the sheets, clenched in his hands.

Cali say down on the bed next to him, pecking his cheek lightly,

"Whatever it was, don't sweat it! I'm sure it was unrealistic anyway."

Oregon bit his lip,

"It wasn't. It was really realistic."

Cali put an arm around his shoulders,

"I'm sure that-"

She was interrupted by her phone going off. She reluctantly let go of him, and answered the call,

"Yes Jerry? What's up?"

She smiled sheepishly,

"Yeah, sorry about that, I'll be there in a sec!"

She hung up the phone, rolled her eyes, and then looked at Oregon apologetically,

"Gotta go. You know how it is."

She blew a kiss to him, then picked up her high-heels from her closet, and dashed outside.


Oregon has just found his pants, which had been impressively thrown up onto a chandelier by California the night before, when the door bell went off.

He debated whether or not to answer it, but the person was impatiently knocking on the door, without relenting, so he decided to just open it.

He opened the door, and came face to face with a bouquet of English roses. Both Oregon and London were taken by surprise at who was standing in front of them.

London let his hand that was carrying the flowers drop and he looked curiously at Oregon,

"I'm awfully sorry. My name is London, I'm looking for California."

Oregon crossed his arms,

"I'm Oregon."

London pulled out an American map and studied it carefully,

"I must have gone a tad North. Well, thank you and have a nice day, sir."

Oregon grabbed him by the shoulder as he turned around,

"Hold on. Why were you looking for California?"

London looked down at the flowers in his hand and then back up to Oregon, smiling smugly,

"Take a guess."

Oregon narrowed his eyes,

"Stay away from her."

London put his hands on his hips,

"And why should I?"

London stood a little straighter, looking down on the shorter state,

Oregon looked away nervously,

"Well, I'm her boyfriend!"

London took a moment to register the information. He raised one eyebrow,

"You're serious?"

Oregon nodded. London began to laugh loudly, offending Oregon greatly,

"You're her boyfriend?! Yeah right!"

Oregon narrowed his eyes again,

"How do you know I'm not?"

London smirked,

"I know for a fact that a gorgeous woman like California wouldn't date a weasel like you."

Oregon felt anger bubbling up inside of him, and he slammed the door in London's face, just barely whizzing past his nose.

Damn Brit, thinking they're entitled to everything. I am not a weasel!

Oregon gathered up the rest of his stuff and was heading out the door, but then he thought about if London came back.

Best to stay here for the day.

He sent a text to Cali, telling her that he would be staying at her place because he couldn't get a ride back home, and she promptly replied,


That's fine. I'll be busy for the next few hours, but when I get home we can get dinner or something else ;)

Oregon went bright red as he looked at the winky-face.

I'm never going to get used to her flirting.

Oregon put his phone away, then went to find Salem, his pet beaver.

After searching the entire house a few times, he finally decided to check Cali's huge garden and found him in the fountain, swimming around lazily. Sacramento was fast asleep next to the marble fountain, laying in the shade. Oregon patted Sacramento's pelt lightly, then scooped up Salem from the water. Oregon stumbled a bit when he did pick him up,

"Wow Salem, getting a bit heavy, huh?"

Salem clawed at Oregon's nose, missing it by an inch,

"No offense bud."

He then whispered to him,

"Have you seen Sacramento? I think Cali's been feeding him more than usual lately."

Sacramento perked up his big head, yawning widely, showcasing his large, sharp teeth. Oregon took a step back, holding up his hand that wasn't carrying Salem in defense.

All Sacramento did, however, was flop back over onto his back, snoring softly.

Lazy bear.


California sat at the table, drumming her fingers. She let her head fall onto her hand, closing her eyelids slightly. Texas, who sat next to her, elbowed her gently in the side,

"No, I wanna sleep."

New York rolled his eyes and whispered to the girl,

"Our bosses are trying to talk!"

Cali's head hit the table loudly, and soon she could be heard snoring from across the room where all three of their governors were.

Jerry Brown looked over at California and sighed,

"Could you wake up California for me?"

York tried shaking her shoulder, but when that failed to get a response, he shouted,

"Free iTunes gift cards!"

Cali shot up, eyes wide, then when she realized what York had done, she swatted him on the shoulder,

"I was trying to sleep! I barely got any sleep last night."

York said under his breath,

"Well maybe if you weren't having sex with Oregon..."

Cali stood up, grabbing York by the collar and lifting him off the ground,

"Wanna run that by me again?"

York squirmed in her grip, but got no where, earning a few laughs from Texas,

"Calm down Cali, it's been proven before that York doesn't always think before he speaks."

"Hey!"

Cali frowned, but set him down any way. Andrew Cuomo, York's boss, sent a look of astonishment at California, before quickly returning to his conversation with Jerry and Rick Perry, Texas's boss.

Cali, the instant they had looked away, stomped on York's foot. York let out a high yelp, and Texas and Cali began to laugh their heads off,

"I didn't know you could hit that octave and still be a man!"

York glared at the two, and kicked Texas under the table. Texas stopped laughing and kicked him back. He accidentally kicked Cali, however who muttered,

"Don't drag me into this."

Cali stood up from the table that the three were sitting at and strutted over to where she had left her purse.

She pulled out her phone to see that she had yet to get a reply from Oregon, and that she had two missed calls from Arizona.

She walked out into the hall, excusing herself, and called Arizona,

"Hey Ari, I forgot to tell you that-"

"Where are you?"

Arizona's oddly aggressive voice came from the phone,

"Oh sorry Ari, I forgot to tell you that I had a meeting with Texas and Yorkie today."

"How come you have Oregon at your house?"

Cali sighed,

"Ari, why are you at my house?"

Silence,

"Seth Gregory Jones, why are you at my house?"

Cali used his full name, and Arizona knows this means business, so he says calmly,

"I broke my phone again and I wanted to see if you could fix it."

California is known as the tech guru in the country, so many people come to her asking for help, all of whom get the door slammed in their face. She didn't study technology just so she could tell people how to make calls,

"Arizona, why didn't you just go to Best Buy or something?"

The door of the meeting room where she was supposed to be opened and Jerry said to her,

"Cali, I need you in here."

"Gotta go Ari, see you later!"

"Wait, what about Ore-"

She hung up the phone quickly, ignoring Arizona's shout, and marching back into the room,

"Sorry about that, Arizona called me and he would flip-out again if I ignored another one of his calls. What did I miss?"

She sat back down in her chair, noticing the huge dents in the table legs, but not saying anything about it. Cali tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and leaned on the table in front on her,

"Well,"

Began Texas,

"They wanted our opinion on.."

Texas stopped, looked around then said in a hushed voice,

"Homosexuality."

Cali sat up a bit straighter,

"Oh, so gay people!"

Texas cringed and York laughed at how uncomfortable he was with the subject. Cali leaned back, shrugging,

"It's not like I have any problem with it. Have you ever been to the Bay Area? That place is gay central."

York nodded,

"They're people just like us, even if their love is different, doesn't mean they shouldn't be able to love one another."

Cali and York looked over at Texas, who looked like he would rather be anywhere else. He looked at his boss desperately, but he just shrugged, so Texas said,

"Well, and remember it's my opinion, I think homosexuality is wrong."

He subconsciously inched away from the other two as Cali frowned and said,

"But why?"

Texas shrugged, relieved that she didn't attack him, and said,

"It's just not natural to me."

"You know what else isn't natural? Medicine. Soap. Twinkies. Yet nobody seems to have a problem with those."

York agreed silently and Texas wrung his hands,

"Like I said, it's my opinion."

Cali smiled and put a hand on his shoulder,

"And you're entitled to that. Just remember that freedom of speech isn't a license to be stupid."

York was about to say something when Cali continued,

"Besides, have you seen those crazy bible people? They were protesting at Comic Con! A comic book convention! I mean, what's sacrilegious about that?"

York laughed,

"Not to mention the Westboro Baptist Church. Those guys are pretty awful, I mean, protesting soldier's funerals? Come on."

"It's sad really."

Texas smiled halfheartedly at York and Cali,

"Thanks you gu-"

"And don't even get me started on the Mormons!"

Cali frowned at that,

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

York turned to her, confused,

"What? The Mormons don't like gays."

Cali looked at York accusingly,

"So you're saying that all Mormons are bad?"

York shook his head,

"No, Cali I-"

"Because my brother happens to be Mormon. And I know for a fact that Mormonism started in New York."

York tilted his head,

"Wait, it did?"

Cali nodded,

"You try to tune out Utah's lectures about the history of Mormonism, but you pick up some stuff."

Texas nodded,

"I'm impressed with you guys. I thought for sure you were gonna tear my head off."

"Well, I totes would, figuratively of course, but Jerry would kill me if I went off on another tangent."

Jerry looked up from a sheet of paper Cuomo had just passed him and raised an eyebrow at Cali, who waved innocently. Jerry sighed, lowering the paper,

"Well, that's all we need you three for. You're all free to go."

Cali leaped up, grabbing her purse, and then dashed out, blowing a kiss to Texas and New York.

A light blush crossed York's features, and Texas sniggered at him,

"You got something to say, huh dirt brain?"

Texas chuckled, turning around and sticking out his chest proudly,

"I was just laughing at how you're still crushing on her. She's dating Oregon, and you know it!"

York clenched his fists,

"Shut the hell up."

Texas leaned over so he was looking York straight in the eye,

"Just get over her already! She doesn't like you, she barely even tolerates you!"

The three governors in the room all exchanged looks, then proceeded to bolt out of the room.

York put a hand to his pocket, making sure his gun was still there, and glared at the larger state,

"It's not like she likes you!"

Texas smiled widely,

"Yeah but I actually accepted that and got over it. Why don't you? It's so pathetic to watch."

York pulled out his gun, pointing it at Texas's chest, but Texas already had his pointing at York,

"You're never gonna be beat me, Yankee."

York pulled the safety off his gun,

"Let's settle this."


Cali skipped down the hall, swinging her bag back and forth.

I'll take Oregon some place nice tonight. Hm, but where?

A gun goes off and Cali freezes. She looks back over her shoulder fearfully as the three governors began to run down the hall.

Jerry told her to run out of the building, or something of the sort, but instead she took off back to the meeting room.

Her feet made small cracks on the floor from the sheer amount of force she put into each step.

Cali tore the door open, seeing the two boys in there, aiming guns at each other.

There was no time for Cali to dive to safety, York had mistaken her for an intruder and, going on instinct, shot in her direction.

Her left shoulder flew backwards as the bullet entered her body. She let out a short gasp before falling to her knees,

"Okay, ow."

Cali hunched over, grabbing at her shoulder. Texas rushed forward, followed by York,

"Help! Somebody, we need help!"

Cali coughed,

"And this is why I don't like guns."

York frowned when he saw the wound. When he tried to examine it further, he had to pull down her sleeve, revealing her bra. Texas and York exchanged a look of conflict, but then Jerry burst in,

"Oh my god, what happened?!"

Texas picked up Cali,

"York shot her."

"Wait I-"

Texas glared at him,

"Okay, yes. But it was an accident!"

Texas walked out of the hall, still carrying Cali, who said,

"Please hurry."

And then she passed out in his arms.


"YOU BASTARD, YOU SHOT MY SISTER!"

Arizona had York by the collar, holding him up against the wall, his eyes burning with rage,

"Ari, chill, I'm fine."

Cali tried to sit up in her hospital bed, but Utah and Colorado held her down,

"You're not going anywhere until that wound closes."

Cali gave Colorado a pout,

"Den, come on, I've been through much worse than this."

Colorado folded his arms, not convinced,

"Do I have to list them for you?"

Cali counted on her fingers all her major earthquakes,

"1857, 1872, 1906, 1952, 1922,-"

Arizona let go of York,

"Still, you're staying one more day."

Oregon stepped cautiously into the room,

"California? How are you doing?"

Cali's face lit up,

"I'm doing a lot better, thanks." She smiled widely at him as he presented her with a cheesy 'Get Well Soon' card. Arizona and York frowned, but Texas smiled.

A shout was heard from down the hall, accompanied by loud footsteps,

"GOLDIE!"

America burst into the room, only faltering when he saw the white bandages striping her left shoulder,

"Goldie, what happened?"

Cali looked at Texas and York, who both averted their eyes, and said,

"Well, Texas and Yorkie both decided it would be a grand idea to pull out their guns, and apparently Yorkie shot me on accident."

America turned around so he was facing Texas and York, his usual dopey smile replaced by a glare,

"You two had guns? And you pulled them on each other?"

Texas nodded, still not looking America in the eyes, and York shrugged. America held out a hand, his palm up and Texas looks at him, confused,

"Texas, New York, I want both of your guns right now. Consider yourselves grounded."

Texas's eyes got wide,

"You can't do that!"

"Watch me."

America continued to hold out his hand until York and Texas put their guns in his hand,

"Good. Now Goldie,"

He turned around putting both guns in his empty holster that he had under his bomber jacket,

"I want you to take it easy. I'm taking you to Germany in a week or so. I would've taken Texas and York, but they're both grounded."

Cali laughed a bit,

"Alright. I'm fine even now, but Den and Tah here won't let me leave."

America looked at Colorado and Utah approvingly,

"Good."

He then turned around, giving Texas and York one last look before leaving. York turned too, grumbling about being grounded even though he was over 100 years old, and then walking out of the room, hands in pockets. Texas tipped his hat to Cali politely, then went out after York.


Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and Oregon all stayed with her for the next few days. She tried to get up, but every time they would force her back into the bed.

Once the doctor gave her the okay to leave, she sprung to her feet, grinning triumphantly. She failed to realize, however, that the back of her hospital gown was open, and Arizona leaped forward, covering her backside with his denim jacket.

She got changed back into her regular clothes, and checked out of the hospital.

Oregon walked next to her, and when she grabbed his hand he didn't protest. Arizona, who was walking behind them, sprung forward, but Utah and Colorado caught him by the shoulders, forcing him to walk calmly behind the couple.


I am so sorry that this is late! I spent the night at a friends, and I couldn't post it from her house, so I just made it longer, so you get a long chapter to make up for it! There will be more with the London vs Oregon thing and the Germany thing, so look forward to that! And don't worry, I'll put some AL/TN in here eventually, A Fan. Also, I love your suggestions! Just because I don't always use them, or can find a way to include them, doesn't mean I don't enjoy them or think about them! Keep those reviews coming, and see you next time!