England hummed as he pulled along the side walk in front of America's apartment. He was in a rather good mood, as he had just been told by his boss that he could take the week off. Somehow, America had heard the news, (how on earth did that boy know these things?), and had invited him to stay over at his place. Surprised by the offer but pleased none the less, England had agreed. As he stepped out of the car, he saw America open to door and wave at him.

"England, long time no see!" America said as he walked down the front steps. "Can I help you with your bags?"

"If you don't mind." England said as he opened the trunk of his car.

"No problem." America said. After they had brought in all of the luggage, America pulled out the kettle and put it on the stove.

"If you want to make yourself some tea, I just bought a new box of tea bags." America said with a grin.

"Oh, thank you." England said.

"It wasn't any tr-HERO, NO!" America snapped as he ran out of the kitchen and snatched his cat from the bottom of the stairs. "Bad kitty! You know you're not allowed upstairs!"

Hero, disappointed that his owner had stopped him from his adventure, drooped in America's arms. With an annoyed meow, he jumped from America's arms and ran under the sofa.

"Why isn't your cat allowed upstairs?" England asked with a chuckle as he picked up one of the cat toys and waved it in front of the sofa. As he did this, a pair of paws snatched at the toy.

"He's been scratching up the antique furniture upstairs." America said with a huff. "I swear, he does it on purpose. He never scratches at the furniture downstairs."

"Have you ever tried to teach him not to scratch?" England asked as he dragged the toy away from Hero.

"Have you ever tried to train a cat?" America asked with amusement.

"Point taken." England laughed. Surrendering the toy to the cat, England walked back over to the kitchen. Just then, America's phone binged. Looking at his phone, America sighed as he read the message.

"Hey, I need to take this. My boss wants to talk to me about the elections." America said apologetically. "Don't be surprised if I'm a few hours. You know how these things are."

"I understand lad." England said with a grimace. Honestly, he didn't envy America with how the elections were going this year.

"I'll be in my office if you need me." America said as he walked towards his study. "Why don't you settle in? My home is your home after all." And with that, America went into the study and closed the door.

Sighing, England picked up his bags and carried them up the stairs. Walking into the guest room, he noticed the place was covered in a thin layer of dust. Frowning, England but his bags on the bed and looked around. While America wasn't always the neatest person, he usually always cleaned the guest room before someone came over.

"Maybe he forgot with all of the work he has been doing." England thought. "I wouldn't be surprised."

After England had unpacked, he decided to go back downstairs and make a cup of tea. As he walked out of the room, he passed one of the door that was always locked. Usually, England never gave the door a second glance because he respected America's privacy and he wasn't a rude house guest. However, he saw that the door was slightly ajar. For a moment, England was tempted to take a look inside the room. However, he shook his head and kept walking. As he reached the top of the stairs, he saw Hero looking up at him.

"Now cat, you know you can't come up here." England said. Hero, still staring the English man in the eyes, put one paw on the bottom step.

"Cat, I'm warning you." England threatened. Hero's eyes narrowed, and he placed his other paw on the bottom step.

"Don't you even think about it." England said sternly.

Hero, deciding to ignore England, suddenly raced up the staircase and past England. Spinning around, England saw Hero race into the first door that open.

"Come back here!" England snapped as he ran into the room the cat had gone into. As he entered the room, England was suddenly aware how dark it was. Not wanting to stumble around in the dark and break something, England ran his hand against the wall in an attempt to find a light switch. For a moment, he couldn't feel anything. Then, he felt a switch. Turning it on, he winced at the sudden light. After blinking a few times, he was finally able to see.

The room was full of books. Hundreds of them. Each wall was stacked from top to bottom with shelfs of books. This was rather surprising to England, as he never thought America as the book collecting type. Glancing around, he also noticed that there seemed to be a desk and a few chairs. And sitting on the desk was a rather large purring cat.

"There you are." England said as he walked over to the cat. "Come on, down you get." As he picked up the cat, (who was still looking rather smug), he noticed a small journal open on the desk. He had tried not to read it, but when he saw his name, curiosity got the best of him.

"Listen here cat, if you don't tell your owner I let you in here you can stay." England said as he put the cat down. Sitting down, England picked up the journal and started to read. The first thing he noticed was America had written down the month and year, but not the day. He wondered why.

9/16,

"I spoke to Canada today. He's invited me over for Thanksgiving at his place. Honesty, did he really think I would forget? (That was sarcastic.) Of course he would. He's always being over shadowed by me. I wonder if England or France will remember. After all, they don't have a thanksgiving. They often forget I have one. At least Canada and I share a holiday that most of the world doesn't remember or care about."

England felt a slight twinge of guilt as he read this. He often forgot about the North American brother's thanksgiving's. In fact, if Canada hadn't reminded him last year he might have missed both of their holidays. (Although, he had been happy to see how happy America was last year when they watched his Macy's day parade.) Pushing those thoughts out of his head, England continued to read.

"I know this will sound bad, but I usually always feel the loneliest around thanksgiving. After all, thanksgiving is about spending time with your family, and I don't even know if I have a family."

England stared at the words he had just read in disbelief. Of course the boy had a family! He had Canada and himself, and if he was being generous he would even say that France was family too. Why would America feel like he didn't have a family?

"If I'm being perfectly honest, I'm a rather odd country. I don't have one single nation founding me. In fact, I have roots all across the world. I was colonized by Spain, France, England, the Dutch, Sweden, and so many others. Who would I call my family? Sure, England might have had the most influence on me, but I think that the revolutionary war damaged our family connection permanently. The fact of the matter is I'm alone. I'm not European, so I can't relate to anyone over there. Even Canada is closer to Europe than I am. Mexico is a lot more similar to the South American Countries in language and culture, so I don't fit in there either. I wouldn't count the Asian or Middle Eastern Countries either, because we have next to nothing in common. (And the small fact that the Middle East wants to kill me and North Korea would most likely nuke me the first chance he got.) I don't have a great history with the African Countries, and I don't know about Australia. (I mean, Australia is a cool guy and all but I don't know if I want to be related to a guy who owns deadly animals because he thinks they are cute.) I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't know where I belong. It's like what I first told England when I first met him. I'm just trying to understand who I am. I just feel so alone. I desperately want a family like what the Asians or the Nordic countries have, but the truth is I never will. I'm a country that had multiple countries colonize him, yet I have no one to call family. Isn't that ironic? I guess Canada is really the only one I would really call a true brother, but if I'm being perfectly honest with myself that isn't a lot…"

England sighed as read this, shaking his head. He never knew that America had felt this way. Of course he realized that the revolutionary war and the war of 1812 had put a major strain on his relationship with America, but that didn't mean they weren't brothers. And how could he even question Canada's relationship with him. For goodness sake, they looked almost identical!

"…but I can't think about this right now. England is coming over soon and I need to get ready. I haven't even cleaned the guest room because I've been so busy with work. Maybe I can distract England with tea and sneak upstairs and give the place a quick dusting. It's the perfect plan. No true English man can refuse tea!"

"Ah-ha, so that's why he was so eager to serve me tea." England chuckled.

"Shoot, I can see his car coming down the road! Thank god I decided to get dressed early today."

-America

England sighed as he finished reading the entry. Closing the book, he put it exactly where he found it on the desk and got up from the chair. Hero, who had been curled up on one of the chairs, stretched and jumped over to him, rubbing up against his leg. England picked up the cat, and carried him out of the room. Making sure to turn off the lights, England shut the door to about how it was before he opened it, and carried Hero down stairs. After placing Hero on the sofa, England went into the kitchen and put on the kettle.

"Oh, England, did you finish unpacking?" America asked as he entered the kitchen.

"Hmm, oh yes." England said as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"What are thinking about?" America asked.

"How to train a cat." England said with a grin. "I thought you said that you would be talking to your boss for longer."

"Nah, the guy just wanted to rant." America said with a smirk as he sat down at the table. "I don't blame him."

"America, Canada's Thanksgiving is on the 10th this year right? And your Thanksgiving is on the 24th of November?" England asked as he put some tea bags into a cup.

"Uh, yeah." America said, blinking in surprise. "What about it?"

"Well, I haven't got a message from your brother asking me or the frog if we're coming over." England said casually as he poured the tea into the cup. "I'm just wondering if he forgot that you, the frog, and I are family is all. After all, Thanksgiving is about family right?"

For a second, America watched England for any sign of sarcasm. Finding none, he looked cautiously hopeful. "Well, I did get a message from him this morning asking me to join him. I'm sure your invites are on the way."

"Excellent, you know how much I enjoy your brother's pancakes." England said with a smile. "And don't think for a moment I'd miss either of your cooking."

As England said this, America started laughing. "Dude, I hardly think that either of us are great chefs."

"Well if I have anything to say about it I like pie, and you and your brother make good pies. Better than the frogs in any case." England snorted.

"Stop, you're making me blush." America chuckled.

"It's true!" England said. "Have I ever told you about the time France tried to make me eat a snail pie?"

"No, when did this happen?" America asked looking amused.

"Oh, it was around…"

Line Break

About an hour after America had gone upstairs for the night, England had decided that it was time for him to turn in. As he walked upstairs, he noticed that a certain furry friend was waiting for him. As he reached the top, Hero turned around and walked over to the library door and pushed it open and walked inside. Following Hero, England walked into the study. Turning on the lights, he noticed that the journal had been used again. However, the entry was a lot shorter this time. As he read it, he couldn't help but smile.

9/16

"I do have a family."

-America

A/N: Oh boy, this was a long chapter. But I think that it was worth the effort. (Oh, and as for the meme chapter don't worry. I never stated when I was going to write it. *Evil laughter*) FYI it's going to be the 80th chapter. I forgot to write that in the last Author notes. Sorry about that. Anyways, America is a rather odd country. I have often wondered where we fit in with the world, although I'm not sure if this should be a strange thing about America. I guess you guys can make your own decision on what kind of message you want to take from this chapter. But I really enjoyed writing this one. :) Oh, and if you want to hear the story about the snail pie let me know.