as always, i do not own the selection nor hetalia. these belong to kiera cass and himaruya hidekaz respectively.

Arthur felt all the food sitting in his stomach recoil. As in, the prince coming directly there with everyone in tow? Surely no one would be daft enough to not go tonight while he was there.

Not to mention, the other Chosen wanting to hear from the lips of His Highness himself about their date...

He couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably in his seat. Sakura peered at him over Emma and they exchanged a look. She offered him a small smile and he reciprocated it, but the sinking feeling wouldn't leave. More than aware of the eyes on him now, he could only straighten out the tablecloth on his lap and do his best to ignore it all.

Encouragement rose from the others, which Arthur couldn't even attempt to imitate. Yes, he was sure that no one else's opinions truly mattered except the prince's, but he was also sure that everyone else could make his life a living hell. What use would he be to his family if due to his own crass mouth he'd be sabotaged?

Not noticing the prince's eyes rest on him for a split second, he followed Leon as everyone else filed out of the dining hall, Alfred among them. He could barely pick up on bits and bobs of the conversations Alfred was conducting with his fellow Chosen, but nervousness drowned out all the usual self consciousness with having the prince so close. He hadn't done anything wrong, yet why was he so nervous?

As the people in the front pushed open the doors and turned on the lights, Alfred was gently directed to sit down in the usual plush armchair that everyone sat in when it was their turn to be interviewed. From what Arthur could observe, he was laughing at some joke Emma cracked whilst everyone was arranging themselves around him. Seeing her get along so well with him cheered him up somewhat.

"This chair's super comfy," Alfred smiled, to bouts of agreement. "Is it special, guys? I mean, it's probably one of the best in the Drawing Room. Of course, I'm not usually allowed in here, so you all have to tell me."

Arthur recognised Alfonso rise up from the crowd, marked by his mussed hair. "Sorta," he said, rubbing at his mole as he spoke, bashfulness in the slight movement. "How do I put it? When everyone comes back from their dates and want to talk about it, we give them the chair so they can talk about it a lot."

Alfred's smile grew even wider. "People talk about their dates with me a lot? Man, that's kinda embarrassing, you know." For a moment, his eyes met Arthur's over the top, which sent the shyness tumbling back down his throat. "At least, I'm a little surprised everyone's sharing."

"You don't have to be embarrassed, Prince Alfred!"

"Everyone's been having such a good time, we're just trying to share what happened with everyone else."

"Well, most of us." And sure enough, there were too many pairs of eyes trained on Arthur. Surprisingly, though, he noticed that others were also staring at a few other people pointedly – Sakura, Mark, the girl who had shared her holding facility with him. "Yesterday, we asked someone about their date and they didn't share a single thing, which is a shame..."

Alfred's eyes widened – maybe a little too wide for Arthur's peace of mind. "Really? Darn, I guess I was that bad, huh." Laughter rose from the group, and he nervously joined in. "Who was that in particular?"

"That would be me," Arthur said. He'd been called out, but curse the Fates if someone asked for him. "I did tell them that we'd went in the gardens and had a bit of a chat, but it wasn't enough for some people, I suppose."

He was more than tempted to go on a mini tirade, but then remembered the ever present cameras were here and he'd prefer for his family to not see a scathing outburst.

"Was he right though, Your Highness?"

"If you don't mind telling us!" Light clamours rose from what felt like every corner of the room. Leon silently placed a smooth palm on top of Arthur's hand, his expression unchanged. Before Arthur knew it, his fingertips reached out to touch his friend's as a small show of thanks. "Did that happen last night?"

Unsurprisingly, he took it in stride. "Yeah, it was pretty fun. We just sat near the bench and got to know each other a lil," the prince said cheerfully, making a waving motion with his right hand. The sandy blond couldn't resist smirking for a few moments, before realising that Alfred was looking straight at him as he spoke. "It was a really nice date, and I enjoyed our time together a lot."

There was no mistaking the honesty in his words, and Arthur couldn't help but flush at his admittance. So Alfred had enjoyed it, as well...

"Though..." he had started speaking again, "Gonna be honest, there's a lot of private people in the competition, so it's okay if everyone doesn't wanna share, okay? I'm pretty private myself, but you know. Comes with the profession and everything."

This obviously garnered laughs, Arthur included, happy to mask his own relief. He was surprised that Alfred would jump to his defense so readily, but managing to carefully mask it behind a generic statement. A far cry from the flustered teenager that he'd been speaking with previously – though at the same time it was the person that he'd watched stride into the dining room the first night.

It seemed as if everyone had nodded in unison, because he'd moved on to talking about everything else. "Is that what you guys do here? For some reason I thought you guys played cards or something – wait, you do? Who's the best player here? I gotta play with you guys sometime when I'm off work; Allen always teases me about it. Oh...uh...Allen? From the Andantinos? Yeah, since we became allies, he plays me all the time when he visits but I'm, uh, not very good..."

Off babbling again at Mach Three speed, Arthur thought to himself, but didn't fight the small bloom of fondness that spread through his ribcage. Thank you, Prince – no, Alfred.

It was ten minutes to curfew until Alfred stood in the center of the room and called everyone to attention, talking about the arrangements before the Broadcast on Sunday.

"I'm sure your maids have all made something super!" he clapped his hands together; looking as cheery as he had at the beginning of the session, which frankly was another thing Arthur couldn't understand. How was he still going strong after three literal hours of socialising? "But yeah, thanks so much for showing me around. Next time I wanna come in, can I ask you guys?"

At everyone's expression of approval, he continued. "Awesome. I won't keep you guys up any longer, so I'm sending you all to bed. Over the next few days, please keep an eye or ear out so I can come talk to you all. If you're not there, I'll leave this-" He held up a piece of blue card. "-On your desk so you know I've been there, okay? Please do find the time to speak to me before the Broadcast. I'll start by speaking to the gentlemen first tonight. With that, get some rest, everyone!"

With the choruses of 'Goodnight', Arthur headed up with Leon as he usually did, saying goodbye to Sakura and Leon who peeled off earlier on the girls' floor. Saying goodbye to him as well, Arthur carefully shut the door closed and greeted Anna, who had her hands behind her back and enthusiasm splashed on her dark cheeks.

"You won't guess what I came up with," she said, her eyes sparkling with pride as she held out her hands: they were two exquisitely drawn sketches. One contained an intricately coloured yet simple dark blue pea coat, another one with immaculate looking pants and lace up boots. As Arthur peered closely, she had written out all his measurements in impeccable handwriting.

He flashed back to when Alfred had mentioned the clothes for the Broadcast. Was this...

"Yes, it is!" Anna exclaimed proudly, handing them to her liege. "I hope your trust was well placed, Sir Arthur. What do you think?"

"Absolutely, absolutely, yes," Arthur mumbled, not sure how exactly to comment on the spectacular illustration – what would it look like if it were an actual outfit. "Frankly, I'm not even sure I can wear such a wonderful entourage-"

She was already gathering her things, her feet jittery and her hands hurriedly shoving things into the pockets of the clean cut pants she was wearing. "Nonsense," she said, "I just need to finish work on the buttons and then we can fit you tomorrow night, just in time for your appearance! I promise on the Fates it's going to look amazing. Though," she broke off one more time to peer at him, "Ahh, I'm so relieved you liked my first outfit! But are you sure the measurements are correct?"

"Y-Yes," Arthur stuttered, though he couldn't help but smile at her excitement. "Thank you so much, Anna. It's beyond what I could imagine ever wearing."

"Pshh, we're just getting started," she winked, hurriedly adjusting the door until there was just a crack. He thought she had disappeared, but her brown eye peeked through once more. "I am dressing the future princess or queen, right? I have to step up my game!"

Before Arthur could respond and deny her charge, she'd dashed off, so he was left to smile softly to himself. Her enthusiasm did rub off on him, to the point where for the first time since coming to the palace he felt cheerful enough to sing in the shower. It came slowly as it always did in a bathroom uninhabited by Kiku's small, neat bottles of soap, but in the end he was comfortable enough to belt a few lines whilst drying off his unkempt hair.

That is, until he heard a faint knock on his door. Yelping, he quickly wrapped the towel around his neck and shut his mouth. After a while, there wasn't another noise to contend with. Had it been his imagination after all?

Exhaling once, Arthur fiddled with the band of his pajama pants. He'd managed to bring his pair from the holding facility, but it wasn't exactly in the best condition...

Whatever complaints about his pants disappeared into thin air as soon as he heard another knock. Realising he wasn't wearing a shirt and Anna probably wouldn't appreciate it, he quickly grabbed one he'd carelessly thrown on the chair, called out "Coming!" whilst he put it on. Flinging open the door, of all the people in the palace, of all the people in Cards, it had to be Prince Alfred.

It was a little bit past eleven, and Alfred was getting tired, which was a feat for an energetic guy like him.

He'd decided to visit the gentlemen first when making his rounds; since in his head it would be the best to climb up all those stairs now rather than later. He'd gotten through three people before managing to get to the fourth room, the last for the night. Hey, at least it was more than he'd expected to get through by eleven o'clock!

A pleasant surprise was passing Emil on his way to Sir Leon's room. Alfred knew him better than most fledgling guards in the palace, since he was best friends with his adoptive father figure thingy Matthias. When he'd come to the palace, it had been a bit of a fish out of water moment for him, so Alfred was glad he was tending so diligently to his duties. With a wave goodbye, he stopped in front of the door and raised his hand to knock, until he heard singing emanating from the room.

Oh shoot, yeah! This was Arthur's room, Alfred realised with a grin as he recognised the voice – just barely. It was a surprise, albeit a pleasant one, that such a grumpy guy with a harsh tone produced an angelic voice masked by the sounds of a shower. Standing there in the hallway felt like a treat. The melody seemed to be from a traditional song that Alfred didn't quite recognise, but he was content to let it wash over him for a minute or two before he knocked.

To his dismay, the singing immediately stopped, followed by a yelp that Alfred struggled to not laugh at. There was a bit of banging and stumbling around that made him think he wasn't exactly available, so maybe he should try again tomorrow?

Some irrational nagging in his mind made Alfred need to talk to him, though. He wasn't sure what made him want to exactly, between the genuine smile when he'd talked about their date to the vulnerability in the dining room. He just felt that there was gonna be a lotta things that needed to be said between them, that's all!

That said, if he was really busy or something, he wouldn't disturb him...

Before he could hesitate again, Alfred rapped on the door once more and stepped backwards. Suddenly, he felt the urge to smooth down his shirt, tuck his clock back into it and fix his jacket, as well as fix his hair and straighten his glasses. What was with that? It's not like he wanted to look his best.

"Coming!" Phew, guess he's free, after all. The door swung open, and Arthur's eyes were wide as soon as they saw the other. "A-Ah...good evening, Your Highness." Not being able to help it, he pouted instantly at the use of the formal name – they were alone, right? "Er, Alfred."

"That's better! Are you free for a bit? I wanna chat with you about the Broadcast and stuff."

"Well, come in, then," Arthur said, opening his door just enough to let him inside. His room was messier than Alfred would have imagined for such an uptight guy – the pillow on his chair had fallen to the floor, pens lay strewn across the table and his wardrobe was wide open.

He couldn't resist the urge to tease. "Nice wardrobe," he smirked, tilting his head and watching Arthur's cheeks pink.

"I...oh, shut it, Your H-Alfred," Arthur sputtered indignantly, his thick eyebrows knitting together. Striding to the wardrobe, he was about to shove it closed until his attention drifted onto the jacket. "Bollocks. Er, I'm sorry about your jacket...there just wasn't enough time to-"

Alfred crossed the room, gently plucking it off the hanger which it sat on neatly. "Hey, that was my mistake. You don't have to apologise for that." Shucking it back on, the familiar weight made a sigh of relief escape from his lips. "Thanks for keeping my bomber jacket safe for me, Arthur."

For some reason, he flushed a little and looked away. "N-Not like I did it for your sake specifically," he muttered under his breath, folding his arms. "I just took pity on you having forgot it, you know. That's...that's all."

Cute, Alfred thought, and he couldn't stop his intrusive thoughts this time. Or maybe he didn't want to. It felt as if he wanted to say something, but ended up doing something completely different to deflect. Somehow, it was something he could sympathise with.

"So, Arthur," Alfred said, shaking himself out of his thoughts, "Do you wanna sit for a bit? Since there's quite a bit of stuff we have to go through."

"Of course – please, sit on the chair next to the desk." Arthur gestured, pulling out another chair from where it was parked next to the door. "Is there anything I can, er, do for you, Your...Alfred?"

"Uh, you doing okay? You know, after everything that happened today." Alfred said – might as well get it out of the way, right? "I tried to assist as much as I can, but please let me know if you didn't feel as if I did enough. I will say that I'm not the best with speaking but I'm sorry that you were singled out like that."

"Alfred, please – don't apologise, it's not your fault at all." Arthur said, twisting the sleeve of his shirt with his thumb and forefinger, looking much more vulnerable than before. "I'm not...a hundred percent sure why I was targeted specifically, but I do have a hunch."

"Maybe it's because we've been getting on so well, as...friends," Alfred finished, somewhat lamely. This kinda stuff he couldn't really help because he couldn't hide his dumb attraction as much as he wanted to. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, gauging Arthur's reaction. To his relief, Arthur slowly nodded once. "I suppose, yes, Alfred. As friends. Friends."

"I...Arthur, I know you should probably answer this question on the Broadcast, but can I ask – what do you think about me? Really?" Alfred couldn't help blurting out, his cheeks reddening even more. "Not, not as a prince or anything, but me. Alfred The Person."

His hunched shoulders relaxed. Then he exhaled and let out a very long sigh. A moment passed. Then another, and then another until Alfred realised it was dumb. Man, what was he even doing? He was supposed to brief him on what would happen on the Broadcast, not ask Arthur about whether there was a chance he'd be into him, too!

"I was under the impression we'd be discussing the events of the Broadcast, Alfred, not...whatever this is," Arthur said. The words were scathing, but the barely feigned smile spoke otherwise. "But very well, since you've done so much for me already."

"There's a lot about you that I don't quite understand." Yikes. "At first, whilst I was still in the holding facilities I thought you were a bit of a twit," Man, that doesn't sound good. "Then you grew up and turned out to be an unreachable person on television, serving the military and getting on in your studies-"

Something in Alfred's chest got unreasonably tight. Arthur wasn't the first one to feel this way, not by a long shot. It had taken Matthias and the other guys in the military that he'd served in six weeks to stop calling him exclusively 'Your Highness' in their downtime, even when their lives were on the line during service. Even now, he'd only been able to convince Arthur to drop it, sorta. And it was pretty clear that he wasn't a hundred percent used to the idea, either, so...

Screw it all, he was afraid. If Arthur decided in the end he didn't return his feelings back, that was okay. His friendship meant enough to him right now. But the thought of him already being left behind by the other boy caused him to panic. Just a little bit.

"Listen, I'm not unreachable...!" Before he could even realise what he was doing, his hand shot out and reached for Arthur's forearm, desperate to convince him. The golden chains of his clock jingled. With a jolt, he stopped himself just before his hand touched him, staring at Arthur's surprised face. Oh, Fates. He'd completely, totally, utterly fucked up. It was over.

It was a charged silence. Alfred's face was on fire for all the wrong reasons, and he couldn't look Arthur in the eye, or look anywhere that wasn't the floor. "I...I'm sorry, Arthur," he mumbled, stuffing his hands back into his pockets. He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat, his feet already turning around to face the exit. "I'm really sorry, I didn't know what came over me..."

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