Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, all rights go to its creators.

Part 3: Chapter 5: A Gentleman's Heart and a Woolen Scarf

A week after the third day of the World Meeting in Denmark

Belarus had been staying with England for a week now. He made their boundaries pretty clear. She had her own room and he had his to sleep in. It was quiet when they ate together and she made all of their meals unless they ordered out, per her insistence. He usually kept to himself, going out to the garden to plant roses, read, or do his Nation paper work.

Belarus kept herself busy with whatever it was she did but sometimes he could feel her staring at him. She didn't approach him; he was thankful that she didn't push the already thin ice she was on for having used a love potion on him and having stabbed him.

England was in the middle of sleeping that night when he heard the creak of his room door, signaling that it was opening.

"Psst, England?" Belarus whispered as light fluttered into the room from the hallway.

England frowned, squinting his eyes at the light. "What?" He harshly whispered back to her.

"Can I sleep in here with you?"

"What for? Is there something wrong with your room?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Belarus was staring down at her feet, hugging her pillow to her chest. She muttered in a very quiet voice, "I'm lonely."

England felt a bit bad after hearing her admit that. But he admired her honesty, he wouldn't have even admitted that if their roles were reversed. "Fine, but you stay on your side." He said before laying back down.

Belarus nodded and closed the door behind her. She then walked over to the other side of the bed. He could then feel the mattress shift and her moving the blankets as she got in. He had his back facing her.

England closed his eyes to settle back into the rhythm of sleep.

"I thought about it, and we don't have to get married if you don't want to." She said, tone just low enough for him to catch if he were listening.

England opened his eyes and blinked in the darkness. He reached over to turn on a lamp at his bedside, casting part of the room in a warm orange glow.

He turned to face her, "What?" He blinked, eyes wide and mouth agape.

They'd agreed to live together in a sort of "Perfect Strangers" situation that was platonic to deal with the loneliness each party felt. They hadn't had a talk about their relationship as it stood, so he didn't know if she was secretly planning to elope with him or not. But he hadn't thought she would ever dismiss the notion entirely.

"I said, you don't have to marry me. I will not ask you to again." She said. He could see her midnight blue eyes when she said it this time; they were looking directly into his before her gaze dipped downward. "I realized that you wouldn't be happy being forced into it. I wouldn't want you to be miserable with me."

"I'm glad you came to that conclusion yourself." He said, lips pursed before turning off the light again. He then turned away from her and laid his head back down on his pillow to resume sleeping.

It was quiet then and he could feel the shift in the bed as Belarus presumably laid back down too.

"I meant it when I said I loved you; I still do." Her lips brushed against his ear,her body now pressed against his back; England tensed. He felt his cheeks become warm with blush, and his heart beat rapidly in his chest. There was something in the way she said it, that turned his stomach uneasy.

"I'm glad to be here with you and I'm willing to wait as long as it takes for you to fall in love with me." She whispered, her fingertips lightly tracing down the length of his arm before she interlaced her fingers with his. She then snaked her other arm around him.

Don't hold your breath.

She felt so warm and soft that it was hard not to feel comfortable in her sort of embrace. He almost forgot just who exactly he was next to. He gripped her fingers back, and relaxed his muscles before settling down next to her. He decided he would let her be close to him, just this once.

"I'm glad you're here with me too." He whispered, unaware of if the other nation heard him or not.

He was then lulled back into the abyss of sleep.

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The present

England was watching one of those knitting tutorials on the internet and trying to follow along to continue what Rebecca showed him in the knitting circle he went to earlier today, when his phone rang. England huffed before getting up to answer the phone, he noticed the caller id was from Russia and mentally prepared himself for the worst.

"Hello, Russia are you alright? Is she holding you hostage?" He asked, already having jumped into a brief state of panic.

"England relax, everything's fine." Belarus said, more exasperated than irritated.

"Oh, well you could've told me that before I had a panic attack. What do you need?"

"Nothing. I called to ask how you were doing."

"Oh I'm fine. I'm just having trouble knitting this scarf. I thought the video tutorials would make it easier but they're not." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Well I'll be back tomorrow you know, do you miss me? I miss sleeping with you." She said. After having been sleeping alone for so long, he thought he'd be used to doing it again. But England was surprised to notice that he did miss Belarus's presence when sleeping at night.

"Belarus you were only gone a few days... I couldn't really get a good night's rest worrying about if Russia was going to call in hysterics. Are you and Russia getting along?"

"Yes! He is sending me home with many sweets. I convinced him to try an arctic roll if you ever make one again. I told him about the first one I had."

England felt blood rush to his cheeks remembering that particular incident...more mess was made on the counter then, compared to when he was actually baking the roll… He'd made an oversight in just how much he was sexually attracted to Belarus, and just how much he'd enjoyed their time in Italy until the opportunity came again.

"Yes. I also went a little gift shopping. I picked up something for Ukraine." She continued.

"W-well I'm glad to hear you both are getting along. M-maybe I-I'll make Russia an arctic roll for the next World Meeting" England choked out, coughing to cover his stutter.

"He would like that. I am going to hang up now, goodbye my beloved." She said, before hanging up the phone.

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A few days later

Belarus had to fly back to Minsk to take care of some Nation business. Belarus, having not seen him at all since she'd flown out to Russia, pestered him to fly out to Minsk to see her. England (not so) reluctantly agreed, but not without having to explain to his boss about the extra expenses.

When England stepped out of the taxi, and walked up the familiar walkway he hadn't been to in about a year now, it brought him back to when he first stayed with Belarus. And oddly enough her comment about dissuading him from trying to sneak into her room at night.

I guess I'm welcome to that now.

He knocked on the wooden door before Belarus opened it. "England, come in. I was just going to head out to my garden. I'll take your things and you can head out there if you want."

He was surprised when she took his bags. "Oh well I-" He started but she had swiftly turned and was gone down the hall before he could finish his thought.

He decided to go out back and see this garden Belarus had. He knew she farmed potatoes, so it was probably a little vegetable garden.

When he went out there he saw the plot for her potatoes, but also some roses with frost developing on the petals. They were roses of various colors. England felt his heart pound in his chest, cheeks warm with blush.

This has nothing to do with me, obviously. She'd probably had them before.

He walked over to the rose bushes and lightly plucked one of the heads.

"You saw my roses." He turned to see Belarus by the door way, walking towards him now. He turned back toward the bushes.

"I'll have to prune the roses for the winter."

England nodded, "They're really nice. You've probably had them for a long time, did Russia ever see them?"

"No I have not had them long. Ukraine and I planted them a few months ago. It would be nice if Big Brother saw them but I really wanted you to see them." She said, and he turned to look at her, the hedge clippers behind her back.

"You planted them because of me?" He was shocked beyond words.

She looked back at the rose garden, "I had a few nightmares about you. In them, I was so frustrated because I couldn't tell Big Brother I loved him because the roses blocked my throat. It makes sense now but back then Ukraine thought it would help if I planted roses."

She squatted down to snip parts of the longer stems. "I've kept them up ever since".

His heart pounded, and swelled, warming his chest so much it felt like it was going to burst. She set down the hedge clippers and started to gather a few leaves that fell from the rose bushes. She stood up once she was finished, the garden wasn't large so it only took a few minutes.

He embraced Belarus from behind, causing her to drop her hedge clippers, and scatter the leaves she'd just gathered. He gripped her tight. His words failed him for a moment, as the tightness in his chest was suffocating his throat.

"I-I...I appreciate you Belarus," He said, because he thought she needed to hear it.

"England you are very strange. The least you could do is make some tea so I don't have to be so cold." She said, turning to face him.

"I could do that." He said, squashing back down the butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He grabbed hold of one of her hands and led them back into her house.

The corners of his lips were quirked upward into a smile before he forced himself back into a neutral expression.

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A couple weeks later

England and Belarus were a mess of tangled limbs and bed sheets when the doorbell rang sharp and loud that morning. They were back in Cotswold. England scrunched his eyes tight, willing the ringing to stop and whoever was at the door to go away. But then the ringing turned into loud bangs so he let out a groan and opened his eyes. He untangled his legs from Belarus's and lightly moved her head from his chest to slip out of bed.

She let out a whine, her mouth turning into a frown, "Do you have to answer it? Can't they just believe you're dead."

England shook his head, "It'll be quick, I'm not expecting anyone for a visit."

England grabbed his strewn underwear and pants on the other side of the bed. He slipped them on, careful not to step on Belarus's dress. He walked over towards the bedroom door to slip on his button up.

England walked downstairs, over to the door and looked through the peephole. His heart almost leapt out of his throat at seeing America on his doorstep. What is he doing here?

England frowned, opening the door fully.

"Yo Britain! I came to pay you a visit! He grinned, a duffle slung over his shoulder, a shake in one hand and a bag of fast food in the other.

"Why didn't you give me some notice beforehand you idiot?"

"Uh duh cause it's not like you ever have anything important to do. You're usually up by six anyway." America checked the watch on his arm. "It's like 8:30, what were you doing? Reading? They make bookmarks for a reason dude." America looked at him again.

Apparently America hadn't taken in his disheveled appearance before but now took a moment to get a good look at him. "Holy shit dude, you look like shit. Did you drink too much again?"

"Just come in." He said with a heavy sigh. He stepped aside as America made his way over to the couch. America set down his duffle and made his way over to the dining room table.

"Dude, I'm starved. They had such bland food on the plane." America said, digging in his bag to pull out a burger.

"Could you at least wash your hands?"

"Oh right." He said before getting up and heading towards the bathroom right down the hall.

Then he heard thumps signaling someone was descending the stairs.

"What the fuck is going on?" Belarus asked, having slipped on her dress, and was barefoot just like he was.

England turned to her, pinching the bridge of his nose. "America is paying me a visit. I'm assuming he'll be staying for a few days."

"And you didn't know?"

"Of course I didn't know! Do you think I would be-"

"Holy shit!" America exclaimed, and both of them turned towards him as he'd just emerged from the bathroom. He looked between the both of them. "Did I interrupt you two having sex?" He slapped his own cheeks, "It's like I'm in a romcom!"

Belarus let out a cry and ran up to America, gripping his neck in both of her hands. "How dare you come over uninvited you ignorant bastard!" She yelled in his face before proceeding to strangle him.

America gasped before gripping her hands and forcefully prying them from around his neck. He breathed in a few gulps of air as Belarus stood stunned, expression stoic.

America let her go, and she stepped back from him. "Y-you pulled me away as if I were a useless doll!" She said.

"I don't think you were really trying to hurt me. No hard feelings?" He asked pinching her cheek, a grin back on his face.

Belarus smacked his hand away, "Only if you do not speak of this incident to anyone else."

"Done. So...you guys were really going at it huh? Is England actually any good?"

"So far he-

"My sex life is none of your business! Don't you have some hamburgers to shove down your gullet?" England interrupted.

"Oh yeah!" He said moving past Belarus to indulge in said hamburgers at the dining room table.

England noticed that Belarus seemed fascinated by America's capacity to eat large quantities of food. She watched as America took as few as three bites before he swallowed a whole burger. England placed his hands on her shoulders before he said, "I'm going to freshen up, feel free to watch him eat if you'd like. I'm sure he'll enjoy the attention."

She nodded, still keeping her eyes on the increasing wrappers that started appearing in front of America as he finished one burger and moved onto the next.

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When England emerged from the bathroom, having put on his clean clothes for the day, he noticed that Belarus was gone and America had just finished throwing his burger wrappers away.

"Hey you're back to looking as boring as usual again." He said walking up to where he was in the dining hall entryway.

England furrowed his eyebrows, "What's your real reason for coming here? You don't just pop by unannounced without needing something."

"Ouch dude, I grace you with my presence sometimes because I worry that you'll go insane from being a loner. But you caught me, I'm actually here cause I need something." He shrugged unabashed. "So I got Liet for the secret Santa gift exchange and I know he likes literature books. You like those old boring Shakespearean books...can I have one of those to give to him?" America asked him.

"You can't give him one of my books just because you're lazy and won't buy your own." England frowned at him.

"It's not like that Britain, I want to get him a good one but I don't know which one is good enough to get. I'm not into old timey literature, I read stuff from at least the 20th century. Please, I need your help."

America looked at him with his big blue doe eyes and England felt his resolve cracking. England avoided his gaze and crossed his arms.

"Fine. Have a look around; I have multiple copies of Shakespeare from over the years." He muttered, "Didn't know the bloke would still be famous four hundred years later."

"Thanks! I owe you one dude."

"Oh and ask Belarus to help you. She might know which one Lithuania would like the best considering their close borders."

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England was at the table enjoying a cup of tea and a few biscuits he'd bought from the store. He was happy to be freed from the burden of having to entertain America, a usually impossible task. He'd heard giggles coming from his library and assumed the two nations were enjoying themselves. But then he realized that only one thing could have occurred for that to happen. They were talking about him.

He didn't know what was worse, America sharing some ridiculous story about a time he got drunk and America had to take him home or Belarus sharing one of the many times they had sex.

England got up and stalked to the door, gripping the handle. "Alright that's enough!" He said before opening the door.

He blinked, as two sets of blue eyes stared back at him. Both nations were huddled under what looked like a fortress made out of books.

"What the bloody hell are you two doing?"

"We got bored halfway through and made a book fort, duh!" America said with a roll of his eyes.

Belarus nodded, "We will put them back, do not worry."

England put his hand on his hip, "So this fort is what you were giggling about." He felt a little internal relief.

"No dude, Belarus told me about you guys having sex, pfft pirate role play, I can't."

"America told me about your low tolerance for alcohol, which is funny because Latvia drinks more than you do and he's a child."

"Insufferable, the both of you." England grumbled, before he got an idea. America broke out into a fit of loud boisterous laughter, "AHAHAHAHAH!" He crouched and put a hand over his chest as he laughed.

"Oh well, I suppose since you two didn't find a good book, I'll have to pick out one. Oh here's a good one." England said picking out a book that was supporting their structure. And soon the books fell down in a heap on top of the two nations. A chorus of curses followed as they braced themselves from the oncoming books

"Drop dead Britain!" America shouted and England couldn't help the satisfied smirk that appeared on his face.

"What? A Midsummer's Night Dream is one of the classics." He said, before picking up a few fallen books to begin reshelving them.

Soon the three nations returned the library to the way it was before and America agreed that he would give Lithuania A Midsummer's Night Dream.

Later that night Belarus fell asleep on the couch after watching horror movies with America. The blue screen of the telly illuminated the two nations in a cool glow. She was curled on one edge of the couch, against the arm rest while he was stretched out, his feet in the other nation's face. England decided to gather up the Belarusian woman in his arms so America could have the entirety of the couch to prevent any possible casualties come morning if they were to stay like that.

Belarus did not stir in her sleep as he carried her. She looked peaceful, no furrowed brows, no tight frown or rapid breaths. He gently laid her down on her usual side of the bed then got in on his side. He gazed upon her sleeping form. Her golden lashes were lightly brushed against her cheeks, her hair cascaded in waves behind her, and her nose was acute and pointed.

England turned off the lamp, blush warming his cheeks, appreciative that she went along with America's antics although she had tired herself out from doing so. England felt butterflies in his stomach before gripping her hand lightly to press a soft kiss on it.

He looked up to see her midnight blue eyes staring back at him. "T-Thank you for today, I know America is a handful." He whispered, cheeks burning at being caught.

"He is your family...sort of. I have to." Was all she said in response, brushing her fingers through his hair before tracing her fingers along his cheek.

England felt his eyelids droop, an involuntary grin on his lips. Thankfully she wouldn't be able to see his reaction in the dark.

But then she removed her soothing touch. "Goodnight my love." She said before turning around to sleep.

"Goodnight sweetheart." He said on reflex. He tensed, still, quiet, and listening.

Bloody fucking hell I'm such a basket case.

But Belarus did not say anything else so she must not have heard. So then he let himself drift into a peaceful sleep.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Criticism Welcome.