Chapter 28: Midnight Snack

Supper time had come though the appetites of everyone seemed to be lost due to the fact that England's food was beyond inedible. Nobody bothered to eat the stew England had made (though just the thought of it was bad enough alone) so everyone ended up going to bed on an empty stomach and a racing mind which didn't really help anyone.

With all the confusion going on with the countries all together, trying to separate into rooms seemed beyond impossible. In the end the girls split up between Canada's and the guest's room, though they accidentally left Sakura out of the equation. Though she was slightly hurt, she quickly took the couch without any argument.

This left America, Japan, Germany, Italy, China, France, Russia, and England to have to figure out what to do. After a long hour of negotiating (fighting) it was somehow decided that America would sleep on the floor in the living room with Sakura (who was slightly uncomfortable with the idea but went with it anyways) while Germany, Italy, and Japan took America's overly patriotic room and France, Russia, and China would share England's room (much to his dismay). They didn't know exactly how it ended up like this but everyone was too tired to disagree.

Sakura had covered herself with the blanket that England had given her, feeling awkward with America in the room as well. She shut her eyes in hopes that she would be able to catch a few winks of sleep before the long plane ride in the morning, though she ended up lying like that until two in the morning. She felt her stomach rumble with hunger and remembered that nobody had dared to even touch England's stew.

"Maybe there's something in his kitchen that he hasn't poisoned," Sakura thought to herself.

She peaked over at America to make sure he was asleep and, well enough, he was out like a log. She lightly pulled off her blanket and got on her feet, but she got up way to fast and fell down on her stomach.

"Ooph!" She recovered and turned to America, hoping that he hadn't heard her, but sadly enough he had.

He groggily turned to Sakura who was standing as still as a weeping angel. He rubbed his eyes and blinked once then stared at Sakura who was covering her face with her hands.

"What are you doing?" He asked still half asleep.

"I-uh, nothing of importance; go back to bed." She smiled shakily hoping that he would obey but instead he got up and started walking over to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Sakura whispered curiously.

"I'm just going to grab a midnight snack." He answered back as he ruffled the shirt that he had borrowed from England.

"But you might wake someone."

"So?"

"Isn't that rude?"

"You woke me up."

Sakura remembered that her poorly chosen actions had caused America to wake up. She got off her knees and followed America into the kitchen, hoping that she could grab a quick snack as well. The two walked in and silently America tiptoed to a cabinet, opened it, and smiled.

"Score!" He silently shouted as he pulled out a box filled with cookies.

"Don't you think you should eat something more nutritious then cookies?"

"I guess you're right." America walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk. "We can balance them out."

It wasn't what Sakura had in mind but she didn't object to it mainly because her stomach was so against her rejecting it. The two found some glasses, poured their milk, and sat down at the table to enjoy the midnight snack. It wasn't until the box was almost half empty (thanks to America) that someone finally broke the silence.

"So are you excited for tomorrow?" America asked as he took a sip of milk.

"Oh uh, hai." Sakura didn't want to indulge in conversation so late at night but she didn't want to say anything that could come off as rude.

"Man, it's been weird having you guys around." America chuckled then saw the sudden "was that an insult?" look on Sakura's face.

"In a good way I mean!" He tried to play it off as smoothly as possible.

"I understand, though it hasn't exactly been normal for us either. We are in quite a situation if you remember."

Sakura looked down at her milk which was sitting on the table. She reached for it but accidentally tipped it over causing the contents to spill all over America.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" She grabbed a towel and began dabbing the milk off of America's shirt when he just smiled.

"It's fine. Milk isn't permanent." He took off the shirt revealing the entirety of his chest, nearly giving Sakura a nose bleed.

He looked at the girl who was speechless from the sight of America's bare chest. "Um, please put on another shirt."

"Why, this one's wet and I don't want to have to sneak into England's room. Do you know how pissy that guy can get if he's woken up this early?" America sat down and put his hand in the cookie box.

Sakura huffed out a sigh of embarrassment and sat back down as well. She reached for a cookie, pulled one out, and took a bite. She looked back at America and suddenly swallowed the entirety of the cookie because of the repeated shock at the sight of America shirtless. She could feel the cookie become lodged in her throat as she grabbed her neck, showing the universal sign for choking. America quickly got up and grabbed her from behind, trying to give her the Heimlich maneuver. After a minute of that the cookie came sputtering out of her mouth which was then followed by coughing. America, who was still holding her, worriedly looked at Sakura.

"Are you okay?" He asked nervously.

"H-hai."

"What the hell are you two doing?" The two looked at the doorway and saw Amelia looking at them with shock.

Both America and Sakura could tell that the scene didn't look too good.

"Uh, Amelia san, let me explain!"

"Um, no need. I just wanted to see what the noise was about. You two have fun with whatever you're doing, just keep quiet." Amelia dismissingly waved her hand and disappeared from the doorway, leaving two Countries awkwardly standing in the middle of the kitchen.

The two looked at each other and quickly separated, Sakura turning hot red in the face. "How did I get in such a situation?" She covered her face with her hands, attempting to cover her shame.

America didn't know what to do next so he put away the dishes and walked back into the living room where Sakura had moved back onto the couch. He slid back into his make shift bed and stared back at Sakura who was completely under her blanket.

"That was a close one." He said, trying to mellow out Sakura who could be seen shaking through the blanket.

"H-hai. Thank you for your help. I'm sorry you had to help me."

America stood up. "Why are you sorry?"

Sakura tightened her blanket around her. "You had to save me from choking."

"Ya, and?"

"I'm sorry you had to do such a thing. I did not mean to be so careless." She tightened her eyes closer together.

"That's stupid."

Sakura stood up from her blanket shield and looked at America who was comically smiling back. She then looked back down at her lap, her face even redder. "Uh, I'm sorry." She wasn't sorry though, she wanted to tell him off like Amelia had done earlier.

"Quit saying sorry." Though his words were somewhat demanding he sounded as if he was speaking at a motivational lecture.

"Hai, so-…" She stopped before she said it again.

America gave her an approving smile then plopped down onto his pillow; Sakura was still standing up, staring at America. Why was he so cheerful? It was weird to her, but everything seemed strange in this world so she just dismissed it as another crazy thought. She lied back down on the couch and could feel her eyes drooping.

"Shouldn't the cookies have given her the opposite effect?" She said to herself as she dozed off.

"Nah." America whispered into his pillow.

Sakura was intrigued by America and his smile; it was almost like he didn't have a care in the world. She envied that.

-Thanks for being so patient with me you guys. I had a rough week. The story may have become boring but I'm having a hard time thinking of stuff. Feel free to tell me what you think and I'll be sure to accomadate :)

-Live long and prosper my friends