I do not own Hetalia!
Hope you enjoy this chapter~
Alfred was in his element, his mind working up different ways that Matthew could confess his love for Francis and not get his heart broken. Honestly, no matter how cruel he acted towards Matthew, he really didn't want to see his baby brother hurt. Canada had long since left the bar but America had instead decided to get ready tonight and set the plan for action tomorrow.
First, he would have to check with a few people to make sure that there even was a way too keep his brother's heart intact. He was almost positive that he wouldn't find anything negative seeing as he had yet to find someone, other than himself, who could refuse Matthew when he was using his pouty face.
Then it hit Alfred like a ton of bricks. If no one could resist Matthew when he was pouting at them, what would happen if….? Yes that was perfect! I'm so awesome! Alfred jumped up from the stool he was sitting on and ran off, leaving a half full beer behind much to the complaint of the bartender. Before he knew it, he was before the room England and France shared and was knocking (more like pounding) on the door. The only reason he and England hadn't been sharing one was because someone had too keep Francis in check and Arthur happened to be the most proficient at it.
"Iggy open up! I know you're in there!" Alfred called out, pounding once more on the door. His rapid knocking was cut off however when the door was flung open and a rather pissed off looking England wearing nothing but a pair of Union Jack boxers glared at America angrily.
"Do you know what bloody sodding time it is?" Arthur demanded, his green eyes flashing angrily. America, however, was in no shape to reply. His blue-eyed gaze having trailed downward to catch just what England was wearing and causing quite a blush to break out. Finally, using all of his willpower, America managed to stammer a response.
"N-No…what time is it?" He asked, forcing his eyesight back up and locking on the green eyes that conveyed just how angry he was.
"Two fucking o'clock in the morning" Arthur 's gaze softened, the anger at being woken up fading slightly as the sleep fought to claim him once more. "What do you need so bloody badly?" He asked, raising one hand to his mouth to politely cover a yawn. Alfred felt as if his brain was working in slow motion as he fought to keep his attention away from Arthur's lack of clothing.
"Need?" He asked slowly, raising an eyebrow. Then he remembered. "Oh yah!" He said, a wide smile breaking over his face causing the Britton to roll his eyes in an annoyed manner. "What time does Francis get back tomorrow?" He asked, his eyes sparkling mischievously. Had England been completely awake he would have noticed said glint and would have demanded answers, but all his brain wanted to know was when he would be getting back to sleep.
"His plane lands at-" He was cut off by a large yawn but continued as if nothing had happened. "Three o'clock tomorrow afternoon" Arthur said with a nod, as if pleased with himself at getting out the words. Francis had left directly after the meetings had concluded that day at around five.
"Do you want to go out to dinner with me? Maybe go to see a movie?" America asked quickly, causing the British man before him to stand there blankly for a moment while his brain processed what had just happened. When the pieces finally clicked in his head his emerald eyes went wide and a furious blush covered his cheeks and spread to his ears.
"W-What?!" England demanded. However, when America opened his mouth to repeat himself Arthur cut him off. "I heard you dolt, what makes you think I'd want to go on a date with you?" He frowned, crossing his arms and looking anywhere but the taller man standing outside of his room.
"Please Iggy? Just once?" Alfred said, putting his hands together in a pleading manner. Arthur managed to turn a couple of shades darker before finally just giving in.
"Fine! I'll go with you," He said with a defeated sigh, braving a look at America's face. What he saw was exactly what he expected. The younger nation had a grin so wide that it split his face and he looked as if England has just made his day. Which he probably just did.
"Thank you! We'll leave after the meetings," Alfred said happily as he took Arthur's hand in his own and had to contain his energy or he would be jumping up and down.
Normally, the meetings would last all day and well into the evening. Recently, however, the nations had gotten into the habit of cutting the Thursday meetings short so that if they were planning on heading home for the three day weekend they always took they could leave Thursday afternoon and have the full three days to relax or meet with their superiors.
"I never said it was a date!" Alfred smirked widely as he took off down the hall towards his room. He heard the door to Arthur's room slam and chuckled deeply, knowing that Arthur was cursing up a storm as he fell asleep and not really caring.
Right now, he had some planning to do.
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Canada frowned, kicking his feet back and forth with his stomach doing flips. It was that day and Matthew didn't know just how much more of this he could stand. They had a meeting today but no one was surprised to find that Francis was absent from the proceedings. They acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
They weren't even fooling themselves.
There were a few days of the year that the countries all felt should be respected and thus a blind eye was turned when certain nations were absent on said days. The anniversary of the death of the Romanov family for Russia, The anniversary of the death of Princess Diana for England, the anniversary of the death of Jeanne D'arc for France, along with a few others. On these days no one expected the nations to show up, instead allowing the person the freedom to grieve as they saw fit. It was sort of an unwritten rule.
Canada let his gaze fall to the bear before him and just zone out. He wasn't going to be called on to contribute anything anyway so he didn't see the point. His head was still pounding from the immense drinking the previous day and so Canada was finding it hard to concentrate on much. Though, one thought continued to push its way to the front.
He's in pain. You need to go to him.
Ok, so technically it was two thoughts but Matthew was in no condition to really care. Instead he simply shook his head and tried to push the thought away but only found it made his headache worse. With every moment that Canada didn't move, he could feel his conscience getting heavier. He could remember all of the times when he was younger and France had taken care of him. Before he could fall into a bout of reminiscing, Kumajirou demanded his attention. Canada opened his eyes slowly and frowned in a way that asked what was wrong.
"Its hot" The bear frowned and crossed his arms. Matthew wasn't too worried about anyone overhearing his bear speaking. After all, no one noticed either of them normally so why should they now. Canada slowly rose to his feet, only to find a pair of eyes fallowing him out. Matthew scanned the room to find that of all people his brother was the one watching him go. Now that was odd.
The northern brother shook it off as simple curiosity however and continued out, not surprised one but when Alfred didn't speak up. Canada walked down the hallway in complete silence with only his bear and his footsteps to accompany him. He was quickly at his door and fumbled around in his pocket momentarily for the key before pushing his way in.
As soon as a cold blast of air hit Matthew, the Canadian instantly felt better. Being so far away from home and in this ungodly heat Alfred called 'natural' was definitely taking its told on the male as well as his polar bear. Initially, the room temperature had been in a bit of a conflict having one person from so far north and the other from even further south. However, Kumajirou overruled them both and had set the temperature to his normal and then promptly broke the gauge so no one else could change it. Not that Canada was complaining.
So Cuba had decided that he would spend as much time outside of the room as possible, only going back inside to sleep and in doing that using three down comforters in addition to the normal sheets. Normally, this wouldn't have been a problem since cold loving nations usually roomed together (Finland and Sweden for example) but Cuba and Canada were a special case.
The blond haired man let out a light sigh as he took a seat on the bed as his mind wandered back to the predicament involving France. No doubt the man had already flown back to his homeland and was doing only god knew what while Canada was stuck here.
The previous day's conversation with his brother was slightly…ok…really fuzzy and he honestly couldn't remember anything that his brother hand bounced off of him. So later, once his head was clearer and the alcohol was just starting to loose its hold on him, Matthew had sought the help of the person who knew France the best. Canada closed his eyes as he remembered the conversation and let out a deep sigh.
"Yes. He still loves her. But honestly he should move on already. She's been dead for over five hundred years and its time" England grumbled, crossing his legs and taking the chance to sip at his tea. Canada just looked at his feet, arms crossed uncomfortably over his chest in the absence of Kumajirou.
"D-Do you think I stand a chance?" Canada asked, his face unable to heat up any more. Whether it was from the sheer embarrassment of explaining his feelings to Arthur of all people or the alcohol, or even perhaps both, his face had been bright red for over an hour. England took this chance to look up from his tea and studied his once colony with narrowed eyes.
"I don't know why you'd ever be interested in that toad but I'd have to say if anyone were to snap him out of his grief it would be you" England let out a deep sigh and rolled his eyes before sipping his tea again.
At least England thought that he stood a chance. America probably did too since he had offered…well…decided to help. Offered would insinuate that Canada had a say in the matter. Matthew let out a light groan, digging the palms of his hands into his eyes in a frustrated gesture. Why did this have to be so hard?
"Matthew! Open up! Its time!" Matthew nearly threw up. All of the sudden he was having second thoughts about the plan Alfred had discussed with him earlier but knowing that he couldn't back out now. So instead, he just grabbed a couple of Advil from the table and downed them quickly.
He had the feeling he was going to need it.