A/N: Here's chapter 3 hot off the press! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Axis Powers: Hetalia or any of its characters!
Setting:China??? (*cough* America*cough*)
***
The old,famous line from the movie, Wizard of Oz, ran through his head the minute England stepped into the airport.
Yes, he definately was not in English territory anymore. As a matter of fact, he wasn't sure if he was even in China.
"China sure has changed since I've last been here..." he murmured as he began through the airport.
This airport was about the same size as his own airport, but it was jammed full with tons more people, like a toybox overflowing with stuffed animals... or a teapot overflowing...
Arthur shook his head to snap himself out of it. But, wait... maybe he didn't have to snap himself out of it. With a little luck, he was sure to be able to find a place here that had tea!
So, he set off in search of a place that had tea, but... Every damned corner has some sort of fast-food restaurant, but I still can't find a single tea shop! he seethed in his mind, passing what must've been the one-billionth McDonalds in the place.
It was incredible that there was even room for the luggage disposal carousel in between the crowded floorspace.
He sped up his walking with the mentality that the faster he walked, the faster he could find his destination. And there it was; nestled between a Burger King and a Wendys was a tiny coffee shop. It wasn't the kind Arthur was used to, but it would have to do.
The scent of strong coffee assaulted him as soon as he entered into the dimly-lit room. There was a chalkboard sign that instructed for customers to seat themselves set diagonal to the entryway. If Arthur wasn't so desperate for tea of any kind, he would've walked out right then, but instead found himself sliding into a chair at a table near the tinted cafe window.
The waitress behind the counter, whom was occupying herself by painting her fingernails bubblegum pink, glanced up and, upon seeing him, sprang to her feet with a menu in hand.
"Hello, sir, what may I get-"
"Black tea, Earl Grey," he cut her off flatly.
The girl blinked a bit, but put the menu down on his table and trotted off to the kitchen after calling over her shoulder for him to look at the menu while he was waiting.
Arthur's eyes, a stormy forest green, glowered down at the menu, which was now smudged with nailpolish. He browsed through the menu, lingering on every word to stall time and, finally, the girl came back with a circular tray balanced in her palm; the contents on it: his tea, a sugar dish, and a dish of cream.
"Here you go, sir. Hope you enj-"
"Thanks, I will." The waitress frowned, unhappy with being interrupted, but set down the tray and went back to finish her nails.
Despite the irking atmosphere, the Englishman had to admit that the tea was actually halfway decent. He hadn't been expecting much, but he wondered why since he was supposed to be buying tea from China.
Last sip gulped, Arthur signaled the waitress whom came over to distribute his check to him.
Three dollars and fifty cents.
Tea was more expensive here than he'd imagined as well. But, despite that fact, he still handed over the money to the girl.
"Thankyouhaveaniceday!" she blurted, taking the money and talking so fast so that he couldn't interrupt her this time.
"Oh, and one more thing-" he called at the waitress' back. She turned around, obviously having just finished an eye-roll.
"Yes, sir?" she asked in a sugar-sweet voice.
Arthur wasn't phased.
"Can you tell me how I get to Beijiing from here?"
The girl made a strange face that made her look like a confused pig.
"Uhm, either swim or fly accrost the ocean." she answered sarcastically.
'Thank God for mediocre tea.' Arthur thought in relief, his mood considerably brightened. He tried again.
"We're in China, are we not?"
The girl placed one freshly nail-painted hand on her hip in a sassy gesture. "That's just it; we're not."
Arthur was about to kindly explain to this poor, location-confused girl when she cut in before he could straighten things out.
"We're in America. Maybe you ought to get your car's GPS fixed, sir." The last word was whined in a snotty tone.
The dirty blonde gritted his teeth to keep from retorting an equally smart-alek comment and thought over what she had said.
'First of all, that isn't even possible because I didn't drive here. Second of all, I don't own a GPS. But, of course, I'm sure they all have GPSs in this Amer-..." Arthur stopped thinking, his mind possibly went into shock at the end of his last thought as everything fell into place.
America. He was in America. Out of all places.
Without even saying another word, Arthur got up and speed-walked out of the shop in a flustered frenzy, his head swiveling side-to-side as he searched for a payphone (in his hurry, he'd somehow lost his cellphone at the other airport).
The coin clinked as it hit the bottom of the inside of the payphone and there was a static sound to signal the phone had cut on.
The keys on the phone were sticky and the "2" button kept getting stuck, but Arthur finally managed to get the person he wanted on the line.
"Hello?" A voice asked from the other end of the line. It was so muffled that the "hello" had sounded more like "Hurrow?".
'Typical, eating a burger again, no doubt. It's not my fault if that twat gets obese.' England thought with a sigh.
"America, it's England," he said, trying to make sense of the other nation's hamburger-babble.
"Engraaand!" Alfred cheered on the other side, "What's up?"
"'What's up' is that I'm stuck in one of your airports in God-knows-what city."
"Aw, you were coming to pay me a surprise visit?" he teased.
Arthur could just picture his stupid, clueless smile on his face even though they were only talking over the phone.
Strangely enough, he felt a bit of heat come to his cheeks and saw in the metallic side of the payphone stand that he was blushing ever-so-slightly.
'Why am I blushing?' He thought in a panicked shock 'He's my little brother, so why would I be so embarrassed at his eagerness for me to come visit him?'
"England?" Alfred asked, trying to make sure that the other country was still on the line.
"Yes, I'm still here." he replied back quickly, just noticing the awkward silence.
"So what'd ya call me for?"
"Well I-" Arthur started, but was cut off by an obnoxious slurping sound blaring into his ear from the phone, "What are you-?"
The slurping sound stopped and there was a soft plunk as something was set down.
"So, you need a place to stay?" Alfred suggested all-of-a-sudden.
The blush returned to his cheeks when he tried to answer, the words caught in his throat for a second before he could finally manage to stammer them out.
"J-just until I can save up the money to get a flight back to England or China."
Alfred chuckled a bit at him, but he didn't dare point out the other's apparent nervousness.
"Alright, then! It's a date!" he sang.
The back of Arthur's neck turned red at the word "date" and he mentally began to scold himself.
It was just another word to say an appointment. His brother didn't think of him in any other way than what he was- a sibling. But the way Alfred was acting, unusually more cheerful around him than before, even, made him wonder.
England forced himself to catch his thoughts; they were starting to run away without him. No, his brother didn't feel the same way about him and, certaintly, nor did he.
A/N: End of Chapter Three! Next chapter will be in which Arthur arrives at Alfred's house! Bear with my slow updating pace!