AN\\ A few 'notices'. I just wanted to point out a few things (all good, I promise ;))

I know that Norway is a little OOC in the first chapter and I think I knew that even whilst I was writing it, but I just thought 'meh', mostly because he was only really a supporting character, but now it's really starting to bug me. Thanks so much to the person who reviewed saying that though, I know a lot of people say that they love criticism just to not seem picky and annoying but I ACTUALLY enjoy constructive criticism and I actually go back and edit things to make them better.

I'm probably going to go back and edit that since I have a way better way for him to act now that I've thought it over.

Also, yup, Russia is OOC in the last chapter, but I put my reasoning for that and stand by it, so I'm not gonna edit that. Still, though, Russia is my baby and I hate writing him like that but it had to be done. Just in case anyone is wondering, though, I'm currently planning a chapter involving him where he'll be in a way more positive light, same with Belarus, I just felt like I needed to give Fem!Lithuania an actual reason to have PTSD and not just that she was around some 'creepy' people for a bit.

Last note: If you have any suggestions or headcanons that you want to be written, just leave it to me in a review, I'm totally open to anything (as long as it's not smut (because I'll never be able to write that so I'm not even going to try) or too gruesome, because I'm not going to be the next author of 'The Danish Slaughterhouse'... sorry)

Ps. The beginning of this chapter is cheesy but… I'm terrible at writing children, still working on it.

Pairing: Fem!America and England, Human AU\\ This chapter is super long… Just warning you. I love this plotline, though. I might go back and cut certain scenes out, though, it feels a little clunky at points.

A little girl sat alone on the bed, no older than 4, counting the minutes until her Momma and Poppa would be coming back to collect her from that atrocious hospital.

It reeked of cleanliness and organisation.

Amelia was confused as to what was taking her parents so long; over 3 days had passed since the accident.

The doctors had tried to tell Amelia that her parents had passed away in the same accident that she had sustained multiple injuries from but she refused to listen, going into a state of denial and frenzy.

Her tiny mind couldn't comprehend what had happened so it felt easier for her to deny.

So for that reason, the doctors had decided to wait to tell her about the fate of her family until she was properly healed and not going to harm herself anymore, and Amelia kept counting the minutes until Momma and Poppa would be coming. She hoped that it wouldn't take them long.

The next week, Amelia's nurse, Nurse Jenny, escorted her to a big house, informing her that this house would be her new home for a bit before they found her a new Momma and Poppa.

"I don't want a new Momma and Poppa!" She screamed, before walking into the house, tears running down her face, "I want MY Momma and Poppa, and

I don't care WHAT you say! They're going to come and get me, so all of this is a \

waste of time!"

"Oh Amelia, honey, you know that I really like you don't you?" Said Nurse Jenny, bending on her knees until she was the same height as the little hysterical girl.

Amelia slowly nodded.

"Because I do," reassured Nurse Jenny, "but all of these tears need to stop. All of the kids here know how it feels to be alone, take solace in that. This place will do you good."

Amelia didn't know what solace meant, the word was a little too big and professional for her liking, but she shook her head anyways.

"But they don't still have a Momma and Poppa waiting for them like I do!"

Nurse Jenny sighed, running out of ideas on how she could stabilise the child quickly.

"You'll make friends here."

"I already have friends,"

"You could make more though," she said.

"Fine, as long as you promise that you'll call my Momma and Poppa to pick me up at the end of the day."

Amelia watched as Nurse Jenny looked a little sad for a moment, but the melancholy on her face soon evaporated and Nurse Jenny gave Amelia her hand, which she clung onto, and led her into the house.

Before you could see any of her new 'friends', a tall man came up to her and offered her a hand.

She cautiously gave it to him, which he then shook as he smiled.

"Hi there, Amelia! I'm Julius, but everyone here just calls me Grandpa Rome!"

Amelia eyes the man up and down. He clearly wasn't a Grandpa.

"You're too young to be a Grandpa! You're what? 25?"

'Grandpa Rome' chuckled at her.

"I'm not actually a Grandpa Amelia, I'm more like… your new Papa! I take care of all of the kids here an-"

"You're not my Poppa!" Amelia cried out, shocked that this man was trying to take her father's place. "My Poppa's not gone!"

The tears started spurting out of the eyes, and both Nurse Jenny and 'Grandpa' Rome seemed to be at a loss of what to do.

Julius had dealt with a lot of crying children before, but he had never dealt with children that denied their parent's deaths.

"Amelia, I don't have to be your new father if you don't want me too, what I meant was that I'll act like your father… before your real Poppa… comes and collects you."

He felt terrible, giving this little girl hope that they would return, but he needed her to calm down.

He could tell her the truth later.

Amelia smiled an odd sort of teary smile, took his hand and followed him into the main room, where he had told all of the children to sit to welcome Amelia into their house.

As soon as she entered her eyed widened into a look of awe.

Wow! She thought, there were so many different children here, of all different ages and races.

Being born and raised in a small town in Wyoming meant that she never saw any other children that didn't look like her, but there?

There, everyone looked different, and she noticed that when they opened their mouths they all sounded different too.

"Hola!" A little boy came up to her, bouncing in what she could only assume was excitement, "I'm Antonio!"

The boy didn't look much older than her, if anything he was five or six, but the second he reached her he gave her a huge hug.

Amelia was confused, but slowly began to hug back, she hadn't hugged anyone in days.

"You sound funny!" She giggled.

"I am from Spain, mi amiga!"

Amelia didn't know what that meant, she didn't even know where 'Spain' was. Is it some place in South America?

She went along with it, though, wherever this imaginary country was it meant that he spoke funny.

She liked it.

"Alright Antonio, don't pounce on her, you weirdo!" Came another voice, equally just as funny.

"Arthur! Stop it! I'm not a weirdo!"

"Yes, you are!"

'Arthur' was a blond boy with green eyes who talked a little like the queen, and he looked to be around 7.

Antonio huffed and walked away, hopping back onto the sofa with all of the other kids crammed onto it.

"I'm Arthur," he said, sticking his hand out to her.

Amelia looked at him with awe for a moment.

Woah! He was grown up!

Amelia gave him a smile, her face still a little wet from her previous crying session but she didn't care, she had a friend.

Two weeks later Amelia finally faced the truth that her Momma and Poppa weren't going to come and get her.

She felt like her world had ended.

Grandpa Rome had taken her into her new bedroom and sat her down on the bed as he held her hand and told her what had happened to them, and even though she had heard the same thing by the doctors before she actually believed it this time.

And it was devastating.

She didn't really cry, she just went numb; she guessed that she should have seen it coming.

She stopped attending mealtimes, playing with her friends during playtime, forming sentences longer than three words and brushing her hair.

Instead, she just curled up with a snuggly bear and stared out of the window.

Julius was worried. He was so pleased with how well she had adjusted prior to his talk with her and now it felt like all of the effort he had put into making her social was being thrown down the drain.

"Grandpa Rome?" asked a small voice with a very distinguishable accent.

"Yes, Arthur?" he replied, turning his head down to meet his line of vision.

"Can I go up and talk to Amelia? I haven't seen her in a while."

He sighed; now wasn't the best time for the others to see her, she was a state.

"Listen, kiddo, she's feeling a little dow-"

"Please, Grandpa Rome! We're worried about her!" He pleaded, and Julius turned to look at the doorway, where Antonio stood, along with a couple other kids, all wearing the same pouty expression.

"I'm sorry."

Tears looked as though they were welling up in Arthur's eyes and he immediately felt terrible.

"P-P-Please…"

"Oh fine! Don't say anything too difficult to her, though, okay?"

A smile lit up his face as he went in to hug him, but he only reached Julius' waist so it ended with his just hugging one of his legs.

Before Julius could say anything else, Arthur had bounced up the stairs, promising to tell the other kids what she had said.

Amelia was lying in bed when she heard a knock on her door.

"Go away!" She shouted in the general direction of the door, hugging her teddy closer to her chest.

"PLEASE AMELIA! Open the door!"

It was Arthur and Amelia had sort of missed him in her time locked up in her room.

"Why are you here?" she asked, a little more quietly this time.

"I want to talk," he said, "I'm worried about you…"

There was silence from both Amelia and Arthur's sides before Arthur knocked on the door again.

"If you don't let me in then I'll tell Grandpa Rome that you… that you… that you bit me!"

Amelia gasped. He wouldn't dare.

"You're so immature!" She shouted through the door, as she slowly began to open it.

Arthur came in with a smug look on his face.

"It worked, though, and you're not allowed to call me immature! You're practically still a baby."

She crossed her arms in outrage, a look of pure anger crossing her visage.

"No, I'm not, I'm four years old! Babies aren't four!"

"Well, I'm seven, so that means that I've lived three more years than you, which makes me smarter and better."

"Maybe you're older, but that doesn't make you better!"

He paused for a second. "Agree to disagree?" He said, sticking out his hand in a form of truce.

She reluctantly took it, disdain clear on her features.

She took a moment to study him. He looked as though he was amused, something that was highly inappropriate after such a 'heated debate', he was still wearing his favourite union jack pyjamas and he was holding a box of cereal in one hand.

"Why are you holding a box of Lucky Charms?" She asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Because," he said, "you didn't come down to breakfast, so I brought breakfast to you."

Despite everything that she felt regarding her parents, she couldn't help but let her face break into a smile.

"Cereal without milk?" She asked.

"Anything is possible."

He held her hand all of the way to the school gate as they walked with Grandpa Rome and some of the other kids.

She wasn't the only one starting school from the group home but she still felt like she was walking into it alone.

Arthur was nine now and far more experienced when it came to school than she was, so she blindly followed him.

"It's alright, Amelia, 1st grade isn't hard at all, all of the kids are in the same boat. They don't know anyone either, so you're bound to make loads of friends."

Amelia looked at all of the kids being kissed goodbye by their parents, instantly feeling a pang of melancholy.

"But they all have-"

"Parents," He finished for her, "I know."

She had accepted the death of her parents around a month after she had arrived, but that didn't make her day to day life more of a struggle.

He stopped speaking for a moment, staring off into space as though he was thinking of the perfect thing to say.

"But if I can do it, then so can you."

Her confidence was instantly boosted, as she then turned her head to see Grandpa Rome staring down at both of them with a mixture between a smirk and a smile.

The first time they properly fought was when she was 8 and he was 11. They had long since established themselves as an odd sort of best friends and brother and sister within the home, but Arthur wanted some space.

"I don't know why you have to follow me around all the time!" He said after his school friends had gone home.

"But I only wanted to play!" She said, defending herself and her actions.

"That doesn't mean that you can just come in and take Gilbert's controller away from him whilst he's still playing!"

"But he said that he'd be done in a minute, I counted all the way up to sixty!"

"Yes, yet he clearly wasn't done, was he!"

Amelia couldn't really argue with that one.

"But I only wanted to play," she said, referring back to her original argument.

"God! You're so immature! Why can't you let me have other friends!"

She was taken aback, he had never said that he wanted other friends. Was she not enough?

"I'm not immature! Don't call me that!"

"That's an immature counter-argument, you're proving yourself wrong!"

"Then why can't I just be friends with your friends?"

"Because the other guys think that you're annoying and that you talk too much, they're probably right!"

There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds before Arthur backtracked.

"Wait, Amelia! I didn't mean that! It's not true! I don't think that you're annoying!"

But by that point she was already gone, running up the stairs into her room, slamming the door shut behind her.

A few minutes later she heard a knock on the door, and despite how upset she was, she still opened the door.

"I'm sorry…" He said, the second the door was opened.

He was carrying a box of cereal and two bowls, even though he brought no milk with him.

"It's not true… is it?" She asked, sniffing loudly.

"Of course it's not. I was angry… embarrassed… I didn't mean it."

"Are you embarrassed by me? Because I'm littler than you?"

"I'll never be embarrassed by you."

14-year-old Amelia was sick of it.

He was scaring off any and every boy that even dared to look at her.

She was never going to get a boyfriend with him pouncing on guys just for saying hi.

He insisted on walking her to class almost every time, and he would wait outside of her classroom until the bell rang.

Her friends didn't seem to mind, though, since they got to get a glimpse of the 'hot senior guy with the accent'.

It was oddly unsettling to her, this obsession that the girls seemed to have with him, he certainly wasn't the only foreign student in the school yet he seemed to be the most talked about.

She felt like she wanted to gag every time that she heard a girl talk about his 'dreamy eyes'.

Every time someone would say something about his 'sexy voice'.

Every time someone said something about his 'hot bod'-

No, she wasn't even going to go there.

He was her best friend, like her brother, it all felt wrong.

"But he's always there! How can I get anyone's attention with Arthur standing beside me like a piece of fucking fungus." She complained, the four of them sitting on a mattress in Mei's room.

"Have you seen him! I would not describe him as fungus." Joked Emma (Belgium), making Amelia cringe at the sheer thought.

"It can't be that bad!" Exclaimed Mei.

"You don't know the half of it!" She cried, "He literally wanted to put a tracking device on me to make sure that I wasn't going to sneak out with some guy!"

"It's kind of hot, though," said Katyusha, "don't deny it."

"But you don't get it!"

"I wouldn't be complaining." Said Emma.

"Yeah, I sure you wouldn't, but you're not the one getting awkward sex-ed talks from him about 'how everything has consequences' and 'it's best just to wait'."

Again, cringe.

The girls giggled as if this was some kind of a joke!

"I'm a freshman in high school, not a stripper!"

Their giggles turned into full on laughs as she just sulked at the sight of it.

Honestly.

Arthur was out on a school trip today, taking English lectures at the local college. Finally, peace and quiet.

Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder as she was taking her books out of her locker.

"Amelia! I thought that was you!" Came a thick French accent.

It was Francis, a Junior boy who ran the French Cooking Club.

"Oh! It's you!" She was surprised, they had only spoken once or twice and he had made it very clear that he only spoke to her to get on Arthur's nerves, especially since the two boys had made it very clear that they were NOT friends.

"Of course it's me!"

"So…?"

"Oh!" He said, realising that he had to give a 'reason' to talk to her, "I was wondering where 'mon petit ami' Arthur could be today!"

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"Ok, ok, you got me. He's not really 'mon ami'."

"Clearly." She whispered under her breath.

"Huh?" He asked, "What was that? I didn't quite catch you."

"It's nothing, why do you want to know where he is?"

"No reason."

"I know that's not true; If you're gonna do something to rile him up then you should just come clean with it."

"Aren't you two friends?" He asked.

"I'm pissed at him, so at the moment, no!"

He sniggered, a thought clearly crossing his mind.

"Does he know that you're 'pissed at him'," He asked, smirking.

"...Maybe not." She admitted.

"You want revenge?" He suggested, smirk widening.

This Frenchman had good ideas.

The plan was simple enough, Amelia would invite Francis to the home for dinner, just to get Arthur riled up, and when he would come to confront her about inviting him he would walk into the two of them kissing on her bed.

It was genius. Francis would achieve his goal of toying with Arthur and Amelia would show Arthur that she was a big girl now and could make her own choices, so she didn't need him chaperoning her, ruining her high-school experiences.

So after they had all sat down for dinner and waiting for Arthur to walk in through the door she was practically shaking with nerves and excitement.

Francis' smirk hadn't dropped since she had agreed to the plan, so now she had just accepted it as a part of his usual facial features.

Grandpa Rome and Francis were engaged in a 'fascinating' discussion about their shared upbringing by the Mediterranean sea, all of the other kids, younger and older, hanging onto every word he said like it was made of gold, as Arthur walked into the dining hall, still wearing his coat which was slightly damp from the rain outside.

"Sorry I'm late Grandpa Rome, there was traffic-"

He halted his sentence, looking Francis up and down before suddenly deciding to reopen his mouth.

"What is he doing here?" He said, his voice wavering between angry and the coldest tone he could muster.

"Amelia invited me." He replied joyfully, clearly having the time of his life.

"You what!" He said through clenched teeth, directed at Amelia.

"I thought he told you himself."

"Grandpa Rome, we're not allowed to invite kids over on a Wednesday."

Grandpa Rome looked slightly taken aback; why would Arthur have a problem with such as nice boy?

"I've never met any of Amelia's friends, especially not a boyfriend! I thought I would make an exception!"

"BOYFRIEND!" He practically screamed.

Amelia wanted to giggle but she kept it suppressed, but one look at Francis showed that he wasn't doing as well when it came to that as her.

He was laughing like a maniac.

Arthur looked livid, angrier than she had ever seen him in her life.

"Amelia, outside. Now!" He shouted, the little kids in the room clearly shaken, one starting to cry.

"Arthur! Don't shout in the dining room! Would you look at that, you made Peter cry." Scolded Grandpa Rome, walking over to young Peter to lift him up.

Arthur punched the wall in frustration, his hand beginning to bleed as he stormed out of the room.

"Phase two of the plan." Whispered Francis.

She nodded, asking to leave the table, which Grandpa Rome agreed to.

She sneaked them both upstairs, tiptoeing past Arthur who was tending to his hand in the kitchen, hopping up the stairs to her room.

They entered the room, making sure that the door was left fully open for Arthur to catch them.

But now it was just them in the room and he clearly had a lot more experience than her, she hadn't even had her first kiss.

Suddenly they heard feet stomping up the stairs and she didn't even have time to think if this was who she wanted to give her first kiss to ask Francis simply said "now" and enclosed his lips on hers.

It wasn't as terrible as she was expecting, especially now that she had realised that despite being a total and utter douche to Arthur, Francis wasn't actually that bad a guy.

Yeah, he was weird and flirty, but Amelia couldn't see why Arthur and him and hated each other so much.

It still wasn't great, though.

Even though it wasn't sloppy or gross, she felt nothing for him and if anything she felt disappointed that her first kiss ended up like this.

You won't get another kiss if you let Arthur control your life, she thought.

The footsteps were approaching her room now and she was bracing herself for the inevitable fight between the two of them, so it didn't really come as a surprise when she finally felt Francis being dragged physically off of her by a fuming Brit.

What came as a surprise, however, was the punch that Arthur threw at him.

"What the fuck Arthur!" She screamed, "What are you doing!"

"I could be asking you the same! You're meant to be my best friend!"

"I could say the same! Yet you don't trust me!"

"I clearly can't trust you! Any boy in the school, Amelia, and you chose him. He's an arse! And you!" He exclaimed, turning to the French boy on the floor "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

"I think she wants me to stay," he said slyly, despite nursing a newly forming black eye.

Amelia sighed, "You've had your fun Francis, as much as I hate to say it, he's right. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Francis walked out of the room, covering his bruised eye with his hand.

"No, you won't," Arthur said, sternly.

"What?"

"Talk to him tomorrow, you won't talk to him tomorrow."

"I'll talk to whoever the fuck I want!" She shouted; this was ridiculous.

"Language, Amelia!" He reprimanded.

"See! This is what I'm sick of! You're treating me like I'm a child!"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

"Fine! You're not a child!" He admitted. "But that doesn't mean that you're not too young to have some creep shag you!"

"You think that that was what we were doing."

"It's what I gathered."

"It's not what we were doing."

"Maybe you didn't think that it was, but he? God knows what he was thinking."

There was silence.

"I'm my own person." She said, a little quieter but with just as much confidence.

"I know, and that scares me," he said, in the meekest and quietest voice she had ever heard come from his mouth.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't follow me around all the time like you used to, and I can't help but think that you don't love me anymore!"

"I'll never not love you, you're my best friend."

"Then w-why..." he stuttered, pausing to regain his breath. "Why, out of every boy in the world, did you have to choose him?"

"I haven't chosen him…"

"Well clearly you have, you were snogging his bloody frog face off just a minute ago!"

He was getting angry again, Amelia couldn't have that. She had to tell him the truth.

"It was a plan you dolt! I wanted you to see me as a young adult, not a child, and I think that he just wanted to piss you off… We're not dating. I don't even like him"

They both sat on the bed, not saying a thing.

"What a cruel plan," he finally said, causing a wave of guilt to wash over her.

"I know, and I'm sorry, I just needed to prove my point. I needed space."

"I know you do. I'm sorry that I didn't give it to you, but was this really the right way?"

"No." She admitted, only just seeing it for herself then. "Am I forgiven?"

"Ask me again in half an hour… Am I?"

"Ask me in half an hour."

It was his second year in college.

He was gone.

She was a junior.

She was lonely.

Sure, she had Antonio, but he seemed more interested in the feisty Italian boy who had joined the house last year.

His departure had forced her to be a little more friendly to many of the kids she lived with, but no one seemed to really click with her, probably because in everyone in the home saw her as Arthur's best friend, not as Amelia.

So she practically jumped out of her chair when she heard the doorbell ring, signaling his arrival.

Before Grandpa Rome could even get to the door she flung it open and was in his arms.

Arthur laughed, the kind of laugh she had missed. His laugh didn't sound the same over skype.

He hugged back even harder, lifting her up off of the ground.

After he had set her down he went to Grandpa Rome to give him a hug too.

"We've missed you." He said.

"I've missed you all too."

An onslaught of kids and teenagers came to the door to greet him including Antonio, who was proudly showing off the Italian boy.

"Arthur, you bastard! I've missed you, amigo! Meet my boyfriend, Lovino!"

The Italian looked disgusted.

"I'm not your boyfriend, idiot! Fucking bastard," he exclaimed, before returning to the living room, seemingly to play Halo on Xbox.

"...Real keeper you've got there?" Arthur half-asked.

"You'll find that his charm is to be found on the inside." Said the 17-year-old Spaniard with a smile, before returning to his 'boyfriend'.

Once they had all gone, Arthur dragged her up to her room before closing the door firmly shut.

She gave him a look of bewilderment before he smirked and pulled out a box of lucky charms from his bag.

She didn't know whether to laugh at the hilarity of it all or cry at the wave of nostalgia that hit her like 10 tsunamis at once.

"God I've missed you…" she said, as he opened the pack of cereal.

The smirk fell into a sort of more subdued, soft smile.

"I've missed you too."

"How's London, is it exactly how you remembered it?"

He sighed, before taking off his shoes and hopping onto her bed.

"I was young when I left, I can hardly remember it. We moved when I was 6 and then two weeks after we arrived Mum and Dad both died. It's beautiful, though, stunning. I'll take you one day."

"You will?"

"Of course. You can meet all of my Uni mates."

She had never even left America, and despite having so many European friends, Europe had just always seemed out of the question.

"I would love to."

His face broke into another smile.

"Come on, you crazy person, give me another hug." He said, before forcing her onto her own bed, hugging her senseless.

She had missed his hugs.

He rolled her over mid-hug before he heard something crunch and spill out underneath them.

He immediately broke their hug, cursing at the Lucky Charms that had spilled out of the packet all over her bed.

She laughed and he looked confused.

"It's not a biggie!" She assured, "We'll clean it up later! For now just come back to the hu-"

Suddenly she felt lips on her, tasting of coffee and Lucky Charms.

Her eyes widened in shock, her entire body frozen as he kissed her, overpowering her senses.

But there was something that she had never felt before.

A cliché spark.

Shit.

She loved him.

He broke away, clearly equally as shocked with his own actions, turning red.

"I'm so-so- sorry, I…" He looked down at the ground. "I thought that maybe you. Oh! It sounds stupid now."

"You kissed me."

"Clearly." He clarified, embarrassed.

"Do it again."

"Huh?"

"Again, kiss me again."

He seemed relieved, his face decreasing in redness a little as she touched their lips again.

Eventually, she relaxed into the kiss, her body instinctively deepening it.

His hand came up to cup her cheek and her arms went around her neck, before he broke it off, in need of air.

"I love you." He said, their foreheads touching, not even realising what he had said.

She responded with the tightest hug that he had ever received, almost cutting off his blood circulation.

"Ditto" she whispered.

Classic Amelia, he thought, she had just received a love confession and she had to reply with American slang.

It's not as though he minded, though.

He chuckled into the hug.

"You're not going to find some hot British chick at University in London and forget all about me, are you?"

"You have no faith in me."

"Promise me."

"I promise you."

Fin.

AN\\ So… this was… long. It was not meant to be this long but the more I wrote the more ideas I started forming. I hope that no one found this boring; I kind of struggled because I didn't want to pace to go too fast so I wanted to show lots of snapshots of them growing up, but at the same time I didn't want to have too many snapshots because they get boring.

I just thought that this idea was cute, but because I had so many ideas that I just had to get on the page I sort of rushed.

I was certainly not planning on writing 6k words for this chapter.

I hope you liked it, though!