Day 9- Gardening: Flowers and plants, gardening and greenhouses. Anything to do with a green thumb goes here; whether it's growing a garden, giving someone flowers, surveying wild plants, or anything of the sort.

Again England called America, and again he received no answer. It seemed America had become so busy that he couldn't even have the decency to make any calls back to England whenever he left a message or saw he had a missed call. England would leave him e-mails as well, asking if he was okay and when he could visit next, but for well over a month now he had gotten nothing. At first England could understand given that he was busy too. However, he had some manners.

So it came as a great surprise when America actually called back as soon as England had hung up. England fumbled for his phone he had just put away.

" 'ello?" he answered quickly. "America, where have you been? I've called you for weeks now! Have you no idea-"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry," America interrupted. "Hey, um, do you think you could come and see me really soon? Like this week or something?"

England sighed. "Let me check my schedule."

He didn't have to, he memorized every day. Still he felt it was good to let America wait for his answer. He didn't want to sound too eager at coming by. Of course all the voice mails and constant calls for the past weeks didn't indicate as such. No, not at all.

"It looks to be rather manageable," England replied after a time. He had just shuffled some papers around on his desk without really looking at anything in particular. "I suppose I could come by…tomorrow."

"Perfect!" England could hear America's smile over the phone, and it made him want to smile too. "The weather will be great! Okay, I'll pick you up from the airport tomorrow. See ya!"

Without waiting for England to ask where he'd been or what he'd been up to, America hung up. Despite the fact England would be visiting soon he was rather let down. He wanted to talk if only for a moment longer. He had missed him.

To occupy his restless mind, England moved to his bedroom to pack. He decided to move extra slow so as to prolong the process. However long it took it wasn't enough. England wandered around the house, put on the kettle, and read some books.

Finally, with a huff, England called up his personal driver to the house. It was silly of him to leave early. He had had numerous times where he knew he was to leave to see another country for whatever reason. America should have been no different. Should have. Therein laid the key.

America was always different. Even back when travel was by sea, England had tried to hurry the process up to see him, fully knowing that he couldn't make the wind push his ship any faster. How he wished he could've parted the sea then. Now it was about the air, but that still was never quick enough.

Once England had reached the airport he phoned America. This time he answered on the second ring.

"Hey. What's up?"

Suddenly, England's throat was parched. He wasn't quite sure what to say now. No matter what it was, he would sound like a fool; coming to visit an entire day earlier. If that didn't sound desperate enough already, he was sure whatever he was about to say would sound worse.

"I…I decided to come…now."

America choked on the other end. "What, like right now?"

"Yes." England paused. He worried that perhaps America would be upset at the change of time. "Should I not have?"

"No, no! It's cool! I'll just head over to the airport sooner, that's all." America laughed. "Can't wait to see you."

Relief spread through England. He smiled into the phone, but tried to hide his enthusiasm. "Yes, you too."

The flight was pleasant, as always. England took a nap on the way there, ensuring his nerves were calm enough. Quite frankly, he wanted to berate America for ignoring him. Remind him that as long as they were dating, America would have to try his hand at this communication thing once in awhile.

However, once he touched down at the JFK International Airport and saw America, he was just happy to be there again. Nothing had changed, like always. America picked England up in a giant hug, swinging him around in a most undignified manner. England didn't mind. He laughed until he was put down where he lightly punched America for behaving like such a child.

They got in the car and headed off in the direction of America's rural home in the New York state. England was surprised; they almost always went to his swanky New York City pad. But he found he couldn't very well ask. America was acting odd.

He didn't mention any of the month of silence, nor asked how England had been during the time. If England began talking about himself, America would cut him off and say he read it in the newspaper. After thirty minutes, England just stopped talking all together and allowed the music to keep some noise between them. America, for once, didn't want to talk either.

Eventually they reached America's old Victorian style home. It was far from any prying eyes and snooty reporters. The driveway alone took ten minutes just to reach the house. Since England had come a day earlier, he had arrived in the morning. That meant they had all day together, rather than arrived in the afternoon and only spending the evening.

America suddenly jumped out of the car, rushing to England's side. He opened the door with a flourish. England blinked at him in surprise.

"Come with me."

England raised an eyebrow. "Where to?"

"You'll see." America held his hand out. "Come on. I have a surprise for you."

Butterflies gathered in England's stomach. He was too old for such a thing, but that never stopped him before. Or rather, it never stopped America before. That idiot always made him feel so delightfully young.

England took America's hand, ignoring the heat on his face. He followed America as he was led towards the backyard. They stopped short, and America turned with a devious smile.

"Close your eyes," he said. England frowned. "C'mon. It's part of the surprise."

"There aren't other people here, are there?" England asked.

"What? No." America laughed loudly. "No, this is just you and me. Hurry up an' close your eyes!"

Rolling his eyes, England did as he was told. He felt America's hands on his shoulders, leading him towards the back again. It might not seem like much to a human, but to a nation, it was one of the ultimate forms of trust. To let one country maneuver another was dangerous. He could be walking into a trap for all he knew.

That would never happen. America would never harm England, never again. He had given him his word. And England, in return, trusted him.

"Okay," America said, halting England. "Wait just a minute…"

His voice trailed off. He was moving away. England turned his head towards America's voice. "Now?"

"Just a secooooond. Okay… Now."

England opened his eyes. He gasped in surprise. The backyard was normally just a plain grassy plain with a few trees of different types littering the view. Now, it was overfilled with blues, purples, yellows, and reds. Flowers of all varieties popped out of the ground to bring life into the seemingly endless greenery. England's eyes weren't sure where to look first. He was overjoyed as he turned in circles, taking it all in.

"A-America… You did this?" he asked, breathless.

"Sure did! Took me all month!"

England turned to see America sheepishly looking down at the ground. Now he seemed to be the one with the butterflies.

"I-I took a page out of your book and tried my hand at gardening," America started. "I'm okay at it, but I don't like doing it that much. I remember you saying you thought it was too plain back here."

"Why would you do this?" England asked. "Surely not for that."

America rubbed his arm. "No. I…I thought that we could…do gardening together when you came over."

England was overcome with emotion. All he wanted to do was fling himself onto America, hug him around his neck and pepper his face with kisses. But that would be quite unbecoming of him. Instead, he merely pulled America's face to his so that their lips met. It was brief, but effective.

"You…idiot."

America grinned that cheeky grin. He kissed England's cheek. "But, that's not the best part."

"There's more?" England pulled away to stare at him, surprised. "What more did could you have possibly done?"

Rather than saying anything, America held up his index finger and cocked it towards a part of the yard further back. It was hidden by the side of the house. England moved over to see what exactly was better than the yard of flowers.

He stopped short. There were rows upon rows of bright, cherry apple red roses reaching for the sky. Some were ready to bloom; others had stretched far open, their faces smiling at the sun. England moved to the nearest one. He cradled its head in his hands. His lips twitched at a hint of a smile.

America strode up beside him. "You know, people always asked me why we share the same national flower. I told them, why not? It's a beautiful flower."

England looked to America. Suddenly, there was a rose held before his face. He was caught off guard, and took a step back. He was unused to such a romantic gesture from the other man. For a moment, he simply stared.

"This is…so unlike you," England whispered. "Did I forget an important date? I'm certain that I know when our anniversary is…"

"It's not that." America kissed England's cheek. "I just wanted to do something different with you. Keep the relationship fresh by sprucin' things up a bit."

England shook his head. He was no longer able to hide that smile. "You are definitely doing just that. So, can you tell me which plant hails from where?"

America looked just as lost as England expected him to be. "Uh… Well…I know tulips are from Holland? He lent me some. And there are some pure English roses in here too!"

"Is that all you know?" England asked, smiling up at him. He took the rose finally, and placed it in his breast pocket.

"Well, what more is there to know? I mean, aside from all my state flowers, which are totally not here because the states would get mad at me, I don't think any other is important."

England sighed. "Seems I still have much to teach you. Come on. You want to do this gardening thing right then you'll have to get a real English teaching."

America smiled. He took England's hand in his, interlacing their fingers. "I don't think I'll mind too much."

Hoshiko2's cents: I wasn't sure about this prompt for awhile. It was a little out of my league, seeing as I have a color on the opposite end of the color spectrum for gardening. Totally not my thing. However, I thought a guy trying to impress his beloved by dabbing his feet into it would be sweet. So why not? Hope you enjoyed! Sorry it updated so late. I'm out of town again, but only for tonight.