Arthur Kirkland

Somewhere in the Woods, Canada

October 31, 2163

I groaned and rubbed my eyes. Where am I...? I opened my eyes, and blinked blearily. I could vaguely see someone but the room was dark and I couldn't tell who it was...

I was so tired that I fell asleep again, but the second time I woke up I was completely alone in a queen sized bed.

"Hi, America..." said a voice.

A short pause.

"Yeah, he's here; why...?"

A longer pause.

"All roads lead to my house you know..."

A shortish pause.

"Yes, of course..." the voice said. "He was awfully shaken up by Papa's actions..."

A question.

"If possible, yes..."

Silence.

"Hi, Papa."

I heard footsteps moving towards me.

"What exactly did you do to Artie...?"

A pause.

"Yes, he's here but I don't see how that's any of your-" an interruption. "Papa... He doesn't like you that way..."

Another pause and then the voice dropped.

I sat up in the bed, suddenly aware that this was a house I'd never been in before. I shuddered.

"Bye, America..." said the voice, "Yeah, I'll keep him from leaving..."

The footsteps came closer to the room and I watched the door. A tall young man with dirty blond hair stood in the doorway

"Hi, England..." He said, smiling softly. His voice was near-silent like the way you would speak to calm down a frightened animal. "How'd you sleep...?"

I rubbed my eyes again, "...Alfred?"

"No..." The man's eye twitched, "It's Matthew..." a short pause, "...America called... he damn near tore Papa a new one over kissing you... and by the way... holding in all that frustration is gonna kill you some day..." He continued, walking acros the room and lighting a candle on the nightstand beside the bed.

"...uh..." I wish I could've been more articulate but I was kind of distracted by the fact that the young nation was standing in front of me, stark naked.

He kissed me on my forehead, "...Papa's gonna leave you alone from now on... I doubt that there was a single person in the world who couldn't hear your screaming..." He laughed softly, "Except for america who couldn't hear you if he tried..."

"...what do you mean...?" I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"I mean that you were screaming in the old tongue... constantly..." His expression soured, "It was kind of annoying..."

...this could be bad... I thought, "What did I say...?"

"You said... 'it hurts...' you said that several times... 'it hurts...' you also told me not to stop... ever..." He sat down on the edge of the bed. "You have some weird kinks, Arthur..."

"Maybe so..." at least it wasn't peter...

"...England... you called me alfred... while we were having sex... you called me Alfred... I'm fine with being the host of your pity party but you need to tell him..."

"Tell him, what? That I love him? That I've always loved him? Matthew... I can't tell him that... He'd laugh at me... Call me an old fool and send me on my way... and maybe I am an old fool..." I could feel my eyes fill with tears. "It's not like I'm a young man, anymore..."

"That's nonsense." Matthew said, for once his voice just as loud as Alfred's. They sounded exactly the same, "You're not old. You're only 4 years older than America."

"And he's 38 now..." I sighed. "Matthew... I'm not a young man anymore... I'm in my forties... you may be 29, now but... compared to me... you're a child, love..."

"Arthur Kirkland, You are not old! Look at China! Now HE is OLD!"

"Yes, but he's asian. In asian countries, young people respect their elders which they no longer do in Western Culture..."

He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again, obviously having nothing to say that could disprove my point.

"I've grown old, Canada... I-I... I can't handle being... being me... I-I... Canada, if I tell you this... you can't tell anyone..."

"No problem..." his voice dropped back down. "No one listens to me other than America and Mexico..."

"...I've been thinking about killing myself... just thinking on it... no concrete plans..."

"...I see..." He kept his tone neutral but I could see something in his eyes, "...you're planning to kill yourself..."

"As I said, no concrete plans..."

"...England..." He took a deep breath, "YOU ARE PLANNING TO FUCKING KILL YOURSELF? FOR THE LOVE OF MAPLE, CARE ABOUT SOMEONE ELSE FOR A CHANGE! OH, 'BOO HOO, I'M ENGLAND AND I DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS!' FUCKING GROW UP, GODDAMMIT! I'M INVISIBLE FOR HOCKEY'S SAKE! ALIEU HAS TO LIVE WITH THE TORTURE OF BEING A FUCKING CHILD FOR HALF THE YEAR, AND YOU KNOW WHAT? HE DOESN'T FUCKING CRY ABOUT IT! HE JUST GOES WITH IT!"

I was so shocked that I stopped crying.

"...I apologise for my language... but you can't do that..." Matthew said, his voice back down to near silence again, "I care about you too much to let you die... I know that I'm not the one that you love but I love you..."