Hetalia isn't mine. I can't draw for crap.

The next couple months pasted quickly, and with exams coming up in two weeks, and the trip to New York afterward, Anna was exhausted when she opened the door to her small apartment at 9:30 pm on a friday night after the last night class that week. She trudged in, shut the door, and without flicking any lights on, flopped down on her couch and flicked on the television to the BBC. That is, until she got a call on her cell at about two in the morning, startling her awake.

Mr. Kirkland? Why would he be calling me now?

She answered the phone sleepily, and was greeted by a gruff man.

That was how she found herself walking to a nearby pub at two fifteen in the morning.

God…Should never have put myself on his contact. 'Course I was first on his contacts and first on his speed dial, but now I have to go pick his drunken ass up from some bar…

It didn't bother her that Mr. Kirkland drank, it was the fact that sometimes he trudged in late with a hangover and was impossible to handle without huge amounts of caffeinated tea and quiet words. And then she'd have to postpone everything by an hour or two, heralding many phone calls and unhappy persons, one being a scary German. But she never complained openly.

She got to the bar and found her boss slobbering over a glass of some sort of booze. She also found the angry bartender.

"Lazy arse comes in here and within two hours starts to cry 'bout his bloody boyfriend!' Bloody faggot…" What did he just say?

"Excuse me?" Truth be told, she didn't know who this boyfriend could be, if he truly existed, and in all reality could see Arthur being gay, but she knew she couldn't punch this guy in the face without serious repercussions.

"Just get his scrawny arse out of my pub!" She pulled Arthur up from his chair, and immediately felt all of his weight come down on her. He was lighter than expected, but was limp, so she slung his arm around her shoulder. Then, she grabbed his cell phone from the counter. Dragging him out the door, she spat on the floor of the pub. No one made such comments to her. She paid no attention to the yelling coming after her, and she started to heave Arthur's incapacitated body the few blocks to her apartment.

She started a one sided conversation to keep herself from getting scared. The streets were narrow and dark at night, and she heard noises down dark alleys.

"Dammit, Arthur! Making me come all this way to get you! Why were you drinking anyway?" She looked down at his unconscious body. He looked so sad, his face for once calm in sleep.

Why had he gone and gotten drunk like that? And who'd he been mumbling about?

When Anna finally got the both of them into the house, she was huffing with exertion. He wasn't that heavy, but carrying him four or five blocks wasn't easy either.

"It's a good thing I don't have class tomorrow and the office is closed. The bad news is that I have only one bed, and I sure as hell will not be sharing a bed with a drunk man." But the sadness on her boss's face caused her to show some kindness.

She took off his shoes, jacket, and tie, and after tugging back her covers, laid him down. He just needs someone to watch out for him, that's all…and really, I didn't mind having to go get him all that much. She sat on the bed for a moment, starring out her bedroom window. Finally, she stood up, and started for the door to get the couch ready, when a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Alfr…ed. Please, don't go…don't le…ah-eave me again…I can't…life… without you… I thought you said heroes…couldn't die…"

He looked so vulnerable, and by the way his eyes were fluttering, but staying closed, he wasn't all that conscious. Gently prying her wrist free, she gave him a sad smile, and smoothed the covers around him.

"My father always said it was those who thought they were heroes who ended up being hit the hardest with reality, and the fact that not every story has a happy ending… and that not every love story works out." She finally willed herself up and left the room.

USUK

Arthur groaned as he opened his eyes. The sun needed to go die in a hole! Then, his stomach rebelled.

Anna had just finished making breakfast when she heard the thumping of footsteps, the sound of a body hitting the wall, and then the bathroom door slamming, soon followed by the sound of retching. She sighed. She'd heard hangovers were a bitch, but had never gotten drunk before. Sure, she'd had a beer before at a party that her dad didn't know about, but she'd hated the taste. She set the table with two plates, covered the food, and went to go watch some TV.

Arthur finally had nothing else to give to the porcelain goddess, and he sat back against the wall of his bathroom. Wait…his bathroom was much larger. This wasn't his house... By the looks of it, maybe a cheap hotel, considering there wasn't much of anything in it.

Then he noticed the lotions, the hairdryer, and the feminine shampoos. Dear god, had he slept with someone?

Eventually, he felt his legs stop shaking, and he stood up. Well, time to face the music. He walked into the hallway, and noticed it was a very small apartment, probably one of those 'already furnished' ones that you rarely see anymore. There was only one bed, the one he'd been in…

He stepped into the small kitchen/ living area to smell wonderful food…and Anna?

She turned and smiled at him, getting up and going over to the food.

He had known he'd gotten smashed last night, but…no. Anna wouldn't have…

"Well, glad you're finally up, Mr. Kirkland. You know, if I'd known this would happen, I'd never have put my number in your phone." She smiled tenderly at him.

He totally misread what she'd said, and started freaking out.

"Oh good lord! What happened last night? We didn't…?" She had been scooping eggs onto two plates, but it dawned on her what he'd been thinking. Her eyes flew open wide, and she looked at him, startled.

"God, no! No! You got really drunk last night, and me, being first on your speed dial, got called to pick you up at 2 am. NOTHING HAPPENED!" She set both plates down on the small table in the kitchenette. Then, she herself sat down, and motioned for him to do the same.

"Oh, that is quiet a relief. Thank you so much for…" They both fell silent, and started to eat. Finally, Anna broke the silence

"It was nothing. But, if I may be so rude, to ask who Alfred is?" Arthur immediately began to choke on a chunk of egg. Anna looked at him, obviously not expecting this reaction.

"I'm sorry! Godammit, I can never tell when it is a good time to bring these kind of things up, if ever." She couldn't see Arthur's face, seeing as he was looking downward. "It's just that you thought that was who I was after I dumped you in my bed…that sounds awkward, but anyway, you grabbed my wrist and told me not to leave…" She felt tears of embarrassment fill her eyes. Good lord, now she'd never be able to have a natural conversation with Arthur again, and he wouldn't keep her on after college, and might not let her go home…

"It's ok." She looked up quickly to see Arthur smiling. But the smile contained more sadness than happiness. Alfred, well, where to start with Alfred."

Arthur felt his memories swim around him, and for once, he didn't repress them.

"Alfred and I had known each other for a very long time, 'grown up' together, I guess you could say, but we hadn't always gotten along, and we only spoke to one another off and on for years."

He'd sat in that row of chairs, thinking of how it had taken the both of them all that time to see that their bickering had been caused by mutual feelings. He remembered that first kiss; hesitant Alfred had been, that one night. Arthur was heading back to his hotel after another late meeting, when Alfred had forcefully accompanied him, saying that it was dark, and that New York was no place for an Englishman in the dark. Now that he looked back, it had been a load of bullshit.

Alfred had walked him, nonetheless, and when they were a good block and a half away, crossing a small bridge to god knows where, Alfred had taken hold of his hand, and pulled Arthur to a halt. Without giving the Brit time to complain, he pressed his lips the Arthur's. They never ran so fast to Arthur's hotel. And never slept in so late the next morning…

It all had started there, evolving into a beautiful romance. Then, there was that war, which had started over nothing, but for once, America was not to blame for. Arthur became engaged, and he thought life was going to be just fine, as soon as the war was over. Then Alfred had gotten captured.

He'd sat in that row of chairs, along with all the other representatives and a few government officials, including the president and the prime minister. He felt the weight of that black band around his arm. They'd asked for Alfred's dog tags, to bury with the remains they'd found. Arthur hadn't asked to see the remains, wanting to keep that image of Alfred's laughing face as he had departed, promising to come back.

The letter of execution had been received two months after Alfred's capture, but no one believed it. Arthur had clung to that disbelief for over a year, thinking every morning that this was the day Alfred would walk thru the front door with his bags, or that he'd get a call to rush to the airport to greet his hero. Then, right before they signed the treaty, a team from the government found pits behind one of the POW camps, with piles of remains, and they'd found Alfred there.

It had been like a punch to the gut. He couldn't believe it, he wouldn't. He had hesitantly handed over those dog tags, not truly believing that America, that ALFRED was gone.

It was two days before the funeral when he had received the package. He'd called Matthew and Francis to spend the day with him that morning. He remembered when he'd pulled his own dog tags from the manila envelope. How he'd started to sob, Matthew along with him, and Francis struggling hard to keep dry-eyed himself. Alfred was gone.

He listened to Alfred's last rites, numb to the world. He held Matthew's hand thru the whole mass, for strength and to keep them both together. The President had said a eulogy; they'd had a luncheon afterword. He remembered nothing. All Arthur knew was that Alfred was gone.

Everywhere he looked, he'd see a little smiling face, or he'd daydream about those nights of passion. At night, he was plagued with the most beautiful tortures of all.

In his dreams, every night since the funeral, he'd dreamed that Alfred had come back to him. They always sat on a bench in his dreams, and Alfred would hold his hand and whisper lovely things in his ear, only to find when he awoke, he remembered nothing that had been said, and would remember that Alfred was gone, and never coming back.

"The other count—diplomats, well, they got over it, for the most part. Alfred's brother, Matthew, he still goes every year to the cemetery. I…I haven't been back since the funeral. I tried once, but never made it into the gate. I couldn't. Yet, I still hold onto his promise. I'm waiting…"

"So," Anna had listened to it all, and Arthur was sure a silent tear had graced her pretty face at one point. He'd had to stop telling the story twice because his own tears weren't that silent. "That man who tried to get me in bed with him, Francis, he knew Alfred as well?"

"Yes. We are a very strange group of diplomats, kind of like a family. Francis likes to barge into my office every once and awhile to try and cheer me up."

"You truly loved each other, you and Alfred."

"Yes, and I think we still do."

Author's note: Next chapter...AMERICA!

I will most likely have the next chapter up tomorrow. But I might not seeing as apparently the 'rapture' is tomorrow, one of the many predictions this guy has been coming up with over the years. Heard about it today in Bio. I'm sorry, but god, tomorrow I'm going roller blading with my friends. Can you pick another day to judge the quick and the dead?

SO tomorrow, ROLLERBLADING...OR...RAPTURE!

ROLLERBLADING FOR RAPTURE!

But if he's right, hey, good for him! Whatever he wants to believe, its a free country, and I won't stomp on his religious beliefs. But I still find it amusing...and scary at the same time. People are quitting their jobs and emptying their bank accounts...

I just was part of a one-sided argument about why the vet should have a better AD. So we did need more diabetic cat food...

Thank you to all reviewers! I was looking at the number of people who viewed last chapter (233) and the number of reviewers (13). but hey...whatever. I get excited by 1 review... or private message, I love talking with people...only child angst!

Fun fact: Both whales and snakes have hip bones, and we humans have tail bones. All three have no purpose.