50 States: Chapter 23

By lunchtime, many American dishes had been set on the tables and the North American family members were either seated or making last minute preparations. Most of the nations have not shown up yet. Only America, Estonia, Latvia, Ukraine, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Sealand, and the godparents were present in the dining hall. Delaware and New Jersey had left the nations to clean themselves up and were seated with the Mid-Atlantic states, eager to get some much-needed food to settle their growling stomachs.

"France and North Italy are quite the whiners." Charity commented after fixing her plate. Her meal of choice was a crab cake on a roll, french fries, and coleslaw. "None of our siblings have complained the way they did even when they were little."

"I hear ya." Ethan grumbled, taking a bite of his sloppy joe. "I hate the fact that the closest showers are on the same floor as the capitals rooms. Who's to say they won't try to snoop again?"

"After today's consequences?" Delaware asked, raising an eyebrow. "I highly doubt that they're dumb enough to face our wrath a second time."

"I wouldn't put it past them." Maryland cut in, swallowing a bite of buffalo wing. "The Frenchie never takes no for an answer, the stupid pervert."

"I hear Turkey's pretty similar but not a complete wimp." New York added, darkly. "Dilara Teyze still hates talking about him."

Pennsylvania picked at his food, something he usually did when he was deep in thought.

"I'm a little worried about Aunt Lizzie." He said. At their questioning looks he explained. "France harasses the limey a lot and since London is a woman..."

New Jersey cursed and immediately stood up from his seat.

"What are you doing?" Mason asked, his eyes wide with surprise at his brother's sudden movement. But Ethan was out the door before he was even halfway through his sentence. Adam then looked around the room.

"Do any of you notice that Aunt Lizzie isn't here?" He asked.

And then Delaware was gone.

…...

London walked as quickly as she could down the hallway, not wanting to bump into another nation. She had left her walkie talkie in her room and Elizabeth had cursed her own stupidity once she realized this. Unfortunately, luck itself seemed to detest her today and one of the door's opened to have her come face to face with France of all nations, who was wearing nothing but a towel.

"Honhonhon, bonjour Londres." France purred. London stiffened but kept her expression neutral and diverted her eyes while gripping the pepper spray Ethan had given her earlier.

"Excuse me." Elizabeth tried to walk around him but France caught her by the waist and pulled her to his chest, trapping her arm and preventing her from using her only weapon of defense. "Let me go! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Ma cherie, don't be frightened." France laughed, his hands beginning to roam. "I will not hurt you."

Elizabeth's face burned with anger and humiliation. She then spotted an opening and slammed her head into the Frenchman's chin. France's hands flew to his injured chin and London broke into a sprint. After turning at a corner, Elizabeth opened the first door she came in contact with and dashed inside. Elizabeth yelped when she slammed into someone as soon as she went inside and the other person let out a grunt as they were knocked to the floor with the Englishwoman on top of them.

"OW! Like, what the hell?!" The person exclaimed. London gasped, sitting upright and her face flushed again. She had ran into Poland, who only had a towel around his waist. Not to mention the position they were in. Elizabeth's hands were on his chest, their limbs were tangled together, and her crotch was pressed against Poland's.

Feliks's face was nearly as red as his flag and he had to bite his lip to suppress a moan when he felt London press herself against his groin. Both were in a state of shock, trying to comprehend if this was really happening.

"Honhonhon, Londres!" France called in a sing song tone.

Poland noticed London stiffen and her expression was somewhere between irritation and fear. Feeling a surge of protectiveness, Feliks quickly but gently helped London to her feet and closed the door before pressing his ear against it, listening for any sound of the perverted Frenchman. Behind him, London couldn't help eyeing Poland's figure. From what she's heard, Poland was known to be a cross dresser and rather girly. But she was seeing him with next to nothing on his figure and was starting to question that statement. Feliks wasn't bulky but his body was well toned with lean muscles with a few scars here and there but they looked very attractive on his figure.

Elizabeth diverted her gaze when Feliks turned to look at her, hoping he didn't catch her staring.

"He's gone." Poland said, opening the door for her.

Before stepping out, London bowed her head and turned to face him, or tried to at least.

"I apologize for intruding." She said, softly. "And thank you."

Elizabeth walked out quickly before he could reply, her cheeks still red as the Virginias' hair.

…...

New York glanced up from his steak as the doors to the dining hall opened, hoping to see Delaware and New Jersey with London but was slightly disappointed to see Brussels and Amsterdam enter. Another thought suddenly occurred to him. Would the rest of the nations have to meet their capitals or even the states?

However, he was glad that only 23 nations (not including his father, aunt, uncle, or the godparents), plus Sealand, had attended that meeting two days ago. Having all the nations at once would have been too much for their father to bear. America was prone to headaches, stomach ailments, and exhaustion from all his work as a superpower and caring for his family. Adam felt his heart clench at what might happen to his Dad if none of the older states or capitals helped with some of the work.

He breathed a sigh of relief when Charity and Ethan finally entered with Elizabeth. Ethan was standing beside his Aunt like a bodyguard, ready to jump anyone who dared to come near her. Once she was seated with Paris, DC, and Ottawa, Charity and Ethan went back to their seats with Adam, Mason, and William. The states were all sitting in their usual seats today. Mid-Atlantic, New England, Midwest, the South, Southwest, and the West.

Just then, Minnesota entered the dining hall and skittered to the table where the rest of the Midwestern states were seated while keeping her hand on a small bag slung over her shoulder.

"What kept you, Minnie?" Illinois asked as the thirteen-year-old helped herself to a slice of tater tot hotdish.

Caroline glanced over her shoulders before gesturing for her midwestern siblings to lean in.

"I stole something from one of the nations." She whispered, smiling with pride and patting the bag.

Michigan raised her eyebrows. "Care to tell us what it is?"

Caroline leaned in to whisper in Chloe's ear before doing the same to Rebecca. "I took Hungary's camera."

Michigan and Missouri whispered what their sister told them to the rest of the Midwest. From Michigan, to Kansas, Iowa, Indiana, and finally, to Illinois. Missouri's whispers were delivered to Nebraska, the Dakotas, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

"No way!" James quietly exclaimed.

"Well done, Minnie!" Theodore gave her a thumbs up.

"Did you look inside?" Pamela asked.

"What's in it?" George exclaimed. The Midwest instantly hushed him.

"What's in it?" John repeated his twin's question in a whisper.

Caroline shook her head. "I don't know. I haven't checked it out yet."

"What kind of pictures do you think are in there?" Zachary asked.

"I bet it's blackmail worthy." Victoria declared, her blue eyes shining with mischief.

"I wanna be there when you look at the pictures!" Benjamin added. Violet bit her lip. As much as she normally loves getting kicks out of the nations, something was telling her that she didn't want to know what kind of pictures were in Hungary's camera.

"Suit yourselves, I got plans with Dėdė." She said, before taking a bite out of her horseshoe sandwich. Violet's gut was telling her she wouldn't regret her decision and she had her wonderful godfather to thank for that. Besides, she was completely satisfied with getting back at Poland with her skunk trap, Hungary had just been a bonus.

A few minutes later, the nations walked in, clean and dry. When London caught sight of Poland, she immediately turned back to her plate. This didn't go unnoticed by the capitals she was sitting with.

"Are you alright, Elizabeth?" Paris asked, concerned. "You look a little red."

"I'm fine." The English capital mumbled, pushing her food around with her fork. She didn't feel hungry anymore. DC and Ottawa glanced at each other. They have never seen London act like this. Emily and Meg have seen Elizabeth angry, scared, sad, and happy, but she looked...embarrassed. This was unusual, for Elizabeth was a cautious but confident woman.

"Are you sure?" Marianne asked, gently. Her expression then became tight. "Did any of the nations bother you?"

Before she could answer, London heard someone clear their throat.

"Excuse me." A Polish accent came from behind her. Startled, Elizabeth dropped her fork which landed with a loud 'clank' and turned to meet Poland's catlike green eyes.

Feliks looked nearly as embarrassed as her and offered Elizabeth his hand. "Like, sorry to bother you London, but do you have a moment?"

London looked at his outstretched hand and then analyzed his expression for a moment before accepting his hand. She stood up and followed Poland out of the dining hall. Elizabeth never felt so small and vulnerable as she did at this moment.

"Like, London, are you okay?"

Finding herself too mortified to speak, she only nodded and tried to keep herself from blushing.

"Look, I-" Poland ran a hand through his hair nervously before continuing. "I just wanted to apologize. Y-you know...for earlier."

Elizabeth stammered in shock. "W-what-I mean...y-you're sorry?! I should be the one apologizing! I didn't even bother to knock-"

"You already did." Feliks cut her off. "Besides, France was chasing you. Like, that guy can be a total douchebag. I've seen him flirt and he's only been successful with desperate older women."

London ran his words over in her head again, and burst out laughing. "That's believable."

"So, we're okay?" Poland asked.

Elizabeth nodded and offered her hand, expecting a handshake. To her surprise, Feliks took her hand delicately and kissed it. Despite her shock, a warmth washed over her like a wave and she couldn't help sharing a smile with the Pole. As they headed back into the dining hall, Poland opened the door for her and allowed her to enter first.

I can see why Polish soldiers were the talk of London during the war. Elizabeth thought as she returned to her seat and watched Feliks join the rest of the nations at their assigned table. She had to admit, Poland was quite the gentleman. I suppose he's not bad, for a nation anyway.

Maybe, just maybe, London can tolerate the nations staying for a little longer.

AN:

Translations:

Turkish:

Teyze: Aunt

French:

Londres: London

For those who don't know, a horseshoe sandwich is an open-faced sandwich that originated in Springfield, Illinois. It consists of toasted bread, a hamburger patty, french fries, and cheese sauce.

During World War II, Polish soldiers became very popular among Western European women and girls, particularly in the United Kingdom.

Poland is one of the only countries where men still kiss a woman's hand when meeting them.

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