Author's Note:
Wrote this for father's day. Forgot to post it. Pretend this is still June 18th lol. Oops.
In hindsight, England figured there were a lot of things he could have done differently. Not that he would have, of course, given the chance, but he probably should have. Maybe then he wouldn't be spending another lonely day over one-too-many glasses of whisky, trying to calm the lonely ache inside. But England hadn't done anything differently, so he had nothing left to do but stew over his whiskey in disgruntled drunkenness, trying to disassociate from reality and forget about anyone he wished would come visit.
Maybe that's why he jumped so high when the door suddenly slammed open, splashing himself with liquor in the process.
"England! We came to visit!" America's too-loud voice heralded his appearance seconds before he appeared in the doorway, where he froze, eyeing the floppy mess of England in disgust. "Dude, what's wrong with you? You look like a mess."
Canada peaked around America at England too, then sighed, half-exasperated and half-sad. "Drinking? Again?"
England was so flustered he couldn't think of a word to say in response, and America echoes Canada's sigh, with a lot more exasperation, and strode over to England, hauling him up by the arm effortlessly.
"Forget it, there's no time. Hurry and go wash up before the other's get here. You stink."
"The others?" England was completely lost.
America offered no explanation, and only shoved England towards the stairs.
"Hurry Up! Canada and I will clean up."
"And don't forget to dress nicely!' Canada added, already gathering up the alcohol bottle and empty cup.
England could have sworn he was dying, then and there. America had just offered toclean.Surely the world must be ending! But it was clear he wasn't going to get any answer or explanation until he cleaned up a bit, and he was still feeling rather buzzed. A quick and cool shower later, he was feeling a little more sober,though no less bewildered, when he dressed himself in neat, un-alcohol-scented clothing, and started down the stairs to see what was going on.
He didn't even reach the bottom before he heard another loud and raucous voice, that for once, didnotbelong to America.
"Crikey, Mate! No way? Without me?"
Undeniably Autralia's choppy accent, which only confused England further. What was Australia doing there? He hurried down the stairs and followed the noisy voices to the sitting room, which was much fuller than he expected it to be.
"What are you all doing here?"
He wasn't actually all that surprised to New Zealand lying on the back of Canada's chair, engaged in an animated discussion, he actually expected him to be there ever since he'd heard Australia's voice. As far as England was concerned, Australia and New Zealand were a pair, just as Canada and America were. What surprised him more was Hong-kong, rifling through England's bookshelf in the corner,
"Whaddya mean?" New Zealand was the one to answer, giving England a perplexed look. "Today's the one day we definitely have to spend with you, right?"
Which answered none of England's questions, and he hurriedly went through a mental list of any important events related to him on this date, and came up drawing a blank. Nothing he could think of would warrant them all showing up together on this date, hell, America hadn't even shown up on his birthday! And New Zealand barely visited ever, claiming he washappiest in his own lands, rolling fresh hills and, most importantly, far away from any country that might confuse him for Australia (which happened quite often, surprisingly, given that the two looked nothing alike).
Unfortunately, he wasn't given the chance to consider this more in-depth.
"Yo Teach!" Hong-Kong demanded his attention in that crude way England rather disliked (he swore America was the one who taught Hong-Kong to speak like that, certainly it hadn't come from him). "Lets go! We'll be late!"
'Late'? Late for what? But the ex-colonies were already bickering again.
"Really?" Australia demanded of Hong-Kong, "You're calling him thattoday?"
England was even more mystified. What else would Hong-Kong call him? He'd always referred to England as "teacher" as long as England could remember. And why the emphasis on 'today'? But before he could question anything further he was half-carried off by a wave of countries, and pushed into America's truck and buckled in before he knew what was happening. Canada and Hong-Kong slid into the back seat, and Australia and New Zealand chose to (illegally) ride in the back, already bickering about something England couldn't even understand. In Fact, he was so dazed that they had already been driving for quite a bit when he suddenly snapped to and realized he'd been mysteriously kidnapped by countries he considered something akin to his kids.
"Wait a minute!" England protested as soon as this thought occurred to him, "Where exactly are you taking me? What's going on?"
And the babble of the three ex-colonies in the cab suddenly stopped.
America broke the silence first, confused. "What do you mean? We're celebrating, of course!"
England was beginning to get frustrated. "Celebrating? But why?"
Again, a painful silence, and then Canada spoke up, his tone a little too gentle and soft. "But you knew we were coming today, right, England? "
"I think he forgot what day it is." Hong-kong offered,but he sounded solemn, like he didn't actually believe his own words.
Now England was definitely frustrated. "I know the date very well, and we had nothing planned for it, so i don't know why you are all acting like i should have known that you were coming over!"
The entire cab of the truck was painfully silent as America pulled into a driveway and stopped the truck, and England looked from one face to another, hoping for answers, but all he got in return were twisted expressions he'd never seen before. Even America looked somewhat hurt, like England had somehow offended him with his words.
"What?" England demanded.
Australia wrenched open the driver's side door impatiently, demanding "What's going on? Are ya not getting out?" But then he stopped at America's expression. "What's wrong?"
America responded by pushing Australia out ofthe way and jumping out of the car, for once sporting an eerie silence, and Canada muttered, "Oh no," and quickly slipped out his side and chase after America. Hong-kong filled in the other two brothers who hadn't been part of the conversation as he disembarked himself.
"Teach didn't think we were gonna come today."
New Zealand turned to England with a gasp and wide eyes. "No way, that's not true, is it mate? You had ta have known we'd come!"
England , despite not knowing anything, was beginning to feel like somehow he had messed up, and responded awkwardly as he slid out of the truck himself.
"Well, its not that i didn't think you would come so much as i didn't expect you to come today," He blustered, brushing out his clothes, "I do apologize if we had plans on this date, i simply can't recall any at all. Im not quite sure what's going on, to be honest."
Australia opened and closed his mouth silently, for once at a loss for words, and looked towards America for an answer. America was standing with his head down, and his fists clenched, his expression twisted and troubled.
"America?" Canada pressed, "Are you okay?"
And America finally spoke, in strange, halting sentences, almost like he was actually thinking about what he was going to say before he said it, which was something hee never did.
"Listen, " AMerica began, "I know..I haven't always been the best to you...and I don't go to your birthday parties, or like, anything you throw, actually, but still!"
America suddenly snapped, spinning to face england head on, and England flinched at the earnest hurt in America's eyes.
"How could you think that we wouldn't come to celebrate with you on Father's day?"
For a second, England was frozen. Then two. Then, weakly, "Father's day?"
Hong-kong spoke from next to his elbow, making England jump, "You forgot, didn't you?"
And slowly but surely, England remembered a Nation holiday that was celebrated today.
"Father's day." Herepeated weakly,feeling overwhelmed."No, that's, its not that i forgot, per se..."
He's probably confuse because last year we celebrated on our father's day, which is September." New Zealand suggested, but Australia looked unconvinced.
"You knew we would celebrate with you, though, right, Mate? I mean, you're not our Dad, but you practically raised us, which is kinda the same thing."
ANd England's dizzy mind was recalling the event last year. He'd attended at Australia's request, and gone to the big Father's day celebration, but he hadn't given it any thought at the time, just assumed it was a party for all fathers and that, like America, Australia and New Zealand just liked any excuse to party. Now, slowly, he was beginning to understand. His eyes caught the large banner hung on the front of America's house.
"Happy Father's Day!"
"England?"
Canada questioned timidly, and England tried to catch his bearings, looking from one solemn face to another. The thing that they were celebrating wasn't just "fatehr's day". It was him. England felt a lump catch in his throat and quickly swallowed it.
"Of course i knew," He assured them falsely, voice thick with emotion, "I simply forgot that it was today, because of last year and i admit, I had a bit of a drink this morning and I Fear its not quite gone."
And the relieved chuckles and sighs and expressions told England that he was right not to let on that he honestly had never expected this in a million years. America turned away, flushing hard, and blusted his way through his embarrassment.
"Well, anyways, lets go in! there's a lo of other's here too, ya know. Its not like you're the only father-figure who gets celebrated today!" and with a huff, America escaped to the sanctuary of the loud party.
"Who else is here?" Australia asked Canada curiously, and he answered, ticking off countries on his fingers.
"Oh, China, i think, and Sealand brought Sweden, and Kugelmugel brought Austria, and of course France-"
The two moved inside while talking, and New Zealand came up and took England's arm, supportingly.
"Mate? You okay?"
To his horror, England realized his eyes were watering, and quickly wiped the tears away.
"M'fine, just got something in my eyes."
Hong-kong huffed a laugh at that, like he'd seen right through England, but he only stepped around England, heading for the loud party inside. At the last moment, he stopped before the door and turned to look at England, some sort of emotion gleaming in his eyes.
"Happy Father's Day, Teacher."
Then Hong-kong slipped inside and New Zealand exploded next to England.
"Hey! We were supposed to say that together!"
And he ran after Hong-kong in frustration.
And England- England stood there for a moment, processing many difficult emotions and looking up at the Father's day banner, making secret resolutions to himself about the future. After some time had passed and he felt like he was under enough control, England stepped forward, climbing the steps to America's door and letting himself inside the loud party, bracing himself to deal with France.
But maybe, just maybe, England thought to himself, He'd done at least one thing right, or else he wouldn't be there that day, not like this. At the very least, he must have don't something to let him be able to experience this feeling. That, and he was coming to terms with, though he couldn't change the past, the future was still malleable,and there was a lot he could do differently going forwards.
Australia caught him in a headlock suddenly, and before he could protest he heard five voices chorus something he'd never dared to hope he could hear in his life.
"Happy Father's Day , England!"
And to England, it was a very happy Father's Day indeed.