Thanks to MonalisaRomano17 for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

SebHong: Delayed Date

Leon held up two shirts, trying to decide which one would be better. He couldn't believe that he had accepted the offer of a date. His last boyfriend had cheated on him, and he had trouble trusting people for the last three months. But Marcello had been so sincere…

He was pulled from his thoughts when his phone rang. He saw that it was Marcello calling him, and his stomach dropped. He should have known. Marcello was calling to cancel their date. Leon was disappointed, but at least Marcello didn't cancel via text. So then, which excuse was he going to use?

"Hello?" he greeted after answering the phone. Even though he knew what was coming, he might as well listen to the excuse.

"H-hey, Leon," Marcello said. "I'm sorry, but I can't go on a date with you tonight. Or for the next…" There was silence for a moment. "Two weeks. I'm in the hospital. My appendix burst, and they're going to operate on me now. I just… wanted you to know first."

Leon sighed.

"If you didn't want to go on a date with me, then you shouldn't have asked me in the first place," Leon said. "And an emergency operation? Seriously?"

"I-it's true!" Marcello insisted. "And I do want to go on a date with you!"

"Whatever," Leon said, ending the call. He looked back to the two shirts and closed his eyes. He should have known.

It wasn't the first time that someone had asked him out as a prank, and every time, it hurt. He didn't know why he fell for these kinds of things. He should have known better by now. He really should stop hoping.

…

Marcello wasn't in school the next day, and after a bit of querying, Leon found out that he was, indeed, in the hospital with appendicitis. This made him feel guilty for not believing Marcello. Perhaps, if he could manage it, he could go visit Marcello later.

…

Marcello was flipping through the channels, though there was nothing really to watch. The hospital only had four channels, it would seem. None of these had anything that he could consider entertaining. The only thing that seemed promising was the ending of some sort of cooking show.

He turned the TV off, and his thoughts immediately went to Leon. Even though others would say that Leon's voice was emotionless, Marcello knew that he had heard disappointment there. He was aware that Leon had been bullied in the past, and he knew that his last boyfriend had cheated on him. Marcello knew that Leon had a hard time trusting and believing other people. But it hurt to know that Leon didn't trust him.

Marcello leaned back on the pillows and closed his eyes. Perhaps he could try to sleep. He was still tired and groggy from the anaesthesia, but he was thankfully no longer nauseous. It was not fun.

His eyes snapped open when he heard a knock on the door. He turned to see a face that he didn't expect to see.

"Leon?" Marcello asked. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, well…" Leon said. "I'm… sorry I didn't believe you. I was just…"

"It's okay," Marcello said, smiling. "I mean, the timing was completely horrible. At least it didn't happen during our date." Leon was still hovering near the door. "Come on in. Sit down."

Leon nodded, before he sat down on the chair next to Marcello. The Italian smiled.

"I really appreciate you coming to visit me," he said.

"Yeah, well, I thought you'd be bored," Leon said. "So… I brought some cards."

Marcello smiled. The two played go fish until visiting hours were over. Marcello's family would be coming later, but he was glad that he had some alone time with Leon.

"Thank you," Marcello said. "You know, I didn't think that we would have our first date like this."

"…You consider this to be a date?" Leon asked.

"Yeah. I spent some time with the person I like, getting to know them and having fun. Why, don't you think that this was a date?"

Leon hesitated for a moment before he smiled.

"Yeah," he said. "I guess it is."

I think I saw a prompt like this a while back, but I wasn't operating on a prompt. I just thought of the scenario where someone had to go to a hospital before a first date, and having to explain to the other person that they had to go. And appendicitis is something that can happen suddenly enough.