Title: Simplicity Itself.

Rating: T

Beta: TheophilaDonohoe

Warnings: There will be yaoi and fluff and a few sexual hints but not many. There isn't even any cussing for once!…okay, maybe one cuss, but that's England's fault and its only mild!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Hetalia characters.

Summary: England loves America. America loves England. Both are too stubborn to admit it to anyone but themselves and their (begrudging) confidents. So, said confidants decided to take matters into their own hands. Human names and country names used. UK/US. For the Hetalia romance story writing contest round two.

Author's note: ok, just to note, this story is for the Hetalia Romance Story Writing Contest, put together by Fanime-Sensei Strikes Back. This is my entry for round two. I had no idea on the storyline when I started writing and it changed several times half way through production. Still, I hope you guys enjoy it! (3,084 words in case anyone was wondering)

oxo…oxo

France sighed slightly, his long, golden blonde hair falling over his normally sparkling blue eyes and his lightly bearded chin resting boredly in his smooth hand, as Germany proceeded to go on and on about some stupid minor 'issue' no one really cared about.

Seriously, he thought in vague irritation, you'd think we'd stick to the actual important stuff like Greece's finance issues and global warming, but nooooo~ we're stuck listening to something about a collapsed stadium in…Canada.

The one good thing that came from this particular meeting was that most of the few female countries were sat in front of him, their trousers just that little bit too tight or their skirts just that little bit too short. Just the way he liked it.

A small smirk came to his face as Belgium shifted in her seat, pleated grey skirt shifting with her to rest a little further up her legs than it had been before. He was just imagining what the rest of the leg would look like when a loud sigh from the person next to him cut through his thoughts. He looked round.

England, with his short, dirty blonde hair and emerald green eyes that were shadowed by his monstrous sized eyebrows, was sat staring at someone across the room with a badly hidden 'dreamy' gaze. The blonde Brit wasn't a bad looking country at all, in Francis' opinion, and he sure that, if the man ever asked him, France would not say no…but unfortunately for the Frenchman, Arthur was taken.

Well, almost.

"You really should just tell him how you feel mon ami," he told the Englishman beside him in a hushed whisper, knocking the other out of his dazed staring and causing him to glare at Francis with as much hate as he could muster.

"Bugger off Frog," he hissed, his voice low enough so not to be heard but still loud enough to seem like he was shouting. Francis didn't flinch, only proceeding to raise a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

"Seriously, you obviously love him. Why not show your affections for once?"

Arthur continued to glare. "He hates me. Why the hell would I tell him I liked him?"

"Because he actually loves you back but only doesn't show it because he thinks that you hate him?"

There was a scoff of disbelief.

"Yeah right."

A pout.

"You do not trust me mon cher?"

"Hell no."

Francis lifted his head from his hand with a small frown. "Why not?"

Arthur's eyes narrowed considerably. "Do I seriously need to answer that?" he asked, but when France's expression didn't change he gave a small tut. "Two words." He lifted up two fingers and held them in front of his face. "Hair," he folded one down. "Cut." He folded the other.

"Oh, come on! That was years ago!" France replied with a scowl, throwing his hands into the air in defeat.

"That does not matter, it still happened and I still don't trust you."

Francis said nothing, instead just watching as Arthur went back to ogling his love. Narrowing his eyes, the Frenchman turned his own eyes on the one who had caught England's attention. His eyes were met with familiar blonde hair and blue eyes, the small flick of hair that always stood erect on the boy's head drooping slightly as he sat with head in hands; also very bored at the meeting.

France had overheard a conversation between America and Japan the day before. It was a conversation that had sparked him with hope for his English friend, and fed his love of amour. A smirk came to his face as he thought upon the words America had spoken.

"He hates me Kiku, hates me. How on earth can I tell Arthur I love him when I know he'll just throw it back in my face?"

It was almost identical to what England had just said to him. He shook his head at their obliviousness. Looking back around the large table, his eyes caught the Japanese man's doe brown ones. They looked at each other for a short moment, before nodding simultaneously; decision made.

It took only the short while of the meeting that was left for France to complete his brilliant plan, a smug smile unable to be wiped from his face as he packed his things back into his case (not that he had actually used them at all throughout the meeting). Slowly, he began to meander his way out of the room, 'coincidently' exiting through the door at the same time as Japan, the dark haired nation only casting him a short glance as they walked side by side down the hallway.

They walked in silence for a long time, only stopping when they were sure there would be no other nations around to overhear their conversation. Japan looked up at the blonde nation with an unreadable expression, turning away and coughing lightly in order to lighten the strange tension that had built up between the pair.

France sighed slightly, taking the cough as a hint.

"Those two are hopeless," he said in exasperation, his accent thicker than usual as he spoke. It was a habit that tended to be shown when he was talking to a nation he hadn't had a huge amount of contact with. It made him more…French. Something he liked to make sure he came across as on first impression, despite there being no one who would mistake him for anything other.

Kiku looked up at him before nodding slightly. "Hai, I agree," he replied. There was a small beat of silence before he spoke again. "But how will we help them?"

A small smirk began to form upon Francis' lips as the plan that had formed in his mind began to rush through his head once again. The smirk still growing, he looked down at a suddenly rather curious looking Japan.

"Oh, do not worry mon ami. I have a plan."

xxx…xxx

Arthur sighed slightly as he walked into the meeting room the next day. He was, in no way, looking forwards to this. Usually, he had no problem concentrating in meetings, taking note of everything that was said for his boss to read when he got back. But this time, however, he had been finding it harder and harder to concentrate. It irked him greatly.

What's more, he thought irritably as a certain blonde Frenchman sat down next to him, I was placed next to the frog.

Francis, strangely enough, said nothing as he sat down in his place, not even looking at his English rival as he got out his equipment and papers. England eyed him cautiously, his green orbs never leaving the Frenchman. There had to be some kind of catch to this silence. The Frenchman was never this silent without a reason, especially when it was time that could have been spent making fun of him.

Not wanting to look a gift horse in the mouth, he said nothing either; slowly beginning to relax. It was that, he would reflect later, that was his downfall.

Half an hour into the meeting, when Arthur had completely relaxed, France leaned over slightly before blowing softly into his ear. England jerked up from where he had been slightly slumped in his chair, eyes wide and breath short. His orbs swung quickly to meet Francis' who only winked before placing a finger to his lips. Arthur growled softly, glaring at the other man but refraining from raising his voice in the middle of Japan's talk.

"What the hell?" he hissed, causing France to tut softly.

"You were staring into space. I thought I would wake you from your perverted daydreams."

Arthur's face reddened. "I was not thinking anything perverted, frog!" he spluttered back, embarrassed beyond hell.

Francis smirked slyly. "Your little problem tells me otherwise mon cher."

Arthur, if possible, became even redder, ignoring the rest of them as some sort of heated discussion broke out. He wasn't sure what I was about but he was sure glad that the other nations in the room (specifically America) were concentrating on things other than this conversation.

"I-I…you should not be looking there!"

France chuckled slightly, before turning his head to settle on the blonde American. The boy was laughing heartily at something that was being said, a sure sign the meeting was going to pot.

"You know, he does not hate you. I spoke to Japan last night-"

"I really don't need to know what you and Kiku were doing last night," Arthur cut through Francis' story, causing the French nation to frown slightly.

"We were doing nothing of the sort! Japan is not the type, or my type for that matter. But that is not the point. I was talking to Japan last night and he told me that America is afraid of showing you his true feelings because you are so hostile towards him. He believes you would laugh at him for it."

England opened his mouth to retort before freezing as the full meaning of his words sunk in. closing his mouth again, he proceeded to stare at the blonde American on the other side of the room with an expression akin to shock.

"He thinks that?" was the whispered reply. France frowned at the painful way his begrudged friend uttered the words.

"You don't exactly give him a reason to think otherwise."

England didn't reply, and remained silent for a long while before he turned his head to look at the Frenchman beside him.

"What should I do?"

France's expression softened slightly and a small smile came to his face.

"Oh Arthur, you only need to show the boy how wrong he is."

xxx…xxx

America sighed loudly, flicking through the channels that were available on the hotel room TV. There were only three English channels. He knew to expect the lack of watchable channels really and honestly had to admit that three was rather a lot for a foreign speaking hotel. He reminded himself to thank Germany for that later.

Sighing in frustrated boredom, he could feel his mind wandering into potentially hazardous areas of thought. England. Throwing his remote away in disgust, he ruffled his hands through his hair, tugging at the blonde locks as if pulling his hair out would pull the thoughts out as well.

It didn't work, and only proceeded to give him a headache as well.

Groaning loudly, he turned over in his bed; only vaguely listening to the woman on the television who kept chirping on about something or another in hurried Italian. He had made it his mission to learn at least the basics of all the languages in the world, so that he could recognise what was being spoken if nothing else. He knew others like England (dangerous thoughts!) knew them all fluently, being an awful lot older than himself and so having had a lot more time to learn.

With all the thoughts that were racing round his head right now, he found focusing on the language too hard and his thoughts finally flew reluctantly back to what had happened at the end of the meeting.

Japan had been oddly forceful when he had told Alfred he needed to talk to him. He had even proceeded to push him from the room and onto the streets of Berlin, where the meeting was being held this year.

"What's the matter Kiku?" he had asked, only to have those oddly emotional brown eyes focus on him.

"I know I am not usually one to be forceful or blunt," the Japanese man had said, eyes and voice hard. "But you know as well as I that you cannot stay like this. If you keep all that emotion inside you without telling him…it will consume you."

He had said nothing to Japan, but he had to admit that his friend was right. His emotions were killing him, destroying him from the inside. He had never been one to keep things bottled up, and keeping such a painful emotion inside him was harder than he had ever imagined it would be.

Frowning slightly at a knock that came from his hotel door, he rolled off the bed and swung his feet round so that they caught him before he fell. Then he sauntered over to the door, shirt and trousers crumpled from all Alfred's tossing and turning. Opening it unhurriedly, he was surprised to see who was on the other side.

England was still wearing his grey suit jacket and black trousers. His tie was undone from its usual pristine arrangement, as if it had been fiddled with many times before being left undone along with the top button of the shirt. The jacket had been left open as well, and the man's usual waistcoat had been taken off. He looked nervous, fiddling with his cuffs with his eyes fixed on the floor. The strangest thing about the whole arrangement, though, was the single red rose that poked its head out from his jacket pocket.

Alfred gulped.

"England?" he asked, causing the blonde before him to flinch slightly. It was enough to make America frown slightly, unsure as to exactly what was going on and not sure he really liked it. "Was there something you wanted dude?"

There was a short silence before Arthur pulled his eyes up to focus on the American's startled blue ones. There was an emotion set in those bright green orbs that Alfred had trouble placing. It was one he recognised having seen in the Englishman before, but had never been able to place. England opened his mouth to speak before clearing his throat and licking his lips before trying again.

"Uh, yes. There was something I...I wanted to tell you. Um…can I come in?"

Alfred stepped aside in a daze, making room for Arthur to walk past him. He had never heard Arthur sound so nervous before, his sentences unsure and disjointed. The elder man had always seemed so stoic to him before. It was something that made a small smile appear on his lips, but he smothered it as he closed the door, looking round to see that Arthur was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

"So, what was it you wanted to tell me?"

England looked up at him, that same expression on his face again; this time mixed with anxiety, fear and…affection?

"Francis said something rather interesting to me today. He said he'd been talking to Kiku and that he told him something rather…interesting."

America licked his lips, nervous. "Oh yes?" he asked, trying to look innocent. Arthur raised his eyebrow at the attempt, but said nothing of it.

"Indeed. Apparently, you have a crush on me but don't want to tell me because you believe that I will laugh at you."

America froze, fear rushing through him at the pure annoyance the last sentence had been said with. He kept his eyes on England, the blonde's green eyes having narrowed ominously, and let out a short, forced laugh; squirming at the high pitch it came out in.

"Did he really?" he asked with another high pitched laugh, his voice also a couple of octaves higher than usual. Clearing his throat, he continued. "I don't know what he was going on about! I really don't like you all that much!"

As soon as the words were out he regretted them, seeing the flash of pain that flickered through England's green eyes before anger overtook them.

"Is that so? Thank you for clearing that up for me. I wouldn't have wanted to think you were actually stupid enough to have feelings for me!"

Alfred flinched at those words, the meaning behind them stinging his heart as the shorter man turned to the door. Having only a second or so to make his decision, he took a chance, grasping hold of Arthur's wrist and pulling him back to face him. Arthur growled slightly in shock and anger, his eyes wide as he looked up into America's desperate face.

The wind was blown from both of them as they stood there, faces barely inches away from each other. Then, Alfred's eyes widened as Arthur seemed to snap out of it, eyes narrowing dangerously. Getting ready for Arthur to wrench his hand back and storm from the room, Alfred was completely taken by surprised when, with a hissed curse, Arthur's lips crashed into his own.

He groaned, letting go of the Englishman's wrist in favour of winding his hands into Arthur's hair, their lips moving hypnotically together; working as one in order to nip, suck and nuzzle the others skin.

"I love you," came Alfred's breathed whisper through their kiss. Arthur didn't react, and for a moment, Alfred thought it had become lost in their lips. But then he felt Arthur's mouth curve against his, his tongue tracing the gap between the American's lips with great relish before pulling back slightly.

"I love you too," the Englishman said, his warm breath fluttering gently against Alfred's. The American's heart beat rocketed and a grin made its way to his face as he crushed Arthur's mouth to his own again, drowning the Englishman's chuckles with a loud, happy groan.

xxx…xxx

"Objective achieved."

"Nicely done there mon ami. I think we will continue to get along splendidly, don't you?"

"Hai. We make a good team."

"Don't you guys do anything without me! I need to be here to document your successes!"

"You mean, 'film and create yoai stories on'?"

"Of course~!"

"Do not worry, Hungary-san. We will make sure you are informed next time as well."

"…I never realised you were such a pervert Japan. Oh~ look at that blushing face~! Maybe you are might type after all…"

"Nani?"

"Don't worry Japan, I wont let him have you."

"Uh…Arigatou?"

"You guys are no fun, you know that?"

"Buzz off France. No one likes you."

"Ouch, that stings mon cher!"

"Good."

France scowled at the brunette, who only stuck her tongue out at the blonde. Watching with a small sigh, he tuned his attention back to the pair in the hotel room. Allowing a small smile to grace his face, he nodded. They made such a good pair.

And they gave such a good show if you looked through the right windows. It was a good thing the hotel room was only on the first floor. And had a balcony.

He chuckled. This had been a very good day, for everyone.

oxo…oxo

Fail ending is fail.

Dear readers,

I hope you like this well enough. It was created on a very short notice due to exams, but I got it done! I'm sorry for anyone reading 'not all treasure is silver and gold' but I've hit a road block with it. Hopefully it will unblock soon…but don't get too hopeful.

Animeloveramy