AN: Oh my god i'm actually updating something...

It felt so good to write something again. I hope all of you enjoy it. I know I'm freaking out about the election and I hope maybe this helps a little.

Edit: I am so sorry to all of you who read this already, I forgot to put in the page breaks in the chapter.

Alfred was wrecked.

It felt like it had been ages since he had been to the last meeting and, in fact… it had. He hadn't meant to miss them, of course, but… things had gotten a little out of hand. He had tried to keep up with it all, and still participate in the nations' meetings, but the closer election day became the harder he felt it was to focus.

And with that came, well… everything else.

The other nations that knew had tried to help, sure. Yao kept messaging him advice, from sagely wisdom to little things he could do to help with his stress. Kiku often let him in on new games and manga when he had the time. Ludwig, though Alfred wasn't sure what the poor guy was thinking, offered him tips on organization. Feli offered some different kinds of music that usually calmed him down, and brought up the topic of anxiety meds, if things got worse. Francis and Arthur had been on his ass frequently, trying to help in their own ways. The Frenchman usually gave him snack or food to take back with him at meetings. Arthur had tried the same, and Alfred was fairly sure he had ended up falling back on magic for help at some point.

Matthew… Matthew had done enough. Alfred wasn't sure how he had ended up with a brother as great as him.

And how had Alfred repaid him? He… he wasn't actually sure right now, to be honest. He couldn't think. Heck, he could barely remember to breathe.

His earbuds were stuck in his ears, moving from one reassuring song to another. Or, at least, they should have been reassuring. What he suddenly began hearing was a jumbled mess, tuning in and out of the songs.

The voices were already coming. He knew that. He could hear that. Anxiety was quickly turning to panic in his chest, and he wanted it all to stop.

A bitter laugh caught in his chest as he rested his head against the table…Like that would happen.

The room had slowly gone quiet. It had become a routine for the nations aware of the situation to check on Alfred during meetings, whether any of them wanted to admit it or not. And they could see that at the moment he wasn't doing particularly… well.

It had been a surprise to them he had even shown up at the meeting, especially with Election Day so close. Some had figured he needed something to try to get his mind off of it-to give him a change of scenery. Still, they felt a certain anxiety when they hadn't seen Matthew come in with him.

And now their failure to directly address that little detail was biting them in the ass.

The G8 looked between themselves nervously, watching the normally boisterous American, hoping he might snap out of it. The few nations who weren't privy to what was going on were even more wary.

"Is… is he okay?"

Everyone turned to Lovino, each eyeing the other to see who would jump in and explain. It wasn't unexpected he would notice something was going on. In fact, it was rather obvious something was wrong.

The older Italian, in response to their lack of response, raised an agitated eyebrow. He glanced between the group and Alfred, searching for other nations who looked just as confused as he felt. He needed someone to give some sort of explanation. Alfred wasn't talking up a storm, his breathing was uneven… he had been bad near election days in the past, sure, but this was a whole different level of bad.

When he didn't receive an answer he turned to Feliciano, his gaze unsure now rather than frustrated. "Is… is he having an anxiety attack?"

Feliciano gave an uncharacteristic frown, oddly calm. "Um, fratello… lets go outside a moment. I'll explain." He stood, casting a worried glance on his friend. "It will be fast."

Lovino nodded slowly, and Feliciano motioned for the other uninformed nations to follow. The situation wasn't ideal, but it would be even worse to have confused nations asking questions in the midst of a panic. They had learned that from last time at least…

The two Italians stopped on the way out the door. Lovino motioned to the American, who hadn't fully gone into an attack yet, but was definitely on his way. "For God's sake, someone sit with him."

Like magic, the stunned group of nations began to move. Francis went with Feliciano to make the explanation quicker, while Kiku sat next to Alfred. He was unsure of how to act in front of his panicking friend, and didn't want to startle him like last time. Texting had seemed to work before, but he wasn't sure if the American could even hear or see what was going on around him.

It was worth a shot. He sent a one word text, and saw the phone light up. Alfred hardly gave a response, only wincing slightly from what was probably the alert tone in his earbuds. It did take his attention for that brief moment, though. Noticing this, Arthur came up and gently took the earbuds from his ears. He moved to put his hand on Alfred's shoulder, but Kiku stopped him.

"Not yet." He had done a bit of research since the first incident. He knew a little more of what not to do.

The Brit blinked, but nodded. He appeared to be chastising himself, so he had probably done his research too. He didn't look comfortable about it, especially when Alfred's breathing grew more and more unstable, but he started talking with him. It was little things, like the weather outside or if Alfred had seen the lovely architecture on the way to the meeting building or the Cubs beating the Indians in baseball. In the midst of that he gave soft reminders to breathe.

The words had little effect on Alfred, though he appeared to be latching onto them more. All the nations could agree it was a good thing that they had noticed the signs earlier.

After a few agonizing minutes, Feliciano returned with the other nations and Ludwig emerged from the back of the already present group. "I called Matthew," he informed, not looking happy, "He's on his way, but he didn't even know Alfred was here. He thought he was at home."

No one was happy to hear that. Feliciano sighed softly, but nodded. He took Kiku's spot next to Alfred, and spoke in a calm and soft voice. "This is temporary," he assured. "Breathe…" He had been such an idiot the first time. He had dealt with these attacks himself, but had never had to calm anyone going through one before. "Is there anything I can do?"

Alfred took in a gulping breath, though no one was sure if he could hear them. "Matt…"

Feliciano nodded in understanding. "He's on his way…" He glanced around the room. An open area would be nice, but they didn't have the luxury of moving Alfred out of the building right now. "Is it alright if I, or Arthur, touch you?"

Alfred's eyebrows furrowed, and his breathing was still ragged. It looked like the attack was escalating… but he nodded a bit. "mhmm…"

Arthur gently rested a hand on Alfred's shoulder. The American flinched, but the touch didn't increase his panic as much as it did before. Feliciano met Arthur's eyes, and the man nodded. He spoke softly, "We're going to move you, alright lad? Just a bit." When Alfred managed a nod again, he smiled reassuringly. "Good. Breathe…" The two helped him to the floor some feet away, where he wasn't stuck against the conference room table.

"Alight, you're doing good." Feliciano muttered, moving in front of Alfred. "Try to focus on me, breathe with me…" He rested his hand on the younger nation's upper arm, hoping that might help. It looked like Alfred was in pain, and Feliciano knew from personal experience that he actually be. "Ready?"

Alfred barely nodded, and they spend the next, continuously agonizing minutes with breathing exercises and attempts to distract him. And then, at long last, a certain Canadian walked through the door.

It was like someone had thrown sunshine into a deluge of rain, and their relief was indescribable.

Matthew sat next to Feliciano, slowly meeting the other nations' gazes with a newfound respect and gratitude. He gave a brief nod and heartfelt, "thank you," before he brought his attention to where it ought to have been. "Hey, Alfie, it's me. It's Matthew…" He pressed a hand to the side of his face. "You're doing good… everything's okay. We've been down this road before, you're going to be okay." He smiled softly. "Try breathing with me, alright? That sound good?"

"…s'cold..." The sentence was the closest thing Alfred had gotten to coherent since the attack started. The words were calmer as well as he leaned into his brother's hand.

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, it's cold outside. I'm going to have to build a blanket fort with you when we get back home… You ready? One…"

The room was silent again, but this time with relief. The nations sat around Alfred, who was finally starting to recover. He was still shaky, but his breathing, at least, had returned to normal.

"…hey, um…" The American looked up briefly before he stared at the hot chocolate like he was drinking it with his eyes. "…thank you. All of you… Sorry, about..."

The nations seemed to collectively shake their heads as Alfred trailed off.

"It's not your fault," Arthur assured.

Many nodded, even the ones who had just found out about the ordeal. Yao met the younger nation's eyes, smiling. "No personifications walk alone. We'll all be here to help you, no matter what happens." He added, his expression turning wry, "and if you ever need a vacation spot I've got a million of them."

Alfred laughed, and, to them, it felt like it was the first genuine sound they had heard from him in ages. "I might just take you up on that…"

And then came the chorus of words from the other nations, all reassuring in their own ways.

"You're not going into this alone."

"We'll help you get through this."

"No matter what happens, we're here for you."

Alfred smiled, and nodded in thanks, unsure of how to properly respond or show his gratitude. He wasn't alone with all of his stress, all of his problems… He didn't have the world in his palms or at his feet, but it felt more reassuring than he could admit that they had his back… no matter what the votes said.

AN: Thank you all so much for reading. I'm still trying to get through some stuff, and manage my time, but I hope to be writing more for you soon. Have a great day!

T