A/N: Well, school started! And by school, I mean both college and high school! (if you're confused, I'm a senior in high school and I'm taking a few college classes on the campus my high school is located on). And, to top it all off, I'm still working in the lab, I run two clubs, and I'm the director of my school's tv show. Haha, my life is great xD

I didn't mean to rant, but as you can see, school eats away at my fanfiction writing time, which gets me really frustrated because I enjoy writing this fic so much

Anyway, I know you all waited for an update, so here it is~

Chapter 13: Sick England

Arthur was feeling absolutely terrible. The pressure in his head kept tightening until a groggy, heavy feeling overcame him. His nose was stuffed and he was forced to breathe openly through his mouth. It didn't help that his house was so dusty from lack of cleaning. He hadn't been feeling well for many days and just hadn't had the time to dust. His throat was sore as well, which really added to the overall pain his chest had whenever he coughed.

He was a mess.

Said mess was currently trying to sleep in his bed. It was well past noon and the sun gleaming through the window irritated England's headache further. He had tried to roll towards the other side of the bed, but he still felt the sun's rays upon his eyelids, which caused another aching pain to run through his already pulsing head. Arthur could barely even think at this point. Each time he tried to concentrate on something, his head throbbed right over his eyes, causing him to scrunch his face up in discomfort.

Arthur honestly had no idea how he had ended up with such a bad cold. His economy wasn't deteriorating (unlike America's), he hadn't had any major attacks on his land, his people were relatively healthy…but why did he have such a horrible cold?

It must've been from last week when he had been walking home in the rain. Honestly, he was used to the weather here (he was England, for goodness sake!) but then again, running about a mile through the rain to get to your house wasn't the best idea he's ever had.

At least England was confident he wouldn't pass away. Nations such as himself couldn't die that easily…unless it was swine flu, perhaps…Arthur prayed that he hadn't been struck down by that horrible bug going around.

In any case, Arthur was just trying to regain his health as soon as possible. It was hard when you lived alone, save for his fairy friends who kindly decided to take care of him (note that they only took care of him and not the cleaning). He was given vitamins and tea, antibiotics, herbal remedies, and even a bit of black magic…but nothing seemed to be working.

England remained situated in his bed. He made sure to tell his friends to take a break. He just wanted to rest for now. Besides, their incessant chatter was really starting to do a number on his headache. He couldn't even imagine what would happen if something louder than their quiet babble were to occur…

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Ungh…." England groaned. His head was pounding in his ears now. His conscience was telling him to open the door, but instead he lifted the covers over his head. Getting the door would probably be the only way to stop the horrible racket the person was making. On the other hand, he might open the door and find something even louder than the banging that was likely taking his front door off its hinges. He heard the door open before he had a chance to move. Ms. Twinkle must have opened it…

"Arthur?!" America shouted as he barreled into the house. He was paying England a surprise visit today since he was in town on a business trip. However, Alfred had a tiny suspicion that his boss might've known that he missed Arthur…not that he actually missed him or anything! His boss was just overly concerned, is all.

America shouted into the empty hallway once again before scratching his head. Arthur was nowhere in sight. Looking towards the staircase, he thought he heard a few sniffles coming up from England's room. He ran up the stairs and opened the door, only to find Arthur completely bedridden and looking just plain horrible!

"Arthur?! Hey, what's wrong with you?" he asked while running towards the man in bed. Arthur just groaned in response. America had a way of showing up at the most inconvenient times.

When England refused to speak, Alfred began to shake him vigorously. After about five seconds, Arthur was shouting at the boy to stop. "Q-quit sh-shaking me, Alfred!" he tried to scream, but his throat was so sore and his voice so hoarse that it came out sounding more like a whisper than anything else.

America stopped at this. "Alfred?" he asked England. It wasn't like the older man to actually say his name...it was normally "git face" or "idiot" or "moron" or "wanker". Alfred became more aware of just how sick Arthur really was.

"Uh, sorry..." Alfred said while scratching the back of his head. He smiled and closed his eyes at the man before him. "So, hey, you need anything? You shouldn't be lying in bed all day, old man, you've got to build up your strength!" he shouted enthusiastically. Another groan from England. America could be just a bit too loud, sometimes...

Arthur began to try to speak again. "Just...just leave, or you'll get it too..."

Ok, Arthur was really sick now. Was that concern?

"Heroes don't just leave fair maidens to fend for themselves, Iggy!" he said while poking Arthur in the forehead. Only a small sniffle emitted from England. Alfred had just done three specific things to irritate Arthur, and he responded with only a sniffle! 'Fair maiden' and 'Iggy' and the poking would send Arthur over the edge had he been well. But now, Arthur was too weak to respond. This was the final assessment for finding out just how sick England was, and Alfred wasn't happy with the results.

"Wait here!" he said. "I'll go get stuff to make you feel better!" Alfred ran down the stairs and entered England's kitchen. He normally never approached the room (since it was where Arthur cooked), but he had to find stuff to help him. He searched through the cabinets to find most of the shelves completely empty. Arthur must've been sick for a long time if he's started to run out of so much food…he thought to himself. "I'll be right back!" he shouted towards England's room, heading out the door and to the pharmacy and supermarket.

Alfred came back to England's house with a bundle of bags in his hands. He didn't bring his car here, so he had to schlep everything from the market place by himself with his own two arms. He didn't mind, personally. It wasn't heavy at all. He once dragged England's car around for an hour all across town! But he felt as if a weariness had overtaken him recently. He wasn't as strong as he used to be due to his failing economy. He hoped he wasn't going to get sick as well...

America plopped everything down on the kitchen table. The sun was beginning to set, and he was pretty sure Arthur hadn't had a decent meal all day. Grabbing one of the bags, Alfred raced up the steps and towards England's room.

"Iggy, I got you some food~" he said in a sing-song voice. "It's your favorite!" But when he opened the door and peered inside, he saw Arthur was fast asleep. His eyes were scrunched together in a look of pain. He was breathing silently through a little gap in his mouth. His hair was a complete mess and tissues littered the sheets surrounding him. Arthur had his blanket wrapped around him like a cacoon, shivering as he tried to warm himself.

"Arthur?" he asked hesitantly. No response. Alfred silently walked across the room and leaned over England. It was as if the guy had gotten worse since he left. America hated having to see England this way.

Alfred gently wrapped his hands around Arthur's head, carefully placing his lips onto the man's forehead. Definitely a high fever… he thought to himself. He placed England's head back down onto the pillow, but heard a groan as soon as he did. "Arthur?!" he whispered urgently.

England wearily cracked one eye open. It was all he could manage with his complete lack of energy. "Alfred…?" he asked hesitantly. "That you?"

America brightened at that. "Yeah, it's me!" His voice was still that of a low whisper. "I got food for you!" he said proudly while showing off what he had bought.

It was a McDonald's hamburger.

"You l-little...stupid..." Arthur struggled to say. It was as if his illness prevented him from being angry or insulting others.

Alfred placed the burger on top of Arthur's head and laughed. England was trying his best to glare, remembering the first time Alfred had done this to him. He scolded America about it a week later. Well, whenever America was sick, he'd be sure to place a scone on top of his head…

America smiled and closed his eyes. "Aw, I'm only kidding, Iggy," he said while taking out what he had really gotten. He showed Arthur a can of chicken soup. "Want me to make you some?" he asked the older man. England gave a tiny nod in response, all he could manage at the moment.

About 20 minutes later, Alfred brought up the steaming soup to England along with his favorite earl grey tea and some medicine. He placed them carefully on the dresser beside Arthur's bed. He wrapped his arms around Arthur and lifted him up into a sitting position. England grabbed his forehead in response to the pain that had washed over his body when Alfred did so. His head was still throbbing like crazy.

Arthur looked to his left to find that Alfred's arm was still wrapped around him and that a spoonful of soup was being held to his face. His face immediately colored in response. "W-what are you…?" he managed to whisper.

"Feeding you like a hero should, of course!" Alfred said in response. Arthur tried to glare at the boy.

"J-just get Ms. Twinkle to do it," he said in hoarse whisper. Alfred looked as if he was about to pout.

"Fine, fine…" he said in defeat. He left the bowl of soup on the dresser and trudged out of the room. He felt a whizzing sensation whip by his head, and he could only conclude that it was Ms. Twinkle ready to help.

Alfred decided to sit down and watch some tv. After about an hour, he decided to go check up on England.

"Arthur?" he asked. The soup bowl was empty, the medicine was gone, and the tea completely finished. Alfred had added honey in the tea for England's throat, which sounded so hoarse that he could only conclude that it was because it was sore.

Arthur's head was resting on the pillow once again. Alfred walked over and placed his lips to his forehead again.

"W-what are you…?!"

"Checking to see if your fever's gone down, Iggy," he said with a smile. "And I'm glad to say that it has! You're not as hot as you were before."

Arthur blinked tiredly in response. Alfred then placed his hand on England's forehead and began to play with the little strands of hair around his face. "Man, Arthur, your hair's a mess…" he said to try to lighten the mood.

"D-don't touch me…" Arthur tried to say in a strong voice, but it came out weak and tired instead.

"You used to do this to me all the time whenever I was sick," Alfred said. It was true. When he had been a little colony, he would sometimes fall ill to the diseases that the English brought to his land. Whenever this would happen, England would always make him a bowl of warm soup and play with the little hairs on his forehead. It was a comforting gesture, and one that Alfred was sure never to forget.

Arthur relented to the hand on his forehead. "Such a dumb little colony…" England said to no one in particular. "Always running off and getting yourself sick…I was always so worried over you…" At this, Arthur closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep.

Alfred laughed softly to himself. Arthur was always so delusional whenever he was sick. Personality 10: Sick England had currently taken over. Whenever Sick England appeared, Arthur himself was never around. He secluded himself in his house and relied on his fairy friends to help him (at first, Alfred had never believed this, but after some recent events, he figured it must've been true). The symptoms of Sick England included illness, a lack of insults, a tendency to spurt out what was on his mind, weariness, and an inability to be mean.

It was so different from Arthur's usual personality, and Alfred found that he enjoyed it when Arthur didn't insult him all the time. But then again, he also didn't enjoy Arthur being so sick. Once the insults began to come at him, he knew it would mean Arthur was better.

Alfred grabbed a blanket and headed down to England's living room. He would stay the night to make sure Arthur was ok. He was a hero, after all…

A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed! I'm at school writing this right now xD I just really wanted to get it to you guys because I have some news!

This Saturday, I'm going to AnimeCon in NYC~ I'm going to be America. You'll know me because I'll be palling around with Canada (niki_uchiha) and Egypt (crimson-obsidian-rose), I'll have the biggest hamburger there, and I might just sing "guy love" with Canada xD (if you see me singing, tell me! I'll give u a free hamburger or something xD)

A bunch of people reviewed, but I still haven't replied, so I'm going to do that now!

Also, I'm really going to need help for figuring out personalities. I'm running out ^^; A lot of people gave me suggestions, and I take them all to heart, but I'm only going to do the ones I feel I'm capable of writing, ok? :)

The kiss to the forehead in this chapter wasn't yaoi (unless you really want it to be xD), ok? :3

A big shout out to ahou_incarnate for the idea for sick!england

Another big shout out to The Illustrious Tama for the idea of Jack Sparrow references in the last chapter :D

Update: Igiko (fem!England because I just found her character design not too long ago :D a thank you to Anomaly E for the idea :3)