Title: Phone Calls

Summary: Alfred's birthday is drawing nearer once again, and he pretty much dreads that a certain nation isn't going to show up… again. What's a hero to do? Call up reinforcement, of course! US/UK.

Anime: Axis Powers – Hetalia

Genre: Romance

Pair: US x UK

Rating: T

Word count: 1622

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia. Simple as that.

US ~ UK

America unceremoniously plopped down on his living room sofa, a deep sigh escaping him as bright moonlight bathed his weary figure. Night had already fallen when he'd finally reached his home. The ash-blonde nation momentarily removed his glasses and dragged his right hand down his face, attempting to ease his anxiety, before replacing his spectacles. Bright blue eyes snapped open with a resolute gleam, a decided frown settling on his lips. A hand reached past the brown fabric of his bomber jacket, pulling out a sleek silver phone from the pocket of his slacks. Placing a hand over his tired eyes, consequently pushing his glasses down the bridge of his nose, Alfred slid the phone open and raised it to his ear, pressing speed dial as he did so.

The phone rang only once before the other line picked up and Alfred didn't even wait for his contact's greeting as he instantly screamed his frustrations… almost.

"Kiku! I don't know what to do anymore!" the blue-eyed nation whined into the receiver of his phone. "My birthday's a day away and he's going all PMS on me again!"

"Er–"

"I know right!" Alfred interrupted the other's statement, taking it to be an agreement. "Like, after the meeting today, when I announced that party that I'll be having over here, he didn't even look the least bit interested! And after that, he fucking just walked past me! No 'I'll be there' or 'I'm sorry I don't think I can make it' or even a 'goodbye' whatsoever!"

"Well–"

"You're going to say I should get used to it? Come on, Kiku, we both know that he didn't attend my celebration last year or even the year before that… Heck, he didn't attend all my birthdays this past hundred years!" America continued to wail. "I think he still hates me after all! Damn it, Kiku, do you think I still have a chance with him?"

"Ame–"

"No, wait, don't go shrink-psychotherapist on me!" the blonde nation stated, noticing the other's weary tone. He finally sat up straight and straightened his glasses; his eyes were immediately drawn to a framed photograph on the wall – one of a beaming colonial America with his small arms on a half-smiling England's shoulders as the latter held the small boy in his arms. "You know that I like him more than I should and no matter what I do, I can't change that! I don't want to! But it's just damning that he still has some sort of hatred for me even after all theses years! I don't know what to do anymore, Japan!"

"Um–"

"It's practically incest, I know," the bespectacled man sighed dramatically as he raked a hand through his hair. "He brought me up so well and fuck, I know I'm probably the biggest bastard out there for breaking ties with him before but, god damn, you can't even imagine how hard it was for me! I chose liberty 'cause I didn't know if I could control myself anymore! We fucking slept in the same bed, Kiku! And I don't think he would've taken it nicely if I jumped him in the middle of the night…"

"Er–"

"Oh, sorry, I know you don't like vulgarity, Japan, but it's just… fuck…" Alfred's free hand now had a tight grip on a seat cushion nearby. "I don't care that he wouldn't bother with bringing any presents; I just want Arthur to be there… But this is all just wishful thinking, isn't it, Kiku? I can't believe I'm still fooling myself; you must be getting tired of my ranting now. But you saw him earlier! He wouldn't even look at me! Hell, he couldn't face me all week! He exchanged seats with Veneziano!"

"That's–"

"Well, anyway, you'd come to my party, right, Japan?" America asked, totally digressing from the topic. The blonde stood up from the couch and began his way towards the stairs. "And bring along, Greece, alright? I didn't think he heard my announcement this afternoon; he was sleeping again…"

"…"

America stopped halfway up the staircase, a small frown forming on his lips at the silence from the other end. Usually, this was the part where Kiku would say: 'I understand, America-san' or something along those lines. The thick silence was greatly unnerving. "Hey, Japan? You still there?" the blue-eyed nation queried with a slightly uneasy air.

There was crackling sounds from the line before a familiar voice finally broke through… and America promptly felt all his innards dissolve into thin air. The voice had a forced calm tone to it… as well as a very British accent.

"Alfred…" came the voice from the receiving end, and that alone made the aforementioned nation's blood freeze.

'Oh shit,' was the main thought coursing through Alfred's mind; he was practically immobile. Good god, he fucking dialed and ranted at the wrong number! And of all the fucking possibilities, it turned out to be the worst… Shit… just total fucking shit.

"A-Uhm… Oh… Hey… England…" the taller blonde greeted most awkwardly, the small hesitant laugh that accompanied his sentence easily crumbled into a tensioned silence.

"Yes, yes, hello," was the Briton's reply in a clipped and mildly infuriated-sounding voice. "I believe you called the wrong number…"

"Ahaha… yeah…" the American could almost hear his pride getting torn to unfixable proportions. Fuck it. He very much wanted to just end the call right now but that would most likely make England hate him even more. Was it possible to die from embarrassment? Alfred wondered. He didn't think he could face the older nation after this. Ever.

"Erm, yeah… About what you heard…" America gulped most unpleasantly. God damn it, how could he explain himself now? "That was…" Think, think, think… "… a prank call!" Awesome! That could work! "Yeah, a prank all!" he gave a short laugh, "It was a prank call for Kiku! You know how much I like to joke around, yeah?"

"I've already established by myself that this call is supposedly for Japan." England replied with a stiff-edged voice.

"Right! O-Of course you did!" the younger nation responded, wishing silently for any force of nature to end this nerve-breaking call.

"Well?" Arthur demanded after a long moment of silence from both ends.

"W-Well what?" America returned the query, seriously hoping that his nervousness wouldn't show through in his voice… but he knew that was impossible. His hand which was holding the phone was already shaking.

"I'm not daft to believe that that was just a prank call, America," England stated matter-of-factly. "I…" the Briton cleared his throat for a moment before continuing, this time, with a greatly suppressed hope lacing his voice. "I just want to confirm, Alfred… if you'd meant… what you've said…"

"Um… which part?" Alfred hazarded to ask in a small yet anticipative voice.

He heard his previous colonizer grumble from the other end before the reply came. "Do you honestly want me to attend that blasted birthday party of yours…?"

At that the ash-blonde nation let out a great sigh of relief, his tension disappearing as a wide smile finally paid homage on his lips. "Of course I want you to be there, England!" the bespectacled man said exuberantly, fondness filling his jovial voice. "I've always wanted you to be there. Always… I – I understand that you might still be mad at me but my celebration's just not complete when you're not around…" America sighed, his lips quirking into a sort of bittersweet smile. "I really do want you to be there, Arthur."

A moment of silence passed where the taller blonde feared that the Englishman would say 'no' just to spite him but when the British nation spoke again, it was with a tone that he hadn't heard since his childhood days…

"I see," the sandy-blonde nation stated, in a calm and conceding tone. "I agree that I might've been acting juvenile all this time; it's quite about time to… get over the past, I suppose… Alright, then, America, I'll attend that bloody celebration…"

"R-Really?" America's enthusiasm was overflowing; it was practically tangible over at the other end of the line.

"Yes, really," England confirmed.

"Awesome! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you, England!"

"Pipe down, would you? And stop acting like a brat…" the older nation admonished, although there was amusement underlying his words.

"Alright, fine…" America answered in a voice filled with glee. "But, really, England, thank you…"

"Don't mention it… Now, I daresay it's about time for sleep… that world conference earlier was quite straining, you know…"

"Okay!" Alfred agreed brightly; nothing could ever dampen his mood now. "Good night, England!"

"G'night, America."

"Oh, and one last thing!"

"Hn?

"You were right. That was no prank call," America felt his face heat up as he braced himself to spit out his next words. "I – I really meant what I've said, Arthur. All of it. So, um, yeah, see you!"

With that, Alfred F. Jones finally ended the call and continued his way up the stairs, humming a merry tune as he went along, consequently making a mental note that Japan was number two on his speed dial. The Asian man was not on the number one.

That spot was reserved for England… amongst other things.

…

A million miles and an ocean away, a green-eyed Englishman was blushing furiously as he stuffed a cellphone inside the bedside table's drawer. His last thoughts being: send Kiku his bloody phone back first thing next morning, and never ever think of keeping it for a day again when the oriental nation had obviously deliberately left it behind at the meeting room for him to find.

US ~ UK

A/N: Okay, I do not know how overseas calls work so please pardon the inaccuracy.

Birthday fic for dearest America-kun… Although I personally think there's so much more to this… hm… it just lacks something I can't exactly point out… Too fluffy… :\

It's really not as good as I'd hoped… so I'm sorry if I've wasted someone's time with this sorry excuse for a fic…

Still, HAPPY AWESOME AMERICA DAY TO ALL~!!