(Disclaimer: I do not claim to own Hetalia: Axis Powers in any way.)

"Arthur, I'm home!" the American yelled loudly. He dumped his suitcases in the hall shutting the door behind himself. America heard an angry curse from the direction of the kitchen. America resisted one of his own. It sounded like England was trying to cook. That was never a good thing.

The blond dreaded going toward the other. No doubt he'd find burning food and the smell of smoke when he entered the room. With a calming breath, he steeled himself. Arthur was inside scraping a smoldering pile of ashes into the trash.

"Arthur?"

"Alfred!" England cried in surprise. He nearly dropped the pain in his shock. "I wasn't expecting you for another hour!"

"I got an earlier flight. I missed you." He tugged the pan gently from England's grip.

"Yes, well, I missed you too," England answered. America watched the older nation with a bit of surprise. England never admit to missing him.

England watched the American calmly as he discarded the pan in the sink. "Let's order out. What do you want?" Truthfully, he was just trying to delay having to smile through England's cooking. When England really set his mind to cooking dinner, America never had the heart to tell him how awful the food really was. "We can make something tomorrow," he added when he saw the disappointed look on Arthur's face.

A frown deepened on England's lips at the suggestion. "Well, I was going to make something special, but since you came early, we can order out." The older nation let a small smile come to his lips, but it contradicted the almost disappointed tone in his voice. America immediately felt guilty. "Get what you'd like," he added with a lighter tone to now match the smile.

Glad that England didn't seem too disappointed about it anymore, America smirked, "Awesome!" He already had his phone out of his pocket to dial the familiar number.

Something was definitely wrong with England. America didn't mind, of course! Not at all! It just worried him. England wasn't dying, was he? The Englishman didn't look like he was dying. America was pretty sure he wasn't dying either...surely someone would have told him that.

"Something wrong, love?" Oh, crap, England had noticed America staring at him. Sure, he'd been doing it for the past few minutes without blinking...The Englishman stroked his thumb gently across Nantucket. An immediate sigh of pleasure came from the American's lips to make him momentarily forget his troubles. No! He couldn't let the other's gentle fingers distract him!

England was never an especially affectionate date. He detested any forms of public affection, and America always noticed how embarrassed the other was with affection when they were alone in the house as well. It didn't matter how much America tried; he could never get England to act this affectionate on his own. What made today different?

They were both sprawled out on England big couch. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable piece of furniture, but America was nestled comfortably between the Englishman's knees, using his stomach as a pillow, so that was okay. England's fingers were gently stroking his hair.

A pleased smile came to England's lips when he heard the sigh. He bowed his head toward the American to receive a kiss the American was more than happy to bestow.

A couple minutes later America found himself straddling the small island nation. "Arthur..." he murmured against the other's lips. The blond couldn't help but smile when England sighed gently, happily, against him.

"I love you, Alfred," England purred lovingly. He tenderly ran one of his hands on America's cheek.

America smiled lightly at the Englishman, but his brow was creased. The older nation's behavior was really starting to worry him now. "I love you too," America replied trying not to let his concerns leak into his voice. He didn't want England to worry as well.

"Oh!" England exclaimed suddenly. "I got you something!" The older nation slipped away from the other to retrieve his gift. America sat up and ran his fingers through his already ruffled blond hair. England was back soon enough. He sat down beside the American with a happy smile. He handed the wrapped gift over. It was even complete with a fancy ribbon.

"I didn't - I didn't get you anything," America said quietly. He held the present England had given him.

"Forget about that, Alfred." America saw the way England's beautiful emerald eyes diverted however. The American saw the hurt reflected there. "I'm going to go up to bed. You should wait a few minutes and then come join me."

England's cheeks were dusted with a blush. Before America could protest, England had disappeared from the room again. The American sighed. He turned the gift around in his hands a few times. He didn't have the heart to open it.

America got to his feet and turned off the television. There had been a show playing quietly that neither of them had really been paying any attention to anyway. America wasn't even sure what it had been called. He set the gift back on the table before going up to meet the island nation in the bedroom.

"Arthur?" he called quietly into the master bedroom. The lights were off which was unusual. England almost always read before going to sleep. Had America done something wrong? Apparently. "You okay?" It was still fairly early for sleep, even for England.

"Alfred, do you know what day it is?" the island nation asked. Oh, no. America could practically hear the tears in the other's voice.

America rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It wasn't that England could see that though. The fact that the lights were out were probably more of a blessing now. What day was it? "Uh, Tuesday?"

"It's our anniversary, git!"

Oh.

Crap.

This was bad, very bad.

"I knew that!"

"Get out!"

"But, Arthu-"

"Out!"

America hung his head dejectedly. It wouldn't be very heroic of him to leave his lover alone, crying - because England was sure to be crying now - but at the same time, he feared for his life just a bit. An emotionally erratic England was never a good thing. "I love you, Arthur," he said quietly, honestly, before shutting the door.

America winced when he heard the solid thud that followed him out. Something heavy had found collision with the wooden door he had just shut. Had he stayed in the room just a moment longer it probably would have been him instead of the door. It seemed to be a promising night on the couch. He was in the doghouse again.

That gift taunted him viciously when he sat down on the couch. The American pulled it to him and gently pulled the ribbon apart. He tore open the wrapping, pulled the top off the box and revealed the prize inside.

It was Arthur's dogtags from the war. America ran his fingers over the engraved 'Arthur Kirkland.' He knew that like himself, Arthur always wore his dogtags so he always remembered the war and what it had cost everyone. No one wanted a repeat of the event. They were probably one of Arthur's most important belongings.

That's when it occurred to him.

"Arthur!" he called. The dog-tags were clutched tightly in his hands. He was already at the top of the stairs. The American knocked softly on the door. Barging in would just start another argument, and he'd never get to say his piece.

"Go away, git!"

"Arthur! We need to talk! Our anniversary isn't until tomorrow!" America stepped back from the door when he heard angry stomps. The door was thrown open to a red-eyed England. America immediately felt a knot begin to from in his chest.

"You're a git, you know that?"

"March fifth, 1946! That's when we got together. Churchill made that speech, you know. We got together that night."

England jabbed America harshly in the chest. "It was the forth, git!" The small Englishman crossed his arms defiantly. "I suggest you read up on your history."

"I know it's the fifth!" He was a little hurt that England was brushing him off so easily. However, England looked so sad, so America didn't have the heart to raise his voice. "Because if it was on the forth you'd spend all day thinking about my birthday, and you'd be all sad."

"That's a terrible excuse."

"But true! Not to mention you kept yelling at me over the phone that day because I forgot the date. You kept yelling at me to get a calendar, so I'd remember what day it was. Not to mention yelling the date itself."

"You remember that?"

"Of course!" He pulled England into a hug when he heard most of the bite leave his voice. "That was our first kiss!" America beamed. "Right in front of all our people! You were all adorable, blushing, and stuttering."

"You only did it because your boss told you to." That was information he'd found out later. It had been some nonsense about strengthening the speech though England was fairly certain it had only complicated matters.

America blushed at the accusation. It was soon England's turn to do the same. "The rest of the night was totally my awesome idea though!" Awesome wasn't exactly the word England would have used. It had been more like magical, gut-wrenching, terrifying, and delightful. It had been the first time the two of them had made love. All right, so maybe awesome had been a fine word for it all.

"So since we both forgot the date can we just call it even and be in the doghouse together?" America asked with a little too much hope creeping into his voice.

"Come to bed, Alfred."

They would find out in the morning that England's clock had been what had collided with the door, they'd missed the World meeting, they each had ten worried calls from Canada each, one angry one from Germany, and a perverted one from France. Not that either of them minded.

/So I figured that with all the dates these guys have to remember they're allowed to forget some of them every now and again. It wasn't a date that would be particularly important to their people either, so I figured it would be an easier one for them to forget.

The speech referenced is Winston Churchill's 'Sinews of Peace' speech on March 5, 1946 /