Valentine's day fic - Everything has changed - USUK (Hetalia)
Tales narrate how every 2 years my obsession with history flows into a single, marvellous and magical fandom known as Hetalia. Recently, that happened again and I'm so stuck with my old favs and OTPs that I'm stuffing tons of fanart on my computer and reading tons of fanfiction. Crying like a baby on the sad or really romantic ones. Yep.
To aggravate the situation, yesterday I finally had the time and courage to write one of the many ideas I got after reading and crying for months. Also, today is Valentine's day and this blog had always been a multi-fandom blog anyway.
This said, have my first Hetalia fanfiction, which is also a song-fict.
Title: Everything has changed
Fandom: Hetalia
Pairing: USUK (America/England, Alfred/Arthur)
Rating: PG (?)
Genre: fluff, romantic
Disclaimers: I don't own these countries (of course), these characters and Hetalia, which belongs to one lovely Himaruya Hidekaz
Notes: the song is Taylor Swift - Everything has changed ft. Ed Sheeran and it's atually just one of the many songs I find fits perfectly Al and Artie's love story :3
Also, I have lots and lots of head-canons about their and other nation's retationships, history facts reflected on their behaviours and personal things... I'm certain just a small part of them can be found in this one-shot, but that's why I have more ideas up my sleeves I want to test on Hetalia ;)
This work is NOT beta-ed, so please be careful around my awful English... sorry for any mistake, please let me know if you find anything!
He woke up on Sunday morning, when the ray of sun filtering through a gap in the drawn white and yellow curtains hit his face right on his left eye and nose, warming up the skin and making him see red behind his closed eyelid.
Blinking slowly, he tried to focus on his surroundings, finding it both very difficult without his spectacles and very easier now that he knew the house enough to know exactly what colour the morning light was painting the walls at that hour of the day. Turning slightly and carefully on his left side, he could feel heat and skin pressed against his and see the calm expression on Arthur's still sleeping face.
His right arm stretched and reached blindly for the night stand to grab Texas. As soon as his glasses were once again set down on the bridge of his nose, he could finally observe with a smile Arthur's back slow rise and fall, his arm placed over Alfred's torso, their legs tangled, fair blond and messy hair an even more mess against his shoulder. A constellation of scars and freckles over the full expanse of pale skin above the sheets.
Tiny dots resting even above the ears and nose and cheeks of his lover.
Alfred rose slowly and carefully from the bed, trying and for once succeeding in not waking Arthur up even if the older nation was firmly holding him in place, clung to him like a child to a very big and comfy teddy bear. Once up and with his grey joggers on, he leaned down to kiss Arthur's head before heading to the kitchen, the picture of England's body swimming in white and navy blue sheets in morning hue forever impressed in his mind, like many other memories, all safely stored and labeled.
Arthur's London apartment was still a mess after the night party they had the day before, especially the kitchen where Alfred had to navigate around empty bottles of English and German beer and French wine, moving dirty plates and various utensils to prepare breakfast. They didn't even bother to clean up ten hours ago, both enough intoxicated by alcohol to just fall in bed after everyone else had gone home and have sweet silly sex before falling deeply asleep.
Alfred looked around just to sigh and condone the heavy cleaning work for later that morning, after at least one cup of coffee. He heard a high “meow” and felt a fluffy tail against his legs before remembering about the cats, so he turned to the cupboard to open a can of cat's food. When both Crumpet and Hero were enjoying their breakfast, he focused on making a human one for himself and Sleeping Beauty.
The same moment the kettle whistled, a wild Arthur appeared from the corridor, just as Alfred was pouring his second cup of coffee in his personal mug. Messy hair and too-large pajama pants and shirt.
Alfred chuckled a “Hi” while watching his partner's zombie-like movements toward the stove to prepare his tea, subtly helping him out by passing on the cup and plate and retrieving milk from the fridge. Arthur stayed in silence for the whole tea-making process, frowning at nothing in particular. Then, after drinking half his cup in one gulp and exhaling a satisfied sigh, he looked at Alfred, smiled slightly and replied: “Hello”.
After breakfast, they cleared part of the mess around the house, leaving just the sweeping and washing to later. Arthur convinced Alfred to wear a t-shirt for at least the rest of the morning and they both sat down on the couch with legs tangled, an armful of cats, a book and Arthur's classic guitar under America's fingers.
Hero was swinging his long white tail against his thigh, Crumpet was purring softly on Arthur's lap and Arthur was reading a crime story with his own red-rimmed glasses on.
The guitar's sparse notes were the only sound filling the house.
Then, Alfred changed chords for a more simple and steady melody, and started singing quietly:
All I knew this morning when I woke
Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before
Arthur lifted his gaze from the book to his lover and smiled, a small chuckle almost escaping his lips as he said: “And what exactly is it, dear?”.
Alfred just went on:
And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago
Is green eyes and freckles and your smile
In the back of my mind making me feel like
Arthur's gaze shifted as his cheeks coloured in pink.
Only about eighteen hours had passed from America's arrival in London for their anniversary's vacation and they had already managed to fall back in place and rhythm enough to look and feel as domestic as they did right in that moment.
They had hugged tightly at the airport after three months apart, doing their job for their countries; they had managed to bicker twice in the car and once while preparing for the party, like they were oh so used to; they had had enough fun and drinks to forget about any quarrel during the night spent with the other nations to find each other again in messy sheets and long, meaningful kisses.
But as England was thinking about these things, America was still singing:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
Had they still something about each other to discover? Something they didn't know?
What a silly question to ask on a Sunday morning after their 53th anniversary as lovers, after being allies for almost twice those years and knowing each other like brothers and enemies and friends again for more and more years, back to the XV century circa.
Arthur just closed his eyes, removed his glasses and joined the chorus, knowing the song by heart thanks to his skills as a country to memorize his own singers works and also thanks to America's late obsession with Taylor Swift's songs:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you
'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
You'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
And then, they were singing this song to each other every time they kissed in the past.
Every time they looked into each other's eyes and found what they were looking for, every time they said “sorry” for arguing and raising their voices and saying awful and untrue things to each other just to hurt and feel bad, every time they were in public, in a room full of friends or strangers and they couldn't reach out and touch but only silently steal glances and smiles and promises of 'later'.
They were singing this song every time they were singing a song together or to each other.
They were singing it on sunny days and rainy days, as a lullaby and as a silly ditty while driving the car or working in the garden or playing with the cats, as an important speech in front of the Congress and the Parliament or during a meeting as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as a love confession or a silly joke as Alfred and Arthur.
They were singing it and dancing to it from radio during the Second World War, from the television as they watched dramas and movies and talent shows together, from a computer every damned time they were 5570,2 bloody kilometers away from each other and they had to Skype at crazy hour in the morning or in the night just to see a beloved face on a tiny window and hear the sexy American/British accent of a tired voice from across the Pond.
This song was in their souls from way before it was invented and written and played and recorded and listened to. This song was theirs as much as it was Taylor's and Ed's, thanks to those kid's births and origins and families and citizenship.
Like any other song Alfred and Arthur shared before, like any other they were going to share in the future. This song was so much theirs it was written with their blood and sung with their voices and contained their souls of a lazy Sunday morning together.
Or maybe not.
Arthur sang his part alone, his thick accent more clear than anything on these words:
And all my walls stood tall painted blue
And I'll take them down, take them down and open up the door for you
And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind, making up for lost time,
Taking flight, making me feel right
Alfred joined him soon, even so softly:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you
'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
And you'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
America kept on playing and the song continued. Arthur watched the cats circling the table in front of the couch and disappearing along the corridor, probably in search of more food or simply annoyed by their owners being so loud and lively all so suddenly.
Their two voices mixed again:
Come back and tell me why
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh.
And meet me there tonight
And let me know that it's not all in my mind.
Alfred lowered his voice and repeated, in a soft, almost inaudible falsetto:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you
They still had so much to know and discover, every day, about one another.
They still had so much to learn from the past they shared and the times they did not, from years being apart.
All I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
You'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
They paused just for a bit, then Alfred resumed playing the guitar and added alone:
All I know is we said, "Hello."
So dust off your highest hopes
Arthur closed his eyes to images still marked in his mind, to pain in his chest that all the years gone by still hadn't erased, no matter how many 4th of July they had celebrated together, no matter how many times Alfred had hold his hand or caressed in circles his back in a soothing way, an apologetic look in his eyes and unspoken words on his lips.
All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed
All I know is a new found grace
All my days I'll know your face
And then, joined once again:
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
They just looked in each other eyes, sky blue meeting emerald green, then shared a long laugh.
As on cue, Hero peeked from the corridor and decided it was time to come back and reclaim a spot on the couch, Crumpet not far behind the Maine Coon, swinging his shorter Scottish Fold's tail and looking annoyed.
Alfred set the guitar on the floor to make room for the pets, but Arthur shifted faster from his spot, landing on Alfred's chest, fast encircled by the American's strong arms.
Cuddling close, Arthur cupped Alfred's face with one hand and kissed firmly his mouth: “Happy anniversary, love”.
Oh, and an UPDATE about the Meet me in Dublin project!
Here's the tumblr blog which is gonna contain it: http://meet-the-eito-in-dublin.tumblr.com/
Follow it and share and remember to check on it for future updates ;)
To aggravate the situation, yesterday I finally had the time and courage to write one of the many ideas I got after reading and crying for months. Also, today is Valentine's day and this blog had always been a multi-fandom blog anyway.
This said, have my first Hetalia fanfiction, which is also a song-fict.
Title: Everything has changed
Fandom: Hetalia
Pairing: USUK (America/England, Alfred/Arthur)
Rating: PG (?)
Genre: fluff, romantic
Disclaimers: I don't own these countries (of course), these characters and Hetalia, which belongs to one lovely Himaruya Hidekaz
Notes: the song is Taylor Swift - Everything has changed ft. Ed Sheeran and it's atually just one of the many songs I find fits perfectly Al and Artie's love story :3
Also, I have lots and lots of head-canons about their and other nation's retationships, history facts reflected on their behaviours and personal things... I'm certain just a small part of them can be found in this one-shot, but that's why I have more ideas up my sleeves I want to test on Hetalia ;)
This work is NOT beta-ed, so please be careful around my awful English... sorry for any mistake, please let me know if you find anything!
He woke up on Sunday morning, when the ray of sun filtering through a gap in the drawn white and yellow curtains hit his face right on his left eye and nose, warming up the skin and making him see red behind his closed eyelid.
Blinking slowly, he tried to focus on his surroundings, finding it both very difficult without his spectacles and very easier now that he knew the house enough to know exactly what colour the morning light was painting the walls at that hour of the day. Turning slightly and carefully on his left side, he could feel heat and skin pressed against his and see the calm expression on Arthur's still sleeping face.
His right arm stretched and reached blindly for the night stand to grab Texas. As soon as his glasses were once again set down on the bridge of his nose, he could finally observe with a smile Arthur's back slow rise and fall, his arm placed over Alfred's torso, their legs tangled, fair blond and messy hair an even more mess against his shoulder. A constellation of scars and freckles over the full expanse of pale skin above the sheets.
Tiny dots resting even above the ears and nose and cheeks of his lover.
Alfred rose slowly and carefully from the bed, trying and for once succeeding in not waking Arthur up even if the older nation was firmly holding him in place, clung to him like a child to a very big and comfy teddy bear. Once up and with his grey joggers on, he leaned down to kiss Arthur's head before heading to the kitchen, the picture of England's body swimming in white and navy blue sheets in morning hue forever impressed in his mind, like many other memories, all safely stored and labeled.
Arthur's London apartment was still a mess after the night party they had the day before, especially the kitchen where Alfred had to navigate around empty bottles of English and German beer and French wine, moving dirty plates and various utensils to prepare breakfast. They didn't even bother to clean up ten hours ago, both enough intoxicated by alcohol to just fall in bed after everyone else had gone home and have sweet silly sex before falling deeply asleep.
Alfred looked around just to sigh and condone the heavy cleaning work for later that morning, after at least one cup of coffee. He heard a high “meow” and felt a fluffy tail against his legs before remembering about the cats, so he turned to the cupboard to open a can of cat's food. When both Crumpet and Hero were enjoying their breakfast, he focused on making a human one for himself and Sleeping Beauty.
The same moment the kettle whistled, a wild Arthur appeared from the corridor, just as Alfred was pouring his second cup of coffee in his personal mug. Messy hair and too-large pajama pants and shirt.
Alfred chuckled a “Hi” while watching his partner's zombie-like movements toward the stove to prepare his tea, subtly helping him out by passing on the cup and plate and retrieving milk from the fridge. Arthur stayed in silence for the whole tea-making process, frowning at nothing in particular. Then, after drinking half his cup in one gulp and exhaling a satisfied sigh, he looked at Alfred, smiled slightly and replied: “Hello”.
After breakfast, they cleared part of the mess around the house, leaving just the sweeping and washing to later. Arthur convinced Alfred to wear a t-shirt for at least the rest of the morning and they both sat down on the couch with legs tangled, an armful of cats, a book and Arthur's classic guitar under America's fingers.
Hero was swinging his long white tail against his thigh, Crumpet was purring softly on Arthur's lap and Arthur was reading a crime story with his own red-rimmed glasses on.
The guitar's sparse notes were the only sound filling the house.
Then, Alfred changed chords for a more simple and steady melody, and started singing quietly:
All I knew this morning when I woke
Is I know something now, know something now I didn't before
Arthur lifted his gaze from the book to his lover and smiled, a small chuckle almost escaping his lips as he said: “And what exactly is it, dear?”.
Alfred just went on:
And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago
Is green eyes and freckles and your smile
In the back of my mind making me feel like
Arthur's gaze shifted as his cheeks coloured in pink.
Only about eighteen hours had passed from America's arrival in London for their anniversary's vacation and they had already managed to fall back in place and rhythm enough to look and feel as domestic as they did right in that moment.
They had hugged tightly at the airport after three months apart, doing their job for their countries; they had managed to bicker twice in the car and once while preparing for the party, like they were oh so used to; they had had enough fun and drinks to forget about any quarrel during the night spent with the other nations to find each other again in messy sheets and long, meaningful kisses.
But as England was thinking about these things, America was still singing:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
Had they still something about each other to discover? Something they didn't know?
What a silly question to ask on a Sunday morning after their 53th anniversary as lovers, after being allies for almost twice those years and knowing each other like brothers and enemies and friends again for more and more years, back to the XV century circa.
Arthur just closed his eyes, removed his glasses and joined the chorus, knowing the song by heart thanks to his skills as a country to memorize his own singers works and also thanks to America's late obsession with Taylor Swift's songs:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you
'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
You'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
And then, they were singing this song to each other every time they kissed in the past.
Every time they looked into each other's eyes and found what they were looking for, every time they said “sorry” for arguing and raising their voices and saying awful and untrue things to each other just to hurt and feel bad, every time they were in public, in a room full of friends or strangers and they couldn't reach out and touch but only silently steal glances and smiles and promises of 'later'.
They were singing this song every time they were singing a song together or to each other.
They were singing it on sunny days and rainy days, as a lullaby and as a silly ditty while driving the car or working in the garden or playing with the cats, as an important speech in front of the Congress and the Parliament or during a meeting as the United States of America and the United Kingdom, as a love confession or a silly joke as Alfred and Arthur.
They were singing it and dancing to it from radio during the Second World War, from the television as they watched dramas and movies and talent shows together, from a computer every damned time they were 5570,2 bloody kilometers away from each other and they had to Skype at crazy hour in the morning or in the night just to see a beloved face on a tiny window and hear the sexy American/British accent of a tired voice from across the Pond.
This song was in their souls from way before it was invented and written and played and recorded and listened to. This song was theirs as much as it was Taylor's and Ed's, thanks to those kid's births and origins and families and citizenship.
Like any other song Alfred and Arthur shared before, like any other they were going to share in the future. This song was so much theirs it was written with their blood and sung with their voices and contained their souls of a lazy Sunday morning together.
Or maybe not.
Arthur sang his part alone, his thick accent more clear than anything on these words:
And all my walls stood tall painted blue
And I'll take them down, take them down and open up the door for you
And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies
The beautiful kind, making up for lost time,
Taking flight, making me feel right
Alfred joined him soon, even so softly:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you
'Cause all I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
And you'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
America kept on playing and the song continued. Arthur watched the cats circling the table in front of the couch and disappearing along the corridor, probably in search of more food or simply annoyed by their owners being so loud and lively all so suddenly.
Their two voices mixed again:
Come back and tell me why
I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time, oh, oh, oh.
And meet me there tonight
And let me know that it's not all in my mind.
Alfred lowered his voice and repeated, in a soft, almost inaudible falsetto:
I just wanna know you better, know you better, know you better now
I just wanna know you, know you, know you
They still had so much to know and discover, every day, about one another.
They still had so much to learn from the past they shared and the times they did not, from years being apart.
All I know is we said, "Hello."
And your eyes look like coming home
All I know is a simple name
Everything has changed
All I know is you held the door
You'll be mine and I'll be yours
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
They paused just for a bit, then Alfred resumed playing the guitar and added alone:
All I know is we said, "Hello."
So dust off your highest hopes
Arthur closed his eyes to images still marked in his mind, to pain in his chest that all the years gone by still hadn't erased, no matter how many 4th of July they had celebrated together, no matter how many times Alfred had hold his hand or caressed in circles his back in a soothing way, an apologetic look in his eyes and unspoken words on his lips.
All I know is pouring rain and everything has changed
All I know is a new found grace
All my days I'll know your face
And then, joined once again:
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed
They just looked in each other eyes, sky blue meeting emerald green, then shared a long laugh.
As on cue, Hero peeked from the corridor and decided it was time to come back and reclaim a spot on the couch, Crumpet not far behind the Maine Coon, swinging his shorter Scottish Fold's tail and looking annoyed.
Alfred set the guitar on the floor to make room for the pets, but Arthur shifted faster from his spot, landing on Alfred's chest, fast encircled by the American's strong arms.
Cuddling close, Arthur cupped Alfred's face with one hand and kissed firmly his mouth: “Happy anniversary, love”.
Oh, and an UPDATE about the Meet me in Dublin project!
Here's the tumblr blog which is gonna contain it: http://meet-the-eito-in-dublin.tumblr.com/
Follow it and share and remember to check on it for future updates ;)