GerUk/GerEng Collection

It'll Be Okay

(I can't believe I forgot to post this here. It was suppose to be for the 4th of July, but better late than never I suppose)

"Come on Ludwig," Italy whined as he clung to his friend's arm, "at least try to have some fun. After all, life is what you make of it."

The man in question only sighed, "you've been hanging out with America too much." "And you've been spending too much time alone."

With another sigh, Germany turned his attention to the crowd of party-goers littered throughout the room. Although he would refuse to admit it, he was looking for someone in particular. The only person who he actually enjoyed spending time with at these kinds of events. England. Despite how much he cared for Italy, He had been trying to shake the Italian to go on an in-depth search without revealing his true motives for the past ten minutes.

When his attention was brought back to Italy, the usually oblivious man had a knowing smirk on his face. Germany felt his face grow hot, knowing that he had most likely been caught. "Go find him, lover boy," Italy cheered as he pushed the German away from him and towards the crowd. Germany tried to protest, but his embarrassment left him a blubbering mess no one could understand (or in Italy's case, chose not to understand).

Eventually, Germany lost sight of his friend and opted to begin wandering around, hoping to find England or at least something that could point him in the right direction. He reached the door of the ballroom, leading to the rest of America's house. In any other situation, he would refuse to go any further, but England clearly wasn't in the main hall.

His search brought him to a nearby bedroom that's door was opened ever so slightly. Not wanting to pry too much, he was about to move on until a loud coughing fit came from the room. He peeked in to see someone shaking from coughs under a heap of blankets. Rushing over he sat the individual up and took a nearby glass of water to help the person drink. Once things calmed down, Germany finally recognized the man in his arms. It was none other than England, shaky and pale with an unknown illness.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" England asked, his voice low and raspy.

"I...uh..I-I-"

"Just go back to the party." With that the Englishman flopped back down into a lying position, facing away from the intruder.

Germany felt his chest tighten. Seeing the fiery and strong-willed Brit in such a state was heartbreaking. At the same time, he had no plan on leaving. "No."

"I've dealt with this for over 200 years, just bugger off."

"No."

"Why you-" He went to get up, but another coughing fit knocked him back down. Germany reacted quickly once more, propping the other up and giving him the water. At first, England refused, but as the coughing became worse and his mouth filled with the taste of metal, he allowed the glass to be brought to his lips. After getting his breath back under control he fell back onto the pillow. Germany on the other hand turned to look out the window, feeling slightly uncomfortable by the awkward tension that was growing. The sky was slowly becoming inky black with the occasional star twinkling.

Soon enough, a loud boom was heard from outside and bright colours exploded into the night sky. Germany fully welcomed the distraction. That was until he turned back to check on England. Said man was frozen in place, his breath was quick and short, and his eyes were cloudy and dull.

"Arthur?" Germany called, not wanting to touch him out of fear of making it worse. There was no response. He tried again, only to get the same lack of reply. Though he wished it weren't true, Germany was pretty sure he knew exactly what was wrong. After all, he had suffered from similar symptoms though it had gotten better in recent years. Thinking back to his own experience, he searched for anything that may help. Then he thought of his brother. Despite his self-centered and immature facade, he could be very caring and was very much in tune with coping with emotions. Perhaps that came with age. He recalled how Prussia had always been able to relax Germany during his many shutdowns during and following the wars and the fall of the Berlin Wall. During those times he remembered the faint, comforting circles and pressure his brother would give him to pull him out of his own head.

Now, he understood that wasn't always the best course of action, but he had to try something. Moving to the other side of the bed, Germany gently took England's hand in his and began rubbing small circles on the Brit's palm. "I-Its okay," he whispered, "you're safe now." He continued like this until England began to shift slightly. At the sudden movement, Germany immediately pulled away, not wanting to make tensions between them worse.

"Please...don't stop," a soft voice came.

Germany snapped his attention to England's face, finding a pale, but smiling face. "A-Arthur?"

"Please," England asked one more, reaching for Germany's hand.

"O-O-Okay." And so he began to rub the circles once more, his face heating up more and more with each one.

"You're fine, love."

Germany felt his throat go dry and suddenly, England's hand became the center of his attention. "Uh...dan-th-thank you," he managed to stutter out.

They went on like this for about 15 minutes (though it seemed like an eternity for Germany). Once he regained some confidence, Germany glanced over at England's face, finding his eyes closed and his breath soft. "Thank goodness," Germany breathed, letting go of the other's hand. Not that he didn't enjoy it deep down, he just wasn't good with physical contact whether he wanted it or not (it was even worse with his crush). Even so, he couldn't stop himself from running a hand through the Brit's hair or bring himself to leave. "Sleep well, Arthur," he murmured, before turning his attention to the fireworks once more.