How This All Turned Out

He Doesn't Try To Forget Them

America: has the biggest entertainment Industry in the world.

America is so done with this city. His patience has been wearing thin all day, having to deal with people shouting, swearing and being downright psychopaths in that trashy little 24 hour shop he works at.

Seriously - that one regular (New Jersey, America had the displeasure of knowing his name to be) looked like he was about to slaughter Illinois for daring to interrupt him because the blueberries were out of stock, never mind the fact that they did not, nor ever had, sold any kind of berry there in the first place. While America had managed to convince the man to not mount anyone's head on a pike, it was all stressful enough that, by this point, he just wants to get home and hibernate until spring.

But no, he can't. He's stuck in traffic. Because the person who designed the city clearly hadn't wanted people to actually get anywhere. At least his car had managed to start, which is probably some sort of miracle, considering the concerning rattling noise it makes every time he turns it on. Disappointingly, that is one of the only good things that has happened all day, and his standards are real low by this point.

Staring out of the window, America evaluates the scenery he has seen a hundred times already. The sky is the darkening gray of a late-Autumn evening and there are puddles on the ground, left from the rain earlier that day. Few people are on the sidewalk - the ones that move quickly, hands shoved in pockets, trying to spend as little time in the cold as possible. Only a group of teens, spray-painting a psychedelic array of colors onto an alley wall seem to be appreciating the gloomy day. The one doing the majority of the graffiti - a green, white and red tricolor - steps back as a guy (white and red) slaps him on the back.

It's strange for America: street art hadn't been all that common in the village he'd grown up in - or at least it had never been as elaborate as what he sees around World City. He guesses kids (okay, they look around eighteen, but America's 24, so, they're basically babies) around here probably don't have to worry so much about getting caught. That is one thing he can appreciate the city for, even if its traffic is terrible, people didn't gossip about you the moment you did something wrong, no matter how harmless.

The long line of cars finally starts to move again as America contemplates the routine question of what he'll have for dinner that night until something hits him. Something important. His house keys. He left them at home.

● ● ●

Shivering in the cool air, America slowly presses the doorbell of the flat he's renting. If Canada isn't in, he's going to have to talk to Calgary to get the spare keys. Images of the bitter old landlord glowering at him, asking how any functioning adult could forget their keys three times in one month flashes before his eyes and he prays that his roommate has gotten home before him.

A moment passes. Maybe he should climb through a window or something. His flat was only four flours up.

And then, just before America resigns himself to his fate, his best-friend-since-childhood, Canada, opens the door, warm, yellow light spilling out from behind him like a glowing angel coming to save America from facing the grumpy landlord.

"Forget your keys again?" Canada looks at him with the Judgment of God. The God of Sparkles apparently.

"Dude, loving the look, but what's with the glitter?" America asks. Canada, who America realizes, is not twinkling because of his inherent goodness for preventing an awkward conversation with Calgary, but instead because he is covered in gold glitter. Canada glances down at his glistening hands. America is now considering just staying outside - glitter really got everywhere and he can see past Canada, into the kitchen. The table was ominously shiny.

America enters, still cautiously, eyeing his sparkly friend and closing the door behind him. Staying as far away from the table (and Canada) as possible, he pulls the vacuum cleaner out of its cupboard.

"I was trying to get a card for New Brunswick - he's leaving, new job and all that" Canada looks at a box on the table. It is lying on its side and seems to be the source of all the mess. "But, well, you really should mark the glitter bomb cards, you know."

America looked at Canada.

"Don't move. Don't touch anything. Don't even blink." America turns on the vacuum.

For a second, they look at each other.

Canada bolts behind the table and America yells at him to stay still. He lunges over the table, trying to grab Canada, succeeding in nothing but covering himself in glitter too. Canada desperately scrambles away from America and the vacuum cleaner while America attempts, unsuccessfully, to vacuum up the mess that was very quickly encrusting the floor.

Loud banging on the door interrupts the mayhem and the maniacal grin slips off Canada's face as America turns off the vacuum, going to answer it.

"Can you shut the fuck up? I'm trying to study!" their downstairs neighbor, Cambridge, begins, "I swear to God I'm going to tell Calgary." Well. She's angry.

Which is rich coming from her, seeing as she is always being noisy, partying until the early hours of the morning from Friday to Sunday. And it isn't like Calgary would actually care if she told on them. He would just tell Cambridge to move out if she didn't like it - America knows from experience. He would love to tell her to screw off, but it would probably just make her even more spiteful than she already is and America doesn't have the energy to deal with that.

"I'm really sorry," he says, injecting as much 'I care about your feelings' energy into his voice as possible. "We didn't realize how loud we were being, it won't happen again" Cambridge's narrowed eyes scan him, trying to judge his honesty. Unfortunately for her, America calms whining adults down for a living and the concerned look he is using has placated far angrier people than her.

"Good." She snaps and marches off. America shuts the door harshly behind her.

"Frickin' Karen." America says venomously to Canada, who glares at the door. "One day I'm going to interrupt one of her dumb parties and tell her to shut up." They always say they'd do something like that but neither has actually gone through with it. When they had just moved in, America had tried asking her to keep it down multiple times and she threatened to call the police for harassment. America isn't getting in trouble over an annoying neighbor.

The door is saved from Canada's icy expression by a timer going off. His demeanor changes instantly. "Oh yeah, I'm making pasta!"

America looks over at the still sparkling table and raises a singular eyebrow at Canada, who is very purposely busying himself with the pasta.

America starts actually cleaning up the glitter - this time with a dustpan and brush to avoid giving Her Majesty downstairs any reason to come bother them again. He puts the assortment of glitter-spreading cards back in the box they came in. "It's a shame New Brunswick is leaving." Canada is close with them if America remembers correctly.

"I bet it's because of Ontario," Canada says, stirring the pasta and doing a fairly convincing impression of 'Edward Cullen In Sunlight'.

"Your manager?" America asks, pouring the encroaching glitter into the bin.

"Unfortunately" Canada sighs. Canada had started working at the bar only a few weeks before Ontario and he had long ago made it clear that the new manager was Literally The Devil™ - and not the kind that solved crime with supernatural powers. "We're probably going to be short staffed for a while, so don't forget your keys again - I might not be around to open the door." America makes a face. He doesn't try to forget his them, he just does.

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A/N: This is my first fic so yay. I also have no idea how to write so ... yay. Idk how often I will update this, as I have life and other ideas for fics in this fandom that I want to do, but I'll try to finish it sometime this side of the century. Also feel free to correct any British-isms in this, hopefully I've got everything, but just say if there is anything I missed out :P