American Symphony

Kids Again

(3547 words)

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It was Early June in America, the air warm and stars shining brightly in the sky. Had they been in New York, you wouldn't have been able to see the spectacle, but Virginia was a different story.

America sighed as he walked down the sidewalk, a smile on his face as he made his way closer to his destination. That destination was a local karaoke place, one that he had been going to for years by this point.

He looked beside him, his smile softening at the southern girl beside him. She was bubbly, her long red hair tied back in a ponytail. It was curly and shined in the moonlight, much like her bright, aquamarine eyes.

She had freckles that peppered her face and a button nose, long lashes that surrounded her eyes and small piercings in the tops of her ears.

She looked up at him, finding him smiling down at her. "Alfie?" she asked, her voice melodic and sweet like honey. She giggled when he didn't respond, too lost in his own thoughts. "Earth to Alfred~" she said softly, intertwining her fingers in his and giving his hand a light squeeze.

This snapped him back to reality, shaking his head and blinking down at her. "Huh? What—" he glanced down at their hands. "Oh- was I doing it again?" he asked, a blush tinging his cheeks.

He giggled, her laugh sounding like bells. "Yes, Jones, you were." she said, giving him a mischievous smile. "But I don't mind."

America smiled down at the young lady— her name was Abigail and the pair had been together for nearly a year by this point, and the nation couldn't be happier.

"So how'd the World Summit go?" she asked as they walked, getting closer to the karaoke place at the end of the block.

Oh yea, that's probably something I should mention. Abigail had known that Alfred was a nation for roughly a month, and had taken the news in stride. She often listened to him talk about his ideas for World Summit problems, gazing at him with a loving smile.

She was witty in her comebacks when they bantered, poked fun at him when he fell victim to the stereotypes of the people he represented and loved him fiercely.

She was a spitfire, and that was something the American loved about her.

"Eh, we got about as much work as usual done," he said with a smile.

"So none at all?" she quipped.

Alfred chuckled, shaking his head. "Nope." he said with a laugh. "But we have another tomorrow, so, maybe something will actually get done." he said, knowing that wasn't the case.

Abigail shook her head at the nation, nodding to him in thanks when he opened the door for her. She walked in, smiling at the fairy lights that hung on the walls.

"I'll go sign us up, why don't you get the drinks?" she said, making her way through the crowd and towards the clipboard that hung on the wall meant for Karaoke sign-ups.

They did this often enough that it had become a routine. Alfred walked to the bar and ordered something fruity for Abigail and something with honey for himself, sliding the money over and thanking the bartender.

He walked to an empty table for two and plopped himself down, taking a sip of his drink. He hummed at the taste, looking up when Abigail joined him.

"All signed up. Whatcha wanna sing?" she asked, grabbing her own drink and fiddling with the bright green straw.She sipped her drink and wrinkled his nose, smiling at the nation before her.