Hetalia Oneshots

England X Reader: The Bench

She walked to the bench like she did every day. She came at 12:10 PM, straight from her job 10 minutes away, with her lunch in her hand. She always took the same route to the bench from her job. Walk out the door, turn left, walk down three blocks, make a right and there it was. The bench. Her bench.

She was never a big fan of change. She always wore a shirt, a pair of jeans and her favorite green sweater. She always brought the same lunch: a sandwich, a fruit, and a water bottle. She always wore one of two pairs of sneakers, both worn-out. She would always stay there for 40 minutes, and then leave, taking her ten minutes to walk back to her workplace. Then, the cycle would repeat the next day.

Arthur had always been captivated by the girl. Every time he had a lunch break, he would go to the bench diagonal from her, to eat his own lunch, which was always different. His clothes were always different. His job was right across the street from the park so it would only take him a few minutes to get there. The one thing in his life that never changed was the girl that sat diagonally from him, eating her sandwich on her bench. He was certainly intrigued by her unchanging, unaffected nature. How she would quietly eat her lunch with her worn-out sneakers and her green sweater.

One day, he decided to continue being different, but this time it would affect the girl and her bench. She came again at the same time, with her lunch in her hand. She wore her white sneakers this time, with a white shirt and gray jeans, but she still had a green sweater. She walked into the park and saw her bench. But it was different. Something had changed. She stopped and stared at it. Her bench had something that she never expected it to have, and she didn't know what to do.

It was a man. A man with messy blond hair. He had a clean brown suit, with a red tie and a white button-up shirt. He had fancy black shoes. Most importantly, he was sitting on her bench.

She stood there, confused as to what to do. She wasn't much of a social person, nor has she witnessed anyone sit on her bench. The man felt her stare and looked up from his lunch. He looked at her (e/c) eyes while she looked at him. They didn't say anything for a while, that is, until he decided to speak:

"I like your jumper. It looks nice on you."

"..." She was confused by the man but she knew that it would be impolite to not reply. The man was on her bench, and due to her wandering thoughts, she had no words to convey what she wanted to say.

"I see you're probably confused," he stood up, "My name is Arthur," he stuck his hand out, which you hesitantly took, "I do believe this is your bench, but I see you every day and you always sit alone on this bench. I usually sit on the bench over there," he pointed " and I thought it would be nice to get to know the woman who never changed."

By then, your brain was mush. Here's you, a below-average individual with not enough money to eat even three meals a day, captivating an obviously well-off man from England. With a deep breath, you calmed yourself down and looked at him.

"Sir, you come here every day a few minutes before I do to have your lunch on that bench. You see, I may stay the same, but that doesn't mean I don't observe my surroundings. I would not like your pity for the way I am but if you would truly like to know me then I would be glad to talk to the man that always changes."

Arthur was surprised. He had seen her every day, yet he never saw her glance at him. "Madame, I assure you that I do not pity you nor do I want to use you. I simply would like to get to know you."

She looked down at her watch, deeply sighed and look back up at him again. "I have 30 minutes left sir. I can talk to you until then but I will have to leave to go back to work."

Arthur smiled, "Well after you Madame. After all, it is your bench."

They met at that bench every day, telling each other the stories of their lives. They would only have 40 minutes every day, but to them, it was enough. It was a chance for both of them to recall and remember. It was the time to share the ups and downs of their lives, the positives, and negatives of their day and the happiness and joy that was brought in each other's company within those 40 minutes.