The Things I'd Rather Forget // Countryhumans AU

Ch 3: Cracking Smiles // The Gloves

On his hand, there was a small, black crack.

...

America blinked, but the crack didn't disappear. It was like a nightmare, except America had a sinking feeling that this was reality. America knew he should tell someone, anyone; but, he knew what this was- after all, it had happened to him before. But... this time it felt different somehow. Something didn't feel... right about all of this. This all felt like some sort of twisted joke, like- haha! It's me again! America suddenly felt paranoid and insecure- he hadn't felt like this in a long time and that very fact scared him. He knew deep down that he needed help but something told him not to. In the end, America decided to hide it for now, and go to a doctor on Saturday. For your information, Today is Monday, a day filled with endless work.

America started thinking about how he could hide this black crack. After searching for what seemed like an hour, America finally yelled to himself, "Screw it! I'm gonna wear Dad's stupid gloves!"

Dad's "stupid gloves" were white gloves Britain had gifted America a long time ago. In fact, America couldn't remember when Britain had given him these gloves. As far as America knew, he had never worn these gloves before; however, America put on the gloves with ease... Almost as if he had put on these gloves millions of times before... A sudden memory flashed before America, but before he could focus on it, it slipped from his grasp. America was left confused and uneasy. America sighed, lightly slapped himself on his cheeks and said, "No time for memories now, America. I got to get to work, I'm already late."

America quickly hustled himself over to the capitol building in D.C. It was some pretty basic stuff, watching Congress do their thing, saying a few things here and there, and just like that, the day was over. Before America left, however, America heard a soft voice behind him.

"Excuse me, sir," A woman, probably some sort of new secretary, tapped America on the shoulder.

America turned around and smiled, "Heya! What is it, miss?"

She sheepishly looked at the country, "You have a series of meetings in UN's Headquarters in New York from Wednesday of this week to the end of next week."

America was confused, what did she just say? America suddenly asked, "What do you mean, series of meetings? They were supposed to happen next month, not this month!" America didn't know why, but he was becoming uncharacteristically frustrated. When America turned to the poor woman, he noticed that she looked very startled. America paused and suddenly felt guilty, he doesn't usually act like this... "Oh, I'm so sorry miss... I don't know what's gotten into me."

She hesitantly smiled and continued, "You're forgiven... The meeting was moved because Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus had some complications and wouldn't have been able to attend next month, so UN decided to simply move the dates. You'll be taking the plane over to New York tomorrow so that you have at least a half-day of rest before the meeting." America nodded, thanked her, and waved her goodbye, feeling really guilty for his sudden outburst. 'Maybe I just need some sleep...' The American country thought to himself.

When he finally got home, he took off his gloves to look at the crack. It had gotten bigger. Not by a lot, but America could most definitely tell it was bigger. America didn't know what to do. Now that there was a meeting, he wouldn't be able to suddenly fly back to D.C. for his doctor's appointment. The country sighed, went on his phone, and rescheduled the appointment to when he got back. America just hoped that it no-one would notice how he's suddenly wearing gloves. Since America was also becoming paranoid he was also trying to reason with himself that there was no possible way it could become really bad before the meeting was over, right?

America hoped so, anyway.

America half-heartedly watered the iris, changed into his pajamas, and went to bed. This time, he didn't bother taking his sunglasses off.