The Things I'd Rather Forget // Countryhumans AU

Ch 20: Falling Apart \ / The Beginning of the End

It had been two weeks since the meeting had ended, and America would be understating it by a lot if he said those two weeks were just stressful. They were a whole rollercoaster of questionable emotions. Mostly sadness though.

Recently, America got into a routine that he couldn't say he was certainly proud of, but it was too normal at this point for America to want to change it. America's routine goes as such: Wake up in the morning, question the existence of life for a few minutes to avoid getting up and doing stuff, get ready for work, go to work, realize he forgot to eat breakfast... again, work, forget to go to lunch, more work, meetings, go home, water the iris, eat dinner for the state's sake, usually have a "nice" conversation with CPR, try to pull an all-nighter, occasionally fail to do so, and repeat.

It's a great routine, isn't it?

As usual, America was going through the routine. Right now, he's heading home. When America got home, he watered the iris and proceeded to start making dinner. And by that I mean heat up leftovers. After only eating about a fourth of his meal, America stopped eating and started putting away his food. Normally, CPR would be saying something by now, but he was quiet today. America couldn't say he knew why, but he hoped this was a sign there'd be no nightmares tonight if CPR is busy with something else.

To burn time, America went on his phone to simply browse the internet, it's not like he had anything better to do, anyway. At some point, America fell asleep, his head dropping onto a pillow nearby.

~~-~~

America opened his eyes to the magnificent sight of a city. Or the closest thing to a city. With just a simple look around, America knew that this dream was happening sometime in the 1700s, most likely before the Revolutionary War. America couldn't recognize which city, though. It had been too long for America to remember specific details.

"America!" America heard a very familiar voice: Rhode Island. America turned around and smiled, seeing Rhode Island run over to him happily.

"You're late, slowpoke!" Rhode Island complained and hit America lightly on the shoulder, which was actually kind of difficult due to how short she was.

"Late for what?" America asked, smiling slightly. There was finally a good dream for once. Or, at least that's what he thought.

Rhode Island tilted her head a little bit and frowned, but didn't answer.

America looked at her, confused, "Rhi? What's wrong?"

"Do you really not know?" Rhode Island looked really heartbroken.

America felt dread like a stone in his stomach, "Not know what?"

Rhode Island looked at the floor, her gaze empty. She looked like some sort of puppet, a toy for a child to play with. America's worry multiplied.

"Rhi, What's wrong? Answer me, please," America was getting even more worried by the second. This felt frighteningly real. Too real. America didn't like this. He wanted to go back to the normal torture because this felt so real it hurt.

Rhode Island's head suddenly shot up, her eyes wide open- and pitch-black. "You were too late to save me. None of them saved me either. Everything has gone wrong," She stepped forward and gave America a look of pure hatred, "AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"

With that scream, the road underneath her broke. America stepped back, his heart breaking upon hearing his own daughter say that, "What do you mean, Rhi? What happened?"

"A lot of things," A new voice said, stepping in. Wisconsin. Wisconsin cast a sad look at Rhode Island, before quickly running in between her and America. "If you don't mind, I'm gonna steal Dad for a sec."