Frankly, he was a beautiful, beautiful man. She couldn't help but sigh as she stared at his amazing blonde locks as they blew in the wind, that little piece always sticking straight up. Honestly, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed; at least he had never been whenever she talked to him, which luckily was almost daily. But he had such an infectious energy that swirled around him. When he was excited about something, be it politics or hamburgers, he would just talk. Just talk and talk with his beautiful melodious voice, entangling those around him in the excitement as well.

She sighed. He was the only reason she kept insisting on morning shifts, and since the morning shift required her to wake up five in the morning to open up shop at seven, people were more than willing to allow her to take the job if it made her happy. And oh, she was very happy about it.

Breaking her thoughts was the light jingle of the door opening. It had been slow that morning- as per usual at the 8:30 mark, but she didn't mind. Less work for her. And now? With him walking up to the counter, no one behind him, the boringly slow wait was more than worth it.

"Hey Al, nice day isn't it?" She smiled. Yes. His name was Alfred. Last name: Jones. Middle name: Something that began with 'F.' Age: 21. Hometown: Washington, DC. Relationship status: Single, but he definitely got around. Since he started coming in- exactly four months ago- he had been in an on and off relationship with a guy named Arthur. He once dated another guy named Matthew, and then he dated someone named Kiku. Was he gay? No. He had dated a girl named Natasha. He was bisexual. Which meant that she had some hope. "Can I get you your usual?" Oh yeah. She also knew how he liked his coffee. Did she stalk him? No. She remembered what he said to her. And she liked to imagine that he remembered what she said to him about herself. Name: Jordan. Age: 19. Hometown: San Francisco, California- in DC for college. Relationship status: Painfully single.

"It is a nice day, especially considering the winter we had," he smiled back, his perfect, bright smile with perfect white teeth and a little twinkle in his eye, "The usual would be awesome Jordan." He remembered her name. Her heart fluttered in the fashion of a schoolgirl crush. She rang it up, turning around to get his coffee, but something was off. He was quiet today, normally while she made his coffee he would update her on his life and she'd update him on hers in light conversation. Usually he had some sort of story to tell about the Arthur guy or the Matthew guy or the apparent creeper Ivan or the pedophilic Francis. She glanced at him, hoping to catch his eyes to get even a small idea on what was going on in his mind. But all she could figure out is that right now, he was staring intently at the television screen watching the news. She turned her attention to it, another person had been shot, another market had crashed, another person lost their job- and their home. She sighed once more, bringing the coffee to the counter.

"Here Alfred," She held out the cup of coffee for him. But he didn't seem to hear her, too lost and engrossed in his own thoughts and mind, "Alfred!" She tried again. His head jerked towards her and she blinked. He was really… jerky today too, "Your coffee. It's going to get cold," She tilted her head, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, thank you." He chuckled, but it was a dry chuckle. Not one of his light hearted, bell-reminiscent chuckles. "Sorry… I was just thinking."

"Happens to all of us. The world's a mess." She said with a sigh, her hand going to the back of her neck as she gave it a light rub, her words were slow and calculated as she continued, not wanting to upset him if he were already, "People fighting all the time, passing the buck constantly, corrupting the powers they have no matter how little powers they actually have…. It makes it hard to be average, y'know?"

But Alfred didn't seem upset. Instead, he listened to her, nodding, "Yeah. I know what you mean."

"If the nations were people… I wonder how they would feel watching their own argue over stupid things like this?"

Something about Alfred's motions changed just a bit as she said that, and for a moment, she wondered if he was now angry with her. But that didn't seem to be the case and after a few minutes he looked to her replying, "They'd probably get very large headaches."

"Haha, you're probably right…oh, sorry Alfred," she heard the door open again, "I'd love to talk more but I need to work…."

"Say no more," He gave her a smile, but it wasn't the smile she had been crushing on, "I'm going to be sticking around here, but in case of rush, nice talking to you."

"Ditto," she gave him one last smile before turning to the line, "Hello, how are you today? May I take your order?"

-U-

America felt himself sink into the smooth, leather chair facing the television screen. He leaned back, letting the cushioning mold into his curves, lifting the steaming cup of Joe to his lips. The sharp scent and heat tickled his nose and upper lip before he took in a nice, long drink, careful not to burn himself. America nestled further into the comfortable chair, enjoying the morning the best he could. He didn't want to think about politics, and he really didn't have anything to do that day. It was the first time in a long time he had any time to himself. He took another long sip, his eyes closing as he lowered the cup to the table next to him, resting his head back and shutting his eyes.

He didn't know how long he had been comfortable like that, but he did know what disturbed him. The sound on the television was being turned up. His eyes cracked open as he groggily turned his attention towards the screen only half awake. But that quickly changed as he saw a picture of England, France, Canada, and himself appear on the screen. He couldn't shake the feeling that people were staring at him, the eyes of those in the café were on him.

"….Sources say that all nations of the world have a human form. Shown here clockwise are England, France, Canada, and The United States of America..."

There was a painful, uncomfortable silence that ensued. He was frozen in place as he tried to avert his eyes from anyone in the café, resorting to looking at the steam curl up from his cup of coffee. His hand quickly went for it, shaking. He needed something to calm his nerves… it just… he wanted it. He fidgeted, the sharp, unpleasant squeaks from the leather chair the only sound in the silent coffee shop.

At least he really didn't know anyone here… at least, not for this time… right? No one here he saw regularly, he didn't talk to anyone regularly, did he? Right he did-

"Alfred?" Jordan cautiously started, breaking only the tip of the icy tension, "America?"

Oh yeah. Jordan. That girl.

America turned towards her, trying to find something to say, feeling his people's eyes on him now that this was spilled… "I-"

"You're phone is ringing," she added quickly- and America thanked her nonverbally. Sure she probably had questions, but he'd much rather talk to her privately about this… or if she was fine with it… not talking about this at all. "Are you going to get it?"

There was an odd silence before he looked down, "Oh! Yeah… I should… sorry…" He took the phone out of his pocket, looking at the name on the screen. He gulped, half tempted to just hang up and tell the man later that he had forgotten his phone… but… he never forgot his phone. He would know America was lying.

He let it ring for a moment longer before taking one deep breath; filling his chest fill with the air… then letting it all out before finally pressing the green button and putting it to his ear, "Hello-"

"YOU BLOODY GIT!"

(America could only think one thing when those words cut through the air and entered into his ears: Fuck. My. Life.)

Hey, this is kinda my first time writing this sort of fic. So please try not to crush my self-esteem. And it's 4:30 am and I'm tired. But I'm posting anyway! Hope y'all like and enjoy =0)

P.S. I am finishing the other fic I have going, I just recently started college and it's been eating my life.

-Me