He didn't know where he was going, nor did he really care. As long as he was away from that stupid American, he'd be fine. It wasn't like Japan to do stupid things like this; after all, he always thought things through, never leaving a single option unchecked. And yet… how on Earth had he ended up in a relationship with America? They'd been such good friends, but they went and gave that up, ruining it for the shot at something more.

And now even that was gone.

So now he was driving to who knew where, trying to clear up everything that had happened, but at the same time, he didn't even want to think about it.

Nothing looked familiar anymore. From the last town he stopped in, he guessed he was in Michigan. Now, he could see a large bridge ahead. 'Maybe crossing water will be far enough.' He though, smiling a little at the thought. But his dark eyes narrowed in suspicion when he approached a row of booths, all marked Please have I.D. ready. Frowning, he dug through the glove compartment for his passport, which he handed over to the woman behind the glass.

"Where're you from?" She asked casually.

"Japan." He replied hesitantly.

"What're you doing so far from home?"

He felt his face darken over. "Visiting a friend."

She handed the passport back. "Have a nice day." She said with a smile, and Japan continued through. What he emerged to was probably the nicest town he'd seen in a while. Small, without being the middle of nowhere, yet nothing as crowded as cities he was used to. It was a nice change, not that he could enjoy it much, with his current mood. He finally settled on a coffee place, and sat at a table, finally letting the depression get the best of him.

"Japan?" He looked up, startled at the soft voice. He nearly stood up in a rare burst of anger, until he realized the blond in front of him wasn't America.

"Sorry. Who are you?"

"Canada. Don't tell me you didn't notice you crossed an international border. We're not that relaxed."

He thought about the trip over the bridge. He vaguely remembered seeing another flag, but just the sight of those stars and stripes had made his stomach churn, and he didn't really notice the other. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Canada sighed, sitting down across from him. "But what's wrong? You look really…" He broke off at a loud cheer of joy.

"Mattie!" A small brunette called, flinging her arms around the nation's neck. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Hey Lynn. Sorry, I've been busy."

The girl was clearly human, yet she obviously knew Canada well. She was nervously fiddling with the zipper on her windbreaker as they talked, and her cheeks were flushed a brilliant red, though she tried to hide it behind her glasses. Japan found himself recalling that America had never talked to his people like this, unless it was at a club, or bar. But this almost looked like they'd grown up together…

"So you'll come see Grease next week?" Lynn was asking, smiling hopefully.

"Wouldn't miss it, though they do it way too much in this city."

"I know!" She agreed, wrinkling her nose. "It would've been way more fun to do Les Miserable but Grease is just everyone's most favorite show of all time… I'm really glad I opted not to audition this year."

"Well you'll make a great stage manager."

"I hope so. Well, see you then."

"Bye." As the girl left, he turned back to Japan, tilting his head at the confused look on the smaller man's face. "What?"

"How do you interact so easily with humans? To the point where you look like best friends?"

"Does is really look like that?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I guess it's just nice to be able to feel normal once in awhile, y'know? They're much friendlier in the smaller towns than in Toronto or Ottawa."

"I suppose the same goes for my home. I've never really talked to them much."

"So tell me what's wrong. Did something happen with Al?"

Japan winced. He'd hit the nail on the head. "I don't want to talk about it here."

"Right." Amethyst eyes gave the busy place a quick scan, and the Canadian downed the rest of his coffee. "But talking about it might help. I have a place in town, you wanna come and try?"

He flashed the younger man a grateful smile, and stood up. "Thank you."

{}}{{}

"I'll admit, I was pretty surprised when you two got together." Canada was murmuring, as they sat down in his living room. "But it didn't seem like anything was wrong."

"I suppose we shouldn't have tried taking it to the next level in the first place. We were fine as it was, but we got greedy."

"You mean he did, right?"

Japan blinked in surprise at the statement. "Why would you assume only he-?"

"It's not like you to take any more than you believe to be right. Al on the other hand… he'd take anything he could to satisfy his own desires. I hate to be cruel to him, he's my closest brother, but he really is an ass." The blond smiled weakly, a gesture Japan struggled to return.

"He wasn't at first…" He thought about the way America had looked when he asked him if, in his words, 'It would be totally okay if we went out?' The way his bright eyes had shone in anticipation, though the rest of his face struggled to stay calm. His hands tugging nervously at the edges. The very image had been absolutely adorable, and Japan, being a sucker for adorable, had been completely unable to say no.

For the first few months, it had been perfect. The American had been so careful in every way, something he never did with any other nation. He didn't do anything that could offend, or hurt Japan, even though he was the younger one in the relationship. The immense effort shown in their daily lives had flattered him. But looking back, that was probably the only thing he'd felt for the blond. Other than that, there was no spark behind the kisses, nothing special to the gifts.

"He changed I suppose. Thought that if he changed himself to be perfect at first, I wouldn't notice as that self faded." He was surprised to see Canada nodding in understanding. "You've seen him do that before?"

Again, he nodded. "When I first came to England's house as a colony. He was acting as the perfect brother, but after a couple months, he revealed himself as the biggest brat I've ever known."

"It's true, exactly like that."

"But while that could bring you to a break-up, it doesn't explain why you were upset enough to cross an international border without even noticing, and you looked ready to kill me when you thought I was my brother."

"It's embarrassing to admit." The excuse seemed lame, but as soon as the words were out of his mouth, he looked at the genuine concern in Canada's eyes, and knew he could tell the younger man the truth. "He was cheating on me." He muttered. For a brief moment, he saw red as anger fueled the words alone. "With Lithuania."

"I thought so." The blond said gravely. "He was spending a lot more time overseas than normal for him, I figured something was up."

"They were in the house." He said bitterly. "I dropped by to make sure he wasn't watching more horror movies on his own… and there they were." He pulled his knees to his chin, something he hadn't done since he was small, getting scared and depressed whenever China had gotten really mad at him. "There they were." He repeated quietly.

Canada watched the smaller nation, not knowing anything he could possibly say. There was nothing that could ever make his brother's actions right, and no way to comfort someone when they were this heartbroken. "Would you like to stay here a couple days? Figure everything out?" He offered. Time heals all wounds after all.

Again, Japan nodded gratefully. He wasn't ready to be alone in his own home just yet, and as he looked at the nation whose existence he'd so often overlooked, he realized how calming his company had been.

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Thanks for reading! Never eat a Mars bar after eating a Twix… it tastes funny.

I wasn't going to make this a series, it was just a one shot that came to mind, but for some reason I can never stand to write something insanely long (Except for my Glass Fleet Hetalia crossover, which is coming quite beautifully I might add) and so, I've decided to make it a mini series kay? Hopefully it won't distract me from Until You're Mine for too long, but having other stuff to work on tricks myself into thinking I don't have writer's block. (Which means less rolling around the floor, in frustration.)

Hope you like it, reviews make life happy!