Title: Coffee & Tea: A Hundred Day Challenge

Series: Axis Powers Hetalia

Pairing: America & England

Rating: T

Genre: Friendship, Romance

Warning: Human Names, Alternate Universe

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction by a fan for fans. Axis Powers Hetalia rightfully belongs to Hidekaz Himaruya. Spider-Man belongs to Marvel.

Author's Note: APH 100 Day Challenge was made by kimchi71399.

Day 13: If You Could Trade Lives With Someone

With the lack of friends and a healthy social life, Alfred sat at the furthest row at the back and was always early to class. The classroom had been empty when he entered ten minutes ago, which he hadn't mind. He preferred to be alone than to be stuck in a classroom with someone and be teased.

He would rather want to be ignored than teased but that wasn't mostly the case. It was hard to ignore the lanky, pizza-faced kid with braces and large glasses. Alfred loved playing video games, reading comics and drawing his own comics of superheroes and damsels-in-distress. However, it seemed that those little qualities of his were considered geeky and he was constantly getting teased about it, too.

Alfred was busy drawing the next scene of his comic book when his classmates had started filling in the classroom. It was during times like these that he wished he had a friend or that he wasn't such a big loser. He wanted to, for once in his life, wave at someone who just entered, grin at each other, sit together and joke around. He had tried to be friendly but no one really wanted to be friends with a loser.

Sighing wistfully, he let himself slip into his comics where he was the hero who was popular, had friends and no acne or braces. He kept the glasses, though, because he had to keep a secret identity and the glasses were the cover.

The loud laughter and snickers brought him out of his daydream and had him looking at the door just as they entered. Alfred quickly looked down and resumed scribbling on his notebook; hoping, praying, pleading with all deities that he would be ignored and he could at least get through last period scot free.

"Superdork!"

Alfred groaned before he could stop himself. Gilbert, one of the school's bullies, was already approaching him with a huge grin on his pale face. Alfred didn't like Gilbert and it showed in his comic, where one of villains had an uncanny resemblance to Gilbert.

"Missed you at the lunch today." Gilbert snickered and was about to pull Alfred by the shirt collar to no doubt, spit on him when he was stopped just inches before he could touch the blue-eyed American.

"Sod off, you sissy."

Alfred had looked up when he heard Arthur Kirkland's voice and swallowed the lump on his throat. Arthur was a valuable member to the soccer team and held much weight amongst the boys in school. He was the school's resident punk and pack leader.

In Alfred's comics, he was the main super villain but when he wasn't terrorizing New York City, he was the hero's best friend. Secretly, Alfred wanted to be friends with the most feared and revered student but he knew that it would never happen. He just thought it was cool how popular Arthur was, he had many friends and Alfred swore he saw people kiss the dirt Arthur stepped on.

In his eyes, Alfred saw Arthur like some sort of anti-hero.

The teacher had entered not too long after and everyone settled into their seats, not really listening to whatever their teacher discussed. As for Alfred, he continued to draw his comic where the hero was pounding on the villain that had Gilbert's face.

xxxxx

Gentleman007 is online

CaptainAwesome50: dude

CaptainAwesome50: yo

Gentleman007: Hello, Captain.

CaptainAwesome50: sup?

Gentleman007: The sky.

CaptainAwesome50: skul suckd

CaptainAwesome50: wth man =))

Gentleman007: What happened?

Gentleman007: Were you being bullied again?

Gentleman007: This has to stop, I already told you to approach a teacher about it.

CaptainAwesome50: got bullied agen

CaptainAwesome50: dude that aint gonna do nothing

CaptainAwesome50: itll make it worse

Gentleman007: Oh, for God's sake.

CaptainAwesome50: chillax man

CaptainAwesome50: just 2 more years 2 collej

CaptainAwesome50: n im outta here

Gentleman007: You don't deserve to go through this.

Gentleman007: No one should.

CaptainAwesome50: not every1s lucky

CaptainAwesome50: n i was about 2 say that it dint happen

Gentleman007: What didn't happen?

CaptainAwesome50: bullying

CaptainAwesome50: the pirate came

Gentleman007: That doesn't mean you shouldn't report it.

Gentleman007: He should have reported it.

CaptainAwesome50: dude

CaptainAwesome50: chill

CaptainAwesome50: chillax

CaptainAwesome50: im used 2 this

CaptainAwesome50: 2 yrs…jus 2 yrs!

Gentleman007: I don't know how you can even remain optimistic about this.

Gentleman007: You're better than them, you should stand up to them.

CaptainAwesome50: dude

CaptainAwesome50: i dont want 2 die lol

CaptainAwesome50: but the pirate was cool

Gentleman007: Gads, here we go.

CaptainAwesome50: he has tons of friends

Gentleman007: They are all fake.

CaptainAwesome50: MVP…trophies…girls! ;P

Gentleman007: None of which are important in life.

CaptainAwesome50: he. is. cool.

Gentleman007: Your man-crush on this Pirate fellow is getting old and annoying.

Gentleman007: If he really is as great as you say, he should have reported the bullying and be your friend.

CaptainAwesome50: ITS NOT A CRUSSH!

CaptainAwesome50: i just want 2 be like him

CaptainAwesome50: someday

CaptainAwesome50: in my dreams

Gentleman007: He's a dick. All guys like him are.

Gentleman007: All they care about is fame and they don't care who they trample along the way. They won't go anywhere in the world, they're cool and great now but after high school, none of their shit matters.

Gentleman007: It's people like you who would excel.

Gentleman007: Good, kind-hearted to a fault people.

CaptainAwesome50: dude

CaptainAwesome50: that is sooooo gay

CaptainAwesome50: hes still cool

CaptainAwesome50: hes a hero

Gentleman007: You are hopeless.

Gentleman007: And that's coming from someone who has a crush on the Pirate.

Alfred grinned at his computer screen. Well, he had at least one friend in the universe and Alfred didn't know anything about him but his pen name, or if he really was male. But it was a great feeling that he had someone to talk to about his grievances, even if it was just a faceless chat mate.

CaptainAwesome50: NOT A CRUSH!

CaptainAwesome50: i just wana trade lifes with him

xxxxx

Alfred groaned as he shut his locker. His muscles ached and burned, all he wanted was to lock himself in his dorm room, bury himself in his blankets and sleep for the entire weekend.

During the summer before his Junior year in high school, his family had moved to a new city and he had cast away his comics and his braces for a newer, better life. But he was forced to keep the glasses, he just got better frames. The acne had miraculously cooperated and disappeared then he had a growth spurt and before he knew it, he was part of the football team with a ton of friends and too many dates to keep track of. He was just like Arthur Kirkland. He lived the same kind of life Arthur did.

Now, he was part of his university's football team and was one of the star players, which had been his dream since high school and he should have been thrilled with his new life but now that he had a taste of it, it didn't seem as sweet and glorifying as he had thought it would be. At first, it had been but after three years of being in the lime light, he just wanted to be out of it.

"May be that guy had been right all along." Alfred muttered to himself as he dragged his aching body out of the locker room.

As he agonizingly walked towards his dorm room, he remembered his old chat mate. They had fallen out of contact after he had moved out because he had been busy with his new life. Alfred regretted that now because Gentleman007 was probably the only real friend he ever had.

He looked up at the blue skies and with a sigh, he thought, "Wherever you are… thanks for being a friend. I'm a dick—"

"Oh shit! I'm really sorry!" Alfred gasped as he quickly crouched down and helped collect the papers and notebooks of the student he bumped into. "I wasn't looking and—"

Alfred looked at one of the sketches that had fallen out of the binder, it was unmistakable. It was a sketch of a man in spandex and a cape, Captain Awesome was scribbled on the side. It looked very much like his old comic book hero but with a slightly different and better style.

He quickly looked up to the owner of the sketch, only Gentleman007 knew of his comics and may be this guys was—

"Pirate?" Alfred had blurted out before he could stop himself. No, it wasn't Gentleman007, it was Pirate—Arthur Kirkland. The man he had a so-called crush on and again, he remembered Gentleman007's words, the faceless bastard was always right.

The student, Arthur, flinched when he heard what Alfred called him and looked up. Then nearly doubled back when he saw Alfred's blue eyes shielded behind thick frames, "You… You're Captain?"

Alfred's mouth went dry and as quick as his brain could, he analyzed the situation. Arthur Kirkland, the villain of his comics and occasional wet dream, called him Captain and had a sketch of his character, Captain Awesome, which only Gentleman007 knew about. This was not awesome.

"Oh, God."

"I see you've gotten what you've always wanted." Arthur said as he got back on his feet, holding his papers and binders in his arms, a small disappointed frown on his face. "If you will excuse me, good day, Captain."

"W-Wait!" Alfred called and caught up to Arthur before he could leave. "Pirate—I mean, Arthur. Arthur, wait. Dude, I can't believe you!"

Arthur turned on his heel and glared up at Alfred, now taller than last he had remembered. "I thought you were better than this, I thought you weren't shallow and it was just a phase. I guess I was wrong. Now, I know why you suddenly stopped going online."

Alfred frowned and blushed, his theory of Arthur and Gentleman007 being the same person had just been proven. All he could think about at that moment was all the embarrassing things he had said and how much of a dick he had been to the guy.

"Look, I'm sorry. Can we… grab a coffee or something? Talk about it? Please." Alfred pouted, knowing that if he did, he would usually get what he wanted.

After a while, Arthur gave in. "Fine."

xxxxx

"Your life sucks, man." Alfred blurted out after a quiet staring competition with Arthur. He had bought the both of them coffee and for a few minutes hadn't spoken a word to each other, Arthur merely glared at him.

"I beg your pardon?" Arthur cocked a great brow at Alfred.

"Well, it does." Alfred continued, looking down on his coffee. "I… I always thought you lived the life, you know? MVP, tons of friends, tons of dates, people who kiss the dirt you walk on and all that shit. Well, it sucks. You only get bragging rights, which is cool but it only works on your friends, who aren't really friends and the dates… well, that was cool but it's getting… boring."

"I always wondered wherever you got the notion that I enjoyed all that." Arthur said with a small shake of his head, "Your head was always stuck up in the clouds."

Alfred grunted and sipped his coffee, regretting that he hadn't listened to Gentleman—Arthur's advice from the beginning.

"Since we're on the topic, I'd like to say that your life is quite nice." Alfred looked up at Arthur, a bit shocked at that. What was so great about his life? "I had quit the team and did what I wanted to do. Of course, it wasn't always a pleasant ride, with the bullies and whatnot but… I'm taking up Art now. And I'm quite fond of this life; I don't know why you left it behind you."

"I hope you don't mind me using your characters for my midterm project." Arthur continued, tapping his green binder.

"You what?" Alfred gaped, he didn't expect that.

"I used your characters, specifically Captain Awesome and… uh, the Pirate." Arthur coughed and looked away, suddenly remembering those chats they used to have online.

"How did you know it was me?" Alfred asked and took another sip of his coffee. Had Arthur always known that he was Captain Awesome? Oh, God. That would be embarrassing.

"On the last day of Sophomore year, I saw your comic book in the trash bin." Arthur explained, his eyes not meeting with Alfred's. "I recognized your art style from the scans you sent… me. Then I found out, I wanted to tell you but you disappeared. The teachers said you moved away. So, I uh… waited for you online but you never came."

"Oh, God. This is embarrassing." Alfred groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Um… I uh, don't mind you using my characters but… God. I'm sorry. I was a dick. My body feels like shit from practice, the guys are dickheads and Alex is… You were right all along, you know? And I'm sorry for… disappearing like that. You're… You were my only real friend."

Arthur's cheeks were flushed by that point and he tried hiding it by sipping his coffee and looking away from Alfred, even if he was covering his face. "Well, yes, um. I don't want to tell you I told you so and it does seem you've learnt your lesson. Though, it's not really my place to tell you what to do."

"Are we… still friends?" Alfred said, sounding almost like a whine or a groan. "I know I'm a dick and all but… Yeah, I guess we're not friends."

"No, I mean… I suppose we still are. I never… really stuck up for you during high school despite what I said during our chats. I guess you could call it even?"

"Really?" Alfred beamed up at Arthur, who shrugged shyly. "Aw, well, that's great. Then how about we go on a date? I mean, hang out. Movies. Weekend?"

Red-faced, Arthur coughed and said, "Are you sure? You want to hang out with the weird Art student who draws comics and fairies?"

"I'm through with your superficial life. I'd like to have mine back." Alfred grinned confidently. "And since it's the weekend already, how about we head to the movies?"

"I'm not giving you your life back." Arthur said with a small smirk, "But I'm willing to share some of it. I heard there's a new movie showing."

"Yeah, Spider-Man." Alfred nodded and stood up, taking his cup of coffee and helping Arthur with some of his notebooks and binders. "He was a loser but he still gets the girl in the end. Should've learned from him."

Arthur chuckled as he followed Alfred out, then he told him, "I haven't completely forgiven you for being a dick, but you are my friend. Keep swimming, Captain Awesome."

"That's not fair; I thought you were a gentleman."

"I recall that I was Pirate, not Gentleman."

THE END

Shameless promotion—please check out my other Hetalia fics as well: Kiss Me Here, Minty Fresh, Melt, The Big News: Alfred & Arthur, World's End, The Big News: Francis & Matthieu, Nightmare, Choco Choco, Hung for Hungary, Just Another Meeting, Password Error, Creamed Trousers, The Best Man, Ring Tone, Concerned Brother, Happy Camping, Alfred's Hangover, Taste of Love, Possessive, Fetish, Lovino's Favourite Cap, Tokimeki Memorial World Edition, Public Display of Affection, Dragon of the Sea, Coffee & Tea: A Hundred Day Challenge, Cupcake, Broken Bones, Alarm Clock, Cadbury Chocolate, Broken Vows and Cat Food