America checked the guest's bedroom to make sure that France was still asleep. Finding that his friend was still asleep, he decided to enter his own room in order to grab a pad of sticky notes from his computer desk drawer, and peeled a piece of paper from the pad and jotted down, Hey France, I'm going to be gone for a while. You can expect me to be home at around, America paused in his writing in order to check the alarm clock. When he found that it was nine o' seven in the morning, and after estimating how long it would take to walk to and from and search for the type of shops he was planning on going to, along with adding the amount of time it might take for him to gather up the things he would need, he continued, maybe tennish? I'm not quite sure how long it's going to take me, but I should definitely be back before eleven. And as always, you don't need my permission to cook if you're hungry, since you're so good at it :). ~ America.

As soon as America was finished with writing the note, he couldn't help but be somewhat surprised that he'd managed to fit so much writing on one small piece of paper, especially since his handwriting could sometimes take up a regular sized sheet of paper in only a matter of one hundred words, as so it seemed. After spending a few moments to stare at his handwriting in awe, he returned to France's room, searching around for the best place to stick his note, so that France would be aware of it. After a few seconds of thought, America decided that the best place for his note would be on the side of the door that France would be at when he would open it to leave the room later that morning. He even made sure that it was at eye level, since America happened to be so paranoid of the possibility that France could end up being left in the dark. Once he was finished with making sure that there was no way France could miss seeing his message, America left.

America couldn't help but be a bit shocked at how nippy it was outside. Although, compared to the eighty degrees weather he had been forced to deal with throughout the course of the summer, it also came to him as somewhat of a relief. In fact, before he'd gone outside, America had been dreading the thought of walking two miles in what he believed was going to be even more harsh summer conditions than the ones he was only just becoming accustomed to. There was no doubt about it; America was definitely beginning to believe that walking to where most of the stores in the city happened to be was a much better alternative than just taking a ride, or worse yet, driving (there was just too much traffic in that part of the city, and aside from that factor, he'd been eating so much in the past few weeks, so he didn't want to become completely sedentary, or worse yet; gain weight).

After taking his time to relish the soft breeze, America finally arrived at his destination. Deciding that he'd spent enough time basking in the relaxing zephyr, America began to gaze around at the buildings around him in order to find the right store. However, the task wasn't necessarily easy, since America literally had no idea what he should be looking for. It wasn't as if he hadn't spent an entire week trying to figure it out. After all, it was France's birthday, and well, America always had a difficult time trying to figure out what to give others for their birthday. Especially if that certain someone happened to be a close friend. Fortunately though, he was able to form somewhat of an idea of what France might appreciate receiving as a gift; the theme would definitely be more around the lines of, soft or delicate? America had no idea how to describe it, but he didn't want to call the gifts romantic (even though the gifts he had in mind might of seemed that way), since they were obviously still in a platonic relationship.

Still pondering about what exactly to buy France for his birthday, America continued to study various stores. He even went to the extent of exploring blocks he'd hardly ever been on. Finally, after seemingly having to search an entire, rather large section of the city, America found a shop that seemed to be full of the type of gifts he was looking for. After a moment of observing the items on display at the window, America entered the store. Upon entering, America decided to explore the various aisles, in order to see what else happened to be in stock aside from the array that any passerby would've acknowledged. He ended up finding a large variety of birthday cards, chocolates, balloons, plushies, fake bouquets of flowers (although, America would never buy France some fake flowers, since he deserved better than that), and even some cupcakes! Surely the large variety could've given America a much easier time deciding what to buy for France, but instead, it made the process much more difficult.

Eventually, after a moment of thought, America was able to come up with some solutions to his problem. For a start, he began to avert his attention away from anything he wouldn't even consider giving to France, so that they wouldn't be a distraction. Then, after a moment of staring at some cupcakes, an idea came to him, Well, since I'm not nearly as good at cooking as France, it would probably be best for me to just buy him some cupcakes. After selecting a container of chocolate cupcakes from the shelf, America continued to gaze around the store aisles in search of something else to buy France.

Then, after having picked out a birthday card and a box of chocolates, America began to observe the self full of plushies, and mentally asked himself, France likes cute things, right? With that thought in mind, he immediately rejected the idea of even considering any stuffed animal that had an exaggerated smile. Maybe it was just him, but the creepy grin, along with the never blinking eyes that some stuffed animals seemed to posses sort of made America feel as if the inanimate object was trying to stare into his soul, or would plan on murdering in his sleep if he dared to challenge its eldritch glare. Of course, he blamed every single horror movie he watched for this ludicrous phobia of his.

At last, after what seemed to be an eternity of rejecting rows upon rows of stuffed animals, he finally decided to settle for a rather pudgy starfish, that happened to be solid blue in color; it's only other feature being a pair of large beady eyes. Usually, America wasn't the type to consider something cute (which of course, only added to the awkwardness of having considered France cute after putting him to bed that one night), but just staring at the plushie gave him a sort of warmth he thought he would only be able to receive if he was holding a sleeping puppy in his arms. Of course, due to this sudden glee that began to stir up within America just at the sight of the stuffed animal, he decided, Yep, I'm definitely getting him this one.

America walked up to the store counter in order to set his items down so that the clerk (who appeared to be at the least in her late forties) could check them out. While the clerk was in the process of checking out his items, she stated, "Are these for your girlfriend? I bet she's very happy to be with such a handsome, considerate gentleman."

"No, I don't have a girlfriend," America uttered, feeling extremely awkward from the middle-aged lady's comment, "It's just my friend's birthday."

The awkward tensions that were rising between the two seemed to immediately hit the clerk after she heard his explanation, for embarrassment was present in her voice, "Oh, sorry about that sir."

"It's fine."

After all of the items were checked out, the clerk retrieved a crimson colored bag and asked, "Would you like me to put those gifts in one of these bags?"

"Yes please."

By the time America had all of his items in the bag, and had paid for them, the clerk told him before he exited the store, "I hope you and your friend have a nice day."

"You too," America called out in response, before heading off outside. At first, America's initial plan was to just return home, sign France's birthday card, and give him the gifts, but his original intent was immediately interrupted when he stopped himself from passing by a small flower shop. At first, America kept mentally telling himself to just continue walking home, since he had already spent so much time looking for a shop and finding gifts for France, but eventually decided to check the flowers out. He just couldn't help but feel a bit fascinated by how vibrant the flowers colors were.

After a rather long while of gazing around at the various flowers, America decided to pick out a bouquet of roses, figuring that France would appreciate having a bunch of fresh roses for a at least a week, since he always seemed to idolize them. Then, after purchasing the bouquet of roses, he continued on with his walk home. When America finally did arrive home, after having to walk a mile from the store, he couldn't help but feel relieved when the warm air of the house hit face, which was starting to sting somewhat from the sudden harshness of the wind that began to pick up halfway through his what he would now consider, trudge home. Although, he still thought it was worth it, since he still did feel buoyant, despite how sore his legs had become from walking around outside for what seemed to be an hour.

Once America had spent a few moments to enjoy the warm air, he began to look around for a pen, but his search was interrupted when he heard a familiar french accent greet him, "Bon matin, Amerique. I see that you're finally back."

"Oh, hello France," was all America said in response, not even turning to face his comrade, as he still needed to find a pen. However, he immediately focused all of his attention on France when the older nation decided to express his curiosity, "Would you mind telling me what is in those bags?"

America glimpsed at the bag, quickly becoming hesitant for the first time about showing his gifts to France. The fact that the clerk's statement about him having a girlfriend for buying such things was definitely not helping. As if matters couldn't get any worse for the poor American, France decided to continue inquiring, "How come there's a bunch of roses on the coffee table?"

America turned away from France, in hopes of hiding his blush of embarrassment as he mumbled, "There for you."

"Sorry Amerique," France stated, "I can't hear you when you mumble like that. Can you please speak up?"

"I said 'there for you'."

At that point, America's face had become so flushed, he was surprised that his skin hadn't caught on fire from all of the heat. France on the other hand, appeared to be oblivious to the bout of anxiety the younger nation was going through, as he felt a blush of his own creep up on his face, "Aw, that's so sweet of you, Amerique."

Aspiration began to fill France's heart, as a yearning was subsided when his mind began to come up with (what could possibly be considered) illogical conclusions for what message America was trying to give him by buying him roses. Then again, how could the thoughts be illogical? Surely roses were a symbol of romance, so of course it must have meant that America had finally fallen in love with him! France felt his heart beat faster when America handed him the scarlet bag, and explained while staring at the ground, "I was about to sign the birthday card, but I guess it can wait for after you look at your gifts."

When France grabbed a box of chocolates from the bag, America quickly added, "I-I wasn't trying to woo you or anything. These were just the only things I thought you'd like for your birthday. This isn't too awkward for you, is it?"

France felt his heart sink with disappointment at the comment, but instead of expressing it, he decided to mask it with the glee he felt at the fact that someone who was just so dear to him went out of their way to buy him some gifts for his birthday; with such thought and consideration put into them too, "Of course not, mon cheri."

By the time the birthday card and cupcakes were also pulled out of the bag to sit with the box of chocolates that were now on the coffee table, France retrieved the starfish stuffed animal from the crimson bag, and stared at it for a moment with a smile on his face before stating, "Oh America, this is so cute!"

At first, America didn't respond, still staring at the ground as he became more bashful by the second, but eventually, he gained the courage to ask, "You really don't think these gifts are weird?"

France set the plushie down so that he could walk over to America and give him a hug. After all, the young nation was being shy, which he found to be a rather rare and adorable occurrence, and also, he wanted to express his gratitude towards his beloved. His smile never faltered as he told America, "I think these are wonderful gifts. Even for a platonic relationship. You don't need to worry about whether you gave me the wrong thing or not. What I truly appreciate is the fact that you remembered and cared about my birthday."

While France hugged him, America couldn't help but notice the pleasant smell that radiated off of the older nation's hair. For a moment, it was actually able to bring him out of reality, and into his own world where all he could think about was the scent, and well, France himself. He had no idea why he had a sudden obsession right then and there for the nation holding him, but he was certainly enjoying the dizzy sensation he was starting to have as a result of that moment. A smile of his own decorated his face, as he told France in response, "It was no problem, really."

Eventually, America allowed himself to relax in the warm embrace as relief washed over him. He was just so grateful for the fact that instead of going completely awry, this special day had turned out exactly as he wanted it to.