"A Delightful Scare..."

Halloween...probably one of Mei Wang's favorite holidays. But what was she supposed to do this year? She was much to old for trick-or-treating, or at least in her mind she was. She had to find something else to do this year. Hm...let's see... Alfred wasn't throwing his party this year, because he had been grounded for his low grades. Silly boy. What else did people do on Halloween?

"Oh!" And then it hit her. A haunted house seemed like a great idea! But it wasn't any fun to go by yourself... She'd have to find someone to go with. A grin crossed her face and she quickly hopped up from the lunch table, leaving Li alone and confused as to what she was doing. She would have asked him to join her, but he was always busy on Halloween.

The Taiwanese student took no hesitation is walking over to Kiku Honda, one of her classmates, and giving him a large grin – she couldn't hide the blush though. "Hey Kiku," she gave him a slight tap on his shoulder to get his attention. "Do you have any plans for Halloween?"

Her Japanese friend and crush turned around and gave her a curious look. "Hm? Oh, I'll be helping Alfred study for his make-up test...though I have a feeling he's going to try and force me to watch horror movies instead." He shook his head. Alfred was ridiculous. The boy was terrified of horror movies yet he forced himself to watch them anyway. "Why do you ask?"

Mei tried to hide her saddened face by putting on a cheerful smile. "Oh. No reason. Just curious." She waved her hand dismissively giving a small embarrassed laugh and walked away as quickly as she could. Dammit, she inwardly cursed. Guess I'll have to find someone else to go with... No she wasn't about to give up on her plan, even if the boy she liked, maybe even loved, wasn't going to go with her. There had to be someone who wasn't busy and would go with her.

She took a quick glance around the cafeteria. "Hm..." Everyone seemed to have made plans already from what she had heard from her friends. Finally, her perusing stopped when her eyes landed on a very likely candidate. A grin spread across her face as she saw Arthur Kirkland, sitting by himself, and reading a Halloween-ish book. Well, at least it looked pretty Halloween-y from the title and the picture on the cover. She quickly made her way over to his table and placed her hands on it, leaning in slightly to get his attention. "Arthur, right? What are you doing for Halloween? I was thinking about going to a haunted house. Did you wanna join me?"

The boy barely blinked and looked up from his book slowly, his face neutral, maybe even somewhat bored-looking. "A haunted house, eh? Why not? It's been a while since I've been to one. Where did you want to meet up?"

Mei blinked a few times, surprised he had actually agreed to it. From the way she's seen him talk to some of his peers, she had half-expected a sarcastic comment or loud yelling. She smiled again and nodded, giving him the name of the place she had in mind and when they should meet up.

Arthur nodded in response, looking back down at his book and waved the back of his hand to her. "Now, could you leave me in peace to finish my book? I only have a few more chapters to finish."

Guess he was cold for the most part. But Mei shrugged her shoulders, gave a quick "Okay" and hurried back to her table to finish eating her lunch with her best friend. "Well I solved my Halloween dilemma."

"Oh?" Li didn't even look up.

"Yep! I'm going to a haunted house with Arthur."

Li's gaze floated up to her. She could see the flicker of irritation in them. "You mean the bastard who gave me these?" As he pointed to his bushy eyebrows.

Mei shrugged her shoulders at her friend. "Sorry. There was no one else to go with, because both you and Kiku are busy. Besides, it was your own fault you got them."

"Tsk." And his gaze left her.

Mei puffed out her cheeks and crossed her arms. "Well there's no way I'm going to a haunted house by myself."

He shook his head in response. "Whatever. Have fun."

Mei rolled her eyes and continued eating her food. She had a good feeling about this year's Halloween. She had never been to a haunted house before.

Boy was she in for a surprise.

–

Mei arrived a little bit after the agreed time. Arthur was there already, of course. He never liked being late, from what she could remember about him. She dressed in a casual outfit consisting of a black flowy skirt, a pair of pink flats, and a red 'asian style' shirts with a floral design on it.

Arthur wore a dark brown hoody, a pair of blue jeans and red converse. He stared rather boardly at the mp3 player he was currently listening to, one hand shoved into the pocket of his hoody.

Mei smiled upon seeing him and walked up to him to tap him on the shoulder. She waited for him to pause the mp3, turn his head to her and pull out one of his ear buds. "Hey." His voice held little emotion other than recognition.

"Hey." She grinned; her voice was lot more cheerful than his.

He then pulled out the other ear bud and stuffed the mp3 player in his pocket. "Ready?" He quirked an eyebrow curiously, and Mei nodded in response.

"Yep!"

And off they went towards the haunted house.

–

The line took forever since it was, of course, Halloween night. However, they finally made it to the front of the line. Almost the second the two of them walked inside, the door shut loudly behind them, causing Mei to jump. Arthur didn't even flinch. No, he merely quirked an eyebrow at the tiny girl beside him. Oh yes, she was going to be scared. He could tell already. "We can still turn back if you want."

Almost immediately her head snapped up to look at him. "No way! I'm not backing out now!" She pouted and he shrugged.

"Your choice."

Mei puffed out her cheeks defiantly and began walking ahead of him, trying to show she wasn't scared. It didn't take long before someone, in an honestly very scary costume, jumped out and scared her, causing Mei to let out a very loud shriek.

Arthur merely rolled his eyes and followed after her. This was certainly going to be a very, very long night.

When he finally caught up with her - fore she had been trying to demonstrate how 'fearless' she was by walking much farther ahead of him – she was shaking in her boots, if she had boots that is. No, no, she was quite terrified. It was obvious - no matter how much she denied it, fore she was quite the stubborn little girl – from the look on her face to the buckling of her knees. Even so she denied every little hint, every little gesture that they could turn around and leave and save her from this torment. And yet she kept moving forward, no matter how scared she got. She scared out of her wits, sure, but she was tough and he would certainly give her that much.

"Are you sure you don't want to go back?" He was becoming more blunt and open with his inquiries the further they went into the mansion.

She merely shook her head at him and once again refused any possible idea of going back. "I'm not leaving! I can't back down! Not now! Not ever!" Tears formed at the very corners of her eyes, but she glared angrily at him and didn't let them fall. The tears merely sat there, threatening to slide down her cheeks but she never let them. Not once.

Arthur's eyes widened slightly. She was honestly, honestly, frightened and yet she refused to give up. This wasn't just stubbornness. This was pride. It was bravery. Facing through something even though you want to turn around and run. He never saw this with many people nowadays. Especially not Alfred. He stared at her for another long moment until she turned and began walking again, at which point he let out a quiet sigh, "Very well then." Though there was small smile lingering on his lips.

–

Arthur could tell they were drawing near the end of the haunted house. He could feel it. Things were getting creepier and scarier as they moved on. Obviously this place was saving the most terrifying thing for last. He took a side glance at Mei, who was growing quieter and quieter with each passing step. She wanted out and she wanted out now. But she didn't run. She was facing everything they threw at her. Sure, she screamed and yelled, and even hit a guy at one point. But she never cried. Not once this entire excursion. Bravery was an understatement.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She muttered defiantly under her breathe. She was no longer showing her eyes. She merely hid them behind her bangs and kept her head down to stare at the floor.

They walked into the next room, which seemed to be filled with mist. It was eerily quiet, and you could barely see anything a little more than a foot in front of you. Though he was having a hard time seeing her through the mist, he could feel Mei was trembling beside him.

And then...in the distance...you could make out a very low rumbling sound...almost like...a chainsaw. Oh no... Arthur thought. He knew what was coming.

In merely a few seconds the noise grew louder, sure enough it was a chainsaw, and a man – whom was drenched in what appeared to be blood, as if he had just murdered the last few people who had been in this room - jumped out and laughed maniacally as he revved the chainsaw over and over.

Mei let out a loud scream, and for the first time this entire night, she clung to Arthur. She hadn't grabbed his hand, not latched onto him no matter how scared she had gotten, until now. This drew the line apparently. Arthur let out a small sigh, he hadn't even flinched at the sight of the man. He then placed a delicate hand on the almost-sobbing girl's head and began leading her away from the maniac and out the room, leading to the exit. She clung to him the entire time, shaking and trembling with each step. At one point her knees were buckling so much he was sure they would give out on her.

When they finally did make it out of the mansion she was still clinging to him, shaking and trembling more and more with each second. He pet her head in an attempt to soothe her. And then...she cried. For the first time all night, she let the tears stream down her face and stain his hoodie. At first his eyes were wide and he stared down at the top of her head for a long time. Finally, that delicate smile of his returned to his lips and he chuckled quietly as he pet her head.

"A-Are y-you m-m-mocking me-e?" Her voice shook and trembled beneath her uncontrollable choking sobs and she gasped for breathe every few seconds as the tears stained her face. Her face was red from both her embarrassment and her tears.

"Of course not." His smile was gentle and his voice was calm and soothing. "You were very brave tonight. So many times you could have broken down crying, or turned around and ran back towards the entrance, but you didn't. You endured the entire night without crying once, till now."

Her lips quivered and she opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came. She quickly closed her mouth shut again and buried her head back into his chest to continue sobbing. Again he tried to sooth her by petting her head. After a few more minutes of silence - aside from Mei's sobbing and the screaming coming from the mansion – he spoke again. "Do you need a ride home?" In response she nodded her head though she kept her face pressed against his chest. "Very well." And he pulled out his cell phone from his pocket, with his free hand. Without a second thought he dialed a number and made a call for someone to come pick them up.

–

It didn't take long before their ride appeared. Arthur's family, as well as most of the kids who attended Gakuen Hetalia, was quite rich and therefore he had a chauffeur to drive them. He assisted Mei into the backseat of the car (a Mercedes, might I add) even though she could have gotten in just find on her own.

She quietly told the Chauffeur her address, and they drove off. Halfway through the car ride home, she nodded off. It had been a long night for her, so Arthur allowed her to lean on his shoulder, as he softly stroked her hair. Tears still stained her red face, which was slowly fading back to it's usual color. With his free hand he brushed away the remaining tears on her face and pushed her bangs out of her now closed eyes. He smiled contently and leaned back in the seat, still stroking her delicate hair. "You are, indeed, very brave for such a small little girl."

a/n: A belated Halloween present to my watchers, but hey at least I posted something. Sorry I have been so inactive guys. My inspiration has been like gone. Um...what to say? This was a request from a friend of mine on DeviantArt. She wanted England/(anyone). So I chose Taiwan. I was working on a different fic with the same pairing, but soon lost inspiration for it. Then Halloween was just around the corner and suddenly I got a new idea. So I started working on this. It went by a lot quicker than the last one did, and I was done in no time. So yeah. This is my crack OTP, and I've been meaning to write for it for a while. Thanks meeper1988, you're awesome for letting me do this. X3 bye guys, see you later.