Dense and Daft -UKPH-

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"You're kidding me, aren't you?"

"No, Maria, I am not. Why do you keep on asking me anyway?"

The Filipina let out a tired sigh and instead looked out the car window. Why is it so hard to make him answer these kinds of questions???

"Ummm…no reason. I just wanted to see if the stuck-up gentleman has a heart."

The Englishman driving the vehicle let out a huff.

"What, you don't think I have a heart?"

"Isn't that why I was checking?"

Before he was able to say anything in return, he was interrupted by Maria's giggles. "You are so fun to bug, Arthur! But really…" She inched her way closer, her face a few mere inches away from his. "Have you ever "like" liked anyone?"

Arthur looked nervously at her, his cheeks turning scarlet with her closeness. His companion didn't seem to mind since her head was preoccupied by that one question she's been trying to get him to answer since the beginning of the trip.

"I told you," the so-called gentleman said, his eyes darting away nervously, "I never had and never will! Now can you please put your seat belt back on? You might get hurt while I am driving!"

Maria pouted childishly and sat back, looking once again out the window. There was silence. Arthur felt quite uncomfortable and as he was about to say something to break the ice, Maria interrupted him a second time.

"Are we there yet?"

"Maria!"

"What?"

"YOU'RE ACTING LIKE A CHILD!"

"AND SO?"

"YOU'RE A FULL GROWN WOMAN! MAY YOU PLEASE ACT YOUR AGE?!"

"I WON'T IF YOU DON'T ANSWER MY QUESTION!"

"AGAIN WITH THAT BLOODY QUESTION?!"

"YES, AGAIN WITH THAT BLOODY QUESTION!!!" Maria screamed, mockingly imitating his British accent.

Their loud argument went on and on until they noticed some of the passers-by looking at them strangely.

A few more minutes passed, and they finally reached their destination.

"At last, we've arrived." Arthur said, parking his car in front of two elegant looking chateaus. It looked very tropical, then again, he was in her homeland. "It seems that the front desk gave us chateaus right next to each other."

Maria glanced at the second structure nearby and saw that the door number matched the key she was holding. "I guess so."

She looked at her companion who began unloading their luggage. "Gah…I can't believe I was told to take a bloody vacation…and the prime minister said I looked overworked…that git…" She heard him mumble to himself. The island nation smiled and approached him as he carried a very heavy stroller. Wincing at the weight, she helped him bring it inside his chateau.

"Utang na loob…what the heck do you put in here Arthur? Rocks?"

"No, and it's none of your business!"

"Whatever you say…" she replied, waving her hand in dismissal. Arthur walked back with her towards his BMW and began to carry her luggage towards her chateau.

"What are you doing?" Maria asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm helping you bring your luggage into your place!"

Maria, who did her best to stop a smile from caressing her face, followed him and grabbed her backpack before he entered the small house. "I'll do it myself, thank you. You're already tired from my constant bugging."

The grown man smirked. "It's a good thing you're aware of that."

Maria punched him lightly on the shoulder and mumbled a good night after she headed towards her quarters. As she locked her door and placed her luggage on the floor, she couldn't stop the blush that threatened to appear on her cheeks.

"Gosh, he's so dense…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

RIIIIIIING!!!

"Five more minutes, mummy…" the Englishman mumbled through his pillow as he rolled over the bed once more. He felt so tired after his and Maria's trip last night that he took no attention to the alarm that's been ringing for 15 minutes straight.

RIIIIIIING!!!

"Mummy…I said five more minutes…"

RIIIIIIING!!!

"MUMMY!"

Arthur bolted right up from his bed. Realizing he just screamed "Mummy!" out loud, the Englishman mentally slapped himself, wishing the nation residing nearby wasn't aware of it.

"God, I hope she didn't hear that…"

The nation rummaged through his bag and took out a towel. He then walked groggily towards the bathroom and began grumbling to himself, the way any man would do when disturbed from their slumber.

"Honestly, why do I even need a vacation? I'm perfectly fine…OOF!"

As if to disprove his statement, the Englishman hit his head on the clearly visible wall right next to the bathroom.

This was not his day.

Rubbing his forehead, he looked at his reflection on the mirror. Messy hair, tired eyes, deep eye bags…thick eyebrows. I'm a mess he thought, cringing at the last part. What would Maria say if she found me like this?

Remembering the young  woman who did so much as to kindly accompany him on his little break, memories from their car ride last night began coming back to him.

Arthur…may I ask you something?

Of course Maria.

…have you ever fallen in love?

He cringed at the thought and was reminded of how her sudden-and oh so very personal question-made him jerk in surprise and steer the driver's wheel to the wrong direction, with the result of an extremely close call of a crash.

"What the hell made her think of that?" he said to himself out loud, brushing off the blush that showed on his pale face. Then he remembered that faithful moment in the car…when the Filipina's face got too close for comfort that he was more than tempted to feel the touch of her li-

"ARGH! ARTHUR! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!" the Briton suddenly exclaimed, his hands grasping his golden locks in agitation.

"You are clearly here to relax, DAMN IT! NOT TO GO OFF BEING ALL BLOODY LOVEY-DOVEY WITH THAT HYPER-ACTIVE, BUBBLY, ECCENTRIC, ATTRACTIVE, BEAUTIFUL, HOT---"

"Who's hot?"

CRASH!

~*~*~*~*~*~

"M-M-M-Maria! Wh-what are you doing up so…erm…early???" the flushed Englishman stuttered, after suddenly tripping on a coffee table upon hearing his host's voice.

"It's already 11:30am, dummy. And what were you exclaiming a while ago?"

Arthur flushed once more and remained silent as he diverted his eyes away from the petite nation, knowing that any word that would come out of his mouth at the moment would become a pathetic stutter.

An awkward silence took place as Maria steadied the fallen table. She then glanced at him and started giggling like a madman.

After glaring daggers at her, the Briton then looked down and noticed that he was wearing his boxers.

In front of a woman.

In his room.

Alarmed at his state, Arthur's face quickly turned scarlet as he frantically tried covering himself. Maria on the other hand was clutching her stomach, her eyes brimming with tears at her sudden laughing fit. She then slowly walked over to the towel inside the bathroom and handed it to him, her giggles dying down.

"A-Arthur, would you like to join me for breakfast?" she said, heading towards the door. "There's a lovely buffet at the clubhouse and if I'm not mistaken, they serve scones there."

Upon hearing his favorite dessert, Arthur turned to Maria and nodded, relieved that she finally stopped laughing at his face. "I'll join you soon. Just give me a moment to…er…gather myself."

"Of course."

Maria then turned away and closed the door behind her, leaving the flustered nation alone once more.

Have I ever fallen in love, hm? He smiled to himself, picking up two books that fell from the coffee table with a blush that was still visible on his face.

How daft can you get, Maria...

~*~*~*~*~*~