White Knight EnglandxReader

"I give up! You aren't getting any younger. What are you waiting for? No white knight is going to come along and sweep you off your feet."  Hungary was frustrated with you again. You kept turning guys down and she was tired of being the only girl dating out of your group of friends.

"Well I'm not waiting for France, who backs me up into the ancient history shelf every time he comes into the library."

"Oh! He does!! Oh my God! I never knew working at a library could be so hazardous!" Hungary gasped at this little bit of gossip.

"All I want is a plain man, a modest man, a quiet man. A strait forward and honest man. And NOT Turkey, with that car of his, the one with the fold down back seat."

"Haha! Did he really suggest that!? Sounds just like him." Hungary giggled at the thought.

"But I'm not waiting for a knight in shining white armor either. " Your tone got a bit more serious and Hungary quieted to listen to you. "My white knight: not a Lancelot, nor an angel, just someone to love me who's not ashamed of a few nice things.  All I want is a plain man. All I want is a modest man, a quiet man, and a gentleman. I want a strait forward and honest man. And I'd like him to be more interested in me than he is in himself."  

"So not Prussia." Hungary deadpanned.

" And more interested in 'us' than in me."

"…and not Spain either."    

"Right. And if occasionally he'd ponder what made Shakespeare and Beethoven great, him I could love till I die."

"You're such a bookworm! You really need to get your head out of books. No man nowadays thinks about things like that."

"That's why he's my white knight: not a Lancelot, nor an angel, but still a fairytale."  You sighed a long depressed sigh.

"Oh hon." Hungary leaned over and hugged you, "You'll find him one day. But why don't you try some other guys before you find him."    

"It won't feel right, it would feel like I'm lying to them."
Hungary shook her head.

"You are too much of a sweetheart, ____. Hey I got to go. Austria and I have a date in half an hour so I better go get ready."

"Yea I got to go to the library for my shift, see you."

"Bye!"

~

You were replacing books. The library was an old one with sliding ladders to reach the top shelves. You had an armful of tomes in your arms as you perched at the top of a ladder filling the shelves. You hummed a little tune as you placed a copy of Romeo and Juliet into its place. At that moment a child came running by. He couldn't have been more than five or six years old so he darted under the ladder. Realizing the ladder was occupied the child was startled, and bumped unceremoniously into the bottom rung. The kid must have had some kind of super strength because the ladder was jerked off its runners and started to fall backward; your thoughts started to race.

~~Oh God, I'm gonna be killed by a kid. Why does it have to end like this? I don't even have any next-of-kin, hell; I haven't had a steady boyfriend since high school. How is it fair that I'm gonna die among all these books I love? Oh damn.
You let out a cry (quietly, you were in a library after all) as you lost your grip on the ladder and all the books that had been in your arms.~~

"Alfred! Don't go running around the library!" a man popped around the corner as fast as the child had, "Oh bloody…" he spotted you falling and quickly jumped into action. He spread his arms out and caught you bridal style as you fell. Your eyes were screwed tight shut but as you realized you weren't dead, you slowly opened them.

"Oh! Oh my…" you whispered. Deep green eyes met your hazy gaze. A rosy blush crossed your face and you saw a mirroring blush on the man's features. You both stood there, confused on how this had happened and hesitant to stop. Then the child ruined the moment.

"No FAIR! Big brother got to be the hero and save the pretty lady! I'm the hero not him!" The man blushed darker and let you down.

"Oh Miss I'm so sorry! I should have been more astute with my little brother, but you know sometimes Shakespeare can be so riveting."

"Oh no! Thank you so much! I owe you my life! Or maybe not my life but a hospital bill at least. Thank you sir, so much!"   

"But really it was my fault; I let my little brother get away from me. He's not quite the literary type, or not yet at least."

The child had had enough of being ignored by the adults.

"I'M THE HERO!" He cried. Both you and the young man turned to the kid who had his chubby little arms crossed over his chest and an angry expression on his face. You crouched down to be on the same level as the kid.

"To me, little mister, you seem like the villain! What was the big idea knocking over the ladder like that? Don't you realize you could have hurt me really bad?"

"But you wouldn't have because I'm the hero! But I wasn't this time; big brother was… that's not fair!"

"Alfred! Where are your manners?" The young man looked disapprovingly down at the little boy, "And speaking of which, where are mine? I'm Arthur Kirkland this is my younger
brother Alfred. Alfred, apologize!" the little boy grumbled an apology.

"I'm _____ _____. Thank you again for saving me." You bent down and began to collect up books. Arthur picked up the ladder, glad to see no damage had come to it, and reset it onto the runners. You put the few thick tomes on a nearby shelf.

"Would you…like to maybe get some tea with me, as an apology for this little episode?" Arthur's face flushed again, and he looked everywhere but at you.

"I get off work in fifteen minutes; I know this great little café down on Main Street. I'll meet you there?"

"Yes, that sounds perfect, I'll see you in fifteen minutes then, and I'll get a babysitter for Alfred."      

"I'll be waiting. Bye Mister Kirkland." You pressed your lips gently to his cheek. Backing up to see the blond man's wide eyes and blush, you began laughing, "Maybe I should call you King Arthur; the hero deserves a reward from the heroine doesn't he?" You turned and disappeared amid the shelves of books.

~

After a few minutes Alfred looked up at the grinning Englishman.

"Just kidding!" he smiled a big toothy smile.

"P-Pardon?" Arthur looked at the child bemused.

"I am the hero. I made you meet ____ instead of just looking at her so often. So I'm the hero!" The little one beamed up at Arthur.

"You cheeky devil!" Arthur grinned, "remind me to buy you some ice cream when I get back
from my date… err, the coffee house, when I get back from the coffee house."   

"Yay! Ice cream, ice cream!!" the child was ecstatic.

So was Arthur.