(Warning: angst kinda, but don't worry, it gets somewhat resolved in this chapter and is nothing traumatizing. Texas doesn't let a little setback stop him from cowboy'in)

Texas and his grandparents got settled at the restaurant, and ordered some drinks while figuring out what to get.

"Paggetti," Texas said, doodling on the fun kids menu paper that has a bunch of games and stuff. Man, the more I write this book the more I miss being five.

"Spaghetti," Britain corrected, looking through the 'adult' menu. "Would you just like to share a pizza?" Britain asked. France nodded, silently sipping her water.

"Grampy, can I have whiskey?" Texas asked, looking at the drinks menu in curiosity.

"I'm sorry love, those aren't good for you. I promise we'll get a drink together when your father says it's ok," Britain said. Texas smiled at Britain, deciding not to tell him he totally already had a whiskey without him when he snuck off to the bar that one time. Soon, Britain got up to use the restroom, and Texas was just talking about whatever while doodling on a napkin, while he let France do the word search on his menu. Soon, a waiter walked up to them.

"Hello you two, are you ready to order?" They asked. Texas smiled at them, but then realized France had just lost focus and couldn't figure out how to respond.

"I wanna spapagetti but I don't want the salsa because I only like salsa on chips," Texas said.

"Alright, just plain pasta, would you like butter or cheese on it?" The waiter asked.

"Is butter the yellow stuff on pancakes?" Texas asked.

"I guess," The waiter said, slightly giggling because y'know.

"Oh! Yeah! lots of butter," Texas said. The waiter nodded and wrote down Texas's order.

"And for you ma'm?" The waiter asked. France was quickly scanning the menu, but her mind could barely process what she was seeing.

"Um... hm...," France said, running her hand along the words on the menu, starting to tear up.

"Gramma and Grampy wanted to share a pizza," Texas said happily, taking Frances hand and placing it right where the pizzas were listed. France nodded and smiled politely.

"I like the margherita pizza...," France said softly. The waiter smiled understandingly and wrote down the order, taking their menus.

"Alright, it should be ready in a bit," The waiter said, before walking back to the kitchen. Soon afterwards, Britain came back from the restroom.

"Did they take our order?" Britain asked. France smiled and nodded.

"... Texas helped order," France said, giving Texas a pat on the back, while he smiled proudly.

"Very good, thank you for helping out dear," Britain said. Soon, the food arrived, and Britain tried to teach Texas how to eat food not sloppily. This was mostly unsuccessful.

After dinner, Texas mentioned how he wanted a milkshake, and then before he knew it Britain handed him one. While they were walking out of the ice cream parlor, Texas noticed that the toy store had a cute cat plushy that looked like pebbles, so Britain got it for him without him even asking. He then saw a little girl holding a kite, and said he thought that was cool. Next thing he knew, he was at the park flying a kite with the girl while Britain, France, and the girl's father happily watched.

"This is nice," France said, happily swaddling herself in Britain's coat. Britain smiled.

"If only we had these kinds of memories with our kids...," Britain said softly. Texas and the girl continued flying their kites, and Texas, wanting to impress this potential new bestie, began trying to jump up onto rocks. Literally. Just jumping, and hoping he'd land on the rock, standing.

"Oh dear... that seems a bit dangerous...," Britain said.

"Oh, he's just having fun. If he falls he'll bounce back up," the girl's dad said. Britain nodded, not wanting to interfere with Texas having the best childhood he possibly could. All he wanted was for Texas to have fun, and have a chance to believe the world can be beautiful. So, he made sure to give Texas everything a kid could ever dream of having. The best toys, the most love and attention in the world, and Britain decided there was probably no harm in letting him be a bit daring, after all, kids love that.

Texas continued doing his tricks, and decided that he wanted to try and jump up over the tallest rock he could find...

"Grampy, look!" Texas exclaimed. Britain turned and saw Texas go for the leap, and despite wanting Texas to have fun, Britain felt his heart drop. He sprinted to Texas...

But it was a bit too late.

"Texas! Oh love, are you ok?!" Britain cried, dropping to his knees beside Texas and cradling him like a baby. Texas was scream-crying. Never before had he felt this much pain. Britain began to cry too, because he didn't know what to do. France was at a loss, trying to figure out what she was supposed to do, and what even happened. Luckily, the girl's father called an ambulance right away. Eventually, France rushed to Britain's side and hugged him, while trying to get both him and Texas to calm down.

"I-I'm sorry...I-Im... s-sorry baby... I'm so sorry...," Britain cried. Texas was calming down, but he didn't like how bad his head was throbbing in pain, so he kept crying because that felt like the most logical thing to do. Soon, the ambulance arrived....

Texas was opening his eyes slightly, and saw a bunch of figures in a slightly dark room. He heard noises, but he felt nauseous trying to focus. However, he knew they weren't happy.

"You were supposed to be watching him!" America exclaimed, his eyes red and tearful. Britain just shrunk. He had a distant look on his face, and didn't want to make America more angry by trying to defend himself. He felt too guilty to even apologize. He didn't feel as though he even could. France couldn't keep up with what was happening, or what America was shouting at Britain, but she wanted everyone to be happy.

"...Britain loves Texas," France said.

"Mom, stay out of this-,"

"He loves Texas," France repeated, her emotions catching up to the situation. "He just wanted him to have fun. He didn't mean for him to get hurt. It was an accident," France said, her voice shaking. America sighed.

"Mom, sit down-,"

"Listen to me,"

"I am,"

"No, listen to me, your father is trying so hard to be a good grandfather and this wasn't his fault," France cried. Mexico wrapped his arm around her and helped her sit down, as America looked over at Britain, who looked very distant. He let out a shaky sigh and walked up to Britain, gently grabbing him by the shoulders.

"I'm sorry dad... I was just really emotional... I know you love Texas," America said.

"I love you too... I'm really sorry... I didn't know how to make it clear to you how much I regret everything you and your brothers went through when you were young... I... I just didn't want Texas to have to go through that pain...," Britain said softly.

"Hey, dad, it's not your fault... I know you probably felt bad that you couldn't get our grandfather to leave us alone-,"

"I could've done so much more... I could've...,"

"Dad, you did your best... and I love you too, ok? Some of the best memories of my childhood were with you. Remember when you taught me the violin?" America asked. Britain smiled slightly.

"You tried to get me to play swords with the bow," Britain said. America held his father in a hug.

"I missed you a lot when I left... Like... A lot... It hurt a lot too, and it was even worse knowing that we weren't just apart, but... enemies," America said.

"It hurt me too... I don't know if I could've handled it if your brothers weren't still there... I... I was so worried about you," Britain cried.

"I missed you so much... a-and, when we were ok again I didn't wanna be weak o-or look dumb or seem like I regretted running away... but it took a lot not to break down near you b-because...," America said, his voice cracking. "I really really missed you," America sobbed. The two held each other close, crying, yet happy they could finally let it all out. A few moments later...

"Daaaaaad? I'm sleepy... why's my face numb," Texas said sleepily. America, Britain, and Mexico rushed to his side.

"You got surgery Tex... u-um... you... got a scar over your eye and... the doctor doesn't think it can be recovered...," Mexico said, not wanting to lie to Texas. To their surprise, Texas smiled.

"Like abuelo!" Texas said happily. They all chuckled in relief.

"Yeah... like abuelo,"