A/N: H-Hi guys… did ya miss me…? *dozens of gun's safety are clicked off* O-OKAY! OKAY! Sorry this is so late… Uuuuuh the only excuse I can give you is pure uncut laziness. For about a month. And three weeks… So sorry guys DX! But I promise I'll update faster! I was in a bit of a slump but I've been renewed! =D … Probably…

Oh, and you get some OC background in this chappy… so sorry… And it's for Sicily… I swear it's (mildly) important for later on so don't shoot me! D=

EDIT: I FORGOT TO MENTION D=... HOLY CRAP 200 reviews! You guys are too kind! Thanks for all the support to such an unworthy 8th grader like myself DX... And a special GerIta OneShot goes out to Oni-Panda379 for giving us our 200th review~ a fluffy oneshot is coming your way mon chere~~~! XD

Chapter XIX:

To Cheer Up an Italian

China wanted to die.

Dear god, he would never admit it to anyone for as long as he lived, but for the first time since – maybe – the Opium Wars, he was feeling rather… suicidal.

Chained firmly to the stony wall behind him, the Asian stared ahead blankly. Covered head to toe in aging (and recent) cuts and bruises, his chest was bare, revealing numerous scars from his country, along with… creative… burns and open, bleeding cuts. Yao mentally slapped himself and attempted to focus his eyes – failing miserably as the room began to tilt and blur. Letting out a Chinese curse under his breath, he stopped trying after a moment.

This was admittedly a bit worrying… And now that he thought about it Romania had injected something weird into his veins with some sort of syringe last time…

He sighed; it wouldn't be long before Transnistria came again to treat his injuries, would he know what it was…? But then again, China really hoped that whatever it was she'd injected wasn't permanent.

Now, as you all know, Prussia has a very short attention span.

Why else do you think Germany wasn't dead yet…? The Prussian couldn't even stay focused long enough to tease him for more than ten or (on a good day) fifteen minutes. However, there were two people on this earth that would always keep him interested no matter how long he had to sit and watch them – no Roddy didn't count. One of those people was his 'dear' brother of course, and the other being the Northern-half of Italy.

"Ve~ I hope you like it, I tried a new recipe Germany~. I mixed in bits of sausage in with the tomato sauce~!"

Germany blushed lightly as he scratched the back of his head, "It's good… Danke…"

"There's no need, really!" the Italian said with a bright smile, "I love cooking for you since fratello is always at Big Brother Toni's place~."

"Hey, you've got a bit of tomato on your cheek Italien…"

"Ve~? Where?"

"Here… keep still, I'll get it..."

… Those two acted so much like newlyweds that it physically hurt the awesome Prussia to watch…

He wondered what would happen when they actually became an official couple. Maybe, West would roll around on his bed and squeal in excitement – Prussia immediately stopped his thought processes there.

Nein Gilbert. That is just too creepy and unawesome, even for you!

Gilbert then returned his attention to the two allies with piped interest as his brother reached across the table to (rather affectionately) wipe a smudge of left over tomato sauce from Feli's cheekbone. Neither of them seemed at all fazed by it anymore… as if it was normal for friends to be that close… They might as well have been married in Prussia's eyes.

Now if only those two idiots could realize that…

Stupid World Wars fucking things up for them! Prussia had worked hard to get them on speaking terms again, damn it!

Suddenly, Germany stood up from his chair and he set his plate in the sink, "I need to go and walk my dogs, I haven't been around to train them much lately and I highly, highly doubt Gilbert has…" the albino faintly wondered if that was intended as an insult of sorts – but he decided to just shrug it off. He was after all in a giving mood today.

"Ve~ alright Germany! Be sure to be home before eight or so~ you said you wanted to finish off your paper work before eleven."

"Understood, I will be back before eight… BERLITZ! ASTAR! BLACKIE! Komm! {Come!}" Both nations winced at the familiar commanding tone, feeling sorry for the said German breeds as they came bounding down the stairs obediently.

"See you later West!" Prussia called to his brother as he left along with the three dogs out of the back kitchen door.

A comforting silence fell over the room as Feliciano let out a relived sigh as he slumped back in his seat; Prussia raised an eyebrow.

"What's up Feli?"

"…" a feeble whimper was his answer, "Gilly, w-why don't you go and play with Matt, Ve~? Dio knows the kid needs it…"

"Who? Birdie?" the albino sighed, "He's devastated by what happened with Franny… so are Toni and that Brit. And so thanks to that I'm out of drinking buddies… it's totally unawesome! Everyone just wants to be left alone lately… Gott is it depressing to drink alone…" he finished with a mumble.

"I see… sorry about that…" Feliciano said mournfully in reply.

"Yeah, yeah, but enough about me, Kesesese… tell me about what's been eating you Feli." He said, crimson eyes eyeing the other pointedly.

"…" Finally, the Italian pouted, "You aren't going to let this drop– are you?" So THIS is where Ludwig got his persistence, Ve…

"Nope! So better fess up now Feli!" the former nation answered with a cheerful grin.

Italy smiled slightly, "Alright, if you want to know that badly… Well, the truth is I'm a bit nervous about going to go and negotiate with Anica tomorrow. I'm sure Lovino would like to go too, Ve~… but Big Brother Toni is still angry at him… Honestly though, I still don't know what he was thinking involving," he paused to gulp, "… Sicily… I can usually handle them just fine though… plus a while ago, Lovi and I decided to stop bothering with the mafia and pass ownership onto Sicily. Ve~ we had a bit of a messy break up so to speak… so we don't talk to our cousin outside of business these days…" suddenly Feliciano blinked in shock.

"O-Oh! Sorry, Ve~! Am I talking too much? If I am I'll stop…" This piqued Gilbert's interest.

"No, you've got me curious now… and cousin?"

The auburn haired nation let out a sigh, "Yeah, not correct… In fact, if you want to get specific he's more like my nephew, Ve~…"

"So why do you and that brat call him 'cousin'?"

"Sicily, um… Alessandro and Lovi DID used to be really close at one point… he even once proudly called Lovi his 'Papa'." Feliciano began reminiscently, "But then… fratello quit the mafia to protect Antonio, Ve… I think Ally felt betrayed, and the two had a terrible fight… I don't know what happened or what was said since I wasn't there at the time, but after that incident… Lovino locked all pictures and other personal things reminding him of Ally in a case. Then he told me and Venice not to contact his personal cell anymore… soon after that, Sicily moved out."

"Venice… Venice was really upset, Ve~ I'd never seen him that upset… He shouted at fratello. A lot. Lovi got very angry, and even went as far as to say that he wasn't Sicily's Papa anymore… He regretted saying it… He really regretted saying it when he saw Sicily standing at the front door listening… I really hated that day, Ve~. So neither of us like talking about it…"

There was an uncomfortable silence as the Italian trailed off.

"… Sorry for bringing that up Feli…"

The other shook his head, "No, it isn't your fault Gilbert. I'm just a useless family member, that's all…"

"No you aren't –"

"Yes I am. It's partially – if not mostly – my fault that Anica lost it. Now stop saying otherwise!"

"…"

"…"

Prussia let out a groan. "Whatever floats your boat Fels…"

Italy nodded but then grew nervous again, "H-Hey Prussia, I need to ask you something – something important…"

"Ja… I'm listening…"

He closed his eyes and drew in a breath, "W-What really happened to Holy Rome…?"

The silence was deafening.

Lovino squirmed in his chair at the kitchen table anxiously, amber colored eyes darting anywhere in the room but the cheerful Spaniard across from him. He didn't say anything. In fact, the bastard was smiling. But the Italian could still feel the angry aura radiating from his lover's being as he ate his food cheerfully; dropping a random complement here and there.

Finally, he smiled and set his fork down.

Paling, Romano shot from the table, nearly knocking down his chair in the process and then he bolted…

…Or tried to anyway…

"U-Uh, L-Let go of me b-bastardo…" the Italian muttered weakly as he attempted to pry the brunette's tight grip off his shoulder.

Instantly, Spain's fake smile dropped and his eyes narrowed. "Sientate. {Sit.}"

Lovino sat.

"Now. We are going to sit here. And then we are going to talk about this – whether you want to or not. Comprendes {Understand}?" The brunette nodded obediently. "Good."

"…Dio… you can be one scary fucker when you want to be…" Romano muttered.

Antonio gave a thin smile, "If only for you mi amor." He knelt down in front of him, "But please tell me, why did you start using the mafia again? Lovi, I thought you cut all ties with them…"

The Italian bit his lip at the suddenly pleading Spaniard, damn it, he couldn't look away… "I… I needed to do something. It's not my fault the lot of you are such slow bastards… B-Besides, most of the time I'm a useless idiot, I mean Feliciano has been more useful than me – and that's the highest insult in my eyes…!"

"…"

"…"

"Lovino, look at me."

Hesitantly, the brunette met the other's eyes, "I'm a terrible person Antonio. I should have been a better fratellino, goddammit!" he growled punching the wall beside him, tears welling up in his eyes, "I-I should have looked after Anica and Feli… Alessandro too… damn it… fuck…! …?" Romano froze as he was pulled into the Spaniards familiar embrace, "A…Antonio…?"

The nation gave him a firm look, "Don't go Feli on me now Lovi."

Romano blinked, "… The fuck…?

For a moment a rarity occurred – Antonio flushed in embarrassment, "¡Lo siento! {I'm Sorry!} mi tomate! I meant, uh… Feli seems depressed lately and all, and um, it worries me that you two are still blaming your selves over this war… I… no one blames any of you for the situation with Romania. And Feli also seems to be taking it hard so I assumed – Oh~! ¡Dios mío! Lo siento mi amor! {My God! I'm sorry my love!}. I know how much you hate it when people compare the two of you –"

"Antonio," Romano interrupted, still stifled by his lover's chest, "breath in."

Antonio breathed in.

"And out."

Antonio breathed out.

"Are you calm?"

Antonio nodded.

"Good, now, you don't have to worry about me you damn tomato bastard. I'll be f-fine…" Lovino met his eyes with a deep flush clear on his cheeks, "A-as long as I have you by my side I can be strong…"

The other brunette's eyes widened as a light blush dusted his own cheeks, "L-Lovi…"

A moment of silence passed, then Romano cringed at the delighted squeal that followed – good GOD he needed to stop being honest…

"Y-You're just too cute for me mi amor, it must be illegal! It has to be! My dear, sweet Lovi…!"

"L-Let go of me damn it…! You fucking tomato bastard! And for the love of all that is good, holy, and sacred; stop crying goddammit! It's creepy as fuck!"

But nonetheless both had grins on their faces.

A/N: UNG… *falls to ground dead* There… done… Sorry for the delay again everyone~ your author got lazy and Putin-P crazed… (In fact she is making a crossover with Russia this coming summer) A-Anyway, next update should be in a few… ugh… hopefully weeks… Anyway she's still living and she wishes you all to pray for her while her mother yells at her for failing to do her homework right away when she got home from school. XD Oh, and she doesn't remember who, but SOMEONE owes her a Spamano oneshot!

((She also apologizes for the WEAK chapter. She will do better next time.))

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