"Veh! Germany will be so happy I've taken his advice and am organizing my house!" Italy skipped down the road with his allowance in his hand. He thought back to the other day, when Germany had come round his house. The larger man was not accustomed to the small doors and ceilings, and so when he stood up from the chair he was sitting in, he hit his head on the chandelier, causing it to swing. This then lead to the chandelier knocking the pictures off the wall, which fell on his foot, which lead to Germany jumping round the kitchen cursing. He then fell against a cupboard, which swung open and hundreds, or more likely thousands, of unsorted, unwrapped pieces of pasta flew out and onto Germany's head. Germany had flown into a rage and yelled at Italy to sort his cupboards out, or more usefully, his entire house.

Italy took a small, folded up piece of paper out of his trouser pocket, unfolded it, and read what was on it. Of course, being Italy, scrawled onto the paper in almost illegible italics was simply '' for both sides of the paper. He tucked it back into his pocket and started wandering down the street again, not noticing the gray clouds gathering overhead. He stepped into the grocery store, exchanged a warm welcome with Maria, the girl behind the counter whom he chatted with often, and made his way to the pasta section. There he spent almost twenty minutes humming to himself and staring at various shelves, before picking out three large bags of tagliatelle, six bags of ravioli and finally, sixteen packets of assorted pasta. He heaved it to the counter and started sorting his change.

"That's a lot of pasta for a cute little guy like you!" exclaimed Maria.

"Hehe, I'm showing Germany~san I can be organized so he'll realise how reliable I am!"

"Well, good luck with that Veneziano! I hope he realizes how lucky he is to have you around soon!" She waved at Italy as he heaved the huge bags out of the door.

"Arrivederci Maria! I'll see you soon!" Italy started down the street.

It took only a few seconds for him to notice the tiny splashes of rain that started falling on his face. At first he took no notice, and attempted to walk faster but was slowed down by his baggage. The tiny splashes of water slowly turned into a light shower, then a heavy downpour. In less than five minutes the street was deserted, everyone running into the shelter which was the shops. Everyone except Italy. The forecast has predicted there would be possible light rain around noon, how wrong could they be? He struggled through the heavy rain, water soaking through his clothes and his hair. Soon it became difficult to see, but he couldn't stop. The rain was coming down even harder now, with thunder and lightning accompanying it. He flinched at the sound, remembering those cold winter nights when he was all alone... Pushing those thoughts aside, he forced himself on, to the house of the person he relied upon the most.

~*~

Germany sat in his chair with an ice pack on his head and a book in his hand, listening to the rain beating the windows and wind whipping at the roof. He was still irritated at Italy for his poorly organized kitchen. He almost had his foot broken! He sighed and set down the book, trying to numb the pain in his head. He wished the stupid banging inside his head would cease, even if it was just for a minute. He took the ice pack off his head and walked through the hallway, considering going to bed. It was then he realized the banging got louder the closer he walked to the door. 'Wait a minute... Its not in my head! Its outside!' He thought. He walked to the door, wincing at the pain in his toe where Italy's photo of him and a childhood friend... Holy something... Holy Rome! Had fallen. He finally reached the door, unhooked the latch and opened it. He looked left, then right, then down. It was then he noticed Italy.

Italy was soaked through, dripping with water and shivering like mad. Germany saw the three bags of pasta barely hanging from his fingertips. Italy looked up at Germany's face, smiled and said "I'm... glad you're... in... Doitsu..."

Then he collapsed, top half of him inside Germany's house, bottom half of his little body outside, being pummeled by the rain. Germany stood at the door for a few seconds, in shock at Italy's appearance. Then he came to his senses.

He picked Italy up, slammed the door with his foot and ran inside. He shouted at his dogs to get off the sofa, then carefully laid Italy down upon it. He then found the phone under the huge pile of paperwork he had been working on, and quickly dialed a doctor. It was then there was a huge crash of thunder outside, followed by a large lightning strike, hitting the telephone pole outside Germany's house, making him jump out of his skin. The pole collapsed against a tree, igniting a fire and tearing the lines apart. The fire was quickly extinguished by the torrential rain, but the damaged lines were not a problem so easily solved. Germany slowly put down the receiver, knowing from the slow 'beeeeeeep' noise coming from it that it was useless. His mobile phone had broken in his accident in Italy's house. His car was almost out of gas. They were stranded. In the middle of a storm. With no one to help.

Germany was trying to breathe slowly, while coming to terms with what was happening. He collapsed into a chair, wondering what to do. He buried his head in his hands, his heart pounding against his ribs. He then heard a small moan from the other side of the room. He jumped up and ran to Italy's side. It seemed he was having a bad dream, or was in pain. Or maybe both? Germany placed one hand on Italy's forehead, one hand on his own. In comparison to his own temperature, Italy could have been on fire. Germany bit his lip, wondering what to do.

A loud hip-hop song suddenly started up, making Germany jump. He wondered where it was coming from, then realized it was from Italy. Amazed that Italy's phone has survived the wrath of the storm, he began searching Italy's pockets. He finally found the phone in Italy's back trouser pocket. Blushing slightly at the thought that he had accidentally touched Italy in such a place, he fumbled and pressed the 'receive call' button. "Hello?" He stuttered.

"Germany-san? Is that you?" Japan's voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Japan! Thank god, I'm in a terrible situation and I don't know what to do!" He almost shouted at the phone.

"What? Why, what happened?" Japan asked.

"There's a huge storm here and Italy was in the middle of it and he just came to my house and the phone lines down outside and my mobiles broken and-"

"Germany-san! Please calm down! Tell me what happened slowly." Germany managed to gain comfort from Japan's calm voice, and managed to tell him what happened. After a few seconds of silence, Japan started to talk "OK Germany-san. This is what you must do."

Germany rushed around his study, picking books from the shelves and throwing some over his shoulder while piling others on one of his arms. "The first thing you must do" Japan had said "Is look for any books you can find on medical subjects. As the phone line is down, its likely the internet will be too, so don't even bother with that. In the meantime, get a bowl of cold water and a towel, and put the towel on Italy's head to cool him down." Germany had already done that, and was now flicking through all the books he had hoarded over the years. Luckily he hadn't taken Austria's advice and thrown some out. He soon found a book on simple illnesses and went to the symptom index. He checked Italy, and looked up his symptoms. He found that unconsciousness, fever, sweating and mumbling were all symptoms of either a nasty cold or flu. The recommended course of action? Put a cold towel on the subjects head, call a doctor and wait patiently. Well that book had no valuable advice.

After checking several books, none of which had any decent ideas in, his anger got the better of him and he kicked the table, sending several books flying. His dogs cowered under the sofa Italy was lying on. Germany picked up Italy's mobile and tried to turn it back on, as he had turned it off after speaking to Japan, to save the battery. He held the 'End call' button for one... two... three... four? Seconds. The phone didn't turn on. He tried again and again, to no avail. It seemed that the rain has finally got the better of it. Again his rage overpowered him and he hurled the phone across the room, where it hit the wall. Various keys from the keyboard and the battery fell on Italy's still form. Seeing this, Germany calmed down slightly. He went over to Italy, kneeled down beside him and, after some hesitation, held Italy's hand. Italy tightened his grip on Germany's hand and turned his head slightly towards him.

"Nng... Germany..." He muttered. "I tried... to be more... organized... Are you.. proud... of me now?" Italy's head fell, as he slipped into a deep sleep. Germany sat beside him, shocked that it was all his fault. He had told him to be more organized, if only he had minded his head, if only he could have simply scolded Italy instead of yelling at him... Germany's eyes began to close. He was exhausted from panicking and rushing around, trying to help Italy. He just needed sleep...

~*~

Germany awoke to a banging at the door. The storm had long since passed. He looked around to see Italy still on the sofa, but he somehow looked... Better. His face was less pink than it had been last night, and he was no longer muttering. Germany saw that he still had hold of Italy's hand, and so quickly let go. A slight frown flashed across Italy's face. Germany stumbled to the door, his legs weak after sleeping on his knees. He fumbled with the lock and the door swung open, pushed by the force on the other side. Germany fell over backwards, the visitor fell on top of him. Germany was at first stunned as he hit his head AGAIN on the floor, then when he saw the visitor's face... He was shocked at what he saw. Romano lay on top of him, his face dripping with tears and rain and... probably snot.

As soon as Romano realized what he had done, he jumped up, wiped everything off his face and stood up as tall as he could stand. "POTATO BASTARD! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BROTHER?"

Surprised by Romano's sudden appearance and outburst, Germany stood up, and said "How did you know he was here?"

To which Romano replied "Isn't it obvious? Japan phoned me and told me you were here and Italy was here and he was sick and you didn't know what to do so-"

"Romano. Shut up." Germany said sternly. Romano silenced at once. "He's in the living room. He's still asleep, so try not to disturb him." Totally ignoring Germany's instructions, Romano raced into the living room, immediately being jumped upon by Germany's dogs. Germany shouted at his dogs, who immediately dropped Romano, tucked their tails between their legs and ran for safety. Although Romano often showed no care for his younger brother, it was clear to Germany that he did really care for him.

"Brother! BROTHER!" Romano shouted. Italy's head turned towards the noise, and his eyes slowly opened.

"Romano... What are you... doing here?"

Romano blushed, and stammered "Well... You see I... I was... Umm..."

"He was worried about you" Germany finished the sentence for him.

At this Romano turned as red as a tomato and jumped up. "I was NOT! Don't just make things up, potato bastard!" He charged at Germany, who stopped him by placing a hand on the shorter one's head and holding him back. Romano tried to reach him but couldn't. Eventually he gave up, and went to sit by his younger brother.

"Well... Even if I was worried, it doesn't concern you bastard."

"I suppose not." Germany walked up to where Italy's head was and placed a hand on his head. "You really had me worried there." He turned slightly pink, embarrassed at what he had said. He ruffled Italy's hair then went and sat down on his favourite chair. His dogs slinked over and he stroked their heads in apology to his shouting earlier.

A further knocking at the door startled all of them. Germany heaved himself up again and staggered to the door. The exhaustion was fast catching up with him. He opened the door once again- And what he saw amazed him more than seeing Romano crying. Outside, there were nine people- nine friends.
Japan. Austria. Hungary. China. Russia. France. Britain. America. All there to see Italy.

"Hey dude! Is the lil' guy in? I bought BURGERS!" At the mention of burgers, Britain rolled his eyes and pushed him aside.

"Anyway Germany, as this delinquent-"

"I'M NOT A DELINQUENT!"

"Ahem... As I was saying. As he says, we are here to see Italy. Japan called us and told us what happened."

Germany looked at Japan, who turned slightly pink. "I thought I should tell them... They all randomly arrived at my house this morning and dragged me here... Ah, I was going to come anyway of course!" Germany smiled and shook his head at the tiny nation.

"You can all come in"

For the next few hours Germany's usually quiet house was full of talking, laughter and a fair amount of complaints at being forced to eat Britain's scones. After a few hours, Germany demanded every one to leave, as Italy needed rest. As they left one by one (Except Austria and Hungary, who left together) Only Germany, Italy and Japan were left. Japan started picking up various books from the floor and Germany sat down, exhausted.

After a few minutes of silence (and book tidying) Japan said "Well, I'd better get going. I'll see you both later! Get well soon Italy."

Germany and Italy bid Japan farewell, then Germany said "I'll take you upstairs to the spare room. The sofa isn't very comfortable..." He then picked Italy up and carried him upstairs.

When they reached the second floor, Italy said 'Umm... Germany... Can I please sleep with you tonight? There might be another thunderstorm, and-"

"Its OK Italy. You can."

"Really? Yaaaay thanks Doitsuu~! Veh~" Germany blushed slightly and smiled to himself, knowing that Italy was going to be OK.

A/N This was the first fanfic I ever wrote x3 it was for my best friend who kept me up at a sleep over getting me to plan it -3- turned out well though ^^

Reviews are most welcome ;)