A/N: Something fluffy for you guys. This is set in the same universe as "Warm Me Up" I guess, since Prussia and Romano also live together in this one. Hope you enjoy! :D
Romano's eyes seemed to have snatched themselves open as a last resort to escape the pain. His body jolted up from its previous comfortable position, and for a moment, he thought that he was having a severe heart attack. Looking around the room, there was nothing but darkness, save for the moonlight that shown through the parted curtains of the nearby window. It wasn't summer, but he was sweating as if he'd been working out in the tomato fields all evening. His lungs were being filled with oxygen as his breathless panting was still desperately trying to calm itself, but it remained uncontrollable just like the pounding of his heart. Basically, his entire body was in a state of panic.
Oh god, but what if it wasn't simply a nightmare? He quickly turned his head to look to his left, hoping — praying — that the familiar body was still there. Romano felt so much relief to see that Prussia was still sleeping soundly by his side, lightly snoring and all. Just the sight of his lover in that dark bedroom was enough to make his body slowly return to normal. His breathing was balanced again, and his heart rate gradually slowed to where it should be. There was no need to worry, he knew that. But, what if one day it wouldn't be a nightmare? What if Prussia really just… disappeared?
"No, no… That'll never happen," Romano muttered to himself, although it didn't help much.
Using a hand, he pushed his hair back from his slightly wet forehead and let out a deep sigh. How many times had it been now? Perhaps the fifth or sixth? He didn't know why he continued to have nightmares about Prussia suddenly disappearing one day, and the last one had been at least a handful of months ago. He was sure these stupid dreams had stopped, but tonight said otherwise.
What's even worse, is that this time, Prussia didn't simply disappear. No, he and Romano had fought and weren't speaking to each other. Just when Romano decided to stop being stubborn and make up with his boyfriend before they would break up for good, that loud albino was nowhere to be found. He had searched and searched, but Prussia was really gone. For good. Romano couldn't handle the incredible guilt of having never told him just how much he loved that idiot, and how much he meant to him. He had wanted to apologize and fix things, but it was far too late. Dammit, why did his mind randomly want to torture him with his biggest fear?
Romano let out yet another sigh and rested his hand on top of Prussia's head. The ex-nation's hair always had a fuzzy feeling to it. When he washed it and used the last of Romano's expensive shampoo, it felt so fuzzy and smelled like fruit. When he was a lazy ass and didn't wash his hair for days, those platinum locks were still fuzzy despite being dirty. It was hard to explain it, but Romano loved running his fingers through Prussia's hair. That's exactly what he was doing now, to keep himself distracted. It was far too embarrassing to do such a thing randomly, so he usually did it discreetly when Prussia was asleep.
"Pretty soon, you're going to need another haircut," he whispered, lifting a strand with two of his fingers and then letting it drop back onto the sleeping man's forehead. It was mysterious how fast Prussia's hair grew, even though he didn't really take care of it. By next week, his bangs would probably rest before his eyes and screw with his vision.
A noise coming from the end of the bed averted Romano's attention. He could even slightly feel the sheets being tugged as something moved across the mattress.
"Damn cat," he hissed at the animal, but it didn't seem to notice. In fact, it was as if it was ignoring Romano's existence altogether. The 'furball', as Romano referred to it as, curled up at the foot of the bed and quickly fell asleep. For some reason it had always done that, but by morning it'd be gone since both Prussia and Romano sometimes kicked in their sleep.
Alistair was its name. It was a male cat with white fur and icy blue eyes. A stray, Prussia found and took him in out of pure kindness. He loved animals, they were his weakness and Romano knew that. However, as far as Romano was concerned, Alistair was just a sneaky little bastard that turned into a brat whenever Prussia wasn't around. It's not that he minded animals, in fact, he thought they were cute. But, when he had to care for one, he'd say screw that because he'd rather take care of a vast garden of vegetables.
It served to be quite a surprise, when Romano returned home from grocery shopping to find this rodent in his living room. "What the fuck is that?" He had asked, and as usual, Prussia acted as if it was no big deal.
"It's a kitten! A boy kitten, in fact. He's a stray and I found him when I was—"
"I don't care where the fuck you found 'em. Take him back and get your ass in the kitchen so that you can help me make dinner."
"But, Romano! It's about to rain and I can't just leave him outside." Prussia's usual pouting face was then initiated, but Romano wouldn't fall for it. Who did he even think that he was, bringing a wild animal into Romano's home? He didn't have time for fleas and stupid cats scratching up his furniture.
"I don't care, we're not keeping a fucking cat! Who knows where it's been, and this is my house so just deal with it."
Despite this, Romano just knew that Prussia would somehow get his way. And so he did. The pouting, whining, and bargaining finally tipped Romano over the edge and he had said yes, but not before threatening Prussia's life if anything of his got ruined by the stupid but insanely cute kitten. He even tried to use Gilbird as an excuse to why they couldn't keep a kitten, but surprisingly, the two animals got along fine.
That was nearly half a year ago, though, and Romano had actually come to like Alistair. However, he still pretended to hate the thing around Prussia, just to make him feel guilty. Of course, it didn't work. The only time that they both wanted to kick their new pet, was when it always coincidently walked in on them just when they were about to have hot sex. It creeped Romano out how Alistair just sat there in the corner of the room and watched. Thus, they established a rule to lock him out when they needed privacy.
Yawning, Romano stretched his arms out a bit and debated whether it was safe to fall back asleep again. He really didn't want to have another nightmare, even though that was highly unlikely. Still, it never hurt to be safe. This is stupid, he thought. He wanted to wake his lover up and force him to provide some comfort, but wouldn't that make him seem weak? It was just another stupid nightmare! Even so, he knew that Prussia wouldn't make fun of him, right? At least, he hoped not. His boyfriend could be such a dick sometimes, even though they both had their fair share of problems and poor social skills.
Thinking about that, how the hell did they get together in the first place? It had been a strange series of dramatic events that brought them together, and it took so much courage to confess to each other that it was almost ridiculous. The conflicts didn't cease, even after they began dating, which is only natural for the two of them. Eventually, both of them got tired of only seeing each other a few weeks at a time, and sometimes only once or twice a month. It took a lot of debating before Prussia decided to move in with Romano at his house in Rome. Well, technically it belongs to both Romano and Veneziano, but the latter usually spent most of his time in Germany. It pissed Romano off, but at the same time, he was glad to have plenty of alone time with Prussia during the times that Veneziano was absent.
He couldn't deny that it was still a tad bit frustrating to live with the self-proclaimed most awesome person known to existence. Besides Prussia's arrogance that made Romano snap every once in awhile, he had many bad habits that desperately needed to be broken. Even now while sitting in the bed, Romano glared at the chair on the other side of the room. As usual, there was a pile of Prussia's clothing in it. He had warned the bastard not to leave them on the floor, so Prussia thought that he was sly by stuffing them into a chair, instead.
It was not just that, though. Among the many other things that irritated Romano, Prussia left the cap of the toothpaste on the side of the sink instead of screwing it back on where it belonged. Sometimes, he would leave the light on in the bathroom after he left, or spill crumbs on the ground when he crumpled up pieces of bread to feed Gilbird. One of the most annoying things is when he forgot to buy certain ingredients at the store, even when he was reminded at least three times to get them! Romano would do the shopping himself, but unlike some people, he had work to do. Being a nation was never a simple walk in the park.
The few times that he was able to relax for a day or so at a time, was actually quite pleasant. He and Prussia would go out and roam the city just because they could. Other times, they would stay at home all day, cuddling together on the couch because Prussia was a clingy bastard, or drink lemonade on the back porch. It was still irritating when Prussia invaded his private shower or bath time, though. Wait — no, Romano actually liked that.
All in all, Romano couldn't imagine life anymore without his deranged lover by his side. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, since it was inevitable that Prussia just might die on him one day. He didn't want to think about that, though. He'd simply cherish every moment with the man that he fell in love with by some miracle. The red and green ring on his finger reminded him that it was a blessing to have what he does. And, to be honest, he loved every flaw and other detail about the still snoring man next to him. So, there was nothing to be afraid of.
Finally lying back down, Romano pulled the covers up to his shoulder and cuddled as closely as possible to his boyfriend's warm body. It made him feel safe all over again, and as if that warmth would always be there. And for some odd reason, a tear of joy fell from his tired hazel eyes as he nuzzled into the other man's neck. All of this sudden movement eventually made Prussia stir, and he fluttered his eyes open to investigate.
"What's the matter?" he asked, taking notice that Romano was awake and silently sniffling.
"N-nothing… don't worry about it."
"As if. Did you have a nightmare again?"
Romano slowly nodded, his silky hair slightly tickling Prussia's nose. It was still pretty embarrassing, but at times like this, he didn't really mind being open.
"Was it clowns?" Prussia asked, jokingly. Usually, Romano would've cursed at him for always throwing out his stupid sense of humor, but this time he simply chuckled. Hearing Prussia's voice and knowing that he was there for him at this moment, was more than enough.
"Well, it's okay now. I'm here." He draped his arm over Romano's waist and shut his eyes again, determined to make his way back to dreamland.
Romano rolled his eyes and grumbled. "I'm not a fuckin' child."
"True, but it's my job as an awesome boyfriend to do little things like this for you. You'd do the same for me, right?"
"Yeah…" he replied exhaustedly, but there was one more thing that he needed to add. "I love you."
Prussia's eyes quickly shot open again, and for a moment he simply grinned. It wasn't often that Romano said that, in fact, neither of them announced their love whenever they wanted to. Words weren't something that they were skilled in, so they simply showed each other how they felt from the small acts of affections that they mustered up once in awhile; Prussia more often than Romano, of course.
"I love you, too, Romano. And you better not ever think otherwise."
This time, as Romano closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep, no more nightmares awaited him. Even if they were to return, he didn't care. Because he knew that as long as Prussia was there in the present, then he needn't worry about the future.
