Italy laid his head on the wooden desk. This was too hard. School was way too hard. He vigorously tapped his pencil on the desk to the beat of the music playing quieting from the little radio in the corner. He couldn't focus and he had to finish this homework. He leaned back in the chair and stared at the books. A second later his phone buzzed. His hand shot towards it. Answering it he shouted, "Germany!".

"Italy, not so loud, Jesus." Germany groaned.

"Sorry, Germany." Italy blushed and rested his head on his free hand.

"Have you finished your homework?"

Italy whimpered, but didn't reply.

"Finish your homework!" Germany shouted hanging up.

Italy dropped his phone down with a frown. "It's too hard." He said to no one.

Deciding he'd take a break, he stood up and walked to the window. Looking at the trees he watched the colorful leaves circle and fall to the ground. He smiled as the cool air from outside filled his room. As much as he loved this time of the year he missed vacation.
"The winter holiday will be here soon I suppose." He whispered closing his eyes. School was too much. He didn't like all the extra stress. The classes were too hard, especially with all the talking he did in class. Seeing Germany everday was a plus though. Germany was fantastic. He protected Italy from the mean people. He could also help Italy with his tie.

He sat and thought for a while and soon it was nine. He jumped up and rushed to the desk. Quickly finishing literature he decided History homework wasn't worth the extra stress and he got up and flopped down onto his bed. He was joined by a little brown kitten. It nudged his face and purred. Italy closed his eyes and listened to the slow purring. hat sound always calmed his school worries. He felt the kitties whiskers tickle his face. He giggled and turned his face away.

"I have to go to bed now, kitty." He said carefully moving the cat to the floor while he straightened out his sheets. He pulled his pants and shirt off and crawled under the covers. The kitty jumped up next to him once again and curled up against his chest.

He opened his eyes again and it was the next morning. Rolling out of ed he hit the floor with a thud and sat up moaning. Italy, despite his often cheery attitude, was not indeed a morning person. He pulled himself into a standing position and walked across the room regaining feeling in his legs. Making his way downstairs to the kitchen he checked the clock. 5:00 am. He moaned again and leaned on the counter. Suddenly he remembered he had fresh read and his face lit up. "Yay!" He laughed going to the cupboard to take it out. Cutting a piece of read, he spread basil butter on it and stuffed it in his mouth. Quickly drinking a glass of ice cold juice he ran back upstairs to get ready. He changed into a pastel pink button-down shirt and light blue pants. He ran to the bathroom to wash his face, brush his teeth, and rush his hair before walking over to his desk again. He glanced at his unfinished homework for a moment before thoughtlessly tossing it in his backpack along with a few school books.

He ran downstairs, gave his kitty a kiss, slipped his shoes on, and ran out the door. The cold, dark morning air was not that great of a greeting. He walked slowly down the street looking up at the brightly colored trees. His steps were slow but long so he still made good time. He pulled out his phone as he walked and texted Germany.

"Buongiorno!"

"Good morning, Italy."

"How are you!?"

"It's too early. Did you finish your homework?"

Italy did not respond but just kept looking forward. Soon he made it to the school and he made it through the doors and to his first class. He sat down in the desk and took his books out. Filing in after him was France and England. There was always tension between those two.

"Hello France!" Italy grinned as France took the seat next him.

"Oh, mondays." ,France said with an over dramatic sigh and sad hair flip, "How I hate mondays."

"Me too." Italy said sadly looking down. Germany came in now. Italy looked up quickly and was overcome by butterflies. His face went red and he felt weak.

"Germany!" He grinned, concealing how nervous Germany made him.

"Italy you never responded to me. Did you do your homework?" Germany asked, staring at him with those piercing blue eyes.

"Yes." Italy lied. Well not really lied. He did do his homework. Some of his homework….He looked down in shame.

"Good job." Germany said turning to look forward.

"Hey Germany?"

"Yes."

"We should get gelato after school!"

"Well….because you did your homework today, sure." Germany sighed.

Class began but all Italy could focus on was Germay. He wasn't sure what was happening. He had never felt this way before. Well, sure he did. About girls….Not a man. Especially, not a man like Germany. Everything about Germany was masculine. Italy kept stealing glances at Germany. He had to be sneaky about it. Every once and awhile he'd see Germany looking at him. Probably wondering why he was staring at him. Italy tried to focus on his work but ended up just doodling in the margin of his notebook. Fifteen minutes later America came stumbling into the classroom with a guilty look on his face. He stood in the front of the classroom trying to explain why he was late for another fifteen minutes to try and get out of trouble until the teacher finally silenced him. He went to his seat and quickly wrote down the notes on the board. Five minutes later the bell rang and Italy jumped up. "Goodbye Germany!" Italy smiled and walked out of the classroom. He spent the rest of the day daydreaming of Germany.

After school Italy met Germany outside the building.

"Are we going to get gelato now?" Italy asked. Germany nodded and they began walking. They made it to one of Italy's towns and found a cute, small gelato place. They sat outside in the cool weather and ate their separate cups of delicious gelato.

"How was school, did you do well?" Germany asked with sincere concern.

"Art class was fun!" Italy laughed filling his mouth with a spoonful of chocolatey goodness.

"That is good." Germany said with a small smile.

"Germany! You smiled!" Italy laughed blushing. Germany did have a lovely smile. Italy wished he would smile more.

"Do you have a lot of homework?" Germany asked. His piercing blue eyes awakened the butterflies in Italy's stomach.

"Y-yes...Maybe you can help me?" Italy said slowly turning over what was left of the gelato over and over again with his spoon.

"Sure." Germany said, standing up to throw out his empty cup. Italy followed.