"Germany? Say something...please Germany!"

I found my hands instantly wrapped around his waist, pulling him into a tight, affectionate hug. True, my constant hugs with Germany were only commonplace by now, and usually he would try and fight me off, but he offered no struggle or rejection to my grasp. My thoughts were pounding in my head, and something was tearing at my chest. What was this? Why did being ignored by Germany hurt this much? He'd ignored me plenty of times before in the past, and it never had hurt. Well, not this bad anyways. The pain only grew as seconds turned into minutes, and my already soaked face flooded with new tears. It grasped me in tendrils and left my form shaking. Despite the discomfort, I kept holding on to him until I heard him gasp for breath and shiver.

The blonde in my arms had seemed to snap out of a trance; his stoic form crumbled and left him shocked by our embrace. I looked up at him, as his pale face towered above my own. I immediately let go, afraid Germany would be angry with the stunt.

"Germany...please, say something?" I begged, glancing into his deep blue eyes.

He trembled slightly, staring at me with vacant eyes. I hated it. I hated when his eyes showed no trace of emotion, nothing as he stared back at me. My eyes wandered to his hands: flowers in one, the ring in the other. I suddenly remembered the events of the moments before. Germany has offered me the flowers and the ring. He confuses me to the point of complete nonsense. Why would he offer me such gifts? I'll admit, I'm not the brightest person ever, but I really do have enough maturity in me to abandon my carefree, fun-loving attitude in times of importance. Most people assume that I'm stupid and weak just because of my impulsiveness and my short attention span, not to mention my stupid ideas and constant surrendering. I'm deeper than anyone could ever guess by my cover. I can be, at least.

Snapping out of thought, I brought my eyes back up to meet Germany's. Emotion had overtaken him, but the kind I couldn't tell. Then, his lips parted, and he spoke.

"Italy..."

That was it, but it was more than enough for me.

"Germany...what's wrong? Please tell me."

Germany shuffled in place for a moment then looked at his hands. "Italy," he repeated, softer than he'd said it before. He had a hard look of realization on his face. "We're not on the same page with this, are we?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely confused with him.

"Italy...Italy...I love you."

My hearted almost stopped, and my breathing became shallow. I even felt my eyes widen in shock. Had he said what I'd thought he'd said? I don't know, my ears could easily be deceiving me. It wouldn't be a new thing if they were. No, he's said it, I'm positive he did. Everything he'd done now made sense. The ring, the flowers. The way he'd been treated me...everything was crystal clear. My stomach turned inside of me, and I felt like throwing up. It wasn't that Germany disgusted me, in fact quite the opposite, but just the thought he'd feel that way towards me. Truth is, and I would never deny it, I'd always carried a small spark for the pale blonde. But, I could never truly feel the same way.

I love somebody else.

I told him I'd wait for him, no matter how long it took. And even Germany, whom I've harbored feelings for for quite a while, could make me break my promise to him.

"Germany, I...I...that's really sweet of you, really." I've never been good with words, and my awkward way of dealing with situations doesn't ever work out well. I just didn't know what to say. "But I'm waiting for someone else. I'm...I'm sorry, Germany. Please, can we be friends?"

I saw Germany's face lose every ounce of color it had left, and his eyes seemed to stare into the distance. Was this his strategy of facing my rejection? I hated it when he was like this...I hated seeing him in anguish. But it would be even worse if I'd accepted his offer. It would be a completely empty promise between him and myself. No matter how much it pained me to see him in pain, no matter how much I already loved him, or how much I could love him, I could never love him more than the one who had already stolen my heart.

German's lips opened slightly, and for a moment I thought he was going to speak, but they instead closed again and his eyes drifted down to my feet. Then, he turned away and began to walk away. My heart sunk as I watched him slowly disappear into the horizon.

What had I done?

That's how it started. It's been two days since Germany and I have talked or exchanged a glance at all. Ever since I'd rejected him, he's been boarded up in his tiny room, wasting the days away in his bed. I had passed it yesterday, and his door was cracked enough to allow me to spy on him. All I could make out was his catatonic figure, staring blankly at the ceiling. Was this his way of dealing with his problems? Isolating himself and killing time? Watching him like this is killing me inside.

It was very early in the morning, and I'd made my way to the kitchen in order to quench the burning desire for food my stomach harbored. I've been living with Germany for quite some time now. You know, scratch that. I don't exactly live here, but I spend just about all of my days here that I consider it my home. And my influence on our dining was obvious: bags of pasta were scattered in the cupboards, and there was cold pizza left from yesterday's dinner in the fridge. Deciding I had no desire to cook, I went to grab a slice of the leftover pizza, realizing only two slices had been eaten. Guilt struck me as it came to my mind that Germany hadn't eaten for two days. I hadn't offered him any yesterday, as I was too afraid to face him this early in his depression. Sympathy and remorse flooded over me, even though it was Germany's choice not to eat. I couldn't let him starve. I heated the pizza up and wrapped it up, then navigated to Germany's room. For a moment, I stood silent at the door, staring at it profusely. Mustering up all the courage I could find, along with putting on a happy façade, I knocked on the door and offered a friendly greeting. "Germany! Oh Germany! Are you hungry, Germany?"

Although my voice sounded cheerful, inside it ached. Was pretending there was nothing different between us a smart idea? Pushing the though aside, I waited for an answer, and hopefully permission to enter. In truth, I really wanted to just see his face, just to assure myself that he was okay. Although, I know he isn't. But I'd even take false reassurance at this point.

I pushed my ear against the door, hearing Germany's voice grumbling. "Go away." he finally managed.

Denied, just as I had anticipated. My voice softened, and it lost its cheery manner. "Germany, please." It seems like I've been begging him for a lot lately, but the more he ignored and kept me at a distance, the more persistent I became in breaking down his barriers. "You need to eat. Please?"

There was a cold, desolate silence between us for the longest time. I was about ready to admit my defeat and dispose of the pizza, but instead I heard another groan noise come from inside Germany's room. "Fine, come in."

A smile played on my lips, as Germany's answer pleased me. Almost forgetting the situation and circumstances at hand, my face brightened up as I brought the pizza in for him. "Aha! Germany, there you are!" I pranced over to his bedside, taking in the contents of my view. His blankets were pulled up to his nose, covering the bottom half of his bridge. His normally gelled hair was thick and unkempt, and his deep blue eyes were averted in the opposite direct. Was he purposely avoiding my gaze? There was a strong possibility.

"Here I am..." he answered, still insisting on avoiding all eye contact with me. I saw the shape of his moving lips underneath the thin blanket which covered his hidden form. I can even now see the outline of his features easily. I take my hand and move the cover from over his mouth. As Germany knows very well by now, I'm very forward in my actions and have issues with respecting others' personal space. As expected, Germany was startled by this and struggled to regain the sheet.

"What do you think you're doing?" he demanded, pulling the blanket back over himself. "I'm using that."

"But you need to eat!" I insisted, smiling slightly. It grew hard to keep that smile on my face as Germany's hate struck eyes finally looked at me. However, only seconds after he looked at me, Germany sighed and closed his eyes.

"Put it over there," he said, looking in the direction of the dresser across from his bed.

I nodded and fulfilled his request. "Okay, Germany. Promise me you'll eat it?" I inquired.

"I'm not hungry." He answered quickly. Almost as if on cue, I heard the faint growl of his stomach, alerting its host body that it needed to be filled.

"Liar!" I accused, a small amount tears swelling in my eyes. "Don't lie to me, Germany! You're starving yourself away in here! Please, eat!" I don't know why, but that shallow lie had cut into me so deep, my body felt numb. Why did this sadden me so much? Why did I have to care?

Germany seemed to now be alert of my concern, and lifted himself just a little above his blanket. "Italy, don't cry..." He reached out a hand to me, and despite my want to pull away, I let him place it on my arm and take a loose grasp around it. "I'll eat, okay?"

I'm even more confused now. Wasn't Germany just angry with me? Wasn't he just ignoring me and telling me to leave him alone? Why was he now showing me such sympathy? Had something come over him? "Alright," I managed, fighting back the tears that were still coming. "Please eat, okay? I have to go for now...I'll be back later, alright?" I didn't wait for an answer. Honestly, I just wanted out of there so I could hopefully maintain a clear thought for once. I hurried my exit and slammed the door behind me. Once I was outside, I sprinted down the hallway as if someone was chasing after me and located my quarters, or my new quarters. Before this incident, I'd been sleeping with Germany in his bed. There's nothing more than I miss than his bed right now. The soft mattress, the heat of Germany's body next to my own...I always felt safe and secure there.

Collapsing onto my 'new' mattress, I found myself staring at the ceiling for quite a period of time, thoughtless. Finally, there came a point where I couldn't keep my eyes open and my mind began to empty slowly. Sleep took me over and I fell under, dreamless and unpleasantly. Maybe some sleep would do me good after all. I really do need to clear my head...

(Please excuse Italy's slight out of character-ness, I wanted to try and incorporate a different side of him. Rate and Review?)