Chapter 1

He didn't remember anything about the dream he had that night.

He wasn't even sure if the dream was a pleasant or an unfortunate one. That's why when Romano woke up with a tear rolling down his cheek, he tilted his head in confusion. But since Romano- No, not only Romano, but his brother Veneziano as well – easily cried all the time, Romano wasn't too worried about it. He wasn't sure what caused it, but it shouldn't have had to matter too much anyway.

Pushing himself up, he glanced to the alarm clock at the side table to check the time, blinking at how the longer hand pointed almost 20 minutes ahead of his usual wake-up calls. He felt proud for feeling fully awake despite that fact, not even bothering to feel as if he wasted the time in waking up by not taking the extra few minutes to keep sleeping. Romano was not a late sleeper like his brother to begin with, but was certainly not an early bird either. However, for the past few days he have been able to sleep only a few hours and have no affect on it the next day. Feeling as if he was finally getting the hang of waking up early and actually getting things done, Romano felt a small smile of satisfaction come to his face. Spain wouldn't be able to tell him to wake up early to go to work anymore. He could tell the Spaniard that he was able to do it all on his own.

Romano's habit of sleeping in was one he had since he was a little kid, and Romano himself was starting to think it was some sort of illness he carried. The warm blanket that covered his body was like the demon, and Spain, the one who had to get Romano out of the bed in the morning, was like a hero with legendary sword. But even with the legendary sword, Spain wasn't able to rescue Romano out of the blankets. And since even Spain couldn't rescue him to begin with, Romano figured he couldn't do it on his own anyway, so being able to wake up without any problems for the past few days made him feel overly proud of himself.

The blue sky without a single cloud looked beautiful, and it seemed to tell that the day was going to be a great one. Romano stared out the window in silence until he felt his eyes begin to blind, in which made him finally kneel down next to his dresser and begin to pick out his clothes. He put them on without effort and flinched as the cold fabric touched his skin, knowing it would warm up quickly enough with his body heat. By the time he opened the door to his room and entered the hallway, the shirt was the same temperature as its owner's body.

The house Romano and Veneziano lived in wasn't big at all. Veneziano didn't wish to clean a large house, and Romano couldn't clean at all anyway. If there were more rooms, that would be more places that needed to be cleaned. To avoid their childhood jobs as much as possible, Romano had a single room, Veneziano another, and then there was a small guest room near both rooms. Of course they also had the living room, dining room, kitchen and bathroom, but not much else. At the end of the hallway was a small picture hung up on the wall; a picture of a man, with two little brunette children with their signature curls already shown growing from their heads.

The older brother of the Italians peeked into the living room to check the time and turned the knob to the door that led to the other Italian's room. As he opened it, he sighed when silence filled the room.

"From tomorrow, I have to go to the meeting area before lunch and talk with Germany and Japan for the next week. So I have to be up by 8 in the morning!"

Romano remembered Veneziano telling him that the night before. He must've certainly set the alarm to wake up on his own, but by the looks of it, it seemed as if the younger male turned the alarm off after it went off and traveled back to dreamland. Romano stood by the bed and stared down to the sleeping mount on the bed and rolled his eyes.

"…Veneziano, it's morning!" Grabbing the corners of the blanket, Romano said the words and pulled them off the figure in a flash. He awaited for his brother's voice of complaints or surprise, but when he didn't hear any, he blinked in confusion and peeked from behind the blanket.

What he saw was his little brother's face, bright red, and heavy breaths coming from the younger. Romano tilted his head and scowled deeply.

"Fratello~… I'm feeling hot~…"

"Woah! Your face is red! What's wrong?"

"I don't know~…"

Veneziano whimpered like a hurt puppy and curled up on the mattress. Romano moved the bangs that stuck on his brother's forehead and flinched at the high temperature, immediately pulling his hand away and placing the blanket back on the shaking body.

"Did you catch a cold?" He asked. As the northern half of Italy pushed his head out from under the blanket, he moaned softly.

"I don't know…" He muttered back, closing his eyes as if it was too hard to keep them opened, "But I haven't been feeling really good for the past few days…"

It was true. Romano remembered Veneziano complaining about a headache or a stomachache for almost a week, but also remembered that it never showed up physically for the others to see it apparently like this before. "I'll go get a thermometer, so you try to go back to sleep."

"But I have to go to the meeting…"

"I don't think I can let you go like this…" Romano patted his hand on Veneziano's covered body. "Besides, I'm also 'Italy'. I'll go to the meeting instead."

Veneziano opened his eyes slightly to look up at Romano doubtfully, but when Romano didn't move his gaze away, determined, the younger half smiled contently. Feeling the appreciation come from his younger brother, Romano shifted uncomfortably in place before he stomped out the room, snorting once in hopes to give it as a reply of "You're welcome".

Romano grabbed a towel and a thermometer from the living room and placed the towel in cold water. The water covered his hands, but somehow Romano didn't notice it being cold at first. Blinking curiously, he shrugged it off his mind for now. He then squeezed the excess water out of the towel before he carried it back to Veneziano's room.

Moving away the bangs that once more found its way in sticking against Veneziano's forehead, Romano placed the towel down on the younger Italian's head. Veneziano squinted his eyes at first and muttered a small "Cold!" before sighing in comfort.

"Can you eat?"

Veneziano shook his head at the question. Romano figured he could cut up some fruits and got ready to left once more, but stopped when he felt the weak fingers grab at his sleeve. "I should be fine if I stay asleep… So please, go to the meeting."

Shifting his gaze to the alarm clock as if to say "You're late", Veneziano muttered quietly. It was true… Romano had to leave soon, or he won't be able to make it in time. He wanted to stay back and try to help his younger brother recover, but couldn't do so. As a nation, he had to do his duties as so first. So he nodded once and headed off to the kitchen. Grabbing the water bottle from inside the fridge, he carried it back to Veneziano's room and placed it on the side table.

"I'll put the water here."

"Grazie…"

"Stay in bed while I'm out."

"Si~…"

Sighing out his answer, Veneziano closed his eyes again as Romano pressed the towel on his forehead slightly and left the room. He grabbed a striped jacket and put it on, and grabbed a scarf. For a moment he went into thought, wondering if he really needed it. Right now, the weather outside was warm. But as the day goes on, Romano had no doubts about it getting cold. He wasn't sure if the meeting was going to take until nightfall or if it only lasted long enough for them to drink a cup of tea, but he figured if he had one it wouldn't hurt. Wrapping it around his neck, he pushed his nose against the fabric and sighed softly. As he sniffed once, he noticed the smell he found himself to love.

It wasn't really a sweet scent as much as it was a simple scent of laundry dried in the sun. The familiar scent Romano immediately recognized as was Spain's.

As he took in another wave of scent from the scarf, he remembered the event that happened several weeks ago. He remembered it clearly like it was yesterday. Romano quietly chased after the memories as he continued rushing around the house in attempts to get ready to leave for the meeting.

Several weeks ago, Romano and Spain were meeting each other. Unlike the years they used to spend together, they were unable to see each other as often as they wished, and to that fact Spain honestly said he was feeling lonely, and though Romano didn't say anything back, he felt the same way as well. But because of that fact, when they did meet, Romano and Spain were several times happier than usual and spent all the time they could staying by each others' sides. Romano was certain he wasn't the only one who didn't want to leave his lover's side when they had a short moment to get together.

On the day Spain and Romano managed to meet together, it was already midnight when it happened. Romano was stuck in a mountain of paperwork that he was certain to finish by the time they set up to meet each other, but the paper towers only kept building up as the hours passed, and even after 4 hours passed after their promised time, Romano couldn't see the end to the job. He didn't have time to even check his cellphone, and just continued typing on the keyboard and scanning his eyes through the words on the documents. The clock's hands just sped up each passing moment. By the time Romano finally finished and left the office, the place was so quiet that it gave Romano the creeps.

He grabbed a taxi that waited at the curve of the road and instructed the driver to make its way to the airport, where Spain and Romano had promised to meet. Annoyed by the speed that the seemingly slow taxi drove at, Romano spread his arms on the back of the seat and sighed deeply. That was when the sudden need to sleep came to him, blacking out his world before he had a chance to text Spain saying he was making his way over now.

When Romano finally woke up, it was when the driver told Romano that they reached the airport. Getting the needed money from his wallet, Romano paid the driver and got off the cab, letting the cool wind ruffle his hair. He felt slightly more awake now that he had some sleep on the ride. When he saw that most of the lights were off in the building, a pang of worry suddenly hit him. He finally took out the phone that was in his pocket and opened it slowly. When the screen lit up, it showed he had 5 missed calls and 2 new text messages.

First, he checked the missed calls. There was one from Veneziano, but all the other were from Spain. Next, the text messages.

"I got here a bit early, but go ahead and take your time~ No need to rush~!" That was the first message, and Romano checked the time to see that it was sent 30 minutes before the time they were supposed to meet. During that, Romano was in the middle of drowning in papers.

The second message was sent when it was an hour passed their promised time. Romano opened it with hesitation, and a simple "Are you ok?" showed up on the screen. But with that simple message, Romano was able to pick up the worried feelings Spain must've felt for him when he sent it. The Italian exhaled his deep breath in attempts to calm himself… Or maybe, in a way to blame himself for making Spain wait.

Romano hurried his way into the airport. The meeting place was at the lobby, right in front of the entrance gate. The chairs provided were not one that they could call comfortable, but it was where Romano, if not, Spain, always sat and waited for the other to arrive. Strangely, despite seemingly countless hours after the meeting time, Romano had no doubt about Spain still being there, waiting for him. Perhaps if it wasn't the Spaniard, Romano could think of the possibility of the person being at a hotel, or a bar, or simply just exploring Italy in general by now, but with Spain, he had no such thoughts.

He will be sitting there, most likely. No, certainly.

When Romano arrived to the lobby, he saw a figure. The legs were sprawled out in front, the upper body bent slightly and the mouth wide open, a bit of drool making its way down slowly but certainly. At the sight, Romano felt a weird feeling that was caught in his throat suddenly release its pressure, making it easier for the Italian to breathe. He hurriedly made his way to Spain. At how the Spaniard seemed so contently asleep, Romano at first debated whether or not to awake him. But sleeping on these chairs couldn't possibly be good for later… It could give Spain the unwanted cramps… With that in mind to delete the debate that started in his head, Romano reached out and took Spain's shoulders in his hands and shook him gently.

"Spain, wake up."

"Mnn…"

"Wake up. You'll catch a cold if you stay asleep here."

Murmuring quietly to himself, Spain's eyelids opened and revealed the emerald hues. He blinked sleepily several times, trying to focus his blurry vision to see who woke him up. Romano shifted his gaze away guiltily when Spain did so. Just as he did, however, Spain suddenly widened his eyes in surprise. "Romano! You took a bit… Did something happen?"

Romano searched Spain's eyes for anger for being made to wait without any notification, but he couldn't find any. That only made Romano feel even more guilty. Several excuses came to his mind but were immediately shot down, and Romano could only lower his head and mutter a small, "I'm sorry."

"…Did you get caught up in work?"

Nodding to Spain's guess, Romano bit his lips, unable to stop feeling the guilt. It only made his eyes water, and he blinked, barely holding back what threatened to drip out. Spain stayed seated on the chair and looked up to Romano quietly before he smiled gently.

"I see…" He whispered, wrapping his arms around the Italian's waist and pulling him close, "It's all good. You did great."

Romano felt the words soothe his heart. He stared down at the Spaniard in shock at first, unable to believe that his lover wasn't mad at him at all. He wrapped his arms around Spain's head and pulled close as well. The curly hair felt cold under the touch of his fingers, and the Italian could only imagine how long it took for it to become that cold. He gritted his teeth in anger to himself. Couldn't he just stand up and pretend to use the restroom and text the Spaniard about being late? Or not that, even a boring message would've been fine; couldn't he have just texted Spain telling him to move somewhere where it was warm? The guilt only continued to build up in Romano, and he could do nothing else than to just hug Spain's head.

Blinking, coming back to reality, Romano checked the clock that hung from the wall, his eyes widening at the time. He muttered a small "I'm leaving" to Veneziano before he left the house, closing the door behind himself and locking it, heading off to the meeting.

When Romano put his car into the parking lot and walked into the building, he managed to make it to the room 10 minutes prior to the meeting starting. Since the road was not as crowded as he expected it to be, he managed to slip in without being late.

Grinning at the possibility of being the first one in the building, Romano made his way to his seat, only to have his small hope shattered immediately after.

"Romano?"

He knew the voice without having to turn to see who it was. The voice was mixed with confusion, questioning the Italian as to why it was the Southern half that came to the meeting instead of the promised Northern. Romano glared to the owner of the voice.

"You have a problem with it being me coming to the meeting, Potato bastard?"

Germany rubbed his temples when he heard the response, as if he dreaded for the meeting to start now. He groaned as Japan appeared behind the blond and nodded his head to Romano, giving a friendly smile.

"Long time no see, Romano."

"Yeah… Long time, Japan. I seem to see Germany often, but not you around as often as before… Veneziano caught a cold, so I'm substituting in for him today." Turning to Germany, Romano explained the situation coldly, ignoring how Germany still looked slightly annoyed. Romano was slightly grouchy at the fact he was not the first in the room, seeing he was excited to tell the others off about being late and all, but the other two seemed to be here long before he ever managed to do so. Figuring his brother must always have troubles for sleeping in as well, Lovino couldn't help but to inwardly bow down to his brother's efforts.

"And? What is today's meeting about?" He threw the question to Germany, in hopes to somehow just get this over with as soon as possible.

"…Italy didn't tell you anything?"

"Veneziano got sick this morning. I didn't have time to ask him. Do you have a problem?"

"Romano… Here are the papers for the meeting." Japan handed the pack to the Italian, who silently accepted it and looked into it. He got the basic idea quite quickly, remembering Veneziano saying something about the lines of the topic, but he was not going to say that in front of Germany after yelling at him like that. The meeting started not even 5 minutes after, and Romano could only wonder why the other two were so 'excited' about getting it done as soon as possible.

"Well, I think we can pause for now and take a break…"

Straightening out the papers in a pile, Japan muttered and smiled up to the group, resting his chin on his hand. The other two nodded quietly and the door opened as if on cue, plates and baskets being brought into the room and put on the meeting table. The lady who walked in with them smiled to the group and bowed her head low. "I hope it tastes alright…"

Romano went back into thought as he pushed away the idea of asking the girl out, Spain coming into his mind and making him sidetrack once more. When was the next time they'll be able to see each other? Romano doubted he could do anything about it until at least Veneziano healed his body from the fever. Scowling at that, he bit into a raw ham that was given out, moving it around lazily in his mouth.

"…Isn't this ham a bit too salty?"

Just as Romano swallowed his ham, Germany spoke up, his brows furrowed. Romano was brought back to reality at those words and tried to remember the taste of the ham he just swallowed, but the ham was already long gone, down to the Italian's stomach.

"Is it?" Japan tilted his head and looked down to the slice of ham in his hand that he already took a bite out of. "It doesn't seem too salty to me…"

"You have too high of a salt intake to begin with, Japan. What was that thing you brought in this morning claiming it to be a snack?"

"Salted cucumber."

"More salted food! ?"

Germany slammed his hand on the table and yelled at the Asian male, who nervously raised his hands and attempted to talk his way out of getting the blond angrier. Romano on the other hand just rolled his eyes and took another slice of ham into his hand. He took a small bite out of it and rolled it around in his mouth once more like before, paying attention to the taste. However, Romano couldn't taste any salt on the meat. In fact, he figured there was no salt at all on the ham and scowled slightly.

"I don't taste any salt on this."

Germany turned around, surprised at the comment. He stared at Romano, as if asking silently if the Italian was telling the truth, and Romano simply nodded his reply.

"…Am I just being overly sensitive?"

"That must be it. You need to use more spice on your food, Germany."

As Germany took another slice and bit into the ham, he narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, obviously still not satisfied. He could taste the salt clearly on the ham, and it almost made his eyes water at how salty it actually tasted. Shrugging, Romano and Japan took the last two slices and ate them as well without any complaints. That was when the door suddenly slammed open, and the woman from before pushed herself in, panicked.

"I'm sorry! The ham that I brought in was a mistake; the cook failed to prepare it correctly!"

"Failed?" Japan blinked in confusion. "But it was really good…"

"It was already marinated in salt water, but then the cook salted it once more before serving it… It must have been quite salty… I apologize…"

"It's ok." Germany muttered quietly before he turned to Japan, "Tell the cook the other food was good… Japan, what was that you said about the food not being salty?"

"…!" Japan froze in place for a moment, fear etched onto his features. He opened his mouth to mutter a small "But" before continuing on with "Romano also said he didn't taste it, either!"

"You're right…" Germany blinked in confusion and looked towards the Italian.

"You see? I'm not the only weird one here…"

"That's not an excuse! I'm taking your 'snack' for today, you already had enough salt intake for the day!"

"No! My cucumbers!" As Japan wailed, Germany simply turned back to Romano in question and watched as the brunette moved his fingers around, looking at the salt that stuck to the digits.

"Why didn't you taste it?"

"I don't know."

The Italian brothers were picky with their food, ever since they were born. They enjoyed each detail of the cooking itself and refused to eat anything they didn't think was delicious. The other countries were not as picky as Romano or Veneziano, but when Germany noticed the overly salty ham, how didn't Romano notice it? Tilting his head, Romano muttered quietly to himself in Italian to no one in particular and glanced at the plate the ham was placed on. The meat was already in their stomaches, so Romano couldn't bring some home and ask Veneziano to try it as well. Did he catch some of his brother's cold and not be able to recognize taste?

"…We should get on with the meeting." The depressed voice of Japan brought Romano back to reality, and he shrugged away the thought for now to focus for once at the work that was stacked in front of him.