Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia

Boss

Boss.

Such a simple word.

To Belgium the meaning was a bit different then what most people thought of. Boss was churros, energy and mood swings like you wouldn't believe.

Boss was Antonio.

She shook the thoughts from her head, tying to keep her mind on the work she was suppose to be doing. Belgium was currently weeding the large garden behind the house she, Antonio, Romano and her brother Lars all lived in. But looking at all the vegetables and fruits especially the tomatoes, which she needed to pick, reminded her even more of the green eyed Spaniard.

Antonio was a very emotional being. In an instant, he could be his normal sunny cheery self to sulking around the house like a kicked puppy. Except when he got angry. It took a lot to piss of the nation of España. And it took a lot of time for him to calm down. Her brother who normally avoided Antonio like the plague anyway, would take Romano with him to Austria's house for a few days, giving Antonio the time he needed and leaving her to deal with the angry nation.

Another thing about Antonio was how he expressed his emotions. He was a very, very physical person. Belle knew this all too well. He never gave much warning about what he was going to do. When he was moping over something Romano had said he needed to be comforted. He would find her and drag her into his lap, crushing her to him as close as he could. This happened quite often. What made it a problem was Antonio wouldn't let go till he gets what he wants. Sometimes he would just want to be kept company or something to snack on. But every so often his demands would get out of hand.

Once he carried her around with him all morning like a life-sized teddy bear and there as absolutely nothing Belle could do about it but whine at him to let her go till Lars and Romano managed to pry her away from him.

But when he was angry…..

Belle rubbed her cheek. She could still feel the sharp sting of the slap.

He had found out he was to leave the next day to go to the New World because a colony was causing trouble. Antonio was furious. England had just sunk most of his Armada so ships and supplies were low. She had said something careless about Arthur, who had been her good friend since they were both little.

It was the only time he had ever done something like that.

She lied to Romano, telling him she had slipped and had hit her cheek on a rock. Lars wasn't fooled. He stared at the bruise on his little sister's face, but didn't say a word.

She cried herself to sleep that night more from the pain in her heart than anything else.

The next morning when she awoke to find a beautiful bouquet of flowers on her bedside table, Antonio was already far out at sea.

Belle didn't know how she was supposed to act around him when he came back from the New World. Should she be her normal happy carefree self and joke around like they normally did? She didn't think she could even if she tired. The slap had done more emotional damage then physical. It had scared her so much.

He had scared her.

Knowing that he would harm her even out of anger was scary. It meant she could not trust him anymore. And not being able to trust even Antonio, in this cruel, unforgiving world…. Just made it seem all the darker.

She shook her head trying to clear away the memory.

'Get your head out of the clouds! You need to get this done!'

After working herself to the bone everything was finally finished. Lars had taken Romano over to Austria's for the weekend to visit his brother, the food was done and she had laid out the Spaniard's favorite clothes to lounge around in, a simple pair of loose pants that had been cut off at the knee. Antonio loved to lie in the hot sun or laze about the house whenever he could with as little clothing as he could get away with. He had a tendency to strip wherever he felt like it and was not shy about who was there to see. Something he had unfortunately picked up from Francis. This led to some extremely embarrassing moments for Belle when Lars would walk into a room to find them alone and Antonio in nothing but his loin cloth. This led to Lars having a screaming fit.

Spain had been gone for two months now. Work made Antonio grumpy. So Belle made sure all the house work and gardening were done and that Romano was out from underfoot so he could relax. And she could lock herself up in her room; avoiding him till Romano was back and she could use the little Italian as a buffer between them.

'I think I'll take a bath. ' She thought. Her clothes and face were covered in dirt and dust from cleaning and gardening. One thing she did love about Antonio's strange tendencies was that he liked to be comfortable. This led to the softest towels you could think of and the biggest bathroom and tub Belle had ever seen.

After a long relaxing soak Belle climbed out, wrapping herself in a towel she sighed, feeling very relaxed.

Downstairs the door slammed.

She could hear boots on the stairs as he climbed them. He would soon reach the bathroom and probably be so tired he wouldn't think about checking to see if anybody was in there first. This has happened before.

Belle quickly flung on her underwear but stopped when she realized she had forgotten to grab a dress to change into. Looking around she spotted Spain's large loose shirt that she had dropped while gathering the laundry.

Antonio was not a happy nation. He had to deal with ungrateful colonies in the New World, shortages of everything because of that damned Englishman, and the guilt.

He was disgusted with himself…..

The look she had given him, pure shock, hurt and fear.

His stomach turned when the thought of Belle being scared of him. He instantly felt sick thinking of the tears and that horrid mark he had left on her beautiful face.

He gave the house an appreciative glance, noticing everything was in order and clean. This significantly improved his mood. But he really just wanted to take a bath, eat something and sleep for the rest of the day and tomorrow without being disturbed. And figure out how to save his relationship with the girl that he knew was the love of his life now that he might be on the verge of losing her.

Marching up the stairs he headed towards the bathroom, determined to be clean before he did anything else. All the sudden the door burst open and out tumbled Belgium, still a little damp from her bath and only half dressed.

"Belle? Why are you in nothing but my shirt?"

She blushed. "Uh… um… see I forgot to grab a dress before I took a bath a-and all I found was the shirt and um I'm sorry! I'll go change right now! "

Belle spun around, blushing, to race to her room when she was stopped by a firm hand on her arm. She stiffened.

"No, I like it. Don't change."

"Yes, Boss."She whispered.

He frowned. Belle never called him Boss. Normally he was pleased when someone acknowledged him as their superior but it was just wrong coming from Belle.

He didn't like it one bit.

"I am going to bathe, is there anything to eat when I am done?"

"Yes Boss, I already have dinner ready."

He nodded before walking into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Antonio leaned against the door with his forearms, laying his fore head on the wood. There had to be a way to fix the mess he had created.

Belle let out a shaky breath she didn't realize she had been holding before heading down the stairs. She walked to the kitchen and prepared a plate. Normally servants did mundane chores such as these but Spain didn't like to have all those people in his house all the time, so it was Belle's and Romano's job to keep the house orderly. Lars was in charge of the garden when Antonio was not home. But since her brother liked to disappear Belle did most of it with the help of her trusty assistant Romano.

She set the plate in the dining room then made a quick trip to the kitchen again to fetch the silverware, napkins, wine and candles. Once everything was properly set up Belle tried to sneak away to lock herself in her room.

She made it to the door when Antonio popped around the corner in nothing but a towel. Belle flinched and stepped back quickly.

She mumbled out, "Dinner is waiting in the dining room Boss."

She fidgeted with her fingers looking everywhere but at him. "Gracias Belle."

During his bath Antonio had thought long and hard about what to do. He had been meaning to confess his feelings to her for some time now but first he needed to concentrate on being forgiven and earning her trust back for he knew he had lost it. But how?

Belle had once told him that actions speak louder than words. Maybe through his actions he could show how sorry he was, how much he meant it and how special she was to him. But to do that meant spending time together. She was sure to try and avoid him as much as possible. Not that he blamed her.

When they reached the dining room he sat down and looked at the plate. All his favorites were there.

Antonio ate with gusto. It had been too long since he had had a good meal. Meals on ships were always the same gross gruel. Once finished, Belle took the dishes to the kitchen to wash. Antonio sipped his wine, mulling over his thoughts and trying to forget that awful memory. Before he knew it he had drank most of the bottle. He rose unsteadily to his feet, remembering he was still only in a towel.

Stumbling up the stairs he made it to his room. On the bed was his favorite piece of clothing to relax in. He slipped the pants on almost falling on his face. Searching his memory he checked off his mental list of what he wanted to do when he got home. Washing up and eating were done. All that he could remember was sleeping and something about Belle…

His alcohol soaked mind could not full recall what it was though. Maybe sleeping and Belle went together? Si! That must have been it! He must have wanted to take a nap with Belle. He was quite tired after all and who wouldn't want to spend time with his Belle? Might as well take that nap now. He was already in his room, all he needed was Belle.

"Belle! Come here!" The words came out slightly slurred and muffled. He waited for Belgium to come into the room but when she didn't he called out louder.

Belle rushed into the room just as Antonio was going to see why she was taking so long. They met up in the doorway almost colliding with each other. He smiled and laughed, as he swept her into his arms, carrying her to the bed.

Bewildered, Belle didn't fight him. He set her down so gently as if he thought she would break. He settled down next to her, pulling her close. Belle could smell the wine on his breath and judged that his behavior was a little influenced. She couldn't relax though. It hurt to be near him.

Antonio sighed into her hair seemingly asleep. But he wasn't. As he lay beside her the alcohol wore off and he remembered what he should have done the moment he had harmed her.

"Forgive me, Belle."

Belle lay frozen at his words. Then she was crying. Crying so hard it hurt and made it difficult to breathe.

And he was crying too. "I promise that I will never do such a thing to you again. I love you Belle."

She wrapped her arms around him tight and cried into his chest. Tears dripped quietly into her hair as he held her even tighter. When she had stopped shaking he relaxed his grip. The first words that came out of her mouth made him want to start crying again and laugh at the same time while dancing and screaming to the whole world how happy he was.

"I love you too, I always have."

He leaned forward give her a romantic kiss when she hiccupped.

Antonio tried not to laugh at how cute it was but he couldn't help it.

"You are so adorable Mi Bella!"

She huffed and tired to move away by rolling over to the other side of the bed. Antonio stopped her movement by sliding his body on top of her own and gently pinning her wrists above her head. He leaned down till their foreheads touched.

Antonio poured as much passion into that kiss as he could. And for the country of passion that was quite a bit. It was certainly not that first kiss between the two, but it was the first time they had both spoken the words 'I love you' to each other. They broke away, Antonio shifting himself off Belle and into her arms.

"Sleep Antonio, you need it."

She watched as he tried and failed to fight the blinking of his eyes and the yawn. But soon he was dead to the world. Belle sighed and snuggled closer.

Boss.

Boss was her friend, her lover,

Her heart.

Boss was Antonio.