"Romanooo!"

You poked his cheek – and were ignored. You poked it again. And again. "Romanooo! Stop acting as if you were asleep! I heard you talk to yourself just two minutes ago!"

You bent over him, puffing into his ear.

Finally his eyes opened. "LEAVE ME ALONE, DAMNIT!!"

He raised abruptly and glared at you. "Holy shit, _____, it's the fucking dead of night!"

"I know." You weren't cowed in the least because you had known Romano long enough to know that no matter how bad he swore, he'd never actually do something. Barking dogs don't bite.

A slight grin appeared on your face now. "I just want to ask you something..."

"What?" he muttered and was already about to get between the blankets again.

"Spain and I were talking a bit, you know, because we were bored. By the way, we're always bored in the evenings because you go to bed so early!"

"I do that because you two are so fucking annoying," he retorted, glaring again. "Now pose your question already."

"Okay, duh!" You stood up from his bed you were sitting on and stepped back, grinning more widely now. "Is it true that you were a bed wetter?"

The expected reaction came immediately. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

Again, you stayed perfectly calm. "Well, Spain told me..."

"I'M GONNA KILL THAT BASTARD!"

He stormed out of the room and you followed, nearly cracking up with laughter. Romano soon burst into the kitchen where Spain was sitting, eating a tomato. "Hey, Romano. Didn't you want to go to bed?"

"I was," Romano exhaled. "But obviously I can't even leave you alone here because you're talking crap like... like..." His face went red. "IT WAS A DAMN SQUIRREL, JERK!!"

You snorted with laughter. "A squirrel peed on your bed?"

Romano turned around. "Yes, damnit! As if I'd ever do something like that..."

"Okay. Alright." You tried to keep a serious face.

Then Spain said, "Your excuses were always so cute, Romano."

At this moment you cracked up again.

Romano was flustered. "I hate you! Both!" he shouted with a last deadly glare, tramped out and slammed the door shut behind him.

Again you followed him. Annoying Romano was your favorite hobby after all. "Ro... Romano, wait."

"What?!"

"You shouldn't say something like that, you know!"

"Something like what?!"

"Things like, 'I hate you'. That's not nice." You managed to sound a bit more serious now.

"If you don't want me to say it, don't make me mad, damnit!!"

He was walking through the whole house, obviously trying to get rid of you. However, you didn't cease – it was just too much fun, really.

"Aw, we're just trying to draw your attention because we love you so much!"

You could see him flinch in front of you. "D-Don't say things like that so thoughtlessly, stupid!"

"Hey, it's true!" you replied with a pouting face. You raised you voice. "Spain, tell him it's true that we love him!"

"It's true that we love you, Romano!"

Romano stopped and clenched his fist. You smiled. "Did you hear that? We love you...!"

"Shut up." He gnashed his teeth.

"How do you say it in your language? Ti amo? Or – no. Ti amiamo. For it's us both, Spain and me."

He turned around and drew nearer. You stepped back, ending up with your back against the wall while he placed his right hand next to your head. "I said, shut up."

Even with a frown he still looked cute and it made you grin again.

"What was it in Spanish?", you shouted, ignoring Romano's facial expression.

"It's te queremos," Spain's voice answered from the kitchen. "Or, in singular, te quiero. Te queremos, Romano!"

"SHUT UP!"

You giggled a bit. "We can do this in other languages until you believe us... As for French, it's nous t'aimons, I think."

"Don't use that fucking pervert's language, damnit!"

But you ignored him and kept talking. "Japanese would be watashitachi wa anata wo aishiteimasu. Hm... What else? Ah, German is wir lieb- hmpf!"

Romano pressed his left hand on your mouth. "Don't you dare use that potato bastard's language!"

"Hmmphm!" You tried to complain but he wouldn't put his hand down and you couldn't even push him away – he was a full grown man after all. Even though he didn't act like it most of the time.

Taking advantage of the situation, he smirked slightly and said, "Now would you leave me alone so I can-"

He freezed. Your hand had found its way up his head and was now pulling his curl gently.

"U-Uh..." He gasped, blushed and released you slowly while trying to regain control over himself. "Th-That's sneaky, _____...!! Stop it – ah..."

The innocent smile on your face was a fake. "What? Did you say something?"

"I said stop it, dumbass...!"

You made a face as if you had to think about it first. "Nah... I want you to accept that we love you first."

"Go to hell."

"What?" You pulled harder. He wheezed.

"I-I accept – it."

"And what exactly do you accept?" Oh yes, you loved teasing him. And yes, you were kind of a bitch here.

"That you l-love me. Now – let go!"

"Just one other thing." His eyes widened and seemed to say, I'm going to kill you slowly. You didn't even mind. "Would you admit that you love us, too?"

If it was possible, he blushed even more. "N-No fucking way!"

You stepped closer, puffing against his curl which almost drove him crazy. "Pretty please...?"

"Ah- okay, okay. I love you, okay? I fucking love you!"

"Aw, Romano! So sweet!" You finally released his curl and he slumped to the ground, panting and shivering a bit. "Did you hear that, Spain? He loves us, too!"

As Spain's voice answered, it seemed to come nearer. "Yeah, I heard it!" Two seconds later, he appeared next to you. "I always knew you did, Romano!"

He hugged the younger nation, who was still too (unhinged...) tired, and cuddled him. "It was about time for you to admit it!"

Slowly, Romano's head rose. He didn't look at Spain, who had tears of joy in his eyes now, but at you. And his eyes didn't say, I'm going to kill you slowly now. It was more like, I'm going to chop off your arms and legs and make you eat them.

For the first time in your life, you weren't completely convinced that 'barking dogs don't bite'. And because you liked your limbs tightly attached to your body and you didn't want to be the first one to physically experience Romano's thirst for revenge, you decided it was better to get away. Immediately.