Chapter 4

I stand in the doorway to the kitchen watching Matt as he yawns and puts on this frilly red and white apron. I hold back a snicker; he's so damn girly sometimes.

"If you want any pancakes, you better wipe that smirk off your face." He half-heartedly snaps at me as he pulls his hair back into a short ponytail. I know he's not really mad, but damn! The kid must be physic or something 'cause he didn't even turn around! Hmm... Actually, that would explain how he knew I wasn't just here for his awesome pancakes...

He gestures at the table and flop (totally gracefully!) onto a chair. I watch, not really that interested, as Matt pulls out a bowl and spoons and whatever. I have to admit that Matt's pretty awesome and not just for his mad pancake-making skills. I mean, most people would have kicked me out if I showed up at their place at four in the morning demanding pancakes (People just don't appreciate my awesome-ness enough). Francis would've. Dummkopf.

Honestly, Matt's probably my best friend after 'Toni and Francis. Actually, fuck Francis. He's been getting on my last awesome nerve lately. I like Matt more. Matt's... never looked down on me or anything for not being my own country anymore. Hell, the kid even named this place in Ontario after me! New Prussia, he called it. Said it was a sign of our friendship and that he always respected me and shit. I couldn't look him in the eyes for about a decade. I think he understood though. I guess that's why I always run off to his place when I'm avoiding work. That and West always forgets about him! Easiest place to hide in the world, I swear! It's like this giant-ass blind spot!

"So what's up?" Matt places this huge stack of pancakes in front of me and strike me down if I didn't start drooling. These things are like crack, hand to God. I drown them in maple syrup and shove a forkful in my mouth. Oh god, yes. I'm about to shove some more down my throat, but Matt's staring at me and he's got one eyebrow raised and he looks all serious and shit.

Gott. Fine. "I had a fight with 'Toni, alright? Just had to get away."

"You fought with Spain?" Kid sounded like he didn't believe me. "About what?"

I snort. "What else? Fucking Romano. Stupid little unawesome prick. Idiot's a fucking menace I swear. He should be locked in Feli's basement and never allowed out. Ever. Or," I pause for a second, an awesome idea coming to me, "we could sacrifice him to Russia! It'd keep the bastard out of mine and China's hair and nobody would have to deal with Romano anymore! Win-fucking-win, man! Kesesese!"

"That's not funny, Gilbert."

Whoa. It's been awhile since I've seen Matt this upset. It's like the time I accidently broke his hockey stick and he beat me with the pieces for like an hour. I shrink back a little and slouch down in my chair. It's not like I'm scared or anything though.

"Lo-Romano's not that bad, Gil. You just don't understand him, is all."

"Don't understand- The fuck, Matt! What the hell are you defending him for!" I stand up and slam my hands down on the table, shaking the plate of pancakes and knocking the syrup on its side. "And he is that bad! He's been leading 'Toni on for centuries and insulting me and West for almost as long!"

"W-well, maybe there's a good reason for it... And-and I mean, he's not really leading Spain on, i-is he? He's always said he's not interested." His voice is quieter than usual and I have to lean forward to catch the last part of that. And he's refusing to look at me.

"What the hell is going on here, Matt?" My voice comes out in a growl and sounds angrier than I really want it to, but god-dammit, he's not telling me something!

"What the hell is Potato-Bastard number two doing here?"

I turned and there he was. Romano. Naked. Standing in the entrance to the kitchen. Growling at me. "No. Fucking. Way. Why the hell are you fucking everywhere!"

"I came downstairs to see why Matteo wasn't in bed anymore." He crosses his arms and looks down his nose at me and I can feel my blood boiling.

"Matteo?" I hiss, turning back to stare at Matt. He shifts nervously and when he looks up at me from his chair across the table, his eyes almost make me want to forgive me. But I hold on to that anger, that betrayal.

"T-that's what Lovino c-calls me..."

"Lovino? Fuck! Matt how long have you guys been together?" I'm not a fucking idiot, not matter what some people might say. Yeah, the Italy brothers have got a thing for sleeping naked, but there's no way Matt'd let 'im if they weren't together. And they're calling each other by their human names! You don't do that in private unless you're close.

"A-about four months now..."

"Four! Fuck! How'd this happen?" I collapse in the chair. This- This is just too much. Matt. With fucking Romano.

"What can I say?" Romano smirks at me and shrugs as he sidles up next to Matt. "He's a cutie."

"Hush, Lovino." I bite back a smile when Matt snaps at the little bastard and he starts pouting. "It all started about... I dunno... Five months ago? Five and a half? Something like that." He sighs. "I-I was alone in the conference room after a meeting. I was trying to straighten up my notes a-and Lovino walked up to me. He said he'd never seen me around before, which kind of hurt to be honest-"

"I said I was sorry."

"I know, Lovino. I was also really happy that you noticed me! Even if you didn't remember me from any of the other times... 'Course then he started hitting on me..."

"I thought you were a girl." Romano said it so matter-of-factly that I just starting cracking up. I don't care how mad I am, that's just plain funny. It's even funnier when Matt stomps his foot like he's throwing a tantrum and huffs at me.

"It's not funny, Gil! God, I'm not that feminine! I get enough of that from Al, thank you."

"Pfft. Sorry Matt-man, but funny is funny. And you are girly. Now keep talking."

He frowns and stares at the syrup on the table. I know he's considering tossing it at me, but I'm not worried. Matt would never waste maple syrup. "Fine." He says finally, putting his hands in his lap and giving me a majorly pissed off look. "But I'm not forgetting about this.

"I told Lovino who I was and that I wasn't a girl. He-He looked a little surprised, but he didn't really let up on the flirting. He wouldn't let me leave until I agreed to let him make me lunch. Eventually, I said okay, mostly because I figured he'd forget all about it the second I was out of sight, but sure enough the next day he showed up at my house and took over my kitchen. He ended up making enough food to feed an army." I feel a little sick at the sappy little smile he throws at Romano, but I control the urge to throw up on my pancakes. I might still eat those later. "He, well he started coming over a lot after that. And then... we decided to make it official..."

"Gott, that's just sickening. How many people know about this?"

"W-Well, my brother knows. He kind of... walked in on us once... He has a thing against knocking." Matt was a bright shade of red. "A-And Feliciano knows."

Romano nods. "I wouldn't keep something like this from my fratello."

"And Papa might know. I-I'm not sure. He definitely knows that I'm with something. He can just smell that sort of thing. He told me once it was pheromones."

"Of course he does." I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "And if Feli knows, West probably does too. Can't believe the bastard didn't tell me. 'Course, he probably figures you would've." That was probably a little unfair of me to bring that up, but it does hurt that he didn't tell me.

"I'm sorry, Gil. I-I just knew you wouldn't like it. And we're trying to keep it quiet. Please don't be mad at me? Lovino m-makes me feel... special a-and he never forgets me..."

Fuck. Fuck-fuck-fuck. I can't be mad at him when he does that. Damn kid. "Fine! I'm not mad. Much. But I still don't like you!" I point at Romano. I wanna make my point. "And if you ever hurt him-"

"Yeah, yeah," Romano waves his hand dismissingly. The little prick. "I already got this speech from America."

"Fine. How's this speech?" I stand up again and put on my most threatening face. Which is pretty damn threatening, thankyouverymuch. I shove his chest. "You are going to tell Antonio about this. He deserves to know."

A/N: Anyone see this coming? No, probably not. As I've said in other stories. I like crack. :D And CanadaxRomano/RomanoxCanada is a cute couple. ('Cause I think they'd switch positions) How is Spain going to take the news? If you know, Romano even tells him.

Translations:

Dummkopf: Bastard (German)

Fratello: Brother (Italian)

Matteo is the Italian version of the name Matthew.