Sorry for the long wait! I had a case of writer's block, But i'm back now!

Key:

Andres: 2P Spain

Flavio: 2P Romano

Luciano "Luci": 2P Italy

Louis: 2P France


Andres was the best caretaker ever!

Flavio had bounced from one person to the next for as long as he could remember, but it was Andres that he really liked. There had not been anything wrong with any other of his past caretakers. He even liked Rome, though he was mean, but Flavio figured that the man was just confused, had some inner-demons to deal with, or perhaps something happened to him while he was working and expanding. To Flavio, it wasn't his grandfather's fault, some other outside power.

Then, Rome died, his land was up for grabs, and that included Flavio. Because of this, he spent some time with Austria and his little brother Luci, which was very nice because Austria was so kind and he always made good sweets. But, one day, Austria sat him down and told him the Luciano seemed to be dealing with a lot, especially aggressive issues, and it would be better for him if Flavio stayed with someone else while Austria tended to his little brother. So, he went to his big brother, Andres, a man who he hadn't seen since they were little children under Rome.

Andres was the best because of how kind he was. He wasn't one to smile or say affectionate things, but he would do these little things everyday that would make Flavio happy, come home from work and make dinner and… Well, he did other things, too, Flavio just couldn't think of them at the moment. He was just too focused on staring out the window, waiting for his brother to come home, and Mio Dio, was he going to be surprised when he did, because Flavio cleaned the whole house while he was gone.

Flavio closed his eyes. He could see it now. Andres would walk in as see the clean house, and he would say: "Wow, Flavio, you cleaned the whole house!" Then Andres would pat his head with a little sideways smirk and say: "Good job, Chico, I'm proud of you!"

The front door opened, scaring Flavio out of his daydream and making him jump. When he looked over, he saw exactly who he expected to see, Andres. Flavio immediately hopped off the furniture and stood in the middle of the living area, a huge smile on his face. When Andres didn't as much as give him a glance, he spoke first, "Buonasera!"

Andres walked further into the house, setting some bags on the floor, "I don't speak Italian." He said in monotone. It wasn't true, but it was a prompt to practice his Spanish.

Flavio bounced on the balls of his feet as he looked up, trying to remember the phrase, "Oh, um… I mean, buena noches!"

Andres gave a nod of approval before turning and heading to the hallway, but before he left, Flavio wanted him to know about the work he did while his big brother was away, "Hey, brother? Do you notice anything different?"

Andres turned back before regarding him for a moment, "You're not as annoying as yesterday?"

Flavio chuckled, Andres' jokes were always so funny, "No, silly! I cleaned the house!"

Andres gave a quick look around him before shrugging, "Oh, thanks." And with that, he left down the hallway and went into his room.

Flavio felt his smile drop. One thing that made Andres difficult was that it was very hard to impress the him, and Flavio strived for his approval, as well as everyone else's.

That was when Flavio realized something, he had forgotten to water the plants. He would do that tomorrow, then Andres would be happy.


Flavio watered the plants, but he had to remember that with Andres, he must give more effort, or he wouldn't be happy, and when Andres wasn't happy, he wasn't happy. So, he decided to go out and tend to the tomato garden. It wasn't really his job to do that, but going out of the way to do someone else's work was a huge gesture. Besides, he liked the chore.

It was nice to be out in the sun, but Andres was going to be home soon, so he should head inside. Once in, he made a beeline to the kitchen and sat down at the table. He spent about fifteen minutes arranging and rearranging some tomatoes in a large bowl before pushing them to the center of the table and waiting.

It wasn't long before Flavio heard Andres walk in the house, down the hallway, and into his room before he came out a few minutes later, and making his way into the kitchen. Flavio sat there with a smile, his hands clasped on the table as he bounced in his chair. Andres didn't look at him, so Flavio greeted him, not forgetting to speak Spanish, "Hola, big brother!"

Andres only grunted in reply as he took a tomato out of the bowl and bit into it, then walking to the other side of the kitchen, taking out pots and pans so he could make dinner. Flavio tapped his fingers on the table, "So, I watered the plants today."

"Okay." Andres mumbled expressionlessly.

"And-and I took care of the tomatoes!" Flavio informed the Spaniard, "I cut the dead vines and picked the ripe-looking ones and everything!"

Andres took another bit out of his tomato and set it aside, "Okay." He said again, chopping up vegetables.

Flavio deflated again. What had he done? Did he forget something? He suddenly got a great idea when he thought of the question: What else could I do for him?


Andres loved carnations, despite the tough man he was, those flowers were his soft spot. So after doing his work one day and someone else's the next, he decided to buy something nice for him. This would really wrap up the week in a nice little bow.

Flavio put the vase on the table and angled it where it would look perfect when Andres entered the room and waited, again. And again, Andres walked into the house, went into his room, and came into the kitchen. To Flavio's pleasure, he seemed to notice the carnations instantly. He walked up to the table, staring at them, a hint of interest in his eyes, "Where did you get these?"

"The market." Flavio stated simply.

Andres' eyes narrowed ashe lifted his sight, "You're not supposed to go out alone."

Flavio looked down at the table, not wanting to see his brother's scowl, "Yeah, but they're really nice, and you like them. Plus, you don't take me out much."

Andres' expression of irritation grew to anger, "That doesn't matter! It's dangerous out there for a little country like you! You could have been kidnapped. God knows that France wants you as his underling!"

"His name is Louis, and he's your brother!" Flavio pointed out.

Andres pointed at him, his face twisted in fury at Flavio's statement. He opened and closed his mouth, stumbling on his words through his anger before he finally shouted, "He is not my brother, and he isn't yours either! I don't want to hear you say that ever again!"

Flavio tightened his hands into fists and resisted the urge to cry as he wondered what could have possibly happened between the two for Andres to say that. There was a long moment before Andres sighed and looked off, "I have paperwork to do. There should be enough for you to snack on." Then, he left.

How come he always messes up everything? Doesn' matter, because Andres said something that gave Flavio an idea of how to fix everything.


Flavio climbed onto Andres' desk chair and looked down at the large stack of papers. The papers were crammed with words and phrases that he didn't understand, but that was fine, he could figure it out.

He found out that he was on the right track the other day by doing someone else's work in the tomato garden, but the problem was that it wasn't Andres' work that he was doing. If he did Andres' work, then the Spaniard would have more time to relax. Flavio could imagine just how relieved Andres would be when he found out that eh didn't have more work when he came home.

Flavio observed the papers, and quickly learned that most of the words we pre-written, the rest was just Andres' signature in the black spots. Most of the spots were filled, but some it would seem that he forgot to put his signature on. So, fill in the blank spots, he could do that.

Flavio took the quill, dipped it into the ink, and signed Andres' name on the first forgotten blank, be careful to make it look just like the real thing. It was a little different, but Andres could just tell his boss that he forgot some parts, and was rushed to finish it. Then he went to the next one, and then the next, and the next. He sat there for hours, turning the pages, and signing away until he signed the last blank on the last page. When it was complete, it was almost time for his brother to come home, and Flavio had never been more excited.

He was on the furniture when Andres came home. "Hola, big brother!" He greeted, practically bouncing in his seat.

"Hola." He said, not bothering to look over at him. Then, as usual, he went into his room, and Flavio waited anxiously, until he heard Andres yell, "Flavio! Ven aquí!"

The tone in his brother's voice made his stomach drop, never, had Andres yelled at him that loud. Knowing that delaying his arrival would make it worse, he quickly made his way to Andres room. There he found his brother standing there with the paperwork, his eyes wide with fury, "What did you do?"

Flavio stumbled on his words, "I-I, uh, signed your name, so-o you didn't ha-ve work when you came home."

Andres stomped his foot, "I have told you to never touch my paperwork! Do you know what this is?"

Flavio looked down at the floor, "No."

"These are official documents for the government! I sign where I agree! This affects the country and its territories!" Andres explained, "And you signed my name on everything! Things like this could cause revolutions! Revlots! Economic depressions! The list goes on and on!"

Flavio could feel tears stream down his face, "I was just trying to help. I just want to help."

"I told you when I took you in that I would take care of everything!" Andres yelled in frustration, "What? Do you not trust me?"

Flavio shook his head, "I trust you."

Andres rolled his eyes, "Then why do you want to help me?"

Flavio could contain it anymore, so he shouted back, his crying becoming worse, "Because I want you to like me as much as I like you!"

Andres scoffed, "Like you? You;re a country! Get used to people not liking you! Including me!"

Oh god that hurt, and now he was sobbing. He wiped some of his tears away, "But, brother, I love you!"

"You are my underling, not my brother, now get out of my sight!" Andres shouted back.

Flavio did what he was told. He went into his room and didn't come out. He cried until his stomach hurt, and eventually, cried himself to sleep.


Flavio woke up to the morning sun shining in his window. He st up and rubbed the crust out of his eyes, wondering if he should even get out of bed today. That was when something caught his eye, and when he looked over, he saw a single carnation with a letter under it. He picked up the flower and smelling it before turning his attention to the note and reading it carefully.

Flavio,

I am traveling to a world meeting in Prussia, if you do not remember, and I will see you again in a few weeks.

I am sorry for my outburst last night. Work is very stressful, and the life of a country sucks when you're my age, I pented-up my anger, and took it out on you, and for that I am sorry, because you didn't deserve it, you're a good kid, and thank you for the nice things you do. You took off cleaning the house on my to-do list, you're good at picking out tomatoes, and the carnations were beautiful.

When I come back home, I want you to think of something that I could do to make this up to you. I will see you then.

Your brother,

Andres

Flavio smiled as happy tears stung his eyes and he hugged the carnation close to him, "It's okay, Andres," He whispered to the flower, "I forgive you."


Note:

Once again, I am sorry for my absence! Writer's block and classes were kicking my ass, but I know what the next chapter is going to be, and hopefully my schedule is nice to me in the future!