It honestly took Canada about two weeks to call Italy up. Italy sounded excited to have Canada over. So excited in fact that he told Canada that they'd make it a sleep-over and he could stay the weekend. Italy was rather persistent about it. Canada decided that Italy did have a point, why not take a few days off? So, he informed his Prime Minister of his leave of absence and went on his way.

Canada looked around the airport. Italy was supposed to be picking him up. He rolled his suitcase behind him as he went passed a few people. The last time he ever been to Italy was in 1943 to try and convince Italy to stray away from Germany… It didn't really work, but he tried… it cost him over 26,000 soldiers in the end...He was going to try his hardest not to think about that.

"Hey!" A familiar harsh voice suddenly snapped Canada out of his thoughts. To his surprise he could see Romano, not Northern Italy, standing there with a sign in his hands. It was a simple large white piece of paper. In bright red lettering in, rather pretty cursive handwriting, read: Matthew Williams and there was a cute little red maple leaf drawn in the corner. "You're Matthew, right?!" Romano all but screamed as he pointed right in Matthew's direction. Of course, this had not only gotten Matthew's attention but a few passerby's as well. Some of which yelled back at him in Italian, in which Romano starting screaming back at them.

Canada didn't know much Italian, but he recognized a few keywords as one Italian yelled "Southerner!" At him and Romano yelled back in an equal fervent display of screaming, puffing his chest, beating his chest with his right hand, and growing rather red in the face. It ended with Romano flipping the man the bird, in which the man returned the favor but simply walked off afterward. Canada waited for a good few seconds before finally walking up to Romano.

"C-Ciao." Matthew greeted the other rather nervously. Romano only raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

"Don't even attempt." Romano just sighed out before muttering something in Italian that Matthew couldn't understand.

"Sorry…" He whispered.

"Let's just go." Romano gave a bit of a huff. With a nod, Canada followed Romano out of the building and to a waiting car.

"You guys don't drive yourselves?" Canada questioned as he put his suitcase into the trunk of the car.

"Bah, we use to… until Feliciano got into one too many accidents…President thought it best if we get drivers for everyone's safety."

"Ah." Canada could only wonder how much of a terrifying driver Italy truly was. He's heard stories of Italy's rather reckless driving but never witnessed it first hand. That was probably a good thing. Canada got into the backseat with Romano. The car took off not far after that. Canada looked over at Romano, who was now more interested in his phone than the Canadian.

There were a few seconds of silence between the two of them as all Canada could hear was Romano's phone clicking with each tap he made. Finally, the silence got just a bit too much and so Canada broke it: "Hey if you don't mind me asking-" Romano paused tapping his phone to listen, but didn't look at Canada."-Italy told me he was going to pick me up..." The question wasn't stated but was very much there. Romano's tapping resumed and Canada felt like his question was going to go ignored until-

"Veneziano- The idiota- had to go and quickly buy more paint. He asked me to pick you up…"

"Oh! That's cool…" The air turned rather heavy after that. Romano's tapping continued almost rhythmically like he was playing some sort of game to pass the time. Canada's mind ran a blank as he was unable to think of any more conversation starters. So, instead, he just looked out the window of the car. He took in some of the views and noted how different Italy really looked now versus back then. It was less of a wartorn battleground now. Obviously.

The rest of the ride was in awkward silence, so awkward that Canada was like 99% sure that the driver turned on the music to drown out the awkwardness. A few more minutes (That actually felt more like hours) passed between them as Canada just kept looking outside the window while some sort of Italian pop song played on the radio.

Finally, after maybe about ten or so more minutes the car pulled into a driveway leading up to a house. A quaint home; two stories high. It looked like it was made from old styled red bricks that were just jagged all over, not smooth looking. It was a style that Canada realized was all over the place. The roof was made with older looking clay tiles that were laid out vertically. The front door was a double door that seemed to be made out of some kind of darker wood like mahogany or something similar. All and all it was a very nice home and had an almost fairytale vibe to it. Even more so as the sun was just starting to set, turning the sky a lovely mix of orange and pink while the lights inside started to turn on.

"Wow…" Canada whispered softly as he stepped out of the car with his suitcase in tow.

"What? You don't like?" Romano suddenly accused Canada rather harshly, his tone alone made Canada blink in surprise.

"What? No! I think it's rather nice. Very pretty…" Canada gave a small smile as he looked at the house again.

"Oh… well…" Romano huffed slightly before he embarrassingly rubbed the back of his neck.

Suddenly, the front door opened and Italy popped out; this was the most 'dressed down' Canada has ever seen him. Just dressed in a baggy paint-stained and slightly torn, T-shirt and equally paint-stained sweat pants, he didn't even have shoes on. He looked rather comfortable and that was something that Canada has honestly never seen. Italy clapped his hands happily. "Oh, good! You guys made it safely!"

"Of course, our driver doesn't drive like a moron." Romano only snorted a reply.

"Ve~" Italy laughed before stepping down the driveway quickly and suddenly grabbing Canada's hand-

"-Why can't you see we just want to help you! You're only in a losing war!" Canada yelled to the, surprisingly, stubborn Italian across from him. Canada's troops standing behind him, his tanks, and men all at the ready, waiting for his command to fire. Italy's own troops stood behind him, they all looked uneasy but ready to attack. The July air was thick and heavy as the thunder rolled above their heads, threatening the prospect of rain coming down on them.

Italy didn't respond, instead, he squared his shoulders and gave a low growl in response. He looked, bad, real bad. He had a bandage around his head, covering her left eye entirely. No doubt America's doing. Italy's eyes were actually opened, maybe because of his injury? Canada didn't know.

"... Italy, Germany is too far gone. I know this, you know this! We just… please. Let us help you…" Canada tried one last time to plead with the other. Canada then reached his hand out for Italy to take. "Please…"

"I will never betray Germany!" Spat Italy not before he suddenly slapped Canada's hand away from him with such a force that Canada didn't think possible. Wasn't this the guy that ran away from a cat once?

Damn him. "Fine! Have it your way! Men! Charge!"

"-Canada?" Italy's concerned voice brought Canada back to the present. "Are you alright?" Even though Italy kept his eyes closed; if Canada focused just hard enough he could make out the very faint outline of a jagged scar that ran across his left eye.

"Eh? Oh… I'm fine. Sorry, got lost in a daydream."

"He's an airhead, like America, great." Came the sarcastic reply of Romano before he just walked on passed the duo and into the house.

"Oh, don't worry about Romano, he couldn't have his siesta so he's a little cranky- still! You came after all! I'm so happy!" With no warning, Italy wrapped his arms tightly around Canada's shoulders. Italy had to stand on his toes to hug Canada, and that was adorable. Canada's face heated up only slightly before he returned Italy's hug. Imagine Canada's surprise when suddenly Italy kissed his left cheek, then his right. It shocked Canada so much that he could only stand there stiff as an icicle in December. "C'mon!" Italy paid Canada's stiff state no mind as he suddenly grabbed Canada's hand into his own and pulled. "I want to show you around!"

"O-Okay!"

The first thing Canada took note was the faint smell of garlic and oregano that seemed to flood the whole house. The second thing he noticed was the crackling fireplace the was in the center of the living room. Romano had taken interest in the fireplace as he was currently poking it was a fire poker. "Eh! Veneziano! You're gonna have to get some firewood tomorrow if you're going out again!" Romano called out to Italy without even looking up.

"Oh, Okay! No biggie!"

"Wow, I didn't expect you to have a fireplace."

"Yep! I know a lot of other nations prefer the heater, but we both just always enjoyed the fireplace. The smell of the wood is relaxing-"

"-And a fireplace just sort of reminds us of the older days." Romano joined in. Canada could see him slightly puffing out his cheeks in a pout.

'He has a point.' Canada could only think. He remembers those days where electricity wasn't a thing. He remembers sitting on France's lap as a little boy as the fireplace crackled softly behind them, all the while France was softly rocking him back and forth humming a soft lullaby to try and lull him to sleep after a nightmare; It felt nice remembering those days.

Romano then sat down in a nearby recliner chair and flicked a light on so his seat was more illuminated. He then pulled his laptop off of the nearest coffee table and opened it.

"C'mon! I'll give you a quick tour!" Italy excitedly grabbed on to Canada's hand once again.

"Yep! I'm following!" Canada couldn't help but laugh as he was pulled along. It almost felt like he was being pulled by a child, not a nation that was older than he was.

"Starting off: the kitchen is on your left; help yourself to anything!"

"-That door is my painting room, we'll be visiting it soon. That's the bathroom across the hall! And this-" Italy paused before opening the very last room on the left. "-Is our guest room! Go ahead and get comfy!"

Canada walked into the small guest room. The bed was just a small twin, which was fine, the blanket on it looked to be the old 90's pink rose on white that everyone and their mom seemed to have. Not that it mattered. Off to the left of the bed stood a light brown wood dresser that had a total of five drawers, and on top of that dresser was a nice little flat-screen TV.

"This is nice," Canada commented.

Italy's face just absolutely lit up at the compliment. "Thank you! Anyways, I gotta go back downstairs to help Romano with dinner; feel free to make yourself comfortable." And with that, he bounded away towards the stairs.

Canada turned around and figured since he was only staying for a couple of days he'd just tuck his suitcase under the bed so it was out of the way. He was instantly attracted to the TV, so he sat on the bed and snatched the remote up from the only nightstand next to the bed and turned the TV on.

Instantly his ears were bombarded with the loud sound of sobbing coming from the TV as an Italian soap opera played. There were no subtitles and Canada honestly had no clue what was being said as the woman started screaming madly. "Okay…" He switched the channel. Now it was an animal show, also in Italian (obviously) but this one did have subtitles. Which was nice.

The show was about a vet; who was trying to help a cow give birth at the moment. Canada watched for a few moments. He got as far as the birthing scene before he had to change it. The next station was some sort of station for kids as a cartoon was currently playing. No subtitles-

"Matthew?" Italy poked his head into the doorway- Canada jumped suddenly almost dropping the remote in his freight, he managed to catch it before it hit the floor. "Ah, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you! I just need to ask, you aren't allergic to anything are you?"

"Oh, Non!" Canada quickly said. "Pas du tout." He quickly added. He then had a sudden thought can Italy even understand French?

"Okay! I just wanted to make sure!" and with that, he bounded away.

So he can understand French…

After a rather lovely dinner of Ossbuco and red wine, the three of them were honestly just sitting around in the living room talking. Well, Italy was talking, Romano went back to his computer, while Canada just listened while still nursing his red wine. Now Canada has some wine on occasion but his wine isn't as good as Italian wine. Never will be.

During dinner Canada kept getting the feeling that Romano kept looking at him. Whenever he would look up Romano would simply look away like he wasn't looking. Canada narrowed his eyes just slightly, but didn't press it.

"-I'm hoping to see Japan again sometime this year!" Italy finished excitedly. Canada gave a soft chuckle to his excitement. America and Italy seemed to be similar in being a tad childish, but Italy was a cute childish whereas America was rather annoying with wanting to "be the hero." Honestly, Canada was surprised America wasn't running around in a cape at this point…

Canada and Italy both finished off their wine around the same time. "Want some more?" Italy asked as he stood up to take Canada's wine glass.

"Oh, Plus pour moi- Thank you." Canada shook his head as Italy took the glass.

Italy smiled and walked back to the kitchen. The moment the kitchen door shut Romano talked.

"... I remember you."

"Eh?"

"Are you hard of hearing? I remember you." Romano snarled from his spot. He didn't move from his seat but did shift so he could move his laptop from his lap and onto the coffee table. He then leaned down so he could rest his elbows on his knees.

"You helped the other Allies seize Rome, did you not?" Canada frowned ready to answer but it seemed Romano wasn't done.

"Those were my orders, yes."

"Pft. Orders…"

Maybe it was Canada's snarky side coming out, maybe it was because the wine had gotten him just slightly buzzed; but he really shouldn't have said what came out of his mouth next. "Say's the one that surrendered to us the moment we charged in."

"Bastardo!" Romano stood up suddenly. "I was just doing what was right! You invaded us!"

"Under. Orders-"

"Ve~ What's going on?" Italy asked as he came on in.

Romano sorted, crossed his arms, and just plopped back down in his seat. "Nothing."

Italy looked at Canada who just shook his head. "Nothing… I think I'm going to retire for the night."

"Aw? Already?" Italy whined as he suddenly grabbed Canada's sleeve to stop him from going upstairs.

"Jet lag." Canada put on a warm smile for Italy.

"Okay, well buona notte!"

"Bonne nuit." He told to both of them. Romano snorted in response and Italy gave Canada a warm smile. Finally, he retreated.

Italy held his breath as he listened for the door to the guess room to shut. The moment it did, he opened his eyes and turned to Romano. "Why did you have to talk about the war?" Italy finally asked his brother as a small frown graced his lips. "We all made mistakes back then, Romano."

"Look, I'm just looking out for you."

"You upset him. Romano we've talked about this. The war was eighty years ago; at some point, we have to let go and move on."

Romano puffed his cheeks out and crossed one of his legs over the other in a pout. "Fine. I won't talk about it anymore… I just... ah, fuck it!" Romano huffed and stood up from his seat. "I'm going to bed too!"

"I'll join you here in a moment, let me just clean up."

"Whatever."

Italy shut his eyes and frowned deeply as Romano retreated to his room, making sure to slam the door shut to show his anger. Italy gave a soft sigh to it all and felt his lips form into a pout. Romano was being so stubborn it was just awful. Canada was clearly just trying to enjoy his time here and Romano was ruining it by bringing up the past. Just thinking about it made Italy's stomach turn-

Of course he remembered the day the Canadians stormed his lands. The day Canada had actually managed to-

Italy shuttered. He didn't want to think about it now, not while he had Canada as a guest. The past was the past and there was no changing it.

Italy picked up Romano's wine glass and returned it to the kitchen. He washed and hung the glass to dry. Quietly, Italy put the cork back into the red wine bottle and placed it on the wine rack. He then grabbed a wet rag and wiped the counter down. Once that was done he hung the rag on the side of the sink and returned back to the living room. The fire was dying now, nothing more than smoldering embers, that made putting the fire out a breeze as he poured a pitcher of water over the fire and it went out was a satisfying hiss. Italy finished up his tidying up by turning the lights out and retreating to his room. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

"-I want to apologize." Canada whispered to Italy.

Here Canada stood on a small wooden box just big enough to allow Italy to see him over the easel. Canada was dressed in his mountie uniform and stood squared shouldered and proud looking.

The uniform was Italy's idea…

Well Italy's second idea really as his first was to do a nude painting of the colder nation.

Which Canada quickly shot out of the sky and buried it dead.

So then Italy said that a uniform would be just as good. It could be any uniform that Canada wanted. At first he almost went with his world war two uniform, but in the end his dark red mountie uniform took his eye and he decided to go with that.

So now, here they were rather early in the morning in Italy's painting room.

Italy dabbed his paintbrush onto his palette and stroked the brush against the canvas. "Hm? What for?"

"Last night…" He felt his cheeks blush as the memory resurfaced. "I… shouldn't have thrown your surrender in Romano's face, it was rude and not like me."

"Ve~ I didn't surrender."

"Huh? But-"

"Romano surrendered south Italy to the allies-" Italy opened his eyes as he looked up at Canada from just above the canvas. There was something just slightly… unnerving about the way Italy was looking at him. It almost made Canada cringe. "-North Italy stayed with Germany until the very end."

"Right…"

"But regardless, it's all in the past now." Italy gave a rueful little smile as he shut his eyes and continued to paint. He is an enigma when it comes to how he functions with his eyes closed like that. "Still… it's not me you need to apologize too."

"Yeah, I'll apologize to Romano when I get the chance."

"Oh, he's gone!"

"What?"

"Yeah, left bright and early this morning to Spain's!"

"Oh."

"I don't think he's coming back for a while…"

"Oh…" Canada felt his shoulders slump a little. Now he really felt like a dick.

"Ah-ah! Shoulders up, per favore!"

"Sorry!" Canada squared his shoulders back up quickly. He felt his back muscles tense up at this and it made him wonder how long he's been at this for.

There was only silence for a good while as Canada stood there. His back was starting to ache and honestly his nose itched for a good while now; it's been driving him crazy. Canada looked around the small room. Italy wasn't lying when he said he had painted every nation. From the many, many pictures he could see hanging on the wall Canada saw: Britain, France, America, Japan, Germany, Prussia, Russia-

Like Canada they were almost all in some sort of uniform they seem to love the best- except for France. He was naked as naked could be. Canada could only look away from that picture as he felt a blush start to creep across his face. "France seems to be… very comfortable in that picture, doesn't he?" Canada was sure there was steam coming out of his ears.

It was true, France was laying down on his stomach in the middle of the forest it seemed.

"Si, France often likes to model nude for me. I know if I ever need a nude muse he'll be here in a heartbeat. I have a lot of pictures of him, one of which wound up in a museum!"

"Oh, wow."

"Yep!... Okay, I think we can take a break now-"

"Oh, thank god!" Canada finally let his back rest and slumped his shoulders with a happy sigh. He then started to rub his lower back where the pain was starting to radiate from.

"Want to see?"

"Sure!" Canada swiftly stepped down from the wooden box and walked on over to the picture. "Oh, wow…" In just a couple of hours, Italy not only managed to sketch out Canada but had almost completely painted him out. The background was still blank as well. The only parts of Canada that weren't colored in was his face, eyes, and hair.

"Ve~" Canada became aware that Italy was now staring intensely at him. Italy truly looked like the painter he was. With Canada this close he could see the different colors of paint stuck to Italy's fingers and a slight white paint smudge on his left cheek.

"Eh?" Italy got a little closer to Canada's face. Canada gave a slightly nervous chuckle in response to this sudden invasion of personal space. Italy then reached up and tucked a piece of Canada's hair behind his ear and smiled. "I think I know which colors to blend for your skin tone. Also!" With no warning Canada's hat was suddenly snatched from his head and Italy plopped it on his own head. "Do you think I look good in this hat?"

Canada gave a snorting chuckle in response. In all reality Italy looked ridiculous in a mountie hat, but the way he tilted it just slightly over his right eye so he could give Canada a slight smirk. Canada suddenly blushed at that look. Canada gave a low cough to try and cover up his blush and with a simple movement he took his hat back. "I think you look lovely in a hat, just not mine." He put the hat back on his own head as he said that.

"Ve~" Was all Italy said in response. He then scooted out of his chair and stood up, stretching his arms over his head. "I'm going to get some coffee, do you want some?"

"Uh, sure."

"Cream and sugar?"

"Yes, please."

Italy then bounded away quickly, leaving Canada in the room by himself. So, Canada took this time to get a little closer to the pictures. His first stop was America. Not unlike Canada, America was currently wearing a police uniform. It looked modern too. Canada took note of the background and saw the massive city that was clearly New York. Italy even took the extra time to add blurry people in the background.

Canada walked over to the next painting. He actually had to be careful because Italy had a lot of painting in this room, like a lot, so much so that some were on the ground and were covered with sheets. Canada had to step around one sheet covered one on the ground to look at the next painting.

Russia.

Russia was dressed in a nice black and white pinstriped suit. It was odd for Canada to see him without his scarf on. His position was different from the others as well. His eyes were closed, hands down in front of him, palms up. It reminded Canada of a more religious pose. Behind Russia was more of a forest. Snow hung on top of the tree tops and was scattered on the ground by Russia's feet. The shading was something beautiful as Italy made it look like a light was shining down on Russia and made him look like either a spotlight was on him, or the sun was.

Canada wondered what kind of background Italy would give him. Probably one that was much like Russia's.

Canada didn't get a chance to look at the other painting as Italy returned holding a tray that had two coffee mugs on it. Also on the tray was a little bowl of sugar and a little milk pourer. "I didn't know how much you like, so I thought I'd bring it for you."

"Thank you."

They both sat on the ground, away from the paintings while they made their coffee. Canada found out that Italy liked his coffee just straight black. That was too bitter for Canada's taste, no, he was quite happy with his sweetened coffee.

They finished their breaks and then went back to painting. Canada stood still as Italy continued to paint him. For the most part they stayed silent. Italy would occasionally let out a soft 'Ve~' or even grunt in unhappiness as he seemed to have accidently painted the wrong thing the wrong color. Finally, what had to be three to four hours in to painting Italy put the brush down. "Okay, I think that's enough for today."

Canada once again allowed his shoulders to slump and his lower back to relax. "Oh, maple…" He groaned, and stepped down from the small box. He walked over to Italy and the painting. Canada was quick to note that it looked much like Russia's picture, it seemed that Italy was going for the "spotlight" effect as his body was shaded that way. There was still no background though, so that was going to be anyone's guess.

"Ve~ Do you need an aspirin? I know England needed one after the last painting we did together."

"No, no… wait, you paint us more than once?

"Si. Only if they want to and if I'm not busy. On occasion I'll ask someone, like you, but I'll let them come to me."

"That would explain France then."

"Yep!"

Italy scooted out of his chair and walked up to Canada. "If you want I can draw you a bath, that might help your muscles. We don't want anything bad to happen to your people."

"Oh, no-no. No thank you. But thank you for offering, I'll live. I'm sure no lasting damage will come from just a small back ache."

"C'mon!" It seemed Italy wasn't taking no as an answer as he suddenly grabbed Canada by his hand and started leading him away from the painting room. "I'll draw you a nice bath; then we'll go out around town! I'll show you the hotspots around town!"

"Ita- okay! Okay! I'm coming."