Hey, would you look at that, it's the new year~ Happy 2015 everybody :D

Before you wonderful, amazing readers proceed with this chapter, you might want to listen to "It's Now or Never" by Elvis Presley first. It will get my Spamano point across better ;)

And so we continue where we left off in the last chapter~

Spain caught up to Romano as the Italian strutted into the living room, fuming adorably as his slim hips swayed ever so slightly…

His stomach flipped at the thought and he brought his eyes back up to Roma's frowning face. He put on a smile as he inquired, "What are we doing in here?"

Lovino glared at him and snapped, "What's this 'we' stuff you jerk?! I came in here because I wanted to be alone, dammit!"

Antonio chuckled and claimed, "No you don't~ No one wants to be alone on their birthday, especially on their centennial! Not even someone as cute and grumpy as you~" As the fiery Italian gaped incredulously at him, he caught sight of the presents the other nations brought and beamed. "Oh Lovi, I almost forgot! I need to give you your birthday gift! Es muy magnifico~"

Romano flushed his usual shade of tomato-red that always had Spain swooning and his heart skipping a couple of beats as he angrily spluttered, "You just said all the wrong things, jerk! You can't decide what I do and don't want, if I say I want to be alone then I want to be alone, I'm not cute, and I don't need a gift from you, dammit…and for god's sake, put a shirt on, tomato bastard, you're blinding me!"

Spain glanced down and realized that he was still shirtless from jumping in the pool. How silly of him~ "¡Qué cómico! Whoops~ guess I forgot." He paused and playfully quipped, "Am I really that good-looking that I blind you, Lovi~?"

He chuckled as the Italian's face bloomed a darker red. So cute~ "What?! N-NO! Get over yourself you arrogant bastard! I meant that it's blinding in a sense that my eyes are burning from the horrible sight!"

Spain knew his former colony well enough to determine when Romano was trying to save face and this was definitely one of them. It was flattering that someone as hermoso and wonderful as Lovi thought of him as good-looking. His smile widened at the thought as he remarked, "Alright, whatever you say~" Then he reached over to ruffle the little Italian's hair, fighting the urge to pull that mysterious curl.

Romano swatted his hand away, his cheeks still red, and snarled, "Cut that out, jerk, and put on a shirt before I have the guards kick your sorry ass out!"

"Okeydokey~ once I get my shirt back, I'll give you your present!" Then Antonio made his way outside to search for his discarded shirt. Once he located it, he slipped it over his head and went back inside the house to rejoin Romano. To his surprise, his Romanito was nowhere to be found and wasn't where he had left him. Puzzled, he searched within the vicinity, but couldn't locate him. Then he made his way outside and started scanning the clustered crowds of the other nations.

Oh where, oh where has my Lovi gone? Oh where, oh where can he be? Spain looked towards the pool, but, to his disappointment, Romano hadn't jumped in after all. He also wasn't at the buffet table nor was he dancing to the band's wonderful music.

Speaking of…

"Excuse me, señor," Spain cheerfully greeted the guitar player of the Italian band. "But could I possibly borrow your guitar for a little while? I promise to give it back~"

The man blinked owlishly at him, clearly not understanding, until Spain repeated himself in what little Italian he knew. The musician got the gist of what he was trying to say and studied him for a moment before nodding and handing him the instrument. Antonio beamed with delight, thanked him, and strung the guitar over his back so that the strap was pressed against his front. Okay, now he was ready to give Lovi his present…that is, once he actually finds his tomate.

The Spaniard resumed his search for his young companion and his eyes swept over the entire backyard. At some point, his gaze locked onto Netherlands who was conversing with some blonde guy that looked a lot like America and his orbs narrowed with distaste.

Earlier, he had been surprised to hear his Roma laugh and when he had glanced over, that's when he had noticed Lovino talking to Netherlands and something about that bothered him. They had just been standing way too close together and were acting just way too friendly with one another that it had prompted him to yank himself out of the pool to investigate. That was when he witnessed Lars swiping some tomato juice off of his Roma's chin, resulting in the younger nation blushing, and it had made his stomach twist uncomfortably and something akin to anger flare within his chest. In fact, the sensation returned a bit as he frowned over at Netherlands.

I hope this perro leaves the party soon…

He immediately blinked and looked away, confused and somewhat embarrassed by that thought. Spain had no idea what came over him earlier; there was just something about seeing his Lovi talk to Netherlands that didn't sit quite right with him and he just felt this need to intervene. He was unfamiliar with the feeling and he didn't like it. It made him want to do something outrageous, absurd, and crazy like unleash a herd of raging bulls into Netherlands' house.

In fact, he can totally imagine himself wearing a matador uniform as those bulls raged through Lars' home. Also, he could see Lovi watching nearby while wearing a bright red flamenco dancer dress and carrying a lacy black fan to cover his blushing face yet that revealed his beautiful hazel orbs…

Dios, that'd be…interesting and somewhat exciting.

Antonio immediately shook the (amazing) image from his head and mentally got ahold of himself. No time for daydreaming, time to find Lovi. Instead, he focused his efforts on finding the Italian as well as imagining the look on his face when he presented him with his gift. Oh, Roma will be so surprised~

Invigorated by the thought, Spain renewed his enthusiasm and kept searching around, asking fellow countries if they've seen his tomate and only getting negative responses. Eventually, he made his way back inside the house and continued searching. He wasn't in the living room; he wasn't in the kitchen; he wasn't in the restroom; he wasn't in the hallways; he wasn't in any of the guest rooms.

After some time, he came across a room and tried to open the door, only to find out that it wouldn't budge and that it was locked. He tried again to be certain, but an angry voice from within snapped, "Whoever's out there, go the hell away!"

The Spaniard instantly perked up. "Lovi~! There you are! It's me, Spain! Can you please open the door?"

Antonio heard Lovino mutter something in Italian that he believed translated to 'oh shit, that bastard actually found me', and it made him smile with fondness. Then Roma replied, "No! Now go away, bastard, and leave me in peace!"

"Nope, I won't leave until you open the door! I've got a surprise for you!"

"Fuck off!"

"Please~?"

"No."

"Please~?"

"No!"

"Please~?"

"No, and so help me god if you answer with 'please' again…"

"…¿Por favor?"

"Chigi! If I let you in, will you go away after showing me your dumb surprise?!"

Spain considered it. Hmm, probably not~ "Sure, okay."

He heard Roma swear a bit under his breath before he heard the tell-tale sound of footsteps stomping across a wooden floor, followed by the turn of a lock. Soon, the door opened to reveal a highly irate Romano who frowned up at him with a hand on his hip. "You bastard with your powers of being able to annoy the holy hell out of me…what's the surprise?!"

Antonio grinned and bit his lower lip. "I'll show you! C'mon!" He then immediately stepped into the room, grabbed Lovi's hand, shut the door behind them, and led them over to the bed.

Romano's eyes widened as Spain sat the two down, and he snatched his hand back. "What the hell are you trying to pull, you pervert?!"

Confused, Spain pulled out the guitar and began tuning it. "¿Qué? What do you mean?"

He thought it was positively adorable that Roma's face turned that lovely shade of red~ "N-nothing, forget it! Just show me what your damn surprise is…but I swear to god, if you try some funny shit then I'll stab you in the neck with a sharpened pencil!"

Spain looked quizzically at him. Funny? I'm not sure if what I have in mind will make Lovi laugh. Wait…have I ever heard him laugh before? …No, I don't think I have unless you count earlier…but I didn't make him laugh so maybe that doesn't count. It'd be so adorable though if I can! I'll have to try and make him laugh one day!

The older nation was pulled from his thoughts when Romano let out a noise of frustration. "Never mind, dipshit. Now what's with the damn guitar?"

"Oh~ well, I decided to pick up playing the guitar again and I thought that for your special day, I'd play you a couple of songs! I've been practicing!" His smile glowed as he picked at a few notes.

"You're going to play me some songs?" inquired Romano with the raise of an eyebrow. "What songs?"

"A couple of different songs," replied Spain. "I took the time to learn some songs that I figured you'd like." He strummed the guitar and hummed. "Yup, I think that should do it. There's nothing like a little music to raise the spirits and enlighten the soul~"

"Cheesy bastard," the Italian muttered under his breath. "I'm sure my idiot brother will eat that up once you play for him too."

"Oh, I'm not going to play for Feli," Antonio answered nonchalantly. "I wasn't planning to."

He heard Lovino quietly gasp. "What? What do you mean by that?"

"Well, to be honest, I was only thinking of you when I started learning these songs. I figured that I'd play something for you while I did something else for Feli, which is why I bought him some new art supplies."

Romano blinked and slowly asked, "Why would you give us separate gifts? We share a centennial."

"I know, and that's exactly why I'm giving you guys different presents."

"I don't under-"

"Just because you and your brother share the same birthday," Spain gently interrupted, "doesn't mean you guys have to share the same present. After all, you two are very different people with different interests." Lovino didn't have anything to say to that and retained a look of surprised disbelief on his face. "Here—I'll start off with something simple."

After adjusting himself just right, Antonio strummed the guitar, located the right note, and began playing. "Happy birthday to you~ happy birthday to you~ happy birthday dear Romano~ happy birthday to you!" He ended the song by strumming the guitar rather cheerfully and rapidly before looking to see what Lovino's reaction was.

The Italian was speechless for a moment until he blinked a few times and snorted. "Congratulations, bastard, you don't suck…and you got the words right. Bravo."

Whole-heartedly taking that as a compliment, Spain beamed and happily exclaimed, "Oh, gracias! I can even sing it in Spanish and Italian! Listen!" He then proceeded to play the birthday song in both languages and Romano stoically listened. Though he maintained an impassive expression, Spain could easily tell within those beautiful hazel orbs that his tomate was secretly enjoying the private performance.

After singing 'happy birthday', Antonio continued playing other songs that ranged from some popular Spanish tunes to a few songs that he was sure Lovi was familiar with and even a few other random songs from different countries. A couple of songs were about friendship, others were about family, a few were about having a party, some were about defiance, and a great deal were about life itself. During all the songs, Romano would listen and then make snarky comments afterwards—the type of comments that were typical of him to say yet were utterly endearing.

At some point, Spain finished another song and was prepared for another. "Alright, I've got another one for you! This one came from America by this really cool guy named Elvis Presley. From what I understand, he's pretty popular there."

Romano scoffed and said, "Does it look like I care enough about that gluttonous bastard to keep up on his country?!" When Spain merely blinked, he sighed. "Just play, jerk. If the song sucks, then we can blame it on that tasteless douchebag, America."

"Oh Lovi, I promise you won't be disappointed! This song is muy bonita~ When I first heard it, I loved it, and I have a feeling you will too!"

The Italian impatiently waved his hand to say 'just get on with it'. "We'll see about that."

Smiling, Spain positioned himself, took a deep breath, and got started; he strummed the guitar rapidly, allowing his fingers to swiftly glide across the strings, and then eventually slowed down to something more relaxed and sincere. "It's now or never/come hold me tight," from the corner of his eye, he saw Roma raise an eyebrow, "Kiss me my darling/be mine tonight," now his eyes were widening, "Tomorrow will be too late/it's now or never/My love won't wait."

He briefly paused, like how the song did in his head, and gauged Romano's reaction. His eyes were dilated in shock and his cheeks were flushing a light pink. He hadn't done that during any of the other songs…that's a good sign! He must love it!

Feeling utterly giddy, Spain continued a little louder, "When I first saw you/with your smile so tender," Romano's brow furrowed a bit, "My heart was captured/my soul surrendered/I'd spend a lifetime/waiting for the right time/Now that you're near/the time is here at last."

Despite that Romano was starting to look a bit confused, seeming to be contemplating something, Spain proceeded, "It's now or never/come hold me tight/Kiss me my darling/be mine tonight/Tomorrow will be too late/it's now or never/My love won't wait."

That look of confusion disappeared and was replaced with shock again, and Spain couldn't help but grin. He knew Roma would love this song! "Just like a willow/we would cry an ocean/If we lost true love/and sweet devotion/Your lips excite me," whoa, he's never seen his tomate turn that shade of red before, it was lovely~ "let your arms invite me/For who knows when/we'll meet again this way."

Now it was back to the chorus. "It's now or never/come hold me tight/Kiss me my darling/be mine tonight/Tomorrow will be too late/it's now or never/My love won't wait/It's now or never/My love won't wait."

Antonio looked straight into Lovino's hazel orbs as he slowed down his strumming as the song came to a close. "It's now or never/My love won't wait/It's now or never/My love won't wait~" And with that, the song was finished. The Spaniard strummed the guitar one last time and widely smiled. Nailed it~

He glanced at Lovino and noticed that he was still very much red and that he still had that look of shock on his face. Wow, I must've played really good to leave Roma speechless. Deciding to remove him from his daze, Antonio broke the silence. "Well, didn't I tell you it was a good song?! It might be my new favorite song! That Elvis guy sure knew what he was singing~"

Romano opened his mouth then closed it. His eyes were brewing with a plethora of emotions that Spain couldn't keep track of. "Why did you choose that song?" he finally asked quietly.

Puzzled by his reaction, Spain tilted his head and responded, "Because I liked it and I thought you would too—it's pretty. Don't you think it was pretty?"

Lovi didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and he frowned down at the ground before abruptly standing up. "I've gotta…check some things." Then he hurriedly left the room without another word.

Spain blinked as he watched him leave and was utterly bewildered by his reaction. What was that about? I thought he liked the song. He mulled over the possibilities for a little while before he slowly grinned at the obvious explanation. Of course, now I get it. Lovi liked the song, but he's too embarrassed to admit it! He always did have trouble expressing himself.

Chuckling to himself and proud that he figured it out, Spain picked up the guitar and strode out of the room, intent on returning to the party and to his Roma.

{~/~/~}

What. The hell. Was that?! Romano's head was still reeling over Spain's stupid song, the lyrics along with the bastard's melodic voice playing in his mind over and over again. S-Surely he couldn't possibly mean…I mean, there's no way he'd actually feel that way…

The Italian roughly shook his head and automatically grasped the chunk of silver in his pocket. No. Of course he wouldn't. He said that he chose the song because it sounded pretty. I doubt that dumb ass even really listened to the lyrics. Yes, that had to have been it.

Though he should've been comforted by the thought, he tightened his grip on the silver until it hurt. However, he eventually released it and opted to step outside and make sure the other nations didn't kill each other, intent on being alone until the stupid party was over. He tried not to think about Spain or that song and instead focused on making time go faster.

It didn't help that the tomato bastard refused to leave his side for the rest of the party. It annoyed the living hell out of him, and no matter what he did, he couldn't shake that irritating Spaniard who seemed bent on staying by his side. At some point, he even tried shoving Spain into the pool, but was pissed when the jerk inadvertently (or so he says) grabbed onto him as he fell and therefore yanked Romano into the pool with him.

And no, that's not funny…

Yup, somebody definitely needed to shoot him, specifically directly in the heart so it could stop speeding up around the tomato bastard.

{~/~/~}

Later that night in his hotel, hours after the party had ended, Spain was getting ready for bed, humming the Elvis lyrics while looking over the painting of his tomato garden (which he had brought along with him), when it occurred to him: that song is a love song. He blinked a couple of times as he tried to wrap his mind around the revelation.

Oooh, no wonder Lovi seemed so spooked. The realization made Antonio laugh and shake his head. Silly me~ I didn't realize it was a love song. Here I am, liking it, and yet not even knowing what the song is about! Tonto~

He then thought of Romano and softly grinned. Lovi must think I love him. I mean, I do, but not that way. I love him like a bro- For some reason, he couldn't bring himself to refer to Roma as his brother. He frowned at the thought. I love him like how I do with all mis amigos. That…didn't seem right either. Well…I know I love him…just not like a friend or brother. What other kind of love is there? Because I obviously don't love him in a romantic way…

The thought made him blush. No, of course not. That's…ridiculous. However, he wasn't too sure for some reason. Eh, I think I'm too tired to think straight. I'll figure it out tomorrow…and I'll tell Lovi that it was a misunderstanding.

Satisfied with his plan, Spain nodded to himself and snuggled under the covers of his hotel bed. Before he turned off the light though, he took one last look at the painting and smiled. Sí, I love mi tomate…just not like that.

That night, he dreamt of himself as a dashing matador and Lovi was dressed in a red, flamenco dress while he covered his blushing face with a black laced fan. After Spain defeated the bull, Romano strode up to him, the fan hiding his lips yet revealing his sparkling eyes. Then Roma removed the fan, lightly cupped the side of his face, and sensuously said, "Hola el matador~ Bésame, por favor~"

Spain woke up the next morning with a start, his heart racing with excitement and shock.

Oi vey…

Isn't the image of Romano in a dress the cutest thing ever~? X3

Heh, heh anyways, thank you all so, so much for reading and for offering some nice encouragement and comments! It means so much to me that you all are so supportive and nice :D

Translations:

Spanish

Es muy magnifico-It's very magnificent

¡Qué cómico!-How funny!

hermoso-handsome

señor-mister/sir

tomate-tomato

perro-dog (damn, who knew Spain could be so catty XD)

Dios-God

¿Por favor?-Please?

¿Qué?-What?

gracias-thank you

muy bonita-very pretty/beautiful

Tonto-Silly/Fool/Idiot

Sí-Yes

Hola el matador-Hello matador

Bésame, por favor-Kiss me, please

Italian

Chigi!-Fuck/Shit!