p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"Dinnerbr /_/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After the whole fiasco with the pasta and Italy cutting his hand, we agreed on an easy solution: frozen pizzas. it sure as hell is a lot easier than trying to make dinner. again. plus nobody is going to accidentally chop off their hand putting a simple pizza in the oven./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'ve~ this is great!" Italy exclaims, plopping down at the kitchen table. "No matter what we went through today, we still ended up eating Italian! isn't it wonderful?" his big eyes smile at me and for the first time, I notice how beautiful they actually are. with his eyes squinted shut all the time, I never get to see his caramel brown pools. they complete his face, almost a perfect match for his light brown hair, making him look years younger than he actually is... how old is he anyway? I can't help but wonder as he watches me pull the gooey pizza out of the oven. he's completely turned around in his seat, head rested on the back of the chair. I place the pizza in the middle of the table, giving a small grin when he basically dives for a slice. the hungry Italian scarfs down half his piece by the time I sit in my chair./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"13 I decide, taking a piece for myself. inside he's like a teenager; always hungry, always lazy, and always complaining. but he's probably almost 200 years old./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes. it is." I reply. his head snaps up, leaving behind a bridge of cheese./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""voo vearry tink so?" he muffles with his mouth full. I chuckle lightly as his reaction. I usually don't answer things like that, I just leave it rhetorical and he's come to know that, not expecting a reply./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""yeah, I like seeing you this happy. now eat, we have training tomorrow and need sleep."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"he nods and continues eating but I can see his mind is elsewhere, his vacant eyes staring at his plate. I try not to notice, taking small bites of my pizza, but I'm so curious as to what he's thinking about. maybe he's just tired, I guess it's been a rough day for both of us../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"just before I'm about to ask him what's wrong, he gives me my answer. "where is he?"/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I raise one eyebrow and cock my head in confusion. emwhat is he taking about?/em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""where's who?"/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Japan. he's been gone all day and he hasn't come home yet."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"my heart drops to my stomach. how will I explain this.../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I can feel a bead of sweat roll down my forehead in nervousness and a lump forms in my throat, preventing me from telling him the truth./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""uh- well you see...he uh.. went to the market earlier, and it got late, so he uh.. stayed in his country. I'm sure his paper work is stacking up so he might be gone for a while.." I lie in a not so smooth way./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You must not be feeling good after all Germany! you never stutter." he giggles, wiping the sauce off his face with his sleeve./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"we eat the rest of our meal in silence after that and I put our plates in the sink. I can hear the big rain droplets pound on the roof like bullets. it's going to be a storm tonight... another reason for Italy to cry. I sigh and wander into the living room, sitting on the couch. I pick up the book off the small lamp table and begin to read, crossing my legs./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get lost in the story. I stare at the same page, rereading the same sentences for what seems like forever because the words just don't process. my mind keeps going back to Japan. emmaybe I'll call him tomorrow, try and talk things through with him./em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI still don't understand why he's acting so childish! a little training doesn't hurt anybody, so why did he leave? m/emy eyes widen at a certain thought. strongem'I hate watching Italy try so hard to keep up but you're never satisfied.' /em/strongemdoes Japan, maybe, like Italy for some reason...? .../ememnien/emem... he may be creepy with that camera of his but I never expect him to be... gay or anything. but... do I? is that that other feeling that's not appreciation? /ememNIEN/emem! I'M DEFINITELY NOT GAY!/em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I shake my head, trying to get the weird assumptions out of my mind. a loud crash sounds outside, like the clanging of trashcan lids, and a flash of light comes soon after startling me a bit./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emthree... two...one.../em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I hear the sound of feet padding down the hallway at a rapid pace against the hardwood flooring, telling me that Italy is coming/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"he scrambles into the living room and almost knocks over the coffee table just to fly onto me, latching on my arm arm like a leech./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emperfect timing./em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Germany Germany!" he cries, repeating my name as usual. I just set down the book and lift him into my lap, holding him like a baby. he clutches onto my white tee shirt, burying his face in my chest. I can feel him shaking and quivering in fear./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I honestly didn't know he was emthis/em scared of lightning... it makes me feel sorry.../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I soothingly hold him there, drawing circles into his back with my fingertips. he's just so adorable like this, so... vulnerable. I feel my face heat up madly and I mentally slap myself for thinking such things./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"soon enough I feel him breathing at a steady pace, his body limp. he fell asleep. I glance at the clock ticking away on the wall; 9:24. I decide it's time for bed for the both of us and I carefully stand up, holding him gently in fear of waking him./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I walk us both to my bedroom, knowing at one point during the night he'll come crawling into bed with me anyways. after I tuck him under the sheets, I remove my pants and join him. almost instinctively, as if I was a teddy bear, he wraps his skinny arms around my waist, curling up to me. I close my eyes and rest my cheek on top of his head, slowly drifting off into sleep as the storm goes on./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"After the whole fiasco with the pasta and Italy cutting his hand, we agreed on an easy solution: frozen pizzas. it sure as hell is a lot easier than trying to make dinner. again. plus nobody is going to accidentally chop off their hand putting a simple pizza in the oven./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""'ve~ this is great!" Italy exclaims, plopping down at the kitchen table. "No matter what we went through today, we still ended up eating Italian! isn't it wonderful?" his big eyes smile at me and for the first time, I notice how beautiful they actually are. with his eyes squinted shut all the time, I never get to see his caramel brown pools. they complete his face, almost a perfect match for his light brown hair, making him look years younger than he actually is... how old is he anyway? I can't help but wonder as he watches me pull the gooey pizza out of the oven. he's completely turned around in his seat, head rested on the back of the chair. I place the pizza in the middle of the table, giving a small grin when he basically dives for a slice. the hungry Italian scarfs down half his piece by the time I sit in my chair./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"13 I decide, taking a piece for myself. inside he's like a teenager; always hungry, always lazy, and always complaining. but he's probably almost 200 years old./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Yes. it is." I reply. his head snaps up, leaving behind a bridge of cheese./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""voo vearry tink so?" he muffles with his mouth full. I chuckle lightly as his reaction. I usually don't answer things like that, I just leave it rhetorical and he's come to know that, not expecting a reply./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""yeah, I like seeing you this happy. now eat, we have training tomorrow and need sleep."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"he nods and continues eating but I can see his mind is elsewhere, his vacant eyes staring at his plate. I try not to notice, taking small bites of my pizza, but I'm so curious as to what he's thinking about. maybe he's just tired, I guess it's been a rough day for both of us../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"just before I'm about to ask him what's wrong, he gives me my answer. "where is he?"/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I raise one eyebrow and cock my head in confusion. emwhat is he taking about?/em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""where's who?"/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Japan. he's been gone all day and he hasn't come home yet."/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"my heart drops to my stomach. how will I explain this.../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I can feel a bead of sweat roll down my forehead in nervousness and a lump forms in my throat, preventing me from telling him the truth./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""uh- well you see...he uh.. went to the market earlier, and it got late, so he uh.. stayed in his country. I'm sure his paper work is stacking up so he might be gone for a while.." I lie in a not so smooth way./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""You must not be feeling good after all Germany! you never stutter." he giggles, wiping the sauce off his face with his sleeve./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"we eat the rest of our meal in silence after that and I put our plates in the sink. I can hear the big rain droplets pound on the roof like bullets. it's going to be a storm tonight... another reason for Italy to cry. I sigh and wander into the living room, sitting on the couch. I pick up the book off the small lamp table and begin to read, crossing my legs./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get lost in the story. I stare at the same page, rereading the same sentences for what seems like forever because the words just don't process. my mind keeps going back to Japan. emmaybe I'll call him tomorrow, try and talk things through with him./em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emI still don't understand why he's acting so childish! a little training doesn't hurt anybody, so why did he leave? m/emy eyes widen at a certain thought. strongem'I hate watching Italy try so hard to keep up but you're never satisfied.' /em/strongemdoes Japan, maybe, like Italy for some reason...? .../ememnien/emem... he may be creepy with that camera of his but I never expect him to be... gay or anything. but... do I? is that that other feeling that's not appreciation? /ememNIEN/emem! I'M DEFINITELY NOT GAY!/em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I shake my head, trying to get the weird assumptions out of my mind. a loud crash sounds outside, like the clanging of trashcan lids, and a flash of light comes soon after startling me a bit./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emthree... two...one.../em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I hear the sound of feet padding down the hallway at a rapid pace against the hardwood flooring, telling me that Italy is coming/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"he scrambles into the living room and almost knocks over the coffee table just to fly onto me, latching on my arm arm like a leech./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"emperfect timing./em/p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;""Germany Germany!" he cries, repeating my name as usual. I just set down the book and lift him into my lap, holding him like a baby. he clutches onto my white tee shirt, burying his face in my chest. I can feel him shaking and quivering in fear./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I honestly didn't know he was emthis/em scared of lightning... it makes me feel sorry.../p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I soothingly hold him there, drawing circles into his back with my fingertips. he's just so adorable like this, so... vulnerable. I feel my face heat up madly and I mentally slap myself for thinking such things./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"soon enough I feel him breathing at a steady pace, his body limp. he fell asleep. I glance at the clock ticking away on the wall; 9:24. I decide it's time for bed for the both of us and I carefully stand up, holding him gently in fear of waking him./p
p style="margin: 20px 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Trebuchet, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;"I walk us both to my bedroom, knowing at one point during the night he'll come crawling into bed with me anyways. after I tuck him under the sheets, I remove my pants and join him. almost instinctively, as if I was a teddy bear, he wraps his skinny arms around my waist, curling up to me. I close my eyes and rest my cheek on top of his head, slowly drifting off into sleep as the storm goes on./p