You began your cleaning rant by changing out of your nice summer clothes to a baggy t-shirt and cut off sweatpants. Turning on your music, you headed to the mirror. You put your hair in a messy bun then jumped down the spiral staircase and got to work.

You started up high so that you could return the ladder as soon as possible. Starting on the window sills, you dusted the white trim carefully. Then cleaned the windows and wiped them down. next you moved on to other places until the job looked well done. You folded the ladder, ready to take it to Clarice.

Finishing around 5pm, you ran in the rain to your neighbor's house and returned the ladder. She and her husband had been eating dinner when you dropped by.

"Sorry to have caught you in the middle of your meal." you said. "I just wanted to make sure I got this back to you; although I might need it tomorrow for painting."

"Why don't you just keep it then, and give it to me when you're done painting tomorrow," she replied.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Ok, thank you. I had better be going so you can get back to your meal."

"Alright, good night (f/n)." Clarice said as she closed the door.

While charging back to your apartment, you debated on what to clean next. Deciding on the kitchen, you opened the door to your apartment and started working again, half drenched.

After cleaning the kitchen, you moved on to other parts of the house, like the dining room, spare bedroom, the bathroom then finally finished up with your bedroom. It was around 7:45pm when your stomach growled at you.

"Huh, I didn't eat anything for dinner." You thought. And that's when it hit you. You slapped your forehead. "UGH! I left my leftovers at Feli's house! Why am I so forgetful?!"

You had always been forgetful since you were a little kid. "Oh well, I know that Feliciano will enjoy them." You thought, taking out your gourmet pears and a fork. Quickly devouring the pears, you sat in the middle of your bedroom, just looking around. Afterwards, you slowly leaned back onto the soft carpet and closed your eyes. You were pretty tired due to this evening's labor, and couldn't wait to take a shower and sleep. You lost track of time lying there, though you knew it hadn't been long when the doorbell rang its sweet tune. You, however, didn't think of it as sweet as you jumped out of your skin. Seeing as this wasn't the best of neighborhoods, and you parents taught you not to open the door to strangers, you rummaged through your bag for some sort of make due weapon. You sighed. The best thing you could find was a white plastic knife.

"Well, its better than nothing, I guess." You muttered, shrugging. The doorbell rang again; the person was getting impatient. You ran downstairs, took a deep breath and raised the "weapon" above your head; ready to stab anyone who might do harm with the measly knife. You turned the handle and slowly opened the door.

"Hallo, (f/n)." said a deep, familiar voice.

"Oh! Hi Lu-I-mean-Germany." you corrected yourself, lowering your plastic eating utensil.

You saw something you could tell was unusual for the man, a smirk. It quickly dissipated leaving you wondering if you were just seeing things. Germany gestured a Styrofoam container in your direction. You were about to ask what it was when you smelled what was inside.

"Lunch leftovers." You thought. You reached out to grab for it when some water dripped onto the container. You looked up.

This time, the German was properly prepared for the rain, for he was holding an umbrella. The water left from the rain very so gently dripped off of the sides of the carmine object. The umbrella hung over his face, casting part of it in shadow. From beneath it you could just make out the glint of his cyan eyes.

"Thanks, but you didn't have to bring them all the way over." You said.

"Italy insisted that I bring them to you." He replied simply.

That was the first time you had heard Feli called by his country name.

"Weird…" you thought.

You took the container from the man, accidentally brushing his hand in the process; it was warm compared to the cool, damp evening air. The German and you both blushed slightly, but neither of you noticed each other's.

"Well, I already had pears for dinner, but I will definitely eat them tomorrow!" you said, trying to break the awkwardness. He wouldn't look you in the eye for some reason, but instead looked at his feet. That's when the rain started to come down harder.

You decided to invite him in so he could get out of the rain. "Here, come on in while I put this is the fridge."

He just nodded and closed his umbrella, shaking it in the process. You watched him as he politely took his shoes and jacket off.

He stared at the empty room. "I don't get my furniture until next week, but you're welcome to take a seat on the carpet. It's more comfortable than you think." You said, exiting the room afterward.

You found your refrigerator and put the leftovers inside, then went back to where your company now sat. You took a seat next to Ludwig, who was looking around the room intently.

"So, you finished cleaning, I see." Germany said.

"What?" you responded. How did he know?

"I said, it looks like you finished cleaning the house. Looks...erm…nice."

"Thanks, I just finished not too long ago, then ate my pears, afterwards is when you arrived."

"Ah…" he managed to say, trailing off. He seemed stiff.

"Is he always like this?" you think to yourself. You wished the two of you could get past the classic "awkward stage" quicker.

The two of you sat in silence for a bit, before you came to a decision. You had nothing better to do, right?

"Would you like me to show you around?" you asked.

He nodded slowly, "Sure."

You both stood and brushed yourselves off.

"Well obviously this is the living room." You gestured towards the room. The both of you moved to the next room, which happened to be the kitchen. You watched the man's blue eyes travel the room. You couldn't read his emotions at all.

"And you said this was a cheap apartment?" he finally said, now obviously stunned. He went over to the freshly cleaned granite countertops and ran a finger down its body.

"I had the same reaction; back in (y/c) granite is a sign of wealth."

"Same with Germany." He said.

"I think it is in all countries but Italy apparently."

"Well it IS Italy I suppose."

"True."

The two of you continued to the next room: the dining room.

There wasn't any furniture, so it wasn't very interesting. The two of you soon move upstairs afterward.

You were about half way upstairs when you heard the sound of faint music. You could see that Germany could hear it as well.

"Oh no, I left my music on!" you thought.

You bit your lip. "I'll be right back!" You said, running ahead and disappearing around the corner. You quickly switched it off and headed back to the stairs, which Germany was now finished climbing. You rejoined him and showed him the guest bedroom, bathroom, and last but not least, your room.

You looked upon the room along with Germany. The blankets of your make-shift bed were neatly folded. Next to them sat your empty pear can with the fork sticking out of the top. Your eyes fell on your nicely folded clothes in the corner.

"Wait what?" you thought looking down. You realized you were still wearing your cleaning clothes. You internally moaned "Uuugggghhhh how embarrassing!" Germany didn't seem to mind though as he stepped into the room, examining it thoroughly. You followed, more self-conscious than before, and showed him the room. That's when he spotted Feliciano's blanket.

"Isn't that Italy's blanket?" He asked

"Mhmm, he gave it to me on the airplane. I fell asleep and I guess I looked cold. That's how he and I met."

The German nodded.

Once finished, both of you headed back down stairs and took your spots on the carpet. It was silent once again until the German cleared his throat and spoke.

"(f/n)?"

"Yes?"

He looked like he regretted starting what he had to say. "Don't you worry about living here? It…it doesn't seem very….safe."

You sat there in silence for a moment before raising your gaze to meet his. "…Yeah I do, but now that I know more people around here like you, Feliciano, and Suzanne, I feel more secure. "

"Wait, Suzanne, the women who runs the fabrics shop in the market?"

"Yeah, how did you know?! I met her this morning, she's very nice and we became instant friends. How do you know her?"

"Feliciano knew her when she was younger, I stop and talk to her once in awhile, but she doesn't know that I'm a country or anything. Sometimes it's just easier when people think you're normal."

You felt a pang on the inside. It would be really hard to be a country, they have a lot of responsibility, and people rely on them for a lot. You suddenly admired this man for what he did.

"So it is true…." You muttered.

The blue eyed man gave you a puzzled look.

"So it's true you guys don't age right?" You further explained.

"Partially, we just age really slowly. We die if our country does. That's pretty much it. I'm around what you call 20; so are Italy and Japan. But other nations who have been around longer like France or England are around 25. Most of the allies are younger than them though." he answered.

"Allies?"

"Yes, America, England, France, China, and Russia."

"Ah…"

"Mhmm…." He trailed off again.

He seemed to be loosening up and quickly found another topic to switch to. You didn't mind, you couldn't really think of anything to say.

"If I recall, you are painting your house tomorrow, correct?"

"That's right." You said, playing with the carpet.

"Same color, or are you going to change it?"

"I'm going to keep it the same color, I like it a lot. It just needs a touch up job is all."

"Can't disagree there…" he said.

"Do you know of a paint store around here?" You asked, remembering that you don't know where to start.

"Yes, there is one just beyond the supermarket; it conveniently opens at the same time as well."

You groaned and he shot you a quizzical look.

"It's a long walk."

"It is not that long of a walk."

"Ya huh."

"I think you could just use some exercise." He responded tersely.

You gave him a quick shove, "No way, I'm just lazy is all."

He went quiet once again. You could hear the crickets chirping outside when he spoke up.

"Would you like to do training with Italy, Japan and I?"

It seemed to be a sudden question and he looked away, his face slightly red. You remembered Italy mention it shortly at lunch. He didn't say a whole lot about it, so it didn't seem like a bad thing so you responded, "Sure." Besides, you ran on the track team at your high school, what could be worse?

He nodded when you thought of a good idea.

"On one condition." You said, looking the German straight into the eyes.

"And what is that?" He asked, in his thick German accent.

"I will do training with you if you help me paint my house tomorrow. If you want, Feli and Kiku can come too."

He thought out loud.

"I don't think I have any plans, I completed Italy, Kiku's and my paperwork before I came to Italy…"

"Why do you do other countries paperwork?"

"Well, Italy isn't smart or focused enough to get his done, and Kiku helps me a lot so I do his paperwork in return."

"Oh…How long are you in Italy for?"

"Well I was just going to stay until a week for now, but the following week is a world meeting at Italy's house; America called and reminded us of it this afternoon. So probably two weeks from now."

You suddenly felt sad, "Two weeks isn't enough time to get to know this man." You thought disappointed.

You suddenly asked, "What's a world meeting?"

"All of the country personifications gather and discuss world issues; though we never get anything done. Everyone is always arguing over something, even I can't keep order for long."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I seem to be the only country who wants to get something done. I often have to yell over everyone, but that never helps, they just go back to arguing." He said, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Ah…"

"So, after that you go back to Germany, correct?"

"Correct."

You decided it was time to start the conversations now. "What's your house like? Is it as extravagant as Feli's?"

"No, mein house is much more modest than his. It has three bedrooms and two baths, so about normal sized I would think.

He continued listing off features of his house blandly, and a little too seriously. However, you didn't give up the opportunity to look at his facial features. The whole time you had known him, Germany always had his eyebrows furrowed from his irritation. You wondered what he was always frustrated with. He never relaxed it either, so it was safe to assume he was always like this. For what unpleasantness was brought from the eyebrows was made up in his beautiful eyes. Even though they never sparkled to show emotion or interest, they still made him attractive. His strong jaw moved forcibly as he talked, and his white teeth shone through every so often. His angular nose was a little on the larger side, but you thought it made him look even better. You noticed he slicked his hair back, compared to earlier when his hair was soaked and hung in his face. You were suddenly tempted to run your hands through it so it hung in his face again. You shook your head to rid of the thoughts and concentrate on what the man was saying, but you were too late.

He finished his description of his house and cleared his throat once again. He stood, and that's when you noticed how much taller this man was than you. You stood too, copying the blue eyed man.

"Well I had better get going, it's getting late." You looked at the clock, which read 9:36pm. Germany had been over for about an hour now.

His cell phone went off, startling you both. He picked it up swiftly.

"Hallo?"

Silence as the other person talked, then Germany spoke again.

"Yes, I'm still alive, Italy, I was just talking with (f/n) is all."

Another silence.

"No, I said I'm fine! If I were dead, would I be talking to you at this moment?" the Germany raised his voice a little, clearly getting agitated.

More silence.

"Yes, I'll be home soon, I was just getting up to leave now."

There was one last silence before Germany said his goodbye.

"Yes, bis später. " The man said finally before hanging up.

You recognized he used German to end the conversation.

The blue eyed man walked over, grabbed his jacket, and tied his dress shoes before standing curtly.

He turned to talk to you. "What time should I come around tomorrow?"

You shrugged and thought for a bit, "Ummm...is 8:30am ok?"

"Sounds gut, see you then." And with that, he opened his umbrella and let himself out into the dark night. You watched him go to his car, back out of your driveway, and disappear down the street for the second time that day.

You immediately turned the lock, flicked the lights off and headed upstairs to take a shower. You were beat from such an eventful day. Grabbing your pajamas and a towel, you headed for the bathroom. You also snatched soap, shampoo, and conditioner from your bag. Next you stripped off your sweaty dirty cleaning clothes off and entered the shower. Then something occurred to you.

"Wait, where is the washer and dryer here?" You thought. You shrugged; you could find them tomorrow. It was a little late now, with you being naked and it being 9pm.

After your shower and bedtime ritual, you settled down under Feliciano's blanket and quickly fell asleep.

Key

(y/c)= your country

(f/n)= first name

Translations

German

Mein= my

Bis Später= see you later

Gut=good