*Special thanks of specialness to Extended Experience and Luvrainluv and turtlehoffmann2251and mechanicalkokoro! *returns internet hugz* You guys made me so happy and gave me the motivation to continue my story! :) I-I'm really bad at thanking people. 0_0' Anywho, HUGZ! *more hugz you probably don't want but I'm giving you anyway* So, today, you all will be learning about how Italians eat. The restaurant is based on, name-wise, a restaurant I saw in Princeton and the actual place is based off a restaurant my teacher went to. Enjoy!*

"Aaaaaaaand here we are!" I stretched my arms out and motioned to the Mezzaluna. "Ain't it cute?"

It was a nice sized building with café tables out front. White painted letters stood out against the black sign nailed above the door.

"I guess," Kai shrugged, but I could tell he was holding in his excitement. "So, where's that friend of yours…?"

"Ah, there he is." I gave a running start and slid into a chair. "Hey~! We're over here~!" I waved my hand over my head.

Italy, who was waiting for us by the door, smiled and walked over, taking the seat next to me.

"Hi."

"…That's it?"

He blinked. "What's it?"

"I usually get more than a hi."

Before he could reply, Kai fell back into the chair on the opposite side of me. "Hey."

Italy sighed and tapped his foot underneath the table awkwardly.

"Oh…Oh!" I quickly punched my dad in the arm as hard as I could. "Stupid!" I whispered. "You made him feel bad earlier today!"

"How?!" he hissed. "I didn't say anything bad."

"I can hear you," Italy said tonelessly.

"…" I sat up and sniffed. "Sorry."

Before the awkwardness could continue, our waiter strode up elegantly to our table and placed menus in front of us. "Buona sera. Ecco il menu."

We all muttered "thanks" in random languages.

"Desiderano un antipasto?"

"Ugh…my Italian's a little rusty," Kai groaned, holding the menu close to his face to hide hisembarrassment. "He said something about appetizers, I think."

"He asked if we wanted one," Italy smiled.

"I don't want anything," I declined. Italy glanced at the waiter and nodded. "I mean, uh, non…per me?"

The waiter laughed. "Certo. E tu, signori?"

Kai shook his head and focused more on the menu. "Can we just order dinner now? Seriously, I starved myself until nine. I deserve food."

"Yeah, yeah." I set my menu down. "Italy, can you tell the waiter we want to order our main course now?"

He nodded and said something to the waiter. The waiter took out a pad and pen.

"We should get a bottle of wine," I suggested. "For while we wait for our food."

Italy looked up from his menu.

"I'll drink in moderation," I grumbled icily.

"Sounds good to me," Kai agreed. "And I'll take pasta."

"Me too."

Italy translated our orders and the waiter nodded politely, striding off to another table near us. We were all consumed by an awkward silence.

"Oh!" I said suddenly. "I introduced Dad to the Allies." I leaned in so Kai wouldn't hear and whispered, "I lied that America and Britain were gay for each other so he wouldn't think they were my boyfriends."

I giggled, entertained by the memory, but Italy just gave me a deadpanned expression.

"You lied about that?" he asked.

"Well, yeah."

"Oh, Go-" He burst into laughter and held his face in his hands. "I thought that was true! I thought they really were together!"

"What?! Seriously?" I stifled more giggles to avoid being rude, but I couldn't help it.

"With the way they constantly hang around each other? Of course!" Italy rested his head on his hand. "I'm still not convinced they don't have something going on. They seem to have too many couples' fights for something not to be happening."

I covered my mouth with my hand. "You're so weird!"

"Don't tell me you've never had the same thought at one point." Italy nudged me playfully.

Kai stared at us expressionlessly. "…Whatever. Oh! Schnaddadeng!Look!" He jabbed a finger across the street. My idiot brother was doing a little window shopping with none other than Prussia.

"The heck?" I quirked an eyebrow. "What are they doing?"

"I didn't even know Paulo was friends with him," Italy frowned. "Wonder when they started hanging out."

"Yeah…" I drummed my blue-painted fingernails on the table thoughtfully. I knew for a fact Paulo knew Prussia. They'd seen each other before. I think I even introduced them at one point. But I never knew that they were getting chummy.

"Finally!" Kai let go of his menu and let it topple onto the tablecloth. The waiter walked over with a bottle in his hand. He set down three glasses and poured some of the liquid in and left the bottle before wandering off again.

Drink in moderation, I warned myself. I eyeballed Kai's already emptied glass. Hopefully it doesn't run in your genes…

I hesitantly sipped some of the wine and gagged. "It's kinda strong…"

"You should drink it," Italy encouraged me with a smirk. "Your fun when you drink too much."

I wadded up my napkin and chucked it at him. It hit him in the face and he tossed it in the center of the table. I sighed and glanced at Kai. He was pouring more wine into his glass.

"Having a second one?" I asked kiddingly.

"Fifth!" he declared proudly.

"Fifth?!"

"Oh-ho yes!" He leaned back in his chair and put his feet on the edge of the table. "Ah…what a weird feeling! It's all buzzy and stuff."

"His speech is slurred," I moaned to Italy. "He's wasted, isn't he?"

"Whatever you want to call it," he replied in a worried tone.

"Can I bring this home!?" my pathetic excuse for a father asked. He snatched the bottle and held it close to his chest. "I feel so good~!"

"I'm sorry," I sighed to Italy. "He's probably going to ruin this."

"No, no, it's fine," he said, waving a hand in my direction without taking his eyes off Kai. "This is fun."

I grimaced when I looked back at Kai, singing a song in German with a few choice words I could pick out from my foreign experiences. (And by "foreign experiences," I mean what Germany says when Italy makes him get captured. I learn so much from these guys!)

Kai tilted his head left and right, trying to pick out what to sing next. He giggled airily and began to lament in- wait, what the-?!

"Is he singing in Japanese?" I gasped. "Dad, how do you know Japanese?"

"Vocaloid n' manga n' stuffs." He clasped his hands next to his cheek. "Rin Kagamine~!"

"Dad, don't go getting butterflies from a fourteen-year-old robot," I scolded. "People are gonna think you're a weirdo."

"Don't go scoldin' your father like that, ye stupid mädchen…" Kai lost his balance and toppled off his chair onto the concrete.

"See?" Italy grinned. "Fun!"

"I don't think we're gonna make it to the actual entrée," I groaned. "I can't take much more of this." I held my glass out to Italy grimly. "Hit me."

"We're home~!"

I'm pretty sure poor Romano heard my dad's drunken call 'cause he opened the door with a dissatisfied look before he even saw us. Italy had each of our arms around his shoulders, balancing us so we didn't fall.

"Ha!" I groggily held up an empty glass with the rim shattered. "I beat'cha ol' man! You suck at drinking contests!"

"Shaddap!" Kai snapped. "I drank, like, sev'n more bottles than you. So suck it!" He sniffled sudden. "WHY, ELLIIIIIIIIE?!"

"Wasn't Ellie that Asian chick who dumped you?" I sneered.

I felt a hand grab the collar of my jacket and yank me inside, shutting the door in Italy and Kai's faces.

"Alright, what happened?" Romano groaned, locking both locks on the door.

"I couldn't take my dad!" I moaned. "He wouldn't shut up! So, I…y'know…" I tossed my glass over my shoulder and it shattered against the wall. "…eased the pain."

"Please, please tell me you didn't do anything stupid," he pleaded, holding his face in his hands.

"Erm…" I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "Paulo and Prussia are dating!"

My boyfriend glanced up from his hands. "What?"

"They're datin'!" I sang. "Together, shopping, in public." I clapped my hands together. "Dating!"

Romano rolled his eyes and grabbed my hand, dragging me upstairs. "Explain this to me when you're sober."

*Imma sorry! D: Rapid fire excuses, ready, go! I'm bein' homeschooled now, I'm finishing up my physical therapy, I'm studying my Italian, I'm pre-starting another FanFic, etc. Grazie for being so patient! And if you're wondering about that cliff-hanger where HRE was gonna kill Doitsu over Ita-chan, we worked that all out.

Holy Rome: TYING ME UP AND HANGING ME FROM A TREE IS NOT WORKING IT OUT!

Oh, Holy Rome, do I have to stuff a rag in your mouth? :)

Holy Rome: …If I could curse, I would say so many things right now…

But you can't cuz I don't curse! :D I am an angel. So, if you check the comments, you'll see I actually thanked somebody for critiquing this story. That's because this was just an experiment and I didn't expect it to be…well…GOOD. So feel free to tell me what you do and don't like and I'll do my best. I'll try to update as soon as I can! :D

K bye.