This was bad…this was so, so bad.

The red stain was steadily growing. With each tick of the clock in the other room, with each heartbeat, he watched the stain inch along Italy's torso. Ripping his attention up from the blood, Germany could feel the blood drain from his face as he caught sight of the normally lively Italian's face.

It was as white as a corpse; every ounce of color (of life) was gone. He had seen people this white before. Their bodies had been mangled though, with shattered bones and bullet holes riddling them. They hadn't been alive, though those who hadn't closed their eyes…he had seen the absolute agony in their eyes. Was Italy in pain? It was a stupid question to ask, what, did he suddenly turn into an imbecile? Italy was bleeding; of course he was in pain!

"Vehhh~? Well, I guess I am!" Italy said cheerily, glancing down at the red stain blossoming across his torso. He gave a shrug, but couldn't bite back the small whimper when he moved. Even the smallest movement, Germany saw, seemed to be causing him pain. "Anyway Germanyyy, can I come in now~? I just thought of some pasta you might like~! I'll even add your wurst into it!" Italy beamed at him, though his normally cheery voice was quieter…strained.

"J-ja," Germany whispered, stepping back and out of the doorway, mentally running over every bit of first aid he had in this house. Why hadn't he noticed this earlier? Why had he been so bullheaded and decided to slam the door? It was his fault Italy had gotten hurt! He had sent the Italian away, hadn't he thought about how the other man might react? He didn't know what had happened earlier today, but right now, the thought of Italy…of him losing Italy…oh Gott, he was going to be sick. "No pasta right now though. First you're going to explain to me what happened. And I will bandage you up," after a moment Germany added gruffly, "and decide if I should toss you out of my house or not."

Making a disgruntled expression, Italy pushed himself off of the beam he was using for support. He got a step, before the smaller man swayed, and fell into Germany. "O-oh, I'm sorry Germany!" Italy mumbled into his chest, making a weak attempt to get off of the other man, and only sliding down further, a soft pained sound coming from him.

Eyes widening in alarm, Germany gently picked up the smaller man, striding over to the couch and laying him down; cutting the shirt off. "Italy, talk to me, what did you do to get yourself hurt like this?" Germany asked, trying to give Italy something to focus on. The other man had somehow lost even more color, and the wound wouldn't stop bleeding. Hell, Germany couldn't even tell where the wound began, or if there was more than one!

"Well, beh, I don't know exactly where to start! I guess it was after I was done thinking about what you had said~. Those words made me sad, but I figured out they were true!" Italy took on a horrified expression now, small tears budding up in the corners of his eyes. "I'm sorry I've been so worthless Germany! I'm sure you would have won more fights without me! Anyways though, yeah, after that I decided to become the best ally to you! And I knew that you didn't think you were going to win that fight! So I decided to help you!" Nodding eagerly, a soft whimper escaped Italy when Germany pressed down on the wound.

"Keep going, Italy. I want to know what happened," Germany muttered, his frightened blue eyes focused on patching up Italy. He could fix this. He was brother of the (self-proclaimed) awesome Prussia. That meant he had to have some awesome in him. And he was going to use that awesome to save Italy! He could not fail in this task; this wasn't going to become just like his nightmares.

"Well! It turned out that Mr. Big Hat was more than willing to take me in! I told him about what you had said, and he told me I needed to get revenge for those hurtful words and tell him what I knew about you! Your weak points, your flaws and your strengths, that sort of thing!" Abruptly Italy gave a slight giggle. "I learned there were some strengths and weaknesses he didn't want to know though! In fact he turned this amazing shade of green! Like a pepper!" Harsh coughing escaped Italy now, a grimace flashing across his face.

"So I told him! Only, I think I mixed some things up! But that didn't matter because I had a plan! Veh! It was an excellent plan too! You see, when they were all eating, I put some stuff in their food that Russia gave me!" Another laugh escaped the Italian now, before he seemed to forget about what he had been talking about.

"Russia gave you something? Wait, never mind, that isn't important now," Ludwig said with a sigh. In all honesty, the large man wasn't paying that much attention to Italy's story, a different horror was unfolding in front of him. He had finally gotten the wound cleaned up, but under the blood was something even scarier. Just looking at the wound…no, he wasn't going to go down that road. He could fix this, and he was going to fix this. "Continue your story, Italy." Germany ordered when a moment of silence stretched on, each tick of the clock agitating him. Time was running out, damn it, why wasn't he ever good enough? Why did he have to go and mess up all the time!

"Oh! So yeah! And then I told them all sorts of scary stories about you! I told Mr. Big Hat too! And then he turned this funny white color and puked. I was so worried about you during the battle! I wouldn't be able to stand it if you got hurt. Nu-uh! I knew the big and scary Germany couldn't get hurt though! And then I told Mr. Big Hat about that. And he drank a lot of wine! After that he threw up. And then his soldiers were all throwing up and they left!" Italy was beaming like an idiot at this point: he had lost all sensation of pain.

Shit shit shit. If he's lost sensation of pain…

Abruptly, Germany leaned forward and put his lips to the Italian's. Desperation tinged his kiss as he sought to find a way to bring back some sort of feeling to the Italian. A surprised squeak could be heard, before he felt warm lips against his. For a few heated moments, Germany just sat there like that, kissing his love. He had been so foolish, thinking that he could protect him, when the safest place for Italy was right by his side. Where he could watch him at all costs, that was where he belonged.

Ever so slowly, Germany pulled back from Italy, blue eyes meeting golden for a few moments. A smile was playing on Italy's pale face, and he seemed…he seemed happy. "Did I do well, Germany? Did I help you?" He whispered, eyes searching Germany's blue almost fervently.

Fighting back a choked sound, Germany gave a nod. "Yeah, Italy, you did better than you ever could have imagined." Germany whispered. The bandages were red again. Drawing in a breath that was borderline shaky, he gave the Italian a soft smile.

"Hey Germany," Italy said blearily.

"Yes, Italy?" Germany asked, pulling the other man up so he was lightly embraced in his arms, clinging to him slightly.

"Can we make pasta tomorrow?" Italy's words were gradually getting harder and harder to understand, his eyelids fluttering as he fought to stay awake. "I'm really sleepy right now. Do you think I could sleep?" He asked, no, pleaded.

"One thing Italy," Germany murmured, "how did you get hurt?"

"Oh. Well, Mr. Big Hat figured out that I was a traitor. So then he attacked me. He only hit me once before…I got away though…it really hurt, Germany." A whimper escaped the other man as he buried his face into Germany's side. "I had to come back though. I had to make sure you weren't going to be mad at me anymore….Germany? Can I sleep now?"

Nodding his head ever so slightly, Germany gently rubbed Italy's back. "Yes, Italy, you can sleep." There was a moment of hesitation before Germany continued. This was going to be the last time he would ever be able to say these words to him. He wasn't going to…going to…let him die without hearing this. "Italy, ich liebe dich."

A smile graced Italy's face now, and a soft sigh escaped him as he settled into Germany's side. "Ti amo, Germany," the Italian whispered before there was silence. Not even the ticking of a clock could be heard.

Just like that, it was over. Anguish tore through Germany, as sobs seemed to tear him apart from the inside out. Hot, burning tears slid down his cheeks as he desperately clung to Italy. In a choked voice, he whispered 'I'm so sorry' over and over again, rocking the lifeless body back and forth. He was alone. And it was his fault. If he hadn't been so stubborn…if he had only acted differently…none of this wouldn't have happened.

And for the second time that day, Germany wept.