Title: Love's Aftermath

Pairings: Italy/Germany, Spain/Romano, Spain/Italy, France/Canada, England/America

Italy's pregnant, Germany's gone missing and Romano just won't quit, have these kids STILL not got their act together?

Chapter 5 - Second Best

Italy was nervous, to say the least, it had been steadily increasing everyday. Germany had noticed, but assumed it was just pregnancy anxieties, Romano had been far too nervous himself for some reason to even pick up on his brother's constant edginess. Italy was sure he and his brother were both nervous about the arrival of the same person, but both for entirely different reasons.

Spain had called that Friday night, to confirm his visit on Saturday morning, Germany had been somewhat pleased and grateful for the Spaniard's appearance, Italy and Romano however had been on edge ever since receiving the news. Italy of course, for obvious reasons, despite knowing Spain would never tell Germany what had happened between them, he couldn't help but worry that something might give it away. What if Spain kept giving him awkward glances? What if Italy couldn't look him in the eye? Would Germany pick up on these things? Would he be able to work out something happened?

Maybe he was just being paranoid, maybe it would be fine and he and Spain could be friendly with each other like they always were and no secrets would have to come out. Although Italy didn't quite understand why Romano seemed just as, if not more, nervous than he was about Spain's visit. However his brother seemed more concerned with what he was going to say to the Spaniard, rather than what might happen, just the other day Italy had passed Romano on the stairs and could have sworn he heard him muttering to himself, as if rehearsing something.

That Saturday morning Italy was sat opposite Germany in the arm chair of their living room, he'd deliberately not sat beside the German on the sofa as he usually would, for fear that his leg would start jiggling, an old nervous habit, and Germany would feel it and ask him what was wrong. The German however didn't seem to notice Italy's reluctance to sit beside him, he didn't have much anticipation for Spain's visit, just sat comfortably, sipping coffee and reading the paper like he did everyday. Romano swept past them, biting his knuckles slightly, he gave a quick glance at himself in the mirror above the fireplace before he ran back upstairs, Germany slowly lowered his newspaper, quirking an eyebrow, "Has he gone to change outfits again?"

Italy nodded, "I think so."

Germany shook his head, "That must be the third or fourth time now...does he really think Spain cares that much about what he wears?"

Italy shrugged, "He wants to impress him..." he said softly, crossing one leg over the other, absentmindedly playing with his shoe laces to distract himself from the butterflies in his stomach.

"I thought he hated him...they broke up didn't they?" Germany asked, trying to think back to their time at the academy, it wasn't that long ago but he was already struggling to remember who was with who and who wasn't...he was pretty sure it was only Spain and Romano who had broken up...although didn't that Switzerland guy get hitched with that music teacher and they ran off together? He couldn't quite remember, he was sure Japan mentioned it a few weeks ago.

"Sì...but they still like each other, I think Romano wants him to be his boyfriend again." Italy tugged at the laces, biting his lip as guilt was beginning to burn in his stomach.

Germany nodded slowly, going back to his paper, "Well good luck to them, maybe if they got back together Romano would finally leave us alone."

"That's not nice Germany, Romano lets you sleep on the sofa now."

"I know..." Germany sighed softly, feeling slightly mean, Romano had been a lot better recently, mostly because he was a bit too depressed to care what they did, however that didn't mean he was supportive of their relationship, "...but he still doesn't want to accept that we're together Italy."

"Maybe he will once the baby's here..." Italy said softly, hands making their way to his stomach.

Germany watched him, biting his lip slightly, "We still need to talk about that..." he said, his voice kept low as Romano came back downstairs again, this time wearing his woolly jumper Spain had got him, with the giant 'R' knitted on the front.

"Damnit..." he muttered when he saw himself in the mirror, not an angry mutter, more a soft, saddened one.

Italy looked at his brother sadly, "Romano you look nice."

Romano scowled, turning away, "No I don't! I look stupid..." he grumbled, tugging off the jumper again over his head, growling slightly as he messed up his hair, "God damnit!"

"Romano calm down fratello! Spain will think you look pretty."

"This has nothing to do with that bastard!" Romano snapped, going bright red, yet continued to attempt to fix his hair in the mirror.

"Ja, right." Germany rolled his eyes, going back to his paper.

Romano glared at him, grabbing a pen off the coffee table, hurling it in Germany's direction, "Shut up." he growled, snatching the jumper before storming back upstairs.

"What time did Spain say he'd be here?" Italy asked quietly, glancing worriedly at the clock on the wall behind Germany.

Germany checked his watch, "Hmm...any minute now I suspect, he said he'd be here at eleven."

Italy nodded slowly, it was a few minutes past eleven, he bit his lip, trying to calm himself down. Germany was incredibly good on picking up on Italy's emotions, he knew that if he even showed the slightest bit of anxiety around Spain, he would know something was up, and if he pressed on at him, Italy would spill everything to him and their relationship would be done for.

Italy jumped violently as the doorbell suddenly chimed, he wasn't off to a great start, Germany quirked an eyebrow as he got up to answer the door, "That'll be him...Romano! Spain's here." he called up the stairs before tugging open the door, "Hallo Spain."

"Hola!" Spain grinned his usual trademark grin, "I haven't seen you in so long Germany!" he leant forward to hug the German, commenting on how long it had been and where did you go? As well as regaling him with all the latest news from Hetalia academy, Italy could hear something along the lines of, England and America had been walking funny (which made Spain laugh), Spain was sure Japan and Greece had had sex as they'd started sharing a room now and he could have sworn something was going on with Estonia and Latvia.

Italy sat perfectly still, heart pounding nervously as he listened to his boyfriend and Spain exchanging friendly banter in the hall. His leg started jiggling uncontrollably, he had to stand before it would give away his nervousness, he knew that if he wanted to seem normal he should do what he normally would, rush out with his arms wide open for a hug, but he didn't want to. If anything, he just wished Spain would leave, it would make the whole thing a lot easier.

Eventually the two chums joined Italy in the living room, Italy managed a weak smile as Spain went over for a hug, "Hola amigo..." Spain said softly, gently and very briefly hugging the Italian. Italy caught Spain's eyes as they pulled away and he blushed heavily, looking anywhere but him. Germany, thankfully, was busying himself with his newspaper, folding it away.

"Would you like a drink Spain?" he offered, as he wandered towards the kitchen.

"Urm...just water would be fine, gracias." Spain smiled sweetly at the German until he disappeared into the kitchen, then his head shot back to look at Italy, "So..." Italy bit his lip, glancing up at the Spaniard briefly before turning away again, taking a step back from him. Spain sighed softly, "I take it you haven't told him we slept together..." he whispered so quietly he wondered if Italy had even heard him.

Italy cast a worried glance at the kitchen before shaking his head, "No...and he doesn't suspect anything."

Spain nodded, "Okay, that's good." the Spaniard smiled slightly, trying to clear the awkwardness in the air, "...are you doing okay?"

Italy shrugged, "I go to the bathroom a lot now."

Spain burst out laughing, gently hugging the Italian, "Aww Italy...you poor soul." he grinned, gently ruffling his hair, happy mood resuming it's place as Germany came back in with his glass of water, "Gracias."

Germany handed him the glass, gently taking Italy's hand, "Are you okay Italy? You seem a little red." he pressed his other hand against Italy's forehead, biting his lip in concern.

Italy pulled away slightly, blushing even deeper which wasn't helping the situation, "Sì I'm fine." he smiled reassuringly, reaching up to kiss Germany's cheek, resulting in an 'awww' to emit from the Spaniard, and Germany's cheeks to match the same colour as Italy's.

A quiet cough suddenly sounded from the living room door and they all turned to see where it had come from. Romano was stood outside, head poking through the door only slightly, just enough so he could see them all, "Ciao..." he muttered quietly, halting the conversation between the three of them as they all stared at the Italian, you'd have had to have used a butcher's knife to cut through the tension in the room.

Spain gazed across the room at his ex, biting his lip slightly, "Hola..." he said softly, filling the awkward silence, if anything just enhancing it.

Romano caught Spain's eyes briefly before looking away again, hands still clutching the door as he resisted the urge to slam it shut and not have to look at them, "Spain could we talk?" he blurted out suddenly, inhaling sharply as he waited for a response.

Spain looked at Romano carefully before nodding, "Sì..." he slowly followed Romano out into the hall, when the living room door closed on Germany and Italy the amount of tension between the Italian and the Spaniard just about doubled as they stood in front of each other, neither being able to look the other in the eye. Eventually Spain cleared his throat, heart thudding nervously in his chest as he spoke softly to Romano, "How have you been?"

Romano shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest, eyes focused on the floor, "I've been okay...how about you?"

"Si I've been well thanks." Spain smiled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly as the conversation had already fizzled out, "...are you urm...doing okay taking care of Italy?"

"It's Germany who mostly takes care of him." Romano admitted bashfully, "...but I still don't want to leave him."

Spain smiled in surprise, mostly due to the fact that Romano referred to the German as Germany, without adding bastard on the end, but also because of how sweet he was being, "...you've always been so caring to him."

"Sì...so have you, I mean...you stayed with him even when you didn't have to, and took care of him whilst I was away." Romano said, slightly ashamed of himself as he spoke, slowly gazing up at him.

Spain swallowed slowly, eyes darting away from Romano's face "...uhh..yeah..."

Romano didn't seem to notice, he bit his lip, keeping his eyes fixed on him as he built up the courage to say his next words. "...Spain?" he uttered softly.

Spain looked at him, "Sì?"

"I was just wondering...urm..." Romano blushed slightly as Spain's eyes fell on him, looking away, "...have you eaten yet?"

Spain furrowed his brows in slight confusion, "Not since breakfast this morning, why?"

"Well..." Romano crossed his arms tighter around himself, looking away, "I just...I was thinking you know...it's a nice day and all..." he nodded towards the soft sunlight shining through the windows, "...just figured we could, I don't know...go somewhere..." he glanced quickly at Spain before blushing heavily, "...have a picnic or something..." he mumbled quietly, red staining his cheeks.

Spain blinked at him in surprise, smiling slightly, "You mean...like a date?"

Romano cringed, biting his lip, "...something like that."

"Wow..." Spain grinned, slowly shaking his head in disbelief, "...to be honest I really wasn't expecting that from you Romano."

Romano sighed, closing his eyes briefly before slowly looking up at the Spaniard, "Well I just thought...thought we should talk about..." he trailed off, not sure how to put it, "...urm..."

"Us?" Spain asked quietly, gazing down at his ex.

Romano blushed, nodding slowly, "Sì..."

Spain smiled gently, his own cheeks going slightly pink, "...I'd like that."

Romano beamed suddenly, "Really?" he asked eagerly before blushing even deeper, turning away, "I mean...okay...just hold on one second." Romano disappeared into the living room and through to the kitchen, ignoring the questions from Germany and Italy as he went to grab the picnic basket he'd prepared earlier, on the way back he muttered something about taking Spain out, before rejoining the Spaniard in the hall, "Shall we go?"

Spain smirked slightly at the basket in his hands, "You've already made one? How come you were so sure I'd say yes?" he asked, expecting some kind of snappy remark about Romano having Spain around his little finger.

Instead, Romano shrugged nonchalantly, tugging open the front door, "I just...was hopeful." he muttered shyly, holding out his hand to Spain without looking at him. Spain smiled in surprised, gently taking Romano's hand they left together, softly closing the door behind them.

Italy watched his brother and Spain curiously from the living room window, "I think you're right Germany."

"Hm?"

"They're going to get back together!" Italy beamed happily, inwardly sighing in relief as he felt slightly less guilty now things were turning out okay.

"Good for them." Germany commented, watching Romano and Spain walk off down the road away from the house, hand in hand, "They broke up for a stupid reason."

Italy nodded, "Sì...Spain makes Romano so happy..." he said softly, gazing off into the distance as the two former lovers disappeared from view.

Germany came and sat next to Italy on the sofa, throwing an arm across his shoulders, "Ja, if Romano's happy, he's nicer to us...I hope."

Italy snuggled up into Germany's chest, lifting his legs up to lie across his lap, "Sì...but he's been nice to me."

"Ja...I know he has, but still, he could just go back to school if he wanted, I can look after you just fine." Germany smiled, gently kissing the top of Italy's head.

"Ve..." Italy smiled, nuzzling Germany's neck, "Maybe Spain will take Romano back to school."

"That'd be good, then I could take care of you in peace." Germany rested his hands against Italy's leg, rubbing them gently, "...at least then we could sleep in the same bed."

"That'd be fun!" Italy grinned, leaning forward to kiss Germany's cheek.

Germany smirked, holding Italy close, one hand gently caressing Italy's stomach, "Ja..." he sighed softly, glancing down at his hand, "Italy."

"Sì Germany?"

"We still need to talk about...this." he gently patted Italy's stomach.

Italy tilted his head to the side in confusion, "...the baby?"

"Ja, we still need to figure out what we're going to do with it." Germany sighed softly, gently lacing his fingers with Italy's, it'd been so long since they'd had the chance to talk alone they hadn't had the opportunity to really discuss it.

"I thought Romano said we were giving it away."

"Ja that is what he said, but it's not /his/ baby Italy, it's ours."

"Sì..." Italy said slowly, glancing down at his still perfectly flat stomach, "...what's that got to do with it?"

Germany sighed, "Italy, you need to decide what to do ja? If you don't want to give it away your bruder can't make you."

Italy shrugged, still gazing at his stomach, "I don't know..."

"Italy." Germany gently placed two fingers underneath Italy's chin, tilting his head up to look at him, "Whatever you want, give it away, keep it...I'll be happy with whichever you choose."

Italy bit his lip, shrugging again, "...I don't want to make you angry..."

Germany looked confused, "How would you make me angry?"

"If I pick the wrong one..." he mumbled softly, nuzzling his head into Germany's chest.

"Italy, there is no wrong one, I'm happy with whatever you choose...if you don't want it we'll give it away, if you want to keep it, we'll keep it."

Italy sighed, gazing up at Germany, "...I don't know Germany...what do you think?"

Germany was quiet for a moment, gently rubbing Italy's back, "I don't know either Italy...but it's early days yet, why don't we just wait a while ja? Decide then."

Italy nodded, gently pecking Germany's neck, sending shivers down the German's spine, "Okay...we'll think about it."

"Okay." Germany smiled reassuringly, gently bouncing the Italian on his knee, "You know Italy, we may have the house to ourselves for a while..."

A grin slowly made it's way onto Italy's face, "Sì..."

"We should make the most of this..." Germany whispered softly into Italy's ear, gently nipping at his earlobe, "...why don't we go upstairs and take a bath together?" he purred softly against Italy's skin.

Italy shivered, sliding his arms around the German's neck, "Sì, that's sounds amazing..."

~0~

Romano smiled nervously at Spain, fiddling with the lose threads on the picnic blanket that had been laid out on the soft grass in the local park. Spain returned the smile, leaning back against the trunk of the tree they were sat under, popping a cherry plum tomato into his mouth before offering the packet to Romano, who shook his head. He was far too nervous to eat.

Spain placed the packet down by the basket, grinning slightly at Romano, rubbing the back of his head slightly awkwardly as they had been sat it silence for a good few minutes now, just listening to the soft sounds of birds and the gentle rustling of trees around them. The Spaniard gazed at Romano, heart fluttering slightly in his chest as he took in the sight of his ex, in Spain's opinion, Romano had always looked gorgeous, whether he was all dressed up in his smart clothes with his hair neatly styled, or whether he'd just crawled out of bed in his tank top and boxers, hair sticking up all over the place. Right now however, it was somewhere in between, he was dressed casually yet still looked amazing. Sometime during their relationship Spain had told Romano he liked it when he wore open shirts that buttoned down to show his chest, with that thought in mind Romano had donned a light pink shirt that was unbuttoned just enough to cover his stomach, yet pretty much showed everything else. Every now and again a light breeze would gently waft the shirt, revealing one of Romano's nipples, Spain kept having to look away, inhaling sharply.

"You look nice." Spain said after another few moments of silence, smiling at the way Romano blushed yet he knew he was secretly thrilled by the compliment.

"Grazie." Romano muttered shyly, taking a sip from his water bottle, hand shaking slightly as he lifted it to his lips.

Spain looked slightly concerned, "Are you okay? Are you cold?"

"No I just..." Romano blushed slightly as water dribbled down his chin, he attempted to wipe it away with the back of his hand, the hand holding the bottle, resulting in him spilling water down his chest, "Ah! God that's cold..."

Spain chuckled slightly, taking the bottle away from him before grabbing a napkin, "Here..." he crawled over to Romano, gently dabbing at his exposed chest, wiping away the droplets of water that were slowly rolling down his tanned skin. Spain bit his lip, heart thudding nervously in his chest as his eyes refused to tear away from the beautiful glistening skin staring him in the face. He only looked up when he felt a soft pair of hands gently cup his face, tilting his head up to gaze into his eyes. Romano swallowed slightly, leaning forwards suddenly and catching Spain's lips with his own. Spain gasped softly, slowly closing his eyes and letting his lips part slightly, deepening the kiss.

Romano slowly pulled away, gently stroking his fingers down Spain's face, "Spain I need to tell you something." he whispered softly, gazing deep into the Spaniard's eyes.

Spain swallowed, heart hammering nervously in his chest, "You do?"

Romano nodded, "Sì...it's...kind of hard for me to say..." his eyes darted away quickly before he forced himself to look at Spain again, slowly going red.

"...what is it?"

"Don't rush me!" Romano snapped before cringing, voice softening again, "Sorry...I just...I've never said this to anyone before, I'm kind of nervous..." he continued to softly stroke Spain's face, hands shaking slightly.

Spain continued to look dumbfounded until he eventually realised what Romano was going to say to him, his eyes slowly widened, "O-Oh..."

Romano blushed, nodding as he saw the realisation his Spain's eyes, "Sì...you've said it to be before, and...it made me really happy whenever you said it..." Romano confessed, looking away shyly, "...and I know it must have upset you that I never said it back, but the only reason I didn't is because I..." Romano bit his lip, softly pressing his lips against the Spaniard's once more, "...I wanted to be sure I meant it."

Spain bit his lip, heart rate increasing by the second, guilt starting to flutter in his stomach. He knew what Romano was going to say to him, he'd wanted to hear it for so long, but he knew there was something he had to tell Romano first, "Romano-"

"Let me finish." Romano interrupted, placing a finger against Spain's lips, steadying his shaking hand. He took a deep breath before he continued, "Spain...you're the closest thing I've had to a...a soul mate, you've just...always been mine...and I just...I don't want to lose you, even though I pretty much already have..."

Spain bit his lip, shaking his head as tears started to well up in his eyes, the guilt becoming unbearable, "Romano..."

Romano ignored him, his own heart was fluttering widely as he gazed into Spain's glistening eyes, still gently trailing his fingers down Spain's cheeks, "You were always right. I was such a jerk to you, and now I know why that is...it was because I was annoyed, not at you, at myself for..." Romano sighed, leaning in for another deep kiss, "...for letting myself feel this way about another person..." he gently wiped away a tear that was slowly making it's way down Spain's cheek, "...it's not something I'm used to and I wasn't sure I wanted to feel this way."

Spain bit down harder on his lip as it began to tremble, blinking rapidly to stop himself from fully breaking down, he tried to pull his head away from Romano's, he had to tell him, "Romano I need to tell you something-"

"No I need to tell you something Spain." Romano leant closer towards him as Spain leant away, grabbing hold of his hands in his own, "It's not easy for me to say this, but I...I know I've wanted to for a long time..." he inhaled deeply, his eyes gazing into the Spaniard's, "Spain, I-"

"I slept with your brother."

Romano stopped suddenly, his heart giving a painful thud in his chest as Spain's words slowly sunk in, but he must have heard him wrong, "W-What?" he asked in a shaky whisper, his hands dropping Spain's as if they'd become red hot.

Spain bit his lip, tears slowly making their way down his face as he saw the hurt look on Romano's face, "I slept with Italy..." he whispered quietly, voice filled with remorse.

Romano stared at Spain, feeling himself go numb, "...when?"

"...a few weeks ago...when you left us alone together..." Spain bit his lip, heart pounding nervously as he waited for Romano's reaction. The Italian just kept staring, mouth hanging open, emotions unreadable. Spain bit his lip, slowly reaching out to touch his arm but Romano pulled away sharply, Spain's touch burning his skin. "Romano I am so sorry..." Spain whispered, shaking his head, "Please, I know you're going to scream at me, and beat me up, so please just do it. I deserve it." Spain clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable pain that was about to come. He sat there, hunched over, eyes shut for almost a whole minute but nothing happened, slowly, the Spaniard opened his eyes, and what he saw wasn't a sight he'd expected to see.

Romano was sat, shaking uncontrollably, a waterfall of tears streaming down his face, cheeks stained crimson as he stared at the Spaniard, "Y-You slept with V-Veneziano?"

Spain bit his lip, it just about broke his heart to see Romano this way, there was no anger in his voice, just misery, "I'm so sorry Romano."

Romano choked out a sob, bringing his hands up to conceal his face, his whole body shaking as he cried, "I-It's always been this way."

"What?" Spain looked at him in confusion, reaching for the Italian, "Romano no! It's never been Italy, it's always been you."

Romano pushed him away, choking out another sob, "No! Not that...I mean with Veneziano..." Romano sniffed, rubbing his eyes furiously on the back of his hand, "All my fucking life, it's always been about him."

"...what do you mean?"

Romano shook his head, more tears making their way down his face, "Grandpa Rome always preferred him to me, he was always his favourite..." he sniffed, clenching his fists, "He was always EVERYONE'S FUCKING FAVOURITE!"

Spain winced, cowering away slightly, wanting to say something to make it all okay, wanting to reassure him that wasn't the case, "...he's not my favourite..." he said softly, daring to place a hand on Romano's knee.

Romano gave him a dark look, slapping his hand away, "That's not true though, is it?" he spat, shaking uncontrollably as he slowly got to his feet, and despite his anger Spain could see a rare vulnerability fill Romano's eyes, "...I've always been second best to him."

Spain shook his head desperately, trying to grab him as he started walking away, "Romano where are you going?" he called after him.

Romano spun back around, glaring at the Spaniard, "Where the hell do you think I'm going?"

Spain stared at him, eyes slowly widening, "Oh no, oh God no Romano you can't! I promised Italy that Germany wouldn't find out about this!"

Romano slowly shook his head, wiping away the tears that still clung to his damp cheeks, "Well you should have thought of that before you fucked him shouldn't you?" he growled furiously, turning back round and fleeing from sight.

Spain sat perfectly still on the picnic blanket, slowly coming back to his senses and realising what he had done. His eyes began to well up once more and soon tears were flooding down his face, dripping onto the forgotten remains of their reconciliation meal. Spain gently dabbed at his tears, chest still swollen with guilt as he looked off towards Italy's house that he could just make out in the distance, "Italy...I'm so sorry."

Spain's back! :D...and it all went up a certain creek without a paddle D:
Late posting recently, god I miss the summer holidays -.-

Reviews are love :)