"Why do we have to have a World meeting right at the start of the year anyway?"

Romano glanced around the room, most of Europe and the America's were hung-over, the Asian's were comparatively better off, but that was only because most of them would be celebrating later in the year.

The meeting went as could be expected, America had some ridiculous idea which was promptly shot down, France attempted to chat up anyone who glanced his way, Greece fell asleep, so Turkey woke him up by kicking his chair out from under him, and most irritating was the way that his stupid little brother was all over Germany as he tried to establish some sort of order.

The way his brother was all lovey dovey over that potato bastard made him sick, but it wasn't like attempting to stop it could do anything, so he was resigned to it. If he made a fuss, Veneciano would insist that he and Germany simply needed to know each other better, invite the idiot over to dinner, guilt trip Romano into coming to said dinner, then Romano would be subjected to an awkward evening of glaring at the potato bastard across the table. So, all in all, not worth it.

Romano looked at England, who was currently engaged in some sort of shouting match with America and France, and tried to think about what he knew about him that could help him.

He liked tea

He couldn't cook

Damn, he really should know more than that! He was actually a bit nervous about this, he hadn't actually tried to get anyone to like him since…well, it had been a while, and now that he didn't have that comforting haze of alcohol surrounding his mind, he didn't actually have a clue how he was going to do this.

The meeting finished without anything actually getting decided, but Romano hadn't expected a miracle. He stretched and said to Spain's enquiring glance "Go on without me, bastard, I'll find you later"

Spain frowned then realisation spread across his face "Ah, alright Romano, I see someone else has your attention"

This earned him a swift kick in the ankle. Still grinning, Spain limped out of the conference room. If Romano was getting irritated this early, it looked like he would win earlier than he thought.

England frowned as America came up to him as he was collecting up his notes

"Iggy! Hurry up, I want to go!"

"You don't have to wait for me America; I just don't want to forget anything"

"Oh yeah, I forgot your memory was slipping in your old age"

"It is not! Just go on without me if you're that impatient, git"

"OK, see you next time Iggy!"

"Don't call me that!"

America had already left however, his need for hamburgers driving him McDonalds-wards. England sighed; it wasn't like he would have paid attention anyway.

"How do you put up with that bastard?"

England turned to see…Romano, was it? The older Italy brother, although half the time, he didn't show up to these meetings, letting Italy handle all of the country's interactions.

"Huh? Oh, just…used to the git, I guess. Why?"

Romano paused. Honestly, he'd just grabbed on the first thing he could think of to start a conversation, and America had seemed a pretty safe target. Now though, he wasn't so sure, wasn't England protective over him a while back?

"J-just wondering out loud. He was being such a stronzo; I just wondered why you put up with it"

England scowled, secretly, he agreed with Romano that America was a…well, whatever Romano had called him it probably wasn't good. However, he felt he should still stick up for the lad; he was once his colony after all. Snapping at Romano probably would do more harm than good though, he doubted the Italian was fully aware of the situation.

"There are a number of reasons why I 'put up' with it Romano, mainly to do with our…shared history"

Damn. Obviously a touchy subject, Romano was beginning to regret ever mentioning America, the look in England's eyes was scaring him, and he began to remember the other things he'd heard about England, that he'd once been a pirate so fierce that even Spain had been scared of him. How to get England back on his side?

"Look, I didn't mean to offend you or anything. Can I make it up to you?"

"What?"

This England hadn't been expecting, from what he knew of Romano, he was an angry brat who seemed prone to violence, although as far as England had seen, the anger was mainly directed at Spain so he hadn't bothered to intervene.

Romano felt his face begin to flush, and hated the fact that he blushed so easily, Spain loved to tease him for it, and it was annoyingly efficient at revealing when he was trying to hide something.

"You like…tea, right? Can I get you some?"

England paused in thought, Romano found himself holding his breath, if England said no then…ugh, this was going to be difficult.

"Yeah, alright"

"Wait, what?"

"If you feel that bad about it, alright. There's a good place around the corner if that's fine with you?"

"Y-yeah"

What happened next was a bit of a blur to Romano. He was pretty sure the Englishman was just being polite, but he'd never expected him to actually accept his invitation. England walked ahead making conversation, to which Romano made noises to show he was listening, even though he was too stunned to take any of it in. And then they were in line at the café. When the hell had that happened?

"And for you?"

"Hmm?"

He looked up to the impatient face on the barista

"Err, Caffe Ristretto, per favore"

He needed something strong.

They took their drinks and went to sit. A newspaper at a neighbouring table twitched to better obscure the occupants from view

"Damn Spain, what did you teach that kid?"

"Oui, it took me years to persuade England to get that close to me"

Prussia and France turned to look at their Spanish companion who was staring at the two.

"Honestly, mis amigos, I've no idea. I thought England would blow him off for sure"

They continued their covert watching of the pair

"I don't know how you can drink it that strong and not be bouncing off the walls"

"I'm used to it, besides it doesn't affect you like that if you drink it slow. It's a matter of taste I suppose; I find tea puts me to sleep"

"It's more calming I suppose…although some of the teas that they drink in Asia have more of a kick"

Romano mentally kicked himself; they were talking about their drinks. Their drinks. He needed to move this conversation along somehow, but how?

"So why were you hanging about after the meeting anyway? I thought you would've left with Antonio?"

"I don't always follow that bastard around! It's more like he won't leave me alone, stupid grinning idiot"

"Oh, he smiles like that all the time? I thought he was doing it to annoy me"

"No seriously, the idiot smiles all the fucking time, it's like he got hit on the head or something"

The paper at the nearby table twitched again, behind it Spain staring had gone from confused to murderous, and the other two at his table were not helping

"Kesesesese, I guess they do have that in common!"

"Oui, we should have guessed it would be a hatred of you that would cause them to bond!"

The two nations continued their sniggering, unaffected by the death glare Spain was now sending them

"Seriously, he does that?"

"I blame those friends of his; he's bad enough on his own but those three…"

"Ugh yes, they cause so much havoc, half my efforts when it's my turn to host are spent trying to keep them apart"

The sniggering had stopped now, all three nations behind the table now glowering in the pair's direction. Somehow, they managed to stay calm enough to not be discovered as insult after insult was flung at them.

Romano was surprised, considering how hard it had been to start a conversation with the Englishman, now it seemed that they had no end of things to talk about. All too quickly for him though, England cast a glance at his watch.

"Ah, I'm sorry Lovino, but I'm going to have to go if I want to get back on time"

"No, no it's fine, I understand that"

"This was surprisingly fun though, we should meet up again sometime"

This definitely got the trio's attention; England was the one asking Romano?

"Y-yeah, that'd be good"

The two exchanged numbers and left. 10 minutes later the trio's table erupted as all three began cussing out the two who'd just left until the manager came and forced them to leave. This bet could cause more trouble than Spain and Romano realised…

OK, so people liked, so I wrote faster! This is my first time writing romance, so I apologise in advance for later chapters. Hope this lives up to people's expectations!

Brief note: In this, nation names are used unless the nations are in public or as a term of endearment, hence why England refers to Spain and Romano as Antonio and Lovino in the cafe.