Chap V – The Absolute Nightmare

AN: I'm back! Sorry for the long absence but I had a lot going on and no time to write much. I will update the rest of this story but other updates for other stories might go a bit slower. Enjoy~

Antonio growled in his sleep. His eyes flew open, red from the lack of sleep, and he glared angrily at the roof tent above his head, turning around in his sleeping bag. Alfred could have planned this trip better than have their hotel cancelled at the last minute! This whole trip seemed to have been seeded with problems, one after the other! As if some master mind of fate was purposefully making this trip impossible to bare! It was supposed to be a fun experience of one week! But now, that one week turned into a nightmare. A nightmare in the form of a blonde green eyed devil.

Who happens to be sleeping Right. Next. To. Him.

Antonio turned his head, the darkness unable to conceal the bright gold of his partner's hair, he easily located the sleeping Brit. They were just centimetres away. All the Spaniard had to do was stretch out his hand and he would be in reach of Arthur soft cool skin …

The feeling of Arthur's body surged back to Antonio's mind and all the complications that one mistake involved. Why could he not just forget about it all? It's not like he wanted to lean into Arthur's cool body, his pearly skin and his silk touch … it's not like he was too hot and itchy in his own sleeping bag, while Arthur looked so peaceful sleeping just half a meter away. It was almost like the blonde was mocking him! Sleeping so defenceless like that! Is he trying to tempt trouble?

Grunting, Antonio rapidly turned his back on the blonde, as soon as he felt an unwanted throb down south and a rush of heat course through his body. He was not going to get hard on a camping trip from just looking at a guy he didn't even like! That would be so sad and he is not this horny! Now, if it were cute Romano sleeping with him, Antonio would not have this problem! Romano is adorable! Like the perfect little brother with his red pouting cheeks and his glaring amber eyes. He was too cute! Nothing like the English bastard next to him! Arthur's absolutely nothing like Romano! They may have a similar personality but Romano is so much cuter and loveable while the Diablo Ingles is the personification of evil!

Groaning, Antonio bit his lip in anger. Yes. Evil was the word. The evil that tempts men into committing the most absurd follies and sins! Just by sleeping so close, Antonio would feel Arthur's presence and hear his soft breathing in his back. He heard some rustling and a body lean closer to him, touching his back. Antonio shut his eyes, praying he may survive this night without giving in to the evil. Devil he was, that witch! Able to make him yearn so much without even trying, Arthur must be Antonio's evil and weakness. Oh, how Antonio hated it!

And it was all Alfred's fault!

Earlier …

On their third day of the trip, the little group had eased itself from their rocky start, finally beginning to enjoy this road trip across the far west. They had divided into fixed groups, interacting with one another but you'd never see for example England with Spain alone or Romano with the Germans and such. As a whole it worked fine. Except Alfred and Kiku had a different agenda starting now!

As they arrived to their next stop, Alfred walked out with a bright innocent smile aimed at his guests and a discreet malicious smirk to his Japanese friend. Japan smirked back, pretending to be reading one of his mangas when he was in fact, keeping an eye on their friends' interactions with each other. Since Day One, Alfred and Kiku have been observing in curiosity the odd changes between certain nations. Obviously, everyone was surprised when Portugal declared he and England's new relationship. Many congratulated them but Alfred only kept his watchful gaze on Spain, noticing how the Spaniard looked extremely conflicted. On the one hand, it looked like Spain couldn't care less for the news, since he didn't like either his brother or England. But on the other hand, he was glaring vicious holes in his brother, side-glancing England with desire, betrayal and frustration. Overall, Spain's face showed confusion at his own feelings, like he wasn't completely agreeing with himself and was trying to shut out a part of himself.

Alfred turned over in his mind Spain and England's behaviour with one another over the past three days as the American walked to the reception of their hotel. It was obvious that Arthur felt something for the Spaniard but he looked reluctant and awkward around the tanned man, occasional hurt shone in his eyes as he and Spain exchanged nothing but civilities to one another, ignoring each other as best as they could. Spain, unlike England, didn't show hurt but anger and frustration, often glaring at Arthur behind his back, accusing and wanting at the same time. It's almost like he was blaming Arthur for making him feel so attracted to the Brit.

Alfred smirked, shaking his head in amusement. Luckily the hero is here to help! He beamed at the receptionist and spoke pleasantly to her with a gentlemanly touch he had picked up from England as a way to make people do whatever he wants without them realising that he's playing them. England is good a manipulating people! And Alfred's a fast learner!

"Hello there Miss! Would you be so kind as to do me a favour~?" The man purred, devious smile playing his lips.

Kiku glanced up as he spotted his friend return with a pleased grin. Obviously the plan went well. As Alfred returned to the bus, he plastered an apologetic smile on his face before speaking to his fellow nations.

"Hey guys … you'll never guess but we kind of got our rooms overbooked and cancelled …"

"WHAT?!" everyone aside from Japan roared in outrage. Moments later, the Japanese nation was whispering at Hungary before she could slam her frying pan in America's face. Belarus was short of slicing and dicing the American into tiny pieces with her knives but, luckily for Alfred, while everyone was complaining, Elisaveta and Kiku made a plan, dragging the reluctant Natalya along with them. Alfred mentally thanked Kiku. At least, "Death-by-sadistic-crazy-hysterical-girls" is not going to kill him today! But now, Elisaveta looked like she was going to join in on their plan, whether he wants to or not. Belarus couldn't care less since it didn't concern her brother.

"But hey! It's fine! We can just sleep at the nearby camping site! I managed to get us one room for the girls but the guys will have to camp out! I've prepared tents in case this happened!"

"But can't you arrange something with the hotel? You booked those rooms!" England argued.

"Yeah I tried but they only agreed to pay me back the money of the booking. So …" Alfred chuckled nervously under the deadly emerald gaze of his ex-care-taker.

"Are you telling me the truth?" Arthur hissed quietly.

Damn England and his 6th sense! Having raised America, England was pretty good at reading the other's intention. America had to struggle in order to keep a lie from England and usually it never lasted long. But this time, Alfred was determined not to let the blonde find out that he had bribed the receptionist into cancelling all his reservations.

"Of course I am! Why would I lie? I want a bed too, you know!" Alfred whined in his defence and almost smiled when he saw England sigh in discontent, giving up on interrogating the younger one further.

"Whatever you say …" Arthur mumbled, still convinced that Alfred was hiding something from them. But right now, he didn't care. He was pissed at the situation they were all in.

"So where's that camping site?" Germany inquired and Alfred was quick behind the wheel, wide grin on his face and he drove them to his second part of his plan.

"WHAT?!" for the second time, everyone yelled at the American.

"Well, it's not like I planned this to happen, you know!" Alfred sheepishly explained under the vicious glares of his friends.

"You're telling me that the tents are only big enough for 2 or 3 people and you don't have enough of them?!" England growled at the carelessness of his charge.

"Kinda …"

"You are unbelievable!" Arthur sighed in exasperation and counted the number of tents.

"How many tents do you have?" Germany asked the host.

"I've got 1 tent of 2 people and 3 tents of 3 people if we squeeze ourselves. The rest of us can sleep in the bus! The back seats turn into a bed but that means sleeping together! And there are also two side beds, smaller, on the sides of the bus. So about 4 people can stay in the bus."

Everyone seemed to ponder on who would be stuck in sharing a bed with another.

"Well, England and I can take the bus, right Arthur?" Portugal suggested with a wicked grin of excitement. England blushed and Antonio glared.

"I am not sleeping in a tent! This is absolute!" Austria spoke and already began walking to the bus.

"Right, so who else is going on the bus?" Alfred asked with a sly smile.

"Come on Arthur, let's go to bed!" Portugal began pulling his friend towards the bus but was stopped in his track by a strong grip on his arm.

"Absolutely not!" olive green eyes glared at the ocean blues.

Arthur looked back and forth between the two glaring brothers.

"Oh? And why not, darling brother? Does it bother you that I sleep with my lover?"

"Bother me? Hardly! You can have the Sea Witch all you want! But that bed is for me and Romano! I'm not letting my little tomato sleep on the hard ground when he could be in a bed!"

"Forget it bastard! I'm sleeping with my fratello!"

"Ve? But I wanted to share with Germany. Oh! We could share the three of us!"

"No way! I am not sleeping with a wurst eating bastard! Not him nor his stupid albino brother!"

"What do you have against us anyway, Italian brat?" Prussia snarled, getting irritated by Romano's categorical refusal. He didn't understand why but the way Romano was expressing his constant dislike of him made the Prussian feel hurt. Of course, he's too awesome to be bothered by some whining Italian brat!

"Well, whatever! Me, Francis and Antonio can take a tent for us!"

"No Bruder! If I leave you three together, God knows what you will spend the night doing!"

"You don't trust us, Ludwig?" Francis asked with a sly smile, making Ludwig blush and look away, coughing nervously as he answered.

"Not one bit! And I want to keep an eye on you too, Francis! So you don't bother other people!"

"Why only me? I'm charming!" Francis pouted angrily and it took all of Ludwig's will power not to kiss the pouting lips of his crush. He mentally was agreeing with Francis about the "charming" part but didn't dare speak his thoughts aloud.

"Ve! Then Romano and I can sleep with Mister Austria!"

"The piano bastard is already gone in the bus, stupido!"

"Oh! Let's go join him, Lovi!" Feliciano jumped in excitement at the idea of sharing the bus with his old care-taker. Poor Austria will soon regret his decision of taking the bus. Before they were out of earshot, Romano turned and pointed warningly at Spain.

"I'm warning you, bastard! I am not having you sleep anywhere near me! Got that?" And the Italian slammed the bus door.

China, Russia and Korea had already taken and settled in a tent further away, not getting involved in all the fussing about. Alfred boasted that he would be sleeping with his friend Kiku and the Driver (*sigh* Canada). The only two girls had already left for a warm room in the hotel, smirking maliciously at the guys' unfortunate circumstances, not feeling at all guilty. Before leaving, Elisaveta exchanged quick words with Kiku, both having a strange yaoi-crazed look on their faces before she was dragged away by an impatient Belarus. And with no additional words, Alfred handed the only couple tent left to Arthur and expectedly waited for him to walk to his spot with it and set it up. Ludwig was left to sleep with his brother and France, to his annoyance Prussia was scheming with his French friend on the best ways to make Ludwig's night a sleeping hell. But secretly, Ludwig couldn't help feeling extremely nervous and happy of sharing his tent with the French nation, to France's obliviousness.

That left Arthur to stare in shock at his folded tent, surrounded by two Iberian brothers glaring and arguing heatedly with each other. How did it end up like that?

Antonio held back a groan as he felt Arthur's smaller figure pressing softly against his back, sending delicious shivers of delight down the Spaniard's spine. How he hated the narrowness of this tent! Alfred had specifically explained that it was supposed to be a large tent for one person but could fit in 2 people if they squeezed. And squeeze Arthur did, though unconsciously.

Damnit! Antonio could feel his arousal grow hotter and harder with every movement Arthur made in his sleep, the close contact making it unbearable. Why could he not be in the bus with Romano, instead of here with the bewitching devil?

For a simple reason: When Spain attempted to enter the bus, Romano true to his word kicked him out plain and simple. Which left the trio no choice: Arthur was settled to sleep with Antonio and Portugal would go in the bus. Originally, neither Spain nor Portugal wanted to follow this solution, but when Arthur tried getting in the bus, Feliciano started crying that he would be getting nightmares if England slept with them so Romano kicked him out as well. That and Arthur had been concerned about leaving his lover and Spain together alone in the reduced space of a tent. They probably would have killed one another before morning. So Portugal reluctantly took the bus, not without glaring a silent warning to his brother should he lay a finger on his lover. Antonio had huffed mockingly, feeling smug and superior at the time, convinced that he would never feel anything more than disgust in sleeping with the blonde.

He changed his tune in the blink of an eye.

Antonio felt a sudden chill of excitement when Arthur's face rubbed gently against his shoulder blade and the blonde's breath settled softly on the back of his neck. God, why didn't Antonio put on any shirt to sleep? Yes, it was hot but having Arthur's lips pressing against his bare back was only making his own temperature rise! Antonio would almost think Arthur to be doing this on purpose if he didn't already know that Arthur is a cuddly person in bed. The blonde was completely oblivious to the turmoil he caused his partner. Groaning in frustration, Antonio shyly glanced back to the blonde's face.

He hated him.

He hated the soft gentle expression of the sleeping blonde. He hated the silky cold touch of his skin, refreshing his blazing hot body. He hated the shine of his golden mane that even darkness could not conceal. He hated the sharp glowing emeralds hidden behind those eyelids and long eyelashes that always made his heart beat faster. With time, Antonio managed to turn whatever remains of feelings he had for the blonde into pure hatred. Or so he thought. And he still believes it. After all, he hates Arthur. The fact that he also feels attracted to him doesn't change his hatred towards him.

Caressing Arthur's cheek softly, Antonio froze when the blonde leaned in his touch. Damn. Arthur was probably thinking that he was sleeping with João. He would never cuddle this much otherwise. For some reason, the idea that Arthur would be in such a compromising situation with his brother revolted the Spaniard. He felt a surge of anger and jealousy pump through his veins and his green eyes darkened into ones of a predator.

Leaning in towards the unconscious blonde, Antonio felt his heart beat so loud it threatened to rip open his ribcage. The blonde's moist pink lips were so close now and so delicious looking. Antonio gently pressed a kiss against those lips and retreated in less than a second. The shot of flavour that came with this half-a-second kiss was unbelievable and Antonio felt his lips burn and the beast inside him roar in need and want. He wanted more.

Pulling out of his sleeping bag, the Spaniard wasn't surprised to see his body in sweat. He was feeling hot just sleeping next to Arthur and it only was increasing by the second. He gently pulled down the zipper of Arthur's sleeping bag. The blonde moaned in discontent at the sudden movement and the loss of his heat (aka Antonio). A porcelain hand reached out and grabbed hold of Antonio's arm, pulling the taller man closer like he were a teddy bear. Antonio chuckled, amused by the reaction. He pulled off part of Arthur's sleeping bag, revealing to his lustful eyes the delicious treat he so desired. How he wanted to just roam his hands over the pale cold skin, cooling down his rising fever. How he wished to kiss those lips and make sweet moans answer him. How he wanted those emerald eyes to blink open and gaze back filled with the lust he was currently feeling.

Suddenly realising his train of thoughts, Antonio shot away from the blonde, to Arthur's unconscious discontent. He hadn't realised that he was admiring the blonde and had already started to caress Arthur's body. How did the blonde still not wake up!? How did Antonio let himself be so infatuated?! How will he ever get out of this situation?! He's never going to be able to sleep if this keeps up!

Looking back at the blonde, Antonio couldn't help his gaze to soften. As long as Arthur is asleep, it doesn't matter if Antonio lets down his defence. It doesn't matter if his olive gaze fills with love. It doesn't matter if he's gentle. It doesn't matter if he whispers sweet nothings to Arthur's ears.

It doesn't matter because Arthur will never know.

Nobody will know.

Nobody can know.

Antonio let out a defeated sigh. He really tried to hold back his urges. That night, he hadn't meant to do anything but the alcohol and his jealousy got the better of him. Just like today. The idea of letting England and Portugal share a bed together was … unbearable. He refused to admit it and he could not reveal this to anyone so Antonio made up another excuse for his anger and refusal. He didn't mean to end up sleeping alone with Arthur! That was not what he wanted! That was the last thing he wanted! (Well, after Arthur and João sleeping alone). He couldn't stand staying too near to the Englishman because if he did, he feared he might lose control of his body. Just like the last time.

Leaning down next to Arthur, Antonio stared blankly at the sleeping expression of his heartache. Why did he have to fall for an angel? Why could he not have fallen for someone else like Italy or Romano! They are cute and adorable! England is nothing like that! England is sour, moody, aggressive, irritating, sarcastic, proud, brave, caring of the ones he loves, soft under a hard façade, gets flustered easily, cute when he blushes, occasionally cold but reliable, beautiful, sweet to taste, smart and teasing, with a wicked grin fitting of a witch trapping one's heart into a hellish paradise …

Antonio mentally slapped himself. Why was he praising the witch? Why can't he think of anything else? It's not like anything will change! He's never going to make a move on the blonde so why can't he forget him?

A flash of Portugal kissing England on the beach suddenly found its way into Spain's agitated mind.

Antonio felt his blood boil and his vision turning red in anger. Why? He should just accept it and let it go. It's better for him and for the blonde. There's no reason why Arthur shouldn't have a happy relationship! And Antonio can never give him that. Spain was well aware of his mistake the last time. He could see it in Arthur's hurt eyes whenever they crossed his own glaring ones. He remembered the cold stiffness of the Englishman after he woke up from that night. It's clear that Arthur regretted that one night. Sleeping with his lover's brother must have disgusted him. Antonio never meant to get involved with the blonde. The reason for this was that if he ever did, he might lose all of the self-control he had built up in those past centuries. All this hard work of keeping a distant yet cordial relationship with England … gone! Because Spain knew if he got to taste the little pirate once more, he might never let Arthur out of his chains.

But that would be against the Rule.

Antonio hissed in frustration. He knew and understood why his actions were wrong. If Francis or Gilbert had done the same to Romano, he would have killed them on the spot! But whenever Antonio sees Arthur too close to another, may it be his brother or otherwise, the Spaniard would snap. Luckily, he always made sure until now to never be left alone with England, in a drunken state and with jealous intentions. But that one night … is exactly what happened. And now, he's in another compromising situation, with a defenceless angel in his grasp, and nobody around to stop him. This is getting out of hand!

"You have no idea how much torture you're causing me … angel." Antonio whispered with a sad grin as he leaned in and gently, lovingly pecked Arthur's lips. Only in the blonde's dreams would Antonio allow himself to call him other than Devil.

Arthur softly smiled, oblivious to his surroundings and drawn deep in a dream he should not be having. And almost as if the dream matched reality, words that should not be spoken escaped his lips in a quiet mumble. Words that Antonio never once thought he would get the chance to hear.

"I love you … Tonio …"

Spain's eyes widen in stupefaction and his heart pummelled loudly in his yearning chest. Had he heard right? No, it probably was a mistake! Arthur probably said that he loved João! After all, he was mumbling and Antonio could have misheard! Yes, of course! He must have misheard! Because otherwise … Antonio pulled himself further away from the blonde but was stopped when Arthur unconsciously wrapped his arms around the Spaniard's waist. Not good! This was not good at all!

Antonio tried to pry himself away but the whining moans of the angel only made his effort futile. Just hearing those sounds made him go crazy. Why? Why was fate against him so much? Why was he in love with his friend's brother? Why was he unable to keep his promise? Why was Arthur so close yet unreachable? Damn it … If the blonde really did love him, Antonio felt he might really be ending his friendship with Francis.

"You're a bewitching witch, you know that?" Antonio growled both in frustration and fondness and he leaned back and wrapped his own arms around the smaller frame of the blonde. He could feel Arthur's blissful smile against his chest. God … what is he doing?

Antonio expected to not sleep tonight but it turns out, having the blonde angel in his arms was incredibly calming and his fiery body cooled down, dulling him to a gentle sleep. The Spaniard's fears of tomorrow morning all escaped his head as he buried himself in oblivion.

He knew it. He knew that he was stepping a dangerous foot out of bound. But he couldn't stop himself. And didn't want to stop. Nearly 400 years of restraint and he finally felt at peace. He couldn't care less tomorrow about his brother, Francis or anyone. Right now, he was in paradise with an angel in his arms. Wrong as it may be, he knew he could not hold back anymore.

He had already stepped way out of bound anyway.