A small collection of stories.

Water. (Italy and Romano)

((Unfinished. May be connected with a story of mine that I'll be posting later. Contains Dark Themes))

Nobody knew about Feliciano's condition, except his closest sibling Romano. It all started one night. It was a cool autumn night, and the Italy brothers were sharing a bed due to a lack of more sleeping locations. The bed sat in the middle of the room, the moonlight shining dully in through the gap of the curtain. Italy jerked awake, the need to breathe harshly pulling him out of his slumber. He immediately went to grab what ever was choking him, only to find no obstacle. He grabbed Romano's arm roughly shaking it as he wheezed for air, the supply he was getting not enough for his body. Romano was pulled out of his slumber too. "What the hel-" the older brother immediately stopped talking, the combination of the forced wheezing and panicked expression on his younger brother's face sending an alarm of panic through Romano's head. He helped Italy sit up, not bothering to ask anything as he quickly made sure they were both decent enough to head out into the chilled air. Italy clutched onto the front of Romano's jacket as he helped the younger of the two to the car with an arm wrapped around his brothers back and a pair of worried eyes never leaving the Italian who struggled to breathe. Romano tried to make the leave for the hospital as quick as possible but the man's footsteps were too shaky to properly place them with urgency. When the two got in, the older of the two helped the other buckle in then got his own seatbelt on and drove with dizzying speed to the hospital. He had ran through many lights, but luckily it was too late for there to be any danger.

Romano sat in the hospital chair; well, more like paced around the chair as he waited for news about his brother, worrying thoughts clouding his reason as more and more disastrous situations ran through his head. A nurse came up to him and kindly asked for him to sit down which he simply responded with "Not until I know my brother is fucking alive."

The nurse never spoke to him again.

After an agonizing two hours, a doctor called out a familiar name. "People here for mr. Vargas? Feliciano Vargas?" Romano's head snapped towards the doctor. He briskly walked over to the doctor. "I am here for him." Romano stated putting his hands on his hips and looking up to the doctor whom was taller than the Italian man. "Ah. Well, he's in stable condition. He had a lot of fluid in his lungs, making it hard to breathe for him. We were just pumping out the fluid.. I'll let you know more later." The doctor turned to leave, but Romano grabbed the man's coat. "C-Can I see him?" Romano stuttered out, half embarrassed because of his sudden reaction. The doctor shook his head. "Not yet." Romano in turn let go of the man's jacket. The doctor walked away, leaving Romano standing there. He plopped himself back into the chair, a mixture of relief, confusion and worry mixing in his thoughts. Why Italy? Then he suddenly remembered, like a cold slap of water to his face.

Venice.

Romano ran a hand through his hair. 'How could I have forgotten that his heart is in Venice?' Romano ran another hand through his hair, stopping at the back of his head with both hands effectively pulling back his hair. 'Venice'. Romano stared at the ground. He knew his heart was in Rome, and that was a safer city but Venice....... Venice is slowly sinking into the ocean. '....shit. I can't fix that.' Romano sighed and leaned back in his chair, letting out a sigh as he rested his hands on the arm rest on the chair. His mind raced with the likely thought of Italy not having long to live and him having to take his place as all of Italy. He closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath.

Romano must of fallen asleep, because he was woken by his phone buzzing in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out groggily, remembering that it was in his jacket before the incident. He answered. "Who the hell is this?" He asked angrily, the worry and lack of sleep were getting to him. "Where's Italy? He's missing our meeting! I tried to call him but no answer!" Germany stated from the other end of the phone. Romano paused for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell Germany. "He's sick. Stop bothering him, I'm taking care of him." It was true, he just didn't give him the details. "What? How ill?" Germany questioned quickly, worried for the Italian. "Nothing too serious, don't worry about it!" Romano lied, "I have to go now. Bye." Romano hung up and looked to the clock. 10 am. Romano grunted angrily, and marched up to the front desk. "Where the hell is my brother?! Feliciano Vargas?" He barked. The nurse replied nervously, "168, b-but you can't go in yet sir-" Romano marched off giving her a simple "I don't give a fuck. I'm going to see my brother." He barged into room 168 and sat down beside his still- sleeping brother. He held his brother's hand, knowing that this was just the start of him dying. He eventually fell asleep, his head and arms resting on the bed his brother occupied.

Romano was poked in the head. Then two more times. Then three. Four was in the question too, but the Italian woke up angrily before the person who was poking him could finish. Romano's anger vanished when he saw the man who was poking him was his brother, awake. He simply stood up and paused for a second, before tightly hugging his brother. "Don't scare me like that again!" He yelled. "What the poking? But that isn't scary or any-" "I mean the damn difficulty to breathe session you had!" Romano cut Italy off, tears starting to form in his eyes. Italy was shocked for a moment, then softly patted Romano on the back. "I'm sorry I worried you." Italy said. "You better be!" Romano yelled into Italy shoulder, wiping away his tears. "Hey.... Don't cry..." Italy said, rubbing Romano's back. "I can do whatever I damn want to!" Romano hugged Italy tighter, pouting slightly. Italy softly laughed. "What the hell are you laughing at?" Romano asked, anger hinted in his voice. "Nothing.... I'm just glad your my brother." Italy replied. There was a pause in the conversation. Romano frowned as he pulled away. ".... You've figured out why this happened too, huh." Italy said, looking off to the side when he noticed Romano's face which held that knowing look. Romano nodded slowly. Italy suddenly laughed. Romano scowled more, "don't laugh dammit! Stop!" He yelled angrily. Italy seemed to slow down his laughter a bit. "How can you be laughing, what the hell?! You're not okay, this is not the time for-" Italy put a hand over Romano's mouth. "I can't help it...... It's just, I'm glad I can trust you to take care of Italy." Romano shook his head, backing away. "No! I'm the worst person to trust! It should be me... You're so much better at being near others..." The older twin started tearing up. "Romano..." Italy trailed off. He didn't know how to finish his sentence. There was a long pause as Romano hung his head. "Why does God have to be so cruel? You have so many people that like you, like the potato bastard.." Italy reached and grabbed Romano's hand. "I'd prefer it this way. I want you to live." Romano shook his head again. "It's not always about you!" He said. Italy softly chuckled.