Part Time Waiter, Full Time Country

Chapter 9- Italy

He turns and runs off. I am still trying to work through what he just yelled at me. He thinks I love someone else? Why? I never said... Oh god. I must have been speaking out loud when I was thinking about Holy Rome, and about... Oh. He thinks I meant someone else. But that means...

I take off after him, running like I am retreating. "Ludwig!" I yell after him as he runs. He seems to ignore me. I rapidly catch up with him, and grab his arm. "Ludwig, wait!" I yell. He stops short, and I run straight into him, sending us both tumbling to the ground.

He quickly gets back up, and helps me up. Then he turns to look at me. "What?!" He demands. "Why can't you just leave me alone?!" I smile at him. "Because I love you." I say simply. "You wer- What?" He cuts off in the middle of his sentence. "Did you just say...?" I smile wider at him. "Si. I did." He stares at me for a while, then engulfs me in a bear hug. I laugh, until I can't breathe anymore. "Ludwig, you are squashing me..." he immediately releases me, and just smiles widely. "Really?" he asks, his beautiful blue eyes shining. "Really." I say, and hug him lightly. He hugs me back gently, and we stand there for a minute or two, just enjoying each other's company. Finally, I pull away.

"So, does that mean we are a couple now?" I ask, curious. He turns bright red, and stutters a bit. "U-um, w-well I suppose that... yes." I giggle. He looks really cute bright red like that. He looks at me in confusion, and I just shrug. I reach over and grab his hand, and we walk slowly back to the bench. I look at him, and smile. I haven't felt this happy since... I don't think I have ever felt this happy! He glances at me, and sees me looking at him. He turns bright red, then slowly bends down and chastely pecks me on the lips. I feel all the blood drain from my face, and my eyes widen. He steps back, seeing the look on my face.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't know you would-" He cuts off suddenly, when I basically tackle him. I kiss him back, and he looks as shocked as I did a moment ago. I step back, and we both stare at each other. I can feel my cheeks going from paper-white to cherry red in a matter of seconds. He clears his throat, and sits down on the bench. "Um, would you like to sit down?" he asks, patting the seat next to him. I gladly sit down, and scoot closer to him. He looks a bit uncomfortable, but not too much, so I don't move away again. After a few moments of silence, he turns to me and opens his mouth to speak. "Um, would you like to come over to my house for dinner?" He asks, nervously. "Sure!" I say.

We both stand up, and Ludwig picks up his briefcase. "Come on." He grabs my hand, and we start to walk towards his home.

We get to his house, and he unlocks the door, holding it open for me. I smile at him, and thank him. As I step through the door, I hear a familiar voice through the door to my left.

"Hey West! You are early!" I cock my head, and look at Ludwig. "Is that Gilbert?" I ask, thinking I already know the answer. "Ja. That's mein bruder." He replies. "West? Who else is here?" I hear from the next room. Ludwig sighs, and calls back to his brother. "It's my new... friend. I invited him to dinner." I look up at Ludwig, and see him look at the doorway as if he wishes he could just walk away again, and not have to introduce me to his brother. Whom I am fairly certain I already know. I look over at the door and see a tall, bleach blonde with bright red eyes. I feel my jaw drop as my suspicions are confirmed. "Mr. Prussia?" I say, looking at the man I knew when I was younger. He looks at me in confusion. He obviously doesn't recognize me. I suppose I have changed a lot since he last saw me. After all, he thought I was a girl.

"How do you know who I am?" He asks. Ludwig is staring at me, and I shuffle my feet nervously. "Um, well..." I start, but am interrupted by yelling from upstairs. "What is that commotion down there?" I hear another familiar voice call, and see Austria come walking down the stairs. He stops short when he sees me. "Italy?" He asks, looking confused. I stare at him and Prussia, and Ludwig looks at me in shock. "You're Italy?" Prussia asks, confused. "Um, si." I say, looking between the two men. The two of them shift their gaze from me to Ludwig, and their faces show annoyance. "Why didn't you say the guy was Italy? We would have been happy to see him!" Prussia says. I am so confused. I look at Ludwig, who is still staring at me. "Ludwig?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"You, you are Italy? Which one?" I take a breath, then respond. "I am Italy Veneziano. North Italy." He nods slowly. "Well, I wasn't going to tell you, since I thought you were human, but I-" "You're Germany." I say, finishing his sentence. He nods, and I smile. Then I throw my arms around his neck. "Ve~! I'm so happy! I was worried that I would cause you to die painfully, but this way, everything will be fine!" I yell. The two older Germanic nations smile a bit, and Ludwig- I mean Germany, grabs me and spins me in a circle. Prussia smiles, a bit cheekily, and looks at Austria. "I told you Italy was gay. I called it the moment you told me he was a guy." Austria sighs, and turns to walk away. "I will make dinner. What would you like?"

I let go of... Germany... and follow Austria through a doorway into the kitchen. "I can make dinner." I say. "No, that isn't necessary." He replies. Prussia and Germany walk through the door behind me. "Please? I haven't gotten to cook good food for a long time." I beg. Germany walks up to Austria and gives him a look, and Prussia calls from behind me "Aw, come on Roderich. You can't cook anyway. Remember last time you tried? We ended up with a broken bowl, a house fire, and an exploding birthday cake." Austria turns a faint shade of red, and steps back from the stove. "Fine. Italy can cook." I glance at Prussia. "Exploding birthday cake?" I ask. "I will explain another time." He says, grinning evilly at the look Austria gives him. "You can count on it." He continues, just to annoy Austria.

I turn away from the two of them, who are still fighting like when I was a child, and find Germany looking at me. "Ve~. Germany, do you want to help cook?" I ask, as I grab an apron out of the pantry and place it over my head, tying the strings around my waist. He looks at the two others, who are slowly making their way out the door, still fighting. "Um, sure." he says. I smile at him, and throw him a pink apron. He catches it, and raises an eyebrow at me. "Pink?" he says, walking over to stand next to me. "I don't think so." He smiles as he places the apron back in the pantry and pulls out another. This one is dark green, the color of the suit he wore last week.

"Ve~! It's the colour of your suit!" I exclaim. He looks down, and sighs. "Ja. Unfortunately I had to get rid of that suit." He mutters. "Why?" I ask, then remember how mine had looked when I got home. "Well, it got a bit scratched up." He says, and smiles at me.

I look through the pantry, eventually finding what I am looking for. "Ve~! Here it is!" I exclaim as I triumphantly hold up a box of pasta. He looks at me, then reaches under the counter in one of the cabinets. He stands back up, holding a large pot. "Will this hold it?" He asks, gesturing to the pasta. "Si!" I respond, and grab the pot out of his hands. I fill it with water while he turns on the stove, and I place the pot on the burner. I then tell him to tell me when it boils, and I go grab some vegetables and meat out of the fridge.

I look through the cabinets until I find the knives and the cutting boards, and start cutting up the vegetables, and cooking the meat. I glance over at Germany, and find him staring intently at the water. I smile, and lean over his shoulder, having to stand on tiptoe to do so. "You know that a watched pot never boils." I whisper in his ear, and he jumps, not having noticed I was there. I laugh, and he frowns a bit, then the corner of his mouth twitches upward a bit. I turn back to the vegetables, and finish chopping.

Soon, the meat is brown and the vegetables ready to add, so I dump them into the pan with the meat. Germany turns to me suddenly, and asks me what he is supposed to do now. I glance over his shoulder, and see the water boiling. "Just add the pasta." I say, handing him the box.

He looks at it, then at the water. Prussia laughs from where he has appeared, leaning against the door frame. "West doesn't know how to cook pasta." He says. "You might want to keep a close eye on him." Germany looks embarrassed, and I carefully take the box from him, open it, and hand it back. "Here. Just dump it in." I say, and he looks at the pasta in his hand, then back at me. I sigh a bit, not really from annoyance, but more because he is acting like a two year old that was given a phone and asked to call a pizza delivery company. I reach around his shoulder and carefully grab his hand, guiding it over the pot, and helping him dump the pasta into the water. I hear Prussia snicker at the husband-and-wife sort of way we are acting. Or rather, um, husband-and-husband.

I step back, and go back to stirring the sauce. Soon, the sauce is steaming and the pasta is done, so I strain the pasta and put it into a large serving bowl, then dump the sauce on top. I breathe in a waft of the smell of good pasta, and sigh. I haven't had good pasta in about three months. I pick up the bowl of pasta, and ask Germany where the dining room is. He points to a door to the right of the door I came in, and I nod. He walks over and opens the door for me, and I carry the pasta over to the dining room table. I set it down and ask Germany for plates and utensils, and he walks back out the door. He comes back with plates, silverware, and napkins, which I place carefully in their correct places. Then he comes back with two beer glasses and two wine glasses. I look at him curiously, until he sets the glasses down and walks back into the kitchen, coming back with two German beers and a bottle of Merlot. He hands the Merlot to me, and I read the label. It is an Italian wine, bottled in Vicenza, 2003 vintage. I smile, and carefully open the bottle with the corkscrew he hands me. I pour some into the two wine glasses, then set them at their places. The table is perfect.

I call for the others, and they walk in and sit down on one side of the table, leaving Germany and I to sit side by side. We all sit down, and I say grace. Then we all pick up our forks and start eating. There isn't much talking at the beginning, everyone seems focused on the food. I will take that as a sign that they like it.

We sit in silence, except for the sounds of clinking silverware and slurping sauce, until Austria finishes his meal. He pushes his plate away, and looks at me.

"So, Italy. Why are you working as a waiter?" He asks, cocking his head. It looks strange to me, since I am still used to him being my boss, and ordering me around with a frown.

"Well... I was a chef in a fancy restaurant for a while but-" I get cutoff of Prussia laughing. "I can see why! This is the best pasta I've ever had!" I thank him, then return to my story. "Anyway, a while ago the restaurant closed down. I lost my job, and started trying to find a new one. It took a long time, and by the time I found this job, I was out of money and food." I had been looking at my bowl throughout my story, but now I look up at Germany.

"It was you that put food on the table." I say, and he turns a bit red. The other two look at him, and Austria wrinkles his eyebrows. "What does he mean by that?" He asks, and Germany looks a bit embarrassed. "Um, well, I might have tipped him a bit. Well, more than a bit." Prussia raises his eyebrows. "West! You were bribing a waiter? That is not how you get a girl- or, sorry, boyfriend!" Germany turns cherry-red at Prussia's comment, and I feel my own cheeks heat up.

"Um, I was thankful for the money, but that isn't what made me like him." I say, glancing at Germany. He smiles at me, just a small one, and looks away again. "Actually, it was because..." I trail off, realizing I probably shouldn't mention Holy Rome, because that might make Germany feel bad, or think that I only love him because he reminds me of someone else. I notice Austria looking at me as I trail off, and his face says he knows.

Please don't let him say it out loud, please don't let him say it out loud.