Doorbell Friendship

Sleep Deprived

The ringing of the doorbell is what alerted Romano to the fact some one was on the property, he was staying in the Italies' shared house at the time, having decided to accept his younger brother's invitation to spend time together.

A quiet groan could be heard from his position on the couch, having fallen asleep even after downing a coffee not five minutes before finding himself taking an unexpected nap.

He got up on unsteady feet and staggered off down the hallway connected to the living room and to the door.

After he had finally gotten to the door, straightening his clothing so nothing was on show, he opened it only to come face to face with a certain blonde haired blue eyed German, who was apparently in the middle of knocking, instead of using the doorbell, if the fist mid-air had any implications at all.

"Oh, Romano, good evening. Feliciano wouldn't happen to be home would he?" Germany questioned after surveying the older Italian brother's dishevelled appearance. Romano blinked dumbly for a moment before the German's question finally got through to his sleep fogged mind.

"H-He.. He went to bed not too long ago." He stuttered, his tongue and lips barely working the way he wanted them to. "Did you need him for some thing?" His sentence was ended with a short yawn, his eye lids dropping down almost enough to have them closed, his legs shook dangerously almost giving out from beneath his sleep deprived body.

"I... No, I didn't. Sorry for interrupting your sleep, I understand you have been working very hard these past couple days, Feliciano has complained enough about the lack of his older brother for me to know you must be stressed." Germany supplied, eyeing Romano carefully.

Romano gave out a airy chuckle, half startling Germany as he had never heard any expression of happiness from the Italian before.

"That'd be right, he always complains about when he thinks some one is working too hard. He talked me half to death tonight, telling me how I should just go to bed already, because I have 101 different papers, but he only has one me..." Romano barely caught himself as his legs finally gave way, luckily Germany caught him around his mid-section, hoisting him up into his arms.

Germany quickly entered the house, closing the front door with his foot, he quietly walked down the hall and up the stairs, then stealthily made his way to where he remembered Romano's room to be.

After juggling the Italian man in one arm and attempting to open the door with his other he finally gained entrance to the room.

Papers and documents were scattered all over the floor and desk that was situated in one of the corners of the room, several broken pencils had found their home in the paper bin next to the desk as well. Not even the bed was saved from the carnage, it's was covered in different books, some opened to seemingly random pages, while the rest of the bed was just covered in loose papers just like the desk and floor. Admittedly not nearly as many though. This told Germany that the bed had not been used very recently which, while he would not like admit it, worried him greatly.

There was a small armchair tucked away in another corner, it was just about untouched compared to the rest of the room, with there only being one or two books placed at the foot of it. So, placing Romano in the chair making sure that he was in a position so he would not wake up sore, he set to work on clearing up his bed, which in turn turned out to be clearing up his room.

- - - - -

Romano woke up some where strange, for a long while he just could not place nor care where he was, all he knew was that he felt so much better now than what he last remembered.

Suddenly he finally recognised where he was.

'Huh? I thought I fell asleep in the living room. How'd I get here?' He internally questioned, carefully sitting up in the bed, but then he spied a flash of green from the corner of his vision. Just over the end of the bed sat his armchair and in the armchair sat Germany.

Romano stared blankly at the German, wondering how the hell did he get there.

'Wait a minute.' Romano's mind finally clicked into gear, 'He was at the door, wasn't he. We talked and... And what? I don't remember anything after that.' The only thing he could even vaguely remembered was a sudden shortness of breath, heaviness and a falling sensation.

"You're up I see." Romano's eyes shot open, he wondered when he closed them, when open he found that Germany had moved from his position on the armchair and was now knelling by his bed side.

"When'd you get there!" Romano exclaimed, clutching his heart and pushing himself away from the German. Germany simply blinked and moved away from the bed a bit.

"Sorry, I scared you didn't I." Germany stated, a bashful expression adorning his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"You've got that right." Romano grumbled before sighing, "Anyway, could you tell me what happened, I seem to be reaching a dead end here." Germany nodded, indicating that he could inform him of what happened. " The last I remember was talking to you about some thing and next I was, falling I assume?" Another nod from the German.

"You actually gave me quite a scare, you were talking one moment then heading towards the floor the next. You seem to be alright now, I guess all you needed was some sleep." He concluded, nodding once more to himself as to agree with his own theory.

Germany suddenly stood up, startling Romano for a second time. "You must still be tired, I'll take my leave and let you sleep then. You probably don't want a German to be in the house, let alone your room, while both you and your brother are asleep." He made to leave the room but found a hand wrapped around his wrist, Germany turned his head to glance at the Italian from over his shoulder. He was relieved to find himself not the only one blushing, but he guessed they were both blushing from embarrassment.

"No, no. It's fine, I guess. German or not, I don't think it's a good idea for you to drive at this time of night." He was looking out the window all the while. Glancing outside revealed almost complete darkness encasing the surroundings of the house, this was only broken by the street lights lighting up the street below.

"Well, thank you. There's only a couple more hours until the sun rises, I guess I could stay here until I have to go." Germany supplied, hoping that this would make Romano's seemingly generous offer lighter on both their shoulders. It seemed to have the desired effect as Romano's embarrassed blush left and he nodded. He indicated for Germany to sit down, which he did so obediently sitting back down on the armchair.

There was an awkward silence in the room for a few tense minutes, both of them struggling to find anything to say.

"So, how's Prussia?" Romano questioned, asking Germany about his older brother seemed like a suitable icebreaker to him. Germany allowed himself a small smile as he replied. The conversation luckily took off flawlessly from there.

- - - - -

'I guess he isn't such a bad person after all.'