Italy, together and apart

Rising heat

  The next morning, Germany had disappeared from the bed. I sit up, rubbing my eyes and yawning. It's a bit early to be up, even for him...I wonder what he's doing. I stretch my arms and legs after getting off the bed and walk into the hall, meeting Prussia with a smile in my underwear and an unbuttoned shirt. His face is a bit red as he looks at me.
"Good morning, Italia." He says, happily. I smile and hug him.
"Ve~Good morning, Prussia!" He hugs me back gentler than usual.
"Hey, are you okay?" I tilt my head. Why is he asking me that? Do I look hurt or something?
"Yeah, why do you ask?" He shrugs and I can tell he's struggling not to look at my body.
"It's just you're covered in red marks and I didn't know if they are hickies or bruises. Sorry for asking." I shake my head and smile.
"Ve, don't be sorry, it's okay. They are hickies. Last night I snuck into Germany's room and he gave me a couple in his sleep." I say. His face turns red and he raises his voice slightly.
"A couple?! That's a lot and my brother doesn't have the right to touch my Italy!" I giggle and shake my head, going to put on my clothes.
"Where is he?" I ask. He points outside and I nod.
  After getting my clothes on, I go and meet Germany outside. I stand behind him, silently for a while until I get bored. "Ve, Germany, Prussia is mad at you for the hickies." Germany jumps as if he didn't know I was there.
"Why? It's not my fault you like my kisses." I smile and nod, taking his arm.
"Can I ask you something?" Germany looks at me and I sigh. "Do you love me like a girlfriend?" His face turns red and I wait for his answer.
"To be honest, I don't know, but I think I do." I grin and stand on my tip toes, trying to kiss him.
"Ve~You forgot my morning kiss!" He leans down and closes the gap between us, kissing me softly on the lips, calming me immediately. "Thank you." He nods and continues looking out at the field.
"Italy, aren't you afraid of our future?" I shake my head and lean on him a bit.
"Ve, why should I be scared?" My question seems to upset him, but he answers me, nonetheless.
"If we start dating or get married or anything like that, our partnership would most likely spark wars."
"No, you are strong and I believe that our alliance would influence other countries." His body turns to face mean  and he picks me up, carrying me out into the field.
"I want to show you what I've been doing while I was alone these past 2 weeks." I blush a bit and let him carry me, being the lazy person I am.
  He's so strong...I love him so much I hope he knows that. Curiosity builds when he covers my eyes and sets me down. He walks behind me a couple steps, pushing me forward with him and uncovers my eyes to a marvelous view. It's beautiful...I'm stunned into silence for a while, taking in the view. The entire room is filled with all the colors of the rainbow and every single flower I have ever set eyes on. The scent is more honey than anything since there are honeysuckle bushes everywhere. In the middle of the room there are no flowers, just a small rug and a cute white table with some chairs around it. Is this all for me? It's amazing! He takes my hand and walks with me to the table, pulling out a chair for me, a faint blush on his face.
"I did this so you could have your own garden like you said you wanted here. There's every kind of flower I could find in your country and at France's place too. You always talked about how much you wanted a garden." I nod and look around some more.
"Germany, it's beautiful...I love it thank you so much!" I get up and hug him, smiling. As I sit down again, he seems to be thinking hard about something.
"Italy, are you free tonight?" I tilt my head. What is he getting at?
"Aren't I always?" He shrugs and looks away from me.
"Well, I was wondering if you, uh, wanted to go out tonight." I grin and nod, getting up.
"Ve~Of course! Call me later when you want to meet. I should go home and explain to Romano why I didn't come home last night. Ciao, Germany!" I say before leaving him alone in the garden.
  On my way home, I stop and buy the ingredients for Romano's pizza and some more sugar and cinnamon for Spain. We always seem to run out when he makes his churros. The air gets a bit cooler and the wind picks up, blowing through my hair. I should probably hurry before it starts raining. I start walking a bit faster as the rain drops hit my skin. The house comes into view and I smile, picking up my speed to get there faster. About halfway down the trail, it starts pouring and once I reach the door, I am dripping wet. It's locked...it's never locked. I go around back to the screen door and pick up the key from inside the grill, going back to the front door and unlocking it. It's really quiet. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest, barely able to keep my composure. Where is everyone? I walk slowly to my room and stay quiet, afraid something might kill me if I make too much noise. Setting down the groceries on my bed, I change out of my soaked clothes into a pair of dry pants and a white shirt.
  Without my shoes on, my steps are much quieter as I walk into the livingroom, one hand on the knife strapped around my waist and the other on the mini white flag I keep in the pockets of all my pants. The room is darker than all the rest so I stand completely still in the hall before taking my first step into the room.
"SURPRISE!!!!!!" I almost jump out of my skin as a bunch of people jump out from multiple places in the room. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ITALY!!!!!" I have to back up a few steps before I start crying. I can't believe they let me think something bad happened just to throw me a surprise party! Everyone gets quiet and tries to comfort me. Romano pushes them all aside and hugs me.
"What's wrong, Veneciano?" He asks. I tense up and try to stop crying.
"You guys scared me...I thought something bad happened to you, Fratello..." He shakes his head and, even though I can't see his face, I know he's glaring at everyone in the room.
"Sorry, we just thought we should do something special for your birthday and France saw you down the street so we decided to do a surprise party."
"Ve, I forgot our birthday. I've been tired all week, I'm sorry, Romano. Happy birthday." He nods and let's me go.
"It's okay, let's go take a siesta. I even got that bastard Seborga to get his ass here for our birthday." I nod and follow him to the huge guest bedroom, leaving the party guests to take a siesta with my brothers.