Italy, together and apart

Off the Edge

The darkness as I open the door frightens me a little bit, but I walk into the livingroom anyways, not really worrying too much. I squint into the darkness, trying to see my way to the light switch. I put my hands on the back wall, moving them around and trying to find the switch, instead touching a soft feeling I know is Russia's scarf. I smile and keep feeling around the wall. "Ve~ Russia, what are you doing standing around in the dark? You scared me!" I try to flip the light switch, but Russia grabs my hand and stops me. His skin is cold and causes me to shiver.
"You're second guessing our marriage...three days before the ceremony. I should've kept you locked up like I planned...I can't even leave you alone for one hour. If I lock you up, you can't leave me, da?" His arm yanks mine and I blush a bit.
"W-what are you talking about, Russia? I never said anything about leaving you!" I say, a bit quieter than usual.
"China heard your conversation with Germany. He even recorded it so you wouldn't be able to lie to me. Come with me if you don't want to get punished." I follow him as instructed to a different part of the house in which he opens a door and pushes me into the smaller room. The light flickers on and I let myself adjust to the lighting change. There is a bed and a small dresser, along with a tiny window and a lock on the door. I turn and look at Russia, a tiny bit afraid of his actions.
"Ve~ What are we doing in here?" I tremble at his scary face and back up a little more into the room.
"This is your new room. Don't leave here or you will be punished, not that I would let you leave anyways." He slams the door loudly and locks it from the outside. I sit down on the bed and stare at the door, waiting for him to come back and tell me he is joking.
After about an hour or so, the door handle jimmies and I smile, hoping he is going to let me out. I stand up and go up to the door. Russia opens it with two plates in his hands. He walks in, closing the door again with his boot and sitting on the bed. He hands me a plate and smiles at me. "I made pasta just for you. Eat it all because this is all you're getting until midnight." I feel my heart drop as I sit next to him.
"Russia...why are you keeping me in here? When can I leave?" I ask. He looks down and takes a bite of his food.
"You aren't leaving unless I take you out. You're in here because I can't trust you yet. The only time you can leave without me is in three days when I get your brothers and my sisters to watch you." I nod and look at my plate, losing my appetite. I play with the noodles and try to keep myself from crying.
The phone rings and Russia leaves to answer it. He leaves the door open so I sneak out into his room where he answers the phone. I listen to his conversation and stand in the doorway, leaning slightly on the wooden doorframe. He hangs up the phone and turns to me, a bit shocked before he remembers he left the door open. "Italy, did you need something?" He asks. I shake my head and walk into his room. He backs up a bit, clearly not wanting to get close to me. I feel my heart pounding in my chest as I get closer to him. He doesn't want me anymore...how do I fix this? I start to take my next step until I hear him growl. "Don't take another step...I don't want your family judging me when I go too far and hurt you." I take a couple more steps until I'm right in front of him. I sit on his lap and take my shirt off.
"I like when you are rough with me. I would tell you if you were hurting me..." I say, quietly and calmly. His hands shake slightly as he picks me up. He carries me like a child to the other room and kisses me goodnight before leaving and locking the door. I sigh and lay in my new bed, stripping and sleeping naked. The sheets are cold compared to when Russia keeps me in his arms and I can't sleep for a while. The second my eyes close and I drift into sleep, my mind fills with horrible nightmares.
Waking up, my nightmare continues. The room is extremely cold and I feel as if I'm going to get sick. I sit up, wrapping the blanket around me and closing my eyes. The door creaks open and I hear familiar footsteps walking up to my bed. "Italy, it is too cold in here, da?" I nod and he opens the curtains. "It just snowed. I will move you back to my room, but there will still be rules." I nod again and he picks me up, cuddling me in his arms. He trembles a bit as I nuzzle into his neck. He tenses and breathes heavily, bringing me to his room and setting me on the bed. I look up at him, smiling softly at the kind gesture, even though his overall plan is horrid and cruel. His face turns a bit pink and he shakes his head, stomping out and slamming the door. I curl up in one of his coats and bask in the warmth of the room.
A little while later, Russia returns and sets and plate on the nightstand. I smile at him and eat the food, the sleeves of his coat being too long for my arms and hanging over. I finish and set the plate down. "Ve~ Russia, can I ask you a question?" He nods. "Do you still love me?" I ask. His face changes and I have to look down so I don't see the look in his eyes. He takes a step towards me and suddenly, I'm pushed into the bed. His lips pressed to mine in a passionate kiss. I gasp softly as he pulls away and kisses my neck. I wrap my legs around him as well as my arms, but he backs away and shakes his head.
"Italy, I can't do this until after the ceremony. I promise I still love you, I just can't risk anything else until after the ceremony, okay?" I nod and rub my arm as he goes back to the door.
"R-Russia, can I take a shower?" He turns to look at me before pointing to the bathroom attached to his room. I nod and watch him leave. I take my shower, thinking over what he said and smiling to myself to keep from crying. After I get out from my shower, I take a nap and sleep in the warm coat left on the bed instead of the clothes Russia brought me.
Timeskip to the ceremony brought by my invisible Canadian husband. ~~~~
The cold weather only makes me shiver more as Belarus pushes me around, angrily muttering things at me that Ukraine counters in a more than sweet manner. I smile and cling to Romano, who is also not very happy with the marriage. Spain and France inspect me closely, probably looking for bruises or bite marks on my body, but they fail to find anything and immediately start helping me with my suit. I sigh softly and look at the ground, wondering why Russia has been so distant lately. My eyes start to burn and I pull away from my family to sit down for a moment. "Why is everything always so hard?" I whisper to myself. The warm hand on my shoulder scares me and I see Spain smiling at me softly.
"You don't have to go through with it, you know. If you don't love him or if you aren't ready, you can probably just tell him and he will call off the wedding." I shake my head and force a smile.
"I'm just having pre-wedding jitters is all." Spain nods and lets Romano take over, walking back to the group while Romano sits down next to me. A barely audible sigh escapes my brothers mouth as he wraps his arm around me. His warm embrace causes me to tear up, but only when Seborga joins in do I start to sob. The group rushes over to me except for Belarus, who really hates me.
"We can't have the groom crying on his wedding day!!" France says, hysterically. Ukraine nods and Spain looks at Romano.
"Romano, what did you do?" Romano shakes his head and I can hear the door slam shut in the small room, causing everyone to turn around. I smile and jump off of the chair.
"Grandpa Roma!!!" I hug my Grandpa and let him spin me around for a second before everyone starts talking again. He wipes the tears from my face and grins.
"Couldn't miss my boy getting married!" He says, laughing a bit as I nod.
Everyone looks at each other for a moment as the clock dings, hitting 3 pm. They all frantically rush around, trying to get me ready and push my shakily out the door with my grandpa to walk me down the aisle. Time seems to stop as I near Russia, his smile sort of creeping me out as I let go of my grandfather's arm and take hold of his. The ceremony drags on as the priest reads out of his little book. My mind seems to wander and I gaze around the room, taking note of everyone there. Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Germany who seems to be staring directly at me, his eyes filled with anger. I immediately turn around and face Russia again. I had already zoned out, but when someone who was not the priest yelled from the crowd, I tuned myself back in. "I OBJECT!" Someone from the middle screamed, standing and raising their hand. I was not shocked when I saw Prussia and Germany. Austria and Hungary also stood and nodded along with my entire family and even China and Ukraine stood up to fight our union of marriage. More than half of the guests had stood up to protest, making Russia angry and making me feel a bit overwhelmed. Is this really happening?!!