A Taste Of Payback

Finding A New Talent, And New Feelings

After dinner, the workmen finally finished Lovinos room and left. Lovino had to wait until the next day to go in his room because the wallpaper had to dry and the smell wasn't pleasant. Every one went off their separate ways for the night leaving the boy in the living room with only his Italian flag blanket. He laid on the couch and looked up at the ceiling. He was tired from cleaning up New Spains mess but he couldn't sleep. The living room wasn't his ideal place to sleep. It was too big and empty, he also couldn't help but noticed how cold it was in the room at night. He tossed and turned, usually, he'd trudged his way into Spain's room and slept their when he couldn't sleep well. He looked down the corridor that led to the mans bedroom. He was about to get up when a thought came to him 'If Esmeralda finds out I went to Spain's room, she'll call me a baby and never let me hear the end of it', he groaned and looked up the stairs, knowing what must me done if he was going to get any shut eye that night. He grabbed his blanket and slowly made his way up the stairs, mumbling to himself in a grumpy tone the whole time. He paused in front the door deciding weather or not to knock it. As soon as he was about to forget about it and go back to the couch, the door swung open and there stood New Spain clad in a white night gown. "Can I help you Lovi?", Romano looked down at the ground nervously. "I can't sleep so I was wondering if I can sleep in your room tonight", he said it too quietly so Esmeralda didn't hear him "Huh? Sorry Lovino I didn't here that", Romano grew annoyed and looked her in the eye. "I can't sleep dammit! Let me stay in your room...please", Esmeralda laughed and pulled him in the room shutting the door behind him. The two laid on the big bed and Romano spoke up. "Hey, next time your giving Spain hell, could you leave a smaller mess behind? I'm exhausted from cleaning up your shit", he wrapped his warm blanket around both of them. "Stop complaining Lovi. Small messes aren't fun", she pouted as she accepted the blanket, the two were laying on their sides with Esmeralda's back facing Romano and her front facing the wall. "Yeah but your not the one who has to clean it up. Spain tells me your pretty good at jumping fences", he gently rubbed her arm but gave her shoulder a squeeze letting her know how annoyed he was about the cleaning but she only laughed. "Hell yeah I'm good at it. I'm a natural born jumper I guess. We're almost teenagers, you know", she said making pointless conversation. "Yup, next year. Actually, I might get there by the end of the year since I'm older. If we were human, we'd be twelve right?", Esmeralda nodded. "Lovino, if we were human, we'd be old and dead by now", he rolled his eyes but smiled as she allowed Lovino to pull her in close and wrap an arm around her. "Hey, youv'e been here for two years now. Damn, time moves fast", Esmeralda took a deep sigh. "Yeah, and that means I've been Spain's little colony for five years", that meant it's been five years since she became a country, five years since her home was invaded and burned to the ground, five years since her mother died in the hands of the man she was now living with. "So, um did you have any close friends back home?", Romano asked as she pulled him even closer . Home. A sharp pain rang through her chest. Friend. Alfred's smiling face came to her mind as another pain ran through her. "Yeah I did actually. He's a country, just like us. He's the country north to mine. His name's Alfred Jones. His country is America. He's...amazing. A dreamer, wild at heart. He's really strong and is always there for me. He has these amazing blue eyes and he holds so much potential...", she went on getting lost in her thoughts of how much she misses him and how much he means to her. She could feel the sadness pang her stomach. Romano frowned and loosened his hold on her, "And let me guess, you mean the world to him and he always tells you so and you hold him dearly to your heart", he said nonchalantly. Esmeralda turned around in Lovino's grasp so she was facing his chest , "I haven't seen him since I was a toddler, but now I have you to make sure I'm happy and safe rite?". She took his arm and wrapped it back around her lower torso tightly and wrapped her own arm around his upper body, under his arm that was holding her close. "Okay, I don't know about the sudden sweet girl mood, but since you have mood swings all the time, I'm going to let it go. And we both know your perfectly capable of protecting your self, but yes. I won't let anything bad happen to you while I'm around. Now go to sleep you little pain in my ass, you have Spanish lessons tomorrow", the young girl groaned in annoyance. "Shut up, your only jealous because I can dance and you can't", As soon as everything was settled when Esmeralda first moved in, Spain wasted no time in teaching them how to dance out on the patio. Esmeralda was a natural, moving gracefully and fiercely. Lovino on the other hand, had two left feet. "Yeah well...that's only because he spends more time with you! He admires you for some reason. That creep...And sometimes you guys wouldn't even dance! You stood on his feet as he walked around holding your hands to make sure you don't fall", Esmeralda smiled into his chest. "What part about shut up do you not get?", she asked with a laugh. Lovino rubbed her back, "Every bit of it bella. Now, I'm just putting this out there, you may hate the man, but you guys have some cute family moments. A lot. If I didn't know any better, I'd think your warming up to him". Esmeralda let go of him slightly so she could look at him. "I am not! And I'm never going to warm up to that bastard", she gave his shoulder a small punch. Lovino only pulled her back in and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Say what you want. We're still young. Just wait until we're his age. I don't know but, there seems to be this weird force connecting you guys. Funny right?", Esmeralda rolled her eyes. "Just go to sleep", the two laid there wrapped around an Italian blanket as Lovino held her close not wanting to let her go for anything. Once he was sure she was sound asleep, Romano let out a sigh as he pressed his face into her soft wavy hair. "Don't worry bella, I'll never leave you like that little boy Alfred did". The next morning, Esmeralda woke up staring into a shirt covered chest and wrapped in a blanket that looked like the Italian flag. She moved to get up but was only pushed back by a sleeping Romano. She smiled and tugged hard on his curl. Lovino jolted up fully awake, "Okay Okay I'm up! Just don't pull my curl!". The girl only laughed as she gave it another pull, "What is it with you and your curl?". He got out of the bed and ignored the question. "Don't you have some Spanish to learn Esmeralda?", he began to walk out and finally go to his room. "Wait! what about your blanket?", she handed him the blanket only to have it wrapped around her. "Keep it. You can snuggle in it as you think of new ways to give Antonio hell", he looked at her for a moment as she stood there wrapped in his pride and he felt an unfamiliar feeling in his chest. She looked back up at his honey brown eyes, the two mesmerized as they locked their gaze. Esmeralda could feel her heart pound as she took a step closer to him. Lovino gulped as a shy hand pushed her hair out the way. 'Dammit Lovino! Since when are you shy! Just kiss her!', he started to lean in with his hand holding the back of her head. She also leaned forward as she lightly grabbed hold on his shirt. Their lips were about to touch when a cheerful voice sent them crashing back to Earth. "Esmeralda! Come here, it's time to learn español princesa!", Spain's cheery voice was heard downstairs causing the two to separate quickly with a jump. A defiant blush took over their cheeks. Lovino scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Well um...you should probably...", he gestured down the stairs, unfit for words. "Yeah...um, I should...well, see you later", she cleared her throat, set down the blanket and ran down stairs. Romano could feel his face burning and his heart felt as if it was going to shoot out. The memory kept playing over and over in his mind. He shook his head and ran out to reunite with his bedroom.