As time went by, Esmeralda continued to grow quickly, but Lovino grew even quicker. The Italian had finally reached adult hood, appearing at twenty two; after careful observation, Antonio proclaimed that Lovino had finally reached that part in a countries life where they've become fully grown.
"Congratulations Lovino! You, my friend, are finally a grown man" Spain patted said man on the back as he poured some fine aged wine in a glass. The Spaniard had thought it'd be great to celebrate manhood by having some drinks. Esmeralda on the other hand, didn't think it was that great of an idea to be giving Romano alcohol considering he was already on his fourth glass and took into demanding Antonio to "Fill it up you ass hat! Fill it all the way up!", and by the time it was filled up and brought to his lips, he spilled half the thing on his chest.
Lovino didn't even noticed as it spilled down on his shirt and drank the rest of the cup. Spain was also on his fourth glass, but wasn't the least bit drunk. The two shared a couch while Esmeralda sat on the other couch right across from them, gazing at Lovino with awkward curiosity. She hadn't had a sip of wine because, while Spain was sure she could handle herself and was willing to give her some so she wasn't left out, Romano would protest by saying that the drinks were for adults only.
"You gotta hurry up on growing Esmeralda" Lovino reached out and patted her head as red wine rolled down his chin. "Spain and I, Spain and I are men. I am a man now, like Spain. We're adults, and you're still a young little girl. It might be, well you know...awkward living with two grown adults while you're still an under aged country. Be strong, it's gonna motherfucking be okay" Lovino drabbled out with his eyes half lidded and a lazy grin on his face. He set down his glass and grabbed her face in his hands. "You just gotta hurry up and catch up to us!"
She plucked him off of herself awkwardly and leaned back so he couldn't reach her. "Do you have any idea how much of an idiot you're making out of yourself?" she eyed him as he began looking through his empty glass as if the wine had suddenly drained out from the bottom. Spain chuckled and took the glass from his hands to refill it. Esmeralda opened her mouth to question if Lovino should even consume any more alcohol for the rest of the year, but pursed her lips and sighed instead. If Lovino wanted to get drunk off his ass, then so be it.
Lovino chugged down his glass and coughed a little. Antonio grinned, giving out a little "Woah there!", and patted Lovino's back as he proceeded to pour yet another glass. Romano yanked it out of Antonio's hand and slammed it on the table, causing the wine to slosh all over the place.
"No, no. I don't sound like an idiot. I'm just speaking in the language of adulthood. I'm speaking in the manliness that I reached when I became an adult" he kept his eyes on Esmeralda and blindly reached for his glass, knocking it over and spilling its contents on his lap.
Esmeralda leaned over and grabbed the bottle of wine, placing it next to her out of reach before Spain could give the drunken Italian even more wine. "Alright, that's enough. Anymore and you're going to puke all over the place. And knowing the two of you men", emphasize on the word men, "I'm going to have to be the one to clean it all up".
"Aw come on Esmeralda, there's no harm being done! He's just happy, look at his gleaming face" Spain gestured to Lovino who was mumbling quietly to the arm of the couch.
"Yeah. Face of a winner" Esmeralda said sternly, clearly unamused. Spain frowned and looked over at the almost empty bottle of wine, then looked over to the Italian punching the sofa arm.
He sighed and ran a hand through his curls, "Yeah maybe you're right. Come on, help me get him up to his room". He stood up and pried Lovino off of the couch. Lovino tried to cling on to it, but Spain was too strong and didn't break a sweat as he easily swung the squirming Italian over his shoulder.
"I won't let you take me away, you bastard! I can walk perfectly fine! I'm not even tired, stop wasting your time!" Lovino punched Spain's back but when the pounding in his head grew stronger from all the yelling, he groaned and allowed himself to become limp on Spain's shoulder. "You've won this round, but you better sleep with you eyes closed. No wait...that didn't come out right..." his words seemed to lack structure as they slurred together with drunken exhaustion.
Spain began to carry him up the stairs and Esmeralda followed closely behind after setting the wine back on the table. Lovino was drooling onto Spain's back and would stare at the soaked spot on the yellow shirt with a look of disgust before drooling on it all over again. Antonio easily climbed up the stairs, the Italian's weight having no effect on him at all. As Antonio made the left that would lead them to Lovino's room, said Italian looked up at Esmeralda's face and smiled.
"Hey bella, you come here often?" he wiggled his eyebrows lazily as he tried to pull some auburn hair out of his face but ended up smacking himself. He glared at the offending hand before turning back to Esmeralda.
"Yeah I live here" she crossed her arms and gazed up at him as he began trying once again to get the hair out of his face. His arms would quit halfway, causing the hair to fall back over his face and he would spazz out and try to frantically swap his hair away by waving his hands in front of his face as if there was a swarm of bees in the house. She groaned and uncrossed her arms, using them to reach out and delicately place the long straight strands away from his face. "There, now stop moving around so much" she looked past the two guys to see Spain opening Romano's door and leading them inside the dark room.
Lovino beamed up at Esmeralda and thanked her for removing the hair from his face. "You, my dear, are a motherfucking angel sent from the lord. Do I look pretty now?" he was going to continue, but thankfully, Spain plopped the drunk mess on it's bed a little harder then necessary and Lovino's forming words turned into an "Oof!" sound as he yelled at Spain while rubbing at his elbow protectively.
"Gorgeous" she rolled her eyes as she looked down at him while he tossed and turned in the bed, trying to tell them that he wasn't tired or drunk but Spain kept cutting him off by pushing him back down on the bed every time he sat up and trying to reason that he needed to rest. After deciding that the whole scene in front of her was too ridiculous, she nudged Spain and headed towards the door. "Come on, just leave him alone and he'll pass out eventually" Spain gladly obliged and followed suit, closing the door behind him and skipping down the stairs.
Once back in the living room, Spain happily plopped back down on the sofa with a sigh. Esmeralda was about to sit on the sofa across from her but suddenly,
"Wait! Why don't you come sit here instead?" Antonio scooted a little to his left and patted the seat next to him, looking up at her with patient eyes.
Esmeralda glanced at him, frozen in the process of sitting down. She shrugged, seeing no harm in it, and got comfortable next to the Spaniard. She smoothed out her dress as he wrapped an arm around her tiny, but strong, shoulders. He pulled her close, but she only allowed herself to get just close enough to be engulfed in his warmth, but not close enough to where the Spaniard could call it snuggling. Antonio reached out and grabbed the bottle of wine, pouring two perfect glasses. He silently offered Esmeralda one before relaxing into the sofa, never taking his arm away from his colony. She took the fancy glass in her hands and looked up at Antonio, watching as dark red wine disappeared between his lips. She tore her eyes away from him and looked down at her beverage as it stared up at her blankly, as if it was tricking her to drink it so it wouldn't have to ask her to take a sip and allow it to fulfill its duties as a beverage. She could feel Antonio shifted softly next to her and she swore they were now pressed against each other.
She brought the glass up to her lips and tipped it so that the liquid could slide over to briskly meet her lips and rush by. She swallowed and held the glass in midair. She could still taste the drink in her mouth, it was sweet and she could catch certain flavors. Raspberry, blackberry, cherry, and was that cinnamon? She took another sip, it was rich and smooth as it trickled down over her tongue and down her throat.
Spain smiled down at her, "I see you like it"
"It's alright" she kept her gaze on her glass. It was alright indeed. The wine was enjoyable, but it didn't exactly tickle her taste buds of that's what Antonio was asking. She preferred something that offered more of a balance of sweet, sour, and tanginess.
"Alright! Do you know how fancy wine is?" Spain shook his head with a chuckle. He looked down at his half filled glass before setting it down near him. "One thing's for sure, you can handle alcohol a lot better than Lovino. Poor guy can't hold his liquor to save his life. At least he's better than Kirkland. Anyways, I think that's the first and last time I'm going to allow Lovino to have more than one glass of anything alcoholic"
Esmeralda listened to him speak with a fondness, "I should hope so". Spain let out a soft laugh and then that was it. Silence filled the house except for the clock nearby ticking and the crackling of a fire place, but no more words escaped the nation's mouths. It was perfect, welcomed, warm silence. There was no pressure to speak and Esmeralda shut her eyes, finally leaning against Antonio. She took in a breath and there it was. That scent that she kept smelling when she closed her eyes, except this time it was actually there. The smell of nature and food, so natural instead of that Italian cologne Lovino showered himself with. The cologne smelled fine, but there was something about the way Spain's natural scent that was so desirable and real. She opened her eyes and they made their way up to his face. He was looking off into the distance, not really looking at anything at all. She looked at the way the fire nearby casted shadows on his face and made his tanned skin glow. He wasn't as tan as Lovino and wasn't anywhere near as tan as Esmeralda, but he had a small tint that was just right. His lips were curved up into a relaxed smile, he was clearly enjoying himself. His green eyes shone bright, he always smiled with his eyes and it sent warmth and reassurance through Esmeralda. They were like brilliant emerald stones. Then there was his chestnut brown hair. Short with little fluffy curls that just went off in whatever direction they wanted to, begging to be played with.
Spain felt her gaze and looked down at her slowly, smiling deeper as their eyes met. He didn't say anything, just smiled, and it was enough.