Romano sat on the couch letting off steam. Spain had hired someone to come and redo the wallpapers in their rooms. Esmeralda's room and Spain's room were already finished and now they were doing Romano's room. They would be in their all day and he wasn't allowed to go in his room so it could dry. He was stuck sleeping on the couch and wasn't too happy about it. He was staring out into the morning sky with his Italian flag blanket while munching on a tomato when he heard a crash. Another crash came soon after that but from another place in the house. More crashes were heard one rite after another. Little shredded pieces of his old beige wallpaper were scattered around randomly. An even louder crash was heard and then a scream. Romano only sighed and rolled his eyes. This was just an average ordinary day in Antonio's house. Esmeralda liked to cause chaos and have Spain chase her around the house while he yelled at her and she laughed in his face. Lovino curled up in his flag blanket and counted off the many things she's done to wreck the house. So far she's manged to set the kitchen on fire multiple times, she's flooded the house, she always tracked in mood. One time, she took some food supplies and stuffed them under Spain's bed where he never noticed until they would rot. Romano took another deep sigh, sure he thought it was funny and all, but Esmeralda always charmed Spain into not being mad at her and Lovino was stuck cleaning up her mess. Just as he suspected, an energetic New Spain leaped over the couch and ran out the double doors. Even though she was out side, he could still hear her laughing loud and clear. Soon after that, Spain popped into view looking like he was about to explode from stress and frustration. "Esmeralda! Get back here!", he barked the command looking around trying to catch his breath. In both hands he was holding broken vases, he was sweating and his hair was a mess. Romano took a look at the steaming man in front of him. "Let me guess, Esmeralda is breaking everything she can get her hands on?", Spain let out a deep angry growl. "Si. Did she go outside?", he gritted his teeth and waited for the answer. Romano nodded and Antonio dropped the vases and ran out slamming the doors behind him sending an unpleasant echo through the house. He peaked around the front of his house and saw her running off into the streets. He quickly ran after her shouting the hole time. "Esmeralda Carriedo! Get your ass back in the house!", New Spain only stuck her tongue out. "You gotta catch me first! Whats wrong Spain? Out of shape? How do you feel about being out run by a little girl huh?", she smirked and ran even faster, no where near running out of breath. Spain was now fuming and pressed to run faster. He noticed a tall fence up ahead of them. There was no way she could get pass that fence and Spain would finally get her and be able to punish her for destroying every last glass object in the house. He would also make her clean up the shredded wallpaper she scattered around the living room. Esmeralda looked at the tall fence as she was quickly advancing. She looked back at Spain who was now smirking, knowing she reached a dead end. "Watch and learn Spain. I don't give up easily", and with that, she jumped on the fence and got a good hold of it and simply jumped over the edge and landed safely on the ground. Once on the other side, she smiled triumphantly. "That was fun! I just jumped that big fence! Spain did you see that!", Spain stopped running and gaped at what he just witnessed. She had managed to jump over the fence gracefully in one swift move. He stood in front of the large fence and took in how tall it was. "How did she...", he pushed the thought out of his mind. He had more important things to take care of. He climbed the fence and toppled over landing on his back. He rubbed his neck and cursed out loud. He stood up and looked over to his colony who was jumping yet another fence. He looked at her in disbelief as she jumped over easily. Esmeralda jumped fence after fence with out breaking a sweat, loving the rush she was getting as she discovered her new talent. Spain managed to climb over the fences but his back was sore because each time he got on the other side, he feel on the ground. After a while, Esmeralda came to a stone hedge and sat on top of it. She grabbed a tomato out of no where and took a well deserved bite. A disfigured Spain finally caught up to her. He breathed heavily and was trying to rub his back. He gave her a weary look, "Esmeralda, get down. Now". The young girl laughed and threw her tomato hitting him dead in the chest. "Please come down. So we can go home and you can clean up the horrible mess and we can keep going in peace?", he pleaded with the young girl. She hopped off and looked up at Spain. "Well, I guess your rite Antonio. It's okay, I'm willing to take the consequence for my actions. You can punish me, I deserve it. I'm sorry", she averted her eyes to the ground and pretended to sniffle while a fake tear rolled down her cheek. "Aw Esmeralda! You know I can't stay mad at you! Come here honey, please don't feel bad!", he pulled her in a warm hug, giving in to her sad display. "It's okay princesa, you don't have to worry about a thing. We'll go home, have some churros and tomatoes, and Lovino can clean up. How does that sound?", Esmeralda nodded. "You really forgive me?", Spain rubbed her back and took her hand so they could go home. "Of course, I forgive you with all my heart", the two walked home. Once inside, Esmeralda bent down in front of Lovino, who was still on the couch and stuck her tongue out at him and wrapped his curl around her finger before running off to the kitchen. Romano immediately bit his lip and tensed up as the familiar feeling set in. Spain came in smiling, "Oh Lovino, could you please clean up while me and Esmeralda cook something?", he then disappeared behind the kitchen door. Romano rolled his eyes and went off to clean his friends mess, he loved her to pieces but she was his biggest pain in the ass.
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.