Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ve... Germany, I- I’m okay! Really!”

“Please, Italy, humour me.”

Italy lay on his bed, smiling faintly. His hair sat greasy and tangled upon his head. Germany sat at his side, the worry lines on his forehead deeper than usual. He unscrewed the cap of a water bottle and brought it to Italy’s lips. They parted slightly and water dribbled down his chin. He coughed up whatever water made it into his mouth and grimaced as it soaked his bed sheets.

“Ah, s-sorry... I didn’t mean to...”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Just save your strength.”

Germany adjusted the cloth compress on Italy’s forehead and gently ran his fingers through the latter’s hair. Said man chuckled.

“You know, I never thought you’d be so sweet when we first met.”

A light blush dusted Germany's cheek bones, “You are equally full of surprises.”

Italy giggled weakly before a coughing fit overcame him. Germany helped him sit up and held his hand as they waited for it to die down. He brought the water bottle to his lips and Italy sipped gratefully.

“I’m really happy you’re here, Germany.”

“Who else would take care of you?”

“That’s true. You’re always helping me, cleaning up my messes.”

“At one point, that was forced on me, but I still do it now. There's a reason for that.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s not a problem, let me check your temperature.”

Germany took Italy’s temperature and cursed under his breath.

“It’s not getting better? How many dead?”

“Italy-”

“How many dead?”

“There’s no point to me telling you, it’ll only make you feel worse. There’s nothing we can do.”

Italy nodded gently, though tears welled up in his glassy eyes.

“Hey, let’s play a game, Italy.”

“What kind of game?” Italy brightened up, but was still no where near his usual enthusiasm.

Germany opened his mouth to respond but what came out instead was a series of dry coughs. Italy glared at him with large, watery, definitely non-threatening eyes.

“How come you didn’t tell me you were sick too? It doesn’t matter, come lie down next to me.”

Germany acquiesced and draped himself next to Italy, over the bed’s covers.

“I love you, Doitsu.”

“I love you as well, Italy. Now, try to get some rest.”

He nodded and let his eyelids droop before jerking back awake.

“What? What’s wrong?” asked Germany.

“Please, check up on Romano for me. He’s hurt too, but- but he’s probably pretending he’s fine.”

“Italy, I don’t want to leave you...”

“Please Germany, for me.”

“Alright, whatever you want.”

“Hmm... Good, thank you. You go to sleep too, please,” Italy murmured before losing consciousness.

Germany sighed and placed a light kiss on the hand he was holding before rising out of bed and leaving the room. He took his cellphone out of his back pocket and selected a certain Spaniard’s contact.

*

Antonio cleared his throat before answering the phone,

“Yes, Germany? What can I do for you?”

“I need you to go check up on Romano for me, please. Italy needs someone to do it and I can’t leave his side.”

“Oh, I called him yesterday though, he seemed to be fine.”

“Apparently, he has a tendency to pretend he’s okay? I don’t know. Listen, it’s impotant to Italy, could you please?”

“Yeah, of course. Anything for you, amigo.”

“Well, I’ve got to go, Italy finally fell asleep, I don’t want to leave him for too long.”

“Of course! I wish you lots of health! For the both of you.”

“Goodbye.”

*

Germany hung the phone up and walked back into Italy’s bedroom where said man was fast asleep. He laid down next to Italy and stared at his profile for a moment. He watched the way his eyelids fluttered and how his breath came out in short, wheezing puffs of hot air, out of his lips. He turned back to face the ceiling and sighed to himself.

How the world falls apart so easily...

Chapter Text

Antonio pulled up into Romano’s driveway. He’d been able to make it the entire trip twice as faster without anyone on the roads. He rang the doorbell and rubbed his throat unconsciously, it was constantly sore nowadays. He rang it again after a minute of silence. He heard a loud groan from inside the house as well as a long series of coughs that followed immediately after. Footsteps thumped loudly as they got closer. The door finally swung open, revealing an exhausted-looking Romano, hair furiously tangled. Antonio recoiled in shock at the sight.

“What?! What do you want, asshole?” growled Romano.

“I’m not allowed to see my boyfriend?” asked Antonio.

Romano blushed furiously and went to close the door.

“Wait! I just came to check up on you!”

“Well, I’m fine.”

“Great! Then, do you mind if I come in?”

“Whatever, bastard.”

Antonio walked into the house. It didn’t look any different than usual, but it smelt of dust and stuffiness. He sat down on a love-seat next to a lived-in couch, covered in blankets. Romano curled up on the couch.

“So, if you’re okay, what was with that coughing fit? I could hear it from behind the front door.”

“I choked on something, idiot.”

Antonio glanced at him questioningly. Romano’s eyes darted to the coffee table, where a glass of water sat.

“I choked on water, that’s it.”

“Uh huh,” said Antonio, nodding.

“What? You don’t believe me? You’re a bigger dumbass than I thought.”

Antonio leaned closer to Romano, stomach against the top of his thighs, cradling his face, elbows placed atop his knees. He examined Romano slowly. Tangled hair, practically vivid purple under eyes, too pale of a complexion and a thin sheet of sweat coating his skin, even though they were sitting in room temperature. Antonio sighed softly.

“Romano, I know how much this... outbreak affects your country, and therefore, you.”

“Well, if you knew that, then you’d be with my brother, not with me. The idiota encompasses the region with the most cases.”

“He has someone with him, and that doesn’t mean that you’re not feeling its effects either. Please, Romano, I just want to help you.”

“I don’t need-” his protest was interrupted a large dry cough, followed by smaller ones overlapping each other in his throat. Antonio sat beside him and handed him the glass of water once everything died down. Romano sipped gratefully, chest heaving with exhaustion. Antonio took the glass away and stood up.

“Mi amor, lean your back against the armrest, stretch your legs. Don’t lie down, the coughing will worsen. Do you have a thermometer?”

Romano shook his head, before complying to Antonio’s directions. He smiled down at Romano and pulled one of the blankets over his legs before leaving him to collect what he needed.

He started preparing a cool cloth, just in case it was needed. As cold water soaked the square of fabric in his hands, he thought back to how Romano lied to him. Why did he feel the need to? Why couldn’t he just have accepted the help?

He wrung the cloth out and made his way back to Romano. He pressed the inside of his wrist to the sick man’s forehead and grimaced when he felt how scalding the skin was. He applied the cloth to it and knelt down to look up at him.

“Querido, why would you lie to me that you were okay?”

Romano looked away, “I didn’t want to be a burden or anything. I know you’re probably sick too...”

“Look at me, please.”

Romano returned his gaze to Antonio. Antonio’s eyes widened emphatically.

“You will never, ever be a burden to me. I love you, okay? Do you understand?”

Romano nodded and grasped Antonio’s hand,

“I love you too, bastard. Thank you.”

Antonio smiled up at him and squeezed his hand in response.

“But, you avoided my question, idiot. Are you sick too?”

Antonio hesitated.

“Don’t you dare lie to me, asshole. Not after this conversation.”

“Yeah, I am. Just a little, though. Nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, yeah. That’s what I said two weeks ago. Come lie down with me, idiota.”

“There’s no room on the couch.”

“We’ll make it work, it’s what we do.”