BAM!

The noise was so loud and sudden that it caused the cheerful Italian to drop his fork of pasta and jump from his seat. He looked over worriedly at the one who made the startling noise—his brother. Romano had banged his head hard on the table (it sounded like it hurt a lot too) and was now muttering a string of curses in Italian.

"Ve~ Fratello, what's wrong?" Veneziano asked his older sibling.

"I can't do it," was the muffled response.

Veneziano tilted his head to the side while wearing a confused expression. "Can't do what...?"

"I can't confess to that ragazza!" Romano exclaimed, standing up abruptly causing the wooden chair he was previously sitting on to fall and clatter on the floor.

"Which ragazza?"

Romano remained quiet for a few seconds before mumbling your name. Veneziano's face lit up almost instantly once he heard it, and he grinned widely.

"Ve~! So fratello likes [Name] after all!" Veneziano cheered, raising his arms up high as though in celebration. He then slowly brought them down and the confused expression crept back to his face. "Oh, but you said you can't confess to her...why?"

"I don't know!" Romano groaned, burying his face into his hands. "I tried writing letters, sending e-mails, but something wrong always seems to happen!"

Indeed, Romano attempted many times to tell you his true feelings, but they all ended in complete failures. Romano's first attempt was to write a letter. It had taken him days to write one that he was fully satisfied with, and his trash bin was filled to the brim with crumpled pieces of paper once he finished the final copy. Unfortunately, Veneziano ended up accidentally throwing away the letter that his sibling worked so hard on. Apparently the window was open and a strong breeze blew it to the trash bin, making it fall in with the rest of the rejects.

The second attempt, Romano wrote another letter, but he decided to change things up a bit and make it much more interesting. He wrote the letter again and folded it neatly into a paper airplane. The Italian then threw it in the air and watched it glide; however, Romano's aim was completely off mark. The paper airplane ended up flying towards France instead! Needless to say, Romano immediately dashed out of there and had to reluctantly ask Spain to fix the misunderstanding.

Romano's patience was wearing thin by the third attempt. He was absolutely confident that this time things would work out this time though; after all, the saying does go "Third time's the charm". That saying was wrong. Romano decided to type up an e-mail rather than write another letter. It was less fussy and more 'eco-friendly' than using paper. Everything was perfect and things were going smoothly until the Internet crashed, and it hasn't been fixed yet.

"Why not just tell her in person?" Veneziano asked matter-of-factly.

"Oh wow! I didn't think of that!" Romano replied sarcastically as he rolled his eyes, but the younger Italian was completely oblivious.

Veneziano wore a huge grin on his face, thinking that he was able to say something smart and useful to his brother's predicament, but he later found out that he was completely off as Romano roughly grabbed his shoulders and yelled at him.

"You don't think I considered that you bastardo?! Of course I did! But I just can't do it! My words get caught in my throat whenever she smiles at me which is pretty much all the time, and I can't look at her properly without my face getting red like a tomato, and...and...CHIGI! Dammit! I can't do it!"

Romano lightened his grip on his brother and then let go. He stared hard at the floor, his face red from embarrassment and rage, and tears threatened to fall from his disappointed eyes. Romano's shoulders shifted up and down in pattern as he tried to regain his breath after his long rant.

"Fratello, I'm sure you could do it!" Veneziano encouraged his brother, "You just need some confidence!"

"...Enough. I'm going to sleep now," Romano replied, pushing past by his younger brother and heading towards his room.

The tsundere Italian shut the door tightly behind him and flopped down on his soft and inviting bed. He hugged his pillow and heaved a sigh. "Tomorrow..." he thought, "I'll try confessing to her tomorrow."

---

You were sitting under the shade of a big oak tree, sketching random things in your notebook. You were so focused on your sketching that you almost didn't notice the footsteps that approached you. You heard someone clear their throat which prompted you to look up from your notebook, and a smile graced your lips upon seeing who it was.

"Hello Romano," you greeted the hotheaded Italian.

"Hey ragazza," Romano returned the greeting, albeit a bit awkwardly.

"What's up?" you asked curiously, setting your notebook down on the grass and giving the Italian your full attention.

Romano's eyes travelled to your notebook, then back to you, then to the grass. You scrunched your eyebrows together in worry as Romano had difficulty trying to form a sentence.

"Listen [Name], I-I love...I lo-love...I-I-I love..." Romano stumbled on his words and his face was heating up a significant amount.

As the Italian in front of you tried to form his sentence, you couldn't help but feel your heart start beating faster and your cheeks heat up as well. Was he finally confessing to you? You've been friends with Romano for a long time, and you slowly found yourself falling for him. You wanted to tell him how you felt, but you were too much of a coward.

"I really...I love...that drawing of yours. You're really talented," Romano managed to finally say out loud.

"Oh..." your face fell and you felt your heart shatter once he said those words. They weren't really what you were expecting. You immediately put a smile back on your face, but it was strained. "Thanks. I'm glad you like it."

Romano nodded, not bothering to make any further comments. He then lifted his right hand as though gesturing a goodbye and then turned on his heel. You picked your notebook up again and let out a dejected sigh as the Italian continued to walk away from you.

Romano was walking away from you when he spotted Veneziano hiding in the bushes a fair distance away. Veneziano made gestures with his hand as though telling him to go back and try again. Romano stopped walking and took a deep breath. He swiftly turned around again and straightened his shoulders. He walked back to you with quick strides. You were already resuming your sketching when Romano suddenly blurted out the words you've wanted to hear for a long time.

"Okay, that wasn't what I meant to say! I mean, yeah, I do like your drawing; I meant that, but I meant to say something else! What I meant to say what that I love you! There! I said it! Are you happy now?!"

There was nothing but silence between the two of you now. Romano's face started heating up again once more, and your cheeks were just as red as Romano's beloved tomatoes. Just then, a small giggle escaped your lips, and it wasn't long before it turned into a loud laugh.

"Wh-What are you laughing at?!" Romano asked, crossing his arms together over his chest.

"So-Sorry, it's just that...I've always wanted to have you tell me that you love me, but I honestly didn't expect the 'are you happy now' part at the end!" you answered, wiping the tears from your eyes. "Yet for some reason, I'm not that surprised!"

Romano pouted which you found to be undeniably cute, and you smiled at him. You then flipped through the pages of your notebook, trying to find a specific page. Romano watched you closely until you found what you were looking for. You shyly showed it to the Italian, and his eyes lit up instantaneously. It was a picture that you had drawn of Romano and yourself holding hands, smiling at each other. At the bottom were the words "Ti amo, Romano".

"Idiota," he scoffed, though held a tone of happiness in it, "If you loved me, you could've told me in person instead of making a cowardly confession like this."