(See end of chapter for important author's note.)

Chapter 8
What Now?

Romano's mind was unable to understand the situation. His heart was hammering against his chest and heat flooded through his body. This could not be happening. This was not happening. He... was just dreaming! That's right! He would wake up any second now and Spain wouldn't be pressed against him, Spain wouldn't have his strong hands firmly keeping him clutched close. This was all just another silly dream! ...Not that he ever dreamed of anything like! No, no, of course not! Because that would just be ridiculous! Absolutely, completely and entirely- oh lord...

As Spain tilted his head gently to the side, Romano shuddered. Spain rubbed his back softly, deepening their kiss. Unsure on what exactly to do, Romano clenched the front of Spain's shirt, intending to pull him off. But Spain remained unaffected, slowing exploring into the depths of their kiss. Though it wasn't what he had originally planned, Romano somehow managed to use his grip as leverage to pull Spain in closer. The tanned man easily complied.

It was when Spain's hand slid up the back of his shirt that it hit Romano. Spain was in love with him. No... Spain was in love with the female version of him. Romano felt a little bitter at the thought. Of course Spain liked Lovina. No one in their right mind would like him. A guy with a personality like him? Please. Nobody wants to be around a guy like that. But a girl...? If a girl did it, she was "cute" and just "playing hard to get". Suddenly angry, Romano broke away from Spain, quickly fumbling to get back on his feet.

"Wha-" Spain looked dazed for a second before quickly getting up himself, "Wait, where are you going?"

"Away," Romano barked, his curls bouncing furiously as he twirled around, "As far away from you as I can get."

Spain grabbed onto his arm, "But why?"

Wrenching his arm out of Spain grasp, Roman turned and spat, "Because you're a fucking bastard."

"I... I don't understand."

"You don't understand? Really? Well then, let me help get you up to speed, bastard. Let's just get this straight, you know that I'm Romano's girlfriend and still you kiss me? Some friend you are, asshole. Don't you dare pull that on me ever again. Next time you do, I'll fucking kill you."

Spain stared at him, speechless. Believing matters to be settled, Romano turned away again, unconsciously flipping his hair as he did. He was almost all the way to the stairs when the sound of Spain voice made him stop. For a moment he couldn't breathe. Had Spain just said...? No, he couldn't have...

Romano looked back at Spain, "W-what did you just say?"

"I said," Spain had an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, "Tell me what's going on, Romano."

The world went still. He had said it. He had. Romano gulped, "I... I'm not..."

Spain just watched him. Romano gulped, "I'm Lovina."

"I'm sorry."

Romano's heart sank, "I-it's alright. It was an easy mistake to make, I guess."

"No," Spain shook his head and calmly made his way over to where Romano stood, "I'm sorry that it took me so long to figure it out."

"W-what are you t-talking about?"

Spain smiled and leaned down, kissing the top of Romano's head, "That there's no way there could ever be two adorable little tomatoes in my life. That they were both, in fact, one and the same. I was stupid to think any differently. I should have just trusted my instincts."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Romano resisted stubbornly, "I'm Lovina."

"Oh really?" Spain played along, "Alright then, Lovina... Sorry, what did you say your last name was again?"

Romano jumped, "I, uh, said it was... err..."

Spain grinned, "Is your last name that hard to remember?"

"No, shut up! Of course I know my last name you bastard!"

"Well, what is it then?"

"It's Brown!"

There was sudden silence in the room. Spain raised an eyebrow at him, "... Brown?"

"Yeah, Brown!" Romano snarled, distorting his pretty features, "I'm Lovina Brown! You got a problem with that, jerk?"

Spain stared at him.

Romano flushed, "W-what?"

"..."

"WHAT?"

"..."

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT YOU JERK?"

"... is that supposed to be Italian, Roma?"

"ARGH!" Romano jumped onto Spain from where he stood, knocking them both into a heap on the ground.

"WHOA-!" Spain felt the air leave his lungs as Romano headbutted him harder than he had for years.

"Damn it, you jerk! Why are you always trying to make me feel useless?"

Spain just laughed, tousling the hair of the blushing girl now sprawled on top of him, "Welcome back Romano."

"Shut up, idiot." Romano huffed, trying but not managing to keep the smile off his face.

"So, you've basically been switching back and forth this whole time?"

Romano shrugged, feeling his long hair shirt against his shoulder, "Yeah, pretty much."

Spain frowned, "And the only thing that can break it is a kiss..."

The Italian watched him nervously. He knew what Spain was thinking, "Hey... it's okay."

"I kissed you... but..."

"..."

"But you're still like this... What... What does that mean?"

Romano felt his heart clench. It meant that Spain wasn't his prince. He couldn't be if it hadn't worked. And really, if it wasn't Spain... if it wasn't the one person who had been through everything with him and had stood by him and had... l-loved him not matter what then... who could it possibly be? His heart felt heavy and his throat was constricted.

"I... I don't know."

They were silent for a moment.

"Did you mean it?"

Spain looked up at Romano, eyes clouded over on confusion. "What?"

Romano flushed, "When you... k-kissed me. Right before it. You said... you said something."

Instantly, Spain lept up from where he sat and held Romano's face between his hands, eyes staring intently into his, "I love you."

Romano hesitantly pulled his face away, "I don't want to be a girl forever Spain. I wanna go back to normal. And if this is the only reason you like me, maybe that's why the kiss didn't-"

"Don't," Spain pulled Romano forward and gently pressed their lips together, "That's not it Roma. That was never why. I've loved you for a while now. I just... never knew how to bring it up. I didn't want to scare you off."

Blushing, Romano leaned his forehead against Spain's, "S-stupid bastard. A-as if I'd be scared."

Spain just chortled and hugged Romano close, burying his face in his shoulder. Romano gently ran his hands up Spain's back, a slight smile on his face, "You know I... I, umm... feel... like that about you too."

"..."

"I think... I think I've felt like that for a while now."

Spain looked up at him, eyes sparkling, "Thank you."

Startled, Romano backed up, "F-for what?"

"For having the courage to tell me that you love me too."

"S-shut up," Romano's face heated up, "Stop being all mushy and help me figure out what to do next."

Spain grinned at him and moved back, instead settling next to him and holding onto one of his hands, "Well, what did Ita do?"

"What?"

"Veneciano~ What did he do to get back to normal?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" A heavy sense of foreboding was suddenly settling into his mind and sending his panic into overdrive.

Spain sensed the change in Romano mood and continued on carefully, "I... I assume the same thing happened to Veneciano, right?"

"Why would you assume something like that you bastard?"

"Well," Spain hesitated, "England swore to get revenge on the both of you and... and, I also got a very panicky distracted call from Prussia and I just put those two things together... it, it seemed to make sense."

Romano jumped up from his seat, heart pounding in his chest. No. No. Not his brother. How could he not have thought of that? He needed to go right now. He needed to make sure his brother was okay. Long locks swaying as he flew around the room and hips swinging, Romano pulled on his shoes and strode purposefully for the door.

Pulling it open, he paused only for a moment to throw a look over his shoulder at a dumbstruck Spain, "Are you coming or not?"

-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-

It's been almost a year and a half since I last updated. I apologise for keeping so many of you hanging with that cliff-hanger for so long. My writing style has changed a lot and, honestly, I looked back at this and I didn't want to finish it because it made me wince with it's many flaws. But I understand that that's unfair to all of you who have been waiting and for those who read it even though it was incomplete.

The reviews have been stacking up over time and I just want you all to know that I really, really, REALLY appreciate the time you've all taken to give me feedback. This chapter was half-done almost a year ago and I did my best to finish it in my old writing style for better flow. I'm not very active in the Hetalia fandom anymore but this pairing still makes me smile. So I'm going to finish this fic.

It's not going to be as long as I had been planning before... In fact, it's probably only going to be one more chapter- BUT I'm going to finish it. I can't say when the final chapter will be out, but it will definitely be quicker than this one was.

See you next chapter guys. I'm so grateful for your continued support. 3

Thank you.