Title: Keeping House
Author: bubbleteadesu
Characters/Pairing: Spain/Belarus
Rating: K+
Summary: AU-ish (human names used); Antonio forgets a lot of things. Like how the towel belongs on the rack, not on the bathroom floor. Like how milk goes bad three days after opening it. Like how natalia looks when she is angry. And she is definitely angry now.
Warning: one curse word
AN: written for the rare pair event at tumblr. prompt was having a fight and making up afterward
Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia.

Antonio forgets that behind Natalia's seemingly emotionless countenance is a flame of passion waiting to be kindled.

He knows he shouldn't forget this—after all, it's this passion that first attracted her to him. But he forgets, just like how he forgets that the towel belongs on the towel rack and not on the bathroom floor. That milk should be consumed three days after it's opened. And when she hollers at him to buy milk to replace the one that had gone bad, she means now and not three hours later after his afternoon siesta.

So now she stands in front of him, hands on her waist. Her lower lip juts out ever so slightly, her eyebrows are knitted together, and her eyes burn with a furious icy-blue fire. He tries hard not to—now is simply not the right time for this—but he falls headlong into her eyes, and all he suddenly wants is to take her into his arms and kiss her senseless.

So Antonio does so—or at least tries to, but he has barely pressed their lips together when Natalia shoves him away.

"Go away, asshole," she hisses at him in a tone that makes the hair at the back of his neck bristle with fear.

So Antonio grabs his coat and steps outside their flat and into the crisp winter air. He hopes that when Natalia says go away, she doesn't mean go away forever because 1. the flat was his to begin with—not that it matters because now it's theirs—and 2. he can't really imagine forever without Natalia—and forever is an awfully long time.

He walks quickly on the cobbled sidewalk, pulling his collar up against the chilly wind. All around him are reminders of Valentine's day: cut-out hearts and paper cupids cover every store front. He doesn't really want to be reminded of this, not now, not when—

"A rose to appease the lady love's temper?"

Antonio looks up. An old woman sits by her flower stand, flashing him a toothless grin and a single-stemmed rose.

"How did you know she was mad?" he asks in wonder as he takes the rose from her hand.

He hadn't thought it still possible for the old lady's smile to grow even wider. "Only a man who had lost his love would look the way you do right now."

"I haven't lost her," he tells her. "I only forgot to buy the milk." He starts to fish out coins for her but she places her hand gently on his. "Go," she tells him simply.

And so he grabs the rose from the old woman and runs, runs back to their flat, runs back to Natalia who is sitting on the couch, reading a book.

No, she is only pretending to read a book—no one can read a book upside-down. Antonio smiles and sits beside her. Natalia pretends to ignore him, but Antonio can see how she follows his movements with her eyes.

Antonio brings out the rose and places it in between the pages of Natalia's book. "I'm sorry, mi amor." He loves the way her cheeks flush pink at the words.

"You should have bought milk instead," she tells him sharply and for a moment, Antonio's breath hitches.

But then Natalia pulls Antonio down for a kiss, and he knows all is forgiven.

end