Hetalia x Abused!Child!Reader: Romano

“Go ahead und choose, (Y/n).”

You dug your hand into the paper bag, pulling out . . . some red food you didn’t know the name of.

“A tomato!” Feliciano exclaimed. “Romano, isn’t that-a what you put in the bag?”

You looked around for this Romano. You assumed it was him who stood up, between Feliciano and another man with brown hair and green eyes who was smiling like a small child, face as red as the tomato in your hands. He had another curl, and you thought they might be related. “Si, the tomato was-a mine-e.”

“Very vell,” Germany nodded, putting the bag back on the table. “Meeting adjourned.”

Everyone got up to leave.

“I’ll come visit, love,” Arthur whispered behind you, taking his coat back and patting you on the head, smiling. “Take care.”

“Later, dudette!” Alfred picked you up and hugged you, something you didn’t know how to respond to.

“Alright, hand-a the bambina to me!” Romano had walked over with a scowl on his red face, Feliciano right behind smiling brightly. The green-eyed man also hovered nearby for a few seconds before being pulled away by a long-haired blonde (boy or girl?) and a white-haired man.

Alfred gave you to the arms of Romano, who took the tomato and held you a bit awkwardly. “Dude, just watch your mouth, kay? She’s…How old are you again?”

“F-Father says I turned th-three last month.”

He nodded, smiling, but there was the faintest trace of sympathy in his eyes. “Hey, Happy late Birthday!”

“Ve!” Feliciano gave you (and Romano) a hug.

“Si, Happy late Birthday,” Romano grumbled.

“Thank you.” You allowed a small smile to form quickly, then dropped it. Romano didn’t seem too nice.

“Well,” Alfred said, “I’ll let you guys go now!” He turned and walked out of the room.

~~~~~

(Y/n) looked up at the grumpy man, who was looking back down at her with a mixture of nervousness, awkwardness, and sympathy.

“Ve~…Fratello? Should we go now?” Feliciano broke the silence.

“Si, si.” He turned and began walking. “My name is Romano, but most people call me Lovino.”

“I’m (Y/n).”

“You need a bath.” He stated bluntly.

“Fratello!” Feliciano exclaimed. “(Y/n), you can-a call me Zio Feli! That means uncle in Italian! Ve~! I’m a zio!”

(Y/n) was quiet as they walked out of the room, into a hallway. “C-could I have w-warm water in the shower?”

Romano answered gruffly, “Of course, why wouldn’t you?”

“F-Father uses all of our w-warm water. Or we just don’t have a-any, I don’t kn-know.”

“Bella, you are-a freezing and wet—where did you spend the night now?”

“I-In the alley next t-to here.”

They both stopped walking with a grunt, looking at each other and back down again. The brothers rushed to the hotel room.

~~~~~

For a three-year-old to have shown such vocabulary and intelligence earlier, Romano had to laugh at how she played with the bubbles in the bath. Her hair was washed twice, and he had thrown her dirty clothes (and bunny) into the hotel laundry, promised to be done by tomorrow before their plane left. They were in their hotel room, and North Italy had gone to a store and bought new clothing and underwear for (Y/n) earlier in the day. Just a few shirts, a pair of pants, undies, and a (f/c) nightgown, but enough until they could go properly shopping in their own country.

While Italy was off buying all of that, Romano had bathed (Y/n) once before and had Spain bring them dinner (she requested the warm meal of spaghetti again, and nobody could refuse those wide (e/c) eyes). Despite the first bath, the toddler was still dirty (and loved the first warm bath she ever had) and requested another one again after Antonio left after dinner.

(Y/n) giggled again as her new father smiled despite himself and blew bubbles off of his hand, into the air. “There, now you are-a really clean!”

“And bubbly!” She exclaimed.

He chuckled, washing the remaining bubbles off of her now clean form. Romano dried her off with a towel and gave her the nightwear. “Not anymore, silly.”

When she first got undressed for the bath, he was horrified to see large bruises scattered around her chest and stomach. He had asked her what happened, and wasn’t surprised to hear it was her father’s doing. Scrapes on her hands and knees proved to be “boo-boos” gained from tripping on the sidewalk while wandering yesterday, and filthy scars on her back were from past beatings her father inflicted.

If that bastard ever got near her again, Romano would kill him. Thankfully, that shouldn’t be a problem once they got to Italy.

She got dressed as he turned away, and tugged on his sleeve when she was done.

Romano turned around, and was surprised at the beauty she really possessed when clean. (E/c) eyes shone brightly up at him, happy for the first time in a long while. Her (h/c) hair was finally clean, much healthier than it had looked when still filthy. Her wounds were also significantly cleaner, and he wrapped the fresh scrapes in bandages. Nothing could be done about the bruises, but…

She looked innocent again.

“Ragazza, you look-a very pretty,” He smiled gently, a feat seen by only his brother and Spain. It was odd how the strongest heart could be melted by the suffering of another. Hell, he hadn’t let out a curse once! Besides a few ‘idiotas’ meant towards North Italy… “Now-a brush your teeth so we can go to bed, eh?”

“Yes Lovino!” She chirped the name he insisted she call him, turning to the sink.

Now the only problem was that there were just two beds in the room.

~~~~~

“Ve~! You two are-a so cute together!” North Italy squealed, holding his hands up to his face.

“Shut up, idiota!” Romano snapped, causing you to whimper into his chest. “Right…Bella, I am-a sorry…” He held you tighter against him, laying down on the bed.

“S’ okay…” You mumbled, snuggling your head into his neck. “Th-thank you Lovi.” You were significantly warmer now in his chest, but still cold and sick. Freezing, really.

He tensed. “Please don’t call me that…”

“Sorry.”

“Buena notte you two!” Feliciano said from his own bed.

“Buena notte,” He pulled the covers up over your bodies, rolling to the side so you were held closely to his chest. “Are you warm, (Y/n)?”

“I feel better…”

“Still not-a good enough?” Lovino rubbed your arm, trying to warm it a little.

Still you trembled, and he could feel it.

“I know!” Zio Feli sprang up from his bed and jumped beside you.

“What-a the fu—what are you doing?!”

“(Y/n) can’t get warm, so I’ll sleep here with you two! C’mon fratello, we already sleep in the same bed some nights!” He settled himself under the covers, the smile never leaving his face.

“That’s because you crawl in when I’m asleep,” He grumbled, making you giggle.

Truthfully, you were feeling much better with the extra body heat. You grabbed Feli’s shirt and tried to pull the fabric closer with a grunt. Your new father and zio were wearing tank tops and shorts they called boxers, so the fabric stretched.

“Aw,” Feli scooted closer and gave you a kiss on the forehead. “Is this-a better?”

“Mm-hm,” You nodded with your head against his chest, sniffling.

“And do you-a feel better?”

Lovino’s arms were wrapped around your tiny form and pulled you closer so his head was on yours, and now you pulled out of that briefly to kiss both men on the cheek in response to your new Zio Feli.

Feliciano made a quiet squealing sound and put a hand on your head, pulled a lock of hair out of your eyes, and rested the arm on your shoulder. Romano kept his arms around you.

You felt more loved than you ever had before. Tears formed in your eyes of happiness. That really had never happened before. “This i-is the nicest thing a-anyone’s ever done for me!”

“See, there are nice people in the world!” Feliciano wiped the tears from your cheeks with a soft finger, and even opened his eyes for the first time since you met him. They crinkled in the nicest smile you had ever seen before shutting again. “Do not-a cry, bella. Your new papa and I will-a love you.”

“D-do you promise?”

“We promise,” Lovino answered behind you.

A few minutes of silence passed before someone spoke.

“Fratello?” Your new father asked.

“Si?”

“We are-a really, really close together.”

Very true. Their heads would have touched had yours not been in the way. “Si, so?”

“So I better not wake up to you kissing me or anything, idiota!”

You didn’t know it, but his next words would forever impact Lovino’s life. Italy giggled, then said, “Do it for her, Romano.”

You fell asleep, warm and loved.

~~~~~

*Three-month time-skip brought to you by pasta!*

“Papa!” You wailed, running downstairs.

“(Y/n)?” Romano looked down from your other uncle Antonio, who had come over for a visit with a white-haired, red-eyed man you didn’t recognize. It was way past your bedtime, so you knew that they came over to spend some alone-time with your Papa. Not caring, you glomped Romano’s legs, crying.

“What’s wrong with my little sobrina?” Antonio asked, kneeling down with worry.

You sobbed as Romano picked you up, holding you close. You had started calling him ‘Papa’ about two months ago, but he still couldn’t shake the warm feeling in his chest when you called him that. Even right now, under these circumstances. It melted his heart every time. “Did you-a have the same nightmare again?”

You nodded, and continued to cry until all that were left were hiccups.

“So zis is ze awesome madchen you vere talking about Spa—uh, Antonio?” The white-haired man spoke.

“Her name is (Y/n), bastardo...”

“Is she alright?”

“No she is not alright idiota!”

This outburst got you wailing again.

“No, no! (Y/n), it’s-a fine! Sei al sicuro, you are safe!”

You calmed down again, breathing heavily. You had a recurring nightmare about your Father coming back and hurting you and your Papa and your new family. But this time it was different. “Papa, I dreamt that . . . O-Other Father…” You buried your head in his chest, “H-he killed us!”

The other two adults in the room suddenly grew highly uncomfortable. Prussia hadn’t seen you since the World Meeting, but heard lots through Spain and France. He hadn’t been able to really visit often (Romano, from the occasional times he had seen with Veneziano, was cute but not really a friend), so he didn’t know much about you. But Spain had made it clear he was to be your new uncle practically the moment you stepped into Italy, when you were still sick and weak. He helped them nurse you back to health, played with you, and babysat when the Italys had to be at a meeting.

But both were unaccustomed to the trauma you still suffered from your original Father.

“You and I both know that-a won’t ever happen!” Romano bounced you some in his arms, refusing to meet the eyes of his two friends (Prussia being a bit more one-sided on that ‘friend’ note, but he was oddly well-behaved right now—the Spaniard would have also brought France had he not been with Italy at Germany’s house). “I love you too damn much to even feel comfortable letting others hold you…”

“B-but in the dream you—you had the f-face Father h-had when he kicked me…You looked like you were gonna give me back to him…”

“I would never do that to you. And you know that.” He kissed your temple. “You know you mean the world to me, (Y/n).”

“Romano, you are so cute~!” Spain squealed after a few moments.

You ignored the Spaniard, clutching his shirt tighter in your little grip. The first few days after coming back to Italy you were still sick, but the brothers nursed you back to health. Mostly through soup, pasta, hugs, and lots of snuggling for body warmth. Well, mostly body warmth.

You loved being held. Even when you were healthy again sometimes Zio Feli snuck into your room—you didn’t think he felt comfortable sleeping alone either—and stayed with you. Or your papa did, or you went into one of their rooms, usually after a nightmare. It was rare for you to fall asleep alone and remain asleep, mostly a habit from your old Father coming in late at night and waking you up. The fear that came every time you looked at the clock in the early morning hours did not go away, because of the habit you got into of him coming into the bedroom.

Even right now, all you wanted was to be held.

“So to add onto vat you just said,” The funny-speaking man said, “I am ze Awesome Gilbert! And zis is mein Awesome Gilbird!”

You turned to look at him. He was smiling kindly, and had a yellow bird perched atop his shoulder. “I’m (Y/n)…Oh, sorry!”

“Sorry about vat?”

“Coming down here and crying…”

All three assured you at the same time.

“No! Chica, there’s nothing wrong with that!”

“You had a nightmare about zat brute, ve understand!”

“(Y/n), I’ve told you a thousand times you can-a trust me,” Romano sighed, eyeing the two. “You two. Get out so I can-a put (Y/n) to bed. No drinking around her!”

Romano turned to go upstairs, and stopped at the sound of sniggering.

“So cute…” Antonio whispered, giggling.

He growled, “Shut up…”

“It was nice to meet you Mr. Gilbert!” You called.

“Nice to meet you too, kind!” He called back, laughing some.

As you two ascended the stairs, you heard Antonio say, “She won’t let you leave the room after a nightmare, he won’t come back down. Let’s go friend, let them sleep, eh?”

This information running around in your head, you turned to your papa as he opened the door to his bedroom. “Y-you don’t need to sleep with me i-if you don’t want to, Papa…”

“No no, (Y/n). You are just-a like my fratello, really. He has-a trouble sleeping alone as well, that is-a why he sometimes sneaks away to that potato bast—er, to Ludwig’s home. It is no trouble at all, and you know ti amo!”

“What does that mean?”

He laid you down on the bed, covering you. “It means ‘I love you,’ and I love every second of having you here with me. Now, give-a me a second to get your bunny and change into pajamas.”

“Papa…” You looked up at him with wide eyes. “Why is Zio Feli scared of sleeping alone?”

He sighed, “Let me get-a ready for bed, and we’ll-a talk. It's-a past your bedtime though, so we can't stay up for long.”

“Okay,” You gave a small smile, lying back on the pillows as he exited the room and came back a few minutes later with your bunny, and in shorts and the tank top he usually wore.

He laid down beside you, giving the stuffed animal to snuggle. “Well, Zio Feli has-a always had issues sleeping alone.”

“Why?”

He thought for a moment. “I-a don’t really know. You should ask him. It-a freaked me out the first time I woke up with him right next to me, but we were just chib—children then. And then our big brother Roderich,” He winced at the memory of Austria, “separated us when-a we were still young. I was sent off to live with Antonio, while your Zio Feli stayed with Roderich. He didn’t treat Feliciano very well, either. I think that after all those years of his friends leaving him,” (Holy Roman Empire always being an extremely sensitive subject,) “or just becoming dicks,” (Romano couldn’t say anything there; he knew he was a dick…just not to you.) “he’s just afraid of being alone.”

And Romano could easily relate, although he was less open about his feelings (and certainly wouldn’t be caught crawling into another person’s bed, other than yours). And while he was seriously annoyed every time he woke up with Feliciano in his bed, or Feli simply crawled in beside him, Lovino had grown used to it.

“Oh . . .” You snuggled closer to his side. “Are you afraid?”

He was silent for a moment, then wrapped his arm around you, looking into your eyes. “Si. Yes. Because if I am alone…” He swallowed, “If I am alone it means that you are no longer with me.”

It hit him then: Romano was a country. You were a human.

He was going to outlive you. He had perhaps a century with this little toddler who called him Papa, who he had grown to love already, and perhaps even less time. What if something killed you before your time comes? What if he was a horrible father and couldn’t protect you? What the fuck would he do when your time came to pass away, like so many others in his long, long lifetime?

“Oh, oh mio Dio…” He sat up, pulling you up into his chest with him.

“Papa?” You didn’t know why his body shook, until realizing your Papa was sobbing. “Papa! Stop crying!” You hugged him back after a moment, doing what he did when you cried and sitting with your knees on his lap, sitting up and rubbing his back with your tiny arms. “It’s okay . . . Ti amo, Papa. I love you, so stop crying! I promise I won’t leave you, you’re the best Papa ever!”

He looked up from his hands to meet your eyes, and your own heart broke a little at his tears. Never before had you seen him like this, except maybe the time you called him ‘Papa’ or said ‘I love you’ for the first times. “(Y-Y/n)?” He sniffed, “Do you-a really mean that?”

“You’re my Papa,” You pouted, touching his cheek with a hand. “You didn’ take me back to Other Father. Yo-you love me, and I love you—and thank you. No one’s ever loved me before . . . An' I really, really like being loved. It's a lot better than Other Father kicking me a lot.”

A smile flitted around Romano’s lips before settling. He held your hand against his cheek and chuckled a little, pulling you into a real hug you happily accepted and gave back. “Poor bambina...Mio figlia . . . Angelo…” He kissed your cheek, lying back on his side, you with him. “You have no idea how much those words mean to me, (Y/n). Buena notte, bella.”

He would tell you about the countries tomorrow. You needed to hear it from him, not figure it out on your own—he owed you that much.

~~~~~

*One night Time Skip brought to you by tomatoes!*

You had taken it well.

Well, you were three and still believed that babies came from storks.

But you had taken it well.

You were sitting there on the sofa, between Papa and Zio Feli. Or the Italy brothers, as you just found out. And Tio Antonio was Spain, Onkle Francis France, Ludwig Germany, Kiku was Japan—even Mr. Gilbert was Prussia, Germany’s brother. You found out it was Britain who had found you, that first day of the Meeting. You really hadn’t been surprised, they had almost said a lot of their country names in your presence. One time, when Papa was showing you the globe, you realized that “Romano” was South Italy. He had gotten flustered and began to sputter before Feliciano called for dinner, and the subject didn’t come up again.

So. You knew everything, and had answered with a cheery, “Okay!”

Now your Papa and Zio were looking at you in shock.

“Seriously?” Romano said, “That’s-a your only response?”

“Wow, so you are-a totally okay with the fact that we are going to raise you only to watch you di—”

A hard elbow to the ribs cut him off, “Shut-a up, idiota! That’s-a not how we will be fucking thinking about this!” He turned back to you, face red. “Eh, sorry about the language...” Romano had gotten used to apologizing for that around you, “But you do realize that . . . Unless something happens to our countries in your lifetime, y-you…” He froze, choked a little and swallowed thickly. “Will…pass away. Before us. We will love you until the day that that happens and even longer than that. But we do not-a age like regular people do (Y/n), you will grow old while we stay young.”

You let this soak in, slowly nodding your head. “So—I’m a dog?”

“What?!” Both exclaimed.

“You are not a fucking dog!” Romano threw down his hands.

You winced, tearing up. He doesn't say the F-word a lot around you at all, and if he does it's an accident. Only other Father ever said it to your face.

“Bella,” He put both hands on your shoulders, speaking softly now. “I am-a sorry, but I-a don’t understand what you are-a saying.”

“I—I mean…You love pets. But they don’t live too long either, so you make sure you love them while they’re still alive. Zio Feli told me that!”

Italy brightened up a little at that.

“And it isn’t a bad thing…” You shrugged. “You didn’t take me back to Other Father and you take care of me, an' you love me and I love you. That’s all tha-that matters.”

“Si, fratello, I-a understand!” Italy hugged you from behind, tickling you under the arms. “We-a make her life the best one ever! Make her pasta, make her smile, make her laugh…”

“Sta-hap!” You giggled, squirming in his grip.

He ignored you, laughing right along and changing the somber mood.

Romano, however, thought about those words. He wasn’t one to easily trust, at all. But you had immediately won that trust, and so much more from him, from looking up to the country as a savior and loving him. Romano loved you so much in return, that the thought of you growing up killed him on the inside.

So make every moment matter.

He smiled, figuring you’ve had enough tickling and attacked North Italy so the younger brother was pinned beneath him. “I’m-a positive revenge for all of those tickle-attacks will-a make her smile! (Y/n), help me get his belly!”

You grinned as both of you tickled your Zio, who positively screamed and squirmed beneath Romano with ticklish laughter. Human life was short—all three of you realized that—but all that mattered was making the most of it.