« it's a bad idea. » Lovino thought for himself as he rushed against the wind and down the subway.

Why did he accept this audition anyway ?...well, his agent was scary, it wasn't like he could say no anyway…but still, he knew this was not for him. It would be a big film, historical…Lovino had a bad feeling about this.

Still there he was, 8 am that Monday, in the Parisian Subway, going to try his chance with what could be the part of his life.

He managed to find the building, then the right hallway, then the right room. He checked his phone one last time : "You can do it ! xxxx" the text was from his best friend Emma. Lovino felt a bit warmer.

Someone introduced him inside, where two persons where sitting in front of a small stage.

The guy gave him a daring glare. The woman was clearly quietly detailing him and judging every piece of his person. Lovino wanted to run.

Finally the girl smiled. She had a very pretty smile. A very pretty everything actually; she was gorgeous. With long, wavy brown hair, hazel eyes, and a curious little flower-clip holding here bangs on the side. "Hi ! You must be Lovino Vargas. Please feel free to start anytime." Her tone was friendly, which was pretty surprising for that kind of audition.

Feeling mildly reassured, Lovino stepped on the stage, glanced at the guy - still glaring coldly at him, closed his eyes briefly, and started acting the part he had prepared.

It was something classical; Shakespeare's Romeo during the fight scene.

When he finished, there was a floating moment where nobody reacted. Then the man who had been silent until then burst into laughter. A shaky, uncontrolled laughter, in fact kind of gross.

The guy looked generally gross anyway, now that Lovino had a moment to observe him. He had this strange white-ish hair, his eyes were a colorful brown, almost red, and he was wearing some worn out hoodie that he must had been wearing for weeks.

The woman looked up at Lovino with an apologetic smile, and smacked her partner behind the head.

"Gilbert, seriously, I'm gonna finish alone if you keep doing that !"

"Sorry, sorry, fact is, I like the guy I tell you !"

Lovino was still kind of standing there, not really knowing how to react. He coughed loudly :

"I…" "Please !" the woman interrupted, "please, Lovino, thank you for this, could you wait outside for a minute ? This guy and I have to talk." she glared at him, insisting on the last word.

In the hallway, Lovino waited. He was angry. Angry after this guy openly laughing at him like that. Nobody seemed to ever take him seriously. What was he supposed to do now ? What did this all "we need to talk" thing meant anyway ? He half-considered leaving right away...

Instead, he took a coffee at the vending machine that was there, a strong black espresso, and sit to wait.

"Hi!" the voice went from Lovino's left. A man was standing there.

"You here for the part ?" he asked. Lovino looked up from his coffee. The man was kind of tall, with..the brightest, greenest eyes Lovino had ever seen. "uhm I..yeah I..I was told to wait outside.." Lovino answered, looking away. And what the hell was that anyway, acting all shy. What was he, a high-schooler ?

"Oh really ?..Well, then I can tell you you have your chances." The man said with a smile, sitting at Lovino's side.

"Yeah ?"

"Yep, trust me I know these guys. Did the white haired jerk laugh at you ?"

"uhm..yeah he did, but-"

"Good ! He does that. Sorry about him by the way." He winked (he actually fucking winked saying that, who does that ?)

Lovino didn't know what to say. He looked at the man by his side. That charming smile, this dark hair…Lovino was sure he had seen him somewhere.

"I'm Antonio," he said, offering a hand.

Antonio ! Couldn't be. And now the bastard was laughing because of Lovino's face. Lovino practically growled.

"Lovino." He said shortly, taking his hand. Said hand was big, slightly bigger than Lovino's, more tanned, too. With long fingers, and skin a bit rougher on the tips..a musician's hand, Lovino thought. Then he shaked his mind.

"So, uhm, it's you right ? The first role ?"

"That's me ! It's nice to meet you Lovino. If you say he laughed, it's pretty sure we'll get to work together."

Oh man, the guy was so cheerful it hurt.

"You shouldn't say that..you're giving me hope there" Lovino couldn't help but half-smile.

"Nah," Antonio laughed again, "I tell you, I know this guy. He's the worst, but there are some things you can be sure about him. I'm positive."

"How long have you known him ?"

"Well…long enough..We went to college together actually. We had this whole "cinematographic" dream, and he used to say that when he would get to make a big film, I would definitely get the first role. Guess the dude keeps his promises."

"Oh..you wouldn't think that of him."

"Sure, but, you know…you get used to him I suppose. He's fun when he tries !"

"Yeah sure..and the woman ? Do you know her too ?"

"Not as much as I know Gil. But I like her. She really likes her job and she gives her best. Oh but, friend's advice, don't get her mad. You don't want to do that."

Lovino laughed at this. He had seen how she acted with Gilbert, he could only imagine her being really angry.

The door opened. "Talkin' 'bout the wolf," Antonio smiled. He had this tone in his voice that forced you to smile when he talked. Lovino was not used to this.

"Hi, Tonio !" The woman said gleefully, then added, coldly "where you talking shit again ?"

"Tonio's there ?" the gravelly voice asked eagerly from inside the room, like a very deep-voiced kid hearing that his father's home. He dashed outside -dashed-, and hugged the taller man, actually lifting him.

And once again, Lovino was uncomfortable. "Toni ! I was waiting for you, man. Come, I must show you something" and there he dragged him back inside.

The woman, who had stayed there with Lovino, smiled at him :

"Let the children play together. We have important stuff to talk about."

Lovino followed her in a small but comfy office, though not very personal.

"Lovino Vargas.." she said thoughtfully, like she was searching the answers to all her questions into Lovino's name. "We have something for you, Sir." She finally said, smiling more widely than before, a sincere smile this time.

"We actually had seen you before; we watched some of your previous work with attention when we learnt you would audition. You are a very promising young man, it's what I think. I'd like to give you a chance. I really see you in our second role. What do you think? Here is the general summary. Oh, and I'm Elizavèta, by the way. Elizavèta Herdèrvary; I'm one of the writers of this baby. Please, call me Eliza."

Bewildered, Lovino took the paper and started reading. He only knew the general story. The film was about the French resistance during WWII. The action would take place and be filmed in the North of France, hence the auditions in Paris. The directing team had been working from this place for 3 months already, and still there was a lot to do before filming. What Lovino didn't know was the story itself. His role was that of a young Italian boy who had joined the resistance after the events in his own country. In 1945, in found himself in the North of France, becoming one of the many men who would make the final difference. Then it came to the main plot : In France, Lovino's character met….the first role, Antonio's, and they fell in love.

Ok. So that was a surprise.

Lovino looked up at the woman from behind the sheet. She had a sweet smile on her lips. Like she was totally picturing her long-awaited kiss between Antonio and this freshly found Italian.

Lovino sighed. He was grounded. He put the paper back on the table. "Let's do this, then." he said.


Lovino had been told to come back three days later for the final auditions. All of this was still spinning his head a bit.

Because it was crazy. He had been working so hard, fighting to get every part he got, remaining unknown and being shouted at a lot by his agent.

And finally, finally, someone told him the role could be just for him, just like that, when he wasn't even hoping for anything anymore. And it was not any role, it was a big production and everything.

Yes, Lovino was stunned.

He flipped open his phone and dialed his brother's number.

"Hi big brother !" the familiar overly-cheesy-voice purred into the phone.

"Hiya. You better be at your place, I'm coming right now"

"Sure, I'm not going anywhere. How was it ? Tell me, tell me, how did you do ?"

"DUDE, stop screaming in my ears ! Dammit, i'm not telling you on the phone ! Wait for me." and he closed his phone on this, smirking.

Ok, smirking, because yes, his little brother was a pain in the ass, who drove Lovino insane most of the time, but Lovino couldn't help it. He loved the little guy. And hanging up on him on the phone was always that satisfying, so why stop ?

Back at his brother's small flat, where Lovino stayed while he had these auditions, he didn't even have the chance to open the door that the guy was jumping around him like a happy puppy.

"Feli, for god's sake ! Give me a break !"

Feli was laughing cheerfully "I'm sure you've got something to tell me, I know you too well~"

Lovino sighed and sat on the couch. The flat was kind of messy, but with a sort of organization into the chaos. Like only Feliciano would be able to achieve. You could also know exactly when his boyfriend was over for a while, because it was always way tidier then. Lovino still couldn't understand how these two were still together. His boyfriend, Ludwig, a big German guy, was the exact opposite of his carefree little brother. Calm and composed, and an organization freak.

When you got used to the messiness everywhere, you could see what the flat was supposed to be like. It was a small appartment, on the 6th floor of a building in the 6th district of Paris. There were 3 rooms; one living room, one bathroom and the bedroom. There was not much furniture, just the couch, a table with some chairs, and an easel, for Feli was a painter. Apart from that, there was nothing, because he didn't like to be distracted when he was painting. He said he didn't need anything besides his passion.

Feliciano sat back behind his canvas, where he had probably been sitting all morning, and started painting again. Lovino could see his progress from the couch, which was behind the easel. He did love to watch his brother work. He had always been better than Lovino at this.

"So I went through the first step. I have to come back in a couple of days to see what's next." Lovino said. He knew Feli had been waiting for him to compose himself...he did know him well, the bastard.

"Really ?" he had stopped painting and had turned to face Lovino. "Lovi, I'm glad ! I'm sure you will make it !"

Lovino smiled fondly. His brother's ridiculous optimism meant a lot to him, who was often too much of the contrary.

"I don't really know. I suppose we still are a few competing.."

"So what now ? Do you have something to prepare, I don't know..?"

"Yep, I got a script. I should get to read it."


That evening, Emma screamed at him on the phone for not letting her know sooner that he had the part, and I don't give a damn you don't really have the part yet, Vargas, you should have called me !

He had dinner with Feli and Ludwig, who was around for his work, and he also called his grandpa, still in Italy, to tell him the good news.

And, really, that evening, life was worth trying his best for.