Smash.

"Lovino, stop it!"

Lovino just grabbed another clock and threw it against the wall. He could hear his brother shouting at him, along with the store worker, who was now rushing around the register to stop him. He didn't care though, he just ignored them. He was sick of time - sick of how he was the odd one out, and it was all because of the stupid clocks.

"Hey, put that down!"

Lovino wanted to cry, or to just punch something. He wanted to get away from everyone, but he couldn't, so he reached for another clock, and the clerk grabbed his wrist.

"Let go of me!" He cried, wrenching himself away from the man. He knew he was being yelled at, but he didn't listen. It was as though everything was underwater, somehow, and everything was muted, happening slower than it should have been. He saw the worker on the phone, and before too long, his grandfather was there. He could hear himself being shouted at again, vaguely, but he couldn't care less. After a fair few minutes, in which his grandfather promptly paid for the clocks he'd broken and apologized several times to the store owner, he took hold of Lovino's forearm and marched him out of the shop. When they were outside in the bright sun, everything suddenly became a lot more vivid.

"Lovino! Are you listening to me?" He grandfather snapped, leading him over to where the car stood - Feliciano, his brother, was already in the backseat.

"Huh, what? Sí, I'm listening." Lovino's voice was tired. He couldn't be bothered with all this scolding anymore.

"What were you thinking? Well?! Why would you just start breaking things in a shop? Lovino, this isn't like you. Talk to me, I want to know what you're thinking." They were infront of the car now, but his grandfather didn't open the door just yet. Lovino just glared at him, and stepped back.

"I'm walking - I'll meet you at home."

He turned and ignored the shouts behind him, thrusting his hands into his pockets as he kicked a small rock into the road, frowning.

When he was around the corner, he scowled and kicked the wall next to him, hoping the owner of the house hadn't seen.

"Stupid fucking watch," he muttered, lifting his sleeve to stare at it in hatred. The numbers blinked back at him, taunting him. They didn't show the time - it wasn't that kind of watch. Everyone was issued one when they were born, a chip inserted in their wrist, which made the numbers show like a tattoo on their skin. Everyone's numbers were a light blue, and they counted down the time until that person would meet their soul-mate. When he was younger, Lovino and his brother had been excited when they'd found this out, wondering who their soul-mates were and where they were going to meet them. Lovino was twenty one now, and Feliciano was eighteen. Feliciano's watch said he only had to wait three more days, and he was getting excited, wondering who it could be. Lovino was happy for his little brother, of course he was, but he also wanted to rip his own damn chip out of his skin. The technology - whatever it was - was apparently faultless, yet of course, Lovino's had found some way to go wrong. The numbers on his wrist had changed to black, and they'd been stuck on twenty nine years for the past five years. Most people's numbers, when the person was around Lovino's age, said a number up to around ten years, though usually a little less, sometimes a little more. Not twenty nine fucking years. Lovino didn't know if he that was even right, considering the amount of the time the watch had been stuck on that. Maybe he'd never meet someone, he thought. Maybe it would always say twenty nine years, and he'd just die alone. The thought wasn't comforting.

Lovino was twenty seven. He was in his apartment, curled up on the couch, his eyes almost unblinking as he gazed at the laptop screen infront of him. He had been filing things and filling out forms for a couple of hours, hoping this work-from-home crap was as good as they said it was.

The phone rang, and his eyes slid over to it, letting it ring for a moment. Before too long, he scowled and reached forward to pick it up.

"Ciao."

"Hey Lovino!" Feliciano's cheerful voice came through the speaker at Lovino's ear. "How are you doing?"

"Buono." Lovino's voice was almost flat - he didn't know how or why Feliciano believed him.

"Bellissimo! Hey, do you mind if me and Luise come around in a bit? I haven't seen you in ages!"

Lovino's lip curled upward in distaste; seeing his brother would be great, but having to see that damn German who Feli had lost his numbers for - Lovino would rather cut his own arm off than have to endure her presence.

"N-not right now, Feli," he said tiredly. "I'm busy, it wouldn't be any fun."

"Aw... Well, I'll call you again soon, I want to see you! But if you can't now that's ok - maybe some other day, sí?"

Only without the German, but that won't happen so I don't know.

"Sí, another day. Bye, Feli."

"Ciao!"

Lovino put the phone down and sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn't seen his brother in about a month now, and he hadn't spoken to his grandfather in three. He knew they were alright though, what with Feli's constant phone calls to see if he was ok, and all his updates on everything that was happening. And if Lovino was honest, he liked it that way.

Twenty nine years old. Lovino sat on the end of his bed, fully dressed, twirling his house keys impatiently on his finger and unconsciously twitching his leg. In the last two years he had seen his brother once, but he still couldn't face his grandfather. He knew that though they didn't say anything, they were worried about him - after all, he was the only one with stuck numbers, and after all these years, Lovino had mainly just given up on ever finding anyone. He'd tried, of course, when he would just go out for hours, walking aimlessly, trying to find crowds so there was more of a chance, but nothing ever happened.

After a few more minutes, the Italian sighed and stood up, going over to the door.

"Ok, this is the last time," he muttered to himself. He hadn't been out other than to do basic shopping in months, and he'd basically given up. But deep down, there was the tiniest spark of hope - maybe, just maybe, someone could love him. He knew it was only a small possibility, and maybe if the damn numbers didn't exist, he wouldn't feel so pressured, and so bad about still being alone.

He wandered down the street, through crowds, looking at as many people's faces as he could. He wasn't entirely sure what triggered it, but apparently when (or if) it happened, he'd know.

He lost count of how many places he walked through - the high street, the mall, the train station - and still nothing. After a few hours, it was starting to get dark, and Lovino walked dragging his feet on the pavement, his hands in his jacket pockets and his head down.

"Right, I give up," he muttered under his breath as he walked. He was on the other side of town, and he was starving, so he ducked into a small café just off the main street. It was almost empty, and he went up to the register to order a coffee and a small cake. He got his things, and went to sit at the very back of the café, on a sofa attached to the back wall. Two small tables were infront of it, and another man sat at one of them, stirring his drink slowly, his head down. Lovino paid him no attention, sitting at the other table - and sliding as far away from the man as possible while still being on the sofa - and sliding his jacket off before starting to eat, mentally cursing himself for wearing short sleeves - he hoped the other man didn't notice the numbers on his wrist. When he was halfway through the cake, he heard a voice next to him.

"Out a bit late," the man next to him commented. Lovino shrugged, not taking his eyes off the cake and taking another bite. "You looking for someone?"

Lovino hesitated for a moment, before giving a small nod.

"Ah, I know that feeling. I'm looking for someone too."

Lovino didn't bother to respond, trying to concentrate on what was in front of him. He took a sip of his coffee, before licking his lips and just sitting there, watching his almost-eaten cake like it might run away at any second.

"Who are you looking for?" Asked the man. For fuck's sake, thought Lovino, couldn't he just be left alone? Lovino just shrugged again, and the man chuckled quietly.

"I know that feeling too," he said. Lovino frowned - did that mean that they were in the same situation? No, he probably meant something else, no one else would be waiting this long to find their so-called 'soul-mate'.

"I hope you find who you're looking for," said the man quietly. Lovino still didn't speak, and just swallowed heavily, nodding once. There was silence then, as if the man had gone back to stirring his drink, and Lovino took a slightly deeper drink from his coffee. But the silence didn't last long.

"I'm Antonio, by the way."

Lovino almost scowled in annoyance.

"Lovino," he muttered, still not lifting his head - well, he may as well make some sort of attempt to be polite.

"Well Lovino, it's nice to meet you."

Lovino almost snorted - this guy was definitely persistent, he'd give him that. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Antonio holding out a hand for him to shake. He sighed quietly and turned to him, stopping to stare as soon as their eyes met.

It was almost like an electric shock running down his spine, and there was a sudden warm tingling on his wrist. He looked down in shock, to see the numbers fading into his skin, before lifting his head again to stare wide-eyed at the man next to him, who was now grinning.

"That was interesting," the other noted. Lovino gave a small nod, unsure of how to react. So wait, had 'it' just happened? This guy here was meant to be his soul-mate? Well, Lovino thought, he may as well give it a try - it's not like he knew the guy very well.

"I, uh..." he trailed off, just looking at the person infront of him. The man was pretty tanned, with a head of dark brown curls. Bright green eyes stared right back at Lovino, and his face was set in a grin. Well, he was definitely handsome. Lovino cleared his throat, shaking his head. "But... I don't understand..." Usually he would never want to be friends with someone like this - he just seemed too ridiculously happy, and Lovino didn't even know the man! Besides, he had thought soul-mates were more of a romantic thing - did this mean he was gay? But all this time he'd been looking for a girl! The Italian brought a hand up to his forehead, trying to think rationally.

"We've just found who we were looking for," Antonio stated simply, before pausing a moment. "Will you give this a chance?" His voice was softer, and Lovino looked up at him, his brow furrowed. Could he picture himself with this guy? He honestly wasn't sure, and he didn't even know if he wanted to find out - he'd never been with a guy before, and the thought made him nervous, though he'd never admit it. But before he'd even finished thinking, he spoke.

"I... Sí."

Maybe things would turn out just fine.

AN: Yay this actually didn't take me too long to write! - If you like it, please review, favourite, whatever you like ^^

Oh and by the way - Luise is apparently one of the names used for fem!Germany (according to the wiki, anyway) - I thought it'd be a little more realistic if one of the brothers is straight/bi/pan/just not with another dude XD But it's still GerIta, so eh, who cares about gender?

EDIT: I got the inspiration for this fic from a post on Tumblr. This isn't the only fanfiction that that post has inspired, so I'm just gonna say please don't flame me with "this isn't yours!" or whatever - I wrote this, the mini-plot-thing used was my idea, I just got the concept of the 'watch' from somewhere else. Well, as well as the characters XD I mean it's a fanfiction, come on .

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia or any of its characters!