"Alright, class, now you've all seen this experiment done before, but it's much more dangerous then it looks. If the baking soda is accidentally..."

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I got it. Baking soda plus vinegar equals kaboom. I swear, this damned teacher thought we were in kindergarden! Hell, I'm sure even kindergarderners wouldn't get this much fucking instruction. My best frie- er, someone who I can easily tolerate, Matteo, tapped my shoulder. I turned to him with frustration. He smiled in that kind of annoying knowing way of his and grabbed the beaker of baking soda. I poured the vinegar in the bucket thing and was about to tell Maple Bastard to get the baking soda in there, when I heard it.

That damned laughter.

"Fusosososo~!"

My head whipped in the direction of the person who the laugher belonged to. His name was Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo, and he'd been at the school for about six months now. We'd talked a lot, and might have become friends. Not that I cared, or anything. That would be stupid. He waved at me and since I didn't flip him off, I guess he took that as a sign from above to come talk to me.

"Hola, Lovi! I was just wondering if you needed any help with the experiment, since you've been staring over at me a lot? That must mean you need help, right?"

"I do not need help, idiota! I am perfectly capable of doing this myself. Matteo is just here for show"

Matteo snorted and I glared at him. This time he did an evil little smile. I gave him a look that told him to watch himself and turned back to the stupid Spaniard in front of me.

"Fusosososo~ I-"

"Stop with that damned laughing, for Christ's sake!" I slammed my fist on the table. That apparently made Matteo jump and fumble, because next thing I knew there was a loud bang! and a mixture of baking soda and vinegar all over the back of my head and running down my shirt. I-I didn't blush, and Antoni- erm, Bastard didn't catch it.

"Hey! Lovi, you look like a tomato!"

"Fuck you, stronzo!" Immediately I regretted that, which was... weird.

"Lovino Vargas!"

I looked at the teacher. He was a guy from Lithuania, with brown hair, green eyes and a crush on the gym teacher, Ms Arlovskaya. He got shot down literally every time he talked to her. It was pretty funny, actually. Anyways, the wimpy teacher had a thing for no swearing, and apparently I'd gone over the limit for that day. Fucking great. He walked over and I swear Matteo used his invisibility powers, because Mr Laurinaitis didn't even notice him.

"Lovino, I know you have a lot of pent-up anger or whatever, but please do not release it on others in the class! Especially Antonio. He was probably just trying to help, okay?"

I huffed and rolled my eyes, but nodded.

"Si.."

"Then what do you owe Antonio?"

"A punch in the face... " I mumbled that so he wouldn't hear. I didn't want to outright appologise, so I didn't. Even though I... might have felt pretty bad now. I looked up at Antonio, expecting to see a hurt expression for some reason. But nope! He was just grinning like an idiot. As usual.

"Do I really have to appologise when he's not even hurt?!"

"Yes, you do"

This situation was making me feel stupid, and I didn't like that at all.

"I'm not doing it"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't need to. He's probably heard worse"

"That doesn't mean he wouldn't appreciate an appology"

"I don't care what he would or would not appreciate"

Mr. I-Can't-Control-The-Class-Worth-Shit sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Then I suppose you'll have to go to the office"

I shrugged and walked out, after flipping him off. But I wasn't going to the office. Oh, hell no. I was going to the roof of the school, to the spot only I knew about. Then I could... I don't know, think this shit through. I'd actually felt bad when I swore at Antonio. That wasn't like me. If I told Matteo, he'd probably take me to the nurse. If my fratello, Feli found out... he would probably tell his stupid potato eater of a boyfriend, Ludwig. I really hated that guy. He wasn't good for Feli, and I tried to get him away... but since his shin broke my toe when I kicked it, I couldn't do much about him. Obviously force didn't work, and whenever I saw him I'd swear at him, so we really couldn't 'talk things out' like the guidance councillor told us.

Anyways, back to me getting to the roof. I found the janitor closet that had the hatch and climbed up a shelf to get to it. I pulled it down and with it came a ladder to get to the top of the school. It wasn't that far of a climb. I closed the hatch behind be and went up, opening the hatch above me so I could get up to the roof. I was pretty sure I was the only one who knew how to get up here, and I was glad. This was my thinking space and the only form of comfort I had. Home was shit, school was bullshit, and now this whole Antonio situation was making me feel like shit.

I finally got up to the roof and closed the hatch, then went to my special spot on the roof. It was against a wall of some kind, where I was protected from the weather and anyone's line of view. I sat against the wall, and immediately groaned. I still had the vinegar baking soda shit all over me and it felt gross. I took off my shirt and sighed. It was covered in the shit, and any spots that weren't were used to get the shit out of my hair. Once that was finished, I threw the shirt across the roof. There was no point in wearing it anymore.

I relaxed up there and finally decided to think about science and Antonio. I had been staring at him a lot in that class... agh. I did catch him staring a few times as well... maybe he thought I was weird and was hopi- pffff. Nope. This is tomato bastard I'm talking about here. I doubt he could form a bad opinion about anyone. Which meant that he was be tolerating me, at least. But why should he? I swore at him in every class we had together, although this time he really deserved it. Calling me a tomato right after I got exploded on... least he could have done was offer me his sweater or something. He had a shirt on underneath. I hoped.

He didn't seem all that upset when I swore and refused to appologise. That was... weird. Maybe he was hiding something? Maybe his life was full of just as much dumbfuckery as mine, but he handled it better? Could... could I have seriously hurt him, and he just kept smiling like an idiot to hide the pain or something? I pulled my knees up to my chest and put my head on them. As much as I didn't want to, I started t-to... um... fuck it. I was crying, okay?! I... as much as I said I didn't like him, and as much as I swore at him, he was... he was okay. Sure, he might be a little too happy, but when home life got especially crappy, I kind of looked forward to seeing him smile so bright it was like he was reflecting the sun or some shit like that. And I might have just seriously hurt him, when maybe his family did that too. What a wonderful human being I am.

"Toni... I-I'm... s-sorry..."

"It's okay, Lovi"

What the fuck!? I wasn't expecting a reply! My head shot up, even though Niagra Falls was coming from it, and there he was. Antonio had somehow found his way up to my special spot and was just climbing through the hatch. I buried my face in my knees and tried to stop crying. For the love of all things I hold dear, why did he have to be up there with me?! I heard his footsteps come closer, and suddenly he was sitting beside me.

"L-Lovi, are you crying?"

"No... I'm doing a waterfall impression. W-what the hell do you think I'm doing?!"

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. I didn't know why he was doing that. After all the shit I put him through on a daily basis, he was comforting me? I looked up, confused at his motives. He smiled and pet my hair. I growled, but let him.

"Why are you doing a waterfall impression?" He said that with a small chuckle.

"B-because..." I was having an inner conflict between telling him to fuck off and telling him what was actually the reason. But, what if I was wrong and his life was perfect, like Feli's? I had to know for sure.

"Bastard, what's it l-like at home for you?"

He bit his lip and looked away.

"It has it's ups and downs... mostly downs, but that's no reason to stop smiling, is it?"

"I think it is... why do you think I don't smile that much? My home life is shit... why should I smile when there's no reason to?"

He stayed silent for a few moments, probably thinking through what I said and how true it was.

"That might be a good reason, but... did you know that if you fake smile you'll actually start to feel happy? And that if you're happy, others will be happy too, and you can start a big chain of good feelings?"

"And what happens if that happiness doesn't reach someone, hm?"

He smiled and knew I was talking about myself. Happiness was a luxury that I didn't get very often.

"It will eventually, Lovi. No one can be miserable forever, including you. It will reach you someday"

I decided not to argue. I just rested my head on his shoulder. I had stopped crying, finally. That shit was kind of embarrassing. I was quiet for a minute or two, thinking. For some reason... I felt like he was right. Matteo's life was shit, and still is, but he had his albino bastard to lean on. Feli... unfortunately had potato eater, and Antonio... he had his friends, but still. Finally, I had to ask something. I blushed and looked him in the eye.

"You tell anyone what I'm saying and you can say goodbye to your arms, but... how bad did it hurt when I swore at you? Oh God, that sounded eugh..."

He chuckled softly and smiled a different smile. This one, I felt, was more genuine. because it actually reached his eyes. His other, stupid smile didn't even get close.

"It didn't really hurt, actually... I'm used to that from you. You do swear a lot though..."

"How do you deal with that? Fuck, how have I not been shunned yet for it? I'm downright nasty to everyone, especially you..."

"Ah, Lovi?"

"What?"

"You make yourself out to be a lot worse than you actually are. Your blond friend, uh... what's his name... He'd Gilbert's boyfriend and Gilbert talks about him all the time and squeals a lot over him... he's really quiet and likes beating pucks with sticks and skates or something..."

"Matteo?"

"Si, him! He sticks around, and since you're so close, he obviously can see something past the swearing and the being mean. I'm still here, even though you've swore at me a bunch and threw a baseball hat at my head in English, and that's b-because, um... I like being with you, because you can be protective, like when you try to protect Feli from Ludwig, smart when you finish a lot of math in three minutes and I"m still on question one, and funny when you go on your rants about things, like the chicken nugget that was shaped like... how did you put it... 'A goat eating a piece of disfigured shit'"

He laughed after he said that, and as much as it kills me to say this, I laughed a little too. Somehow, during the course of this conversation, I'd actually become really comfortable around this bastard... huh. I hadn't told him to stop calling me Lovi, I hadn't swore at him for a while... and my heart was going crazy. I sighed at myself, wondering how he'd gotten me to this point and shifted a tiny bit closer. A cold breeze hit us and I shivered. He looked down at me and saw that I was shirtless. And pretty cold. His arms unwrapped from around me and I glared at him, wanting them back. B-because they were warm. Not because I liked having them around me or anything, p-pshhh... that would mean I was in love with him or some shi-... WAIT!

I did the calculations in my head while he was being stupid and struggling with the zipper of his hoodie. I wasn't that mean to him when we were alone, but I was pretty bad to him when we were with other people... the only other person I did that with was Matteo, but he didn't make my heart go insane or make me b-blush like I may or may not have been doing. He had actually gotten me to smile during the course of that conversation, and he actually made me laugh a little. I didn't break his arms or have a freak out when he hugged me... and suddenly all the pieces fell into place.

I thought back to when he'd first come to the school. All the girls and a few of the guys thought he was very attractive and tried going after him. But... after he met me, he refused all of them. I had sworn up a shitstorm at him the first time he talked to me, and he didn't walk away or call me weird or say I was going to hell or something like that. He just stood there and smiled, saying I swore a lot. When we were alone at lunch that time, we actually had a good conversation... until he was a fuckface and called me 'cute'. I blushed that time and... had done the same thing ever since when he called me cute or a t-tomato, and I had blushed a lot around him lately. Holy shit... wonderful. Fucking wonderful. I was in love with the damned stupid bastard and I didn't even know it! I facepalmed at myself and shuddered as another cold breeze hit me. Tomato bastard finally got his sweater unzipped. He took it off and thankfully, he had a shirt on underneath. He gave me the sweater and I put it on. It was huge on me, but it was really warm... a-and kind of maybe smelled really good. I smiled a little into it and moved a little closer to Antonio, kind of as a thanks since I wasn't going to say it. He wrapped his arms around me again and smiled that genuine smile.

"You're welcome, Lovi... you know, you should probably go to the office..."

"Nope. Not going. I got kicked out of that class for a stupid ass reason- wait! Why are you out of class anyways!?"

"I asked to go to the bathroom and the teacher let me. I was looking around for a while before I found the closet and the hatch, and figured you might be up here"

"W-why were you looking for me?"

"Because... I'm not sure, actually. It just felt like I needed to follow you"

"You make that sound creepy"

"Heh, sorry! But, I am glad I did find you. I hate seeing you cry. So... you were crying over me?"

"Don't be proud of that, stronzo. I was crying b-because... well, I thought that maybe your home life is as shitty as mine, and that maybe me swearing at you in class would really hurt you or something. N-not that... uh... I care if I hurt you or a-anything like that..."

"Huh... you usually don't care when you yell at me like that, but now you do..."

I blushed and hid in the sweater.

"And you're usually not this good to me- I mean! W-what? Ha... haha...haaaeugh" I really wasn't thinking when I said that. I pulled a Gilbert, because he almost never thinks things through. One time, he decided that he didn't like Ivan, so he stole his scarf and taped it to the ceiling of the cafeteria. And the cafeteria ceiling is at least thirty feet high. I don't know how Gilbert got the damned scarf up there, but what I do know is that it ended up with Matteo having to step in. And he may look all sweet and nice, but when he gets pissed, run. Just run, and maybe he won't break something.

"You may be right... but you looked like you were really upset and I like holding you like this"

"Damned bastard... why? I'm practically all bones..."

His breath hitched and he bit his lip. I looked up at him, trying to read why the fuck he wasn't saying anything. Suddenly, he kissed my cheek. The blush that spread on my face probably actually made me look like a tomato. I shrugged out of his hold, and now he looked hurt. He probably thought I would hate him forever and go off the roof or something like that. But, I wasn't planning on leaving.

"Oi. If you're going to kiss me, make sure it's a good one, stupid"

I hesitated for a second, then kissed him on the lips. Now it all made sense, why he was so nice with me and why he'd actually followed me and tolerated me and shit like that. Cupid must have had a misfire or something, because somehow... Antonio had fallen in love with me. He kissed back and pulled me in his lap. That was more comfortable than being on my knees anyways. I broke the kiss and hid my face in his neck. I wasn't entirely sure how he'd fallen in love with me, but after what had happened in science and up here... I was definitely glad he did. However, I was going to stay away from baking soda and vinegar now. I might have gotten a b-boyfriend thanks to the explosion, but I was kind of worried about what would happen if I were exploded on again. After all, luck only goes so far. And I was pretty damned lucky this time.

((This is a prize fic for Spadejo9 for being the 300th reviewer on my story Silent Music! That was a while ago, I know, but here it is. I hope you all like it!))