Not much to say. Second in what I've come to call my "Crimson" series. Introduces a new character, and my second alter ego, Lovina/Lovino being my first.

WARNINGS: Mentions of lesbianism and incest. Mentions of eating disorders.

Disclaimer: Not mine. At all. None of the music/bands mentioned are mine, either. The car belongs to BMW.

KEY:

Lovina = FemRomano

Maddeline = FemCanada

Julie = FemPrussia

Feli/Feliciana/Feliciano = transgendered FemItaly

Em/Emily = FemAmerica

Monika = FemGermany

"So." Thin, pale fingers reached over and nicked one of the cherry tomatoes from the salad of the other, undaunted by the fork that attempted to ward them off. What looked like scratches stood out livid and red against the pale skin of said fingers, but neither commented on this. The cherry tomato in question was almost languidly pressed between pale pink lips, as violet eyes regarded the equally pale, dark brown-auburn-haired Italian across the table. A moment of silence passed between the two, with the ash-blonde quietly chewing on her stolen fruit, as the hazel-eyed simply glared at her. Then, the blonde spoke, her voice a soft, slightly dark soprano, and gently accented with French. "Have you told her you love her yet?"

The Italian's glare intensified just a bit, but she ignored the question altogether, in favor of snapping, "Don't steal my food, Maddie," her voice hitting a light alto pitch. Of course, if one were to really listen, they would notice that there was a distinct lack of heat in the words, as there was for only three other people. Everyone else – male, or female – would usually get the sharper edge of the brown-tinged redhead's tongue. As it was, since she and the Canadian (strange, considering her parents were French and English, but she certainly wasn't one to judge…) had been best friends since they were in diapers (yes, their parents had very embarrassing pictures), the Italian wasn't going to be cruel to her just for the sake of it. Instead, she just kept poking at her salad, occasionally nibbling on a piece of lettuce or noming a cherry tomato.

"Don't change the subject, Lovi," the blonde shot back, nonchalantly stealing another of the small, red fruits as she did so. "And besides, you aren't going to finish it anyways. So," she reiterated, "have you told Feliciana that you love her, yet?" A small smirk curled her lips, at the half angry, half embarrassed flush that touched the Italian's cheeks. Oh, yes, after nearly nineteen years of friendship, she knew very well how to push the other's buttons to get the reaction she wanted. Popping the small tomato into her mouth, the violet-eyed waited for a response.

Salad forgotten, her fork met her plate with a soft clatter. "T-That isn't something you just fucking blurt out, Maddeline!" It seemed that the Italian wasn't finding this amusing at all. "And, for the love of God – " her voice lowered dramatically, "she's – he's my brother! My twin, for the love of all that is fucking good and holy! I can't just – say shit like that. He'll never speak to me again!" Clearly she was taking this worse than the Canadian had hoped. Smirk morphing into a frown, her demeanor suddenly serious, the blonde – Maddeline – carefully pushed the plates containing the remnants of various foods (three different stacks of pancakes made without eggs, a vegan ham-and-cheese sandwich, pasta from scratch and without egg, and her own salad, all of which the Italian had made for her – why Lovina knocked her cooking, the Canadian would never understand, and was extremely grateful that she would make things vegan just for her) away from her side and more into the middle of the table, so that she could lean forward on her elbows and look the redhead in the eyes.

"No, Lovina," said Italian was just a bit shocked, as her best friend was almost never this intense or this serious, something she blamed on the Canadian's boisterous, happy-go-lucky younger twin/lover, Emily, "I agree. This isn't just something you should blurt out, but it isn't something you should let fester, either." The look in violet eyes had any retort Lovina might have made dying in her throat. "For one," Maddeine continued, "it'll just eat you up if you do – trust me, I know the feeling; it was the same with Em and my feelings for her. And for two, you and she complete each other in ways I haven't seen outside of Em and myself, and you know I'm not just saying that because you and Feli are twins too, eh." And there were the blonde's roots, showing proud and true, but aside from that, the auburn redhead could only sigh and nod, for once the fight gone from her.

Ignoring the way her best friend stubbornly referred to her twin with female pronouns – something only those very close to the blonde would notice, her stubborn streak – Lovina sighed. "I know, Maddie, I know… It's just…" She broke off, and ground her teeth together. God, why did she feel like this was Confession, all of a sudden?! Geez… "I'm fucking scared, okay?" the Italian spat, blushing and looking away. "Feliciano's my brother, mio fratello, and I love him more than anything else in this world and the next, but…" Why was this so fucking hard? "If I were to tell him, and if he were to reject me…" Looking back at her best friend, there was a strange vulnerability in her dark hazel eyes, the exact mirror of her twin's but lacking the younger's gold. "If he were to reject me, Maddie, I think I would fucking die. Just fucking curl up in a hole and die." Then she looked away again. She wasn't fucking crying, damnit, she wasn't!

Hearing the sound of chair legs against tile, and then feeling arms wrap around her equally skinny frame moments later, the Italian allowed herself to bury her face in the Canadian's bosom and cry silently for a few moments. When she had calmed again, she shifted her position, and rested her head against the blonde's shoulder, letting Maddie hold her for a few more seconds. Pulling away, Lovina muttered what might have either been a, "thanks," or a curse in Italian; Maddie wasn't sure, but chose to think it was the first, offering her own murmured, "you're welcome, Lovi," in reply. As the redhead stood, and reached to begin clearing the plates as was her habit, her wrist was sized by the Canadian. Looking up, after allowing her gaze to linger for a moment on the newest "scratches" gained just five minutes ago in the bathroom off the kitchen, hazel locked with violet eyes which had darkened to purple for a moment. She understood, but Maddeline said it anyways.

"Leave it for your Maman," she said softly, ironically just as the front door was heard opening (along with the call of, "The awesome has returned, and hopes her daughter and best friend are ready for their SAT's!"). A few deft, quick movements later, and the geography of the table was changed. One of the plate which had contained the pancakes was on each side of the table, with the third remaining in the middle along with the plate where the pasta had been, making it look like they had shared, while the left-over salad was divided between the two salad plates. With a nod exchanged between them, Lovina grabbed her car keys from the kitchen counter, and a well-practiced act was put into motion.

Like actors in a play, the two knew their lines and cues well, and put them into execution as easily as breathing. Grinning, her violet eyes alight, Maddeline raced from the kitchen, her giggling and Lovina's shouting as she ran after her, "Damnit, Maddie, I'm not fucking driving you anymore!" were what greeted Julie, as the albino female removed her coat and shoes by the door. Brushing her long, flyaway white hair behind her shoulders, the Prussian hugged her irate daughter, smirking as she questioned, "What did the little birdie do now, Lovi?"

Scowling, and glaring through narrowed eyes (yes, they played their parts every well), the Italian spat at the Canadian, who was grinning devilishly as she slipped on a red hoddie over her maple leaf print t-shirt, "Bitch asked if I were PMSing, or if I were just constantly pissed off." Gently disentangling herself from the red-eyed woman's hold, Lovina slipped on her favorite black leather jacket, before carelessly shoving her feet into sneakers she didn't even bother to tie; both went well enough with her Hetalia High Soccer Team, 2012 t-shirt and black skinny jeans.

"…But you are constantly pissed off, Lovi~," Julie's smirk only grew, as she headed for the kitchen; she hadn't eaten since breakfast, and it was already almost two. Stupid, un-awesome errands…

"S-Shut-up!" the redhead called back, blushing as she did so.

Giggling, the blonde finished zipping up her knee-high boots, and reached for the door handle. "Don't shout at your Maman, Lovi," Maddeline teased, "it's not nice." Ducking out the door before the Italian could take a swing at her – sometimes she wondered if Lovina were really pissed at her – the Canadian waited on the front porch for her best friend.

"Fuck off, Maddie!" Lovina snapped, once more blushing half from embarrassment and half from annoyance. Grabbing her messenger bag, which contained the stuff she and Maddeline would need for the test, along with the fee they would both need to pay, the dark brown-auburn-haired Italian called out, "We're leaving, Mommy!" only to receive a half exasperated, half affectionate, "Oi, I am not cleaning up this mess, and leaving it for me was un-awesome!" in return. Laughing, Lovina exited the house as well, calling her good-bye just before she shut and locked the door behind herself. Making her way across the porch and down the steps towards her car, she couldn't help smirking, when she noticed that Maddeline had relocated, and was now leaning against the car that the Italian called hers, a 2008 BMW 120i (E88) convertible painted to look like the Italian flag.

Inclining – jerking – her head towards the car, Lovina headed around to the driver's side. Unlocking the car, she and her blonde best friend got in. As the slightly older female started the car and pulled out of the driveway, Maddeline teased, as always, "And here I thought you hated German stuff, Lovi!" to which the redhead merely rolled her eyes. Same song and dance, as usual…

"They make good cars," she muttered in response, "and besides, I'm not stupid enough to think that we can afford an Italian car just 'cause I want to be pissy about it. Besides," she smirked knowingly, when the Canadian propped her booted feet up on the dash and proceeded to take a bottle of nail polish the same color as her eyes out of the glove compartment, "I got to pick the paint job, which I fucking know cost Mommy and Daddy extra, so I'm not going to complain." Also as usual, the Italian drove so her Canadian counter-part could put the top coat on her nails.

Reaching over, Lovina turned on the radio, rolling down the windows to let the early October air in and their own voices out, as she and Maddeline sung along with Breaking Benjamin's Fade Away. Surprisingly, the two had the same taste in music – Evanescence, Within Temptation, Skillet, Linkin Park, and, obviously, Breaking Benjamin – but what was really amusing was that Julie shared their taste in music, as well. The two were Juniors (though almost nineteen, they and their respective twins had been held back or needed to repeat a year along the line for various reasons) and could smell the potential the bubbled around them like champagne, despite their shared vices. They shared a laugh; it felt like they could take on the world, and win.

As they came up to a stop light, the song changed, and the car in front of them braked. The light turned yellow, and then red; Maddeline hummed along with Hero by Skillet, occasionally inserting a comment about how her sister loved this song, as she worked on getting her nail polish just right. Lovina's sneaker-clad right foot hovered above the pedal, as she suddenly felt colder than the weather should have warranted – colder than even she should normally feel, skinny as she was. A shiver ran up her spine, as the edges of her vision blurred; maybe she should have eaten more than a few cherry tomatoes in the past week…? The grayness that always seemed to be hovering at the edges of her vision these days swooped in, tying Monika's favorite silk scarf around her eyes. The car in front of them disappeared; the steering wheel, the dashboard, and her best friend all disappeared. How was she supposed to stop this thing…?

Maddie screamed in slow motion as they crashed-careened into the other car, and everything was painted love/lies/cherry tomato crimson.