Chilling…

Freezing…

¡Frio!

The day was not a warm one, let's leave it at that.

Definitely not a day one would find it wise to be standing outside, for what already felt like 20 minutes. The numbness of Antonio's nose and lips certainly made it seem like an hour. He didn't need to cross his eyes to see how blaring-red the tip of his nose had become, deciding to hide it into his winter scarf.

With an inaudible clicking, the song on his mp3 changed to something much more upbeat, rather than a soft, melodic tune that would have kept in rhythm with the snow that fell soft and steady on the ground. When he'd left that morning, the snow would fall and quickly vanish into the asphalt, as it was only about 32 degrees… Now it had to be at least 15 below freezing, and oh boy; did he feel like an idiot for shoving off the warm winter coat his mother almost threw to him as he left the house for his fathers.

'You're going to freeze! At least take your mittens!'

'I'll be fine! The train is heated and- those mittens have rabbits on them.'

'Those gloves are way too thin- your father is going to be really upset if he knows you got frost bite.'

'I'm a big boy- I'll be fine...'

He began to laugh, rolling his eyes at his over-protective madre, who eventually started to tear up as he left. Only the remainder of Winter Break, and he really did owe it to his father. His mother got Christmas, so his father would get the rest of the week and New Year's. Only fair.

Speaking of fair, his train number was still marked with large letters 'DELAY' and he couldn't be more furious. Couldn't the train be late when it was warm out? At least then he wouldn't feel like his bones were frozen, aside from the insistent shivers wracking his body; he kept trying to move the limbs that didn't already feel as though they were made of cold stone.

His eyes leered up to those letters 'DELAY'… sitting there… taunting him…

He was going to go crazy!

If that wasn't enough, the train would be arriving to his father's at around seven, which meant he would be on the train for a good five to six hours, a train that would surely be pack full of people. With his luck, not even a cute girl or at least another boy his own age would sit near him. For some reason, only those men who seemed to believe that their bald spot could be covered by their silly comb-over, sat next to him. If he dared sit in a three-seater, a couple who refused to take their hands off one another would take the two he didn't occupy. His first train ride would forever live in infamy because of just that.

Gripping hold of his mp3, he tugged it out of his pocket, hands shaking, to reveal it was 1:20…. This train really was taking its sweet time.

Then, after he thought all hope was lost and that he should return inside to buy a ticket for a more dependable train, that loud whistle rang through his ears. Ah, there it was… the beautiful sound of the train's whistle, sounding its way down the tracks. He was thankful for the pounding song currently playing, as he watched the other passengers bring their shoulders up, hands covering their ears at the loud screech that the train made.

Antonio took no time to speed walk to the opening door, his entire face warming up as he passed those large heaters in the ceiling, his hair blowing around and falling in front of his eyes.

The train car was pretty empty, all the seats free of passengers and looking very comfortable to the frozen Spanish boy. About 10… 11… 12, rows down, he finally took a seat, tossing his duffle bag up atop his spot and scooting aside the window. He fidgeted for a little while, kicking his knees up so that they pressed against the seat ahead of him.

'Get ready for a long night Toni…'

Shuffling through his playlists with his finger, he found the playlist labeled Train, clicking it and shuffling again for a proper song to start the trip with… Something soft, easy, maybe something he could fall asleep to. With the conductor standing not far ahead of him and a few witnesses nearby, he was sure that no one would steal his bag – though he doubted anyone would be happy with two pairs of jeans, three shirts and tons of socks; nothing worth stealing in the least.

An icy frost sat on the window, Antonio feeling it press past his chocolate locks, hitting his scalp. The cold felt nice though, much nicer than it had when he was standing in it. Somehow, it was always nicer to see the snow fall when he was safely inside a warmer place.

With a sudden jolt forward, the train was on its way, though it's final destination was here and there, as it would pass by many, many towns before reaching the end of the line; aka Antonio's father's home. Comfortably settled into his seat, he let his eyes drift close, sure not to sleep too soundly. Those horror stories his mother always told him about people falling asleep on the train and missing their stop… Hah! As if something so terrifying would happen to Antonio- though he had a credit card handy incase such a thing did.

Twenty-five minutes later, they were at their first stop, the intercom's voice quickly stating the town. Antonio couldn't make out the words, but the noise seemed to vibrate his seat. It must have been a little broken, not that he really needed to know where he was. His was the end of the line, and the train tended to stop for about 30 minutes there. The longest rest would be his stop- around 6:45 pm.

Once the voice stopped, Antonio's eyes returned to his player, skipping over the current one – that song he never took the time to delete, even though he played it all of 3 times. Finally happy with the current song he chose, he sat against the window again, his finger pressing onto the foggy window, rubbing out smiling faces and strange, cryptic designs.

After wiping off a rather large section, he let his eyes adjust, seeing a green capped girl run for the train. He had to give her credit, as she stomped up those concrete stairs, even in the snow. They'd already been there for about 50 seconds, about 10 more and they'd be speeding off. It looked as though she made it, her pace slowing down as she entered a car a good ways up. Antonio was waiting for the day he would have to run to catch the train only to miss it; a fearful day… Not only would he feel rather foolish, but he would have to wait three hours for the next train.

And once again, the train snapped forward, heading back on its path…

Another 20 minutes, they stopped again, and this crowd looked to be large. There were a couple teenage girls, those balding and serious-faced business men, and that stereotypical woman, yelling at whoever stood at the other end of her phone call. They all piled inside the car, Antonio seeing how he would be sharing a seat with someone. He just prepared for it, staying pinned against the window. Pumping up his volume just slightly, he hoped no one would bother him; he even went so far as to stuff his earphones in deeper into his head.

Then he felt that curious nudge, although it was harsh, if not rude.

Lifting one of his lids, he opened it holding his breath. Just a regular guy, looking to be no more than 5 years older than him, he was clearly asking if he could sit there. Antonio replied with a nod, letting out a sigh. Now he would be riding with a buddy, and the seats suddenly seemed that much more claustrophobic.

The man sat beside him, pulling out his own phone and beginning to dial and type away, probably to a girlfriend or something. As long as he didn't do anything too disruptive, Antonio would be fine.

And so, the train lurched forward yet again, only 45 minutes into his ride, and he was already halfway done with his playlist.

After what seemed like 10 minutes, the vibrating voice sounded on the train, reaching past Antonio's loud song.

"All passengers who are getting off at station 37C, please report to the third car. We are sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for choosing Regional-Railways." Her voice ended with a loud click.

"Dammit." The man next to him sputtered out, throwing his phone into his pocket and starting to stand best he could on the moving train. Antonio was the last stop so he didn't have to worry about this type of thing, but he sympathized with the man beside him. He lifted his gear and followed after some of the other miss-informed passengers who were now making their way up about four cars to the proper section.

It was no more than five minutes after said instructions, the train stopped to a halt. That annoying intercom came again, but Antonio just learned to ignore it by now.

As they boarded the car, Antonio stuck himself to the window, ready for the next friend who'd sit beside him. Eyeing the pretty brunette who stepped into the car, he thought he wouldn't mind letting her sit beside him. To add to his chances of her sitting beside him, he yawned a little, sitting up and looking as if he was someone who you could have a wonderful conversation with and possibly keep entertained for the long ride ahead.

After his well-acted-out yawn, he made eye-contact with her, the type that signaled a connection. She seemed to let out a sigh of relief, making her way to his half-empty seat. An excited smile played on his lips, as he might have found someone to chat with for the train ride and keep him awake for it. He began to prepare, her no more than 8 seats ahead, tugging out his earphone and even dusting off his coat a little.

"Is anyone sitting here?"

Oh no.

Antonio's face suddenly dropped.

All he could make out was it had to be a boy. Weighing in his mind, a pretty girl versus some random boy; he wanted it the way it should have been… But it was obvious no one was sitting there, and for him to sound like a child, pointing to the girl making her way to the spot, yelling 'No! She called dibs first!'… He couldn't do such a thing.

"Oh um- yeah, it's empty." He tried to sound courteous, as he was fidgeting in his seat, the look of distress on the girl's face. His own eyebrows furrowed in confusion and apology, but they'd only had such short contact with each other, she just shrugged and asked the person nearest by if she could sit down.

The boy next to him was busy pushing his luggage atop the rack a few feet above them. Not wanting to look directly at him, at least he could say he had a rather nice trench coat on, especially for being his age. Antonio was only in a standard winter coat, scarf and cheap gloves. Already he felt inferior to him, but it really didn't matter, did it?

-It suddenly did.

Antonio found himself staring off to the boy standing next to him. His lips parted just slightly, eyes looking him up and down but then staying pinned to his face.

A round face, fair olive toned skin not too much lighter than his own; hair that seemed to settle between maroon and chestnut. It was the strangest thing too- his eyelashes were thick and long, longer than any he'd seen on a girls face before. As the boy stared down, un-buttoning his coat and folding it over his arm, Antonio continued to stare. When he finally looked up, irises of what could only be described as an olive tone fused with the shade of a glistening gold stared back at him.

Though he was frozen, his brain acted without thought, formulating words and causing his lips to stir.

"I'm… Antonio," he sputtered out, not knowing why he had suddenly become verbal and stated such a personal and odd fact so outwardly.

Nevertheless, the other looked to him, coking an eyebrow high in the air. A sigh escaped his lips as he shut his eyes, and then opened them, eyes connecting yet again.

"Lovino..." He responded flatly with a nod.


New story! This time some old fashioned Spamano 3

I plan to make this fanfic shorter than my Itacest one but we'll see we'll see...

I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you JojoSillyGoose for beta reading again for me!