Title: Recyclable Heart
Rating: T, but tell me if it should be higher.
Genre: AU
Characters/Pairings: Antonio and Lovino (Spain and South Italy), side pairings
Summary: AU. Antonio has had one too many break ups. Needless to say, he is not so happy about this. His therapist gives him a way to help, but it's only temporary. And Lovino just wants him to feel better! Why can't that bastard just see how much I love him?
Notes: Please enjoy my fanfic~ It will have multiple chapters, but I don't know how many. I write these stories at school, so I try to work on them as much as possible. I do draw, so I don't know how often I can update. I will try to update every week or so. Thank you for reading!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Hetalia! Also, this story is loosely based on a chicken noodle soup for the soul story I saw. But, like, really loosely. :I
Antonio was sitting at the dining room table fiddling with his large and generously tanned hands. This has not been his month. He recently started dating with people he met at his work, but somehow, the relationships were all destined to crumble. Of course though, Antonio was much too nice to get angry, so moping while he was home alone was the next best thing. Moping when Lovino was home was out of the question, his best friend already had a lot of emotional stress, he didn't need to worry about Antonio (which, he would, even if he wouldn't care to admit it).
Antonio sighed "This really stinks..." He mumbled to himself, leaning more onto the table, making it creek in warning. I wonder if it's something I say that turns the women away... Antonio thought silently. Either way, my love life is not looking good. Antonio glanced at the clock above the stove and jumped slightly in surprise. It's already 3:48! Kirkland will have my head if I am late. Antonio jumped up from the table and pulled out his cell phone, deciding to quickly text Lovi before he leaves.
[Antonio]
I won't be home for a bit, I think. Therapy. Feel free to start dinner without me!
[Message sent 3:49 PM]
Satisfied, Antonio grabbed his keys from the table and walked over towards the door. His pocket began to vibrate as he walked out of the doorway. He flipped open his phone and glanced at the text as he locked the apartment up.
[Lovino]
Yeah, okay bastard. What do you want for dinner? Not like I care or anything. I also don't care if you have a good time at that therapy shit. :I
[Message sent 3:50 PM]
Antonio smiled to himself as he quickly texted back, walking down the stairs toward the parking place at his apartment complex.
[Antonio]
You know what I like, Lovi~ ;)
[Message sent 3:51 PM]
[Antonio]
Oh, I almost forgot, I am about to be driving, so it's kind of dangerous for me to text. I'll text you when I get there~ :)
[Message sent 3:51 PM]
Antonio quickly hopped into his car and pulled out, driving away, still smiling.
"So, Mr. Carriedo, this is your... second break-up this month?"
"Third, Artie." Antonio said politely.
Arthur furrowed his brows slightly at the nickname. "I see. Er, what do you perhaps believe is causing such a large amount of misfortunes?"
"See, that's the problem," Antonio sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I don't quite know... It's just that, after every couple dates, they just cut our relationship short... This is very emotionally straining, mi amigo..." Arthur looked back up from his notes at Antonio with uncharacteristic emotion in his eyes. He slowly took off his reading glasses and studied them before choosing his words carefully.
"Now, Antonio, I understand what you are going through. I went through something akin to what you are going through yourself. I was not quite- AM not quite skilled in... social endeavors." Arthur's face suddenly showed realization and smiled as he reached into his pocket. "I have an idea though, Antonio. There's this thing..." He trailed off and focused on finding something in his pocket.
"Blast this accursed- ah, here it is." He murmured as he pulled out what he was looking for. He tossed it across the room towards Antonio, who caught it. Antonio looked at the object; which was a small play-dough heart painted green, with bits of the blue showing through.
"You see, this was given to me by somebody very special when I was... not emotionally stable." He said to Antonio, slightly reminiscing in his old days, when he was practically a social outcast. Antonio nodded at his explanation, and looked at the heart. He smiled and looked at the little creases in the heart showing the effort put into something so simple. Turning it over a few times in his hand to see all of the details, he looked back to Arthur.
"Now, you can't keep it. As I stated previously, it is very special to me. But you may keep it until you feel better." Arthur said, observing Antonio's emotions and writing things down in his note book.
"Thank you very much, Artie!" Antonio said happily, smiling brightly at Arthur.
"I would prefer if you called me Arthur, please." Arthur said flatly.
"Heh, sure, sure~" Antonio replied, tossing the heart in the air a few times, "Oh, I almost forgot! I was wondering, if you wouldn't mind telling me who gave you the heart?"
At this, Arthur's face tinted pink. He coughed into his hand nervously and replied, "Yes, well... I'd rather not... uhh... I don't think I would like to say-" He was cut off by the door bursting open, and a man several inches taller than Arthur waltzing in.
"IIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGYYYYY!~" He shouted across the room and jumped on top of Arthur, making the chair he was sitting in topple over.
"WHAT THE BLOODY-" Arthur exclaimed as he came crashing down with the larger.
The larger laughed obnoxiously. "I'm sorry, I got here early, but it's better than being late, right?" The blue eyed stranger hugged his green-eyed friend apologetic. The blue eyed wonder (who must be out of his mind to tackle the tempered therapist) turned and spotted the client of the therapist.
"Oh, hey dude~" He said with a wave. "Didn't know Iggy had a client right now. Oh, is he letting you borrow that heart thing I gave him when I first asked him out? Iggy was talking about maybe using it to see what kind of emotional effect it would have on his clients, or something... Y'know, maybe I should have knocked... No, this is fine. Right, Iggy?" No response. "Uhh... Iggy?" Still no response. "OH MY GOD! IGGY! ARE YOU OKAY? DID I CRUSH YOU? IF I DID, DOES THAT MEAN THAT WE CAN'T GO TO MCDONALDS? IGGY, I'M SORRY!" He yelled in Arthur's ears.
"Nggh... Alfred..." Arthur grumbled, trying to sit up, only to be stopped by the weight on top of him.
"Iggy, what is it? IGGY SPEAK TO MEEEEEE!" Alfred continued to yell.
"You want me to speak to you?" Arthur asked sweetly. "GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME, YOU GIT! I SWEAR IF YOU DON'T, I WILL STOP BUYING YOUR BLOODY COFFEE!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! NOT MY COFFEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Alfred scrambled off Arthur quickly. "Am I off the hook now?" Alfred asked looking hopeful.
"Hmm... I don't think so, Alfred. You broke quit a few rules. Coming in here when I have a client, yelling in here, tackling me to the ground..." Arthur trailed off, still continuing his lecture. Alfred stared off into space as Arthur scolded him, trying to think of how to turn the situation in his favor. Quickly, he got an idea and smiled at Arthur sweetly.
"What the bloody hell are you smiling about?" Arthur asked, almost afraid of the answer he would get. Alfred leaned forward and kissed Arthur directly on the lips. He turned around and waved goodbye to Antonio.
"Nice meeting you, but I really should be going. Artie, I'll be waiting in the car~" He said with joy before running away and laughing triumphantly. Antonio waved good bye in return. "Good bye~" He then turned to a glowing red Arthur. "Who was he? Your boyfriend?"
Arthur just looked back at him, lost for words. As soon as he regained his former state of mind he bid Antonio goodbye quickly and ran out after Alfred, screaming; "I'LL BLOODY KILL YOU!" Antonio just laughed at the series of events he just witnessed.
[Antonio]
I'm in the building now, I'll be in the apartment in a few~ :)
[Message sent at 6:04]
[Lovino]
Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, Bastard. Dinner is almost ready, waiting for pasta to boil.
[Message sent at 6:06]
Lovino grumbled as he set down the cell phone and turned back to his painting he was working on. He dabbed the paintbrush back into they almost acid-like green hue he had. With swift but thorough strokes he pushed and pulled the brush across the canvass filled with that same green and bits of gold. I don't even know why I spend so much time or effort in these paintings, he thought to himself, They don't ever turn out the way I want them to anyways... I don't even know what I'm painting anymore! Goddammit! Lovino glared at what he thought as a mess on the canvass. He frequently blamed his bad mood on his job, but he knew that wasn't really it."Goddammit, Antonio... You bastard."
"Lovi, I'm home~" Antonio called out as he walked into their apartment. No answer. "I bet he's in his room again... Maybe he's painting!" Lovino never liked for Antonio to see him paint, maybe he could sneak in and see what he was painting. He quietly sneaked into the living room and then the kitchen. They had a pretty spacious apartment, which they afforded through their combined incomes. He looked down the hallway to see if Lovino's door was open. Silently he tip-toed over to see it was shut tightly. Well, I guess that will make this more fun~ He thought to himself. He leaned on the door to try and hear what Lovino was doing. Well, he's moving around in there... I think that's the shifting of weight... um... somewhere... I don't think I'm that good at this sort of thing~ Antonio chuckled to himself, leaning even further on the door to hear better. The door creaked on his weight and no more sound was heard for a second, but then it continued. Antonio waited silently listening to the sounds Lovino was making waiting for a sneeze or something so he could open the door without him knowing. Suddenly the space before him was gone and the door opened, causing him to fall forward on top of an unsuspecting Lovino.
"Oof!"
"Ow, bastard! What the fuck were you doing?"
"Uhh... I wanted to see if you were painting~"
"Well I was! Can you get off me now?" Lovino huffed.
"Oh, you were? Can I see it so far?" Antonio asked sweetly.
Lovino's face went red a little bit before he replied with a hasty 'no' before pushing Antonio off of him. Antonio frowned but offered his hand to Lovino after he got up first. Lovino took it and pushed himself past Antonio and walked towards the kitchen. "I'm gonna go check on the pasta..." Lovino mumbled. A few moments after, Antonio proceeded to follow Lovino down the hall.
"How was therapy, bastard?" Lovino asked in his usual manner of speaking.
"It was fine, Lovi. Thank you for asking~ How was work?" Antonio asked as he emptied his pockets.
"Work was boring as fuck."
"You know you love working with your brother~"
"Sure, sure..." Lovino mumbled.
Antonio dismissed himself to the bathroom just as Lovino was finishing the pasta. He set the spoon down and walked over to the dining table, where the dishes were already set. Before he sat down, Lovino noticed in the pile of things from when Antonio emptied his pockets, a small green object. He walked over to inspect said object, picking it up in his hand. It was a small, handmade play-dough heart, painted a deep forest green with sky blue flecks showing from where the paint chipped off. As Antonio walked back into the room, Lovino spoke:
"What is this?" He inquired, holding up the small heart.
"Hm?" Antonio looked at the heart. "Oh, that's for making me feel better, or at least that's what the doc said."
"I see... It's very... nice."
"Oh, you think so? Well, I don't get to keep it. I can only keep it until I feel 100%~"
"...What would make you feel 100%?" Lovino asked, unusually serious.
"What?" Antonio asked, confused at the sudden change in Lovino's demeanor.
"Nothing." Lovino blushed a bit. "So. Dinner?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Oh, uh, sure thing, Lovi." Antonio replied.
Lovino quickly set up their meal and they began to converse once more, lightening up the once slightly heavy atmosphere.
"So you're saying," Lovino started, "That some blue eyed guy runs into your therapy session, tackles your therapist into the ground, tells you they're going out, kisses him, and then leaves?"
"Yeah, it was really weird! Especially since Arthur and the guy are completely opposite." Antonio says, wide-eyed.
"What was the guy's name?" Lovino questioned, shoving more pasta into his mouth.
"Uh... It started with an 'A'... Alfred, I think." Antonio said, unsure.
"Alfred? Isn't that like a butler's name?" Lovino laughed.
"I don't know, is it?" Antonio laughed with Lovino.
AN: So, yeah. This is my Spamano fic I was talking about. *dances happily* Leave a review, watch this story, or favorite it if you want. I don't care if you don't though, because I'm not here for popularity~ So, yeah, I threw in a little USUK, because it is one of my favorite pairings. Was it too angsty? It seemed just a bit to me... Please let me know if there is a grammar mistake or something else wrong, I would be very embarassed if nobody told me. The next chapter should be up next Thursday (the 24th), but it could be earlier. *shrugs* See you guys next week~