I don't own Hetalia or any of the characters/countries in it. And just so you know, I don't think you should go home with strangers, even if they're as nice as Toni.

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Lovino stomped along the sidewalk noisily, kicking chunks of slushy snow out of his way. The dim streetlights made everything look more shiny and wet than usual. But he was not paying attention to this. He just kept walking, his head low. The bus stop wasn't much farther, thank goodness. It was too d*** cold to be very far away. The silence of the night in town like this was too much. There had to be some kind of sound. He considered humming to himself, but that was stupid. And someone could hear. Maybe he could listen to some music. But his ipod was buried somewhere in his bag, and it would be too annoying to dig out. So he kept walking in silence.

"Hey, what're you doing out so late, kid?" a nearby voice asked suddenly, making Lovino jump a little and freeze. Not that he was scared, of course.

"Walking. What's it look like, dumba**?" He saw a slender figure step out of an alley to his right. A man taller than him, with shaggy blonde hair and stubble on his chin. He wore a cream colored peacoat and a red scarf that hung loosely around his neck. He smelled of alcohol.

"Shouldn't be out alone at this hour," the man said, not really slurring any words.

"I can do whatever the h*** I feel like. Leave me alone, pervert," he snapped, walking again.

"Aw, don't be like that~ I'll walk with you-"

"No you will not." He turned around to look the man straight in the eye, glaring at him hard.

The man was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, it was a simple, "Yeah, whatever," and he turned back, shuffling away quietly. Lovino hoped no one else would get bothered by a creep like him. He went back to walking, again waiting out the silence. Weren't there any cars in this stupid town? Why was it so d*** silent? He didn't know. He didn't care. All he wanted was to get to that bus stop. Then he could think about other things. And he kept moving, not paying much attention to anything. Left foot, right foot. Slip on a patch of ice. Hit a shoulder on the concrete. Lovino groaned as he lay on the cold ground. The padded fluff of his coat didn't help cushion the fall much, but it was better than nothing. He just couldn't do anything right, could he? Couldn't even walk properly. Sighing, he pushed himself back up and walked a bit slower. After tripping over an uneven piece of sidewalk and an old bottle on the ground, he eventually made it to his destination. Relieved to have that little bit of comfort, he stepped around the plastic, advertisement-covered wall around the bus bench. There was someone else there. Another man, with brown hair that curled at the edges of his face, which was smashed against the wall opposite him. Was he asleep? Lovino didn't want to wake him. Maybe he was another drunk pervert. Or a hobo. Or maybe he was dead. Whatever the case, Lovino stayed as far from him as he could in the small space. Pulling the bag off his shoulders, he sat down and held it in his lap, hugging it to his chest as if it would warm him. It did not. Not that it surprised him.

Bored, he peeked out the corner of his eye at the person across from him. There was some movement. So he wasn't dead. Yay. That was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell. As long as he doesn't mess with me, there won't be a problem, he thought. And as long as that bus gets here soon. He sat, still in silence, excluding the slow breaths that he could now hear coming from his slumbering companion. He lifted his wrist to check the time, but remembered that his watch broke, and he'd left it behind. He hoped he hadn't missed the bus… No, he couldn't have. It would've driven by him at some point. Was it late? Or was he early? Ugh. He leaned back against the back of the bench, ignoring the fact that it was probably covered in old gum and who knows what else. He moved his feet around, scratching them over the tiny ice crystals that were everywhere. A cold drop fell onto his shoe. He looked up to see the icicles that hung from the roof, dripping occasionally. The sound of their steady drips falling to whatever was below them was making him tired. No wonder that other guy fell asleep. Lovino let his eyelids fall closed and his head lean back as far as it could go. He was not a light sleeper by any means, so he couldn't allow himself to drift off. He thought of warm things. Pizza, spaghetti, garlic bread, tomato soup… D*** it, this was making him hungry. He thought of the sun, falling on his grandfather's garden. The river he and his brother would swim in during summer. Opening the house windows to let in a breeze because the air conditioner broke.

Lovino inhaled deeply. Reminiscing wasn't making this any easier. He let out the breath and opened his eyes. He stared straight at the building across the street from him. A small craft store, one that he'd been to with his brother many times over the years. Again with the reminiscing? Bringing his left hand up, he rubbed his face, trying to wake himself. Around that time, a faint growling, sighing noise came from a short ways away. He lifted his head as the bus came into view. Lovino stood and put his bag back on, and the machine stopped in front of him. He quickly hopped on, putting his fare into the slot, and sat down on one of the seats in the middle of the bus.

"Antonio!" the bus driver called out the door. Who was Antonio? He looked out the window and saw the sleeping man rouse some. "Toni, come on!" the driver called again. When the man recognized what was happening, he got up and on the bus.

"Sorry for the trouble," Antonio said with a smile.

The driver nodded and said, "Try to stay awake next time." Antonio paid and sat down five seats ahead of Lovino. They sat quietly, watching as only three other people got on and off. In what seemed like only a matter of minutes, the bus was stopped yet again, and the Antonio character got off. The driver turned around and said to Lovino, "This is the last stop. You have to get off here."

Here? Lovino thought. He had been waiting to see something like a cheap motel to stay in, but hadn't seen anything of the sort. If there was no other choice, he'd probably have to keep walking until he found some place to stay. But if that's what it took, that's what he'd do. So he got up and stepped out onto the sidewalk in some place he'd never been before. He was only a little nervous, but he would never say that out loud. He glanced around, taking in the area. The bus growled again as it drove off, and when it was gone, a voice that he sort of recognized said, "Hey, I didn't know you lived out this way! We could be neighbors!" Lovino looked back to see Antonio, who walked up to him and smiled cheerfully.

"I don't live around here."

"Oh? Then why are you here? Are you meeting someone?" His smile did not fade any.

"No." Lovino did not want to talk to a stranger about something like this, but he didn't come across as a creep. Then again, he was sleeping on a bus bench.

"Then can I ask what you're doing here?"

He thought about whether or not he should say honestly. Maybe this guy could point him toward a motel. Or maybe he was a perverted serial killer. It could happen. Whatever, it'd be less stressful than going back. "Looking for a place to stay. Can you tell me if there's a motel nearby?"

His expression changed to one of worry. "You don't have a place to stay? You can stay at my place!" Well, that wasn't creepy in the slightest. Sarcasm again. But, also again, he preferred a stranger's house to his own. "The motels are miles away, it'd take way too long to get there tonight. If you really want to go somewhere tomorrow, we can take the bus to wherever else you want to go. It's Friday, so I don't have classes tomorrow. I go to the college across town." Sounded reasonable enough. College students did often let friends stay with them, to have some company, but he wasn't a friend. Though this guy didn't come across as threatening. Just odd.

"I suppose. Only for tonight." Hopefully he wouldn't need to stay any longer than one night.

"Cool! I'm Antonio Fernandez-Carriedo," he said, regaining his smile. He stuck out his hand. "But you can call me whatever you want."

"Lovino Vargas," Lovino replied, shaking the hand. "Don't call me any stupid nicknames and we'll get along fine."

"Noted. So off to my place we go!" Antonio said in a sing-song voice, beginning to walk. "Wait, do you need anything first? There's a little grocery store around the corner from my place."

"If you have food, I'm not worried about much else." That was pretty true. The kid could down a week's worth of food in a day, and still be hungry. But he wasn't terribly picky about other things. He didn't ask for much, but if someone offered to do something for him, he rarely turned them down.

"I have tons of food. I enjoy cooking, so I can make you almost anything." They walked for roughly ten minutes, talking about recipes and food-related topics all the way to Antonio's apartment. "Here she is~" he sang, opening the front door. "My unit is number 6*." Antonio led Lovino down the warm hall to his unit, which was on the first floor. He pulled some keys from his pocket and unlocked the two locks on his door, opening it and going in, turning on a light. Lovino followed cautiously, half expecting to step on a trap door that sent him falling to his death in a dark pit filled with pikes. It happened all the time in movies. Antonio locked his door again. "Alright, since you're the guest, you can take my room and I'll take the couch. My room's that door on the right, and-"

"Wait a second," Lovino interrupted. "I'm not taking your room. If I knew you well, I might, but it's kinda weird to sleep in a stranger's bedroom."

"Oh. Well, you don't have to, I guess. But if you change your mind the option will still stand. And we aren't strangers anymore!" Lovino disagreed, but he didn't feel like arguing about that. He was too hungry to waste time with that.

"The bathroom's across from my room. Kitchen's through here," he said, pointing forward. He turned on a lamp beside the door and took off his coat, draping it over a chair. Lovino stood, just barely through the doorway, uncertain of what he should do. "You can put your stuff anywhere," Antonio said, noticing the stillness of his guest.

"Should I take off my shoes?" Was that all he could manage? Pathetic, but whatever.

"If you want to. You don't have to. I was going to heat up some soup for myself, but if you want anything else, just name it." He walked into the kitchen, looking over his shoulder at Lovino.

"What kind of soup do you have?" He set his bag down beside the couch and unzipped his jacket, putting it on the bag and slipping out of his shoes beside it.

"Tomato." Lovino perked up at the thought, and his mouth watered.

"I'll take as much as you're willing to give me." He unlaced his boots and pulled them off, and then went into the kitchen after Antonio.

"Eat until you're full." He got two bowls out of a cupboard and two spoons from a drawer, and opened a few cans, pouring them into the bowls.

"That could be a while. You'd run out of soup before I run out of room to put it." Antonio laughed, but didn't say anything more about it. He put the soups in the microwave, setting the time, and sat down at the table, bringing the spoons.

"Sit." Lovino pulled out a chair and sat. "I know it's really none of my business, but can I ask why you needed a place to stay?"

Lovino sighed. If this person was letting him take up his couch and eat his food, he should at least let him know why. "I ran away."

"Oh? Why? Ah, you don't have to answer that." He looked at the spoons and picked up one. He spun it between his fingers.

"It's okay. I just can't stand the way they all treat me."

"You weren't… harmed, were you?" Lovino looked him in they eyes.

"No, nothing like that. They just make me feel like I'm nothing. My brother is better than me at everything and our grandpa likes him better. He never pays attention to me unless he's yelling at me for doing something wrong." The microwave ding rang loud in the small room. Antonio went to retrieve their late supper.

"Can't you talk to some friends about it? The school counsellor?" He set the bowls down and put a spoon in each, pushing Lovino's to him.

"What friends? Nobody at my school cares. They don't like me. They're all stuck up f***ers. The counsellor is biased and thinks I should act just like my brother." He ate his soup quickly. "Got any crackers?"

"Just ran out. We can get some tomorrow if you'll be here."

Lovino didn't answer. He ate, and Antonio did the same.

Afterward, they went to the couch to watch some TV. "Got any favorite shows?" Antonio asked.

"Not really. I don't watch much TV."

"What do you do to entertain yourself?" Why did he have to word it like that? He didn't know how to answer that…

"Nothing." There. Close enough.

"Sounds boring." Lovino shrugged. "Would you rather we go somewhere? For a walk, prank my neighbors, rent a movie?"

He considered those options. It was too cold and dark for a walk. He didn't want to prank anyone, because if they called the cops, he would be sent back home. A movie… Maybe. But he didn't really know many good movies. And he didn't know how much longer he'd be able to stay awake. "None of those sound good. Got any better ideas?"

Antonio tapped his bottom lip in thought. "Hmm…" He stared at the wall for a minute. Two minutes. Lovino was getting more bored.

"What do you do for fun around here?"

His voice woke Antonio from his trance. "Oh! I um, usually hang out with my best friends, but Francis is out drinking and Gilbert said he didn't feel like doing anything tonight."

"Don't you have any other friends?"

He laughed. A sound that was getting more familiar. "Some, but they aren't as fun as Francis and Gilbert." He leaned back into the cushions, stretching his arms out on the back of the couch. "Don't suppose you know anybody around here, huh?"

"That supposition is correct."

Another laugh. "That isn't a word I hear often."

Lovino also leaned back into the cushions. "What time is it, anyway?"

Antonio pulled a mobile from his pocket and checked the time. "Almost midnight."

"S***. I'm gonna be so tired tomorrow."

"I don't mind if you sleep in. I always do that on weekends."

"Guess so." That didn't even make sense in context. Lovino blamed it on the late hour.

"I'll bring out some blankets and pillows. How many do you want?"

"How many blankets or how many pillows?"

"Both."

"I don't care. Maybe two of each."

"You got it." He went to his room and brought back two fluffy pillows, a sheet and a quilt. "These should do."

"Yeah. Guess I'll go to sleep now." He took the items and looked around the room with tired eyes.

"Okay. I'll sleep in a bit, I want clean up in my room some first, so I hope the noise won't keep you up."

Lovino just nodded and rubbed at his eyes, which Antonio took as a sign for him to get going. He called out a cheery 'sleep well' before closing his door. It was then that he noticed the lights were still on. He got up and flipped the switch on the wall as well as the button on the lamp. He sat back on the couch and stretched his weary limbs with a groan falling out of his mouth alongside it. He shook out the blankets and put the pillows where he needed them, sprawling out on the couch. Normally he'd have taken off most, if not all, of his clothes. But with a stranger in the area, it wouldn't be very wise. Lovino closed his eyes and waited to fall victim to the sandman's handiwork.

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* His unit number is six because a really great soccer/futbol player for Spain is number six. Wiki: Xavi.

By the way, I'm sorry for putting the asterisks up there if they bother you (By that, I mean the single ones to indicate a note at the bottom, as well as the multiple ones to hide curse words from Lovi's mouth that desperately needs Orbit. Delicious kudos to you if you got that.). I know some people dislike when that's done, and my apologies if this chapter seems rushed.

Reviews would inspire me to be a better person in general. Boosting self-esteem and all that nonsense. Don't you want to help poor ol' Ches to feel good about zirself? (But I'm also a slow writer, so bear with me, por favor.)

One last thing. If you see any kind of error in my story, profile, anything, TELL ME. I hate typos like Death the Kid hates asymmetry.