"Good game!" Toni shouted, tackling his friend Francis and slinging an arm over his shoulder.

"Oui, we're sure to beat those Wild Cats, and their tacky uniforms…"

Toni just laughed and shook his head, he had the best friends. Speaking of friends, before Toni could depart to go to the change room, Gilbert, their other friend, snuck up behind them and practically jumped on top of them.

"Hey! The awesome me is here!"

"Oh, Hey Gil." Toni said, wrapping his arm around his head and pulling it into a choke-hold, giving him a noogie.

"Hey, stop that!" He said in his thick german accent.

Soon, they arrived in front of the change rooms, and Toni departed.

Francis never liked the change rooms, "There's something growing in there! I just know it!" He'd always exclaim.

"See you guys at the party tonight?" He asked, opening the door.

"Yeah, it's going to be so awesome!"

Toni chuckled and entered the change room; he really did have the best friends. No matter what, they'd always be there for him, and he'd always be there for them.

"Fuck! Fuck, fuck FUCK!" Toni heard somebody should from within the change room.

He ran deeper into the change room, and turned the corner, only to find Lovino Vargas.

Toni had known Lovino in elementary and middle school, but after that they had gone to different high schools. Now, first year of collage, they had been reunited.

Lovino was half-dressed, searching through his duffel bag.

"Fuck! Where the hell did it go?"

"Looking for something Lovi?"

"Don't call me tha-" He cut himself off, looking up at Toni, "Toni?"

Lovi had changed quite a bit since middle school.

His lanky body had filled out with tanned muscles, and he had grown much taller over those four years. Toni had to admit, he had grown into quite a handsome man.

"Don't fucking stare! Didn't anybody ever tell you it was rude?" Lovi asked, resuming his search for whatever he was looking for.

"There!" He exclaimed, pulling a wrinkled shirt from his bag.

Smiling triumphantly, he pulled it over his head and threw the duffel bag over his shoulder.

"See you 'round Tomato Bastard!"

Toni smiled; so he really did still care. In middle school, they had given each other the nicknames "Tomato Bastard" and "Lovi." It was nice that Lovi still remembered that. Though he wasn't one for affection, he could show it in the strangest ways.

Suddenly, Toni had an idea.

"Hey Lovi!"

"I told you not to call me that!"

"Wanna come over? We're having a party!"

"Eh, I don't know."

"Oh come on Lovi! We haven't seen each other in ages, and I'd love to catch up. Please?"

Lovino sighed, not even bothering to correct him this time.

"Fine, but I'll have to leave early."

"Ah, that's okay! Just as long as you can make it! Trust me, it's going to be great!"

"Yeah, that's what you said when you suggested we go camping our last summer of middle school."

Toni shook his head ruefully, remembering the incident.

"C'mon Lovi! Let's go!"

"N-no way! I am NOT going in there!"

"But Lovi!" Toni whined.

"No!"

"Please! I'll go without you if you don't go with me, and then you'll be all alone!"

Lovino thought about it for a moment, then walked over to Toni.

"Fine, but if something happens to me, it's your fault."

Toni lead the way into the cave as Lovino followed behind him.

"D-did you hear that?"

"No…"

Grrrrrr…

"See! There it is again!"

Okay, this time he had heard it.

"It's probably nothing Lovi, come on!"

"I don't like this…"

"Fine, we'll turn back-AH!"

Their path was now blocked by a family of racoons; their mouths foaming with froth.

"See! I told you!"

"Let's just try and sneak around them… maybe they don't want to bother us?"

"Fuck this." Lovino muttered. He picked up a stone and threw it across the cavern.

"No! Lovi! Don't!"

The stone hit one of the racoons square in the head, and it jumped.

"OW!" Lovino screamed as it clamped down on his ankle. His scream reverberated through the cave, scaring the racoons away.

"Lovi! Oh no Lovi! It bit you!"

"Gee, I couldn't tell." He replied in a sarcastic tone.

"I-I'll go get your grandpa! He and Feliciano can help!"

Toni turned around to run, but he felt something grab onto his leg.

"Please, don't leave me." Lovi said, his voice was quiet and sincere.

Fear filled his eyes, though he was trying to hide it.

"I-I mean, what if those things come back? Wouldn't we be safer together?"

Toni looked down at Lovino. "Fine, but if something happens to me, it's your fault." The words echoed in his head. Right, he had pushed Lovi to go exploring with him, and now he was hurt. If Lovi didn't want to be alone, then he wouldn't.

Toni hoisted Lovino up, and slung his arm over his shoulder. Limping and leaning on Toni for support, both Lovino and Toni made it back to the camp.

"Ah! Fratello! You're back! We're going to-AH! GRANDPA! LOVINO'S BLEEDING! GRANDPA! GRANDPA! HE'S BLEEDING! HELP! GRANDPA!"

Toni tried to hide the smile that began to form on his lips.

"What?" Lovino asked, staring at Toni.

"Ah, nothing…"

"Tell me damnit!"

"You were so cute back then."

Lovino's face grew red with blush.

"I'm not cute!"

"I never said you are. I said you were."

"Still! I'm not cute, never was, and never will be!"

Toni smiled, and changed the subject.

"So, I'll see you at the party? It's room 220 in the east wing."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there."

"Great! See you there!" Toni called as Lovi exited the change room.

"Well this is just fucking great." Lovino thought to himself as he sat on the couch in Toni's dorm.

Feliciano was off snogging his German boyfriend. They had met in high school, and Lovino had hated him from the second he laid eyes on him. A few feet off, Toni was standing in front of a girl who was crying her eyes out, a drunk jock yelling at the both of them.

"That fucking bitch is cheating! I know it! Now step outta the way you fucking soccer dude!"

"Please, Joshua, calm down. I'm sure the both of you can work something out when you're both thinking more clearly-"

"Clearly my ass!" Joshua yelled, punching Toni in the face.

Toni stumbled backwards, but held his ground.

"You shoulda just stayed outta it!" Joshua yelled, punching Toni again.

Now, the entire party watched the scene unfold; unmoving, just watching.

"No," Lovino thought to himself, "thought Toni's an airhead, he's been there for me, now I've gotta be there for him."

"Chigi." With one last breath, Lovino walked forward, breaking the circle of spectators.

"Stop!" He said in a cool, commanding tone.

"Another one? Geez, you guys are everywhere!" Joshua threw another punch at Toni, causing him to fall to the floor.

"I'm alright Lovi, really."

"Tomato Bastard, you idiot! You've been there for me, so now I'm here for you. Get out of here."

"It's okay Lovi-"

Before he could even finish, Lovino charged. He grabbed Joshua by the neck, choking him.

"Fuck you!" Lovino spat, bringing him down to the ground. Lovino was about to bring his foot down on the drunkard, when he rolled out of the way, grabbing a broken beer bottle.

"Shit." Lovino cursed.

Joshua swung wildly at Lovino, missing every time. His sluggish movements were no match for Lovino's agility and swiftness.

Finally, Lovino slipped up, and Joshua got in a swing, shattering the bottle against Lovino's arm.

"Ah!" He yelled out, clutching his bloodied arm, "You fucking bastard!"

Just then, Toni rose from the ground, swaying a bit, but keeping his balance.

Toni flung himself at Joshua, wrapping his arms around his neck.

"Get off me you fucktard!" Joshua yelled, trying to fling Toni off, but to no avail. Finally, he was able to fling Toni off of his back, but it also caused him to go off balance, making him stumble towards Lovino.

Lovino kicked him in the stomach, sending him sprawling. He stood over Joshua, kicking him in the stomach until he began to cough up blood. Then, he bent down and got really close to his face.

"You never, ever fuck with me or the people I care about." He spat.

Lovino stood up, and turned around to face Toni, who was being helped up by Gilbert and Francis.

"Lovino! Are you okay?" Toni asked, stumbling towards Lovino.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Lovino asked, looking at the blood that slowly dripped down Toni's forehead.

"Sí, sí, I'm fine. But your arm-"

"Is fine." He replied, wincing.

Toni looked sceptically at him, but decided to drop it.

Lovono stumbled forward, falling into Toni who caught him.

"Lovi!"

"I'm fine."

"No Lovi, you're not."

"If you want me to cry like some sort of baby like last time because it's "cute" it sure as hell isn't going to happen."

In the background, Toni heard Francis on the phone with EMS, explaining what had happened.

Before he knew it, Toni saw black dots dancing before his eyes, and he felt the world slowly slipping sideways.

"TONI!" He didn't know who, nor where the call came from, but it was the last thing he heard.

"Ah…" Toni moaned, pressing his hands to his head; they came away sticky with blood.

When he opened his eyes, he saw Lovino hovering over him.

"About damn time you wake up, Tomato Bastard."

Toni smirked, looking at Lovi's worried expression.

"What are you smiling at you damn bastard? You scared the shit out of me."

His smirk quickly faded.

He had scared Lovi?

"The emergency crews should be here any minute now." Francis announced.

Soon, police and EMS had flooded the campus. The police were taking witness accounts while EMS were patching up the injured. There was so much going on, but Lovino was only focused on one thing.

Toni.

Lovino walked towards Toni, holding his throbbing, bandaged arm. It hurt, but it wasn't like he was going to admit it any time soon.

"Lovi!" Toni cried, trying to stand up, but before he could, the paramedic pushed him back down.

Toni complied, wrapping the emergency blanket tighter around himself.

Lovino took a seat next to Toni as the paramedic left to go take a smoke.

"You idiot, Toni… why'd you let him beat the crap out of you like that?"

"Well, I thought that maybe if he got a few good punches in me, he'd leave us alone…" Toni began sheepishly, "I guess I was wrong, huh?"

"You guess?" Lovino practically exploded, "YOU FUCKING GUESS? HE COULD HAVE KILLED YOU! HELL, I THOUGHT HE HAD, BUT ALL YOU CAN SAY FOR YOURSELF IS YOU GUESS?"

Lovino was as red as a tomato, tears began to form in the corners of his eyes.

"I just got you back and I thought I was going to lose you."

Toni wasn't sure what it was; the alcohol, the relief, the pain meds, but he leaned over and kissed Lovi.

The funny thing is, he kissed back too.

THE END

A/N: Yay! I had a bunch of fun writing this, a birthday request for a friend of mine on tumblr. This is an idea that came spewing out of my brain in the wee hours of the morning, so please excuse me if it doesn't make sense, or is OOC.
Happy Canada Day!

-Vic