Lovino worked with stone. It matched his personality quite well. He was known to be cold-hearted, strong-willed and hard-headed. He didn't play well with others, so he didn't have any interns or employees. Which was fine with him, as most of his money had to go back to his family.

His family consisted of his grandfather and his two brothers. His grandfather, Romulus, was a strict and commanding fellow. He worked with a few important people that weren't afraid to step all over people that they saw as lower than they. Lovino hated them. Lovino loved his brothers, Feliciano and Angelo. Feliciano was his twin, but Lovino often teased that he was five minutes older. Feliciano teased that Lovino was his 'little' brother because he was an inch shorter. They both spoiled Angelo rotten, though.

Lovino hated his grandfather. Romulus thought that just because they were in the same family meant that they had to do the same things. Romulus worked in the trade industry, and he expected Feliciano and Lovino to do the same. So, out of spite, Lovino decided to take up sculpting. Lo and behold, he found he was quite talented. His sculptures could sell for almost as much as Michelangelo's.

Lovino often took his anger out while he was sculpting. Since he had to chip and chisel away at the granite, marble and alabaster, his anger fell away with the little pieces of stone. Most of his sculptures were of family- both being torn apart and put back together.

Romulus didn't like that Lovino sculpted. Sculpting didn't bring in money as often as trade did- in fact, sculptures took a lot of time and money that Romulus claimed the family didn't have. Lovino knew different. Lovino knew where the money went. It went to Romulus's drinking problem. Lovino knew that once he got a sculpture done, it would be worth more than three months of trade.

Because of his job, Lovino's hands were calloused and often bloody. He had many bandages from doing his work. There were many works that he was proud of- one of a mother and her weeping baby, one with an elderly man and his grandson talking, one of three children with an alcoholic father. But there was one that he loved the most, one that he would never get rid of.

The statue of a man. The man was muscular, had high cheekbones, a chiseled jaw and curly locks. His smile held more joy than Lovino had experienced in his whole life. He had named the man 'Antonio.' The name 'Antonio' meant 'highly praiseworthy' and he thought it was quite fitting.

Lovino knew his grandfather disapproved of his sculpting. He knew he should be learning trade, as his grandfather wanted to. But he was a very hyper man, and his hands needed something to do. Sculpting was a good way to keep him from breaking something.

Once he was finished with his sculpting, he decided to paint Antonio. He painted his eyes shamrock green, his hair obsidian and his skin a coppery brown.

Lovino didn't know this, but Feliciano often came by while he was working to admire his sculptures and (few) paintings. Feliciano often tried to convince Romulus that Lovino's work wasn't a waste of time, but Romulus never listened. Romulus didn't seem to like Lovino- and the feeling seemed to be mutual. The two never spoke unless they were talking about money for food, clothing, or other necessities.

One evening, Lovino was getting ready to leave when he heard a few things falling from his shelf in the other room. That wasn't uncommon, as his work area was in a crowded part of the city. Florence, Italy was were the Vargas family was residing. Lovino had a penpal in England that he couldn't write to often, but they tried to keep in touch. He went to the room. It was a paint can. he picked it up and put it back on the shelf before locking the place up for the night. He headed home.

When he got there, he could hear Feliciano and Romulus arguing. "Stop treating Angelo like he's a baby! He's twelve, not two!"

"Just because I want to keep my youngest grandson safe doesn't mean-"

"You never did this for Lovino! You never did that for me! You obviously love Angelo more than us."

"I don't love any of you more than the others, Feli. Angelo just... he's fragile."

Lovino rolled his eyes and hung up his coat. "Feliciano is fragile."

Romulus looked at him and narrowed his eyes. "And where have you been?"

"My shop. You know, the only place I ever am." He took off his shoes and wiped a few beads of sweat off of his face. He stood.

"What are you doing?"

"Taking a bath. What does it look like, bastard?"

"Don't speak to me like that. I am your elder."

"I don't give a damn. I'm not going to respect you if you don't respect me. Now, if you'll get out of my way..." Lovino pushed past his grandfather and went to the bathroom.

"...Lovi?" Lovino heard a small voice call from the hallway.

"Yes, Angelo?"

"Could you tuck me in?"

"Of course." Lovino tucked Angelo in. "Is that okay?"

Angelo nodded. "...are Feli and Nonno going to be okay?"

Lovino nodded. "They just have to talk about a few things. Don't worry about it. Everything's going to be fine." He went to the bathroom once he knew Angelo was asleep. He took a bath in peace, then went to his room. Before he fell asleep, he opened the window and allowed a small breeze to pass through his room. He swore he heard small giggles before he drifted off.

Okay, so, this is going to be a multi-chapter fic. This will be updated once a week- on Fridays unless I write the chapter and get a little antsy and decide to post early, like now. This is being written by two people- every other chapter will be written by me. My pen name is Lukas and the other person who is writing this is Mathias. Mathias is lazy, so we might make up to two (maybe 3! chapters a week). We hope you enjoy. Please follow, favourite and review!