One day, Antonio decided that he wanted to be a man that Lovino could be proud of. He wanted to be a man that Lovino could brag to others to.
"Your boyfriend's in college? Mine got accepted into Hetalia World University."
However, he up and decided this without consulting Lovino first. He was hit with it on a surprise trip to the library after school.
"Why do I have to go with you?" Lovino griped.
"I need my Lovi beside me when I make such a big decision!"
"A big decision? Like what? Going to the fucking library?"
Antonio shook his head. "You'll see."
Once Antonio settled on a large pile of textbooks, the couple settled in a private study room. Antonio reached into his backpack, procuring a notebook and pen.
"Let's get started on making me a genius!"
It was then that Lovino decided to sift through the pile of books. "Trig? Aren't you taking Calc 2 this year?"
"Doesn't hurt to be ahead." Antonio chirped.
"Advanced Anthropology? What the fuck do you need this for?" Lovino cried.
"I'm going to become a genius!"
Lovino tossed the book aside, snatching a red one out of Antonio's hands. "Intermediate Greek? You don't even know basic Greek! What's this all about?"
Antonio took Lovino's hands in his. "I'm going to make you proud of me!"
"I'm your boyfriend, not your father." Lovino said.
"I want to get into Hetalia World University. I'm going to become a man you can be proud of!" Antonio replied.
"What? Look, bastard, I-"
"I don't want to hear it, Lovi. I'm going to become a genius and get into HWU if it's the last thing I do."
"You'll kill yourself. Besides, you can't teach all this shit to yourself!"
"I'm going to go for extra hours at cram school." Antonio said.
"Then you'll have even less time for us than you already do. Between school and soccer practice, I barely even see you on the weekends."
Antonio scooted over, cupping Lovino's face in his hands. "I'm doing this to make a better future for us. I can't get by on a soccer scholarship, Lovi. I love you. I want to do this for us."
"Don't do it for me. If I wanted anything, I'd tell you to stop being a fucking idiot and just go for the soccer scholarship. You can go pro like you always wanted to." Lovino said, half between growling and cooing.
"Lovi, please. Just...believe that I can do this. Please?"
Lovino averted his eyes. "How can I support you when I know it's impossible?"
"It's not impossible, Lovi! I'm going to do it! I'm going to show you that I can make it!" Antonio cried.
He looked Lovino deep in his eyes. "Please, Lovi? Please believe in me?" he pleaded.
Lovino sighed. "Fine. I'll believe in you...until you start bitching about how much work it is."
Well, for months, Antonio didn't "bitch" like Lovino thought he would. He really wondered how he was grasping all of this. Instead of wasting unnecessary money on after school cram sessions, he decided to have Heracles help him with the Greek (starting at the basics). For Trig, he enlisted Ludwig's help. For sciences, Roderich was his tutor. English was taught to him by Arthur, who smacked his hand with a ruler if he said anything incorrectly.
Like Lovino mentioned, Antonio barely had time for them. Their relationship was slipping.
"I don't know what to do, Feliciano. The bastard suddenly decides that he wants to get into a world-renowned college, and I barely hear from him in weeks!"
"Why don't you go visit him, Fratello?" Feliciano suggested. "It could help him take his mind off the work. Besides, if you seduce him a little, he might take a break."
Lovino jumped up, tying on his sneakers.
"You're going to seduce him?" asked the younger.
"Yep. Don't wait up."
And, with that, he was gone.
"Oh, Lovino! How nice to see you!"
"Ciao, Signora Carriedo. Is Antonio home?"
"He sure is. He just got home from tutoring. He should be upstairs studying." Mrs. Carriedo said, smiling brightly. "That boy suddenly decided that he wanted to get into Hetalia World University five months ago, and since then, he hasn't stopped studying. I'm afraid he's going to get sick."
"Oh, I know all about his idiotic plan." Lovino muttered.
"Tonio! Lovino está aquí!" Mrs. Carried called upstairs.
No answer.
"Why don't you go knock on his door, dear? Antonio!"
"Grazie."
"Oh, and take this-" she put a tray of tea and cookies in Lovino's arms "-to him. I'm sure he'd like a snack."
Lovino knocked on Antonio's bedroom door. "Antonio?"
"Come in." droned the Spaniard.
Lovino opened the door with his hip, sitting the tray on Antonio's desk, where he sat studying.
"Working hard or hardly working?" Lovino asked, pushing Antonio's door closed.
"Mmm...working very hard, Lovi. At this point, I'm going to ace the entrance exam for sure!" Antonio replied, never looking up from his work.
"I haven't had any time alone with you in a while. Five months to be exact. Do you think I'd really suffice for a few quick "I love you's" before bed?" Lovino teased.
"I know, Lovi. It's just that I've been studying so hard, and the entrance exam is in less than three months."
"Do you really think you're going to pass this exam? You don't do too well with testing." He sat on Antonio's bed and crossed his legs, hoping that he'd stop and look.
When he didn't, Lovino huffed.
"Come on, papi..." Lovino purred, running his hands down Antonio's chest. "Take a break, si?"
"I can't take a break, Lovi! Not until I memorize these formulas!"
Lovino plopped back down onto the bed. "Has your bed gotten bigger?" he asked.
"Mmm. It's a full size now." Antonio replied.
"It's so big. I'm so lonely, lying here by myself. Come join me, Tonio..."
"Not yet, Lovi. Be there in a minute."
A minute turned into two. Then three. Then, eventually, thirty.
Lovino clapped a hand to his forehead. "Antonio! Goddamnit! Will you just listen to me for one second! Put the fucking pen down! You may never get another chance to see me frisky like this!" he cried.
"I'm sure I'll see it again some day."
Lovino folded his arms. "Fucking idiot bastard...your fucking studying is going to ruin us..."
He didn't know when, but he'd fallen asleep. He woke up when he felt a dip in the bed.
"Antonio?"
"I'm finished studying for tonight, Lovinito. Why don't I take you home?"
Lovino wrapped his arms around Antonio's waist. "No. I want to stay here. With you." he said. Antonio sighed, draping an arm over Lovino's hips.
"You're coming with me, right? To my exam?" he asked.
"Yeah." Lovino muttered. "I'll go. I'll go to your exam."
In the months leading up to Antonio's exam, he found out that both Ludwig and Roderich made it into Hetalia World University; Ludwig on a culinary scholarship, and Roderich on a music scholarship.
"Why can't you just do what they did, and just go for the soccer scholarship like you wanted to in the first place?" Lovino asked on the day of Antonio's exam.
"I told you, Lovi. I'm doing this for our future."
"It doesn't matter what you do, Antonio." Lovino cried, stomping his foot.
"It does, Lovi. I want us to be comfortable. I don't want you to worry about anything." Antonio said.
Lovino sighed. "Are you sure you're ready?"
"More than."
Antonio stared at the big oak doors. "Well, now or never."
"Viel Gluck, Antonio." Roderich said.
"Yeah. Good luck and do your best."
"You can do it, Toni!" cried Feliciano.
"Thanks, guys. Besame, Lovinito."
Antonio gave Lovino a deep, romantic kiss before the Spaniard set into the room for the most important test of his life.
Two and a half hours later, a dejected Antonio crept out of the room.
"What? What happened?"
"I...I froze." he said.
"Oh, no." Ludwig said. Roderich covered his mouth.
Gilbert put an arm around him. "You...you failed?"
Antonio sniffled, trying to keep a brave face. "Yeah...I failed. After all that studying. I failed..."
Feliciano began to whine a little. "But, you studied so hard!" he sobbed.
"Yeah, I know. I guess this isn't the place for me." He looked at a shocked Lovino.
"I failed, Lovi. I guess...I guess I can't make that future I promised for us." he said, wrapping his arms around his lover in a tight hug.
"I'm sure you can still make some future for you and Lovino, Antonio." Francis said. "You just have to go about it a different way."
"But, this is the way I set my heart on! I wanted to be someone that Lovi could be proud of!"
"I'm already proud of you, Antonio!" Lovino cried.
"But, I don't have anything-"
The hallway rang with a sharp smack.
"Don't you ever fucking say you have nothing to your name! You have everything, Antonio! Just because this didn't work out for you, it doesn't mean that your dreams are unobtainable!"
"But, Lovi...our future...don't you care about our future?" Antonio asked, rubbing his face.
"Didn't I tell your stupid ass before the test started that it didn't matter what you did, Antonio?" Lovino asked.
"Well, yeah. I just thought that you were being your usual self." Antonio answered.
"I said that for a reason, you stupid bastard! It doesn't matter what you do! It doesn't matter what either of us does! As long as I have a future with you, nothing else matters!"
"L-Lovi..."
"We could have nothing..we could be rich...but I'd rather be poor and miserable with you than to be rich and happy with someone else!" Lovino sobbed.
"So...you don't care that I failed?" asked the Spaniard.
"Not at all. And you shouldn't either."
Suddenly, the oak doors behind them swung open.
"Is an Antonio Fernandez Carriedo still here? He was in the 2:30 sitting of the entrance exam?" asked the proctor.
"Um, I'm Antonio. I just came out of there." Antonio replied.
"Could you come with me, please?"
Antonio looked at his friends. "Er, sure. I'll be back, guys."
Antonio sat down in front of the desk and the proctor turned the monitor toward him, a picture of Antonio scoring a goal in a soccer game staring back at him. "Is this you, Mr. Carriedo?"
"Si. That's me in the state finals. Our team won the cup."
"You scored the winning goal for that game."
"Si, senor. I did, but what does this have to do with anything?"
"Well, I remember this. When I saw your name, I thought it looked familiar. Then, I remembered that you played against my son's team in the finals and beat them. Hetalia World Academy is very proud of you. You're their star player."
"Well, I'm good." Antonio said humbly. "I'm no star, but I'm good."
"Nonsense, Mr. Carriedo. This all rounds out to one question."
"Yes?"
"Why didn't you apply for our soccer scholarship rather than take our entrance exam?" asked the proctor.
"I wanted to impress my family. I thought that if I got in here on my own smarts that I'd make them proud. Plus, I wanted to see my boyfriend happy. I wanted to be a man he could brag about." Antonio said, hanging his head.
"Well, I talked to the head of admissions, and we wanted to make a proposal..."
Antonio exited the room, stunned.
"What happened, Antonio?" asked Ludwig.
Immediately, he began to waver and stumble.
"Whoa!"
"Get him in a chair!" cried Roderich.
"I'll go get him some water!"
When Gilbert sat Antonio down and Francis handed him a cup of water, Antonio took it with shaky hands, downing the whole thing.
"What did he want, Antonio?" Lovino asked.
"I've...I've been accepted..."
"What?"
"They told me that if I accepted a full-ride soccer scholarship, that they'd waive my failed entrance exam. That...I'd be accepted to Hetalia World University." Antonio explained.
"They...they..." Lovino stammered.
"They found out that I'm Hetalia World Academy's star soccer player, and literally begged me to be among their ranks. This school hasn't won a soccer championship in ten years, and they think that I'd be a valuable asset to the team."
"I told you, Antonio!" Lovino cried. "I told you to go for the scholarship!"
With regained strength, he snatched Lovino into a happy hug. "I'm going to Hetalia Word University, baby!"
"I'm so proud of you..." Lovino mumbled into Antonio's shirt, slowly hugging him back.
Five Months Later...
Antonio wiped his forehead on his jersey.
Number thirty-one. Carriedo. Felt good to be a part of a top ranking school. His studies stayed on par to allow him to stay on the team.
"Carriedo! Take five!"
"Yes, Coach!"
His eyes caught sight of a boy, leaning over the fence. Immediately, he ran over to the boy, kissing him sweetly.
"Hi, Lovi. Come to watch me practice?" he asked.
"As always."
"So, you'll be coming here next year?"
"Yeah. I got accepted into the the culinary program. The same one Ludwig's in. Only difference, is I took the exam and passed. I'm not on a scholarship." Lovino explained.
"I'm so proud of you, Lovinito. Congratulations." Antonio said, kissing Lovino again.
"Thanks."
"Carriedo! On the field!"
"I've got to go, Lovi. You and Feli will be at the game Saturday evening, right?"
"Of course." Lovino answered.
One more kiss, and Antonio went sprinting back to the field.
Lovino smiled, watching Antonio practice.
"I told you so, idiot..."
A/N: Happy endings, all around! I like it! Enjoy!
LonelyHearts2008