Heya! So, welcome to the first chapter of this story! I've already posted this on wattpad, so there will be like, four chapters up today, but not so many afterwards. It'll be kind of slow updating. It's a really sad chapter, just to warn you, but in later chapters it'll be happier. So, hope you enjoy it! Oh, and Romano would like to say something:
She doesn't own Hetalia or me, however much she wants to!
Me: Hey, that's mean!
Roma: Payback's a bitch!
Me: Bad Lovi, don't swear!
Roma: Don't call me that, bitch!
Me: Oh, only Spain can call you that?
Roma: Shut up!
Okay, on that lovely note, enjoy the story!

It's funny how one decision can change your whole life. No matter how inconsequential the decision seems, it can make your life so much better. Or in Lovino's case, it can make your life a fucking piece of your own personal hell.
Lovino would change that one thing if he could. His mother told him. She TOLD him to remember to blow out the candle on the dining room table when he went to bed. It was one simple fucking task. But he was up too late watching a movie, and completely forgot the candle.
One candle may have seemed inconsequential. It couldn't have burned that long, right? Eventually the wick would have burned up and it would've put itself out. Even if it had gotten knocked over, the wax would have muffled the flame, right?
But when that damn cat knocked it over, it managed to catch the napkins scattered on the table on fire, and it spread. And it spread quickly, considering it was the middle of summer, and a drought no less, so it was as hot and dry as a fucking dessert.
And the Vargas family had no way of knowing that the smoke detectors wouldn't work until the flames had already spread to most of the house.
When Lovino woke up, he realized several things. One, he had fallen asleep on the couch, and the TV screen was flickering. Two, it was unbearably hot in here, and sweat was dripping down his body. Three, the flickering wasn't the TV screen. The TV had melted from the heat. The flickering was flames that were towering above Lovino's head. He was suddenly on his feet, running toward the hall where his brother's room was. When he saw that the flames blocked his way, he sprinted to the front door. He hurried along the side of his house to his brother's window. To his great relief, Feliciano was already climbing out the window, his eyes wide with terror.
"Fratello!" he cried, tears in his eyes. "What's happening? Where are Mamma and Papà?"
"We need to go help them," Lovino said, grabbing his brother's arm and dragging him around the side of the house. He searched his pockets real quick and found his cell phone. Thank God it hadn't fallen out in the house! He thrusted the phone out to Feliciano, saying, "Call 911, NOW!" He hoped his brother could handle the one simple task while he tried to get into his parents' room.
He tried kicking the glass to break it, but it wouldn't even crack. Of course his parents had to install that burglar proof glass last summer. Now it might be the difference between life and death. Next Lovino tried pulling the window open, but the metal of the window frame burned him. He cried out in pain and stumbled backwards, watching in despair as the flames licked up the curtains and engulfed his parents bed. Everything seemed to slow down, and he heard sirens in the distance.
He didn't even notice when the trucks pulled up, and the men started trying to douse the flames. He didn't realize anything until a man grabbed him under the armpits and dragged him back from the house, yelling in his ear about being close to the house was dangerous. What about their parents? Wasn't being in the house even worse? Why hadn't they come out yet?
Suddenly, Lovino saw two stretchers being brought out to an ambulance. "Mamma?" he yelled. He started running toward the flashing lights. "Papà?"
He was held back, and heard people yelling, "Keep the kids back, don't let them see!"
A moment later, Lovino saw one of them shake their heads, and say softly, "It's too late. Take them to the morgue."
Lovino's heart stopped, and he tried to break away from the men holding him back. "No!" he screamed. "Mamma, Papà!" He didn't notice the tears streaking down his cheeks, and even if he did, he didn't care. He was only fifteen. How would he live without his parents?
He shoved the nearest guy away and yelled, "Get away from me, bastard!"
It was all a blur after that, and after a while, Lovino ended up on the ground, his head hurting like hell, and his eyes opened wide as he looked up at the man who had smacked him.
"I know you're upset, but pull yourself together, kid!" he yelled. "What's happened is horrible! I know that! But you're a man! Act like it! Take care of your brother!"
Lovino swallowed hard and just nodded, going to stand next to Feliciano. He put his arm around his shoulder, and then Feli threw his arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. "Fratello, it's horrible! What are we gonna do?"
Lovino just shook his head. "I don't know, fratello. We'll figure something out."
The brothers sat there, hanging onto each other, the last family that they had, until finally someone mentioned that the poor orphans needed somewhere to sleep until they could be put in the foster system. The younger one had a chance of being adopted, they said. He was cute, and he didn't seem fourteen. The older one, however, they knew he had no chance of being adopted. He was rude, surly, and had a foul mouth. He got angry far too easily, and they couldn't even see him being able to stay in one foster home for long before the guardians decided he was simply too much.
But Lovino only paid mild attention to the rest of the conversation, because one word haunted him. He was an orphan. Orphan. Orphan. ORPHAN. ORPHAN. ORPHAN.
The word kept repeating until he felt a hand shake his shoulder. He jumped and looked up at the woman who had tried to get his attention.
"Sweetie, you two are going to stay at my house for tonight, until we can find foster families for you to stay with, alright?"
Lovino just nodded numbly, and allowed himself to be led to a silver car. He sat next to Feliciano, and buckled the seatbelt automatically. Though what did it matter if he died in a crash? His life had already been destroyed.