Hetalia ain't my possession
Kitty Cupid

Chapter 2

Antonio and Lovino spent a lot of time together afterwards, playing with their cats and just enjoying each other's company. Lovino made breakfast and dinner for the both of them every day and Antonio showed Lovino how to make cat-friendly spaghetti. Lovino was entranced with the recipe and when he later found out that Antonio was the writer for the famous cookbook; "Everything you can do with Tomatoes" the two became immersed in a discussion with tomatoes and food in general.

Their cats were doing well and in a five weeks' time, a lot had changed. Lina's belly grew a tad bigger, Antonio and Lovino became closer than ever and most importantly, both men started to have certain growing feelings.

Lovino had always thought Antonio was handsome and he had a smile that could make him weak in the knees. He had always had a bad personality and he was bad at dealing with people, but Antonio ignored his small insults and moody breakouts here and there and was insanely good at reading him. The man had wriggled through the stone barrier protecting his heart and comfortably sat in there.

He had fallen completely for the man in less than a month and was helplessly pulled along at Antonio's pace. The Italian felt like a high school girl, always blushing at Antonio's small touches and big, warm affectionate hugs. He was always awkward receiving hugs and thus Antonio was usually head-butted. However, instead of being fed up with Lovino he always laughed and even tried to hug the man again, which made Lovino fall more and more.

He didn't hate the way he felt but sometimes it was hard being next to Antonio and not being able to kiss him. When Antonio carelessly falls asleep on the couch, Lovino had to restrain himself from placing a small kiss on his forehead. When the man came out of the shower, his towel almost falling off from his waist, Lovino just wanted to pull the towel down and pounce on the hot Spaniard. He was afraid that one day he really would end up doing it. The man was too sexy, dammit!

Every time Lovino thought of being with Antonio as a couple, he wanted to crawl into a hole and die. The idiot would probably be so sappy he wouldn't be able to handle it. Why did he fall for such goofy bastard?

Antonio, although absent minded, and sometimes unbelievably stupid, he actually knew of Lovino's feelings. He was unsure though, and always wondered if it was his own wishful thinking. Antonio knew he loved Lovino. The man was so charming and cute and he was so glad when Lovino opened up to him. He practically knew everything there was to know about Lovino. His cute, smart, beautiful and–sometimes–loving Lovino.

The Spaniard was quite possessive but it wasn't like he had any competition. However, Lovino was drop dead sexy and the man always carried a flirtatious manner in front of pretty women. He was sure Lovino had dated a lot of women in the past, being a famous chef and well, he's Italian. The man had to control himself from jumping at the Italian though. The times he came from the shower, his bath towel draped carelessly around his waist, his damp hair sticking to his face, his faint abs seductively tensed and most of all, his smooth olive skin exposed dripping with small droplets of water. If they fully lived together, Lovino would need to watch out.

There was one night, when an incident changed their relationship. For the better of course. It was like any other night but Lovino came home–home as in Antonio's house–a little tired. A customer had complained about the quality of the service. He was a new employee and he stuttered quite a lot. Lovino didn't bother to remember his name but to hold up his reputation and the restaurant's he had to personally go out and comfort the customer. There was a big commotion with all the other customers as Lovino rarely made a public appearance and all in all, it was a chaotic night.

Antonio was feeding the cats when Lovino came through the door–he has a spare key–and plopped on the sofa with a long sigh. The Spaniard had chuckled and walked over to his friend.

"What's wrong, mi amigo?" he asked, his hands gripping the Italian shoulders as he began to massage him.

"Fucking customer making overboard requests." Lovino complained, groaning a little at having his knots undone. Antonio just laughed and continued his massage.

"Was it solved?"

"I guess, but I think my face will be up in the newspaper tomorrow, I heard a lot of pictures taken and a lot of people don't know my appearance. It's going to be a pain dealing with all the reporters," he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, for now, have some paella and take a cool shower, then why don't stay for a sleepover?" Antonio calmly suggested, making the Italian go pink.

"You don't have a spare room, idiota." Lovino growled. Antonio just grinned.

"It's not a sleepover if we don't sleep in the same room Lovi~" Lovino blushed.

"You idiot, how old are you? We shouldn't have sleepovers at this age dumbass." Lovino scoffed.

"Aww, don't be so mean Lovi~ I'll sleep on the floor!"

"You'll catch a cold."

"The cats will sleep with me."

"The cats like the bed better." Antonio pouted.

"How mean, Lovi~"

"Your bed is big enough, we'll fit." The Italian unintentionally blurted out.

"Lovi wants to sleep together?" Antonio cooed, obviously teasing the younger man. That didn't sit well with Lovino.

"Da-dammit, I didn't mean it like that! W-who wants to sleep with you?" his face was flushed red.

"Is Lovi thinking naughty thoughts?" Antonio grinned mischievously.

The Italian chucked a pillow at the laughing man who easily caught it in his hands. "Vanffaculo! Bastard! P-pervert!" he cursed, his face as red as a tomato.

"But you'll sleep on the same bed, right~? Oh this will be so fun!" Antonio trotted off to get extra pillows and left Lovino blushing like crazy, still trying to calm down his raging heart beats. The cats had long finished their dinner and climbed on the sofa with Lovino, Lina lying down beside him and Tony spread across his lap lightly kitty snoring. Lovino was still red in the face, contemplating on whether to succumb to his desire of wanting to snuggle with Antonio and escaping as he may get a hard on.

"Lovi~ Come eat dinner! It's your favorite, eggplant paella!" In the end, the Italian was lured in by his absolute favorite food and the two ate together on the small dining table Antonio had. Lovino finally gave in to sleeping over and the two discussed what life would be like with the kittens and how differently Lina and Tony may act after giving birth. They did this in bed, after they washed up so that they can just sleep whenever they wanted to. The cats had fallen asleep above them and they continued their conversation in hushed tones.

"We should think of names." Lovino says, staring up at the dark ceiling. He heard Antonio slightly shift beside him.

"I was thinking for a girl, Nia." Antonio replied, making Lovino smile. Nia was a cute name.

"Nia's good."

"And for a boy Tristian."

"Hmm." Lovino felt his eyes getting droopy but he tried hard to fight it, as he wanted to talk with Antonio more, but in a few minutes, he was out.

Antonio turned to face Lovino, who was fast asleep on his side, his body facing Antonio. Antonio smiled, he could see Lovino's relaxed face in the dim moonlit room. He let his hands caress Lovino's cheeks and brush through his soft auburn hair. Lovino hummed and leaned towards Antonio's touch, making the Spaniard gulp. He could no longer resist the urge to kiss him, and before he could stop himself, his lips on were on the Italian's.

He immediately pulled away, his own face flushed as he clamped a hand over his mouth. Fortunately, Lovino often slept like a log. Unfortunately, this was not one of the oftens. Lovino blinked, not believing what had just happened while Antonio sat up and scrambled out of bed. An awkward silence fell over the two and Antonio was the first to break it after a few minutes.

"I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean it." What followed was silence until Lovino rose, his face as neutral as ever.

"I don't know why the fuck you did that, but we have to go see the eyebrow bastard tomorrow morning, so make your own breakfast and meet me at the basement with the cats. I'm going to sleep at my house." The Italian ordered. He calmly made his way outside the room and once he was out of Antonio's sight, he ran. He ran to his house where he immediately locked the door and curled into a little ball. Antonio had kissed him, but Lovino's heart started to hurt at the words the man blurted out afterwards.

"Stupid bastard…I hate him. Hate!" Lovino choked out a sob.

"I hate being in love..." Sooner or later, Lovino was lying on the floor, crying with big streams of tears rolling down his cheeks.

Tony had followed his master as per order of Lina, and the feline licked Lovino's tears for him, although the action made Lovino smile, Tony knew that his master was not alright, and snuggled tightly against him. That night, Lovino slept in a curled fetal position on his rug, tired from both the restaurant incident and from his heartache. Thankfully, he had a ball of fur to snuggle up to.

Antonio contemplated going after Lovino, but he didn't know what he was going to say. Lovino didn't look bothered at all. It looked like he didn't make a big deal out of it. Antonio sighed. He turned to the cats who woke up from the commotion. Shortly after, Tony jumped off the bed, and walked out of the room. Confused, Antonio decided to follow Tony to see where he was going. Tony had just wriggled through the kitty door from the main door when Antonio opened the door of his bedroom. Normally he would stop the feline, but he figured that Tony would be smart and go to Lovino.

Lina walked over the edge of the bed and started to paw at her owner's arm, trying to gain his attention. When Antonio turned, Lina calmly stood up on her hind legs, using Antonio's chest as support, and scratched his left cheek really hard, drawing blood. Antonio yelped, staring at his pet in shock who looked quite accomplished. He had to run to the bathroom and get a band aid to stop the bleeding. Lina remained on the bed when Antonio finished, her head held high.

"You're a mean kitty Lina~ don't scratch Papa!" Lina ignored him and went to lie down. Antonio sighed and figured he would fix it in the morning. Lovino would need a little space first.

The car ride was so silent that a pin drop could be heard. It was about the second awkward silence they had (first being last night). Lovino had refused to look at Antonio in the eye since morning and Antonio had no idea how to begin talking about the incident that happened the night before. He was always wondering whether Lovino liked him or not. Judging from Lovino's attitude, Antonio was sure the Italian didn't like him in that way and wanted nothing more to go back to the way they were before. Stupid desires!

When they reached the animal hospital, they filled the waiting room with a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere, making the room less chatty and a little tense. Finally after at least forty minutes of waiting the duo is finally called up and are immediately given a strange look by the doctor they frequented.

"What the deuce happened to you two?" He asked, one of his thick caterpillar eyebrows rising in question. Both males blushed a little but Lovino quickly shot down further questions with a simple growl and a 'none of your business'. Dr. Kirkland raised his hands up in defense and asked no more. The reliable man then began checking Lina's belly and soon he had an ecstatic face.

"Men, make today free of work. Lina could give birth any hour now." he exclaimed happily, his meadow green eyes grinning. The two cat owners lit up at the comment.

Dr. Kirkland smiled and retold them the instructions on how to monitor the birth. Sometimes cats liked to be left alone but their doctor guessed that Lina was a cat that needed her owner beside her, petting and comforting her through the painful process. They already had a room in mind and all they had to do was now place Lina over blankets, keep Tony outside the room and wait. Both men were too nervous about their cat giving birth that they had forgotten about the small kissing incident.

After their visit to the vet, they went home and set up their box. They also drew the curtains up -they were in Antonio's bedroom- to make the room as dim as possible. The men grabbed soft clothing that none of them wore anymore and lined the box with the cloth, Antonio then gently picked Lina up and placed her inside. The box was fairly big and because of the comfortable lining that her owners provided she settled down comfortably. Dr. Kirkland had suggested to use something that had their scent on to make her completely at ease.

Lovino had to drag Tony out the room and soon he was scratching away at the door, meowing loudly. Lina grew slightly frisky at the beige cat's absence and inanest meowing but started to calm down again when Antonio pet her head. Lovino had called the restaurant earlier to tell his brother that he wouldn't be able to come and now all they had to do was wait for the kittens.

A few good minutes had passed and Lina had changed positions a couple of times. Tony had stopped meowing but there was an occasional scratch sound. There were no words exchanged between the two men as they waited in anticipation. Antonio rubbed Lina's abdomen to relax her while Lovino pet her head and scratched behind her ears. Her lower stomach rose and fell rhythmically, signaling contractions.

"Shall we check for milk?" Lovino suggested, seeing the worried look on Antonio's face. Between contractions Lina had grunted and moaned a lot, which brought the paleness on the older man's face, even though Dr. Kirkland said it was normal.

"Y-yeah let's do that."

They gave gentle squeezes on Lina's breasts and surely enough, small droplets of milk spewed out.

"It looks like she'll be able to feed the kittens well." Lovino said softly, trying to bring the colour back to the man's face.

"Yeah."

Unexpectedly, Antonio placed a trembling hand over his friend's, and squeezed it tightly, eyes never leaving his beloved pet. Lovino blushed but didn't let go and instead moved his wrist to intertwine their fingers together.

"She'll be fine Antonio."

The darker brunette finally turned to the chef with a small smile.

"Thank you Lovi."

Lovino blushed slightly and nodded then noticed that Lina was currently pushing out her first kitten. Antonio gulped and squeezed Lovino's hands tighter. The kitten slowly came out and it was a horrible sight to see, all in all. After the first kitten came out, the small creature blindly searched for its mother's milk. Lina licked her kitten clean and was soon pushing out her next baby. Lovino had to look away a couple a times when the cat was eating the placenta as it was so gross looking. Antonio however just focused on the kitten that finally found the milk.

After the second kitten came out, Lina licked the both of them clean and her stomach looked considerably smaller. Antonio and Lovino assumed that the two kittens were it as Lina settled down comfortably and lay on her back to allow her kittens to sip the milk.

During the whole process, the two men started to sweat from their scalp and in their palms but neither of them let go their intertwined fingers.

"We should move her to the kitty bed now." Lovino broke the silence, panting a little as if he was the one who gave birth.

"Y-yea." Antonio complied, overwhelmed. Finally they let go of their hands as Antonio got up to reach for the medium sized basket that Lina and Tony often slept in and gently picked one of the kittens up. The kittens' furs had grown sparsely on their skin and to Antonio's surprise, the feline let him pick up her kittens without a fight. Lina stood up and meowed, walking over to the kitten Antonio picked up and placed in the bed. Lovino picked up the second one and soon the mother and kittens were comfortably tucked away in their basket bed.

Lovino opened the door for Tony who immediately rushed inside to join his wife. The sight of the two felines greeting each other and grooming made their owners smile.

"They look really happy." Antonio pointed out with a relieved sigh, sitting down on his bed. Lovino joined him.

"Yea, they do." He spoke softly.

"It's good there's only two, we can consider keeping them." Lovino said with relief in his voice.

"We only thought of two names, it's kind of a coincidence, no?" Antonio laughed.

The Italian nodded. Now they had to work out whether they want to live together or separate their pets, but as they watched their cats lick the kittens fondly and purr in comfort, both men had no heart to separate them.

"I don't want to separate them Antonio." Lovino said in a small strained voice. The sadness evident in his downcast eyes.

"Me neither."

"I heard there's a place available here, two floors, first and second." Lovino brought up with a small blush. His heart reminded him of what happened last night, and how Antonio probably didn't love him in that way, but he couldn't help it. Besides, they can still live together as friends. Antonio turned and brought his hand up to caress his friend's cheek.

"That sounds perfect."

Lovino blushed furiously. He was so confused and scared but the Spaniard's emerald eyes were drawing closer and there was only one thought in his head. Soon the darker brunette closed the distance between them and their lips met in a light kiss as Antonio's hand moved to the back of Lovino's neck, slightly massaging the creases.

"I didn't mean it to sound the way it did. When I kissed you yesterday," The writer said softly, bringing their foreheads in a light bump.

"I love you." Antonio continued, the smile on his face widening, enjoying the flushed face his friend had. Lovino had mumbled something incoherent.

"...ove you too."

"What?" Antonio questioned, smile widening even more as the red of Lovino's face got darker. He could guess what his friend was trying to say but he wanted to hear it loud and clear from the Italian own lips.

"I love you too!" Lovino growled in frustration. His blush had now occupied his ears and a part of his neck and he wanted to cover his face. Unfortunately the darker brunette had gotten hold of his own arms and there was no getting out of them.

"So cute~" The older man cooed, bringing his friend, no–lover in a hug. The writer gave his boyfriend a quick peck on the forehead before being head-butted in embarrassment. Who would have thought that two men, who led completely different lives was brought together by their cats in a new relationship.

A/N: ( - v - )/ ( omg I'm finally done with this, this was supposed to be a one shot when I started writing it, I dun know how it ended up being a two shot v.v Let me know if you'd like a years later mini chapter! I re-uploaded this after fixing all my mistakes that Aya chan pointed out for me in a guest review. Thanks again! I hope my fixes will make the story clearer for the future readers. Thanks for reading! )