A/N Yep, I'm late. Very very very late. And I probably won't update until next year (in January, don't worry), but a lot has happened recently: 1) school started. 2) in a relationship. 3) I GOT INTO MY DREAM SCHOOL FUCK YES. 4) I'm lazy~

Enjoy this chapter~ happy holidays, and if you were affected by Hurricane Sandy, or the recent shootings, please know my thoughts and wishes are with you.

Chapter 3

Homeroom and first period had gone by painlessly enough. I knew a few kids in my classes, not good friends, but people I could tolerate working with if the time came for partner work, and am now on my way to second period.

I internally groaned as a feeling of nausea hit my stomach. It's not that I didn't like Spanish (this'll be my fifth year in learning it for fuck's sake), it's because I knew, thanks to my brother, that the Spanish nuisance would be there. I gave a small sigh as I rounded the corner and picked my head up a bit to look at the door. My steps faltered for a second as I saw him, standing there, right in the middle of the fucking doorway like it was his God- given right to do so. And he looked so… ugh. That's truly the only way to describe him. He just seems like the type of person I hate, and he's only been confirming it ever since the beginning of his little "stalker mode."

These are the people who need to give no effort whatsoever. True, I don't have to do much myself in order to look presentable to society, but people like him need only to role out of bed and all of a sudden it's as though heaven's light shines upon them. Pisses me off to an extreme no scale can measure.

I should have known, really. The bastard was standing by the door, blue hoody zipped halfway up a white shirt with some design on it, light blue jeans that were a bit loose and held by a dark leather belt, and black converses that had been slightly ripped and dirtied from years of use. It wasn't incredibly shocking that as soon as his forest green eyes landed on me, they shined to resemble emeralds as a smile took hold of his face.

"Lovi! Good morning," he said as he walked up to me just as I was about to enter the classroom. I grunted in response and quickly turned into the second row, and bee-lined it to the third seat. As I shrugged off my bag onto the floor, I noticed Antonio getting situated in the seat next to me.

Yes, the bastard sits next to me. At orientation last week, the teacher thought it'd be nice if "the two best Spanish speakers sat next to each other to encourage native lingual conversations!" And because that bastard didn't show up, I didn't know he'd be in the class. Plus, the teacher seemed dead- set on making the two of us sit together.

… Bitch probably doesn't even know I'm Italian and not Spanish.

Anyway, he's been bugging the hell out of me recently at work, so I'm a bit ticked off at him (this time for a specific reason). He keeps asking me questions till I snap and just answer, usually eliciting a smirk and slight chuckle on his part. I hate how he knows how to get me to answer. He just knows all the right buttons to push to get me irritated, and for some reason, that amuses him. Arrogant bastard.

"So, how are you doing today? I hope you were able to see the sunrise this morning! It was so beautiful, the way the clouds were reflecting the light, it was the same color as the little specks of gold in your eyes!" He flashed me a smile, in what I assume was a flirtatious gesture, but I just raised one of my eyebrows and snorted. "Oh, really? Sorry I didn't notice, guess I was too busy actually keeping my eyes on the fucking road. You know, so I wouldn't kill anyone," I grabbed my notebook from my bag and opened it up on my desk, "If you get into a car wreck with someone or something, don't come crying to me with a stupid little 'But I was picturing you when it happened~' because I'll tell you right now, I'm not going to pity your ass." I propped my feet into the basket below the desk of the kid in front of me, and put my chin in my hand, waiting for the final bell to ring and for class to start. Antonio chuckled a bit, but seemed to get the message, because I saw him start to get out his own things out. We stayed in silence until the teacher walked in, and started writing an introduction and today's lesson on the board.

When the final bell rang, I don't think I could've gotten out of my last period class fast enough. Picking up my worn- out messenger bag from the scraped linoleum floors, I gave it a quick toss over my shoulder as I sidestepped through the wall of people already mashed together trying to fit through the single- person door. When I finally broke free, I started a fast walk down the hallway, and tried to avoid the kids coming out of their rooms. Probability and Statistics was at the very back of the school, and I was trying to avoid getting stopped by those kids who I hadn't seen all summer. The ones that feel the need to have a ten- minute, one- sided conversation with me as they prattle on about their vacation, elaborating on how they visited Europe/ met their true love/ saw that band they know I love.

It wasn't because I didn't like the class, on the contrary, I actually enjoyed that class the most out of the schedule, but I wanted to just get to my car and go home before he showed up. I had a feeling, despite there being over a thousand students at this school, he'd be able to find me within the chaotic halls and force me into conversing with him on how my day was. Or worse… how his day was.

But as I realized walking out the student parking lot doors, fate had other plans. Standing by my car was Feliciano, Antonio, and that German guy my brother has been hanging out with recently. They were all conversing and talking about their classes, their friends in them, and the teachers they had. It was the same mundane conversations that a lot of the students were having, I noticed as I looked across the pavement. Kids everywhere were talking, laughing, or groaning as they talked about their classes and the expected year to come.

I willed my eyes to look forward, choosing to ignore my fellow classmates instead of looking for people I know. I subconsciously started to drag my feet as I neared the vehicle, not wanting to break the blissful silence of not having to listen to anyone in particular and to be alone in my thoughts. As soon as Feliciano saw me, however, he smiled and waved with enthusiasm, yelling 'Hello fratello!' as loud as his throat would allow. Ludwig (the bastard who's been invading all of my brother's sentences recently) gave a stolid nod, and Antonio just gave me a blithe smile with those same damn eyes that he always seems to have glued to me. I never see them on anyone else, or rather, I never see the same expression he gives me on someone else. It confuses me, really. And makes me a bit uncomfortable.

I close the distance and reach into my pant's pocket for my keys, "Yeah, ciao, ready?" I ask stuffing the keys into the car door and giving it a twist. Feliciano doesn't seem content with my answer if the "tsk" I elicited from him was any indication. He closed the car door that I was half- way through opening, and gave me a faint glare. "You don't really want to go home already, do you? It's the first day! And you should be hanging out with some friends…"

I turned and narrowed my eyes at him, "No, I don't. I'm hungry and want to go home to get something to eat." I try opening the car again, but I hear Feliciano clap and give a little laugh. "Perfect! Why don't you and Toni go get something? Ludwig is borrowing his car anyway, so he needs a lift!" He smiles and gives a meaningful glance towards Antonio and I feel just how "coincidental" this whole thing is.

"No way, he can just get an actual friend of his to take him. What about that Perv or Prussian Bastard that you hang out with?" I turn my attention towards Antonio, and watch him smile sheepishly and scratch the back of his head. "I would, but they're both busy today and I don't want to bother them. Besides, we could go and get food anywhere you like! I'll even pay." He raised one of his eyebrows copying a car salesman, and gave me a little smirk. I hated to admit it, and I didn't know if it was because I just didn't want him walking home in the cold or that I just wanted free food, but I felt like I couldn't say no to him.

I gave and indignant sigh and nodded, "Yeah, fine, let's go. But we're going to a place I like, and I don't give a fuck about your opinions." I finally wrench open the car door and slide in, unlocking it all around. He puts a little skip in his step as he circles the car to the other side, throwing his backpack in the back, and putting on his seatbelt. I look up to see Feliciano waving and turning to Ludwig, who had already started walking to his car, shaking his head at something, which earned a light slap on the arm and giggle from Feliciano. I roll my eyes and turn towards Antonio, who's staring at me expectantly.

"What?" I felt like I was being scrutinized under his stare, but he just shook his head and laughed a bit before turning towards me again. "So," he said "any rules I should be aware of in your car?"

I started the ignition and pulled out my iPod, "Yes, one: there is never to be any form of food in here, and two:" I pressed play as Jovanotti started blasting through the speakers, "No touching the stereo."