Antonio just stared at me for a moment, saying nothing. Then he put his hands in his pockets and looked away submissively. "What do you want to know?"

"You heard me before, damn it!" I yelled at him, not considering the time or place.

Of course, he would be the one to notice it was late at night and that I had neighbors, so he suggested, "Can we go inside and talk this over please?"

Begrudgingly, I agreed, and I watched him carefully as we headed back into the house and over to the living room. Antonio kept casting glances down at me, his eyes vibrant and nervous, like he was a prisoner and I was his security guard. In this instance, it was exactly like that. I even made sure he had sat all the way down on the couch before taking a seat next to him. This man would not get away without an explanation, not on my watch.

"Now," I said when we were all seated, "Talk."

"Ve~, what's going on, fratello?" Feliciano asked. "Why's Toni back?"

Both Antonio and I ignored the confusion of him, staring at each other fiercely.

"Okay… yes, the house is where Annabelle lives, not where I live. I babysit her for money because that's the only job I could find at the moment, plus I like kids. It pays moderately well and I need the money…" he paused, hesitating.

"Alright, then what about a house? You don't live anywhere, do you?"

Reluctant, Antonio looked down to his brightly colored sneakers. "N-no… I have a home… But it's not my own. I live with… with my friends, Gilbert and Francis." Hesitant orbs of green shot up to gage my reaction to this.

I didn't know why I wasn't surprised. By all means, I should have been, but I couldn't make myself feel shocked to find out what was really going on. "Then why the fuck do they have lunch and not you?" I asked, feeling rage boiling again.

He gave a nervous chuckle and explained. "Well, that's because the three of us, though we all live under one roof, support ourselves. We all have our own jobs and money that we earn. Another thing is that we are all exchange students that… well… that ran away. From our "homes" here. The three of us met in school this year and they offered a spot in their home up to me. I had been homeless for about a month until then, and I was really hungry, so I went with my gut feeling and took their offer. Not long after that, I found the job babysitting and took it, so I would have my own money for food." Again, he stopped, looking at me as if he thought he was done.

"Okay, AND? Since I met you yesterday, I haven't seen you eat a thing that wasn't given to you by somebody else! Obviously, you're still starving, despite the money you earn! What the hell is up with THAT?"

The look that came on his face after my words pretty much said, "Man, I was praying to God that you wouldn't ask that, but you did and now I'm screwed." What he actually said though was nothing like the face he made.

"Please can we talk about this some other time, Lovi?" Antonio was desperate to get away from here, that much even Feli could tell if he tried. "I'm very tired…"

I decided on a compromise. "I'll let you go if you promise to tell me tomorrow at lunch." It made me feel a little sick to not get the rest of his story out of him and to be so damn nice, but this seemed to please him enough.

"Oh, yes, yes!" His voice got deep and seductive. "I promise you, Lovi, I won't keep you waiting much longer!"

It took all the strength I had in my body not to beat him up for saying those words like that, and somehow I managed to put all my embarrassed and grouchy feelings into an extremely blush-filled pout and a, "Get the hell out of my house, damn it!"

He burst into laughter at my reaction and walked to the door, following my order to leave. But before he got lost like I wanted him to, he called back in, "Good night, Lovi, mi amor, Feli, mi amigo!" Then he disappeared into the night, still chuckling about his own idiocy.

With a snort, I started walking back to my room, only to find Feliciano passed out on the couch where he had sat to listen to us talk. Being the "caring, sensitive" older brother I was, I pulled a blanket off the couch that Antonio and I had been sitting on and placed it over my twin's sleeping form gently, as not to break his constant breathing pattern. When he was taken care of, I did my routine nighttime ritual and went to bed, finally able to close my eyes again and just relax…

A shrill, mechanical cry resounded through the house just as I attempted to let sleep in. My eyes snapped open and I trudged out into the living room, still naked, (that was how I slept) to find out where my dumb brother had hidden the damned baby dolls. Out in the living room, Feli still slept soundly, even though the ear-piercing shrieks were overpowering to me. It sounded as if they were coming from the spare bedroom, which made a lot of sense, so I slammed the door open to the room and found the two little babies all dressed up in pajamas and lying next to one another under the covers.

Angel was the one screeching, of course, so I went up to the thing and grabbed it by its arm, shaking it until it went silent. Who said I couldn't be a good parent? Exhausted from everything, I knew I couldn't make it back to my own room, so I crawled in beside the freaky ass dolls and fell asleep, quickly drifting into nothingness.

When I opened my eyes the next morning, I had one doll right in my face and the other squished under my butt. I groaned, imagining a hangover would feel similar to the pain I was having in my head. Obviously, more Tylenol was in order. I rolled over to look at the clock, the doll that had been on my butt somehow managing to stick there. 5:30… wait, was that IN THE MORNING? I groaned with displeasure at my early waking hour, but proceeded to stand and peel Feli's doll off of my butt.

I walked out into the living room to find Feliciano still snoring away where he had been last night. Jeez, that kid could sleep anywhere… while I stared in mild displeasure, a cold draft from outside hit my bare skin and I decided it was time to get dressed, so I went into my room and picked out my clothes for the day, not really caring what they looked like. No longer in the nude, I went out to make breakfast, but found that I had already been beaten to it.

Feliciano was now in the kitchen singing his morning song, watching as he cooked us up our morning omelets. What the fuck? Hadn't he just been in the…? Oh well, I got food out of it, so I didn't say anything, just sat down at the table quietly, holding my pounding head between my hands.

"Good morning, Lovi~!" he announced when he saw me sitting there. "Oh, but why are you up so early? Ve~, I thought you'd sleep for a long time!"

I looked up at him, head still hurting mildly and said, "I wish I could have. Fucking doll, touching my butt…"

He seemed confused for a moment, but just turned and went back to his cooking. Then he froze, mid-song. "ELLA!" he cried, running into the guest room and coming back out with both the dolls, each one with their limbs sticking in unnatural positions. "Whaa~! Ella, Angel, I'm so sorry!" Still crying, he moved their arms and legs back into natural positions and hugged them close, apologizing as if they could really hear him.

They just stared up at him with unnerving and unmoving deep blue eyes. Dolls were so damn creepy… I watched as he placed the in their carriers and placed them on the table, still talking to them and saying how yummy their breakfasts were going to be.

Finally, he completed all four omelets, while I yelled at him for wasting our precious food on inanimate things and shoved my own breakfast down my throat. He just told me that babies needed to eat to grow big and strong, so I told him to go suck something. Fed up with his dumbass tendencies, I went to brush my teeth and hair, just for something else to do. I got to the bathroom and looked in the mirror with distaste at the dark circles under my eyes, my messy hair, my scowling features. How could I expect anyone to like me when I looked like this?

I stuck my toothbrush in my mouth sulkily, trying my hardest not to wonder what Antonio thought of the image I saw in front of me. But what did he think, really? Was I… special to him? I almost choked on my own spit at that thought, and I finished brushing my teeth so I wouldn't die. God, what the fuck? Of course I wasn't! That wasn't even possible, looking the way I did… Feeling grouchy because of my random thoughts, I yanked my brush through my hair and went back to my room to pack up my schoolbag. Again, the mirror in my room caught my eye and before I could register what I was doing, I was in front of it, screwing with my hair like some teenage girl freaking out before a date.

My brain catching up to my actions, I froze and stared, mortified, at my hands. What the HELL? Was I ON SOMETHING? I decided, though it was only about 7:00 now, that it was time to leave this house before I did anything else freaking gay. I snatched up my backpack, grabbed my carrier off the kitchen table, and went out to my car.

"Lovi, what are you doing, fratello?" Feli asked while following me to my Stratus.

"I'm going to school, damn it!" I told him and got in, not bothering to buckle my dumb parenting project in.

I drove off, the rising sun blinding, not sure what I was going to do at school this early. Maybe I would go to the library and get a book to read or something. Or maybe I would just go and walk around for a bit. Either way, I would be away from any and all mirrors, if possible.

I got to school, the baby managing to stay quiet even as it flew around the car while I parked. I got out, got my stuff, and decided to head to the library, already thinking about what to get while I was there. The library at the high school was small and limited, not full of anything interesting, but if I was desperate for something, anything, to read, I wouldn't be picky in my choices. I walked in and was greeted with a smile from the librarian, helping some kid I didn't know. I didn't smile back, too lost in my own world to even consider trying, and found the fiction shelf easily. As I browsed the titles, I realized we really had some freaking crappy books here and clicked my tongue in distaste.

I looked up from them, bored and annoyed, only to find myself staring at Antonio, curled up in a chair with a book, smiling that same smile he always had plastered on his face. He hadn't noticed me yet, so I was free to gawk at him behind the safety of the shelf in front of me. Weirdly, he looked eager and satisfied, quickly scanning the pages and turning them, hungry for more of the information the book was giving him. I'd only seem him this involved a couple of times, like when he was playing soccer. Yeah, it was exactly the same as that, all excited and just… happy.

I probably would have gotten away with a couple more minutes of staring at him if my stupid doll hadn't started wailing at me for some unknown reason. I felt my face go red, as the library and been silent up until that moment, and now everybody in the damn room was looking at me and the annoyance. Including Antonio, who somehow instantly recognized that wail as being Angel's and put his book down so that he could walk up to me.

"Hola, Lovi!" he said as he cheerfully walked up to me. "What are you doing at school library so early in the morning?"

As much as I wanted to run and hide, I stood my ground, still blushing, and told him, baby still screaming, "What else do you do in a freaking library? I'm trying to find a book, but this fucking doll won't shut up."

He cocked his head to the side for a moment, then picked the doll up out of its carrier and cradled it, singing some kind of Spanish lullaby until it finally was quiet and content in his arms. Gently, as if it were a real human being, he put it back in the carrier and signaled with one finger over his mouth that I should be quiet. I gave him a face fitting of the distaste I felt and he laughed quietly, amused.

After another minute of silence and stupid hand signaling, I decided the hell with it and said, "So why are you here so early?"

"I always come to the library early before school starts so that I can just get away from things and read for a little while. You'd be surprised what kinds of interesting things happen in nasty old books, Lovi! You can learn so much!"

It was seriously like he could read my mind. I didn't respond to his comment, only stared as he picked up the book he had been reading and began looking it over again. Home Cookin': How to Use a Tomato in 300 ways, it read. What the hell? How could he have looked so overjoyed about a cookbook? Did he just like looking at the pictures or what?

"Are you planning on cooking dinner or do you just like to look at pictures of tomatoes?" I asked, trying not to sound as curious as I felt.

"Actually… both!"

I turned to hide my smile as he looked back to his book.

I shifted in my chair next to him, staring at the baby doll, and said, "Are you going to tell me now?"

The smile disappeared and he looked at me, putting the book back down. He looked really worn and tired suddenly, with dark circles under his eyes that resembled my own. I felt bad about bugging him, but I just HAD to know what he was hiding from the world. Antonio rubbed his head in distress and looked at the floor.

"I… I can't tell you."

I felt enraged, betrayed by his statement. "Oh, so you fucking lied? Well that's perfect, you damn tomato bastard! And I had actually started to trust you!"

I could tell my words hurt him, especially when he flinched like that. His expression pled with me to stay and listen, so I didn't stomp off like I wanted to. "Please, Lovi, please listen to me! If I tell you…if you knew… you could get hurt and… I really like you, Lovi. I don't want to hurt you, not ever. All I can say is that you're better off not knowing because it's really, really dangerous."

I stared at him, slowly processing his words, one by one. What did he mean, I could get hurt? That it was dangerous? That he really, really liked me? I was frustrated beyond belief and I stared him down, wanting so much to ask more questions but knowing he wouldn't answer them. I was trapped, pinned.

"Damn it…" I muttered

Antonio looked just as trapped as I felt, and we sat in silence until the bell rang. That snapped both of us back to reality and we grabbed our stuff hurriedly. The librarian gave us a knowing smile and a cheerful goodbye as we walked out together. I ignored the implications behind that and we kept walking, still right beside each other. When I peeked over at him, Antonio was smiling again, looking like his cheerful self, as if the conversation we'd had had never happened. I wondered how he could manage to do that when it seemed that his world was crumbling around him. As it turned out, Antonio's first hour was just across the hall from mine, which explained the meeting with him and his stupid friends. Just as we were about to part ways, Antonio paused and looked back at me, as if he were about to say something.

I stared at him, scowling as usual, as he opened his mouth and turned slightly pink.

"Ah…" he started, but seemed to think better of whatever he was actually going to say and changed it. "I'll see you later, Lovi!" With a wink that pissed me off deeply, he walked into his classroom.

Damn that Spaniard and his mysterious ways.

I walked into my own class, already feeling like I'd gone through a whole school day. There was nothing to do but think about what Antonio had said to me, because there was no way I was going to actually listen to my freaking teacher yap about shit I didn't care about. So I was stuck trying to decipher everything I had heard, which put me in a really bad mood. Anyone who messed with me right now would probably get their head eaten off.

Lucky for me, the day sped by quickly, and before I knew it, it was lunch time and I was, again, standing right next to the Dumbass Trio, as I called, them in line. They were harassing Antonio about something or other, ignoring my existence completely. Which was fine by me. Listening to them talk was activating my headache again, and I prayed that the line would hurry up so that I could sit down and ignore Feli. Just my luck that Gilbert would notice me right then.

"Hey! The awesome me sees that guy from yesterday! It's Toni's boyfriend! Hi, Toni's boyfriend!"

In my head I was cussing him out, but I tried my hardest to not sink to his level and say it out loud. I pretended not to hear him, though my face was starting to burn from the "boyfriend" comment. It started to get more difficult to ignore him when he started jabbing me in the side with his finger.

"Talk to the awesome me! Because I'm awesome! And you'll want to hear every awesome word that comes from my extra awesome mouth!"

Still getting harassed by the French bastard, Antonio couldn't save me from the OTHER bastard, so I continued to ignore the jabbing, losing my patience quickly. "Fuck off!" I growled to him quietly.

Surprising and enraging me, he burst into laughter and kept poking me, apparently entertained that I had just cussed at him. I swore another time, under my breath, and turned to glare at the taller man, pissed off. That just made him laugh hysterically and he continued to poke me, pushing me even further.

"Leave him alone, Gilbert!" Antonio ordered, having finally realized what his dumb friend was doing.

Francis grinned evilly over at my torture. "Oh, Toni! Is that your boyfriend right there that Gilbert is poking?" For some reason, they found that funny.

Suddenly, the Frenchman began poking my side as well, joining in on the infuriating albino's teasing. Then, out of nowhere, Gilbert switched from poking my side to playing with the curl that stuck out from the rest of my hair and I froze in disbelief.

"Francis, Gilbert! Leave Lovi alone!" Antonio practically begged them, unable to stop the torture.

With that, I could take no more. I would not let Antonio BEG for me. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME, YOU FUCKING BASTARDS!" I yelled, pushing both of them away from me.

I was panting I was so mad, and I shoved the three of them out of the way to get to the line, where I bought my lunch and stalked off, holding my now crying baby and being stared at by every other person in the line that had heard my outburst. I found my brother already seated at a table and threw my tray down next to him, yanking out the chair from under the table and sitting in it with all my might, which hurt my butt, pissing me off further.

As I fumed, Feliciano asked, "Ve~, what's wrong, fratello?"

"Fucking fuckers, think they can fuck with me!" I spat, answering Feli's question unintentionally.

Without warning, my brother leaned over in his chair and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into a weird, sideways hug. I felt myself relax a little, my anger dulled by the embrace of my twin. Though it was embarrassing, I let him cling to me until, finally, he had calmed me down enough where I was thinking rationally again. With a smile, he went onto talking about nothing, as was usual for lunch. Just when I was about to go to my happy place, I was ripped out of it by the screeching of a chair being dragged across the floor next to me.

"Can we sit next to you for lunch, mon ami?" I heard Francis ask, already sitting right beside me.

"Yeah, all the tables are filled, which is so not awesome!" Gilbert complained.

I couldn't believe they had the BALLS. I turned to tell them off, already knowing exactly what I planned to say, but lost all train of thought when I saw the look on Antonio's face. He looked just plain MISERABLE. He had already sat down, like his friends, and he actually had food today, but he looked so damn down, no dorky smile, no charming laughter, no light behind his eyes. He was all but sobbing his eyes out in front of me. I closed my mouth again and looked away, unable to take such a painful expression. How could his friends not SEE?

But of course, stupid Feli being stupid said, "Are you Toni's friends? Ve~, of course you can!"

They smirked at each other and dug in, food pieces flying every which way. I'd already had enough of them and looking at him, so had Antonio. Leaving my tray for someone else to clean up, I went over to the sad-looking boy and yanked him up by his shirt. He looked confused for a moment, yet still in the state he had been, even as I pulled him outside into the courtyard.

"Would you just smile already? Damn it, frowns don't suit you!" I told him, trying to evoke something in him.

It worked like a charm and he grinned, genuinely, if not a little exhaustedly. "I'm sorry, Lovi. I just am thinking a little too much."

"Well don't. It's too freaking weird."

"Okay, Lovi."

Then, he leaned over, pushing me against the wall we had been standing by, and kissed me.