I'm sorry this took so long to update, as most of you know I was in Nepal breathing air much fresher than Hong Kong's :D And it was amazing. Seriously, the Himalayas are beautiful.

So this chapter is a little longer than usual to make up for it. :)

Warnings: Swearing, yaoi, non-English, my writing in general

Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia, everyone would become one with Mother Russia.

~.::~Lovino~::.~

It was quite late when Lovino woke up to Feliciano fussing over homework that he had forgotten to do last night. He checked his watch: eight o'clock, giving him over two hours to laze around before those self-defense classes. Watching Feli fret over bits of paper while sipping espresso was somewhat comforting, even if it was rather sadistic. That was when the phone rang.

"Ah, I'll get it!" Feliciano shouted, but Lovino had already reached for it and was holding the huge thing to his ear; they didn't have enough money to buy a new one so their current phone was about a million years old.

"Vargas residence," he answered, croaking slightly from sleep. There was some shuffling on the other side, then a deep, English accented voice came from the phone. "Ah, Lovi?"

"Mr. Kirkland," the Italian grimaced; calls from their landlord were almost always bad news. He was right. "Um, I just wanted to call you and tell you the rent has gone up again."

"Again? Why?"

"Well, you know, demand and all that, you probably wouldn't understand,"

"The hell I wouldn't! You think I'm some dumb dipshit, you Briton bastard?" The outburst had come out before he could control his mouth, and he was hurriedly apologizing (reluctantly): "Ah, I'm sorry, that just came out all of a sudden…" There was a short silence, then Mr. Kirkland said gruffly, "Up 250 euros, Mr. Vargas. By Sunday." Then the line went dead.

"Shit!" Lovi shouted, throwing the phone on the floor. "What the fuck is his problem, suddenly making us pay all that money! Damn it, that son of a bitch!"

"Lovi~ it's bad to swear!"

"Shut up, Feli! Eat your breakfast!" Lovino shouted, running a hand through his hair and suddenly regretting shouting at his brother. But he was just too angry at the moment to apologize, and besides, apologizing wasn't really his thing. Feliciano didn't seem to mind though; he was used to his brother's outbursts of rage and instead went up to him and patted him on the shoulder. "Ve… fratello, it'll be okay. I could always drop out of school and start working."

"Y-you idiot! Of course I'm not going to let you quit school!"

"Eh, but you did…"

"Exactly!" He then realized that Feli had called him 'fratello' instead of 'nii-chan' for once, and his anger dissipated slightly. Seeing that his brother had calmed down, Feli asked, "How much did he raise it by?"

"Two fifty," Lovino answered numbly, running a hand through his hair once more before standing up and brushing the dust off his clothes. "Well, I gotta go job hunting. Tell that sorry excuse for a dad that if he dares waste money again, I really will sic the mafia on him."

"Eh… Lovi that's so mean!"

"Just tell him, okay? Be good in school and stop hanging out with that potato bastard. Seriously." He snorted and ignored Feliciano's protests, slinging a jacket over his shoulder as he left the house. He could vaguely recall a café nearby that had put up an offer for a part-time job, and that was where he intended to go. But first, he had to make a quick stop.

Hoping that she hadn't moved from her old house, Lovino walked up to the white door and knocked three times, biting his lip nervously and rubbing his hands together to warm them up. It was still pretty warm for November, but the sudden drop in temperature between now and October was still enough to make him shiver.

The door swung open to reveal a sleepy looking Femke. She was rubbing her eyes and brushing her hair out of her face, clad in her sleeping gown and bare feet.

"Lovi! Hey, what are you doing here this early?"

"Aren't you cold? It's fucking freezing and you're wearing some skimpy dress with no shoes!"

"It's a lot colder in Belgium," she answered simply, smiling. "You didn't come here just to tell me off for my choice in clothing, did you?"

"Er… no…" Lovino shuffled slightly, trying to figure out how to word this. Femke mistook this for him being cold and invited him into the house. He quickly refused, hoping to get this over and done with.

"Well, you know how stupidly clumsy Julian is, right?" Femke opened her mouth to answer, but Lovino quickly ploughed on. "Er… well I just wanted to borrow some money… it's all his fault, okay? I didn't do anything, he's just a fucking bastard as usual…" He looked up nervously, hoping she wouldn't throw him out and yell about being a fucking beggar. Hey, it wasn't his fault anyway! If she did that he'd kick her balls… wait… she didn't have any. "Some idiot also broke my bike again and I'm out of a job and and… and…" He was interrupted by shrill laughter, and he looked up irritably to Femke, who was practically laughing her guts out. That girl always did have a rather… inflated… sense of humor.

"Haha, it's okay, Lovi!" she chuckled, wiping tears from her eyes. "You want to talk about it? Of course I'll lend you money, geez, what kind of a friend do you think I am?"

"You really want me to answer that?" Lovino asked, smirking as he let himself into the spacious house. He always did envy her; despite having shared a (happy) childhood, Femke had always been a lot more fortunate than the Vargas family. That was why she could go off the Belgium making chocolate while Lovino had to stay at home earning money.

"Someone broke your bike again? What happened?"

He told her the whole story, getting more and more agitated as he reached the climax where an atomic bomb had been set upon the poor bike. Several 'German bastard's laced his words, then he told her about the whole ordeal with that albino dude. Something flashed in Femke's eyes as he described the three guys in turn, but it was gone quickly and Lovino continued. Then he remembered the business card that was still stuffed in his bag, and he dug it out, throwing it at Femke in disgust.

"That guy thought I planned the whole thing! As if I would go fraternizing with the fucking enemy! Like hell I'm gonna go and lick his richass shoes and beg for money!" Lovino fumed, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring daggers at the small black card. Femke inspected it, her eyes running over the name several times before saying quietly, "Lovi, I know this man."

He perked up, uncrossing his arms and leaning in closer. "What? You know that Spanish dude?"

"Yeah… Antonio Fernández Carriedo. He's… well, a friend."

He sighed and rubbed his temples in frustration. "Femke, how many times do I have to tell you to choose your friends carefully?"

"Hey, I can choose my friends perfectly fine, okay? I doubt it was Toni picking on you; it was Gilbert, wasn't it? The albino?"

"Che, same thing."

She laughed softly, running the card through her fingers before returning it to him. "What a coincidence, for you to have run into Antonio. I should have introduced you to him, he's a very nice guy, you know."

"What, is he your new boyfriend-target?"

"What? No!" She pouted at him, suddenly becoming flustered. "If you must know, you were the first one I contacted after getting back! Well, apart from my dad, but he doesn't count."

"I was the first one?" he asked, looking at her incredulously. A blush suddenly spread to his cheeks, but he tried to ignore it. He was flattered to say the least, but hell if he was going to let her know! "W-wow, Femke… you're sad! Don't you have any other friends?" She laughed at jumped out her chair to pinch his cheeks, a smile spreading across her face. "Well you're my most important friend, Lovi!"

"E-eh? G-get off me, Femke! Ak…" He pushed her off, the blush darkening by the second. "W-what the heck, Femke!"

"Ah, you're blushing, Lovi! You're blushing~" She leaned forward to pinch him again, but he quickly pushed her off, said blush threatening to blow his face to the high heavens. He quickly got up, brushing the dust off his clothes and pretending to be angry, although he knew he could never truly be angry at Femke. "Well, I've got to go…"

"Eh? Ah, I'm sorry Lovi! Did I make you angry?"

"Ya think?" he fumed, making ready to go. He was, however, held back by a small tug to his sleeve.

"How much money do you need, Lovi?"

"Eh?" He had almost forgotten. "Well, uh…" She smiled up at him. "Uh… two hundred and fifty, for the moment…"

"That much, huh?" She lunged for her wallet while keeping a hand on the Italian's sleeve, as if scared he would make a run for it the moment she let go. She rifled through the contents, and came up with a hundred euro note.

"I only have this much for the moment. I'll drop by later and give you the rest, okay?"

"R-really? This is a lot, Femke…"

"Ah, it's okay, as long as you pay me back some time. You should find Toni. I'm sure he can find something for you to do."

"What? No way am I gonna work for that good-for-nothing Spanish bastard!"

"Ah, the Spanish have been dragged in as well?" She sighed in mock exasperation, then got up and guided him to the door. "Well, good luck in finding a job. Hope you get that bike fixed!"

"T-thanks for this, Femke…"

"No problem!" She grinned, waving as he made his way down the steps. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and waved as well, pushing open the gate in the white picket fence and running down the road. She jumped when he almost crashed into a speeding taxi and was about to rush to his help, but seeing him spout those expletives at the driver, she decided against it.

"Really, Lovi, you haven't changed a bit."

~.::~xXx~::.~

"You're hired." Lovino looked up in surprise, not expecting to be accepted this quickly. "You make up your mind very quickly, Mr. Edelstein." Lovino stated dryly, looking up at the manager of the café.

"One of our workers called in sick today, and we need someone to replace him. Unfortunately, I cannot guarantee a job for you after this week." He pushed his glasses up and looked down at Lovino, who sighed dejectedly. "So, here is the uniform, and the bathroom is there." He gestured at a small room at the end of the corridor, a neutral expression on his face. The Italian opened his mouth to protest, but closed it quickly under the other man's glare and obediently made his way to the toilet, but not before he let loose a few curses. Under his breath, of course.

Several minutes later, Lovino came out clad in a frilly apron,with a piece of cloth wrapped around his head.

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" he growled, holding the poofy green dress that had come in the pile. The apron he could tolerate, but a fucking dress? Was this Edelstein guy a cross-dresser or something? He was about to bash his door open and demand a different uniform when it swung open by itself to reveal a lady with long, curly brown hair and a similar dress and apron. Her face lit up when she saw the apron, but quickly fell again when she saw he wasn't wearing the ridiculous dress.

"Eh, you're not going to wear that? Why not?"

"I'm a fucking guy, that's why! Give me proper clothes, this is stupid!"

The lady clucked her tongue at his language. "Aw, come on, I'll pay you extra!"

A few more minutes later, Lovino was serving the customers, a curly wig perched upon his head, the green dress poofing up and down like some Victorian get up, and a giant scowl on his face. It's for the money, for the fucking money… He shot a glare at the freaky frying pan lady, cursing his inability to grow a pair and bash her up with the cooking utensil for making him go through this humiliation. Anything for the money… Fuck this! He was dressed up as a fucking girl, whatever happened to his Italian pride?

Right. Out the window.

And so he busied himself with serving the customers with the scariest grimace ever.

~.::~Antonio~::.~

"Ah, this feels just like the old days, doesn't it?" Antonio smiled, his fingers idly stirring the teaspoon in his cup of coffee. He watched the light brown liquid swirl in an almost hypnotic way, before balancing his chin on his palm and looking at his companion. Francis grinned back.

"What have we become, mon cher? Sentimental idiots, we are."

"Ah, we're old," he joked, waving a hand dismissively. "como mi abuela~"

"Not that old, I hope," he said, painting a shocked expression on his face. They stayed that way for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

"On the subject of your grandmother, how are those dates going? Meet anyone you like yet?"

"Oh, I haven't started on them yet. Actually, I'm supposed to meet six of them tomorrow. I wonder if we're going to have any fun~"

Francis grinned at the implications that he was sure Antonio had missed, but didn't comment on it. "Well, you must be grateful to your grand-mère. After all, she's going out of her way to find all these pretty women for you." He leaned in a bit, his teeth flashing as he smiled widely at him. "If you meet anyone nice, be sure to introduce them to me, okay?"

"Eh? But aren't you going out with Madeline?"

"Meh, broke up with her."

"Ah. My condolences."

"She didn't understand my love, mon cher! I couldn't stay with her if she couldn't understand my passion, my adoration of beauty, my-"

"She broke up with you because you were cheating on her." Antonio cut him off, looking solemnly at him. "And aren't I the passionate one?"

Francis frowned. "Smile, Toni! That serious face doesn't suit you!" He leaned across the table and pinched the corners of his mouth (a very sexy looking mouth at that~) and pushed them upwards, contorting his face to impossible proportions. He then took the opportunity to kiss his hand, winking as he pulled away. "There! Keep it that way!"

"Eh? Mi mamá said that if I make faces in the wind, it'll stay that way~" He pouted, and Francis wasn't sure whether to laugh at the joke or to have a serious talk with him about what to believe and what to dismiss as complete nonsense. Antonio was just like that at times. Completely clueless.

"You don't have much to be passionate about at the moment, do you?" Francis sighed, returning to his seat. "Mon frère, you shame me! How could the dearest friend of the infamous Francis Bonnefoy be deprived of love? It is preposterous!" He shouted the last word dramatically, whirling around and sending winks in his direction. Antonio laughed and pulled the Frenchman back to his seat before they attracted too many looks.

Suddenly his phone rang, and he quickly excused himself from the table to answer it. Antonio nodded and took a sip from his mug before drinking in the surroundings. It was a nice and cozy little café, although he couldn't help but notice one of the waitresses was scowling her face off. That scowl was making him frown too! This was bad~

Francis came back and was about to tell him something when Antonio quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and gestured at Miss Grumpy. "Look at the poor dear… She's going to get permanent scowl lines like that!"

His eyes rotated to look at the person in question, and they lit up upon seeing the brown hair, green dress and frilly apron. Tearing his mouth from Antonio's hand, he whispered excitedly, "That is one cute guy! Look at him! He has such a sexy dress fetish~!"

"That's a guy?"

Francis sighed, "Yes, my dear Antoine, that is a very sexy male just ripe for the picking!"He paused, then turned back to Antonio, "Hey, does he look familiar to you?"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking…but I think I'd remember such a cute guy, don't you think~?"

They continued to stare, trying to remember where they'd seen the cross-dresser before. After a while, Antonio cleared his throat and asked, "Who was on the phone?"

"Oh, it was Gil! He wants to go to a bar… wanna come with?"

"Ah, it's okay. You know how I am with alcohol," Francis opened his mouth in surprise, then closed in and nodded. To say Antonio wasn't good at holding his liquor was… well, an understatement. In fact, one sip of the stuff sent him sprawling on the floor, unconscious. If he was lucky, it would leave him drunk beyond belief and when he woke up sober the next morning, well, he would probably find himself naked next to some similarly dressed girl, with the worst hangover ever. Francis didn't really see that as a bad thing, but Antonio could go on for hours about the ethics of it all. Really, not only was he the youngest, but he was also the most innocent of the three. That was just how he was.

"Well that's too bad. See you around, then!"

"Haha, yeah… See you!"

The Frenchman laughed and winked, not missing the chance to send a little air kiss his way. Then he jumped into his car and drove away, leaving Antonio standing on the porch with the wind rustling his brown curls. He stood there for a while before yawning and going back into the café. He quickly finished his coffee and put his hand in the air to ask for the bill. Tucking the number Francis owed him in the crevices of his mind; after all, Francis was his best friend and he would never bother getting his money back, he strolled out of doors and jumped into his own car before speeding out onto the road. He watched as the world whizzed by, only half aware of his surroundings as he thought to himself,

"Ah, abuela, why must you force love on me?"

~.::~Lovino~::.~

"I'm home!" Lovino sighed as he kicked off his shoes, not bothering to put them away nicely. He then plodded across the hallway in his socks, before collapsing from fatigue on the pillows of the couch. "Ah, I'm tired… all that pretending to be a fucking girl was more tiring than I thought…"

He was too busy fuming to notice the dark shape that approached the couch, and only realized he was being ambushed when the sofa almost flipped over on him. "The fuck? Who the heck-"

"Hi Lovi!" his assailant said cheerfully, stepping out into the light to reveal… Femke. Lovino coughed in surprise.

"Femke? What the heck are you doing here?"

"Well, remember how I said I'd give you that one fifty later? Now is later," she grinned, holding out a hand to help him up. Lovino felt too annoyed to accept it however, so he swatted it away and got up himself, albeit a little clumsily. "I mean, how did you get in?"

"Oh, that! Feli let me in!" She jerked her thumb behind her in his brother's direction, who quietly said "ve…" before continuing a little louder, "I haven't seen Femke onee-san in a long time! It's good to see you back!"

"Thank you, Feli! Right back at you!" She grinned as the younger Vargas bounced over to them. "And here's your money!" She dug it out of her bag and waved it in Lovi's face, who suddenly felt something tugging at his conscience. "Are you sure, Femke? This is a lot…"

"You've already said that, Lovi! Just take it!"

"Ve… but Femke onee-san…"

"It's okay, really!" she waved it again, a bit more forcefully this time. Lovino couldn't help but detect some sort of desperation in her face as he took it from her. Just the tiniest hint, though. He might have just imagined it. "T-thanks… a lot…"

"No problem!" she replied brightly. "So, have you contacted Antonio yet?"

"Antonio?" He looked rather baffled for a moment before remembering who it was. "Oh, that guy."

"Ve… who's Antonio?" Feliciano asked, his eyes darting from his brother, to Femke, back to Lovi. "Is he your boyfriend, Femke?"

"What? No! Why does everyone think that?" she huffed indignantly, placing her hands on her hips. "He's just a guy who may or may not be able to help you guys out with your situation."

"I already got a job to cover for the delivery job. Besides, we're not dirt-poor enough to be groveling and begging,"

"You're pride really is too much… what kind of a job is it?"

"It's at the café down the road, if you must know,"

"And you're just there to cover for another person?"

Lovino opened his mouth to protest, but quickly clamped it shut again, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "Geez… how did you know?"

"I just do," she grinned, and pulled on her ribbon absentmindedly. "Well, I must go. But really, Lovi, you should find him. Even if it's not for money, I'm sure you two would get along just fine. He'd love you!" And with that cheerful note, she departed, leaving the two brothers to think about what she said.

"So, Feli, how was school?"

Obviously, he was determined not to think about it.

By the end of the week, however, it was his only choice.

"Screw this! Pride won't do me any good when we're living on the fucking streets! I'm calling him!"

~.::~Antonio~::.~

He was bored.

He wasn't usually bored. No, he always had something to occupy himself with, whether it was hanging out with Francis and Gilbert, playing his guitar, or simply picking the tomato fields. But here he was, forced to listen to all these girls that his grandma had picked out for him and pretend to be interested. He had nothing against these girls, really, except for the fact that they were simply tools of his grandmother's devious scheme to get him married against his will. His reluctance was what was making this all boring, really.

And he had not interest in them. They weren't even remotely cute; his grandmother had no taste whatsoever, and frankly, he just couldn't see himself married to any of them. Yawning, he decided now was a good time to tune out and instead decided to study his surroundings again. Argh… this really was so very pointless…

"Well, I'll call you soon, okay?" The question brought him back to his senses and he nodded absentmindedly, silently glad it was over. Now he could have a ten-minute stretch before the next girl came. It was such a shame they didn't sell tomatoes here. It would make the whole ordeal so much better.

He was just about to go outside for some fresh air when his phone vibrated. He didn't recognize the caller ID, but he answered it anyway.

"¿Dígame?"

"It's me, you bastard,"

Blinking, Antonio tried and failed to identify the voice. "¿De parte de quién?

"Me! You know…" There was a pause on the other side, and Antonio waited patiently. "Uh… gazpacho?"

It took him several moments to realize it was the little Italian boy who had gotten into some trouble with them the other day… something about a motorcycle and some drunk guy. "Oh, you! Hello!"

"Repair money," Lovino growled; not a question, a statement. "Gimme."

"My my, you are the rude one, aren't you? That mouth of yours really doesn't match your cute face~!"

"Wha-what? Are you fucking with me? How can a guy be cute?"

"Well, you are~!" He smiled as a wave of expletives almost broke his phone, before continuing, "Where are you? I can meet up with you!"

"No need, stalker. I don't want you freaking the people here out 'cause of all your rich flashiness. I'll meet you wherever you are."

"Oh, okay!" he grinned, oblivious to the subtle insult he had just received. "Uh, what about…" He racked his brains for a meeting place far, far away from the restaurant, and finally decided on a square halfway across town. Lovino grumbled a bit at the distance, but agreed in the end. After he had hung up, Antonio brought his phone back to his ear to make one more phone call.

"Sí, ¿abuela? Could you please cancel all the appointments for later? I've got an errand to run." Ignoring the irritated scolding from the other line, he quickly pressed the end button, grinning wider than he had for the whole day.

Half an hour later, Antonio was waiting outside a pizza shop, sunglasses pulled over his eyes to shield them from the harsh rays of the sun. The smell of pizza was overwhelming, and it took all his willpower to stop himself from walking into the shop and buying all the food. One of the perks of being super rich.

He spotted the head of dark brown hair approaching, and he waved exaggeratedly to get his attention. He noticed the scowl marring that cute face once more before he rushed over, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Why did you have to pick somewhere so far away, bastard? Not everyone has a fancy Ferrari, dammit!"

"Lo siento, but there was someone I needed to get away from. You want some pizza?" He gestured at the open doors behind him.

"You'd better be treating, after making me run all the way here," he scowled, leading the way into the shop. Oh, how he wanted to pinch those cheeks! He really was so very adorable.

"So, you have the money?"

"Yup! How much do you want?"

He watched as the Italian boy blinked in surprise, apparently he hadn't expected him to agree so quickly. What? Of course not! He trusted him, right? Ahaha~ Lovino scrunched his face up as he thought of a suitable number.

"Well, since the bike was pretty trashed, that'd be quite a bit… plus compensation for my job…"

"You got fired?" he asked incredulously, suddenly feeling very guilty.

"Well, yeah. And it's all your fault!" He then continued with his mental calculations while the pit of guilt grew deeper. So he was fired from his gazpacho delivery job? Aw… he really liked that gazpacho… the poor boy~!

"You look really cute when you're thinking, you know," He smiled innocently as Lovino's head shot up in alarm, his eyes boring holes in his skull as he silently questioned the Spaniard's sanity. "You're just like a little doll!"

"Is that something you should be saying to a guy, dammit?"

"Well, it's true~! What's being a guy got to do with anything?"

"You really are something…" Lovino sighed exasperatedly, shaking his head. "Exactly why Femke said we'd get along is beyond me…"

"You know Femke?"

"Well, yeah."

"Your girlfriend?"

"What? No! She's just a friend! A friend! Geez!" Oh, he was so so so cute when he was blushing~! Just like a tomato! He couldn't resist anymore. Leaning over the table, Antonio got hold of both those cheeks and squeezed them, almost melting at how soft they were. He could feel heat flare up in them before he was unceremoniously pushed back into his chair with a loud clatter.

"What the fuck are you doing? You don't just molest people's faces as you please, dammit! Geez, that fucking hurt! I don't care if you're giving me money, that kind of stuff is just-"

"Hey," Antonio interrupted, completely unfazed by Lovino's outburst. A new idea had just hit him, and it was just absolutely perfect, both for him and for Lovino's financial problems. It was a win-win situation!

"How would you like to be my lover?"

Fratello [Italian]- brother
Como mi abuela [Spanish]- Like my grandmother
Mi mamá [Spanish]- My mom
grand-mère [French]- Grandmother
Mon frère [French]- My brother
Dígame [Spanish]- (lit.) Tell me. How to answer the phone in Spanish
¿De parte de quién? [Spanish]- Who is this?

And wait till China comes in O.o If I get anything wrong please tell me, since I'm relying on an online translator anyway :P Must stop saying che, meh, eh, larr and some other canto slang thingies… no I don't say aru. You wish xD

Thank you so much for all the reviews! It makes my day to read them all!

Candied Sweets xD