~*~

Chapter Nine: Night and Day

~*~

Lovino was having a bad day. It was a Sunday, and Matthew was staying home with Arthur and Alfred, watching some chick show or something equally boring to the Sicilian. Lovi was waiting for Feliciano to come home from the store so he could call and at least chat with his adopted brother.

But as he thought about it, he reminded himself that he was estranged, even while living in Feliciano's house with their father…

~*~

"Feliciano… he's here!" Marcus Vargas yelled as he came inside with a short, dark-haired young man. Lovino had been seven when he had entered the Vargas household. Feliciano was about the same age.

Marcus had looked on proudly when the young Feliciano had run out from under the kitchen table and had run up to his new family member to embrace him. Lovino was surprised at the gesture, and had wiggled out of the other's grasp. "Whoa, man!"

"What? You're family now, aren't you?" Feliciano had asked.

Lovino thought about it, but he didn't feel it.

The young Sicilian soon felt that the family wasn't like him at all. Feliciano and Marcus hugged at bed-time, in the morning when they woke up, and at every major focal point. The first day of high school had been the worst for Lovino, watching Feliciano hug his father and… enjoy it. Lovino had merely run away from Marcus and Feliciano's hugging habits after that first time.

Not to say he didn't miss it.

~*~

Lovino heard the phone ring and reached to pick it off its cradle. "Hey, bro~" Feliciano sang into the phone, "I'm back from the store… but it's icy on my driveway and I need help…"

Lovino sighed. His brother's driveway was literally on a steep incline. Lovino blinked, "All right… be there in a minute…"

~*~

Feliciano always needed help from Lovino. That's all the Sicilian was good for, it seemed. Marcus would always look on with a glint in his eye as Lovino cooked meals for the family and do dishes… and Lovino was only doing that to get closer to the Vargas family. He was often jealous of his 'brother,' for being what seemed like the perfect son to Marcus. Why had he been adopted when Feliciano was perfect and it didn't seem like anything that Lovino did made Marcus proud?

And then Marcus died. Lovino was in college, getting his major in Business. Feliciano was at an art school, flourishing as he never had in high school. Both brothers were torn after that. Lovino moved out of the Vargas's home at long last, and Feliciano had sold their childhood home to a friendly couple with a blonde-haired son. He soon moved into an apartment by himself… and then he had found the house with the driveway on a hill.

Lovino had changed his last name from 'Vargas' to 'Romano' to get rid of painful memories, and Feliciano had kept his last name to remember them.

The only thing the brothers did together nowadays was work at the Café Rose… and that was Lovino's fault. He had pushed Feliciano into getting a job, and he had wound up getting it as well…

~*~

"Thanks, Lovi," Feliciano said, giving his brother a hug.

Lovino simply endured the term of affection from his adopted brother. "Yeah, well what would you have wound up doing? Camping out at the bottom of the hill?"

Feliciano giggled, "I might have… but… you seem sad right now… why don't you stay here so you're not alone tonight?"

Feliciano could do nothing but worry about his adopted brother. He was proud of the Sicilian for finally stepping out of his comfort zone and asking Matthew out. And he seemed happier for it. But something was still missing. It was probably the family Lovino had lost as a child… but he and Marcus had come to the rescue! Or not, it seemed.

Lovino looked at his adopted brother and shrugged, "I'm fine, Feli…"

"No you're not," Feli pressed, taking his brother's hand.

Lovi flinched and pulled away from his brother, "If I stay, will you stop?"

"Stop what?" Feli asked.

Lovi paused, covering the bottom half of his face with a hand, "N-Nothing. I'll stay."

"Yay~!" Feliciano cried, and he promptly threw his arms around his adopted brother once more.

~*~

Feliciano didn't usually need him. It was only when Marcus died that he began calling him and asking for his help every chance he got. They saw each other at the café and then… and then Feliciano called him and they would get to talking about various things and people. Feliciano confided in Lovi everything from crushes to Christmas plans. Lovino didn't know why he suddenly found himself asking his brother over for the random movie night or even for coffee so they could have some one-on-one time with each other that didn't involve a machine pressed up against their ears. He just did…

~*~

Lovino got the fire going, and Feliciano got the water boiling for his favorite meal: pasta. Lovino finally sat on the couch and… sulked. Feliciano noticed this, but said nothing.

After dinner, they were still silent, even as they sat on the couch together and watched the fire. It was eerily silent, and Feliciano didn't like it. "Lovi… what are you thinking about?" he asked quietly.

Lovino blinked and turned to his adopted brother, "Nothing."

"It can't be nothing, Lovi. You haven't spoken to me since after I asked you to stay. Are you mad at me?"

Lovino flinched and turned his head from his brother's sad brown eyes, "No."

Feliciano didn't quite believe him, "Really?"

"Really, Feli… it's not you…" Lovino replied.

They were silent once more, and Feliciano wrapped his arms around the other boy tightly and sighed, "You want to talk about it, Lovi?"

Lovino's heart seemed to pound as Feliciano hugged him. For some odd reason, this hug was more intimate than the others… or maybe it was just Lovino's imagination. He pulled away lightly, and Feliciano felt more… he didn't quite know the name of the feeling.

"Just… was thinking about… when I lived with you guys in that house…" Lovino replied quietly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Feliciano smiled, "Good times, right?"

"Well…" Feliciano did not like how Lovino evaded his question.

"Well what?" Feliciano asked when Lovino took too long to answer his question.

"I… I never really fit in with you two…" Lovino replied painfully.

Feliciano blinked, but he nodded after a few seconds. Then he shook his head, "You never tried, Lovi…"

Lovino looked at him, "What do you mean?"

"We tried so hard to get you to assimilate with us… but you never did, so we… we let you have your space…" Feli replied.

Lovino thought about it for a minute, "Wow… I really was a jackass, wasn't I?" he asked, laughing slightly.

Feliciano gave him a worried smile, "Well… yes. But we loved you anyway."

Lovino blinked and almost smiled, "Did you now?"

Feliciano nodded, "Well… I did, at least…"

Lovino's almost-smile vanished and he… blushed? "What do you mean?"

"Well… you always helped me, and you never asked for anything in return… and then… and then at our Senior Prom…"

Lovino's eyes widened at the memory…

~*~

Roderich Edelstein had said yes to coming with Feliciano to Prom and the young Vargas boy was so happy. He wasn't sure if he should go to his Senior Prom, but Marcus had been out to buy him a boy's blouse and black slacks for the occasion, and he had a date so…

But Rod had called and said that he had gotten back together with his girlfriend, Elizabeta, so he wouldn't be able to go with Feliciano.

Feliciano was just about to go to his room to cry when Lovino got up from the table and said, "I'll go with you…"

Marcus blinked, and Feliciano sniffed and nearly fell into his adopted brother's arms. "What will you wear, Lovi?" Mr. Vargas had asked.

"You have that tux you wore for Mrs. Bonnefoy's birthday, don't you?" Lovi had asked.

Marcus nodded. Soon both boys were ready, and Marcus even took pictures, as a parent should. Lovino wore his usual scowl in many of them, though in a few, Feliciano had jumped on him from behind and he had left his usual frown for… a light blush across his face.

When they got to the school gymnasium, Lovino showed the teacher their tickets and they walked in. Roderich and Elizabeta were surprised to see them there, but they were pleasant and Roderich tried to apologize to Feli before Lovi pulled at his adopted brother and…

gave him the first slow dance…

~*~

Lovino was blushing at the memory, "That was… so that you could go to your Senior Prom…"

"You say that… but it was the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me," Feliciano replied.

He got up off the couch and went to his iPod. Searching down the menu, he found the song he was looking for and Elton John's version of'Can You Feel The Love Tonight' played softly out of the speakers. Feliciano held out his hands to Lovino, who was surprised at the pleasant memories flooding over him. He stood at took his brother's hands, letting the younger male (for Feli was a few months younger) pull him up and close to him. Lovino placed his hands on Feliciano's waist, and the other male put his hands on Lovino's shoulders. Elton John's soft words fell over them as they danced, reliving the memories of that first dance together on the floor.

~*~

Whew. Oh lookit. I think it's another string on the Web that we've gathered hurr. -ohohohoho~-

Anyway, looks like I've got some freetime to write. Not that I'll just be working on this mess. I have a novel I've finally gotten around to writing and, frankly, it's more important. But I will write this fanfiction. This one is big and has some potential to blow your socks off in the end. So enjoy it. And review. That's nice too.

Adieu~

~Anastasie~