Lovino stayed on the roof of my car with me for well over half an hour. We didn't talk. He merely kept his arm wrapped around my shoulders, giving me silent comfort. My heart felt less heavy, and I was hopeful that this meant he'd stopped disliking me.

"Would you…do you want to go do something? Take your mind off things?" He asked softly.

I sniffed, rubbing at my eyes. "I dunno…any ideas?"

He was quiet for a bit, thinking. "I really have no clue what's around here."

"Bowling, mini golf, library, flower park," I listed a few things off the top of my head.

"Flower park?"

"Yeah, Sunrise Gardens. Has a gazebo, fish pond, and lots of flowers and pretty plants planted artistically throughout the place. It's colorful in the springtime, but I prefer to go there in the fall. I like fall colors better," I admitted.

"Hmm," he hummed. He wiggled about a bit, and I looked to see what he was doing: digging his buzzing phone out of his pocket. "Ciao? Cosa vuoi?" He listened to the person on the other line before hissing, "Non sono affari tuoi, bastardo! Cosa ti dà il diritto di chiederlo ?" He listened again, glaring off into the air. "Cosa vuoi dire, puoi vederci? Sei nel caffè! Non c'è modo di vedere il parcheggio dal retro della scuola!" He growled to himself. His body stiffened, and he slowly turned towards the left, staring at the front of the college. "... voi bastardi avete un sacco di coraggio, stando lì a fissarci!*" He hissed in to the phone, jabbing the red button to end the call. "Let's go, Charlie. We have a fucking audience here."

I turned and stared blankly at Antonio and Francis standing there, watching us. "Oh…well, that's rude of them."

"Si, it is! And I have to deal with this shit all the fucking time!" He fumed, sliding off my car then helping me down like a gentleman.

A foul-mouthed gentleman, but a gentleman all the same.

My stomach suddenly growled, and I felt my face get hot. "Um…"

Lovino raised an eyebrow at me in amusement. "That's what you get for giving America your food."

I shrugged, looking everywhere but his gaze. "Yes…well…I had a traumatic shock, okay?"

"'Traumatic shock'?" He snorted. "Si, I believe that. Anything to do with France is traumatic."

I gave him a shy smile. "So…how about we go to Burger King, then decide from there?"

"O-okay…" he cheeks flushed a light pink. He cleared his throat. "Your car, or mine?"

"You have a car?" I was surprised.

He frowned. "Of course I have a car! What, you think I'm going to depend on those morons for rides? No, I bought a car a few years ago." He hesitated, glancing over his shoulder. "Um…actually, it's more of a…a motorcycle."

"Really? I've only ridden a motorcycle once, a few years ago," I told him. "My brother took me for a ride."

"Garrett did?" Lovino looked at me strangely.

I laughed. "No, my other brother. James. He's the oldest of us four."

"I suddenly feel very fortunate to only have one sibling," Lovino muttered, unaware I could hear him.

I bit back a laugh, and followed him across the parking lot. When I saw his motorcycle, my jaw dropped, and I could only stare at it. A sleek , black masterpiece that looked as if it had just rolled off the showroom floor.

Lovino was smug. "Beautiful, isn't she? Took me a while to find the perfect one, and as soon as I saw this one, I had to have it."

I tentatively reached out to touch the handlebar. "You're actually going to let me ride on this?" My gaze flickered from the bike to him, then back to the bike.

He chuckled lowly. "On one hand, it's an expensive bike. On the other hand," he moved to stand on the other side of the bike. "It is just a bike."

"Okay…" I trailed off slowly.

He slid onto the seat, buckling a helmet on his head. He held out the extra helmet for me, and I took it, dazedly securing it to my head. Glad the helmet covered the flush that was surely consuming my face, I got on behind him.

He turned his head so I could hear him. "You should hold onto me, tightly."

Oh, dear…this is awkward… Before I could think about it in too much detail, I wrapped my arms around his waist, basically hugging him from behind.

"Ready?" He said loudly, kicking the starter. The engine growled.

"Yes!"

Soon we were on the highway, heading west to Burger King. I had my chin tucked on his shoulder so I could see. The bike was so fast, it gave me an adrenaline rush. Like I'd told Lovino, I hadn't been on a bike in years, since my older brother had gotten one from a friend and taken me for a ride. I found this ride to be much more enjoyable.

All too soon for me, we were at Burger King, and I had to get off the bike.

"That was amazing!" I gushed, reluctantly handing the helmet over. "I wish I had a bike of my own," I sighed wistfully, glancing over my shoulder at the bike as we walked inside the fast food place. "Maybe I can get one someday and we can go for a ride around the country together on our bikes. That would be so much fun."

Lovino nodded his agreement, saying nothing. He joined the line at the counter, pulling me along beside him. I stared up at the menus, though the bike was what was on my mind and not food. Without really paying attention to what we ordered, I followed Lovino to a table at the back, away from the majority of people.

He took his phone out an typed something, pressing send. "You should come to Italy when you can. Riding a Vespa is better than an American motorcycle."

I perked. "Italy is now officially first on my list!"

He stared at me in what seemed to be a mixture of embarrassment and shock. He turned his face away, staring out the window as his cheeks grew red. "Y-you don't have to be so damn happy about it…cheh."

Saying nothing, I merely smiled to myself.

XXX

From there, we walked the few feet down the road to Zao Island. Lovino looked interested in the go-karts, while I wanted to do bumper cars, but I figured we could race, then wham each other with the cars. I immediately claimed the black kart, while Lovino muttered under his breath, yet settled in the red kart.

We ended up spending money on ten rides. Each of us had managed to win five times each, which made Lovino a bit sulky.

"I still think you cheated," he muttered, heading off towards the bumper cars.

I stared at the back of his head. "How the hell was I supposed to have cheated? It's a race!"

Lovino shook his head, grabbing the closest bumper car. I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior, but got my own car instead of saying something. Really, it wasn't worth the inevitable argument and curses.

About forty minutes later, I felt like the world's biggest bobble-head. But it was so much fun, running into Lovino from behind!

"Oi!" he yelped as I rammed him from the side. "Oh, that is IT, Charlie! This means war!"

I grinned at him. "Bring it!"

And then I was on the defensive for a bit, driving away from him while failing to control my giggles. I heard someone call my name, and I turned my head, taking my attention off of Lovino long enough for him to ram into me from behind, sending my head flying forward.

"ACK!"

Lovino laughed triumphantly. "Finally got you!"

I massaged the back of my neck sourly, turning to glower at the person who had distracted me. I was a bit surprised to see Kortinee standing there, waving a hand.

"Charlie! Having fun?" Her tone was mischievous.

Narrowing my eyes, I shot back, "Would be more fun if I could ram you, too! See how you like feeling like a dashboard bobble-head!"

I heard Lovino laugh at that. "C'mon, miss bobble-head. Let's give your neck a break."

"That's what I don't want," I turned my head and pouted at him.

He rolled his eyes in amusement.

We got out of the cars and headed towards Kortinee, who wouldn't stop grinning.

"Charlie, you deserved that. You are plain evil on those stupid cars!"

"What're you complaining about? You always refuse to ride them, anyway!"

"Yeah, cuz otherwise I'd break my neck. Both you and Garrett are demonic when it comes to driving games," she teased, though grimaced.

"Yeah, yeah," I made a face. "What are you doing here, anyway? Don't you have work?"

"Actually, it's my day off. You avoiding me or something?"

"That's stupid!" I chuckled, looking everywhere but her. "Why would I avoid you? You're my friend."

She stared at me for a bit. "That's what I'd like to know." She leaned closer to whisper, "This guy you're with, he's really Lovino Vargas, right?"

I looked at her, exasperated. "Of course he is."

"South Italy?"

I pressed my lips together, not breaking eye contact. Arthur had said it was okay, but I wasn't sure if I could just come right out and confirm her suspicions!

"Are you sworn to secrecy or something?" she smirked.

I looked back at Lovino. He wasn't paying any attention to us, instead checking his phone with a frown. He tapped at the keys, scoffing softly at something on the screen.

"Not…exactly…" I started. Scrutinizing her face, I wondered how she would take the news? Deciding to just be blunt, I looked her right in the eye, and told her, "You are right. They're exactly who you think they are."

She glanced over my hsulder at Lovino, not saying a word. Then she nodded. "Mmm…glad to know I'm not crazy."

"Crazy?"

"Well…when I saw that Arthur guy, I had some serious deja vu. Don't you feel that we already know them? But it's like…we have amnesia, or we just plain forgot?"

I opened my mouth to answer, then let it close. What could I possibly say to counter that when she was dead on? Yeah, I felt like we were old friends, settling into routine banter and interaction. Frowning slightly, I glanced back at Lovino. The feeling was really strong with Arthur and Lovino. Is that why it hurt so much when he avoided me before?

Come to think of it, why was he even talking to me now? After the big silent treatment to-do, it was as if he'd done a big 180. And none of the others had come after me to make sure I was okay after running from the college: Lovino had.

I shrugged at Kortinee. "I feel it too. What about it? It's pretty obvious we don't know them. Probably just knew people like them and forgot."

Kortinee pursed her lips. "No, I'm sure I'd remember knowing people like them that weren't them. It's like when you're trying to remember a certain word to describe something, yet your brain won't produce it. It's on the tip of your tongue."

That was exactly how it was for me.

It was as if I had been smacked with the realization, and I felt dizzy and weak. "Lovino thought he knew me when he saw me at Goodwill a few months ago…maybe…he wasn't wrong…?" I stared at Kortinee in disbelief. "If he was right…what does that mean?"

Kortinee didn't look like she felt any better than I did. "I dunno…Charlie, when he talked to you in Goodwill, what did he say?"

"He asked me to wait, and if my name was…" I scrunched my face up in thought, trying to remember the name he'd used. "Um…it started with an 'E'…"

"Emily?"

"No…I think it was 'El'."

"Elizabeth? Ella? Elspeth? Eleanor? Elva? Elsie?"

I shook my head at each name. "No…it sounded kinda like that place in the books Rick Riordan wrote. The fields?"

"What, Elysium Fields?" Kortinee raised an eyebrow.

I snapped my fingers, eyes widening. "That's it! He asked if I was Elysia!"

"Pretty name. But does it mean anything to you?"

My shoulder sagged as I realized, no, it didn't really. Then I frowned, thinking abut those odd dreams I'd had. That Søren guy…he'd looked exactly like me. What if..what if Søren and Elysia were the same person? What if she'd hidden her gender?

A sudden pain erupted behind my eyes, and I let out a hiss of pain, clutching my head with both hands. What the hell…

"Charlie? Charlie? Charlie!"

I couldn't answer Kortinee's frantic calls as the pain grew worse, and I succumbed to darkness.

XXX

*Hello? What do you want? That's none of your business, bastard! What gives you the right to ask that? What do you mean, you can see us? You're in the cafe! There's no way you can see the parking lot from the back of the school! ...you bastards have a lot of nerve, standing there staring at us!

Nope, not giving anything away about the next chapter. I have what I want to write in mind, so that's something at least. I just hope the chapter doesn't try to write itself.

I actually got a small case of writer's block, which is why this chapter took a few days longer than the last five or so chapters. Sowwy…

My thumb is all better now, has bee for a bit. The bruise is all gone, Yay! I'm happy now that I don't look like I have a diseased thumb, lmao.

Please leave me a review. This is the one story I haven't had one review on yet, and I'm already at ten chapters! Are your keyboards broken or something?

Remember to fave and follow my story! See you in the next chapter!

Allonsy~

Eli