Hey guys! Long time no see, yeah? I know; I'm so sorry about the wait! I deserve all the wrath you can muster. In part, I must blame school. School had been so busy as of late, but now it's summer, so yay!

Thank you gdesertsand for being a great friend and for getting me to finally update! Stay awesome, my friend! Everyone check out her new Hetalia fic; it's awesome and deserves your love!

Lovino's head was spinning as he shut the door behind him. Antonio had just kissed him. There wasn't question that it had been intentional and none that it had been the best experience of Lovino's life. The touch still lingered on his lips, faint now like a whisper of what had been there a minute before. His breathing had been rapid, but was now calming as the memory replayed over and over again in his mind.

Lovino closed his eyes and leaned against the door. He felt like he was in some cheesy teen romance movie, but the giddy feeling in his stomach and the thumping of his heart wouldn't let him act as he normally would when something different happened to him- something he didn't know how to act about. And even if Lovino could calm himself down, he felt he wouldn't have wanted to just shrug it off or huff and stalk to his room. This was new and exuberant and, though Lovino didn't know what to do about it, he wouldn't have wanted to feel any different.

"Lovi's home!" Feliciano's screech jolted him from his trance and up from his position against the door. Feli had already seen the look on his brother's face though, "Did you have fun? Why are you smiling?"

Lovino suddenly felt stifled in his new emotions and struggled to push them down as he scowled at his brother. He tried to roll his eyes to seem nonchalant.

Then, before Lovino said anything, Feliciano gasped, understanding dawning on his face, "Oh mio dio! Lovi, did you-" Suddenly Feli broke off and looked behind him. He then leaned forward secretively and whispered, "Did you kiss?"

Lovino felt his face heat up and imagined it was the deepest red it had ever turned. He tried to say something- to defend himself or lie- but his mind was blank and he ended up gaping at his little brother like a wide-eyed fish.

Feliciano took this as an answer- one easily decipherable- and squealed. Lovino's brow furrowed and he crossed his arms, giving his brother a look that would shut him up, and when that proved ineffective stalked upstairs to his room, a mixture of emotions mixing in his mind like soup. Embarrassment was definitely one. The fact that his brother just knew embarrassed him and, on top of that, splashed annoyance into the brew. Despite his brother's prying questions, though, it wasn't enough to distract Lovino from his vertigo. The giddy feeling still overpowered all of his other emotions.

His mind was muddled and his chest was swirling in that unmistakable way it had started to do since he had met Antonio. And now, away from his brother and alone in his room, Lovino let the tiny smile reappear on his face.

-/-

The rest of the weekend Lovino had tried to make sense of it. Why would Antonio kiss him? Why would he kiss him? Lovino was no one special and he knew Antonio could do much better. So why him...

Lovino didn't have an answer and when he still didn't have one come Sunday evening he began to worry what the next day would be like. Before he knew it, Monday was already there.

So Lovino did the only thing he knew how. He avoided Antonio. Any time Antonio would find him in the halls Lovino would run off before the other reached him. When it was time to go home, Lovino hid in one of the bathrooms until he was convinced Antonio was long gone on the bus or already walking home along the sidewalk. It wasn't the most dignified thing Lovino had ever done, but it sure as hell worked in the long run.

Now, Lovino was finally home, having walked at a slow enough pace as to not accidentally run into Antonio's slow ass. Having just walked up the path to the front door, Lovino was met by both Feli and Romeo on their way out.

"Oh, Lovi! We were looking for you! Did you walk home? I guess you must have. Anyway, we were given a list of errands from Grandpa, so we're going to go do that. You should come with us!"

Lovino was going to argue with his brother, but somehow found himself sitting shot-gun in the car anyway. Curse his brother's ability to drag him everywhere!

Once they arrived, though, Lovino had been promptly left to wander as his brother had elected to go explore the 'to-do' list their grandfather had given them and Romeo had disappeared on his own somewhere through the shops and streets of the shopping district.

Lovino knew they couldn't have gone too far, as the shopping district was actually a single street lined with various shops and people and blocked off from cars on either end during the weekend. It wasn't the weekend, though, which meant Lovino would have to stay on the much too narrow sidewalks.

There wasn't much to do, for Lovino only ever went out by himself if there was a task at hand to be done. It was different when his brother or even cousin were there; if he had company it wasn't so pointless being out, but now that they had both ditched him all he could do was walk down the sidewalk and hope Feli and Romeo would be ready to leave soon. He skirted around the tables set outside the icecream shop and let his eyes wander across the windows of various clothing stores. It wasn't until he approached another shop unknown to him that he began to slow and stop as he smelled something sugary and delicious wafting out.

Usually Lovino wasn't a sweets person, but the aromas from this store were very pleasant standing out in the slight chill of a windless day. It was a bakery, Lovino noted, and, if anything, it was somewhere to sit while he waited for his family to finish up whatever things they had run off to go do.

The bell above the door chimed as he came in and the smells became stronger as he was in the actual building. Lovino looked around at the small but cute bakery with only a few two-seated tables toward the walls of the shop, most stood by windows and the others had small-framed paintings hung above them.

A feminine voice rang from the back, supposedly behind that swinging door that must have gone to the ovens and other baking equipment. "I'll be with you in a minute!"

Lovino walked to the counter and waited, glancing at the small chalkboard that designated the pastries of the day and looking over the counter to where pamphlets for catering and pre-ordering lay in their neat little boxes. Lovino decided to look through the glass counter to perhaps decide what he was getting as to not waste this woman's time.

"Hey, I know you!" The voice was a lot closer than before and Lovino looked up to see the girl who had just come from the back. It was that girl he had met at the party Antonio had taken him to... Emma.

Lovino put on a nice smile. "Hello."

"Lovino, right?" Emma had a tray in her oven-mitted hands and brought it over to the counter, sliding it on and removing the mits. When Lovino confirmed, she smiled and nodded.

"Thought so." She proceeded in layering the hot pastries she had just brought out with powdered sugar then began sliding them onto their designated tray below the counter.

There was silence, but it was not an awkward one, despite their last conversation they had had. At the party Emma had introduced herself by saying, "I'm Emma and you're Antonio's date?"

Lovino had, of course, no idea what to say to that. The question had been so direct, so unlike the people he usually spoke to and definitely not how he was used to talking with girls. The question had taken him off guard. Was he Antonio's date? Was he on a date?

Aside from his initial take on the conversation, Lovino had quickly gotten used to the way this girl talked and found that it was easier than he had initially thought. They seemed to have clicked somehow and Lovino had actually enjoyed the conversation beyond that point.

"So, what can I get you?" The present Emma asked, pushing the last pastry into the displaying tray and straightening up, brushing her hands across her powdered apron that covered torn jeans and a cotton shirt.

Lovino let his gaze pass over the counter once more before looking back to Emma. "What would you recommend?"

"Well," Emma leaned across the counter and mumbled, "Between us, half of the stuff at this store is shit." She pulled back and resumed in her normal voice, "I'd be happy to point out what I'd recommend,though."

Lovino wasn't as inclined to trying one of these previously delectable looking treats now. Emma spoke up again, though. "I bake many of these items, but don't judge me for it. I'm not allowed to change the recipe as I'd like to." That didn't seem to please Emma and she crossed her arms, "They hired me because I'm good at baking, yet they don't let me actually bake. Making me follow the recipes to the T isn't what I'd call baking."

Emma looked behind her and leaned in again, "That doesn't stop me from changing it when the boss isn't looking, though." She leaned naturally against the counter looking happy with herself and started to look along the counter to point out various items.

"I wouldn't trust these ones on most days, but they should be alright today. And these are usually pretty okay as long as they're fresh. Those that I just brought out are my favorites, actually, aside from the chocolate they sometimes let me make."

"You sound pretty confidant in your skills." Lovino said, earning another smug look from Emma.

"I'm pretty much the best you can get out there. Especially in here." Emma had lowered her voice again for that last remark. "I make the best waffles, but the owners won't add it to the menu, so I stick with making them at home." She shrugged and stooped to retrieve the pastry Lovino had picked. In the end, Lovino had decided on one of the powdered ones she had just brought out.

"I also think I make a mean carrot cake. Tim's rabbit seems to think so -here or to-go?"

"Um, here." Lovino replied and Emma put the pastry on a small dish and walked to the register where Lovino paid. "So, your brother has a rabbit?"

Emma nodded and hummed in agreement, putting the money in the register and handing him his receipt. "He doesn't seem the type, I know. Our parent's gave him the rabbit around the same time that we got Pelze, the family dog. Shortly after getting her we found out that Tim was allergic to dogs, but we couldn't give Pelze away because she had really become Louis' dog."

"Louis?" Lovino asked, not remembering hearing the name anywhere.

Emma slid the dish across the counter, "Yeah, our younger brother. He loved Pelze from the moment we got her."

"Antonio said your parents were visiting him." Lovino recalled.

Emma looked down at the counter. "Yeah. It's kind of a long story, but, basically, Louis got into some trouble last year, so now he's attending a rehabilitation school." Emma looked up and shrugged, "It's kind of far away so my parents will take the weekend to go visit. Tim and I couldn't go this time because they aren't due back until this evening, so we would have missed school."

"Oh." Lovino was taken off guard by the admission, "I'm sorry. You didn't have to tell me..."

Emma just shrugged again. "It's not like everyone doesn't know already."

Lovino knew the feeling. That was exactly the reason he had been so relieved to move away from their old town. Everyone had known everything about them -about him. They had known about his mom and his disorders and every story of his childhood growing up there. Lovino had thought it was only like that in close, small towns, but it seemed that there in the suburbs it was no different. Word got around wherever you lived.

"But I like you." Emma continued, "There's something about you -I don't know what it is- but you seem like an honest person."

Lovino's surprise came out in one syllable. "Oh."

Emma laughed. "Yeah. And don't think for a second I won't be talking to you more now that I know you. You're in my Literature class, so you better get used to me being around!"

Lovino was surprised once again, but before he could think of anything dumb to say Emma spoke up again. "Well, I've got to get back to work. Go eat and tell me what you think later. Thanks for coming in!"

Lovino nodded and Emma turned back into the backroom where the sound of another beeping oven was going off. Lovino turned as well and sat at a table by the window. The pastry really was delicious.

As Lovino looked out the window one thought occurred in his mind. Had he just made a friend?

-/-

The next day Lovino was fully prepared to avoid Antonio once again. He knew that if he saw him he wouldn't have been able to say anything more than he had the previous day, which, to clarify, hadn't been a single word. Lovino had this in mind as he made his morning trek to school, relieved Antonio hadn't gotten up early like he had on a few select occasions to walk with him, and continued to be on the look-out throughout the day until he finally noticed that he was avoiding someone who wasn't even at the school that day.

Lovino didn't even notice until the class change between third and fourth period that the other wasn't there. He had walked around the corner of the math hall, mentally prepared to dart away at a moment's notice. This was the spot Lovino saw Antonio everyday, as Antonio walked out of the classroom just at the corner and Lovino rounded it. The first few times Lovino had chosen this way he had nearly run into the other, but he had gotten used to making a wide turn around the corner now so that he and Antonio just spotted each other at a passing glance. It would have been a lot easier, though- Lovino thought- if he had just gone a different way, but each time Lovino would take another path he would either end up lost and/or late to class. It was frustrating to no end.

But on that Tuesday there was no Antonio. At first, Lovino thought it could have simply been luck. Perhaps Antonio was staying after class for something or maybe Lovino was a bit quicker at passing the corner that day. Maybe Antonio was avoiding him too… though that didn't strike Lovino as particularly lucky at all when he thought about it. By the last bell of the day, though, Lovino was sure Antonio hadn't made it to school that day.

Lovino took the bus, telling himself that he didn't want to bother walking when there wasn't Antonio to avoid at the moment… but another part of himself kept thinking about Antonio on that ride. That wasn't a rare occurrence, actually, especially in the past few days as the memory of Antonio's lips against his own replayed like an insistent football playback in his head (the real football, of course; not any of this American nonsense). His thoughts today, though, were more along the lines of wondering why Antonio had not been at school. The idiot better not have skipped. Lovino's eyes rolled as he thought it.

In reality, Lovino didn't actually care if Antonio skipped or not- Lovino had just skipped himself the other day, after all. It was the annoying worry that ate at the bottom of his stomach that Lovino hated. Nothing could be wrong, could it?

Without going back to his own house first, Lovino marched right to Antonio's after he tripped his way off the bus. Idiot. He scolded himself. Why couldn't he just pay attention to what he was doing?

But, before he knew it, he was already wrapping his knuckles against the wooden door, insistently asking for entry into the house. Eventually, Antonio appeared in the door looking sleepy, pale, and, all-in-all, very sick.

"Hey, Lovi." Antonio greeted him feebly. He was leaning heavily against the open door.

Lovino wasn't sure what else to say other than, "Antonio, you're sick!"

Antonio looked himself up and down as if just noticing. Antonio smirked like he found this humorous, then coughed into his elbow.

"Moron, didn't anyone tell you you have to be in bed when you're sick?" Lovino marched in, grabbing Antonio by the hand and dragging the other upstairs to where he knew the other boy's room was. Antonio's hand was hot in Lovino's… which was from his idiotic fever, of course.

Antonio practically collapsed into his bed when he came into proximity of it and Lovino pulled the covers over the exhausted figure.

"Who's been taking care of you today?" Lovino asked, looking around to see the room its normal messy self yet not a bowl of soup or a bottle of medicine around. "Where's your brother?"

Antonio tugged the covers to his chin, looking cozy yet terribly hot from the sweat that beaded his face. "School? Work?" He answered sleepily, not opening his eyes in doing so.

"What about your stupid friends?"

"They texted earlier. They wanted to come over but Gil has band practice and Francis has…" Antonio chuckled, "Hockey… I told them not to come. Besides," Antonio opened his eyes to rest on Lovino, a small smirk on his face, "This is a lot better."

Lovino was struck still by those green eyes and, naturally, a blush started to develop on his face. He looked away quickly and asked, "Have you eaten anything?"

Antonio shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"Well, you're going to eat something." Lovino turned to leave for the kitchen and didn't look back until he came back with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup.

-/-

Lovino was searching the medicine cabinet in the bathroom down the hall for any sort of thing that could help with fevers. As he pulled various bottles off the shelves Lovino couldn't help thinking What does any of this stuff even mean?

Lovino never got sick. It was just how he was, so why in the world would he need to know what medicines worked? Feliciano and Romeo got sick a lot more often than he did, but even then Lovino was nowhere near whatever they took to feel better. Usually his grandfather would sort out that mess and Lovino would be the one in the kitchen, stirring soup or pouring glasses of water. Lovino didn't know anything about the bottles of pills and liquid medicine that lined the shelves of pharmacies or the few that hid in the corners of that cabinet.

Lovino sighed in frustration and swung the cabinet's doors closed, just lightly enough to not shake the wall or the cabinet's contents. Lovino huffed back to Antonio's room, feeling annoyed at coming back empty-handed. That was, until he noticed Antonio was asleep.

Lovino paused in the doorway and looked at the peaceful expression on Antonio's face. Were people normally this content recovering from a fever or was Antonio just special? Lovino wasn't sure about the first, but one thing was for sure, Antonio certainly was special. He made the scratchy throat and sweaty face of recovering from a fever look like a relaxing day in bed.

Lovino picked up the empty ceramic bowl from Antonio's desk, observing that the soup had been eaten in its entirety. Lovino smiled softly, secretly pleased Antonio had liked what Lovino had made for him despite it being made from a simple Campbell's can.

Lovino took the bowl downstairs and washed it in the sink. After fighting with the dishes for a while and giving up on searching for the right medicine, Lovino found that he no longer had anything to do. Thus, he found himself once again in Antonio's room standing awkwardly and wondering if Antonio would wake up anytime soon.

You aren't supposed to want the idiot to wake up! He needs to stay asleep because staying asleep means he'll get better!

Yet Lovino remained standing there, half hoping Antonio would wake up and talk to him… then again, Lovino had been avoiding Antonio only a few hours before because he was anxious what they would talk about…

Lovino turned and scooped his backpack up off of the floor, shaking away the memory of that night. Might as well be productive while he was here, so Lovino sat calmly down at Antonio's desk (which was a lot cleaner than Lovino would give Antonio credit for but still in a disorganized jumble) and pulled out his homework.

Math. Lovino sighed. This subject was the bane of his existence at the moment. Math had always come relatively easy to Lovino but recently the problems were really trying on his nerves. He swore he was working each step of the problem out correctly but by the end his product was a scramble of numbers that did not make any sense when compared to his answer sheet.

Looking at the copied paper before him, Lovino decided that getting frustrated with homework probably wasn't the best as he was in the room with a sleeping Antonio. Lovino had no idea if Antonio was a light or deep sleeper, but he figured he didn't want to find out now.

Lovino stuffed the papers into his backpack, taking no mind to putting them into folders where they would be prevented from creasing and folding like they were no doubt doing at the moment.

The point was, Lovino tried to snap his mind back into focus and away from other stray thoughts, he would get far too frustrated with math so instead he should pick something else to occupy his time. Literature homework. Perfect. Reading never did him any harm. So Lovino pulled out the old school battered copy of The Great Gatsby from his bag and immediately proceeded to flip to the page he had left off on.

Lovino liked the book well enough. Honestly, Gatsby sounded like a stalker when he bought a house across the way from Daisy and throwing parties every night hoping without much reason that Daisy might happen to walk in, but Lovino could see how certain people could find it romantic. He didn't judge when his teacher gushed about Gatsby all class period. Perhaps it was a generational thing that established the controversy between Gatsby as a romantic and a creep. Again, he didn't judge.

Anyway, Lovino did like the book. It was an interesting read and the 1920's American life amused him. It wasn't his fault that he fell asleep reading it.

He could feel himself nodding off. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to be reading with his head resting on the desk, no doubt causing a large red mark to appear where his face pressed against the smooth wood. Lovino was nodding off little by little as the words swam together on the page. It was peaceful almost- despite laying face flat against the hard desk and back curved at an awkward angle.

He didn't even feel like he was quite asleep, yet a moment later the room was dimmer and his back was aching like he had been there a lot longer than he had thought. He didn't notice these things though, because, at the moment, Lovino was screaming.

So, about the chapter. Sorry it's so basic. I just really wanted to get something out here because anyone who still likes this fic has waited long enough. I said Louis didn't have a big role and there it is. Basically Emma and Lovino talk a small bit about him. And the Emma scene was a tangent anyway. Sorry. Despite that, thank you guys for helping me figure out what name to use for him! I love Louis and it seems it was the favorite for you guys too.

Also, a few dates I've noticed about today. 1. It's the five month anniversary since I started this fic! Wowie! (not that I've been publishing that whole time... I said I'm sorry alright? xD) 2. George deValier updated his profile a year ago... I don't really need to explain much into that, just that I think I'll go listen to some Vera Lynn and sob now. Sorry to be the bummer but I thought that deserved a mention. *cries*

I hope you all are doing well and thank you all once again for keeping with this story! Next update is hopefully soon and if not... someone yell at me?