Chapter 37

As much as Antonio would have loved to say everything was new and exciting now that he and Lovino were dating, it really wasn't. Their lives seemed almost completely unaffected by that night on the porch where they'd decided they were officially dating.

Sure, he got to kiss Lovino almost whenever he wanted (as long as they were alone since otherwise he got smacked) and he was usually allowed to hold his hand even though he'd originally protested the idea.

It was nice and all, they even went on a few more dates over the weekends, but Antonio couldn't help but notice everything at school seemed to be in a rut and wasn't exciting anymore. Over the next month and a half football ended and everyone was getting ready for thanksgiving break. Some people were going on a short vacation, but most were just going to stay here.

On the Tuesday of that week, Antonio was sitting in his car before school like usual, covered up in a warm coat and trying to keep his hands close to the little vents pumping out warm air. Since it's gotten colder he and his friends no longer waited on the front steps of the school.

The passenger door opened roughly and a bundle of jackets, scarves, and hats piled into the seat. Lovino quickly slammed the door closed again with a huff, glaring under the brim of one of his two hats. "I fucking hate the cold! Why the fuck did we have to come live someplace where it drops to -30° before fucking break!"

"Morning to you too, dear. It's not -30° either, on the weather it said was going to be around 38°." Antonio chuckled, reaching over the center council to grab the Italian's hands and pull them up to his mouth to bow hot air on them.

Lovino just grumbled more and settled into the seat, rolling his eyes at the other. "Yeah well it feels like we're in Alaska or something…" He stopped his complaining as his fingers warmed up, finally settling down until his face was only in a light frown instead of the deep-set scowl the cold caused.

Antonio just laughed and tugged him closer by his hands, placing a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth. "You're so cute when you're like this…" He cooed, smiling brightly at his boyfriend.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm not cute, I'm manly as hell." The sophomore grumbled, yanking his hands away to cross them stubbornly over his chest. "Stop distracting me! I needed to tell you something…"

"Really? What?" "I can't fucking remember now, you and your hands and kisses… I mean our annoying face and voice!" Lovino quickly covered up his words, a blush painting across his already red nose and cheeks that were like that from the cold.

The older boy just waited patiently as he thought, relaxing back into his seat and just admiring how the other looked. This was how their mornings normally went since it had gotten cold, Lovino would come and sit in Antonio's car with him while Feli ran off to go sit with Ludwig or Kiku or one of his other countless friends.

Antonio was jolted out of his trance when Lovino finally spoke again. "Oh yeah. Romulus said that you should come to dinner tomorrow, since we don't have school that day or Thursday. It's all Feli's fault, he let it slip we were together and now the old man won't stop bothering me about it…" Lovino grumbled, not seeming to like the idea of having a family dinner with him.

"Ooh! Really? That sounds like so much fun! What time should I be there?" Antonio asked, sitting up straighter in excitement. He hadn't really seen much of the twin's grandfather since running into him that one day, mostly only heard him when Lovino shouted out that he was home from school.

"Bastard, don't act like it's exciting! It's going to be weird and the two idiots will probably do weird ass shit, and then you'll think it's cute when it's really just fucking annoying, and I'll just hate every fucking second." Lovino ranted, his scowl coming back full force at the thought.

Frowning slightly, Antonio reached out and took his hand. "It's not going to be bad! I know you're worried about it, you're swearing more than usual, but it's going to be fine! Feli will be there and I've spoken to your grandpa a little bit before!"

He clicked his tongue in annoyance but let the Spaniard hold his hand, glaring at him still. "I'm not worried I'm just annoyed! Besides, it's not just you and us… The fucking potato brothers are coming over with their grandpa and parents too. Cause Romulus is an absolute bastard!"

"Why are they coming? I mean I get Ludwig coming… But why Gil too, and their whole family?" "Cause my grandfather is a dumbass! He… Well he has connections to the school, so he knows Barbie-wana-be-old-guy and they're friends, so he assumes that since Ludwig is over he might as well invite their whole fucking clan of potato suckers!"

Trying to calm him down once again, Antonio leaned over and gave him another quick peck on the cheek before nodding his head toward the windshield. "It'll be fine, promise. Now come on, it looking like the bell rang."

With a sigh Lovino just hit the older's shoulder lightly, too embarrassed to give him a kiss back. With deep breaths, both braced themselves for the cold before jumping out of the car and hurrying toward the warm school even though it meant they'd have to go to class.

xXx

The day passed quickly and so did the night, nothing seemed too out of place as Antonio went through the motions of being a highschooler. They were even cut some slack on the homework, he only had to write one paper, which in reality should have already been done but he'd managed to talk the teacher into extending it until after the long weekend.

He was just settling down to watch a movie in his room when his phone started going off like crazy, message after message making it buzz as if it was possessed. Frowning at the metal device he reached out to try and answer the desperate person that was trying to get ahold of him. The first name, and only, name that appeared on the screen was ~Mi Tomate~.

Change of plans.

Don't come over.

I'm not dealing with this shit.

Romulus is fucking stupid.

I hate him.

And all of those potato freaks.

Ludwig especially.

Just don't come.

Taking a deep breath, Antonio just pressed the little call button next to his contact name. He waited patiently until a rather breathless Italian answered the phone. "What do you want? I t-texted you all you needed to know. Y-you didn't have to call…"

"Lovi? Why are you crying? Or about to at least?" "I'm not! I just shut my finger in the door…" "Liar, tell me what's wrong, please?" "I just, I just don't want you to come over." "Why?"

"Cause it's going to be awful! Romulus is going to be embarrassing and Ludwig will be all stupid and annoying, fucking Gilbert will make me want to punch him and then their fucking parents! Don't even get me started on those two! Then the old man is going to be there too… and at some point Feli will start to cry I bet… Just don't come, alright?" Lovino ranted, his voice changing from sad to almost anger as he thought about tomorrows dinner.

"Shh… Truthfully, it sounds awful. That's why I'm still going to come! Someone needs to hold your hand under the table to help you stay calm!" Antonio smiled through the phone, not about to let anything his boyfriend said change his mind.

Yet to his surprise there wasn't an argument coming from the other side of the phone, just a long sigh and a pout that he could just hear. "Fine… Be here at 6:30, the Potatoes will be here at 7 and I want you to have a chance with Romulus before the chaos starts."

"Alright, I'll be there. Try not to stress too much, I'll be right there for you." "Whatever… I should go…" "Okay, sleep tight. See you tomorrow." "Yeah… Bye."

xXx

Ok, I pinkie-promise to get the next chapter up this weekend! It seems like every time I saw I'm going to update soon it takes way longer than normal. This time it was because we had 'spring break' which none of the sophomores actually got to have since we were required to go on a collage tour to see the three collages our school preps us for. It would have been fun, if they hadn't been two states away and they didn't cram 47 of us in a bus for the whole way… Oh well. On another note, sorry about the last chapter, it originally uploaded with no page breaks and I didn't have a chance to fix it until the next day. Sorry for the confusion, any who- like always thanks for reading and please tell me what you think! :)