Antonio and Lovino hadn't spoken in weeks. Antonio knew he should have gone to find his friend. He knew he should apologize. The situation had just gotten away from him. First, he'd needed his own space. Then, he thought he'd give Lovino space too. Now they had both been avoiding their tree and their normal routes in the school hallways and had been leaving their houses at different times than usual, all just to keep from seeing each other. To accidentally make eye contact and see the guilt and betrayal that resided in each of them.

They had both said things they'd regretted and, aside from it all, Antonio knew Lovino was still keeping something from him.

So, yeah, maybe they were avoiding each other for the words that had been said, but they were also doing so because of the ones left unsaid. Lovino had thought they told each other everything, yet he was the one keeping things secret.

Antonio wasn't one to usually hold grudges, but he'd be lying if he said it wasn't part of the problem.

Antonio still went out with Emma and he still talked over Skype with Francis and Gilbert, but his life had drastically changed since his avoidance of their tree.

So Antonio got a job to pass the time. He couldn't lay around doing nothing forever and he still had to pay Lovino back for his help with soccer fees.

Speaking of soccer…

Emma: You have work this afternoon?

Antonio was staring down at his phone beneath his desk in math class. He looked up and saw Emma winking at him from a few seats across and he smiled back, looking down again to type out his reply.

Then Lovino's little charm caught his eye. The tiny soccer ball, dangling from the plastic case.

"Mr Fernandez-Carriedo," His teacher spoke from the front of the class, snapping his attention up at the authoritative and all not too pleased tone in her voice. "I know it can't be my lesson on Trigonometry that has you smiling so fondly down at your lap, so would you mind telling the class what seems to have you so captivated?"

"Uhhh…" Was his intelligent response, but before he could think of some excuse she held out her hand.

"Give it here." Her hand waved him forward in the universal gesture for 'Come at me, bro', though Antonio was at least 78% sure that couldn't be what his teacher had intended.

He slid out from his desk and shuffled through the rows of tables and smirking faces so that he could place the precious device in her hand. This was what people must have meant when they spoke of 'the walk of shame' he thought as he hung his head and slunk back to his own desk.

"You will get this back after class." The teacher said from behind him and the sound of her desk door clanging shut sealed his fate. When he sat back down she resumed her lesson.

Antonio dared to peek around the room. First, his gaze found Emma.

'Sorry!' She mouthed.

He waved off the apology, mouthing his own 'It's fine!' and watched as she emphasized the frown she wore on her face. It looked much like a pout. Maybe it was. Antonio couldn't be sure because whenever the word 'pout' passed through his mind, the first image that flew through was always Lovino's cute face. When he crossed his arms and frowned just slightly, lips poking out just that little bit, it was one of the most adorable things Antonio had ever had the fortune of seeing.

Which brought his attention unconsciously to his friend at the front of the room.

Lovino quickly averted his gaze. He had been looking back at Antonio, but for whatever reason, Antonio didn't know. He liked to think Lovino missed him as much as he himself missed Lovino. He decided right there and then that he had to talk to his friend. Not only to say sorry, but to help him too. He knew Lovino wouldn't have been keeping things from him if it wasn't something important. A best friend had to be there for these kinds of things.

Even if he was still hurt that Lovino was keeping secrets.

But tracking down his friend was a lot more difficult a task than Antonio had prepared for. Lovino was really good at avoiding people when he set his mind to it. Once again, the boy proved more stubborn than Antonio had anticipated.

Antonio had originally thought it could be as simple as waiting at their tree for a while. Surely Lovino would show up sometime. He hated being in his own house. But the park was as desolate as it had been all winter. The cold weather had actually picked up recently, so in fact it was more desolate than usual. So Antonio remained out in the cold on many afternoons until evening came and he had to walk home.

He tried meeting up with the other boy in the mornings before school or on the walk home after. Antonio tried to catch up with him in the hallways or even pass notes to him in class. He texted him. Obviously. He texted him a lot.

No response. No way to reach him. It was as if Lovino was just out of his grasp and, many times, that was just the case when he was physically chasing after him.

Lovino was a difficult person, to say the least.

Then, on top of it all, Antonio had to go to work, spend time with Emma, do his homework. The teachers just had to choose now to make his life a living hell, didn't they?

But, in the end, it was as if all of that chasing was for nothing. That didn't matter one bit to Antonio though when Lovino turned up at their tree a week and a half later.

Antonio had been studying, sitting in his usual spot by the tree with a warm sweater and hat and scarf and a stack of papers in his lap, when Lovino had walked up.

"Hey." Was all Lovino said.

Antonio wasn't sure what to say, so he settled on, "Lovino," and a relieved sigh. Guess he'd had a lot of tension around this for a while.

Lovino stood there for a few solid seconds and Antonio let him. He had been the one to initiate this after all. He would give him the chance to speak - to yell at Antonio for what he had said, to defend himself again against the accusation Antonio had spectacularly thrown at him. When more silence went by, Antonio was contemplating taking the first step.

"I'm sorry."

Antonio had to take a second of his own to get those words through his head. "...What?" Maybe he had heard wrong…?

"I said I'm sorry, bastard." Lovino huffed. Then he visibly softened, "Look, I shouldn't have yelled at you and I shouldn't have avoided you. I know you've been trying to talk to me this past week and I've done nothing but ignore you."

"Oh…" Antonio responded. "But, wait, Lovi, shouldn't I be the one-"

"No." Lovino cut him off, shaking his head. "You were right. I had to think a lot on it, but I think I've known for a while how right you'd been. I study - I work myself to the bone - for him." Lovino sat next to him, opting to look around the park instead of at Antonio himself. "I want him to see me. I know that if I just do enough I might be able to make him proud one day. I really hope…" Lovino trailed off. Antonio's heart ached for his friend. He really had so much hope. All for this man who had never done anything for him but the very minimum. He still thought there was someway to get his father's approval.

Lovino subtly whipped away a tear that had been pooling at the side of his eye and Antonio pretended not to notice. "Yeah, so, anyway," Lovino continued, "I'm sorry."

"Lovino…" What was he going to say? He hadn't a clue. Stop worrying about what your dad thinks? He's a jerk and you should focus on yourself for a change? Please, I don't want an apology; I just want you to take care of yourself? "I'm sorry too. Even if you don't want an apology, I said some mean things that I can't take back. So a simple 'sorry' is the least I can do, right?" Antonio smiled and, for a change, Lovino actually smiled back. It was weak and his eyes were distracted by who knows how many thoughts, but it was beautiful.

Lovino's eyes cleared and Antonio knew he could see him. "Alright. I guess we can agree that we're both sorry asses and move on." Lovino shoved him lightly with his shoulder in good nature.

"Yeah, alright." Antonio replied with a shove of his own.

After a time Lovino spoke up again. "Um, hey, and you don't have to babysit me, you know. I didn't know that's what you felt about all that study break stuff we do…"

"What? Oh." Antonio remembered what he had said. I'm tired of having to physically drag you away from those books! He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "No, really. It's not a big deal. I really don't feel like I'm babysitting you. The real reason I got mad was… well…"

"Was what, Antonio?" Lovino asked, a little apprehensive. Antonio knew what that felt like. They had just solved one problem and now it was as if they were opening a whole new can of worms, one that Lovino had no preparation for.

But Antonio wasn't going to stop now. "You're keeping something from me, aren't you, Lovino? I heard you talking about it with my mom - and, no, before you ask I did not ask my mom about it."

Lovino looked down at his shoes. The black canvas of them was worn and the rubber at the edges, scuffed. Lovino fidgeted with one of the laces. "Yeah…"

"It's about your mom, isn't it?"

Lovino nodded. He still wouldn't meet his eyes.

Antonio didn't want to push him, but he knew his friend wasn't the open type. Just a little more encouragement wouldn't harm anything.

"And…?" He asked. Lovino looked up to peer at Antonio's face and Antonio cocked one eyebrow up. He smiled when Lovino rolled his eyes at the gesture.

"She wants to talk to us again."

Antonio nodded. As they continued to sit, letting those words mingle within the air, Antonio knew the conversation was over. Maybe it was for the best.

"Look," Lovino spoke again, "I know I'm a hypocrite for not telling you. I said we told each other everything then I didn't even tell you when my own mother started to contact me again. I just- I- I didn't know how. I didn't know what I was going to do and I still don't. And it's all so weird and confusing. Feliciano wants to talk to her but I don't know if I can."

Antonio nodded. "I get that, Lovino. I know it must be just really strange and uncomfortable. I mean, I still talk to my dad sometimes and it's weird. Maybe just a heads up next time, yeah? Like, 'Antonio, I've got something happening right now but I really don't want to talk about it. It's not a secret, just shit I'm dealing with.' and I'll be like, 'Sure thing, Lovino! Let me know if I can help! I'm great at avoiding issues and emotions!' and we'll both come to this tree and study or play soccer - ugh, football - until we forget all about it!"

"Wow, sounds healthy." Lovino said, a smirk at the corner of his lips.

"We're teenagers. We aren't supposed to be good at handling our emotions." Antonio said as if that was common knowledge. He relaxed and leaned back against the tree.

"We sure showed that well enough this past month." Lovino responded, leaning back as well.

Antonio laughed. "We sure did."

-/-

"I'm sure that's a great idea." Lovino rolled his eyes at the television, sitting with his legs crossed in the middle of the living room floor. "Do the thing that will freak everyone out! Not like you've got capable adults there to get rid of the fricking snake!"

Antonio giggled. "Would you trust Lockhart?"

"Alright, one capable adult there. He still didn't need to talk to it!" Lovino threw a jelly bean in his mouth and scrunched his nose as the flavor hit him.

"Okay, for one, he doesn't trusted Snape very well either. For another, how was he supposed to know talking to snakes wasn't normal in a school of magic? Look, he's saying so right now." Antonio gestured to the screen.

Lovino rolled his eyes again. "It's not only this. He does so much stupid shit all the damn time. Honestly, so much could be done easier by just telling an adult."

"Lovi, you've got to remember that Harry's never really had any adults to go to with problems. And sometimes it really would complicate things by telling the adults. Adults like to complicate things."

"So you're saying by talking to the snake he wasn't complicating things?"

"We've already said that he couldn't have known about that one. He didn't know he was complicating things."

"What about when here. They're making Polyjuice Potion. To sneak into the Slytherin dorm room. To try and figure out something that isn't even their business! Haven't you noticed that they like to butt into everything?"

Antonio sighed, long and forcefully. "Fine. You win this time. But only because it's your birthday~"

"No, I won because my argument makes sense." Lovino had a satisfied smirk on his face as he took a sip of the sugary sweet concoction they had whipped up in the kitchen before their movie marathon. A mixture of cream soda and butterscotch, or, as some called it, non-alcoholic Butterbeer.

They both turned back to the TV screen, reliving their elementary years in their socked feet and circled glasses and house scarves. Antonio was the only one of the two who would still dawn the glasses, but they both wore their yellow and black scarves they had gotten for the last movie premiere.

As Antonio had said, today was Lovino's birthday, March 17th, and the two were spending it exactly as tradition: dedicating it to their most truest of childhood obsessions (aside from soccer, of course), Harry Potter.

They had Harry Potter days down to a profession. All the movies on DVD. A handful of the video games to play on PlayStation. An array of witchy snacks and Honeydukes sweets. The books for debate and evidential purposes. Even their old Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit game that they knew all of the answers to but still liked to play anyway. All of that and loads of other embarrassing things that made the event geeky and special.

Antonio was currently waving his wand around like some hyperactive orchestra conductor. He drew words and symbols in the air as if it would stick like the glow of a sparkler before fizzling out.

"You know, we'll probably have to retire these wands soon." Lovino said, looking at his own wand in hand. It was made of a dark wood… well, wood may not have been the best word. Paint more like.

Antonio examined his own wand. It was nothing more than a chopstick with glue and paint. Feli had taught them how to do it, since he was, after all, the most artsy of the three. Feliciano wasn't as into Harry Potter, but he sure as hell had loved finding new ways to bring the world to life for the two. Plus, Antonio knew he had been fond of the quidditch games they would have in the yard. He used to use his trusty soccer ball as the quaffle.

But Lovino was right. His own wand was chipping in a lot of places where the paint had a tougher time sticking and it was only a matter of time before the cheap chopstick waved its last spell. Maybe it was time to put them away in some memory box. He didn't want to use it until it was beyond repair…

Memories. More memories in these wands. Days of pretend. Gluey hands. Shouted spells across the park and lawn. It was sad to think how far away those days were. He enjoyed the present, but he couldn't deny how appealing reminiscing on the past was.

"We'll have to find new ones." Antonio said. "Can't go around completely defenseless."

This earned a small chuckle from his friend. Their humor was interrupted by the soft thumps of tired footsteps clomping down the stairs.

Thump.

Antonio looked down at his watch. 12:32 pm. Not bad for the kid's birthday.

"You're going to sleep the day away, Feli. Honestly, you'd think you had better things to do on your birthday." Lovino laid back on the carpet and looked up at his brother, upside down.

Feliciano yawned, covering his mouth and eyes half-lidded. "Good morning, Lovi. Good morning, Toni."

"Happy birthday, Feli!" Antonio greeted. Feliciano nodded as he reached the landing. Lovino went back to watching their movie, flipping over to lay on his stomach. Once Feliciano had disappeared into the kitchen, Antonio asked.

"How long do you think it will take for it to hit him?"

The question was immediately followed by a crash in the kitchen, one in which Antonio sincerely hoped was not another mug, and the scamper of excitable and much more awake footsteps. Feliciano burst into the room, eyes a lot more aware and bright in the natural afternoon lighting of the Vargas' living room.

Feliciano immediately tackled his brother, who could not escape because of his new position on the floor and flailed about, shouting, "G'off me, idiot!"

"Oh my gosh! Happy birthday, fratellone!"

The two wrestled like that for a while before Feliciano finally let Lovino go, gasping as he remembered something. "Oh no! I told Roderich and Elizabeta I would go out with them today! What time is it? I better get ready!"

And as quickly as Feliciano had been there, he had gone.

"Every year. Every damn year." Lovino mumbled to himself, dusting his shirt off in a disgruntled fashion.

You see, the Vargas brothers were indeed two years apart in age. Somewhere, somehow, they had both come to have the same birthday though. Don't ask; Antonio didn't know. And neither did anyone else. It was just one of those freak happenings the world liked to confuse people with.

Lovino said it was just a day their parents had decided on, whether it be the official day or not, so they wouldn't be obligated to celebrate more than one day a year. Antonio found that assumption depressing, but he had no way to refute it so he said nothing.

It wasn't like his parents celebrated it anyway. Both Lovino and Feliciano had grown up without presents or cake or anything else that was usually custom for a birthday. Sometimes they wouldn't see their dad at all on the day because he would go out to work early and stay late. He couldn't say that Mr Vargas always forgot completely - the brothers each got at least a text sometime throughout the day - but Antonio still could not bring himself to see him as much of a caring father.

The Fernandez-Carriedos took care of it though. His mom made dinner and cake and Antonio always got them both a present. They were kind of lame presents but Feliciano always seemed ecstatic and Lovino looked pleased, so Antonio figured he'd done alright.

And many years ago they had started on their Harry Potter tradition. Feliciano used to participate as well, but in recent years he mostly caught the end of their marathoning, having gone out with friends throughout the day. It went without saying that Antonio and Lovino were perfectly fine on their own though. They had practically spent most of their friendship like that.

Lovino never seemed too phased by their birthday nowadays. He hated making it into a big ordeal. Antonio thought that maybe it was a way so that the brothers wouldn't dwell too much on what an actual birthday was supposed to be like.

Bzzzz. Bzzzz.

Lovino stretched his hand across the floor to retrieve his phone. Antonio knew who that must have been.

Or, he had thought he did until a perplexed look etched across Lovino's face.

"Who is it?" Antonio asked, more interested now that he was fairly certain the text couldn't have been from Lovino's father.

"My mom…" Lovino said the words like they were foreign to him. Antonio was as surprised as Lovino seemed to be. "She must have gotten my number from Dad."

"What? I thought she already had your number? Didn't she say she wanted to talk?" Antonio asked.

Lovino shook his head. "That came in a letter. She knows our address, but, you know, she lives in Oregon."

"Really?" Antonio had never heard that before. Lovino nodded absent-mindedly. "So… what'd she say?"

Lovino stuck his phone on sleep and tossed it away from him. His expression was neutral, but not the kind that hid his emotions from Antonio. He wasn't shutting himself off, simply putting off the discussion. He shrugged, letting his gaze find the TV screen again. "Just happy birthday."

"Before your dad?" Antonio asked incredulously. Before he could even realize how insensitive that statement could turn out Lovino shook his head.

"Dad texted this morning."

And that seemed to end the conversation. Or, at least, it sounded as if this was where Lovino wanted to end it, but Antonio was still teeming with questions. Had he talked to his mom since the letter? Had Feliciano? Why did she live in Oregon?

After a suspended silence, Antonio decided to drop it. It was Lovino's birthday, after all.

So he sighed and returned his attention to the movie. The questions would not go away, but Antonio could leave them alone for now.

By the time hours had gone by and the sky was dark, they had to pause halfway through Order of the Phoenix to eat dinner at Antonio's house. Feliciano had gotten home toward the end of Goblet of Fire, just in time to see Harry travel back to Hogwarts via TriWizard Cup Portkey. He had been watching with them since, but as soon as Ms Carriedo had called, he had ushered the two out, exclaiming that he was starving and that they would have waited until the end of the movie to move if he hadn't been there.

Which Ms Carriedo had agreed with him on when he'd told her upon their arrival next door. And which may or may not have actually been true. Yeah, they had done that in the past, but they had matured a lot in the past four months (Come on! Binge-watching that new series on Netflix was important!)!

For dinner it turned out that his mom had tried her hand at something from the Vargas' country. "I'm no good at cooking Italian, but it's your favorite so I thought I would at least try." Feliciano had cried.

Her Baked Ziti had been amazing. Mediterranean cooking was definitely her style.

Then had come the cake. The brothers were left at the table to awkwardly wait and chat with each other while Antonio and his mom went to retrieve it. Antonio had been the one to put each candle on and his mother had lit them with a long clicker lighter. They'd turned out the lights and sang Happy Birthday in a series of languages before the two blew out the candles.

Antonio remembered the light of the candles dancing in Lovino's eyes in just that split second before the room went dark. And he remembered afterwards asking what his friend had wished for.

Lovino didn't tell him, but the expression he had given Antonio after he'd asked had been the most melancholy look he'd ever seen.

Antonio's mom and Feliciano didn't seem to notice, too engrossed in their conversation to pay attention to what the other two were doing. Lovino picked at his cake for their remaining time there, looking quite calm in his sombered state. Antonio didn't ask again.

Lovino didn't have to tell him his wish. That look had told Antonio enough.

-/-

"Toni?" A light, angelic voice asked, squeezing his right hand. The dark theater and loud movie made Emma's whisper barely audible, but Antonio turned to her anyway.

"Hm?"

She leaned in closer so he could hear better, her words tingling against his ear as her breath gently caressed his face. "Let's get out of here."

Antonio expected his insides to knot or maybe his own breath to catch at the feeling of hers on his skin. As always, the feelings did not come. Perhaps it was just inexperience - he had never had a girlfriend before - but each time a little twinge of disappointment gnawed at his gut. He had always thought romance would be a bit more… well, more.

Maybe he had been talking to Francis too much.

Nevertheless, Antonio nodded and they quickly got up from their seats. Ducking out of the theater was an easy task, but deciding where to go afterwards was over Antonio's head. If he had been with Lovino it would have been easy. Everything was easy with Lovino. Guess that's just how it was with one's best friend.

It was a good thing Emma always seemed to know what to do. Once they were out in the chilly night air, she took his hand again and started to lead them down the street. "Let's just walk for a bit." She threw a pretty smile his way and he smiled easily back. A smile had always been his default in any situation and he felt bad that he couldn't give a more genuine one.

Sure, he was happy. It wasn't like he was miserable. He just wasn't anymore happier than usual.

As they walked, Antonio noticed how cold the air had become. Before the movie, when the sun had still been out, it had been warm like the mid-April weather usually was. Now, Antonio was glad he had brought a coat.

Emma rubbed at one of her bare arms with the hand that was still available to her and Antonio suddenly had an idea. He let go of her hand and whipped off his jacket. He would be cold, but his mother had raised a gentleman. He knew what was expected when you took a girl out. He'd seen TV.

So he draped his jacket over Emma's shoulders, much to her glee. They continued to walk in silence, hands linking again and Emma smiling giddily. Antonio was quite pleased with himself for that smile; he loved making people smile.

They came to a courtyard where someone was playing the saxophone under the protection of a gazebo. Emma was ecstatic at the happenstance and tugged on his hand, pulling him closer. She took his other hand and pulled it to her waist. She rested her other hand on his shoulder and they danced under the fairy lights that decorated the courtyard. It was a scene pulled straight from a romance novel and Antonio didn't hesitate to spin her like a princess.

He thought of when he danced with Lovino under the winter-stripped boughs of their tree. The pressure of finals, waggling his fingers in the other boy's face, his surprise when Lovino had taken it. Lovino's embarrassment and his red-tinged face that Antonio loved so much.

He hadn't even noticed that their spinning had halted until he was met with Emma's large green eyes. They stuck him in place, unable to say a word. He wanted to say something, anything, to snap him from the wide-eyed gaze, but it was like he was pinned. It made him nervous.

Then she was closer. No space was left between them and she began to elevate herself on her tip-toes. Antonio's eyes began to widen as Emma's closed. Their lips brushed.

It was his first kiss.

And, yeah, that's all he had to say about that.

-/-

"Soooo," Gilbert's voice asked over their video call, "How was it, man?"

"Oui, tell us everything, Toni." Francis agreed, both his friends practically bouncing when he had told him about the kiss.

Antonio scratched at the back of his neck, coming to find that he did that a lot when embarrassed. "Well, uh…" he wasn't really sure how to respond to these questions. How could he? He himself didn't even know what he thought of it. "I… like kissing?"

His friends laughed. "He's such a virgin." Gilbert cackled.

Francis rolled his eyes. "You speak as if you have any experience past kissing yourself, Gilbert."

"Hey!" Gilbert crossed his arms, leveling the boy next to him with a glare. The two were both at Francis' house, lounging on Francis' pristinely made bed. "You haven't either."

"Oh, haven't I?" Francis answered ambiguously. Gilbert immediately began to interrogate him, saving Antonio from elaborating on his own experience. It did not free him of the thoughts linked to it though.

The kiss. He had kissed Emma. Well, more like Emma had kissed him. Kissing had happened though. There had been kissing.

Antonio shook his head. Honestly, he kept thinking in circles. But what was he supposed to think?

How had it felt? Like his and Emma's lips were pressed together. Except… nice. It was nice in a way and he had liked it. It hadn't been anything spectacular, but with how distracted he had been through their whole relationship that didn't surprise Antonio. The pressures of a first kiss were just too much to live up to, he guessed. But it had been pleasant - a nice experience.

Pssh. "A nice experience." Was that seriously how someone was supposed to think of their girlfriend? What a great boyfriend Antonio was.

"But I heard that isn't the only big news you have." Francis' voice cut through his thoughts and once again Antonio was thrown back into the conversation.

"Huh?"

"Oh yeah!" Gilbert exclaimed. "We've got a driving man! Come on; show us!"

"Oh!" Antonio said, remembering and digging in his back pocket for his wallet, flipping said wallet open to the ID. "It's only a permit, so I still have to drive with my mom, but, yeah, I can legally sit behind the wheel." He explained, showing the permit to his friends through the camera.

"Good, that will come handy during our escapades this summer. I wish to be away from my house as often as possible over the break." Francis said.

Usually the three only saw each other during the winter holidays but they had been planning something special for this summer. Antonio's mother still had work, but the trio had planned accordingly. Antonio would be allowed to crash at Franny's for the month in California. The three had been planning this since Antonio's last visit and he'd only gotten permission to go a couple of weeks ago from his mom. He had been dreaming of summer sun and sandy beaches since. It had been a very long time since Antonio had been to California during the summer.

Then, with three words, those plans toppled before Antonio's eyes.

"About that, guys…" Gilbert spoke up, a fine layer of guilt tracing his voice.

Francis was the first to gasp. "No." He held his hand up toward his friend, "No, Gilbert. I don't know what it is, but we've been planning this for months - you can't back out."

"I'm not backing out!" Gilbert exclaimed, looking offended, but the guilt was still there. "If I had a choice you know I would stay!"

"What is it, Gil?" Antonio asked.

Gilbert calmed, looking at the computer again. "Well, you see…" he bit his lip, "My parents think it would be a good idea to send Luddy and I to visit our grandfather over the break. They're going on this cruise thing and don't want to leave us home alone, so I guess we're going north."

Antonio immediately deflated, mirroring Gilbert's already slumped position. "So, in other words, no summer plans."

Gilbert shook his head at the camera. "No, I mean, you guys can still have fun without me! You don't need me there!"

"But the whole point of this," Francis sighed, rubbing his face, "Was for the three of us to be here together."

If it was possible, Gilbert deflated more. Antonio immediately picked up on this and jumped to the rescue.

"Yeah, but it's not like Gilbert has a choice. And we can call him and video chat with him." Antonio wasn't sure if anything he said could lift their spirits, but it was worth it to try. "It'll be my turn to be on that side of the Skype call." Antonio joked.

Francis picked up on what Antonio was trying to do, and, though still quite put out, he helped. "Yes, Antonio is right. We've done it before. We can do it again."

Gilbert still looked down, but he perked up just the slightest bit as he said, "And I won't be gone the whole time. We'll just be there for three weeks, so that gives us a week to hang out when I get back."

"And maybe I can convince my mom to let you guys spend some time over here for a couple weeks too!" Antonio added. It wasn't a ridiculous idea. His friends had come over to New York before during the summer. If they could scrounge a few weeks after Antonio got back from California then the three could spend most of the summer together.

"Perfect. A Plan B. Make it happen, Toni." Francis clapped his hands together. "Well, if you don't mind now I must get ready to meet up with the Drama Club. So I will bid you adieu. Gilbert, get out of my house."

"Franciiiissss, you can't kick me out like that!" Gilbert complained, immediately back to his usual self. Antonio chuckled.

"Okay, guys. I'll catch you later then."

"Yes. Adieu. Adieu." Francis waved like some pageant girl on a float, ignoring Gilbert still protesting his banishment from the Bonnefoy household. Antonio waved enthusiastically and clicked the 'End Call' button, sending the app back to its original screen. He put his laptop away and got ready for bed, pulling on his oversized pajamas and brushing his teeth with the mintiest toothpaste he had ever tasted. His mouthwash burned afterward.

It was only ten so Antonio didn't go directly to bed, instead opting to watch some old movie on his phone while he sprawled out on his floor. His carpet had always been really soft to Antonio and he liked to hang out down there, do homework, despite having a perfectly nice desk and bed and a whole lot of other furniture throughout the house he had the opportunity to utilize.

But, speaking of homework, hadn't he had something to do tonight….

Oh shit.

"Oh shit." Antonio said aloud this time. "Ohshitohshitohshit!" Antonio scrambled up, tripping over his own feet to reach his desk. He dug around in his backpack until he found the rubric he was looking for.

Due Date: April 17

Yep. Antonio was dead. Antonio was so dead.

A whole essay due tomorrow. A research paper no less. In first period. Kill him.

"Lovino. Lovino." Antonio muttered, fumbling around with his phone and, having found the contact rather easily, put the phone up to his ear to listen as it rung.

"Hey-" Lovino's voice came over the line and, before he could properly get out his greeting Antonio was shouting.

"LOVINO, YOU HAVE TO HELP ME."

And that was how, four hours later, the two were still on the phone, still writing this stupid essay, and feeling like death itself. Lovino hadn't been able to sneak out because his dad was actually home for once, but the two had stayed on the phone and shared docs with one another for physical reference.

"Coffee break." Lovino finally said as Antonio was copying in another source into his EasyBib. The website was a godsend. "I need caffeine."

"Agreed." Antonio said, rubbing his eyes as the final steps to his citing popped up. He would get back to this. Caffeine was really important.

So they each went down to their respective kitchens, talking to one another in low whispers and praying over the line that the whirring of their coffee makers wouldn't wake up any parents. Antonio made his coffee with lots of creams and sugars and grabbed a soda in case more caffeine was needed later. He knew that at that moment Lovino must have been taking his own coffee black, the barbarian.

"Feli bought Skittles. Score." Lovino whispered across the phone as Antonio was making his mad dash back to his room. He almost chuckled at that, but caught himself as he snuck by his mother's door.

Feliciano had quite the sweet tooth and he was very prone on spending his money on cute things and sweets. Skittles, though, had always been something that Feliciano did for his brother, that Lovino knew nothing about. He liked to get them when he noticed Lovino was pulling late nighters or feeling high strung. Antonio wasn't the only one looking out for Lovino.

But Lovino didn't know they were for him. No, he probably would have never accepted them if he knew Feliciano was worrying about him like that. Taking a few candies from his brother's stash though? Feli would never notice…

It warmed Antonio's heart. He wondered if all siblings were like that. He doubted it, but it was still nice to consider. Maybe if he and Alfonso had grown up closer they could have been like that.

When he got back to his room, Antonio sprawled onto the floor in front of his laptop, eyeing the citation suspiciously. He sipped at his mug timidly, careful not to spill in his awkward position and switched the phone back to speaker.

"You back?" He asked.

"Yeah. Undetected." Lovino responded, his tone dry and tired but humor still there. "Give me a moment to get some caffeine in my system and then we'll start again."

Antonio readily agreed and sipped again at his coffee. He decided to take advantage of the downtime and chat idly with his friend.

"Good thing this isn't, like, real studying. I wouldn't remember a thing in the morning." This reminded Antonio of something he had looked up a few months ago. "Did you know that a unhealthy sleep schedule can disrupt your ability to learn?"

"Yeah, Toni." Lovino replied. The caffeine had definitely not done its job yet.

"I looked it up - you know, when you were telling me about your psychology class. It said it makes it difficult to store information properly because scientists think your hippocampus - the part of the brain that stores memories - replays stuff that happened throughout the day so it can store it."

"That… does make sense." Lovino replied, seeming to think on this.

"So that's why a lot of stuff you might study really late won't be easy to recall the next day." Antonio continued, "All in all, good sleep can help a lot more than late night studying."

At this Lovino grew silent. Antonio bit his lip, knowing he had struck a nerve. It was what he had been aiming for, but now he just wanted to get away from the topic. He knew Lovino knew this stuff - maybe not the specifics, but he knew how important sleep was - and he still couldn't sleep at times. Maybe this wasn't the best time to bring this up. Maybe Antonio should have looked for more answers first.

"But what else is new?" Antonio laughed awkwardly, steering the conversation away from this to anything else. "Um, I kissed Emma."

Was it Antonio or had that been a gasp from Lovino's end of the phone? It was so faint that he couldn't be sure. Lovino coughed a little and asked, "Oh, um, really?"

"Uh, yeah…" for some reason it was really weird talking to Lovino about this. It wasn't like he was going to keep it from him, but it also wasn't like it was that big of a deal either. It was Lovino. His best friend. Of course he should tell him. "I mean, more like she kissed me, but I guess?"

"Uh, cool…" Lovino said in reply and they both fell into silence. Antonio wasn't sure what he would prefer anymore - the silence after talking about the kiss or the one after talking about sleep patterns.

"Yep." Antonio finally said. "So, you wanna get back to work?"

"Yeah, yeah." Lovino jumped right on this excuse to blow away that conversation, and Antonio saw his cursor race down the page of the doc he was working on. "Alright, yeah, let's."

And the two began to talk again like none of that had ever happened. It almost worked too, if not for the looming weight of it hanging above their heads, but, in time, the two brushed it off. Their coffees gave them the extra boosts they needed to work through the rest of Antonio's paper with them both in a relatively decent mood. They cracked jokes and cursed the existence of research papers in their world and finished at 3:23 in the morning.

But they kept talking to one another afterward, though tired of being awake, neither were tired of the other's company.

And, before falling asleep, still on his phone with his friend, Antonio absently wondered what it would be like to kiss Lovino instead.

CV: Eep! Sorry for disappearing, but school is out and I now have freedom. Sweet freedom! I gotta be honest, this part (along with a good chunk of text ahead) was already written. But I have to at least look over stuff I publish once before I post it, thus why this took me so long. But the chapter is longer too, so maybe it balances? Hope you like it and the Chamber of Secrets probably was not paced right for how they were discussing while watching. And the overall pace of the story maybe weird too. But, yeah, okay. Shuts up now. Enjoy and thank you everyone for reading, favoriting, following, reviewing!