I am so sorry for terrible formatting throughout this fic. I am still trying to figure out this website and it's honestly frustrating. I might just move to Archive of Our Own, you can find me under the same username.
Antonio jolted and bumped the top of his knees onto the bottom of his desk when a guitar played the bittersweet melody of Bésame Mucho loudly. Realizing that the tune came from his phone inside his pocket the Spaniard tried his best to continue his sales pitch to the customer over his headset as he dug into his pocket then swiped the end call button on his phone's screen and placed it face down. After he ended the call with the customer Antonio leaned back into his chair and unlocked his phone, wondering who could've called him.
"As much as I like Spanish music, you should keep your phone on vibrate, Tono."
The brunet jumped at the voice and slammed his knees onto the bottom of his desk for the second time, which received a low chuckle from the voice. Turning in his seat Antonio looked over to the left side of the cubical where his friend (and co-worker) draped himself over the wall. Unusual red eyes met bright green ones.
"Dios mío, Gilbert. You scared me." Antonio breathed out with relief and turned his attention back to his phone while his friend leaned further over the cubical in curiosity. "It's the school!" Antonio gasped quietly once he read the caller ID.
"Little Roma's school?" Gilbert asked, concerned. The nickname didn't bother Antonio. Gilbert was one of his close friends, and after Romano had moved in a couple years ago the Spaniard found himself calling his German friend more often than usual, asking for advice. Even though Gilbert lived with his parents, both of them worked and left Gilbert with his younger brother to care for.
"Yes, but what could they want?" Antonio's mind raced to all the possibilities. Was Romano hurt? Or the school on fire? Oh god, was Romano dead?!
"You should call them back right now and find out. I'll keep an eye out for the boss." The blond leaned back over into his cubical still looking concerned, the wall only coming up underneath the man's shoulders when he stood.
Antonio nodded towards Gilbert in thanks before calling the number, placing the phone to his ear that wasn't covered from the headset. As the phone rang, Gilbert began to stretch inconspicuously as he looked around the large set of cubicles. Antonio's attention was snapped back to his phone once a voice answered on the other line.
"Principle Tino Oxenstierna, am I speaking to Mr. Carriedo?" Said a cheery, yet authoritative voice.
"Uh, hello! And yes, but call me Antonio." No one really spoke Antonio's correct surname so he preferred to be called by his given name. "Is Romano alright? Where is he? What happened?" Antonio had never spoken to Romano's school before, so he had no idea what to expect.
"Okay, Antonio. There's no need to worry, Romano is well and sitting with me in my office," Principle Oxenstierna continued calmly, as if he had done this a million times. Which he had. "I'm sorry to bother you while you're at work but Romano has gotten into a fight during lunch so I'd prefer if you or someone you know come pick Romano up a little earlier than expected."
"Yes, of course!" Antonio didn't give a second thought as he exclaimed.
"Good, when can I expect you?"
"I'll be there in 10 minutes."
"Perfect! I'll see you then, Antonio."
"Yes!" Then the line went dead after Tino hung up. Antonio shot up from his chair and gathered his things, stuffing it all into his satchel. "I have to leave now, tell Arthur that an emergency came up."
"Of course. Is everything alright?" Gilbert asked as he watched his friend hurriedly log off of the work computer.
"Romano is okay but I need to see him." Antonio swung the long strap attached to his bag over his shoulder and then hurriedly left the office.
.
It took every ounce in the Spaniard's body not to sprint down the school's long hallways as he was led by one of the teachers towards the principle's office. The principle told Antonio not to worry but he couldn't help it, not when something like this happened and he was asked to take Romano out of school so early. What could've possibly made Romano get into a fight? Antonio's thoughts were swept away once he stepped through the doorway into the teacher's lounge and saw Romano, sitting alone on the two seater couch. The little Italian kept his eyes to the ground, his bangs hiding his eyes from Antonio's view as he picked at a loose string at the end of his sleeve.
"Romanito!" Antonio breathed as he strode across the room and knelt down before the boy who looked up in surprise but twisted his body away from the Spaniard just as quickly. "Are yo-" His words cut off once he caught a small glimpse of what Romano's bangs were hiding. Grabbing Romano's arms, Antonio tried pulling the Italian's body back towards him. "Who did this to you?! Roma, look at me! What happened?!"
"Please calm down, Mr. Antonio!" The Spaniard turned his head toward the familiar voice to see a man approaching with a plastic bag filled with ice.
The man was an average height, with deep violet eyes that peeked through straight, blond hair. He wore a blue knitted sweater with a white button up shirt underneath, its collar neatly tucked over the sweater. He had a kind, soft face but his expression was focused, telling Antonio he had dealt with these situations more than once.
"The school nurse had looked him over, it's only a black eye," the man added more softly with a kind smile.
"Yes...Sorry, I just…I was so worried." Antonio was a little shaken himself, like he was snapped out of a dream. He released Romano's arms and noticed the Italian was shaking and still looking away from him. Antonio did it again. He scared Romano. Guilt flooded Antonio's chest as he slowly stood up.
"I'm Principle Oxenstierna, but you can call me Tino." Principle Tino held out his hand and Antonio shook it after a moment of staring dumbfoundedly at it. Tino let go then gestured toward a room right next to the couch that looked to be an office. "Let's all sit inside my office for a moment and I can tell you what happened."
Antonio nodded and Romano slowly stood up.
Once inside the office and Romano holding the bag of ice over his right eye, Tino sat down behind his desk while Antonio and Romano sat in the two chairs on the other side, both waiting anxiously.
"Well, where do I start..." Tino sighed. "Romano is a very sweet boy, and very smart too! Yet he also doesn't like being told what to do by some of my teachers which can get him into trouble. Lately that's been happening more often than I like but that is not why I called you. Romano got into a fight during the lunch hour."
"He started it..." Romano mumbled under his breath, making Antonio glanced down at him. It was the first time since the Italian spoke since Antonio arrived. Romano shifted uncomfortably into his seat as Tino pressed on, taking Antonio's attention back towards him.
"I have already talked with Romano and the other boy he fought with separately and concluded that they both aggravated each other and they are both to be sent home for today. They're both old enough to know not to get into fist fights, and my teacher's will be making sure they will not aggravate each other anymore."
Antonio felt relived that it wasn't anything too serious. He had gotten into plenty of fist fights before, though once he became older and the fights more serious, the worse injuries became.
"Yes, Romanito will not get into anymore fights again. I promise!" Antonio was about to get up from his chair, eager to leave and get more information from Romano but Tino held up his hand, then gestured him to sit back down.
"I know Romano will do his best not to get into anymore psychical fights, so I also need you to understand that he gets into many verbal ones with not only kids from his class but teachers as well. He has trouble holding his tongue when he should, and I will not accept any verbal fights along with psychical." Tino's expression softened as his violet eyes glanced to Romano sitting beside Antonio. "I hope you understand. This is a place to learn and to grow, not fight."
"I understand. I'll have a talk with Romano once we get back home." Antonio said with all sincerity. Tino nodded his head then stood up, Antonio followed and the men shook hands again.
"Thank you for your time. And again, I'm sorry to pull you away from work!" Tino added apologetically, a cute nervous expression crossed over his face. "I hope you weren't too busy."
"Not at all! Thank you for calling me in." Antonio was slightly surprised by the sudden change of attitude. The man went from a slightly intimidating presence to a more innocent one in seconds. They left the office and Romano grabbed his coat and backpack sitting on the couch in the teacher's lounge before they left the school.
A deathly silence fell once Antonio and Romano got into the car and began their drive home. Antonio listened to the car engine, occasional sniffles, and adjusting of the ice bag coming from Romano for what seemed like a half an hour before the Spaniard decided to break it. He cleared his throat before starting. "Are you okay, Romanito?"
There was a long pause as Romano shifted in his seat. "...Yes."
It was a forced reply, but truthful from what Antonio could tell. There was another achingly long pause before Antonio continued. "So… What was this fight about? What happened?"
The Spaniard wanted to ask more, he wanted to scold Romano profusely about the fight and talking back to the teachers but he held himself back. He knew more than anyone that this would only upset Romano more than he already was, then he'd recoil back into himself and avoid speaking about the situation for months. No, Antonio had to be careful. Romano was only 9 after all, he was still a young boy. Romano's shaky sigh interrupted the man's thoughts and Antonio stole a quick glance at the little Italian to see him playing with the bag of ice.
"Just some stupid kid, it doesn't matter anymore." Romano grumbled before quietly adding, "I promise I won't do it again…."
The car grew silent again for a few minutes.
"Roma… I'm not mad at you, and I'm sorry that I scared you earlier." Romano's breath hitched and Antonio inwardly cringed, hoping he didn't too big of a nerve. "I know something happened. And I just want to make sure you're alright. So what happened? Please tell me, mi tomate." Antonio could see out of the corner of his eye the little Italian's face grew a dark red and the Spaniard smiled a little.
"I- It's nothing! The brat was being annoying so I knocked him down with my lunch tray."
Antonio had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his smile from growing bigger as he imagined the cute, tiny adorable Romano swinging his tray with such force it could knock another child down. No, this was not a laughing matter, he had to be serious.
"Where did you hit him?" Why did Antonio needed to know this?
"His face." Romano replied guiltily.
"How hard did he fall?" Antonio's smile grew.
"… Pretty hard."
Antonio burst out laughing, now having a clearer image of what happened.
"Why are you laughing, bastard?! It's not funny!" Romano shouted angrily at the Spaniard.
"Lo siento, Romanito! I'm sorry but…" Antonio's laughter died down into light chuckles. "I'm just glad you at least knocked the little brat down." Once Antonio could control his laughter better, he noticed Romano had kept quiet. Glancing over he saw the boy glaring down at the bag of ice that was now cold water. Antonio barely saw it, but there was a smile tugging at the corner of the Italian's lips.
.
Once they were back inside, away from the snowy cold weather, Antonio walked into the kitchen as he rolled up his sleeves and Romano plopped down onto one of the chairs by the kitchen table. "How about I make us some churros for lunch? Oh! What about cannoli? We can do an Italian dessert for a change."
"No."
Antonio froze. Romano's reply was so sudden and so stern. Turning on his heel Antonio's eyes met Romano's fiery ones only for a second before the Italian bowed his head then glared at his feet with softer, more glossy eyes as he swung his legs back and forth. Something upset him again, and if Antonio had to take a guess it was because of the fight from earlier that day.
"Romanito? Why don't you want connoli?" Antonio asked carefully.
"I.. I just don't like it. That's all!" The Italian pressed the cold water bag to his face as he turned it away from Antonio. That was an obvious lie, but Antonio had to wonder.
"It's about the fight at school, right? But why would you fight over connoli-"
"It's not about the goddamn connolis, okay?! My grandpa used to make them, and..." Romano trailed off, hesitating to finish his sentence.
"Did the annoying kid say something about your grandpa?" Antonio almost whispered, afraid he'd scare the little boy away.
Romano slowly nodded then softly spoke, "He said my grandpa was probably happy to be dead because I was so useless and annoying."
Anotnio felt a burning rage build up in his lungs. How could someone say such a horrible thing to a child? A child that was obviously still hurt over his last living relative's death. He didn't care who said it. Everyone should know how painful it is to suddenly lose everything. Antonio noticed how Romano's legs stopped swinging as his body slowly curled closer together. It didn't matter who hurt Romano now, what mattered was making the little Italian smile again.
Antonio stepped forward then knelt down in front of Romano, gently placing his hand over the Italian's that held the watery bag and pushed it down away from his eye while he held onto Romano's other free hand. The Spaniard brushed Romano's bangs from his face and tucked the locks of hair behind his ear as he glazed into the young boy's eyes. Romano's right eye really was swollen and black, he'd have to get more ice to put on it soon but that can wait for just a bit longer.
"Romanito. You are not useless or annoying. What that boy said to you was mean, and it is not at all true. Your grandpa..." Antonio had to pause. He did not know Romano's grandfather well, Antonio had only used to work for the man. But he knew Romano was extremely close to the old man and he didn't want to accidentally say something wrong. But there was a light that gleamed in Romano's eyes at the mention of his grandpa, something Antonio had never seen before and it encourage the Spaniard to keep going. "Your grandpa loved you so much, and he was so proud of you, Romanito. So proud, he'd tell everyone of the littlest thing you did that day and how amazed he was. And you are amazing, Tomate. With your great taste you know just how much salt you need to add in the water for the spaghetti. You dance like a natural, sing beautifully, and above all you love passionately. You care for your loved ones deeply, and that makes you so strong and so magnificent. Your grandpa loved you just the way you are. So don't ever let anyone tell you differently."
Antonio watched Romano's face swell as his cheeks reddened and fat tears escaped his puffy eyes. The Spaniard felt like crying himself at such a broken, yet happy face. Romano closed his eyes as he shook his head then flung his arms around the Spaniard's broad shoulders as he choked back loud sobs. The water bag fell somewhere, probably leaking onto the floor but Antonio didn't care as he wrapped his arms tightly around the small boy, his hand running through the Italian's smooth hair. They stayed there for a while, Romano sobbing into Antonio's chest as the Spaniard stroked the boy's head, muttering soothing words as they clung together. A flame had sparked inside the Spaniard's chest. A new promise to make the young boy have the best life that he could be given.