Disclaimer: If I owned Hetalia, you would know

"Fuck!" Lovino jumped out of bed as he heard his alarm screaming at him. There was a loud thud as he landed on his side with a groan, he tried to unravel himself from his sheets and his ribs ached from the sudden impact. He fumbled around "Shit!" he exclaimed looking at the time "How long has this thing been going off damn it?" The time read 10:45 how the hell did he sleep through his alarm, was he that tired?

Lovino had stayed up until after four in the morning consoling Feliciano and trying to make him understand his point of view. To put it simply, the young Italian, of course, did not understand. All he did was sit there crying forcing his brother to console him in his time of need until he cried himself to sleep. Lovino sighed knowing the course of events that were going to follow him forbidding his brother to see Ludwig, he had indeed seen this once before after all. When he was a kid Feliciano was head over heels in love with a little boy that lived down the street from them, the stupid little Italian was even convinced he would marry the young German. Alas one day the young blonde boy moved away with his family and had not seen Feliciano since. Feliciano spent months crying over his broken heart and Lovino was determined to do anything to avoid seeing his fratellino like that again.

Pushing himself out of the messy lump on the floor Lovino shook his head; he wasn't sure what he was going to do about the damn potato bastard anymore. He knew he was a bad influence on his brother, but, Feli was so heartbroken without him that Lovino almost wanted them together. Almost, not quite, he still had a little common sense after all. Oh well, maybe Lovino would have a talk with Feliciano tonight and see what he thought, it was his life after all. Lovino just hoped he would make a wise decision.

Lovino did not rush getting ready; he was already almost four hours late after all, what was one more half hour? He finally made it to the kitchen of the flat he shared with his brother when he saw a little note,

Ve, fratello, I am very sorry about all the trouble I caused last night.

To make it up to you I made you some pasta to take to lunch today! Have a

good day at work.

Feliciano

Lovino shook his head at the innocent little note, and sure enough in the large refrigerator was a plate of pasta made specifically for Lovino by his brother. It was a recipe unknown even to the older Italian, created by the younger some years before when they had run low on ingredients in the house. It had turned out to be delicious and Lovino was both dying to know what it was and enjoying the idea of it being his brother's idea. Though the same notion severely pissed him off; Lovino was the head chef in the most popular Italian restaurant in town. He had gotten that position by completely changing the tomato sauce to make it the most delicious thing in the world. Business tripled during the month that had followed this creation and Lovino was appointed head chef despite having worked there last then three months and having graduated from culinary school less than a month ago. That is also why they had begged him to come back days after his release from the hospital, he was the only one who knew how to make the sauce correctly and without it business plummeted. A similar situation happened about five months after his promotion when he cursed out the owner's son and threatened to pour boiling soup down his pants.

Despite working there for less than a year Lovino was one of the highest rated and most respected chefs in the city. However, no matter how great of a chef Lovino might be, Feliciano was better in every way. That is how it worked for about everything, Feliciano was better, cuter, nicer, the only thing not said was that the stupid little Italian was smarter than his brother. That would just be a flat out lie on their part. Lovino heard it his entire life, Wow Feliciano you are so talented, Lovino why can't you be more like your brother? Being as Feli was his little brother these sorts of comments hurt all the more and were difficult to ignore. He was the older brother, he was supposed to be the role model, the one Feliciano was supposed to look up to and try to be like. So, what the hell happened?

It was a question that Lovino had tried in vain to answer many a time. It haunted his dreams, his very existence; it was everywhere in his life and always on his mind. The cruel voices of childhood "loved ones" still rang clearly in Lovino's mind still mocked him, still could make him feel like a pile of shit being compared to a bar of gold. He blinked his dry eyes, immune from years of the familiar thoughts and realised that that entire time he had been staring at his lunch. He quickly grabbed the food and raced out the door later than he had even thought possible.

His lungs, ribs, and ankles all protested by the time he arrived and rushed into the building at eleven thirty. He froze in the doorway when all eyes turned to focus on him. His entrance had gained the attention of basically everyone in the room and he was too embarrassed to move. Several people who recognized hi grinned when he walked in, even if it was just because they were about to get the food they had gone there for. Several people looked at him with extremely confused expressions and those who recognized him explained to them. However, he was too busy making his way to the kitchen to notice the green eyes staring at him unlike anyone others in the restaurant.

Lovino could feel his boss's eyes boring into the back of his head as he dawned his uniform and went to his station, glad that he had made an extra few batches the day before. He gladly ignored him as he knew his boss was not going to say anything about his late arrival. That was he wouldn't say anything unless he wanted an even more pissed off Italian to be the one to make his lunch. Lovino started heating up the stewed tomatoes he had cooked yesterday to act as a base for the sauce and while waiting gathered the varied spices, fruits and vegetables that were to join it.

After he finished preparing the sauce he made a few loaves of bread, and some fettuccini (he does make stuff besides sauce you know) before he went to investigate the other chef's work to make sure it was up to par. After scolding over half the kitchen his legendary scowl was firmly in place and he went to start the next of several batches of sauce that were being demanded by the hungry patrons. During the mind numbing task of stirring the sauce Lovino's mind began to wander, and where else was it to go but the night before, and try to solve his problems.

'God, Feli, why the hell did you have to go and do something so fucking stupid? Are you that much of a fucking imbecile?' Hismind questioned theabsent form of his little brother with words he could never fathom saying to his face. He sighed and his mind continued down this path making him ever more rigid and angrier. That was until his mind settled on a calming thought, 'well at least one fucking good thing came out of last night…'

He closed his eyes content for less than a second before they snapped open. 'WHAT THE HELL?!' his mind screamed at him. 'Why the fuck was I thinking about that damn bastard?' an image of Antonio smiling at him the night before flashed in his head. 'What the hell is going on?' Lovino was utterly shocked by his brain's conjuring of the image. He chose to ignore it, 'It doesn't fucking matter, he doesn't fucking matter. I met him one damn time and I am never going to see that fucking bastard again.' Lovino felt a pang of sadness at his thinking this, for some unknown reason but it was with that thought his mind had been allowed to drift back to reality and other more normal thoughts replaced the one that had previously filled his head.

His day passed by quickly and soon enough the lunch rush was over and most people had either left or already had their food. He assumed it would be safe for him to partake in the same idea and take his lunch break. He glanced at the clock, which showed that it was just a little past 2, his typical lunch time when he was at work. He removed his pasta from the staff fridge before waltzing over to the restaurant's stock of food and removing the best quality tomato of them all. He got another glare from his boss but disregarded it, again, what could he do? He removed his chef's attire and washed his hands before exiting the kitchen and finding an empty table by a window.

He examined his surroundings while he ate as he normally did, and felt slightly jealous of the friends and couples enjoying each other's company while they ate. Why the fuck did they get to have a good time with their damn friends when he was stuck here all alone. He glared down at his pasta before stabbing a noodle with his fork and chewing it angrily. He speared another piece of prey and looked around the room; he froze with the pasta in mid-air when he locked eyes with two pure emeralds.

'What the hell is that bastard doing here damn it?' his mind racked itself for unknown answers, meanwhile Lovino could not tear his eyes away from the Spaniard then his mind added 'And why the fuck is he staring at me?' Before he could even realise what was going on he saw Antonio stand up and hobble his way to the lone Italian, sitting in the empty chair across from Lovino's occupied seat.

"Lovino!" he mused at his arrival with a too big grin spread over the man's face.

The addressed cut him off, preventing him from continuing, with a snap of "What the fucking hell do you think you are doing?" And a moment later tacked on "And how the fuck do you know where I work damn it, you fucking, creepy bastard?"

The happy young man was unfazed by both Lovino's tongue and the scowl that adorned his face and replied happily, "Well, I did not know you worked here until today when you rushed in. And I'm over here because we are friends so when I saw you over here alone I thought I should just come say hi!" If anything his smile got bigger and his personality cheerier as he spoke, although, Lovino was sure that that would be impossible.

"What the fuck bastard?" Lovino scowled and said harshly "What the fuck gives you the right to intrude on my damn lunch, damn it?" Lovino paused for a second other words from Antonio clicking in his head "Wait one god damn second, you have been here since i got here? That was over two fucking hours ago damn it! What the fuck have you been doing here for two fucking hours?"

"Ummmmmmm…. eating….?" Antonio tried as an excuse smile lifting up at the corners

"It does not take two fucking hours for someone to eat, damn it." Lovino retorted before demanding "now, be honest, bastard, what the fucking hell are you doing here?" He picked up the tomato and bit it fiercely glowering over the fruit at the man sitting behind it.

"Do you like tomatoes?" Antonio's eyes sparkled at the question.

'What the fucking hell does my love of tomatoes matter?' Lovino thought, thoroughly pissed before replying "None of your damn business, bastard, and answer my question, damn it."

"Aw, I love tomatoes! They are my favorite food besides churros, and maybe paella." The tomato bastard smiled and gazed off dreamily before snapping back to reality, "Oh yeah, what was the question again?"

"You are an idiot," Lovino replied before answering the question, "What the fuck are you doing over here, damn it?"

"Oh yeah!" Antonio chirped realisation flashing in his eyes, "Well when I saw you run in here you looked worried and since we are friends I thought you might want to talk about it."

Lovino replied almost immediately, however with less malice than he'd intended "We are not friends damn it, and why the hell would I want to talk to you about it?"

"Yes we are Lovi," Antonio argued "and it can help to talk about it, what's bothering you?"

"You mean besides you, you damn tomato bastard, none you're your business damn it!" Lovino was getting a little more than annoyed with this conversation, that was the only reason he was turning pink, not because Antonio thought they were friends of because he "Wait a second, what the hell did you just call me?" The irritable man inquired venom in his voice.

"Oh, I called you Lovi, it's a nickname, I have one for most people." Antonio answered happily, proud of the nickname.

"Don't you ever fucking call me that again, got it tomato bastard?" Lovino threatened and Antonio more or less just looked confused.

"But, Loviiiiiiii-"

"Never again, damn it!" Lovino could see the hurt in Antonio's eyes and it was enough to almost break him.

"But Loooooooooooooooooviiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiii!"

"Get the fuck out."

Fear showed itself in Antonio's previously happy eyes, "Okay, I won't call you Lovi anymore, can I stay?" Lovino glared but shrugged in lieu of a response. "YAY! Thank you!" The excitement was visible in the Spaniards eyes. The pair sat there happy for a moment before he picked back up, "So, where did you run off to yesterday?" his eyes locked with Lovino's for a moment before the latter looked away.

"None of your business."

"Please?" Antonio's eyes were large and pleading finally breaking the Italian.

"Fine, damn it you win." Lovino could feel the blush on his face and he exhaled sharply, wincing in pain at his ribs, before explaining. His statement made Antonio grin and look at his eyes, Lovino could feel his cheeks turning red, 'What the hell, damn it. He just looked at me, nothing more.' "Okay, well yesterday when we were in the club I saw my damn little brother dancing with some guy, who is apparently his fucking boyfriend or something."

"Why does it matter that your brother was there?" Antonio looked lost.

"Well he is fucking underage for starters, no thanks to you and your dumbass friends for sneaking him in by the way," Lovino deadpanned letting his anger dissipate into the air.

Realisation again flashed in his eyes and Antonio struggled to form words as a response "I, er, well, uh, YOU'RE FELICINAO VARGAS' BROTHER!?"

Lovino felt a slight panic and regretted mentioning anything, was this going to be another person who liked his brother better? 'It's not like it fucking matters.' He tried to calm himself, 'He is just some random guy I met in a bar who is trying to annoy the hell out of me, why should I care that he likes Feliciano better?' Despite his logical argument his fears did not calm and he was forced to speak "No shit Sherlock."

"I am very sorry about that, I told Francis that taking an underage person to a club would be a stupid idea, but he was all focused on how romantic it would be for Ludwig to show up and see Feliciano." Antonio shook his head "I should have made them listen to me, I'm very, very sorry, I feel responsible."

"It's fine bastard," Lovino no matter how pissed could not stand the sight of an upset tomato bastard when he could do something about it. "It was Feli's stupid idea," Antonio looked up at him confused and Lovino explained, "he told me everything yesterday. That's why the hell I was late I was up until four o'clock in the fucking morning with him crying and apologising all fucking night. Needless to say I was not capable of being here by 7, not to mention the damn headache I had from my minor hang over." Antonio laughed at this and agreed that it had not been the best morning for him either.

Lovino looked at his watch and sighed inwardly it was three o'clock, his lunch hour was over and he would have to go back to work. "Oi, bastardo, sorry but I have to go do a fucking job now." Antonio had started talking about another subject that Lovino hadn't quite caught and he looked disappointed.

"Oh, okay," his voice sounded normal hidden behind a fake smile "I hope that I will see you around sometime."

"Don't count on it bastard." Lovino turned to the kitchen just before Antonio exited the restaurant.

AN

Hey! Look! Another longish~ chapter! Yay!

Are we finally getting close to the good stuff?

Sorry it took me a couple of days to update I hit a mental wall after the last chapter and was basically like "I have point A and point B and just have to get them connected" so I tried to help that with this chapter. So then I obsessively planned and rewrote this three different times (Jeez if I'm this obsessive over a filler chapter imagine how bad I will be once we get to the good stuff).

I apologize because this is essentially a really crappy filler chapter, but things will start getting funny and interesting soon enough. I tried to put in some feels between them and a little insight into Lovino and his life.

I am thinking about doing an Antonio chapter, thoughts? As always faves follows and reviews are loved (and reviews are responded to of course). I love Const. Crit. so if you have any please let me know.

Also again I will say if there are any characters you want to see or pairings you want to make appearances then let me know, I am looking for a few to add in here to make it interesting.

Thanks for reading and Long AN is long . I think I am going to keep up this one AN at the end thing, I like it better.