Antonio was sitting on the lid of a toilet seat in the single cubicle of the corner shop's toilet, his hands pushing his dark hair into a messy pile. Trying to slow his racing heart, he breathed deeply, not caring that the smell of other people's pee and disinfectant chemicals were making his eyes water. The dim yellow bulb only just illuminated the room, it's on-off cord dangling helplessly and swinging from where Antonio had yanked it in terror when the door had slammed shut, encasing him in total darkness. Although he'd run in the tiny room as an emergency escape route, he was beginning to think that maybe he should have hidden behind a shelf instead. Much safer.

Sighing loudly, he dragged both hands back down his face, catching and pulling on his bottom lip. He stared at the ceiling and pondered on what on Earth had led him into hiding in a toilet to hide from the one person he had been desperate to see.

Three days had passed since the night when Francis had turned up, but Antonio was in a position awfully similar to the one he had been stuck in for the past three months: no boyfriend; no social life; far much homework. Lovino had been avoiding him like the plague since the morning after the drinking incident, when they had arrived to their shared biology lecture together, only to come face to face with Francis again. Needless to say, he had been loud, flirty and far too open with his facts, announcing to the whole of the group waiting impatiently outside that he had managed to "cockblock their mating session"; their classmates being the young, curious and socially starved vultures all teenagers truly are had immediately flocked to Francis and his stories.

Lovino melted down under the sheer embarrassment, not as bold without liquid courage backing him up, and had run away, avoiding contact with everyone.

Unfortunately for Antonio, this had included himself. Fortunately, he really didn't mind hiding out for a little while, until the hype had calmed down, and had followed Lovino's lead.

This meant they'd spent the next three days trying everything they could to avoid each other, even going to the extremes of running into cramped, technically 'Staff-Only' toilets of the local corner shops when they both happened to be in there looking for not-mouldy bread.

Which was why Antonio had been inside said Staff-Only toilet for around half a hour; facing his problems took more courage than he owned.

The shopkeeper had knocked on the door around fifteen minutes after he had locked himself in, inquiring as to whether Antonio was throwing up or not.
He hadn't been sure whether the correct answer was yes or no. It felt to him as if everything he'd eaten in the past day was trying to force its way through his throat, blocking off any attempt to push air into his lungs.

It wasn't that he was scared, as such, Antonio thought, just that Lovino terrified him more than anything else in the world. Including spiders (and weren't they just horrible motherfuckers).

Another soft knock at the door startled Antonio out of his pity-party, and he brought his eyes back down from the bumps and peeling paint decorating the toilet ceiling to the equally peeling paint on the door. After a second of silence, he answered with a shaky, "Yeah?"

A young woman's voice echoed in, tinged with curiosity and worry, "Are you okay in there? Do you need any medicine?" Antonio's muscles all relaxed; some people were honestly too nice to random strangers.

"Um... No, I'm fine. Thanks. I'll be, erm, going now. Sorry." He heaved his legs up slowly, ignoring the fact that they had cramped up horribly from sitting in the same uncomfortable position for the past half an hour and unlocked the door, wincing a little as the daylight streaming in from the wide windows assaulted his eyes. A soft squeak reminded Antonio of the woman, and he turned to her, flashing a friendly smile.

In the back of his mind, he dimly registered that she was an exceptionally pretty young lady, about his age, with a cascading mass of chocolate brown hair and shocking green eyes similar to his own. Her uniformed blue shirt marked her as a shop assistant, which he was more grateful for than he should have been. Had a customer been worried about why he'd locked himself inside a toilet he would've been more than a little concerned.

A minute of silence passed, until her open mouthed, glassy eyed staring began to unnerve him. Even her eyebrows were inching their way up her forehead.

"Is there something on my face?" he asked.

The eyebrows rose higher, and the woman's voice was breathy when she replied, "No, there is nothing wrong with your face at all."

"Oh. Good." Antonio stuck his hands in his pockets, rocking awkwardly on the balls of his feet, "Um. Thanks for letting me borrow your toilet." With a small wave, he moved back into the shop, searching the shelves for the bread and milk he'd wanted in the first place. He could feel the woman's eyes on the back of his neck even as he moved out of her eyeline and behind the rows of crisps and chocolate bars. Something about her gaze reminded Antonio of a tiger right before it was about to pounce on an unsuspecting …... and he wanted more than ever to just find his way home and pig out on crisps.

When he brought his bags to the checkout, the brunette was at the till, still staring straight at him.

When he left the shop and practically sprinted away, he felt her eyes burning straight through him.

Elizabeta continued to ogle after the young man as he practically strutted out of the shop, then whipped her mobile out from her bra (where she hid it during working hours), tapping out a message to her friend.

Eli B, theres a sex-on-legs hot guy strutting around town that I never knew existed. Issue!

The reply pinged in almost instantly.

O.M.G! Where? Got to see this. Is he a collge guy?

Eliza Looks about 17 so yeah probs is. WE MUST FIND HIM

Bella Mission accepted. Youre at work rn right? TTYL?

Eliza HELL YEAH. Get the others ready~

"Elizabeta! Off that damned phone, now!" Her boss' grumpy voice forced its way through the walls of his office, muffled by the thick plaster but still clear enough to be understandable.

Eliza smirked, stuffing it back down her top as gracefully as she could. She swore to anyone that would listen that her boss had super-hearing. But today, she wasn't interested in how he knew she was texting from in the office: She had a new game to play. Who was this mysterious cutie, and why did he decide to hide in a toilet for half an hour? It was a game she played often, and she was determined never to lose. It was time to call in the gang.

Antonio stood in his kitchen, hopping without realising from one foot to the other. He bore holes in his phone screen with the intensity of his gaze, willing it to light up on its own and tell him what he should do.

He knew what he should do, but actually going about communicating with Lovino was growing more embarrassing with every moment they didn't talk. He knew what he wanted to do, but he wasn't sure if allowing Francis near him with possibly copious amounts of alcohol was a good idea or not in his current state of mind. Who knew what secrets he'd end up spilling?

In the end, it was Francis he called. His day required alcohol to deal with, and a friendly face to untangle.

"Hey 'Tonio!"

"Hey, glad you picked up. You meet up somewhere? I'm in the mood for a drink."

"Sweet, I'm up for that. Hey, do you mind if I bring someone along? It'll be a good surprise, honest."

"Sure. See you about...? Seven?"

"Yep, I'll meet you at yours. Bye!"

"See you, Francis."

AN - 'Sup, people! Only a little bit late, heh heh... heh? School is busy at the moment, but I've been writing where I can. 'I'm Not A Virgin' should be updating soon as well!