"Hello." A soft voice said, tearing Severus' attention away from his essay. His green eyes locked onto a girl whom he slightly recognized. Her hair was dark and pulled into a messy bun, her eyes were a golden amber color that almost reminded him of honey, but were a shade or two too dark. She had a nice smile, one that was now aimed at him. "You're in my psych class, right? I wasn't there when he gave out the homework. Do you mind if I get it from you?"

She's not just here for homework. He swallowed and smiled nervously at her, the corners of his mouth threatening to dip into a fearful frown. He quickly scribbled the assignment onto a scratch piece of paper and handed it to her. "He wanted us to do some work out of the book. It's due by the end of the week. I've already started on it and-" He was cut off by someone screaming and the sound was rapidly growing louder. He turned just in time to be tackled to the ground and he grunted. "Sev! Guess what!"

He gently pushed Abelia off him and got up, watching his apparent classmate carefully. The playfulness in her eyes seemed to have dulled a bit, but she masked her disappointment and smiled at him again. "Thank you." Her voice was overly polite and she turned and sashayed off. Bell sent him an apologetic smile. "Did I mess up your opportunity to get a date?"

Severus shook his head and put his things into his bag. "No. To be honest, I was kinda terrified."

His sister was staring at him curiously now. "Why?"

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes. "You know I don't talk to people very much. Especially not girls."

She sent him a coy yet sympathetic smile. "Honestly, you're such a spoilsport. Come on!" She turned and bounded away from him. "Dad says mom's plane just landed." This got the brunette boys attention and he followed his sister, periodically glancing over his shoulder. If he was being honest with himself, he was happy Bell had showed up when she had. Having social anxiety made it really hard to try and go on a date with someone. "You're such a mama's boy, Sev." This snapped him out of his train of thought and he rolled his eyes. "Yes, we've established this. At least I'm not a daddy's girl."

Abelia rolled her mismatched eyes. "You couldn't be even if you wanted to."

"Yeah, because I'm not a girl."

"That's not what I was going to say, but that too."

"What were you going to say?"

"You and dad don't have a very good relationship."

"Maybe not by your standards." Truthfully, Severus and his father didn't get along as well as they could and probably should have. They just had a hard time connecting, or at least, that's what they told everyone else. Both were content to leave the other in peace and while they both cared about each other, neither were sure how to express it. Abelia didn't have this problem and that was one thing her elder brother envied about her. While he could barely talk to his own father, she could walk up to a perfect stranger and start a normal seeming conversation. They made it home about twenty minutes later and Severus went upstairs to put his school things away. When he came downstairs, Bell was chattering away and his father was sitting next to her, partially listening and partially paying attention to his phone. Maybe his was checking the time? Sev checked the clock, then walked into the living room and plopped onto the couch. "Dad, when is mom supposed to get here?"

"About half an hour."

"We're not going to pick her up?"

"She knows how to get here. If we go to pick her up, she'll probably freak out."

The brunette boy processed that and couldn't help agreeing with his father. His mother had a habit of getting extremely uncomfortable whenever anyone did anything for her. He imagined he'd gotten his lack of social skills from her. Around forty five minutes later, there was a soft knock at the door. Severus, who'd been anxiously tapping a beat out on his knee, sprang up and rushed to the door. "I'll get it!" He fumbled with the lock, his fingers slipping until he finally got it unlocked and flung the door open, revealing his very flustered looking mother. A wide grin broke out on his face and he flung himself at her, wrapping her in a tight hug. She stumbled back, but returned his embrace and chuckled. "Well, hello to you too."

"Severus, let your mother in the door."

"He's fine, Lovi."

Despite her reassurance, the brunette boy reluctantly let go of his mother and sheepishly went back into the house, standing out of the way so she could get in. The blonde gingerly stepped into the house, directing a small smile to her daughter and hugging the brunette girl gently. As Abelia stepped away from her mother, she watched her parents send each other mischievous grins. They were slowly but surely rebuilding the fragile friendship they'd had before everything had gotten messed up. "Hey angry tomato." Lovino rolled his eyes. He still hadn't come up with a nickname that he liked for her. After leading the blonde up to the guest room, the four of them gathered in the kitchen, discussions about food and catching up melding together. They decided on pasta and then felt the need to be adventurous and make the pasta from scratch. Lovino was convinced he'd have to teach Maddy how to do it, but she simply rolled her eyes at him and dove right in, taking to the task like a fish to water. The children watched their parents, noting how comfortable they seemed, despite everything that had happened between them. Both were smiling softly, a rare sight indeed. "Where did you learn to make pasta, Ragazza?"

Maddy's small smile fell away and her eyes drifted down to her flour covered hands. "I... I don't remember." Her voice sounded broken and hollow and Lovino felt like kicking himself. Everything had been going so well! Why had he let his curiosity get the better of him? "It doesn't matter." He replied quickly, turning away from her and rolling out the dough he was holding. After a few seconds, they all went back to their tasks, but the atmosphere was far from light and joyous like it had been before. A loud, rushed knock sounded from the door and the four occupants jumped. Lovino looked ready to murder someone. "I swear, if it's that bastard again.." He stalked over to the door, followed closely but hesitantly by Maddy. If whoever had attacked Bell was really at the door, she was going to make him wish he'd never been born. Lovino wretched the door open, but the person standing outside was not the bastard who'd attacked his daughter. Feliciano Vargas saw his brother's enraged expression and pinned him in a hug. "It's time for hug therapy!"

Lovino, as usual, started struggling and yelling profanities at his brother. "Screw your hug therapy!" Maddy snickered and he glared at her. The mocking laughter however, brought Feli's attention to her and he smiled widely at her. "Bella!" The blonde was suddenly enveloped in a bone crushing hug and she squirmed, wheezing out a "hello." He released her and she slumped against the wall, a hand pressed against her side. She was fairly certain none of her ribs were broken. After making sure everyone could still breathe properly, Feliciano moved farther into the house and smiled widely at both his niece and nephew. Severus looked partially terrified, but that was only because he wasn't a hugging person. "How's my favorite niece?" He asked, bringing her into a tight hug.

Abelia smiled and hugged her uncle back. "I'm your only niece." She may have been a daddy's girl, but unlike her father, she happily accepted and returned her uncle's affection.

"All the more reason for you to be my favorite one." He fondly ruffled her hair before releasing her and peered into the kitchen. "Did you know that mom knows how to make pasta from scratch?" Abelia asked excitedly. She doubted her uncle had known, since her father hadn't, but there was a chance he had. This caused the italian to send the blonde a questioning look. "You know how to make pasta, bella?"

She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Yes I do." She went back into the kitchen, muttering to herself and rolling out some more dough. "Why is that always so surprising? I may not look like it, but I am part italian." She stopped, her eyes narrowed in thought. "That sounds a bit weird, with the two of you standing there." The implication of the comment went ignored by Feli because he was busy cooking some of the pasta, but Lovino rolled his eyes and joined the two of them in the kitchen. Feli was soon captured and dragged out of the house by Ludwig, who left yelling about how the italian needed to stop skipping training. Lovino just rolled his eyes and closed the door behind the two of them. He was used to his brother trying to hide from Ludwig by coming over. Dinner was put on the table about forty five minutes later and they all sat down, awkward silence enveloping the first five or ten minutes of the meal. "Mom, question."

Maddy's unfocused gaze turned toward her son and she brought herself out of her train of thought. "Hm?"

Severus picked at one of his cuticles until Bell tapped his hand. "Alfred always seems kind of uneasy around me. Why is that?"

She smiled at him, her eyes shining with mirth. "Because you got your mama's protective nature." Seeing the confusion written across his face, she continued, "You were about three. The twins were almost a year old and Bell, you weren't born yet. You were about a week late at that point. Anyway, Sev, Alfred wanted to hold Selene but you wouldn't let him. You threatened to bite him and I had to convince you to let him see her. He thought you were going to finally let him hold her and you made him go wash his hands."

Severus' face turned bright red and he looked away, refusing to meet the eyes of any of his family members. "It's alright sweetheart. You've always been protective of your sisters."

"He's not protective of Brittany." Abelia piped up.

"Yes, well, that's something they need to work out themselves."

"Wait," Bell had focused on her mother again, her eyes wide. "I was a week late?"

"Two weeks." Lovino corrected her. "Scared the hell out of your mother. Though, I'm sure it didn't help that she started stressing about it."

Maddy held her hands up in surrender at his glare, but her eyes held a silent challenge. "Excuse me, but you don't know the effect hormones have on a person when they're pregnant."

"Not personally, no. I was around you enough to get the basic idea though."

The blonde chuckled as the many times she'd threatened to brutally murder the italian only to act like a cat a few minutes later came back to her. "Yeah, the mood swings were awful." She turned her attention back to her daughter. "But, yes, you were born two weeks after the due date the doctors told us and I freaked out because I thought something might have been wrong."

"You always assume the worst." Lovino muttered before going back to his food. Maddy stuck her tongue out at him, even though he wasn't paying attention to her the redirected her attention to her own plate. She twirled some pasta around her fork and the meal continued in silence. Abelia felt her phone vibrate and checked the message, her cheeks gaining a pink tint. She smiled, quickly lifting her napkin to her mouth to hide it. "May I be excused?" Her father nodded and she got up, putting her plate on the counter before hurrying up to her room and closing the door. She scrambled over to her window and opened it, leaning out.

"Rapunzel, rapunzel. Let down your hair."

She giggled. "Emilio, my hair isn't long enough to do that. Besides, having someone climb up your hair sounds like it would hurt."

The dark haired boy grinned up at her. "Then I'll just have to climb up the vines."

"No, both my parents are still awake. It's not even that late."

His eyes widened. "That's right. You're mom is visiting this weekend. I can come back later."

Bell shook her head. "Give me a second. I'll be right there." She turned and grabbed her jacket, shoving her feet into her boots. A knock at the door made her freeze and she hesitantly went over, peeking out. "Sev!"

Her older brother raised an eyebrow at her. "Emilio?" She bit her lip and nodded, wondering if he was going to tell their father this time. He sighed. "I'll cover for you." She smiled and gave him a quick hug, before turning and rushing back into her room. She slipped out the window and climbed down the vines growing up the side of the house. She fell off the last few feet, but sprang up and followed Emilio into the dark. Severus sighed, watching his little sister go. If he breaks her heart, I'll break his face. He arranged a few of her extra pillows and clothes under her blanket so it would look like she was asleep. It was the oldest trick in the book, but it seemed to have worked so far. This is the last time, Bell.

He closed the door and went back downstairs, quickly telling his parents that Abelia was sleeping. His mother didn't seem completely convinced, but was willing to believe him. His father simply accepting the announcement, muttering about how Bell hadn't been sleeping well lately. Severus sat on the couch and a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding whooshed out of his lungs. He felt bad for lying to his parents, but Emilio was in the mafia. He'd be able to keep Bell safe, right? Plus, who was he to try and control his little sister? He felt sick. "I'm going to go to sleep." He mumbled, standing up. He was suddenly wrapped in a tight hug from his mother. He froze, stunned. She didn't usually initiate hugs. She released him and smiled softly before booping his nose with her own. "Sleep well. And feel better, you look pale." He smiled back and went upstairs, flopping on his bed. His head hurt.

A few hours later, long after they both should've gone to sleep, Lovino and Maddy were sitting up, discussing songs they liked. "I still say the original was better."

"I'll take your word for it, Ragazza. I've never heard either version."

Maddy's jaw dropped, but then she closed it with a clack and got up. "You're listening to it." She went over to the computer and went through the different functions and sites until she found YouTube. Quickly typing the name of the song into the search bar and clicked on the video, dragging Lovino over to the desk. "Listen to it." He sighed and started the video.

"There comes a time, when we must heed a certain call. And the world, must come together as one."

"Why are there so many different people?"

Maddy turned the volume up and paused the video. "Because they were doing a donation thing for Africa." She started it again and began pointing out the artists that she knew. "That's Lionel Richie. There's Stevie Wonder. There's Kenny Rogers. Michael Jackson. That's Diana Ross. There's Willie Nelson. I don't know who that is. No idea who he is. That's Bruce Springsteen. There's Steve Perry, he's from Journey. Oh, that's Huey Lewis. Cyndi Lauper. I don't remember who that lady is. That guy is Bob Dylan. That's Ray Charles. Um… okay, those are all the people I know."

The song ended a few minutes after and she searched for the new version, a determined glint in her eyes. Lovino leaned back and waited for her to find the video she was looking for. She skipped the introduction and steeled herself for the beginning but still groaned when Justin Beiber's voice came through the speakers. Lovino stared at the screen in shock. "Is that a boy?" The blonde nodded, fighting back both a smirk and another groan as the younger version of the popstar continued to sing. He didn't sound like a girl anymore, or at least, in the video of his that she'd watched he hadn't. She supposed though,m that that was because this video was pre-puberty and the other one had been post puberty. She wondered if people still listened to his music anymore. "That's Victoria Justice. I don't know who the other girl is. No idea what the blonde's name is. Janet Jackson duets with Michael. Randy Jackson is in this, but he doesn't come in until later." A Michael Jackson clip from the original was reused. "Okay, I don't know who that blonde lady is, but that's Miley Cyrus. I don't know who any of those people are. Oh, that's Adam Levine. He's from Maroon 5! That's Pink! I like her." Another Michael Jackson clip was reused. "That's Celine Dion!"

"The lady who sings that song from Titanic?"

"She sang other songs!"

Lovino raised an eyebrow at her.

"But yes, that's her."

They went back to the video. "Wait, so that girl is Victoria Justice?"

Maddy nodded. "Yeah. Hey look, there's Randy!" She pointed the man out. "He used to be a judge on American Idol."

"I see."

"Here comes the rap part."

"There's a rap part?"

The italian watched through wide eyes as the rap started and the blonde pointed out more people. "That's LL Cool J. There's Snoop Dogg. That's Will. . He played John Wraith in Origins."

"Origins?"

"It's an origin story movie for Wolverine. Prequel to the X-men trilogy."

"Oh."

"That's Kanye West."

The video ended soon after and they both sat down. "They seemed more into it in the original." Lovino said finally. "You knew more people too."

Maddy blushed. "Yeah. The voices blended better in the original too."

The two kept talking, the conversation drifting from topic to topic unless they got stuck on one or their stubborn personalities clashed and they had an intense debate. Eventually, they both passed out on the couch and were found by their children in the morning.

Mentioned a lot of copyrighted things in this chapter, so even though, I'm sure everyone knows I don't own these things, I'm going to say it anyway. I don't own Rapunzel or American Idol. We Are The World was written by Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson. I don't own Titanic, X-men Origins: Wolverine and all the artists who preformed in the videos are owned by themselves.