Hey guys! I'm back! :D

I have a Maze Runner fanfic out on my AO3 account Crysiris. It's called "Dare to Hope". If you're into that you can check it out. I promise angst and hell if you do ;P. That's my forte, after all. ;) I'll probably post some more serious, darker one-shots, cause I only really use this account for long series like this one. :3

Disclaimer: You know the drill.

November 2013

Yes, if you were wondering, we trashed the Kirkland place. You're welcome. It wasn't my idea. I don't even remember who came up with it. Honestly, it was pretty rude, but I was too drunk on tiredness to oppose.

Yes, I helped. As I said before, I was too drunk on tiredness to think reasonably. I regretted it later when I was forced to chip in to pay for a replacement laptop for resident stereotypical-rich-kid #2 Arthur Kirkland. There goes several hundred dollars down the drain. At least Antonio doesn't know that I was involved. That's good, at least.

Unfortunately, I had to go home to normal life at some point. Yeah. Hello, boring life! I'm back! Are you glad to see me? Ready for me to fuck you over again with my suck-y conscience? Yeah, no. You aren't. Too bad. I couldn't stay in Boston forever.

There were a couple good things about going back home though:

1. Not having to hang out with Mr. Fucking Anghelescu after the Lizzy's sex talk incident. (I swear, he and Lizzy were at it like demons from then until they got back to their own turf. The bus ride back was living hell. I pretended not to be related to him...Not that anyone thought we were in the first place.)

2. Not having to sleep in the same room as Antonio. Need I say more?

3. Not having to hang out with the Karpusis and their dumb cats while their neighbor constantly trolled them...And us.*

4. Relaxing and sleeping without having to worry about who saw me.

I think that's all...Oh wait, I forgot a really important one.

5. Not having to have LudEli, or whatever Lizzy's shit ship name for them is, shoved in my face every fucking moment.

My life is a joke, it's such a fucking joke. Nonno was ecstatic about Feli's new relationship status and had absolutely no problem with the fact that Potato bastard is a senior...

Let me repeat that: Ludwig is a FUCKING SENIOR. It helps that he's Mr. Beilschmidt's son, who's Nonno's bestie/drinking buddy, but Feli's only a freshman. He's not ready to have his heart broken by this...Disgustingly manly shitbag fucktard.

Also, how did that bastard get a boyfriend before I did? There's absolutely nothing going for him, looks, personality. All he does is sit and intimidate everyone. He doesn't deserve Feli's sweet, honest, loving personality in the slightest. But nooo! Feli's obsessed with him, hanging onto his arms and shoulders and hugging him all the damn time.

WHAT CULTISH MAGIC DID THE POTATO BASTARD CAST ON MY BROTHER?! Feli used to be scared of the guy, like a smart human being! Like me! We even made his favorite pasta for dinner several and he turned it down for hanging out with potato bastard! He hasn't even been home in his free time since this whole romance started...

Which leaves me awkwardly eating with Nonno. Yay!

So it's November right? Probably a week after Halloween. (Don't you dare get me started about that. It was hell.) I'm eating Greek salad (what even) at 6:30 PM while Nonno reads the paper and drinks coffee. I doubt he even touched his salad. He's blabbering in his usual, chipper voice about some shit that has to do with the school and...Gilbert Beilschmidt. I have no clue why.

I'm sitting there scowling like an emo teenager, wondering how the hell my life got so bad. Feli's in love. Nonno's in love with the guy's family. I'm all alone, as usual, with nothing to do. My friends are all randomly on vacation for some reason. Don't ask, I don't know. Tino, who I don't exactly consider my friend anyway, is busy shooting up some poor, defenseless animals 'cause hunting season **. I have absolutely nothing to do in a cruel, self-destructing world. Yep. Maybe I could get along with this world person. We could base the friendship on how little fucks we give.

"I heard about your school talent show." Nonno mentioned, startling me back to reality. "Are you going to enter? Feli and I would love to see you this year."

Oh gee, not this again. "For the millionth time, I don't know."

Yeah, the school talent show. Forgot about that. I was going to enter, but honestly I have no performance skills. THE ANTONIO THING DOESN'T COUNT! I wouldn't know what to do, where to stand, if I was supposed to adjust the microphone and all that jazz.

Also, I'm an awkward little shit. Everyone with a working brain knows that. I couldn't just walk up there with a song and sing some shit like some sort of professional, and our school's contests are the new prom. It's a big deal. Everyone in the town shows up to watch. Everyone gets mentally judged on their fricking stage presence. Some people get huge scholarships if they do well. Everyone remembers who majorly fucked up.

I think it's obvious why I never joined. I can perform in front of my crush, but can't deal with hoards of judgemental people. I'm pretty content with just laughing at the people ruining their precious reputation here. Sorry, I'm a coward and an asshole. Great mix, huh?

"You should, Lovino." Nonno's nose was still buried in the newspaper. "It might be a good experience for your singing career."

Singing career my ass. No one appreciated my singing...Except for maybe Antonio, and even he was probably just trying to be nice. I know my childhood dream was to become a famous solo guitarist/singer, but six-year-old me's opinion count anymore. I wasn't going to make money off of singing. Period. At this point it'd just hurt to try.

"If you want to see one of your grandsons in the talent show so badly, why don't you get Feli to sign up."

"Your friend Kiku's entering this year." God, did he ever not read the newspaper and drink coffee?! Sometimes I wish he'd just choke on his damned coffee. It'd help him get his nose out of it."He's a smart kid, maybe you should follow in his footsteps."

Have I mentioned that I hate being compared to Kiku...? Yeah, I think I have. "Kiku's actually good at singing and he wouldn't pass up a chance to sing one of his shitty robot-singer songs without people judging him." I reasoned. "I don't know what I would sing and I don't have time to figure out."

At this point, Nonno looks up from his newspaper for the first time this damned evening. "Come on, Lovino. You don't have to insult your friend just because you're jealous. You're a fine singer. You just need the push."

Oh, now he was just reading the situation wrong to piss me off.

I raise an eyebrow. "A push into what? The pit of humiliation? Been there a bunch. Always loved the place. My favorite vacation spot. Sounds great. So fun. I can't wait to get there and dive head-first into that fucki..."

"Don't give me that attitude, young man." He says, so passively that I almost don't hear his words. "Plenty of your peers are joining up for this. Maybe you could end up in a group or something. It'll be work, but it's not anything you can't do. You're perfectly capable of doing something useful for once."

The statement startles me, slaps me in the face. And he said it so calmly...

It's like when you go to the doctor to get two shots. One hurts more in the moment, but the other...Oh God, it lasts for days, just an ache in your arm that takes so fucking long to wear off. That's how I felt, though it's not the I'm-physically-sticking-something-in-your-precious-delicate-skin kind of pain. I wish it was. It's a lot easier to control that kind of pain.

So Nonno's not even going to fucking pretend he's proud of me, huh? Not even going to pretend Feli isn't his favorite grandson. Fuck that! Can't he at least try to care? Feli never had to try to care, he just naturally did. So did my mother! Where the heck did that come from? Definitely not Nonno. Definitely not Dad.

I don't remember exactly what I did. All I could see was the old geezer glued to his coffee and reading the newspaper, not even bothering to look at the person he was speaking to. I didn't want to pick up the knife, however tempting that was. No, I had to get as far away as possible.

I need some air. I walk out of the dinning room, out of the house, sit on the steps or something, It was all too blurry. Was I crying? Were the neighbors staring? I didn't care for once. They could stare all the wanted, call the police on the kid scratching violently at his front porch. Maybe they'd dump me in the insane asylum that Tino belongs in, or send me to council children with the same problems I have. Honestly, I don't know which is the worst fate.

Speaking of Tino, he decided to show up, saving me from my intense need to smash my hand against the pavement. He's carrying a rifle over his shoulder and a giant turkey on the other. What kind of rifle? I don't know. I don't have any experience with guns. Hell, how do I even know it's a rifle? What do people shoot turkeys with?

"Hey," He says, completely casual about the fact that he's covered in mud, leaves, and turkey blood...Well, I assume it was from the turkey. Ew. Someone get the poor kid a bath. "What's up?"

I was in no mood to talk about Tino's hunting exploits. I didn't even know he was into that kind of thing! (But I wasn't that surprised. It just shows what a relentless killer he is.) Why was he here anyway? Didn't he live on the other side of the town? Did he walk?!

"I just came back from hunting for Thanksgiving dinner," He continued, ignoring the fact my face was a mess of tears and shame. He's probably used to it at this point. "but my aunt kicked me out of the house again." He shrugged. "Oh well."

...How the hell was he okay with that?

"...Do you need somewhere to stay for the week?" I managed.

Tino's laugh is short, harsh even. I wonder how a fifteen-year-old could ever end up like that. "Of course not. It's only temporary. She'll be bitching at me to come home in a few hours."

...Well that's nice.

"...Do you want to come..." I stopped, wondering if Nonno would appreciate me bringing my psycho, dirty Finnish friend into the house.

"Do I want to what?" His eyes challenge me, violet and bright and downright creepy. "Finish your goddamn sentences."

My mom always told me about the dangers of friends when I got older. They might try to make you do things you don't want to do. They might use force. Was Tino the kind of guy she meant? Was he the definition of dangerous? I hadn't seen any proof yet, but then again, my judgment was never that good. Bringing your friend into your house is a bit like a rite of passage for your friendship. Did I want Tino at that point of best fucking friends forever?

My Italian manners got the better of me, but not before I mentally gave him the finger. "Do you wanna come in? I'm sure my Nonno won't mind." Lie. "We've been dying for company all week." Also a lie. Without Feli, we're about as purposely reclusive as freaking Dimitri in his geek world.

Tino studies me, his creepy, glow-y eyes sweeping across my face, like a freaking bird of prey closing in for the kill. He knows very well that I'm lying and he'd gladly tear me apart for it. Then the animalistic glow vanished. "Are you sure?" Tino asks, almost hesitantly.

"Y-yes." Could this spiral of lies get any worse? Damn me to hell.

Then the weirdest thing happens. Tino's face, slowly but surely, contorts into the most genuine, sunny smile I've ever seen on anyone, fairly innocent and...sweet, if it weren't for the blood and the gun. "I'd really appreciate that. Thank you."

* Fan theory: APH Lithuania is secretly the fandom's biggest troll. Just look at Lithuania's 2006 entry!

Also, technically, Toris is not the Karpusi's neighbor, but somehow he got pulled into the story. (-coughs- 'cause he's my all time favorite Hetalia character -coughs-) He probably lives a few blocks away or something.

** I'm assuming November is turkey hunting season, but I honestly have no idea.

Thanks for reading :D See you in the next chapter, which will probably contain an important plot point. Stay tuned ;)