Sleepover Shenanigans

"Be good, Lovino," Mr. Vargas told his son as he prepared to leave his friend's house.

Lovino crossed his arms and pouted a bit, looking accusingly at his father as if the other intended to abandon him there forever. "You're just leaving me here so you can spend more time with Feli by yourself!"

His father frowned, putting a hand on his son's head. "No, I told you- your brother is sick. Mr. Beilschmidt was nice enough to offer to watch you till tomorrow. You don't want to end up stuck in bed all day, too, do you?"

Lovino tightened his lips and shook his head, pushing his papa's hand off. "Fine, just go. I don't wanna catch whatever that loser has, anyway."

"Aww, Lovi, don't be like that. Now how about a kiss goodbye?"

The man didn't get one, but managed to peck Lovino on the cheek before he left, waving goodbye to his friend, who placed a hand on the Vargas boy's shoulder, before herding him inside.

"Don't be sad, Lovino," Mr. Beilschmidt told him. "Gilbert's been excited to see you."

Before Lovino even had time to finish his sigh, a hyper ten-year-old bounded into him, nearly knocking him over.

"Lovi! You're here! FINALLY!"

"Oww, get off! You're hurting me," Lovino complained, shoving the other boy.

"We're gonna watch movies and eat candy and stay up until the sun comes out and-"

"This isn't a birthday party, Gilbert," his father grunted. "You know you both have school tomorrow. So no staying up past ten."

"But, VATI!"

"No 'buts'! Now come on. Dinner's almost ready."

Gilbert grabbed Lovino by the hand and hauled him to the kitchen where his little brother, Ludwig, was already sitting at the table, patiently waiting for his dinner. Lovino groaned. The younger boy irritated him for some reason, though usually it was because he stole all of Feliciano's attention. Lovino didn't see what was so great about a serious kid that was boring and a perfectionistand never cared to bend the rules, even once. At least Gilbert knew how to be rebellious and have fun sometimes.

Lovino slid the wurst and potatoes around his plate, barely eating anything. He missed his papa's food- none of this looked appetizing at all. Gilbert snickered at him as Mr. Beilschmidt glared at his son. Ludwig stared indifferently, eating his own food without complaint.

"Are you not hungry, Lovino?" Mr. Beilschmidt asked, concerned that the boy wasn't touching his dinner.

"Not really," Lovino muttered.

The man sighed, trying to think of what he could offer to the boy so that their young guest wouldn't go hungry.

"Well, I could make you something else if you like. We have bread, or cheese, and- GILBERT, STOP FEEDING HIS WURST TO THE DOGS!"

Lovino jumped at the sudden voice booming in his and his friend's direction.

"But Lovi doesn't want it!" Gilbert protested.

"That's not how we behave at the table! You should know better! Look at your brother; he knows how to eat properly and act in front of guests."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Yeah, Luddy just knows how to do everything right."

"You'll behave at the table, or you'll go to bed early!"

"Fine!"

Lovino sank into his chair, not happy to have to listen to the fighting. Things calmed down after that, though. Mr. Beilschmidt made him a sandwich, which he nibbled on until he wanted no more, and finally, they all finished dinner and went into the living room.

"Vati's gonna make popcorn for us," Gilbert told his friend excitedly. "Let's pick a movie!"

It turned out that didn't go so smoothly either. When Lovino and Gilbert couldn't make up their minds, Mr. Beilschmidt decided that it would be Ludwig's pick because "he's the youngest and can pick something you'll all like." Both older boys ended up falling asleep out of sheer boredom.

Around eleven o'clock, Gilbert woke up to a dark living room. He and Lovino were both sprawled out on the couch. It seemed his vati had covered them up with a blanket and left them to sleep there for the rest of the night. Ludwig however, was nowhere to be seen. No doubt the younger boy had been carted off to his own bed.

"Hey, Lovi! Wake up!" Gilbert hissed, shaking the other boy awake.

"W-what?" Lovino grumbled, forgetting where he was for a moment. "What'd you wake me up for? I'm tired!"

"Shh! Everyone else is in bed," Gilbert whispered. "Don'tcha wanna sneak around?"

"And do what?" Lovino grunted with a tired yawn.

"Come on, and I'll show ya," Gilbert answered, rolling off the couch.

Lovino followed him, hissing when he hit his foot against a lamp table in the dark. Their first stop was the fridge. Having eaten very little, it was definitely something Lovino could not complain about. He and Gilbert made some crazy inventions for late night snacks out of whatever they could find. Most of it tasted terrible, but once Lovino discovered the ice cream, he knew he wouldn't need much else. Sticky-faced and full of sugar, the boys wandered into the backyard next.

They played hide-and-seek around the bushes and climbed one of the big trees. Lovino only made it up a few feet before hugging the branch and telling the other he wanted to come down, much to the amusement of Gilbert. With just the moonlight to see by, the boys played tag, ran around with the dogs, and finally snuck back into the house, covered in dirt, to get up to even more mischief.

When Mr. Beilschmidt woke up the next morning, he found his kitchen in complete disarray- melted ice cream on the floor, bread crumbs all over the counter, half-eaten packages of food on the table. He walked outside- holes in the flower beds, dirt all over the patio, and a hose with running water resting on top of his favorite outdoor chair. Next, to the living room- sofa cushions on the floor, smashed popcorn in every corner, and bedsheets spread over makeshift forts. Gilbert and Lovino were asleep on the floor upstairs, and Ludwig, who was oblivious to anything that had happened after the appointed bedtime of 10pm, had a moustache drawn on his face with permanent marker. No one was allowed to host any more sleepovers for a long time after that.