Okay, so here it is ^-^ Call Me Romano. I had fun writing this and I have a few ideas as to what I have planed for future chapters. I already have part of chapter 2 written out, so I hope to have it finished soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia

Thanks to Chi Kyoku who beta-read this for me ^-^

Enjoy!

Chapter One

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and Lovino Vargas was awoken from his sleep by both of these annoyances. He growled as he rolled his head underneath his pillow and groaned. As he did this, he felt two warm arms wrap around him and pull him closer. Lovino did not mind this, though he would never admit to liking the feeling of someone else holding him. He let his body relax a bit and snuggled closer to the warmth of his little brother.

Lovino was not sure when it had started happening, but whenever Lovino fell asleep alone in his bed, he would always wake up being held by his brother. The first few times, Lovino had yelled at Feliciano to "get the hell out of his bed and put some damn clothes on," but, after a while, they had fallen into a sweet pattern of waking up like this.

The smell of breakfast wafted down the hall of their apartment and into their shared bedroom, and Lovino realized that his stomach was starting to growl. He glanced down at his bare chest and then at his thin waist. For a moment, he contemplated whether or not it would be okay to just eat a little bit of food this morning, skip lunch, then have a snack later before he had to go to work. After all, he could not afford to suffer any unnecessary delays.

He gently pulled his arm away from Feliciano, intending on softly waking him up – but, before he could stop himself, he swung his hand down hard on his brother's cheek. Feliciano jerked awake, startled, and glanced at his brother with a confused expression. "Ve~... Why did you do that?" he asked, now holding his cheek.

"Because, oh Dumb One, Dad's making food and I'm sure he's almost done by now. Put some clothes on, too. How many times do I have to tell you I hate waking up next to my brother when he's naked?" Lovino huffed and rolled out of bed, naked as well, to look for the pajamas he only wore around the house, but never to bed. He pulled on his pajama pants and, not bothering with a shirt, left the room.

It was just as Lovino had said; their dad was finished cooking and in the process of placing their plates on the table. He looked over at his older son and grinned a little. "Oh, Lovino, are you actually going to eat with us this morning?" he teased.

Lovino rolled his eyes and took his seat at the table. His stomach was growling like mad; it might have been from not eating lunch or dinner the day before and only drinking water throughout the day. Maybe that was why his dad always picked on him for not eating.

Lovino stared at the plate his father put in front of him. Its contents were simple: eggs, bacon, and toast. It's not that much, he thought. I should be able to get away with just eating this. He picked up his fork and began picking at his food, nibbling slightly on his toast. After a moment, he looked up at his father, who was staring at him. "What?" Lovino demanded, annoyed.

"I worry about you, Lovi. Recently you've been different, and... I just worry a lot, okay?" his father said, sighing. Lovino stiffened when his father ran a hand though his hair before walking back to the counter to make Feliciano's plate.

After everyone had eaten, Feliciano kissed their father on the cheek and smiled before running over to give his brother a large hug and kiss as well. Lovino stood still in grudging acceptance; he knew that, if he refused, his brother would only cry. Feliciano hugged him tightly, arms around his waist, and pulled him close to his smaller body.

"Feliciano, if you don't hurry the fuck up with your stupid hug, you're going to be late…" Lovino pushed on his brother weakly to get him to move, but Feliciano stubbornly refused. After a moment longer, Feliciano pulled away. For a second Lovino could see something in his eyes, though he was not sure what. Feliciano waved happily to his family before he ran out of the front door on his way to school.

And that was how Lovino spent most of his mornings now. He remembered the times when he used to get ready for school like his brother, but that was in the past now. He did not need school; he had quit school to get a job and support his family. He worked with one of his father's old friends, who owned a fancy restaurant not far from where they lived.

He told his family that this was where his large paycheck came from, and they believed him.

Noon came too soon for Lovino. The walk to the restaurant was only about half an hour at most if he managed to catch the bus, but if he happened to miss the bus, he would be walking until his feet hurt, and that was not something he felt like dealing with tonight.

As he sat at the bus stop, Lovino felt something hit his face. Looking up, he realized that it was beginning to rain. "Damn it!" Lovino slammed his fist into the metal pole of the bus stop sign. "I can't afford to get stuck in this rain and get sick." He let out a frustrated sigh and pulled his hood over his head.

It wasn't long before the bus finally came and he was on his way to the restaurant. He knew, however, that when his shift at the restaurant was over, his real work would begin.

After leaving early, Lovino pulled his hood over his head again and began walking to his next job. It was much farther than where his family knew he worked, so he always got a ride from one of his fellow co-workers. Lovino was not fond of having to get a ride with them, but it was better than walking ten miles after his shift working as a waiter.

He stood at the corner of the block, waiting for his ride to arrive and shivering slightly in the cool November air. The rain had picked up somewhat since his shift had ended and was beginning to soak though his thin jacket. Lovino pulled out his cell phone to check the time and realized that his ride probably wouldn't arrive for another ten minutes or so. As he went to put the phone away, it began ringing.

"Hello?" he answered in his normal rude manner. "What do you want, Feliciano?"

"I'm sorry to bother you... I just thought you would be off work by now," Feliciano replied, sounding somewhat hurt by his brother's tone.

Sighing, Lovino replied, "No, I'm just on my break right now. I have to work a late shift tonight."

"Oh, okay! But you sound like you're standing out in the rain; you should get inside soon so you don't get sick!" Feliciano said.

Lovino gave a quick "Bye" and hung up the phone, looking back out at the road and waiting. He had lied again, and he could feel the guilt eating away at his insides, but he was doing what he felt was right. There was no place for him in the world; the only thing he could do right was earn money. Dropping out of school had caused some problems, both with his family and inside himself. But it hadn't only caused problems; it had helped solve some.

Or perhaps dropping out only helped him to think he had solved them.

He was lost in thought for a while, and it was not until he heard a car horn honk that he realized it was time to get going. Pulling the car door open, Lovino sat down right away, not even bothering to apologize for being soaking wet, let alone offer thanks for the ride. A few silent minutes passed as the car began to move, and Lovino closed his eyes, trying to put himself in the right frame of mind for his job – his awful job that he had to work if he wanted to…

The rain began to hit the car harder, and as Lovino glanced forward, he realized that it was getting rather hard to see the road with the way the rain was falling. It didn't matter much anyway, since they were almost to the place he called a 'job.'

Lovino pulled his soaking wet jacket closer around him and curled up in his seat, continuing to stare out the window as the car turned a corner and pulled into the parking lot. He refused to acknowledge that he had arrived until he heard the car engine turn off and the passenger door open.

Sighing, Lovino looked into the face of the man that had driven him. "You can't stay in my car all night, Romano," the man said.

"I can if I want to, Tempest," Lovino growled.

He didn't mean to seem ungrateful for the ride; he just never liked being here. Lovino knew the other man would probably get annoyed with his harsh treatment if he didn't take pity on him. Lovino dragged himself out of the position he had curled up into and pulled his jacket as close to him as he possibly could to try to conserve any warmth it still retained. The two of them walked into the building to begin their shift.

Since it was almost time to begin work, he did not have much time to get ready. Lovino walked into the locker room and went to open his locker. He pulled out his uniform and placed his soaking wet jacket inside. Looking at the shiny black boots, short shorts, and short top, he let out a weak sigh. He hated what his "uniform" consisted of, but he had gotten all of his complaining about it out the first week he had it; after everyone got sick of hearing him bitch, he finally shut his mouth.

The other workers had really disliked him at first because of all his complaining, but even after all of his bitching and whining was over with, many of them still didn't like him. He had been told that most of the other workers were jealous of him, though he was never sure why. He was only average looking and a decent dancer, and he never wore fancy costumes like some of the women did.

Lovino pushed that thought out of his mind for the moment and focused on getting dressed. He could use the dressing room, which was attached to the locker room, but it was always full of people. After a while, Lovino had stopped caring about where he got dressed, as long as he got into his outfit and out of it again as fast as possible.

After putting on his shorts, Lovino slipped his leg into one of his knee-high stockings, pulled on his boot, then did the same for his other leg. He reached for his top, something that only slightly resembled a shirt; it simply went across his chest, barely covering his nipples. Looking into the mirror before leaving to greet the customers, Lovino felt faintly disgusted with himself.

Shivering slightly, even though he wasn't cold, Lovino held back tears of embarrassment and smiled as happily as he could as he walked into the packed room. Although most people kept their eyes on the stage as he walked in, he still felt his heart plummet as reality hit him, just like any other night. There was no escaping this hellhole – not for a long time – so he had better suck it up.

He was too used to this life now to feel any nerves as he walked over to the stage. Taking his place on stage as the music began to play, the only thing Lovino could do at this point was smile and put on the best show his body knew how.

I hope you guys enjoyed that ^-^ and lets play a little game, shall we? Who can geuss what Tempest's real name is ;) I don't think I left many cules to figure it out, but I'm sure you guys can take a guess at who it is. See you guys next chapter!