A/N: Oh God, I'm really sorry about the delay of this update but I've been quite occupied recently with my job and when I finally thought I could finally complete this chapter I got attacked by some eye infection. I already visited the doctor before but the meds didn't work so I had to go there again to see if they could switch my medication. The blinking still hurts but It's getting better. Lets hope there is no delays with my next update.

Rhee-chan: Thanks again. I'm really happy that you pointed out my stupid typo in my author's note. It might still be there if you hadn't pointed it out ^^'
My writing is giving you uncontrollable fan-girl reactions?! That's awesome. Also, I've started your pic request and I try to finish it so that I can link it to next chappy

AliceMitch09: Thank you again for your comment and the critique, I apologize my grammatical errors. English is not my native tongue thus my English isn't perfect. I'll do my best to keep the text as flawless as possible but sometimes there are errors I don't spot even if I check the text several times. Grammar has always been the biggest issue for me since all the rules are so different compared to the ones in Finnish. Hopefully I can improve my English as this fic goes on.
Antonio is giving you diabetes? Well, this is nothing compared to some things I've planned to do so be prepared :D

Yanelle: Oh, a new stalker reader! Oh god, your review is so long that I can't help but to heart you~. Servant/master stuff is awesome, even more so than Prussia (I've already planned some topic related kinks that I may add to this fic when we get to the smex (:

Hmm… the answers to your questions: 1. Lovina in the current chapters is fifteen but as stated earlier her birthday is in a couple of weeks (so she'll be 16 very soon) so her and Toni's age difference is 4 years, 2. The reason of Candice using pills will be told in this chapter, 3. It may take a while before we get to the "M" content – I don't want to rush things, 4. There will be some side pairings but they will have a rather small role. Thank you for all those kind words, I rarely write anything fluffy so I'm happy it pleases you.

Valkyrie99: Thank you for reviewing again. You'll about to find out Antonio's questions very soon.

inogurl: I'm happy to hear my pacing is good. I'm occasionally afraid that what I'm focusing too much into one thing and story gets too slow or repetitious. Thank you for your comment.

MikoTomoko: Better late than never, no? Well, I'm happy you decided to review now, thank you for that. I love the feeling that I get when I see that I have a new reader. Also yay, this must be the first time ever when any of my readers shares a name with my OC \o/

Microwaves: Aww thanks~ I'm so glad you like this fic. I do my best with the updates!

carrot341 and GothicKitty1313: Happy to have a new readers. Thank you for feedback and I promise I do my best to update ASAP.

XXX

Chapter 6

Lovina hated it when she had to wake up when she still wanted to sleep, especially on weekends, but if there was one thing she hated even more thank early wake ups it was the feeling of hunger. She growled annoyed as her stomach reminded once again that she should go downstairs to have something to eat.

She cursed silently in her mind and dragged herself to the wardrobe so she could dress herself up. She chose a brown skirt that was a little too short for her liking, a pink headband, and a black t-shirt with "You can either agree with me or be wrong!" –text in it (because it was one of the few ones that didn't contain inappropriate sentences like 'I'm with stupid, get a life', 'fuck the rules' and 'People like YOU are the reason people like ME need medication', to mention a few,) and grabbed the fish-bracelet from nightstand and slipped it on her wrist. She took a quick look on the mirror and after she thought she was looking decent enough to attend the dining room for breakfast she switched of the lights and left her room.

XXX

When Lovina got to the dining room there was no one there, except Mr. Carriedo who was reading the newspaper and sipping his coffee. Lovina didn't feel like joining him (because the thought of the two of them alone being in the same room with no-one around was creepy enough) so she was about to rush away before he the Spaniard would notice her. Unfortunately for her the moment when Lovina was about to turn on her heels was also the moment when Sergio finished reading and lift his gaze from the paper.

"Oh, good morning Lovina", he greeted with a lot less snide tone that the Italian had expected.

"You are early, didn't get any sleep did you?" he stated as he motioned the teen to take a seat.

"No, I just thought I was supposed to wake early", she mumbled as she sat on a chair and reached for the bread basket. She grabbed two slices and coated them both with strawberry jam.

"It's almost impossible to keep the breakfast early", Sergio said and took another sip from his coffee. "Getting Antonio out of bed before forenoon is pretty much impossible.

Lovina almost chuckled. She knew what it was like when one slept too long for others liking since she was a bit of a sleepy head too. Still, her sister was even worse and Lovina could have sworn that half of their grandfather's gray hair were caused by the stress he received when he had to make sure that the sisters woke up to school or work or to some another important happening on time.

"Hmm... so everyone wakes up when they want to?" Lovina asked, taking a bite of her bread. "I mean, you're here already."

"No, not really. Antonio's friend called yesterday and he's coming for a visit. His car is at maintenance so I need to pick him up. It takes a couple hours to drive there so I think it's better if I go get him earlier", Sergio stated. "Plus, I really didn't get much sleep. Candice seemed weird when she went to be and she told me nothing although I'm SURE something was bothering her."

Lovina was able to feel a sting in his voice, and she knew it was obvious that he thought that whatever bothered her, Lovina was the one to be blamed. Lovina couldn't argue though, since she had a strong feeling that it was about the conversation she had had with her on the day before.

"She told me about Antonio", Lovina decided to answer. Being honest was probably the wisest thing to do. "About all the difficulties you've been through", she clarified and Sergio's reaction was about the same as she thought it would be. He almost choked on his coffee.

"I see...", he said from the middle of a cough. "Did she tell you anything else?" He sounded both worried and troubled.

"Nothing that would have sunk in to my mind", Lovina answered with more curiosity than she wanted to admit. Was there more unspoken and dark topics?

"I should have known", he growled with frustration. "I've told her she shouldn't hide her disease but she just keeps pretending she's alright."

"A disease?"

Sergio sighed and nailed his eyes into the Italian. "If and when I tell you this, pretend you never heard this. Especially not from me", he was nervous, glancing at the door like he was afraid someone would join them. Candice would definitely get mad if she'd hear that her husband has been blabbering about her private things for everyone. Still, it was a serious matter and Sergio had decided that Lovina should know about the whole thing, it would be best for everyone. The Italian nodded furiously, promising that she'd keep it all to herself which please the Spaniard. "Good, now let me tell you everything..."

XXX

"Mmmh, I don't want to get up yet!"

Candice chuckled at the sleepy look on Antonio's face. She rarely disturbed her son if he still wanted to sleep but the faces he made when she did so were so extremely funny and cute that sometimes she couldn't resist to wake him up like this, with kisses and hugs. Sergio was going to pick Francis so there was no one to help her with the few tasks she always did together with her husband. She needed Antonio's help.

"Please, sweetie. Feliks is on his vacation and your dad is leaving at any second to get your friend. There is no way I can do triple chores, especially since I promised Lovina that I show her the surroundings and you know very well it might take a while", she begged, but Antonio only buried his face to the pillow, mumbling how he is still way too tired to work.

"Let me sleep mom", the young Spaniard whined as he did every time someone tried to force him out of the bed.

"I'm really sorry mi querido, but you are leaving me no choice~", she cooed before attacking Antonio in a way that always worked – by tickling.

"Noooo mom, stop that", Antonio protested but couldn't help but to burst into laughter. Candice didn't stop until her son finally gave up and promised to help him. "But I need something to eat first!"

"Sí, I made us some packed lunch... or breakfast. Call it whatever you want to", Candice said cheerfully and grabbed a red box from the floor to show it to Antonio. "Now get up from that big comfy bed of yours and get dressed. I wait you outside."

Antonio watched as his mother left the room but before she closed the door she give him a look that pretty much meant "if I don't see you in the hallway in the next five minutes I get yesterday's already chilled irrigation water and throw it on you". Antonio didn't want that so she crawled to reach his pants from the floor which was enough to convince his mother that he'd do exactly as he was told to.

XXX

Lovina had sat there together with Mr. Carriedo for almost half an hour. He had told her everything about Candice's sickness which seemed to be rather severe. She was under constant medication and she had to avoid both physical activities and stress. Apparently she was in the queue for a heart transplant but it was a very long one, plus her disease was somewhat controllable with medicines so the doctors didn't think her state was that critical.

"Why is this topic forbidden?" Loving wondered. She did understand that Mrs. Carriedo might feel annoyed if everyone kept telling her what to do because they wanted to be careful with her health but there was no reason to get upset or angry about it.

Mr. Carriedo seemed troubled. He stared the Italian seriously but also sadly. "It's because of Antonio."

It took a moment before Lovina understood what the Spaniard meant. "You mean, it's because... he is the cause?"

"P-please, don't put it that way", Sergio begged. He seemed like he could have either flipped or burst into tears at any moment. He buried his head to his his hands and Lovina could have sworn she heard a silent sob. "I-it's... my wife was born with her disease but back then she didn't have to use pills, only do her best to keep her blood pressure down." The Spaniard kept a short break to steady his breathing; he really did his best not to break down in front of the Italian. "When Antonio was born, Candice's health went downhill. She didn't care, of course, she thought that the small rupture in her heart and all the other issues were a small price for Antonio."

"Every parent would think the same way", Lovina agreed. "But it must be hard for Antonio."

Sergio nodded. "Yes, but at first we actually tried to hide it from him", Sergio confessed. "Imean, my wife had always been sick so why to go into the little details? We thought it would be a lot better if he didn't know about the consequences."

"But he found out?"

"Yes, yes he did", he sighed, looking defeated. "And in the worst way possible. I'd be happy if I didn't have to tell you how or how things went afterwards. Let's just say he feels 'a bit' guilty about it."

Lovina didn't argue. There were things she'd never tell anyone so it would be fair not to get too curious about other people's private things. The Italian watched how the Spaniard glanced his clock nervously, obviously realizing that he was very much late from his schedule. He rummaged his pockets to make sure he had his keys before he stormed off. When he got on the door he turned around and gave a worried look to the Italian.

"Can I trust you with this matter, that you keep this to yourself?!"

"I promise I keep my mouth shut", Lovina assured, which seemed to please the Spaniard, although he still wasn't 100 percent sure if he could trust the Italian teen.

"Are you sure?" He asked, looking for a final confirmation.

"Positive", Lovina assured again, getting a bit annoyed. She really didn't care what Mr. Carriedo thought about her but it was depressing that he didn't seem to trust her. She might be an evil bitch sometimes but she tended to keep her promises unless the other party broke their part of the deal first. Also, she would never hurt anyone on purpose, not with mental things (physical violence was completely different thing).

"Good. You better do because the fastest way to get yourself fired is to speak about this in public. You can break as many windows and vases as you want and sleep late – Candice don't mind. But, if you ever mention anything about this topic my wife will raise a hell and trust me on this one... you don't want to see that happen", Sergio said firmly before he left, leaving the Italian to wonder how badly Mrs. Carriedo would flip if she ever found out that she knew...

XXX

A/N: Goosh, this was a short chapter and not much happened but you found out the reason why Candice has to use pills. There will be more Lovina+Antonio interaction in the next chapter, and I love the Bad Touch Trio so be prepared to have some Gilbert and Francis in the next chapter as well(and in many other chapters too). Please read & review.