I'm really sorry this took so long! If I get any excuse it's writers block and distractions. But I hope you all like this chapter!

Mr. Vargas wasn't at school the next day. Feliciano had planned to discuss with the older male about their search plans, but when he walked into the classroom and found a different man at Mr. Vargas' desk, he knew his hunch about the other Italian being sad about something was right. He knew the distant look the older had worn the whole car ride to the apartment complex was a bad sign. That's why after he asked if the older was alright he wanted to change the subject after he heard the other Italian's tired and depressed tone of voice. What was so bad about that day that would cause someone like Mr. Vargas to completely shut off his calm, no-crap-taking, demeanor he had shown during class? But the real question was; why would he let Feliciano of all people see him in that state? Mr. Vargas couldn't possibly already be comfortable around Feliciano enough to let him see his hidden emotions. Could he?

On Friday during lunch, Feliciano sat at the same table he always did with his friends. They had made plans to all ride in Feliciano's gondola and then buy junk food as they headed back to Feliciano's apartment to play video games, chat, and (for mostly just Arthur) get drunk off the alcoholic beverages Ivan was somehow always able to sneak into the apartment complex. Ms. Rossi did catch them once but she said that as long as they didn't make too much racket, she wouldn't tell anyone.

The bell rang to signal lunch was over and for every student to move to their next classes. Feliciano took his trash to one of the large trash cans and dropped it in, then walked next to Alfred as they headed toward their history class. The Italian had completely tuned the America out and let his thoughts race around his brain. 'Will he be gone again? Or will he be here but be secretly sad? I've never seen someone look so depressed before. I mean some of the kids that I lived with in the foster homes would go through a depression stage; cutting themselves with razor blades, setting things on fire and watching them burn, starting fights with other foster kids, or screaming. But none of them looked the way he did Wednesday. I want to ask him, but I'm afraid he'll shrug me off and let himself be swallowed up in his sorrow. Something tells me if he does let himself be swallowed up… no one will be able to bring him back.' The young Italian took a deep breath and swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat before he looked up to where the older Italian would sit. His heart skipped two beats from what he saw.

Mr. Vargas stood facing his wall of tomato posters, his right hand holding a textbook while the left held his phone to his ear. He chatted loudly to whoever was on the other end of the phone in a mix of Spanish and a little Italian. His expressions were ones of irritation but his tone was happy and filled with life. He held the phone away from his ear at some points when the person on the other end of the call began to complain about something that was inaudible. Feliciano froze when Mr. Vargas' hazel eyes made contact with his amber ones. The older smiled at him before returning his focus to the person on the phone. Feliciano sighed before he beamed a smile back and headed to his seat. The bell rang and signaled Mr. Vargas to hang up on the person he was talking to and turned to face everyone in the room, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned against his desk. "Well I did plan to start the first history lesson, but due to the report I received from the substitute for Thursday you have two options. One is continue with the original plan and the second options is screw the lesson and finish the movie the sub had picked out." This earned snickers and grins from the students due to the older's choice of words before they all agreed on option number two.

Mr. Vargas pulled the projector screen down over the wall of flags, then turned off all the lights. He turned on the projector and selected the spot in the movie where the sub had stopped. Feliciano continued to face the two blackboards on the tomato wall while everyone turned their desks to face the screen. After a few minutes he slowly looked over towards a specific corner where Mr. Vargas' desk was and met Mr. Vargas' hazel- green eyes again. The older sat in his padded desk chair, eyes deep in thought as he watched the younger Italian, the corners of his mouth twitching upward every now and then. Feliciano blushed a tad bit when the older motioned for him to come over to his desk. He got up slowly as he tried not to disturb a sleeping Alfred, and then walked over to his teacher. Mr. Vargas motioned for him to sit down on the floor as he grabbed a pen and a pad of sticky notes. He handed them to the younger Italian as he sat down on the floor. "Where are the best places to buy art supplies?" Mr. Vargas asked in a whisper.

Feliciano blinked and thought for a second. "Well the only places I can think of are in Venice. And we're in Perugia so… that would be… a three hour drive from here? I mean if you don't care about that issue then that's where I'd recommend you should go." the younger whispered back.

Mr. Vargas frowned and sighed a little, then pointed to the pad of sticky notes in Feliciano's hand. "Write down the top five stores you'd recommend I should go to. My friend wants me to pick up some painting supplies so he can begin painting in his free time like he used to," the older stated before he looked up at the movie that was playing "I said I would and now I totally regret it. Why won't he just get off his lazy ass and do it himself?" The last part came out as a mumble, but Feliciano was able to hear it easily.

"This friend of yours, do you not like him or something?" Feliciano asked after a few seconds.

Mr. Vargas gave a quick smile then answered "No, I just find him irritating a lot."

The younger smiled and looked down at the floor. "Um… so when… do you wanna… um?"

"Yes?" Mr. Vargas asked with a raised eyebrow, which caused Feliciano to blush when he looked up at the older man.

"When do you want… to meet to… discuss the whole… finding our brothers thing…? Don't you have like… four days left now?" Feliciano asked slowly.

Mr. Vargas blinked and sighed, "About that, I received a letter from my grandfather this morning."

"And? What did he say?" Feliciano asked.

"He said that I now have four more weeks added to my brother search deadline because he had some business he has to attend to in Sweden." Mr. Vargas stated with a small hum.

The younger's expression brightened. "Ve~! That's great isn't it!?" he asked a little too loudly.

Mr. Vargas covered his mouth quickly, then looked up and glared at the students that looked back in their direction. When he looked back he put his finger to his lips and smirked "Not too loud idiota," he whispered "You don't want your classmates to get wrong ideas do you?"

Feliciano blushed a cherry color, which caused the older to snicker. "M-Mi Dispiace Mr. V-Vargas." he mumbled into the older Italian's hand.

The older's blush was almost not visible in the dark room, but from the light of his laptop, Feliciano was able to see it a tad bit. He lifted his hand from the younger's mouth and looked away. The audio of the movie engulfed their silence and after a few seconds the older Italian asked "You know you don't have to help me, right?"

The younger gave a small smile, "I had planned to look for my brother at some point anyway, so when you mentioned you were looking for your brother, I wanted to help. I mean, I kinda don't care if we find my brother or not. But if we did, I'd at least know I have someone else besides my grandfather left in my family. Even If my brother looks down on me like my mother did, I'll still care for him. If I can reunite with him, then I'll be happy." 'I'll still blame him for everything though. The only way I'll ever forgive him is if he's as nice to me as Mr. Vargas and my friends. But that's what I want, what I hope. But what I want means nothing like always.' Feliciano thought.

Mr. Vargas stared down at Feliciano, his expression blank but serious and deep in thought. "I'm just like you… or vice versa…" he mumbled almost inaudibly.

Feliciano opened his mouth to question the older Italian, but the bell that signaled the end of this class rang loudly. The younger quickly scrambled up from the floor and hurried toward his seat so no one would see where he had just been. He grabbed his satchel and hoisted it onto his shoulder, then whacked Alfred in the head with his fist to wake him from his slumber. The blond teen groaned and grumbled but didn't get up. Feliciano grabbed the American's arm and tugged him out of his desk chair. causing him to fall onto the ground roughly. Alfred groaned and gave the Italian a death glare. "What the hell was that for!?" he asked before he let out a yawn and got up from the floor.

"If we don't hurry up and leave, we'll most likely be late for our next class!" Feliciano informed him.

Alfred rolled his eyes, "It's just choir. No one cares about choir." he stated and headed for the door.

The Italian frowned and glared at the back of his head, then turned to Mr. Vargas. The older was staring at his wall of tomatoes as Feliciano approached his desk. He set down the pad of sticky notes and pen on the space beside the older's laptop. He then ran out the door and headed toward the choir room.

Feliciano, Ludwig, Kiku, Arthur, and Alfred all scrambled onto a train at Perugia Station that was headed for Florence at the last minute. They would have been there earlier if Alfred hadn't insisted they should stop and get ice cream. Once in Florence, the five of them took another train to Venice. Feliciano planned to give a few tours in his gondola before he would meet his friends at the docks and take them on a long random route as they chatted. He had only let them ride in his gondola twice before today and on the last occasion Alfred had caused the boat to tip over because he wouldn't sit down and stop moving. So after Alfred apologized for the ten billionth time, Feliciano forgave him and agreed to the plan.

After giving many tours, the young Italian met his friends (who all now carried bags of junk food) at the docks. They all climbed in the gondola and began to chat after they all sat down in a seat. Feliciano pushed the gondola away from where he was currently docked and began to head on a route he had made up when he was bored (mainly all the places he thought were beautiful). He had been so focused on rowing the gondola that he hadn't realized Alfred had been trying to get his attention. "Hm? What did you say Alfred?" he asked adding a smile.

"You'll create a band with me and Kiku in Rock Band right?! I'm already going to be the singer and he said he'd be the drummer, so we just need a guitar player! Ludwig doesn't want to play but Arthur said he would play later so you'd only have to play for a little bit if you didn't want to play for that long!" the American asked and watched him with huge puppy dog eyes, which according to Matthew, was his way of getting anyone to do what he asked.

Feliciano thought for a bit then shrugged, "Sure, as long as you don't get drunk and start screaming into the microphone to the point you get the cops called on us."

The blonde frowned and stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, "You're talking to the wrong person here! The only one that'll most likely get drunk is Arthur! He's the one that can sniff out alcohol like a police dog!"

"That's not true you bloody git!" the British blond shouted as a blush of embarrassment creeped onto his face.

The American boy smirked, "Hell yeah it is!" He stood up and began to speak with a British accent as he tried to imitate Arthur. "Oi! I'm Arthur Kirkland and I love to drink! Every time I see a bottle of liquor I have to drink it and not let anyone else have any because it's all mine!"

The Briton glared then stood up and stole the American male's U.S.A. flag baseball cap off his head and placed it on his own. "Oh look I'm Alfred Jones! I like to wear my pants halfway down my arse and can't pass a single class!" the British male stated trying to hide his accent and sound American.

Everyone began to howl with laughter and watched the two shout nonsense at each other and before long, Alfred began throwing punches (not close enough to hit the other blond but close enough to make him flinch and back up). The gondola began to rock back and forth, slowly at first and barely noticeable. But as the two continued to fight, the rocking became more violent. Feliciano frowned, "Would you two just sit down already!? At this rate you'll tip over my gondola and then you'll have to pay for the damages again! Are you two listening to me!? Hello!? Arthur!? Alfred!? Dammit! Ludwig! Kiku! Stop them please!"

Ludwig sighed in irritation and stayed in his seat, "Just let zem continue until zhey fall overboard, it'll be quieter zen."

Kiku on the other hand, stood and tried to separate the two quarreling blondes all the while trying to keep his balance as the boat continued to move. "Prease just calm down! I reary don't freel like going fror a swim today! And I'm sure you don't want to pray Feliciano-chan for the damages!"

Alfred stopped mid- punch and released the Briton's shirt, "Oh! Sorry Kiku. Don't worry I wasn't really gonna punch him! I was only fake- Hey is that my History teacher?" the American asked, his attention towards the shops lining the canal.

Feliciano froze and looked in the same direction Alfred was. Mr. Vargas stood outside a fruit and vegetable shop examining a basket full of tomatoes and wearing the same clothes he had worn to school; dark brown button up shirt tucked behind tan slacks that were kept on by a brown leather belt. He held three shopping bags in his right hand, all from different art supply shops that Feliciano recognized. After a few minutes of talking with the shop owner, the older Italian bought the whole basket of tomatoes and headed toward a bench close to the edge of the canal. He pulled out a small yellow piece of paper from his pocket and proceeded to glare at it, then sighed and yawned before looking up at the sky.

After what felt like twenty minutes of silence (when in reality it was only two) Alfred began waving his arms above his head as he shouting, "Mr. Vargas!? Hey over here! Mr. Vargas!"

Feliciano jumped when he heard Alfred shout as loud as he could to try and get the older Italian's attention. "Alfred stop jumping and calm down! Let me get closer to shore and we can greet him that way!" The young gondolier hissed at the American as he tried to keep his balance on the rocking gondola.

Alfred continued to shout, not seeming to hear the Italian male. Arthur began to join in with Kiku following after but not as loud. Ludwig just frowned and watched his friends continue to act like complete idiots while he stayed in his seat. Feliciano glanced back in the direction where he saw Mr. Vargas sit, only to look away and let a deep red blush stain his face as his heart flipped more. The older Italian had looked up and had now begun to wave back, wearing a look of a mix of embarrassment and amusement (maybe even a little irritation). After he took a few deep breaths, Feliciano looked back up and began to wave at the older Italian like his friends.

But at that moment though, Feliciano hadn't seen the speed boat that was heading straight for them. At the last moment the driver of said speed boat turned sharply in order to just miss the gondola, but ended up causing a huge wave to form on water's surface. The wave tipped over the already unbalanced gondola and sent the people that accompanied it into the water along with the many bags of food.

Lovino stood from his seat on the bench after the speed boat went by and revealed a capsized gondola. He cursed and stripped off his shoes and socks and then placed them by his new basket of fresh tomatoes and bags of art supplies he had come to Venice to get. He stopped a kid that had been riding by on a tricycle and paid him to sit and watch over his stuff before he ran to the edge of the canal and dove into the cold jade-colored water. There hadn't been many boats around, couple other gondolas and three speed boats at the most, so Lovino didn't have to worry about getting run over by accident. When he arrived at the upside down gondola, he found Arthur, Kiku, Ludwig, and Alfred all coughing up water and gasping for air. "Is everyone alright!?" he asked the group of students.

Arthur coughed and panted a little before he answer, "I-I think so Mr. Vargas sir," he stopped and began to look around. His eyes went wide in fear, "Feliciano!? Feliciano where are you!? Feliciano!?" he shrieked out, looking at his friends who also began to look for Feliciano.

Lovino felt his chest tighten before he began to look around quickly for the younger Italian. He took a deep breath before he dove under. He found the young Italian halfway below the water's surface, a stream of blood escaping from a spot on his forehead. His body continued to sink even after Lovino had gotten closer. The older scooped the younger male into his arms and headed to the surface, using a nearby rock to push off of. When he surfaced he found the same speed boat that had passed earlier waiting there, his other four students were now aboard the boat wrapped in towels. The driver of the boat helped him and an unconscious Feliciano aboard, then wrapped a towel around them. Lovino ordered the driver to head to a hospital before attending to Feliciano who had been laid on the floor of the boat. He put two fingers to the younger Italian's throat, and felt for a pulse that was not there. "Come on Feli, wake up!" he commanded as he shook the younger's shoulder, he moved closer and hovered his ear inches from Feliciano's mouth as he tried to listen for the sound of the younger exhaling.

His eyes went wide when he heard nothing. 'Shit he's not breathing either!' he thought before he turned to his other students quickly. "One of you needs to help me perform CPR! Now! Before he dies!"

Ludwig stood up quickly and rushed over then kneeled down and placed his hands on Feliciano's chest while Lovino sat beside Feliciano's head and held the younger's mouth open. When the older was ready he nodded to the German student who began to push on Feliciano's chest. "One… two…three… four… five… breath!" Ludwig commanded.

Lovino took a deep breath before he closed the gap between his lips and Feliciano's.

I swear the cliffhanger was not intentional! I had planned on ending this chapter differently but the gondola thing popped into my mind last minute to yeah anyway. The next chapter may be delayed a little bit due to a summer English assignment I have to do. I have to finish The Help and write a paper on why or why not it's good literature (or something along those lines) and lastly I have to write a speech briefly summarizing the paper. Yay... anyway I love the reviews and comments I get! I love reading about what you all have to say! Please leave more! I'm glad you're all enjoying the story so far. You all have gave me more confidence to post other stories I have started to write. That'll be later of course. To be continued in the next chapter!