Author's note/ Disclaimer: The church depicted in this story is meant to be a CORRUPT church. It is by no means supposed to be a representation of a normal Catholic or Christian church. So if you are Catholic/Christian/Etc. and you think to yourself 'my church is nothing like this! This is awful!' That is exactly the point. I am not doing this to condemn anyone's beliefs or practices! Thank you for reading.

Oh, for the love of Christ.

Lovino cringed at the irony of this thought as he stared at the looming building before him, a giant lurking in the overcast sky. He yanked up the zipper on his jacket in a feeble attempt to ward off the harsh autumn winds. The sound of a bell filled the air and pierced his ears, serving as a reminder of exactly what he was at this building to do. Parents with children, couples and singles ran to and from the building as a repetitive song played from somewhere inside. Lovino barely heard the lyrics that he didn't wish to understand, to relate to.

He glanced to his brother, Feliciano, who was gawking at the dreaded building like he'd never seen a church before. Lovino contemplated if it was possible to turn around and run, but with his brother's small hand wrapped around his forearm, he concluded that wasn't going to be possible.

"Lovino?"

He turned to face Feliciano with a raised eyebrow. At least he'd broken out of his trance, but the wild look in his eyes suggested that he felt very differently about the situation than Lovino did.

"Are we just going to stand here or are we going to go inside? It's boring out here, and it's cold! Don't you want to hear the pretty music and talk to the nice people?" said Feliciano as his eyes darted around. "There are so many people here! Wow!"

Lovino sighed. Yes, there were a lot of people rushing in and out of the practically ancient Catholic Church; but he didn't exactly see that as a good thing. It made him uncomfortable, really. "Are you seriously excited about this?" He asked. Feliciano sure looked excited, but he got excited over things like changing brands of detergent.

Feliciano tilted his head, his auburn hair falling into his eyes. "Yes, of course! Why wouldn't I be excited? We're going to get to meet so many new people here!" He paused. "Oh! We're going to be late. Oh, Lovino, will they be angry if we're late?"

Lovino didn't care if they would be angry and he didn't care if they were late. He wanted to be late, as late as possible; late enough that by the time they got there everyone else would be gone. He closed his eyes and reminded himself that this wasn't for him. It wasn't even for Feliciano. He was doing this to make his grandfather happy, the man who wanted nothing more than to see his grandsons confirmed into the faith he was raised in.

He was broken out of his thoughts when he felt Feliciano tugging at his arm. "Come on, Lovino! Let's go let's go!" He said as he attempted to pull Lovino toward the doors.

Lovino exhaled sharply and began to walk beside his brother, his steps slow and full of dread. It wasn't that he'd never been in a church before, he'd gone more times then he could count during his childhood in Italy. Now that he was seventeen and had long before started to form beliefs and ideals of his own, his grandfather had more or less resigned to the fact that he couldn't force him to go. The freedom was short-lived, however, since just a few weeks ago Grandpa Roma had announced that the brothers would be attending classes to prepare for their confirmation. There had been no resemblance of choice in the matter.

The outside of the church was a thousand times less intimidating than the inside, and Lovino wanted nothing more than to make a beeline for the door he'd just entered through. He wanted to bolt away from the crowds and the haunting music and the unnaturally cheerful greeters, away from the portraits in the stained glass windows with their unmoving faces frozen in time. More than anything, he wanted to get away from his own racing thoughts, the doubts and the worries that plagued him for so long. He had forgotten about all of this. He had wanted to forget about all this, all the things he wasn't sure about and didn't quite understand. Being in a place like this made him think about a lot of things he would rather ignore.

Suddenly someone was beside them. "Hi there! Are you guys here for the confirmation class?"

The voice was punctuated by a Spanish accent that surprised Lovino enough to make him turn and look at him. The man looked young, older than Lovino but young regardless. His tanned skin and sparkling emerald eyes made him stick out in the crowd. His undying, sincere smile didn't help him blend in, either. Lovino took a step back, unwilling to respond. As per usual, Feliciano spoke enough for the both of them.

"Yes, we are! I'm Feliciano and this is my older brother, Lovino!" Feliciano tugged on his brother's arm again to prove his point. "What's your name? You have an accent, like us! Where are you from? We're from Italy!"

Confusion passed over the man's face for a brief moment while Feliciano bombarded him with questions, but his smile soon returned. "My name is Antonio Carriedo. I'm from Spain, actually. You say you're from Italy? I've been there! Wonderful country." He smiled again, the grin carrying over to his bright eyes. Lovino studied his gaze but couldn't find a trace of insincerity.

Antonio checked the piece of paper he was holding and looked up again. "Lovino and Feliciano Vargas? You're in the group I mentor! We're going to listen to a sermon before class, why don't you follow me?"

Lovino's interest gave way to annoyance. He couldn't think of anything he wanted less than to follow this guy. His happiness came off as genuine but Lovino couldn't help but think it was artificial, just like everyone else that had spoken at them since they walked in. Feliciano, however, didn't seem to agree. "Yeah, okay! Come on, Lovino!" He said.

Only Antonio didn't move. "Wait a minute." He said. He looked at Lovino and his eyes gleamed with curiosity. "You haven't said a thing! Is something wrong?"

There was no point in lying. "I don't want to be here." Lovino said firmly.

Antonio didn't even flinch. His smile stayed perfectly in place, and Lovino instantly knew that smile would drive him up the wall. "Well at least I know you can speak." He said. Lovino glared at him. He was still smiling. How annoying. "Hopefully that will change. It's about to start, so we should get in there."

Having given up and accepted his fate, Lovino let Feliciano pull him into the main church behind Antonio. Upon entering, Lovino immediately felt smaller than he already was. All the church's features competed for the attention of his senses. The wooden pews seemed to stretch on for miles before reading the altar. The ceiling must have been a hundred feet tall, all the way to the heavens they claimed existed. His eyes focused on the frozen faces of saints staring at him from the intricate windows as he walked to his seat. All the while, the haunting drone of an organ filled the thick air to the brim and chilled Lovino to the bone.

When Lovino sat down, Antonio seemed to almost make it a point to sit down right next to him. Lovino made sure to sigh loudly enough so he would hear him and roll his eyes dramatically enough that he could be sure he saw. It wasn't long until Antonio started talking to him, much to Lovino's dismay.

"Hey, don't be so gloomy! It will be alright." His voice had a hint of sympathy, which made Lovino want to throttle him. "It can't be all that bad, right?"

Lovino didn't respond. Even if he had wanted to, he wouldn't have been able to. The sermon had started. He watched as an older man dressed in robes appeared behind the altar and placed a bible on the surface in one grand, attention-demanding gesture. Immediately, Lovino felt his chest tighten and his stomach lurch.

Something about this didn't feel right. The priest's tight scowl, the way the audience fell still and silent the moment he appeared and unmoving faces of the congregation just felt wrong somehow, much different than how Lovino remembered church services during his childhood. He glanced at Feliciano in an attempt to see if he was alone in this feeling. Feliciano was simply smiling like always. He looked to Antonio, who was doing the same.

Lovino deduced that he was alone. He clenched his hands into fists and waited.

The priest spoke with a booming, firm voice. "God is good!" He said, the words filling the room and bouncing off the walls.

The audience responded immediately, all in sync. "And all the time!"

Lovino didn't say one word. He had forgotten about the robotic call and response these things required. He didn't want to respond. Who was the say God really was good all the time? Pushing that aside, he watched as Feliciano repeated the phrase perfectly. Feliciano had never stopped going to mass. He attended on Saturdays with Roma. Lovino noticed there was one voice missing, and there was only silence to the other side of him. Antonio had not repeated the phrase either.

The priest continued before Lovino had time to wonder why he hadn't. "Brothers and sisters, we are all here for two reasons- one, because we love God. Two, because we are all sinners."

Wait, what? Lovino hadn't expected an opening like that. He tightened his fists that rested on his knees. Something about this was definitely wrong.

"Yes, we are all sinners! Christ has brought us together here, in this very building, to reform our hearts and cleanse our souls. Without Him, we are lost. Here, we are found." He paused. The room grew colder. Suddenly, there was a smile on the priest's face. "Today, the youth of our faith has gathered to begin their journey towards confirmation. They are here to get on the right side of the Lord. I will all of you- stay on the right path, the one true path, or you shall perish!"

Lovino felt his blood run cold beneath his skin. What kind of introduction was this? What this man was saying didn't make him want to 'begin his journey towards confirmation.' This made him want to leave and never come back. His mind drifted back to his childhood, when service consisted of sleepy songs and the pleasant voices of pastors. He glanced at Feliciano. His smile was intact, but it wasn't as strong as it was just a minute ago. There was a stitch of pained confusion in his honey colored eyes that Lovino wasn't sure he'd ever seen there before.

The rest of the sermon passed without Lovino really hearing it. The words passed over him like aggravating insects that he attempted to swat away, but the occasional phrase slipped past him and found it's way into his brain. Deserving of hell. Must be saved. Repent. Don't stray. Fear God. After what felt like an eternity - the eternity the pastor kept mentioning - it ended. Lovino finally uncurled his hands and realized how tightly he had been holding them together.

Antonio shot up from his seat. His smiled had faded. "That's over." He was looking straight forward, saying the words like he didn't expect anyone to hear them. He shook his head, his smile returned and he continued, looking directly at Lovino this time. "Can you and Feliciano head over to the room by the stairs? I have to find the rest of our group." With that Antonio was off, taking quick, careful steps in the opposite direction.

Lovino looked at Feliciano. He was staring straight ahead at the now-empty altar, his lips pressed into a forced looking grin. "Feliciano?" He said.

Feliciano snapped to attention. "That was really long, but it was interesting, right?" Lovino supposed that 'interesting' was one way to put it. Feliciano stood up and his energy returned. "It's time for group now, aren't you excited to meet our group members? Antonio seems nice, and his accent is pretty! Which room did he tell us to go to? I hope we don't get lost!"

"Right." Lovino said hesitantly as he rose to his feet. He did his best to shake the bizarre sermon off. "Let's go."

As they walked down the church hallway, Lovino began to speak again. "Hey, Feli? When you and Grandpa go to church, do you go to this one?"

Relief washed over Lovino when his brother shook his head. "No, we go to the one about a mile away from here, they have a choir that sings pretty songs and they even give us cookies and stuff afterwards! They don't have many people and there weren't enough kids for there to be a confirmation class though, so Grandpa said we had to come here. It's bigger here but I don't know anyone, but I bet I'll make new friends in class!"

Lovino nodded as his brother rambled, all while making sure to conceal his rushing emotions in his stoic expression. There was a big part of him that was overjoyed to learn Feliciano didn't spend his Sundays in a place like this. Still, the words of the sermon nagged at him. "Feliciano, do you agree with what they were saying back there?" Lovino felt like he needed to know.

Feliciano tilted his head, confused. "Oh. I didn't pay that much attention, there was a butterfly by the window so I watched it, then I started thinking about the pasta we're going to eat for dinner tonight, and then I looked away and it was over. Did I miss something important?"

Lovino felt a pang of doubt. He was sure he saw Feliciano's eyes glued to the priest the entire time. Not wanting to push the matter, he simply shook his head. The strange sermon was likely a one-time thing. "No, you didn't miss anything." He said. Then they arrived at the room by the staircase.

It was a small room decorated with crosses and bible quotes, a spotty coat of green paint on the walls. Couches and chairs were arranged in a circle, and Lovino and Feliciano were the first ones there. Feliciano ran to one of the couches and gestured for Lovino to sit next to him. Mere moments after he did so, Antonio reappeared with three other boys behind him. He glanced and Lovino and grinned. Lovino felt instantly irritated when his stomach jumped at the sight.

The first boy to enter had messy blonde hair; a charismatic smile and glasses perched on his nose. "Hey, dudes!" He said as he entered the room. He had a strong American accent and spoke with grating enthusiasm. "I'm Alfred! This is my little bro, Mathew!"

He pulled another blonde boy behind him, one that looked almost identical to Alfred. The only things that allowed them to be told apart were Mathew's slightly longer hair and the stray curl that fell from it. "Hello." He said. His voice was nearly inaudible, a far cry from Alfred's booming voice. "We're actually cousins…" He trailed off and followed his brother.

Feliciano waved at them excitedly, babbling greetings the entire time. Lovino sat stone-faced and instead nodded to welcome them. After they sat down, he watched as the last member of the group walked through the door. He was accompanied by no one and fixed his eyes on the floor. Even though he was supposedly the same age as everyone else in the room, this boy was built like a tank. He had blonde hair slicked back in a way that made him look like a military sergeant and carried a serious look in his blue eyes.

"Hello. My name is Ludwig." His deep voice, punctuated by a German accent, was slow and careful. He stood perfectly still with his eyes darting around the room. It appeared like he didn't know where to sit, since he had come in with no one.

Feliciano noticed immediately. "Ludwig! Sit over here; I don't want you to be lonely, I don't bite, I promise!" He said, patting the space next to him on the old sofa.

Ludwig hesitated. He stared at Feliciano with confusion for a moment, then slowly shuffled over and sat down next to him. Feliciano launched into more rambling and rapid-fire questions while the stoic, confused German could only listen with a bewildered expression on his face. Lovino sighed and leaned further into the seat. Feliciano always made friends so easily. He always had this uncanny ability to hold a lively conversation with just about anyone.

At some point, Feliciano gave Ludwig a break when he realized he hadn't actually introduced himself properly. "Oh, wait, I haven't said who we are! I'm Feliciano and this is my older brother Lovino, he doesn't say much though, so I'm introducing both of us!" Antonio chuckled and Lovino didn't say a word. He was used to his little brother speaking for him.

Lovino looked around the room; then at Feliciano after he finished speaking. "Why does our group resemble the damn United Nations?" He muttered. So far the room contained two Italians, a German, an American whose brother or cousin or whatever had some sort of accent, and a bizarre Spaniard conducted it all. How strange.

Feliciano smiled back at him. "I don't know, but I think it's really cool!"

Antonio, who had been sitting back while everyone went through his introduction, finally spoke up. "Ludwig Beilschmidt?" He said. "Wow, It's been awhile. You've gotten so big! Anyways, tell Gilbert hello for me!"

Ludwig nodded without saying a word.

"Excellent!" There was a sparkle of excitement in Antonio's eyes as he spoke. When Lovino caught himself staring into them, he dropped the eye contact like an active grenade.

Antonio smiled back at the entire group. "For those of you that don't already know, my name is Antonio Carriedo and I'm going to be your mentor. My goal is not for this to be torturous. There's only going to be one rule- say what you mean, and mean what you say. The one thing I do not want you to do is say things you think I want to hear."

Lovino raised an eyebrow. Considering that he just sat through and entire lecture about being obedient to the Catholic catechism, this seemed like a curious deviation. "And how do I know you're not just saying that?" He said. Everyone in the room turned to look at him and he bit his lip. He hadn't meant to actually say that.

Antonio looked at him softy; those damn green eyes looking like they'd absorbed every bit of light in the room. "Because, Lovino, that simply isn't who I am." Then, he actually winked. That bastard.

Lovino slumped down in his seat and resigned to the fact that this was going to be a very long class. Antonio averted his eyes and continued speaking. "To tell you the truth, I'm not very well prepared. I'm not used to these Americans needing to organize every last thing…" His jumping, accented voice faded into nothing as he rifled through a stack of paper. "Ah, you know what, forget it. How about we play a game? It's the first day, I'm sure no one wants to sit here and listen to me." Antonio spoke as if he was constantly laughing. His smile was audible in his voice.

He's got that right. Despite his annoyance, Lovino found himself hanging onto every word he spoke. He'd never seen someone so vibrant, so unapologetic- especially not a youth group leader. Lovino had been in one other youth group in his life, when he was fourteen and Feliciano was just twelve. Roma had thought it would be a good place for Lovino to make friends, and for Feliciano to make even more. The entire time, a man in his fifties would lifelessly recite bible stories and halfheartedly attempt to lead a conversation about them. Lovino didn't make any friends.

Antonio clapped his hands together. "Okay! Let's play a word association game. That sounds like fun, yes? Grab a partner, everyone!"

Lovino instinctively turned towards Feliciano only to see that he had taken Ludwig as his somewhat perplexed partner, despite having met him all of two minutes ago. Figures. Evidently, Alfred was with Mathew. Lovino sighed heavily in annoyance, threw his head back, and stared at the ceiling. This game was stupid anyway. It's not like it had anything to do with what they were actually there for.

"Lovino?"

Lovino nearly had a heart attack when he heard Antonio's voice next to him. Somehow he had gone from sitting on the chair to kneeling beside him without making a sound. "ARG! Don't sneak up on me like that, bastard!"

He almost expected to be reprimanded for cursing at him, but Antonio's grin didn't budge. "How about we play?" He said.

"Fine." Lovino was shocked by how quickly he allowed himself to respond. Oh well. What else could he do? "What kind of game is this, anyway?"

"It is simple." His softened voice grew louder when he continued, as he had to explain it to the entire room. "The first person says a word, and the second person says the first thing that comes to mind. Then, simply continue on like that. It's a good way to get to know each other!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "I've never heard of that. It sounds ridiculous."

Antonio met his gaze. "That is because I just made it up. The best things in life are often ridiculous, Lovino." He said. He rose from the floor and sat on the arm of the sofa, which forced Lovino to look up at him. "Would you like to begin?"

Next to him, Lovino heard Feliciano begin the game with Ludwig. He had said 'pasta', and Ludwig had responded with 'food'. This caused Feliciano to launch into an uncontrollable laughing fit for reasons that were beyond Lovino's comprehension. All of these years and he still didn't understand his brother.

"I still think it's stupid, but whatever." He looked away from Antonio while he thought of a word. He found he wasn't able to think clearly when those green eyes were staring at him. He didn't know if he was more annoyed or confused about that. "Uh, tomato."

Antonio's face lit up. "Delicious!"

Lovino paused, wondering how on earth he was supposed to respond to that. "Pasta." He said carefully. He could almost see Feliciano's ears perk up.

"Italians." Antonio responded.

Lovino hesitated again. "Um, me?"

Antonio didn't miss a beat. "Interesting." He said the word with deliberateness like he had been waiting to say it.

No one had ever called Lovino interesting before. Really, it was extremely rare that someone say anything about him. Usually everyone's attention was focused on Feliciano. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between everyone that met them- Lovino was nothing more than a slighter older, more irritable version of his younger brother. He was horrified when he felt his face grow hot. How absurd. Why would he be getting flustered over some silly, likely insincere compliment given to him during a game? Of course he didn't mean it. No one ever did.

Lovino clenched his jaw, willing the ridiculous feeling to leave him alone. "Interesting? You've known me for all of an hour."

Antonio's eyes flicked as he tilted his head just slightly. "Sometimes, that is all it takes." He said. "Don't you ever have that feeling? You're walking down the street, someone catches your eye, and you just think 'wow, I bet they're an interesting person?'"

Lovino thought he might have had that feeling before, he just never knew exactly how to define it. In fact, he'd felt something like that when he first saw that nonsensical grin plastered on Antonio's face- what, no! He shook his head in a sorry attempt to evict the troublesome thought.

"You're a very, very strange man." He grumbled.

Antonio chuckled. "I would rather be awfully strange than incredibly boring." His voice was softer, less animated. He broke eye contact and traced his finger along the flower printed on the arm of the couch. When he continued, his voice was back to normal. "Do you have a word?"

Lovino had been so fixated on analyzing Antonio's words that he completely forgot they had been playing a game. "What?"

"A word, for the game. My word was interesting, the first thing I came up with when you mentioned yourself." He said it with such innocence, like there wasn't a world of meaning behind the words and it didn't cause Lovino's heart to frustratingly jump.

His response was dry. "Science."

"Passion."

Lovino rolled his eyes. "How the hell do you get 'passion' out of 'science'?"

"Ah, isn't there passion behind everything worth doing?" Antonio said, his voice as light as air. He appeared to be looking at nothing at all, like he was daydreaming.

Lovino raised an eyebrow, but he couldn't help but be intrigued by Antonio's words. His eternal enthusiasm was interesting to say the least. It was as if he was constantly speaking in poems. He was surprised by the word that almost fell from his lips in response. "Love."

He wanted to slap himself. He felt his ears burn; it was such a ridiculous thing to say. Antonio didn't seem fazed. In fact, his eyes lit up at the word. "Life." He said, smiling still.

The rest of the game passed in a flurry. Antonio hung onto every word Lovino said, not breaking eye contact or stopping to talk to someone else once. Lovino wasn't used to such undivided attention, to have attentive eyes constantly on him and hear someone laughing over something he had said. He wasn't sure what to think. When he caught himself fixating on it for just a moment too long, he realized how ridiculous and utterly childish he was being and shrugged it off. It was Antonio's job to be friendly.

Seconds before he and Feliciano left, he felt Antonio's hand on his shoulder. "It was lovely talking to you, Lovino. I'll see you next week, yes?"

Lovino shrugged his hand off without even bothering to look at him. "Yeah. Whatever." He said.

He walked alone while Feliciano chatted up his new German friend by the door. Antonio's laugh stuck in his mind as Lovino came to a conclusion he had already expected. This was definitely going to be a long, long class.

To be continued...