You guys, I can't even describe just how amazing you made me feel. I fangasmed all over the internet and to my family and friends. You deserve so many hugs! Will virtual hugs do? *sends them out to all readers and followers* And I cannot apologize enough for being so very late with this chapter.

I don't own Hetalia, Prego, or anything worth a lot of money. Except my vehicle. She's a sweetheart.

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Lovino awoke semi-comfortably with the sun warming his face as its rays cut through thin curtains that didn't do much good in protecting all the things inside from the light. He inhaled deeply and took in the scent of... PineSol? His eyes snapped open and he turned over to see where he was. When he found that the place was entirely unfamiliar, he began to get a bit scared. Not that he'd ever say it aloud. A clattering sound came from the kitchen, and he saw a brunette man picking up some pots and pans from the floor while trying to keep a mop from falling over. All at once, the memories from the previous night shoved their way back into his mind, and he flopped back into the couch with a groan.

"Ah, did I wake you? I'm sorry~" said Antonio.

"What the h*** are you doing?"

Antonio laughed nervously. "Um, I spilled my cereal all over the floor, so I tried mopping it up but I tripped on the corner of the chair and tried catching myself on the door of the cabinet, but then the mop hit my head and I went to grab it and that made me fall back again, and I accidentally kicked the pots so they went everywhere..."

Lovino covered his face with his hands and sighed again. "You're an absurdly clumsy ba*****, you know that?" He ran his fingers through his hair, realizing how oily it felt. "Hey, where's your bathroom? I need a shower pretty bad."

Pushing himself up, Antonio walked into the living room so he could point down the short hall. "Down there, on the left." Lovino remembered that he had been told that the previous night and felt a bit stupid for asking. But he blamed the early hour. Speaking of.

"What time is it?"

Antonio stepped back into his kitchen to look at a clock on the wall. "About ten 'til noon."

"...G********."

"Something wrong? Did you need to be somewhere?" He tilted his head to the side a bit.

"No..." Lovino rubbed his temples and got off the couch. "I just didn't mean to sleep so late, especially at someone else's place."

"It's okay, there's still time for lunch." …What?

"What does lunch have to do with anything?"

"Well you slept through breakfast. I thought you were upset about that."

Oh. "That's not what I meant at all, idiot. Just... Never mind. Have fun with your mops, I'm taking a shower." He picked up his bag and walked as best he could toward the bathroom.

"Towels are under the sink," Antonio called out.

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One shower later, Lovino wandered back to the couch, hair still dripping on his face. "Oi, Antonio! Don't you own a hairdryer?"

Antonio popped out of the kitchen, a banana in one hand and an orange in the other. "Broke last week. Want some fruit?"

Wiping off his forehead and drying his hand on his jeans he replied, "Sure. Got any kiwis?"

"I think I do have some, as a matter of fact." He disappeared again, returning with two kiwis in one hand and a tomato in the other. Lovino froze.

"How did you know I like raw tomatoes?" Oh God. Was this guy really a stalker?! 'Cause really, how many people ate tomatoes raw? …Don't answer that.

"What? This was for me. You also like raw tomatoes? I'll get you one!" And with that, he set the fruits down on the coffee table and trotted back to the kitchen. Holy s***. Lovino knew that he was rather paranoid, but he was in a new place, staying with someone he barely knew. "Hey, you can have the ones on the table there. Anything to drink?"

Lovino was speechless. But it was just coincidence. No reason to freak out in front of a guy you just met, right? Yeah. Just coincidence. "Uh... Milk?"

"Gotcha." He brought in a cup that had red and yellow stripes around it full of milk, along with his own tomato, and set it on the table next to the fruit. Then he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a rag that Lovino hadn't noticed before, and sat on the couch next to him. He set the rag on his lap and pulled another item from his pocket. He opened the littled knife -HOLY F*** A KNIFE- and cut the tomato above the rag. The ba***** is trying to scare the s*** outta me. Lovino just stared at his fruit, entirely unsure of what to do now. "Aren'tcha gonna eat?"

Lovino jumped. "What?" He half spat out the word.

"Um I said are you gonna eat?"

"Oh, uh..." Could the food be poisoned? "Can I have a piece of that tomato?"

Antonio looked down at the one he was currently eating. "Yeah, but why this one?"

"It... looks riper. Than that one." He pointed at the one on the table.

"...If you say so." He cut off a few slices and moved the rag to sit in between them, so it could catch the juice from both of their partial tomatoes. He held out the slices over the rag.

"Thanks," Lovino muttered, taking them. He carefully put the first piece in his mouth and chewed. Not bad... Certainly not the best tomato I've had, but it's not bad. He ate silently, waiting for whatever Antonio might do or say next. After maybe five minutes, he looked over at him. Asleep. Lovino facepalmed. "Don't just fall asleep when you have a guest!"

"Guh! Wha- What happened?" Antonio shouted as he sat bolt upright and looked around quickly. The sudden movement surprised Lovino greatly, and he had to take a moment to catch his breath. "Ah, I'm really sorry to have scared you! I just... don't do well when awoken with loud noises."

"No s***!" Lovino snapped, leaning forward. "And I wasn't scared! You just surprised me!"

"Same difference." He stood up to stretch, causing the knife to fall off his lap. Lovino looked down at it. "Oh, right." Antonio bent over and picked it up, and Lovino watched. He noticed the guy's size as he stood back up and closed the small blade into its little cover. He must be a full head taller than Lovino. Unless you counted the curl. Which, when he could get it to stand straight up, could possibly make him taller. His eyes traveled over Antonio more. He took in his forest green knit sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, and his dark blue jeans, all of which fit his body shape very-

D*****, why am I thinking about his body shape of all things?! I don't even know this guy...

As Lovino thought this, another thought snuck in behind it. But it'd be nice to get to know him.

He shook his head as if to shake out the thought. Who'd want to get to know an idiot like this anyway? Not him, no way. He needed to start a conversation outside his head.

Antonio beat him to the punch. "Want to go up to town? I need to get some stuff if you're gonna stay a while. What kinds of foods do you like?"

"Pasta. Tomatoes. Anything Italian will be fine."

"Ha ha! Just pick things as we pass them."

"This doesn't mean I'm staying, though!" What was the point in saying that? He had nowhere else to go yet.

"If you do go, I'll just have plenty of extra food. No worries."

Lovino sighed and stood next to him. "Whatever. Let's just go already." He shook his hair some more, flinging off droplets on Antonio, who put up a hand to shield his face. They pulled on light jackets and stepped out into the windy winter afternoon. On the way to the nearest small-name store, Antonio made small talk to keep away awkward silences. Lovino learned that his new housemate was born in Spain and his parents moved to America with him when he was ten. His mother had known English as well as every widely-used language and dialect spoken in Spain, and some Japanese, so he learned those from her while he was still very young. He had left home for college right after finishing high school and was studying culinary arts as well as agriculture.

"You go to college for cooking and stuff, yet you eat soup from a can at home?" Lovino snorted.

"I was always good with food, but I don't usually make anything special for myself. If I have guests, though, I'll make almost anything, as I told you before."

They talked the rest of the way about the best way to make dishes that involved tomatoes, and whether or not Prego was all it was cracked up to be, and when they got there, they argued over whether or not to buy it.

"It's not authentic Italian! It doesn't taste the same - I would know!"

"It doesn't have to be perfect, Lovi. It'll be fine. And it doesn't have to taste the way you're used to for it to be Italian."

"If you consider eating a lie fine, then go right ahead and use up your money on it. And do not call me Lovi."

Antonio got multiple kinds of pasta, some sauce, milk, a few soft drinks, and some cereal. While Lovino made his final decision on whether or not to get extra tomatoes, Antonio went on to the check-out counter. When Lovino made it to the line his host was almost done in, lone tomato in hand, he cut in front of some guy, who snapped at him in anger. Antonio heard the commotion and tried to talk through the situation with the displeased shopper. "No need to get upset. It's a short line. He's not buying much, so it's not like he'd make you wait long."

"That's not the point! It's rude and I have work to do!"

"If it's really that big a deal, just move back, Lovi."

"Don't call me that!" Lovino obviously didn't want to pick a fight with the other guy, mainly because he just looked big and scary. But he really did want to tell him off for getting so worked up over something so simple. So he moved back behind him and made it to the counter without any other incidents. The cashier read out the total and Lovino pulled some bills from his wallet. At that time, he got splashed with guilt. He should've offered to help pay for some of what Antonio bought for him. He was going to eat it, after all. Maybe he could pay him back when he got a job.

The walk back was more quiet. Every glance Lovino stole at Antonio made him wonder just why he was always so smiley. It was as if he didn't know how to be unhappy. This confused Lovino. He new from experience that moving to a new place was hard, especially to a new country. Could Antonio really not be more sour about life? Was their nothing that bothered him? That could be a challenge for Lovino to accept: find out what makes this idot stop smiling.

"Can I ask you something sorta personal?" the idiot asked, breaking the previous silence.

Lovino scowled. "You can ask it, but I might not answer. Or I might just lie."

"Ah, well... I don't want to make you lie just because you don't want to tell me something. If you don't want to answer, just say so. Don't lie, please."

"Fine."

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"That's not really personal. But if I had a partner, I wouldn't be running away to stay with strangers, now would I? My life's not that great, dumba**."

Antonio laughed. "I guess that's true. Do you want a girlfriend?"

Lovino had to think about how to answer that. He was already pretty sure that he was bi, but he looked at every person differently. Some people were just eye candy, but he wasn't... attracted to them, per se. If he told Antonio that he did want a girlfriend, that might imply that he was only interested in females. And that wasn't necessarily true. Some girls were repulsive to him, even if they looked beautiful, and the same was true for guys. He replied with the only answer he could think to use. "I don't know."

"Do you want a boyfriend, then?"

Now if he said yes to this, it could imply that he was just gay. "I don't know," he repeated.

"Okay. Just wondering."

"Why?"

Antonio looked at him, eyebrows raised a bit. "Hm? Why what?"

"Why do you care if I'm with anyone?"

"Well, if I had a partner, I'd want to see them whenever I could. I figured that if you had someone, you'd be missing them, so I was going to say that we could go to their house for a while if you wanted."

"Oh." Lovino felt his heart droop a little. What was I expecting? For him to say, "Well, I could be your boyfriend!" No. I don't like him. Even if I did, I have to learn what makes him unhappy, and being with him would probably ruin the relationship when I make him sad.

"Heeeeeey! Toni!" Lovino jumped at the sudden voice. He turned around to see a beat-up car of some sort slow to roll beside them. Out of the passenger window hung a young man with awfully pale skin and even paler hair. His right arm waved wildly at Antonio. As they got nearer, Lovino could see the driver, who looked familiar...

"Gil! Franny!" Antonio's smile widened. "What're you guys doing around here?"

"Going to you visit at your place! Hop in, we'll drive ya the rest of the way."

The Spaniard turned back to Lovino, smile still bigger than normal for him. "These are my best friends." He opened the back door and put down his groceries before taking the ones from Lovino's hands and putting them in, too. "Come on," he said, taking the hand Lovino hadn't stuffed in a pocket.

Lovino reluctantly joined the party, sitting quietly next to Antonio. Something was off about that driver. He was familiar, for sure, but he couldn't... "Ah!" He gasped. "You're that guy!"

"What?" the other three asked in unison.

"Blonde guy! You were outside that bar last night! You're that pervert!" Lovino spoke with wide eyes, terrified, furious with himself for forgetting him, and getting in a car with such a person.

Antonio and the pale one busted out laughing. Lovino was now furious with them. Why would they laugh at this? Why were they friends with a creep?! The blonde one spoke. "I am not a pervert! You're that kid that was wandering around last night?"

"I was not wandering. I was going to the bus stop. Not like I was lost. But you were acting like a stalker, trying to follow me!"

"It's not that I was trying to stalk you!" he whined. "I think it's wrong to let someone as young and handsome as you be out so late by yourself. Who knows what could happen to you?"

"You could happen."

"Ouch. That was a low blow, kid." The blonde looked at Lovino through the rearview mirror, doing his best to look truly offended.

Lovino looked to Antonio. "Why are you friends with someone like that?"

Before Antonio could answer, the other one spoke up again. "It really is unawesome of you to accuse someone you just met of being …well, everything you accused him of being."

"I have the right to have an opinion," Lovino snapped.

"I'm not saying you don't! You just need to chill! We aren't criminals. Well, everyone's broken a law or two, but we aren't bad guys!" How comforting.

"I don't even want to know what laws you've broken..."

"...You probably don't, actually." Oh s***.

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So all of you know, I'm terrible with plots. I have no sense of direction. In writing, and in life. If this to does not continue to grow in entertainment factors, you cannot say you haven't been warned at some point, because I just go with whatever my mind says, without planning any of this. …And am I the only one who chuckles when people say, "low blow"? …And have you noticed how bad I am at separating/ending chapters?

Just putting this out there in case anyone is interested, which if you're reading this, you probably are. I know of a couple of good (American!) yaoi/BL webcomics, along with a few that are not yaoi. Toss me a message if you want to know the sites/names of the best ones. Also, if you know of any good comics, American, Japanese, Korean, or any other, I'd love to read them as well! That would be a nice trade, don't you think? Since I'm a comic geek, but not as brilliant as Sheldon Cooper.

I've had time to write, but when I sit down to do it, nothing flows. It's only around, say, 3 in the morning that I am able to drain anything out of this squishy cranial organ. So again, I'm terribly sorry for the wait, but I blame the block. Along with the fact that we found a place to live fairly recently, and it's been very... hectic.

And guys. There was a typo in the first chapter. I fixed it. But that was before you, Ally, so no worries. You didn't miss it.