4 A.M. and the tick-tock of the clock was the only sound that was loud enough to be heard over the chirping of the birds outside the window. It was far too early for the sun to shine pass the drapes at this time, far too early for anything really. But there he was, laying wide awake in bed, insomnia soaked deep into his body and all attempts to fall back to sleep abandoned.

Thoughts after thoughts ran through his head, some only stayed for a few seconds before another replaced it. Romano wanted them to stop, quiet down so he could maybe mentally breathe a bit instead of being suffocated in them. One thought in particular bothered him the most out of all of them. It wasn't that he thought into it too much but the fact that it kept coming back to him, repeating itself like an empty mantra. It flickered in and out; the strumming of a guitar, a boyish voice singing in a language he hardly understands, or the light laughter that almost sounds irritably mocking.

Every time it came back he tried to shoo it away, relieved whenever another thought replaced it. The thought made him feeling uneasy, which was funny because his thoughts always made him feel uneasy, so what difference did this one make? The guy wasn't even one of those assholes, he was just in the same team of them, no big deal. But Romano knew it was a big deal or else it wouldn't be bothering him so much.

Taking a deep breath, he tried to steady himself and slow down how quickly he was starting to over think it. This was stupid, over-thinking some random meeting was stupid and he was being stupid for letting himself do it. Pulling the blanket closer to him, Romano turned to his side and fixed his attention on the alarm clock that sat on the table beside him, wishing it would be 7 already.

There wasn't much he could do about it, nothing to distract himself or help him clear his head without waking up the rest of the family. The walls to their rooms were thin, even the buzzing sound of his alarm could be heard from his grandpa's bedroom.

With a final groan of resignation, Romano fisted his blanket in his hands and closed his eyes, knowing full well he's not really going to get any sleep but he might as well try before he ends up falling asleep in his classes.

—-

To say that Romano has no friends at school would be an understatement. Maybe not as many as Feliciano has but enough that he didn't really care that the only parties he was invited to were baby showers. Admittedly, those weren't so bad as long as his cousin didn't make him sit there and try to talk to their friends.

During lunchtime that day, Romano happened to yawn, which was something typical and both Berwald and Romano knew it so it was a bit confusing for him when his friend asked him if he's gotten any sleep last night.

"You already know I have sleeping issues," he answered, shrugging the question off with a bite of his chicken tender.

"Something bothering you?" And there it was, the question he was hoping Berwald wouldn't ask him because while they weren't the type of friends to openly share their problems with each other, Berwald seem to have a sixth sense whenever something was bothering him too much.

He snorted, "that's a stupid question." That wasn't the answer he wanted to say, that wasn't it at all. Cursing at himself mentally, he quickly corrected himself, "something's always bothering me, this one isn't any different."

Berwald let out a soft sigh, knowing well that Romano was going to be stubborn about it. "You're eating school food, you only do that when you skip breakfast because something else is on your mind."

Romano laughed, "you're not my fucking dad Berwald, eat your lunch and stop worrying about me so much." After a short pause, he added (to reassure him), "I'll tell you later."

The Swedish boy nodded before offering Romano part of his lunch since he knew that Romano didn't really want the so call 'chicken' their school passed out.

"I forgot, are you coming over to the ice cream shop today? Father hired someone new, maybe you can help him with how to work the machines."

"Do I ever say no to an invite? If he's not too much of a pain in the ass to teach, I guess I wouldn't mind. What's the kid's name?"

"Antonio Fernandez Carriedo, captain of the school's soccer team, I think. He seems good with the customers bu- Romano? Romano are you okay?"

Everything about that day was fine, everything until he found out who that new employee was and now he wish he hadn't agreed to help so quickly. He didn't want to meet the damn bastard, he didn't want to even come 5 feet near him so why is this happening? A bunch of ideas ran through his head and he tried to push them away, not wanting them to make him feel worse than he already was. Romano felt sick, letting himself lose control of his breathing and started to hyperventilate.

"Romano? Romano?! What's wrong? Romano?" Berwald shook at him, trying to get Romano to snap out of it. "Breathe, breathe, it's okay. Romano, listen to me, breathe, calm down. You're going to be alright, what's wrong?"

"W-what? Nothing," he took a deep breath, telling his nerves to calm down, trying to tell himself to calm down. After several minutes he was fine again and pushed Berwald's hand away, giving him a sheepish smile, "shit, sorry about that, you can stop worrying I'm fine now. The bell is gonna ring soon, let's get to the stairs already."

The other gave him a concerned look but agreed, helping Romano to his feet before asking, "you'll tell me later?"

"Yeah…I'll tell you later."

xxxxx

Aaaand I finally got a 2nd chapter out. It didn't go as plan but I'm glad the story is somewhat moving along. This is my first time trying to write Sweden so I'm sorry if he wasn't in character. And thank you Maria (shooptastic) for reading the first part and telling me your thoughts about it! Thanks for reading guys!