~Sweet chocolates~

*Romano X Reader*

'Valentine's Day Special~'

"But Lovino...!" the (h/c) whined,not believing her ears what the Italian male was saying.
"Well ragazza,I couldn't care less!Valentine's day it's a crappy commercial shit anyways!" thing being told,Romano hunged up,the beeping sound announcing the call was ended.
Pressing the red button herself,(Name) threw her mobile phone onto the bed,a heavy sigh escaping her lips.Of course Lovino had a point in what he was saying - because indeed Valentine's was a day when lovers shared sweets which they didn't even bother to make themselves,bought flowers and who knows which plush bears,bunnies and so on and so forth.
But the female didn't care about the presents - she just wanted to spend more time with her boyfriend,also known as the tsundere Italian,Lovino Vargas.
Sometimes the (h/c) thought the brown haired male was ashamed to tell the others he was in a relationship with her - that she was his girl or something.
Not even a single friend of his knew what was going between them two - and to make the matters worse,every single damn girl in the highschool seemed to flirt nonchallantly with him in front of her.
In moments like that,(Name) hoped to find a piece of courrage and break it with Lovino - but she couldn't because she loved him way too much to do it.
Sighing inwardly,the female blew a hot wave of breath onto the thin glass of the window,drawing a small heart with her index finger,which slowly disappeared as the effect didn't last for too long - but blewing another wave of air meant being able to see once again the previously drawn shape.
Seeing the cooking utensils in front of her,(Name) couldn't help but feel helpless - the foul mouthed Italian clearly specified he wasn't going to show up for Valentine's - though here she was,preparing home made chocolate.
Adding the final touches - and a personal tint through them - the (h/c) placed them in a heart patterned plastic,kept together by the red,white and mint green bow the female applied.

~Time skip~

Brushing her hair until it looked as she wanted to,the female brought it into a lower bun,keeping the locks in place with a plain daisy hairclip,continuing her work upon the other details.
Looking at the reflection in the mirror,(Name) felt satisfied with how she looked - the black khol crayon making her eyes a lot more expressive,the delicate curvy line above her upper eyelid feminine and the mascara shadowing the (e/c) pools,curling them up in the same time.The rosy blush powdered on the cheek bones made the female look adorable as a doll,the peach lipstick completing to the whole preparations.
Wearing a beautiful sleeveless dress,the upper part of it embracing the female's curves,while from the waist it became frilly,it made her look both elegant and not gave her real age though.
All of these preparations were in vain - (Name) thought - but it wasn't as if she wasn't allowed to do that for herself.
Hearing two rather quiet knocks at the front door,the female sighed,resuming to opening the wooden material without even bothering to look who it was.
Opening her (e/c) orbs,she was met by a big bouquet of red and white roses,some of the flowers still unbloomed,not letting the person who delivered them visible.
The male - as (Name) could guess from his plain black pants - entered the house without any further ads,placing the large bouquet onto the table in the main hall.
Revealing a pair of hazel brown eyes,a mixture of guilt and embarassment playing into them,the coffee brown hair neatly done,as well as his ironed one shirt clinging onto his body,the Italian boy gaped his mouth a few times in order to say something,but gave up.
"I know-a I told you I hate-a Santo Valentino!But you mean-a lot to me bella and I don't want-a you to be upset!" the male spoke up finally,scratching his neck awkwardly as he stood there,making a fool of himself.
"You really did that for me,Lovi?" (Name) asked,her eyes wide in amazement.
"Haven't I told-a you not to call-a me that?" he angrily started,but calmed down soon.
"Sì,I did it for you!Because... Ti amo,tesoro!" Lovino confessed,feeling his cheeks burn in embarassement.
The female's eyes watered in happiness at the words which escaped her lover's lips and caused her to launch herself at him.
"Ti amo anche io,Lovino!" (Name) responded,feeling tears threatening to fall her (e/c) eyes and ruin all her work.
"Ragazze come te non piangono!Please,don't cry,mia bella!" the Italian pleaded,bringing the female's body closer to his into the embrace.
Nodding her head in approval,the male smiled to himself,bringing the female's gaze up to meet his.It always was like that - when the (e/c) orbs of the teenager met the hazel brown of his,every single care in the world seemed to disappear.All the insecurities,the substance's flow - everything in order for that certain moment when they lost themselves into eachother,the flowers of their eyes caressing one another with invisible hands.
The Italian bent his head down to his girlfriend's height,doing what he knew could express better his feelings than words could do - and that was the melt of his mouth upon hers,sparks forming as (Name) circled the male's neck with her arms,searching for support as she felt her knees grow weak,Lovino pressing upon her lower back,bringing her closer to him as their lips blended,causing them to crave for more.
Parting for air,the two broke the kiss with a poping sound,their gazes not ready to meet after the shared kiss - as (Name) felt the Italian's tomato aroma against her tongue and how Lovino could taste the (h/c)'s lipstick flavour which now lingered into his hot cavern.
"Buon San Valentino,bella!" the hazel brown eyed male broke the silence,his cheeks stained red as he peeked an eye at his female lover - her soft cheeks the same shade of red,though that smile tucking at the corner of her lips,carving cute dimples which bloomed onto her face.
"Buon San Valentino,amore!" (Name) responded,placing her face into the male's white shirt,wrinkling it - but that was the last thing the two could think about,as they breathed the same hot,love filled air.

"Lovi, could you get that box over there? I'm kind of busy with this one right here!" You shouted from the top of the spiral staircase. Lovino was at the bottom, carrying a few other boxes out of the car. He raised his head, sending his odd curl bouncing up and down.

"Dammit, why can't you do it yourself, ragazza? For your information, I'm carrying more boxes than you!" The Italian complained.

Sighing loudly, you gave up. If he was going to be stubborn, might as well do it yourself.

I mean, you did owe him for letting you stay at his place. After the accident.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FLASHBACK WHOOSH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You lived in a small and cozy apartment a couple blocks away from Lovi. It wasn't much, but for you it was enough and you never complained. You were currently living alone and worked daytime as a waitress so you could say everything was going great in your life so far.

Today was Saturday, so that meant you had the day off.

Finally, after a full week of work! I needed a break.

Letting yourself fall onto the small couch, you decided to watch a movie. But before you could even turn the device on, a loud banging on your door interrupted you.

Growling, you managed to get up and walk towards the front door with your back hunched. Clearly, you weren't in the mood.

The banging still hadn't ceased, so you flung the door open, ready to be greeted by some annoying vacuum salesman.

"What do you-"

Eyes widened, you then noticed it was only your good old friend Lovino. He still had his fist clenched hanging in mid air, as if someone had frozen him before he could knock one last time. Eyes as big as golf balls, he finally lowered his arm and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, hey Lovi! What brings you here?"

"I knew that today was your day off, so I- uh was wondering if you wanted to hang out? Or...uh you know if you don't want to I can just ask the tomato bastard if he-" He was cut off by your excessive nodding.

"No no no! I want to hang out! I do! Just let me grab my phone."

You dashed towards the tiny living room and found your cellphone resting on the counter. Grabbing it, you made a 5 second pit stop to the bathroom, adjusting your clothes and smoothing out your rebellious (h/c) hair. You normally didn't do this. I mean, we're talking about Lovino here. You've known him since forever. But you still felt the need to look presentable.

Running back towards your waiting friend, you carefully closed the door behind you and took the time to lock it.

"Ready, ragazza?" He asked, looking over your shoulder.

Turning towards him, you flashed an irresistible smile.

"You bet!"

And with that you spent the day at the movies and randomly walking around town. You liked spending some quality time with Lovino. Everybody saw him as impatient and unfriendly, but you knew he could also be the fun and caring guy you knew. But that was pretty rare, to be honest.

The sun had already set hours ago and Lovi was walking you back home.

"Damn, it's cold out here!" He grumbled as he hugged himself, trying to keep warm. You could hear his teeth shattering.

"Oh stop whining, you big baby. We're almost home." You laughed.

"Hmph."

Out of the blue, two police cars came rushing past you at full speed. Pulling you closer to him to avoid any falling over from your behalf, he shot a death glare at the cars driving away.

"Geez, what's all the fuss? Seriously, they should watch out. You almost fell over, for crying out loud!"

Putting your hand on his shoulder, you reassured him.

"Lovi, I'm fine. You don't have to-"

Turning the last corner, you were finally in front of the building where your cozy apartment was. And it was on fire.

Firetrucks came rushing from every direction and people gathered around the dancing flames of the building, wondering if anybody got hurt.

You stared at the burning edifice, not knowing what to think. Everything you owned was gone.

Feeling your knees become weak, you fell to the cold ground. You felt warm and strong arms wrap around your trembling body.

"I'm sorry, bella. I'm so sorry..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
END OF THE FLASHBACK WHOOSH
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's how Lovino had offered you come live with him for a while. At first you refused, insisting that you could just go back and live with your parents for a little while. Until you were able to provide yourself a new home.

But he simply nodded in refusal, insisting that his place was closer to your work and that it'd be much more easier for you. Finally, you accepted.

Now you were both currently moving a few boxes up into his apartment, which had to be on the top floor.

After a good half an hour of box moving, you let yourself drop on his couch and let out an exhausted sigh.

Closing his front door, Lovino made his way up to you. Ruffling your (h/c) he smirked, which made you raise en eyebrow.

"Are you getting hungry?" He asked right after your stomach decided to demonstrate the mating call of the humpback whale.

Wincing, you nodded. "Yeah, want me to help you make dinner?"

He chuckled and waved his hands. "No, no. I'll make it. You just stay here and make yourself comfortable in your room, ragazza." And with that, he sprinted towards the kitchen, obviously starving.

Chuckling, you slowly walked to your room. It was the guest room, originally. But Lovino was kind enough to let you borrow it, for the time being.

After what seemed like an hour, you heard Lovi calling you from the kitchen.

"(y/n) it's ready!"

You both sat at the small table and began eating your pesto pasta.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ANOTHER TIME SKIP BECAUSE IM LAZY, VEE~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was maybe 1:30 or 2:00 AM, and you were still up. Lovino had went to bed early that night, claiming to be tired. You had told him you were also going to bed, therefor, you couldn't close your eyes. Not even once.

The frightening image of your home dangerously on fire haunted you for hours. Tossing and turning, sleep would not come. You envied your Italian friend, who was probably sound asleep by now. You were still very grateful to him for letting you live here. But he would never offer anyone to stay here, so why you?

Groaning in defeat, you kicked your bed sheets off your body and made your way to the kitchen for a cold glass of water.

Leaning on the cold counter, you looked outside, admiring the city lights. It was such a nice view from up here.

Lost in your trail of thoughts, you didn't notice Lovino appearing behind you, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"(y/n)? What are you doing still up?" He had a rather sleepy voice and seemed even more exhausted than you.

Quickly turning around, his sudden presence slightly startled you. But seeing that it was just him, you relaxed.

"Oh Lovi, it's just you. God, you scared me!"

Lowering your gaze, you noticed he was also just wearing his boxers. Blushing furiously, you tried so hard not to stare. He was also in good shape, which made you slap yourself mentally.

Don't stare! For the love of pasta, don't stare!

The Italian also seemed to be having a mental battle with himself. Looking down at yourself, you completely forgot you were wearing nothing but really short shorts and a too tight tank top.

I just had to pick this outfit to sleep in, great...

Clearing his throat nervously, he looked away.

"Had a hard time falling asleep?..." His voice was barely audible.

"Y-yeah...The fire still haunts me."

He sighed and pulled you into a tight hug. Burying your face in the crook of his neck, you wrapped your arms around his exposed back. His skin was soft.

Remaining in that position, you felt your eyelids get heavier by the second.

Picking you up bridal style, he led you to his room. Not aware of it, you clung to his neck a little tighter.

Gently placing you onto his messed up bed, he crawled up next to you before pulling the sheets  over your heads. You were so close to him. You could feel his warm and steady breathe on your cheeks. Lovino's strong arms wrapped around your waist and he placed his chin above your head.

Cuddling closer to his bare chest, you finally felt sleep take over you.

Smiling to himself, he caressed your soft (h/c) locks. Little did he know you were sound asleep by now. Placing his soft lips onto your forehead, he whispered: "Ti amo."

While working the counter at your job like you so often did, you got a call on the phone for an order, which wasn't out of the ordinary either.

"Roma Pizza." You said.

"Ciao." Came a male Italian voice. "I'd like to place an order for pick up."

"Ok. Can I have the name please?"

"Romano Vargas." The man replied.

You typed the name into the computer. "Ok and what would you like, sir?" You asked.

"I'd like one plain pizza, your spaghetti and meatballs, and your Italian sub with everything on it." He told you.

You punched in the order as the man said it. "That'll be 27.29 and it'll be ready in..." You looked to see how many tickets there were already. None. Not surprising. It was the end of your shift. "Fifteen to twenty minutes." You told him.

"Bene. Grazie." He said and hung up.

No less than five minutes later did a man walk in with amber eyes and dark brown hair with a weird little curl that jutted from his hair to the left. You had to admit to yourself that he looked kind of attractive. He walked up to the counter with a scowl in his face.

"Can I help you, sir?" You asked the man.

"Uh, I'm here to pick up an order. I know I'm early. The name is Romano Vargas." The man, Romano replied.

"It'll be about another ten minutes." You said.

Romano nodded and took a seat closest to the counter to wait, the seat that you and the delivery boys generally sat when no one was there. And since your shift was almost over, all you had to do was sitting down.

You sighed and cleaned all the tables again. You looked at the clock. You still had ten more minutes. You sighed again and looked at Romano sitting at the table. You couldn't sit there, that wasn't something that was socially acceptable and you didn't know how this man would react.

Instead you just took the seat next to the table at a smaller one that wasn't a booth.

Little did you know that Romano has been looking at you intently. Your (h/l) (h/c) looked silky smooth. You barely looked more than a year younger than himself. Your (e/c) eyes seemed to glitter in the right light. He couldn't comprehend how a ragazza like you was working in a pizzeria like this.

A few minutes later, you stood up when you saw that the cook and the pizza man had finished with Mr. Vargas' order. You gathered the food all together and took the tickets.

"Ah, Sir, Mr. Vargas. Your food is ready." You said.

His head snapped around to face you, and then he got up. "Bene." He said.

"That'll be 27.29." You replied.

He took out his wallet and handed you thirty dollars and thirty cents. "Keep the change." He said.

You smiled at him. "Thank you, sir." You said happily.

He nodded and headed to the door.

"Have a nice night!"

"Buonanotte." Said the Italian man and left the shop.

When he was outside you looked at the clock and picked up your winter jacket and pulled it on. You said good bye to your boss and walked out, only to see that it was snowing. You grumbled. Out of the corner of your eye you saw Romano get into his car.

You sighed. Lucky bastard. He had a ride home while you had to walk to your house in the freezing cold.

You put your iPod headphones in and started walking towards your house. Your music was so loud that you barely heard the furious honking of a car. When you finally heard it you pulled out your head phones and turned to the car. The window rolled down to reveal Romano in the driver's side leaning over.

"Ragazza, do you want a ride home?" He asked.

When you were a little kid your parents drilled it into your head that you never accepted rides from strangers. But you were twenty one now, living on your own in a relatively safe neighborhood. And something about this man made it seem like you could trust him.

"Uh... Sure." You said.

Romano opened the door and you slid into the passenger side.

"So where do you live, ragazza?"

You told him your address and he plugged it into his GPS and started driving. Most of the ride, the two of you were silent. It felt kind of weird for you, I mean, you were know a car with a strange man you didn't know. Maybe it was the wrong idea to get in the car with him. You sighed.

"What's wrong, ragazza?" You heard Romano say next to you, focusing on the road ahead of him.

"Oh, uh… nothing Mr. Vargas." You replied.

Romano stopped the car at the red light and then looked at you. "Then what was with the sigh?"

You shrugged. "Just thinking."

"About?"

You looked at Romano. Was this man actually curious about what you were thinking about? He didn't seem the type to care about anything that didn't directly involve him. You decided to test him.

"I was just thinking about work." You lied.

"What about work?" He asked and started driving as so as the light turned green.

"How dreadfully boring it is and how I can't stand the people that I work with." You answered. You were half telling the truth. You really couldn't stand your job. But you weren't going to tell this stranger the real thing you were thinking about. "I don't like a majority of the people that come in either. Most of them are jerks."

He nodded. "Sounds like a really crappy job."

"Meh. It's the only one I got." You said. "My house is right there."

You pointed to a small, relatively cozy, one story home. Working at that poor excuse for a job was all you could do to afford the place. The place barely even paid you minimum wage. You weren't about to leave the job and move out of your home. Your grandparents left that place to you before they died.

Romano pulled up on the curb. You opened the door and stepped out.

"Well, thank you for the ride, Mr. Vargas. I appreciate it." You said.

"Prego. And please, call me Romano." He said.

You didn't know why he was telling you to call him Romano since you probably were never going to see him again. But you nodded in compliance anyway.

"All right. Good bye then, Romano." You said. You didn't know why saying that made you feel so sad.

"Ciao...?" He asked.

"(Name)." You replied. "(Name) (Last name)."

"Well then Ciao, (name)." He said. "Maybe I'll see you around."

"Maybe." You said while in your mind you said hopefully.

You closed the door to the car and walked up the path to your home. You unlocked the door. Before you walked in, you glanced back and saw that Romano's car was still there. You felt yourself smile as you walked in the house. You looked out the window and you watched as Romano drove away. You hoped you would see him again. He seemed very nice to you.

The next day you got up and looked at your clock. It was 8:00. You sighed. It seemed absolutely impossible for you to sleep in. You got out of bed and got dressed for the day and did your morning routine. Since it was Saturday and you didn’t have to go into work until 4:30, you decided to go to the local bookstore and see if there were any books that interested you.

You grabbed a jacket and walked out of the house. Since the book store was only down the street and around the corner a ways, you figured you would just walk. No need to pay the fifty cents to take the bus. You made your way to the bookstore and when you arrived, you walked to the anime and manga section.

You browsed the selection they had. But they only had volumes you didn’t like or already have. You sighed and walked over to the teen fiction section. Sure, you were twenty one, but you still liked the fiction novels from the teen section. They were good and they appealed to your interests. While you were looking at the books, you noticed someone out of the corner of your eyes who you thought was familiar.

You turned and faced the man. He looked like…

"Romano?" You asked.

The man turned around. But it wasn’t Romano. His eyes were closed and his curl was going the wrong way. His hair was also a few shades lighter than Romano's dark brown hair. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at you.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were someone else." You said and turned to go back to browsing the shelves.

"Romano?" The man said, his voice was kind of high pitched. "You know mio fratello?"

"Mio fratello?" You asked not speaking much Italian; your vocabulary was almost nonexistent.

"It means my brother." The man replied.

"Oh." You said. "I don't know him. He just drove me home from work last night. You look like him so I thought he was you."

"Oh! So that was why he was late." The man grinned. "What's your name, bella?"

"(Name) (last name)." You replied. "Yours?"

"Vee~! My name is Feliciano Vargas." He replies happily. "You can call me Feli."

You smiled at him. "Nice to meet you, Feli."

"Nice to meet you, too, bella." He replied and flashed you a flirtatious smile.

You smiled back and turned back to the bookshelf. Feli continued talking to you, flirting, actually. You didn't really know if you were flirting back or not, but either way, Feliciano didn't let up. Eventually you picked up the newest installment of (favorite unfinished book series). You told Feli that you were going to go home. He insisted on walking you home saying that it "wasn't right to let such a pretty girl as you to walk home alone."

You smile and politely declined, but he was a persistent one. Not long after, you gave in. You paid for your book and left the bookstore, Feliciano right behind you. He kept trying to talk to you, asking you questions like what kinds of books you like to read and your favorite television show. You would give short answers, not really wanting to encourage the Italians flirting.

Finally, you got back to your house and you walked to the door.

"Well thank you for walking me home, Feli." You said politely. "I appreciate it."

"It was no problem, bella." He said, smiling. "Caio. See you around, (name)."

With that he skipped down the walk way, literally skipped, and if he hadn't been flirting with you the whole time, then you would have assumed him to be gay. You rolled your eyes. Sure, he seemed like a nice guy, but he wasn't your type. You turned around and unlocked the door to your home and walked in. You took of your jacket and hung it up in the closet. Then you curled up on a chair by the window and cracked open your book.

You read until you realized that you were going to be late for work if you didn't leave now. You put a book mark in the book and put it down. You grabbed your jacket and walked out the door. The walk to work was silent except for your music blasting in your ears from your over-the-ear head phones. Work was relatively ok, also. Only three angry phone calls from people who weren't patient enough to wait for their food to get there. At the end of the work day, while you were going the normal cleaning up, you got a call.

"Roma Pizza."  You said before you clicked the button that showed who the caller was.

"Caio. It's Romano Vargas." He said. "I'd like to place an order for pick up."

"Oh, hello, Romano." You said. "What would you like?"

He told you the same thing that he ordered the day before. Before you told him the price you asked him one more question.

"Anything else?" You asked.

"Ah... Uh. Si." Romano replied.

"And that would be?"

"Adatefromtheprettywaitressimonthephonewith." He said really fast and in a higher voice that you barely heard it, and didn't think it was even him.

"Can you repeat that, please?" You said all professionally.

Romano was silent a moment. Next you heard some sort of commotion. Then he cleared his throat. "I'll uh... Tell you when I get there." He replied.

"All right." You said and told him the total. "Have a nice night."

"Sí. You too, bella." He hung up.

Five minutes later, he arrived early just like the first time. He paid and you got to work with the rest of the cleanup chores. When you finished, Romano's food was completed also. It was also the end of your shift, just like the last time. Only, this time, Romano waited for you to get your jacket, get paid and then he walked out with you.

"Would you like a ride again, ragazza?" He asked.

You smiled at him and nodded. "I would love one."

Truth be told, you liked Romano more than his twin. He seemed more serious. And he wasn't as flirty as his brother was. At least not around you, that is.

Romano went around and opened the front passenger side for you. You got in the car and he closed the door. Then he put the food in the back and got into the driver's side. The two of you drove to your house in silence and when you arrive there, Romano walked you to your door.

"So what were you trying to say on the phone earlier?" You asked.

"Oh uh... Well. That was actually mio fratello." Romano scratched the back of his neck. "He wanted to make it seem like it was me talking." His face started turning red. "But uh… will you go on a date with me, bella?" He asked.

You stared wide eyed at the Italian man in front of you, feeling your face heat up.

Romano wasn't looking at you anymore, but to the side at the window. "You don't have to if you don't want to. I'll understand."

"I'll go." You said.

"I mean, I know you met my brother and everyone-- wait, what?" He said, looking at you.

"I said I would go out with you." You answered.

Romano's face turned even redder. "Really?"

You nodded. "Really."

Romano smiled, still red in the face. "How's tomorrow at 7 sound for dinner?" He said.

You smiles back at him. "Sounds great."

With that, Romano left. You walked into your house, smiling. Going on a date tomorrow. Who knew something good would come out of that good for nothing job of yours?

The next day, you woke up early, again. For the majority of the day, you sat around, watching TV and reading the book you got. You didn't have work today, so you had nothing much to do to pass the time until Romano picked you up.

Finally the clock on your cable box turned seven. Romano still wasn't there so you took the time waiting to change into something nicer, a little (f/c) dress with (other f/c) embroidery. You also even put on make-up, which is something you didn't really have the need for since you graduated from school. Not long after you finished, the doorbell rang. You walked to the door, saw it was Romano through the peep hole. You opened up your closet and pulled out (f/c) jacket that went well with your dress. You slipped it on and then opened the door.

"Hey, Romano." You said and smiled at him.

He was staring at you. "Sei bellissima."

You cocked your head to the side. "What does that mean?" You asked.

Romano cleared his throat and turned red. "It means you look beautiful."

Your face heated up. "T-thank you, Romano." You said.

He nodded, blushing, and held out his hand for you to take. You obliged and he led you to the car. He opened the door for you. Then he got into the other side. Once he was buckled in, he drove off down the street. The car ride was silent.  

Not long after, Romano stopped the car in the driveway of a two story house. He got out, as well as yourself. Then he walked up to the door and unlocked it, letting you in.

"Where are we?" You asked.

"My house." He answered.

You looked at your date. "And here I thought we'd be going out to eat."

He shrugged. "I figured I would cook for you. I can make better food then any fancy restaurant." He boasted.

You raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh really? Well I'll be the judge of that." You grinned.

He shot you a grin. "I'll make you eat those words, and my kick-ass lasagna."

You smiled at him. "I look forward to it."

Romano blushed and led you to the dining room. He pulled a chair out for you and you took your seat. Then Romano went into the kitchen and prepared the lasagna. When he put it in the oven he walked into the dining room and sat at the table across from you. While the food was cooking the two of you chatted. You found out that Romano had quite the arsenal of curses. Part of you thought it was cute and part of you thought it was funny.

After a little bit, the timer dinged on the oven and Romano got up to pulled out the lasagna. He brought it to the table in a gloved hand and placed it on a wire cooling rack on the table cloth. He cut you a piece and placed it on your plate and cut himself a piece. You picked up your fork and took a little bit of the lasagna on it. You blew on it to cool it down and then you took a bite. Romano looked at you with an eyebrow raised.

"Not bad. Not bad." You said. "But not great either."  You teased, lying through your teeth; you just wanted to get a funny reaction out of Romano.

He was silent for a minute, studying you. Then he spoke. "You're lying, ragazza."

You stared at him. "Man. You're no fun. I wanted a funny reaction."

He raised an eyebrow at you. "What was that, idiota?" He liked the fact that you didn’t know Italian so he could call you names without you understanding. But sadly, idiota isn’t the hardest word to figure out.

"I am not an idiot, Romano Vargas." You said, mock pouting and ate some more of the lasagna. "I said you're no fun. Want me to translate that to Italian for you?" You grinned at him. Teasing Romano had become fun in the last hour because he took it so well, always turning as red as a tomato.

"You and I both know that you can’t speak Italian." Romano grinned at you, eating some of his food as well. "So I don’t want you to translate it for me. I don’t want you butchering my language, idiota." His grinned widened. He was teasing back this time, flirting even, in his own way at least.

You felt your face heat up. "Ass."  You said, most of your food was gone by now.

Romano's eyebrow rose again. "Did you just call me an ass, pomodoro?"

"What did you just call me?" You asked, your voice steely because you weren’t sure if it was an insult or not.

"I called you a tomato." Romano said nonchalantly.

"Why?" You asked.

Romano's face turned red as well. "Because you look like one."

You studied Romano. "You look like a pomodoro, too." You said, mimicking his pronunciation on the Italian word.

Romano's blush only worsened. Even though you couldn’t speak Italian, or at least, didn’t know any of it, the way you said that one word was music to his ears. Even if your pronunciation was a little off. Surprisingly, though, he didn’t correct you. He only shoveled the lasagna in his mouth. You giggled, watching him and ate the rest of your own piece.

When the two of you finished eating, you retreated into the living room. Romano put in a movie called Safe Haven that was bootlegged. He said that his brother left it out for the two of you to watch when Romano shooed him off to the "potato bastards" house. You loved it. Then ending actually made you cry it was so cute. Though Romano would never admit it, he almost cried too.

When the movie was over, it was after 11:30 and, since you had work tomorrow, Romano figured he would drive you home. On the way there you yawned often and almost fell asleep. When you arrived, you really tired, Romano walked you to your door.

"I had a lot of fun tonight, Romano." You said and smiled sleepily at him.

He blushed and smiled back. "Me too."

He raised one of his hands from his side and put it on your cheek, caressing it. You leaned your head in it and looked up at Romano. He slowly leaned it and his lips brushed against yours lightly. You tilted your head up and Romano pressed his lips against yours harder. Not long after he pulled back, too soon in your opinion.

"Buonanotte, bella." He said. "Good night, beautiful." He translated for you.

You blushed and unlocked the door to your house. Before you walked in you turned to Romano.

"Good night, Romano." You said and quickly pecked him on the cheek.

You saw his face turn red and you giggled a little bit before walking into your home. You closed the door, waving to Romano, who waved back as he walked to his car. When he was gone, you locked the door and went to bed, falling into a blissful night sleep, one of the best you’ve had in years.

Several months have passed since you and Romano started dating, almost ten, actually. You still worked at the same place, though you were still looking for a new job. Romano also moved in with you, too, so you wouldn’t have to work so often to pay for the house. In that time you also found out one secret about Romano. The secret of the curl.

You found out one night when the two of you were getting ready to go to bed, about three months into your relationship. The two of you lay down next to each other and before you closed your eyes, you decided to ruffle Romano's hair a little bit because you knew he didn’t like it. He glared. You decided since he was already mad, that you should try another taboo thing. Touch the curl. You grinned at him and kissed his cheek lightly. Then you ran a finger from the bottom of the curl all the way to the end. Romano let out a gasp. You giggled.

"What was that, Lo-vi-no?" You said, dragging out his name in an Italian accent, enunciating each syllable. You learned his middle name the day he moved in when Feliciano was saying good bye to him. He called him Lovi and glomped his brother, before Romano pushed him off, that is.

He recovered and glared. "What did I say about touching the curl, ragazza?"

You smirked and stroked the curl again, slower this time. You were rewarded with a light moan. "To not to?"

Romano looked at you with a savage, yet sexy look. "You know what happens next, now, don’t you?"

You giggled. "Nope!"

Romano pressed his lips against yours roughly, hungrily. When he pulled back he spoke. "I have to punish you, bella." He said huskily.

The rest of that night was history. You reminisced in your memory from months ago. You snapped out of it when you got a rough tap on your shoulder. You turned to see your boss standing there, looking pissed. He pointed to look in front of you. There was a line. And the first one in line was your boyfriend. You smiled at him.

"Hey, Romano." You said. "What are you doing here? You didn’t order anything."

"Do I have to order something to surprise mio ragazza?" He said and grinned. "Sides. I wanted to ask you something."

You looked at the line of customers behind him. It wasn’t too long. "Think you could wait a second so I can ring these guys up before they get angry?"

He looked behind him and then turned back to you, nodding somewhat reluctantly. "Sí." He took a seat at one of the booths.

While he was seated, you quickly rang up and had the customers pay for their food. When you were done, there was still about half of them there, waiting for their food to be finished cooking. You decided now was the best time as any to see what Romano wanted. You turned to him.

"So what did you want to ask me, Romano?" You asked, smiling at your boyfriend.

"Come here." He said and stood up.

You walked up in front of him.

"I know it's barely been ten months since we met and started dating. But… I felt like it's been long enough to know one thing, bella." He said, his amber eyes boring into your (e/c) ones, his face starting to turn really red. He cleared his throat and pulled out a small velvet box and lowered himself down onto one knee. "Ti amo, mio bella (name)." He opened the box, revealing a beautiful diamond stone fixed on a silver band. "I love you, my beautiful (name)." He translated for you. "Will you marry me?"

You gasped and covered your mouth with your hands. Your eyes widened and you nodded slowly. You felt tears of joy sting the back of your eyes.

"Y-yes, Romano." You said.

He smiled, his face turning fifty more shaded of red then it was before, and stood. He took the ring out of the box and slid it onto your finger. You watched as he did and when it was on, you looked up. He bent his head down, kissing you gently. When he pulled back he raised an eyebrow at you.

"Don’t you have something to say to me, bella ragazza?" He said and grinned.

You blushed. "I love you, too, Romano."

"Perfetto." He smiled and kissed you again. "Perfect."

You were sitting on the bus, listening to your mp3 player and staring outside, but not at anything particular. Today was a beautiful winter day, which was something unusual for you to think -since you generally hated the cold- but today was also unusually warm and the sun was shining. You were happily and peacefully humming along to the song you were listening until-

“Hey, idiota, move over,” a familiar voice said as he poked your head.

Surprised, you quickly glanced at the person who invaded your daydreaming and pouted. It was Lovi, and he didn’t seem like he was going to sit anywhere else. You sighed and scooted over next to the window and hugged your backpack as he plopped down next to you.

When your thighs touched, you flinched and almost squeaked out loud but instead scooted over some more and buried your face into your backpack and prayed that he wouldn’t notice your reddening face.

Lovi and you were class mates for one of your college courses, and neighbors as well at a nearby apartment. You two had chatted a bit, always sat next to each other on the bus home and even hung out for lunch. You found him to be grumpy, irritable, and foul-mouthed sometimes, but there was something about him that was just so… irresistible. Something that just made you want to get to know him better. Something that you wished you had the courage to do… but you were too shy. Something that he, luckily, was too oblivious to notice, or just didn’t bother to mention. Some-

“Hey, so where are you going?” you heard him cut through the many somethings in your mind and noticed that he took out one of the headphones in your ear and put it into his.

“Oh—uhmm... I’m going to do some quick shopping before I go to my apartment.”

“Oh, Shopping?” he said, in a faintly interested voice. He was listening to the song that was on now, but he was also looking straight at you.

“Yeah, I’m uh… restocking on food for the week,” you said as you tried your hardest to keep eye contact with him and not blush.

“Oh..” he said as he nodded. You both settled into an awkward silence for a second and thoughts ran through your head, desperate for conversation- or something to break that silence.

“So, you like j-pop, huh?” he said, with a faint smile.

You nodded in reply.

“Hah, I do to. I have a friend named Kiku who gave me some..” and he continued on, talking about other people he knew and his brother. You listened happily until you noticed your stop was coming up, to your dismay.

“Uhm.. Lovi, I need to go…” you said after you pulled the stop request string.

“Oh, uh, right.” Was he disappointed or..? No, you were just imagining it. You smiled and waved as you walked past him.

“Goodbye… see you tomorrow,” you walked off the bus.. and felt around in your pocket for your….

Your mp3 player?? Where was it?

“__________! You idiota!!!!” you spun around and saw that Lovi was running after you, with your mp3 in his hand.

“Oh! Thank you…! But, Lovi… the bus!” you both stared with dismay at the bus as it drove away.

He sighed, and scratched the back of his head as he handed the mp3 over to you, obviously embarrassed.  You took the mp3 from him and then said with tears in your eyes, “I’m so sorry Lovi!!! I’m so sorry! I was such a ditz and you have to suffer for it…”

You were shocked out of your apology by him flicking you on the forehead. “I-di-o-ta!” he drew out each syllable as he pretended to be upset. “It’s okay… I guess you’ll just have to keep me company as payback.”

“Oh… okay,” you blushed as you rubbed your forehead. That flick hurt, but you were happy at the prospect of getting to spend more time with him. You smiled happily… a wide goofy smile to which Lovi flicked your forehead (lighter this time, though) and smiled as well.

When you got to the market, he started to push the cart around as you maneuvered through the aisles with your list. He was really helpful, giving you tips such as telling you how to tell what was ripe and what wasn’t and finding better deals. He especially impressed you when it came to tomatoes. When you told him you were planning on making your own spaghetti sauce, he confidently picked out the best tomatoes and even knew which ones went best with what. Before you went to the checkout, he started to walk away, saying that he remembered that he needed something. After you paid, he surprised you by giving you a small bouquet of daisies.

“I’ll trade you this for those bags,” he said. You blushed, trying to insist you could hold all of the groceries, but he stubbornly refused and left you holding the flowers while he held the bags.

Touched and surprised by the flowers and overall overwhelmed by tonight’s turn of events, you were both quietly standing by the You thought that you saw his face slowly turn red, but you immediately attributed that to the cold. It was pretty cold outside, after all.

You began to shiver a bit, in spite of your attempts to hide it, and it didn’t escape his notice. He put down the bags, unwrapped his scarf and his jacket, and put draped them around your shoulders.

“L-lovi… but you are cold as well!” you protested through chattering teeth. You cursed your weak cold hating body inwardly as you fumbled, trying to juggle flowers and jacket as you also tried avoiding looking at him so that he couldn’t see your flaming face.

He smiled the same smile that he’d always give you and “grumpily” sighed. “Alright, idiota, is this better?” he took off the scarf and wrapped half of it around his neck and the other around yours.

“Yes… a little..” you said, embarrassed. Now he was really close to you! So close you could hear him breathe.

Silence. The only sound was of you two breathing.

“Uhm, wow that bus sure is late..” you said in an offhand way, trying to lighten the awkward mood that was hanging over both of you. You stared down the street, away from Lovino, peering and willing for the bus to come.

“__________.” He said seriously, and to your surprise he awkwardly took your hand.

“Lovi?” you whipped your head around to look at him.

“_________. Go out with me.” He said as he looked straight down at the groceries.

“EH?” you yelled in shock, and tried to pull away since you were so embarrassed, but he was holding onto your hand with an iron grip.

“Bella… Ti amo.” He looked straight at you, his amber eyes serious, but his whole face a flaming red.

Then it clicked. His strange behavior… well, actually it wasn’t that strange… but the suffocating mood that was hovering around you… was because he also like you? You stared at him with pure shock, your brain trying to absorb what just happened.

“I know this is sudden and all, and we don’t know each other all that well, but I admire you,” he smiled, a genuine one, one that you’d rarely see. “You’re kind, smart, and genuinely beautiful. And I know can be quite testy sometimes but-” he began to look a bit worried, and you panicked. You never wanted to see him sad.

“I-I-I love you to!” you blurted out.

“…” he stared at you, surprised at your sudden outburst… and then he started to chuckle.

“What? Why are you laughing?” you asked, confused.

“Well, that’s…” he smiled again, making you heart jump in your chest and he put his arm around you and brought you close to him. “I’m just really happy to hear you feel the same way too.”

Then the bus came forcing both of you to regretfully break apart. He then shyly took your hand and the groceries and you both boarded the bus and sat in the back this time. When you sat down you took out one of the daisies and put it through a button hole.

“Was this… to go along with the confession?” you blushed and smiled happily as you smelled the daises.

He “glared” at you and said “I-di-o-ta, why do you think everything revolves around you, huh?” which made you pout and turn away from him in your seat. He then put his hand on your head and made you lean on your shoulder.

You smiled as he took you hand. “I’m glad that you told me today…” you said as you traced his fingers with your other hand.

“Hmph.” He said as he leaned his head against yours. “You just looked so pretty when you smiled…” his voice then got lower. “…that I wanted to see you smile like that every time I see you.”

You cuddled up to him and whispered back. “That’s exactly what I was thinking...” you smiled contently.

You two were silent for a while and you watched people get on and off at various bus stops. But this silence wasn’t an uncomfortable one because both of you were content and happy with the knowledge that you both loved each other.

As you both got off at your stop and Lovi helped you off the bus, he smirked and said, “So you think that I’m pretty when I smile?”

“EH?” you looked at him shocked, as you both began to walk down to the apartment. “No no no, that’s not what I meant!” you said, aghast.

“I-DI-O-TA!” he almost sang as he smiled at you and put one arm around you. He then looked down at you, smiling as he said, “Now, let’s have dinner together. You made me hungry, telling me about your plans to eat spaghetti. And I’ll make sure to smile nice and pretty for you, alright?”

At that, you smiled and said, “That sounds like a good plan… but,” you motioned for him to come closer and he did. You impishly then tugged on his curl. “I-di-ot-a! Race you to my door!” you laughed as you ran for dear life, away from Lovino.

He pretended to be angry but couldn’t help but laugh and smile as he chased after you. “That’s not fair! I’m carrying all of these heavy bags!” he yelled.

You two had a nice first meal as a couple together, and you continued to make him smile “prettily” for the rest of your lives together. <3

“…so what are you doing for Valentine’s Day?” you blushed as your roommate, Eliza gave you a significant look.

“Nothing…” you turned around and pretended that you were incredibly interested with your homework- even though you were just yawning from sheer boredom a few moments earlier. You jumped when Eliza suddenly pounced on you and began poking you mercilessly on your sides.

“S-s-stop!!” you gasped, trying your best to wriggle away from your merciless friend.

“Not until you ‘fess up!” she said stubbornly. “You finally got yourself a boyfriend and you say you aren’t doing anything for the biggest love- romance-day?? That’s bull!”

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you!” you said desperately. Her pokes were beginning to hurt. Once she heard you, she let you go and then looked at you expectantly. You opened your mouth as you began to talk when suddenly…

*phone rings* Elizaveta whipped out her phone and checked the caller ID. “Oh, it’s Gilbert…” she answered it saying, “Hey, Gil…”

When you saw that she was totally engrossed into her conversation, you very slowly walked out of the room, trying to not make any noise that would give you away. When you finally reached the front door you opened it and slowly closed the door behind you. Once you heard the door give a small little clicking noise you breathed out in relief. You were free.

You looked around outside your apartment and noticed that a full moon was out. You walked down to the stairs and glanced over at a specific room and sighed. Apartment number 106 was dark, meaning that he was out. You then sat down on the stairs and rubbed your arms.
It was pretty chilly out and you wished you could go inside, but you didn’t feel like dealing with your friend right now. You then reached into your jacket pocket and took out your phone and felt a small pang of disappointment when you saw the time: 8:09. He wasn’t going to be out for another hour or so.

You sighed once more and leaned your head against the railing and stared at the dark windows of his room. “What will we do for Valentine’s day?” you whispered quietly to yourself. You honestly had no clue of what you were going to do with him. He was so busy at work lately and you had been busy as well at school that you two have barely seen each other.  You knew that he really wanted to spend more time with you, and you did as well, with him, but time just seemed to work against you two.

You pressed a button on your phone so you could look at your wallpaper. It was a picture of the two of you eating spaghetti together. You smiled, remembering the first date you had with him, after he had missed the bus for you and shopped with you as well. Back when you two weren’t so busy.

“Lovi… I miss you…” you said softly, and to no one in particular.

“…and I miss you too.” You jumped and turned around, only to come face to face with the very person you were just thinking about.

“Lovi!” you smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “What are you doing here?” you asked him curiously, checking your phone to see what time it was. “I mean- isn’t it still your shift?”

He just smiled and sat down next to you, taking both of your hands- which were very cold now, and held them in his in an attempt to warm them. “Your hands- they are so cold! What are you doing outside in this freezing weather, you idiota!?” he breathed on your hands and pretended to look angry, but was failing miserably.

“Lovi…. You didn’t answer me!!” you said, in an equally “grumpy” voice, but honestly you were grinning like an idiota.

He still ignored you as he stood up and walked downstairs while leading you into his apartment. He had you sit on his couch with a blanket wrapped around you while he started to boil some water for some hot chocolate and then plopped down next to you. He then looked at you and then burst out laughing.

“Why are you laughing??” you pouted.

“You look like a caterpillar, all wrapped up like that with only your head sticking out!” he said, with tears almost leaking out of the corners of his eyes.

“Well, it’s your fault,” you said pouting some more. “You wrapped me up like this and-“ you squeaked a bit in surprise as he suddenly grabbed you and pulled you back so you were resting on his chest. You blushed and tried to pull back, but he had his arms securely around you, effectively preventing you from moving. You looked up and saw that he was blushing as well, but smiling. You smiled and cuddled with him some more, feeling warm and safe. You could even hear his heartbeat, which was currently beating pretty fast.

“So- you still haven’t answered me, Mr. Lovino Vargas,” you said as you closed your eyes, suddenly feeling a teensy bit sleepy.

“What haven’t I answered yet, Miss (f/n) (l/n)?” he said. You smiled as you could feel his chest vibrate a bit with every word he said.

“Oh, don’t play innocent! You never told me why you left so early!” you said as you “punched” his knee.

“Ouch…” he joked. You turned around as best you could so you could look at him. Directly.
And suspiciously.

He then turned red and looked to the side and mumbled.

“What was that Lovi?” you said curiously, wondering why he was getting so embarrassed.  “I’m this close to you and I still couldn’t hear what you said.”

“….because I really missed my girlfriend and wanted to spend some time with her…” he mumbled, but you could make out what he was saying this time, at least. He was a very deep shade of red.

“Really?” you said, smiling.

“…” he still didn’t make eye contact. This made you a bit suspicious.

“Why are you acting so guilty though?” you asked him.

“…I kinda got caught….”

“Caught?? What do you mean?”

“…” there was a slight pause. “I was yelling angrily at the dishes in the kitchen... complaining about missing you… and then...”

“And then…?” you blushed and tried not to laugh. He was yelling at the dishes?

“And then… that tomato bastardo overheard…and...”

“And…?” now you could finally see why he was so embarrassed.

“…he told everyone in the restaurant about it…” he said in a low voice, so low you almost didn’t catch it.

“Oh, Antonio…” you then began to laugh a bit. “So then what happened, Lovi?”

“…he asked everyone in the restaurant if he should let me go early so I can see you and they all yelled yes… and some even offered to buy me some wine… and some other things…” he blushed.

“Oh.” You blushed as well. Then you looked at him, holding his face gently between your hands and turning it so he could look straight into yours. “Lovi… did you really miss me that much? So much that you’d yell at dishes?” you smirked a bit at that last statement.

He then began to get a bit flustered. “W-well…!” he objected a bit but couldn’t say much more that an embarrassed “idiota...”

You then couldn’t contain yourself anymore and hugged him fiercely, snuggling into the crook of his neck. “I missed you so much too!” you squealed, feeling all warm and happy inside as well.

You could feel his entire body get hot and he just hugged you back, giving you a quick peck on your cheek.  Then you began to laugh.

“What?” he asked you indignantly.

“It’s just… I had no idea you could be like that!” you smiled up at him.

“I-I-Idiota!” he stuttered, blushing. Then you heard something whistling at the stove. “Augh the hot chocolate!” you quickly sat up and he ran over to the kitchen to take care of it.

You turned around and looked at him fondly, thinking of just how lucky you were to have a boyfriend like him. Even if he was really stubborn and pretended to be mean… you just loved how genuinely sweet he was. He came back over with mugs brimming with hot chocolate and set it on the table. You unwrapped the blanket from around you and draped it around the both of you. He turned to look at you and smiled, putting his arm around you and leaning back into the cushioned back of the couch. He buried his face into your (y/c) hair and said, “you always smell… so good.”

“What???” you smiled and blushed.

“Just... be quiet bella,” he said, sensing that you were going to make fun of him. You giggled and leaned against his shoulder and you two sat there and enjoyed each other’s company, making up for the many days you two spent apart.

~

“Good night, Lovi,” you said after you gave him a good night kiss. You turned around to put the key into the lock on your door when he suddenly hugged you from behind.

“Hey… are you busy this Thursday?” he asked you, his voice a bit muffled because he was hugging you so tight.

“Nooo… why?” you turned around to look at him curiously.

“Okay, just keep it that way, okay?” he said, sounding a bit relieved.

“Why?” you smiled up at him, a bit suspiciously.

“It’s a secret… okay, you idiota ragazza!” he said in a grumpy voice.

“Oooo-kayy...” you said as you opened the door. “I’ll keep it super-duper clear just for you. I’m yours for that entire day, alright?” you winked at him.

He humph-ed and then gave you another kiss. “Love you, bella.”

“Love you lots, too,” you smiled and then closed the door after you waved at him as he went back the door, finally closing the door when he went out of your sight. You turned around and were suddenly face to face with a very suspicious Eliza.

“Ohh… hey,” you said to your friend, who looked sleepy and a bit too gleeful.

“I KNEW IT! You are doing something for Valentine’s day!!” she squealed.

“What..?” you thought about it and then realized Thursday was Valentine’s Day. “Oh yeah, that’s right.”

“AHA!” she said triumphantly and then went back happily to her room after saying good night. You rolled your eyes and sighed. Eliza was always worried about you… and you had no idea why. Maybe it was because of all those animes you watched…

WAIT. You had a date for Valentine’s Day! You smiled as your tired mind realized it once more. You walked to your room and jumped on your bed as you smiled, feeling strangely triumphant as well. You smiled once more as you recalled that everyone at his work knew how much he missed you- and that he must have told them about you as well- and went to sleep, dreaming sweet dreams about what you’d do with him on your Valentine’s Day date … with a thought of him smiling at you with those kind eyes of his in your mind. <3

(Name) wasn't in good shape. She was staying with the Vargas's for the weekend since her parents were out, and she helped her Lovino in return to get a date with a girl in school. She didn't mind helping her friends when she could, but what she did mind was that she just couldn't get to him.

He didn't know how she felt when he told her that he wanted to have a date with this girl. It tore her apart when he told her bluntly about it.

She sat quietly on the couch, writing every single emotion she had onto a page in her notebook.

"(Name), are you okay?" Feliciano, his younger brother asked.

"Oh, I'm alright, Feli."

"But you're writing like crazy~! You only do that when there's something on your mind!" He began thinking of reasons (Name) could be writing about. "Was is the pasta I made for dinner?"

She chuckled softly. "No, the pasta was delicious, actually."

"Oh… Is it fratello?"

She froze in place, a little blush spreading on her cheeks. "Um…"

"It is, isn't it?" Feliciano knew well about her love for his brother. "Is it about Lily and their date?"

"Y-yeah."

"Do want to talk about it with me? It's better when you talk it out, (Name)."

"You promise not to tell anyone?" Feliciano nodded. "Well, I helped Lovino out with planning his date, and I was hoping that Lily would decline 'cause, y'know, I like him and all. But she didn't! So Lovino started asking me to help him plan the date, and you know I can't say no him. So I pretended I was her and I totally got to see the romantic side of him, and I realized I liked him more than I thought!" (Name) took a deep breath in, sighed, and hugged her knees close.

"It'll be okay, mi amico~" He patted her back assuringly.

"No, it won't Feli. I'm really just hopeless when it comes to love." She felt like she was about to cry. "I'm j-just… I'll be in my room, okay?" (Name) got up before he could answer. 

"(Name), I'll come around soon, okay?"  He saw her stop before turning at a corner, and nod before she started walking again. 

~~~~An Hour Later~~~~

"Oi, I'm back." 

"Fratello~ Welcome back~" Feliciano was over in the kitchen when he heard Lovino return. 

"Where's (Name)?" Lovino asked as he took off his shoes and jacket. 

"Um…" I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone… "She's in her room right now. I was going to stop by and give her some snacks."

Lovino sighed. "Well, I'll give it to her. I wanted to talk to her anyway." 

"How was the date, Fratello?" He just needed to know. 

Lovino shrugged. "In the end, we're just gonna be friends. She wasn't the right one for me." He picked up the tray of (whatever you like for late night snacks). 

"Oh… you know, maybe the girl you're looking for is really close to you." Feliciano was just hoping that he would get the hint. 

"Whatever." He headed towards the room and saw that the door was unlocked. 

Inside the room, he saw (Name) curled up on the bed with. He couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. Lovino placed the tray on the desk and placed the covers over her body.

He sat on the edge of the bed and brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, revealing the puffy, red cheeks that he didn't notice.

"Well, Lily, doesn't look like it's gonna work anytime soon."

He noticed her notebook at her side with her pencil marking inside, marking her page. Lovino picked it up to put it at her bedside table, and accidentally opened it. 

"W-what the hell is this?" 

He saw something in there that he shouldn't have seen. 

---

Geez, I don't even know why I'm still trying to confess to him anymore! He already likes someone other than me, so I should really give up now. I mean, I don't really remember why I loved him! I don't remember how kind his eyes look when he's actually concerned, his brotherly care, or how he's always so flustered when people find out about it. I don't remember how he tries to look really strong but he's really just kind and friendly when you get to know him better. And I absolutely don't remember how charming he is when he smiles. 

. . .

Okay, so maybe I do remember. But it's not like he actually knows that. All he knows is that I'm just a really good friend, he says. Lily's a really lucky girl, isn't she? She got go on a date with him, while I'm here, still only on friend terms. 

What's the point of lying to myself if I know it's not true? I can't hate him. There's no way I can. I'm absolutely in love with him. Not that he cares about that, right?

---

Lovino finished reading it, and heard (Name) mutter and turn on her other side. Immediately, he left the room, closing the door silently behind him. He walked into his room with his face still red with his blush. 

He put the notebook down on his desk and began pacing around in circles. How was he supposed to react to that? He wasn't really expecting for it to happen. Especially after he came home from his "date" with Lily. 

You see, that wasn't really a date. Lily knew both (Name) and Lovino well, and she knew that (Name) really loved Lovino. So with her knowledge, she brought him out to brainstorm ideas for him to come out and confess. He tried doing it in person (Too many times to count), but…

~Flashback~
Lovino found her at the grocery store, buying food for her family. Like always, he saw that notebook in her messenger bag. They had a little talk before the moment came. 

"O-oi. . . R-ragazza . . . I-I, um, I . . ." He avoided eye contact with (Name) trying to get those three words out of his mouth. "I-I see you have tomatoes on your list!" Lovino pointed at her small paper of groceries. 

"Oh, yeah, I do." She looked down at it, too, giving out a small laugh. 

"Idiota, just come to my house and get some. They're better than this shit," he grumbled as he pointed behind him with his thumb to the produce section. Obviously, he was disappointed he didn't really say what he wanted to say. 

"O-okay, do you want me to pay you back?" she asked politely, pushing things around in her bag for her wallet.

"No, but in return, you gotta hang out with me."

(Name) smiled happily as she agreed.

~End of Flashback~

He sighed. "You're not the only one trying, (Name)." Lovino grumbled to himself before grabbing a pen at his desk. 

~~~~~~~

Feliciano left that morning to go to training with Ludwig and Kiku. That left (Name) and Lovino to sit quietly at the table, eating their breakfast. 

"S-so… how was your date with Lily?" she asked, trying to break the ice. 

"I-It was fine, we're just friends."

"I see…" 

The two sat across from each other in an awkward silence. (Name) tried to look for something to talk about. All she needed was a simple subject that she could —

"I'm gonna go for a walk. We still need to hang out after that time you got tomatoes from me."

"Oh… Okay." She blushed as he picked up her empty plate with his and told her that he was going to leave in a couple of minutes. (Name) headed to her room to change and get her bag ready. 

She noticed that her notebook was neatly on the desk in her guest room and picked it up.

 Was it always there? I didn't see it when I woke up.

 She opened the book, seeing that there was an entry that wasn't in her handwriting. 

"E-eh?"

---

Idiota, you didn't think that I was having a hard time too? Do you know how many times I've tried telling you the same thing? But I always get interrupted by the most random of things. I'll tell you, having that Francis bastard running around naked and drunk made it a bit too awkward for my taste. I couldn't tell you anything, because I cherished the time I had with you. 

I've been trying almost every day I saw you. But every time I see that face, my mind just goes blank and I'm forced to say something else. (Name), I've tried a letter, but the wrong person got the message. Damn that wine bastard… 

What I'm trying to say is …

There's no way I can hate you, too.

---

"H-he…" There was a blush painted on her face as she looked down at the page again. (Name) smiled, and placed it into her messenger bag before changing into some comfortable clothes for the walk with Lovino. 

~~~~~~~

"Ragazza, are you ready?" Lovino asked, getting his shoes on and saw (Name) come around the corner with her bag. He couldn't help but blush after what he wrote in her notebook last night and saw her put her headphones in her ears. 

She smiled. "Yup! Ready when you are!" 

The two headed out, and another awkward silence filled the air between them. When they entered the park and sat down on a bench, (Name) was quietly listening to her music, until Lovino decided to pull one out and put it into his ear. 

"You like this kind of music?" He asked, giving a faint smile.

"Yeah, I kinda got hooked in it, really," she laughed.

"I see. H-how… how's your day so far?" He kept his gaze away from hers, still trying to hide his reddening face and trying to not pull the ear bud out of her ear. 

"Um… fine… yours?" she replied 

"Fine…" 

He grumbled a choice of Italian words before finally taking a bold step. Lovino carefully took (Name)'s hand in his, intertwining his fingers with hers. 

"I-I can't hate you, mi bella (Name)," Lovino mumbled as his ears were getting a little red. 

She couldn't process what he just said, and was plain speechless. 

"Ti amo … (N-Name)."  

(Name)'s face had a blush similar to his. But she was smiling a bit nonetheless. "I-I love you, too, Lovino." 
 
He placed both his hands gently on either sides of her face and leaned in for a gentle kiss on her lips. Something he wanted to do for a while. (Name) was surprised how his kiss contrasted with his personality, but found another reason to love him even more. 

He pulled back after such a short kiss to give a peck on the cheek and a close hug. 

"Io veramente ti amo, mia bella (Name). Si prega di essere mio per sempre," he whispered gently. 

"Lovi, you know I don't speak Italian," she giggled. 

"Which is exactly why I say it, ragazza." 

Lovino came back from the hug and gave his (Name) a loving smile, which she gladly returned. 

 "Ah~ Antonio, Lily, it's Fratello and (Name)!" a familiar voice chirped. They looked in the same direction to see Feliciano, Lovino's friend, Antonio, and Lily running towards the two. 

"Fratello, did you confess to (Name)?" Feliciano asked. 

"Lovi, I knew you could do it!" Lily giggled happily. 

"How 'bout we all go get churros as a celebration?" Antonio cheered. 

(Name) was blushing like crazy, trying to process what the three were saying, before Lovino grabbed her hand. 

And right before running away from the group, he spat, "No way in hell, Antonio. She's mine."

The two ran away from the group and laughed together, sharing more kisses with each other. 

Trying Not To Swear Romano x Reader

*A/N: Well, it is a Romano x Reader so expect a lot of swearing*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That fucking tomato bastard!" shouted your boyfriend Lovino slamming the door to your house.

You and the Italian have been dating for the past few years now and things have been going great! The only problem, his swearing was getting hard to handle. It was always "The tomato bastard" this, or "that fucking ass hole" that. It was getting a little tiresome.

You sighed as the he stalked into the kitchen and planted a kiss on your cheek. "So, how was your day?" you asked casually. Lovino sneered.

"That stupid tomato bastard never shuts up! Him and the potato bastard! They have to learn how to mind their own fucking business!" he rambled. You smiled sadly and commented.

"Do you have to swear after every sentence?" Lovino looked at you as if you just sneezed out a butterfly.

"Of course ragazza! It adds emphasis!" he argued.

You rolled your (e/c) eyes. "Does it now?"

He nodded. "I will say the sentence again without swearing. 'That tomato is never quiet! Him and the potato! They have to learn to keep to themselves!' is that better?!"

You tried to stifle a giggle. "Yes." he glared at you. A great idea struck you. "Hey Lovi,"

"Don't fucking call me that."

"How about a little wager." his ears perked up a little.

"Go on ragazza."

You looked at him and smirked evilly. "If you don't swear for the rest of the day, which is," you looked at the clock which read 12:00pm. "12 hours, I will supply you with all your tomato's for a month." Lovino's eyes widened. He did eat a lot of tomato's.

He smirked. "Okay, and if you win?"

You grinned. "We'll see. Let's shake on it." you held out your smooth hand. He smirked and took it, shaking it gruffly.

"You're on ragzza!" he grinned triumphantly.

"Oh yea, Antonio is joining us for dinner tonight at 5:00!" you smiled seeing the glare on your boyfriends face.

"You ba-!" he stopped himself as your smirk grew. "I hate you." he growled walking to his room.

This was going to be harder than he thought.


-------Time Skip------

Lovino has been doing pretty okay today. It seemed that whenever he had the urge to cuss, he would bite his tongue and leave the room. Sadly, this happened often.

-----Flash Back----

"Lovino," you said looking up from (insert fav books name).

"Hm?" he said lazily looking up at you from the sofa.

"That rabbits back in the garden again." you said casually. Lovino shot up and ran outside into his precious tomato garden. Sure enough, the little white haired fiend was trolling in his garden.

"HEY YOU FU-" he stopped himself and bite down on his tongue. He quickly shooed the fluffy creature away and stormed back in the house.

You silently giggled to yourself and continued reading.

----End Of Flashback-----

You spent the day doing various things to easily piss off the Italian. For example, talking about the history of potato's and Germany, saying you hate tomato's and swearing when he couldn't.

It was now 5:00 and Antonio would be coming in mere minutes.

Just as you finished stirring the fresh tomato sauce over the noodles, the door bell rang. You strolled over to the door, calling Lovino down in the process.

"Hola chica!" cheered the happy Spaniard. Antonio handed you a bundle of churro's and planted a double kiss to your cheeks, causing you to blush. "So, how is my favourite couple?" he asked happily.

You grinned and told him about the bet you and Lovino made. Antonio smirked and nodded. "How's he doing so far?"

"Pretty good, but I'll get him to crack soon enough." Just then, Lovino came down stairs. Dressed in a wine red dress shirt and black jeans, he looked stunning. Antonio ran over to him and tackle hugged the poor Italian.

"Get off me you tomato ba-!" he glanced at you while you smirked devilishly. Antonio's grin matched yours as he snuggled him more.

"I know about your little bet Lovi." he cooed. Lovino glared at you and you shrugged.

"Just to make sure you wouldn't swear when I wasn't in the room." you say chuckling. Lovino groaned and pushed Toni off him with an audible thud.

----Time Skip-------

Lovino still didn't crack. Even at dinner when Antonio was brining up Lovino's childhood memories.

"Oh! And there was that one time Lovi got lost in one of my tomato fields and I found him five minutes later. He was crying! It was so cute!" Antonio squealed. You laughed and watched the embarrassed blush spread across his face. Lovino ground his teeth and bite into a tomato.

You casually twirled your spaghetti on your fork as you watched Antonio poke Lovino's cheek. When you caught the murderous glare in Lovino's eyes, you could tell he was just about done. You signed and took a small sip of your red wine.

---Time Skip-----

It was now 11:55pm and Lovino still hasn't sworn! You were in a bit of a panic now, worried about your pay check being spent on Lovino's tomato's.

You and Lovino watched the clock as it struck midnight. He grinned for a second until it turned into a scowl.

"FUCKING HELL RAGAZZA! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU TRICKED ME WITH THAT FUCKING TOMATO BASTARD COMING! AND PUTTING PTATOS IN MY LUNCH AND TELLING ME HOW YOU WANT TO GO TO GERMANY! THEN-" you silenced him by placing your lips gently over his. He was stiff for a few seconds but soon deepened the kiss.

When you both finally parted. He flashed you a rare smile and hugged you close. "You know, even after making me suffer, I still love you so," Lovino kissed your forehead and got down on one knee. He pulled a red velvet box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring. The red shimmering stone was bright red like the tomato's Lovino loves so much. "________ ________, will you do the honour of putting up with my swearing for the rest of your life?" You were on the brink of tears and you launched yourself into his embrace.

"Hell yeah!"

There he is. Lovino Vargas. The hottest guy in class. The guy that every girl wants.

Here I am. [First Name][Last Name]. That one person who’s never really noticed by many. Due to my shyness, people notice Matthew Williams more than me…

Once again, I watch as girls flock towards the Italian. Most of them are wearing tight shirts, others wearing short skirts. They’re desperate to get his attention. So desperate, that they’ll wear the sluttiest clothes to get a reaction out of them. And the worst part about this, he actually notices. Lovino tends to flirt. With just about every pretty girl.

But this time was different. I watched as his hazel eyes scanned the crowds of people. As if he were searching for somebody… Probably his brother Feliciano. Who was making his way towards me. Feli was one of the few people who noticed me, thank god.

“Ciao bella~” He called out in a singsongy voice. I allowed myself to smile at the adorable Italian. He was so cheerful and happy, it was contagious.

“Hi Feli…” I mumbled, my eyes refocused on Lovino. I kept thinking about why he’s so popular with the ladies. Those beautiful eyes, the dark brown hair, that strange curl-

“[Name], didn’t you hear me? I said mio fratello is looking for you!”

That’s right… Lovino was another person who noticed me. But not the way I want him to… Wait… Felisaidwhatnow?

“Oh, there he is! HEY LOVI, I FOUND [NAME]!!” Feliciano started jumping around, waving his arms frantically.

“Feli, would you stop that!?” I whisper yelled at the hyper active man child.

“Oh, there you are [Name].”

Damn my luck. Can I turn invisible? Like now?

Lovino had made his way over to us, a small smile on his face. His groupies looked disappointed, but extremely pissed off at me. Note to self; hang around Ivan for the rest of my life. Lovino gave his brother a look that sent him running back to the group of girls. He started blabbing about random crap, which distracted most of them.

“Thank god I could get away from them… It’s nice to get attention, but those girls keep stalking me!” He grumbled, muttering a few other words in Italian. They didn’t sound too pleasant.

“Anyways… [Name]…” He paused for a moment to gaze into my eyes, causing me to blush. “H-how are you doing?” He stammered.

“Oh, um… I’m alright. Thanks for asking. How about you?” I mumbled in reply.

“Idiota! That’s not what I wanted to ask…” Lovino yelled at himself. I jumped, startled by his random outburst.

“Then what did you want to ask?”

“….. [Name]… Will you…. Bemygirlfriendplease?” He finally said, turning as red as a tomato.
“Wh-what?” Did I hear him right?

Lovino grumbled at the thought of repeating himself before looking into my eyes.

“I said…” He took a step forward. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

So I didn’t hear wrong. “But why me? Why not somebody who’s actually pretty? Somebody worth your time?”

“[Name], don’t say those things. You’re the kindest person I know. You’re very very very pretty. And I’ve loved you ever since we first met.” Once again, Lovino took another step closer to me. This time, his face was inches away from mine. “Ti amo bella…”

Come on Italian lessons, don’t fail me now! Ti amo… means I love you… and bella means beautiful…. He loves me! He called me beautiful! Now, how do you say I love you too?

“Bella?”

Oh right. Better let him know. “Lovi… I love you too…” I mumbled, still trying to think of the words.

“May I?” He asked. I was confused by his question, but his arms slipped around my wait. He brought one hand back up to cup one side of my face.

Once I figured out what was going on, I felt my face heat up. He wanted to kiss me. I slowly nodded in reply.

“Grazie…” Was what he murmured before leaning in for-

“There you are Lovi! We’ve been looking for you~!” A familiar Spanish voice called out. We both froze. It was Antonio Fernandez Carriedo. He was one of Lovino’s friends, although Lovi won’t admit it.

“Oh, did I interrupt something?” Antonio asked, after getting a good look at the position we were in.

“DAMN RIGHT YOU DID YOU TOMATO BASTARDO!!” Lovino released me and chased a frightened Antonio. I stood by in awe, trying to figure out whether to laugh or die of embarrassment.

Either way, Lovino Vargas not only notices me, he loves me too.

    You quickly glanced around the room, seeing as no one was around you slowly walk towards the kitchen, no one was there either. Smirking to yourself you grabbed the small ladder, and place it in front of the huge cabinet wall you had. Climbing all the way to the top you opened the smallest door, and reach in to grab a golden box. Picking out on of the finely wrapped squares and shut the box closed, you softly close the cabinet's door then began climbing down the ladder. Once everything was set back to place you smiled widely and jump up to sit on the counter. Slowly you unwrap the nice treat and throw away the wrapper. Checking once again to make sure no one was around you were about to placed the chocolate into your mouth whole, when a loud, "NO!" came out of no where. You jumped and turned around to see your boyfriend, Romano, standing at the door way, pointing at you like you committed some sort of crime

"Idiota fratello! I don't-a want you hanging out with that-a potato bastard!" Your friend Feli's brother yelled at him. You could tell the smaller Italian was hurt that his big brother was angry at him, every time you came over Lovino would cuss up a storm. He especially had a hatred towards you for some unknown reason.

"Lovino that is enough!" You yelled at him. "Feli, go train with Ludwig or something I'll take care of your brother." You smiled to the smaller Italian.

"No! Don't-a you fuc-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence Lovino." You growled as Feli ran out the front door.

"Idiota ragazza!" Lovino screamed at you.

"You think I am an idiota ragazza, and you've known me for so long it must be so." You spat looking up at the amber eyed man. "Still I can't see if the true idiota is me."

"You are an idiota, bella." He mumbled under his breath.

"There is so much you don't know about me, so much that you don't know." You sighed walking away from Lovino and over to the large window in the living room. You sat on a nearby chair and just admired the sights of the outdoors.

"Like-a what?" Lovino asked.

"Did you know that when I was fourteen I was submitted into the hospital?" You questioned. "I was put in the teen mental health floor for cutting. Or did you know that I was bullied for most of my life? Or did you know I was that one chubby kid in class everyone picked on?"

"No I-"

"Of course you didn't because you judge people, and are stubborn." You stated getting out of the chair and looking at Lovino.

"Ludwig is a potato bastard though!" Lovino protested.

"You also call Antonio a tomato bastard." You sneered.

"He is a tomato bastard!" Lovino yelled.

"There is more to them then what they eat." You scoffed. "They all have a spirit, a dream. A name!"

"Yes, potato and tomato bastard." Lovino smirked.

"You treat anyone that is not like you like shit! Like why? What has your brother ever done to you? He doesn't deserve you yelling at him and calling his friends names!" You argued.

"He-a is an idiota, ragazza." Lovino stated.

"Okay, Feli may not be the smartest person." You agreed. "But he has a kind heart! As does Ludwig!"

"Still a potato bastard," Lovino mumbled.

"If you walked in their foot-steps you'd see they aren't that bad." You sighed a tear of frustration slid down your cheek.

"Ragazza." Lovino sighed brushing the tear of your cheek with his thumb.

"You have to enjoy life, be an artist and paint with all the colours of the wind! Come on Italians are known for their art, channel your frustration or anger into art. Worked for Regina George." You smiled referencing Mean Girls.

"You watch-a to many movies." He scolded.

"Aren't Italians good singers?" You questioned.

"Ragazza that's a stereo-"

"Sing with all the voices of the mountains." You smiled grabbing his hand and dragging him outside.

"Where are we-a going?" Lovino asked confused.

"I am going to show you how to enjoy life and not cuss so much!" You smiled.

"I don't fuc-"

"If you want children when you are older, you won't finish that sentence." You scolded.

I definitely want children ragazza, but only if you're the mother Lovino smiled to himself.

"Come along, let's go run the hidden trails like Ludwig does! Or maybe taste Antonio's sweet tomatoes." You suggested pulling Lovino along the side walk.

"I will-a not go near any of those bastardi." Lovino stubbornly stated.

"For once give them some worth." You sighed in anger at Lovino's stubbornness.

"Ragazza just let me-a hate them!" Lovino yelled.

"It's wrong you have no reason to! You especially don't need to make Feli feel bad for wanting to hang with Ludwig!" You argued. "Both Antonio and Ludwig are my friends. Guess what when we die, all are souls go to the same place! It won't matter if they ate tomatoes or not! We are all connected to each other in the end!"

"That's a stupid theory." Lovino sneered.

"That's all you ever think, all my ideas are stupid." You sighed trying to keep the tears in.

"Ragazza I'm sorry." Lovino apologized sincerely.

"I see you treat all these other girls magnificently, but not me. Is it because of the fact I always scold you for swearing? Or trying to get you to stop calling Antonio and Ludwig names?" You questioned.

"Ragazza, it's just-a that ti amo." Lovino blushed.

"Ti amo? Is that some swear word you're saying in Italian so I won't scold you?" You spat.

"Bella, it means I love you." Lovino confessed.

"B-But-"

"Bella, I am sorry that people have bullied you in your past. I am sorry that  have been cold towards you, I was just jealous you were spending time with my fratello and not me." Lovino sighed.

"Oh, I-I uh, I am sorry for yelling at you." You nervously said.

"No need to apologize,  I understand you just wanted to stop hearing the negative comments." Lovino sighed.

"Lovino, I love you too." You blushed, you felt a pair of lips brush against yours, you wrapped your arms around the Italian's neck and deepened the kiss.

"Big brother! Arthur is-a going to get me!" You heard Feli scream from behind you, you pulled away to see the younger Italian running full force at you and Lovino. An angry Ludwig was running behind him.

"Idiota fratello! Can't-a you see I was-a busy!" He yelled.

"Uh, nothing will ever change." You groaned.

But maybe that's the way it should be, you smiled as you looked at the scene before you. Feli had grabbed a hold of Lovino's leg while Ludwig scolded the red-headed Italian for running in retreat.

The apocalypse would probably happen if they didn't fight and if Lovino didn't swear, you laughed to yourself.

"_____! Help me!" Feli squeaked.

"I'm coming Feli." You laughed to yourself as you went over to help the Italian.