Definitely, Maybe (Hetalia Fanfic)

Chapter Seven

"So, college ended with a bang, I guess. I shared a flat with Tonio, like we planned. Everything went on as planned... Somewhat. I mean, things were missing, not like I knew that at the time, but I was actually content with my life at that point. I had an amazing job, I spent my days away with my best friend. Nothing could go wrong!"

-

"I hate my job." Lovino grumbled as he waited tables over at an Italian restaurant. It sucked, kind of; he felt at home since it smelled like pasta, pizza, gelato, wine and mostly tomatoes. The only thing that sucked was that he couldn't cook the food since the so-called 'newbies' of the restaurant start from the bottom, which was waiting tables and work their way up the 'food chain'. The food would have been so much better if I cooked, thought the brunette as he wrote down the latest order of his side of tables, which consisted of 15 tables and counting. "Is that all?"

"I think so, for now." The eldest of the family answered, looking around at their siblings and parents if they wanted anything extra, receiving a shake of their heads. "Alright, I'll be back with your orders." Lovino forced himself to smile as he walked to the kitchen and hung up the order on the line which held the remaining orders. "God, it's so busy." He commented and grabbed a tray that had been filled with tables' orders. He made his way over to each one, announced each dish and handing it to the correct person.

That was his routine during his shift: Scribble down orders, take them to the kitchen to be hung up on the line, dish out whatever needed to be dished out and repeat. At least they payed well and cured Lovino's homesickness. "Vargas." One of his co-workers pulled him back by the collar. "You look tired."

"I'm always tired, amico" Lovino sighed and held his empty tray by its handle with one hand. "Why don't I handle the rest of your shift?"

"It ends in ten minutes.."

"Vargas. I'm trying to be nice. Now, go home before I kick your ass." His co-worker looked at Lovino with a stern face, showing that he meant business. "Fine, I'm only going along with your shitty idea because you're scary when you get angry." The Italian sighed and untied his black apron and handed it to his co-worker. "If we get caught, I'm blaming it on you."

"I don't give a shit, Vargas." The other pushed Lovino into the small break room to change into his everyday clothes. "Go home."

"I am!" He replied and shut the door behind him. He walked over to his locker and opened the door, taking off his dress shirt and exchanging it for his more comfortable dark green v-neck, sighing. Work was tougher than he thought considering he just finished college a couple of months back. He took out his phone out of the locker and checked it. "Missed calls from Tonio... That bastard must have gotten dinner ready already." He stepped out of the break room and headed for the exit. "It better not be paella. I swear to God if it is."

Lovino started to curse in Italian, his car was taking forever to start. "That's what I get for buying it for cheap. 'You should get this one Lovino! It doesn't cost that much!' Well screw you Tonio." He finally got it to work. "Wasting ten minutes of my time. Stupid piece of junk." He started to drive home, muttering about how he was going to kill Tonio, resurrect him from the dead and kill him again, and repeat until he felt significantly better about himself.

Nearing the apartment building, Lovino parked his car in the resident parking area underground and used the stairs to get to the second floor. "I hope the tomato idiot made some dinner other than paella." The Italian grumbled as he climbed the first flight of stairs. "Doing exercise is tough. Where's the damn door?!" He made it to the top and paused to catch his breath. "Why couldn't we chose the first floor instead of the second again?" He opened the door and resumed his walking to his room. "Room 131." Lovino took out his key and inserted it into the lock, opening the door. "I'm home."

"Lovino!" Tonio greeted from the kitchen. "You're early. I just started making dinner."

"What are you making?" Lovino took off his jacket and shoes, putting them away in the closet. He wanted to keep the apartment somewhat clean. "Oh, you requested pasta last night, so I made pasta!"

"Thank Heavens." The Italian skipped into the kitchen, keeping his straight face. "I had a horrible day, and now that you're making pasta, I feel much better."

"I'm glad that this dish is going to make you feel much better!" Tonio turned around and flashed a smile at Lovino. "That's what best friends are for, si?"

"Si." Lovino walked over to the fridge and pulled out a tomato. "You didn't use all the tomatoes, right?"

"No. I left some for you to eat." Tonio replied, going back to his cooking. "You would have murdered me if I did."

"Good." Lovino bit into the tomato, his eyes fixed on the pot of pasta, eagerly waiting for it to be finished. "Your memory is working."

"It's always working, Lovinito!"

"Shut up! Don't call me by other names dammit! Il mio nome è Lovino! Lovino Romano Vargas! Remember that! It's not too hard!" The Italian started to vent. "Unlike yours which is Tonio Fernandez something Carriedo!"

"It's Tonio Hernández Carriedo, by the way Lovino" Tonio corrected with a laugh. "Yeah? Well, I don't care." Was Lovino's - not even - sassy reply.

-- Definitely, Maybe --

The morning rolled by quite quickly, Lovino stayed in bed as usual; although, the difference was he was awake, staring at the orange-red sky. The sun had started to rise at this time of day, which was early. Lovino Vargas, was awake early. What an accomplishment! He stared at the clouds, which looked a little pinkish due to the sun's rays, and sighed. Something didn't feel right, but he didn't know what. "Damnit." He ran his fingers through his hair and tried to fall back asleep. Nothing seemed to work.

Lovino sat up and picked up his yearbook which laid on his bedside table. He hasn't touched that since graduation; which was a good two months ago. Lovino stared at the cover of the bright red hardcover book. "Since I can't sleep, I'll just bore myself to bed." He mumbled and started to flip through his yearbook. The first few pages consisted of the new-bloods, or the freshman, showing snapshots of their multitudes of clubs, trips and school spirit days. Then it was the sophomores, the juniors and then the seniors. Lovino started to flip slower as he made it to his section. His green eyes scanning each person individually, remembering moments with his classmates, the people who helped him get through English, the buddies that he had shared projects with... Everything that he had left behind months ago.

"Ah, god, the good ol' days." He muttered and sighed, flicking one the upper right page corner with his fingers. Part of him told him that the thing that was out of place was that college to the real world transition, but another part of him felt like someone was missing... He just didn't know what yet. He was somewhat determined to find out; unless it dealt with something crazy like fighting a out of control some magical human being that turned into a dragon like in those wild fairytales he was assigned to read in English, then nevermind, that person is going to stay in that tower. Fuck risking his life for someone. He still had things to do, people to meet, dishes he needed to make and, most of all, kick his boss' ass when he made it into the kitchen with his amazing Italian cooking skills.