Inbound 'til 2020

Going to the Airport for That Bastard

The sound of a shrill alarm breached the peaceful silence of the dark bedroom. Rolling over to turn the alarm off and glance at the glowing blue numbers on the clock, Lovino scowled. In his opinion, five in the morning was much, much too early to be waking up. However, it would take a while for him, his brother and their grandfather to get to the airport, reluctantly, Lovino pulled himself out of his warm, soft, comfy bed.

Walking across the room to turn on the lamp sitting on his dresser, it finally clicked in his mind. The reason why they had to go to the airport, that is. See, his grandfather had wished to host an exchange student. So naturally, he'd gone through with it, without consulting his eldest grandson. Lovino. Today, they were to pick up the student and welcome them to the oh-so-great America (which Lovino only hated slightly more than this situation). He understood why they left Italy, but why had they gone to the United States? It was a mystery he was afraid he wouldn't be able to figure out. While tugging a clean shirt on, and doing up his belt, he heard several knocks resound on his door.

"Lovino! Are you awake?" He heard his grandfather open the door as he asked, sounding tired.

"Yeah, yeah, on my way." Lovino rolled his eyes as he tugged on his socks.

"Meet us in the kitchen when you're ready." The sound of footsteps leading down the stairs wafted in from his still-open door. Lovino took a second to just sit on his bed and breathe. He had to just sit and think. Hell, he didn't even remember where this kid was coming from, but he had to open his home to him. All Lovi knew about the student was 1.) He's from somewhere in Europe, 2.) He was a year older than Lovi, and 3.) The bedroom next to his own would be lent to the student for the year.

"Y'know, if you keep making that face, it'll get stuck that way!" A light, high voice called from the doorway.

Looking up, Lovi saw his younger brother, Feliciano, hovering in the doorway. Lovino rolled his eyes, quickly spitting back, "I hope it fucking does, I want that bastard to know exactly how I feel about this invasion. Especially making me waking up at five in the fucking morning."

"It's amazing we were approved to host when you act like this!" Feli said, more like an observation and less like a retort, before laughing slightly, "You need to brush your hair, Lovi, you look like a porcupine!"

Lovino just grumbled a quiet 'shut the fuck up' as he went to enter the bathroom, down another door to the right of his bedroom. Feli just laughed again, and went downstairs. How the fuck is he in a good mood right now? Normally he'd be bitching about having to get up earlier than six-thirty, particularly in mid-August. Lovi thought, grabbing a brush and looking in the bathroom mirror. The white t-shirt contrasted greatly with his tan, olive skin. He glanced up to his hair and saw the bed-head he had earned the night before, seeing that, as much as he'd hate to admit it, Feli was right. Grabbing the brush, he began to tame his hair as the sun started to peek over the hills, casting the parts of the room where the shitty, dim light didn't hit, in an oddly peaceful, dark blue light, coming from the small window between the sink and the shower. Once he'd finished, he brushed his teeth. While bending over the sink to brush and spit out the toothpaste, Grandpa Roma lurked in the doorway. Once Lovino had stood up, Roma chose to announce his presence.

"Now, Lovino," Roma walked over as Lovi turned around to look at him, "As much as we all love your attitude and colorful vocabulary, please just hold back today." Lovino opened his mouth to argue but was silenced as Grandpa Roma put up his hand in a 'stop' gesture. "Just try and give him a chance. Just for today. That's all I'll ask of you."

Lovino couldn't think of what to say, plus he really didn't feel like arguing over something stupid, so he just nodded, still glowering.

Once they were all ready, the sun had already risen over the hills and they were piling into Roma's car. Roma driving, Lovi in shotgun and Feli in the back ("What?! I called the front seat Lovi!" "Eldest gets the front, regardless."), and the left backseat and the trunk open and ready for their... host-brother? Lovino would rather not call him that, that's weird. 'The kid' is much better, even if 'the kid' is older than he is.The drive to the airport would take quite a while, seeing as they lived in the middle of nowhere, New York, and the kid was flying in from Toronto. It'd take at least two hours. As they were pulling out of the driveway, Grandpa Roma called out, "Okay, make sure you have your passports! They're going to check as we go over the border." After touching the passport sitting in his pocket, he was satisfied. Feliciano started making little distressed noises, about to say he forgot his, when he found his and sighed dramatically.

"I have mine!" Feli answered

"Got mine too." Lovi added, seeing their grandpa speed up, not having to worry about turning back around.

"Off to Toronto we go then!"

_______________

After nearly an hour, they reached the border. Pulling up to border control, they handed over their passports.

"Who's in the car with you?" The clearly unhappy customs officer asked.

"My two grandsons." Roma answered.

"How long do you plan on staying?"

"Just a few hours."

The officer nodded, then asked, "Purpose for entering Canada?"

"To pick up an exchange student we're hosting from the airport."

"Where's the student from and how long will he be staying?" Said the officer, glancing at Lovino, was not paying attention and certainly not listening, and straining to see Feliciano, but looking satisfied after a few seconds.

"Spain, and for the next year."

"Last, anything in the car with you?"

"No." Roma shook his head, and was given the three passports back, handing them to Lovino, who put them in the glovebox. As they pulled away, Roma shouted, "Have a nice day!" Then rolled his window up. They were over the Peace Bridge, and were now in Canada, and it'd take another while to get to Toronto Pearson airport.

Whipping out his phone, Lovino settled back down. He chose to just scroll through instagram, when he noticed he had a new follow request. He clicked on the profile, having it load slowly as fuck, eventually fully loading. His eyes shot to the name, which was just a turtle emoji. He then looked at the bio, which read as a Spanish flag emoji with an arrow pointing to an American flag emoji, then finally, a name. Antonio. Who the fuck is that? Loving thought, he couldn't ever recall meeting someone named that, which is odd, because Lovino doesn't meet a lot of people, so he'd probably remember.

Then it dawned on him. This must the the stupid kid who's staying with them. Lovino huffed and crossed his arms, putting his phone back into his front pocket without looking through Antonio's posts. Like hell was he gonna accept that, who does this kid think he is?! Acting like they were friends, it was ridiculous.

For the next while, they all just sat, quiet. Roma humming along with the radio, Feliciano doodling in a little sketchbook, and Lovino just sitting with his eyes closed, bracing himself for having to try and be nice for the day. He still was trying to do so as they pulled up to the airport, as they walked into the airport, with Feli holding a sign for this 'Antonio', as they stood waiting for him. All with an extremely characteristic scowl on his face.

It took a little while of waiting through the hustle and bustle of the airport, as expected, but fortunately, not too long. Lovino stood there, tapping his foot. Not only do I have to open my house to this kid, but he has the nerve to make us wait? He thought, though logically knowing Antonio couldn't control when the plane landed, he needed something else to be mad at him for. It had taken a fuck ton of inspections and interviews with the family to let Roma host, and really, Lovino only went along with it to make his grandfather and brother happy. He, however, had no obligation to please this exchange student. He doesn't intend to please him, either. Yet, he knows he can't make Antonio's life hell, no matter how hard he wishes he could. For now, all he could do was make him feel very, very unwelcome.

Finally, Roma had seen a teenager walking their way, who seemed to fit what he remembered Antonio looking like. Lovino promptly got a jab in the ribs, attempting to make him make his face look less grim, but all it did was increase the dirty look.

It did get Lovino to look up. Finally, he saw what this Spanish bastard looked like. Short, curly brown hair, tan skin, green eyes, and he's fucking smiling like an idiot. He trod closer, backpack on his shoulders and red suitcase trailing behind him.

Once fully in front of the three, he said, in quite a thick accent, "You are the Vargas family?"

And from the moment Lovino heard his voice, he knew he'd fucking hate his life this next year.