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Chapter Text

Hi! This might be a tiny little bit awkward and I don’t want to bother you but some people call me “Salvatore” and it seems I look like you and you look exactly like me so this is weird but maybe you're experiencing the same? Excuse me and thank you and please don’t block me!!!

Aaand SEND.

“Vee!” The poor guy cried nervously, his hands shaking and his face sweating, “what did I do? What have I done?!”

Immediately after sending that message, he threw his phone and began to walk around the room anxiously.

How had he ended up like that?

Feliciano had never been the brightest among their peers, but even the clumsy oblivious guy could tell something was happening when a woman came into the coffeeshop and stared directly at them with wide eyes.

“Salvatore, what are you doing?!” The woman asked, “and dress up like this? Why are you wearing a skirt, son?”

“Vee, that’s rude, ma’am…” Feli said with a calm voice.

He was wearing a cute uniform as well as their coworkers, it was a maid coffeeshop after all. It wasn't like he had never been criticized for wearing what most people perceive as ‘feminine clothes’, but he thought they were cute and he was used to the comfort they provided him and…

“Salvatore?” The woman’s voice made him snap out of his thoughts, why was she calling him like that?

He nodded a ‘no’ and pointed at the chart with his name over his chest.

It was a badge with the name ‘Feliciano’ written on it, and when the lady saw it she blushed darkly and coughed to hide his nervousness.

“Uhm, excuse me. I thought you were someone else,” she apologized and turned around to leave, clearly embarrassed.

The customers watched confusedly, some of them had even begun to stand up from their seats to help Feliciano. The brown-haired guy started to work at the coffeeshop a few weeks ago but he was so charismatic and nice that he already had a ‘fanbase’ to call it somehow; he was new in the town, studying the university and working to pay his bills when he spent the money his parents gave him in cute or delicious things.

But that was the weirdest thing he had experienced so far.

“Francesco, is everything alright?” A shorter Asian boy approached him with a worried expression.

“Yes, yes!” He nodded with a smile, “vee, she just confused me with someone else.”

“I see…” he mumbled, “well, let’s go back to work, shall we?”

“Vee, let’s go!”

And that was just the freaking first time that happened! Rome was a huge city, why was he dealing with those kinds of things? It was weird, extremely weird.

When he was about to forget about the issue, then someone confused him with this ‘Salvatore’ dude again and his mind wasn’t able to let it slip. Feliciano was starting to think he was crazy or something.

He used to live far away in a small town of northern Italy, where everyone knew each other. But even over there, things like that used to not happen.

So when he mentioned it on his weekend LIVE, a follower suggested he go find that guy.

“Veee, but I didn’t even know his full name,” he was about to say he didn’t know how he looked but he realized it was obvious the guy must be just like him.

Before he could even finish his make up, the follower sent him a link to a Facebook profile.

He thanked them and checked the link when he finished the LIVE… and he had no idea if he was glad, scared or worried.

This guy people had been confusing him for was called Salvatore Fernandez, he was  just like him, maybe just a little bit tanned and with a different hairstyle— dear God, he even had the same curl on his bang! Just on the opposite side Feli’s was. And he looked angrier.

For a couple of days, Francesco had been ‘stalking’ this man, reading his posts and looking for some answers of who he was.

This guy had lived in Rome his entire life it seemed, he was just a normal guy. But there was something about this weird scary coincidence that made him need more answers— why was this man so similar to him?

He dared to write him, send him a message, and the truth was that he was having a fucking panic attack for no reason in the middle of the dormroom.

“Feliciano, are you alright?” Kiku’s soft voice helped him ground, “why are you walking in circles?”

“Vee, Kiku, I wrote to him!” Feli grabbed him by the shoulders, almost crying tears of fear.

“W-Wait, Feli, what are you talking about?” The Japanese boy was confused as fuck.

Kiku managed to calm his roommate down and help him explain what the hell was happening.

Francesco told him about the ‘Salvatore’ guy a couple of times, but since his roomie did not mention it further he thought it wasn’t a big deal.

…

Well, technically it didn’t look like a big deal, but there was something in Francesco’s behavior that made him think there was something deeper.

They had been roommates and friends for a while, so it was just natural for Kiku to get worried about him.

“Is there something you would like to tell me?” Kiku suggested, maybe he was overthinking.

“Vee, it’s just dumb…” he murmured, struggling to find the courage. But Kiku would never make fun of him, right? “It’s just… I have a weird feeling about this, why do we look so alike? Am I crazy? Maybe I am crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” the noirette reassured him.

“And what if he thinks so?”

“Well, we can’t predict or control that.”

Well, Kiku got a point. And maybe he was overthinking a lot, but he couldn’t help it. After they finished talking, the Asian boy began to study for his upcoming exams and the Italian updated and posted some things for his Feliciano account.

His parents called him, but he did not mention the issue he was having with ‘Salvatore’. Something told him not to do so, but they knew something was off.

“Are you okay, kicsim*¹?” His mother asked with a kind tone of voice.

She was a sweet, gentle and caring woman, he trusted her and he knew she would support him in everything. But for some reason, Feliciano just nodded and smiled.

“Vee, yes! But college is hard, mom!” He complained, it wasn’t entirely a lie.

“You need to focus on your grades, Francesco,” his father told him, fixing his glasses over the bridge of his nose.

Since he was a kid, Roderich and Elizabeth had been the best parents ever. Well, dad could be a little tough and demanding, also scary sometimes, but he loved him; he loved both of them, so keeping a secret felt wrong.

He wasn’t even sure why he was keeping it a secret, there was nothing that would be worth the effort to hide. But he felt somewhat paranoid and nervous.

And the last straw was the fact that Salvatore had read his message… and did not respond.

He turned his phone off, turned the lights off receiving a ‘hey!’ from Kiku he ignored, and cradled beneath his blankets to call it a day. Feliciano didn’t know what he was expecting, but surely things weren’t going too well.

Chapter Text

It was a quiet night, a pleasant breeze coming in through the window… and then Salvatore fucking screamed as he saw something more than breeze went in.

“What are you fucking doing here?!” The Italian asked, almost shouting, as he tried to wipe the coffee he spilled over the desk.

A tall pale man was standing in the middle of his room, laughing like an idiot as a small bird chirped on his shoulder, and the brunette looked him in the eyes as if he wanted to kill him. Maybe push him off the balcony. He scared the living shit out of him and made him drop some coffee! That was a sacrilegio*¹!!

“Kesese, I just wanted to pay you a visit, liebling*²,” the albino said as he approached the shorter one.

“Shut up, you made me spill my coffee!” Salvatore held his middle finger to him, making an angry face before turning around and grab his mug, “use the fucking door.”

Before any of them could say something, they heard footsteps outside the room in the hallway, and then Salvatore knew what was about to happen.

“Shit, my dad,” the brown-haired panicked. He did not want to get into trouble again, so he pushed his guest , “hide, idiot, or I’ll kill you!”

“Kesesesese , ja*³, ja,” and the guy just nodded and crawled beneath the bed.

“Salvatore?” His father knocked the door, opening it slowly, “was that a scream?”

“Yeah, the stupid coffee,” he grunted, pointing at some little drops of coffee still on the desk.

“Oh, cariño*⁴,” the older man smiled and chuckled, “you must be careful, Lovi.”

He was not a fucking child, ugh.

“I need to study,” Salvatore said curtly, trying to get rid of his dad as soon as possible.

And when he finally left with a kind ‘good luck, hijo*⁵’, he sat on the edge of his bedroom with a heavy sigh of relief. That was close, his dad would get mad if he knew Gilbert was using the fucking window to see him.

The albino grabbed his ankle and then Lovino kicked him, “stop fooling around, you idiot!”

They were classmates and definitively Antonio Fernández would never allow the German to date his precious little son, yet Emma convinced him to chill out and let the boys be boys.

Since graduation, the time they spent together had significatively been reduced. And Gilbert considered coming into his bedroom through the window a good way to see his boyfriend when they were both free… but the firearm regulations allowing people to have guns in their house for defense and protection were something Mr. Fernández used in his favor.

But who wouldn’t threaten a guy trying to bang with his son under his own fucking roof? What a disrespectful dude. Similar to Antonio in his adolescence, but still disrespectful as hell!

“We are not going to do it tonight,” Lovino scolded him, laying on the bed between his arms.

“Kesese, I’m just here to see you, Lovi,” Gil kissed him on the ear, hugging him closely as they spooned, “I love you.”

Those words made him blush hard, his lips pressed together as he tried to pretend he was not nervous. But he had a soft spot for the way Gilbert always told him that he loved him so out of the blue.

So he didn’t actually care if his father was a jerk sometimes, he was just being a jealous and dramatic dad.

He should go look for a job soon, as Gilbert was doing, but honestly he wanted to enjoy being free from responsibilities a little more. What a pain in the ass, he would be working for decades before retirement, but vacations with no school nor job for more than a couple of months? Never again so he would enjoy it.

He was falling asleep between Gil’s arms, the German caresses and kisses making him feel warm and safe, and then suddenly his phone rang with the notification tone of Facebook Messenger.

He cocked one of his eyebrows, moving between his boyfriend’s arms to check his phone and see who the hell was sending him messages.

“Who’s it?” Gil asked curiously.

“A dude,” Lovino replied uninterested, but he frowned in confusion when he read the whole message, “a crazy dude.”

“Uh?”

Instead of explaining anything, Salvatore just showed the message for him to read.

Before he could say something, Gil grabbed his phone and began to search something, “hey, give it back.”

“Wait,” the taller one raised one of his eye hands, and then he opened his reddish eyes in surprise and amusement, “oh, dear, guy actually looks like you!”

“What the fuck are you talking about, Gilbert?” Lovino snatched the phone from Gil’s hands.

When he saw it, displayed on the screen was a photo of a guy wearing a maid uniform. Brown hair, wavy, with a curl on the side of his bang, amber eyes, so similar to him… it was creepy how alike they look.

“You have a doppelänger, liebe*⁶,” the teasing voice of the older one made him shiver.

“I don’t fucking speak German.”

“It’s the double ghost of a living person-”

“Shut up, it’s just a dumb,” frowning, Salvatore blocked the screen and tried to ignore the topic, “those things don’t exist, now don’t bother me ‘cause I want to sleep.”

Gilbert chuckled and pressed his chest against Lovino’s back, kissing his nape and cradling him warmly.

But even when he had said that didn’t exist, the truth was that he felt a shiver running down his spine. It was not like he believed in ghosts… at all, of course not. But all he could do after falling asleep was dream about the doppelgänger.

When he woke up in the morning, he saw his mug of coffee cold on his desk, Gil had left during the night and he remembered the last thing he read before he drifted off.

His hand reached for his cellphone, scrolling to find the facebook messenger, and reread the message that weirdo had sent him.

And then he remembered his uncle Vincent had mentioned to him there was a guy quite similar to him working at a coffee shop in the center some months ago. He just did not bother to think about it.

Some people asking him if he was ‘Feliciano’ or if they could take a photo with him made him think people were confusing him with dude on the internet, but that wasn’t a big deal, he thought.

Now this dude was messaging him and he seemed to be this ‘Feliciano’ people were talking about, it should be just another coincidence. He was not interested in asking anything or answering him, so he just closed the messenger and went back to sleep, it was still dark outside and he was still sleepy.

Chapter Text

Salvatore saw his message and just ignored it, Feli was quite sure his message was extremely weird and even suspicious but he had no idea what else he could have written. Maybe he was acting like a dumb.

He was rolling on the bed, watching his phone waiting for an answer that never arrived. He had a lot of things to do, those sketches weren’t going to be done by themselves, but it was hard not to focus on what was happening.

A soft click alerted him that someone was entering the dormroom, probably Kiku.

“Are you feeling unwell?” The Japanese asked with a quiet voice, approaching the bedroom to sit on the edge.

“Why are you asking?” Francesco murmured, not wanting to explain it since he did not know how to do it.

But his roomie was quite a perceptive person, he ran his slim fingers through his uncombed brown hair and Feli almost purred like a cat, making Kiku chuckle before leaning closer.

“Because you have been in the same position since I left for work this morning,” he replied.

The Italian made a grunting noise before burying his face between the cushions of his bed, “I don’t know what to do, Kiku.”

“May I ask you if you want to talk about it?” The kind way his friend reassured him was comforting.

After some moments of silence, the brunette sighed and sat on the bed as well, reaching for his cellphone to show his best friend the text he had sent to this stranger.

Kiku’s eyes wandered over the screen, reading carefully the words and the ‘seen’ tag in the bottom of the chat. But he didn’t say anything at first, at least not with his voice. And somehow Feliciano knew very well that look in his eyes that made him think he said something off.

“Maybe it was too much?”

“A little bit clumsy,” he admitted, “what are you trying to do, Feliciano?”

“Vee, I don’t know,” his voice was just a frustrated sigh again, “I just want to know I’m not the only one being confused and that this is not just some crazy hallucination.”

“Well, perhaps that wasn’t the best message you could have sent if you wanted a response…”

Kiku knew Francesco was a peculiar guy, he used to be extremely oblivious sometimes, and though he was pretty much a social butterfly it seemed like the poor guy was having a really hard time trying to figure out how to approach this man without looking like a psycho.

He was not that much of a reflective person, he was smart, yet clumsy; talkative, kind, and friendly… not the brightest among his peers though, when it came to things like that.

But there was something Kiku couldn’t quite understand yet.

“So… do you want to know this man?” The young Honda finally asked, trying to figure it out.

“Vee?” Even Feliciano wasn't sure about his thoughts.

“Yes, know him. Meet him,” he began to explain, “that’s why you’re texting him… isn’t it?”

The whole room went quiet, just the sound of the cold breeze making soft noises when the curtains were moved by it.

What did he want? Talk to him? Meet him in person? Maybe having a cup of coffee and chatting face to face? Was it too much for someone who just ‘looks like you’ and had no other connection? It could be, he was pretty sure about it.

There was something Francesco couldn’t point out specifically, but if he was texting Salvatore… that could be because he actually wanted something more than just ‘confirming’ he was not mad or whatever.

“Do you think I should write a better message?” Maybe if he tried again…

Kiku smiled softly, “you could try.”

“Vee, would you read it to see if I write something weird? Please,” because otherwise he could end up sending another weird message…

“Yeah, of course,” and the Japanese laughed, his roommate was such a character sometimes.

So Feli started to type a new message, wondering if perhaps that should be corrected or if he should just leave it as it was.

Hello! I’m sorry, I was nervous and didn’t check the message before sending it. My name is Francesco Edelstein, I know this might be weird but some people are confusing me with you since I moved to Rome some time ago, and I think it’s weird but somehow I would like to know if this is also happening to you or something. I understand if you don’t want to respond to me but I would be happy if you do! So I hope you are not bothered and wish you a good day!

When Kiku finished reading the message, he nodded in approval and then his roomie tapped the send button.

The following hours, they both spent time together doing their homework and class projects, Kiku instead Feliciano needed to take things more seriously.

However, it was a huge challenge for him to even focus on something else than his phone, waiting for it to buzz and show a message from ‘Salvatore Fernández’. Was he going to block him? He hoped not, but it would be a sensible choice.

He was feeling weird, uncomfortable, not knowing exactly what was happening to himself.

Maybe he was actually going insane and what he needed was an appointment with the advisor instead of stalking random people who resembled him…?

Chapter Text

The last few days he had been thinking about the weirdo that sent him a message in the middle of the night saying some strange things about being similar and that shit, Gil laughed at him and Lovino nutted him right in the face for making fun of him— German asshole.

His mother made some special waffles for him that morning and he went downstairs to eat them while his father watched the news with his own plate of waffles.

“Are you sleeping well, honey?” Emma asked him with a caring smile.

His son had some dark circles beneath his eyes, it was uncommon. But the boy couldn’t answer before his dad said something.

“Of course, Gilbert’s been sneaking so why wouldn’t he be sleeping well when his boyfriend is pampering him?” Antonio sounded quite threatening that way.

Lovino gulped, oh shit. Fucking Gilbert. He was going to get him killed.

The younger there began to engulf his waffles not caring if they were literally fuming.

…

Like his dad at that moment.

His mother chuckled slightly and he tried to avoid the topic, but the intense green gaze of his dad on him made him shiver.

“Okay, listen, we didn’t do anything,” he raised his hands trying to emphasize his point, “that bastard just went in and that’s all, I swear.”

“What have I told you about the visits, Lovino?!”

“But it wasn’t my fault!”

“Toño, lieverd*¹, they are just boys,” Emma said, trying to make him hear reasons, but the whole situation was more a little joke than a serious issue she thought.

“Yeah, but I don’t want him sneaking into my house!” He argued, almost pouting at his wife, and she just laughed harder, “Emma!”

“Maldita sea*²…” the youngest murmured.

“Hey, respeta la mesa*³,” the father scolded his child, and the guy just frowned in disgust.

Damnit, that was just a regular morning and he was struggling already. Too early for his liking.

He finished his waffles and said goodbye to his father, who went to work while his mother stayed at home.

Back in his room, Salvatore checked his phone to see if he had some new messages and discarded it after seeing nothing, so he reached for his notebooks. Some days without doing anything could be pretty boring, but it was still nice.

His window was closed and a message threatening him was sent to Gilbert just in case.

He checked his schedule, there was not much to do besides his piercing appointment. So after stretching a little bit and yawning lazily, he walked out of his room to get a shower and go to the mall.

Just a few hours later, Salvatore was checking his phone in front of a red light.

His eyes landed on the guy that messaged him the other day. He sounded like a crazy dude, what the hell was he even talking about? Like, sure, they looked alike but why on Earth would he contact him?

“Good afternoon, sir,” his attention was drawn towards the piercer who welcomed him once he stepped in the shop, “my name's Alfred, what can I do for you?”

“Good afternoon,” he waved lazily a hi to him, “I have an appointment,” Salvatore said calmly.

He was expecting the guy to lead the way, but when he finally raised his head from the papers he was checking on his express suddenly changed.

His smile grew wider and his expression relaxed, as if he had just seen an old friend, “oh, it's you!”

“Excuse me?” Lovino was confused.

“Are you coming here for another piercing? You should have told me!”

The brown-haired guy frowned upon the casual attitude of the blond, it was the first time he saw this man and he was acting weird.

“I have never been here before,” Salvatore said bluntly, trying to make himself clear.

“What do you mean, man?*⁴” He laughed, but the Italian just frowned deeper, “uh- wait, aren't you Feli?”

“No,” his voice sounded harsh.

The piercer leaned closer to see his face and then he stared at his ears, making him step back uncomfortably.

“Oh, that's true, you're not Feli!” His loud laugh just pissed him off, “sorry, you look just like one of my friends!”

Salvatore was thinking about leaving the shop and getting another appointment, maybe with some other dude that wasn't Alfred.

When a second message arrived, Salvatore didn't even bother to check it out, so he left the chat unseen and ignored it as he tried to avoid his father from noticing his new piercing.

But it was too late when the man finally realized and scolded him, accusing Gilbert to be a bad influence since he German had some piercings too.

Emma just laughed, telling his husband it wasn't a big deal, and Lovino rolled his eyes. Antonio wasn't even against piercings, he was just against Gilbert.

It would be better if the albino stayed away from his house for a couple of days while his father calmed down.

One of the main reasons why Antonio Fernández wasn't keen on Gilbert was the fact that this was an adult man trying to date his poor little son who was barely 19.

Of course, Lovino wasn't a kid but he was HIS child.

“He's too old for you,” Toño insisted with his brown furrowed, but his son just ignored him.

The boy just drank his coffee and finished his breakfast, his mom gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and then he stood up from the chair and grabbed his keys.

“I want you to be here for dinner, Lovino!”

Rolling his eyes, the guy closed the front door and sighed, his dad was a bother sometimes.

He wasn't a kid and Gilbert wasn't even that older.

Three fucking years. As if he wasn't the same years older than his mom.

They met in the nearest bus stop, Gilbert kissed him when he went into the car and then another day started.

He had nothing to do during his vacations, sometimes he took care of the plants in the garden, helped his mother with his job as a teacher when she needed to, and avoided spending too much time with his father in order to run from his overprotective behavior. But not that much.

And when Gilbert had some things to say, like shopping or running errands, Lovino sometimes offered him some help.

It wasn't like the albino actually needed it, but he would never turn down whatever his boyfriend gave him.

“So are we going to the market?” The brown-haired one asked, trying to look indifferent.

“Ja,” he nodded with a smile.

Domestic life was well, but being able to experience it by Lovi's side was pure bliss for Gilbert.

Chapter Text

Salvatore was used to the market, he knew exactly who had the freshest meat, the perfect cheese and how to choose the vegetables properly depending on what you were planning to do with them. It helped a lot that he had a kitchen garden at home.

“Liebling,” Gilbert called him, “would you like to buy something for dinner tonight?”

“No,” he let out a frustrated sigh, grabbing a bag and thanking the old lady before leaving, “dad wants me home by dinnertime.”

Oh, right, his dear father-in-law was a little bit angry.

…

Maybe he should behave.

“Well, what about something for merienda*¹?” He winked at him.

And those amberish eyes sparked with an olivine shine that made Gil’s smile grow wider.

He leaned closer and kissed him on the cheek, the Italian was the cutest guy he had ever known. Even when he pretended not to be.

They finished with the shopping and picked up some desserts, Gil would make some coffee for him once they went to his apartment. But he caught someone staring directly at them, and he frowned slightly.

As Lovino went inside the car after putting the shopping bags on the back seats, the albino stood there. His hand held the frame of the car door as he saw that person getting closer, his expression unreadable and serious all of a sudden.

“What's going on?” Salvatore tilted his head to see his boyfriend, what was he looking at?, “Gilbert?”

When Gil saw the person getting into a nearby parked car, he relaxed, “nothing, liebling. ”

“Okay?” He raised one eyebrow.

Well, whatever. He just wanted to go home and drink some coffee.

However, when he was about to play a song as Gilbert finally went in the car, someone knocked on the window.

“Chigi!! ” He got startled, what the fuck?!

There was a guy on the other side, and then Gilbert knew he was the one staring from the distance.

He seemed white excited while Lovino was about to shout at him as he lowered the crystal.

“What do you want?” His boyfriend asked blatantly.

“Lovi, wait-”

And before he could stop him, the mentioned one was out of the car and started to argue with the man.

While Lovino seemed angry about being scared like that, Gilbert was worried that this person could do something to him. So he went out of the car as well, just to pay attention in case it was necessary…

Some seconds later, the poor boy looked quite confused and nervous, he could hear some apologies as he saw Lovino's face turning red from anger. Oh, crap. He felt bad for the guy suddenly.

His boyfriend turned back and sat on the copilot seat, arms crossed and a deep frown. Gil was scared to ask him, but it wasn't necessary when the brunette started to speak out loud by himself.

“Who dare to ask for a fucking photo in the middle of a parking?” He sounded offended.

After some minutes, they were heading to Gil's apartment while the Italian complained about being confused with this stupid guy he didn't even know but apparently a lot of people in Rome did.

The oldest Beilschmidt made an effort to hold back his laughter, he didn't want his boyfriend complaining about him too.

When they arrived at the apartment, Ludwig received them with a ‘hello’ before going to his room.

It wasn't like the blond didn't like his big brother's partner, but Loving looked in a very bad mood and he wasn't actually a fan of the Italian’s outburst.

“Come on, liebling, it's not a big deal,” Gil tried to tell him while getting everything out of the bags.

“Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to bother you with this,” he said, clearly annoyed.

“Meine Lieber*², you don't bother me. But don't you think you're overreacting a little?”

There was silence this time.

The brunette didn't answer, he just stared at him as he frowned. And then he turned his face.

Gil sighed, “is there something you're not telling me?”

Was there? He wasn't sure. Maybe he was irritable, and all these people confusing him just made things worse.

There was also this ‘doppelgänger’ thing Gilbert told him the last time he wasn't able to forget.

“Tell me about that doppelgänger crap you mentioned before.”

Everything was in his place, so when he turned to see him again, he grabbed the coffee to make him an espresso.

“Well, it's basically a ghostly double you have,” he began to explain, filling the pot with the water as he did, “someone exactly like you that walks around as your ‘double’.”

“So is it a ghost?”

“No, not a ghost. It's just the double of a living person.”

The soft click of the electric stove distracted them from the convert for a short moment. Suddenly the room felt deafeningly silent.

“Some people think they are heralds, entities trying to give you advice.”

“But?”

He blinked, “huh?”

“You're not telling me the truth, right?” Lovino scoffed, getting impatient.

“It's just a myth, liebling.”

“Well, tell me the whole myth.”

The tension was growing thick and the brunette's patience thin. He couldn't understand why Gil looked nervous all of a sudden.

“Some people said they are evil and that they are bad omens,” the albino admitted finally, “but doppelgängers don't exist.”

Without much more talk, Gilbert poured the coffee into the mug his boyfriend used to drink from and they started to have a snack.

However, there was something he couldn't stop thinking about.

Who was that guy? ‘Feliciano’ as most people called him when they confused them, ‘Francesco’ as he introduced himself in the first line of the message he ignored.

Maybe this was just a prank and everyone was trying to make a fucking monkey out of him.

He was starting to get paranoid and that was definitively pissing him off.

Chapter Text

When he finally read the message some days later, there were more questions than answers in his mind.

Salvatore couldn't understand why on Earth would someone dm someone else because of… that. They looked alike, right, and then? It wasn't like he would want to meet this guy just to tell him ‘yeah, people are confusing me with you’. Not like he cared at all.

But, fucking Christ, he was starting to feel bothered even when he was supposed to feel relaxed and calm.

Ghosts are not real, and neither doppelgängers are.

Why was he overthinking so much?

Before he could decide to erase the chat and block the message, his phone began to buzz and he screamed a little. He dropped it, and he was furious.

Was that asshole calling him?!

He was going to curse his whole fucking bloodline, how dare he?

Lovino picked up his phone and answered the call, he was fuming, “the fuck is wrong with you?! Don't fucking call me! If people don't reply that just means they don't want to talk to you, freak!”

On the other line, he just heard someone laughing and that was the last straw.

However, before he could continue with his insults, the other one finally spoke.

“Lovino, mon amour*¹,” a soft sweet voice came to his ears and he frowned deeply, but calmer than before.

“What do you want?” He asked bluntly, not in the mood to deal with the Seychellois.

“What? Can't a man call his best friend just for fun? ” Oh, please… he rolled his eyes.

“Victor, cut it off.”

“Hey, don't call me that, Salvatore,” there was a few seconds of silence before continuing, “I was going to ask you if you would like to have a sleepover~ ”

“Tonight?” He heard someone knocking on his door, “wait, that must be dad.”

He heard a soft chuckle, but he thought it was just his mind.

Salvatore reached out to doorknob, almost dropping the phone again when he opened the door and saw this petite guy smile at him like a Cheshire cat.

The guy just smiled and spoke through his own phone, “yes, tonight, mon ami*².”

Rëiizo had been his best friend since they were in middle school, the African guy was transferred to the ‘Beilschmidt World Academy’ as well as his twin younger sister Victorique, and both of them befriended Lovino on the first day.

They spent a lot of time at each other's house, and sometimes they paid visits so freely and without warning… which they must establish, probably.

But, well, actually he needed to talk to him. Maybe Rëiizo could help him with his anger. Or worsening it. It was like the flip of a coin.

Heads, it helps. Tails, it doesn't.

“So,” Rëiizo said as he laid on the bed painting his carefully manicured nails with gentleness, “who were you insulting?”

“None of your business.”

“Aww, come on, everything about you is all of my business.”

He rolled his eyes, “an idiot sent me two messages and I was about to block him.”

“A stalker?”

“No, just some weirdo.”

Rëiizo tilted his head like a little bird, staring curiously at his bestie while finishing with his polished nails.

Once they were done, he sat on the bed and faced Lovi.

“What did he tell you to be so annoyed?”

Tails. Rëiizo was not helping at all, instead he was making him angrier somehow.

When he realized, his friend was holding his phone and reading out loud the last message Feliciano or Francesco had sent him.

Hello! I’m sorry, I was nervous and didn’t check the message before sending it. My name is Francesco Edelstein, I know this might be weird but some people are confusing me with you since I moved to Rome some time ago, and I think it’s weird but somehow I would like to know if this is also happening to you or something. I understand if you don’t want to respond to me but I would be happy if you do! So I hope you are not bothered and wish you a good day!

“I didn't allow you to take my phone!”

Reiizo ignored him for a moment, and he knew the dude was scrolling through his profile just like Gilbert did. Why the fuck did he have to find a friend and boyfriend so freaking noisy?

Lovino gave up, sipping coffee and sitting against the headboard in order to avoid shouting at his bestie.

“Oh, boy, this guy actually looks like you!” Rëiizo finally said, “what are you going to tell him?”

“Huh?” He raised his eyebrows, surprised by what his friend was asking.

“Aren't you going to message him back? Lovino, that's rude,” the African childishly scolded him.

“I have nothing to say.”

“Dude, but he's just like you. Even the curl!” Rëiizo insisted and tried to emphasize his point by pulling Lovino's curl, but the brunette threw him a pillow, “you can't be serious.”

“I don't care,” what a pain in the ass, and his coffee mug was empty already, “people are confusing me with him but whatever.”

Yeah, honestly, what could he actually do? There was not much option, he should just let it be and ignore stupid random people talking to him on the streets.

He took his phone back and was about to brush the topic beneath the carpet… but Rëiizo’s wide smile made him wonder what had he done.

Quickly, he watched the screen just to let out a furious scream.

“Who told you you could do this, you bastard?!”

Rëiizo just laughed like a witch while keeping his charming expression.

The shorter guy had written a response to Feliciano and worst of all: he had sent him the message .

“IDIOT!!”

Good night! I'm sorry for the late reply, I have been a little busy. But yes, I have been confused with you in the streets by random people who think I am you! That's crazy, we look like each other. A lot.
I'm not bothered at all, don't worry. But, what about meeting each other? You know, just to quench curiosity!

Feliciano jumped off the bed as he read the message, squealing and running around the small room in circles.

It was too sudden and loud that Kiku jumped off his own bed too, half asleep and worried about his partner.

“Wh-What happened?” He yawned, trying to focus on his roommate.

The Italian suddenly threw his phone and held him by the shoulders, scaring him a lot and chasing away all the sleepiness.

“I'll meet him,” he was extremely happy, which confused both of them, but Feliciano didn't seem to care about it, “veee, wait, I should reply now!”

Kiku was confused, standing there as his friend ran to grab his phone and type fastly an answer for what he assumed was ‘Salvatore’.

Chapter Text

After a discussion that made Emma step into the bedroom asking if everything was okay, Salvatore managed to calm down enough and not make a fuss… again. But he couldn’t believe his friend.

“Con amigos como tú para qué enemigos, maldita sea*¹” the brown-haired Italian cursed beneath his breath, and his friend just laughed.

“Yo también te quiero*², Lovi,” Rëiizo kissed him on the cheek sweetly.

“Fuck off,” he spat out furiously, “I won’t go.”

He was not going to go, he didn’t want to meet that dude. There was no reason and he wasn’t going to look for one.

So he just ignored those intrusive thoughts about maybe, and just maybe, going for a drink with him.

“Well, well, let me fix this,” Rëiizo suggested with a kind smile, “what about me paying for the coffee tomorrow? It has been a while since the last time we even hung out together.”

“Fine. Fix it,” Lovino frowned, definitively he was going to make the Seychellois pay for his breakfast tomorrow.

“You won’t regret it.”

What should be the best option to go for a coffee with a stranger you look like?

“If you allow me to speak about it,” Kiku began to say, asking for permission to interrupt Feliciano’s thoughts, and the Italian just nodded with a smile, “I think you shouldn’t go by yourself.”

Feli turned to face him, a pretty dress hanging in front of him as he held the straps to check how it would look on him.

“Vee, do you want to come with me?” His amberish eyes sparkled, and the Japanese blushed slightly.

He coughed to hide his nervousness, “I do not want to be imprudent, but… I would get worried… if I let you go alone.”

Feliciano smiled widely and tossed the dress over his bed, quickly approaching the Asian boy to grab his hands and hold them between his.

“So would you like to have a date after it?”

“A-a-a-a date?” Kiku’s brown eyes were wide open as he listened to those words, “I-I didn’t… huh…”

Gosh, this man was going to kill him one of those days.

He was concerned about his well-being and meanwhile all he seemed to care about was that. But the older one couldn’t tell he was actually bothered.

“Listen, I just want to know you are going to be okay,” the noirette tried to withdraw his hands from Feli’s soft embrace, “but you don’t need to do something like that for me.”

Before the brunette could do something else, the Japanese grabbed a towel and went outside the dormroom, probably a shower would help him clear his mind after such a proposal from Francesco.

The Italian was still trying to think about the meeting, after receiving the message he went back to sleep.

During the night, he received another message with a time and place. In the morning, when he woke up, he saw the appointment and squealed, waking up poor Kiku for the second time that day.

He didn't want to waste time, maybe if he met Salvatore soon he would be able to just let it go.

However, there was some kind of feeling about the situation he couldn’t describe.

Rëiizo was smiling at his best friend, who was completely unaware of what the little demon guy had done once he fell asleep.

“What?” Lovino asked harshly, clearly noticing the African had something in his mind.

“Oh, nothing,” the dark-skinned guy shrugged gently, pulling some candies out of his pocket, “do you want one?”

“No, I just want you to pay for my breakfast.”

“Fine, fine,” he chuckled, “ so… shall we go?”

The two guys went outside the house, both Antonio and Emma were spending some time in the kitchen garden so they waved goodbye from a distance before finally leaving the house.

It was nice, after all, even if Salvatore didn’t want to admit it out loud. He was glad to see the guy after they graduated, but couldn’t he stop messing around with his things?

Well, at least he was going to have a good breakfast. Not that his mother’s waffles weren’t good, but everything tasted better when you had someone else buying it for you. That would be his treat.

They spent time talking about their life again, with Rëiizo mentioning a History of Art student he had just met as soon as he moved into the dorm rooms with his sister. And Lovino narrowed his eyes.

“What’s wrong, dear Lovi?”

“When were you going to tell me?” He looked at him, waiting for a response.

Rëiizo just burst into laughter, “don’t be jealous, mon amour. I’ll happily introduce him to you~”

Lovino snapped his tongue, rolling his eyes.

“Whatever.”

But he would definitively ask for that meeting to be as soon as possible, he didn’t want his best friend to date some random idiot.

He didn’t know how it was to have a sibling, but the closest to it was Rëiizo for him. A pain in the neck, but he would break someone’s neck for him. Stupid bastard, he knew his place very well…

Feliciano was nervous, holding his phone to check if he was in the correct place. Salvatore even sent his location, but the Italian was so nervous he couldn't come into the cafeteria.

Kiku looked at him, trying to reassure him with a warm smile and a nod.

The brunette took a deep breath before finally going inside the cafeteria, and then he saw a curl among all the people in the place and he knew perfectly well that it was him.

There was a dark-skinned guy sitting in front of him, and Salvatore's back was turned towards the entry. When those yellowish eyes of the shorter guy landed on Francesco's, the guy stood up and walked away.

Kiku watched him in silence for a moment before speaking again, “I'll be here if you need me.”

And with that, the Japanese took a seat near the entry where he could see clearly what was happening with Feliciano and the persona he was about to meet.

As the young Edelstein walked towards the table where Salvatore was sitting in silence, he just drank from his coffee and bit on one of his fette biscotatte*³.

“Uhm… hi,” he finally said once he was in front of the other guy.

Salvatore raised his head, eyebrows furrowed deeply when he realized who was standing in front of him.

“That fucking bastard,” he cursed, his voice completely filled with anger.

Lovino was going to kill Rëiizo.

Chapter Text

Not wanting to make a fuss in the middle of a place he used to frequent, Salvatore breathed deeply and ignored that voice in the back of his head telling him to swear and curse.

So there they were, sitting at the same table in the same place with an awkward silence.

Feliciano wasn’t expecting this to be this… weird, and now he felt kinda bad knowing that was an appointment he did not do.

If it was for Salvatore, it seemed like there was not going to be a conversation, so the other one had to take a deep breath and collect all his courage to break the ice.

“Vee, I moved to Rome because I wanted to study here!” Was he being too clumsy? “But my parents and I are from Veneto, what about you?”

“Excuse me?” Salvatore was paying attention, but he was still trying to avoid the whole situation.

“I mean, if you’re Roman or something…”

“I’m Spaniard,” he began to explain, “but I guess you can say I’m also Roman.”

“Oh, I see,” Feli nodded slowly, “then I guess you can say I’m Austrian or Hungarian, my mom and dad are so. But I was born in Italy and we have lived here for the last 19 years! So, uhm, hehe…”

Salvatore was starting to feel bothered, he didn’t want to talk with this guy but he was feeling bad because he was trying so…

“Do you want a coffee?” He tried to be at least not that rude.

“Vee, yes, please.”

His cup was already empty so he took advantage to order a second coffee for him.

When the waiter asked for their order, they replied almost at the same time.

“A latte vanilla—”

And they stared at each other for a couple of seconds, the waiter seemed amused by that reaction.

“Lactose-free as always, sir?”

“Yes, thank you,” and he watched the man walk away and chuckle. He turned to face Francesco again, and he found him staring at him with a curious expression, “what’s the matter?”

“Vee, are you lactose intolerant?”

“Yeah, what’s the matter?”

Gosh, Salvatore was a little bit too impatient it seemed…

“Nothing bad, just me too!” The young artist answered with a funny smile.

“I see,” for him it wasn’t quite a big deal, but considering the similarities it was curious.

“Let me ask you something,” Salvatore didn’t reply, he just let the guy go on with it, “this is weirder, are you righty or lefty?”

“Amby,” his response was made simply and almost uninterested, but when the other one squealed Lovino almost jumped off his chair, “what’s wrong with you?”

“Also I am!” Feli was almost kicking his feet beneath the table, so excited that when the waiter gave them their coffees, he forgot about his intolerance and took a deep sip, “okay, one more thing: zodiacal sign.”

“Pisces,” Lovino stirred his coffee with indifference.

But the more he said, the more Francesco seemed to smile, “me too.”

He was starting to get scared, if he said his best friend was an African guy, was he going to answer the same? Or maybe he was starting to get paranoid again? This could be a man pretending to have a lot in common but… why?

Things were starting to feel weird, if Rëiizo didn’t come back soon he would get back to his home.

“Are you okay?”

“Why are you saying that?” Salvatore finally asked, and he then explained himself once he saw the other’s expression, “you just answer ‘me too’ like if it was all you could say, I don’t know, are you serious?”

“Vee, but it’s true,” he was confused, was that hard to believe? “Okay, look, I’m just curious. One last question and I promise I won’t bother you.”

He rolled his eyes, “yeah, of course you do.”

Apparently not getting the sarcasm, Feli took a pencil and a small notebook to write something down and then watch him again.

“When’s your birthday?”

“March 17th.”

His chuckle was the only thing Salvatore heard after he replied, “are you kidding?”

But silence was the only answer, the cheerful Feli began to feel strangely serious all of a sudden, and then Lovino was thinking he should leave and forget about everything.

However, when the other guy lent him the notebook there was ‘March 17th’ written there.

“What is this?” He asked, bothered, frustrated and annoyed.

“My birthday,” he laughed again, this time more nervous and a little anxious.

Well, a lot of people shared birthdays, it wasn’t that deep but…

“I guess people can be born the same day, why are you so serious now?”

“Can I ask you… one last thing?” His voice, once cheerful and soft, was starting to sound serious and worried. There was this bad feeling Lovino couldn’t shake off either, and he just nodded to finish the conversation and go away already, “were you born in Firenze?”

“How do you fucking now that?” It was all, enough, he was going to leave and block that asshole.

“Spedale San Francesco degli Innocenti- I was born in Spedale San Francesco degli Innocenti on March 17th 19 years ago.”

“I’ve had enough, I’m leaving,” he wasn’t going to hear more of that guy nonsense and crazy coincidence.

But before he could turn around, Francesco grabbed his wrist to keep him from leaving.

When he turned to shout at him the guy had a pitiful expression that made Lovino’s heart wrench uncomfortably, he looked like he was about to cry or beg for something.

“Wait, don’t go yet,” he almost begged.

“Let me go, idiot.”

“But listen to me please!”

Lovino pulled his arm and Feli let him go, but instead of leaving he took his seat again with a deep frown on his face.

“What the fuck do you want from me?” He spat out like venom.

“I-I don’t know… but what if these are no coincidence?” His voice was shaking nervously, “I… I mean… what if…”

“If what?” Lovino’s blatant behavior was starting to make him feel on the verge of tears, but he didn’t seem to care, “do you think we are siblings, twins? Oh, fucking no. I know who I am and I am not your brother, so don’t bother me and forget about this crap. I’m leaving. Your coffee’s on you.”

Chapter Text

When Kiku saw Francesco curled up over the table and holding his stomach after Salvatore left the cafeteria furiously, he saw tears going down his face when he approached the table and that alerted him.

“Are you okay?” The Asian asked worriedly.

“No,” the brown-haired one replied, he was feeling nauseous and his stomach hurt a lot.

“Did he hurt you?”

“I-”

Before he could actually say something, he let out a weird noise, as if he was about to vomit, and then he remembered he shouldn’t have drunk that latte with regular milk.

As soon as he received a call from Rëiizo, he picked up the phone to hang up and ignore the callings.

He needed to go home and forget about all that crappy morning, that crazy dude and the creeps the whole situation gave him.

He didn’t want to know more about him, he didn’t even want to meet him in the first place, and now he had to deal with a bunch of information he actually didn’t ask for? Bullshit. It was impossible for him to know that much about Salvatore and he knew it, and that was what made him feel even more uncomfortable about the issue.

Nor brother, nor sisters, just an only child and that had been his life since always, he wasn’t going to believe a random dude just moved in to Rome was related to him. How could he be? It was impossible and he wasn’t going to think about it.

He opened the front door of his home and his mother came into view, greeting him with a warm smile that quickly faded away when she saw his expression.

“Where’s Rëiizo, and what happened? You seem like you have been running.”

He was panting, sweating and barely paying attention to her. But he then realized he had just walked all the way back home without thinking twice.

“What’s happening?” Antonio then went inside the house, his hands covered in dirt as he had probably been taking care of the plants.

“You,” Lovino approached his father with wide steps, his face was red and his eyebrows furrowed beyond anger, “tell me I’m not fucking adopted or…”

Or what? What was he going to say? What was he going to do if the answer was affirmative? He had no idea, but he didn’t know a better way to demand for an answer.

And he just hoped he had never went to that place with Rëiizo.

Both, mom and dad, stayed silent and still. Emma watching her husband and son, his expression worried but calm; and Antonio just avoided looking into Lovino’s eyes at first, confirming the younger one’s thoughts.

He stepped back, this can’t be true, he thought to himself.

“You can’t be serious,” he let out a scoffed noise, his head starting to hurt, “you’ve lied to me my whole fucking life?!”

“Lovi, wait-”

“Hijo, listen-” the green-eyed man tried to hold his son’s arm, but the younger one just pulled away and shouted at him with an angry gaze.

“No, I don’t want to listen to a single shit about this, so in the end you’re not my father and I’m not your son, great, Antonio. Great.”

Fuming and holding back his tears, Salvatore climbed the stairs as quickly as possible to reach his room and lock the door.

This had to be a fucking joke, a stupid nightmare, a freaking hallucination. Whatever, but not true.

After getting sick from drinking a no-lactose-free latte, Kiku took care of Feli in their shared dorm room. But as soon as the Italian recovered his energy, he began to pack his stuff inside a bag with a strange look on his face.

“Where are you going-? It’s the middle of the night,” he looked at the clock, it was pretty late already and the campus should be closed already.

“I need to go and visit my parents,” he said with that serious tone that sounded not-like-him at all, and the noirette couldn’t help but worry even more.

“Did something bad happen?” The poor Japanese guy was starting to get incredibly worried.

“No, not exactly bad…” he murmured, not knowing how he should describe it, “but I really need to talk with my parents.”

Kiku was about to ask him more about it, but it was the first time he saw the Italian talking so seriously and without giving much information. He knew it must be something extremely important, so he decided not to insist.

If Feliciano wanted him to know, he would tell him when he felt like it.

After what felt like an eternity, the brunette finished with his bag. He wasn’t going to take a train right then, but he would first time in the morning.

There wasn’t something in his mind beside the questions he had for his parents.

The whole day all he could think was if this guy could actually be his brother, if they are relatives…

He had always felt a little bit lonely, he had always thought how cool it would be to have siblings, cousins, even some aunts or uncles. His family was quite small, just his parents and him, but what if it wasn’t actually like that?

The closer the high-speed train got to Véneto, the bigger the amount of answers grew in his mind.

And when he finally was in front of the house where he grew up, some mixed feelings kept him from knocking on the door for a moment.

A brunette green-eyed lady opened the door and watched as if he was some kind of ghost, but right after she smiled and pulled him into a warm hug.

“What are you doing here, son?” She asked with a surprised tone of voice, but he didn’t answer right away.

“Who’s there, Eliza?” A tall man approached, and when Feli’s amberish eyes met the older one’s deep blue eyes his expression changed into surprise and concern, “Francesco.”

“Hi, mama… papa,” the younger one finally greeted.

Roderich Edelstein didn’t consider himself a lenient parent, they were a wealthy family and both his wife and him raised his son to be a sensible person and for the last twenty years his son had proved himself as so.

He wasn’t expecting Francesco to pay them a visit in the middle of the semester without warning, there must be a good reason, and he was waiting for his son to speak out.

“It’s nice to see you here, Feli,” his mom told him after bringing a tray of biscuits, tea and coffee, “but you see…”

“I know this is weird, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you,” the brunette boy began to explain, “I just needed to ask you some important questions.”

“What could be so important for you to come here, Francesco?” Roderich asked matter-of-factly, hoping it was just something he would need to scold his child for instead of something actually concerning. But judging by the look on his face, it would be the first one…

“Am I adopted?” He asked straightforwardly.

Neither his father nor his mother said a thing, all they did was glancing at each other before sighing and nodding.

And suddenly everything felt just like it felt when he was at the cafeteria, the worlds Salvatore screamed at him making his eyes water. So he was his brother after all.

“Oh, honey…” his mom hugged him, thinking his tears were caused by what they had just confirmed.

“I-I’m fine…”

“You’re crying.”

He wiped away his tears, trying to stay composed, “do you know if I have any siblings?”

Eliza looked at Roderich, the man stayed quiet for a couple of seconds before answering.

“I’m not sure,” the Austrian admitted, “you were the last baby in the NICU when we arrived.”

“I think I met one of my siblings,” he needed to talk to him again, to find out if they were actually family.

“The hospital where you were born is a foundling hospital,” Elizabeth caressed his hand kindly, trying to reassure his son as best as she could, “we could ask them for any possible information.”

There was a possibility to find out about his family, the family he hadn’t known until that moment.

He needed to go to Florence.

“I need this is important to you,” his dad began to say again, “but you shouldn’t go outside the province in the middle of the semester, Francesco.”

“Veee, I promise I won’t do this again!” Oh, right, his father didn’t scold him at first he was going to say it anyways.

He should talk to Kiku as soon as possible, the poor guy must be worried sick too.

Oh, Gosh. He had done some impulsive things.

Chapter Text

When Lovino locked the door of his dorm after storming out of the living room, Antonio almost panicked thinking he might be doing something wrong to himself, so he opened the door using the keys, ready for his son to throw something at him in order to get him out of there.

He would have frowned upon his attitude and scolded him like a child, because that was to him— his child. And then he would manage to calm him down and explain the issues.

But that didn’t happen. The first thing he thought was that he left, but when he noticed the bump covered with blankets on the bed Toño sighed in relief. However, he immediately worried a lot.

The green-eyed man approached the bedroom, carefully sitting on the edge of the mattress.

“Lovi-”

“Get away,” he spat out from beneath the blankets, “leave me alone.”

“Please, Lovi, at least let me explain this-”

The younger one sat up, discovering his face and torso as he pulled aside the covers, “and what are you going to explain? How you lied to me during, how many? Almost 20 years? Do I even have to listen to you?”

For him, that was the last straw. But Antonio couldn’t see it, he couldn’t see just how much he had failed as a father from his son’s perspective.

All Antonio knew was that he wanted Lovino to comprehend…

“Salvatore,” he called out, his voice soft and caring, but he was being demanding in order to make him listen. At least, it worked. “Listen. Please.”

He didn’t say a word, but turned his face to avoid staring at his father.

“I just wanted you to be happy,” he let out with a shaky breath, a trembling smile as he remembered how that little boy came into his life, “you’re my son, hijo*¹. I love you, you know that, right? We brought you home to be a part of our family, we loved you from the start and we still do so. Even if we didn’t conceive you.”

There was silence between them, the dim-lighted room just weighted, so the Spaniard stood up to turn on the light, just to hear a soft chuckle coming from his son as the click lit up the room.

Antonio turned to face him again, confused but willing to know what was going on.

“You don't love me,” the semidarkness helped him hide his expression, he avoided raising up his head not wanting to face that man in those conditions.

“How could you say that?” The words made his heart clench, his brows furrowed with a sad expression and his voice filled up with concern.

“How could you say that?” Salvatore sighed, his whole body trembling as he managed to hold back his tears, “not even my parents wanted me so why would I think you wanted me?”

“But, Lovino,” he kneeled beside the bed, trying to look him in the face, “we are your parents.”

“No, not you,” he stood up, walking around the room anxiously, “how the hell would you want a child someone else didn’t?”

“Lovino, you can’t tell they didn’t want you-”

“And can you?”

For the first time since he stepped into the bedroom, Lovino glanced at him, looking into his eyes. And Antonio felt as if he was going to fall apart into pieces.

He bit his bottom lip for a second, letting out a deep breath before shaking his head.

“No, I can’t,” he admitted, but before he was able to explain further, his young son broke into tears.

“So why the hell would I believe someone else wanted me?” His voice was cracking, all he wanted was to be left alone and the fuck his dad wasn’t hellping at all, “I have a stupid brother, and I can’t even tell I was wanted as he was. Everyone seems to like him and guess who’s the one no one else seems to care about.”

“Enough,” he snorted, his voice shaking as he clenched his fist trying to relax, “yes, you are not an only child. Yes, your parents didn’t take care of you and I can’t tell you why. But how could you even think you are the only one not wanted? You weren’t the only baby there, you are not the only one adopted. Your mom and I always tried our best to make you feel welcomed, wanted and loved, but I think I made a lot of mistakes by pampering and spoiling you this far. ‘The one no one else seems to care about’? ¿Me estás jodiendo, Salvatore Fernández?*²”

The sudden outburst from his father was something Lovino definitely wasn’t expecting, at all.

He frowned in response, a mix of rage and indignation making him shiver.

“You're as unwanted as your brother, as both of you were given up for adoption.”

That was the final nail in the coffin.

There was no trace of anger on his features, nothing like sadness or even disappointment. It was just a blank expression slowly turning into a thoughtful seriousness. As if something had just been broken.

It was far from repair when Toño realised his words, regretting what he had just said in the end, but when he tried to speak again, there was no one in front of him to talk with.

Lovino walked straight forward the open door, picking up his pace as he went through the hallway, and a few seconds later all Antonio heard was the slam of the front door and his wife worried pleas to their leaving child.

He collapsed on the mattress, sitting on the edge, and held his face with both his hands.

“What have I done?” He asked him, tears welling up his eyes as his breath became unsteady, “God… what have I done to my son?”

He cried in silence once he felt Emma sitting by his side, unable to hold back anymore.

Chapter Text

As soon as Francesco turned to leave and go back to the university, he had to go straight to the bathroom. The milk from the previous day still made him sick.

So he stayed home and asked Kiku to excuse him with the teachers, telling them that he was sick.

“分かりました*¹、I'll excuse you,” the Japanese guy answer from the other side of the line.

“Vee , thanks, Kiku,” he smiled even when the other one couldn't see it, “you’re the best.”

But there was a silence from the Japanese that made the Italian wonder if there was something wrong, he used to be quiet but not that quiet.

“Kiku?” Feli looked at the phone screen to check if they were still on a call.

“Can I ask you… if there's something happening? ” The noirette asked cautiously.

And for the first time, the brunette felt there was something he couldn't say so easily.

“Yes,” he admitted though, “but I don't feel like telling you like this… what about going for a coffee, and I'll explain the situation to you?”

One more time, just silence. And that made Feliciano nervous, was he doing something wrong?

“I’ll see you soon then, Feliciano.”

With that, they called it a conversation and hung up.

He stayed there, laying on his back and feeling the cozy bed underneath his body. The same bed he had been sleeping in for around six and then years, maybe more.

He was raised in that house, as an only child, and now his bed felt so big and lonely for himself. What would that be had he known the truth from the very beginning?

There were so many things in his mind, so many questions, so much he even didn't know where to start thinking. His father had told him all he knew already, but it wasn't much. Otherwise, his mother…

“I'll bring you some tea,” she seemed quite distant, even when she was doing her best to ask composed and normally.

“Thanks, mama,” he reached for the cup, drinking it slowly to help his stomach.

And when she was about to leave, he stopped her.

“Mom,” he muttered, trying to catch her attention.

Elizabeth just turned to face him again, a calm smoke formed on her lips, and the tray of tea still on her hands.

He had so many things he would like to ask…

“Why did you adopt me?”

Her smile faltered a little, but she managed to keep it, “your father and I wanted to have kids, but we couldn't get pregnant. So we decided to go to this place, where we saw the most beautiful baby ever, and we became your parents.”

“Do you really not know anything about my birth parents?” He asked with a somewhat sad expression, and then Eliza's smile slowly faded away, “…I’m sorry, forget about it, mom.”

After some seconds of silence, she just left. And Feliciano couldn't help but feel bad.

He was disappointing them, wasn't he?

As soon as Kiku saw his friend and roommate coming in with a sad expression on his face, without muttering his so characteristic vee~ or without even looking up from the ground, all the alarms inside his mind were ringing.

“Francesco?” The noirette dared to approach, looking at him with concern, “what's wrong? I have been worrying a lot…”

The mentioned one raised his face, and his amberish eyes landed on those warm brunette orbs of him.

He didn't know how to start that conversation.

“Mom and dad adopted me,” the Italian began to say, looking for a place to sit down and think, “I asked them after what happened in that coffee shop. I… think I found my brother, but it doesn't seem like he's fond of me right now.”

And then reality sank in him like a shipwreck into the sea, his guys twisted and his eyes filled up with tears of disappointment and frustration.

Salvatore may not know about their origins, as well as him.

He probably messed up things.

“Feli?” Kiku called him softly, and his face blurred for the brunette.

Of course it was his fault his parents and his probably brother were upset.

He cried softly, but after a few seconds he sobbed, with Kiku offering his shoulder for him to have emotional and physical support.

He was a useless idiot, wasn't he?

Rëiizo had been desperately trying to call Lovino, but no matter how many times he tried, the Italian didn't pick up the damn phone. At first, he thought he might be overreacting a little; after all, Salvatore was not the most composed person and he knew how to deal with it.

But when he tried to text and see if he was at home, he never texted back and parents answered the phone, asking him instead if their son was with him.

The first thing that crossed his mind was that something had happened after he left the local. Even though he never tried to harm me, he was quite worried about what could have possibly happened for him to react like that.

He tried texting Gilbert, if there was something who could know about Lovino's whereabouts that must be him.

But Beilschmidt got worried, asking himself the same questions as them, the panic began to settle down in the Seychellois’ guts.

That wasn't something Salvatore would do so out of the blue, what the hell had happened?

Chapter Text

While everyone was losing their heads trying to find out his whereabouts, Lovino left the keys on the kitchen counter. The apartment was empty, so he let himself feel and look as miserable as he felt.

What a piece of shit. God had no mercy on his soul, and he did not want to talk to anyone just to hear that he was being dramatic.

One day he was gardening with his father and the following day he happened to be adopted and with a brother. He was left as a baby, he didn’t know his birth family, and what could be worse? What could be worse than knowing you were unwanted from the very beginning?

Be caught crying for that, indeed. He cursed beneath his breath, wiping away his tears as he tried to look composed when the lights turned on.

“Lovino?” Ludwig’s voice was genuinely surprised, his face showing concern but also some relief, “your parents are looking for you.”

And those words hurt a lot.

His parents. His adoptive parents.

“Are you okay?” The blond boy asked, he sounded quite worried as he walked towards him.

Why could he have a moment of peace and be left alone to cry?

People didn’t stop being around, but people never actually made him feel accompanied. Feeling alone but not being alone, what a piece of ironic shit.

“I know we are not close, but…” the blue-eyed boy stared into his eyes, and he felt ashamed of being seen like that, “…you can tell me if I can help with something.”

“You can’t, “ he quickly replied, catching his breath between ragged breathing, “just- forget about this, okay? I’ll leave now, don’t tell Gilbert I was here.”

Yes, he just needed to find another place. He didn’t have one, but it was clear his boyfriend’s apartment wasn’t an option.

“Hold on,” Lud asked, almost demanding, with a confused frown, “you have your family worried, my brother is also worried about you. And, well, I can’t tell I’m not. Before you tell me this is none of my business, could you at least have some consideration? I don’t know what happened, but I don’t think this is the correct way to proceed…”

Great, a punch in the guts, this boy was his worst enemy at that moment. “Fuck off, Ludwig,” he scoffed, sitting down on the livingroom couch with a defeated look.

Gilbert let his bag hit the floor as he caught the sight of his boyfriend sitting on the couch drinking coffee.

He didn’t say anything, he just ran towards him and wrapped his arms around his frame, feeling his whole body weak with relief. A wave of calm washing over him as he realised he was perfectly fine, no physical injuries visible despite his worries.

“You’re crushing me,” the shorter one grunted.

“Sorry, sorry,” Gil let him go, a smile playing on his lips as he watched him closely, “mein gott, I was so worried. Where have you been? What happened? Your parents are worried sick, and they should be, because they don't know what's going on. Lovino, mein gott*¹, what’s going on?!”

“Ugh, merda*², hold your tongue, can you?” He pushed him away, not wanting to be hugged again, and then he walked towards the kitchen, “I need a coffee.”

Gilbert just followed him like a lap dog, but he was still trying to have some answers.

He waited for him to calm down, although Lovino seemed to be pretty composed already, and when he had got his favorite tomato mug filled up with coffee, the albino got serious and tried again.

“Tell me, what’s going on?”

“Didn’t Antonio already tell you?”

“Was*³?” Gilbert was taken aback by those words, especially with the way his boyfriend was addressing his own father all of a sudden, “no, he didn’t. Wait, are you mad at him? Is this another fight about us?”

Lovino growled, those questions were spoiling his precious coffee, “no, it’s not about us.”

“But you’re mad at him.” There was no response. “What happened, liebling?”

“He lied to me,” the bitterness coating his words was undeniable, even the coffee felt sweeter despite having no sugar in it, “all these years, all my life, have been just a fucking lie and I was the only one who actually believed it. And he dared to say he loves me at first, just to tell me I was not the only one unwanted; so indeed all this time I have been as unwanted as a redheaded stepson, how the hell I’m supposed to take that?”

The more he blurted out, the less Gil could actually understand. But he let him get rid of those feelings by bursting those things out of him, even if he did not understand them completely… or if he found them a little unappropriated.

A lecture was not what Lovino needed at that point, he was pretty sure.

Once he calmed down again, Gil stepped closer, his hand caressing softly his boyfriend’s, and he could hear him sigh heavily.

“I’m adopted,” he finally explained to him, “and… just that. I was adopted and there’s nothing more, I don’t even know who the fuck I am, not even my parents know.”

Without saying a word, the German put his arm over his shoulders, and unconsciously the brunette leaned against him, trying to seek comfort.

“I know who you are,” he murmured softly, kindly kissing his temple.

Lovino clicked his tongue, “do you?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “you’re Lovino, liebling. Mein Lovino.”

Chapter Text

So, in the end, Feliciano asked Kiku out on a somewhat date to explain things to him and explain what happened that day when he met Salvatore.

He grabbed one of his new wallets, his phone and the dorm’s key, making sure he didn’t let any important thing like his money or something. They walked for a while, there was a gelateria*¹ nearby and that was their day off, so he had to enjoy it.

“So… do you think he is your brother?” Kiku asked cautiously, not knowing exactly how he should address the topic after all Feliciano just told him, “and how do you feel about that?”

They took a seat after choosing their ice-cream flavors and got them.

It was the first time after a while he asked himself that question, it had been too much he hadn’t been able to even think about his concerns and feelings. All he knew was that he had too many things to do, but he felt somehow paralyzed.

“I… don’t know,” he replied vaguely, taking a spoonful of stracciatella mindlessly, “I think… I would like to know more about myself. Last week, I thought I knew who I was, but today I don’t even know where I came from. The only person I have that could help me know is just as clueless as me and doesn’t want to see me.”

Lovino must be shocked after what happened, he seemed mad at him and definitely not willing to explore the reality of the possibility of being relatives, let alone know more about their origins.

He always felt alone as an only child, even when he had all his parents’ attention for himself, but it was not enough. There was something missing, he wondered why their parents didn’t give him a little sibling to play with.

He always dreamed about a huge family with so many things to do, but those thoughts were buried deep in his mind when he grew up and reluctantly accepted his fate as Francesco Edelstein, first and last.

The possibility of having not only a brother but a twin was almost like a dream; like a cruel joke, if it happened to be a mistake.

Just then Feliciano realised he did not want Salvatore to leave and disappear from his life.

If they were family, he needed to know. He needed to know him better and find out what actually happened, why their parents didn’t raise them, why they were given up for adoption, who they actually were.

“I don’t want to let him go,” he admitted in a whisper, “I don’t want him to hate me… if he’s my brother, I want to know it.”

Kiku just gave him a kind smile, having a small bit of his own strawberry ice-cream.

In the end, all Feli needed was someone to speak out his mind.

Talking with Kiku about it made him feel better, quite relieved, and he had to admit that he also started to enjoy spending time with him. They finished their desserts and went on a walk, the Japanese usually had no free time to explore the city and Feliciano was also new in Rome.

It was hot a fuck, so he stopped by to fill his bottle of water, leaving the noirette buy some things in a nearby store.

“Vee, this is quite refreshing,” he exclaimed with a smile, the sources of free water in Rome weren’t something new to him, but it was always something he enjoyed a lot.

“Excuse me, sir,” a deep voice made him look over his shoulder, “do you have a minute?”

“Something happened?” He asked worriedly, had he done something wrong with the water?

He was used to people asking him for smalltalks and greetings, a couple of times even photos, but mostly young people and this police officer was not exactly young.

So, nop, not a follower of his cosplay account.

“Can I see your documents?”

“Oh, sure,” Feli pulled out his wallet, ready to look for his ID and… “ah… I think I left it… in my room.”

He laughed nervously, wishing not to have a fine or something… because his father would absolutely kill him if he had to pay for something like that for such a stupid reason.

But it was weird to be asked for his ID in the first place, he tried to ask if he had done something wrong.

“There’s a Missing Person Report,” the officer mentioned, “can you please come to the police station with me?”

“A Missing Person Report?” He frowned, and why was he asking him…?

He opened his eyes, a weird feeling in his guts as he thought about the possibility of being mistaken again. And the dread froze him, because the only person he could be mistaken for in that city was Salvatore… or so he thought.

He saw Kiku approaching him with a worried expression, and before he could ask, Feli asked him to please wait for him a little.

The officers watched him attentively, reading the description given by the man who filled the report.

A young man, 19 years old; 1’70, 155 pounds; the man in the photograph was the same man in front of them or so they thought. The same piercing. The same description, but when they asked for the name and verified the identification, they were almost worried there was a flaw in the system.

“You can leave,” they told him after a couple of minutes.

And he felt somehow bad about confirming the person they were looking for was Salvatore, he wondered what had happened, but the officers didn’t give him too much information.

When he went back to where he had left Kiku, the poor noirette was as worried as him.

“What happened? Are you in trouble?” Why on Earth things like that happened whenever they hung out? He was thinking maybe isolation was a better option for him, “Francesco?”

“Sorry, I was thinking…” he muttered, “they were looking for Salvatore.”

“Salvatore?” His brown eyes widened in fear, “did something happen to him?”

“He’s missed.”

And saying it out loud felt like a punch in the guts.

Chapter Text

The last thing he was expecting was a message from that Francesco dude asking him about his wellbeing.

“The fuck is wrong with him?” Lovino spoke out loud with a frown of disgust, “I’ll block him, he’s a pain in the neck.”

“Can I see the message first?” Gil entered the room, his hair dripping as he tried to use a towel on it.

The brunette just lent him the phone, uninterested in all that crap.

Hello, I’m so sorry to bother you but are you okay? Where are you? You don’t have to actually tell me but the police mistook me with you and told me there’s a Missing Person Report of you.

“Oh, shit, I forgot about it!” The albino quickly grabbed his phone, he had to call Antonio and inform him about Lovino’s whereabouts, the man had been looking for him, he needed to ease his concern.

The younger one was about to delete the whole conversation and block that account, but then a new message caught his attention and he stopped with his finger millimeters away from the trash icon.

I didn’t want to cause pain or something, I am truly sorry about what happened in the coffee shop. I think this was a misunderstanding. But please, be safe and back home soon, okay? I don’t want something bad happening to you, so take care and wish you a good night.

He read the message over and over again, not understanding why he felt so warm. Warm and overwhelmed. He felt like he wanted to puke, but instead of vomit, tears. There was something happening to him that he couldn’t quite understand and that made him feel insecure and suspicious.

It was better for him to ignore the messages and keep going with his life, so he left his phone in the drawer and curled up beneath Gil’s sheets while the German talked on the phone.

As soon as he hung up, his own phone began to ring; he hung up when he read the word PAPÁ*¹ on the screen.

When he realised Salvatore had seen the message, he felt a little bit of relief. At least he wasn’t isolated, right?

Despite how much he would have enjoyed spending time thinking about it, he had to go back to his homework and projects. His father would kill him had he tanked his grades or something, so he had to study what he didn’t study during the last days.

He was suspecting he had a twin and discovered he was adopted, why did he have to focus on school…? Gosh, life was hard and unfair.

Kiku covered Feli’s shifts when he was out of Rome, he really owed him more than one. The black-haired guy was the best roomie and bestie he could have ever asked for, so that helped him.

Since he asked his parents for more information, things were tense, the messages he sent to his mom feeling awkward. Dad wasn’t acting differently, he was a little distant since he could remember anyways.

“Kiku,” he called his friend from his own desk. The Japanese was reading, sitting on the floor with his notes over the floor as well, but he raised his head to look at the Italian, “I don’t think I asked before, but… do you have any siblings?”

“Yes,” he nodded, his body straightening as he paid more attention to him, “I have four siblings.”

“Four siblings?!” Feli gasped with amusement, “vee, that’s so many people living in one house!”

“Well, I think so,” the Japanese seemed to think quietly for a moment, “Nii-san*²– my older brother… he’s more like a father, since he’s the one who raised the four of us.”

“Vee, what’s his name?”

“Wang Yao,” he said with a smile, “I’m younger than him but older than my other siblings.”

“And their full names?” Feliciano was more interested in the family tree of Kiku than his own homework.

“Wang Lì Xiào, Wang Mei Lin and Im Young Soo.”

“I think Japanese only has two names,” he was a little confused, perhaps Kiku was pronouncing it slower for him to understand and that’s why the names sounded like-

“They are not Japanese, I’m Japanese," he chuckled softly, “I was adopted when I was a kid.”

“Oh,” suddenly he felt like he was somehow punched in the guts, “I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s okay,” Kiku comforted him, a soft smile playing on his lips helped Feliciano to feel less awkward about the situation, “I’m not sad about it, it doesn’t cause pain. I was lost and alone and Yao found me, his parents adopted me. It was similar for Young Soo.”

There was a silence between them, but not an uncomfortable one.

And Kiku just knew his roommate needed a little time to speak out, afraid of being reckless after what happened with Salvatore. Francesco Edelstein was an oblivious person, clueless sometimes, but it was kind of sad to see him tiptoeing right now.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk right now,” the Asian boy assured him, “I just want you to know that you’re not the only person with a story like this, and that you are not alone either. This must be difficult for you and I understand that.”

“Grazie*³,” he whispered, his eyes filled with tears that made Kiku’s heart feel like it was being squeezed in his chest.

He was unsure about what to do, but he knew Feliciano well enough to have an idea…

“Do you… want something?”

The Italian pouted, sniffing as his tears threatened to fall down his cheeks, and then he spread his arms, “a hug.”

Kiku regretted his question, his face red hard as he trembled with nervousness.

He wanted to offer him a pat pat, a cup of tea or some fruit… but looking at him asking for a hug while trying to hold back his tears just knocked him out.

“Fine,” he sighed, smiling at him as he stood up.

A hug, just a hug. That’s all Feliciano needed at that moment, so he should be a good friend and give him one.

…

Why was he overthinking so damn much?!

Slowly, he approached him, his arms carefully wrapping around Feli’s body, and when he was close enough the brown-haired guy just hugged him like a lifeline.

Kiku ignored his shame, his modesty and his anxiety, and hugged him back, hushing him as he cried.

Against what he would actually do, he leaned in for a soft, warm and gentle kiss on the top of his head. Subtle enough for the Italian one not to notice it, because if he did… then Kiku would be dead by shame.

Chapter Text

“This is not your fault,” Emma tried to comfort him.

“Of course it is,” Antonio insisted, desperate and fearing the worst outcome, “I never told him, I… I should have done-”

“Antonio, enough,” the Belgian called him out, this time her softly voice deeply serious, “if that’s it, then we are at fault. We are both his parents.”

“But you didn’t tell him he was unwanted,” his own words haunted him since he said them.

“You must apologies,” she stated with a deadpan expression, “but not torture yourself. You must talk to him, we must talk to him and wait for him to understand.”

“Understand what, Emma?” He stood up, too anxious and scared to try and stay still, “apologies? How?!”

“Please, lieven*¹, calm down,” she tried her best, standing up and holding his hands.

“I’m scared, amor*²,” he whispered, leaning in to hold her in his arms, his hands shaking as a thousand thoughts plagued his mind, “you saw his face, what if he does something wrong? What if he harms himself? What if…?”

“Antonio, no…”

He broke into tears, holding her tightly, and she had to hold back her own tears as she tried to ease his husband.

If they lost him, they would be devastated.

They were starting to…

There were few things better than a morning cappuccino*³ and biscotti*⁴, even better if they were for breakfast. Lovino enjoyed them with delighted humming, his mind thinking about anything else than how fucking much he loved coffee and pastries.

“Lovino, they are worried…” Gilbert was serving his little brother’s breakfast, who was getting ready for classes.

But the Italian just ignored him as he had been ignoring the incoming calls, not even daring to check who was calling. He was just refusing to talk to anyone at that moment.

“Salvatore,” he sounded serious, awkwardly serious may Lovino said.

“What?” He finally asked curtly once he finished his last biscotto, almost angry because he had no more food to cope with.

As Ludwig waved a farewell and quickly left, the two men stayed in silence.

“The heck is happening to you?” He scoffed, his patience starting to run thin with each dismissive response, “your parents even filled a Missing Person Report.”

He didn’t want to lecture him, but he would if he had to.

Lovino had issues, he knew it as a person with his own issues. Hell, he knew the boy since they were in highschool, he knew Lovino was not actually the person when it came to deal with his own problems.

He understood why Antonio was so worried, he was terrified when he knew his mentally and emotionally overwhelmed boyfriend ran away after an argument.

The last thing Gilbert wanted was to make Lovino feel like he was no longer his safe place, but he was afraid of him avoiding his problems in his house.

“Salvatore, you need to talk about this.”

“And what do you want me to say, huh?” He was defensive, not wanting to talk about that shit at all, “how I feel about a random guy that found me on Facebook being presumably my brother?”

Before they could keep talking, the doorbell rang and Gilbert sighed, asking him for a moment before going to check. Perhaps it was just Ludwig.

But when he opened the door he found Rëiizo with a worried expression.

“Gil, do you know where- LOVINO!” The Seychellois exclaimed as he saw his best friend, entering the apartment quickly, “quel soulagement*⁵, you’re fine!”

“Yeah, but not thanks to you,” Lovino said with a venomous tone of voice.

It seemed like he wouldn’t be able to stay there and evade himself any longer.

Well, in the end, after some screams from his boyfriend and a lot of complaints from neighbors about the noises, they managed to calm down the messy Italian guy they cared a lot about enough to swallow thickly and keep calm.

“So, wow, I didn’t think he actually is your brother,” Rëiizo was surprised after the Italian finally told him what happened.

“I don’t want a brother.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Well, adopt him if you like the idea so much,” he grunted, why was everyone around him so damn happy about something that mortified him so much?!

“Come on, Lovi, don’t take it on the poor guy,” the albino tried to chill the things, but just seemed to pissed him off even more.

So now he had his best friend and boyfriend talking about Francesco when he clearly didn’t want to, “can you just cut it out?”

“Can you answer the messages and calls?”

“If I do, would you two leave me alone?”

Gil and Rëiizo looked at each other, exchanging glances and sharing knowing smiles, “would.”

“Deal.”

Antonio tried to harvest the ripped tomatoes, it had been just a few days since Lovino ran away, Gil assured him that his son was safe and sound in his apartment but refused to leave, and whenever he tried to call and text him there was no answer.

His son did not want to see him nor talk to him, and after what he said to him… Toño wouldn’t blame him.

He was holding a whole basket of tomatoes, Lovi’s favorites, and a pang of sadness made him sigh and watch his phone, wondering if perhaps he had answered.

A missing call from him was enough to make him leave everything and call him back.

When the phone was pitched up, he hurried to speak, “¡hijo mio!*⁶”

“I’m fine,” his voice was barely a grunt, “I’m with Gilbert and Rëiizo.”

“I’m glad to know you’re good,” honestly, he felt like relief washed over him like fresh water on a hot day, “can we talk, son?”

“Not now,” at least he wasn’t refusing completely…

“And… are you staying with Gil, Lovi?”

“Yes.”

He wanted to say more, to ask him a lot of things, but before he could even think about it Lovino hung up the phone.

At least he was well. At least he was safe. At least… at least he talked to him.

For Lovino, that was pretty much. Antonio knew him. He just needed some time, and if he pushed him further the boy would just have another outburst, so all he needed was to know he was well and unharmed.

For the first time, he needed to ignore his urges to go and face his son. Maybe he would have never done things like that in the first place.

He would have to trust Gil enough this time.

Feli was in the middle of a stream, Kiku had gone out of the room to give him some space. Some followers were asking questions about this ‘Salvatore’ guy he talked about some time ago.

But he dismissed them gently, not wanting to vent about it just yet. Not in the middle of a LIVE.

Still, it was refreshing to have some people trying to cheer him up.

When he finished the transmission, he noticed he had a message. His eyes widened in surprise as he read the text.

I’m fine. I talked to my dad. Nothing happened.

Wow, it was the most curtly written text he had ever received, but at least it was a response. Even if he thought he did not need one, he was incredibly relieved and glad to know about him.

Led by the rush of emotions he was experiencing at the moment, his fingers fastly typed a new message for Salvatore to read.

That’s great! I’m so glad because I was so worried, but it’s good to know you’re fine

I would really like to talk to you again

A knock on his door startled him, it was probably Kiku since he knew the time for his LIVE was up, so Feliciano quickly stood up and opened the door, forgetting about the messages as he saw lactose-free gelato in his hands

Chapter Text

Elizabeth held a folder between her hands, tightly, as if it contained the secrets of the world– a Pandora Box she actually didn’t want to give away to anyone, not even her husband.

Roderich was away, an important concert he needed to attend, and she had been left alone in the house. It was as clean as a whistle, she needed to distract her own mind so badly she had been cleaning up and down the whole weekend.

She vacuumed the carpets, changed the curtains, cleaned the bathroom so thoroughly that it was slippery with polish, as was the entire floor of the house. She cleaned the bedrooms, even the guest room and the utility room. The kitchen was perfectly tidy, and she had even picked some flowers from the garden to decorate the various vases around the house. If her husband arrived soon, he would be pleased with her work as a housewife, he would kiss her and invite her to a modest evening at home; but Elizabeth knew that nothing she had done reflected how she felt, and the hardest part of all was not being able to talk to anyone about it.

Because who could she tell that she was afraid of losing the child she had not conceived?

She placed her palm against her belly, no matter how much she tried, she knew her beloved Francesco wasn’t hers to turn blind. The brunette knew it, but she couldn’t find the courage.

The Hungarian was a strong woman, she had been a strong boy a long time ago, and becoming a mother of that sweet boy was the light of her life.

She had a loving husband, a precious child, and a whole perfect life. A whole perfect lie.

She couldn't feel worse.

Vincent had never been fond of his brother-in-law, he used to visit his sister's house when he was away to see her and spend some time with his nephew.

However, life sometimes puts you in situations you would have never put yourself into voluntarily.

Like having to go see how your sister was because her adoptive child refused to come back home after an argument with their father. Who on Earth would tell a child they were unwanted? He really fucked up things. No wonder why his nephew didn't want to talk with him.

“This is not your fault,” he told Emma, as the woman carefully placed a tray of desserts and drinks for them.

“I didn't say it was.”

“Just in case,” he grabbed a glass of water, Rome was pretty hot those days.

“It isn't Antonio's either,” the brunette said with a cautious tone.

“Didn't say it was.”

“Just in case.”

“I'm listening,” grunted Toño from the kitchen.

“I know,” Vincent couldn't care less, “you're an awful parent.”

“Pero, ¿qué cojones?*¹” It was just a matter of seconds until the brown-haired man walked fuming towards his brother-in-law.

“Vincent,” Emma frowned, “this is not the moment.”

“I think there will never be a moment to say such a thing,” what pissed him the most was the sullen expression of the blond man, “you have no idea how much we have been doing for Lovi.”

Emma tried to hold him back but suddenly she was the one left out of the discussion.

“You could have done better by trying to tell him about this,” the Dutchman spoke slowly, his arms crossed as he shouted an accusatory glance at him, “perhaps being more open could have had a better relationship with them.”

“I do have a good relationship with my son!” Antonio raised up his voice, Vincent pushing all his buttons with each accusation.

“Do you?” Both men's blood was boiling, “so you understand why they are so mad at you after knowing this,” as he saw Toño's expression he felt frustrated, how could this grown up man married with a child be so clueless?!

He was worried for his nephew, and he was even more worried about his brother-in-law messing up things even more.

He could see his sister giving him that glance– he may stop now, or he was going to be the one messing things up.

“This is important for them,” he tried to sound calm, that time not trying to pick up a fight, “Lovino had always felt like something about them was off, why do you think your child ended up being sent to therapy when they were a teen?”

“Don't you dare to talk about that…” Antonio growled, and Vincent felt like he was an animal about to go for his throat.

Yet, he needed to snap him out of his obliviousness, “they have no idea who ‘Lovino’ actually is, since always, and the fact that you are not able to tell the kid about it just makes things worse for him.”

“But he knows he's our son…” Emma murmured, stepping into the conversation again, her brother was making it difficult, honestly.

“I love you, Emma,” Vincent sighed, “but it's not that simple. We are more than our parents' children, and we had the chance to know where and how the heck our lives started. But you didn't give Lovino that chance, you couldn't know, and now Lovino realizes the base of their life was not what they thought. You didn't mean to hurt your child but you did hurt your child, man. Don't act like you're the only one going through a lot right now.”

Vincent's words sank in, a punch in the guts wouldn't have been that painful. The Dutchman just threw them a hard to swallow pill, and Antonio could have thrown him out of his house and not even Emma would have stopped him, but his cuñado*² didn't seem to be trying to bother him, no trace of mockery or anything else.

He was genuinely displeased at him, a silent wrath that didn't look like himself, so composed and sullen most of the time– the man was concerned about his dear Lovino.

Antonio sat on the couch, his hands pulling his hair softly as he tried to calm down.

“Carajo…*³”

Things couldn't get worse, he hoped so at least.