Each day I come to work I am constantly being tortured by the flirting that goes on between Antonio and ____________. I admit, the times I get to actually interact with my angel is a blessing but I am starting to see less and less of her while my cousin sees her more and more. Today was my day off and fortunately ____________ has her day off today too. The day before I asked her if we could hang out together. She said yes so that's why I look so nervous, standing in front of my mirror in my bedroom. Looking my best was vital and being Italian I have a keen sense of fashion. Once I was satisfied with how I looked I made my way out of the house and headed to the restaurant where I was supposed to meet my angel at. I wonder if she took the time to look nice like I did. Well I think she looks nice in anything. I smirked as I started thinking positively for once and feeling hopeful about my day with _____________.

"The tomato bastard won't get in my way today," I chuckled as I turned the street corner. When the restaurant was in sight I saw something very disturbing at the entrance. Antonio was standing there in his uniform, with his hands low on ___________'s waist, and kissing her hungrily. I can't catch a damn break can I? I furiously walked over to the disgusting sight. "HEY!" I snapped. With that, the two pulled away from each other and looked at me with embarrassed smiles.

"Oh hey Romano!" ___________ blushed then giggled at me. She stepped away from Antonio and toward me. "R-ready to go?"

"Si," I answered her but was glaring at my cousin.

"Hehe see you later ____________, have a good time." Antonio scratched the back of his head, ignoring the fact that I was glaring at him intently.

"Yeah ok!" My angel called out to him as we started walking the other direction. I kept my hands in my pockets and stared at the ground as we walked. "So buddy what are we doing today?" ___________ giggled while she skipped at the same pace as I was walking. 'Buddy.' That word rang through my ears and set off a bomb in my head.

"I was thinking I'd let you decide what we should do," I rudely answered back, still feeling upset about seeing her kissing Antonio.

"Oh? Hmm… I really like ice cream, can we go get some?" She asked like she was a child. I smiled a little and I finally noticed the cute sandals she was wearing and how her jeans perfectly hugged her legs. The (favorite color) tank top she wore was really cute too.

"Si, of course bella." I kept smiling at my angel and she smiled back, looking really excited about my answer.

"I love eating ice cream with my friends!" ___________ exclaimed. 'Friends.' Hearing that word made my heart stop for a second. I was able to breath again after noticing my angel began running ahead of me to the closest ice cream shop.

"Hey! Wait up!…" I shouted. "…idiota…" I mumbled under my breath. How could I let myself be stuck in the damn friend zone? When I finally caught up with ___________ she was already inside the shop and looking at all the ice cream flavor choices. "What do you want," I asked.

"Hmmm… they all look really good. But… I'll have (favorite Ice Cream flavor) because it's my favorite!" She pointed at the glass that separated her from the tub of ice cream. A flashback of myself and ____________ eating ice cream when we were younger started playing in the theater of my mind. After purchasing her and my own ice cream we sat at a nearby table and began eating. I was hesitantly licking my ice cream while my angel excitedly ate hers like it was going to be her last. "So, Romano…."

"Si bella?"

"I was wondering if you could help me with something," she tilted her head cutely.

"Sure, anything for you ___________," my cheeks flushed with pink and hoped that my answer didn't sound too forward.

"I've got a really important date with Antonio tonight and I need to practice saying how I feel about him to him… so…will you pretend to be Tony for me?" She smiled nervously yet hopeful for my answer. I literally froze but managed to look usually flustered.

"I --l …" I stammered. "Sure…" I sadly sighed and leaned my cheek on my hand, supported by my elbow on the table. Maybe I should just give up.

"Yay! Thank you! You're an awesome friend for helping me!" I stared at her smile from across the table then nodded.

"Don't mention it, seriously…" I added with a slightly rude tone. "Hola? ___________ I am Antonio…" I started speaking in a very unenthusiastic and dull voice. Mocking my Spanish cousin was a rare thing to do in front of other people.

"Hey Antonio~" she giggled. "I just wanted to…um… er…" __________ blushed and put her hands to her cheeks, looking nervous.

"What's wrong bel-- uh…chica?"

"N-nothing …uh…Antonio what do you think of me?" My angel looked at me and bit her lip. My face heated up and suddenly words I never knew I could say just started spilling out of my mouth.

"___________... you're my angel. I always want to be near you and I always want to be able to make you smile. Ever since the day we met I've always thought of you and I have never stopped. I… love you…Ti amo.." I exhaled deeply then widened my eyes in shock of what I just told her. ___________ was blushing just as much as I was then she smiled.

"Wow…Romano…"

"What?" I snapped.

"Do you really think Antonio thinks of me that way?" She tilted her head again. I put my hand on my face, to hide the embarrassing red color that was painted across my face. I was happy and yet angry that she took that confession the wrong way.

"I don't know.. I just made something up…" I gulped nervously.

"Well…anyway… Antonio… I feel the exact same way!" She smiled so brightly and giggled so cutely it was killing me. I kept my hand over my face to hide my angry expression and tomato red face. My angel loves the Spaniard instead of me.

"Bene… I mean…bueno…" I chocked in my words and kept my head down. I didn't want to look at her.

"Romano are you ok?" I heard her ask me with concern in her voice.

"Bene… just… I'm ok bella…" I didn't know what to say. Everything I had feared came true. What was I going to do now?

"Alright… well thanks for role playing with me…" __________ finished her ice cream while I lost my appetite. "…and thanks for getting me that ice cream! It was super good!" she giggled.

"You're welcome…" I began contemplating whether or not telling her who I really was would help the situation. Pretending like I don't like her or that I don't know her as well as I do, was starting to nag at my heart.

"Lovi~!" I heard a familiar voice call from outside the shop. I turned to see my idiot brother flailing about through the window. "Lovino! Come quick!"

"What is it idiota?!" I stood up and met outside with him. __________ followed behind me.

"It's Grandpa! Something bad happened to Grandpa!" Feliciano began crying. I narrowed my eyes and clenched a fist.

"What the hell happened?!" I tugged on my brother's shirt collar. Then I felt someone pull on my sleeve. I looked down and saw ___________ staring at me with a confused look on her face.

"Your name is Lovino?" She asked with a hint of poison in her tone. I pulled away from her quickly and started running toward the restaurant with Feliciano.

"Not now!!" I screamed.

It didn't really occur to me that my stupid brother called me by my real name because I was too concerned about the situation with Grandpa. I heard running footsteps behind us. __________ was following us quickly. When we reached the restaurant I sprinted into Grandpa's office.

"Grandpa!!" Feliciano and I shouted together. Grandpa was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. "Someone call a damn ambulance!"

"What happened to him?!" Feliciano cried.

"Grandpa had a heart attack!"