[APH] RomanoxReader [miles away] part 3

-Cooking is the way to a man’s heart-

Thump!

“Ouch!” you squeaked as you scrambled to get yourself out of the tangled mess of sheets that wrapped around your body. Fortunately for you, you managed to find the end of the sheets and quickly tugged it away; freeing your body from the ocean of mess. However, your body quickly learned what European weather felt like as the icy cold pricked your skin as you made direct contact with the floor.

“Gah! C-cold! Dammit!” you cursed and quickly shot up, hitting the bedside table and nearly knocking the vase to the ground if your quick reflexes hadn’t kicked in just in time. ‘Today is really not your day and it is just about to get worse’ said your annoying gut feeling

You mentally kicked yourself for being so clumsy in someone else’s house ‘Geez. If I break anything here I will surely be bankrupt just to pay half of the price’ you groaned as you pushed yourself towards the bathroom with full force and determination. Mornings aren’t really your thing and the late night chat with your best friend last night is starting to become a very bad idea considering that you just got your energy drained from the Carnevale di Venezia.

Just when you were about to get inside the bathroom, you noticed something missing... something was wrong but you can’t put a finger on it.

“Brain... this is not the time to be imagining things.” You huffed but you still can’t shake off the feeling that something was not quite right... until you saw the bed next to yours.

“EH!? [bf/n]!?”

Well, you didn’t know whether to be surprised or not but the bed beside yours was completely empty and it’s as if there is no sign of any previous occupant.

“That little Juliet... she probably woke up early to date that Feliciano guy.” You said to yourself in annoyance as you approached the bed, only to find a cute little envelope in the middle of the bedside table that separates your bed from your best friend’s.


Dear _______,

Hello honey, how are you feeling today? I hope a beautiful morning greeted you. I’m sorry if I’m not there when you opened your pretty little eyes... Feliciano got too excited and told me he wanted to show me around a certain place at (could you imagine) 4 in the morning! Hahaha! I sometimes don’t know what’s going on in my boyfriend’s head so please do forgive my absence. I’ll make it up to you when we get back! We’ll go around shopping and have some gelato if you like! Ti auguro il meglio! Ti Amo!  si prega di non essere arrabbiato con me!

(note: that means “I wish you the best! I love you! Please don’t be mad at me!”)

                                                                                                     Love,
                                                                                                     [Bf/n]

You sighed as you finished reading the last sentence of her letter. It’s already obvious that you will be left on your own here in Italy since those two can’t get enough of each other since the day they became an official couple.  “I will never understand couples...” you said in a boring tone as you placed the letter back inside its envelope.

‘Isn’t that the reason why you don’t have a boyfriend?’ teased a voice in your head and you simply snorted at the snide comment “I don’t need a boyfriend!” you announced proudly and with that you shut the bathroom door and continued to feed yourself more reasons of why you can survive without a boyfriend.

“Dear heavens, this is becoming a ritual...”



----


After your morning ritual, which included having to fix your messy bed, you quickly dashed to the hallways in an attempt to find any maids who would point you to the kitchen because your stomach was already starting a French revolution and you had enough of listening to “Do you hear the people sing” aka. your stomach grumbling.

Curiously enough, there weren’t any maids walking around so you decided to enjoy yourself for a while and admire the beautifully made paintings that hanged across the hall. The colors attracted your eyes; you were simply an artist at heart and seeing these masterpieces hanging around just a few steps away from you made your heart leap. “If only I could make stuff like those...” you giggled “I’d be rich as these Vargas boys.”

However, the angry people are already revolting inside your stomach. You puffed your cheeks in embarrassment at the loud noise that your stomach made so you opted to walk a little faster and try to find the kitchen on your own.

‘Wow. That smells like... pasta? Or is it pizza? Italian food? Well duh, ______, of course it’s Italian you idiot! You ARE in Italy.’ You thought to yourself as you followed the mouth watering aroma that lingered around the house.

True enough, your sense of smell did not fail you as you found yourself standing outside the kitchen. You tried to peak and see if there is anyone or any food inside that you could find. The kitchen was terribly huge in your opinion; it was probably ten times your room back home. “What the heck... there’s only the two of them and some servants in here. Is there really a need for huge rooms?” you curiously asked yourself as you tugged your yellow laced dress, walking around as if you were in a museum.

You halted into a stop as you heard what sounded like someone chopping something. You carefully made your way near the figure of what looks like a man in an apron, wearing pink long sleeves rolled up to his elbows. You squinted through the hanging silver pans and ‘What’s this? Onions?’ you chuckled. The man was moving quite fast, it’s as if he was working with thin silk or paper. His hair swayed in perfect unison with his movements, shining an attractive color of chocolate brown whenever the sunlight from the kitchen windows hits his head. Oh, he looked so nice to look at... except for that curl of hair sticking out. ‘Wait... curl of hair?’ you asked yourself again as you moved forward a little to see even a glimpse of his face... and too soon...

“AH!”

“What the crapola!?”

The silver pans, onions and other kitchen utensils that were hanging instantly became heavy rain on your head as you fell face first on the kitchen floor.  The pans and pots ringed and tumbled with heavy noises that made Lovino cringe in perfect disappointment.

“What~a the hell do you think you are~a doing!?” he shouted as he narrowed his eyes at your embarrassing form which was buried in what looks like a kitchen hell.

“O-ouch... s-sorry...” you mumbled as you tried to get yourself up from the mess, only making the situation worse by causing so much noise that came from the tumbling pots.

Lovino winced at the trouble you made and sighed “And~a I thought that~a women were meant for the kitchen.”

Insulted by the sudden sexist comment, you quickly turned into different shades of red as you answered back defensively “T-that’s not true! We’re not stereotypes y-you... you! You rude Italian jerk!”

Lovino was taken aback by your answer and you could have sworn you heard a ‘Tsk’ as he turned around from you. “Well~a stop causing so much~a trouble... your breakfast is~a over there.” He said as he pointed to the small table with several dishes on it.

You sighed at the hopelessness of your friendly relations with Lovino and decided to clean up the mess you made “Mi dispiace... for causing so much trouble this early in the morning. A-and... for saying you’re a jerk. I just don’t like being treated that way. Mi dispiace veramente”

Lovino blushed hard as he took in that wonderfully pronounced Italian phrase. He was aware that you knew nothing about the language when you came here and your cute apologetic voice only made the language more beautiful than it already is. Of course, he would never admit this.

“Va tutto bene. Non pensavo che mi veniva un coglione...” he mumbled as he continued his work

“What was that?” you asked as you tried to balance the pile of pots trapped between your arms

“You’re~a not only clumsy... you’re~a deaf too.” He mockingly replied with his sour face

“RUDE!” you shouted as you puffed your cheeks and glared at him


---


To your surprise, you were able to fix the mess you made within just five minutes. A proud smirk graced your face as you carefully examined your work. ‘Tsk. I’m not so bad in the kitchen!’ you told yourself as you gave your work a grade of A+ and moved towards the small table to get something in your whining stomach.

Lovino might have a displeasing attitude but his cooking was the complete opposite. The dishes that glimmered in perfection didn’t disappoint you when it comes to taste for they were as good as any dish served in a 5 star restaurant. ‘Wow! He really has talented hands’ you thought to yourself as you took another bite of what they called a panino which means sandwich in Italian.

As usual, your mind went daydreaming again as you thought of how your family was doing, what your friends were doing right now... and if your best friend still plans to come back at all. Just as you were about to take another bite, your eyes were drawn to a huge bowl of what looked like cherry red tomatoes. You blinked several times and realized they looked exactly like the ones you dreamt of while you were on your way to Italy. Curious if the rumors about the good tasting tomatoes in Italy are true, you unconsciously reached for the bowl...

*slap*

“Hey! No touching!” Lovino scowled as he glared at you

“No need to slap my hand you meanie.” You complained as you soothed your slightly red hand “What are you doing anyway? There’s already a lot of food here... why don’t you join me for breakfast?”

“There’s~a certain bastard who’s on his~a way here... besides, I don’t~a want to hassle myself later.” He answered without bothering to look at you

‘At least look at me when we’re talking!’ you screamed in your head.

Suddenly... an idea popped up

“Hey, since I’ve caused you trouble earlier... why don’t I help you?” you offered, trying to perfect that sweet smile that is originally meant to annoy the guilt out of him for ignoring proper etiquette.

Lovino simply looked at you without interest “Look~a here girlie. You already messed up trying to get~a here alone... what makes you think you can~a handle cooking, eh?”


Last. Straw.


You quickly grabbed the knife from his hand and took a tomato out of the bowl with lightning speed and cut it up in a blink of an eye without even caring about the fact that your fingers might as well be part of the dish if you’re not careful enough.

As soon as you finished slicing the tomato into perfect slices, you slammed the knife against the chopping board and quickly crossed your arms, smirking as Lovino stepped back in shock at your sudden rage. “You were saying?”

Lovino coughed in embarrassment and adjusted his collar “E-erm... whatever. You can help... but don’t~a go showing off. I don’t~a need fingers in the dish.”
You smiled as you finally got the upper hand. ‘Alright! I’m not going to allow you to bully me anymore! Let the games begin!’

Let the games begin, alright. You don’t even know the names of the dishes you were helping out with.

Kale with Sausage & Sun Dried Tomatoes

Gamberi Saltate in Padella

Basil Panna Cotta With Macerated Strawberries

Pancetta Wrapped Polpettone In Red Wine Tomato Sauce

Chocolate Peanut Butter Marbled Biscotti


“Erm... Lovino?” you mumbled as your brain registered the foreign words “Dear heavens, I know nothing here..”

The grumpy Italian gave a small sympathetic smile behind your back. It’s probably obvious that you weren’t even in beginner level when it comes to Italian language and culture so you were bound to be shocked by the new things you see. “These~a things aren’t that hard to do...” he said as he pointed at the list of food your were holding “but here... I know you’re~a just starting to get used to how~a things go around here. I bet tomato picking isn’t that~a much of a difficulty for you.” He continued as he gave you a weaved basket
You pouted at the childish work you were tasked to do. There isn’t even any sort of difficult in that at all!

Lovino quickly recognized your disappointed face and chuckled “Don’t~a worry... you can do your~a unnecessary tomato slicing after you get that done.”

You obediently nodded and took the basket. Arguing all morning isn’t what you plan to do anyway so why waste precious energy on the grumpy cutie. ‘Wait... did I just say “cutie”’ you blushed.

Of course, the “considerate” Lovino Vargas didn’t even bother to tell you where the garden is. Of course, you only remembered that you don’t know where you were going after you got over the sudden “oh-he’s-cute!” outburst of your head. “Gah! Stupid brain... he’s not cute. Tsk! He’s rude. H-h-he’s not cute at all!” you shouted as you finally stepped in the tomato patch

“Who’s not cute, chica?”

“GAH!?”

You screamed as you fell out of balance, soiling your yellow dress with the clumps of dirt that clung to you after impact. ‘Oh no... ugh.’

“¡Oh Dios mío! Are you alright!?” cried the unfamiliar voice that was the original cause of your fall

“Y-yeah... I guess I am” you answered right after being carried back to your feet

“Lo siento, chica. I didn’t think you’d be that surprised by me” the stranger apologized. He looked... a bit tan, his hair was a mix of brown and black and his eyes were in a beautiful color of forest green. “Ah, how rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself...”


“My name is Antonio Fernandez Carriedo”