When Lovi is hit by a car outside Spain's house while trying to entertain Toni's party guests until he returns, Spain is not amused. But neither is his boss when Spain skips his meeting, to which his boss arrived late, to save his darling tomato.

Hello! Welcome to my first attempt at Spamano. I hope you guys like it!

This was originally a oneshot, but it got too long so I split it up (: And for some reason, when I uploaded this it ate the spaces out of all the italics parts. I think I managed to put all of them back in, but if I missed any, I'm sorry.

There's also some mention of GerIta, PruCan, and FrUk.

I do not own Hetalia. If I did, Romano would get more screen time. As would Prussia. And Sealand! ("Sealand" is not in the dictionary in Microsoft Word, and I find that depressing).

Anyway. On with the story.

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Romano looks up at the clock and scowls. Spain is hosting a party tonight and it is almost time for his friends to start arriving, yet the Spaniard is nowhere to be found. Well, not nowhere, Romano reminds himself, forcing a deep breath and resisting the urge to snap his cell phone in half in frustration, placing it instead in his pocket. The bastard has probably gotten caught up at work again; he has a meeting with his boss, and the man likes to be late, much to Spain's chagrin and Romano's vast irritation. A knock at the door pulls him from his thoughts, and he swears loudly, cursing his luck as he goes to answer it. Italy beams at him when he pulls the door open, rushing forward and taking Romano in a tight hug.

"Lovi!" Feliciano cries brightly. "I've missed you so much!"

"It's only been four days, Feli," Lovino says, pulling away and dragging his brother into the house. Germany follows wordlessly, nodding to Lovino as he passes.

"Romano," he says flatly.

Lovino nods back as he closes the door. "Potato-bastard," he replies before heading into the kitchen. "Feli, can you help me finish setting up?"

"Sure, Lovi!" Feliciano says, following his brother. "Where's Big Brother Spain?" he asks, knowing his brother gets nervous whenever Antonio is away for long periods of time.

"Still at work," Lovino grumbles, opening the fridge and pulling out the veggie tray he'd picked up the day before. "And call him Toni, we've been over this. Grab the chips out of the pantry, will you?"

Feliciano nods as Lovino goes into the dining room, placing the tray on the table. As if on cue, his phone buzzes in his pocket, announcing the arrival of a text message.

Antonio: My boss is late. Again. He just called to tell me he's on his way, and we're supposed to be finished by now. So I'll be a while getting home. I'm so sorry, Lovi. I've already texted the others and told them to behave, but you know how Francis and Gilbert can get. I love you, mi tomate, and I'm so sorry.

Lovino sighs before texting back Just hurry home once the meeting's over, bastard. Lovino scowls yet again, placing his phone on the end table in the living room and flopping down on the couch as Feliciano comes back into the room, silently unsure he could handle Antonio's guests without Antonio.

"What else, Lovi?" he asks before he notices the sadness and apprehension in his brother's eyes, well hidden behind his façade of anger. "What's wrong?" he asks, sitting next to his brother.

Lovino looks away, hating the way his brother can see through him. "Toni's running late," he says bitterly. "His bastard of a boss kept him waiting again."

Feliciano wraps his arms around his brother again, and Lovino pulls away abruptly, heading back into the kitchen. Though he will never admit it, Feliciano's presence does quell some of Lovino's anxieties about Antonio's absence. He grabs the cases of soda off the counter and takes them to the table before poking his head in the living room just long enough to say, "There's beers in the fridge in the garage, if one of you will bring those in."

Not bothering to wait for one of them to get up, and knowing it will probably be Ludwig, he wanders back into the kitchen and over to the fridge again. Before he manages to open it, however, the doorbell rings. He walks to the door with a sigh, pulling it open to reveal Prussia, his arm wrapped reassuringly around a nervous-looking Canada. Lovino steps aside to allow them entrance, and Gilbert ruffles the Italian's hair as he passes, brushing against his absurd little curl and causing Lovino to flinch. He bites back his harsh comment (with immense difficulty) and follows the two into the living room.

Gilbert casts a glance around the room and sighs. "I didn't expect Francis to be here yet, since he likes to be 'fashionably late'," he says. "Not to mention he and Arthur probably 'lost track of time'. But Toni? Late to his own party? Not awesome."

"He's at work," Lovino nearly barks, flicking his curl back into place. "He'll be here later. Depends on how long his meeting runs."

"So that means you're stuck with us until he gets here," Prussia says with a twisted smile that makes the hair on the back of Lovino's neck stand up.

"Gil, be nice," Matthew chastises, grabbing the man's arm.

"Relax, Birdie," Gilbert says, pulling away. "I won't be too mean to him. At least not until Francis stops macking with Artie and gets his ass over here." Gilbert's smile widens and he steps toward Lovino. "Then the two of us can seize your vital regions."

"Back off, fucker!" Lovino shouts, backing away a few steps, his breath quickening.

"Gil," Matthew says again, slightly more firmly this time, pulling Gilbert toward the couch. "Stop it."

Prussia pouts, but sits down next to Matthew on the couch, one arm around the blonde's shoulders. Once his heart resumes a normal pace, Lovino smirks.

"Looks like somebody's whipped," he says. "By Canada, no less. Seems to me someone's awesomeness is wearing off."

Gilbert opens his mouth to speak, but stops when Matthew giggles. Gilbert turns toward his love with a scowl, and Canada only smiles before placing a light kiss on Prussia's cheek.

"Yep," Romano says before turning away. "Whipped."

He heads back to the kitchen and opens the pantry. He'll never say it out loud, but he is growing quite fond of Matthew, for other reasons than the fact that he can keep Gilbert's licentious antics at bay. He is quiet, but has a good sense of humour once you get to know him, which Lovino is glad to say he had done on his last outing with Spain and his friends a few days ago. With Canada's bright personality, it is hard to see how people ignore him so frequently. Lovino pushes these thoughts away and sighs, closing the pantry when he sees that they are lacking some of the ingredients for the paella he had planned on making for dinner. Paella is relatively easy to make and can easily feed the large number of people Antonio had invited (and it's Antonio's favorite food, which would ensure that the Spaniard knows Lovino is not angry with him about the meeting without Lovino having to say so). He trudges back into the living room.

"I assume you guys will be okay here for a little while without me," he says, and the others look up. "I need to go up to the store really quick and pick up a few things."

"Do you want some company?" Feliciano offers, standing up.

Romano shakes his head. "Stay here, Feli," he says. "The store's right around the corner, I'll be back in twenty minutes tops. Feli, there are a few more things in the fridge that need to come out, can you grab them?"

Without awaiting a reply, he turns and leaves. Feliciano sighs, heading into the kitchen.

"What's wrong, Italy?" Ludwig asks, following him, catching the concern in his lover's face.

"He's upset," Feliciano says sadly as he pulls another tray from the refrigerator. "He won't say anything about it, but it really upsets him when Antonio has to stay at work late. He gets nervous without Toni around."

Before Feliciano reaches the dining room table, a blood-curdling scream reins the air for a moment. Feliciano freezes where he stands, his eyes darting to the front door. Ludwig quickly takes the tray of food from Feliciano's suddenly trembling hands, eyeing the Italian nervously.

"Italy?" Ludwig says cautiously, setting the tray down and stepping toward his lover. When the smaller man does not respond, Ludwig speaks again. "Feliciano?"

"That was Lovi," Feliciano whispers, stepping toward the door.

"Don't worry about it, Feli," Gilbert says, sitting back on the couch. "He's probably just freaking out because France finally got here."

"No," Feliciano says simply, running forward. Feliciano knows his brother better than anyone does, save perhaps Antonio, and he knows that scream, the scream of genuine terror that Lovino has only given twice before, both instances many years ago. He wrenches the door open and sprints outside, leaving Ludwig, Matthew, and Gilbert, very confused, in Antonio's house.

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How am I doing so far? Bad place to stop, I know, but it was the only place that made any kind of sense. There should be 3 or 4 more chapters (: Please review!