Romano x Reader ~Twice-Baked~

~Twice-Baked~

You saw the Vargas brothers in the hallway with Lovino's face as red as a tomato and Feliciano pointing in your direction and beckoning you to go over to him with his hand.

"__________! Over here!" he called.

"Yes?" you said as you walked over to where Lovino's feet were rigidly glued to the spot.

"Lovi has something for you!" Feliciano said excitedly.

You ears perked up. "Really?"

"S-Sì…" Lovino stammered and brought out a clear jar of skinny-shaped biscuits in front of you complete with a lovely bow wrapped in your favorite color.

"Oh!" you beamed and took the jar with a slight blush on your cheeks. "Thank you, Lovi!"

"Whatever," Lovino grumbled.

"You seriously made these for me?" you asked feeling touched at the kind gesture.

Lovino didn't answer; he only nodded silently with his lips trembling and his eyes lowered towards the ground.

"Do you mind if I try one right now?" you asked. "They look really good."

"Go ahead, ___________!" Feliciano answered with a bright smile.

With that, you eagerly undid the ribbon and opened the jar. A sweet, floury smell wafted out making your stomach growl from the mouth-watering scent. Then, you took one of the treats with the tips of your fingers and bit into it, the hard biscuit giving way with a crisp snap!

"Mmm!" you squealed with your mouth full of the scrumptious biscuit. "These are really tasty! What are they called?"

"They're biscotti!" Feliciano answered in his brother's place since he seemed to be tongue-tied. "They're a type of Italian biscuit."

"You really like them, _____________?" Lovino asked quietly.

"Of course I do!" you smiled. "They're delicious!"

"See, Lovi?" Feliciano beamed. "I told you she would!"

After eating three more, you stopped to ask a question.

"Hey, Lovi, do you think you could teach me how to make biscotti?" you asked.

Lovino wore a surprised expression. "Wh-Why would you want to learn how to make something as simple as biscotti?"

"So I can eat them whenever I want," you answered. "Plus, you keep saying you'll invite me to your house, but you never do."

Feliciano piped up. "That's because Lovi's room is a mes—SMACK! Ve! What did you do that for, Lovi?!"

"Because you don't know when to keep your mouth shut, stupid imbecile!" Lovino growled.

"But I was only telling the truth!" Feliciano whined and rubbed his head where his brother had hit him.

Lovino snorted and crossed his arms. "If you really want to, then I suppose you could come over during the weekend."

"You mean it this time, Lovi?"

"Sì," Lovino reluctantly answered.

Unconvinced, you narrowed your eyes. "Promise?"

"I freaking promise, ___________!" he snapped giving in to your piercing stare.

"Great!" you grinned. "I'll walk home with you tomorrow then."

"That's good!" Feliciano smiled. "That'll give Lovi some time to clean his ro—"

"Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut?!"

"Sorry…" Feliciano mumbled as you bid him and Lovino farewell.

-----

"Is this right?" you asked as you showed Lovino the amount of flour you had measured in a cup.

Lovino, like every other time you asked him a question, looked away and simply mumbled, "That's right."

"So then I just mix this in with the dry ingredients?"

"Sì."

You weren't exactly sure he knew what he was doing since he had actually mixed in the dry ingredients with the sugar and butter mixture already, but you shrugged and dumped the flour in with the salt and baking powder, anyway.

"Okay, now what?"

"D-Do I look like a recipe book to you?" Lovino stammered. "Why don't you look it up, yourself?"

"But, Lovi, there are hundreds of recipes out there," you said. "I wanted to learn how to make them your way. And besides…I wanted to be able to make them with you…"

"__-_________..." Lovino began to blush. Suddenly, he pushed himself back from the counter and began to leave the kitchen.

"Where are you going, Lovi?"

"Bathroom," he answered in a single word.

-----

"Fratello, you have to help me!" Lovino hissed to his brother behind the locked bathroom door.

"But I thought you didn't want me getting in the way," Feliciano reminded him.

"Forget about what I said, idiota!" Lovino snapped. "_____________ thinks I can make biscotti, but I can't!"

"Oh…Then what are you supposed to do?"

"I was hoping you'd have an answer!"

"Uh…" Feliciano thought for a moment. "If I started telling you the steps right now, how much do you think you can remember?"

"How should I know? Just tell me!" Lovino demanded hastily.

"Ve," his younger brother sighed. "Let's see…Did you mix the wet and dry ingredients separately?"

-----

You bit into a browned biscuit and made a face. "These are…interesting…"

Lovino pouted and dug his heel into the tiled floor. "If you've got something to say, then say it."

You raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, Lovi?"

"Just say it, ___________," Lovino snapped impatiently.

"They're terrible," you admitted. "Are you sure you made that last batch you gave me?"

"I-It took a lot of time to make that batch…" he grumbled. "It's hard to concentrate when you're so close to me, _____________." Then, he picked up one of the biscuits and tried it, himself. After a single bite, his lips twisted into a frown, and he immediately spat it out. "You're right. They are terrible."

"That's alright, Lovi," you chuckled. "At least we got to make them together, right?"

"I guess…"

Then, you remembered something. "Oh yeah! Didn't Feli say you had to clean your room? Can I see it now?"

"Uh…S-Sure…" Lovino answered hesitantly.

"Maybe while I'm gone, you can clean up," you giggled and undid your apron.

When you arrived to Lovino's room, you spotted Feliciano playing with one of his pet cats in the hall.

"Hi, Feli," you greeted. "Did you smell the biscotti from the kitchen?"

"Sì," Feliciano nodded.

"I don't get it," you frowned. "The ones in the jar tasted so good, but these were just…awful."

Feliciano craned his neck to look over your shoulder. Then, he cupped a hand over his mouth and whispered, "Don't tell Lovi I told you this, but I was the one who made those biscotti."

"What?" Then again, Feliciano was always the better cook of the two.

"It's true. He wasn't able to make a good batch so I made them for him."

"Oh..." A smile crept across your face. "At least he tried."

Suddenly, a new, angrier voice entered the hall.

"Fratello, you idiota! You said you wouldn't tell ____________!" Lovino screeched.

"I'm sorry!" Feliciano screamed. "Don't hurt me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you—I'm going to kill you!"

"Lovi, don't!" you cried and tackled him before he could make a dive for his brother.

"D-Dammit, ____________...!" Lovino shouted, his face a bright shade of scarlet.

"I'm not mad, Lovi," you smiled after getting off of him. "I'm actually touched you even tried to teach me even though you didn't know how to make them, yourself."

"Wh-What was I supposed to do?" he stammered. "You said you wanted to make them with me, after all."

"If you want, I could teach you both," Feliciano offered.

"That'd be wonderful, Feli!" you beamed. "Don't you think so, too, Lovi?"

"Whatever," Lovino grumbled in his usual manner.

"Then we'd better try again while you're still here, ___________," Feliciano smiled. With that, you and Lovino followed him downstairs to the kitchen to try out a second batch of (hopefully successful) biscotti.

-----

"What does 'biscotti' mean?" you asked as you watched the aromatic biscuits cool on the counter.

"It means 'cookies' in Italian, but it can also mean 'twice-baked,'" Feliciano answered.

That got you thinking. "In a way, Lovi's like biscotti then."

Lovino didn't like the sound of that. "How the hell am I like cookies?" he growled.

"You need to bake them twice, don't you?" you pointed out. "The first time you bake them, they're just soft enough to cut open—just like you when I first met you. As for the second time, I might have made you my friend, but then I got too familiar with you so I knew who you really were: a foul-mouthed bully who picks on your brother!"

"H-Hey!" Lovino opened his mouth to protest, but you placed a finger over his lips.

"But you know something?" You took a cooled biscotto and bit into it. "Even though they turn out to be hard and stubborn, they're still really sweet." To prove your point, you grabbed onto his arms so he couldn't escape and planted a sweet, crumb-filled kiss onto his lips.

"O-Oh…" Blushing, Feliciano turned and left.

When you removed your lips, the biscotto was gone—all that was left was a speechless, tomato-red Italian.

"D-Dammit…" Lovino babbled. "Comparing me to a cookie…You've got some nerves, ___________."

"Was it sweet?" you asked ignoring his insult.

Lovino blinked. "The kiss or the biscotto?"

"I think you know what I mean, Lovi," you giggled.

"Then, sì, it was," Lovino answered and returned your kiss with his own.