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“Mm…”
Baker hummed as she grabbed her now hot curling iron and started to wrap it around her currently damp hair in front of her bathroom mirror, a towel adorning her body.
Tonight was a very special night, as she managed to convince her ever-so stubborn cousin to finally let her meet his partner!
That, and he was going to meet hers as well.
While the thought made her a bit nervous, she was also very excited to meet Lovino’s partner.
What could they be like?
Would they be as stubborn as Lovino?
Would they be as blunt? Would they be mean?
How did Lovino treat them?
Gosh, she hoped Lovino acted at least decently around the poor person…
Thoughts ran through Baker’s mind endlessly as she curled the end’s of her hair.
She figured she should try to change up her usual style just a bit for the occasion.
Baker smiled to herself as she suddenly imagined the look on Vega’s face to see her like this.
She really couldn’t wait to see Vega again, Baker was so happy that everything went so well with this somewhat unexpected plan for a double date!
Just before Baker could wander off into imaginary land, she quickly snapped back to reality, realizing she almost could’ve burned a chunk of her hair off if she wasn’t more careful.
Baker sighed, finishing the last few curls and adding a few finishing touches, before taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror.
“I really hope she likes it…”
Baker mumbled, smiling.
(-.-;)y-~~~
Vega couldn’t be more nervous in their life.
She rummaged through her closet, trying to find an appropriate outfit.
He didn’t have the slightest clue what to wear!!!
Vega wanted to look her best for Elliot, and while she was usually able to find something, this was a totally different situation!!
Vega wouldn’t be alone with her this time, she’d be meeting Elliot’s family!
What if her cousin didn’t approve of them?
What if her cousin was a total douchebag?!?!
What if Elliot’s cousin was secretly evil or something?!?!?!
Vega really didn’t know what to think…He knew he could be really paranoid at times, but he’d rather think of it as being cautious.
After all, Vega had never met Elliot’s cousin, how would they know if they were trustworthy!?
Alas, Vega sighed, figuring that they’d find out as soon as the time came.
For now, she had to worry about what to wear.
“I’ll just wear something simple! Yes, that way I won’t be overdressed and I won’t have to worry as much!”
Vega eventually declared to herself, finally deciding to wear a black dress with plain white socks and black shoes.
They weren’t actually sure how well this outfit would go, but they knew they’d be here all day if they didn’t decide something eventually.
Vega sighed, somewhat exasperated. She really did hope everything turned out fine…
Vega quickly left her apartment, getting ready to pick Elliot up. It wasn’t a long drive, but it also wasn’t a short one, so Vega knew she should be ready in advance.
They sent Elliot a quick;
“Are you ready?”
message, to which Elliot replied “yes” about 5 minutes later.
Vega got in their car, immediately putting on their seatbelt before going to pick Elliot up.
Vega’s mind wandered again about Elliot’s mystery cousin.
Elliot had mentioned them before, or, at least, Vega assumed she had.
Elliot had a pretty big family, so it wasn’t completely out of the picture for her to just not really mention them until now.
Vega really hoped that this mystery family member of Elliot’s wasn’t evil or anything.
Vega was always suspicious, as a matter of fact, she always had something to protect herself in her car at all times! Safety protocol, really.
Vega eventually made it to Elliot’s bakery, getting out of her car and entering the cozy facility.
Vega watched as Elliot walked down the stairs that led to her house upstairs, mesmerized.
Elliot was wearing a white sweater draped downwards to show her shoulders, with a short black skirt and thigh high socks.
Vega noticed Elliot had curled the tips of her hair, and was wearing silver star hairclips in her hair.
She looked breathtakingly beautiful.
“Vega! I’m glad you got here…Are you alright?”
Vega quickly snapped out of her trance to answer Elliot’s question, embarrassed for not replying until now.
“I’m fine! It’s just…you’re so pretty…I love your hair.”
“Aw, you’re so sweet! Thanks…I was hoping you’d like it.”
Baker replied, her expression becoming bashful.
Baker held Vega’s hand, intertwining their fingers.
Vega’s hand was always much colder, but Baker never really minded.
“Well, I say we should get going…I think my cousin’ll get all angry if we keep him and his date waiting.”
Baker said, somewhat jokingly.
“Alright, let’s go.”
With that, Vega and Baker got in the car together, headed to the restaurant that everyone had agreed on going to.
The drive to the restaurant was peaceful, Baker was seated next to Vega while looking out the window, while Vega, in her ever so cautious nature, kept her eyes on the road the whole time.
“You know, I haven’t seen my cousin in a while. He usually lives very far, so I’m happy to be seeing him again!”
Baker said, still looking out the window.
“Really? Where’s he from?”
Vega asked, curious.
“He lived in Spain with a family friend for a while, but now he lives with his brother in Italy.”
Everytime Vega heard about Elliot’s family, she thought it couldn’t possibly get more complicated.
However, that wasn’t a bad thing, if anything, Vega found it interesting.
Vega had been a bit suspicious about the mystery cousin the whole time, but their worries melted away when they were around Elliot.
Maybe things wouldn’t turn out too bad after all.
Vega and Baker eventually arrived at the restaurant, the place itself looking very welcoming.
Vega and Baker got out of the car and walked towards the entrance, where Baker spotted a familiar, grumpy face.
“Lovi! Hi! Did we keep you waiting?”
Baker ran over to greet her cousin.
“Yes! You did keep me waiting! I’ve been standing here forever! It’s probably because of your stupid American speed limits…”
Baker sighed, getting ready to hear her cousin’s complaints.
“Lovino, we’ve been standing here for 3 minutes…”
Baker suddenly looked over at the soft voice who had just corrected Lovino’s angry ramblings.
Baker felt silly for noticing him earlier.
“You must be Lovino’s date! I’m sorry for not noticing you! I’m Elliot!”
Baker introduced herself to the young man.
“Oh, hello! Don’t worry, I’m used to it…I’m Matthew.”
“It’s nice to meet you!”
Baker looked behind her, as Vega had been standing there without saying a word and eyeing Lovino suspiciously, as to which Lovino gave them a glare of his own.
“And this,” Baker said, holding Vega’s hand in her own again.
“is Vega! It takes a bit for her to fully trust people, but they’re very nice!”
Vega huffed before adding;
“Only to those who are trustworthy!”
“Whatever. Let’s just go already, it’s stupid hot outside.”
Lovino said before dragging Matthew into the building with him by the hand, giving him no time for introductions.
Baker turned over to Vega and whispered;
“And that’s him when he’s in a good mood…”
“He’s nothing like you personality wise…Are you sure you’re related?”
“He grew up way different from me, so it makes sense. You get used to him eventually.”
“If you say so…”
“Matthew seems nice. I hope Lovi treats him well…”
“In my opinion! I think that guy is extremely suspicious, I mean—“
“Vega, please, don’t start getting paranoid already…”
Baker interrupted.
Vega grumbled, but nodded reluctantly.
Lovino then popped out of the building to cut any further conversation short.
“Are you coming or what?”
“Yeah, yeah…We’re coming.”
Baker mumbled, holding Vega’s hand while guiding her inside the restaurant.
Inside the warmly lit restaurant, Baker and the others all sat at their table.
The place was nicely decorated with black and red, such as the red chairs to accompany the black table.
Lovino already managed to almost break something, somehow.
“So…” Lovino started.
“What’s with you and my cousin?”
Lovino asked, the question being very obviously directed towards Vega.
“Well, I…”
Vega murmured, struggling to answer the question which honestly came out of left field.
“Well?”
Lovino said, the word coming out more aggressively than he intended it to.
“Guys, let’s relax a bit…”
Matthew spoke softly, the attention now on him again.
Vega and Baker forgot he was there, in all honesty…
It seemed the only one who didn’t just now remember that Matthew was, as a matter of fact, there and present was Lovino.
Lovino scoffed at Matthew’s attempt to get everyone to calm down, but didn’t escalate the situation further.
Baker felt awkward, being the only one who hasn’t said a word yet…
“So, Matthew, where are you from?”
Baker asked, trying to lighten the mood. She was also just wanting to know more about Matthew.
Matthew lit up everytime he was acknowledged, even more so when someone asked something about him.
“I’m from Canada, but I like to travel around places…Learning new things is fun.”
Matthew stated softly, smiling.
“That’s nice. Has Lovi been treating you well?”
“Oh, he’s been nice to me…Much nicer than I thought he’d be, actually.”
Matthew laughed. Lovino interrupted with a;
“What’s THAT supposed to mean?!”
“It means you’re a jerk.”
Vega answered.
Vega and Lovino glared at each other again, equally pissed by the other’s presence.
The four of them continued chatting with each other while looking at the menu, Lovino making sure Matthew was actually present in the conversation. Or just staring at him. Mostly the latter, Baker noticed.
At some point, their chatter died down as they watched a waitress come towards them to take their orders.
“Hello! May I be taking your orders today?”
“Yes, thanks.”
Lovino replied quickly.
Everyone got their respective order of Spaghetti, Fries, Bread…and Lovino ordered 2 ice creams. Matthew seemed delighted.
Baker on the other hand, was much more focused on Vega. Vega had been starring at Baker for a little bit now, looking like he was zoned out.
“Vega?”
“Ack! Sorry, I was just thinking…”
“What were you thinking of?”
“Nothing in particular, just…Admiring you.”
Vega admitted, her cheeks turning slightly pink.
Baker chuckled, leaning closer to Vega.
“You’re so sweet…”
“Well, you know…I’m just being honest. I think you look lovely.”
“You flatter me too much.”
The group had only just begun to chat amount themselves before a waitress came by delivering drinks, and two small plates which had one scoop of Vanilla ice cream each.
Lovino laughed at the look of pure excitement on Matthew’s face.
“What? I knew you were a sweet tooth but I didn’t know you were this bad. I think you might be worse off than my frattello.”
Lovino said, in possibly the most endearing tone Baker had ever heard come from her cousin.
“You know I love ice cream…”
Matthew said, smiling ear to ear with a spoonful of ice cream already half into his mouth.
“Don’t scarf it down like some animal…Is it good?”
Lovino asked, his voice becoming almost uncharacteristically soft at the end.
Matthew didn’t answer verbally, instead nodding eagerly, still eating his beloved ice cream.
“Good, I’ll let you have half of mine, then. I can’t possibly eat this much sweetness.”
Baker watched her cousin and his partner talk for a bit. This was the most happy that she’d seen Romano, she couldn’t help but want to watch.
Vega, on the other hand, didn’t care much for whatever Lovino and Matthew had going on. Vega was quietly drinking the lemonade she had ordered, not doing much.
After a few minutes of silence between all of them, Baker spoke up again.
“So, how’s Feliciano doing?”
Lovino looked up at Baker, the topic of Feliciano seemingly pissing him off.
“He’s fine. He’s still doing that annoying thing where he can’t shut up about that potato eating bastard Ludwig or whatever. I will never understand what Feliciano sees in him.”
Lovino scoffed.
“Anyway, how’s Zacharie doing?”
Lovino asked, unable to stand complaining about Feliciano and Ludwig for much longer.
“Zacharie’s been okay,” Baker replied. “He’s been talking a little weird, but he tells me he got a job as a merchant, or something like that!”
“Well, yeah, he’s always been kinda weird.”
“And you’ve always been grumpy.” Baker joked.
As the cousins chatted, Vega noticed Matthew starring at them. Suspicious…After a few seconds of Matthew’s eyeballing, Vega couldn’t stand it anymore and whisper-shouted;
“What?!”
Matthew jumped a little in response, immediately following with a frantic apology.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stare! …Why are we whispering?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Sorry again for starring…”
“Suspicious…”
Before Vega could accuse Matthew of anything, another waitress passed by, placing two plates of Spaghetti for the couples to share with a smaller plate of fries on the side and a few slices of bread.