#THAT IS HIS OLDER BROTHER 😭 HIS QUASI-PARENTAL FIGURE 😭

[achilios]

clicking on an author’s works after reading the best, most angsty, soul wrenching, short timkon ever only to see their most recent work is dick x dami 🧍🧍🧍

[thatsamericano]

Why is marcello such an ass 😭 (not criticising your characterisation I just wanna slap the lil brat)

LOL, I wanna slap him too sometimes. But the thing to remember about this story is that it's filtered through Alfred's POV. Alfred recognizes some of the reasons Marcello may have to resent him, but because Marcello is acting out against him right now and making his life much more difficult, he has very negative feelings towards him.

Marcello has pretty strong reasons to resent Romerica. He viewed Alfred as this cool, quasi older brother figure, but then Alfred really hurt his feelings by lashing out at everyone while they were trying to take a Christmas card photo and saying that he, his brothers, and his dad (because I think he really does view Antonio as his dad more than Feli or Vinny since he has no memory of their parents) were not family. Antonio's feelings were also hurt in that incident, but he had the maturity to try to see things from Alfred's perspective and then later re-examine his assumptions once he started to suspect Alfred had feelings for Savino. Marcello never re-examined anything, so he was stuck in this festering hurt until he figured out Romerica were secretly together and doing sexual things they weren't supposed to be doing with each other. He was also resenting Savino, because after he got into the relationship with Alfred, his mental energy was so focused on him and trying to keep their secret that he was spending less time with everyone else, including his brothers. Feli didn't resent Savino because he knew why this was happening, but Marcello did. For a few days after he discovered them, Marcello sat on that information and did nothing. He was a little nicer around Christmas Eve and on the day of Christmas because he knows about Savino's visit to his parent's graves and the family-wide rule that even if you have a legit problem with Savino, you must be especially nice to him during those days. But in the explosive Christmas Eve argument, part of him was annoyed that Romerica's secret relationship was making his dad (Antonio) fight with his new partners (who are also step-dads Marcello has adapted to having in his life pretty well, and he is aware of how long Antonio was without a steady partner). Then, the day after Christmas, he discovers that his brother spent nearly twice as much on Alfred's present as he did Marcello's, and he is fed up with Savino to the point of blackmailing him for a Vespa.

Because of his issues with the relationship and his previous view of Alfred as a quasi brother figure, he's grossed out and annoyed by Romerica being a sappy couple, so he'll make dumb comments about it. But there is a small part of Marcello that is starting to feel guilty. He wasn't expecting Romerica to actually go out and buy him a Vespa, much less spend money from their savings accounts and anger FrUKSpa that way (he honestly didn't think through the logistics of his blackmail and was like hmm, I always wanted a Vespa, and this is a way I can make Savi spend more time with me instead of his stupid boyfriend). He was surprised on the way back from the Vespa dealership when Savino said they were in love because he had mostly been thinking of it in terms of the sexual stuff they were doing behind FrUKSpa's back and how it was a big secret, not an actual relationship. The plan for New Year's is for Marcello to start out being bratty as usual, but then while the adults are fighting with each other over the Vespa and what it means, Marcello is going to realize he's at fault. From then on, he'll slowly adapt to the idea of Romerica, and the adults will tell him pretty early on he can't make them feel like shit all the time for being an affectionate couple (and he honestly does lose motivation to do this once he realizes FrUKSpa are trying to be okay with Romerica). Therapy will also help, because he will have an easier time opening up to a caring stranger than anyone he lives with, even Antonio. Then Romerica can start to move forward with him in a constructive way, with AusHun's therapeutic guidance.