I need you now, tonight
He hits the wall and slides down, letting out a long, shaky breath. He can distantly hear a car pulling out of the driveway, but it shouldn't be that far. It is blocked out by another attack, he knows, the storm in his head blanking out the real world. Images, voices flash through his mind. 'You're useless.' 'You're a burden.' 'You can't do anything right, can you?' And the blood. So much blood. 'Help me, damn it!' So many scars. 'Come back!' The cries, the screams, the children begging for forgiveness. 'Traitor!' The shriek of bombs. 'What are you doing here, you idiot?' Numb fingers fumble for the phone, and it takes him several times to punch the number in correctly.
I need you more than ever
"Was ist los, Italien?" That voice, quiet and gruff and just the same as always, does so much to calm the brunette. Somehow in Ludwig's throat the German language, normally so frightening, becomes soft and gentle. Or maybe Veniziano is biased, now.
"Talk, please..." After all, this is the man who nursed him back from the edge of death (not that the Italian hadn't done the same in return)- the man he runs to, forever and ever. The one his brother is jealous of for stealing most of the northerner's attention.
He hears without truly listening, letting the voice pull him out of his waking nightmares. The two of them are used to this by now, though it doesn't happen often. One or the other will be pulled down into the dark spiral of memories, and the one still in his right mind will talk the other out of it. They don't know why it works (Veniziano will always claim it is because of the love between them; Ludwig scoffs at such nonsense and insists there must be a rational explanation), but they don't question it. It is enough.
And if you'll only hold me tight
"Danke schön," he murmurs between two sentences once the flashbacks fade, careful to say the word correctly. There is a pause on the other end, and he smiles, thinking of the face his blond must be making. Veniziano rarely speaks in German (his pronunciation is horrible, and Ludwig refuses to listen until the brunette can say things properly), and knows whenever he does it is always a pleasant surprise for the one he speaks to.
We'll be holding on forever
"Für dich immer, mein Schatz." The endearment slips out on a whisper, and Veniziano's smile widens. His Ludwig is always so distant when out and about; he is most likely at work at the moment, so the kindness is unusual and welcome. "Is that everything?" Immediately, he is back to his businesslike self, but the brunette hears a lingering note of concern. He nods before remembering Ludwig can't see him.
"Si."
"Schlaf gut."
"Goodbye, mi amor."
A/Ns: Take two! This is a rewrite of something I published not too long ago, so I suppose I'll just take the notes from there and edit them as needed.
Yet another Hetalia drabble. How surprising. This showed up while I was researching PTSD for an entirely different story, so I took a break and wrote it. I blame Windows Media Player for happening to play this song while I was reading about flashback attacks... Can you tell I'm not a fan of idiot-Italy? He can't be that dense... all the time, anyways.
In any case, I don't own Hetalia or Total Eclipse of the Heart.
Translation notes:
German
Danke schön- 'Thank you very much'
Für dich immer, mein Schatz- literally "Always for you, my treasure." Intent basically translates to "My pleasure, darling."
Schlaf gut- 'Sleep well'
Italian
Si- Yes
Mi amor- my love (as best I know, anyway; I don't remember very much Italian)
Much thanks to the wonderful Lussia, who helped me with the German and corrected my horribly out-of-date, formal way of speaking~
Final word count, not including Author's Notes: 494