"Antonio…Antonio…Damnit, bastard, wake up!"

Groaning, Antonio rolled onto his stomach away from his shouting boyfriend. As much as he loved Lovino, he could not deal with him at what appeared to be close to dawn. Burying his face into his pillow, he arched his back as Lovino sat on top of him. "Wake up!"

"Sí, sí, I'm awake," he said, pushing Lovino off of him and sitting up. "What do you need?"

It was too dark in the bedroom to see much of anything, but in the quiet hours of the early morning, Antonio could hear everything. His hears perked up at the sound of a quick gasp of breath and a loud, long-drawn sniffle. Reaching over to turn on the light, he felt his heart pang against his chest. What was exactly going on?

As yellow light spread out across the room, shying the darkness away, Antonio caught a single glance of Lovino before he hid himself underneath the blanket. "Lovi?" he asked, tugging at the blanket, but the hardheaded Italian only held on tighter. "Lovi, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Lovino said. His voice didn't hold its normal bitterness; instead it was filled with, what seemed to be, anxiety. "Can you just…Can you just hand me your phone? I don't remember where I put mine."

"My phone? But why? Who do you have to call at this hour?"

"It's none of your business!" he shouted. "Just give me your phone. Per favore!"

Please. Lovino had said please. Rarely did those words leave the Italian's mouth, let alone cross his mind. Whatever was going on was clearly more than Antonio had originally thought. With softer, more tentative movements, he pulled away the blanket from Lovino, his pesky curl popping up from the side of his head. His entire white night shirt was tear stained, and his hazel eyes were rimmed with red. "Mi querido, have you been crying?"

"What? Don't be stupid, bastard! Can I just have your phone now?"

Antonio shook his head. "Not until you tell me why."

The room fell silent. Antonio continued to look at Lovino, but Lovino just stared at his curled up knees. One of them would give in eventually, one of them always did. But Lovino, he couldn't wait for that. Usually he was determined in his ways, urgent to get what he needed without making a scene. Right now however, he couldn't hold it in any longer.

A loud sob cracked from his throat. He leaned over his knees, caramel hair falling into his face. "Please, Toni. Please, just give me your phone. I need it. I need it…"

Mouth gaping at the scene in front of him, Antonio launched himself forward to wrap Lovino in a hard embrace, rubbing his arm soothingly. "Don't cry, Lovi. Por favor, it will be all right. Talk to me. I just want to help you, but I can't do that if you don't tell me what's going on." Lovino just kept on crying, leaning into Antonio's chest. "Alright…alright, you can cry, Lovi. It's okay to cry. You're always so strong; you never get to cry, do you? But now you can. You can cry."

He held Lovino, pressing kisses to any strip of skin he could reach. All he wanted was to make everything better. It pained him to see Lovino, the one he cared about the most in the entire world, so upset. What he would give to be a mind reader so he could know what Lovino was panicking over.

"Toni," Lovino whispered, clutching at Antonio's shirt. "I need your phone. I will tell you everything you want to know if you just fucking give me your phone."

With no other choice, Antonio handed Lovino his phone from the bedside table. Lovino was quick to punch in a number, holding the phone to his ear, protecting the device with all he had.

Antonio could hear a high-pitched ringing, then a click, then a groggy voice on the other end. Lovino's face softened as he talked into the phone with utter relief. "Feli…Feli, are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" A pause. "You know if you are, I can come over there. I can get in the car right now and drive to your house." Another pause. "Alright…yeah. Yeah, okay. You're sure nothing's wrong?" A pause and a sigh. "Just remember you can always call me if you need anything or if you're in trouble. I…I'll let you sleep now. Buon sonno, fratello minore. Ti amo."

Hanging up the phone, Lovino sheepishly held the phone out to Antonio to take back. Placing it back on his dresser, Antonio crossed his arms over his chest. "So you called Feliciano. At three in the morning."

"Yeah."

"Any particular reason as to why?" Lovino shook his head, eyes moving to anywhere but his Spanish lover. Antonio grabbed Lovino's chin in between his fingers, turning his head to face him. "You said you would tell me what was going on if I gave you my phone. I did my part. It's your turn now, Lovi. Tell me what's wrong. You're worrying me."

A fresh set of tears pooled in Lovino's eyes, but he angrily blinked them away. That was Lovino, always too prideful to show how he truly felt. "I just…had a nightmare, I guess. Feliciano was…well, he was…God, I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can," Antonio said, gliding his knuckles over Lovino's cheek. "It is just me, Lovi. You have no reason to be embarrassed. Talk to me. I just want to help you."

It was uncharacteristic and completely unexpected when Lovino crawled into Antonio's lap, letting his head fall against his shoulder. It wasn't often that Lovino showed affection, especially not physically. Sure, the occasional kiss here and there, and they constantly held hands, but Antonio almost always initiated it, rarely Lovino. Antonio was taken aback, but he smiled regardless. His surprise and confusion was overtaken by his love. Antonio engulfed Lovino in a hug, nosing at the tip of his curl before he got growled at.

"I had a nightmare that Feli got hurt. That's all I'm going to say. The rest was…it was too much."

And the truth was out. It was a step up from what Lovino usually did when he was distressed; normally he kept to himself, as if dealing with his own problems was the only way he knew how to cope. But now he had Antonio, always prepared to cuddle and comfort. Lovino just didn't know how to ask for that; it was completely foreign to him.

"So that's why you wanted to use my phone." Lovino nodded. "You know you could've just told me? You can tell me anything, Lovi. I just want to help you."

Shrugging, Lovino said, "I guess I'm just not used to that. No one ever wanted to help me with my problems. I don't know how to ask…"

"I know, I know. But, I promise, mi amor, I will always be here to help you. Te amo, mi Lovi."

Lovino cocked an eyebrow, smirking up at him. "Really?"

"Oh, yes. Te amo. Mucho. Mucho, mucho, mucho." He punctuated each world with a kiss to his head, his cheek, his neck, his lips, everywhere he could possibly kiss him, he did.

"Okay, okay, I get it!" he said, snickering softly as Antonio nipped at an especially sensitive spot. "I love you too, bastard. Even if I don't really show it that much."

"Aw, Lovi! You're turning red, just like a little tomato! You are so cute!"

"Go back to sleep, you jerk!"


Next: Prucan