Abel stared silently at Antonio, holding his steaming cup of tea.
They were sitting at Abel's kitchen table, cups of untouched tea cooling in front of them. Antonio and Lovino had come over to Abel's house and requested an audience with him from his younger sister, Lauren. As they traveled through the house to the kitchen, they made sure not to touch anything, as Abel was a picky man for perfect cleanliness.
Lovino was convinced it was almost a sort of OCD thing, or something.
Abel was dressed in a rather stylish cream dress pants and vest with a starch white dress shirt, his favorite blue and white striped scarf wrapped around his neck. His hair was styled up in its usual spike, revealing the small scar that cut across the ridge of his right eyebrow.
After greeting their dear childhood friend, Antonio as subtly as possible mentioned that it would be best if they spoke privately, to which Abel sent his sister out to shop for groceries. She complied, even if a bit reluctantly. She kissed each man once on the cheek before slipping on her flats and sun hat, then left.
Lovino was silent as Antonio explained their situation, the Italian looking down in shame as he gripped the front of his jeans tightly.
Abel slowly lowered the delicate porcelain from his face and set it on its small platter. He wiped his hands off on the front of his dress pants before standing and walking over to the kitchen window that overlooked his garden outback. It was beautiful, with tulips of multiple hues of red, pink, yellow, and orange painting the beautiful plots. Abel took such pride in his tulips, never failing to care for them everyday.
He took a long puff from his pipe, sighing out the dark smoke. After a long pause of silence, Antonio slowly felt the hope seep out of him, and he was about to stand up to leave, when Abel broke the silence with his heavy Dutch accent. "This man, Lenden," he said, "attacked Lovino, and in a careless act of self-defense and fear, Lovino grabbed the bat Lenden was trying to beat him with and hit him in the head, killing him."
"Yes," Antonio said, swallowing. Lovino bit his bottom lip, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.
"... Did he die instantly?" Abel asked, catching the two off guard.
"W-What?" Antonio stuttered, confused.
"Did he die instantly?" Abel repeated, turning back to look at them. He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "If he died instantly, then it would be an easier hole for me to help Lovino to crawl out of. If he didn't, then it would just end up looking worse for him."
Lovino was bewildered, his heart sinking as they both looked to him for an answer. He swallowed hard before staring at the floor, the threat of tears stinging his eyes.
"I-I don't know... After I- after I hit him, I just ran over to Toni's. I didn't check. He looked pretty dead to me..."
"I don't think it took him very long, if not instantly," Antonio interjected. "There was too much... 'damage' for him to live afterwards."
Abel nodded. "Alright. What did you do with the body?"
"We hid it in the lake. I took his wallet and ID off him and put the body in a black industrial bag with some stones. His face was crushed well enough to where it would take awhile for identification if they tried using his facial structure or dentals."
"What did you do with the tapes? And the bat?" Abel asked.
"I burnt the tapes, and the bat's at my apartment."
Abel stared at him for another long moment before speaking slowly and low.
"... You realize what this'll look like, right?" he asked, and Antonio nodded slowly.
"Yes, that was my intention," the Spaniard said, and looked at him a little sadly. Lovino looked between the two men, a sick feeling of anxiousness rising in his gut.
"What do you mean? What's going on?" he asked warily, and Abel's gaze moved to his.
"All of the evidence is going to point to Antonio," he stated bluntly, and Lovino's eyes grew wide with horror. The Italian whirled around to look at Antonio, who was absently looking at the window from his seat.
"No!" he cried, bolting up and slamming his hands on the table. "I will not have you take the blame for me! I killed him; not you!"
"Lovino-" Abel began, but he wouldn't listen.
"Are you an idiot?! You could go to prison! You haven't even done anythi-!"
"Yes, I have!" Antonio shouted, startling both Abel and Lovino. The room became quiet as a tense silence settled between the three of them, heavy enough to make Lovino feel as if he were being crushed. Antonio took a deep breath to calm himself again before continuing.
"I have done something, Lovino. I murdered Lenden, and I hid the body. You were at the local bar, with Abel." He looked at their Dutch friend as he spoke, Abel quickly understanding.
"We went over to the bar after you got off of work, at around seven o'clock," Abel played along, "And stayed there for a couple hours 'till about ten, when I had to drive you over to Antonio's. You spent the night there and headed over here to hang out for awhile in the morning. We talked, had tea, and I showed you two my newest tulip plot. Then Laura came home from shopping and we ate lunch, and you two left."
"During this," Antonio concluded, "both of you noticed I was acting a bit odd and distant, like I had my mind on something. When asked about it, I would shake my head, smile, and wave it off."
Lovino was silent for a long moment, staring down at the table. He could feel tears burning his eyes and throat.
"... Why are you doing this?" he asked quietly, not able to trust his voice, and Antonio smiled sadly again. "Because I love you, Lovino."
Lovino's legs buckled, and he crumpled to the floor, sobbing into his hands. As the realization finally dawned on him, his sobs became more intense, despair spreading through his very being. Antonio was going to take the blame for killing Lenden. Antonio was plotting evidence against himself. Antonio was going to go to prison in his place.
Abel was going to help him, and lie.
And there was nothing he could do about it.