Chapter 2:

At least he's eating now, Antonio thought as he saw Lovino sitting at the table. He walked over and smiled at Lovino.

"Hey Lovi!" he said. Lovino slightly glanced at Antonio before returning his gaze down at his food. Antonio seemed a bit hurt, but ignored it as he grabbed a tomato from the fridge and sat down at the table. "You sleep okay?" Lovino said nothing. Antonio took a bite of his tomato. "You feeling better?" Silence. Antonio sighed. He wasn't going to get anything out of Lovino, he could tell. Lovino stood up from the table, placing a small note on the table for Antonio before walking off to return to his bedroom once again.

Antonio looked down at the note and froze as his eyes gazed at the words. 'Go to hell…' He could feel his heart sink to his stomach and shatter into dozen – even millions – of small fragments. No. This wasn't the Lovi he loved. No. This wasn't even the way Lovino acted. Sure, he may have acted like his old self, but Antonio knew that Lovino wouldn't say this harsh of comments to anyone. Was is a comment like this that made the chipper Feliciano Vargas, who was always so nice to his older brother, break down crying so much?

Antonio sighed. That must've been it. He just really wanted to know why Lovino was acting like this. Why would he want everyone to go to hell or go away? He just couldn't understand. Antonio stood up and walked over to the phone as he dialed a number. He waited.

"Hello…?" a soft Italian voice came from the phone.

"Hey Feli!" Antonio said happily, trying to cheer the Italian on the other end up.

"Oh… A-Antonio…"

"How are you doing today!"

"Alright I guess…"

Antonio sighed as he heard Feliciano's said tone. "Is it still bugging you?"

"huh? W-What do you mean?" Feliciano asked with confusion.

"About what Lovi said – er – wrote down yesterday…"

"Oh…" Silence filled the air between the lines for several minutes. Several long minutes. "Yeah… It is…"

"I see…" Antonio replied as he stared at the wall in front of him with a look of sadness and concern. "I'm sure he's just going through a phase…" Feliciano was silent. "I'll try to talk to him, okay?"

"Okay…" Before Antonio could say anything more, Feliciano hung up the phone on him. The Spaniard let out a sigh as he placed the phone back onto the receiver.

Feli's really upset about all of this, Antonio thought. His tone was almost non-existence to his normal tone…

Antonio looked towards the stairs with a stern look. He stood there and stared for several minutes before actually walking up the cherry oak stairs. The stairs shined as if they had just been polished and the wooden floor of the hallway looked to be as if it had just been as well. Antonio reached the top of the stairs and walked into Lovino's room. Once again the Italian was sitting on the window sill and starting out the window that was getting pounded with rain.

"Hey Lovi!" Antonio said happily as he walked over to his lover. "Do you want to go out and do something today?" Lovino said nothing as he continued to stare out the window, making Antonio slightly sad. He brushed it off. "I know it's raining, but we can still do something Lovi!"

Lovino looked over at Antonio with a stern look on his face. It didn't make the Spaniard flinch though; he was used to getting that look. However, when Antonio looked into the Italian's amber eyes, he could see that they were dull and almost lifeless… a look that Antonio wasn't used to seeing when Lovino was completely awake and had just eaten. Antonio slightly shook but put up a happy exterior anyways.

"Come on Lovi," Antonio said as he kissed the Italian on the cheek. To his surprise, Lovino didn't react to it. Antonio looked back at Lovino and felt heart broken. Normally Lovino would get mad at him and push him away while blushing profusely, but there wasn't any reaction. No blush on Lovino's face. Nothing. Antonio could feel his heart ripping in two at this sight.

What's wrong with you Lovi? Antonio asked himself in thought. Antonio slightly tilted Lovino's head upwards as he stood up. Lovino looked at the Spaniard, his eyes still dull. Even at this point, Antonio knew that anything he did wouldn't snap the Italian out of the state he was in. Antonio's emerald eyes filled with pain as he kissed Lovino on the lips with a quick peck before exiting the room. He could feel tears stinging his eyes, ready to overflow at any minute. With the closing of the dark oak door to Lovino's room, Antonio's tears gushed over.

Lovi… he thought as he cried. His back leaning against the door and his left hand covering his mouth. What could have caused Lovino to look and act this way? Antonio wanted to know so badly, but he didn't want to pressure Lovino to tell him. He was stuck with no where to go. Tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be back to normal tomorrow. That's what Antonio wanted to believe, but he knew somewhere in his heart that it probably wasn't going to happen.

0-0-0

The sun peeked into the curtains of Antonio's room, making the Spaniard's eyes shut tightly before slowly opening. He didn't recall ever falling asleep last night. The last thing that he remembered doing was sitting on his head and staring at the wall. His emerald eyes were slightly dull, still tired from being woken from his deep slumber.

"Oy, Antonio!" a familiar Italian voice raged. Antonio turned over to see Lovino standing over him. Antonio stared into the Italian's eyes. They were normal. They weren't dull or looked as if they were lacking sleep. Had Lovino returned to normal like he had thought?

"Lovi!" Antonio exclaimed happily as he hugged the Italian, or at least he attempted to. Lovino briskly walked out of the room without saying anything word. Antonio face planted into the floor before sitting up, rubbing his face slightly from the impact. He then proceeded to stare at the door where Lovino had left from, making Antonio sigh with sadness.

Lovi… he thought as he looked at the ground. Antonio had thought that Lovino was back to normal, but he knew that he wasn't. Antonio picked himself from the floor, dressed himself, and walked downstairs where Lovino was sitting on the couch. The television was on, but the volume was quiet, making it hard to hear what was even being said. Antonio stood near the hallway for several minutes before walking into the living room with a bright smile on his face.

"Lovi, we should go out and do something!" Antonio said as he hugged the Italian. Once again there was no reaction. Antonio turned Lovino's face towards him. His heart sinking as he looked into his lover's golden orbs. Dull. Lifeless. That's what they looked like again. Lovino remained silent again, not answering the Spaniard if they should go do something or not. Antonio looked down with slight disappointment before walking over to the other side so he stood in front of Lovino.

Antonio took Lovino's ivory hand as he pulled the Italian to his feet. Lovino jerked up before he was pulled out of the living room and out the front door. Antonio dragged Lovino along like he was a lost child in search of his parents, but he didn't care. He would find a way to snap Lovino out of whatever it was he had… and there was only one way that he could think of that would snap him out of it.

0-0-0

"Oh? That's a strange request coming from you Toni," a voice with a French accent said as he swirled the dark liquid in his glass cup. Antonio looked down at the water in his glass with slight depression.

"I just want to snap him out of this Francis," Antonio replied as he glanced over at Lovino who was sitting several feet away. "He's not acting like himself and I was hoping that, maybe, you-"

"I see…" Francis interrupted Antonio before taking another sip of his wine. Antonio's thumbs brushed against the glass in his hand. Francis looked at the expression on Antonio's face and sighed. "You won't get mad at me, right?" Antonio nodded. "Alright…"

Francis set his glass down on the table and stood up. He nodded at Antonio before walking over to where Lovino was sitting. Lovino stared down at his glass filled with juice. The light colored liquid was still fully there and hadn't been touched since he received it. Francis walked up to the Italian and stood in front of him, his shadow hovering over Lovino. However, Lovino didn't look up or even move.

Antonio's right, Francis thought as he looked down at Lovino with his blue eyes. Lovino really isn't doing much.

Francis walked behind Lovino and hugged the Italian like he normally did. No reaction was given. Francis looked at Lovino with a curious look. Normally Lovino would freak out about him touching him. No wonder Antonio was asking for his help. Something really was wrong with the Italian. Francis looked over at Antonio and saw that the Spaniard was keeping his gaze from them, which was probably a good thing. Francis then proceeded to moving his hand up Lovino's white button up shirt. Still no reaction. Francis raised a brow with curiosity as he pulled away from the Italian. Lovino was still staring at his drink with dull eyes. Francis sighed as he looked over at Antonio again. Antonio still was not looking at them.

Alright, Francis thought. Time for drastic measures.

Francis took the glass from Lovino's hands and set it on the table that was near the bench the Italian was sitting on. Lovino didn't react as the cup was slipped from his fingers. Francis looked at Antonio again before looking back at the Italian that sat in front of him as if he was a statue. Francis' eyes narrowed as he slammed Lovino onto his back on the bench. Lovino's dull amber eyes stared up at Francis' pale face as he knelt over the Italian. Still no reaction. Francis sighed as he stood back up and walked back over to where Antonio was. He sat back down in his chair.

"There really is something wrong with him," Francis stated to Antonio. "He didn't react to anything that I did to him." Antonio's expression became saddened even more than it already was.

"I see… that's what I was afraid of…." Antonio commented. Francis sighed.

"We could get him drunk and see if he'll tell us what's wrong with him." Antonio glared at Francis.

"Don't you dare." Francis sighed again.

"Alright, Alright."

Antonio weakly smiled up at Francis and said: "Thank you for trying though."

"No problem mon ami," Francis replied with a soft smile. "Anything for you." Antonio smiled as he stood up and placed his glass down.

"Thank you for your time." Francis gestured to Antonio as his way of saying good-bye. Antonio turned around and froze.

"L-Lovi!"