A/N: Tadaaa~! Been typing this up for hours. Umm blah blah blah, please enjoy!
Standing outside of the school, Lovino couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. He watched as most of the students left now, and couldn't bring himself to forget about it and just go home himself. He waited awhile longer, until he finally spotted a specific freshman that he was looking for. The sight of the blond haired younger boy usually churned his stomach, but right now he didn't really care.
"Hey, potato bastard! Wait up," Lovino called out, jogging towards Ludwig who immediately turned around as he recognized his unwanted nickname.
"What?" he said, as Lovino approached him.
"Why didn't Gilbert come to school today?" Lovino asked, staring into the boy's baby blue eyes.
"He didn't? Well, maybe he just felt like skipping today. He usually does."
"How do you not know about your own brother missing school? Don't you visit him sometimes?" Lovino asked, earning a confused expression from Ludwig who then realized that Gilbert must've told the Italian about their home situation.
"Well no, my foster parents don't allow me to go there. Sometimes he visits me after school or on the weekends, though. Speaking of which, here they are. Sorry, I have to go," and with that, Ludwig hurriedly walked towards a small car that pulled up to the curb and hopped in before it drove off.
Well that sure as hell didn't help..
Lovino shrugged and sighed to himself as he began to walk away from the school. Ludwig was probably right, the stupid albino most likely felt lazy today and decided to skip school altogether. He would sometimes do that randomly, and Lovino would be able to relax the entire day at school. Well, until Francis or Antonio decided to bother him. But when they didn't, he was the happiest kid in the world for those full 24 hours.
He wish he had felt that way now, but he just couldn't for some reason. Learning more about Gilbert proved to change the way he saw him a bit, and he felt the curiosity sinking into his brain. Turning around, he quickly walked off to the direction Gilbert had taken him the day before.
I'll just see if he's at home.
Finally arriving in that same desolate area from before, he stood on the quiet front porch of the cute small home. There wasn't any doorbell, so he loudly knocked on the hard old door. After a few tries, he was about to walk away, assuming Gilbert had left the house to go and get into trouble somewhere else. But soon he heard a slow pair of footsteps descending the creaky old stairs inside of the house. Eventually, it arrived at the front door and opened it.
Staring at the disaster in front of him, Lovino saw that Gilbert was still in his pajamas and his white hair was messier than usual. His skin was also paler than before, and he had dark marks under his eyes which were now bloodshot red. He looked as if he had gone through two tornadoes and somehow survived. The German faintly smiled as he saw that it was Lovino whom had knocked on his door.
"You look like shit. What'd you do, stay up all night playing WoW?" Lovino said, welcoming himself into the house as Gilbert stepped aside.
"Ngh... no," Gilbert groaned tiredly, closing the door and locking it.
"So, why didn't you come to school today?" Lovino asked, as he looked around for anything suspicious.
"I wasn't feeling awesome at all, so I stayed in. If you came here to deliver homework, you can leave right now."
"I wouldn't waste my time doing such a thing, besides it's not like you'd do the homework anyway," Lovino snorted, taking a seat in one of the chairs at the small dining room table.
"Well that's good, because I don't.. don't.." Gilbert started to say, but then suddenly ran into the small downstairs bathroom and slammed the door shut.
What the hell?
Lovino got up from the chair and walked towards the bathroom door, gently knocking on it.
"Gilbert?" he said, leaning his ear against the door. He faintly heard the sound of struggling coughs and the toilet being flushed, "Are you alright?"
The toilet flushed again and he soon heard the sound of the sink running as Gilbert washed his hands. Eventually, the door opened up and Gilbert stood there for a split second before losing his balance and almost crashing onto the floor.
"What's wrong? !" Lovino asked, as caught the albino just in time.
"It's nothing.. I've just been puking my guts out all day," Gilbert weakly responded.
"Do you have the flu or something?" Lovino asked, propping Gilbert up into a nearby chair, "It's not even winter yet, though.." placing a hand on the weak guy's forehead, he found that it was slightly warm.
"I'm too awesome to get sick." Gilbert said, he would have shown his usual smirk but it was just too painful to do anything besides quietly speak.
"No time for any damn jokes. When did you start feeling this way?" Lovino asked again, as he walked into the kitchen and filled an empty glass with cool water.
"Very early this morning, I guess? Around 4 or 5.." he said, then slowly drank the glass of water that Lovino handed to him.
"Hmm.. what was the last thing you ate before you got sick?"
Gilbert weakly lifted an arm and pointed to the plate of leftover wurst lying on the counter.
"It was extremely cheap, so I bought it."
"And that's probably why you're sick now, dumb ass! Did you even check the expiration date?" Lovino yelled, taking the plate of wurst and tossing it into the garbage.
"Isn't that the store's job?"
"You're so reckless, don't just buy things because they're cheap, idiot!" Lovino frowned and shook his head. Wrapping one arm around Gilbert's waist, he helped him stand up and slowly escorted him up the stairs, back to his bedroom.
"You can't just eat that crap all the time, you need stuff like.. fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and carbohydrates!" Lovino continued to scold him, as he gently set Gilbert down on the bed.
"Haha, you sound like a mom.. and I like wurst! It's easier to eat just one thing," Gilbert jokingly said, picking up an open bag of chips off of his desk that he hadn't finished and munching on a hand full.
"No more junk food!" Lovino confiscated the bag and began searching the room for more junk. He collected candy, another bag of chips, and some sunflower seeds.
"This is really unnecessary.." Gilbert frowned as Lovino stuffed everything in his backpack.
"You're so stubborn. You have to stay healthy.. It's dangerous living alone, and if something were to happen to you then no one would know for awhile!"
"No one would care, either," Gilbert said, sighing as he laid back onto the bed.
"That's not true! I would," Lovino yelled, then stopped and wondered to himself if what he had just said was true. There were many times that he had wished Gilbert would simply disappear, or explode into thin air. Then his life would've been much easier. Now, as he stood there in the German's room, he realized it would be a terrible thing if something tragic were to befall on Gilbert.
Gilbert immediately sat up and stared at the Italian who was deep in thought.
"You would?" he asked, raising one eyebrow as he'd thought Lovino couldn't possibly care about him or his wellbeing at all. But it must've been true, because here he was, making sure Gilbert was alright.
"Well.. yeah! I mean, you're not getting out of life that easy!" Lovino puffed his cheeks, blushing as he sat down on the bed next to Gilbert.
"You know.. It would probably be easier if you lived with your foster parents. Why do you hate them so much?" Lovino then asked, turning to face the German whose facial expression changed to an angry one.
"So they can boss me around and shove their psychotic beliefs down my throat again? Yeah, no thanks," Gilbert shook his head, looking down at the floor, he added, "You see what they've done to Ludwig. He wasn't always so obedient and serious like he is now.."
"Was it really that bad?"
"They always told me I was a bad kid, useless and unwanted. They said I'd never amount to anything, and that I needed to be disciplined. Well I said fuck them, I couldn't take it anymore. And so I left."
Lovino had never seen so much angst in anyone's eyes that he saw now. He figured that all of Gilbert's senseless aggression originated from the pain he felt all these years. Starting from being abandoned and never knowing his real parents, living at an orphanage full of hatred and bullying, and to the verbal abuse that he dealt with from his foster parents. He almost wished he had known sooner, maybe then he and Gilbert could've been good friends.
"Well, you have to stay strong and prove those evil bastards wrong!" Lovino said, putting a reassuring hand on Gilbert's shoulder.
"Thanks, I guess.. my awesomeness will prevail!" Gilbert weakly smiled before cringing in pain, "Shit.. my head hurts like hell."
"That's because you need to rest. You lost a lot of fluids today, and you're not eating properly.. I should make your school lunches from now on," Lovino said, forcing Gilbert to lie down in the bed and covering him with the old and worn out blanket.
"How can you be so kind to someone like me?" Gilbert asked, shutting his heavy eyelids.
"That's.. well, it's only natural to help someone in need. Now go to sleep," he answered, getting up to walk out.
Reaching out, Gilbert grabbed his wrist.
"Are you leaving?" he asked, his voice sounding melancholic.
"Not yet.. I'm going to clean this junk up first."
Going back downstairs, Lovino almost wished he hadn't made that promise. Looking around, there was so much junk that he couldn't tell what wasn't. He let out a long sigh before getting to work. Stuffing loose papers and wrappings into the garbage, he checked the refrigerator for anything that had gone bad.
What the fuck is this?
He stared in disgust at the green sandwich he found before quickly shoving it into the bag. The fridge was mostly empty except for another pack of wurst, potatoes, some water bottles, and soda cans.
He'll die off of this shit..
Lovino decided that maybe he'd deliver some healthier food to his home next time. After he took the garbage out, he went back into the kitchen to wash the dishes and clean the counters. It took longer than he'd hoped, because he wasn't used to doing chores. Whenever he tried, he'd get annoyed and give up, waiting for Feliciano to finish it for him. Nonetheless, he did his best to clean this small house.
Putting away a stack of loose books, he discovered one that wasn't a book at all, but a photo album. The cover of the album was in German, and when he opened it up he couldn't help but smile. It was filled with pictures of Gilbert and Ludwig as young children, taken during the six years that they lived in that house. The one he found the most cute, was a picture of the two at the local zoo. A small Gilbert of about 10 years old, held hands with a shorter Ludwig who was probably 7. He couldn't believe that Gilbert was actually cute at one point in his life, he even found that Ludwig was adorable.
They look so happy..
After he went through the book with a smile on his face the entire time, he found that it was getting late and he had to return home. Going back upstairs, he went into the bedroom to find Gilbert was still peacefully sleeping. He didn't want to wake him up, but he had to let him know that he would be leaving now. He sat down on the bed, but before he could wake the German up, he woke up on his own from the sudden movement.
"Oh, um.. I'm leaving now, so here's my cell phone number and the number to my house, in case you can't reach this one. Call one of those if you need anything," Lovino said, putting the piece of paper next to Gilbert's pillow, "But if you feel really sick, you had better call 911 first."
Gilbert slowly nodded and fell back to sleep, still very exhausted. Smiling to himself and feeling accomplished, Lovino went back to his own home.
The next day, Lovino felt very relieved when Gilbert showed back up to school. Though, he was tardy as usual. At least he still wore his usual smirk and scheming eyes. He even did a great job in annoying Lovino again, too. But the Italian secretly didn't mind much, because Gilbert's little comments weren't actually harsh anymore.
"Here. Take it," Lovino said, blushing as he shoved a bag into Gilbert's arms.
"Hm?" taking the contents out of the bag, Gilbert smiled as he stared at the big delicious-looking sandwich, an apple, a small cup of yogurt, and a juice pouch.
"I made the sandwich myself, so you better be thankful," Lovino said, nervously scratching his head.
"Ja, ja. Thanks!" Gilbert immediately took a bite of the sandwich and let out a sigh of delight, "It's delicious~"
"Of course it is, it's Italian! Now eat up, I can almost see your bones."
After they each finished their delicious lunches made by none other than Chef Lovino, they walked around the hallways waiting for the next class to start. Suddenly, Gilbert started to complain.
"I can't believe I missed work yesterday! Stupid illness.. now I'll have to work double shifts again," he whined, throwing his arms up into the air as if he had given up.
"Can't you miss one day?" Lovino asked.
"Well yeah. But then I'll have to sacrifice something in return. I still have to use some of the money to buy healthy food, then there's the issue with the water bill, bastards trying to say I paid it off late.."
Lovino stood there in confusion as Gilbert calculated his losses and expenses in his head. He seemed to be in a complex train of thought, and it was even starting to give Lovino a headache.
"Hey, Gilbert? I know you probably didn't want anyone else to know about your living situation.. but, last night I talked to my grandfather about it," Lovino started, twiddling his fingers, "And well, he said you're welcome to stay with us any time you needed."
"Oh, really? Wow, um-"
"So you should come home with me today! And you know, stay for a couple of days until you're back on your feet and feeling awesome again!" Lovino blurted out.
Gilbert stood there for a few moments before deciding to accept this unusual generosity.
"Alright, I guess I will, then. What about Gilbird?" he asked, not wanting to leave his soul mate behind.
"Sure, the bird can come, too."
"Awesome!" Gilbert yelled out in excitement, then unexpectedly picking Lovino up into a hug.
"Okay, okay! Now put me the hell down!" Lovino shouted, blushing from embarrassment.
After school ended, the two quickly went back to Gilbert's house so that he could pack some of his clothing and whatever else he needed for the few days he would be staying with the Italians. Lovino shook his head, refusing to let the albino bring his stack of adult games that were rated 18+, and his fake samurai sword. Finally leaving the house, they made their way to Lovino's warm and welcoming home.
"I hope there will be lots of pasta while I'm here," Gilbert said, licking his lips.
"Obviously. But, pasta isn't the only thing we eat, there are lots of other great things, too."
"That's so fucking awesome! Let's go!" he yelled excitedly, running around the corner and onto the street the house was on.
"Geez.. He's just like a kid," Lovino said to himself, sighing as he made his way towards the house.
"Welcome home, ometto and Gilbert!" Caesar said, squeezing them both into his big strong arms.
"I made extra dishes, as a special welcome to Gilbert for staying in our home," Feliciano said, smiling.
It had only now just hit Lovino, that he would have to deal with the 3 of them together for the next few days.
I just screwed myself over..
Oh well. Maybe his grandfather would go wandering around the city at night like he usually did, and maybe Feliciano wouldn't follow him around so much. And maybe, just maybe, Gilbert would behave himself now that he was staying in someone else's home. Surely, he should know how to properly act when he's being offered such great hospitality. Lovino shrugged, and decided not to think so hard on the subject.
After their delicious dinner full of chattering and laughter, the 4 of them sat down in the beautiful living room to play a board game. Caesar chose Gilbert to be on his team in the game of 'Sorry' and Lovino was stuck with Feliciano. He didn't mind, though. What he did mind was the senseless and repetitive cheering the other two did whenever they started to win. By the end of the game, Lovino had hoped the two bastard's lungs would give out from their victory yell when they defeated him and Feliciano. When he finally finished rubbing it into their faces, Caesar bid them each farewell as he went out for the night.
"How the hell do you keep leveling up so fast? Cheater!" Lovino said, they were now in his bedroom playing a video game that Gilbert brought with him.
"I'm not cheating, it's called grinding. I continue to do the same things, getting lots of experience points." Gilbert explained, playing the game like a professional, "You're just doing like, 1 quest. Then you try to fight the boss and die. That's not how it works."
"Fuck, this game is too hard!" Lovino yelled, throwing the controller against the wall.
"This is your system and your controllers.. so if you break them, that's your problem." Gilbert shrugged and continued his routine.
"Well your game is in my system, so if I decide to do something with it, your loss."
"You're seriously a sore loser!" Gilbert laughed, poking Lovino's angry red cheeks.
"I am not!"
"Yeah, you are."
"The bathroom is free now~!" Feliciano said, opening the door. He was only wearing a towel around his waist, and another towel sat on the top of his wet head.
Gilbert smirked at the sight and whistled in enjoyment, before getting elbowed in the stomach by Lovino.
"Idiot, go put on your pajamas and go to bed!" Lovino yelled, shooing the younger Italian away.
"You're a great big brother," Gilbert said, smiling.
"Shut up, and grab your things. It's your turn now," he said, leading the albino out into the hallway and to the luxurious bathroom. It was sparkly clean, and had lots of space. There was a big tub which looked like a Jacuzzi, and a shower next to it with a see-through door to walk into. Three people could probably fit in there, Gilbert thought to himself. Even the counters on the sink were nice, fore they were made out of granite instead of normal tile.
"Oh, give me your shirt right now. I'm about to wash the light clothing," Lovino said.
"Sure," turning around, Gilbert set his towel, toothbrush, and shampoo on the counter before pulling his shirt over his head.
Lovino instantly took notice of the thin, light marks that went diagonally across the German's back.
"What's this?" he asked. Reaching out, Lovino gently ran his fingers along the different trails of mostly faded scars. They went all the way down his back like that of a snake. There were so many, at least 6 different trails. He hadn't seen them the last time Gilbert had changed in front of him, maybe because he was trying his best not to look or because the room was dark before.
"Awesome scars, huh? The babes love it when I show them that. Told 'em they were unique birth marks of the chosen one," Gilbert said, giggling a little from the cold touch of Lovino's soft fingers.
Lovino made an expression of disapproval from Gilbert's stupid lie, before curiously asking, "Who did this to you?"
"I don't know.. the headmaster of the orphanage? It happened like 10 years ago," Gilbert laughed, trying not to bring back the feelings of despair from his childhood memories.
A deep frown instantly went across Lovino's face. He could feel his throat tighten as warm tears began to swarm into his eyes.
How could anyone..?
He couldn't understand how anyone could purposely inflict such cruel, inhuman damage onto the body of a small child. It was beyond barbaric, and only the devil himself would consider doing such things. Why would the very people who were supposed to take care of the unfortunate children, do harm to them? None of it made sense. It deeply angered him, how the world would let something like this happen and not do anything about it.
"Lovi..?" Gilbert said, as the Italian was now leaning against him, his face buried into the crease of the albino's pale bare back.
"Sorry, enjoy the shower," Lovino said, quickly walking off to do the laundry.
Gilbert shrugged and closed the door, getting ready to enjoy his refreshing relaxation time.
After about a half hour later, Gilbert rejoined Lovino in the bedroom. Looking around, he couldn't find the comforter he had used the first time he slept over.
"Well.. you said the floor wasn't comfortable, remember? So, I was thinking you should sleep with me again.. I mean, you don't want to get sick again, do you? The floor can get cold at night!" Lovino said, furiously blushing as he tried to explain his motives.
Gilbert smirked, nodding his head and jumping into the bed, "Good idea!"
Lovino climbed into the bed after him, and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible to avoid any other embarrassing conversations. But, it seemed that Gilbert had another plan.
"You know what's fun?" he said, poking Lovino in the side.
"It better not be something retarded or perverted," Lovino warned, turning to face the smiling albino.
"It's not. It's fun when you think about scary things before going to bed!"
"…That is retarded," Lovino snarled, rolling his eyes, "Besides, there's nothing scary here."
"You're right. That man told me the same thing! By the way, you never told me you had other guests," Gilbert said.
"What man? And what do you mean by 'other guests'?" Lovino asked, now very confused.
"What? You mean you don't have any other guests? Then.. who was the man I talked to before I came in here?" Gilbert's eyes widened in shock.
"What the fuck are you saying? !"
"There was an old, white-haired man standing in the hallway! He didn't have teeth and his eyes were black-"
"STOP IT! Damn it! Shut up shut up shut up!" Lovino cried out, quickly pulling the blanket over his head, cowering in fear.
Gilbert let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. He'd successfully frightened the poor boy to the point where he was almost crying. If Lovino hadn't went to the bathroom before bed, he might've pissed on himself.
"Calm down, Lovi. I was just joking!" Gilbert said, pulling the blanket down so he could see Lovino's face again.
"You're.. you're a deceiving bastard!" Lovino sputtered out, still sniffling.
"Chill, it's alright. I didn't really see a ghost," Gilbert smiled, gently stroking Lovino's head.
Lovino groaned, his face red with embarrassment as the teasing German continued to mess with his hair.
"If it makes you feel any better, I used to be afraid of random crap like that when I first started living on my own," Gilbert said, breaking the short silence.
"..I don't know how you do it," Lovino finally spoke up again, "I couldn't live alone.. I don't even do much around here. Feli usually does the chores, and my grandfather pays for everything we do and use."
"You just have to learn to help out. I'm sure you can do it, after all, you helped me out greatly yesterday and today."
"Well.. I guess I did," Lovino smiled in accomplishment before closing his eyes again.
He was almost asleep this time, but he was rudely interrupted once more.
"Hey, Lovi?" Gilbert said, poking Lovino in the nose.
"What now, damn it?" he answered, grouchily.
"I'm sorry for having always teased and messed with you. It wasn't awesome of me," Gilbert said, apologetically.
"Oh um.. yeah. It's no big deal."
"But, even so, you and your family have treated me with lots kindness as if none of that mattered. Why is that?" Gilbert asked, he was very confused as to how anyone could possibly be kind to him without receiving anything in return.
"I don't know… it just seemed like the right thing to do? And because we're friends."
"We're friends?" Gilbert's voice almost sounded excited like a child's again. He couldn't believe the words that were coming out of Lovino's mouth. And neither could Lovino himself.
"Yeah! I mean, we might as well be.. it seems no matter what I do, I can never get away from you. And even when I can, I somehow always end up back where I started.. damn it," Lovino tried to explain, but thought of himself as making no sense at all.
"Alright, then! You can be my best friend, don't tell Antonio or Francis, though. And thanks for letting me stay here with you guys for awhile," Gilbert smiled happily to the boy lying next to him.
"Okay.. and you're welcome," Lovino quickly smiled back before pulling the blanket up to hide his red face.
Suddenly, Lovino felt a warm arm wrap around his waist.
"This again..."
"Hm? Oh, sorry. It's a habit.. and knowing someone's sleeping next to me, I subconsciously do it," Gilbert explained, removing his arm from Lovino's waist, "Luddy and I used to sleep like that back in the orphanage, it was like we were protecting each other."
Lovino thought for a second, and then reconsidered.
"I don't mind it.. if it helps you sleep better then, sure," he said, slowly wrapping his arm around Gilbert's thin waist. Lovino thought what he was doing was weird, but right now, it wasn't about him.
"Oh.. thanks, friend!" Gilbert said, cuddling closer to the Italian and quickly falling into a peaceful sleep.
Yeah.. Because we're friends.
A/N: So the next chapter will have some friendly activities and such. Idk. It may take longer to put out than usual, still thinking of ideas. Anyways, thanks for reading this story so far and for the reviews!
