THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER~!
Hope you enjoyed reading it. :) I still don't understand why it got so many followers. lol
WARNINGS: bullying, depression, cutting/suicide attempt
"The hero has arrived!" Matthias shouted when Lukas and Eirikur walked into homeroom. He ran up and ruffled the latter's hair, making the boy both blush and scowl. "I can't believe you saved someone, man. I wish I coulda seen it! Great job!"
"Yes, I am very proud of him," Lukas added.
Eirikur flushed. "Would you guys stop already?" He really didn't want the whole school knowing about this. It was embarrassing enough already.
"Aw, but why?" Tino asked. "You saved Lovi's life, Eiri! That's amazing." He smiled reassuringly and put the boy into a crushing hug, which was then joined by the other Nords. And of course, none of the conversation went unheard by other students, who began asking questions throughout the rest of the day. And much to the Icelander's dismay, his brother and friends did not hesitate to tell of his 'heroism,' which quickly became the talk of the school.
'Why can't they mind their own business?' Eirikur thought as the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Apparently, the news had even spread outside of the school as well. People had probably been texting their friends or making Facebook posts or something. He knew this the moment he received a call from a good friend of his that went to another school.
"Hey there, Super Man. What, like, happened?" a voice asked from the other end of the phone. Eirikur sighed.
"Leon, I'm sure you already know that, so do you really have to ask?"
"Just wanted to see that it wasn't, like, just a rumor, I suppose."
Eirikur clicked his tongue in annoyance, hearing Matthias call out to him from afar. "Well, it's not. Anyway, I have to go. I was going to the hospital right after school..."
"Cool. I'll get the details later, I guess. Later, Super Man," Leon joked and heard an aggravated sigh come from his friend.
"That name's gonna stick, isn't it?" the Icelander asked with a groan. Rather than receiving an answer, his friend merely gave a small laugh and hung up. Biting his lip, Eirikur hung up as well and shoved his phone into his pocket. He turned around just as the other Nords were approaching him. "Hm? What?"
"Yer goin' to see Lovino, aren't ya?" Matthias asked with a big grin covering his face. The younger Nord nodded. "We're gonna come with you," the Danish boy demanded, wrapping an arm around the boy's shoulders and walking toward Lukas' car. "To the hospital!" he shouted, throwing an arm in the air and pointing to the sky. Lukas smacked him upside the head, and the lot of them climbed into his car, ready to go see their friend.
"Feliciano?" asked a tall blond student as he sat at a lunch table across from his friend. The Italian was usually smiling constantly, but today, he only frowned and sat silently as he plucked at his food.
"What is wrong?" a Japanese boy asked as he joined them at the table.
"Ve...I'm worried about Lovi," Feli told them in a saddened voice. His friends exchanged looks of confusion before asking why he'd be worried. "Well...Fratello's in the hospital, and I'm just worried about him, you know?"
"Why is he in the hospital?" the blond, Ludwig, asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Ve...He...Lovi tried to kill himself..." the boy answered with a quivering breath. His two friends' eyes widened. Many people who had overheard their conversation also turned their heads in shock, including a certain trio as well as a teacher who was on lunch duty.
"Lovino...tried to kill himself?" Ludwig asked to be sure he'd heard right. He didn't know how to respond when Feli numbly nodded his head and began to choke back sobs. Soon enough, the Italian had to run out of the lunch room to avoid crying in public. He'd run into the restroom out in the hallway, followed by his two friends, Ludwig and Kiku, who tried their best to calm him. A moment later, the teacher from the lunch room came into the restroom with the principal in tow.
"Feliciano, would you like to step into my office for a moment?" the principal asked kindly, offering the boy his hand.
"I-I'm not i-in trouble, am I?" the Italian panicked through his tears.
"No, you are not," the man said with a gentle shake of his head. "Come. You two should head back to your lunch," he added, nodding toward other two boys. He then led Feli out of the restroom and toward his office, the boy sniffling along the way. "Feliciano...if it's alright, I am going to call your father to pick you up. There really is no need for you to be here today if you are so distraught," he said as he closed his office door behind them and went to pick up his phone. Feli simply nodded and sat quietly in one of the chairs as he listened to the principal's half of the conversation. "He'll be here soon," the man told him after placing the phone back on its holder. He was also told to get his things before leaving.
Nodding again, Feli stood from the chair and left the room quietly, going to fetch his things from the lunch room.
After the boy left, the principal leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes, heaving out a heavy sigh. He hated to admit it, but it pained him to hear that the trouble-making Lovino had tried to kill himself. Even if the Italian had caused him a lot of stress in the past, the thought of the boy's death did not at all make him happy. If anything, it made him feel worse. After all, he may have contributed to the boy's reasons for wanting to end his own life. The man sighed again and decided that it was best not to dwell on his thoughts and to instead begin the paperwork that had piled up on his desk. It was going to be a long day.
'What's going on?' Lovino thought as he weakly ate some cold pizza that the hospital had provided for an early dinner. 'A friend saved me? Father was crying? Feli loves me...? What the hell is...' He began to bite down on the inside of his cheek subconsciously, drawing blood as he tried to wrap his head around everything that had happened the previous night. He snapped from his thoughts when a knocking was heard at his door, and he looked up to see two figures standing there, smiling lightly at him.
"Lovi," Feliciano said with a smile. "How are you...?"
"Pizza sucks," Lovino answered grumpily while taking another bite of the cold hospital food.
Feli smiled at his brother's grouchiness and laughed. "I can make some of your favorite pasta later and bring it for dinner, if you want." Lovino stared at him a moment before sighing and shaking his head.
"No, you don't need to do that. I can deal with this shit food for a little while."
Feli frowned, along with Romulus, who took a seat beside the bed and watched his bedridden son with cautious eyes. "Lovino..." the elder Italian began, catching the boy's attention. "You don't have to just put up with things you don't like. It's no trouble for us to bring decent food. You know your brother will be making pasta either way."
Feliciano gave a tiny smile and nodded in affirmation. "Please let me make you some pasta, fratello," he said kindly. He just wanted his brother to know that he cared. Lovino looked down and sighed in defeat.
"Do what you want," the bedridden Italian huffed, faking irritation to keep himself from breaking down.
"Alright," Romulus said and stood from his chair. Both sons looked at him in question. He ruffled their hair and bent to hug them both. After letting go, he straightened again. "I'm going to head down to Little Caesars and get us a pizza to share. Be back in a bit," he finished and waved back at them as he left the room. Feli watched in confusion as his father left, then looked over to his brother to see him staring down at the bed sheets again.
"Lovi?"
"Fratello," Lovino said and paused to look up at his brother. "Is this...a dream?" Feliciano furrowed his eyebrows and tilted his head to the side. Lovi took note of the confusion and continued. "This...all of this...it's a dream, isn't it?" he asked with some sadness in his voice and eyes. "It has to be...Father hasn't even yelled once."
"Lovi..." the younger twin cried and slowly walked up to his brother, embracing him in a hug. "I know Father was hard on you, but it's gonna be different now. We love you, fratello, and we don't want to lose you."
"Why?"
Feli pulled back and looked his brother in the eye. "Why wouldn't we? You're family."
Lovino bit his lip and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Feli, can I ask a question? And I want you to answer honestly." His brother nodded slightly, so he continued. "If you can think of anything...is there anything I'm good at?" He waited for an answer but nothing came. He opened his eyes to see tears streaming down his brother's face like waterfalls. He bit his lip again, knowing the answer was nothing.
"You're good at being a friend," a voice said from the doorway.
Shocked, the two Italians turned to see Lukas standing in the door, along with Eirikur and the other three Nords.
"You alright?" Eirikur asked, worried for the friend he had saved. Lovino still wasn't sure what to say and just stared at them in surprise. Feli broke the awkwardness by exclaiming the Icelander's name and pouncing on him, hugging him tight. "Ah...Feliciano..." the young teen said, trying to break out of the hug.
"Lovi!" Feli yelled in excitement as he turned back toward his brother. He pointed back to Eirikur. "Eiri saved you, Lovi~!" Lovino looked to the young Nord, who fidgeted in embarrassment. It didn't help that Lukas and Matthias put their arms around him and started saying how proud they were. Feliciano laughed along. "Lovi, you have nice friends," he stated with a smile.
"Yeah..." Lovino agreed, though he wasn't smiling. The group then turned to him and began talking like usual, just teasing each other and telling funny stories. They didn't ask him about why he'd attempted suicide, much to his relief. Instead, they simply tried to make him happy, which seemed to be working since he was laughing along with the crazy stories Matthias was sharing. Feli couldn't help but smile as well; not just because of the stories but because he had never seen his brother laugh like that, let alone smile. It made him happy to see that Lovino found his place among the Nords.
Romulus then walked into the room with a large pizza, bread-sticks, and a bottle of Root Beer. He froze in the doorway and blinked at the scene. A group of kids he hadn't seen before were crowded around his son's bed, and Lovino was laughing! He couldn't stop staring at his son, whose smile was far more radiant than he could have ever imagined. He only stopped staring when one of the kids, a kind blond boy named Tino, noticed him and asked if he needed help. The two of them set the food up on a bedside table, and the group began to eat together, continuing to share stories of their pasts and things that they planned on doing.
"We're goin' to Finland during winter break," Matthias said with his trademark grin, not really caring about the bits of pizza in his teeth. "You should totally come. We're gonna ski and snowboard, and we're gonna stay in these awesome heated igloos and watch the northern lights. It's gonna be awesome!"
"Uh..." Lovino swallowed. He did like to travel and wanted to try new things, but this was a bit short notice. Winter break was about a month and a half away.
"Sounds fun," Romulus stated and gave an approving smile toward his son. "You should go. It's not every day you get to do stuff like that." He was worried about sending Lovino off on his own after what had happened, but he trusted the boy's new friends to look after him. Besides, it was about time the boy started making his own stories to tell.
Lovino looked at his father questioningly. "But what about Christmas?" he asked, knowing full well that their family refused to miss the holiday.
"We could always use Skype!" Feliciano exclaimed.
"Oui. Skype is good for keeping in touch with your loved ones," interrupted a new voice, again, from the doorway. Lovino glared hard at the familiar trio standing there. Francis was leaning against the door with his arms crossed cockily. Gilbert wore a bored expression with his hands in his hoodie pockets, and Antonio just stood there awkwardly with a crooked smile. Behind them were Ludwig and Kiku.
"Why the hell are you bastards here?!" Lovino growled, hands clenched into fists.
"Sorry," Ludwig apologized, "I couldn't stop my idiot brother from tagging along."
"Kesesesesese~! But why would you want to stop the awesome me? Little Lovino is my friend, is he not?"
"Fuck you," the Italian snarled and looked ready to bite the albino's head off.
"Tsk, tsk. No need to be so angry, mon ami," Francis teased, eyeing the Italian. "We are here to make amends." Lovi gave him a cautious look, not willing to trust the guy who had got him kicked out of school and helped beat the shit out of him. He really didn't owe them his trust or any kindness at that. He simply glared hatefully at his two bullies, and it became obvious to the others in the room that he did not want them anywhere near him. Lukas was the first to stand, followed by the intimidating Berwald, Tino, Matthias, and finally Eirikur.
"I think you should leave," the Norwegian stated with a boldness to his usually-blank voice. The others nodded, standing protectively between Lovino and the cocky newcomers. Francis frowned angrily and glared. Gilbert pouted childishly. Antonio looked genuinely upset. The three of them left without many complaints, Ludwig and Kiku ready to follow them out before being told they could stay. "Who were they?" Lukas asked Lovino after the troublesome trio was gone.
"Just a couple of bastards and their friend," Lovi replied irritably, not wanting to elaborate. He was sure they could figure it out without all the details.
"I'll be sure to scold Gilbert later," the tall German said with disappointment. He was well aware of how troublesome his brother could be.
"Thanks..." Lovino said, not really looking at him. He wasn't sure how else to respond since he wasn't exactly friends with Ludwig or Kiku. The German nodded in response. The room fell into an awkward silence for a while, everyone just sitting (and standing), thinking of whatever.
"Oh," Eirikur said suddenly, causing everyone to look over at him. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cell phone, handing it to Lovino. "Sorry. I kind of forgot to give that back," he explained and sat back down. The Italian thanked him, silently observing the dried blood stains on the cellular device before placing it on the stand beside the bed.
His friends stayed for another hour or so. They had to leave and finish their homework. Feli's friends stayed a bit longer before heading home as well, leaving the three Italians alone.
"Your friends are very nice," Romulus told his son, who looked about ready for bed. Feli yawned, exhausted from spending all day in a hospital. "Are you ready to head home?" the elder Italian asked, petting his son's hair. "Your brother needs his rest." The two of them stood and pulled on their jackets. "We'll be back tomorrow to pick you up, and we'll eat out anywhere you want, okay?" he told Lovino and gave him a tight hug.
"Okay...but I'm fine with just eating idiota's pasta at home."
"Don't call your brother an idiot," Romulus scolded lightly and ruffled his son's hair. "Love you," he said before breaking the hug. He and Feli left shortly afterward, leaving Lovino to sit in wonder alone. He'd been waiting so long for those words and honestly never thought he'd receive them. It happened so casually, and yet...those words changed everything.
He didn't have to be senseless. He was loved...for who he was.
A boring/lame ending, I know. Whatever. Hope it was at least decent to you guys.
Thanks for reading & please review ^_^