Lovino laid in his grandfather's old bed, it being the only one in the house large enough to fit both him and Antonio.

Antonio was asleep right behind him, snoring softly, as if to confirm that he was, indeed, still there. Slowly, he turned his attention to the window. It was dark outside at this point, the two having slept straight into the night. Though Lovino was incapable of knowing what time it was without his phone, which was in his pocket that was squished between him and the bed. He didn't want to move though, due to the off chance that he might wake up Antonio.

With a sigh, he looked over his shoulder at the sleeping male, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he could just barely make out his sleeping face, thanks to the single street light outside. He had been far more supportive and patient than Lovino even expected, let alone deserved at the moment. His temper had been off the charts since the incident, after all, anger was the only emotion he ever really knew how to express. But Antonio had taken everything in stride and managed to keep an encouraging smile on his face all the while.

It honestly made Lovino feel horrible about the way he'd been acting, but that just added onto his emotional distress and made him act out even more. The only thing he could really feel good about at this point was that at the very least, he'd managed to direct his anger at everyone except Antonio.

Lovino let out a sigh of frustration, slowly turning over in the bed before wrapping his arm around Antonio's waist and snuggling into his chest.

"Mi dispiace. Non si dovrebbe avere a mettere in su con la mia merda..."

Later that night, Lovino had finally managed to wriggle out of Antonio's grasp so he could roam around the house for a bit. He first headed down stairs, looking into the living room. That was the last room he'd been in before he'd been ripped from his home all those years ago. The last happy memory he'd been able to make before his life went completely down hill, turned to a pile of shit as he found out his grandfather had been killed and he had to go live with the Beilschmidt's in their cold, unwelcoming mansion with that obnoxious bastard Gilbert and his younger, slightly more tolerable brother Ludwig.

Lovino could practically see the younger, more feminine version of Feliciano laying on the floor, scratching his crayon against a coloring book and kicking his feet happily as Lovino's younger self sat on the couch, watching the tv with a pouty, bored expression on his face. Lovino could feel a smile pulling up the corners of his mouth as he looked into the dimly lit room at the scene, though in his minds eye the room was lit up by the two lamps that sat on either side of the couch. Tears started to fill his eyes as he watched on, still smiling to himself as he leant against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest.

His smile faltered though when he could practically hear the loud knock resound through the house. He placed a hand over his heart as little Feliciano hopped up in excitement, running out of the room to see his grandfather and little Lovino jumped up after him, yelling at him to not open the door.

Lovino squeezed his eyes shut, gripping tightly at his shirt and turned away from the room. He couldn't bare to relive that moment again. Lovino took a deep breath to steady himself and slowly moved on to the kitchen. Everything was just as he remembered it, save for the addition of dust covering everything. There was still mail sprawled on the kitchen table from where it was normally tossed and left until Romulus was able to get around to reading through it. An old newspaper was folded up and laying where his grandpa used to sit. And he could already see his smiling face, reading over the news as he sipped at his steaming mug of coffee. Little Feliciano sat to his left munching away at a stack of pancakes while talking happily about his little German friend from school while little Lovino sat on his right, grumbling about potato bastards.

After a moment, Romulus put down his paper and coffee and pat both the boys on the head, silencing both of them as he told them how adorable they both were. Lovino chuckled to himself softly at the memory before entering the kitchen, effectively ending his daydream as he looked over everything, dragging his fingers over the dust covered table before wiping the dust off on his pants. He took a deep breath before letting it out in a low sigh and exiting the kitchen. The only other room on the first floor was his grandfather's office, and as he looked down the hall to the door way, he couldn't make himself go inside. He'd barely even been in there as a child, the room being mostly off limits, and now it just seemed like there would be too many memories of his grandfather now, especially that of the life he lead outside of his home life. Lovino wasn't certain he could handle seeing all of that at the moment. So instead he headed back upstairs, glancing to the bathroom and a distant memory of bath time flashing through his mind as little Lovino and little Feliciano splashed at their grandfather, who was holding up his arms in an futile attempt to block the water as he laughed at the boys shenanigans.

Lovino smiled softly to himself before turning to enter his and Feliciano's old room, the door creaking quietly as he slowly pushed it open. He couldn't help it when his smile widened at the sight of the room. There were two beds against the far right wall, one of them made rather neatly, while the other was an absolute mess. It was very clear which bed belonged to which brother. Though in Lovino's defense, it wasn't like he'd never tried to make his bed. He just wasn't very good at it...

He couldn't help but chuckle as he remembered all the times he'd tried to make his bed and how frustrated he would get. Feliciano even offering to help a couple times but being shot down quickly due to how stubborn Lovino was. Whenever he'd finish Romulus would come to see their finished work and couldn't help but smile in amusement at Lovino's miserable attempt at making his bed. And even though they both knew it was never as perfect as Feliciano's, Romulus would still pat him on the head and boast about what a wonderful job he'd done. Lovino would always feel so much better about himself afterwards. He never got that kind of praise and happy feeling living in the Beilschmidt household. Though making the bed was never a matter there as they had a maid that did such tasks. Regardless though, all that place did was make him hate his life. He could remember coming home for the first time after moving in with the Beilschmidt's, looking at his room, his bed made perfectly and his room cleaned up. Spotless. He'd started crying the moment he saw it then tore the whole room apart in a tantrum. The next day the maid cleaned it up again.

Without even realizing it, Lovino now found himself starting to cry, tears rolling quickly down his cheeks as he clutched at his shirt and let out a quiet sob.

"Lovino?" Antonio's soft voice suddenly called from behind him, making him jump and quickly spin around to look at Antonio. His eyes were squinting in the darkness as he looked at Lovino in confusion. Lovino only looked at him for a moment before he suddenly threw himself into the Spaniard, wrapping his arms around his waist and quietly crying into his chest. This behavior only served to confuse Antonio further, but he didn't question it as he wrapped his arms around Lovino and rubbed soothing circles into his back.

"Do you want to go back to bed amor?" He asked quietly, Lovino nodding against him in agreement before Antonio slowly lead the two of them back to his grandfather's room.

"Lovino..." Antonio said gently, shaking the sleeping Italian. He'd only dozed off probably an hour ago, but had gone to retrieve food for the two of them and he figured Lovino would want to eat it while it was hot. On top of that he was hoping it would make him feel a bit better.

"Mi querido, nap times over. I brought food." He said, receiving a grumble that he couldn't understand in response. Antonio chuckled to himself. "Come on Lovi, you must be starving at this point, you haven't had anything since lunch yesterday."

Lovino groaned as he flipped over in the bed to peek up at Antonio. "I'm sleeping dammit..." He mumbled irritably. Antonio smiled at Lovino and placed a hand on his head.

"I know Lovi, but you need to eat." He responded, his voice soft and caring. Lovino stared at him for a moment before letting out a sigh of resignation and slowly sat up, allowing the blanket to fall off him as he rubbed tiredly at his eyes. Antonio smiled widely as Lovino started to get up.

"I cleaned the dust off the kitchen table and chairs so we could eat down stairs, and I brought you some coffee and cornetti." Antonio said, the news seeming to make Lovino perk up a bit. He then lead Lovino downstairs to the kitchen where they sat and ate in a comfortable silence. Lovino practically inhaled three of the cornetti while he sipped at his coffee and Antonio couldn't help but watch in amusement while he enjoyed his own breakfast.

"Grazie Antonio. I haven't had cornetti since Nonno was alive." Lovino said, a somber expression on his face as he held his coffee in both hands. Antonio looked up curiously at that.

"Why's that?" Lovino shrugged, looking down at his coffee for a moment before he spoke.

"Didn't know where the cafe that sold them was. Nonno always picked them up on busy mornings for Feliciano and I before school. Many cafes don't even know what they are, they think they're a damn croissant." Lovino explained quietly before taking a swig of his coffee.

"Huh... It's really close to here. It's an Italian bakery."

"That explains why I couldn't find it..." Lovino muttered, mostly to himself, though Antonio couldn't help but smile.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. So, did you want to try going to school today Lovi?"

He thought it over for a moment as he stared down at the table. He hadn't really thought about it much, though now that Antonio had brought it up, he was thinking it probably wouldn't be the best idea. Even after coming back home and getting some rest with Antonio, he still didn't feel right. He wasn't himself. He knew until he started feeling better that he couldn't go back out around people unless Antonio was able to be with him the whole time.

"No, school… probably isn't the best idea." Lovino finally answered, glancing up at Antonio as he spoke. Antonio nodded slightly in understanding.

"Si, that's fine. We can just spend the day here then." Antonio said, earning a confused look from Lovino.

"Toni, you don't have to miss school too, I can take care of myself." Lovino said. Part of him didn't want Antonio to go, he felt better with him there, but he didn't want Antonio to miss school because he couldn't handle things on his own. Antonio should be able to go regardless of the absolute mess that Lovino was at the moment. His life shouldn't stop on his account.

Though Antonio was quick to shake his head in disagreement before looking sternly at Lovino.

"I would never leave you alone like this Lovino."

Lovino sighed, running a hand through his hair and looking off to the window over the kitchen sink.

"I don't need you to take care of me Antonio, I can do that myself."

"You may not need me to take care of you, Lovino." Antonio placed a hand over Lovino's making him look over at Antonio, his brows pinched together in his worry. "But I want to take care of you. More than anything, I want to be here for you right now Lovino. So I'm going to stay here with you."

Lovino stared at Antonio for a moment, processing his words before a small smile slowly pulled it's way across his face and he slowly nodded in understanding.

"Grazie Antonio." He whispered in response, making a wide smile pull across his counterpart's face.

It had been five days since Antonio and Lovino had come to stay at Lovino's old home. Antonio had picked up flashlights and lanterns from the store when it became clear that Lovino had no intentions of leaving any time soon. Really, the only time he even exited the house was the couple of times that Carlos had called them in to do a job, otherwise Antonio was the only one leaving the house. They'd been eating a lot of take out over the week since there was no electricity in the house, though Antonio thanked his lucky stars that the water heater and stove appeared to be gas powered, so they were capable of showering still and Antonio could cook if he wanted to.

Lovino was starting to worry him though. He didn't want to leave the house, and he was acting strange, like he wasn't as snappy as he used to be. It would come out a bit around other people while they were working, but when it was just the two of them he just seemed kind of mopey and compliant. He still seemingly tried to perk up for Antonio so he wouldn't worry about him. It was a sweet gesture, though it really only served to worry him further. He shouldn't have to be trying hard to act normal, it should just be natural.

Antonio stared at the young Italian as he got ready for bed, trying to think of what to do to help make him feel better. Lovino, at the moment was curled up on the bed, using a flashlight to read over his grandfather's journal. He seemed to be reading it quite a bit over the past few days. He said it helped him understand things, though what he didn't appear to be willing to share what it was helping him understand.

Antonio pursed his lips for a moment as he looked over Lovino before slowly making his way over to the bed.

"Lovi?" He said, quickly grabbing his attention away from the journal.

"Si Toni?"

"I have a job I'm supposed to do for Carlos tomorrow morning." Lovino quirked a brow at this before turning his attention back to the book.

"That's fine Toni, I can stay here for a while by myself." Lovino answered absently as he continued to read, making Antonio sigh in frustration as he climbed into the space on the bed next to Lovino.

"No, Lovi, that's not what I meant." Antonio said, gently placing his hand over the journal and pushing it into Lovino's lap. Lovino turned his gaze back towards Antonio, confusion written clearly across his face as he stared at Antonio with those big hazel eyes. Antonio smiled softly before he spoke up again. "I want you to come with me Lovino."

Lovino's brows furrowed in confusion as he looked up at Antonio.

"Did Carlos ask for me to come?" He asked.

"No, but I want you to. I think it would be good for you to come along on a job that isn't just standing around and waiting for something that probably isn't going to happen."

"If Carlos didn't ask for me specifically then I'm not coming along. There's no reason to." Lovino said as he went to go back to his reading, though Antonio quickly moved his hand to his face, gently turning his head so he was looking at him again.

"Lovino, this isn't healthy. Keeping yourself locked up in this house and moping around all day, it's not good for you. You need to get out and do stuff." Antonio said gently. Lovino shook his head and rolled his eyes in response.

"Toni, there's nothing wrong with me staying here. I'm just taking a break from everything that's been going on lately." Lovi responded.

"Lovino, that response right there tells me you're not doing well at all. Before you would've snapped at me for trying to tell you what to do and accused me of calling you unhealthy. Sólo quiero ayudarte, amor." Antonio responded as he moved his face closer to Lovino's, his breath ghosting over his cheek for a moment before he pressed a soft kiss to his face.

"Please come with me, Lovi..." Antonio whispered. Lovino sat there for a moment, his cheeks heating up from how close Antonio was to him before he let out a sigh and nodded slightly in agreement.

"Si, alright. I'll come along." He said, making Antonio pull back and smile widely at Lovino in his excitement.

"You will?" He asked, and Lovino nodded once more, making Antonio pull him into a tight hug.

"Gracias Lovino!" He responded happily, making Lovino chuckle slightly at his antics.

"Si, si. Now go to sleep bastard, we have a job to do in the morning."

Antonio nodded in agreement as he slipped the journal out of Lovino's hands, winking at the Italian before placing it in the drawer of his bed table, making Lovino roll his eyes before he turned off his flashlight, putting it up and sliding down into the bed to sleep.

He felt Antonio wrap his arm around his waist, pulling him in close and whispering goodnight before allowing himself to fall asleep. Lovino stayed up for a little while longer though, slowly beginning to freak out about the prospect of going out on a job with Antonio in the morning. What if something happened and he lost control? He'd been reigning himself in quite nicely in his own opinion, though now that Antonio had mentioned his earlier response, or lack there of, he couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was more damaged now than he had initially been.

Translations:

Italian: Mi dispiace. Non si dovrebbe avere a mettere in su con la mia merda... - I'm sorry. You should not have to put up with my shit...

Spanish: Sólo quiero ayudarte, amor - I just want to help you, love

Oh god, kind of long time no see, but not nearly as long as the last time. So sorry, been having writers block again, lots going on right now, must go now babies! Lots of love to all of you! Bye!

~Leanex