At five in the morning, Lovino is awakened when he hears his cell phone ring loudly. He quickly grabs it and sees that it was Elizaveta blowing up his phone. He groaned and picks it up.

"Do you know what time it is?" He answers sleepily. His eyes remained closed as he spoke.

"He's dead, Lovino. He's gone." Her voice was frantic and hoarse. As though she had been crying for a while.

"Who?" he sits straight up.

"Gilbert.." her voice cracks and she starts to sob. Lovino feels his heart break at the news. He hadn't been close to Gilbert, but he knew what he meant to Eliza and Antonio.

"Eliza I-"

"And...I didn't know if I should call you, but you'll find out eventually. Antonio was there also and-"

He's wide awake now. His fingers tighten on the phone. "Where's Antonio? Is he okay?" She simply broke into more sobs as she spoke, unable to make out words. "Eliza...Please tell he's okay. I beg of you, please."

"He was shot." Her voice was below a whisper.

Lovino's breath hitches and he feels his heart hammer against his chest as he waited for her to say the dreaded words. He tries to prepare his mind for the worse but it doesn't come.

"He's in surgery at Lakeshore Hospital."

Before she finished her sentence, Lovino whips the blanket off him and rips his pajamas off only to throw some clothes on. He runs and grabs his keys and runs down the steps skipping 4 steps at a time almost falling. He heads out the door still holding his cell phone tight to his ear as Elizaveta tells him the details of all she knows.

The drug deal went horribly; ending with Gilbert and Julio dead. Antonio was shot and is now in surgery. That's all she knew.

"But Gilbert isn't even in the Blood! Why the fuck was he shot?"

She sighed heavily. "I don't know...the stupid asshole...he was getting involved in something that didn't even involve him.." He could hear her trying to keep from breaking.

He hangs up with her and he drives to the hospital. He felt his eyes sting as he drove, his hands were so tight on the wheel that his knuckles turned a pale white. He was sad. He was angry. He was scared. He felt every negative emotion possible but he continued to drive to the hospital. That evening he spent with Antonio he was so sure he would have chose Lovino over the drug deal. Antonio may have betrayed their love, but Lovino can't. Won't. Deep sobs rack his body. Gilbert had assured him yesterday he was going to make sure Antonio didn't do the drug deal. That's when it hit him.

Gilbert took Antonio's place and ended up dead.

The realization made Lovino want to puke. He regretted at that moment of ever being nasty to the albino man. He tries to drown the images of Antonio not making it through the surgery. Lovino knew deep down that a part of him would die with his Spanish lover.

He makes it to the hospital and asks the receptionist where he should go to wait for updates on Antonio's condition. The women asks him to spell Antonio's name, then types it on her keyboard. The clacking noise of her long, manicured nails typing away drives Lovino up the wall. She was taking so long, he wanted to grab her shoulders and shake her into going faster.

The woman looks at him with a suspicious look. "Are you family?"

"Yes."

"Relation?"

"Brother." he says quickly.

She stares at him for a moment before shaking her head in disbelief. She shrugs. "Antonio Carriedo was brought in with a gunshot wound."

"Is he going to be okay?" He cried.

The lady punched her keyboard again. "It seems he's been in surgery all morning, Mr. Carriedo. The waiting room is the orange room down the hall on the right. The doctor will inform you of your brother's prognosis after surgery."

He clutch the counter. "Thank you."

In the waiting room, Lovino freezes as he sees Antonio's mother huddled in the corner, sitting on the orange colored hospital chairs. She looks up first. Her eyes bloodshot and tears stream down her face. Lovino's balls his fists trying to contain his sobs but it fails. Tears well in his eyes and the room became blurry. But through it, he could see Mrs. Carriedo open her arms to him. Overwhelmed by emotion he runs into her embrace.

His hand twitched.

Lovino lifts his head from Antonio's bed. He had been sitting beside him through the night waiting for him to wake up. Antonio's mother hasn't budged either. The doctor had told them that it could be hours before he was conscious. Lovino sighed and wet a paper towel from the hospital room sink dabs it on Antonio's forehead. He has been repeating this process throughout the night as he sweated and thrashed in a restless sleep.

His eyes flutter. Lovino could tell he's fighting the sedation as Antonio forces them open. "Where am I?" His voice was scratchy and faint.

Lovino felt relief as he heard him speak and so did Mrs. Carriedo as she smiled sadly. "The hospital."

"You were shot..." Lovino's voice was full of agony.

Antonio's brows furrowed in confusion. "Gilbert..." His voice hitched.

"Don't think about that right now." Lovino tried holding his emotion with little success. He needed to be strong for Antonio now and wasn't going to let him down.

He noticed how Antonio tried reaching for Lovino's hand but a pained expression crosses his face and he pulls back. Lovino had so much to say to him. He beat himself up, wishing he could somehow go back in time and save Antonio and Gilbert from their awful fates.

Antonio's eyes are glassy from drowsiness and meets Lovino's eyes. "Why are you here?"

Lovino watched as Mrs. Carriedo rubs Antonio's arm, trying to comfort him. "Lovino has been here all night, Antonio. He's worried about you."

After a moment, without looking away from Lovino, he sighs. "Let me talk to him. Alone." He says weakly.

His mother nods and exits the room, giving them privacy.

Once they're alone, Antonio tries to adjust his position, wincing as he did so. Once he fixed himself he shoots a glare at Lovino. "I want you to leave."

"You don't mean that.." Lovino reaches for his hand. He knew Antonio didn't mean it. He couldn't.

Antonio jerks his hand away, as though Lovino's skin burned him. "Yes I do."

Lovino swallowed hard. "I don't know whats going on with you; but we can get through this together. I love you."

Antonio turns his head and stares at the floor. He clears his throat. "I fucked you because of a bet, Lovino." He almost whispers, but the words come out crystal clear. "It didn't mean anything to me. You don't mean anything to me."

Lovino steps back as Antonio's harsh words dig into his brain. "No.." it barely came out.

"You and me...it was a game. I bet Carlos' RX-7 that I could fuck you by Halloween."

Lovino cringed when Antonio referred to their lovemaking as a "fuck". Calling it sex would have left a bitter taste in his mouth. Calling it a "Fuck" made his stomach churn. He keeps his hands at his sides. He wanted more than anything for Antonio to take back his words. "You're lying."

Antonio turns his gaze from the floor and looks into Lovino's eyes. Lovino felt his heart drop.

There was no emotion in Antonio's eyes.

It was dark, and steely. Almost like when they first met in the parking lot only worse. "You're pathetic if you think this thing between us was real."

Lovino began shaking his violently. "Don't hurt me Antonio. Not you. Not now." His lips were trembling and he felt dizzy. His legs felt like they would give out on him. He wanted to run as Antonio's eyes bore into his with such apathy of the situation. But he needed to stay. Make Antonio realize he was making a mistake. He mouthed a silent plea. "Please."

When he doesn't respond, Lovino took another step back almost stumbling as he thought about him. The him that only Antonio knew. In a pitiful whisper he tells him. "I trusted you."

"That was your mistake. Not mine."

Antonio touches his left shoulder and winces in pain before a group of his friends bust into the room. They all offer him condolences and sympathy while Lovino stood there in the corner, completely invisible. He felt his anger build the more he watched the group smile and laugh as they tried to play off the situation as though it was normal. His anger boiled over when he saw Antonio smile along with them.

"Was it all for the bet?" He almost shouts over the commotion.

The six or so people in the room stop what they were doing and stare at the Italian. Even Antonio. Elizaveta pushed her way through the crowd and steps toward Lovino but he holds up his hand and stops her.

"Is it true? Did Antonio make a bet to have sex with me?" He tries to keep his anger leveled but with little success. He still couldn't wrap his brain around the awful words Antonio told him. It couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

All eyes drift to him, but Antonio's penetrate Lovino's.

"Tell him" he orders.

A guy named Marco lifts his head up. "Well uh, yea." He glances at Antonio apparently shocked he actually had sex with a guy. But looks back to Lovino. "He won Carlos' RX-7."

That was it for Lovino. He backs to the door of the room, trying to hold his head high. There was fire in his veins and he felt it boiling out like a flood. A cold hard expression settles on Antonio's face.

Lovino had to resist the urge to smash something or someone. "Congratulations, bastard. You win. I hope you like you're new fucking car. Assholes."

As he grabs the door handle to leave, Antonio's steely glare turns to relief. He yanks the door open and speed walks out of the room, his rage on full blast. He hears Elizaveta come up behind him when he's in the hallway but he runs away from her, the hospital, and Antonio. He couldn't, however, run from his heart. It hurt so much. More than he thought was possible. The words had dug deep and it made it hurt emotionally and physically. His legs felt like rubber, he was lightheaded. His heart thumped against his ribcage so hard he thought it would burst. He felt a lump in his throat that wouldn't go away. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to punch every last person that ever stood in his and Antonio's way. He wanted to hit Antonio. He wanted to hold him. He wanted to kiss away his pain and comfort him.

He knew he would never be the same.