Thanks to and an anon for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 6

When Lovino awoke the next morning, it was with a massive headache. He groaned, the alarm clock not doing him any favours. He pushed himself up and shut off the alarm, before closing his eyes again, trying to stave off the headache. It took a few minutes before he climbed out of bed. He could hear the footsteps of his father approaching. Well, there wasn't a reason for him to have a problem.

The door was flung open, and Lovino glanced towards it.

"Looks like you managed to get out of bed this time," Romulus said.

"Do we still have aspirin?" Lovino asked, hand climbing to his head.

Romulus sighed, before he turned and left. Lovino was looking around for something to wear when his father returned, carrying a glass of water and a single pill.

"Only one," Romulus said firmly.

Lovino nodded, before accepting the pill and water and drank it down. Romulus sighed.

"Get dressed," he said, before leaving.

Lovino knew that his father assumed that he had abused some sort of substance, but he didn't care at the moment. Headaches were becoming more frequent, and he was actually getting a little worried about it.

He quickly got ready, and went down to the kitchen. He could once again hear his brothers speaking happily about things that neither concerned nor interested him. He plated up some of the breakfast before sitting at the table.

"Well, looks like it's going to rain," Romulus said. "Lovino is joining us at the table."

Lovino shot his father a look that conveyed his lack of amusement, and Romulus just smirked at the look. Feliciano giggled at their father's joke, while Marcello was busy swallowing and couldn't give a response.

As usual, Lovino stayed out of the conversation that followed. He didn't really have a contribution, and he would much rather finish his breakfast and do some final preparations before the bus arrived.

He found that he didn't have enough of an appetite for food, so he only ended up eating about half of his breakfast before he had to push it aside. He quickly stood up to leave.

"Didn't I teach you not to throw food away?" Romulus asked in annoyance.

"I'm not that hungry," Lovino said.

He quickly left before his father could say anything else to him. He wasn't hungry, and there was nothing that he could do about it. If he forced himself to eat, then he would only end up making himself sick. There was also the risk of the terrible trio punching him in the stomach. It had happened before that they punched him, and he had ended up getting sick because they punched him with a full stomach. And then they beat him further for getting sick. It was one of the reasons why he no longer ate lunch.

The bus arrived on schedule, and the three brothers were on their way out the front door. Marcello and Feliciano each received a 'have a nice day', while Lovino received a warning to not skip another class. It wasn't as though the one from the previous day was planned.

Lovino sat at his usual seat in the front of the bus, listening to his brothers' excited chattering with their friends. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but think back to Feliks the previous day.

Was the blond serious about wanting to be his friend? He couldn't think of any reason why, though. Except that Feliks had seen him trying to commit suicide, and was doing this as some form of charity. There was also the fact that Feliks himself had attempted suicide at some point.

He sensed someone sit down in the seat beside him, and he immediately pushed himself closer to the window, looking out. The one sitting next to him was one of three possibilities, and he didn't want to deal with any one of them.

"You know, you're lucky that you didn't break my nose."

Francis.

Lovino didn't respond. He hoped that, if he ignored him, then he would go away. But that approach had never helped him in the past. Still, there was a first time for everything.

"I deserve an apology," Francis said.

Lovino curled his fists. Even if he did hurt Francis – not really intentional, but instinctual – there was the fact that Francis and his friends had threatened Lovino. They had hurt Lovino as well, far more than Lovino could have possibly hurt Francis.

"Looks like he's trying to give us the silent treatment," Antonio said.

"Either that, or he's just too stupid to say something," Gilbert said.

"That sounds right as well," Francis said, and Lovino could hear the smirk in his voice. "He's too stupid to say something."

Lovino gritted his teeth. He was determined not to give them a reaction. He wasn't about to be yelled at by the driver again.

"Seriously, I feel sorry for Feli, having to deal with a brother like you," Gilbert said. "At least I have an awesome brother. But poor Feli and Marcello have you. When's the last time you were nice to them?"

"Forget it," Antonio said. "He doesn't know how to be nice. His mama never taught him."

Lovino bit the inside of his cheek as he tried not to rise to the bait. He also clenched his fists to the point where he was sure the nails would be digging into the flesh. Antonio knew that any mention to his mother was a sore spot for him. Antonio had been his 'friend' when she died, and so knew how much Lovino loved her.

"You know, you need to learn that the world doesn't revolve around you," Francis sneered. "There are other people in the world. You can't always be expecting people to treat you like a prince."

That was rich, coming from the arrogant snob.

They kept taunting him until they reached the school. Lovino took a deep breath in relief. It was over.

"Don't think that this is over," Francis said darkly. "I still need to repay you for my nose."

"I think the punches your friends threw more than makes up for it," Lovino snapped.

He hissed in pain when Francis grabbed the back of his head, pulling the hair. He could actually feel as a few of them were torn out of his scalp.

"The difference between you and I is that I actually have people that care about me," Francis whispered into his ear. "What do you have?"

Lovino gritted his teeth, and Francis thrust his head towards the window. Lovino sucked in a breath of pain, but thankfully Francis was moving away, leaving the bus. Lovino waited until he was the last one before he got off, ignoring the bus driver who gave him a dark look.

…

Feliks found Lovino in the library, surrounded by many more books. The Italian had a notebook open in front of him, and he kept checking it before leafing through another book. He would also jot down something on another page on occasion.

"Hey," Feliks greeted. "And all these?"

"Research," Lovino said.

Feliks checked again. They were history books, and Feliks frowned as he brought one of them closer.

"The history of relations between our countries stretches back to the Middle Ages," Lovino said. "Around the fifteenth century. Like most, if not all of Europe, Poland was influenced by the Renaissance. And in the sixteenth century, the king of Poland married a member of a powerful Italian family, Bona Sforza, who brought some more Italian influence into Polish culture. For some strange reason, it doesn't look like you had salads or vegetables as part of your cuisine until she came along."

Feliks could only stare at all of the books, and especially the notes that Lovino jotted down.

"Like, you're making me feel bad," Feliks said. "You've been working so hard, and I haven't done anything yet."

"If you want to help," Lovino said, not looking up from his book, "take one of these and write down any keywords you find useful, and also write down the pages."

Feliks nodded his head, grabbing the nearest book and starting to make the notes that Lovino suggested. The two worked in silence, and Feliks was starting to think that, perhaps, Lovino didn't mind being his project partner.

Then again, there was also the possibility that Lovino was trying to finish as swiftly as possible in order to get rid of Feliks sooner.

The Pole decided to think positively.

"So, did you tell your parents that you'd be coming to my house?" Feliks asked.

Lovino tensed a bit, before he nodded his head.

"Si," he said. "Feliciano and Marcello have club activities, so they'll be staying after school."

"What clubs are they in?" Feliks asked.

"Art for Feliciano, and swimming for Marcello."

"And what about you?"

"I'm not in any clubs."

"Really? But, what are you interested in?"

Lovino paused, and Feliks's stomach dropped when he realised that Lovino was trying very hard to think of something.

"Like, I know you like books," Feliks said. "Isn't there a book club?"

"Not at this school," Lovino said, but Feliks could see that he relaxed a bit after Feliks pointed out his love of books.

"Why don't you totally start one?"

Lovino chuckled wryly.

"No one would believe that I would start a book club," Lovino said. "And besides, no one would want to come to a club that I started."

Feliks bit his lip at the self-deprecation that Lovino inflicted on himself. But then again, Feliks had been the same a few weeks ago. He just needed to show Lovino that what he said about himself wasn't true.

Feliks could think of nothing more to say, and the two of them continued their search for information in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, the librarian came by, most likely doing some rounds.

"Doth mine eyes deceive me?" she asked, her eyes widening. "Someone else is here."

Feliks gave her a nervous smile, and Lovino rolled his eyes.

"We're working on a project," he explained, not looking up.

"I can see that," she said. "What's surprising is that you, Lovino, are working with someone. And that someone is actually using the library." She then turned to Feliks. "You haven't gotten a library card yet, have you?"

Feliks shook his head, and the woman beckoned him closer.

"Come with me," she said. "We can sort this out, and it would be nice to have someone other than Lovino having a card."

Feliks followed her to the front, and she took a ledger and a piece of project board out.

"Like, is Lovino the only one that uses the library?" Feliks asked.

The woman looked sad as she nodded her head.

"Unfortunately," she said. "Not a lot of students at this school are interested in books. They would much rather play games on their cell phones. And when they have a project, they prefer to look on the internet. This is what makes it the perfect place for Lovino."

Feliks looked back in the direction where Lovino was still working, before turning back to the woman.

"So, like, you know he's bullied?" he asked.

"You need to work on your speech," she sighed. "Saying 'like' as often as you do is not proper English. But, yes, I'm aware of his situation. It's painfully obvious to anyone that actually tries to look."

"Well… Why doesn't anyone try to look?"

"Because people only see what they want to see. It's much easier for them to accept that Lovino is a delinquent who gets into fights than it is to accept that he's a shy individual who just wants to be left alone. People won't see what's right in front of them until they're forced to confront the truth in the most painful way possible."

Feliks thought back to what happened two days ago. It was the second time he'd interacted with Lovino, and he saw how much pain he was in. He wondered, if he hadn't seen that sight, would he have believed Elizaveta's words about him?

Thinking back to what he thought when he first heard Elizaveta's words about Lovino, Feliks realised with shame that he would have believed her. He did believe her, at least for a while. But that didn't change the fact that he had been one of the ignorant idiots that believed the worst of Lovino.

He was silent as the librarian continued with her task, before finally handing him a card. It was made of the same project board that he'd seen earlier, and had his name and grade. There was another card that she'd folded as an envelope, and she also had his information on the system.

"Put it to good use," she said, smiling sadly.

"Thanks," he said, before he turned to return to Lovino.

The Italian was still hard at work, and Feliks quietly sat down across from him. They worked in silence until Lovino closed his notebook, surprising Feliks.

"We need to get going," Lovino said. "The bell rings in five minutes. We also need to check out a few of these books if we're going to work today."

Feliks nodded his head, and he took the book that he had been working on and followed Lovino to check the book out.

"So, what's your last period?" Feliks asked.

"Math," Lovino said.

"Aw, I have chemistry."

Lovino sighed.

"Where should I meet you then?" he asked.

"Like, you can meet me at the gate," Feliks said, ignoring the librarian's look at his verbal tic. "And then I can take you to my mom's car."

Lovino nodded his head in understanding. After checking out their books, the two started to make their way out of the library, but Lovino hung back.

"Like, what's wrong?" Feliks asked.

Lovino frowned, but didn't answer. Feliks realised that he was doing the same thing as the previous day and gave Feliks a head start so as not to be seen with him.

"Like, if you walk with me, then they might not bother you," Feliks suggested.

Lovino paused, before he shook his head. Feliks sighed.

"Like, you missed a class, didn't you?" Feliks asked. "They hurt you, and I'm giving you a chance to avoid getting hurt again. Besides, everyone in our history class would know that we're partners. And, like, I'm the new kid. They would say that I don't know better yet."

Feliks was proud by the amused snort that Lovino gave, before he sighed.

"Fine," he said. "But don't say that I didn't warn you."

Feliks beamed, and the two of them made their way to their economics class.

…

"Alright," Mr Zwingli said. "Do you understand the production cycle now?"

Lovino honestly couldn't say that he did, but he knew by now that the teacher wouldn't expect anything else. He sighed in relief when the bell rang, and like the others, he started packing his bag.

"Vargas, I want you to stay behind," Mr Zwingli said.

Lovino froze, hearing several snickers and other mocking sounds. Even though his brother was also in this class, it was clear to everyone that the teacher wanted to see Lovino.

Feliks threw him a worried look from where he was sitting next to Elizaveta, but Lovino ignored him. It wasn't the first time a teacher had called him back for his 'behaviour', and he knew that it was about the 'fight' that the teacher had witnessed the previous day.

Though the others wanted to linger to hear what kind of trouble Lovino was in this time, one look from Mr Zwingli had all of them running for the door. When they were alone, the teacher closed the door before standing in front of his desk.

"What happened yesterday?" Mr Zwingli asked.

Lovino knew it.

"Didn't those three already tell you?" Lovino asked.

"I want to hear your side of the story."

Lovino was struck silent. Never in his life had anyone wanted to hear his side of events. They always accepted the words of the others. They never even gave Lovino a chance to defend himself.

Only one word came to mind.

"Why?" he asked quietly.

Mr Zwingli arched an eyebrow.

"We need to know each side of the story if we want the truth," Mr Zwingli said.

"Since when?" Lovino demanded, in spite of himself. "Since when do you care about…?"

He bit his tongue, but the damage was done. Mr Zwingli narrowed his eyes, and Lovino couldn't help but wonder how much detention he would have now. Without realising it, his hands had started trembling, but he did take notice of the fact that the teacher turned his attention to his hands.

"Vargas, I couldn't help but notice that a lot of the fights you land in happen to involve Beilschmidt, Carriedo and Bonnefoy," Mr Zwingli said. "What exactly is your problem with them? Or their problem with you?"

He knew what Antonio's problem with him was. He also knew Francis's problem with him. The thing was, he couldn't figure out what he had done to Gilbert to make him hate him. To make him bully him.

After a long moment of silence, the teacher sighed.

"Vargas, I just want to know your side of the story, and then you can go," Mr Zwingli said.

"What does it matter?" Lovino muttered. "None of you ever believe me."

"Try me."

"…I was just trying to get to class. I was just trying to get away."

He'd said things like this a hundred times. And a hundred times, he was told that that wasn't what everyone else said. That it was his word against many. And he learned a long time ago that his words meant nothing.

He folded his arms, and that was when he noticed that his arms were shaking. He pressed them tightly against his chest, willing them to stop.

Mr Zwingli sighed, before he got a paper pad on his desk. He wrote a few things before tearing the first page off and handing it to Lovino.

"Class is already underway," the teacher said. "Show that to your next teacher if you want to avoid trouble."

Regardless of the signature, Lovino would still get in trouble.