Thanks to Gyalx81 for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 10
Lovino awoke, noticing that his alarm wasn't blaring. He quickly checked the time, and groaned when he saw that it was still twenty minutes before he was supposed to wake up.
His body was in pain. From his head, down to his feet. The left one – the side of the ankle that he had sprained – was particularly painful. He'd already rubbed it with the necessary creams and wrapped it in a bandage. It felt better than it had the previous day, but it was still a problem. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hide his limp, and the last thing he wanted at this point in time was to be accused of fighting.
It wasn't a fight if he was the punching bag.
He knew that he would be slow this morning, and so decided that an early start would be the only cure. He pushed himself up, wincing at the creak the mattress made when he stood.
He first decided to tend to his ankle. He carefully unwrapped the bandage, sighing in relief when he saw that the swelling had gone down, and that it wasn't purple anymore. There was a bit of a blue tint, but that was alright. He took anti-inflammatory gel and started rubbing it on the area, flinching a bit at the cold temperature.
He could hear his father downstairs, and he knew that he needed to move quietly. The only thing worse than his father coming to get him when he was oversleeping was when his father investigated when he was awake too early.
When the ankle was securely wrapped in the bandage again, he removed his shirt, tending to the cuts and the bruises. He shook his head, trying to stave off the headache. When he put ointment on everything, he paused for a moment to pop any kinks out of his back, before he tended to the wounds on his legs. By the time he was finished, the alarm went off, causing him to jump in surprise.
He quickly snuffed out the sound, before he started getting ready. Ten minutes later, he heard his father's footsteps, but they stopped not far from his room. He had to be quiet earlier, but now he tried being loud. He wasn't giving his father a reason to come to his room.
He sighed in relief when he heard the footsteps departing, and he tried to rush through the rest of his morning routine.
Just as he was about to leave his room to go down to breakfast, he remembered that Feliks would be coming to his home this afternoon. He figured that it would be best to work in his room. He quickly checked to make sure that it was clean. He couldn't see any problems, asides from the bed that needed to be made. His eyes then fell on the desk.
He knew that Feliks would have a problem with the book, and he quickly moved to place it with the previous two volumes. When he was satisfied that the books were in a safe location, he went down for breakfast.
…
The moment Feliks walked into his English Literature class, he immediately knew that something was wrong. Lovino was already there, but he was staring listlessly at the table in front of him. Feliks frowned, rushing over and sitting down next to him.
"Like, what's wrong?" Feliks asked.
Lovino flinched, before he shook his head. Feliks frowned, before he reached out to touch Lovino's arm. Before he could do it, Lovino slapped his hand away, a dark look on his face.
"Don't touch me," he said lowly.
Feliks frowned. Lovino didn't sound angry or anything. In fact, he kind of reminded him of a dog at that moment; baring his teeth, but trying to shrink away. Lovino was scared, but trying to make it clear that instead of flight, he would fight.
Feliks could also see that Lovino's eyes were bloodshot, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He couldn't sleep, it would seem. But there was something else. The moment Lovino shifted, he grimaced in pain, though he tried to hide it.
"Like, what happened?" Feliks asked, replacing his worry with a more commanding tone.
Lovino shook his head, and Feliks could hear a snicker from somewhere else in the room. He turned towards the sound of the laughter, seeing the three that had told him to stay away from Lovino were laughing together. They weren't looking in their direction, but the way Lovino shrank back beside him told Feliks everything he needed to know.
"Like, they hurt you, didn't they?" Feliks asked gently.
Lovino gave him a suspicious look, before averting his eyes.
"Did they say something?" Feliks asked.
"It's none of your business," Lovino said.
Feliks couldn't help but notice how his voice sounded hoarse.
"Like, there's something else, isn't there?" Feliks asked.
Lovino turned away, and Feliks sighed. He remembered his therapist telling him that he needed to be patient with Lovino if he wanted to be his friend, and he was trying. But Lovino didn't want him near him. Feliks never thought that something like that would be so painful.
"…Are we still fine to work on the project this afternoon?" Feliks asked.
Lovino nodded his head.
"We need to get it done," he said. "If we can get all of the citations and everything today, then I can work on writing it this weekend, and we don't have to work on it at all next week."
Feliks felt his heart drop. Lovino wanted to finish the project soon, and then they wouldn't have to work together the following week. Lovino was telling him that they would be spending less time together.
"Like, we can't already be close to finished," Feliks said.
"There isn't that much," Lovino said. "And I want to get it done as soon as possible."
"Why? Why do you want to finish it so fast? We still have all of next week."
Lovino shook his head, and Feliks didn't miss the sadness in the other's eyes. Feliks understood.
"Like, you're still thinking about it, aren't you?" Feliks whispered.
Lovino shot him a look, but there was no anger. Feliks closed his eyes, biting his lip. It wasn't working.
Feliks leaned down, removing something from his bag. He slid the paper over to Lovino, who shot him a confused look.
"Like, you need to fill it in," Feliks said.
Lovino scanned the paper and handed it back to Feliks.
"I don't need it," he said. "I already know what the results would be."
Feliks pushed the paper back.
"Like, I still think you need to do it," Feliks said. "I did it too. And that was after… I…"
Lovino turned to look at him again, but at that moment, the teacher called the class to order. Feliks couldn't help the small smile when he noticed that Lovino put the paper in his bag.
The teacher handed out the papers that they had been working on, and Feliks couldn't help but feel nervous, even though he had arrived after the assignment had been given, and the teacher gave him an exemption. Still, he wanted to do it, though he didn't know what to write about.
He couldn't help but glance towards Lovino's paper, and was shocked to see the low score. Lovino, on the other hand, simply stared at it blankly, before putting it in his bag.
"Now, I want you to have your parents sign it and return it next week," the teacher said. "Next, we'll be moving on to…"
Feliks tuned the teacher out, too focused on Lovino. There was no missing the sorrow in the other's eyes, and Feliks once again couldn't understand why no one else noticed it.
It wasn't until the class was nearing its end that Feliks started to focus again, just in time for the teacher to give a new assignment.
"Alright, so we know what some of the great authors considered to be hell," she said. "With Dante's Inferno being the most famous example. Now, I want each of you to write a speculative essay about what you believe hell to be. 200 to 300 words, please."
Feliks shuddered. It was a gloomy topic, but when he turned to Lovino again, he noticed that the other had a strange look on his face, and Feliks understood.
Lovino knew perfectly well how to describe his definition of hell.
…
At lunchtime, they were working in silence in the library once again. Feliks kept watching Lovino as he wrote, and he noticed something.
"Like, weren't you writing with your right hand yesterday?" Feliks asked.
Lovino paused in his writing, and he looked at Feliks with an eyebrow raised.
"You actually noticed something like that?" Lovino asked.
Feliks nodded his head, and Lovino squirmed a bit, feeling uncomfortable.
"…Si," Lovino said. "I can write with both hands."
Feliks widened his eyes.
"Like, that's totally cool!" he said.
Lovino scoffed, shaking his head.
"It's not like it could be useful," Lovino said. "Unless I break an arm or something."
"But, it's still totally cool!" Feliks insisted. "Like, not a lot of people can do it."
Lovino's face flushed red, and he pointedly avoided looking at Feliks. The blond realised that Lovino was embarrassed, and he wondered how long ago it had been since someone paid him a compliment.
They fell into a lull again, and Feliks was desperately looking for something to break it. He looked around, but there was nothing other than books. Remembering the look Lovino had when he described the plot of one book, Feliks had an idea.
"So, like, what's your favourite book?" Feliks asked.
Lovino stopped writing again, and he slowly looked up at Feliks, who was looking at him with an innocent expression.
"What?" Lovino asked, as though he hadn't heard the question.
"Like, what's your favourite book?" Feliks repeated.
There was silence for a long moment, and Feliks had the impression that Lovino was judging him as he stared at him. It couldn't have been a difficult question, right? Or, perhaps no one ever asked that question of him before.
"Why do you want to know?" Lovino asked at last.
"Like, is it so wrong to want to get to know you?" Feliks asked.
Lovino kept staring at him for a long time, and Feliks pouted.
"Like, it's not so bad, is it?" he asked.
"I'm still trying to figure out why the hell you'd want to know that," Lovino said.
"Please?"
Lovino stared for a moment longer, before he sighed, averting his eyes.
"…It's a copy of Shakespeare's complete works," he said. "I got it cheap, which is impressive, seeing as it's over a thousand pages."
Feliks's jaw dropped.
"And you like read all of that?" he asked.
Lovino nodded.
"So, like, about Shakespeare…" Feliks started. "Which one's your favourite? I like totally love Romeo and Juliet."
"Figures," Lovino snorted, rolling his eyes.
"Hey, like, what's that supposed to mean?"
"That play is so overrated and overdone that it's lost all its appeal."
"But, like, if it's overdone, doesn't it just emphasise how good it is?"
"Perhaps… But a bit of moderation would be nice."
"So… Like, what's your favourite?"
Lovino was staring at Feliks, and eventually sighed again.
"…A Midsummer Night's Dream," he said.
Feliks widened his eyes. He'd heard of it, but he didn't really know it.
"Like, what is it about?" he asked.
Lovino sputtered, and he had a look that clearly said that he thought the question to be blasphemous.
"How can you not know it?!" he demanded.
"Like, I usually don't spend so much time in libraries," Feliks admitted. "But, like, I'm starting to think that I should have."
Lovino groaned, before he started to summarise the plot of the play. Feliks could see the same light return to Lovino's eyes, and he couldn't help but smile, pretending that it was because of the story, which turned out to be a comedy. Lovino looked so different now. It was hard to believe that this was the same boy that had intimidated Feliks the first day.
Eventually, Lovino came to the end, and Feliks blinked a bit in surprise.
"Wow," he said. "Like, I should read it someday. Or watch it."
"There's an adaptation or two," Lovino said, his face turning a bit pink. "Come on, we need to focus on the work."
They had barely started again when the bell rang. Lovino scowled a bit, but the two of them quickly moved to clean up the area. It was as they were leaving that Feliks noticed something new.
"Like, why are you limping?" Feliks asked.
"Sprained ankle," Lovino said quickly. Too quickly.
Feliks narrowed his eyes.
"Like, don't lie to me," he said.
"I'm not," he said.
"Then how did it get sprained?"
Lovino didn't answer, and Feliks started to get suspicious.
"Like, it was those three, wasn't it?" Feliks asked.
Lovino tensed, and Feliks knew that his suspicions were confirmed.
"Like, did they hurt you anywhere else?" Feliks asked.
"What does it matter?" Lovino asked, a note of sorrow in his voice.
"Like, you can't let them keep getting away with it."
"And asides from you, who's going to believe me? There's nothing I can do, because they're the golden boys always harassed by me."
Feliks flinched, but he understood. If Lovino had gone to teachers, and they had dismissed him, then he wasn't likely to go to anyone else again.
The two arrived at their history class and immediately took their seats, just in time for the second bell. Feliks glanced nervously at Lovino, who looked a bit pale, and who was biting his lip. He figured that walking with a sprained ankle must have been truly painful.
There was no more time to interrogate Lovino, as class was starting. Feliks only hoped that nothing worse happened to his potential friend.
…
Lovino limped his way to Mr Adnan. Just his luck, it was a day where they had gym the last period. Well, he had an excuse, as long as the Turkish teacher believed him.
Mr Adnan saw his approach, and raised an eyebrow.
"And what is it now, Vargas?" Sadiq asked.
Lovino had to bite in a flinch. He knew that the teacher never referred to his brothers by their surname. It was only him.
"I can't participate today," Lovino said. "I sprained my ankle."
"Oh, really?" Sadiq sneered. "And where is your doctor's note? Or a note from your father? How am I supposed to believe that you're not just trying to pull a fast one?"
Lovino sighed, before he sat down. He went through the whole process of removing his shoe, sock and bandage, before revealing the slightly blue and swollen appendage. Sadiq glanced at it for a moment before he sighed.
"Bench," he said.
Lovino nodded, grabbing his things and limping towards the bench. Once he was seated, he started reapplying the bandage, followed by the sock and shoe. By the time he was finished, the others entered, having been changing while he went through this whole exercise.
His eyes immediately found Feliks, and he felt a bit guilty for lying to the other earlier. His favourite book was not his collection of Shakespeare, but the fairy tale collection he had received from his mother. He didn't want to tell Feliks that. Firstly, it was something personal, and there was no reason for him to tell Feliks about that book. Secondly, anyone who found out about that book had teased him about it.
While Feliks might not be inclined to tease him at present, Lovino knew that it was only a matter of time before Feliks decided that Lovino wasn't worth it. That there were better people to make friends with. And he would also taunt Lovino with the book's knowledge.
Just like Antonio had done.
Lovino realised that the terrible trio were wandering over towards him, and he glared at them. They only smirked. It was the chaotic time before the class would officially start, and they wouldn't immediately be noticed.
"Lazy Lovino decided that he's too important for gym class," Gilbert sneered.
"Just leave me alone," Lovino muttered.
"And if we don't?" Francis asked. "What are you going to do?"
"Careful," Antonio said. "The teacher is right there."
Lovino looked away, trying to ignore them. They snickered, and Lovino knew that they were going to launch another attack soon.
"Looks like your new friend isn't interested in helping you out," Gilbert said, glancing backwards.
Lovino clenched his fists. He knew the real reason why Feliks wasn't doing anything to stop it, but it was still painful. And he knew that the trio was trying to show both him and Feliks that they should stay far away from each other.
They were trying to provoke him into attacking them, and Feliks, along with the rest of the class, would see. And a week ago, Lovino would have done it. But lately, he was just so tired.
They frowned, noticing that he wasn't acting as he normally would, but before they could do anything else, Mr Adnan called the class towards him. Lovino sighed in relief when they were gone.
He watched as the rest of the class continued with the exercises set out for them, and he felt the ghost of tears. He could see his brother and his friends. Everyone loved Feliciano, and hated Lovino. He should have been used to it by now. But still, it was his painful reality.
Marcello was also popular, but since he was a year younger, they might as well have been in different worlds. The people that loved Marcello generally left him alone. It was a small mercy, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
Lovino was the black sheep of the family, as everyone – extended family included – loved to remind him. And no one wanted the black sheep. They were useless for wool.
They were only good to be slaughtered.
A Midsummer Night's Dream is probably my favourite Shakespeare play. Both my sister and I did Romeo and Juliet in matric (final year of high school), and we've seen so many adaptations of it that it's lost its appeal. I remember talking to my English teacher a while back (we ran into each other in a boutique), and she told me that they were doing Macbeth that year, which is actually the play that I wanted to do. My sister had a look of utter betrayal when I told her what the teacher told me.
Speaking of Macbeth, there was also the one assignment that we had to do which was a demonstration/dramatization, and for some bizarre reason, no one wanted to be in a group with me (I say bizarre because I was easily one of the top three achievers in English for my year – you'd think they'd want to go for an easy high score). So, I worked alone, and I decided to do Macbeth, Act 4 Scene 1. Yes, I played all three witches. I stopped just before Macbeth's arrival. I learned all of that in one weekend. And the teacher called one of the other English teachers so that I could perform it again. So, like I said, for some reason no one wanted to work with me on that assignment. And just to be clear that it wasn't because of my ultimate choice, I chose to go for Shakespeare after I was left alone without even a single person wanting to partner up with me. This was ninth grade, btw – in South Africa, especially for First Additional Language, having someone of that age want anything to do with Shakespeare is a rarity.