Thanks to Carina Sicily for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 26

Romulus was in a daze as he returned to Lovino's room. His son had been so close to dying…

No. Not just dying. The bullying was so bad that it would have been a case of murder. Or was it manslaughter? Either way, if Lovino didn't swallow the pills, and if Feliciano hadn't found him… Lovino would still have been dead.

Someone up there had plans for Lovino. That was the only explanation. Lovino had a talent for escaping death.

How many times?

What they had discussed earlier came to mind. Matthew said that Lovino had suicidal tendencies, which implied that there was more than one attempt. But how many were there? Was it one more, was it many more? And how did Romulus miss it?

The worst part was that he couldn't even ask his son about it. That much he knew. If he tried to ask Lovino about it, he would grow defensive, and he wouldn't say anything about the matter. Trying to force Lovino would only push him away even farther than he was already pushed.

He paused when he arrived at Lovino's room. Marcello, Feliciano and Feliks were trying to engage Lovino in a conversation, but the patient was withdrawing. Romulus could see that Lovino was uncomfortable. And he kept looking between Feliks and Feliciano with something akin to fear.

Feliciano was popular. And Lovino was afraid that he would lose his friend to his brother. Did Lovino have reason to believe that it was probable?

Romulus's eyes drifted to the bag at the door. Before he went to pick up the boys from school, he had gone to buy some more books for Lovino. He would have given it earlier, had the doctor not wanted to speak to him. But thinking about Lovino's reaction when he presented those books to him this morning…

He suspected that he had a way to bring at least some light to his eyes. And so he quickly picked up the bag.

"Sorry about that," Romulus said, startling the teens and bringing their attentions to him.

Romulus noticed how Marcello moved into a protective stance. It hurt him to think that one of his sons wanted to protect another from him. But he had no one to blame but himself. So he tried to ignore it and walked forwards.

"It seems you're going to be here for at least a week," Romulus said. "Can't have you getting bored."

Romulus handed the bag over to Lovino, who tentatively took it.

"What?" Lovino whispered, looking inside and seeing the contents.

"I had to jot down what you had on your bookshelf," Romulus admitted. "Did you read every book on your shelf?"

Lovino nodded, removing the first book. It was a hardcover collection of HP Lovecraft, with a stunning front page.

"The bookseller suggested that one," Romulus said. "I can't say that I know the author…"

"Of course not," Lovino said. "It's horror. Most people shy away from it."

"Do you like horror?" Feliciano asked.

Lovino shrugged.

"The farther away from reality it is, the better," he said. "And I think I would prefer a child-eating clown over those three assholes any day."

Romulus didn't miss the sad look in Lovino's eyes, and he remembered what the psychiatrist said. Lovino had symptoms of PTSD. And it wasn't just the accident that caused it. There was a chance that his bullies had caused him to suffer all sorts of trauma. Traumatic enough that made him want to end his own life.

He looked down at the injured wrist. The bullies had broken it. The doctor had said that it appeared to have been crushed. That it was deliberate. And no one believed him.

"By the way, did the doctor tell you what's wrong with your arms?" Romulus asked.

Lovino shook his head.

"Alright, so apparently, it's something called chorea," Romulus said. "It's an involuntary muscle movement of the arms and legs. The doctor's prescribing you medication for that."

Lovino scowled when he heard that, and he averted his gaze.

"You don't look happy," Marcello said.

"Which part upset you?" Romulus asked.

Lovino was silent for a long moment.

"…Money," he muttered.

"What?" Romulus asked.

"It's… It's going to cost a lot of money, and…"

Lovino trailed off, but he made it a point to not look at his father. Remembering the realisation he made with the bed, Romulus's eyes widened.

"Lovino, I don't care how much money it would cost," he said. "You're more important. So don't let it bother you."

Romulus noticed that Lovino's breathing had changed. It had become shaky. Almost as though he was on the verge of crying.

And maybe he was.

"…Is this a bad time?"

Everyone turned towards the door, and Romulus was surprised to see Vash Zwingli standing there. Lili was standing behind her father, looking between the males already present.

"Vash?" Romulus asked. "What are you doing here?"

Vash cleared his throat, looking a little flustered.

"I heard about Lovino being in the hospital," Vash said. "And I was hoping to bring him a get-well-soon gift."

Lovino looked surprised, and Marcello seemed to beam as his friend and her father entered the room. Lili handed Lovino a box of chocolates before hugging him. He hissed in pain, prompting her to pull away.

"I'm sorry," she said. "Are you in pain?"

Lovino nodded his head, absentmindedly rubbing his ribs with his uninjured hand. Lili gasped when she finally appeared to take in the state that he was in.

"What happened?" she asked, alarmed. "Did this happen when you…?"

Lovino looked towards Feliciano, a slight glare on his face.

"Tell me something," he said, "does the whole school know about it?"

Feliciano flinched, but nodded his head.

"I only told Mr Walters," he said. "I didn't want him to mark you as absent. And people overheard me telling him."

"And when you punched that asshole…" Lovino started.

Vash cleared his throat, a slight glare on his face.

"I know that you're in a hospital bed right now," Vash said, "but I would appreciate if you don't swear in front of my daughter."

"It's fine," Lili said. "We heard about the bullying."

Lovino glared at Feliciano again, who shrunk back.

"Don't be too mad at him," Feliks said. "Like, he totally chewed out the entire class for the way they treat you. And totally pointed out that they're totally wrong about you."

Vash sighed, before he handed a packet towards Lovino. The teen frowned in surprise, before he removed a thick book from the packet. His eyes widened in shock.

"War and Peace," he whispered.

"I noticed that you seemed to enjoy that book when you were serving detention the other day," Vash said. "I figured I might as well get you your own copy."

"What's this about the detention?" Romulus asked.

Vash glanced towards him and sighed.

"Lovino got an undeserved detention the other day," he explained. "Marcello told me about the circumstances, and though I wasn't able to lift the punishment, I was able to get him to sit his detention with me. I just let him read for an hour."

Romulus couldn't help the small smile. Knowing what he now knew of Lovino, reading for an hour could hardly be considered a punishment.

"This was expensive," Lovino said. "Why would you…?"

"Some of the other teachers contributed as well," Vash interrupted. "If it's any consolation, Mr Kohler feels horrible. You were serving detention with him yesterday, correct?"

Lovino flinched, before averting his eyes.

"What excuse did they use?" Vash asked. "Or did they decide to just attack?"

"They… they wanted revenge for me landing them in detention," Lovino said. "For…"

Lovino's voice trailed off, and he lifted his injured hand. Romulus's eyes widened in shock, and he could feel disgust welling in him.

"They were angry at you… because they were punished for breaking your hand?" Vash asked, and the disgust that Romulus felt was echoed in the Swiss's voice.

"Papa, we can't let Lovino go back there," Feliciano said.

Lovino looked a bit surprised, and Romulus pursed his lips.

"I spoke to the therapist," he said. "He agrees that you need to find a new school – you can't go back there. But… Adjusting to a new environment is also a risk."

"And it wouldn't matter," Lovino said, head bowed. "It's just going to start from the beginning."

Romulus could see what the psychiatrist meant when he said that Lovino had a low self-esteem. Instead of feeling excited by the prospect of never returning to a place that brought him pain, he was convinced that the same thing would happen in a new environment.

Not if Romulus could help it.

"I'll start looking around on Monday," Romulus said. "I'm guessing I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything on the weekend."

Vash snorted.

"You're right," he said. "Teachers dread the thought of being near the school on weekends. Even more than the students do. Try your luck after the weekend."

Lovino still looked uncomfortable, and Romulus wished he knew how to console his son. The best thing he could do was to hold out the bag from earlier to Lovino, who hesitantly looked at him before removing the second book.

"Well, at least we know that you won't get bored," Marcello said.

"It would be nice if every one of these books had its own bookmark," Lovino said.

"I can bring one for you this evening," Romulus said.

"…There are a few on my bookshelf. There's this box…"

Romulus recalled seeing a box on the lower shelf, but he didn't look inside. So, it contained bookmarks, and what else? Well, he now had permission to go look at the shelf again.

There was another knock on the door, and Romulus turned to face the new arrival. He was surprised by who he saw.

"Toris?" he asked.

"Who's this?" Lovino asked, on his guard.

Toris gave a shaky smile.

"I'm not surprised that you wouldn't know me," he said. "But…" He glanced towards Romulus. "I'm sorry, would you mind if we speak in private? It's… kind of personal for both of us."

Romulus didn't want to leave his son. Although the Lithuanian had impressed him with the interview, the fact that Lovino didn't recognise him made him question his statement of having met Lovino. And with the matter being personal…

"Why?" Lovino asked.

"Um…" Toris began, and it looked as though he was struggling for words. "It's about… what happened at the pharmacy the other day."

Lovino's eyes widened, and there seemed to be understanding in those hazel eyes.

Hazel. Just like Chiara. Why didn't Romulus notice it before?

"I'll be fine," Lovino said, turning to Romulus. "And I think you've wasted enough of your time here."

Romulus flinched when he heard Lovino call himself a waste of time, but he nodded his head.

"We'll come by again tonight," he said.

"We should go as well," Vash said, before turning to Lovino. "Get well soon."

As Romulus passed Toris, he grabbed the man's shoulder. The smaller male flinched at the contact.

"If you hurt my son in any way," he warned, "not only will you not get the job, but the police will be involved. Understand?"

"P-perfectly," Toris said. "I promise, I have no bad intentions with him."

Romulus released Toris, before guiding his other sons away. Feliks went off to find his father, and with Vash and Lili departing, Lovino was now left alone with Toris.

…

Toris took a deep breath, before stepping into the room. He thought about closing the door, but the teen was already looking at him with suspicious curiosity, and he didn't want the boy to feel alarmed. It would contradict the very purpose of this visit.

"…Your eyes," Lovino said, startling him. "They're familiar."

"Y-yes," Toris said. "I guess…. With the mask on, it was the only thing you could see of me."

"Why are you here? And how did you even find out about… this?"

"…I wanted to thank you."

Toris's life had gone worse for him than he had hoped. Abusive parents, managed to get a scholarship for university, only for him to lose the scholarship after the first year. Afterwards, he'd had difficulty finding a job, with most people saying that they didn't want someone that dropped out. Eventually, he completely stopped. He could thankfully say that he didn't resort to substance abuse, but it was still difficult for him. And so he allowed his friends to convince him to help them rob the pharmacy.

He didn't know where they found the weapons, and he was too afraid to ask. But that day, he had been ready to do whatever it took.

Until the boy told him to shoot.

He had frozen in horror when he looked into the teenager's eyes. He wasn't being brave or stupid. It was his sincerest wish to die. Toris had never seen anyone look so… broken inside. And when he adjusted the aim of his gun… Toris realised that he couldn't do it. Not only couldn't he bring himself to shoot the boy, but he also couldn't help but wonder what had happened in his life to bring him to that point. The clothes he wore weren't too shabby, and he looked clean enough…

The boy's eyes scared him, to be honest. And so, Toris had managed to convince his friend to run away, and they got their other friend to drive away as well. And the friend that was with him in the pharmacy agreed that it wasn't natural for a teenager to have that look in his eyes.

The encounter had made Toris re-evaluate his life, and he decided that he would find a job that didn't require a lot of qualifications. He noticed that the art gallery was looking for a receptionist, and he could at least do some bookkeeping (it had been his major, before he lost the scholarship). He arranged for an interview, and he was surprised to see the picture frame on one of the owners' desk. The two boys looked a lot like the one that he had encountered. But the eyes were different.

And when Romulus revealed he had a third son in the hospital, he immediately knew who it was, and why he was there. And after a long mental debate, he decided that he would come to thank the boy that forced him to want to change his life for the better.

Lovino looked confused, and Toris didn't blame him.

"What are you thanking me for?" he asked.

Toris gave a small smile.

"Let's just say, you scared me straight," he said, before his smile fell. "That being said, don't ever do that again. Other people might not react the way I did."

"And how would that be bad?" Lovino asked.

Toris sighed.

"I know you might feel that your life doesn't have meaning," he said. "But if a random stranger decided to thank you for giving him a new perspective… Perhaps your life has more of an impact than you think."

…

Feliks was standing outside of the hospital room. He didn't quite trust the man who wanted to speak with Lovino alone, but what Feliks heard only confused him. It was clear that both Lovino and the man knew what they were talking about, and it had something to do with Lovino being in the hospital. And what was this about scaring him straight?

"I-I brought you something," the man said. "Just a 'thank you'."

Feliks wanted to see what the man was supposedly giving him, but he didn't know how to do it without being seen.

"A chocolate bar?" Lovino asked, confused.

"I'm sorry," the man said. "I should have gotten you flowers instead, but I think it might have been awkward."

"…Yeah, don't bring me flowers. But… thank you."

"So… I guess I should leave. I hope you feel better soon."

Hearing that, Feliks's eyes widened, and he quickly slipped into the next room, thankful that it was unoccupied, or at least temporarily unoccupied. He listened carefully as the older male's footsteps disappeared, and sighed in relief. Confident that Lovino was safe, he set off to find his father, like he told Lovino's family he would do.

…

"We shouldn't have left," Marcello said.

"I know," Romulus sighed. "Hopefully we'll be able to find out what the story is from Lovino later."

"Unless the guy managed to scare Lovino even more than he already is."

"Um, Papa?" Feliciano interrupted. "Where are we going?"

"To the pharmacy," Romulus said. "I want to check something out."

"This isn't the one we usually go to," Marcello remarked.

"But Lovino recently went to this pharmacy. I have a question for the pharmacist."

Marcello didn't ask any more questions, and when his father parked, he and Feliciano followed after the older male as he made his way to the pharmacist.

"How may I help you?" the man asked, though Marcello noticed that he eyed him and Feliciano.

"I wonder if you remember seeing my son earlier this week," Romulus asked. "He bought a box of anti-depressants."

Marcello's eyes widened. Lovino actually had anti-depressants?

The pharmacist looked between Feliciano and Marcello again, and he sighed, nodding his head.

"Yeah, he was in here the other day," he said. "But neither of these two is him."

"He's in the hospital right now," Romulus said. "I just want to know if you remember any other details."

The pharmacist looked uncomfortable, and he once again looked between Marcello and Feliciano. As though their desperate expressions convinced him, he sighed.

"There was an attempted robbery the other day," the pharmacist explained. "The men were armed. Your son… he stepped in front of one of the robbers and told him to shoot. Scared them off. He saved my store, to be honest. I gave him those pills – they're mild and don't require a prescription. But your son needs proper, professional help."

Marcello stared at the man in horror, a look that was reflected on the other two's faces. What else did Lovino go through?

I was asked to clarify who Toris is, so here it is. I originally wanted the robbers to just be nameless, but then I figured that it might be a good idea to show that Lovino has an impact on other people's lives, whether or not he sees it himself.