Thanks to Yaoi-Is-Life-and-Love, Senii, cAnd13ThEheTaLiaN, Carina Sicily and an anon for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 33

Lovino lay back, taking a deep breath to calm himself. The visit from Gupta and his mother went rather well, with Lovino and Gupta mostly talking about books that they have read. It was the first time that Lovino could really talk to someone about things like this.

It felt… nice.

Gupta would come again the following day, and then again for the rest of the week. It would seem that everyone was determined to get him to have someone that he knew at the new school. As though it would help him adjust better.

He had his twin brother with him in the previous schools, and that turned out so well.

He wondered how long it would be before Gupta decided that it wasn't worth his time. How long it would take before Gupta started hating him, just like Antonio and Francis. How long before he would be disgusted with Lovino's personality that he decided that it was better if they didn't associate with each other anymore.

And what about Gupta's friends?

Lovino wasn't going to be naïve to think that Gupta had been a loner and was just waiting for someone whom he could call a friend. No, he had his own friends. Lovino didn't know how they would respond to his presence. Would they welcome him, or would they treat him like the invader that he was?

He shook his head, eyes falling to the table, and also on the pen and paper pad still sitting there. With all that had been happening, he still hadn't done the 'homework' that Matthew had assigned him. And speaking of which, he and Ms Hassan discussed his enrolment, and also the subjects that he would be taking. It was obvious that the ones he had (with the exception of Literature) were bad for him, and she would bring an aptitude test for him to do. As long as he could make up the credits, he would be able to join the others without having to go back to tenth grade in order to do all of the prior work.

It would seem that he would be busy for a while.

Anyway, he should probably do the task that Matthew had given him, though the fear of doing so was profound. He'd never gotten a good score from his teachers when it came to his writing. And now, he was supposed to write a story, without a prompt.

Taking a deep breath, he took the stationery items and started to plot.

…

Gupta sat in his room, busy with his homework when his phone chimed. He glanced at the screen to see that it was the group that they'd made for their circle of friends.

Hey Gup. Are you back from the hospital yet?

Miguel was the one that sent the text. Out of all his friends, Miguel was the most empathetic, and he had a feeling that he would take good care of Lovino. The others were probably curious as well. And so, he grabbed his phone and typed out a reply.

Came back a while ago.

He waited for someone to specifically ask what they all wanted to know.

And? How is he?

Again, Miguel was the one that asked. He wondered if the others were also on the chat at that moment. If not, then they would be able to catch up.

It doesn't look good. He flinched every time someone moved too fast or got too close. He's a bit sarcastic, though, and he likes reading.

He didn't have to wait long for the next message.

So, he's scared if someone gets too close or something?

I guess so. His arm was in a sling, and his leg was also bandaged. He's definitely hurt.

Ouch. Do you think he's scared that you'll hurt him?

Possibly. He did relax when we started talking about books.

That's good news!

The last message came from Vlad, and Gupta knew what excited the Romanian. The five friends made up the book club, and that was where they started to bond. Though, Gupta wasn't entirely sure whether Vlad was excited by the prospect of a new reader joining the group, or because Gupta had at least some success with the new student.

Any idea what he likes?

This message came from Yao. Gupta was pleased to see that his friends were taking an interest.

I think Vlad would like him best. Asides from the classics, he seems to have an interest in fantasy and horror.

Yay!

Gupta couldn't help but chuckle. Vlad might have been childish from time to time, but he was certainly interesting to be around.

Do you think we could come along the next time you visit?

And with that, Heracles had entered the chat. Gupta paused for a moment, mulling things over.

I don't know if that's such a good idea. I think he still needs to get used to me first. We don't want to overwhelm him.

Things were silent for a while, and Gupta continued with his homework. Finally, a reply came from Miguel.

I understand. He should have some time to heal first. But tell him that he's more than welcome in our group.

Will do.

Gupta smiled happily. He had the best group of friends, and he knew that they were all eager to welcome another member to their group. He had no doubt that Lovino would feel welcome.

…

"What do you think about a puppy?" Romulus asked.

Feliciano and Marcello paused in their dinner. They had settled down after visiting Lovino in the evening's visiting hours. And Romulus asked this out of the blue.

"Where did that come from?" Marcello asked.

"When Lovino spoke about Dr Williams and his dog… I might just be fishing, but I think I saw Lovino get a spark. He was… excited."

Feliciano cocked his head to the side.

"Ve, I got that impression too," he said. "So, are you going to get him a puppy?"

"Would Lovino even want a puppy?" Marcello asked.

"…I think I'll have a word with Dr Williams first," Romulus said. "See what his opinion on the matter is."

It was a bit harmful to Romulus's pride to rely on the therapist so much, especially since the reliance was born from the fact that the near-stranger seemed to know his son better than he did. It was just more evidence that Romulus was a horrible father to his eldest son. And he was grasping at straws, trying desperately to find ways to make things right.

…

Matthew placed the bowl on the ground, watching Kumajiro as he started to attack the food. He calmly scratched the dog behind the ear, before perking up when he heard his phone ring. Checking caller-ID, he wasn't too surprised to see that it was Romulus Vargas calling him.

"How did it go with the application?" Matthew asked.

"It went rather well," Romulus said. "The principal and her son went to meet Lovino, and it sounds like they're going to help him adjust. But, listen, that's not why I called you. I want to know… I was thinking… What do you think about getting Lovino a puppy?"

Matthew leaned against the counter. He could already tell that this call would take a while.

"I take it he told you about our session today," Matthew remarked.

"Si," Romulus replied. "He looked very excited. There was this spark in his eye. I was just wondering…"

"I know you wish to make it up to him, but you need to be careful. It might seem that you're trying to buy his forgiveness. That's not something that he would want. But… Well, he did admit that he always wanted a pet. Something that could show him love."

Matthew could almost imagine the flinch from the older Italian.

"It might also help him, to be honest," Matthew continued. "Having something that depends on him. You'd be surprised how therapeutic it could be to be responsible for someone – or something – else's life. If anything, it would help him realise that his life has meaning, even if the only one that saw that meaning was an animal. If you do decide to get him a pet, make it clear that it's his pet, and he's the one that needs to take care of it. But show him that you'll support him if he needs help."

"Alright," Romulus said quietly. "Thank you."

"You might also want to try throwing him a 'welcome back' party," Matthew suggested. "Seeing as the last one he attended went so horribly… It might help him overcome that trauma as well."

"Right… Thank you, for all your help."

Matthew smiled.

"Of course," Matthew said. "I'm happy to help Lovino."

They ended the call, and Matthew decided to call someone else. He only had to wait for a short while before the familiar voice greeted him from the other end.

"Hey bro!" Alfred exclaimed. "Is this my birthday or something? You don't usually call."

"That's because you don't usually give me a chance to start to miss you," Matthew countered. "Anyway, there's a reason why I called."

"Of course. So, what's up?"

"There's going to be a new student enrolling next week. I want you to keep an eye on him, but please, try to be subtle about it."

"Okay? You don't usually ask something like that. Wait… Is this one of your patients?"

"Yes. I can't tell you much, but… He's been bullied pretty badly. Brutally, in fact. And all of the teachers he's had thought that his injuries were evidence of him being a delinquent."

Alfred was silent for a moment.

"Are you sure that it's all because of bullying?" Alfred asked.

"He ended up in the hospital, and the doctor had to kindly point out that his fists have no evidence of him throwing punches, and his wrist had been broken a few days before he ended up in the hospital, so he wouldn't want to risk anything. And if you see the scars on his arms… He seems to be permanently on 'fight' mode, since 'flight' never worked. Unfortunately, it makes him come across as a bit rude."

"You're going to have to explain it in a way I'm going to understand."

"He lives in a constant state of fear. He's relaxed a bit, but I'm worried that he might return to his previous mentality in the new environment. So, if he could have at least someone on the staff to support him…"

"I get it. Anything else I should know about?"

"He still has a sprained ankle, a broken wrist, a concussion, broken ribs…"

"So in other words, he's going to be on the bleachers for the first couple weeks."

"Pretty much. He'll also most likely wear things with long sleeves, so if he does participate…"

"I'll need to make sure that he doesn't pass out or something, right?"

"Pretty much."

"Okay. Sure, I'll look out for him."

"Thank you."

…

Lovino winced as he took another step. One thing about spending the whole day in bed meant that his ankle wasn't getting enough practice. He knew that it was important to let it rest, but it was also important to allow it to be used. He also needed to pay attention to the way he was stepping.

"You know I can get in trouble for this, right?" Nurse Tino asked.

The Finnish nurse understood Lovino's need to stretch his legs every now and again, and so allowed him to walk a bit around the room. Lovino also learned that this was the nurse on duty when he'd had his… episode. It was clear that he was worried about Lovino doing something else to hurt himself.

"I appreciate this," Lovino said. "But I hope you understand that I don't like feeling trapped."

It had happened far too many times. He'd been cornered by them. Held immobile by them. Unable to escape from them. There was one time they'd even locked him in the janitor's supply closet, and he'd gotten in trouble for being in there, despite anyone with a shred of logic would have realised that there was no way he could lock himself in from the inside with the key on the outside. He'd eyed the bottle of bleach that day. Given how long he'd been in there, if he had decided to drink it…

It would have been his escape from the nightmare that was his life.

There was no point in lamenting it now. Besides, a part of him was hoping that they would really change. That his father wasn't so ashamed of him. That Marcello wouldn't be afraid of him. That Feliciano wouldn't ignore what was right in front of him.

A part of him hoped… But it wouldn't be the first time his hopes had been dashed.

He leaned against the wall, feeling the sweat prickling his forehead. Nurse Tino walked closer.

"I think that's enough for now," he said. "Do you need help getting to the bed?"

"N-no," Lovino gasped. "I'm fine."

He could feel the older male's presence as he limped towards his bed. He lay down, and once he felt comfortable, Tino slipped the cuff over the uninjured foot.

"Anything else you need?" Tino asked.

Lovino eyed the pitcher of water sitting on the table. It was nearly empty – about enough for one more glass.

"Some more water would be nice," he said.

"Alright," Tino said, smiling. "I'll go get some for you."

Lovino watched as the nurse left before he grabbed his book. His eyes fell on the short story he'd written, before placing more books on top of it. Matthew wouldn't be coming again until Wednesday, unless something else happened to summon him there. Until then, there was no reason why prying eyes should see what he'd written. He'd had enough of people judging him.

…

The moment Gupta sat down in class the following day, he wasn't too surprised when Vlad came to sit next to him. After all, they were desk neighbours. But the reason why this time was unusual was because Vlad had an expectant look in his eyes.

"Think you can tell me a bit more about our new friend?" Vlad enquired.

"I told you as much as I could yesterday," Gupta pointed out, removing his textbooks.

"That wasn't a lot of information. Come on. Is he tall or short, or…?"

"Why don't we stop it right there?" Gupta hissed. "The less people to overhear, the better."

Vlad glanced around, and Gupta was quite satisfied to see that he had a guilty look on his face.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

"Alright, settle down," the teacher interrupted. "I hope everyone's done their homework."

Gupta liked Mr Kirkland, and the subject he taught. English literature was something that the bookworms that made up his social circle excelled in. Gupta actually hoped to become a professor in the literary arts one day. He didn't think he had it in him to be an author. He enjoyed analysing more than writing.

At the end of the period, as they were leaving, Mr Kirkland called Gupta back.

"I hear you're going to visit our new student," Mr Kirkland said. "Do you mind taking him his homework?"

"He's already getting homework?" Gupta asked.

"The teachers all agree that it's best not to let him fall behind. We don't know where his previous school is regarding the classes, so we thought it best to give him time to catch up before things really get hectic."

Gupta thought of Lovino. How he must have been getting bored, lying in a bed all day. So he nodded his head, accepting the papers from the Englishman.

"I'll see to it that he gets these," Gupta said.

Arthur smiled.

"I'm counting on it," he replied.

…

Feliciano was just finishing his Literature class. He and Lovino weren't in the same class, so he didn't know how much Lovino enjoyed it here. Though, after seeing what Lovino was reading, he didn't think that his brother thought highly of their teacher.

"Feliciano, could I have a moment?" the teacher asked.

Feliciano felt a small jolt of panic. She couldn't read minds, could she? Nevertheless, he walked closer.

"Si?" he asked.

The teacher smiled gently at him, and he knew that he at least wasn't in trouble. She handed a paper to him, and he looked down. He felt a jolt when he saw his brother's name.

"It was the 'personal hell' assignment," she explained. "Since… Since he's not coming back, I think it would be best to give it to you, so you can give it back to him."

There wasn't a single mark, making him wonder if she even read it. She sighed.

"I made a copy of it," she explained. "I didn't think it felt right to do anything to the original. Not in light of what happened. Tell him… That it was his best writing. I can see that it came from the heart."

Feliciano mutely nodded his head, before he went off to his next class. He knew that he shouldn't, but during lunch, his curiosity got the better of him.

He spent most of his lunch period in the bathroom, crying his eyes out.

…

Feliks took a deep breath as he handed the project in. He and Lovino had worked hard on it, and he felt sort of… sad to see it go. Probably because it was through this project that he and Lovino had gotten to know one another.

"I'm glad to see that everyone seems to have taken this project seriously," the teacher said. "With some exceptions, I see. Now, today we're doing the Renaissance."

Feliks smiled. The Renaissance was one of the topics they'd touched upon for their project. And again, he missed Lovino.

He couldn't help but think about the request that Lovino had made of him the previous day, and he hoped that it would be his link to continue their friendship. Lovino asked him if he could teach him Polish.

The bleach scene would have been included, but the story changed slightly. Originally, Lovino would have returned to his old school, where the three harass him again and lock him in the janitor's closet. He would have swallowed the bleach, and just as he passed out, the janitor would have arrived and saw him. Another trip to the hospital, and the school would have launched a proper investigation, since word spreads about someone attempting suicide on school grounds. Afterwards, Romulus would have decided that it was too dangerous to send Lovino back to that school and would have gone searching for another. This was what would have happened if Feliciano didn't say that Lovino shouldn't go back to that school.