Thanks to WickedInk, Yaoi-Is-Life-and-Love and an anon for reviewing.
Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.
Chapter 42
When Lovino arrived home, he immediately started to play with Chiara, who was more than happy to have him home again. He noticed that she wasn't nearly as attached to Feliciano and Marcello, and instead chose to be with him most of the time. Not that she didn't go to his brothers or his father for attention.
He noticed that she really enjoyed playing tug-of-war. After his session with Matthew the previous day, they stopped by the pet store to get a few supplies, among them being toys. And he decided that he really liked playing with the puppy, even if all he could do at this point was hold the rope while sitting.
He was so glad that she wasn't big yet.
He looked up when his father entered the living room, a grocery bag in his hand.
"I think this is everything," his father said.
"Grazie," Lovino said, abandoning his game and going to grab the bag. "Do you mind if I make it now?"
"Sure," Romulus said. "Go ahead. Just make sure to clean the kitchen when you're finished."
Lovino nodded, trying to keep his smile from spreading on his face. He wondered if his father realised that this was the first time he trusted Lovino in the kitchen. He was always afraid that he would cause a huge mess that he would have to clean up.
But this wasn't the first time Lovino made something. Often, when his father or brothers weren't home, he would fix something for himself – light and simple, usually, but occasionally he would experiment. And out of fear of his father's reaction, he would always make sure to clean everything. He tried his best to erase the evidence of his presence.
The first thing he did was gather and measure all of the ingredients. Yao told him that it was the first thing they had to do. Ms Tazi didn't like it if they went to gather ingredients after everyone had already started, as it wasted precious time. He also filled the sink with water, having also been told to do the dishes while working, otherwise they would pile up.
Using the information that Yao and Ms Tazi had given him, Lovino went ahead with the recipe. He was a bit apprehensive when he removed the baked cake and placed it down on a clean, wet dishtowel. But this was what Ms Tazi told them to do. And once it was rolled, he continued with the filling, having already done the dishes while the cake was baking.
He was so relieved when he finally finished, and he placed the finished cake in the refrigerator. He jumped a bit when he felt someone peering over his shoulder, and he turned around to see Marcello.
"Looks nice," Marcello complimented, before smiling at Lovino. "Looks like we'll have dessert tonight."
"I just can't guarantee that it would taste alright," Lovino said.
"I'm sure it's going to be fine," Marcello said. "Come on. I saw that there's an adaptation of Macbeth on in a few minutes."
Lovino smiled. That sounded like fun.
…
"Wow," Feliciano said, eyes widening. "Vino, this tastes great!"
Lovino nervously picked at his own slice, but he had to admit, it tasted nice.
"And I'm glad to see you kept the kitchen clean," Romulus said. "They give you points for that, right?"
"Si," Lovino said. "So… It's not too bad?"
"Not at all. Next time you need to practise for a practical, feel free."
Lovino felt extremely happy.
…
"Alright," Mr Kirkland said. "Let's go over the homework again."
It was the next day, and the teacher had handed out an assignment for an essay. Lovino was actually pleased to see that there were options. And he noticed that one of them was a narrative essay.
You're inside an elevator when the last person you wish to see enters. After going up one floor, the elevator suddenly stops and the lights turn out. What happens next?
Lovino could already see how the scene would play out. He could see Antonio, Gilbert or Francis enter, and sometimes even all three. He wondered if he could use all three. And he knew what would happen. But still… Something inside him wanted to write it out.
"You have until Monday to complete it," Mr Kirkland continued. "If there are any questions, feel free to come see me."
The bell rang, and everyone packed up to leave. Lovino hesitated a bit, wanting to ask the teacher about the narrative essay. Once most of the others were gone, Lovino made his way to Mr Kirkland's desk.
"Oh, Lovino," Mr Kirkland said, smiling. "How may I help you?"
"It's about the narrative essay," Lovino said. "Should it only be one person?"
Mr Kirkland looked down, and his face fell a bit.
"You're thinking about your bullies, aren't you?" he asked.
Lovino nodded his head.
"…The wonderful thing about fiction is that you can alter reality," Arthur said. "If you were locked in an elevator with them, you know how this would go. But you can change the way things go. You can write something about them being caught and punished. You can write them apologising to you. You can even write how they lost a bet and are forced to wear pink pyjamas with sparkling unicorns."
Lovino couldn't help but laugh at the mental picture produced by the last description. Arthur smiled.
"I think this might also be a way for you to work through some of your frustrations," Arthur said. "So… for the first draft, I suggest you get everything out of your system. Don't worry about the wordcount, okay? And then for the final draft, try to get the story to the correct wordcount, alright?"
Lovino smiled and nodded.
"Thank you," he said. "I… I think I have an idea on how to write it."
Arthur smiled, before urging Lovino to go to his next class. All he had to tell the teacher of the next class was that he had to ask Mr Kirkland something, and considering he still walked with a slight limp, it was understandable that he would take a while.
…
Heracles and Gupta exchanged a look, before glancing towards Lovino. They could see how his shoulders tensed. The textbook was open, and they knew that the next topic of Life Skills would be particularly difficult for Lovino.
Bullying.
"So, could anyone give me a few examples of bullying?" Mr Bondevik asked.
In a way, it was fitting that the school counsellor was also the Life Skills teacher. He could connect with the students on the level that they needed to be connected on. And he could understand which topics tended to be painful for which students.
As such, his eyes skipped over Lovino, at least until Lovino raised his hand.
"Yes?" Mr Bondevik prompted.
"When… When they tell you that you shouldn't have been born," Lovino said.
"That's an example of verbal bullying, yes. Can anyone else give an example?"
The other students seemed to get the hint, for a long list of examples came out, all to prevent Lovino from having to relive any of the things that had been done to him. The Italian was in fact staring around the class in astonishment. Gupta and Heracles also gave their own examples.
"Alright," Mr Bondevik said after a while. "Now that you understand what it all entails, I want you to get together in small groups. Two or three people per group, please. You're going to design a poster to explain the dangers of bullying, listing examples of different types of bullying as well as the effects of bullying. You have until next week Friday. You're free to gather in your groups now and start planning. Quietly, please."
Heracles and Gupta beckoned Lovino closer, and he hesitated a bit before sitting with them.
"So, are we going to get together at one of our houses this weekend?" Gupta asked.
"The weekend sounds nice," Lovino said. "Whose…?"
"We can go to my house," Heracles said. "My mom won't mind. Friday okay?"
"Si. I'll just arrange with my dad."
"Just warn us if things get tough for you," Gupta said. "We're not going to let you suffer through this alone, alright?"
Lovino was silent for a moment, before he looked over the rest of the class.
"Why do I get the feeling that they were trying to help me?" he asked.
Heracles and Gupta shared another look.
"Probably because… they were," Gupta said. "See, people here have a bit more sympathy for what you went through."
"Last year, there was another student that committed suicide on the schoolgrounds," Heracles explained. "A sweet girl. Everyone liked her. Except for these three girls. They harassed her to the point where she couldn't see those that liked her anymore, and assumed that everyone hated her. She jumped off the roof, and everyone saw her corpse. It haunts everyone to this day. The fact that you admitted that you were bullied and that it caused you to go to the hospital makes everyone think back to that girl. I think… they felt that they failed her, so they're going to help you."
Lovino was silent for a long moment.
"Why didn't you mention any of this before?" he asked.
"Would it have mattered?" Gupta asked.
"…Probably not."
Lovino was silent, and the other two proceeded to plan how they would proceed with the project.
…
Lovino and Feliks were waiting for the bus that afternoon when they noticed someone else approaching them. They were both surprised to see that it was Miguel.
"I hope you don't mind if I join you," Miguel said, a nervous smile on his face.
"Like, no prob," Feliks said. "But, like, why are you joining us?"
"I have to go see my family in your town," Miguel explained. "You know, duty calls and everything."
Lovino couldn't help but think that there was something that Miguel was neglecting to mention, but he decided to leave it at that. If Miguel decided that a lie would be necessary, then he decided that it wasn't his business.
They climbed on as soon as the bus arrived, and Miguel sat with them.
"By the way, what kinds of music do you listen to?" Miguel asked.
"Like, I'm okay with pop music," Feliks said.
"Don't have a specific genre," Lovino said. "Just something that I can ignore."
"So, you're more interested in background music," Miguel said, nodding. "I've got a suggestion for you then. Vlad was the one that suggested it, and it made for an interesting experience. Look for the band 'Nox Arcana'. Their music is themed around horror, and would be a perfect background music for horror movies. Anyway, one of their albums is based on Edgar Allen Poe, and another on HP Lovecraft. Try listening to that when reading."
Lovino frowned, committing it to memory. Well, he could probably look into it when he was finished with his session with Dr Williams.
…
Miguel took a deep breath. He was standing in front of Antonio's house. He needed to speak to his cousin, and he knew that things would go south. Still, he needed to see him. He needed to understand what went through Antonio's head, and he wanted to make sure that his cousin saw reason. Also, it would continue to bother him if he didn't have a word with Antonio regarding this.
Closing his eyes and taking another deep breath, Miguel knocked on the door and opened his eyes. A few seconds later, his aunt opened the door.
"Oh, Miguel," she said. "I wasn't expecting you. What brings you here? And… since when do you wear your hair like that?"
"Sorry to barge in, Tia," Miguel said. "Is Antonio here? I need to talk with him urgently, and it's not exactly a conversation for a phone."
His aunt frowned in confusion, but she nodded her head.
"Si," she said. "He's in his room. Do you want something to drink?"
"No, thank you," Miguel declined. "I'm not planning on staying long."
Miguel made his way up to his cousin's room, finding that Antonio was on his bed, texting on his phone. When his cousin saw him, he frowned and sat up.
"What are you doing here?" Antonio asked.
"We need to talk," Miguel said, stepping in and closing the door behind him.
Antonio's frown deepened, and he stood up, crossing his arms.
"Alright," he said. "What do you want to talk about?"
"You knew that it was Lovino transferring to my school, didn't you?" Miguel asked. "That description must have sounded very familiar to you, am I right?"
Antonio tensed, before shaking his head.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean," Antonio said.
"Don't give me that crap," Miguel said. "You know Lovino, don't you? You can't deny that one."
Antonio looked as though he ate something sour, but he nodded his head.
"Si, I know him," he said. "What lies has he been telling you?"
"No lies, Antonio."
"Bullshit. Lovino is a lunatic, who always tries to play the victim. He hates me, and he would lie about me."
"Tony, I know you well enough to know that what you're selling me is crap. You really expect me to believe that he would simply lie about you? You really expect me to believe that he would waste his time like that? Admit it, Antonio: You're one of the people who tortured him. It's because of you that he ended up in the hospital."
Miguel noticed that Antonio had slowly been inching closer to him, but he wasn't afraid of his cousin. He knew how to handle Antonio.
"He tried to commit suicide," Antonio said. "All because he wanted attention."
"…You're even more of a psychopath than I thought," Miguel said. "So, he punched himself in the face, broke his wrist, hurt his ankle, broke his ribs… All for attention? Do you even hear how stupid you sound? Oh, and let's not forget the fact that you almost killed him."
"Did he tell you that?" Antonio asked.
"He didn't have to. One of my friends is the son of our principal, and she told him a few things about him. Our job is to help him adjust. And you made this more difficult, because he can't look at me without seeing you."
"He's lying!" Antonio insisted. "Who are you going to believe? Someone you just met, or the cousin you knew your whole life?"
"You're seriously asking me that? Who should I believe? The boy who's afraid of me because I look like you, and who had a serious panic attack because of his fear? Or the cousin with a bad temper who hangs out with a bunch of jerks? Well, who should I believe?"
Antonio's eyes were wild, and Miguel could tell that he was really angry. But he wasn't prepared for what happened next.
Antonio had inched close enough to him, and now pounced on him. Miguel was caught off-guard, and landed against the door, slightly lying down. Antonio had his hands wrapped around Miguel's throat, and at first Miguel tried to pry the hands off, before thinking of another way to get Antonio off him. He kneed his cousin in the groin, and once the grip was loosened, he kicked him away and stood up, positioning himself next to the door.
"Ask me again who I would rather believe," Miguel said. "The boy who claims to have been hurt by my cousin, or the cousin who just strangled me?"
Antonio's eyes widened, as though he just realised what he'd done. And they only had a second before Antonio's mother burst into the room.
"What happened?" she demanded, looking between the two teens.
Antonio slightly shook his head, silently asking Miguel not to tell his mother anything, but after what just happened, Miguel wasn't in an obliging mood.
"Tia, remember that boy I mentioned this weekend?" Miguel asked. "The one that was bullied? Well, his name is Lovino Vargas, and Antonio was one of the bullies. You can ask Mr Vargas if you don't believe me."
Miguel knew enough about the two's past to know that Antonio and Lovino used to be friends, so he accepted that his aunt would have Lovino's father's number, at least, or had a way to contact him.
Having said what needed to be said, Miguel ducked out of the room, making his way to the front door. He couldn't help the satisfied smile when he heard his aunt's angry voice follow him.
"What did he mean by that?" she demanded. "Antonio Fernandez Carriedo?!"
…
Romulus was waiting in the therapist's office for Lovino when his phone rang. He frowned when he saw a familiar name, though he and the woman hadn't had a cordial conversation in a long time. She'd always complained to him about Lovino doing something to her son.
He realised now that he should have been the one complaining to her.
"Carmen," he greeted. "This is a surprise. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"My nephew said something about my son bullying yours," she said. "Is this true?"
"Si. Lovino's seeing the therapist now. Your nephew is Miguel, right?"
"S-si. I'm not sure I believe all of this, but… Miguel isn't one to lie. And I would normally say the same for Antonio, but… Miguel said to call you if I didn't believe."
"Well, you can believe. Lovino's in a really bad state. We were all wrong about him. It made him… He tried to commit suicide two weeks ago. And the worst part is, we're lucky that he tried. If he didn't… He wouldn't have told us about how hurt he was. The doctor said that he was suffering from a lot of internal bleeding, and would have died otherwise."
"Dios mio… I'm so sorry! About everything. And don't worry about Antonio. As soon as his father comes back, we're going to have a little chat…"
Forgot to mention, but the CS teacher is my OC for Morocco. When they refer to foreign cuisine in South Africa, Moroccan cuisine usually gets mentioned, asides from the obvious (Italian, French, Chinese… you get the picture).
I like Nox Arcana, and I've read one of the songs based on Poe while reading the story. I think it was Masque of the Red Death. It was definitely an interesting experience, and considering I have two books with the complete works of both authors… Yep. Definitely. There's also another with Dracula vibes, and I also have the book. Can't believe I forgot about it.