Thanks to Yaoi-Is-Life-and-Love, Praise's waterfall, , Scarlett83 and an anon for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 53

A few weeks had passed since the sleepover, and Lovino was now in CS class. The following day would be their practical, and he was excited to be making meringues.

He'd been coming after school on Thursdays – the same day as their class's formal practical – in order to make up the credit. For the most part, it was written activities, but the previous week he had to make flapjacks. Since his right hand was still out of commission, he had to take things slowly.

And it was about the next day's session that he needed to speak to Ms Tazi about.

After the bell rang and all the other students were filing out, Lovino lingered behind, with Yao waiting for him at the door.

"Ms Tazi?" Lovino prompted.

"Yes, Lovino?" she responded, smiling warmly.

He knew that she was fluent in French, but she was kind enough to refrain from slipping into that language whenever he was around.

"I can't come to our extra lesson tomorrow," he said, before lifting his right arm. "I'm getting this thing off."

She smiled warmly when he told her that.

"That's great to hear," she said. "Don't worry, I completely understand. Now, hurry along to your next class."

Lovino returned her smile, before going as quickly as he could to meet Yao. His ankle had been doing a lot better lately, and as long as he didn't step on it strangely, then there was no pain at all.

Still, he needed to be careful of the occasional jolt.

…

"You're getting that splint removed tomorrow," Matthew said. "How do you feel about it?"

"I just want it to be over with," Lovino sighed. "And I'd really love to scratch this thing when it itches."

Matthew chuckled in amusement.

"I see," he said. "And how's your ankle?"

"It's okay, as long as I don't step weird," Lovino said. "One of my friends gave me tai chi practices to work on it."

"That's good. You're probably going to have to get some physical therapy for it anyway. So, how's it going at school? Are you keeping up with your classes?"

"Si. The teachers are a lot more patient than at my old school. They also come to check on me during the lessons, making sure that I understand what's going on, and some of them have given me extra work to make sure that I'm on the same level, since I switched schools and all, and since the two schools use different textbooks."

"I see. So, they're at least making an effort with you. And… I'm sorry, I've been curious about it for a while now, but… are you still hurting yourself?"

Lovino winced, before averting his gaze.

"I… I think about it sometimes," he admitted. "Old habits. But… My dad took away my knife. I didn't like the fact that he went through my things, but… I… I accept that he only did it because he was worried about me."

Matthew smiled.

"So, things are better now between the two of you?" he asked.

Lovino nodded.

"There are still times when the both of us are a bit uncomfortable about something," Lovino admitted. "But we're getting better."

"That's good to hear," Matthew said. "So, what have you been doing whenever you feel the urge to cut? Reading?"

Lovino blushed, averting his gaze again.

"I… I've been writing," he admitted. "Short stories and poems, mostly. I… I actually enjoy doing it."

Matthew smiled.

"I knew you would," Matthew said. "Writing offers you an opportunity to express yourself. To say what you want to say when you can't say it. Does it make sense?"

Lovino nodded his head.

"I can see it," he said. "Um… I-I was thinking about… writing a novel. You know… based on my experiences. I think… it might be my way of going through all the trauma."

Matthew smiled softly.

"If you think it would help, then go for it," he said. "Just be careful that you don't do more than you're ready for, okay?"

Lovino nodded.

"Okay," he said.

…

The following afternoon Lovino got out of the bus with Feliks in tow. Feliks had decided to come with Lovino to the hospital as moral support, even though they were just removing the brace – or whatever the thing on his arm was technically called. It was actually just an excuse to spend more time together.

Lovino had the container with the leftover meringues under his left arm. He and Feliks had been enjoying some of it on the bus, but they had to cease in order to allow Lovino's family members to enjoy them as well. And Feliks wanted to take one or two for both of his parents.

The door opened, and Romulus smiled when he saw the two teens. Feliciano came up behind his father.

"Ooh, are those the meringues?" Feliciano asked.

"Si," Lovino said, before he handed the large container to Feliciano. "Could you take it to the kitchen? Oh, and Feliks wants to take some for his parents."

"Of course! I'll go see if I can get a smaller one."

"Alright then," Romulus said. "Once this is finished, are you ready to go?"

Lovino was about to answer, but he was interrupted by the sound of an excited puppy. He smiled as he knelt down to pet Chiara, who came to greet him, her backside practically vibrating as her tail wagged.

"Like, she's gotten pretty big," Feliks said.

"Not really," Lovino said as he allowed the puppy to kiss him.

Feliks also played with Chiara while they waited for Feliciano to return with the meringues. The younger twin smiled as he saw the scene.

"Ve, she's really happy to see her daddy's home," Feliciano said.

"But not for long," Romulus said. "Come on. We need to get going."

It was with some reluctance that Lovino left his puppy behind. Well, at least she would still be here when he returned.

…

Gilbert was not in a good mood. And for the first time in weeks, it had nothing to do with his grounding.

He was sick. Really sick. He had the misfortune of having both pneumonia and stomach flu, or at least that was what they suspected. He was at the hospital at the GP's office to check. And he was bored of waiting.

The waiting room was crowded. Apparently, there was a bug going around, and he suspected that it would be a while before he got called in. Feeling another cramp, he turned towards his father.

"I need to go to the bathroom," Gilbert announced.

Wulfric looked annoyed, but sighed.

"Go on, then," he said. "Just make sure you're back by the time the doctor calls us in."

Gilbert grinned as he shot outside. He actually did need to go to the bathroom, but he was also happy to be away from his father's watchful eye for a while. This grounding was seriously unawesome.

As he looked across the hallway to search for the bathroom, he saw something – or someone – that he didn't think he would see for a while.

Lovino.

Hatred burned within him as he saw the other teen. Luckily, Lovino hadn't noticed him yet. The hallways intersected, and Lovino was passing through. And he wasn't alone.

Gilbert could recognise Feliks, and he also saw that Lovino's father was there. This was bad. If Gilbert approached Lovino with his father present, then Gilbert's father would learn about it, and he would be in deeper trouble.

Still, he needed to repay Lovino for the trouble he was currently in.

He knew the Italian. At some point, he would want a moment to himself. And that was when Gilbert would strike. And so he followed after them, being as quiet as possible and being as far back as possible to avoid detection. He saw them enter another hallway, and he hurried as quietly as possible to catch up. He caught them just as they were entering a doctor's office.

And he saw that there was a bathroom nearby.

His stomach cramped again, and he decided to take care of his other needs first. He would have to wait for Lovino anyway, and the bathroom was a good place. Even if Feliks or Lovino's father caught him, he could simply say that he was in the bathroom and that it was a coincidence that he was there.

Figuring that it was a good plan, he ducked inside the bathroom.

…

"And there we go," Dr Fryderyk said as he cut away the last of the splint. "How does it feel?"

Lovino flexed his hand, wincing as muscles worked that didn't have a chance to work in a while.

"At least I can move it," he said.

"I think you should see a physical therapist for both the hand and ankle," Fryderyk said as he started to write something down. "I can recommend someone, if you'd like."

"Grazie," Romulus said, smiling in relief. "But the ankle isn't really much of a problem anymore, is it?"

"Not really," Lovino replied. "I still need to be careful of going downstairs, though. It feels stiff."

"Therapy will work for that," Fryderyk said. "If you'd like, I could help you make arrangements right now."

"That would be nice," Romulus replied. "Thank you."

"Um, if you don't mind, I'd like to go to the bathroom," Lovino said. "I didn't really get a chance when we got home."

"Of course. Go ahead."

"Dad, do you mind if I like go get something from the cafeteria?" Feliks asked.

"Alright, if you must," Fryderyk sighed.

The two teens left together, but it wasn't long until Lovino reached the bathroom.

"Like, don't go anywhere until I get back, okay?" Feliks asked.

"Okay?" Lovino responded, cocking his head to the side. What was Feliks planning?

He shrugged, before entering the bathroom.

Lovino had only managed a few steps before he was roughly grabbed and pushed against the wall. There was a short section of wall next to the door, and that was what he was pinned to, while the door was closed. Before he could process what was happening, a hand was pressed against his mouth.

His eyes widened when he looked into familiar red eyes.

"Hello, Lovi," Gilbert greeted. "Long time, no see."

Lovino froze. He knew that he should probably have been trying to get someone's attention, or try to get Gilbert away from him, but he was afraid. He didn't think that he would have to come face to face with any of them again, but here Gilbert was, and he looked really angry, despite the smile on his face.

The smile that promised a lot of pain and torment.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused me?" Gilbert snarled. "Everyone hates me now, and I've been doing a shitload of work. All because of you."

Gilbert started coughing then, and Lovino immediately understood why Gilbert was at the hospital. But his fear turned to horror when, first of all, Gilbert didn't try to cover his cough, and second, when he aimed the coughing in Lovino's face. He winced as he felt small droplets from the other teen's mouth land on his face.

"I hope I'm contagious," Gilbert said. "You deserve to feel like shit too. And on that note…"

Lovino's eyes bulged as Gilbert's fist collided with his midsection, knocking the wind out of him. Even if his mouth wasn't covered, Lovino wouldn't have had the ability to scream.

"Well, well," Gilbert sneered, eyes trained downwards. "Isn't that the hand we broke?"

Lovino whimpered when Gilbert grabbed his right wrist, squeezing it until Lovino hissed in pain.

"You know, you really do need to moisturise," Gilbert said. "Shit, I'm starting to sound like Franny. I've got a lot to make up for."

Gilbert started coughing again, harder than the previous time. This time, it wasn't really in Lovino's face, since Gilbert doubled over. But once it was finished, he glared at Lovino, his already-red eyes now bloodshot as well, making him seem like a creature straight from the pits of the dark abyss.

"You're lucky I feel like crap," Gilbert said. "But next time I see you, there won't be any mercy."

Lovino grunted as Gilbert slammed his head against the wall, before he released him. As Gilbert opened the door, one word slipped out of Lovino's mouth.

"Why?"

Gilbert whipped around, eyes furious.

"What?" he demanded.

"Why… do you hate me?" Lovino asked. "What did I do to you?"

Gilbert clicked his tongue, before he stalked out of the bathroom. Lovino rubbed the back of his head, before remembering that he had business to take care of.

As he was washing his hands, he realised that he had been crying. He quickly wiped those tears away. He didn't want anyone to know about what had just happened.

…

As Gilbert returned to the GP, one thought kept creeping back: Lovino, asking him why he hated him.

He had an answer for the question, of course, but neither the energy nor time to reply. He hated Lovino because Lovino had some sort of natural talent. Because Lovino was smart without having to work too hard. Because Lovino acted like an uppity brat that pushed away anyone that tried to get close to him. Because Lovino didn't care about the people that he hurt; it was all about him.

Honestly, Gilbert and the others did all those people who thought Lovino was nice a favour by dragging them away before Lovino could hurt them, the way Francis and Antonio had been hurt.

Gilbert was also mad that Lovino had somehow managed to twist Francis and Antonio's minds again, using other people to do it for him. Francis and Antonio actually appeared to feel bad about the things done to Lovino – Francis mentioned seeing a photo of what Lovino looked like in the hospital bed. But Gilbert pointed out that showing Francis that photo was nothing more than a form of emotional blackmail. And Antonio's cousin Miguel had his mind twisted by Lovino as well. The Italian was toxic, and it took a while to remind his friends about it. Now, everything was normal between them.

And their priority was to get their respective groundings lifted.

They would make Lovino pay for all the humiliation and grief that he had brought for them. They knew that Lovino would often go for walks to clear his head, or because he wanted to go to the shopping district. Gilbert also heard mention that Lovino now had a dog, which meant he would most likely have to take it out for walks. And they knew where he lived.

It was only a matter of time before they were free once again, and they would make Lovino pay for everything he'd done to them. They just needed to figure out how.

He slipped into the GP's office, and his father eyed him.

"What took you so long?" he asked.

"I think it's definitely stomach flu," Gilbert said.

"Beilschmidt!" the receptionist called out.

"Looks like you managed to make it just in time," Wulfric sighed.

Gilbert smirked. Oh, he managed to do a lot more than that.

…

When Lovino returned from the bathroom, Romulus noticed that something was wrong with his son. He seemed a bit… down, and he avoided direct eye contact. His instincts were screaming at him to demand that his son tell him what happened. Because they were also screaming at him that something happened.

"I think we should start the physical therapy next week," Romulus said. "After your sessions with Dr Williams okay?"

Lovino nodded. Romulus narrowed his eyes. However, he had no idea how to broach the subject with his son. Something in Lovino's demeanour told him that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Feliks asked to wait until he gets back," Lovino said.

"Okay," Romulus said quietly.

"Well then, why don't I tell you a bit about the therapist, Lovino?" Fryderyk asked. "His name is Berwald Oxenstierna, and while he may appear to be intimidating, he's a pretty nice guy, and he knows his craft."

They talked about the physical therapy and what it would entail, and eventually Feliks returned, carrying a carton of… something.

"Like, I bet you didn't know that the hospital had these donuts," Feliks said, before he handed the carton to Lovino. "Here, take it."

Lovino looked puzzled, but he accepted it nonetheless.

"What's this for?" he asked.

"Like, it's to celebrate your wrist and ankle getting better," Feliks said.

"Oh… Um, thank you."

Romulus smiled, before he ruffled his son's hair. Lovino squawked at the action, but didn't try to bat his hand away, most likely because Romulus was sitting to his right.

They soon took their leave of the two Poles and started on their way back to the car.

"Um, Padre, do you mind if we go to the shopping district first?" Lovino asked.

"Is there something you need?" Romulus asked.

"Um… I-I would like a few notebooks and… Um, I heard there's a bug going around, so… I was thinking that we should stock up on vitamins and things like that."

Romulus winced. He'd also heard that quite a few people had been feeling sick lately. Toris, for example.

"Sure," he said.

…

When they returned home, Lovino immediately made his way to his bedroom, instead of the dining room where Marcello and Feliciano were doing their homework. Lovino needed some time alone.

That encounter with Gilbert shook him. He thought he was free, and when he least expected it…

The urge to cut himself again was strong, but Lovino had a stronger urge. He had been thinking up ways in which he could do as he told Matthew, and create a novel out of his experiences.

Lovino took one of the notebooks they bought and opened it to the first page. He knew that he couldn't use real names, and he needed to change everyone's appearances. But the events could be used. He just needed to figure out how.

And so, he started to plan.

Two and a half years after spraining my ankle, and I'm still nervous about going down stairs. Partially because that's how the sprain happened, but also because it feels to me as though the muscles in that foot aren't working the same way as the other foot's.

Also, the South African physical therapist was not impressed when he found out that I received therapy for my ankle in France. They may have better healthcare, but South Africans are more equipped when dealing with injuries.

So yeah, part of Gilbert's hatred is fuelled by jealousy. Another part is because he sees the worst in Lovino, and because he is unable to accept responsibility for his own actions. He literally needs someone else to blame, and Lovino is a convenient target. And not seeing Lovino for a while – in other words, not directly seeing the damage that they'd done – made the BTT revert back to their previous states, with any guilt having been destroyed by not being confronted with the result of their actions and feeling resentment over the punishments inflicted by their parents. I wanted to write a scene of Francis doing the chores at home while he's being supervised by the housekeeper. Maybe eventually.

Flapjacks (or crumpets – we only really refer to them by their Afrikaans name 'plaatkoekies' (plaat: stovetop and koekies: cookies)) are among the first things we learn to make. And it was literally the first thing I learned how to bake at age 7. I give them some variety by adding Smarties to them.

As for me not knowing what to call Lovino's brace, since it was established that the actual cast was removed – my mother broke her hand in March (ironically, the same as Lovino's) and she didn't get a plaster cast, but rather a lot of bandages, and I think it used that medical tape on top of those bandages. So, that's why I say it's more of a splint or a brace.