Thanks to Praise's waterfall, HanaNatsume and an anon for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 54

"Like, is something wrong?" Feliks asked on the bus the next morning.

"Why do you ask?" Lovino responded.

"You look a bit down. Did something happen? Like, I thought you'd be happier, now that you can totally use both hands again."

Lovino looked down at his right hand, before he shook his head.

"I'm fine," he said. "Don't worry about it."

Feliks narrowed his eyes.

"Like, you know you're not supposed to keep things to yourself," Feliks said. "I promise, I won't tell anyone, so, like, please tell me what's bothering you."

Lovino turned to regard Feliks, trying to judge him. After seeing the sincerity in the Pole's eyes, Lovino sighed.

"You promise not to tell anyone?" he asked. "Not even your parents, or Miguel and the others, and especially not my family?"

Feliks looked worried, but he nodded his head. Lovino closed his eyes and turned away.

"I ran into Gilbert yesterday," he said. "In the bathroom."

Feliks gasped.

"Like, did he hurt you?" he asked.

Lovino bit his lip, before he inched away.

"He said that he got in a lot of trouble, and blames me for it," Lovino explained. "And he… He punched me in the stomach, but that's not the worst. He's… sick. Literally sick. And he coughed into my face."

Feliks's breath hitched, and Lovino turned towards him. The blond was trembling in rage.

"That… that asshole," Feliks said. "That's really sick. If I get my hands on him…"

Lovino winced. The last thing he needed was for some sort of fight to break out because of him.

"Just… forget about it," Lovino said. "But I think you should keep your distance. I don't know if he passed on whatever it was that he has. Better to be safe than sorry."

Feliks huffed.

"Like, I hope his condition gets worse and he has to spend a lot of time in the hospital," Feliks said.

Lovino winced when he heard that.

"Um, I think we should change the subject," Lovino said. "Do you remember what I asked you a few weeks ago?"

Feliks cocked his head to the side.

"Like, could you be more specific?" Feliks asked.

"I asked you to teach me Polish, remember?" Lovino asked.

"Oh, right! Like, I totally forgot with everything that's happened since then! So, like, we should probably get started then, right? Like, what about after school?"

Lovino nodded his head. He could still remember what happened the previous day with Gilbert, and the absolute hatred in the German's eyes. He didn't know what had happened to earn him that hatred, but if he could undo it, he would. If only to save him from all the grief he'd been put through.

He was just grateful that Gilbert hadn't taken out his anger on Lovino's brothers.

…

Gilbert was trapped in bed, his stomach, throat and chest in pain. Their suspicions were correct, and he had both stomach flu and pneumonia. And it had worsened overnight. He'd been assigned to bedrest for the next week, and with the internet and TV being out of the question, it was made even worse. He had nothing to do other than sleep.

Well, he didn't mind the sleep, but there was only so much one person could take. He didn't even have his phone with him, so he couldn't use that to entertain himself. He also couldn't get in contact with Antonio or Francis, who he recalled were also feeling a bit under the weather.

The only thing that could cheer him up was the possibility that he had passed on either one of the two illnesses afflicting him to Lovino. If anyone deserved to suffer, it was the Italian.

…

"Are you okay?" Miguel asked.

Lovino nodded, keeping his eyes on the notebook he was writing in. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Lovino had been keeping his distance from them, and whenever he wasn't working on schoolwork, he was writing in the notebook.

Lovino was using his right hand, which was probably his way of practicing using the muscles again after a long time of not using them. They figured that the notebook was being used for that purpose, so they didn't bother him about it. It was just the fact that he kept his full attention on the book that made them a bit worried.

Miguel and Gupta exchanged looks, before turning their attentions to Feliks. The Pole kept his gaze on the Italian, and based on the look in his eyes, the others realised that Feliks knew something about what was going on. The only question was whether or not he would tell them what he knew.

Feliks noticed their staring, and he shook his head. They didn't want to force their friends to tell them anything, but they also didn't want their friends to suffer from some heavy burden alone.

They wanted to believe that it was just a bad day, but their instincts told them otherwise. They didn't want to force their friends to tell them things they didn't want to, but if they felt that there was some sort of trouble, they would intervene.

…

"It's been a while since we did anything together," Roderich observed, looking towards his friends. "I think we should do so again."

It was lunchtime, and Feliciano and his three friends were at their usual table. The other three turned towards the Austrian in surprise.

"That's odd, coming from you," Dimitri said. "It's completely expected for Feliciano to suggest something like that, but you?"

Roderich sighed.

"The youth orchestra I'm a part of is having a concert next Saturday," Roderich said. "I had every intention of inviting you, and afterwards we could go do something else together, if you're interested."

"Ooh, a concert!" Feliciano exclaimed. "Ve, that sounds like fun!"

"It does indeed sound like it could be entertaining," Kiku said.

"And what are we going to do afterwards?" Dimitri asked.

"Whatever it is we can agree on," Roderich said, before glancing towards Feliciano. "There is something else I have in mind, though. You see, I admit that I'm curious about Lovino's new friends."

Feliciano blinked in surprise, cocking his head to the side.

"Ve, where's this coming from?" Feliciano asked.

"Well, I guess we're so used to Lovino being on his own, that the idea of him having his own group of friends is intriguing," Roderich explained. "And I want to meet them."

"I must admit, I'm also curious about them," Kiku said. "Perhaps we should invite Lovino along as well, and we can tell him to bring his friends?"

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this?" Dimitri sighed.

"Ve, I can always check with Lovino if his friends would like to meet you," Feliciano said. "They're all nice, so I don't think that they'd have a problem with it."

"You must be joking," a voice said behind Feliciano. "Lovino has friends? That's ridiculous."

They spun around to see Francis. He looked a bit pale, but that only made his cold expression seem all the more terrifying.

"And why is that so?" Feliciano asked, glaring darkly.

"Lovino isn't suited to have friends," Francis scoffed. "He ruins the lives of everyone he comes into contact with."

"That's rich, coming from you. You ruined his life!"

Francis narrowed his eyes.

"You know, I think I heard that you're grounded," Roderich said. "Something about your parents finding out about you bullying Lovino."

"And let me guess," Dimitri said. "You're blaming Lovino for you being grounded."

Francis stiffened. Feliciano narrowed his eyes.

"It's true, isn't it?" Feliciano asked. "You're blaming Lovino because you got into trouble for the things you did."

"Don't assume that's the case," Francis said. "It's only a matter of time before he ruins his new 'friends' as well."

"That won't happen. Unlike you, they're actually good people."

Francis scoffed, before he walked away. The group watched after him, wearing disapproving looks on their faces.

"Unbelievable," Roderich said. "They fail to accept responsibility for their actions. Gilbert is exactly the same. I shudder to think what would happen if they ever ran into Lovino again."

"Which is why I'm going to stop that from happening," Feliciano said. "I'm not going to let them hurt him ever again."

…

"So, we're still on for that movie tomorrow?" Vlad asked.

"Like, totally!" Feliks exclaimed.

"We've been waiting to see it for a while now," Miguel said. "So, at what time will we find each other there?"

"Actually, I don't think I'm going," Lovino said.

"What?!" Gupta demanded. "If this is about the bus ride…"

"No, it's not that. I just…"

"Like, Lovino's scared that he might be getting sick," Feliks said.

Lovino turned towards Feliks, a sharp look in his eyes, which the other ignored.

"Are you not feeling well?" Yao asked.

"No," Lovino sighed. "I'm extremely tired today, and my eyes are a bit sore. That only happens when I'm getting sick."

"Oh," Heracles said. "In that case, you shouldn't push yourself if you're feeling sick. And if you think you're feeling worse, then you should go to the nurse's office."

Lovino nodded his head, though the others could clearly see that there was still something that he was hiding. However, if he really was feeling sick, then they figured that it was a valid explanation for his odd behaviour.

"If you want, I can bring you some herbal medicine," Yao said. "It's completely safe, I assure you."

"That assurance is actually making me more nervous," Lovino stated.

"Agreed," Gupta said.

Yao huffed.

"Fine then," he said. "At the very least, do you drink green tea?"

Lovino made a face.

"I'm more of a coffee person," he said.

"Well, you may want to reconsider," Yao said. "It's a lot healthier than coffee, and it has a lot of benefits. One of them is that it boosts immunity."

Lovino sighed.

"I'll give it a try then," he said. "If you insist."

"I can also give you a list of things to mix and match with," Yao said. "You don't have to drink the tea as it is."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you."

"Do you want to start immediately with the tai chi, or do you want to wait until you're better?"

"I arranged with Mr Jones to start the extra classes next week. So, I guess we can wait until then too. But I'm still trying out those basics you gave me."

Yao smiled.

"Good," he said. "I can also show you some of the basic hand movements for that wrist of yours."

"Grazie," Lovino said. "I'm sorry about tomorrow."

"It's no problem," Miguel said. "Just feel better, okay?"

Lovino nodded his head, smiling softly, though there was still a storm cloud in his gaze.

…

"Alright, spill."

Feliks jumped in surprise. He was in his Life Skills class, which he shared with Miguel, Yao and Vlad. And Miguel was the one that spoke.

"Huh?" Feliks asked. "Like, what are you talking about?"

"Is Lovino really sick, or is there something else bothering him?" Miguel demanded.

Feliks flinched, averting his gaze.

"And your reaction is telling us that there's something you both are hiding," Yao said. "So, don't bother lying."

"Like, Lovino asked me not to tell anyone," Feliks said. "Not even you guys."

"We won't interfere, and we won't confront him," Vlad said. "But if something's going on, we have the right to know. And we'll make sure that Lovino doesn't find out that we know. So, please?"

Feliks glanced towards the front of the class, but Mr Bondevik already declared this a self-study class, and as long as they weren't too loud, he didn't care if they spoke with each other.

"…Like, as long as Lovino doesn't find out," Feliks sighed. "Yesterday, at the hospital, he had a run-in with one of his bullies. Gilbert."

Miguel's expression darkened.

"Out of the three of them, Gilbert is the biggest jerk," Miguel said. "Even if he's pretending to be nice. What happened?"

"Like, I don't know the exact details," Feliks said. "It happened when Lovino went to the bathroom while I went to the cafeteria. Apparently, Gilbert's sick, and the jerk totally made sure to purposely cough in Lovino's face."

The other three widened their eyes.

"That… that's sick," Miguel whispered. "And I'm guessing there's more that happened."

Feliks shrugged.

"Pretty much," he replied. "Lovino's scared that he really did catch whatever Gilbert has, and he's afraid that he would pass it on to the rest of us."

"That makes sense," Vlad said. "But, why doesn't he want to tell us?"

"It's obvious," Yao said. "Not only would seeing his former bully be traumatising, but the fact that he purposely tried to make Lovino sick is scary too. And if he said or did something else to Lovino…"

"I can guarantee that something else happened," Miguel said. "Gilbert would definitely do something to someone he hates."

"Lovino said he punched him," Feliks said. "And blames him for Gilbert getting into trouble."

"I heard that all three of them were grounded. And knowing them, they would definitely blame someone else for the things they've done. But now that we know… I think we should make sure that Lovino doesn't find out that we know. Instead, we should only look after him. And we'll be there if he finally decides to confide in us."

"Like, that's going to be tricky. One thing I noticed about Lovino is that he doesn't really confide in people. Like, he's so used to no one listening to him that he doesn't know how to talk to anyone about his problems unless you ask him about it. And, like, not even that's a guarantee."

"And it's that kind of thing that led him to the hospital," Vlad sighed. "We'll keep an eye on him to make sure it doesn't come to that. We just need to act normal."

…

"Okay, so, like, you want to start with Polish?" Feliks asked.

The two were on the bus, heading back to their own town. Lovino shrugged, looking out the window.

"I don't think either of us really told our parents about this arrangement, so they wouldn't expect you to be at my house, right?" Lovino asked.

Feliks grimaced.

"Like, that's true," he said. "Alright then, so, like, why don't I just give you a few basic words? 'Yes', 'no', 'hello', 'goodbye', 'please' and 'thank you'?"

"Alright," Lovino replied. "I guess that's a good start."

"So then, like, 'yes' is 'tak' and 'no' is 'nie'."

Lovino repeated the words a few times, smiling after he saw Feliks's encouraging smile.

"Like, great!" he said. "Okay, so, I think the more informal 'hello' would be better. 'Cześć'. And 'bye' is 'pa'."

Lovino repeated these two words as well.

"This isn't so bad," Lovino said. "I thought Polish is one of the harder languages."

"Well, like, remember, this is the informal language," Feliks said. "If you want formal, try 'dzień dobry' and 'do widzenia'."

Lovino tried the words a few times, before wincing.

"Okay," he said. "Informal is better. 'Please' and 'thank you'?"

"'Proszę' and 'dzięki'," Feliks supplied.

Lovino repeated those words as well. Feliks grinned.

"Like, you're a natural," Feliks praised.

"Let's just hope that I'll remember it on Monday," Lovino sighed. "By the way, why did you tell the others that I'm sick?"

"Like, they were really worried about you, and they know that you wouldn't tell them on your own. And, like, you were so excited yesterday, so everyone was worried. And you are scared that you might be sick. And, like, no one's in a good mood if they're sick, so…"

Feliks was worried that Lovino might find out that he told Miguel and the others, but Lovino finally just sighed.

"I suppose that makes sense," Lovino said. "I feel really bad about cancelling tomorrow's plans. I'm… I'm scared."

Feliks's expression softened.

"Like, why are you scared?" he asked.

"I… I'm scared that they might think that… I don't want to hang out with them anymore," Lovino explained. "It's happened before. It's how it happened with Francis. I was busy, or I wasn't in the mood. Before I realised it, I did it a lot. He got fed up with me, called me selfish and uppity, and said that he doesn't want to be my friend anymore. And you can guess what happened next."

"That's not your fault. Like, if it's something that couldn't be helped, then he should have had more sympathy or something. And, like, you're telling me that that's a good reason to become a bully? Vino, the others aren't like those three assholes. They're not going to hate you for cancelling plans once."

"But what if it happens again? What if I have to cancel next time, or the time after that?"

"Like, if you have a good reason, then there shouldn't be a problem. And, like, you need to be able to say what's bothering you. And even if you don't want to tell the truth, you can make up your own excuses, right? But, please, you shouldn't be scared to tell us if something's bothering you."

Lovino averted his gaze.

"You might be right," he said. "I'll apologise to them on Monday. And… I guess I should explain to them what's going on. Hopefully I'm not getting sick."

"Like, I still think it's totally twisted what he did," Feliks said. "And if you show any symptoms, you should totally tell me, okay? Like, hopefully he wasn't contagious at that point. But you should take care of yourself, okay?"

Lovino nodded his head, and Feliks hoped that Lovino would take his words to heart.

…

When Lovino woke up, he realised that his head and throat hurt. His eyes were also painful, and he knew that he had indeed started getting sick.

He groaned. He grabbed his phone and notified Feliks. He'd finally decided to exchange numbers with Feliks, though he still needed to do the same with the others.

Personally, I detest coffee. Too bitter for my tastes. I've tried to get myself interested in tea, but so far I can only manage rooibos and green tea. Well, at least there are a lot of variations, like vanilla rooibos and wild berry green tea. And yeah, green tea has a lot of benefits. I also have a book of tai chi which gives a few mix and match options for green tea.

One of my ways of knowing that I'm sick is when my eyes hurt, especially due to a sinus infection. It's not dry or anything, and I can recognise the exact type of pain. It sometimes comes before all the other symptoms.

Sorry if any of the Polish is incorrect. Even reliable sources can be incorrect. I once saw a glaring mistake in a language book of Afrikaans. 'Sommer' being translated as 'summer', while the correct word is 'somer'. 'Sommer' is a difficult word to translate. It can sometimes be used in the same way Feliks uses 'like' and 'totally', and it is also the Afrikaans equivalent of 'because' when provided as a reason for something.