Thanks to Yaoi-Is-Life-and-Love, The Winged Huntress, Neah-D-Campbell1 and Praise's Waterfall for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Hetalia.

Chapter 72

"Are you ready?" Romulus asked.

Lovino swallowed as he stared at himself in the mirror. At least they weren't supposed to wear a suit. He just needed to look decent.

"I think so," Lovino replied.

"Remember, we'll be there to support you," Romulus said.

It was a week after he returned from the hospital. The day he was supposed to testify in court. He'd hoped that it would take longer before they reached this point, but the town wasn't too large and generally peaceful. It was rare that such an important case came up, and the pressure was weighing on Lovino's mind.

To make matters worse, the press had caught wind of what happened, and they were eager to report on all that transpired. At least he wasn't interviewed. As a minor, they had to keep their distance. But to know that the entire town knew about him being stabbed, and about the others stabbing him… If not for the fact that the other three were also underage, their names would have been in the articles as well. And Lovino didn't want that fate. He didn't hate them enough for them to be hated by the entire town for something like this.

But there was a strong possibility that the town already knew who exactly was involved. They would have heard about it from the students of Lovino's old high school.

The boy who had always hidden in the library did not like this much attention.

As they made their way to the courthouse, he couldn't help but be afraid of how the day would go.

…

An hour later had Lovino sitting behind the witness stand. He could see the trio simply staring at him, and he tried his hardest to look away. After swearing to tell the truth, the prosecutor approached him.

"Mr Vargas, could you explain to the court what happened on the eighteenth December?" the man asked.

Lovino swallowed thickly and nodded.

"Y-yeah," he said. "I was on my way to the town. My friends and I were going to have this party for the holidays, and we all agreed to get something small for each other. I was on my way to the bookstore when I felt someone grab me from behind."

He glanced towards the trio, who were pointedly looking away from him.

"They threatened me to go with them," Lovino continued. "Gilbert had a knife out, and he promised that he would hurt me if I tried to run or scream or struggle."

"You said that someone grabbed you," the prosecutor said. "Was that Mr Beilschmidt, or one of the others?"

"I… I can't remember who grabbed me, but it wasn't Gilbert. As soon as I was grabbed, the other two came out too. Um, when we were walking, I tried to find out what exactly they wanted from me, but they'd hurt me every time I spoke."

"At what point did you believe that your life was in danger?"

Lovino took a shaky breath.

"When… When we reached the bridge," he said. "They said that… I won't bother them again, and that it's a good thing that I don't know how to swim."

"What did they mean by 'you won't bother them'?" the prosecutor asked.

"They… they've been bullying me for years. Most of the time, they didn't get into trouble for it. But when they did get into trouble, they'd always blame me." Lovino raised his right wrist. "One time, they broke my wrist because they got detention."

"I see. So, they would hate you for going to the teachers for help?"

Lovino shook his head.

"The teachers never believed me," he explained. "If a teacher saw it and gave them detention, then I would get detention too."

"Why do you think the teachers didn't believe you?" the prosecutor asked.

"Because… there were rumours. I… My old school, people didn't like me."

"Alright… Back to December eighteenth. After taking you to the bridge, what happened?"

"They threw me to the ground and kicked me. A lot. And then they pulled me up. I… I kicked one of them and pulled away. I started running. I tried calling my dad, but one of them threw a rock against my head. I heard my dad's voice on the phone and told him that I'm at the bridge, and that… I needed help."

"What happened then?"

"They dragged me back to the bridge, but… They said that the suicide angle wouldn't work. That they needed to make it look like a mugging."

"The suicide angle?"

"I… I think they wanted to make it look like the rocks in the river caused all the bruises. That I committed suicide by drowning."

The prosecutor checked the file he had in his hand.

"Am I correct that you attempted suicide earlier in the year?" he asked.

Lovino swallowed but nodded.

"Is that because of the bullying you endured at their hands?" the prosecutor continued.

"Y-yes," Lovino admitted.

He also wasn't going to tell them that his father had said something that really hurt him. He didn't want them to think badly about his father.

"Have you attempted or thought of suicide prior to that, or since?" the prosecutor asked.

Lovino could feel his hands trembling, and he desperately clenched them into fists. Shakily, he nodded.

"I… I tried a few times before that," he explained. "But nothing afterwards, and I… I think thoughts like that only came back the first month after… After I went to the hospital for that."

The prosecutor nodded, though his face softened in sympathy.

"Do you think that they might have used your history as an attempt to get away with murder?" he asked.

"I… I think so," Lovino said. "It's possible."

"Have you had any contact with them since your attempted suicide and the attack on the bridge?"

"J-just once. Um… It was when I went to the hospital to get a cast off my arm. I-I went to the bathroom and… G-Gilbert was there. He threatened and hit me, but… He was sick, so he couldn't really do much that time."

"What can you tell us about what happened next? After they decided on the 'mugging angle'?"

Lovino swallowed thickly as he thought back to that day.

"They… they pushed me against the bridge's railing," he said. "And then… They took turns s-stabbing me."

"All three stabbed you?" the prosecutor asked.

Lovino nodded his head.

"Yes," he breathed. "And that's when… my dad arrived. They ran away, and… I passed out not long after that. I woke up a few days later in the hospital. They told me they had to put me in a coma."

The prosecutor smiled sympathetically.

"No further questions," he said, before returning to his desk.

Lovino watched as the lawyer hired by the trio stood. He looked a bit haggard, and Lovino wondered what was going to happen. He was told that two of them pleaded guilty, so, was the lawyer only going to defend the one that didn't plead guilty? Was he going to ask questions to make Lovino look unreliable or something?

"One of my clients, Gilbert Beilschmidt, has decided to change his plea," the lawyer said. "He pleads guilty."

Lovino's eyes widened. That was not what he expected. And apparently, neither did anyone else. Whispers erupted in the courtroom as Lovino stared at the trio. Antonio and Francis were also staring at Gilbert in surprise, but the German kept his gaze fixed on the table in front of him.

"That's enough," the judge ordered, and everyone quieted down. "I think it would be prudent for us all to take a short recess. The proceedings will resume in ten minutes."

Lovino breathed a sigh of relief, before he went to join his family again. His friends were also there, and he was glad to have their support.

"Are you okay?" Vlad asked. "You look a bit pale."

"I'm fine," Lovino said, smiling shakily. "It's just… Trying to get all of that out."

"Well, like, I think you're very brave," Feliks said with no uncertainty.

"Agreed," Romulus said. "Now, what was this about the hospital? I don't think you told us about it."

Lovino flushed and averted his gaze.

"It's nothing," he muttered.

"So, what do you think's going to happen now?" Gupta asked. "Since they all are pleading guilty now?"

"No idea," Heracles said. "But I think it might complicate matters."

Lovino didn't fail to notice as Miguel glanced towards the trio's direction, but he knew who he was really looking at. He wondered what Miguel was feeling right now. His cousin was on trial for trying to kill his friend. And to his knowledge, they hadn't seen each other at all in this time. And if he wasn't mistaken, the last conversation they had was when Miguel basically disowned Antonio.

Honestly, Lovino just wanted to leave all of this behind. Pretend that he got really into a book. That this wasn't reality.

If only it was so easy.

…

Antonio's eyes kept trailing to the other end of the room, where Lovino and his friends and family were. However, Antonio's eyes weren't on Lovino. They were on Miguel.

His cousin kept shooting him looks as well, but while Antonio's was desperate, Miguel's were cold at best, and full of hate at worst. Miguel also seemed to make it a point to stand as close to Lovino as possible. Almost as though he was telling Antonio that Lovino was the one that had his full support.

Antonio wanted to go over and apologise. He wanted to apologise to Miguel for being a bad cousin, and he wanted to apologise to Lovino for… everything. However, they weren't going to allow them anywhere near Lovino. Not after what they'd done.

Seeing Lovino up there, without a scowl on his face and without Antonio being angry at him… Lovino looked so much younger than normal. He even looked younger than Marcello. There was the way he would hesitate before answering the questions. The nervous looks. The stuttering. And Antonio had seen how Lovino trembled. None of this was an act. Antonio could see that Lovino was truly afraid. And they had done that.

The fact that Lovino didn't go into full detail on the things they had done to him also made Antonio pause. He had the opportunity to paint them as cold-hearted monsters – and looking back on it, Antonio couldn't blame him – but he didn't. He only answered the questions as they came along, and what they'd done to him was more or less summed up as 'bullying'. Well, there was the issue with the wrist, but considering what else they'd done, Antonio figured they got off lightly.

If they'd asked whether there was another time when they tried to kill him, on the other hand…

"Mon ami, what made you change your mind?"

Antonio snapped his attention back to Gilbert and Francis. Gilbert was still avoiding their gaze.

"You had to have that evaluation too, right?" Gilbert asked.

"Oui," Francis replied.

"Well, the psychiatrist wanted me to have another test done. Apparently, there's a good chance that a head injury messed me up really bad. And… I remember when we were in kindergarten and Lovino hit me with a racket. An accident. I hated him, but… If all of this was because of an accident when we were in kindergarten…"

Antonio flinched, before he looked back at Miguel and Lovino.

"…I guess I'm pretty petty too," Antonio said. "I think… I was just mad because he yelled at me when we were kids. But… Thinking back on it, and knowing what I know now… I wasn't exactly the best friend. I wasn't understanding. Lovino's mother was dead, and I didn't help him. And after growing up a bit… Of course he wouldn't be the most patient. I mean… he was in the car with her. And… I should have made him feel better the way he would want to feel better."

Francis stared at the two of them and sighed.

"I wasn't the best person either," he said. "I… I thought Feliciano was pretty cute back then, but he already had so many friends. You know how you don't really want to share friends when you're so small. But Lovino was on his own, and I thought I could have my own personal Feliciano. It was stupid. I expected Lovino to be like his brother and got angry that he wasn't."

Antonio sighed.

"Do you think, if we managed to figure all of this out sooner, we could have avoided all of this?" he asked.

"Maybe," Gilbert sighed. "Damn, all this time we had to ourselves really made us think about things we forgot, huh?"

"I guess I now know what they mean about hindsight being 20/20," Francis joked.

The joking died down, and Antonio could feel the weight of everything pressing down on him. They weren't fools. They knew that they had seriously messed up. That they were most likely going to be sent to prison, or at least juvie. And the chances that they would be kept together were slim. For all they knew, this might be the last time they would be able to speak with each other. And they were afraid. Because even when they weren't tormenting Lovino, the three of them were good friends. They did a lot of things together. The thought that it was all over now…

Antonio turned to look at the front of the room, where the judge, prosecutor and lawyers were having a discussion. These people would decide their fates, and Antonio was terrified of what they decided.

Too soon, the recess was over, and they had to take their seats.

"It's a shame the change of plea couldn't have happened sooner," he said, eyes searching for Lovino. "We might have been able to avoid all of this. Very well. All three boys are found guilty of attempted murder and assault. We will return next week to discuss the sentencing."

Antonio flinched. Guilty. Not that he expected anything else, but the word seemed to echo in his mind. And was it really necessary to say it like that?

The people stood to leave, but the three friends remained. They were all feeling something that they never felt to this degree before: fear. Their lives would never be the same again.

They remained seated until their parents came to fetch them. Antonio sought out his cousin and Lovino again, but they were already gone.

…

School resumed on Monday. It was all too surreal for Lovino. It was as though everything else that happened was part of an elaborate nightmare, if not for the fact that everyone was bombarding him with questions, demanding to know if he was alright, what the verdict was in the trial, whether he was still in pain, whether he hated the three for what they did.

Even the teachers wanted to know how he was.

Things got so hectic that Lovino was actually happy when they had Gym. Mr Jones told him that he would need to stay on the bleachers during that class due to his injuries, and Lovino was more than grateful for that reprieve. He watched the others for a bit before he lay down and closed his eyes. He needed to rest. A bit of rest was absolutely necessary.

He felt someone shaking him just as he was about to doze off, and he almost jumped in shock when he saw that it was Mr Jones.

"You okay?" he asked. "Would you like to go to the nurse?"

"I'm fine," Lovino said. "Just tired."

Alfred hummed before he gently pushed Lovino up.

"I still think you need to go to the nurse," he said. "You're still recovering. You can choose to take a nap for a bit, or you could ask to be sent home. Really, no one's going to blame you either way."

Lovino took a shaky breath and nodded.

"I just… I want everything to go back to normal," he said.

"I know," Alfred said. "But everything comes with time. If you try to force yourself you'll only end up getting hurt."

Lovino smiled and nodded. He could clearly see that Alfred and Matthew were related.

…

"How are you holding up?" Matthew asked.

After getting back from the hospital, Lovino had to go back to seeing Matthew twice a week. It was bad. They had made enough progress that Matthew felt that only once a week was fine, but now…

Lovino felt as though they took a step backward.

"I'm fine," Lovino sighed. "Just a bit tired of everyone asking me if I'm okay, or stuff like that."

"It just goes to show how worried they all are for you."

"I guess so. It's still just weird."

Matthew nodded sympathetically.

"Now then, about what happened Friday…" Matthew started.

Lovino tensed. The trial. He expected Matthew to talk about it, but he was hoping for a bit of a delay. Matthew was there, since he was supposed to be a witness to Lovino's state of mind, but with the plea being changed to all three 'guilty', it proved unnecessary.

Still, he wondered what made Gilbert change his mind.

"Lovino, I want you to be honest with me," Matthew said. "If the three of them apologised to you, would you forgive them?"

Lovino stared at his therapist in astonishment. The question came out of nowhere. His first instinct was to say 'no', but…

"I don't know," he admitted. "I-I mean… For about ten years, they made my life a living hell. They tortured me physically, emotionally and mentally. They made me want to die. They tried to kill me. I… I know I should forgive them sometime. I don't want to carry all of this anger and pain to my grave. But… It's going to take a long time."

Matthew nodded.

"Understanding that is the first step to achieving it," he said.

I apologise for any inaccuracies with the trial. I tried to make it as accurate as possible without asking my dad about it (my sister studies law too and had a project she needed help with; best to stay away from them during those times). No mention is made of a jury since South Africa doesn't use the jury system. It was abolished in 1969 during Apartheid when it became clear that having a white-only jury would create bias, and racially diverse juries were impossible at the time. Nowadays, the biggest obstacle is the difference between class and wealth. Seriously, the income gap here is huge. If you want an idea, do an image search on the wealth gap in South Africa.

I wanted to add a therapy scene with Matthew earlier, but didn't get a chance. So, here we are. Finally! Yeah, Lovino's going to need a lot of therapy after that.