Disclaimer: All characters belong to Hidekaz Himaruya… (Since this website is about FANfiction, is there really a point to putting up a disclaimer every time since nothing on this website belongs to the fans who write fiction about their favourite characters and series…?)

A/N: Thanks for the reviews from the last chapter guys~ Nothing to say, except for that you are all awesome~

After their discussion , Berwald decided to stay at home. Toris said he'll take over things at IKEA while his boss recuperates and wait for his stitched-up tongue to heal up. He found it hard to drink water without his tongue throbbing at the coolness…

But while the Swede worried about his deal with the boss of the Starlight Glitter club, the door to the apartment opened and Peter ran in happily. "Hey, Dad! I didn't expect to see you here!" he chirped and threw himself into as hug with the tall male, who hugged him back and patted his blonde hair. Tino also walked in with a few bags of shopping with a laugh.

"Hello, Ber! I didn't expect you here until evening!" He dropped the bags onto the counter in the kitchen area and strolled over to embrace Berwald and his son. "What happened at work, anyway? Did something happen? Let me guess, you're in shock because that American worker shocked you with his abnormal appetite!" he sniggered.

Berwald stuck his tongue out and Peter giggled until he had a clearer look at it and his mouth dropped open in an O-shape. Tino stared at the tiny black zig-zags and backed away with a small shriek. Berwald would've smirked smugly if he wasn't so scared of Tino.

"What the hell happened to your tongue? Show me again!" Tino demanded and he held the sides of his husband's head. He stuck his tongue out to comply. "Tsk! Did you fall over and bit it?" He received a nod in reply.

"I tripped over a dog when Toris an' I went walking together."

"Cool!" Peter gasped as he stared at the stitches. "Can I have some too?"

"No!" Tino said firmly and walked away to put groceries away. "And why would you walk around with that boy? He's so depressing when he's around, he always seem to be nervous about people, even the ones who are familiar to him! He is a good worker but he is rather young. He's too young to have a demanding job like being a P.A."

"He's the best candidate, however lacking his social skills may be," Berwald started, "besides; he chose to do this job." He knows that's a lie. Toris DIDN'T have a choice when Ivan is concerned.

"You tripped over a doggy," Peter snickered. He shrieked with laughter when Berwald started tickling his arms and his feet flailed in the air.

"Ber, put him down, he just ate some chocolate cake! He'll throw up!" Tino said, but he was also laughing.

Berwald stopped tickling his son and watched Tino laugh. The Swede took a mental note to research on his past later, but for now, he got up to help put the rest of the groceries away.

"Could we go watch a movie on the TV?" Peter asked excitedly as he held up a DVD. "I wanna go watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2!"

"Okay," Tino replied with a quick smile and ruffled his blonde hair, making him complain and stalk off to throw his bag on a coat hook by the door. "I'd rather see it tonight than later. My boss gave me the evening off, so we're all together."

Berwald thought about Ivan's deal – the part when it says he has to 'have quality time with Gilbert between 6 and 9 in the evening' – but sighed in relief when he remembered he starts his 'job' next Saturday. He can spend the evening with his family.

As the evening closed in, the household wasn't busy and the routine was just… normal. They all ate dinner together and chatted (Berwald is usually quiet anyway, so he wasn't worried) and then Peter said something about 'a really pretty student teacher starting her new job at the school called Miss Bonnefoy' with a small blush on his face. Tino laughed and teased him about having a crush, to which the boy shrieked that he doesn't.

"What is she like?" Berwald asked, raising an eyebrow. He decided to have a bit of fun teasing his adopted son. It was a daring move on his part since Tino stopped laughing and glanced at him with what seemed like jealousy dancing behind his eyes.

"She's REALLY nice towards me!" Peter bragged, "she looks like a teenager! She also looks like a model, but she's SO HOT AND SMART~!"

Both Tino and Berwald chuckled at their son's enthusiasm.

"Oh! Oh! And!" Peter smiled again with a childish blush, "her hair is really long and she braids it and keeps it over her shoulder and she wears these glasses that made her look like a secretary!"

"She sounds very pretty," Tino giggled. "I'll look forward to seeing Miss Bonnefoy on Parent's Evening."

"You should! When the other guys left to go to the playground, she secretly gave me a croissant WITH CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN IT and winked and said I'm one of her favourites!" Peter grinned victoriously, "of course, I bet I'M her number one favourite student! She said I'm more bearable than the other brats she teaches!"

"Did she call them brats?" Berwald asked.

"Nope – but I did!" Peter laughed then he suddenly stopped and added, "well, they're all brats except for this Australian chick who sits with me!"

Tino tried to stop himself from laughing so hard. "Don't you mean Sheila?"

"Yeah, but…" the boy drooped his head sadly and stared at his empty dinner plate. "Sheila found out that I ate a chocolate croissant and she said I should've saved half for her, but I said it was too small to be split and she went off in a huff saying I'm a useless friend!" His voice cracked a bit, even though he half-shouted the last part of his sentence to hide his anger.

"Why don't you invite her over for tea? I could ask her brother on Monday after school and arrange for her to come over on the Saturday next week," Tino suggested as he stood up and picked up Peter's empty plate.

The boy grinned. "She could watch the movie with me in the evening when it's dark and I'll make it like the cinema! Could we eat popcorn too!"

Tino giggled. "Nice ideas! Of course, me and your dad won't interrupt your lovely time with your friend, won't we, Ber?"

Berwald sucked in some air and felt his tongue throb from the cool air. He's going to say it. "Actually, the shifts at IKEA changed so I'll be working evenings from now on… from 6 until 9, so you'll probably be in bed by then."

"That's fine! One less human to interrupt me!" Peter sniggered, but Tino gave Berwald The Look.

"What do you mean the shifts have changed? YOU'RE the boss of the place, couldn't you get time off so we could spend time together?" he asked with an underlying tone of anger.

"It wouldn't be right t' interrupt Peter's 'alone time' with his girlfriend," Berwald said, trying to smile. He stood up and picked his empty plate up, but Tino snatched it off him and stalked into the kitchen.

"…Does Mom want to spend 'alone time' with you too?" Peter blinked innocently.

'Trust me, I wouldn't,' Berwald thought to himself grimly.

Somehow, Berwald managed to sleep in his and Tino's double bed without any incident occurring in the night. Tino just stripped down and got his pyjamas on and then crawled into bed, sleeping while curled up as he always did. Berwald just got changed and also laid down, not bothering to pull the duvet off the sleeping male next to him even when he was getting chilly. Thank goodness the central heating isn't switched on too low.

Tino sleeping while being curled up isn't an unusual habit, but when they first slept together, it was awkward on Berwald's part since most of the duvet was taken by the smaller male and it completely wrapped him in a warm human cocoon. But it made the Finn look endearing enough for the Swede to smile and hug him close; he'd get his warmth just by doing that.

Tonight was different. Berwald just stared at Tino's back as the night progressed past midnight and the duvet gradually slithered off his body until its wrapped around Tino's body completely.

'Oh, Tino…' Berwald's thoughts were loud and ringing in his own vacant mind. Guilt and the memories of their times together clashed and warred in his heart like filling a water balloon with too much water – it will all eventually burst into the open and cause a mess. Then he thought of how Gilbert treated him in his apartment the night before with such caring sex without hurting him; it was all a complete contrast to his cosy, repetitive life.

Long ago, Berwald would just take the beatings and rape from Tino and keep quiet, all for the sake of keeping the wool pulled over Peter's eyes and ears to protect his innocence. Tino would silently tend to Berwald's wounds the morning after whatever rocky sex they have then he would suddenly start crying and hug his husband from behind without saying anything. Even to this day it confused the hell out of Berwald, but now that Braginski suggested researching on his past, he guessed that it's something to do with his childhood. After all, a lot of behaviours from sufferers (Berwald refuses to call Tino a criminal) mostly stemmed back to childhood from trauma or accidents that reform their behaviour and psychology… But what Berwald knows is that Tino feels a whole world of guilt crashing down on his conscience and silently asks for forgiveness every time by tending to wounds.

The Swede sighed and sat up, making the bed creak a little, and he looked in the mirror which is propped on top of a dresser opposite the bed. In the moonlight's faint glow through the uncensored windows, he could see dark bags under his eyes from so much worrying, his eyes look dead and blank, he looked sickly pale and he even looked as if he lost weight. Sometimes Tino would caress Berwald's muscles, giggling like a girl when he says he's lucky to have a man as muscled as Berwald being married to him. Right now, Berwald's got more bone than muscles. Whatever happened to make him forget to eat? Oh yeah. The fact that his family is on a potential hit list by that bastard Braginski is more than enough to worry anyone enough to forget to eat.

He groaned softly and pressed his hand on his cheek. He knows he's going to behave like a zombie when he gets to work tomorrow. At least Annika mentioned that she's bringing in one of her famous caffeine-cupcakes with yellow and blue sugar sprinkles for Sundays…

A/N: Wy = Sheila. Sheila. Really? Of all the names I know, I had to pick the most generic Australian name! I only hope you guys guessed who Sheila was before you read this note, cuz that's why I chose Sheila as her name… TT_TT "Miss Bonnefoy?" Yep, it's Monaco~

Yeah… past and present tense. SCREW THEM! I deliberately switch in-between because when I'm talking about the past in the story or what used to happen, I switch to past tense. It makes the story flow in my opinion. I just don't like the idea of having single chapters or putting in line breaks with FLASHBACK!1! as the titles because it just breaks the story into fragments. I want it all to flow except for when the chapter ends and someone learns something new about the development.

What? Can ye tell I want to be a writer in the near-future? X3