Hey everyone, I'm so sorry, it once again took me forever to get this chapter uploaded. My computer had broken down, it had a malware virus on it, but I got it all cleaned up. One other thing, if there are any parts of this chapter that confuse you, just tell me. It has a lot of background information in it and depending on the person, it could make perfect sense, or none at all. Anywho, ciao for now, and enjoy!

-Author

A Pirates Life for Me: Chapter 5

Lovino stared at the mirror attached to the dresser, a scowl covering his face. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. Yes, he had cried, and he was not in any way proud of it. The Italian had quickly sucked it up, thankfully, to the point that he had started reviewing his usual scowl in the mirror. Never again would he allow such a happy look to cross his face again. Never. He continued to stare at the mirror, his lip beginning to quiver. 'No! I'm not going to cry! What the hell is wrong with me? I'm a new person, a pirate! Not some small sniveling child…' Lovino watched as a few stray tears began to fall down his cheeks. 'No more…I don't want this…' The poor boy found himself hurtling his fist toward the hated mirror, a yell full of hatred emanating from his lungs. He felt a little better with a few tears coming out, but still fully knew that they wouldn't be accepted. It wasn't until a few moments later that the Italian noticed the glass shards sticking out of his hand and blood running down to the floor. He once again broke down, falling to his knees on the floor. His hands hung before him and his head hung low, bangs covering auburn eyes. Whimpers emitting from his throat, Lovino slowed his sobs to the point that he was breathing heavily. "What am I doing here?"

The Spanish captain sat at the long dining table, the only sound he could hear was his own breathing. "Captain Carriedo…" The same white haired man piped in before getting cut off.

"Why did you guys stop eating? You're going to need your energy; we're rising bright an early tomorrow. As for Vargas, he can decide to suck it up and move on, or he will be removed from this ship at our next stop. There will be no sympathy given to the new recruit, because he will have to find out on his own that there is a difficult journey ahead of him. How he decides to handle it is up to him, but he's just another one of us, so with that, eat up, I have some business to tend to." A grim look covered Antonio's face when he stood from the table.

"But Captain! He's just a kid, can't we give him a little slack?" Another member of the crew spoke up, she looked young herself, around eighteen or so, but she immediately got a cold glare from the brunette.

"Don't you dare speak back on my decision. Rules go toward all members whether they are fifteen or thirty-two, understood?"

He spoke firmly and exited the dining hall after getting a confirmed nod. It was true that he didn't want to treat the boy like any other crew member for reasons, but the time would come when worse things would occur and Lovino would have to shape up if he wanted to stay, or in his case, survive. The Spaniard approached the young boy's door and pressed his ear to it. It broke his heart to hear Lovino's stifled sobs, but he knew what he had to do. Without knocking, he entered the room to find a bloodied and tearful boy. 'What the hell did he do to himself?'

Lovino's head shot up when he heard the creaky door open. There standing before him was a very angry looking captain. Angry? Yes, very angry. "Vargas." He said this with a stern and cold voice, causing the Italian to flinch. "I will not tolerate this behavior and request that you do not run off in the middle of a meal next time. You need to shape up and be a man or you are not fit to be on my ship!" His voice rose as he spoke, but it still hurt him to see the other so close to more tears. The fear in Lovino's eyes were inevitable, but the captain didn't hesitate from kneeling down and taking the smaller male's chin in his gloved hand, angry yet sympathetic green eyes staring at him. "Do YOU understand?" His voice was now a strong yell, but Lovino still managed to nod shakily.

"U-Understood…" Antonio sighed, his features softening.

"Don't let it happen again, because this is the only time you're getting any sympathy from me, or any for that matter." The Italian nodded once more with a little confusion, but mostly pain on his face. Antonio, surprising himself and his companion, pulled Lovino into a firm, but caring hug, allowing the boy to sob into his shoulder. After a few minutes, he whispered in the brunettes ear quietly with plenty or seriousness. "If it does happen again, the punishment is a flogging." This caused Lovino to quickly pull away with a look of disgust and horror. "How about we clean that up and you can tell me what that whole outburst earlier was about." He chuckled slightly to lighten the mood, gesturing to the now numb and mangled hand. The scowl had returned to the Italian's face and he looked away.

"Si sir…but I can take care of it on my own…" Antonio simply shook his head with a straight face.

"No amigo, like I said, this is the only time you will get sympathy, so if I were you, I'd take advantage of this opportunity." He opened one of the dresser drawers and pulled out some medical supplies and a rag. "Oh, for future reference, this is where all the bandages and such are kept." He pulled up a chair and sat down before gesturing for Lovino to do likewise. E then motioned for the other to lay the cut up hand on his lap. "Start spilling." He said this and used a pair of large tweezers to pull a piece of glass out, causing the Italian to wince.

"I-I…OW! DAMMIT! BE GENTLER BASTARD!" Antonio laughed, moving a little slower, but still giving Lovino an expectant look, signaling for the other to speak. "Okay! I get it!" He took a slow and deep breath before beginning. "For starters, in the dining hall, that was probably the first time I have laughed or smiled in maybe six years?" He looked questioningly at the Spaniard. "I guess I lost all hope of being happy since Feli and I pretty much lost everything…" The captain nodded for him to continue as he pulled the last few pieces of glass out. "My mom died when my brother was born. I was two. Of course, even at such a young age, I wasn't angry at my brother. I had this feeling that it wasn't his fault, but my dad was filled with hatred toward him. He would always treat me just fine, but abused Feli so much. There wasn't a moment that I wouldn't find some form of cut or bruise on mi fratello. It got to the point where he tried…to…" He lowers his voice to a slight mumble, obvious pain on his face, but Antonio simply sat there while cleaning the cuts, waiting patiently. "He tried to kill Feliciano, in a fit of drunken rage, saying: 'It's your fault she's dead, if you were never born, then she would still be here with me!' It was that day, when I was only eight, that I killed my own father in order to protect my brother." Tears were falling down his face again, and being in his sympathetic mood, Antonio lightly rubbed the other's back. He then picked up some bandages and started wrapping Lovino's hand while talking softly to him.

"I understand it's hard to talk about, but trust me, you'll feel better once you have." The Italian gave him a look of agreement and continued.

"I still had my house, but no one else to take care of us. We were eventually kicked out of our own home after a few months. Both of us were constantly stealing money and food. We eventually had to leave to Sorrento due to a growing reputation. While continuing the pick pocketing, I had gotten pretty good at it…until I got caught by a man. Never really learned his name, but he took my brother and me in. He told us to call him Papi. So, at that point, I had smiles all over my face, but the worst part was yet to come. I woke up one night with smoke filling my lungs; I was now nine and my brother was seven. Our home was on fire and Papi was nowhere in to be found. I decided that I needed to get my brother out and then go back for Papi. To my misfortune, or maybe fortune, I really can't decide, he was already shot dead, outside, sprawled in the dirt. He had tried to save himself instead of help us. I found out at that moment that he didn't care about us, he was using us for our pick pocketing skills. Although, whoever had committed the arson, really wanted him dead." Lovino was breathing very heavily now as anger started building up in him, an extreme scowl on his face. "At that point, had given up on smiling, because every time I did, it just ended up hurting even more. I stopped trusting anybody, thought of everyone as my enemy. I managed to land an apprenticeship as a carpenter and likewise for Feli as a cook. When I was done with about two years, I got a decent job and my brother took care of the house during the week and cooked on the weekends. We kind of had shifts in a sense…" He trailed off hinting that he was somewhat finished, a pensive look on his face. "WAIT!" He shot his half wrapped hand away from the other's grasp with a terrifying glare, realization and hatred in his eyes. "I am not falling for a scam like this ever again. You're trying to get to me, so stop it! I know that look all too well you fucking bastard! G-Get away!" He was starting to become a bit hysterical as he started moving away. "You're going to make me trust you, and then when you have me wrapped around your finger, I'll be left to fend for myself again. Well guess what, I'm not falling-"

"Lovi!" He was abruptly cut off with a sad look from the Spaniard, but continued to glare at him. Lovino shook with fear and hatred all the while staying quiet. "I don't betray my men, it goes against my own moral code, but most of all, and I would never betray you." The captain cupped Lovino's cheek in his hand, causing a blush to creep onto the Italian's face. He then drew his own face closer and planted a soft and warm kiss onto the olive brunette's lips. He was pleased to feel the smaller male stop shaking and ease into the comforting touch. Never before had the captain felt such emotion and he felt a warm ticklish feeling go through his stomach. He couldn't help, but smile at the lingering taste of tomatoes on the boy's lips. Antonio pulled away after a couple minutes to see Lovino's eyes widen in surprise. "I didn't pick up a straggling fifteen year old boy because I pitied him." He tied the now finished wrapping on the boy's hand before standing up. "I do however believe we still haven't eaten, I'm sure there are some leftovers in the kitchen, so let's go, I'm starving."

Okay, so next chapter there will be some fun stuff for you. It will definitely have Antonio's back story and lots of fluffy lemon...maybe...just maybe.