Ooh, things are getting dramatic now~ :3 Oh, and thanks to you, Ukie, for the anonymous review, by the way! I wouldn't want anyone's death on my hands, no, so here's an update for you. ; )

I hope you all will enjoy the chapter!

oOo

The trip up the stairs and down the hallway seemed to drag on forever, and when Antonio reached the apartment door, he found himself pausing for a moment. With a heavy sigh, he stuffed his hand in the pocket and fishing out the key as quickly as he could, nearly dropping the device in his hurry, and cursing at himself for being such a spineless coward. Unlocking with one determined movement, he opened the door and headed inside, balancing the bag of groceries with one arm.

"I'm home," he called out, more on reflex than anything else. When there was no answer, he took notice of the uninhabited apartment. "Lovino? He's not home yet, huh..." the last part was spoken quietly to no one in particular. He supposed it wasn't that strange, Lovino did have a nasty tendency of working late, after all. It was well into the afternoon, though. Perhaps there was just a lot to do at work, since he'd been gone for a while? Antonio felt a sting of concern well up in his chest, wishing his boyfriend wouldn't push himself so hard when he'd just come back from hospital and everything.

Heading for the kitchen, he began putting the groceries away. It wasn't like him to be so tense, but he couldn't help being nervous. He'd spent the latter part of the day thinking about what he was going to say to Lovino when he got home, without really coming to a conclusion. Would Lovino still be in a bad mood? What if their argument damaged their relationship?

Clutching at the kitchen counter as this thought forced itself into his mind, he shook his head feverishly. Despite the short time they'd been together, he found it hard to imagine life without his loveable, grumpy Italian. He was starting to feel like he was living up to all those things people used to think and say about him; that he was naive and hasty, thoughtless and overly optimistic, and so on and so forth. Upon meeting him, people just tended to make up their own ideas of what kind of man he was. They simply assumed he was a certain type of person just because he was usually smiling so cheerfully. Just because he was talking so openly.

No one knew about the insecurities lingering behind Antonio's words and actions, a habit that had stuck with him from when he was young and shy. No one knew that he still feared talking to strangers, to some extent. To everyone else, hooking up with what was probably the most troubled and unapproachable person in the city, and giving everything he had to make this strange relationship work, was exactly something he would do. No one would ever know the amount of worry and fear that lay behind the whole situation.

Growing up, his heart had been the only thing he could trust, and he had always had a tendency of following the trails it lead him on. In this way, he might be called spontaneous and passionate, sure... But when all came down to it, he had always stopped just before throwing himself into unknown territory, and his heart had been over-powered by fear.

Then along came Lovino, and those sorrowful, lonely eyes of his had pulled at something deep inside Antonio, forcing him to take the final jump that would render it impossible to return to the old trail. If he had known it would lead to such a roller-coaster of emotion, he might have thought twice about jumping, and probably would have ended up turning back again.

Still, he could never regret his decision to act, no matter what the outcome of this would be. How could he regret meeting the one person whom he could talk openly with, without even an ounce of lingering shyness and fear?

Of course there was fear of being hurt, and fear of being pushed away, those would always stay with him. But the main fear, which never truly disappeared when he was with others; the fear of not being accepted for who he truly was... It was never there when he was with Lovino. Unreasonable as it was – they had only been together for a short period of time, after all –, he was certain that there was a connection between them, and he'd be damned if he let some stupid childhood paranoia get in the way of that.

During his musings, his feet had carried him to the living room and the photographs on the wall. He stopped in front of the photograph from the orphanage. He could hardly even remember the names of the other kids anymore, as he hadn't really been that close with most of them. After all, it was a typical orphanage, really. Kids came and kids left. Some of those who came there, lived there for only a short while before they were adopted. Others stayed there until they were old enough to move out and start working. This last group of children had often, jokingly, been called "the unwanted ones", by the other kids and also by themselves. Antonio had been one of the unwanted ones. He couldn't even remember anything before his time at the orphanage.

When he was just a kid, he often thought about the possible family he could have had. He would sit for hours, just imaging different possibilities. They varied from having only a pair of loving parents, to having loads of siblings as well. He often wondered if his family was dead, or if he truly had been unwanted, sent away because his parents couldn't be bothered having him around. Both possibilities were sad, but the latter was definitely the one who hurt the most when he thought about it.

As soon as he grown old enough to leave, he had moved far away from the orphanage, to start over somewhere else. For a while, he'd simply travelled and made some money along the way, until he settled in a small town by the ocean.

It was there that he met Bella and her brother, Willem. Looking at the picture the three of them had taken several years ago, he smiled gently at the memories. He'd met Bella when he began working on her father's farm, and they had immediately grown to be friends. She was in many ways tougher, braver and more mischievous than him, and had a tendency to get them both into trouble. Her sweet nature made it impossible to stay angry with her, though.

At first, their relationship had been strictly between them, but eventually her elder brother found out that they were hanging out. Antonio chuckled lightly at the memory of Willem's expression when he found out that his sister had been meeting up with some "Spanish punk" as he called him. It wasn't as much personal, as it was because he was incredibly protective of his sister. Antonio still couldn't quite recall when they had become a close trio of friends. Sure his and Willem's relationship might seem dysfunctional to any outsider, as they spent quite some time arguing, or acting like they despised each other. When all came down to it, though, they enjoyed each other's company, and while Bella was the glue that kind of stuck them together, they soon grew to accept and respect each other.

While Antonio might have had a tiny crush on Bella at first, he came to think of her more like a sister as time passed. It was different from any relationship he'd had before. Sure, he had been friends with a few from the orphanage too, but this was the first time he felt that he really had a family, strange and dysfunctional as it might be.

Sighing softly as a wave of nostalgia came over him, he was startled out of his thoughts when the ringtone of a cell phone sounded through the living room. Only, it wasn't his phone. Following the sound to the cell phone that lay abandoned on a side table, he picked it up, eyes widening slightly with wonder when he saw that the caller ID said "Alfred F. Jones". Pushing the call button, he held the phone up to his ear, recognizing the voice at the other end almost immediately.

"Lovino? Hey, I just called because you forg-"

"Um, no, this isn't Lovino," Antonio cut him off. That was definitely Mr. America's voice. "I'm Antonio. Lovino's boyfriend." He couldn't help the pride or the hint of wariness that tinted that one word.

"Oh, Antonio! Hi! Lovino told me 'bout you!" Antonio couldn't say he expected that kind of response, and was a bit put off. The American didn't give him time to think much about that, though. "Alfred F. Jones here, I work with Lovino. Hey, is he busy or something?" It took a moment for his words to register, and when they did Antonio frowned slightly with confusion. Shouldn't Lovino still be at work, along with this Alfred guy?

"I thought he was still at work?"

"What? No, he left just shortly after lunch time today. He didn't look too good... Actually agreed when I told him he should take some time off, so I took him back to your apartment. You mean... he's not there?"

"Shortly after lunch?" Antonio felt a lump of panic pop up in his chest at this revelation. Instantly, several possibilities, one more nerve-wrecking than the other, forced themselves into his mind.

"Yeah... I just called because he forgot some of his papers and stuff. He really didn't look very good, so I figured he'd just lie down or something once he got there. It's not easy to tell what Lovino's thinking, though, so he might have gone for a walk to clear his mind for all I know."

"But he should have been back by now. And his phone was still at the apartment, so I wouldn't know where he'd go, and-" As he spoke, his eyes had drifted to the newest photo on his wall, and his eyes widened slightly. "Shit, I think I know where he is..." He ran a hand through his hair as more possibilities began tearing through his thoughts. "I just hope that crazy bastard hasn't found him yet."

"You think his insane ex is going to hurt him?" There was a definite hint of fear underlying Alfred's words now, and Antonio nodded to himself, before realizing the other couldn't see him.

"He's done so in the past, so yeah, there's no knowing what he could do. Ah, Dios Mio..."

"Listen, can I help?" Alfred asked, clearly feeling the need to be useful in some way or another. "I know this town like the back of my hand, I can help look for him!"

"No, I think I know where he is already."

"Oh..." Alfred sounded strangely deflated at this, and Antonio sighed, suddenly feeling guilty about all the bad thoughts directed at the American throughout the day.

"Listen, Alfred... I'll call you if I find him, or if I need your help, ok? So just, uh... Just pray Sadiq hasn't gotten his filthy hands on him yet, alright?"

"Will do," Alfred said, sounding as if he was accepting it as his mission. "Hey, Antonio?"

"...Yeah?"

"Good luck."

Those words strangely helped him calm down ever so slightly, and he decided that he had judged the other a bit too quickly. Obviously, he sincerely cared about Lovino, and only wanted to help.

"Thanks, Alfred." He gave a small, thankful smile, not caring that it went unseen by the other, before shutting the phone off. Hastily, he stuffed it into the pocket of his jeans, grabbing a jacket and running out, barely even remembering to lock the apartment door behind him.

When he stumbled across the place he'd first seen Lovino, he had walked most of the way, but he didn't have time for that now. Damn, at times like this he really wished he had a car. Too bad he hadn't invested in one, seeing as he didn't need it when he lived so close to work and to the centre of the small town. As it was, he'd just have to take a taxi as close as he could to the place where the small sea-side path began.

Quickly waving a taxi out to the side and telling the driver to hurry, he sat restlessly in his seat, watching the rain run in saddening rivers down the windows, and painting the landscape outside in a dreary grey hue. As soon as the car stopped he jumped out, telling the driver to wait before running towards the hidden path that went along the cliff edges by the sea. Thank goodness he remembered the spot, or he wouldn't have found it at all.

If what Alfred had suggested was true and Lovino had just gone for a walk to clear his mind, how long ago was that? Had he left shortly after he'd come back from work or just before Antonio got home? Would he be sitting there, wondering what the hell Antonio was so worked up over? God, he hoped so. If he wasn't there, the anxious Spaniard had no idea where to look for him.

There, he caught sight of the tiny path he'd followed last time. Just as his eyes fell on the place, however, another figure stumbled from that exact spot, towards him. Squinting through the rain, his heart leapt into his throat when he recognized him. Taking off into a sprint, he felt relief be replaced with heavier concern as he took notice of the strange way his boyfriend was walking, and just how stark white and drenched he looked.

"Lovi!"

Lovino perked up at the sound, looking disoriented and frightened. As soon as Antonio reached his boyfriend, he wanted nothing more than to embrace him, but instead he forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down, really taking in the other's condition.

"Dios Mio-! Lovinito!" His skin was too white, lips holding a bluish tint due to cold, most likely, as he was trembling violently too. Just how long had he been out here? And his knee was bloody too, the knee of his jeans torn and stained slightly red. "W-where have you been? I thought you'd... Y-your knee! My God, you're soaked through and so cold-" Words stumbled out on their own accord, and he vaguely thought that if he had to find his boyfriend like this just one more time, his heart would collapse under the stress.

Lovino just looked at him, lips moving without a sound for a moment, and he sounded like he'd been running a marathon, gasping and panting like there was no oxygen left in his lungs. When he did speak, however, his words made Antonio's legs go weak for a moment, coming out as more of a sob than an actual spoken sentence.

"F-Feliciano... He's going to k-kill my brother!"

"What? Lovino, calm down, what makes you think-"

"He found me! He said that Feliciano was in the way! And you t-too...!" His sentence drifted off into rushed Italian, but Antonio was too lost in thought to correct him. So Sadiq had found him first, and now he was going to... No, he couldn't even imagine anyone being killed, much less the kind-hearted Feliciano.

"Lovino... Lovino! Listen to me, honey!" Gently taking the trembling Italian's face between his hands, he looked him in the eye, trying to sound as convincing as possible, despite the growing anxiety in the pit of his stomach. "It's going to be ok. I'm going to call Feliciano now, so just try to calm down, alright?" Taking off his jacket, he wrapped it around the smaller man before fishing out Lovino's phone, easily finding the number.

The small amount of time in which he waited for an answer, seemed painfully long, until there was a click. It wasn't Feliciano's voice who answered, though. "Hello?" The German accent was not what Antonio had expected, and a sinking feeling made his mouth go dry. He swallowed heavily before speaking, keeping his voice steady so as not to add further stress onto his boyfriend.

"Hello, this is Antonio," he spoke hesitantly.

"Oh. Feliciano's gone out, and forgot to bring his phone, as usual... He's always so forgetful." There was a sigh at the other end, and Antonio felt like adding a sigh of his own. What was it with the Italian brothers and forgetting their phones? Couldn't they understand that people might want to be able to reach them in case of emergency?

"Do you know where he went, Ludwig?" He winced as Lovino gasped at these words, attention snapping back to Antonio.

"He said he'd visit his grandfather, I assume he meant going to the graveyard. What's going on? Is he in trouble?" The deep timbre of Ludwig's voice sounded alarmed now, and the Spaniard swallowed again, finding it difficult to be the one to convey bad news.

"I think he's in more trouble than we know... If you can, hurry to the graveyard. Bring something that can be used as a weapon. Lovino and I are heading there too."

"A weapon?"

"Just hurry, Ludwig, and be very careful. It's that bastard Turk, he's threatened to... to kill Feliciano."

There was a sharp intake of breath at the other end, and something crashing to the floor, before Ludwig spoke again, voice deceptively calm. "I understand." And then he hung up.

"Lovino, I really should get you to the apartment first, you're in no shape to-" he broke off abruptly as Lovino growled, shrugging off the jacket and handing it back to Antonio before half jogging, half limping towards the taxi. There was new strength to his steps now, and Antonio realized he was probably running on adrenaline and fear for his brother's safety. There wasn't much he could do but to follow and pray they found Feliciano in time.

"Drive to the graveyard, and please go as fast as you can!" Antonio ordered as they got into the vehicle. The startled driver eyed them in the rear mirror like they were some kind of freaks, before speeding up. Thankfully, he asked no questions, simply driving as quickly as the speed limits allowed. As a result, it didn't take too long to reach the grave yard at the other side of town.

It was quite an idyllic spot when the sun shone, but Antonio couldn't help but think that it looked like a scene from a horror movie now, in the dimming evening light, with heavy rain digging into the soil. Large oak trees whistled in the wind that had picked up, and Lovino was the one to utter the question that also struck Antonio.

"What the hell was that idiot thinking, going out in this rain...?"

Forcing some money into the hand of the driver, who just shook his head as if they were crazy and drove off, Antonio looked around, peering through the rain. Only now did it strike him that Feliciano could be long gone by now. Just how long had it been since he left for the graveyard anyway? And what was the chance he'd stay outside in the rain for very long? Sadiq might not even know he was there. To put it simply, all the questions had begun screaming "bad idea" in his mind, and he wished he hadn't pulled Lovino along – the Italian was looking sick enough as it was.

"Come on," Lovino suddenly spoke, taking Antonio's hand and leading him through the gates and down a path. The graveyard was large, stretching out like a meadow of grave stones, flowers and green grass. The local church stood far to the left, and the entire area was framed in by a fence that had probably been white at one point. Lovino was headed towards a spot where the fence was the only thing separating the graves and the steep cliffs, which fell into the foaming sea. "Grandfather always wanted to be buried as close to the ocean as he could get," Lovino muttered as a sort of explanation.

Antonio let himself be led, all the time looking around for any sign of life or danger. It became evident, as they reached the grave in question that there was no one there. Fresh flowers had been laid upon the grave, but looked as if they had been hastily put down.

"He might have been surprised by the rain," Antonio tried to reason when he noticed the helpless expression in his boyfriend's eyes, "let's check the church!" Lovino simply nodded numbly as they took off towards the church. At least the windows showed that the light was on inside. They had nearly reached the church door when a loud and sharp sound could be heard from within.

"Shit, wasn't that… a gunshot?" Antonio gasped, fishing out his phone with a trembling hand and flicking it open, "wait here, I'm calling the police...!" Before he had the time to dial the number, however, Lovino tore his hand out of his firm grip, running up the steps and slamming open the door. "No, Lovi- Damn it!" Abandoning the idea of calling the police, he instead took off after the other.

The church was old, but well-maintained, and rather beautifully decorated. The tall windows were made of coloured glass and intricate paintings decorated the high ceiling. Any other day, Antonio would have admired it for its beauty, but at the moment none of it registered in his mind as he froze at the entrance.

Ever since the first time he entered the flower store, Sadiq had triggered a deep fear in his gut, although he hadn't been able to explain it at the time. It was hard to understand it, but some people just gave out a certain aura of monstrosity. Sadiq was definitely one of these people. Even standing before the altar, bathed in the pleasantly dim church light, he had a malicious presence that certainly didn't belong in a church. The simple but malicious handgun he pointed lazily at Lovino, who had also frozen in his tracks, certainly didn't make things any better.

"Well, well, look who decided to join us. Isn't your brother such a sweetheart, Feli?" Smirking, Sadiq turned towards the altar, and only now did Antonio see Feliciano, who lay, curled up, on the stone floor. His eyes were closed and he was soaked through, but there wasn't a pool of blood collecting anywhere, so Antonio allowed himself to hope that the young man hadn't actually been shot.

"Feliciano!" Lovino cried out, eyes flickering from the gun to his brother's form. "What have you done to him, you monster?" The growl was aimed at Sadiq, who didn't smile anymore, but looked strangely solemn.

"Nothing yet. It was just a warning shot, but I guess he passed out from fright." He shrugged, like it was no big deal, and Antonio could literarily feel how his mouth dried up like a desert under the bright sun. This man was not in a healthy state of mind. And here they were, standing directly in his path, under the mercy of his whims. It was hard to remember any moment he'd been this scared.

Guns and other shooting weapons had always terrified him, ever since he was young. It wasn't as much a fear of their dangerous explosive power, as it was a fear of how easily they could be fired. Just one pull of a trigger, and someone's life could be ended or destroyed. Some of the older kids at the orphanage had managed to get hold of an old gun once, he remembered, and had only played around with it. By some freak accident, it had been loaded, and a bullet had suddenly exploded from the barrel, barely missed one of the boys and shattering a window completely. He still remembered clearly that look of utter fright on the face of the kid who'd nearly been shot in the head, and the violently trembling hands of the one who'd accidentally pulled the trigger.

"Put the gun down," he found himself saying, before he was aware that his brain had planned to make him speak. His voice sounded foreign even to his own ears, strangely calm and controlled, despite the fact that his pulse beat harshly against his temple and seemed to echo in his ears.

It was like a scene from some action movie, but he couldn't remember seeing the ones in the movie be as terrified as he felt. They were usually so calm, and just stood there, facing the gun as if they did it on regular occasions. The movie actors were always saying the right things, doing the right moves. Right now, Antonio didn't think he could have moved even if he had wanted to, and he was not in any form of control over his words.

He wished he was in control of his words, though, when the gun was suddenly pointed directly at him. Who would have guessed that such a small, innocent-looking object could send a deadly bullet tearing through his heart in the blink of an eye?

"Why?" came the simple, curious question, and Sadiq's eyes reminded him vaguely of a child. A child that had just flushed a pet rat down the toilet and couldn't tell what he had done wrong.

"Just... put it down, por favor."

"But you don't understand. You're in the way, you see... You and little Mr. Bubbly Italian here both stand between me and Lovino." There was still a certain childish hint to Sadiq's voice, as if someone stood between him and a cookie jar he sorely craved for. Somehow, the tone of voice only served to put emphasis on the fact that he was utterly unpredictable at the moment.

"You fucking idiot. Even if they weren't here, I'd never go back to you!" Lovino sounded quite the opposite of Antonio. Instead of calmness, all that tainted his voice was anger. Then again, if Antonio had learned anything over this last month, it was that anger was merely an alternative expression of fear when it came to his boyfriend. It was a natural reaction, but perhaps not the safest one when faced with a madman with a gun. "You're a crazy bastard, Sadiq! That's the issue here, nothing else! It is you who hurt me, not Antonio, not Feliciano. It is you and your fucking messed up head that stands between us, nothing else!"

"Lovino, stop..." Antonio gasped, heart skipping a beat as the gun tore back in Lovino's direction. Right now, he wasn't even sure Lovino was aware of the danger he was in. Reasonably enough, the Italian was too blinded by fear, anger and what not at the moment. His mind had simply decided to shut off all forms of logic, and it might very well kill him.

"ME?" Sadiq all but roared, staring wildly at Lovino. "I am the problem, you say? I loved you! I cared about you when no one else would! Who else would love someone like you, huh? Anyone who gets close to you ends up either dead or hurt, but I took pity on you! No one else could ever love someone like you! After all, you're nothing but a freak! A freak and a fucking murderer!"

Lovino's feet seemed to give out a bit at the Turk's words, as if a ton of lead had been dropped on his shoulders.

"What...?" Antonio gasped quietly before he was able to stop himself, confused and startled at the accusations directed at Lovino.

The cold chuckle that emitted from Sadiq's throat was taunting and oddly triumphant, as if he was saying 'hah, I told you so' without words. "You haven't told him have you?" he said, before turning to Antonio with a smirk. "You see, Lovino here did something unthinkable." There was a dramatic pause, in which Sadiq was definitely hoping to build up the right mood. It gave his next words all the more impact. "Who would have expected that this innocent little Italian actually killed his own parents, right?"

oOo

Another cliff hanger… So sorry, guys, I just love cliff hangers. :3 Hope you don't mind too much. Oh, and some feedback is always much appreciated~

Bella and Willem are the names I chose for Belgium and Netherlands, in case you were wondering. Seeing as those two don't have any official human names in the series (as far as I know). ^^

Por favor – Please (Spanish)