Lovino woke up every now and again to the sound of feet hitting the ground, and the feeling of his body being rocked back and forth. He wasn't awake enough to put two-and-two together, and he didn't have the mind to care. The only thing Lovino wanted to do was sleep, sleep forever and forget everything he had been through.
If only he could.
Lovino awoke to the same sound of feet hitting the ground, except this time it was different. The sound was louder, heavier, almost as if it were echoing around him off of ceramic walls. He opened his eyes - just a peek - to see what was causing the sound. Around him Lovino saw walls, white walls coated in thick red blood. He was surrounded, lying in the middle of the floor drenched in blood as infected patients got ready to prey on him. He was defenceless, hopeless, and filled with absolute fear.
One of them walked forward, just one, through the crowd. It stumbled to his side, its gait impeded by its two broken feet. Then it stopped, right in front of Lovino, it just stopped.
Lovino looked up through his dirty hair, willing himself to look at the creature that would, for some reason, not attack him.
He looked up and locked eyes with Antonio.
Lovino awoke from his dead sleep with a loud gasp, looking around himself frantically for the infected that had been surrounding him. He looked up with a cringe, thinking that he was going to meet Antonio's dead eyes again.
He did meet Antonio like he thought, however, his eyes no longer had the cool, glazed over look that Lovino had remembered.
"It was just a dream, Lovi," Antonio soothed, sitting down beside Lovino carefully.
Lovino looked down at where he was sitting. He was sitting on a bed, a comfortable one at that, and the walls were no longer white. The walls were wooden and colourless, there was carpet on the floor, and not a speck of blood could be seen anywhere around the room. He was no longer in the hospital, he could tell just by the smell.
"We had a car accident after we left the hospital," Antonio said slowly so Lovino could keep up with him.
"How i-" Lovino started frantically, ready to jump out of the bed.
"Everyone's fine," Antonio said, gripping Lovino's forearm to stop him from leaving the bed. "There were injuries, but none of them were severe."
Lovino finally settled at this, slowly letting out a deep breath as he sunk back into the pillows behind him. They were so comfortable, he just wanted to sleep more.
Sleep forever.
Lovino's eyes started closing, but before he could completely fall asleep again, Antonio started speaking from his side.
"You can't go back to sleep yet, Lovi," Antonio said, shaking Lovino's arm so he would stay awake.
Lovino bit his bottom lip in frustration. Why couldn't he just sleep? What harm would it do if he slept for a little while longer? He had been on the run for so long that he hadn't even had time to sleep properly. He was still sick, at that.
"I want you to eat something first," Antonio said, "it's been a really long time since you've eaten, right? You can go back to sleep after you have something to eat."
At the mention of food, Lovino finally started realizing how hungry he truly was. He felt his stomach grumble uncontrollably under his hands at Antonio's words.
"You need to take your medicine too, you're getting better but you're still not completely healed yet."
Lovino sighed miserably, "you're really annoying, you know that, right?"
Antonio laughed, "I get that from patients a lot, actually." Antonio reached down for something beside him and brought up a sandwich and a bottle of water. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing." He handed it over to Lovino, watching him eagerly.
"Can you not watch me eat, asshole?" Lovino asked, still too tired to find it in himself to fight harder.
"Sorry," Antonio said, turning his head to look at a notepad in his hand. "I'm just really happy that you're alright, that's all."
Lovino scoffed around the mouth of the water bottle, but despite this, felt a small pang of happiness in his chest.
Antonio didn't speak again as he scratched away at the notepad in his lap, humming to himself quietly as Lovino ate. Lovino felt increasingly uncomfortable at the silence of the other man, so he initiated the conversation this time. "Where are we?" He finally asked.
Antonio laughed from beside him, "we're in the closed hotel where your brother and the other survivors had been staying."
"Is it safe?"
"As safe as anything can be in this world," Antonio said, looking back at his notepad again with a deep crease in his brows.
"What happened after the crash? No wait, scratch that, what exactly caused the accident in the first place?"
"We hit another van," Antonio said calmly, "there were other survivors in there." Antonio was quiet for moment, then added, almost as if an afterthought, "they even had a baby with them."
Lovino swallowed hard, trying to pretend that it was food having a hard time going down. He didn't want to ask, really, but he knew he was going to get the answer one way or another. "Is the baby alright?"
Antonio looked away from him notepad, a smile on his face, "not a scratch, Lovi. Like I said, no one was hurt very badly in the accident."
"Not even my brother?"
"No, he was actually right next to you not even 10 minutes ago."
Lovino finished up the sandwich in his hands and handed the half empty water bottle over to Antonio. He had wanted to go back to sleep before, but now he found he was more awake than ever. He wanted to walk around, find his brother, and thank the people who had helped he and Antonio escape. Of course, despite being extremely grateful to them, his form of 'thank you' would no doubt sound insulting to the others.
He had a hard time expressing himself.
Lovino shifted his body to the edge of the bed adjacent to Antonio and stood up, stretching cautiously. His limbs were sore from all the running, and with his added sickness it didn't help. He felt like he had just come from having the workout of his life, except he wasn't feeling a good burn.
Then he noticed the smell.
Five, or more, days of not showering seemed to do that to people. His body reeked, he smelled of dirt, sweat, and worst of all, he smelled like a rotting corpse. Lovino felt the food he had eaten trying to work its way back up his throat, and he found himself sitting back down on the edge of the bed as he tried to gain his bearings again. He dry-heaved once, but was stopped when Antonio pressed the mouth of the water bottle back to his lips.
"I know," Antonio said, rubbing circles into his back soothingly, "I felt the same way." Antonio pulled the water bottle away when Lovino had taken three large gulps, "there's a shower behind the door right next to us, you'll feel much better when you've washed up. I know I did."
Lovino wanted to say something bitter to Antonio, but found he couldn't find it in himself to do so. The man had saved his life numerous times, and he had taken care of him despite how much of a burden he had been. He couldn't get mad. He wasn't allowed to get mad.
Antonio smiled and straightened his back, "I'll leave clothes out for you on the bed when you get out, and if you feel like it, after you're done you can come downstairs and meet the rest of the group."
Lovino nodded, swallowing hard as he tried to work up the energy to say thank you. However, he couldn't find it in himself to say it to the man's face.
He watched as the man's back retreated, opening the door leading to the outside and closing it behind him quietly.
"Thank you," Lovino said to no one.
Lovino was shocked when he walked out of the room, he had expected it to be night time when he walked out but instead he was met with warm, bright sunlight indicating the early morning. It filtered through large windows and painted the chestnut coloured wood on the floor in long fluorescent stripes. Lovino walked up to the bannister overlooking the lobby and stood directly in the sun's rays, soaking in the warmth the early morning had to offer him. It had been so long since he had seen the sun, and for a long time he had thought that he would never see them again. He sucked in a deep breath of air and let it out slowly, never wanting to leave his post.
"Hello," Lovino heard from behind him, a woman's voice, gentle and sweet.
He didn't turn around as he heard the person approaching him and eventually coming to stand next to him in the sunlight. She looked like she hadn't seen the sun in a long while too. He deemed her harmless.
"I'm Elizaveta," the soft voice said. "Most people call me Liza, though."
"Lovino," he said simply.
He didn't mind her presence; she was quiet and still, and seemed to be there for same reasons as Lovino. She just wanted to take in the sun and the quiet peace of the morning just like he did.
They stood in silence for a long time, so long that the bright yellow rays of the sun were starting to turn orange with the evening. They had been standing there for so long that Lovino was close to dozing off again, at least until he heard another unfamiliar voice pipe up from behind the two of them.
He hadn't even heard this person approaching.
"Elizaveta?" The voice asked incredulously, feet clapping harshly against the ground as whoever it was approached frantically.
"Roderich," Elizaveta responded happily, leaving her place by the bannister to greet the person who had interrupted their quiet refuge.
Lovino listened absently as clothes rustled, indicating that the pair were greeting each other in a hug. He felt his eyes slipping closed again now that he knew the new voice was not a threat to either of them. He listened to the steady drum of his heart, relishing in the heat that the sun's rays left on his cool, pale cheeks.
"And you must be the patient that escaped with the nurse," the voice said cautiously, as if he were afraid Lovino would jump at him. He wondered absently if Feliciano or the nurse had said something about his short attitude.
Lovino turned around slowly, finally meeting eyes with the source of the nasally voice. He was met with the sight of a clean cut man who had short – but stylish – dark brown hair. He also had spectacles that kept falling forward on his nose, causing the man to push them up absently. He looked snooty, but Lovino decided that he wasn't in the mood or the frame of mind to be picking a fight with anyone.
"Lovino," he said, feeling his lip twitch hard – despite his resolve – at the man's bored expression.
"Well, Lovino," the man said with a lilt to his voice, "everyone is waiting for you downstairs, so I suggest you go down to meet them."
Lovino sighed, there always had to be one person that was hard to get along with. And, even though Lovino considered himself to be one of those people, he was never snooty or uppity about himself. He just didn't get along well with people, that was all. But, despite his annoyance with the man, he left without another word. The last thing he needed to do was start a fight within a group he wasn't even familiar with.
He would let it go, for now.
Lovino took to the stairs and left the woman and the man alone. He had been planning of leaving anyway. The two at the top of the stairs seemed to be more than friendly with each other, so he didn't want to intrude or hear anything he didn't want to.
The wood on the stairs creaked and cracked beneath his feet, it was clearly old and worn out wood, the hotel itself was clearly very old. It seemed like it hadn't been maintained in years.
When he got to the bottom of the stairs he found himself sighing in relief. He had been on the run for so long that he felt like if he made any unnecessary noise or movements he would attract a crowd of the infected. He had been holding his breath the whole way down.
He was only wearing socks, but the ceramic tiles were still warm from bathing in the sunlight. It was perfect. It was safe, warm, there were beds and food to eat, it was like a heaven compared to the harsh outdoors and the hospital.
"Lovino," he heard from beside him. This time it was a voice that was all too familiar. A voice that made his chest warm and a smile come to his face.
His little brother.
He didn't even have time to turn around fully before his brother lunged at him, wrapping his slim arms around his neck and embracing him in a tight hug.
"Oh, Lovi, I'm so glad you're finally here," Feliciano said, sniffling as he tried to hold back tears.
"Stupid little brother," Lovino said, wrenching his brothers arms away from his neck so he could kiss his brother's cheeks. He smiled when tears started spilling down his brother's cheeks. "You were always such a big cry baby," he said, wiping the tears away from under his brother's eyes. Lovino himself felt like he wanted to cry, but stopped himself. He wanted to have a real reunion with his little brother. He didn't want to be a sobbing mess like he was when he had finally escaped from the hospital. And he knew that if he started crying, he wouldn't be able to stop.
When Feliciano finally stopped crying, he stepped back from his brother, scrutinizing his appearance carefully. "You look a lot better than when I first saw you, Lovi."
"I'm feeling better," he said simply.
"Good," Feliciano said, grabbing him by the hem of his shirt. "Then follow me, I want you to meet everybody, there's even more survivors than last time." Lovino followed behind his brother obediently, in no mood to be fighting with his brother about treating him like a baby.
As they approached the end of the lobby with two large adjoining doors, Lovino started hearing other voices spilling through the cracks in the door. And, even though he knew they were normal voices, he felt his heart speed up significantly, punching painfully against his already sore ribs.
He stopped.
"Lovino?" Feliciano asked nervously, turning around when he felt his brother stopping their course.
Lovino tried to calm his frantic heart and answered his brother as calmly as possible, "never mind, it's nothing." Lovino started again, pushing his brother's hand away and walking ahead of him. He didn't need to be worried anymore, they were safe now. At least for the time being.
He came to a halt in front of the dark, wooden doors as he waited for his little brother to catch up with him.
"Push on them and they swing open really easily," Feliciano said, demonstrating how to open them as if Lovino needed a visual display.
"Idiot," Lovino said as he gave one gentle push to the two doors.
The people in the room opposite to Lovino grew silent when they saw him, there were far more people than Lovino had envisioned. The van that they had hit must have been filled.
"He really does look like his brother," a voice, a loud and obnoxious one, blatted through the room, breaking the awkward silence that had befallen them.
"Lovino," Antonio said excitedly, "I thought you had fallen asleep again!"
The room started to bustle again, this time with questions for Lovino. They asked questions about the hospital, about his brother, about Italy, they even asked about his work in seminary.
"So you're actually a priest, right?" One voice, that happened to be louder than the rest, asked him. The voice in question belonged to a young blonde man with rimless glasses.
"Um, no," Lovino said, uncomfortable with the question, it was something he usually chose not to talk about. "I'm still in seminary."
Everyone got quiet when he finally started talking, and a man with a shock of white-blonde hair and bandages over his eyes pulled out a chair for him to sit down on.
"So, does that mean you're something like a priest in training?" The same blonde man with the glasses asked.
"Something like that," Lovino answered, trying to hold down his irritation at the man's ignorance. He didn't want, or need, to start off his first meeting with them with an argument or a fight. Lovino was about to explain himself more, however, he found himself looking at Antonio, who had a quizzical look on his face.
"You're in the seminary, Lovi?" The way Antonio said it made him sound almost disappointed or sad.
"Y-yeah, I am in the seminary," Lovino said, "I don't know why I never brought that up."
Antonio was quiet for a moment as he took in this new information, at first he looked upset, almost disturbed by the news, but his expression slowly started morphing into something of a bemused grin. "I had no idea," Antonio said, "no wonder why you kept carrying that rosary around with you; you even held it when you were sleeping."
Lovino smiled and patted his breast pocket, rosary tucked neatly inside.
It had been a gift from his younger brother; he had given it to Lovino before he went away to seminary. Lovino remembered telling his brother that it was stupid, and stuffed it into his things as if he didn't really care about it, when in truth he had loved it. Each bead had been carved strategically into the shape of a rose, and each silver link was polished into something that resembled a shining diamond. He cherished it and treated it as if it was the most important and expensive object he owned.
In truth, it really was the most important object he owned.
Lovino hadn't even noticed Feliciano walking up behind him before he felt his lithe arms wrap around his chest, hugging him close from behind. Normally, he would have protested Feliciano's childish behaviour, but at this point he could only return the hug. In their new world, he could lose Feliciano at any given time; he needed to cherish their moments together like every moment was their last. So, instead of batting Feliciano's hands away like he normally would have he grasped Feliciano's hands in his own.
At this point everyone in the room started talking again, this time arguing about how long it took for a student to become a priest. Eventually it branched into a talk about choir boys, but at that point Lovino wasn't even paying attention anymore. He craned his neck to stare at his brother.
"Come to the roof with me, Lovino," Feliciano whispered in his ear, before grabbing Lovino by the shirt sleeve and dragging him behind him. They slipped out of the room quickly without garnering any attention, Lovino following behind Feliciano without questioning him.
When they finally got the stairs, passing by Elizaveta and Roderich without a word, Feliciano finally began speaking to him again.
"There's no one on the roof right now because everyone is downstairs," Feliciano chuckled. "Heracles is usually up there keeping a lookout, but he's downstairs with everyone else and Ludwig is keeping watch from the fifth balcony."
"Is it really safe to be hanging around outside," Lovino asked with a quirk of his brow, "I mean, won't they smell us?"
Feliciano was quiet for a moment, huffing as he worked open a locked door. When he opened it, however, he turned around to face Lovino with a smile, "I thought that at first too, but Heracles said that the smell of the bay and the draft wafting off of it would keep them from smelling us."
Lovino hummed under his breath, it seemed like the group was much smarter than he had initially thought. He followed Feliciano into the locked room, and followed him up a weak looking ladder that led them into an attic-like storage room.
He marked that it would be a good place for all of them to hide.
Then it hit Lovino as he started following his brother up a set of loud, rusted metal stairs.
"Ludwig," Lovino said, as if tasting the name. For some reason, the name didn't sit well with him at all.
"Yes, what about Ludwig?" Feliciano asked, panting quietly as he made his way up the weakening steps. His shoulders were angled forward, meaning that he was expecting to be yelled at and scolded by his older brother.
"Isn't that a German name?" Lovino asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he continued to follow behind his little brother.
"It is a German name, Lovi," Feliciano stopped dead in his tracks, and turned on his heels to face his older brother properly. "But he's not a bad guy, Lovino, I promise you."
"How can you know that after only a few days?" Lovino asked, cocking his hip out to the left to show his irritation to his younger brother. "He's a German after all, they're good at deceit."
Feliciano looked hurt at this, "that's awful, Lovi, you're going to be a priest and yet you're standing here judging one of God's children without any reason."
"I do have a reason."
"No, you don't, Lovi. The war ended a very long time ago, and that generation of German's died along with it. And let's not forget to mention the fact that there were still good people among them, even during that time." Feliciano turned his back to his brother, continuing to trudge up the stairs toward the door leading to the roof. "He saved your life, you could at least give him that much, big brother."
'Big brother,' that expression was solely used when Feliciano was becoming serious.
Feliciano stopped in front of the door and reached out for the handle, but, before he could even grasp it in his hands Lovino sped up his gait and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, spinning him around and pressing him against the wall. "That man didn't save my life," Lovino spat. "Antonio saved my life."
Feliciano looked back into his brother's eyes; however this time when he looked back they were no longer teary and sad looking, they looked serious and determined, an expression not often seen on Feliciano's face. So, with that, Lovino decided to drop it, he didn't want to start a fight with his brother so soon after being reunited with him. He also knew by the expression on Feliciano's face that he would not let Lovino get the better of him where this German was concerned, for whatever reason.
Lovino backed up from where he had Feliciano pressed against the wall, fixed the collar of Feliciano's shirt, and composed himself. He smiled at his younger brother and indicated the door, "lead the way then, Feli."
Feliciano smiled, despite his rising defiance, and completely put their argument behind him.
That was the good thing about Feliciano, probably his best characteristic. No matter how many times someone wronged him, and no matter who they were, he would find it in himself to completely forgive them. That was what Lovino loved about his brother, and simultaneously hated about him.
Lovino watched Feliciano's retreating back as he opened the door to the roof, all the while thinking to himself about the German, and his older brother, too. The albino one with the snotty attitude, he hadn't liked him either. And, according to him, both were far too friendly with his younger brother. No matter how much his little brother protested, he wouldn't let those two relationships continue.
"Come on," Feliciano said from the half-open door, voice waking Lovino up from his silent daze. Lovino shook his head and followed behind his brother, walking out into the warmth of the roof. A cool breeze whipped through his hair as soon as he walked out, treading through his damp locks and sending a pleasant chill shooting down his spine. Even though the wind was cold, and even though it made Goosebumps rise on his arms, he cherished the feeling. It felt good because, for a long time, he never thought he would even feel the wind against his skin again.
And, to add to the feeling, the wind didn't smell like he had originally expected it to smell. He had been in the hospital for so long that he had expected the draft to carry the smell of death on it. He had expected to smell rotting bodies, death, and sadness, but instead he found himself smelling the familiar scents of the Earth and the Ocean. They were good smells, smells that he missed very much. He stopped just to take in the fresh scent of the pine trees, another smell that he had completely forgotten during his time in the hospital with Antonio. Feliciano didn't disturb him this time, instead he watched his brother silently from where he sat on top of the concrete roof, he was just happy that his brother was starting to feel better, more like himself. He just hoped that his brother would forget the incidence with the children in the maternity ward.
When Lovino finally came back to himself, and stopped staring straight up at the sun as if it would disappear, Feliciano called out to him and patted the ground beside him. "Come, pray with me."
Lovino smiled and nodded, pulling the rosary out of his breast pocket so he could pray with his younger brother. It had been very long since he had prayed, let alone with his younger brother.
Antonio hadn't even noticed Lovino and Feliciano were gone until he looked up from where he was re-dressing Gilbert's head wound. After he cut the fabric and secured it, he looked up intending to tell Lovino a joke that had come to mind, only to realize that the boy, and his brother, were nowhere in sight.
He wasn't worried, he knew that they had probably run off to be alone, but he wanted to find them and check up on Lovino despite this. He was still sick after all, he couldn't over-exert himself.
So Antonio set off in search of the two Italians, leaving Matthew with the responsibility of dressing Gilbert's remaining wounds. However, he was having a hard time finding them, and was finding himself increasingly worried about the two of them. He kept thinking about the worst case scenarios, thinking things like: What if Lovino and Feliciano decided to go outside? What if Lovino tried to attempt suicide? What if he already had and Feliciano had followed behind because he couldn't bear the idea of being without his older brother?
He shook it off quickly, however, because if he knew one thing about religion, it was that committing suicide was against everything any religion believed in.
At least, he hoped so.
He looked through the various rooms being occupied by the survivors, he looked through unoccupied rooms, and he knocked on the doors of the ones that were locked. He couldn't find anything. He was beginning to panic, whispering words of encouragement to himself in an attempt to calm himself down.
"What about the roof?" A soft, calm voice suggested from behind him.
Antonio turned around, only to be faced with Heracles, the man whose voice guided them back to the hotel safely after the crash. Antonio smiled at him in greeting, "thanks, I should have thought about that before I started worrying." Antonio scratched the back of his head in embarrassment at getting frantic so easily, "sorry, I jus-"
"It's fine," the man said, returning his smile, "I understand."
Antonio's hand dropped to his side and he let out a small sigh of relief, the last thing he needed was the group starting to think he was mentally unstable. "Thanks," Antonio said again before turning on his heels and leaving for the top floor.
Lovino and Feliciano were both so deep in prayer that they hadn't even realized someone had walked onto the roof. Antonio stood there, watching them quietly as they prayed together.
Lovino had his hands clasped around his brother's, and the rosary was wrapped tight around their entwined hands. Their foreheads were pressed together so close that there would no doubt be a deep red mark on their forehead's when they finished their prayers. They were praying like they had when they were children. Feliciano had suggested it first, saying that it would be nice to pray the way they used to. Lovino had protested the idea at first, but he eventually gave in to his brother's wishes.
Antonio was so close that he could hear Lovino's words over the sound of the wind, in fact, his words flowed together with the wind as if they were one. And though Antonio was in no way a religious man, he listened, enthralled, as Lovino prayed.
"O God whose only begotten Son has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, Grant that we beseech Thee while meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may both imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord Amen." Lovino finished, and both Feliciano and he shut their eyes tight. Then, after what felt like hours, Lovino and Feliciano both opened their eyes, looking at each other as if they had just finally met. Lovino closed their entwined hands in a fist, and brought Feliciano's own hands up to his mouth, kissing them and the rosary encircling them.
Only then did they both notice Antonio's presence.
Antonio locked eyes with Lovino, and for one horrifying moment he was worried that Lovino was going to snap knowing that Antonio had seen such an intimate exchange, however he was pleasantly surprised when Lovino's calm expression remained unchanged.
They stared at each other for so long that Feliciano himself began growing uncomfortable, and he eventually unravelled the rosary around he and brother's hands. "I'm going to go check on everyone else," Feliciano said, smile still present despite his obvious discomfort. "I'll leave you two alone for a little while, you probably have a lot to talk about."
And with that Feliciano was gone.
Antonio waited until he heard the sound of Feliciano's feet clapping against the metal stairs before he approached Lovino. He sat down in front of him, propping himself up on his hands and staring at the sky, the sky that he hadn't seen in such a long time.
"Thank you," Lovino said after what seemed like hours of silence.
Antonio looked down at the young Italian, "thank you for what, exactly?"
"Thank you for," Lovino made a wide gesture with his hands as he tried to come out with the words, "for saving me, I guess."
Antonio laughed, "I didn't really help all that much, Lovi."
Lovino sighed, "you heroic types always try to shake off the 'thank you' part." Lovino crossed his legs underneath him, positioning his elbows on his legs and propping his head up on his splayed palms. "The least you could do is accept my 'thank you' with a 'you're welcome.'"
Antonio smiled at Lovino, "you're welcome, Lovi."
"I'm not letting that nickname slide, however."
Antonio laughed again, "I'm sorry, I'll try not to use it anymore."
"Good," Lovino grumbled as he tried to fix a stray hair trying to stand up on the side of his head.
Antonio liked what he was seeing in Lovino. It was true, he had thought Lovino was beautiful even in the hospital, but now he was truly a sight to behold. He was already beginning to get a light tan from being exposed to the sun for a few hours, his face no longer looked as gaunt, and his hair maintained a healthy auburn shine. There was only one thing nagging at Antonio, and that was the praying and the fact that he was in seminary.
He couldn't think about a holy man like that, and he was certain a man in seminary would never think about him in that way.
"So you're in seminary," Antonio said conversationally, trying to get the boy speaking to him again.
"Was," Lovino corrected, "with the apocalypse happening, I don't think I'll be going back any time soon."
"That's true," Antonio chuckled. "But how is that, did you have a calling, or something like that?"
Lovino looked up from where he was picking at the hem of his shirt, regarding Antonio with a cocked brow, "why do you care?"
"I'm just curious," Antonio said, "that's all."
Lovino scoffed, "well, if you're that curious, then I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. It is the end of the world, after all, it's not going to hurt me."
Antonio listened keenly as Lovino began speaking.
"There was no calling, really, never has been," Lovino shrugged. "The thing is, I wasn't talented enough in anything to actually be considered 'good', so I decided, 'hey, why not', and went into Theology." Lovino uncrossed his legs and stretched them out toward Antonio, "my brother's the talented one, everything I was good at, he was better…"
"Lov-"
"Ah," Lovino said, "you wanted to listen to my story, didn't you?"
"Yeah," Antonio laughed, "sorry, I won't cut you off again."
Lovino nodded his head and continued, "it sounds selfish, but I knew that going to seminary would really get my parent's attention, especially my grandfather's – that's the attention I really cared about. But, it turns out I didn't really get the attention I was hoping for," Lovino laughed bitterly, "they laughed at me instead. They couldn't believe that someone as foul-mouthed and bad-mannered as me could become a priest." A large gust of wind blew by, causing shivers to wrack both Antonio and Lovino's bodies. "But, even though I didn't get the attention I wanted, I went to seminary anyway, except this time I went to prove them wrong."
Antonio was quiet, waiting to see if Lovino would continue, but he didn't. It seemed that that was all that Lovino was willing to tell him about himself. Antonio could deal with that, but he hoped he could eventually get more out of him.
"So, you didn't really go to seminary because you had a calling?" Antonio asked incredulously, shocked that someone would put themselves through so much just to prove their family wrong.
"Not at all," Lovino said. "I mean, I find comfort in praying, but it's kind of stupid because I don't even believe in what I'm praying to."
Antonio was shocked, so shocked that he couldn't even think about what to say in response to everything Lovino had told him. What he had been told made him sad, upset, but it also filled him with a small, guilty, feeling of happiness.
He tried to tell himself that it was wrong, and that it would be wrong to pursue someone with such a holy background, but he couldn't stop his mind from wandering at the possibilities. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't even noticed Lovino leaning over him.
"This doesn't leave the roof," Lovino said seriously. "Even my little brother doesn't know this, and it would disappoint him if he knew, do you hear me?"
Antonio nodded his head sharply, barely registering what Lovino had said to him. Lovino nodded his head in satisfaction after he shared his words with Antonio and he promptly left to be with the rest of the group.
Antonio stayed on top of the roof until nightfall, thinking about the Italian boy with the most beautiful face he had ever seen.
A/N: Ask and you shall receive!
Someone asked me if I could do a Lovino POV, so I made a chapter from - mostly - Lovino's point of view.
It's currently 5 in the morning (I'm making the best of my insomnia) so I'm going to make this little update quick.
I'm just going to go ahead with the PruCan because - for the most part - the most of you seem to be in favour of PruCan. And, to be honest, I really don't like writing love triangles! You're probably wondering, 'what about FraNada?' but don't worry, I have something planned here. Hehe.
I also wanted to tell you guys that the next few chapters - I'd say two or three chapters - are going to be for character development! After that we're going to finally slip into the new, more action-packed, arc.
Boy, do I have some things planned for you guys!