Hey-o! How are ya? Hope you're doing well!
Well, this is the 8th chapter, surprisingly. I mean, I didn't think I'd even make it this far!
Thanks for supporting this story so far! I'll try to upload them quicker!
Now, onto the story!
After a while, Grandpa Roma soon returned, along with Lovino and Antonio. The doctor returned a few moments later, just as everyone had begun to sit down. Fratello didn't sit anywhere near Nonno, though. He didn't even bother to look at him. As I chewed the bottom of my lip, Mrs. Laura cleared her throat, which caused us all to give our attention to her.
"I see you all are ready to go," She began, before she gave a small nod in Nonno's direction. He nodded back, before he turned his head to stare out the large window. "If you will sign this, Feliciano, you'll be able to leave."
"Ve, OK!" I replied, before I put on the cheerful front once more. As she gave me the clipboard, I reached out my hand to take the pen. I scribbled my name onto the line, before I returned the piece of paper to her.
"Have a good night, gentlemen," Mrs. Laura gave one last nod, before she turned to the door. Everyone else began to get up as well, me being the last one. As I clambered out the bed, my hands flew out, and clutched onto Grandpa for support. In response, he gripped my shoulder reassuringly, and helped me to the door. As I turned my head, I caught Lovino's eye, only for him to turn away with a huff, and gravitated closer to Antonio.
"Come on, nipote," Nonno spoke softly, as his hand rustled my hair. "Let's go get that pasta you wanted."
Eventually, we had all arrived into the parking lot. Cars littered the painted ground, and large lampposts illuminated the lot. Antonio soon looked around for a few moments, before he fished in his pocket. Soon, a jingle was heard as he pulled out his car keys. His thumb smoothed over the button, and he then pressed down on it. A few moments later, the sound of loud beeping echoed through the place, as backlights flashed.
"Oi, meet you there, right?" Antonio asked, his body turned in the direction of the flashing car.
"Si," Nonno replied. Lovino soon began to walk towards Antonio, before he let out a sigh.
"I'll be riding with Antonio, chigi," he spoke, though he avoided Grandpa's eyes. Grandpa gave another nod, before we both went to his car.
As I opened the car door, I slipped inside quietly, before I clicked on the seat belt. The door was then shut, and it wasn't long before Nonno got in, too. He turned the keys and then started up the car, before he drove out the parking lot. With nothing to do, I decided to preoccupy myself. That ended up to be me staring out the window. Roads zoomed passed us, and other cars came and went as we drove. Soon, Grandpa drove to another parking lot, and parked the car.
"The other two should be here soon. Let's go inside. It's getting chilly out here!" He spoke, his head turned to look at me. I gave a happy nod, and we soon headed into the building. As I stared at everything, I made out a title, which was plastered onto the front of the place.
Vertigo.
My eyes widened when I realized where we were. Vertigo was one of the finest pasta restaurants into the entire district! I couldn't help but shake with glee as we entered the place. I couldn't wait to eat their special Supremo Pasta! I'd heard it was the best around!
As we got to the front, a man behind a desk looked up at us. While Grandpa and the waiter conversed, I stared at the many paintings mounted on the wall. Some were colorful, others were black and white. A lot of them were classical. Soon, a tug was felt on my hand, which caused my head to turn.
"Come on, we got to get to our table!" Nonno spoke, a gentle smile on his face. Soon, I had begun to follow him deeper into the building, until we were escorted to a table. There was a basket of bread in the center of it. On the side was a candlewick, with a little flame that danced on the top. As I slid into the booth, I glanced over at the waiter as he handed us the menus.
"Lovino and his friend should be arriving soon. They were behind us, after all," Grandpa began, as he tried to strike up small talk.
"Ve! I hope so," I replied, before I opened up the menu. Inside were many different names, for many various dishes. There was no way I could choose just one! As my mind fumbled to make a decision over the food, two figures soon appeared at my side.
As I stared up. a pair of green eyes looked down at me. Another golden pair of eyes darted between Grandpa and I.
"Ve, you came!" I grinned brightly, and clasped my hands together. "That's great! Me and Nonno were starting to get worried, ve! Now we can all have dinner together!"
Their reactions were not what I was expecting,but not unprecedented, either.
"Tch. Like hell I'll sit anywhere near that lying bastard, chigi."
"Lovino!"
"Fuck off, Antonio. And you, Feliciano. How are you acting so nonchalant about this? Chigi, he lied to you about your fucking condition, for God's sake! I knew you were clueless, but I didn't think you were this stupid!"
My mouth suddenly went dry as he uttered those words. The smile on my face slowly began to drop, as my head lowered. Antonio then began to scold Lovino, as I tried to think of the right words to say.
"Por que?! ¿por qué dices eso?! He's your brother, Lovi! You can't say that!"
"You can't tell me what I can or can't do! Hell, I wasn't even supposed to tell you anything in the first place! Chigi, just shut u-"
"Lovino, stop it!" I snapped once more, as I turned my head to stare at my brother. My voice was much louder than I wanted it to, which caused some of the other customers to turn around in their seats, to stare at the spectacle we had begun to make.
"Just stop! Stop fighting, please! I don't want my last months filled with nothing but arguing and fighting! Can't we just try to get along like a family, at least until I.." I couldn't finish that sentence. Soon, I couldn't hold his gaze anymore. His facial expression burned a hole in my heart. Lovino's eyes were widened and glassy, with tears that brimmed at the edges.
Oh no...I must've went too far.
"V-Ve...F-Fratel-" Before I could finish, I was rudely cut off.
"Chigi," He began, as his arm reached up to wipe his eyes. "Is..Is that how you feel? Really? You know what, I don't care anymore! You can go act like a big, happy family with that bastard! I'm leaving! C'mon Antonio, let's go!" He spoke up, before he turned on his heel and ran out. Antonio looked between me and Lovino, before a small sigh was let out.
"I'm deeply sorry for this, Mr. Vargas, Feli. He just...needs time to let this to all settle in. Excuse me." And with that, he was gone, out the door, as he tried to follow my brother. I looked down at the elegant table, my appetite suddenly gone. The other customers that had witnessed the rather emotional debate began to eat once more, though some still stared at us.
"N-Nonno?" My voice barely reached over a whisper, as I stared at my lap. "C-Can we..Go home?"
"Of course. C'mon, let's go." And with that, we left the restaurant, and drove home. That was the end of the eventful night.
A week passed since then. A full week. But still, nothing had changed. Lovino had stayed at Antonio's ever since the incident. He only comes over to get his things, mainly my clothes. He doesn't even look at us anymore. Nowadays, we don't even sit together at lunch. A large rift had been created between us. A rift I didn't know how to fix.
"Hey, peu Feli," I heard a voice call my name. In response, I looked over at the speaker, a blonde Frenchman. He snapped me out of my daydream. I searched my surroundings for a few moments. We were in the cafeteria, during lunchtime. Antonio had spoken to Lovino about something, and, in response, he had begun to argue, like usual. Ludwig and Gilbert were preoccupied as they chatted with other people at the table. That left me and Francis.
"V-Ve? D-Did you ask me something, Francis?"
"Oui Oui, I did. I asked vhat vas vrong. Vou seem a bit..Out of it. vell, vou have been for the past week. vhat's vrong?"
"Ve! Nothing's wrong, I swear! I've just had a lot on my mind, is all!" I replied, as my hands went all over the place, and I tried to prove my point.
"Vou have alvays been a bad liar, Feli," Francis began, which caused me to start to sweat. "But, if vou need to lie, I vill understand that request. Just remember that vou can alvays come talk to me about it."
Well, I certainly didn't see that coming. I was glad it did, though. I gave a large nod, before my trademarked grin came out.
"Ve~! I'll be OK, I promise! No need to worry about me, France!" I gave another nod, just for good measure, before I stood. As my hands reached out to grab my untouched tray of food, a sudden, sharp pain dashed through my arms. A soft whimper escaped me, as I dropped the tray. Luckily, it wasn't that far from the table, so the contents didn't spill as much. As I rubbed the sore muscles, my eyes took a quick sweep around the vicinity. No one seemed to notice. Well, that made things a little easier.
On the second try, however, I was more successful. As I reached the garbage can, I dumped the stuff into the trash. Just as I was about to leave, a group of people suddenly began to surround me.
"Hey, it's the Italian kid!" One loud voice began, before he obnoxiously laughed.
"Oh yeah, the one that fell off the bus!" Another one sounded. They had begun to get closer to me, before one pushed me onto the ground. Blue eyes found mine, with a conniving, sort of scary smirk that was plastered onto his face.
"A-Alfred? Ve, please don't hit me! I'm sorry! I don't know what I did wrong, but I'm sorry, ve!" I responded, before my eyes shut. I really didn't want anymore fights happening around me, but, it didn't look like I had a choice.
"C'mon Al, just hit him already!" One of his friends egged him on.
"C'mon! hit him! Hit him now!" Another voice spoke. Soon, a small ring of people had begun to form, as they surrounded the two of us. Alfred looked down at me, before back at his friends. Soon, a fist was raised into the air. Chants of the word '"Fight" broke out into a frenzy as he clenched his hand. In response, I curled in on myself, as my hands flew up to cover my head. I squeezed my eyes shut, and prepared for the impact.
"STOP IT!"
Suddenly, the chants ceased, and the crowd had begun to disperse. As I opened one of my honey shaded eyes, I was met with the sight of a very, very angry German. He held the American's fist in his hand, and, despite his attempts to wrench it away, Alfred just couldn't seem to.
Ludwig.
"Leave, now. All of you." He spoke. His ocean eyes blazed with anger. An anger I'd rather not feel the wrath of, to be honest. He stared down at the much shorter Alfred, as his other hand repeated clenched. I stood, my body colliding with the wall as I watched him.
"Psh. Gonna save your little boyfriend now, newbie?" He asked, and taunted him with his smirk.
"I vould not say zhat if I vere you, granted in vhat position you are in." He responded, and his hand grew constricted around the other's. A slight wince of pain was all Alfred would give away though.
"Hah, at I don't have to have a sick little boy following me around like a lost pup-" He didn't even finish his sentence before a fist swung into his jaw. Ludwig's fist.
The smaller boy was knocked to the ground from the blow, as a bruise had begun to form on the left side of his face. Blood trickled down from both his nose, and his mouth. Soon, Ludwig had begun to walk over to me, before he pushed his glasses up.
"Are you alright?" He asked, as his cerulean eyes stared down into mine.
"S-Si," I responded, though my body still shook like a leaf.
"I'm sorry zhat happened to you,"
"V-Ve, it's alright.I'm used to it, by now."
"You shouldn't be," He spoke, before he turned his head to cough. The faintest of blushes crept over his cheeks as he spoke. "Ah, since ve're..Friends, I'll vill help you vhen you're in danger, as you will help me vhen I need it, though, I doubt it'll come to zhat." He nodded to himself.
After he said that, a bright smile came to my face.
"Ve! Grazie, Ludwig~!" I cheered, before I jumped out at him, and wrapped my arms around him in a large hug. He stumbled back a bit, before his hand patted my back.
"Ja, ja. Just let go of me," He replied, before a sigh rumbled from him. We soon began to walk back to the table, before the bell rang. As we merged with the crowds, I kept close to Ludwig. I really didn't want to get into another situation like that.
But, by the time we had gotten to the locker room, things had begun to change.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt, to the office. Ludwig Beilschmidt, to the main office, please."
I just want to say, thank you SO MUCH!
I know I've been slacking off a bit, (OK, A LOT.), but still. I'm glad I could get it done.
I am so sorry for the long wait. Hope you all forgive me!