You sighed, tapping your pencil against the table lightly as you day-dreamed your way through your Governmental teacher's lecture. Geez, and I thought I hated this class when I took it online. What a way to start a Monday... Your eyes flicked across the room to glance quickly at several of the other students. Allen was (of course) asleep in the back of the room, Ludwig was sitting straight shouldered in the front row, avidly taking notes, Feliciano was gazing out the window at several birds sitting in a nearby tree, and Elizabeta was yawning subtly under a covering hand. The two of you locked stares and she grinned at you, rolling her eyes in the direction of the teacher. You smiled slightly back at her. Same old, normal day...

"(Y/N), what type of government does the United States of America have?" Several student's jumped as Mr. Rinaldo snapped out the question, completely veering off course from the lecture he was giving. You felt all eyes in the room turn to you and you even heard Allen jolt awake with a snort. Hesitantly, you responded. "The United States of America is a Democratic Republic." The teacher's eyes narrowed with an emotion that resembled... irritation? His shrewd eyes studied you for a nanosecond before he threw the next question at you. "Can you tell me what the four main types of government are?" You nodded once. "There's Dictatorship, Democracy, Republic, and Divine Right theory. But Anarchy can also be considered to be a form of 'Government', so I guess that makes five." He scowled. "I did not tell you to list five, Miss (L/n). If I had wanted you to do so, then I would have asked. Kindly refrain from showing off in the future, would you?"

You blinked in shock. Wait, What? Your mouth dropped open slightly. "I-I wasn't t-trying to-" But he continued on, completely ignoring what you were about to say. "Just because you have already completed this course does NOT mean that you do not have to pay attention in class. Honestly..." he continued speaking as he turned his back on the class to write more lecture notes on the whiteboard, "...We all have hardships we face in life, you are not an exception to the rules that apply to every other student here. Remembering that in future instances would do you well."

You sat stunned in the dead silence of the room, your mouth open and pencil slack in your hand. Ludwig started to speak from his place in front of you. "Mr. Rinaldo, that was highly uncalled-" He stopped as you rose from your seat behind him, quietly closing your book delicately before slipping it into your bag with hardly a sound. Shouldering your backpack, you walked to the door silently, face looking at the ground.

"Miss (L/N) you were not given permission to leave. Have a SEAT." You stopped, facing the door of the classroom. You took a deep, quiet breath. "I would like to request permission to go to the principal's office." "You may not leave. Sit." Breathe, just breathe... You turned your head slightly to the side so that you could look him in the eye as you spoke. He glared at you as you stood silently for another second. Finally, you opened your mouth. "Have a fantastic day, okay?" You whipped around and strode out the door. You broke into a run as Mr. Rinaldo yelled behind you. "YOUNG LADY, GET BACK HERE!" You took a quick right down the stairwell that you knew led to a usually unpopulated girl's bathroom.

Flinging open the door, you hardly spared the two startled girls at the counter a glance before darting into the last stall, shutting and locking the metal door, and leaning up against the cold, brick wall. Your gasping breaths quickly turned into sobbing as you desperately tried to calm down.

God! I've never been this big of a crybaby, have I?! What the hell is HAPPENING to me?! You choked on saliva gathering in your throat and wiped angrily at your face. You heard the two girls outside the stall murmuring quietly to each other before the sound of the door opening and closing rang through the restroom over your tears, leaving you completely alone. Again.

DAMN IT! IS THAT WHAT EVERYONE THINKS?! THAT I EXPECT SPECIAL TREATMENT BECAUSE MY MOM IS DEAD?! THAT I FEEL SOME SORT OF 'SUPREMACY' OVER EVERYONE?! As you legs gave way beneath you, you covered your head with your arms. Because it's NOT. You whimpered quietly, crushing your face to your knees. I'd give up anything to just have her back here with me. For God sakes, we could be hobos together as long as she were alive and healthy. Your mirthless laugh was smothered by your legs and clothing. Damn it... I'm such a mess.

You couldn't have cared less when you heard the door open and someone walked into the bathroom. However, you did freeze slightly as a pair of red converse stopped outside of your stall. Red male converse. You turned your head, resting your cheek on your knees as the shoes turned and their owner slide his way down the wall to rest opposite of you on the outside of the stall. You sniffled quietly. "What are you doing here?"

Lovino took a deep breath and sighed, letting his head fall back and rest against the wall with a soft thump. "You know Emma? That Belgian girl from your English class? She stopped me in the hallway after you scared her and Mei out of here like 5 minutes ago. She said that since you and I are 'friends' that I 'had' to come and talk to you." You shifted awkwardly. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you then..." He didn't respond right away.

The tension was almost suffocating for several long minutes before Lovino finally murmured back, almost silently. But you heard him. Loud and clear. "Don't be. Because you're not. We ARE friends. And when friends need you, you help them. Right?" You smiled through the growing thickness in your throat and whispered back. "Right." A delicate hand was placed on the floor in the shadow of the door. Offering. Silently, you reached down and laced your fingers together. It was a perfect fit.

You smiled as you both sighed loudly in relief as it seemed that the worst of the awkwardness was over. "So..." Lovino asked, breaking into the comfortable quiet that had previously filled the bathroom, "why are you here?" You bit your lip, hesitating. "It's kind of a long story... and the exact reason why I'm here won't make sense if you don't hear all of it..." Neither of you spoke for a minute.

Lovino turned his head to look at the stall door. "I'm listening." You took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, it all started right after my seventh birthday..."

And listen he did.

-Later-

"Bastardo! He said that to you?!" Lovino gasped in stunned outrage. You were not surprised by the anger you saw in his eyes (the stall door had long since been opened and the two of you had turned to face each other during the story) You nodded as he squeezed your hand to comfort you. Suddenly, he rose, pulling you to your feet as well as he started for the bathroom door. "Well then you need to go tell the office! That's disgusting that anyone would even think about saying that to a student-" You shook your head. "No." Lovino skidded to a halt and whirled to look at you his eyes narrowed. "No?!" You sighed and shook your head again. "No." You cut him off as he tried to interrupt you. "I don't want any trouble. Please, let's just not, okay?" His mouth flattened into a thin line as he studied you for a moment, seriously debating the dilemma you'd engaged him with.

"Okay, fine." You smiled at him with relief. "Thank you!" Flinging yourself forward, you hugged him. And for the first time in years, you were happy to be hugging someone. You felt arms come around your back and squeeze slightly before letting go. As you stepped away smiling, you noticed that Lovino was trying to avoid looking at you and his face had turned a bright red. "Aw, Romano..." His blushed darkened. "Don't even go there with me, chica!" you laughed at his embarrassed look before nodding once. "Okay, fine. I won't call you that." His face morphed into one of serious relief. "Thank you Bella, it's much appreciated."

The two of you looked at the speaker in the ceiling of the bathroom as the bell rang. Lovino ran his hand through his hair and sighed in irritation. "Well, I definitely need to go.." You nodded. "As do I." The two of you headed for the door and stepped out into the still mostly empty hallway, slightly upset that you were not able to continue your talk. "Lovino?" He looked over at you. "Thank you so much for being there for me." Lovino looked surprised for several seconds before his face broke out into the largest smile you had ever seen. And it was stunning. "You're welcome, Bella. Anytime! I did give you my number, Si?" You nodded. "Bueno. I'll see you later then, okay (Y/n)?" You smiled back and nodded. "Of course. Bye, Lovi!" He pushed your shoulder playfully as the two of you headed off to finish the rest of the school day. Even though the two of you wouldn't be seeing each other for the rest of the day, you both felt better knowing that someone understood.

And although both of your hearts still bore their damage and their battle scars, it almost seemed as though there were just a few less cracks across their broken surfaces.

-Writer's note-Hey guys! I decided that now is probably an important time to ask all of you this. So, I kind of feel like I write a lot of fill chapter's for this story because I don't want to just jump straight to the finale. (Because I HATE endings! They make me so sad...) It doesn't really bother me that there's a good number of fillers, after all, I'm still taking character requests, but I want to know: Do you all want me to get to wrapping up this story? Please let me know what you'd like me to do, I really do want your help and your input! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and the temporary band aid I might of just slapped on Lovino's heartbreak (Oops... my bad...). Not saying that he won't have a happy ending, though! Even I don't know what's going to happen to him yet, actually... Huh. I should probably get on that... Thanks for reading, Stay Gold! Peace-Berries and Beans