When Arthur and Alfred arrive at the hospital with Peter, Peter is as terrified as people come. He is much more terrified than any twelve year old should ever have to be.

When Arthur opens the door to Tino's room, Peter feels his already pounding heart constricting and beating faster.

Tino lays in the bed, limp, hooked up to machines. His skin is paler than Peter remembers...

Berwald approaches them, his feet shuffling sluggishly, and his face lacking all emotion. He greets the three, but Peter hardly hears him. He goes to Tino's bedside, feeling his throat start to burn.

He tries to stay strong. He really does... But he can't help himself. He feels hot tears burning as they fall from his eyes, and he feels his hands shaking. He reaches his hand out and grabs Tino's hand, holding on tightly and trying to pretend that everything is okay, and that Tino is just holding his hand while they cross a busy street...

"Daddy... Please, wake up!" Peter pleads. "I don't want you to die, daddy... You can't..."

Peter's head lowers, the tears falling faster and faster.

Peter feels someone pulling him back, into a tight hug. He instantly recognizes Berwald, lifting him up into his arms, holding him securely. Peter's arms fall around Berwald's neck, holding on as tightly as he can. Peter feels Berwald's body shaking tightly, and he realizes that his papa is crying too.

Berwald sinks to the floor, still hugging Peter, his shirt starting to become dotted with tears. Peter sits in his lap, crying, begging for Tino to be okay.

Every bit of pain that either person has been feeling, but has never shared, is being spilled out right there. Every fear that Peter never vocalized, for fear of stressing out Berwald even more, is being expressed right in that moment. Every regret Berwald has about not having comforted Peter more during this scary time, it's all being made up for.

Arthur and Alfred are heartbroken just watching that scene. They know they can do nothing but stand back and wait for it to be over. Alfred grips Arthur's hand and adverts his gaze, not wanting to see Peter and Berwald in so much pain...

After around five long minutes of choked back sobs and streaming tears, Berwald and Peter start to relax. Peter still clutches on to Berwald's shirt, just like he had the night of his terrible nightmare after having just arrived at his new home.

Berwald speaks softly to Peter, his voice scratchier than usual. "Peter... We should get home... Let's tell Tino goodbye for now... We can come see him again tomorrow."

Peter nods, but only barely. He allows himself to be pulled up by Berwald, and he leans against his papa as a support. Berwald whispers his goodbye, brushing Tino's bangs back with his large hand. Peter grabs Tino's hand with his own, only able to hold his fingers.

"Daddy... Please come back..." Peter whispers.

Berwald scoops Peter back into his arms, holding him securely. He approaches Arthur and Alfred, who have taken a seat in plastic chairs by the door, their hands laced together.

"I'm sorry we've kept you here... Thank you for watching Peter tonight."

"It's quite alright, Berwald, we understand," Arthur says, his voice small. "If you ever need any more help taking care of him, please let us know."

Berwald nods, and the couple takes their leave. Even Alfred is deadly silent, which is not a common thing for him.

Berwald carries Peter out of the hospital, placing him in the backseat of the car. On the ride home, Peter is asleep almost immediately.

...

The next few days, Peter stays home from school. Life is generally average around the house, but it is strikingly obvious that something (someone) is missing.

Along with being generally uninteresting, the days are very quiet. Berwald mainly works, and Peter keeps to himself, the worry eating at him.

Peter heads downstairs one day, only to find Berwald moving frantically around the kitchen. He has a rag in one hand, and he is wiping down the surfaces as quickly as he can.

Peter has noticed this frantic behavior popping up recently, mainly about three days after Tino falling into a coma. Berwald rushes around, seemingly having piled more on his plate than he can handle.

"Papa?"

Berwald spins around. "Hmm? What is it, Peter? Is something wrong?"

"You seemed stressed... Is everything okay?"

"I'm okay, Peter, I'm just trying to keep everything running smoothly."

"You're stressing out, papa..."

Berwald knows Peter is right, but admitting it would probably worry him more.

"I'm fine, Peter. Please, don't worry."

"Papa, I know when you aren't telling me the truth, we already established that."

Berwald sighs, dropping the rag. "I am stressed. Very stressed. But please don't worry too much, it'll be okay."

"Papa..."

Berwald looks at the gentle, yet worried, face of his son, he feels the need to be honest.

"I'm stressed without Tino... We're a pair. We work together to do things, and without him... I'm lost." Berwald says, his voice seemingly even, but concealing his fear and discontent. "Without him, I don't think I'm a very good parent, either... He's so good at being a dad, and I rely on him so heavily."

Peter frowns, shaking his head. "But you're a great dad!"

Berwald smiles slightly. "Thank you, Peter, but-"

"No, I mean it! You are a really great parent, you do everything for me. You keep me safe, you play games with me, you make food for me. You're doing great, papa."

Berwald's heart melts. He never thought he was that good at being a parent, especially not all by himself...

Berwald moves to where Peter is standing, and crouches down in front of him. He pulls Peter into his arms, kissing his forehead. "Thank you, Peter... You mean the world to me, honestly."

Peter doesn't respond, but he hugs back as tightly as he can.

...

Peter missed four days of school, but the next Monday, he returns.

He has trouble keeping focused, but he manages to hide it well. Even Ella doesn't seem to notice anything wrong with him during first and second period.

In third period, however, he let's his mind wander too far.

As the teacher continues to talk on and on about world history, Peter is thinking. He tried to keep his daydreaming to a minimum before, because of how bad they can get when he is worried, but he lost track of himself and finds his mind drifting away.

Without meaning to, he pictures a day where his papa will get the terrible call from the hospital. They will tell him the news, "Tino has passed away," and the color will drain from Berwald's face. He will get Peter from school, only barely holding in his pain, and they will go to the hospital to find Tino being zipped up in a big black bag.

Peter's head snaps up, shaking his head to try and clear that thought away. He feels cold panic rising up inside of him, and he needs to leave.

He raises his hand. "May I please use the restroom?"

The teacher stops speaking for a moment."Yes, Peter, go ahead."

Peter nods his thanks and nearly bolts out of the door. He jogs down the hallway, despite the rules about only walking.

As he runs, Ella comes around the corner. "Hey, Peter-" she starts to greet him, but realizes his distress. She reaches out and grabs his arms as he runs by, stopping him in his tracks.

"Ella, I need to go."

"Where? What's wrong, Peter?"

"Bathroom, please, I need to..."

"See, Peter, if you weren't sweating with fear and nearly hyperventilating, I wouldn't be worried."

"Ella, please..."

"Fine, if you're insistent on being the the bathroom, let's go,"

Ella turns the corner and pulls Peter into the boys bathroom.

"You can't be in here..." Peter says.

"Don't care. Now, Peter... Please tell me what's going on... Did something happen to Tino?"

Peter nods sullenly. "He slipped into a coma... Nobody knows when he is going to wake up... I'm just afraid he won't wake up at all."

Ella's face falls. "Oh, Peter..."

Peters breathing remains heavy and a bit labored. Ella realizes she needs to do something.

"Hey, Peter? Hey, can I do anything to help you relax...? You're hyperventilating, you might hurt yourself."

Peter can't even force out his words. He feels chilly fear burning inside of him, as his brain keeps forcing him to imagine pictures of his daddy being shoved into a body bag. He chokes on his breath, and he feels totally out of control. The images keep coming, and he can't stop them, no matter how hard he tries.

Ella reaches for his hand and squeezes it tightly. "It'll be okay, Peter, I promise. You can do this, you can be strong, I know you can."

Peter squeezes his eyes shut, trying to block out the images. He forces himself to replace them with images of Berwald and Tino standing together with smiles on their faces, or images of Tino or Berwald hugging him, protecting him...

Peters breaths slow. He feels the panic washing away, but the distress is still there.

He tries to keep it in, as he always does, but the tears come out anyway. They aren't intense, but the tears brimming his eyes and rolling down his cheeks are very clear.

Ella puts her arms around Peter and pulls him closer, hugging him loosely, hoping it will help.

Peter rests his head against Ella's shoulder, his tears falling silently for a few minutes. Ella tries to sooth him, rubbing and patting his back, just like her mother would when she cried.

Eventually, Peter is completely silent. He looks up at Ella, and she is relieved to see that his tears are drying on his face.

They stand in silence for a minute, while Peter takes a few deep breaths to relax completely. After a moment, he looks at Ella and smiles a real smile. "Thank you, Ella... It's so great having someone that is here for me when I need it."

"It's no problem at all, Peter. I'll always try to be here for you. Anything I can do to help, I'll do it."

"You're a great friend, Ella, do you know that?" Peter smiles lightly.

"I guess I do now." Ella grins.

A/N: The scene at the start with Berwald and Peter comforting each other was better in planning... I'm not sure if I was able to portray the emotions very well (or at least as well as I had hoped), but I hope you still liked it!

I don't really have much else to say about this chapter... Oddly enough.

Anyways, I hope you are enjoying this story, thanks so much for reading, and thanks for all of the reviews/favorites/follows!

-KayDubs