The disappearance of Lovi sparks the reality of something taken for granted.

Antonio awoke with a splitting headache after having consumed more alcohol than average by means of drowning out his impatience for Feliciano's older sibling and to entertain the calls and dares from his mates around the table.

As if the pain wasn't bad enough, he groaned at his actions from last night with Lovino. He had to admit, he and the other two close mates of his, Gilbert and Frances, did actually push Lovino's buttons quite a bit. And for him to say what he did before the door slammed, was unfair and a bit worrisome.

A cold shower and some painkillers did the trick to ease his hangover to a bearable level of pain.

Afterwards, Antonio made some breakfast and then proceeded to open his phone to check his usual messenger and facebook updates and notifications. He eyed Lovino's profile amongst the chat list on his messenger with his last contact to the Italian at 18:45hours (6.45pm) and that Lovino had been last active at about the same time that night.

He let out a sigh as he made his way to the lounge room, letting his overall weight crash and sink into the oh-so-comfy couch. He stared at the ceiling momentarily as he reminisced on his relationship with Lovino.

Thinking about it, it seemed that Lovino was in a better mood, even if his mood was at its lowest when just the two of them hung out and that the likeliness of Lovino opening up and being more honest was with him. To sum it, Lovino loved being around Antonio despite not showing it. Antonio himself didn't notice how much time he had spent with Lovino and would link his close connections with the said Italian based on their childhood history.

The possibility of them being in a romantic relationship never crossed his mind till he thought about the physical contacts he had made with Lovino. This was pretty much pouncing on, holding hands, teasing pecks on the cheeks and hugging. Antonio began to feel his cheeks warm up as he slapped a hand over his mouth.

"Did i just have a revelation? Am I actually in love with Lovi?" Antonio thought to himself. He then facepalmed himself as events from last night resurfaced. He sat up and grabbed his phone, proceeding to text an apology and to request that they could meet up so he could properly apologise.

Hitting the send button made him feel somewhat anxious as he would ponder as to what Lovino's response would be.

No reply was received over the next 24 hours so he tried calling. No answer. The next 3 days had passed and Antonio had probably left up to 50 voice messages. Over the week he had constantly checked his phone for any texts, missed calls and messages via Facebook. Lovino's last active moment still stood still at 18:45hours from that night.

Antonio's heightened anxiety was beginning to irritate him to a point that he thought Lovino had decided to shut him out of the Italian's' life. He didn't want to give up though and decided to make a trip over to Lovino's place. Curtains remained closed as he eyed the windows.

"Did Lovino decide to get out of town?" Antonio frowned.

The possibility of Lovino taking off on a holiday was a mere 5% chance as the Italian was a reluctant being who refused to mingle with the outside world on his own. Maybe Feliciano had dragged him along on his holiday with his bf? But that was another impossible fact for Lovino wouldn't be one bit happy, especially being dragged along as a third wheel. Feliciano hadn't even mentioned that his brother would be tagging along. Looking on Facebook, it was evident too as most of the posts Feli had posted where scenery shots, foodiegrams and pictures of him and his bf beit selfies or not.

Things didn't feel quite right anymore. Antonio stepped out of his car and decided to give feli a call as he slowly walked towards Lovino's doorstep.

"Hi Antonio ~! I was just about to call you!"

"Hey Feli~ ha ha we have great timing I guess. I need to ask you something.~"

Antonio responded in a faked merry tone so that he wouldn't create worry for Feli. Upon closer inspection of the front door, webbing lined the edge of the door and the concrete acted as a foundation to which the webs were anchored to. He had also noticed how much accumulated mail had been forced into compression just to fit the mailing box.

"Hmm~? Sure. What did you want to ask?"

"Have you been in contact with Lovi, Feli?"

"Hmm...no I haven't. Not for a while either. I would've talked to him at the party if he hadn't left early. I did call him that night after the party but he never picked up."

Worry began to paint Feliciano's face as there was no immediate reply.

"I'm heading over to Lovi's place!" Feli stated and then hung up before the Spaniard had a chance to say something.

Panic began to bite at Antonio's consciousness as he further looked around the undisturbed property. He climbed his way into the backyard and peered through one of the windows. Nothing appeared to had been moved. Stepping onto the backdoor step, Antonio kicked something unnoticed. Peering down at the object, it was a mobile phone and Lovino's phone at that. Picking it up, the phone had taken a bit of weather damage and functions to navigate the device were unresponsive, pointing out an obvious dead battery.

Antonio then heard a car pull up followed by a door slam. He dashed over to see who it could be.

"Feli?" Antonio called out.

"Antonio? " Feliciano responded as he whipped his attention over to the Spaniard looking over the fence.

"What are you doing? How did you get in there?" Feli questioned as he jogged over to Antonio.

"I couldn't see in from the front. Plus it looks like nobody has been home for quite a while." Antonio said as he climbed back over the fence.

"I also found this."

Feliciano was quick to recognise the phone. He quickly pulled out some keys and then headed for the front door.

"Feli, what's wrong?" Antonio hurriedly followed behind.

Lovino had given Feliciano a spare key for emergencies or if he needed to get anything. Opening the door allowed a wave of mild stagnant air to escape. It was eerily quiet and everything remained untouched, just as Antonio remembered from a week ago. Lovino's house keys laid on the countertop and dust had blanketed all surface areas of the living space and kitchen.

Feliciano jogged upstairs but his brother was nowhere to be found. Even all his brothers' personal belongings remained untouched.

He headed back downstairs a bit flustered.

"I thought maybe Lovi could've taken off again but nothing has actually been touched..."

"What do you mean by 'again?" Antonio asked quizzically as Feliciano joined up with him.

"It happened when me and Lovi were still in college. Something upset him greatly and he disappeared from the dorms for nearly half a year. He was uncontactable and when he came back, he wouldn't tell me what happened or where he disappeared to...but back then he did take some stuff."

Antonio felt bile regurgitate up his oesophagus as he began to feel guilty for what had happened on that night he and Lovino had it was him that had driven Lovino into seclusion and hiding.

To be continued...

Next chapter. ...where did Lovi go?!