A/N: A quick note on this chapter; I think it may get little confusing in places. If there's anything that doesn't make sense, please say so and I will get Lovino to explain in in due course.
Also, massive thank you to everyone who's reviewed/faved/alerted. I'm a happy author. :3
"Hello!" Antonio called loudly. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you could help me out?"
The figure jumped, startled, and almost knocked over his basket of tomatoes. "What the hell?" He whirled around, then promptly dropped the secateurs he was holding and Antonio heard a clearly audible gasp escape his lips as he froze to the spot.
Antonio ran a hand through his messy brown hair nervously, wondering what was so wrong. "Hehe, sorry about that. I didn't mean to startle you. I was just hoping you could help me."
The other was still frozen to the spot, breath coming short and shaky. "It...it's not possible, damn it..."
"Huh?" Antonio was more confused than ever by this statement. "What's not possible? Can't you help me?"
"You..." The other's voice faded out after the solo word, and it occurred to Antonio that he recognised the voice. He'd been thinking of it for days, after all. But...that was even more impossible than this place itself...wasn't it?
The young man removed his straw hat, an unruly curl springing out from the right side of chocolate brown locks. Antonio's eyes were met by a pair of wide, confused amber orbs, in an expression frozen with utter disbelief. He almost felt his heart stop at the contact.
"Lo...Lovino?" he asked hesitantly. This couldn't be true, it wasn't feasible. Surely this had to be a dream now; it was what he'd wanted beyond all imagination, come to life before his eyes. He must have gone mad.
"Antonio..." the Italian teenager breathed softly in reply. Antonio could tell Lovino was about as stunned as he was, if not more. His mouth was held half open, his eyes staring deeply into Antonio's, almost as if he'd been paralysed in place.
Antonio gingerly stepped closer, almost as if Lovino might disappear if he got too near. "Lovino? Is that really you? Are you real? I...we..." He shook his head incredulously. "But you're dead!"
This snapped Lovino out of his daze. "Dead? 'Course I'm dead, you stupid jerk. I got hit by a fucking truck, damn it! How'd you think I'd survive that, huh? Jackass." He folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the floor. Maybe it was just the sun on his face, but Antonio could swear he'd gone slightly pink.
"I'm sorry," Antonio replied unsurely. "Wait...if you're dead...what are you doing here?"
Lovino looked at him like he was an idiot. "Me? I should be the one asked that question! What the hell are you doing here?"
Antonio was relieved to talk a bit about his situation, even if it had suddenly multiplied by a confusion factor of a million. "I...kinda woke up here. I don't know where this is, or how I got here, or how to get back. My phone doesn't work here either. I've spent hours wandering around this place, and then...the first person I come across is you. But...you're dead. How is it even possible for us to be talking, let alone in the same place?" He promptly stopped himself from rambling, hoping desperately that Lovino had some kind of answers. Not that he was mad keen on returning home for a while.
The younger stroked his chin thoughtfully, his face wracked with confusion. "You...just appeared here? You didn't meet anyone on the way in?"
Antonio shook his head. "Nope. You're the first person I've seen."
"Hmm. That's...weird? Are you dead?" he asked suddenly.
Antonio was struck by this question. "Dead? I should hope not. Dios, I didn't die in my sleep, did I? Did I?" His voice rose in pitch as panic threatened to clutch his heart, and he shut his eyes, trying to stay calm. Dead. He didn't want to be dead. He wouldn't ever see his friends again, or joke about in class with Gilbert, or stop Francis chasing people, or even just wander around his house listening to music and making churros. No, death wasn't good, not good at all. Even if Lovino was in this world, he really should be careful of what he wished for.
"Oi, bastard, don't freak." Something poked him in the arm, and he looked up to see Lovino's face less than two feet away, decorated with a concerned expression.
"I...I don't want to be dead..." Antonio whispered, collapsing to his knees on the warm, rough earth. Traitorous tears welled in his eyes and his breath came in forced jumps. He couldn't see, he couldn't think. Everything seemed so far away, he barely felt anything anymore.
A hand on his shoulder, something muttered softly in Italian in his ear, and slowly, he came back to his senses. He opened his eyes once more and met Lovino's eyes for the third time. The sparkling gold was comforting, and somehow, just by being close, Lovino was beginning to calm Antonio down.
"You stopped freaking out yet?" he asked. "Good. Anyway, as I was about to say before you panicked, you're not dead. I was only asking if you knew if you were, damn it. Which, from your reaction, you're not. Am I right?"
Antonio nodded, not trusting himself to speak yet. So...he wasn't dead?
Lovino sat down cross-legged opposite him. "Ok. So, let me get this straight. You woke up here, after going to sleep normally in your world. But you didn't meet anyone on your way in, and you know nothing about this place, which means you're not dead. Which is weird." His face was a mask of confusion. And something else, something Antonio couldn't quite put his finger on.
Then the impact of a phrase Lovino had just said suddenly registered in his brain and his jaw dropped. "Wait – my world? What do you mean?"
Again with the 'you're an idiot' expression. Lovino was good at that look. "You've got to be kidding! You can't seriously think this place is part of Earth, right?"
Antonio was more confused than ever. "It's not? Wait, wait, Lovino, start over please! I don't get anything, seriously. Where is this place, how did I get here, what are you doing here and what's going on?"
"Calm down, calm down," Lovino replied with a short gesture of his hands. "Damn it, don't you get that I'm about as confused as you in this? You're here, yet you're not dead, what am I supposed to-" He stopped himself and swallowed visibly. "Forget that. I'll try explain as best I can." He stood up and motioned for Antonio to do the same. "Let's walk, I'll talk as we go. Maybe show you some stuff too. I don't know."
Antonio nodded and pulled himself to his feet. He could almost feel a headache coming on from all the confusion and tangled thoughts.
Something pulled on his sleeve slightly and he spotted a creeping tomato plant caught on the hem of the fabric. He turned, intent on letting the garment free, but the movement was too much and the material tore a short hole up the sleeve. It was annoying, but he ignored it and kept following Lovino through the rows of luscious tomatoes back in the direction of the town. He had bigger things to worry about, after all.
Once they reached the grass and started up the slight hill, Lovino dropped back so they were walking side by side. "Ok, explanation. So, as you so tactfully stated, I'm dead. Saved your sorry ass in the process, I might add. You better be damn grateful, bastard. Anyway, since I am, I've gone to what's generally known as heaven. Which is where we are right now."
Antonio blinked, stunned once again into silence. This was a rather hard-to-digest fact, after all. It was...it was just impossible. But then again, how much of today had been even slightly feasible? "Heaven? What? Really? I thought it was all white, with angels and clouds and that."
"Yeah, that's the general perception," Lovino nodded. "It's also what you get at the start. Basically, once you die, you come here. At first it's all the same, classic white-clouds-and-harmony crap. But you see, everyone's different. So their perception of heaven's different. And so, heaven adapts so everyone sees it differently; they see it how they want to see it. Like everyone'd really find a bunch of stupid clouds heavenly. Che palle." He rolled his eyes at the cloudless sky and pulled his hat back onto his head.
"So...this is how you see heaven?" Antonio was struggling to keep up with this on top of everything else that had happened today.
"Yup. It's pretty sweet here, ain't it." This was a statement, not a question, Antonio noticed. But he had to agree. He'd noticed earlier that it was truly brilliant being here, beautiful weather, magnificent scenery, fields of tomatoes. From what he knew of Lovino, the Italian really would find this place, well, heavenly.
"So, basically," the Italian continued. "This place moulds itself according to a person's thoughts. If I want a warm summer day, that's what I get. If I feel like it should be snowing, it snows for a bit. But it goes away once I get cold and start cursing it, like it did the other day when that damn snow got stuck in my stupid boot." He scowled and pouted endearingly. "Anyway, within reason, I can pretty much make this place do whatever I like. 'Cos otherwise, it wouldn't be perfect and therefore not heaven. You with me so far?"
Antonio slowly nodded. It made sense, at the moment. "But then, how come I'm here? I'm not dead, we established that."
"Uh...beats me," Lovino said quickly. "How the hell am I meant to know all the answers, bastard? I'm not some sort of expert." He'd folded his arms again and was staring off in the other direction, face hidden by the brim of his hat.
"Er...sorry," Antonio murmured, surprised at the sudden hostility, and dropped into silence.
A few moments later, they stopped at the top of the hill, facing out over the alluring scenery once more. Despite all the confusion and disorientation, Antonio felt calm, and happier than he'd been in weeks.
"You really do have a good taste in heavens, you know," he said softly to Lovino, watching the afternoon sunlight sparkle on the waters of the far-off lake.
Lovino didn't respond, but when Antonio cast a quick glance in his direction, his lips were trembling as if he was trying to fight off a smile. He'd done that before, Antonio remembered. After one football game, just after they'd won, Antonio congratulated Lovino on the winning goal, and the Italian had blushed and stammered before storming off. He had looked so cute then, Antonio recalled. He'd always seemed to try hiding his feelings, unless they were anger. But he was definitely happy, Antonio could tell. Both then, and now.
He smiled and kept watching their surroundings, content for the moment just to be standing here with Lovino. They had time, possibly even all the time in the world, and, right now, neither wanted to be anywhere else.
Neither of them knew how long they stood there, just silently appreciating the other's company. The sun slowly began to dip lower and lower in the sky, sending golden beams shining into pools of pink and red blush. A group of birds twittered across, but apart from that, the world was still, beautiful, at peace. Antonio still had a long list of questions burning in his mind, but it didn't seem the right moment to ask any of them...save for one.
"Hey, Lovino?" Antonio asked quietly. "There's something else, something I've wanted to know for a while now. If you don't mind me asking...on the day you died...why did you save me?"
There was a short moment of silence, then Lovino glanced up at him, bright patches of scarlet flaring up across his cheeks. His golden eyes were wide and blinking fast; he was undeniably flustered by this question. Antonio had to resist the urge to hug him; he looked so cute like that, all red like a tomato.
The Italian twisted his fingers and spoke nervously. "I-"
BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP!
Lovino's face vanished from before his eyes before Antonio could even register what had happened. White walls rushed up to meet his eyes and he bolted upright on soft blankets, shocked and confused beyond belief.
He was awake. Back in his own room. And his alarm clock was bleeping 06:30 at him.
Dun Dun Duuuun!
Sorry, Antonio, but I'm not giving you the easy ride just yet. That's just no fun. :)