Merry Christmas you adorable bitches!

[READ THIS!] So. ANNOUNCEMENT: As I'm sure you're all well aware, there's only one more chapter left in this here story of mine, that's been going for two years. I just wanted to thank you all for your support, I know I take forever to update, so, I thought to myself, How can I thank these lovely people?

Well, here's what I'm gonna do. If I can get 300 reviews by January 6th, 2012 (assuming the world doesn't blow up), I will post the final chapter immediately thence, AAAND I WILL DO A DRAMATIC READING OF A CHAPTER OF YOUR CHOSING AND POST IT ON YOUTUBE.

well, any chapter except the last one, because there will be sex, and I'm not reading porn on youtube (:

I'll post a poll, if the reviews get to that number. Now, the story already has 210 reviews...so I believe in you guys. I want to show you how much I love you and how thankful I am for your support. heart. (:

so read and review! (((:

Initially, Lovino found it immensely hard to utter a single word, looking up into Antonio's honest, concerned, and caring eyes. How could he tell him all the horrible things he'd done? Would he lose all respect for Lovino?

However, gradually, as Lovino began to recount the last two or so years of his life and the activities he'd been filling his spare time with, he couldn't help but feel significantly lighter; relieved, even as Antonio's face retained a sympathetic expression, but often contorted in shock, anger, or—worst of all—sorrow. And honestly, with how long he'd been holding it all in, he couldn't simply omit certain parts of the story. He shared every last detail with Antonio, from the dangerously wild experimentation to the aching and deep depression that seemed to have shattered his set of morals.

Well, every detail except one—he could not yet gather up the courage to tell Antonio how he truly felt about him, and tell him how much he really meant—not after the other had been so kind to him. He felt as though imparting onto him the knowledge of his smitten-state would only further bewilder the young man and make him feel all the more responsible for Lovino's condition.

When Lovino had gotten to the point of describing (in detail) the moment his father walked into the house, his voice dropped to a lower pitch than it had at any point in his lengthy and passionate admittance, and, unbeknownst to him, he began to tremble.

Antonio's eyes shone with worry and a sort of discomfort that implied he knew what was coming, and leaned over across the space between the two young men, placing his hand over Lovino's comfortingly, his large, warm palm fitting quite perfectly over the other's chilled, slender fingers. Lovino felt his stomach jump excitedly with what had to be the essence of pre-pubescent butterflies, but ignored the feeling, assuming that he would simply have to get used to the fact that the same wonderful feeling coursed through his veins every time Antonio touched him.

"Lovino…please, tell me what happened." Antonio said in a tone quieter and more serious than Lovino had ever heard him speak in, but it still twanged with sympathy, which made Lovino feel a sharp pull of guilt and regret in his chest.

"He…he walked in and saw us. I tried to push Keith off, I did. But he had is shirt off, God, for Chrissakes. I was so stupid," Lovino paused, using his free hand to run messily through his hair, and then pinch at the bridge of his nose, connecting the twin dark bags that hung beneath his tired, caramel eyes. "He saw us and…he scared Keith away, which was expected."

Lovino let out a bitter laugh.

"He's probably scared as shit now, and will tell everyone about my psycho dad. I guess that means no more being a booty call."

Antonio frowned, clearly uncomfortable with Lovino calling himself such a self-disparaging term, but squeezed his hand in reassurance, ushering him to go on.

"He didn't beat him up or anything though, that was good…" Lovino trailed off, rubbing at the back of his neck absently; a trait he had picked up from Antonio.

A unreadable expression flitted briefly across the latter's face in response to Lovino's words, and Antonio then made a contemplative face and opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it, as if carefully considering his word-choice.

"So…this boy, Keith," Antonio started (and if Lovino wasn't mistaken, it almost sounded like there was an air of malice in his former caretaker's pronunciation of the boy's name), "He's not your boyfriend or anything? You haven't had an actual boyfriend, just these people who…who…use you?"

Lovino looked down at his hands in response, a wave of self-hatred washing over him.

"I didn't mean- Lovino, I just mean to say, you deserve a lot better…" Antonio trailed off, his eyes looking weary but sincere as he gazed up at Lovino. "But please- I know it's hard, but tell me more about what your father did. I need to know how serious your injuries are."

Over the next hour, Lovino hesitantly and quietly told Antonio—in detail—all of the events that had led up to the young man finding him in his lowly state at the playground. Lovino hated pity, and was glad to see that at most, Antonio's expressions held anger, compassion, and sympathy, but not useless pity.

After he had finished, there was a long pause, in which Antonio looked down, his lips pressed into a tight line, before he finally spoke:

"First, I think we should take you to the hospital. It's very possible that one or more of your ribs is broken," Antonio started, looking straight forward at Lovino with a controlled and leveled gaze.

When it appeared that Lovino had no protests to his first statement, Antonio continued.

"After that, you'll stay here—you'll probably be tired, because I'm going to make sure you get some pain meds, whether anything is broken or not—and I'm going to go to your house and pick up some clothes and other things for you. I don't want you going there; it's not safe for you."

Lovino opened his mouth to protest, feeling somewhat indignant at this proposal, but Antonio pushed on, his voice stern but calm.

"I know that's not what you want, but I have always been responsible for your wellbeing, and I feel that now more so than ever. I'm not taking you back to the place that did this to you," Antonio paused for a moment, his eyes far off as his hand reached up to brush gently against Lovino's swollen jaw.

Lovino stiffened, the sound of blood pumping reverberating in his ears. Antonio didn't seem to notice what he was doing at the moment, but quickly came back to reality and dropped his hand somewhat awkwardly, averting his eyes momentarily and coughing.

"A-and…and if your parents lose all respect for me and ban me from their house, so be it. I've already lost all respect for them."

Antonio's jaw tightened, and his fingers clenched and unclenched. Lovino had never seen him work so hard to control his anger—or even appear to be so angry, for that matter.

"And I'll take you to school in the mornings, at least until…we get this all worked out. You're staying with me until I know it's safe for you to go back home."

Lovino opened his mouth to say a thank you, but suddenly, looking into Antonio's concerned eyes, and realizing how much the man was doing for him, he found himself speechless. How could he possibly express his gratitude for Antonio's compassion and generosity? His throat suddenly felt dry, and, embarrassingly, he felt tears gathering in his eyes again.

"Tonio- I-" Lovino's voice came out scratchy and choked up, and his vision became blurry.

Antonio's determined expression immediately softened, and he smiled slightly, and without warning, surged forward to envelope Lovino tightly in his arms. It was everything Lovino needed—strong, reassuring, comforting. Lovino slowly wrapped his arms around Antonio's shoulders, letting out a deep sigh. Antonio spoke quietly into Lovino's hair.

"It's okay. I know."

oOoOo

"Well…you have two broken ribs, and your ankle appears to be mildly sprained. Your jaw is fine, there's just a lot of bruising. I'm giving you some Vicodin for those ribs. Take one every four hours, and change your bandages regularly, you need to keep pressure on them."

Lovino nodded and gazed feebly at the doctor who stood before him, absently rubbing his arm. He sat on a hospital bed with only his jeans on; his upper torso was bare save for the white gauze wrapped around it. He could feel Antonio's eyes fixed intently on him, and tried not to flush, knowing that the man was only concerned.

A pretty dark-skinned nurse entered the room, and murmured something quietly to the doctor. He nodded, his expression calm, and turned back toward Antonio and Lovino.

"I'll be right back. Ana here will write your prescription for you," he said, and strode briskly out the door.

The nurse smiled at the two men before quickly transferring the prescription from the clipboard on the side of the bed to a small sheet of paper already signed by the doctor.

"Here Lovi, I'll help you get up," Antonio said, quickly crossing the small room to carefully sling an arm around Lovino, helping him stand on only one foot.

Lovino suddenly felt the pressure on his ribs increase as his position changed, and temporarily squeezed his eyes shut, hissing quietly in pain.

Antonio's eyes widened in concern.

"Lovi? Are you alright? Do you need me to carry you?"

Lovino looked over at the nurse, who was still looking down, but her face wore a knowing smile. His face burned with embarrassment, and he swatted at the other hand Antonio offered.

"Oh, shut up. I'm fine. You're embarrassing me," Lovino muttered, starting to hop along stubbornly.

When he looked back at Antonio, the other man was beaming, and caught up with him quickly, supporting his weight. As the three of them walked down the hallway, Antonio spoke again.

"I haven't even begun to embarrass you," he said, grinning mischievously as they reached the front desk to sign out. "Excuse me miss—Ana, don't you think this handsome young man deserves a lollipop for being so brave?"

Lovino's jaw dropped in shock and his face burned bright as he slapped Antonio hard on the arm, who was just offering his most charming smile to the nurse who had assisted them.

The nurse was giggling, her eyes shining with amusement as she reached under the desk.

"Actually, I think we might have one here…" she said with a smile, handing Lovino a cherry-flavored lollipop. "You two are a very cute couple. You have a good day."

The nurse Ana smiled at them one last time before turning her attention to her pager, and then rushing off in the opposite direction.

Lovino swallowed, his face redder than ever, and stared down at his lollipop, biting his lip.

"U-um, so…I think we should go now," he murmured very quietly, chancing a small peek at Antonio, whose cheeks were also red as he looked the other way and nodded in agreement.

The trip back to the parking lot was one of the most awkward of Lovino's life.

oOoOo

Lovino had never taken such strong painkillers in his life, in all honesty, had never really taken anything stronger than Advil. He remembered that he spent a lot of time sleeping in Antonio's bed, feeling guilty seeing as the other currently occupied the couch.

He slept several hours a day, and thus time became very muddled; he only had small spots of memory, times where he called out for Antonio in the middle of the night, or had strange dreams that seemed to last for days, or the soothing and tingling touches of Antonio's fingers as he replaced his bandages for him. He may have released some sighs of contentment as he was cared for, but he could hardly remember, nor did his drug-induced stupor allot him the shame necessary to feel embarrassed for doing so.

After about a week (Antonio had called the school to inform them and come to pick up his books, this was all Lovino had picked up about what Antonio had taken the liberty of doing, although, if the fact that he was wearing his own pajamas was any indication, Antonio had obviously already visited his house as well) Lovino's dosage had decreased, and, disgusted with himself, he took an extra-long shower and brushed his teeth twice before getting dressed in a t-shirt and jeans and retreating from the cove of Antonio's bedroom.

Lovino shuffled lazily into the kitchenette, golden sunlight filtering through the grubby windows in flecks, scintillating onto the floor and counter.

Antonio turned around at his nearer presence, laying his back against the faux marble counter and propping his elbows up, taking a sip from his mug of tea.

Lovino had to force his eyes away from the smooth and flat, but still well-defined expanse of Antonio's chest and stomach that was flattered greatly by his simple, crew-cut long-sleeve shirt. Honestly, it was like he was thirteen years old again. He felt pathetic.

Grumbling to himself, he slowly made his way to one of the cabinets, stretching his arm upwards a bit to open it. He felt a strain on his ribs and hissed quietly, his cheeks heating up when he turned around and saw Antonio already leaning forward in concern. Honestly, he was not a handicap, and he felt embarrassed by all the assistance the other man insisted on giving him.

"Do you want some help?" he asked quietly, taking another sip from his tea.

Turning away, Lovino frowned slightly, and answered, "No, I can do it…"

Rocking slightly up to the balls of his feet he reached gingerly upward, and realizing he wasn't tall enough, decided to gamble his luck and reached his arm its full expanse. However, no sooner had he done so when he felt a sharp, debilitating stab of pain in his ribs and with a gasped, "ah!" crumpled downwards, sending the glass that he had managed to get in his grasp crashing to the floor, where it shattered.

Lovino felt his face burn with embarrassment, hot tears threatening at his eyes when Antonio rushed over, first attending to Lovino before the shards of glass that now shattered the floor.

"Lovino! Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I should've helped you!" Antonio said breathlessly, his eyes concernedly searching Lovino's.

Lovino, in response, simply looked down, the throbbing in his chest subsiding to a dull ebb.

"No…I'm sorry…I'm sorry I'm breaking your things, and I'm sorry I'm such a burden…" Lovino muttered, his voice lacking and spirit and filled with lament as he fell to his knees next to the already seated Antonio and began to pick up shards of glass from the floor and collect them in his hand.

"Lovino, querída, how could you ever think that you're a burden? It's fine, it's alright. It's just a glass, and you are more important, you should know that-"

Antonio stopped when he heard Lovino's sharp intake of breath, and tutted when he saw the tiny orb of blood that pooled on his palm, seeing that he had managed to stab himself. Sighing with a small smile, he took the other's hand in his own, with a tenderness that was his person, and examined it closely.

Grabbing the first aid kit from a cabinet behind him (he always kept it close and accessible, for he was a man of many accidents) he slid his fingers into a loose grip around Lovino's wrist and pulled out a band aid and some disinfectant.

A heavy silence filled the sun-streaked room as Antonio focused intently on removing the small shard of glass from Lovino's hand.

Lovino, in the meantime, was trying to control his rapid heart rate and the involuntarily blush that colored his cheeks as Antonio moved—no doubt unaware, as usual—ever closer to the other's face the harder he concentrated. He quickly and skillfully swiped the small amount of blood away, added disinfectant, and smoothed the band aid (which was, it should be noted, a lovely shade of green) onto Lovino's palm.

"There. See? You're good," Antonio chuckled, his hand briefly ruffling through Lovino's hair; it was an innocent enough gesture, but it practically made Lovino shake with frustration and longing.

Lovino stared intently at the ground, mumbling a "thank you", before mentally berating himself for acting so immature. How long could this go on for…he needed to just…to just…try.

He looked up, cautiously, and almost gasped at what he saw. Antonio looked practically Adonis-like, his angular and romantic features glowing with golden light against his tan skin, his dark chocolate hair gushing the sunlight back in rich waves, and of course, his brilliant green eyes swimming with something—some emotion he couldn't name—but better yet, they were staring intently into Lovino's, and they held an emotion that reflected something much deeper than his friendly, lazy smile.

Lovino's heart suddenly raced, in the manner that one's heart does right before they make a rather rash decision. And Lovino was sure of this decision, which now seemed impossible to go back on. His words came out rather rushed, as a result.

"Thanks for…giving me a green band aid," he began lamely, but picked up again quickly, bravely holding the other's gaze as he continued. "Green is my favorite color. In the world."

Antonio gave a bemused smirk, one eyebrow arching itself. "Alright, you're welcome. I didn't know you liked it that much, but I'm glad you do."

God, he's so…perfect. Lovino thought, biting his lip.

He slowly leaned forward as he spoke his next words, doing so as surreptitiously as possible, as to not draw attention to it too soon.

"Green...is a wonderful color, and, and- and honestly, I didn't really like it before. But now, I love it. I adore it, actually…" Lovino spoke confidently, although he was nearly breathless by the end of his sentence, his face nearing less than a foot away from Antonio's.

The smirk on Antonio's face faded, in turn, but a slightly amused and very interested expression remained, his chest also seeming to rise and fall the smallest bit faster than it had been before. His eyes still held the deep emotion from before, but it seemed to be almost intensified, as if screaming out to Lovino what Antonio refused to say.

"And why would that be?" Antonio quipped, but it lacked bite, retaining more of a breathless wonder-like quality.

Lovino's lips were barely two inches away from Antonio's when he spoke again, his heart pounding thunderously in his ears, and his face searing with color, but he stubbornly refused to break eye contact.

"Because it's the color of your eyes," he whispered breathlessly, swallowing slightly.

Neither one of them appeared to breath in the moment after that, and it was only in the moment that when Antonio broke eye contact, his green orbs flickering swiftly down to Lovino's mouth and then back up to his eyes, the same intense emotion shining out at him, that Lovino surged forward—precautions aside—and connected his lips soundly with Antonio's, immediately raising a hand to cup his cheek tenderly.

Antonio's lips were stock-still against Lovino's, and Lovino's stomach began to churn with anxiety. Had he read Antonio wrong? Maybe he had been too excited, acted on his own emotions…but he was sure, from the way Antonio had looked at his lips, and the look in his eyes…he had been so sure that Antonio wanted him too.

Dejected, Lovino pulled away, looking down with his brow furrowed, an apology already forming on his lips. He looked up shyly, and was surprised to see Antonio watching him still, his cheeks dusted with red.

"I…shouldn't….I shouldn't…" Antonio muttered incomprehensible, raising a hand to cup Lovino's cheek the way the other had only seconds ago. "I can't explain why…you do this to me…"

Lovino's eyes widened, and before he could answer, Antonio's lips were on his again, kissing tenderly. He was glad he was sitting, because the way Antonio's lips moved languidly and softly against his would've surely caused his knees to buckle if he was standing.

His hands trembling, Lovino reached up, rapping his hands around Antonio's shoulders and pulling him closer, turning his face sideways and humming softly. The heat from Antonio's body hovering over him—and, when did that happen?—was stifling, and Lovino felt his skin go up in goose bumps.

He didn't question the warm sunlight on his legs, or the broken glass that was still scattered on the floor—he didn't question the warm hands holding him, or high that his euphoria and a bit of pain medication still in his system was giving him—Lovino knew not to question a good thing.

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