Been a while since I wrote anything, but I'm back! This will be the second-to-last chapter, and I hope I can make an adequate conclusion to draw this story to a close!
I Do Not Own Hetalia Nor Any of the Songs
A freezing wind lashed at every inch of the frozen earth. Lovino looked down at the frozen lake from where he sat on the edge of the pier, curled up with his arms around his knees. His jacket was nowhere near thick enough to keep him warm in the cold storm, and white ice crystals covered the black material. The wooden boards of the pier creaked from the chilled air, but Lovino didn't seem to care. Very rarely did he ever even use his own Ipod to listen to music because of how much Antonio always had something playing out loud from his, but he had drawn the dull red device from his pocket and stuck the black earbuds into his ears. The music blared over the whistling of the wind to the words of "Sink or Swim" by Falling in Reverse.
"So save yourself, because the tide is rising high, its sink or swim, its hit or miss, what will you pick?"
This was a place that Lovino hadn't been to in a long time; since high school in fact. Sitting there, he remembered every time he had come and sat by the water on the wooden boards either crying or throwing stones across the water to work off his anger. He remembered all the bullying and how he came here working up the nerve to jump but never did because he knew his brother had to be looked after and he was the only one around to watch out for him. And then, Antonio had started sitting with him until he was ready to talk, and then he asked him out, and he stopped coming to this pier….Now everything was a lie. Antonio had made him happy for the first time in his life and it turned out he didn't care the whole time. All this information stabbed at his heart and he wanted this whole potion thing to just be a dream. He knew it wasn't.
Obviously none of this was a help to Lovino's mood. Every word and every gust of dagger-like cold air only served to drag him deeper into the darkness of depression as held back tears and continued to stare at the layer of ice that gleamed from below him. He just gripped his knees closer to his chest, shuffling through his thoughts and trying to piece everything together. But nothing seemed to make sense. How was it even possible for Antonio to lie like that? To be happy listening to a song based off of hating anyone didn't seem like him! Lovino gritted his teeth, sighing heavily. He slammed his fist down with a dull thud onto the wood planks beside him, and just couldn't hold it in anymore. Sobs racked his body and he struggled to breathe regularly, the cold air making his throat dry.
The boards of the pier shook with the movement of running footsteps. "Lovino?" Turning around, Lovino tried to see the approaching figure through the blizzard of white. With his arm in front of his face to shield from the snow, Antonio stepped into view from the blur. Standing up, Lovino moved his hands to his sides. "Dios mio, you scared me, Lovi! I thought you might be in trouble!" The Spaniard smiled, relieved, stretching out his arms to embrace him, but Lovino shrugged him off, not looking him in the eye. "Why are you here," he questioned angrily. Antonio took a step back with a hurt look on his face. Unsure of what to do with his arms, he wrapped them around his torso in an attempt to keep warm. "Why wouldn't I be here? Come on, let's go ba-"
"No," Lovino hissed. "I'm not going anywhere. Leave me alone." The Italian refused to back down on this. He didn't move an inch, the harsh wind whipping both their hair. For a second there was just the snow, and the ice, and the cold, the creaking of the wood and the gale of glittering crystals. For a second it was almost like a picture: a freeze-frame of a frozen land. For a second, neither of the two said a word. And then….
"Lovi, please let's just ta-"
"Talk about what, huh?" Lovino growled. "How you hate me? Why you've lied to me? I don't want to hear it!"
"Just let me explain!" Antonio pleaded. "I have never lied to you, I promise!"
"No, shut up! Just leave me alone already!" His eyes were bloodshot from the cold and the crying, and he crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "I have loved you for so damn long and now out of any other time you decide to do this to me. And with a song. A fucking song! So just go back to the house and leave me here, I'll do what I want!" He took a step back towards the edge of the pier.
"Lovino, be caref-!"
"Dammit, just go away!"
Lovino took another step back, but instead of standing on the creaky wood of the pier his foot slipped through the air, throwing him off balance. It was like slow motion as he fell backward. The split second after he started falling, he could feel….warmth? Antonio had lunged after him, grabbing him and holding him tight. Then, he felt himself flipped the other way around, no longer directly falling into the ice. It all happened so fast, and Lovino was too stunned to move. Then, there was a 'crack' sound as Antonio smashed into the ice and he was washed over with piercing cold and blinding darkness. The water was deep and the temperature shocked Lovino into motion. He clawed through the shadows, unable to find Antonio or anything else to grab and hardly able to feel his arms. He thrashed around in a panic before his side slammed into something: ice. Pounding at the glossy substance until he broke through, Lovino launched out of the water and gulped in air that only served to make him colder. He scanned the water. "Crap," he hissed, throat scratchy. "Antonio!" A few feet away he saw bubbles rise to the surface of the water in a response, the Spaniard breaking through the surface not long after he noticed. "Lovino!" He looked around frantically, breathing a sigh of relief once he noticed the Italian above the water.
Shivering, the two dragged themselves onto the pebbly, snow-covered shore, clothes dripping with freezing water. "Are you ok?" Antonio asked, still trying to catch his breath. He held the Italian boy's chin with his thumb and index finger to examine his face. Lovino pulled his head away. "I told you to leave me alone." He pushed Antonio away with one hand, causing him to flinch as he brought his hand to his shoulder. Concern flashed in Lovino's eyes. "Fuck, did you get hurt?" He pulled the Spaniard towards him, lifting up the back of his shirt. A large, purple-blue bruise had already started to form around his shoulder blade, flecked with red and beginning to swell. "Idiot," Lovino hissed. "Why the hell did you-," he paused, feeling the guilt churn in his stomach. "Give me your arm, I'm taking you back to Vlad's." He rolled Antonio's shirt back down, pulling the injured man's arm over his shoulder. Antonio opened his mouth to protest since he could walk just fine on his own, but decided against it and shut his mouth again. They started walking hastily back through the main streets, water-soaked clothes turning icy in the frigid air as their silhouettes disappeared into the haze of blustering wind.