AN: Hej.

Her er et nyt kapitel for dig.

Til dem, der revideret:

Spamano4ever: No one other than Lovino really knew Feli's middle name for sure. It's not like Lovino's case. Lovi goes by his middle name sometimes, so Denmark and the others know him by that. Feli's never gone by Veneziano in this. And as for Lovi snapping..he has moments where if he gets too stressed out over something, then he snaps. Snaps as in has close to a mental breakdown. If you've seen someone break under pressure before due to something, that's what I mean. It'll be explained later on in the story with more detail, I promise!

GothicKitty1313: The group...it's the kind of group that..they're okay with asking questions unless they think there's a possibility that someone could get upset by the question or answer. They'll ask questions and give honest answers, but they try not to upset anyone in the process.

Nyt kapittelet!

By the time the group headed out for dinner, Lovino was definitely in a better mood than he had been. As such, Feliciano didn't worry so much about him snapping all of a sudden about the smallest thing. That was always what happened. Lovino would manage okay for a while under huge amounts of stress for whatever reason and then over the smallest thing, he'd snap. The last time, he'd managed to sustain quite a few injuries.

Francis was keeping a careful eye on the brothers, trying to figure out what was going on with them. They hadn't been acting normally. He wasn't normally hesitant to ask if something was wrong, but with how they'd been acting? It was safer not to ask.

Thankfully, Gilbert had no reservations and spoke up. "So, what's going on with you two?"

Lovino blinked at him and Feliciano cocked his head to the side curiously.

"I mean, you're both acting oddly. Have been all day."Gilbert said softly.

Silence reigned until Lovino spoke up. "We're still working on getting back on our feet, Gil. Give us a few weeks and we'll both be back to normal."he said softly.

Gilbert nodded in understanding, letting the topic drop. It was Ludwig who offered a new topic.

Over the space of two hours, the group covered many topics. But currently, it was silent. Nobody felt the need to break it, as everyone was pretty comfortable with it.

Feliciano was the one who finally broke it with a yawn. Lovino looked to his brother and Francis half smiled. "Guess that's our key that we should head back to Tonio's for the night, huh?"he asked.

Earlier that day, Antonio had agreed to let them all stay over.

A few people nodded and the group got up, paid for their food and left.

Once they got to Antonio's and settled, Feliciano collapsed against Ludwig who shrugged his jacket off and put it around him in silence before he let his arms wrap around his waist.

Lovino gave the german a searching look when he saw this, but he could tell that his brother was smiling against Ludwig's chest, so he didn't say anything. As long as Feliciano is happy, Lovino thought as he took a seat against a wall out of the way to watch the others.

It wasn't normal for him to do that, but the others got that if he did this, he didn't feel like talking and being social.

Even Antonio let him be, let him think things through on his own.

Feliciano fell asleep in the middle of a conversation, gaining a few chuckles and a soft smile from Ludwig.

Lovino spoke then, for the first time in a while. "I'm worried for Feli."he said softly.

Everyone fell silent, looking over at Lovino.

"Mon ami?"Francis asked. "What are you talking about?"

Lovino met his eyes before he spoke. "All of his light's gone, haven't you noticed? He's not himself, anyone can tell that."he said softly. "Nonno's death his both of us hard, but..he's not used to stuff like this, he's never really lost anyone like this, not when he didn't have someone else that could be there for him,"

"But..."Gilbert started.

Lovino shook his head. "I can't. I've tried. He gets mad at me for hiding my emotions to take care of him. Guys..I need help with him. I would never ask this of you if there was another way, but please, can one of you look after him until I can get us to stable ground again?"

Ludwig nodded. "Ja. Gil and I can look after him while you get things back together. And both of you are more than welcome to come stay with us."

Gilbert half smiled faintly. His brother always looked out for others. Even if that person didn't like him too much.

Lovino tilted his head down. "Feli can stay. I'm not,"

Gilbert looked at Lovino in surprise. "Well, you certainly aren't staying alone,"

The deadpan look Lovino gave him was enough to shut him up. "I will. Until I can figure out a sane way of getting Feli and me back to level ground, I'm not going to have him there to endanger him further."he said. "Because he knows, and you and Francis know, I would never ask someone to look after him if I didn't know I was too unstable for him to be around me at any given time. I don't want him hurt again, Gilbert."

Gilbert nodded in understanding. "Still. I don't want you staying in that house alone,"

Antonio spoke softly. "He can stay here with me,"he offered, looking back at Lovino, who shook his head.

Feliciano woke up in the middle of this discussion due to the fact that the chatter around him was gaining volume without them noticing. He looked at his brother, sitting up from where he had been.

The tears in Feliciano's eyes made Lovino stop short. "Lovi, you promised me you wouldn't do this again,"he said quietly.

Lovino tilted his head down. "Lo so. Mi dispiace."he responded. "But Feli, you know I'd never actually leave you, right?"
Feliciano didn't respond, so Lovino got up and moved to sit in front of Feliciano and Ludwig. He reached up, slipping an old necklace off. He met his brother's eyes before slipping the necklace over his head gently. He didn't say anything, just moved back to his seat against the wall away from the group. Or, attempted to. Feliciano caught his arm before he could, keeping him close by.

Feliciano picked the necklace pendant up with the hand he wasn't using to keep Lovino in his seat, examining it. "Is this the same one you got when you were ten?"

Lovino nodded.

'When you were ten.' It echoed in the quiet room and Matthew shot straight up from where he had been relaxing against Gilbert, blinking at Lovino. "You didn't, did you?"he asked.

Lovino didn't respond, but he did meet Matthew's eyes. He half smiled before he pressed a finger to his lips before drawing a cross across his heart. It was an old sign that he'd taken to doing when he was around eleven, and Matthew recognised it. He huffed.

Nobody said anything Feliciano was busy running a finger over the faded words carved into the metal of the pendant. "Lovi? Is that why you used to go by Romano?"

Lovino looked over at his brother. "No."he said. "I went by Romano because nobody knew me as that. After our dad lost it? Fuck no, I was not going by Lovino around him for a while."

Feliciano read into that. Their old joke lied within it. He smiled at his brother, giving him a tight hug. "Just do me a favor. When you're trying to get things back to normal, don't get killed."

"Why would I? I have something to live for,"Lovino commented softly.

Here. I blame our Su-san. He's the one who drilled this idea to me today during German. Not fun.

Hope you enjoyed, anyways. If you're confused as to what's going on here, good. You should be. It will be explained in the next couple of chapters. If you absolutely cannot wait, let me know and I'll key you in.