AN: Hej.
Once again, I'm writting when we are on the verge of a horrid storm. Just a forewarning.
To those who reviewed:
Spamano4ever: Lovi's okay, I promise! I'd never, never, never put him through enough to kill him. He's okay. A bit shook up and injured? Yes. But Toni and Feli and the others care so much about him..they aren't going to let him hurt too much!
Penguin Braginski: Indeed, he will be okay. Toni would die before he let anything bad happen to him around him. He cares so much for Lovi. Don't worry too much.
Enjoy.
Antonio was the one who drove Lovino to the doctor's office, and he got a few surprised looks from the nurses when he helped Lovino back to the back when the Italian's name was called to head back.
"Well, well, I'm surprised you got him here at all,"
Antonio looked back at the nurse curiously. "What do you mean?"
Silence before she spoke again. "I've been working with both of the Vargas boys since they were children, no more than six. Lovi here in particular never came unless he had to."she said. "So. He had to. What's going on?"
"Wish I could tell you,"Antonio said, glancing at Lovino when the Italian grabbed his hand to tell him in silence to watch himself. "All I know is that I got woke up at three last night to him crying and ended up having to doctor his back."
The nurse's eyes hardened and she nodded, looking to Lovino. Her eyes had once again softened. "Can you let me see your back?"she asked.
Lovino hesitated before he unbuttoned the shirt of Antonio's he was wearing and pulled it off, turning to let her see his back. She blinked in surprise before removing the guaze gently, careful not to disturb the wounds as she did so.
Silence fell and filled the room before she spoke again. "These look like they're from some sort of weapon. Something much worse than just a belt. What happened, Lovino?"
Lovino didn't answer for a moment before he sighed. "Just got caught in a lot of trouble,"he responded.
Thankfully, nobody pressed on. "Yes, well. As long as you don't disturb these too much, you should heal up with little to no scars,"she offered, placing new guaze around the Italian carefully before allowing him to put the shirt back on. "Now..Antonio, right? While you guys are here, I want to know why you were the one to bring him instead of his brother."
Just before Antonio answered, Lovino jumped in. "Feli's busy trying to keep his boyfriend and his brother from tearing someone's head off for causing so much trouble for everyone. Besides, he's fragile enough without being around me while I'm hurt, I won't allow him to ruin his innocence. Toni offered to drive me so the others could talk,"
"Actually, I offered to bring you here because I care too much to see you so hurt,"Antonio corrected quietly, gaining the first smile Lovino had given that day.
The nurse smiled faintly. "Be careful you two. And Antonio? Keep Lovino as comfortable as possible, don't let him stress. Because when he stresses, it causes injury to him and everyone around him. You guys are good to go,"
Lovino huffed and left then, but Antonio rolled his eyes and caught his hand, bringing it up to kiss the knuckles.
Lovino bit back a smile at this action.
When they got back to Antonio's, it was to see everyone being relatively calm. Matthew and Gilbert were once again playing Pokemon to pass the time while Ludwig and Feliciano watched curiously to have a distraction. Francis was folding and refolding a piece of cloth, cutting bits out every so often to make a design. The others were talking quietly about things.
When Antonio and Lovino came in, this ended. Francis looked up. "Mes amis!"he greeted. "What's the news?"
Antonio rolled his eyes. "He'll be just fine. As long as he stays relaxed and doesn't decide to go off on someone, that is."
Lovino shoved his shoulder lightly, but Antonio only drew him closer in retaliation.
"Jerk,"Lovino mumbled, kissing his boyfriend's cheek and moving to sit down on the ground a bit away from the others.
Antonio chuckled faintly, but nothing more was said on the topic.
That evening, Feliciano and Lovino decided they were wanting to fix dinner for the group and spent a good amount of time in the kitchen.
Dinner was a quiet affair, and things calmed down a good bit.
Lovino shooed the others away so he could get some quiet time and do the dishes afterwards. He hated when people fussed over him like they'd been doing today. He didn't need people to fuss over him like that.
As soon as Lovino headed back into the living room, he plopped down on the floor on his stomach and buried his head in a pillow that Gilbert threw to him. He needed some rest after such a hectic day.
Antonio rolled his eyes, sitting down next to him and gently rubbing his back.
Lovino hummed, lifting his head to look at Antonio. "What're ya doing?"he asked.
Antonio half smiled. "Nothing."he responded. "Get some rest, cariño."
Lovino nodded, but didn't settle back down to get some rest. Not now that Antonio had disturbed him.
Gilbert was watching them curiously. But he didn't say anything. Instead, he distracted everyone else so the two could talk.
Antonio examined Lovino's form. "You feeling okay?"he asked quietly.
Lovino nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Bout as good as possible when it feels like your back's on fire. Just give me two minutes,"he mumbled, letting his head fall back onto the pillow.
Antonio rolled his eyes, shifting slightly where he was sitting. "You could try soaking in lukewarm water. That tends to relax people."he said. "And if you relax, your back will stop hurting so much,"
Lovino huffed. "That's not too good an idea. I've learned from the past that I really shouldn't soak in water if I'm hurt. Just let me get some sleep and I'll be feeling better in the morning,"he said quietly, meeting Antonio's eyes.
"I want to help you, though, Lovi."Antonio said quietly. "But I don't want to hurt you.."he added, his voice dropping even quieter. He carefully ran a hand over Lovino's back, smoothing the guaze - which had crumpled slightly on the Italian's back - out.
Lovino sighed quietly, shifting. "Why do you keep doing that?"he asked quietly.
Antonio shrugged. "I was trying to smooth the guaze out again,"he answered. "Why? I'm not hurting you, am I?"
Lovino gave a faint smile and shook his head. "No. It feels nice, actually, because your hands are like..freezing right now. It's a nice contrast."
Antonio chuckled, leaning down to kiss Lovino softly once. "Well, I figured out a way to help you then."he murmured as he pulled away.
"Nuh-uh. Stay,"Lovino said softly. He knew he was acting childish by doing so, but he did feel better with Antonio around because he knew that Antonio cared about him. It was nice after so long of being alone outside of his brother and nonno.
Antonio rolled his eyes. "Shush,"he mumbled. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm just going to let you rest,"
Lovino shifted so that his head rested in Antonio's lap as the Spaniard leaned against the wall behind him.
Silence fell over them as Antonio gently rubbed his back.
Lovino fell asleep like that not long after.
Antonio glanced down when he felt Lovino's breathing even out and deepen. He smiled faintly.
Gilbert looked back up and smiled. "I see you've soothed him to sleep,"he said softly, careful not to wake Lovino.
Antonio nodded. "His back is probably killing him, though."
Matthew spoke. "Normal. He's had this happen a couple times before. The first time, I was over and I figured out that if he said his back hurt or something, rubbing his back or giving him a massage really helped him relax and go back to normal. He'd get all tense and mean otherwise, and it was dangerous to be around him,"he said absently, before looking up from his book.
Antonio nodded. "So, this has happened before?"he asked, sighing. "Does he know how to handle himself when he's hurt like this?"
Matthew shook his head. "Feli and me used to keep him on bedrest until he healed, but we can't do that anymore. He got into trouble for it the first time, so...he just tends to wear a back brace and stuff until he heals. He got an okay from the doctor the first time, so he can do that."
Feliciano nodded. "Yeah. Ludwig and me went to get his brace today so he could have it for school tomorrow!"he said.
School. That wasn't going to go over well.
Francis tensed. "School. What are we supposed to do if someone decides to pick up torturing Lovi again tomorrow, because they do that occassionally still."
Gilbert huffed. "We'll keep an eye out for him. Like we used to."
Antonio tuned this out, letting the others figure the plan out. He looked back down at Lovino, who was sound asleep and had finally relaxed fully.
He hoped things got better from that point onwards. But, even if they didn't, he wasn't going anywhere. He'd be there to help Lovino. Always.
And there ya go.