AN: Guten Morgen.

Here's the new chapter. I'm trying to be quick about this one.

To those who reviewed:
Spamano4ever: It's okay. Just...calm down, though. The mafia..they're jerks and need to die, si? Well..karma's a bitch.

Guest: (Hi) Oh..I have insomnia. Thanks!

ThatRandomReview: I'm sorry! And I hate to say it, but things will get worse before they get better.

Enjoy.

Lovino woke back up after everyone else filtered in, laughter ringing in the air. He looked over at them before he half smiled and looked away again.

He settled back down and let himself fall back to sleep. Antonio smiled faintly. Francis tilted his head. "Is he feeling any better?"he asked.

Antonio looked at Francis before he spoke quietly, careful not to wake Lovino. "I don't know about feeling better, but..well, at least he's resting."he responded.

Francis nodded in understanding. "Got it."he said softly.

_S&S_-

"I'm serious, you need to get some help, Lovino. You'll never get past it otherwise. I may not know what happened to you, but I did look back once I got Feli out of there like you asked me. The look in that guy's eyes? It was feral. It didn't spell anything good for you if you hadn't shot like you did."Ludwig said.

Antonio and Ludwig both had been questioning Lovino.

The day had already gotten off to a bad start. Two days until Christmas eve. Lovino just wasn't in the mood to deal with this.

"I get it, Ludwig."he snapped. "Just..got, would you two just let me breathe? Ever since that mess at the restruant, you've both been over the top concerned. Even Vash isn't this bad and he is beyond overprotective of Feli and me. Back off. Both of you."

Ludwig sighed and nodded, leaving out to keep an eye on Feliciano outside.

Antonio didn't leave, though. He spoke softly. "Lovi.."

"Just go away, Antonio."Lovino said, turning his back on the Spaniard. "..I just need some time alone."

Antonio sighed. He turned and headed out as well, letting the Italian stand alone at one of the back windows in the house.

Lovino watched him in the reflection of the glass. As soon as he heard the door snap shut behind Antonio, Lovino let the tears he'd been fighting all morning fall. He hated this. He didn't want to be around anyone. It was too hard to act happy around them now that they'd seen a bit of his past. He was sick of running, of fighting. Of being scared for his life and the lives of those closest to him. He shot a look at the front door. He grabbed his coat and boots, putting them on before he disappeared out the back door. He still had the gun Vash had handed him, as well as his bladed necklace. He was going to end this. He hated living in fear.

Antonio entered about a half hour later with the others and frowned at the empty room. "Lovi?"he called into the house. He poked around for a moment before he realized that Lovino had taken off and cursed, taking off in search of the Italian without a word to the others.

Vash didn't have to be told what had happened. He sighed and looked at Ludwig. "Keep Feli with you. I'll call if Toni or me find him."he said, turning and heading out as well. He'd stopped in that morning to check up on his 'brothers' concerned about how they were doing.

An hour passed in terse silence for the group before Gilbert's phone went off. He answered it, placing it on speaker. Vash's voice sounded through the speaker. "Alright. We'll be back in about an hour. All of us. We took Lovi to his work place, since his boss lives upstairs over the place. Just..he's not in the best condition right now."

"Figures,"Gilbert mumbled. "Thanks, Vash. See ya."

With that, the Prussian hung up.

However, when the three entered, Gilbert's eyes widened. "You fucking downplayed it!"he snapped at Vash, making the injured Italian beside Vash flinch violently. He hated that tone.

Gilbert backpedaled, apologizing quickly. "What happened, Lovi."

"Repeat of history,"Lovino spat out. "I want this to fucking end. I hate being scared all the damn time."

Gilbert sighed. "Okay. Well, listen, you settle down and get some rest, okay? You'll need it for your return back to work tomorrow."

Lovino nodded, doing as he was asked to do.

It didn't take long for Lovino to fall asleep, using Antonio's lap as a pillow.

Soft chatter filled the room, everyone being careful not to wake Lovino up from his rest, knowing he needed it after the day he'd had.

Sometime around one that morning, before everyone else had gone to sleep, Lovino started crying out again. Antonio immediately woke him up and set about calming him down. Feliciano frowned sadly at his brother. It was odd, seeing Lovino so broken. He'd never been like this before.

It's almost Christmas. Hopefully somebody will finally have a break through with Lovi and help him. Feliciano thought. But he knew he shouldn't count on it. He just wanted to see his brother be carefree and happy again. Like he used to be when he first got with Antonio. He looked away from his brother. He couldn't watch this anymore. He wanted Lovino to be okay again.

I know it's short, but I can't continue this chapter anymore.