AN: Guys, just a warning, I'm in the middle of a breakdown right now. I don't know if that'll come out in my writing or not, but...you know, better safe than sorry. Glee tonight...tonight was Cory's tribute...and I've posted so many pictures on facebook...and people keep sending me sad stuff...I've been crying for about an hour now, and Aidrian's lost. He came by when Glee ended and saw me crying...he's trying to calm my cousins down because they're worried as hell about me right now. I don't normally cry like this...but...guys...I can't do this...I'm not made to handle this much pain...

To those who reviewed:

ThatRandomReview: Definitely not hate. You can't really hate anyone, because to hate someone you have to hold a certain amount of love for them..and well...with Germany and Lovino? That is just not the case. No hate there.

ItalyAllDay: I know...I could use a drink right now. Or a cigarette...my mom has some right now...but yeah, she's got work tomorrow...and she'll need a cigarette, so I'm not stealing one... That sounds...exhausting to me...

Spamano4ever: Naturally.

Luvrainluv: Yeah, a bit. It is good. Yeah, it's a nice change. It's hard to find stuff like that...

Enjoy.

The next couple of days worried Feliciano. His brother didn't leave his bed at all in those days. He made sure he ate, but he couldn't do anything to get him out of bed.

Antonio was worried as well, but could do little more than Feliciano was doing.

Vash stopped by in the midst of one of these days and frowned. "Where's Lovi?"

"In bed."Feliciano answered. "He's not been up in three days now."

Vash's frown deepened. "He okay?"he asked in concern.

Feliciano shrugged. "I don't know."

Vash nodded and disappeared to go check on the elder Italian. He frowned when he saw the boy he knew to be so strong laying curled into a tight ball under the covers. What he could see of his skin was snow white, which worried him. He moved forward to sit down on the edge of the bed.

Lovino's eyes opened slightly when there was a shift of weight on his bed. He gave a shaky smile. "Hey."he greeted tiredly.

Vash gave him a searching look. "What's wrong?"he asked, feeling of the Italian's forehead. He reeled back in shock when he was met with icy cold.

"'M fine,"Lovino answered, letting himself settle back down.

Vash frowned, pushing Lovino's shoulder lightly. "Hey. Get up. I'm driving you to the doctor. This isn't normal. I'm worried sick. All of us are."

Lovino shook his head.

As such, Vash rolled his eyes and got up, carefully removing the covers from over the small Italian before picking him up.

Lovino groaned at this action, but didn't argue.

It took an hour to get Lovino back home after they made it to the doctor's. Then Vash made sure Lovino stayed put in the living room.

So Lovino curled up against his brother, who was worrying over him much more than he was used to.

Feliciano frowned. "You okay?"he asked, smoothing Lovino's hair back out of his face carefully.

Lovino sniffled, but nodded. "Yeah. 'M alright. Calm down."he responded.

Feliciano shook his head, pressing a kiss to the top of his brother's head. "You had me worried! I won't calm down until I know for sure you're okay! I can't lose you, too!"

"You won't!"Lovino countered tiredly. "I'm just a bit sick, 's all. It's fine."

This gained a nod.

It took another week and a half for Lovino to feel better again. Vash was glad that the cold that he had felt was just because of the lack of heat going in the house. It had caused him to get a chill and it had just made his body react oddly.

Once Lovino was over his little sick spell, he was back to normal for the most part.

Antonio smiled softly when he saw Lovino the first day after he was feeling better and up and moving.

Lovino gave him a smile in greeting, and Antonio pulled the Italian into a tight hug and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you're feeling better, love."

Lovino smiled softly in response. "Thanks.."he said softly.

Things settled down after that.

When Lovino was back in school the following day, though, he was met with bad news from Toris and Raivis.

"Lovino?"Toris asked softly as soon as he caught sight of the Italian.

Lovino gave him a questioning look.

Toris frowned. "Bad news..."he said.

Lovino's smile disappeared then.

Raivis took up. "You remember Aiden right?"

"Yeah? Kid who always helped us when he ran into us after a bad night with the mafia. Why?"Lovino said.

Raivis frowned. "They found out."

Lovino understood the meaning more than the others and covered his mouth with his free hand to keep from exclaiming something aloud and attracting attention. Once he'd let it sink in, he let his hand drop and spoke. "When? How did you find out?"
Toris shook his head. "Last night. His little brother called this morning and told us as he was being driven to an orphanage. Aiden was the only thing keeping him out of it."

Lovino sighed. "Great...just great..another goodbye."he remarked quietly.

Raivis winced at that, moving to draw the Italian into a hug. Aiden had helped him more than anyone when it came to the Mafia. He was the one who managed to patch the boys up as much as possible when Vash wasn't alerted.

Feliciano frowned. "What's going on?"

Toris spoke up. "Someone who's helped us quite a bit in the past is dead. Murdered last night."he answered, not even managing to look over at the younger Italian.

Feliciano nodded in understanding, his frown deepening.

Raivis let go of Lovino when he was sure the other boy wouldn't break down, but offered a kind smile. "Funeral's in a week."he said softly. "But they've said that you don't have to go if you don't want to."

"I have to."Lovino said. "After all that he did for us? I have to go. He's dead because he helped us, Raiv."

Raivis nodded in understanding. "I know."

Needless to say, that day was probably one of the worst that year for the entire group. Lovino was down, and then Toris and Raivis were midway between hurt and worried.

It didn't help keep them calm.

And as such, when someone made a crude comment to Lovino at lunch, Ludwig butted in and snapped.

"Hey!"

The male who'd just shoved into the Italian as he was coming back from taking his trash and managed to knock him over, stopped to look at the German in amusement.

Lovino shook his head in disbelief, pushing himself up carefully.

Ludwig spoke while Lovino was doing this. "He's never done anything to you to deserve that, so leave him alone. Don't let me see you even speak to him again..and don't let me hear of it. I will kill you if you hurt him."

Lovino looked at the German in shock.

Feliciano gave his brother a knowing smile.

Once things settled and Lovino had had a seat again, he looked at Ludwig. "...what...why did you do that...?"

Ludwig shook his head. "You don't deserve what he did. You don't deserve how people treat you. Besides, you're Feli's brother. I'll protect you..because who and what's important to him is also important to me."he said.

Lovino gave a faint smile and nodded. "Grazie."he said.

Ludwig nodded in response.

After that, things were pretty calm, surprisingly. Still, the day hadn't been the best in the world for the group. But a lot of progress was made in how they all interacted.

Here. So..tears finally stopped falling. Thank god...