Hiya readers! ^_^ I've missed you! This is...An interesting chapter...A little heartbreak, a little humor...Though I have a terrible sense of humor. THIS IS DEDICATED TO MY DEAR FRIEND AMI-SAN! You're a great person, Ami! Keep it up! I mostly end up getting mad at you but don't worry, It's that way with everyone. As soon as I wrote this chapter, I thought of you for various reasons ^_^

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HETALIA AND I'VE LEARNED TO COPE WITH THAT. I ALSO DO NOT OWN HELLO KITTY OR FLAPPY BIRD XD

I arrived at the park to find Lizzy, Kiku, and some boy with ashy-blonde hair standing around a water fountain. Kiku was holding a cute, pink picnic basket with a hello kitty keychain.

Sheesh, talk about girly. But there were other things I needed to worry about.

"Hi guys...Who the hell is he?" I demanded, pointing unceremoniously at the unfamiliar blonde who was too busy looking at the damn fountain to notice a change in the atmosphere.

Lizzy slapped my arm. "Lovino, be nice. He's the school counselor!"

I froze, too horrified to be mad. "Why the hell did you bring the school counselor along with you?!" I demanded, imagining a terrifyingly British like my old literature teacher, Charles Kirkland - though everyone mockingly called him "Charlie, the respectable fellow". He fortunately started teaching college last year, but I still saw him during graduations.

As long as he was Arthur's dad, I couldn't get rid of him.

"He's an acquaintance of your brother's." Kiku explained. "It's his second year in high school, actually."

Okay, phew. At least he wasn't a creepy British gentleman...But...My mouth went dry. "You don't mean that's..."

Why was I acting so stupid today?! I'd seen the blonde before! Of course I knew who the counselor was, I heard about him all the time!

"That's him!" Lizzy exclaimed cheerfully.

Tino Väinämöinen is a legend in our school for his gift of understanding. The poor kid doesn't attend any classes and appears to teach himself when he's not helping people. I'd only seen him a couple times outside of his tiny office. When I did, he seemed pretty sad and lonely, but I respect him as a person, 'cause I've heard of all of the the "miracles" he's done. But now, I wasn't so sure. Could he help me as well as he did the others?

"Um...h-hi..." I mumbled, walking over to the boy and holding out my hand. "I'm sorry for being so rude. I'm Lovino."

Tino turned to look at me, his amethyst eyes bore into my soul, as if judging what my life had been like for the past sixteen years.

"H-Hello," he greeted cautiously, "I'm Tino. Pleased to meet you!" He finally forced a smiled and shook my outstretched hand in his two fair ones - obviously a nervous gesture. For a counselor he seemed young and unguarded...

But those eyes...You didn't need to examine them to realize a lot had happened in this boy's life, good and bad. It might've been unnerving to some people, but not to me.

I'm positive that my eyes shared that same depth.

###

Tino and I found an unattended patch of grass to sit on, Lizzy went to buy ice cream, and Kiku pulled a blanket from what seemed like out of nowhere and then starting messing with his picnic basket.

"Wow, Kiku! This is amazing! So much food...What is that shit?" I pointed at some meat covered in a brown glaze that Kiku had just opened.

Kiku just chuckled. "It's called teriyaki. Try some."

Truth be told, the teriyaki wasn't as good as it looked. But it was good enough. Kiku would kill me if I insulted his food...Even if it was store-cooked.

It was nice to see everyone hanging out nicely with no bullies around to tease us about being friends. Lizzy's always known for her old school incident. Kiku, for his dysfunctional family of six. And of course, I'm always in trouble with Principal Bielschmidt. Also being with Tino was different, but a good different. He was quiet, but he always found a way to contribute to the conversation.

After dinner, Lizzy and Kiku decided to leave Tino and me in peace so we could talk privately. They said they were playing flappy bird, but I didn't see Lizzy throw her phone at anything like she usually does when playing that game so I assumed they were looking at hentai.

"So what's the problem?" Tino asked after licking a dripping cup of blue-rasberry Italian ice.

I didn't expect him to be so straight forward on this topic...but...maybe he was in a rush.

"Um..."

"Don't worry, I'm trust worthy." Tino responded, holding his hands up in a surrender motion. "It's okay if you don't want to talk to me in the beginning. Most people don't trust complete strangers, it's perfectly normal."

His comment made me feel warm inside. Maybe he could understand me better than other people. Maybe that was why Mr. Beilschmidt hired him...Since teens like to talk to other teens naturally...

"It's okay...I'm just...shy about this kinda stuff." I admitted.

Tino gently grasped my wrist. "May I?" I nodded, seeing nothing wrong with this action.

The kid made me feel...Safe...in some way.

Tino carefully rolled my ugly pink sweater sleeve up a little bit. I winced, not from pain but from horror. My cuts looked more disgusting than ever. Purple from bruises, red from blood. It seemed to express the inner me. How ugly was that? And much to my horror and embarrassment, I began to cry.

"Lovino...are you okay?!" Tino asked concerned. He let my arm gently drop to my side.

"Oh god, Antonio..." I choked out. "Help me..." How the hell had I let that slip out?! D*mn my stupid mouth!

"Who's Antonio?" Tino took out a tiny note pad and started to scrawl notes...For the guy's birthday I swear I'd give him a safe to keep that in so it didn't get out to the public.

"He's..." I hesitated. What would they think?

"Go on..." Tino said patiently.

"He's...My brother's home room teacher..."

I waited for Tino to ridicule me, but he never did...It must've been part of counseling etiquette.

"I see. What do you like about him?" He somehow seemed to get my drift on our relationship.

"I-I..." I really didn't want to tell him. I didn't want to let the world know. In truth, I didn't even know! This was extremely embarassing, goddammit!

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." Tino said gently.

"No, I will." I wanted to be courageous for once. Maybe, just once, I wouldn't cry.

"It's your choice."

"H-he was kind to me..." I started with difficulty. It didn't help that Lizzy and Kiku were now staring intently at me. "He actually seemed concerned when he asked me about my bandages...and then, after he left...I-I realized...oh god, I feel so stupid!" I sobbed.

"It's not stupid, Lovino." Tino consoled me. " It's normal to love the ones that treat you right. The ones that don't judge you from the outside. People judge you too quickly, don't they?"

I realized he was right. My outer ugliness was taking over my precious sanity.

"Yes..." I mumbled as I laid my head on the soft grass. "I believe they do..."

"You're tired." Kiku commented from behind me. "You should rest."

But I was already too deep in sleep to hear him. But, before I closed my eyes, I thought intensively about Tino's words.

"Yes...they do..." I whispered. "But it's not their fault."

Depressing no? Sorry guys XD I just realized that I had been spelling Beilshmidt for a LOOOONNNNGGGG time by now XD So sorry XD By the way, like the new story pic? I made it on a painting app on my ipad! :3 The messy words just go to show that we're not perfect, but we have personality. Different things appeal to us more than others. Also, Charlie the respectable fellow is a character made by my cousin Legendarytoast7 XD There's no way I could come up with something so hilarious.

Thank you PurpleNekoWarrior for pointing out the mistakes :)

I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, it's one of my favorites :3 Thank you!