I would like to start off by saying I don't know a damned thing about Hetalia. Now, please don't take this the wrong way. I've watched a bit of it. I've liked what I watched. But I'm probably not nearly as obsessed as some of the people who will end up reading this. I might mess up your favorite character, and for that, I'm sorry.

Now the question is: Why are you writing this if you don't know much about Hetalia?

You want to know? Well, the answer is, put quite simply, my friend. A little while after Christmas my friend told me that I had promised to write a fanfiction over the pairing of her choosing. (When I promised this, I have no idea or recollection, but I'll do it nonetheless.) So, after doing a bit of looking into the pairing (so as not to fuck it up too bad), I decided to write this string of oneshots to be posted during the month of her birthday.

So. Now that I'm at the end of my long, and doubtlessly annoying, and/or unneeded/possibly unread explanation, please don't judge me too hard if I mess up the characterization or butcher the fandom that you guys know and love. (Also: I'm skewing the characterization in order to make it according to my friend's tastes... so some of it is purposeful.)

Just a quick note on the whole thing: this is a series of random oneshots, based upon or spun around a keyword, provided to me by my friend. Sort of like detailed drabbles. But I don't really like drabbles--they're just too short for my taste.

Lastly, Alorix, seeing as this was written for you, you had better be damned happy that I'm writing this. I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm merely stumbling through this. I demand your happiness.

Started February 21st.

Completed March 5th.

Authoress: Desperatembrace

Disclaimer(s): I do not own Hetalia Axis Powers. Plain, black and white. The end.

Warning:

Possible OOC-ness

Yaoi

Language

Sexual Content

Alternate Universe

Oneshot Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort

Pool

How in the seven hells did it come to this?

The pressure on his lungs bore down on him, eliciting excruciating pain from his chest. The pain grew and spread, seeping down into his legs and arms and seizing him, almost forcing him to forget where he was and gasp for breath. The beat of his heart thundered in his ears, thumping in the nerves all across his body and forcing him to realize that his life was really and honestly slipping away when each beat became noticeably more distant from the last.

There, under the water, with his sight a constant blue that was quickly becoming edged and engulfed with black, he found himself cursing his damnable personality, wishing that his pride and ego weren't so inflated. A split second after that thought had bubbled to the surface of his mind, he rejected it, mentally shredding it to pieces. No. The one thing that should truly be damned wasn't his pride or his ego or even his natural tsundere personality.

He cursed the circumstances that he was born under.

His thoughts began to blur and ooze together, entwining in a way that his muddled brain could no longer pick them apart to distinguish them.

How fucking stupid I am...

And with that last protruding thought, his lungs seemed to collapse on him, the last ounce of air his lungs had withheld fleeing in a cloud of bubbles when his lips grew slack. His eyesight was clouded over with a deep, dark black, until finally, he could see, feel, and think no more.

The day had started out like any other.

He woke up to the shrill beeping of his alarm, forcing his groggy, gritty eyes to open and face the day. After stumbling into a new set of boxers and slipping into a simple t-shirt and shorts, he made his way slowly downstairs, where he made himself a quick cup of coffee and croissant. Sitting silently at the table, alone in the lower level of the large house, Lovino couldn't help but realize each and every morning how out-of-place he felt. He loved his family--dearly. But things had started changing, his whole way of life shifting ever since the day his younger brother had started living with them six years ago.

His younger brother, Feliciano, had lived in another part of the country ever since he'd been born. Apparently, their family life was so unstable that a newborn simply couldn't be handled, so he was sent away to live with some close relatives. Lovino honestly never understood this reasoning--because if they couldn't handle a newborn, what made their parents think that they could handle a 2 year old? Either way, that was what happened, whether the reasoning behind the circumstances was skewed or not.

The two had never met, but knew of each others existences. It was a surreal sort of feeling, being constantly told that you had a sibling over 2700 miles away. He was constantly informed about the child, told about how amazingly alike they looked, how he had the exact same curl and oh, just the most adorable personality. At the time, he hadn't really cared. Being a child of a rather wealthy family and not having many children in the neighborhood, the idea of having a younger brother was one of positive standing. But still, no matter how many times the child was spoken about, he couldn't imagine him. He couldn't see the kid's face in his mind's eye, nor could he imagine ever meeting (let alone playing with) him. It felt like they would never be able to meet, never be able to be brothers to one another. The fact didn't really sink in until the day he was told that his younger brother would be moving in with them.

When he had finally met the boy whom he had heard all about, he couldn't help but scowl at the simpering 9 year old. The child did look quite a bit like him, yes--with a bit more childhood chub at the cheeks. But the personality was just wrong. He hid behind the driver's long legs and peered around at him, big round eyes watering helplessly and a single curl peeking out from his brown hair. When Lovino had first set eyes upon this child, his brother, a foreboding feeling had settled in his stomach, wrenching his nerves worryingly.

Over the next few days, he grew to love Feliciano, becoming noticeably protective of the smaller child and taking charge as the older brother. Within the next few weeks, however, that feeling he had felt began to show its results. No longer was he the sole child his parents lavished attention on. He was bigger and older, and therefore, didn't need nearly as much attention as cry-baby Feliciano.

He could take care of himself.

Lovino felt almost estranged, like he'd been replaced. His role had shifted from that of the beloved child to that of something like a misplaced kin. It wasn't all that bad. He still loved the child, though by this point he had started to show his feelings in a different way. Now, instead of hugging and holding his brother close, he would tease and insult him to the point of crying. It was a bit harsh, but if he were perfectly honest with himself, he would admit his childish envy got the better of him. Things settled down from there, him continuing to tease his younger brother, but not allowing others to tease or hurt the child. It was, after all, his job.

Things only went downhill when his neighbor came back from a month-and-a-half long vacation, though.

Antonio.

Shaking himself from his wandering thoughts, Lovino trailed his eyes to the upright clock upon the counter, cup clinking loudly to the counter when he realized he didn't have much time to get to practice. He hurriedly darted from the table and practically threw himself into the bathroom, brushing his teeth and washing his face in record time. Rushing for the door, he hurled his bag over his shoulder and slipped on his shoes, darting out of the house and making his way to the school for practice, all before his parents and brother woke up.

"Great!"

The shrill whistle travelled easily across the room, signaling all the swimmers to head for the locker rooms to get dressed. Lovino heaved himself out of the pool, taking a moment to stretch slightly and allowing the others to go on ahead of him. He made it to the doorway of the locker rooms when he paused and turned back, gazing back at the teal blue water of the pool. His frown slowly quirked, and after a few moments, a smile had replaced it upon his lips.

He would be back to see the pool after class, after all.

Lovino hurriedly changed and rushed into the hallways, maneuvering through the wandering crowds with the ease of a pro. He finally stopped and dropped his bag in front of his locker, quickly putting in the combination before yanking the door open. As he began going through the different things in his locker, however, thoughts from earlier that morning began to plague him once more. Shuffling a few books into his bag, he stopped and looked over his shoulder when he heard someone call his name.

"Yo, Lovino!"

The voice was one that sent shivers down his spine everytime he heard it. And not in the most pleasant of ways.

He angled his head to fix his gaze upon the caller, a groan being held back behind his teeth. "Hey, Gilbert..." The young man in question merely smiled, his odd red eyes squinting playfully and silvery hair falling into his face slightly as he tilted his head. "Today's going to be an awesome day, don't ya think?" He grinned at the uncomfortable Lovino.

Shaking his head, he tossed the last book into his bag and kicked his locker shut. A frown painted seemingly unmoving on his face as he passed by Gilbert. He didn't have to turn around to know that the boy was following him to class.

"Where were you during practice?" he asked instead of answering the question. Lovino turned a corner and side-stepped a girl rushing past, just barely avoiding a collision. Gilbert blinked behind him, easily following in his exact footsteps and merely replied with a simple, "eh?"

Lovino rolled his eyes and shifted his bag more comfortably on his shoulder before saying, "You heard me, dip-shit." Behind him, however, Gilbert watched his back with wide eyes, a sort of horror stealing across his visage. Something was terribly, terribly wrong with Lovino! Usually, by now, Lovino would have scolded him, kicked his ass, then promptly informed him that he wouldn't miss another practice.

But no. Here he was... worrying about where he was.

Now, it may seem that it was only a simple question, not all that much thought behind the inquiry, but Gilbert knew him better than that. Lovino didn't talk much. He was naturally unsociable, able to talk to girls, but downright harsh to guys. When he stopped to talk to anyone of either sex, it would be a thought-out statement or question. It would have a massive purpose. And Lovino didn't worry about the whys. Hell, he didn't worry about anyone--especially about a 'not-friend' of his like Gilbert.

But here he was, wondering (or, deep, deep down, worrying) why he wasn't at practice.

Truth be told, it was very disquieting.

Gilbert cleared his throat, just now realizing that they had already made it into the classroom and to their individual seats. "Uh..." He darted a suspicious glance at Lovino, who had dropped his bag to the floor beside his desk and began staring at the window. When he heard Gilbert's hesitation, however, he focused his attention back on the boy.

"I slept in..." A frown slipped across Gilbert's lips when he saw the questioning in Lovino's eyes. Lovino probably didn't even realize that he was acting stranger than was normal for him today. Gilbert almost twitched when he only frowned and turned away.

That was it?! There really was something seriously wrong with him. Where was the scolding? The yelling? The curse words and repetitive statements about taking his competitive swimming seriously? Normally, all of this would happen and then he would try to diffuse the situation by molesting him (it always made him forget about his anger... at least, the anger for him skipping practice, that is).

Gilbert leaned toward Lovino, ignoring the way the boy unconsciously leaned away. Instead, he stared at his face, eyes taking in every critical point of his features. He didn't look any thinner, nor did he seem pale or haggard. Mouth screwing up in bemused frustration, he finally locked eyes with his friend (totally self-proclaimed). Finally, he asked, "One of those days?"

Green-brown eyes watching him for a moment, he replied, "Yeah. 'One of those days'." Gilbert nodded, finally understanding. It had been a while since he'd seen acting so oddly, but it had actually happened a few times before. It was just one of those days where the boy couldn't help but dwell upon the lower points of his life--namely that of the envy he held for his brother's relationship with Antonio. In all actuality, he and Antonio were kinda close (at least, closer than he and Lovino) so he could easily see the tension that lay between the two. But he knew immediately exactly what type of feelings Lovino held for the young man. It was obvious.

Usually, Lovino would be civil with his brother--loving, but teasing. But when Antonio came into the picture, Lovino's eyes would hold non-stop glares for his brother, intensifying when the two made any sort of skin contact. Otherwise, when Feliciano had run off into the school building, Lovino would turn insults on the man, giving him a cold shoulder. While most people might think of this as dislike for the man, Gilbert knew otherwise--because he'd seen it. The absolutely bright smile that had stolen across his self-proclaimed friend's face when he'd been complimented by Antonio was proof enough.

He had never seen the guy smile like that--not in all the years he'd known him from school. So there was only one conclusion:

Lovino held romantic feelings for Antonio.

Gilbert didn't much care for this revelation. Lovino was still an interesting person, and it was nice to be not-friends with him (because, after all, Lovino insisted that they "absolutely in no possible way or circumstance are considered anything like friends!") regardless of whether this made him gay or bisexual or something like that. He felt the same way about Antonio. It would actually be kinda cool if his two best friends could find some happiness with each-other. Besides, he found that sexual preferences were overrated. You like who you like. Period. The silver-haired youth shook his head in an almost pitying fashion, fixing his eyes on the front board as the teacher called the class to attention. It seemed like it wasn't going to be all that great a day for Lovino.

"How un-awesome."

He couldn't concentrate. Already his thoughts were drifting back and forth in a frenzy, forcing his mind to shut down. Before he knew it, he was already drifting asleep.

Lovino dreamt of the past, how he would spend a lot of his time after school going next door, hoping that the nice Antonio who moved in recently would play with him. He dreamt of the times when Antonio would invite him out for ice cream, happy to have the younger boy's company.

He dreamt of the day he decided to start swimming.

That day, he and Antonio had gone out to the ocean with their families, solely to enjoy the few days of summer vacation. It was a few years before Feliciano had shown up, so he had Antonio all to himself at that point. The two had gone off on their own, finding a quiet little inland area of water, with only a few people here and there.

"Wanna race?"

He couldn't remember who asked the question, but the matching grins they wore showed that they didn't care--nor did it matter. Young Antonio, wavy brown hair falling into his tan face leaned forward slightly and directed a childish expression toward the even younger Lovino, counting down loudly. "3..." Lovino scrambled into a position that he could dive into the water, grin slipping from his face as his features screwed up in concentration.

"2..." Lovino closed his eyes and slowly inhaled, a sense of calm washing over him.

"1..." He didn't have a chance to think when Antonio gave a mischievous grin and dove into the deeper water with a shout of an untimely "go!"

Ignoring the usual response of a reproachful 'hey..!', he jumped in after him, swiftly changing the way he held his body and propelling himself forward with a sense of ease. Before he knew it, he was already at the finishing point, Antonio arriving just a few seconds after him. Antonio panted beside him, moving closer to the shore so that he could stand on his feet. Still wading in the water, the two walked side by side, trying to even out their breathing. When he finally caught his breath, Antonio spun around and fixed him with a bright, glowing smile. Lovino blinked when he excitedly said, "That was amazing!"

Tilting his head slightly, he regarded the slightly older child, biting his lip in confusion. What was amazing? Was he missing something?

Antonio laughed at the bewildered expression on the smaller kid's face before reaching forward and clasping his hands in his own. "Your swimming! It was amazing! You were really fast, and the way you did it looked like you'd been doing it... forever!" He ended the sentence with a dazzling smile before turning away to glance up the beach, not realizing his smile had caused a hot flush to come to Lovino's cheeks.

He couldn't believe that Antonio felt he was good at swimming. It was really just a hobby, but... a bright smile lit up on his own face. Maybe...

Lovino almost lost himself in his thoughts when he realized that Antonio was still there with him. He fervently scrambled to get the ridiculous smile off of his face, hoping that he didn't look stupid.

Instead, Antonio saw the fake frown that Lovino had forced on his face to cover up his embarrassment and feelings of joy. "It wasn't all that great..." He turned his head to the side, puffing up his cheeks, and praying to God that Antonio wouldn't notice the burning blush across his face.

He didn't realize. Antonio frowned too before rolling his eyes childishly. "You're so uncute."

The day had gone by slowly. After he woke from his dreams, his classes had passed by in blurs, leaving him in a state of listlessness, unconscious of the reality around him. Even swim practice didn't hold its usual beauty to him, left behind in a state of haziness. He never even noticed that Gilbert had actually attended practice and bid him goodbye afterward (with worried glances sent his way every few seconds).

He made his way to the courtyard after practice, glancing around and finding the sight almost comforting. There were never that many people here at this time of day, save for the few stragglers from after school practice. The swim team stayed the latest, and usually they never really saw too many people hanging around on the school grounds.

Snapped violently from his thoughts, Lovino's eyes widened when he spied a familiar head of wavy brown hair standing at the gate-entrance. Resisting the smile that threatened to claim his lips, he steered himself in the direction of his crush. Heart thrumming, breath hastening, his feet began to move to a quicker pace, eager to see the one person that could give his mood a complete one-eighty. His stomach dropped, however, when there was another head of brown spied next to him, lighter in color and with a tell-tale curl.

Feliciano.

A scowl worked its way to his face without conscious beckoning, his fists clenching unpleasantly around the straps of his school bag. Both of them looked up when he came within a few feet of them, both with large grins on their faces and with traces of laughter from whatever conversation he had just interrupted.

His blood boiled beneath his flesh, and before he knew it, his mouth was moving of its own accord. "What are you doing here?" It was said in an almost patronizing tone, undoubtedly coming off as arrogant. Antonio, used to this sort of attitude from the child he spent a lot of time with, merely shrugged and aimed a smile at Feliciano. "I was asked by your parents to come pick you guys up. To give you a ride," he clarified.

Teeth bit angrily into the inner flesh of his lip, a heavy feeling settling in his bones as a malice-filled voice whispered goading words into his ear. He didn't exactly want to see Antonio if Feliciano was going to be tagging along. He wanted to reject, but... he was honestly exhausted. Just before he opened his mouth to give a hesitant acceptance to the offer, Feliciano aimed a large smile at his older brother and said, "Yeah. And we were thinking about going to the public pool for a little while!" Antonio nodded agreeably before something seemed to occur to him. "Oh yeah," he said, snapping his fingers at the younger sibling before turning his attention to Lovino. "You should have seen your brother the last time we went swimming. He did a perfect dive!"

Fuck exhaustion.

His lips parted as a growl threatened to escape him. "You know what? I wanted to get a little more practice here. You know, empty pool. Quiet place to concentrate. I'll just walk." Without so much as a parting goodbye, he turned around and marched back to the building, not even realizing the worried looks that the two shot his way.

The anger threatened to overtake him, burning at his skin and dancing obtrusively at the back of his mind. He was tired of this. His brother... it didn't much matter when he lost the attention of his parents. But when the one person he finally grew attached to was forcibly taken away... things just started to get out of hand. He started to over-step his boundaries as the older brother and feelings of ill-disguised hatred started to worm their way into his system. He still loved him. Probably always would, but...

The anger just lingered constantly. The envy was uncontrollable.

No, he corrected himself, blowing out a bitter sigh as he forced himself to admit it.

Somewhere along the line envy had dissipated and grown into something more drastic.

Jealousy.

He was jealous of his brother. Of the attention that Antonio was giving him. That Antonio was babying him and taking care of him, just like he used to do with Lovino.

Green-brown eyes stared out at the crystal blue water, his senses slowly coming back to him as he began to realize he had lost himself in thought. Chlorine penetrated his nostrils, leaving the slight odd taste on his tongue that it always did. This is where he felt most comfortable. Even though he had originally started swimming because of Antonio, he had come to love the water, and the feeling of propelling himself through it. It was an addicting feeling, one that helped him lose himself and forget about the harsh reality outside of the four in-ground walls of the pool.

That was exactly what he needed right now.

He moved toward the edge of the pool, trying to ignore the way the quietly burning anger was fiercely gnawing at the back of his mind. Eager to get rid of the impure and soiled thoughts, he bent himself into a position that had become natural for him, tensing his muscles and ignoring the way his hair fell in front of his eyes. Preparing for his dive in, he paused when a scene flashed through his mind.

"He did a perfect dive!"

Suddenly, the pool was no longer enough to quell the torrid wave of angry thoughts lurking in the back of his head, and they all came sweeping forward, a tinge of bitterness coating his emotions. He clenched his fists, eyes slowly trailing over to the diving boards that sat at the end of the pool, and his feet began moving, one in front of the other. Pretty soon, he had climbed up the ladder and taken position, the typhoon of thoughts clouding his sensibility.

Why...

...swimming was supposed to be my....

How could...

...and just when..?

No.

I'm better... I can be better than him.

Fire ignited in his soul, limbs shaking from rushing adrenaline and eyes burning with a haughty determination.

I can definitely do a better dive than him...!

His body advanced in a practiced flow of movements, running almost to the edge of the board before he jumped, forcing his weight upon the board once, twice, and then he was soaring, seemingly suspended in the air. Lovino twisted his body, changing his balance to execute a precise dive, tucking his legs and spinning in the air. It wasn't until the second rotation that he realized his mistake.

His jump was too short. He wasn't far away from the board.

Immediately, his instincts took over, and he twisted his body, hoping to avoid the blow.

But it was too late.

In just a split-second, his body had spiraled in an awkward angle, turning to just the right postion, and the side of his head slammed against the diving board, forcing the breath from his lungs. He barely registered the pulsing pain before his limp form was plummeting into the water below.

He had seen the whole spectacle.

Antonio was worried. Lovino had been acting about the same way he always did lately: cold, biting, arrogant, and totally uncute. But there was just something about him, this feeling he gave off that unsettled him. So he had asked Feliciano to go on ahead with a smile and apology ("I have to make sure he doesn't do something stupid") and then secretly followed him back to the pool.

After waiting for quite a while behind the bleachers, his younger friend had finally emerged from the locker room, a dazed sort of look on his face. What was wrong with him? He had seen him zone out, but there were so many different expressions darting across Lovino's face, and truth be told, he could feel in his gut that it wasn't a good sign. At all.

He was lost in his own speculations while Lovino seemed to be having the same problem, eyes staring unseeingly out at the water before he seemed to snap to attention, causing him to hesitantly break from his own thoughts. Antonio frowned when he stepped up to the pool, a little curious at the odd sense of excitement and anticipation that had started to course through his veins. Was he really so excited to see Lovino's swimming? He hadn't seen it in a while, but...

Though, if he wanted to be perfectly honest, he found himself dismissing the curious questions running through his mind. It wasn't all that much of a revelation, actually. He always knew that he enjoyed watching the younger man swim, he actually generally enjoyed spending time with him. A lot. But there seemed to be some sort of rift between them lately...

He shook his head when the high-schooler abruptly changed course and went for the diving boards, hastily making his way to the top of the tallest one and seeming to lose himself in thought once more. He stepped out from his hiding spot behind the bleachers to get a bit of a better view. The youth wouldn't notice. He never really noticed anything once he got lost in his thoughts. When he began to move, the wavy-haired college student watched in fascination, eyes following the way the muscles in the youth's abdomen and thighs rippled. The dim thought that the kid had grown up was whispered at the back of his mind, but was ignored. As Lovino launched from the board, fascination quickly receded and morphed into horror.

Antonio saw it before his friend realized it.

Feet rooted to the ground, he watched as the young man hit his head upon the board and fell to the water below. The only thing that he could think was, He couldn't have made a mistake... His mind was in a state of shock, eyes fervently watching the too-clean water and tracing the trail of dispersing red that bubbled to the surface before blending with the water and dying it a cloudy pink.

Blood.

With that disturbing thought, multiple scenarios (all very unpleasant) slammed through his head, and he was hurriedly kicking off his shoes and yanking off his shirt. Antonio clumsily grabbed his keys and phone out of his pocket and tossed them next to the pool and then he was running for the water and diving in, arms shaking as fear began to encompass him. He made it to the bottom, grabbing the prone body and wrapping an arm securely around his waist before he was anxiously kicking for the surface.

Taking a deep gulp of air when breaking past the water, he paddled for the side of the pool, getting into a more shallow area and using all of his strength to haul the unnaturally still Lovino onto the marble flooring. He pulled himself out of the water, never noticing the way his pants felt uncomfortably heavy upon him and the dripping of water hitting the floor. He hovered over the prone form, fear growing exponentially when he didn't see the rise and fall of his friend's chest.

He hastily started performing CPR, doing multiple compressions before tilting the rapidly paling face back and forcing air down his esophagus. This was repeated a few times before Lovino spluttered, a low groan erupting from the back of his throat.

Lovino did not feel good. His head was pounding, his chest was burning, and he was fucking cold. When his senses finally decided to start clearing up, he came to realize there was a constant white noise, humming above him. It was a few seconds before he realized that it wasn't white noise, but was actually a long string of words, spoken by a voice that he easily recognized.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please be okay. Oh God, why..? You can't... so pale... Jesus, just wake up and act like you always do, spoiled and arrogant and cold and uncute--"

His clumsy tongue, thick and heavy, worked on overdrive to get the words out of his mouth. "Shut... th'fuck... up."

Normally, Antonio would smack him upside the head for a comment like that, but the guy had almost drowned... so he just continued to babble, pulling the smaller man up closer to him to continue.

"Oh, thank God! I thought for sure that you were dead and why did you do that? You never make mistakes like that and there was a total miscalculation in your jump, you shouldn't be so stupid and reckless! I panicked, I mean, after all, you try to dive but end up hitting your head and next thing I know, you're falling and I can't think and then I jump in to go get you and I thought you were dead so I tried to revive you and I was just so scared that something--"

Lovino was tired of listening to words that he really couldn't understand. It was just a noisy droning that needed to stop, now. So he did the first thing that came to mind. He let his body fall forward, propelled by gravity and crashed his lips onto Antonio's, effectively silencing him.

Antonio's eyes grew wide, shock grasping him firmly in its palm for the second time that day. Cold lips moved clumsily against his for a second before his friend leaned back and muttered, "Fin'lly."

He stared at the brown-haired youth, fingers twitching with the urge to touch his lips in wonderment. After a few moments, he finally uttered, "Why..?"

The younger man slumped down, resting his head on the wet fabric of Antonio's pants. Instead of answering the question in the way it was meant, he sort of dodged around it, giving him a vague answer. "Told you ta shut up..." His eyes slipped shut of their own accord as a wave of pain seized him. Above him, Antonio stared down at him, hands instinctively beginning to run through the wet tresses upon his lap as he thought through the action. Anyone who truly knew Lovino knew that he didn't do anything half-assed. Once he did something, you automatically knew that there was a lot of reasoning behind the action. Therefore, the deduction was rather obvious.

"Why didn't you ever tell..?"

Lovino made a noise in response, like an attempted (but failed) snort and his eyes slipped open lazily. There was a short silence as he stared off at one of the fluorescent lights high above their heads and then he said, "You were cozyin' up ta Feliciano..."

Oh.

Everything clicked.

Antonio really just couldn't help it. After virtually helping to raise Lovino, he seemed to grow this paternal sense that made him feel like he needed to help the helpless. And Feliciano just naturally gave off those 'dependent' vibes... He would need to explain that to him later. After the doctor had looked at him and declared him perfectly fine, that is. He was pulled from his regretful thoughts when he felt movement on his lap and he looked down to find Lovino rubbing his cheek against his thigh before relaxing and blowing out a quiet sigh. Antonio watched him thoughtfully before he asked, "What are you doing?"

"Tryin' ta sleep... tired..." he slurred in response.

"No, you might have a concussion."

"Well, at least give me some warmth... fuckin' cold.."

Antonio choked out a laugh, his nerves causing his arms to start shaking more erratically. He was just so relieved...

"You're so uncute," the lie came unbidden to his lips, tumbling out like it always had for all these years. Nevertheless, he still cradled the younger man closer, supplying him with some much-needed body warmth as he reached for his cell phone to call for an ambulance.

-Pool Closed-

Eh. I don't usually do teenage angst, but... I dunno. It just seemed to form itself in my mind. There was a bit of fluff, too. I'm wondering on what to do for the next keyword, but... -shrugs- I guess I'll figure it out.

...I feel like such a sap after writing this...

(And HOLY SHIT, Alorix! I used some of Sanks' stuff... I feel stupid... -cries-)

Next up: Calculator

Review if you'd like. Tell me whatchya think. :D