Loved by the Island, Smitten by the Boot

Ch 12

Days in the past, but not many.

Feliciano Vargas was fiddling with the ring on his finger, staring at his phone, and lying on his bed. He was debating whether or not he should pick up the device and send Arthur a message. But no. He couldn't. He shouldn't. He had spent roughly a month like this, staring at his phone and fiddling with the ring that his beloved had given him. And it was absolute agony. He wanted so desperately to tear the fabric of space and time, to jump across the world and stand face to face with the one who had proposed to him so he could fall to his knees and cry at his feet and beg him for an answer as to why he was doing this to him. But Feliciano wasn't magical. He didn't have any fancy powers. All he had was love in his heart and sadness on his brain. He had nothing if he didn't have Arthur.

So, this is how Feliciano spent his days. Staring at his phone. Playing with his grandfather's ring. Hoping for some kind of communication. He spent his days locked in his room or his office, trying to hide his feelings from the world and just wither away on his own. Of course this didn't work. Lovino was ever present. He, in fact, took care of his brother during the long period of time his brother was, as the kids say, 'ghosted'. He made sure the younger Italian ate, he made sure he had enough to drink, he made sure he actually slept and wasn't just lying in the dark marinating in absolute misery and pain. Was Lovino doing this out of the goodness of his heart? Definitely. Was he also doing it because he felt super guilty that this whole situation may be his fault? Also definitely.

Okay, so Lovi nor Ludwig nor Kiku had told Feliciano what they had done. Lovino had made sure that neither of those two assholes would rat him out...but now he was regretting that decision. He was regretting his actions, regretting the accusations. He was regretting a lot of things. And so were Ludwig and Kiku. The other two had gone home for roughly a week and a half to take care of some minor things before making the trip back to Italy. During that week and a half they experienced about as much as Feli was, which is to say whenever they messaged their best friend, their messages were left unanswered. Whenever they called, their calls went to voicemail. Feliciano was (unintentionally) giving them the same treatment he was receiving all because he was more focused on getting attention from his supposed fiancé. Of course, the two nations weren't completely out of the loop. Lovino made sure to send updates on how his younger brother was doing to his partners in crime. By the time that they had arrived back in Italy to stay with their friend, they knew what they were in for. Does that mean they weren't shocked when they saw exactly how depressed and out of sorts their usual cheery friend was? No. In fact...

"He's in his room." Lovino mumbled as Ludwig and Kiku stepped into the Italians' home, toeing their shoes off. "He's been locked in there with Ophelia for hours." Although previously mentioned, though not by name, Ophelia is the Vargas brothers' cat. A plump, black, short hair with bright green eyes and a knack for causing trouble. She was named after a character in one of Lovino's favorite Spanish movies. "Hasn't really said a word today. Not even sure he ate the lasagna I made him for lunch. And I spent all morning on the damn thing."

"Lovino-san, don't you think it's time we—"

"I'll say when it's time, dammit! Just. Just not yet. He's way too unstable to hear that now." Ludwig quirked a brow. "...He hasn't taken his medication properly in the last couple of weeks and I'm worried he'll react...uh. Well. I'm afraid he'll overreact."

"As if this isn't overreacting?" Ludwig asked; Lovi glared. "Nein, I know. He isn't necessarily overreacting. I'm just. Can't we tell him already? I can't bear seeing him in so much pain. I haven't even seen him yet!"

"Yeah, well, it's worse than you can imagine." The southern Italian waved his hand to signal the two visitors to follow him as he led them into the home. "Seriously. Haven't seen him this depressed in a while. Not since he thought you two hated him for the third time."