31 Day OTP Challenge - SpaMano

Chapter 05: Stargazing

Chapter 05: Stargazing

Saturday, August 14, 2015

1:00 a.m.

Antonio had convinced Lovino to get moving again. They walked slowly this time, and he found that he wasn't tripping as much. They didn't speak; they were both too tired to try and formulate any sort of conversation. They had also come to a routine of quietly walking. Lovino was still trying to process his apology, and Antonio seemed to be doing the same. But in the silence, Lovino could hear everything. He heard every snap of a twig. He heard all of the rustling in the bushes. He heard every sound in the distance. He heard it all, and he gradually found that he was becoming unnerved. This fucking forest was creeping him the fuck out. He hadn't done any research on these woods aside from their size. He didn't look into what lived there. The woods were enormous, and any number of dangerous creatures could have lived there. There could have been lions and tigers or some shit like that. Maybe even wolves. Lovino shuddered. He just wanted to climb a tree to avoid anything that could have been lurking below on the forest floor. Antonio's sudden words, however, stopped him short.

"I think I see a clearing up ahead," he said softly.

"A clearing?" A clearing meant that they might be able to find the highway once morning came around. A sigh of relief escaped his lungs as he followed Antonio out into the small clearing. It was dark. There was no moon to illuminate the space. They only had the light of Antonio's rapidly dying phone.

"We can sit here until the sun comes up..." Antonio suggested.

Lovino shrugged. "Put out the blanket."

Antonio complied and spread out the fabric. Immediately following, he laid down on half of it. He stared up at the sky.

"You can actually see the stars out here..." The man sounded nostalgic and happy. There wasn't a trace of irritation or exhaustion evident in his tone. Lovino was sure he sounded otherwise.

Lovino sat down beside him and began to play with his shoelaces. "I guess."

"C'mon, Lovino, look at the sky. Lay down."

Stargazing is for babies, though..." he muttered. He lay down beside the bastard anyways. For some reason, his had an effect about him that drew Lovino closer. He stared up at the sky. It was a pitch black blanket, and it was filled with stars. They shone so brightly outside the blinding lights that filled the city. Lovino had grown up in a metropolitan area. He had never seen so many stars in his entire life. It was awing.

"What's your zodiac symbol?"

Lovino wrinkled his nose. This bastard always asked the strangest fucking questions. He wasn't sure he'd ever get used to it, but he had a long time to. "I don't fucking know."

"When is your birthday?"

"Why does that fucking matter?"

"I can figure it out. Just tell me."

"March... seventeenth."

"You were born on St. Patrick's day?"

"I guess. I don't really pay attention to American holidays."

Antonio turned to face him. "Why is that?"

Lovino looked back to him with a sassy expression. "Why are you so fucking nosy?"

"Lo Siento, Lovino."

Lovino sighed. "I grew up in Italy, but we moved with my grandpa when I was seven. So."

"Why'd you leave Italy?"

Lovino pursed his lips. He wasn't sure whether or not he wanted to talk about this. It was a painful experience. He had spent much of his childhood living with a druggy pimp of a father who abused his mother. He and Feliciano had stayed there until his mother took her last dying breath. His grandfather had gotten custody of them not long after and took them away to live somewhere better. But he wasn't going to tell the bastard that.

"I had a rough childhood," he admitted. It was the best he could say. The bastard next of him didn't need to know anymore. "Grandpa brought my brother and me here to start over."

"You have a brother?"

Lovino groaned inwardly as a sense of existential dread washed over him. He didn't want to talk about Feliciano, either. Anytime his little brother came up, sadness followed. Everyone liked Feliciano better. Everyone thought his cute, perfect little brother was the best in the world. He was the best at art. The best at cleaning. He was the obedient one. He was nice. He was everything that Lovino was not. Or so they thought. Lovino judged himself to be just as good of an artist as his brother. He could cook better, too. He didn't want to talk about Feliciano one bit. He didn't want to think about him or his German boyfriend...

"Yeah," Lovino snapped. He had to change the subject quickly. "So. Uh. What's my zodiac symbol?"

"Oh! I believe you are a Pisces."

"And that means?"

"I don't know. I haven't looked into it before."

"Then why the fuck did you ask me, bastard?"

"I don't know. I just wanted to find out something about you."

"You're an idiot." A charming idiot, though, Lovino had to admit. He'd never tell the bastard, though. He'd never tell that bastard a lot of things. Lovino felt a pull towards this idiot. He had opened up a lot more that he usually would have to anyone. Hell, he had gone out and gotten lost in the woods. He had even apologized, which was unlike his nature. For some reason, this strange, tomato-loving bastard was different than anyone he'd met.

"Let's wish upon a star!" Antonio suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Lovino looked at him puzzled.

"Yeah. Let's do it. I know that old kid's poem, too. It goes like this:

Starlight star, bright

The first star I tonight,

I wish I may,

I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight."

Lovino looked back to the sky and focused his amber gaze onto one of the bright stars in the dark night sky. The wish ran through his mind before he could give much thought to it. He wished that he could get close enough to someone to have something, some sort of meaning. He wished that person was the Spanish bastard beside him.

"What did you wish for, Lovino?"

"I'm not telling you, bastard." No, he'd never tell. Not in a million years.

"Alright, Lovi."

And this time, for that one time when they were alone and no one could hear, he didn't correct him.