Philophobia: A GerIta Story (Rewritten)

Chapter Five (Lovino/Gilbert)

I watch Feliciano and Noodle leave the café, feeling an emotion I can't quite identify as I watch them walk away from my sight down the street.

An arm I would know anywhere wraps around my waist and I gently lean against Antonio.

"He's going to be fine, Lovi, Feli is a smart man, isn't he?" He asks, and I sigh, moving away from Antonio.

"He is but I..." I shake my head, "I can tell you later, when Julian gets here go ahead and leave for the store to pick up Feli and the groceries, Julian can let me know when you leave."

Antonio looks conflicted but nods, giving me a quick kiss and gently squeeze on my shoulders before walking back to the counter.

"Are you okay, Lovino?"

It's Arthur that asks, and I shrug, turning towards the table of our friends.

"Let us know if you need any help, okay?" Lili tells me, and I smile, thanking her before excusing myself back to the kitchen.

Savannah and Kiara are both working on lunch orders, but I need to frost the cupcakes Feli made, so I give the two of them a small smile and grab what I need before disappearing into a side kitchen where it's quiet.

Of course I trust Feli, more than anything.

It's the rest of the world that I don't trust.

'Sixteen is grown up' I had told myself repeatedly after running away from home, trying to convince myself I would be okay on my own.

I tried to take Feli with me, but he was scared and refused.

I didn't want to leave him, but I couldn't stand living in the same house as that piece of shit I'm forced to call a father any longer.

The next month was a drug filled haze that I barely remember after two days on the streets, when I came across the wrong woman and she convinced me to take a drug.

I don't know what it was, but it was addictive, and the next month is fuzzy at best since she gave me the drug daily.

The parts I do remember are cold and scary and filled with yelling from people I don't know and couldn't recognize. At one point I remember I had sex, but I was so drugged up I couldn't give any details outside of that, much less if it happened more times than just that.

Antonio found me after a month of searching and sent me straight to my grandfather, who immediately sent me to rehab while he and Antonio's family worked to get Feli away from our father.

I came home to Feli bruised and traumatized a week after he was taken to Grandpa Roma's house, but he was safe.

We were away and our father was in jail.

We were safe.

A year later I was proven wrong.

There were more monsters in the world that would hurt us besides our father.

And he came in the form of one Kevin Olson.

I didn't know the name until eight months after the night Feli came home, just a year away from our father, with a blood stain on his pants and a look that told me exactly what had happened.

Antonio was with me, we were studying when Feli walked in, shirt missing with cuts and scrapes covering his face.

He refused to talk at first, until I saw the blood and connected the dots.

We went to the hospital and the rapist's DNA was taken and sent to be tested, but I knew the look on Feli's face.

The face of a man who looked like he lost everything.