RomanoXReader: Angel Chapter 1

      He walks away, hands jammed into his pockets, boiling in his own pot of irritation.
Today had been a perfectly fine day until Antonio started kidding around too much. He went so far as to pull the curl, despite the amount of times he's told him not to.

"Hey, come back! I was only playing around!" Antonio calls.

"Shut up, damn jerk!" he shouts back, still walking away. Antonio looks over at Gilbert, who just tells Antonio to leave him alone; Lovino walks faster, face searing hot.

"Stupid jerk, always playing around…how about I annoy him…? Stupid jerk wouldn't like that."

    Lovino focuses on the ground, not paying much attention to the world around him, for he is busy dealing with his own to be concerned with anyone else's problems. His feet walk on their own for quite some time, and when he stops to take in his surroundings, he realizes that he's reached the edge of the town.
Dusk has begun to blanket the afternoon sky. He sighs and watches as a bus passes on the road in front of him during the green light. And once the light changes, he walks across the street and to the other sidewalk. A bus station is a little further away to his left and the waiting town is to his right.
Lovino walks back towards where he came from, not really wanting to be out for so long now that he's not angry anymore. The phone in his pocket vibrates, but he pays it no mind, because he already knew it was either Feliciano or Antonio calling to check on him.
He doesn't want to be bothered right now. He just wants to be alone.

    Lovino walks and walks and walks until he reaches the city park. There was still enough daylight to take the trail one time, so he decides to do that, for it normally helps soften his mood. The shady cement pathway is something he's passed through countless times before, so many times that he can step over every single crack while walking the track backwards.  
He comes around the curved path to see a manmade hole though the settled forest shrub to the left side. Lovino walks closer to investigate what might've caused it.

     Lovino leans forward into the area. It is large enough for him to simply step through without the slightest adjustment to his height.
Then he hears a voice: soft and light.

Lovino steps inside, the world disappearing behind him, only to open up a whole new world before him; the trees hang closely together, letting in a minimal amount of light but just enough to filter down onto the wild flowers that are in amazing bloom, exploding like stars in the dark wavy sky that serves as the full, lush grass. Bushes of wild berries crowd next to a small pond, where he spots the figure of a person: too small to be a man.

"Hello?" he wants to call out, but his voice is snatched away by the sweet breeze that carries honeysuckle. So he steps over a patch of dandelions and makes his way over to the figure.
The closer he gets, the easier it is to make out the person. He stops a little ways away and clears his throat to speak again, suddenly feeling like an intruder.

"Hello?"

    The person looks back slowly from the body of water she crouches by. Her eyes are stunning and bold against the rest of her soft skin...so much so that Lovino can't help but stare at them, even from the distance.
And is her voice, soft and gentle. "Hello,"

Lovino snaps himself out of his trance and begins to speak. "Are you alright? I heard something from back there and—"

"From where…?"

"Uh, back there," he turns to motion to the hole, only to find that it had vanished from sight. "Um…well there was a place that I crawled through…"


"Oh," a small smile comes across her face. "I understand…"
She stands, facing Lovino. Her hair catches the subtle and ever-fleeting sunlight glowing softly.
"There must be a reason why you came here, is there not?"

"Well, I didn't mean to come here. It just sort of…happened I guess. But I'm sorry if I'm bothering you. I'll go now—"he turns to leave.

"Please don't go…"

Lovino stops in his tracks and slowly turns back to the mysterious girl.

"I don't get many visitors…"

'I don't understand why, you're so breathtaking,'

"Will you stay for a while? Not for long, but…I want to know about you…You seem to have a good heart."

Lovino watches as she approaches him quickly, her white sundress bouncing about as she makes her way around the patches of pansies and posies.

"I don't mind staying."

"Really? That's wonderful." She smiles up at him. "I am [Name]. And you're Lovino Vargas, correct?"

    He furrows his eyebrows and begins to ask how she knew, but she giggles and says "It's a pleasure to meet you," and holds out her right hand; dumbfounded, Lovino shakes her hand lightly.

"So…why are you out here so late?" he asks quietly.

"It's pretty, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

[Name] eyes his features; light brown eyes, contrasting colored hair with a strange kink and olive skin.

"What's troubling you?" She asks suddenly. Lovino quickly shakes his head.

"It's nothing."

"But you seem a little upset…"  [Name] worriedly twiddles with her thumbs. "Well, we can take a seat if you'd like, and you can tell me all about your troubles. I can try to help you as best as I can."
She snaps her fingers.

     The grass shifts and molds into two chairs. She takes a seat as if it was perfectly normal and motions for him to sit in the pair.
Lovino is hesitant, but sits down only to find that the grass chair is just as sturdy as one of wood, all the while wondering what just happened before his eyes.

"So tell me what's troubling you."


     Lovino looks down at his hands as if he was being scolded, the gentle breeze blowing his hair.
He barely knew this girl, and yet she seems to take some interest in him…not to say that he didn't feel the same. And all at once he felt at ease; he felt that he could tell her anything, even a secret that not even Feliciano knew.
So he tells her everything on his mind. And when he finishes, she nods.

"It is good that you don't take your anger out violently…The walks that you take are healthy…"

"I've never seen you around here before…Did you move here recently?"
It's a rather small community with little strangers or new faces.

"Oh, I'm just visiting."

"Oh,"

"I assume you live here in this town?"

"Yeah, I do. I've only been here a few months."

"I understand. Lovino, I feel like you can keep a secret, can you not?"

Lovino looks at her intensely. "I can…"

[Name] stands abruptly, clapping her hands together.
"That's good to know. Will you promise not to tell anyone that you've met me?"

Lovino frowns a little. "Alright, I won't."

"Thank you. You see, things would get complicated if I was known to have been here."

"Why is that, if you don't mind that I ask?"

"Well," [Name] bashfully looks down at her white slippers. "Can you keep another secret?"

Lovino nods quickly, dying for her to continue speaking.
She smiles warmly and walks towards him, stopping a few feet away.

"Well…I um…"

"Y-you don't have to tell me," Lovino says quickly, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable.

"No, it's alright. I trust you. But I think it would be better if I showed you."


     He can't take his eyes away from the wings that have simply grown from her back; white and feathery, large and strong.

"I haven't scared you, have I?"

Lovino stands and walks for her, not believing his eyes. And upon closer searching, he sees that the wings are genuine and like a bird's.

'But it would make sense that she was an angel, because she's far too kind to be a normal girl'

"I just came down to visit this place, since I don't get to come often."

"But why here?"

"Well…I'll be honest with you...This is the place where I died."

Lovino draws back instantly upon hearing her words and looks at her frightfully, as if she was going to bite off his head.
[Name] frowns and twiddles her thumbs once more. "I'm sorry," she says. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Lovino shakes his head slowly and looks around the area.

Quietly he asks, "What happened…?"

 "I was sick," she says distantly, as if recalling the very moments. "I don't know what it was, the sickness I mean…but it affected my lunges. If I breathed too deeply or sometimes just out of the blue, I would cough up blood. My mother was always telling me to stay out of the cold because it would only make things worse…But I never listened to her, because I knew I would die eventually anyway—"she stops talking abruptly. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sure you don't want to hear my sob story—"

"No. Tell me. How did you end up here?"

    "I found this place when I was upset by my mother. She was trying to spend the last of the money we had on a treatment. It wouldn't have worked. It would've been pointless. I still would've died.
So I ran away. And I found this place after the rain had let up. I'm sure you can guess that rain and a steady wind wasn't a good mix for my illness. I stayed here for maybe a day," she points to a large bush "under there, until I fell asleep."


     Lovino longingly looks at the place of [Name]'s death.
"So you died alone…?"

She smiles thinly. "I did…But I loved it here…and I still do. No one's ever been here before, the land's so pure. I died happy, Lovino, so please don't pity me."

Lovino looks at her to find that she's begun to cry silently.

"H-hey! Don't cry," he reaches out to wipe away her tears but stops his hands inches from her face, afraid to touch her. Almost afraid he'd soil her.

"I'm sorry," she wipes away those tears with the back of her clean hand.

"Your body…is it still…there…?"

"Just the bones…" She looks away from him.

"This might sound weird…but…have you ever wanted to be buried…? I mean, the spirit isn't completely free until you're buried? I'm sure that spirits can't bury themselves, right?"

"You would do that…for me…?"

Lovino nods grandly. "I would."

"Thank you…so much…" Tears begin to pour down her face again.

"D-don't cry! Please,"

"I'm alright," she sniffles and continues, "I've never met anyone as kind as you before."

Lovino's face burns and his eyes wander away shyly.
"It's nothing."

~*~*~*~*~

     He sits back onto his knees, admiring his work.
The grave blankets her body and is concealed with such skill that no one would ever be able to see the upturned earth beneath the bed of flowers.

"Will that work?" he asks quietly, hoping the burial was perfect for her, because he would do anything for [Name], regardless of their differences.

"Yes, of course it is! Thank you so much."

Lovino stands to full height and beams at her, "I'm glad. So now you can rest forever…" his voice trails away, making her frown ever-so slightly, asking
"Is something wrong?"

"Will you…come back here…?"

"I—I don't understand what you mean…"

"Now that you're buried, there isn't much reason for you to come back, is there? I—I guess I'm trying to ask…will I see you again?"

[Name] gasps and grabs Lovino's hand. "Of course I will!" She holds his hand in hers tightly, and he doesn't feel even the slightest bit of warmth from her.

"I couldn't ever not see you again!" She insists.

And Lovino smiles a little. "You'll come back…?"

"Of course," [Name] holds his hand up to her face, resting her cheek on it, regardless of the fresh dirt beneath his nails.
Lovino stares at her dreamily, "I'm glad."

"L—Lovino…?"

"Yeah?"

[Name] looks up at him, teary eyed. "I can't thank you enough."

"It's nothing, really."

She pulls his face down, close to her own, making him blink.

"You don't…understand how much this means to me…"

'I probably don't. But I could never let you suffer,'

And she continues. "There really is no way that I can actually repay you."

"There is," Lovino says gently. "By just visiting me again…you'd make me happy…"

She smiles now and pulls his face even closer, so that their lips just barely touch.
"I'll visit you…whenever you want me to."


    And ever-so gently, she presses her lips against his. Lovino's face burns hotter than ever imagined possible. He can't control his hands as they grip her shoulders, as if they're afraid she'll run away.
And slowly, his eyelids drop and close, following her own actions.

There's nothing in the world like what he feels at that moment, and perhaps there never will be.
And as the angel pulled away, he can't help but realize what had actually just happened.

"I'll be back soon, okay?" she says quietly, hinting that it is time for her to go.

"You promise?"

"Yes, I promise," she giggles and Lovino lets her go. "I'll be as soon as I can…You'll stumble across this place again when I'm here. I don't think this was merely by an accident."

"I'm glad, because I don't think so either. I'll miss you…and my lips are sealed."

She laughs a little more. "I love you, Lovino Vargas."

"I love you, too."
And he means those words, because there would never be anyone of this world that could steal his heart as she has.


    She waves goodbye and spreads her wings, looking skyward at the dark, starry night.
With a single beat of her wings, she's through the trees and out of sight, leaving behind a thin trail of gray sparkles. Lovino's heart feels as if it has just flown away with the angel, and that feeling took him higher than any cloud, all the way to the heavens.

~*~*~*~*~


     "Lovino, where have you been!? I've called so many times!" Feliciano cries, latching onto his brother as he enters the home, leaving behind the dark night.

"I just went for a walk, Feliciano. It's nothing to worry about."

Feliciano looks up at his older brother in surprise, shocked at how calm he seems.
"L—Lovino, are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine," he says. "Do I look like there's something wrong?"

"You seem…like you're in a good mood…"

"I didn't know it was illegal to smile. I guess you're going to prison for life then."

Feliciano smiles again. "Ve, I guess so! I made pasta tonight, but yours got cold, so I'll make you some more, okay?"

"Buono,"

"Wonderful!" Feliciano releases his brother and rushes into the kitchen.

Lovino's eyes drift to the window and up at the crescent moon.

'Come back soon, [Name]. I miss you already.'

With a smile, he goes to join his brother for dinner.

~*~*~*~*~*~