RomanoXReader: Angel Chapter 2

   Lovino stares up at the mundane white ceiling, his face blank and written with boredom. Outside his curtained window a fierce and savage storm rages; lightning strikes frequently, etching shadows across his dark room; thunder rumbles and shakes the home. But there’s nothing he can do about it…and he knows there is no point in complaining about it, either.

  As he gazes off into space, he can hear Feliciano somewhere in the house, making a bunch of excess noise as he talks on the phone to a friend—probably Germany or Japan—about irrelevant things. Lovino pays his brother little mind and seeps deeper into his own thoughts: he has been unable, for the months it has been, to remove the thoughts of the girl—the angel—he met in the little clearing. Regardless of the countless times he’s tried to return, he has been unable to find where the entrance was, or even see [Name]. He has reached the point where he’s become obsessed with the thought of seeing her again and he’s told no one about her, just as he promised. But this time apart is beginning to worry him…but what can he do?

  A particularly loud crack of thunder makes Lovino jolt out of his thoughts; he sits up and looks at the sad, lonely room around him.

“What am I doing to myself?” he puts his face into his hands, ashamed at how foolish he feels.

Waiting for an angel to return: he isn’t too sure if he imagined [Name] or not by now. She promised to come back whenever he wanted her to, so why did she leave to begin with? He wants her badly, so much that he can taste it, so why hasn’t he at least seen her face? Or heard her voice?

No, she isn't coming back. She has a life to live too; he is sure, in the other world she came down from. He forces himself to believe that.

  Lovino sighs and crawls off the bed and steps to the window. Drawing back the curtains, he can see the full storm in effect; a tree leans against a neighbour’s home uselessly, mailboxes are leaning as well, as if too tired to stand any longer. And then he sees something, a bright flash, somewhere down the road. Lovino blinks a few times; the light is gone. Perhaps it was just lightning?

Lovino puts a hand over his chest, realizing how fast his heart has started to pound at the very thought of thinking he’d seen her. But as he turns away from the window, he sees it again.

Lovino presses his face against the cold glass and stares in the direction of the light; it shines vividly, longer than the previous flash, and then dims away like a candle. He can’t be imagining this; it has to be [Name].

“Lovino, are you ok up there?!” Feliciano calls nervously from the bottom of the stairs.

Lovino, who hasn’t moved a muscle, returns, “Yeah, I’m fine! What are you asking for?”

“Well, the electricity just went out and I wanted to make sure you’re ok,”

“Well I’m fine,” Lovino continues to stare, waiting to see another light hungrily.

“I’m going to go find some candles.”

“Sure, you do that, Feli.”

   Feliciano shuffles away from the stairs and bumps into a few things about the house as he looks for the candles, while Lovino still stands, holding his breath, heart pounding, waiting, waiting, waiting for the light to come back. It does: brighter than the previous times and it lasts seconds longer. The pure white light is nothing of this earth: she’s here.

Lovino hurries from the window blindly; he stumbles down the stairs and to the front door. He swings open the coat closet and throws on a jacket while his mind is too eager to leave the home.

“I found a candle—hey, where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back—”

“It’s storming out there! You can’t go outside now!”

“I said I’ll be right back, Feliciano.”

“No! What if a tree falls on you or you get struck by lightning or—”

“Lock the door, I’ll knock when I’m back,” Lovino opens the front door: it is nearly snatched from him by the howling wind. Feliciano’s flame blows out as he stands beside his brother in tears.

“Don’t leave me here, big brother…”

   Lovino stops and turns back to Feliciano, feeling extremely guilty.

“Listen to me, Feliciano. I’m going to go check the power lines, alright? You know that switch outside that has to be flipped so we get electricity? I’m going to go and see I can turn it back on. But I want you to lock the door until I get back—I won’t take long. Okay?”

Feliciano stares at his brother for a moment with large, watery, amber eyes before he sniffles. “It’s that girl, isn’t it?”

Lovino’s blood runs cold. “Girl…?”

“The one you talk about in your sleep…are you going to go see her?”

“I don’t talk about—”

“You do, big brother…”

Lovino is at a loss for words: what if Feliciano knows about her death? His brother can’t keep a secret very well…what if he’s spoken about her to his friends? Lovino closes the door as he steps back into the home and faces Feliciano.

“I have to go and see if she is ok,”

“You just could have told me you wanted to check on her…” Feliciano looks gravely hurt.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you. But you can’t tell anyone about her, alright?”

“Why not? Because it’s a secret? You don’t even trust me anymore, do you, Lovino?”

“No, Feliciano, that’s not true!” Lovino hisses and grabs his brother by the shoulders. “Promise me you won’t say a word about her. And if you do, then I’ll never talk to you again.”

Feliciano stares into his brother’s eyes for a moment before nodding. “I’m sorry! I promise.”

“Thank you,” Lovino releases him. “I have to go. Lock the door.”

And with that, Lovino opens the door again and rushes out into the raging storm. From the porch, Feli watches his brother brave the terrible tempest and down the street, then he shakes his head and pulls the door closed…locking it as instructed.

   Lovino marches against the wind, heading for where the light shone from as he stood at his window. The rain pours down on his person, soaking him to the bone…but it doesn’t matter. Thunder growls menacingly overhead…but it doesn’t matter. Lightning hits the roof of a home he passes…it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he must see her again.

He reaches the spot where he saw the light; it’s vacant, there’s no sign of her. Panicked, he looks in all directions to perhaps see her or the light. And then he sees the light flare again in the dark night, further down the road. Lovino runs after it, following the light as fast as he can. The light zooms down the streets like a comet, while Lovino is a crazed astronomer tracking its path. He trails it all the way to the familiar park, though it seems much more dangerous in the dead of the storm.

The light fades away after he reaches the area where he first met her. With his heart banging against his ribcage, he tears through the grass and into the forest. The rain is now a trickle, though it is just as dark as the outside world.

   “[Name]?” he calls hoarsely, out of breath and nearly on the edge of insanity with joy. But it seems he is all alone. He calls her name again, walking further into the new world. Regardless of the ugliness outside, the area has its beauty still.

“Lovino…?”

He turns around on his heels and sets his eyes upon [Name], who is sitting by a tree, huddled together. Despite all the rush he took to get here, he can only barely trudge over to her; his fingers tremble slightly.

“[Name], you came back…” He stops himself, a look of confusion coming across his face. “Are you crying…?”

His angel stands quickly, wiping her face with the back of her hands vigorously. “No, I’m not crying! I’m just so glad to see you!”

But he can see through her lie. Lovino approaches her, looking at her beautiful face.

“What happened?” he asks barely above a whisper.

[Name] smiles up at him. “Nothing!”

She throws her arms around him, pulling him into a hug, not seeming to notice that he is dripping wet.
“I’m so glad you came back to see me…even though it’s raining…”

Lovino holds her tightly. “Of course I’d come...”

[Name] continues to hold him closely, not speaking another word for a moment, until Lovino asks,
“Why were you crying, [Name]?”

He pulls away from her and looks into her eyes; he can see, quite clearly, that she is troubled.
“Please don’t tell me lies.”

“Oh Lovino,” she tears up again, sniffles a little and her bottom lip quivers. “I’ve been Exiled.”

Lovino frowns. “Exiled?”

“From Paradiso…He won’t allow for me to return.”

“Wh—what?! Why?!” he asks louder than he means to, and with more aggression than he realizes.

“I don’t know…”

“But…but you don’t deserve that…”

“I must have done something wrong, He doesn’t just banish us…But I don’t know what I’ve done…” [Name]’s voice cracks and she begins to cry into his shoulder. Lovino’s heart drops to the bottom of his stomach.

‘Why would she be exiled? What could she have done without knowing it?

Lovino pats her back soothingly. “Hey, it’s alright. I bet it’s all a big misunderstanding.”

“It can’t be, Lovino,” she shudders. “It’s my fault…”

“No it’s not,” he insists quietly. “It’s cold out here…would you like to come to my house? We can figure out what to do from there.”

“Yes please. Thank you so much,”

“Hey, it’s no problem,” he smiles at her warmly as she pulls away.

“How did you know I was here?” she asks.

“There was a light. It led me here.”

A small frown comes across [Name]’s face, but she says nothing and looks down at the ground, her eyes puffy and red from crying. Lovino scans her again before turning towards the place he came from; he can see the dark, ugly world beyond the bushes.

~*~*~*~*~

   [Name] sits on the sofa, faintly glowing—literally—in the dark house; Feliciano sets a candle on the table in front of her with a smile and sits on an armchair next to the fireplace. Lovino sits at her side, dry now that he’s in different clothing, whereas a drop of water never touched [Name].

“Sorry about the electricity,” Lovino says to her as he tries to come up with something relevant to say.

“It’s fine,” she seems to have taken great interest in the flame.

“Oh, this is Feliciano,” Lovino nods to his brother siting a little ways away. “Feli, this is—”

“I’m [Name], it is a pleasure to meet you.”

Lovino looks over at her in disbelief, but she doesn’t seem to care that Feliciano now knows who she is. Oh, the mess that could come from this!

...But maybe she knows what had been said…

   “It’s nice to meet you too!” Feli smiles widely and says nothing more.

“Um, [Name], did you want to discuss—”

“I don’t mind if Feliciano hears. It won’t change anything anyway, so what is the point?”

Lovino raises his eyebrows. “You won’t get in anymore trouble?”

“I doubt it,” she sighs. “I’ve gotten the worst punishment; they’ve taken away my wings and Exiled me…there isn’t much left to hold me to my Oath.”

“Are you serious….? They’ve taken your wings?”

[Name] nods gravely as she twiddles her thumbs.

“I’m so sorry…” Lovino says inaudibly, but [Name] hears him.

“It’s not your fault.”

She smiles at him again, but it quickly disappears upon her seeing the look on Lovino’s face. She looks down at her hands, not wanting to meet his gaze of sorrow. [Name] does not want for him to pity her, yet she can’t help but pity herself as well.

    A moment in a deep silence passes before Feliciano yawns loudly, stretching his arms far above his head.

“I think I’m going to go to sleep now; it is pretty late.”

Feli stands up and rocks on his feet for a moment, then waves goodnight awkwardly to the angel and hugs his brother before vanishing into the darkness of the home, though it is quite evident when he bumps into things along his way. Left alone with [Name], Lovino wants to ponder more on what could be the cause of this misfortune, but she has other plans.

“This is the first time I’ve said this in a while, but I’m really tired as well…”

“Oh,” Lovino nods. “Yeah, you can take my room for the night—”

“No, this is fine,” she insists and lays her head on the arm of the sofa, staring at the wall across the large room. Lovino watches her for a moment, noticing that she doesn’t seem to breathe; he stands.

“I’ll get you a pillow and a blanket then, alright?”

“Yes, thank you,”

   Lovino frowns slightly and makes his way through the darkness, leaving the candle with [Name]. He doesn’t bump into anything unlike his brother and reaches the top of the steps and enters his bedroom. Sitting by the moonlight, he catches the glow of Feli’s eyes.

“Are you okay, Lovino?”

“You keep asking me that,” Lovino grumbles irritably as he crosses the room without passing another glance at his brother, though his listens to him speak.

“You seem so different…it’s like I feel as if you’re going to explode at any minute!”

“Explode?” he scowls in the darkness as he pulls off the pillowcase on one of his pillows. “I’m not going to explode.”

“You don’t know that,” Feliciano counters quickly, drawing the covers closer under his chin. “I just don’t want for you to seem so angry, brother. That’s all.”

Lovino’s shoulders fall as he groans. “I’m not mad at you; I’m not mad at anyone. I just…I don’t know, Feliciano. But I’ll be fine. So stop bothering me about it.”

   Feliciano pulls the covers over his head without another word to his brother; and as Lovino exits the room, he catches the faintest sound of a whimper. Ignoring that, he returns downstairs with the pillow and blanket as promised to find that [Name] has long since fallen asleep. He gently lays the blanket across her and sets the pillow on the other end of the couch in case she decided to use it if she woke sometime during the night.

And he lingers for a moment, still wondering about her: although they were together again, finally, after those painfully long months, he can’t help but feel insignificant at the troubles she faces now. He never thought about what would happen when she returned; all he wanted was her here. And now she’s back, with a problem he isn’t even completely sure he understands.

And it all could be his fault.

~*~*~*~