Chapter Text
Loud footfalls come pounding down against the pavement, one after another.
The rain that was hesitant a few minutes prior now was coming down hard. Hard against the winds as the footsteps grew louder.
Narancia whipped back, shielding his head from the harsh winds before looking in the opposite direction. “Giorno, hurry up!”
The 15 year old gangster was far behind in the group as he tried to keep up with the faster adults, the head leader Bucciarati in front with Abbacchio at his side while the rest followed behind in anticipation.
“I-I can’t see.” Mista hissed. He tried to cover his face with his arm but the rain flew right into his eyes regardless. “Damnnit, where did this rain come from?!”
Abbacchio had told them everything. From his encounter with the man with pink hair, to the words that he was finding himself hard to believe, those words being the last hope he had to keep himself going to see you once again.
That dumb… face of yours.
“Shit…” He murmured, moving the hair out of his face.
Turning a familiar corner, the raven stopped briefly to announce their arrival until something strange caught his eyes. He froze.
Despite there being a fair distance between them and the spot, he could still see from afar. There at the edge of the alleyway, a piece of a blanket was exposed onto the floor.
It was the same blanket he had found the strange man to be in, a gulp sounding deep within his throat as he drew his arm out to the side at the realization.
“Stay here until I come back.” He ordered. Bucciarati stopped, as well as everyone else. He looked at them, feeling their evidently concerned stares. “The last thing I want is for us to scare him away, so I’ll make it quick.”
Bucciarati and the rest proceeded to move away from the raven but stayed close enough to step in when necessary. Who knew what could happen. Who knew if that man was still under the influence of drugs.
Leone thought about all the possibilities, gulping softly as he slowly made his way down the road.
The cold alleyway, the dirty blanket. Seeing it again made him nervous, scared even, an emotion which hadn’t made itself present in years.
Leone took a deep breath, and stepped forward.
Thump, thump.
Quietly, making sure not to draw unwanted attention yet, he moved at a calculated pace. Figuring he was close enough, the raven decided to stop as he pressed himself against the cold wetness of stone, slowly turning his head to peer inside the alleyway.
There in the corner like he had anticipated, the outline of a body was seen from clearly within the blanket. The man was still there, and his chances were still high.
He decided to move in closer.
Shit!
His heel somehow managed to slip against the floor from the rain and picked up hard gravel from the floor, scraping loudly under his shoe.
He looked up seeing that the figure jolted from under the wet blanket and cursed. He held his breath and hid behind the wall again, staring at the blanket from the corner of his eye as he watched it move around, only for it to stop seconds later. Slowly, a hand came out of the abyss of the sheets, unveiling the fabric from its body.
A voice followed soon after.
He froze.
It was gentle.
It was different.
It wasn’t the same voice he had heard previously.
The sound made his chest knot, before he fully digested the word that had been said.
“Abbacchio…?”
His fingers, numb from the cold rain, finally let go of the wall.
“Y/n…?”
He felt his throat go dry.
It was you.
Sitting on the wet floor, a cold blanket wrapped around you, blank expression on your face.
You felt lost. You couldn't remember much of anything…
Why…?
Why had he said your name like that…?
You breathed at the euphoria.
The song that left his lips, the word on his tongue raw, heartfelt. It churned your soul in a way you never felt it before, you wanted the feeling to stay strangely enough. It was strange, the way you were so entranced at the means his jaw moved with his words, the way his fingers moved as he reached out to you. It felt hypnotic in a sense… before time resumed and your breathing hitched when a splash of water hit your face.
Water.
You blinked.
Pitter-patter. Pitter-patter.
Rain dribbled down your face and on your skin. It was cold, like icicles as they rolled over your lips. You scrunched your nose at the ticklish feeling of droplets accumulating down your long lashes, down your cheek, rolling over your jawline before building up and collecting at your chin at its finish line. Hyper aware of everything, you finally fixed your eyes onto one solid object.
You bite the inside of your cheek.
Sucking in a breath, Leone stared firmly at your skin. From the way your neck was exposed, to your jaw that dripped with rain, to your plush lips, to the sparkling in your eyes. He felt himself trying to swallow the dryness in his throat. His usually kept hair was damp and messy, sticking to his face as his clothing seemed to be in the same position the moment you failed to keep your eyes in one spot.
Your lips parted. It was hard for you not to look, to notice the way his muscles pressed against the thin line of his clothing, but you stopped when you felt his burning eyes leaking into yours, and his all but curious expression when he peered down to look at you closer, to scan your eyes, to read your mind, to know exactly what that stare of yours meant. You looked up between your lashes, lowering your gaze as he knelt down in front of you, gently perching himself to your level.
Suddenly, you found yourself engulfed into a pair of arms.
They were strong.
But gentle.
You inhaled, shaking against the exposed window of his chest before you found yourself clutching his arm to hold yourself up, but you could barely move closer as your legs seemed to fail at listening, so you decided not to move.
It stung. This aching feeling in your chest.
You didn’t know what it was. What it was about behind held like this in the middle of a storm, in the corner of an alleyway in Italy, in the arms of this annoying dick you knew as Leone Abbacchio.
He held you closer, though he knew he shouldn’t. He wanted to yell at you, to scold you for being so careless, so irresponsible, so… dumb. But he couldn't.
Fuck… He thought in frustration, staring down at you with an expression that contradicted his feelings completely.
He couldn’t find the words when his heart was leaping against your cheek, your skin searing against furnaced skin as he knew you could feel it beating loudly.
Why was he feeling so…strange at just a mere hug? From you?
He stiffened at the thought.
It was because of you.
He didn’t know why he was acting like this and that frustrated him.
You frustrated him.
Every remark you made towards him, every eye roll as you walked by, the way you ignored him, the way you spoke to Giorno so easily and carefreely while he’d have to sit there and watch-
His jaw clenched.
He was acting stupid. He was acting like a child and he knew it. He knew it, knew he shouldn’t be feeling this way. Knew this wasn't right.
You hated him, and he hated you.
It was almost impossible for it to be anything anything else.
You both were different. Drastically. Wrongfully. It didn't make sense.
Then why…? He gritted his teeth.
The air was so cold. So cold with the rain but so hot simultaneously, so hot you couldn’t stand the intense heat, yet you brought him closer opting to be burned instead like the idiot you were.
Suddenly at this, Leone’s attention was drawn back to the situation below him. You were shivering for every reason but being cold. This only prodded his mind to hug you closer, to stop you from shaking.
He gulped at the feeling of how close you were to him. How tightly you held him. How perfectly you fit in his arms-
It’s so much that the dampness of your clothes and the meld of his body heat elicited a deep shiver up your spine, your means to hide it were thrown out the window as he felt you tremble against him again.
His arms tightened even more. You dragged out a sigh. Your attire was soaked, the whiplash of heat from his hands slowly seeping into your lower back. It drove up a strange feeling within you, a feeling that got worse when his baritone voice above you just barely whispered.
“You don’t listen very well, do you?”
Right in your ear, soft, uncharacteristic, and you gritted your teeth, fingers clenched against his forearm.
You shut your eyes tightly, visibly shuddering as you tried to come up with some sort of remark.
“I…I…”
But no.
He had you completely cornered.
You lifted your eyes to his, feeling strange in such a position. Your means to push him away from you, to yell at him for always being an asshole to you, to give him your sappiness like you always did when he looked your way.
That was gone in seconds.
All you could do in that moment was stare into his eyes. His stoic face, his gloomy attitude now shifted into a look you’d never seen before. His eyes were soft on yours.
You weren’t acting like yourself. He wasn’t acting like himself.
Your heart was racing.
Why was he suddenly so close to you?
You gulped, his breath was close to you. Your mouth parted as his hand slowly released your back, and before you knew it, a feathery touch on your cheek had your skin crawling before a loud yell from down the hall had you both separating at the speed of light.
“Abbacchio! What’s taking so long- oh.”
A face poked through the corner of the wall, the raven’s frame blocking you from view as he turned to face away from you before you could see his face.
Still, even despite his attempts to cover his face, you could see the faint red brushing against his ears, making your heart race for a million reasons.
You felt angry.
You felt relieved.
You felt...everything.
Your heart was about to fucking explode.
“Give me a second, Narancia.” You heard the man in front of you having trouble getting the words out.
The 17 year old disappeared briefly as Abbacchio turned around, meeting your eyes with seriousness. You stared at him wildly as he walked towards you.
Swiftly without a word, he clasped his hand onto yours and pulled you up to your feet, holding you as you wobbled around before saying something you didn’t hear. It was probably something along the lines of ‘I won’t carry you so move on your own’ until he actually led you out of the shadows and blinded you on sight.
You groaned as the rays of heaven had you seeing nothing but white and the horrible rain had finally gone away. You squinted your eyes, blobs forming in your eyes as they appear to take a figure.
The light is too bright for you to see them correctly, though this time you blinked again, making sure to shield your eyes to get any light out of the way, and your vision slowly became clearer when you opened your eyes a second time, a familiar group of people were now there standing in your midst.
You knew them.
Every single one of them.
Narancia, Mista, Giorno, Fugo.
Bruno…
Your legs moved on their own.
You stumbled into Bruno's arms and was relieved when his arms caught you into a tight embrace, almost like he had been expecting this to happen.
He exhaled as you buried your face into his shoulder, his gentle arms and sweet fragrance welcoming you tightly as he couldn't help but smile seeing your face once more.
Out of pure joy, Dire made her grand appearance and wrapped her milky arms tightly around his waist, snuggling into him like a child would their mother. The two of you were shocked. Not even you were expecting it, but you didn’t care as long as she was happy and that you were home.
“I-I’m sorry.”
Bruno’s fingers stroked your locks, his actions answering all of your questions, only making you cry harder. You pressed your face against his suit, hiccuping and coughing uncontrollably at the thought of never being able to feel his embrace again. But then he pulled back and melted into your gaze, separating the hair that had stuck to your moist face.
He cupped your ruined and crying face into his gentle hands.
“Sorry for what?”
You could barely even see him through your tears, but the smile that was stretched on his face was wide enough to tell.
“Buh-Bwunooo--!” You sobbed through smushed cheeks.
It made you laugh.
It made you overjoyed.
His smile, his eyes, his everything overfilling your emotions with the kiss he pressed on your forehead and the tears grew worse when you saw a teary-eyed Mista and Narancia charging right towards you.
They wailed as they took you down with them, the other 2 blondes getting dragged into you as Dire was the one to tackle them instead.
Abbacchio and Bruno watched in amusement. Bruno’s laughter was sweet and beautiful, and Leone’s smile was an image you would never let yourself forget.
Till everything stopped.
“We need to get the hell out of here.”
Before you could all get captured into the same scenario, Bruno made sure to call up a taxi as soon as possible, a good friend of his as well. Sadly, the rain had started to pick up again, and the light that was shining just moments ago was now hidden by dark clouds.
Fugo sighed, watching the taxi roll up to the sidewalk. “A taxi again?” He looked at you dreadfully before he caught your eyes, and he looked away in embarrassment.
Giorno crossed his arms, displeased with his response. “Would you prefer walking? I’m sure walking in this weather would make you sick.”
Fugo remained silent, staring down at his feet before he huffed and looked to the side. “A little rain isn’t gonna make me sick.” He grumbled, kicking a few stones on the ground.
Waiting for the other to load up the van, you grabbed the wet door handle and pulled, watching the door retract inside of the vehicle. You heaved forward and leveraged your heel against the entrance, pulling yourself inside with a deep huff.
Mista shoved Narancia out of the way the second he saw your struggle, your timid smile only exciting him more as he opened his arms out for you only to be kicked forward in his chair out of the blue.
“Hey!” He whipped around in his seat angrily. “Who the hell just--”
“Behave yourself.”
The 18 year old froze stiff as a familiar goth gloomed from behind the chair. Swiftly, his fingers looped around the collar of Mista's sweater before he pulled his face right back to his.
“Unless you’d like to walk home by foot.”
Mista stayed frozen in place for a moment as Leone sat back in his seat. Grumbling, the 18 year old crossed his arms before he suddenly felt you plop down between him and Giorno.
Suddenly, his entire demeanor changed.
“Hey, Y/n~” He cooed, leaning into you.
“What’s that you got there?” He pointed.
Mista wiggled his finger in your direction, trailing his eyes down to the spot in your shirt that was bulging out from the side unnaturally. You decided it wasn't time to show them yet, so you stopped him by grabbing his finger, his eyebrow arching in defiance when you lowered his hand to the seat.
You leaned over, resting your hand on his shoulder before whispering evilly.
“It’s a secret.”
You slowly backed away from him, smirking triumphantly upon seeing his pouty lower lip. This was going to be your well kept secret until someone decided to pop in between you scaring you both to death.
“Secret?”
You and Mista both screamed at Narancia’s sudden disruption, his doughy round eyes wide in surprise as he giggled at your panicked expressions only to frown when you both remained silent without his question.
He groaned and leaned over to face the front of the car, meeting Bucciarati eyes through the front mirror.
“Bruno~o!”
The older man looked through the mirror, sighing when he saw your terrified faces and Narancia’s eager one. “What is it, Narancia…?”
“Y/n and Mista are telling secre~ets!” He sang.
“If it’s a secret, it’s none of your business.” Fugo remarked, turning in his seat to push Narancia’s face away. It seems that didn’t do much to stop him because he only continued to tease you more as he began to sing a tune that scarred you as a kid.
“Mista and Y/n sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-”
Your cheeks were searing.
Mista was quick to react as well, and not in the prettiest way.
“W-Why you-!” He yelled.
He covered the teen’s mouth using his other hand to grab the shirt still on from his previous disguise, but was shocked when Narancia continued to hum the tune behind his palm. You looked out the window to hide your embarrassment, but Giorno and Fugo were laughing all while Mista was nearly ripping Narancia’s throat out.
Thankfully, the only person that didn’t care was Abbacchio as he spared them an annoyed glance, turning his volume up through his headphones to drown out their loudness.
“Enough guys.” You sighed, finally butting in.
You pulled Mista’s hand away from the 17 year old who gasped loudly at finally being able to breathe, catching his breath like he was being suffocated which was probably what Guido was aiming for.
Thankfully, things started to calm down, especially after Mista opened his bags and broke the snacks out. He handed you some chips and you shared them with everyone.
Well, almost everyone.
You were reluctant after what happened with you and the raven. You still couldn’t even put into words what happened, but you ignored the thought for the time being and turned in your seat.
“
Hey…Leone?” You held out your arm.
Abbacchio’s eyes were closed. He didn’t open them even when you said his name a little louder, and you knew it was because he couldn’t hear you over his music, but you still shimmied back into your seat, embarrassed you even asked in the first place.
Gooooooood whyyyyyyyyyy…You thought to yourself as you slumped against Giorno’s arm dreadfully. The blonde looked down at you, his lips curling into a soft smile as you peered up at him.
He wrapped his arm around your shoulder, covering you with the warm blanket he found under his seat a little more.
“Tell me about your vacation, Y/n.” Giorno teased you, your eyes narrowing playfully, “If you’re comfortable of course.” He added.
You froze a little at the strange atmosphere in the car. It wasn’t… Giorno supposedly, but something else you couldn’t put your finger on. You felt like someone was watching you, but you decided to brush it off as you began to tell Giorno everything that happened.
From the strange men, to their strange personalities and outbursts.
It seems the rest of the boys tuned into your story because everyone was quiet until you felt a crawl on your belly, the shriek that left your throat so embarrassing it even started the creature under your shirt. Quickly, Giorno reacted at your squirming and blabbered something kind of permission to lift your shirt, but you quickly covered your stomach with your arms, his movements freezing.
“I-It's fine! I’ve been meaning to s-show you this anyway!” You laughed.
Swiftly, you fished the surprise from under your shirt and grinned as you held your well-kept secret out.
“Ta-da!” You sang, voice shaking slightly.
The car went silent.
Narancia leaned over your seat in excitement. “Is that a turtle?!” He awed.
“A key…” Bruno began, turning in his seat. “How strange.”
“I have no idea what the key’s doing there," You trailed your fingers over the shiny object, looking at yourself through the reflection of the red gem, "But it looks cool when you look into it.” You explained, letting Bruno get a closer look.
“Have you named him already?” Mista asked, rubbing his chin with interest.
You tapped your leg in thought.
“How about Coco Jumbo?” Narancia suggested enthusiastically.
“Coco Jumbo…” You repeated.
You closed your eyes, playing the name over and over in your head until the soft tune of a song started playing on Narancia’s boombox. How did he even manage to fit that in his bag? Before you could ask him about his unbelievable luggage, you inhaled when there was a sudden sharp turn and Mista’s weight began to squish you against Giorno.
Bruno quickly took note of this and turned around in his seat. You smiled nervously.
“Y/n, you should move to the back of the car.” He suggested, seeing as you were seated in a confined area with 3 people while only 2 were taking up the back seats.
“Yeah…” You breathed tightly. “I don’t know why I didn’t think about that in the first place.”
The song that was playing on Narancia’s boombox was So Anxious by Ginuwine. A song that came out pretty recently, its tune being a popular one around Italy at the moment.
With the help of Giorno, you carefully stepped over him and Fugo and made your way to the back of the car, until you stopped, and gulped.
You nudged Leone briefly, watching anxiously as he opened his eyes and looked at you with his stern eyes. Without much to say, he moved his legs to the side and allowed you in, Narancia opening a spot for you before he clung to your arm and began to snore almost immediately.
You sat there, feeling a sudden anxiousness bubbling up inside of you. You felt like someone was watching you from all directions, your fingers tapping anxiously against your leg.
Tensing up a little, you turned your head at a horrible slowness until you parked your eyes on the white haired male next to you. Your eyes flickered down to his fingers that were busy playing with the wires of his headphones, his headphones that he had removed to listen to the song Narancia had put on.
Leone must’ve known he was being watched because he opened his eyes and you looked the other way faster than light.
Out of bad habit, your leg started bouncing in attempts to diminish your anxiousness until it was suddenly stopped out of your own control.
You moved your head nervously, frozen as you saw a navy cuffed hand rested upon your knee, following the stern face you saw as your eyes traveled up the male figure beside you.
“It’s annoying.” Leone raised an eyebrow. “That habit of yours.”
You smiled nervously.
“S-Sorry. It helps me calm down. I’ll stop…”
You couldn’t get the words out for some reason, you just felt…
“So-o anxious~” The song played.
You froze, cheeks brightening.
A deep chuckle rang next to you
“W-What?” You blinked. You felt yourself flush completely. “I-I didn’t mean- that-”
He hummed in amusement, fixing his eyes to the front of the car. He was smiling.
You wanted to say something to defend the insane coincidence you were unfortunate enough to encounter, but you had nothing else to say.
“Goddamnit Narancia, turn that off already!” Fugo finally snapped, “This is like the 16th time you’ve played this song on repeat!” He turned around, yelling at the teen.
“It’s not my fault it’s so good!” Narancia defended as he held his boombox dear to his chest as well as your arm in fear of what Fugo could do to it.
The car bumped to the side and you braced yourself, holding onto not much but your seatbelt when your leg suddenly bumped against another.
“Get off of me Giorno!” More voices overlapped.
You felt your body go rigid, upright like a stick at the feeling. Leone’s foot was flush against yours, leg brushed up against his. You wondered how he didn’t already throw you out of the window like you expected, but he just continued to look forward, listening to the song as it continued in its syrupy beat.
Being too nervous to move, you stayed as still as possible.
Why am I overreacting over nothing? You thought.It’s not like he even--
You paused.
It’s not like you even wanted that…
Suddenly, the tires came to a screeching stop and the whole car shook as we stopped in front of a red light.
Multiple police cars passed and you followed the lights as they sped to your right, zooming off before drifting off into the distance. You slumped your head against the window next to you and holding your breath, you finally moved your leg away, releasing the construct of heat that was building on that side of your leg against Abbacchio.
You heard him shift next to you to your confirmation and demise and you cursed quietly under your breath.
Why was this so frustrating to you?
It wasn’t even a big deal.
“We’re going to stop everyone.” Bruno announced, thankfully snapping you out of that horrible thought. “Hotel’s probably our best stop, we’re still in Rome.”
Your fingers moved to rub the tired from your eyes. You all hadn’t had a good night's rest in god knows how long, and a hotel bed wasn’t the worst sound to your ears at the moment.
You smiled, and sighed deeply.