Work Text:
Bang!
The young man falls to the hot sand, the scent of ocean waves carried through the air above him, underneath him was a flow of blood. This man - his birth name hidden in the back of his head, Angelo Lagusa - lost his will to live and wanted everything he started from the beginning to end, along with himself. But before he wanted to end his life, he wanted to visit the state of Florida and have the beach as his deathbed. He wanted his destination to be the place where he can finally rest.
The sound of the gun still echoed, distracting him from the pain of the bullet wound.
Angelo wasn't alone - or at least now. The man who shot him has left the beach, he wasn't expecting him to just shoot him down just right after telling him to live. It seems like Nero had a change of heart after looking at how empty the young man is and yet, he refuses to kill him. The same man who murdered the people Nero has ever carried about, and not just by his own hands as he made others do it for him. Angelo only protected him, so he can take his revenge on the man who was responsible for the murder of his family.
They grew to love each other.
How ironic, Angelo wasn't expecting himself to fall for the man who failed his first mission of shooting an innocent boy running for his life and then come back as a man to avenge his family. As far as he remembers, Nero did seem to behave a little odd after coming back to Lawless from their first road trip. They both suspected it and Angelo decided to take advantage of the other man's love for him, so he can gain his trust and distract him from what will come to him.
Even if it means sleeping with the man.
It may sound silly but that's how Avilio was able to gain the man's trust by pleasing the older man. It was the only way to feel something, Avilio feels a strong emotion whenever he rides into his lover. But that bond they shared means nothing anymore, even if they try to cling to it seeing as they are broken.
It was always him, only him.
Avilio didn't understand why, why he felt this way - and yet he did.
They enjoyed each other's company.
The two men sat between side of the table, enjoying the bitter taste of liquor. Avilio was careful not to get himself drunk, even if means listening to Nero's stupid speeches when under the influence.
Giving Nero advice whenever he was stuck during plan-makings in his office.
Going out as late as they like on the streets.
Of course, getting lost on the road.
And Avilio haven't forgotten about his revenge either, he just likes to be around Nero and have many opportunities after the other man become don.
Barbero doesn't like it.
He doesn't like how Nero puts so much trust into him, especially letting him travel to Chicago without anybody guarding him. He could've accompanied the young man and that would have showed that Nero still needed him.
After that, Nero never asks Barbero to do anything for him now that he is around to do the job for him. Barbero was sick of it.
Tensions between the two grew when Barbero catch the sight of him and Nero alone, holding another one. Knowing that the other man was burying his face into his shoulder, Avilio took the chance to show Barbero (who dared not to make a sound) a quick smirk before kissing Nero's cheek. He turned around only to find Barbero gone. He wasn't afraid of being exposed since he will take care of anything who will wrong him.
His best friend, Corteo, also notices this and tries not to question it. Knowing that Avilio will betray Nero in the nearest future, but Corteo is the one who feels deeply betrayed as he watched his 'brother' replace him with the man he is taking revenge on. And what's worse is that Avilio almost stays clear of him and never talks to him. Corteo was only needed to produce liquor to keep the Vanettis pleased.
Oh, how that would drive the man insane! But looking back at his death isn't as pleasant as he thought - none of the deaths he caused were, not when he was forced to kill Corteo.
Yet little did anyone know about their night activities.
In fact, Avilio was unsure if he ever wishes to go back to that night and stayed still to die alongside his family he promised to avenge. But that will mean he will never had met Nero who filled that hole in his heart. At first, he tells himself to blame Nero for feeling this way and that it wasn't supposed to be this way. But that affection he tries to bury on the back of his head prevented him from ever hating Nero.
He wished Nero stayed before his last breath and thinking about him leaving without hearing his footsteps scares him and it's impossible to reach out and doesn't matter if he must feel more pain.
He wanted to scream but can’t. He didn’t want to die without a word.
Avilio will be in a better place, as his vision becomes blurry and waits until everything turns black.
He'll be waiting for Nero.