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The room was cold and dark, but not empty. Leone really hadn’t been expecting anyone to be here so late. At first he was cautious, making sure the lone man didn’t notice his entry. But once he noticed it was Giovanna all that caution drained away.
“Hey brat you're not supposed to be here.” Hitting the blonde upside his head he moved on his way, not at all surprised that Giorno hadn’t responded. The boy was great at taking any abuse Leone threw his way, he never so much as blinked no matter what Leone did. It was honestly annoying at times. Just one of these days he’d like some sort of reaction, to see Giorno’s face fall into despair or anger. The indifference he usually had was honestly insulting.
When he came back he noticed Giorno hadn’t moved a muscle. He was still completely still, staring off out onto the street aimlessly. Hitting him again Leone scoffed when there was no movement. Really? Was he going to keep ignoring him?
“You need to get out of here.” That did trigger a response in Giorno, who finally turned to face Leone head on with dead eyes. For a while he just stared, not saying a word. It was beginning to make Leone uncomfortable. When Giorno did finally respond it was that same annoying monotone he always spoke in. It made Abbacchio’s blood boil.
“And go where?” Slamming his hand down on the table he pointed his finger in Giorno’s face, there was a moment he allowed himself to just growl before he finally spoke. “I don’t care, just get out.”
Giorno raised an eyebrow, moving Leone’s hand out of his face with a flick of wrist. There was a sigh, and he twirled his unbraided hair around two fingers aimlessly. Getting ready to smack the blonde again he was stopped by Giorno’s small voice whispering a quiet “I can’t.”
Anger coursed through Leone’s veins with that response. He couldn’t? Really? What BS answer was that!? Grabbing the youngers shoulder he leaned in to talk into Giorno’s ear threateningly.
“Yes you most certainly can, and i’ll make you if you don’t get on your feet right now.” He hadn’t really expected Giorno to listen, but there was no way he could’ve predicted what did happen. Instead of being shrugged off or given a pitying face Giorno’s stand came out, hovering above him and caging him off from Leone with a glare.
Stumbling back Leone gaped. Was this brat going to try and fight him? What was he thinking? Leone was overcome with the urge to beat the kid senseless but stopped himself before he got too far. As much as he hated to admit it, if Giorno was using his stand… there wasn’t really any way he could win.
“What do you think you’re doing Giovanna…” Giorno wasn’t looking at him, instead staring holes into the table as he sat tensely.
“I'm not leaving… not right now.” Pulling out Giorno’s chair he pushed it towards the wall with his foot, making Giorno face him head on. When Giorno still didn’t look at him he attempted to tip the boy off. but with Giorno stubbornly holding onto it he just made both the chair and the kid fall to the floor with a slam that was far too loud for so late at night.
The frustration quickly became too much and Leone felt a headache grow. “This isn’t a place you can just hang around!” Giorno, who had been on the floor stood up. Using the table to support him as his hand turned into a fist. Something must’ve snapped in him as as soon as Leone finished speaking his fist slammed down onto the table with a loud thwack.
“I'm not here because I want to be!” Dead silence came over them as soon as Giorno’s mouth closed. Both of the men staring at each other in shock. Giorno was just as surprised as Leone was that he had yelled.
Setting the chair back up right Giorno fell back down into it, Golden experience disappearing back into him as he stared into the table with his mouth slightly open in shock. There was a beat of silence where he just processed what had happened, and then he was getting up. Throwing whatever he had on the table (which just seemed to be a couple bills that Leone didn’t have the time to question) into his bag.
It was such a whirlwind Leone almost let the boy go, luckily he was snapped out of his daze as Giorno mumbled “I’m going now.” Grabbing onto him Leone pushed him back into the wall, closing him off from the door.
“Now you're not. Tell me what the hell was that.” Giorno looked back at him with an expression Leone had never thought he’d see on Giorno. It wasn’t the anger or despair he had just been thinking he had wanted to see. It was desperation.
He was desperate for Leone to drop it, to never bring it up again and pretend it had never happened. All of this was out of character for Giorno. Finally starting to realize he had stumbled upon something more serious then just loitering Leone paused.
“Giorno what's going on? What was with that money?” Suddenly the boy, who had just been looking into his eyes defiantly, refused eye contact with him, looking away sharply and letting his arms bunch up around his ears.
“If you don’t tell me I’ll tell Bruno.” He honestly wasn’t sure why he thought that would work, but it did. Suddenly Giorno was looking at him with wide horrified eyes.
“No please don’t!” Shocked at the sudden plea Leone blinked. Everything about this was weird. He never thought he’d hear the day Giorno would beg him for anything. Maybe he’d fantasize about that on the off chance but now that it was happening… he kind of hated it.
Seeing Giorno weak was like seeing a duck at night. It just felt wrong. It made Leone worry that there was something very bad coming their way.
“What are you hiding from us? Why do you care if he knows?” Watching as Giorno wrestled with that question Leone’s mind wandered. What on earth could make Giorno panic? Why on Earth was he here if something bad was happening? Why was he hiding it from Bruno? Giorno and Bruno seemed to be planning all sorts of shit the rest of them didn’t know about together… so why was this off limits?
“I- I don’t want to go home!” All the thoughts that were whirling around in Leone’s head suddenly froze to a stop. What? Was… Was Giorno hiding in here? No… that didn’t make sense. Who on Earth was fearsome enough for Giorno to hide from? He was insane, Leone had seen the things he had thrown himself into… it just didn’t make sense for him to be hiding.
“Y-you already hate me so- I- I don’t care if you know but please don’t tell anyone!” Giorno was tearing up, clearly close to having a breakdown. Suddenly wishing he hadn’t pushed the younger around Leone tightened his grip around Gio’s wrist; a new creeping fear that Giorno would run away from him overcoming his mind.
“W-what? Giorno I don’t hate you.” It felt weird saying out loud. It wasn’t something he had ever admitted, even to himself, before. He honestly never even realized before now that he didn’t completely despise the boy. He would of never expected to actually be worried about Giorno but… here he was.
“Huh? You, you don’t?” Giorno sounded doubtful, and he didn’t blame him.
“No, but that’s not what's important right now-” He had to get the topic off him, it was starting to derail any hope of getting more info on what was happening.
“What’s important is why you think Bruno would hate you because you don’t want to go home.” Leone paused. “Where do you live anyway?” Giorno flinched, something about that question hit him hard. The blonde bit his nail, a nervous tic that Leone had never expected the prim Giorno to have.
Suddenly he wondered if the annoying thing the blonde did with twirling his hair was a nervous tic as well. He did always seem to do it while looking for words… and no one stared at their hair with such focus in the middle of a conversation for no reason…
“I- Nowhere…” It took a minute to fully process the blonde’s stutter wasn’t some bad joke.
“What!” Giorno flinched again, curling into himself as best as he could with Leone holding onto him. Realizing his grip had become too tight and was turning Giorno’s hand blue he sighed, releasing it just a bit as he tried to find his words.
“Are you saying you're homeless?” Giorno seemed to panic at that, trying to pull away and making Leone tighten his grip again. When Giorno finally stopped trying to get away he looked up at Leone with giant eyes squeaking out a high pitched “I'm sorry!”
He wanted to throw Giorno’s hand away in disgust at that. “That’s not something to be sorry about!” Leone was fuming. He wasn’t even sure why. He shouldn’t of been surprised about this, Narancia had been homeless before all of this. It wasn’t like it was unheard of.
“Does Bruno know?” Immediately Leone kicked himself, of course Bruno didn’t know. Giorno wouldn’t be homeless if he did. Giorno responded the way Leone thought he would, shaking his head ‘no’.
“Don’t you have parents?” He had intended to go further with that question, but Giorno shook so hard he had to cut himself off to steady the younger.
“Jesus Giorno calm down!” He honestly was just wondering if the boy had been disowned or something. Mista had been long before coming here but was old enough to make his own money to pay for an apartment.
Fugo had no contact with his family but got checks every once in a while for food and shelter. Leone had just assumed Giorno had been in the same situation as Fugo this entire time, It only made sense with Giorno being as young as he was that he’d still have some sort of parental support.
And based on this reaction Gio’s parents weren’t dead like Narancia’s.
When Giorno finally found his words he said something Leone hadn’t even considered. “Please don’t make me go back!” Dropping the boy’s hand in shock Leone gaped, looking around before finally responding.
“Huh? I- What are you talking about?” Go back? Go back where? To his parents? Surely Giorno wasn’t dumb enough to think Leone actually had that kind of power.
“I can’t go back!” Shit… he was panicking. He totally was worried that Leone was going to somehow force him back. The good thing was that it didn’t seem like he was going to run anymore. He seemed to stuck in the track of trying to convince Leone to not return him to even consider any other plan.
Realizing if they were going to get anywhere he needed to take charge Leone sighed.
“Okay back up. Have you been staying here this whole time?” Giorno blinked, shaking his head ‘no’ before quietly responding the same
“Where were you?” Giorno looked at him with wide eyes, thankfully beginning to calm down. He was speaking far too quietly, almost whispering but he still answered the question all the same.
“At school…” A school? He was staying in dormitories? That seemed… weird for Giorno. For multiple reasons. Honestly the idea that Giorno had a life outside of working in the Mafia was something Leone had never considered until today.
“Why aren’t you there anymore?” Giorno’s face fell again with that, tears beginning to build up around his eyes. The answer to that question must’ve been whatever lead him here today. He had expected that he’d need to wait awhile for Giorno to get the strength to answer.
“My mom… she, she demanded they bring me back.” Spitting a bit he looked down for clarification. Giorno’s cheeks were bright red, he was embarrassed to be divulging this information for some reason. Like it was something he should be ashamed of.
Looking up at Leone he noticed that the older man was lost and shifted. Looking back away before clarifying what he meant by that. “I- I was taken away from my parents.”
There was a weird cold that washed over Leone with that. Taken away? Was…. Was Giorno a child of abuse? Is that why he never seemed bothered by the way Leone talked, was that why he was so infuriating indifferent to being treated badly?
Suddenly feeling a bit sick Leone held his head in his hands, sighing out his weight in air as he shook his head.
“You were hiding here… because you don’t want to go back?” Giorno nodded. He didn’t need to confirmation to know that was it, but it really was the nail in the coffin.
Leone wasn’t really someone who understood Bruno’s need to take care of the children he found, he didn’t see a point in it. But something about hearing that light a fire in him.
“You won’t be going back.” Giorno blinked, looking back and forth around the cafe before looking back up at Leone with an ineloquent “Huh?”
Standing up straight Leone sighed again, regaining his irritated tone as he explained what he was thinking.
“You're staying here, I won’t let them take you back.” Giorno seemed to be in shock, his mouth slightly agape and head tilted to the side. “Abbacchio?” It was weird hearing his name come from Giorno’s mouth. He wasn’t sure he had heard the younger say it before.
“Come on.” Grabbing onto Giorno’s wrist again he began to pull the younger after him, Giorno didn’t struggle but he did make a few noises of confusion before finally asking what was happening. Ending the weird string of questions with “...where are you taking me?”
Leone would forever deny that his heart squeezed at how scared Giorno sounded.
“Home. You can stay with me, at least for now.” Making a noise of shock Giorno stopped walking. He immediately began to pull against Leone and sputter “I! I shouldn’t! I-”
“You're staying with me.” His strong tone stopped all of Giorno’s struggling who stood still for a minute before following after Leone once again.
“You won’t tell Bruno right?” Sighing Leone stopped to face Giorno head on. He still didn’t understand what the kid though was going to happen if Bruno knew but if he really so set on it…
“I'm not gonna lie kid, Bruno’s a sneaky bastard who will find out eventually. But I promise I won’t be the one to tell him.” Giorno looked away for a second before nodding silently in understanding.
The cafe door rang as he opened it, herding Giorno outside before locking it behind him. It was a cold night but the crisp fresh air felt like a blessing after everything that had happened. Giorno seemed to be in a similar state of awe, looking out at the street with glassy eyes.
Abbacchio sighed, pocketing the old keys before grabbing Giorno’s shoulder to lead him back home.
This wasn’t something he was used to, but it was something he was willing to learn how to do. If only for Giorno’s sake.